March 16, 2008
How Small We Are
I find one of the most arrogant claims that religion makes is that we are somehow special – the “centre of the universe”, so to speak. While (most) religions have rejected the idea that the earth is the centre of our solar system, the very idea that the creator of the universe would single out one small planet in some distant corner of his creation to be “special” seems absurdly arrogant. Carl Sagan describes this arrogance as “our imagined self-importance”, and “the delusion that we have some privileged position in the universe”. While I think Sagan’s description still remains the greatest demonstration of how insignificant we really are (with Monty Python coming a close second), I saw this picture just recently which I though demonstrated it quite well too:
I’m sure anyone who visits this site has already seen Carl Sagan’s “Pale Blue Dot”, but I’m going to post it here again anyway, because it always manages to put me in my place each time I watch it.
Can anyone honestly say that “God” created all of this just for us?
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