As most of you know, I am a board-certified geek. I do believe that science fiction can serve as a kind of parable, a way to talk about contentious things, without raising defenses, before thinking takes place. There was once a little television show called "Firefly," about a ragtag group of misfits on the run from an autocratic government in the far future. They sought mercenary work in space, far from the oppressive government. The protagonist, Malcolm Reynolds, fought in the war against that government, called The Alliance.
Malcolm--his closest friends call him, "Mal"--lost that war, and lost his Christian faith, when he prayed to God, and God did not deliver "the Browncoats" out of the hands of the Alliance. In one thought-provoking and moving story within the 13-episode arc which was Firefly, Mal and the gang get a job to steal some sort of crate from a train passing from one town to another on a particular planet. They don't know what's in the package; they only know that they have been hired to steal it, by an infamous mobster, who tends to make those who make mistakes disappear. Niska hires them, threatens them, and sends them on their way.
They do it quite well, and it will be a big score once they are paid. But upon investigation, Mal and the others discover that the package they were hired to steal is a crate of medicine for the people in one small town, and if they don't receive this package, they will die from an illness related to mining on the planet where they live.
The gang engineers things to undo the theft which they have already accomplished, and to try to bring the medicine back, before they are caught by the authorities. The sheriff of the small town they had entered finds Mal and the gang, as they are attempting to bring back the medicine. But he knows exactly what they are doing. Mal gives the medicine back, and says they'll be on their way. The sheriff says something like this: "you know, it's tough out here. A man has to take whatever jobs he can get, to look after himself and his own. He could hardly be blamed, for maybe not looking too close, as to what that job is. And I believe a man who finds out the situation we're facing here has a choice."
Mal: "I don't believe he does."
[Me talking] As it turns out, they risk their own lives, because Russian gangsters do what Russian gangsters do, even far in the spacefaring future. But Mal is a true hero, and he does the right thing, even at great cost to himself, and he leads the others of his companions in the same sorts of actions.
What is the purpose of life? I suppose we could come up with any number of nebulous answers that sound good, but I believe we live in a world where characters like Malcolm Reynolds ought to exist, in real life. If life is meaningless, we have no reason to say that what Malcolm did is praiseworthy. If, on the other hand, it is evident to reason that what he did is praiseworthy, and acts like it should be repeated, and done everywhere, then the moral quality of the world is knowable.
I suppose many people actually live in the sort of thought-space, where they suppose that we cannot know anything of morality by reason alone. Personally, I have a hard time believing that people could recognize Malcolm's action as praiseworthy, only because the story originates in a culture that was once Christian. Rather, I would suggest that faith and reason are in harmony, and that any person could potentially recognize the inherent goodness of the praiseworthy act in this story.
I think it is even harder to sustain the idea that systems of morality were all exclusively created by mankind. If universal moral truths exist, then they must be universal, and they cannot be exclusively possessed by one group of people, or one individual.
I suppose in saying this that we would have to deal with the objections that cultures around the world do not entirely agree upon what is moral, and what is not. If there were a natural law, wouldn't all the groups of people around the world and throughout history, agree on what it is? There is no easy answer to that question, but I don't think it is a huge stretch to say that something universal in terms of morality is shared by all human beings.
Just a few things I was thinking about, and I know at least a few of you can also appreciate my love for science fiction, especially as a medium to have the discussions about life and living that are most crucial.
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