Cosmic Commons: Spirit, Science, and Space

by John Hart

Cosmic Commons explores terrestrial-extraterrestrial intelligent life Contact. It uses a thought experiment to consider the ecological-economic-ethical-ecclesial impacts of Contact, analyzing incidents around the world described by credible witnesses (two of whom are interviewed for the book), including Roswell and the Hudson River Valley. It discusses government and academic efforts to use ridicule and coercion to suppress Contact investigations, supports a scientific method to research ETI reports in a field that should excite scientists, and calls on academics to publicly disclose their Contact experiences. It traces Earth ecological and economic injustices to the European Enlightenment and the Discovery Doctrine by which European nations rationalized invasion of distant continents, genocide, and seizure of the territories and natural goods of native peoples. It advocates a change in humans' Earth conduct to avoid replicating in space the policies and practices that wrought economic injustice and ecological devastation on Earth, provides an innovative cosmosociological praxis ethics theory and practice toward that end, and develops a Cosmic Charter, based on UN documents, to guide humankind in space and in ETI encounters. Permeated by a profound sense of the sacred, Cosmic Commons explores a positive relationship between religion and science as humankind ventures into space. "Erudite and appealing, Cosmic Commons deserves to enrich many readers' thirst for knowledge and spiritual awakening." --Elie Wiesel, Holocaust survivor, 1986 Nobel Peace Laureate, and author of Night "This book is unlike any you have ever read. Whether you believe there is evidence for extraterrestrial intelligence or not, Hart's creative and thoughtful reflections . . . will widen your ethical horizons." --John F. Haught, Distinguished Research Professor of Theology, Georgetown University "Anyone who takes seriously the possibility that there may be intelligent life beyond the solar system should read John Hart's scholarly and detailed examination of what this might imply." --William R. Shea, Galileo Professor of History of Science, University of Padua "Clearly, we desperately need the transformation of consciousness that Hart lays out, not only for the sake of others we might encounter in space, but for our own sakes and those of the remaining others in our world, both human and not." --Christine Gudorf, Professor of Religious Studies, Florida International University "John Hart makes the case for there being life elsewhere in the universe, why humankind should search for it, and what sorts of ecological, social, and ethical interactions would likely develop between humans on earth and ETI, if ever found." --Francisco J. Ayala, Professor of Biological Sciences, University of California, Irvine "John Hart invites us to join him in . . . a powerful and moving commentary on human failure and insensitivity where indigenous, terrestrial civilizations have been encountered, suppressed, and even destroyed. Writing as a Christian ethicist deeply concerned about ecological destruction, he resists the shallowness of those scientists who glibly advocate our colonization of other worlds in order to escape a doom-laden earth. You don't have to believe in UFOs to appreciate his compelling argument." --John Hedley Brooke, Emeritus Professor of Science and Religion, Oxford University John Hart is Professor of Christian Ethics at Boston University School of Theology. He is the author of Sacramental Christian Ecological Ethics (2006); What Are They Saying About Environmental Theology? (2004); Ethics and Technology

430 pages, Kindle Edition

First published November 12, 2013

About the author

John Hart, Boston University professor, links the far out with the down to Earth when teaching and writing. His innovative ideas make him a wanted man: he travels often around Earth (five continents, eight countries so far-not via spacecraft) speaking on science-religion-ecology-social justice. His most recent book was Cosmic Commons: Spirit, Science, and Space (Cascade, 2013).

Reviews

[Joe Gawlik · Rating 1 out of 5]

Academic gobbledygook peppered with made up combinations of words like "cosmosocioeconoecology" and more. Advocates a totally unreasonable change to human society in order to better accommodate space exploration or contact with extraterrestrial intelligence. No mention of ancient alien theories and the available literature. I don't recommend you waste your time to read. Worthless.

[Hyungkyu Lee · Rating 5 out of 5]

Critical of the discovery doctrine by which Europeans rationalized their colonization of third world countries, author calls for a change of consciousness in new era of space and ETI encounters.