Starfield:Charity in a Godless Universe: Part IV

Charity in a Godless Universe

Amelia Sang

Part IV:

Of the five generators that once powered our settlement, my family's church had left behind just one. But with no one left with the knowledge to repair it, blackouts were frequent.

Nine months after the church members left, conditions in our settlement were dire. Most of the colony's credits had left with the congregation, and merchants no longer had a reason to visit. We began rationing our remaining food, but supplies were running low. Anyone with a means to escape had long since left the planet.

We faced a total collapse, if not for what happened next.

The first ship arrived at night, and woke up the whole settlement. No one had visited in months. In the dark, dozens of us made our way to the Starport and found new craft landed there - large, but older. On its side was painted an golden symbol: six hands, joined around a planet.

"Hello!" Yelled a man from the boarding ramp, "I'm Dr. Dewan. My friends and I are from the Enlightened. We heard there may be a settlement out here, in trouble."

I pushed to the front of the crowd. "Our generator's failed. We have about a week of recycled water left. Do you have anyone who can fix it?"

"OK!" he said, "We can hook up your recycler to pull power from our ship. Then we can see about those repairs."

"Hey!" someone yelled from the crowd, "Are you people from some kind of church?"

The man stopped and laughed. "No!" He shouted back, "We're actually kind of the opposite!"

Over the next few days, more Enlightened ships arrived. Their crews fed us, and restored our settlement's power, but then they didn't leave. Through Dr. Dewan, we learned more about the Enlightened: they called themselves "atheist humanists". He told us they go to places in the galaxy where people need help. "Without gods," he said, "all we have is each other."

The Enlightened took up residence on the grounds of the old church, and began teaching us survival skills: how to cook, and how repair our colony's equipment. They lent us credits to buy supplies, and within half a year, our settlement was functioning independently.

Eventually, the Enlightened packed up, and left our colony to survive on its own. But this time, I left too, as the newest member of their group.

I had finally found a cause that made sense to me - an ethos I could believe in, without ignoring part of myself: There are no gods to worship. No divine beings are coming to save us. Humanity's capacity for empathy - and our willingness to support each other - is our species' best hope to survive among the stars. It's up to mankind to watch over itself.