Tenth International Conference on Religion & Spirituality in Society

Abstract

Modern cosmology, along with new perspectives on Earth gained from space exploration and developments in astrobiology, have changed the way humanity understands our home planet and our responsibilities thereto. But exactly what sort of ethical and spiritual orientation can be gleaned from cosmic perspectives? How does the cosmic view transform our understanding of human-caused planetary changes such as climate change and the Anthropocene? My paper explores the way in which cosmic perspectives, and the spiritual narratives that are emerging from them, can both support and undercut ecological ethics and environmental concerns here on Earth. I discuss recent developments in space ecology and astroecology, including efforts to construct space-based ecosystems, akin to Biosphere 2, that may potentially support future, space-faring human cultures. These initiatives undertake a process of ecopoiesis, the initiation of living, self-sustaining ecosystems in previously inert, nonliving environments in space or on other planets. Space ecology forces us to rethink the meaning of ecology when detached from Earthbound associations and dependencies on terrestrial environments. At the same time, the role it establishes for humans, as creators of life from nonlife, has the potential to change in dramatic ways what it means to be human. Put differently, ecopoiesis inevitably engenders a parallel process of what religious naturalist Ursula Goodenough calls “religiopoiesis:” the crafting of a new religion. My paper explores this emerging religion and its theological anthropology, with an eye to both the promising and troubling dimensions of an environmental ethics and spirituality of space ecology.