#8: The Fool’s Utopia
Why Christians Shouldn't Colonize Mars
Utopia has always been the fool's errand. Musk says that Mars' governmental structure will get right, what human history has gotten wrong. He promises direct democracy, minimal government, laws with sunset clauses, and shared pan-human responsibility.
Elon's thoughts, pragmatically framed, are driven by what he sees as necessity. Earth may not survive mankind. So mankind needs to survive Earth. These words carry the unmistakable imprint of utopianism. It's subtle, no question. To his credit, Elon’s is not the naïve, idealistic utopianism of Star Trek, but certainly one that wears the garments of engineering, technology, and a certain kind of human inevitability. He doesn't speak of a perfect Martian society. He knows better. It's more of an insurance policy for humanity. A living, breathing, off-site backup of human civilization that would secure our species against natural catastrophe, or ourselves. Yet we still feel the old utopian impulse, albeit in a veneer of pragmatism. "We can do it better."
The promise is always the same: If only we could do it this new way, we might fix the ills and ailments of human history. We could create heaven on Mars without God.
Utopia is a beautiful lie.
Man has spent millennia breathlessly chasing it. Every attempt ends in ruin. Whether in the political experiments of totalitarianism, the scientific dreams of transhumanism, or the galactic aspirations of space colonization, the same delusion persists. If we can just remove the constraints of the past, we can fix what's broken in us. Yet, therein lies the fatal flaw, the one reality that corrupts every perfect plan—sin. It has broken us.
The first and only true utopia was Eden. It was not a work of man's hands but God's. It was a place where righteousness dwelt, untouched by death or decay. But even where perfection reigned, sin entered. Not by poverty. Not by ignorance. Not by oppression. But by curiosity. "Hath God said?", was the impetus of man's great demise.
So if utopia couldn't last in the garden of God, how could we imagine we can build one in a fallen universe? The first utopia was shattered by a single blow of defiance. Every attempt since has only multiplied our ruin. We forget that when Adam and Eve fell, all creation fell with them. Not just Adam, but the very created order itself. (Genesis 3:17-18) Above all corruptions, man's very heart was corrupted (Jeremiah 17:9), his mind and will enslaved to sin (Romans 3:10-12), and his heart darkened by pride (Ephesians 4:18). The world is no longer fit for a 'utopia,' and man is not fit to rule one.
Utopia is impossible. Not so much because of external obstacles (although they are many), but because of the inertia of corruption. Man does not fail to make a utopia because of a lack of knowledge, but because of the evil lodged within our core. His heart is incapable of standing in the presence of perfection, let alone sustaining it. This is why every utopian project, from Babel to Animal Farm, has collapsed under its own weight.
Let's take the Tower of Babel (Genesis 11:1-9) for example. It was humanity's first utopian attempt. The people sought to build a city and a tower to reach the very heavens—even to God Himself, not out of love for Him, but out of ambition to take His place. Their goal was to escape the orbit of our Creator: to unite the world under one language, one purpose, one people against God. Sounds familiar.
God's response? He shattered their ubiquity. He confounded their language. He scattered man across the face of the earth. Why? Because any attempt at human perfection that ignores God is destined for failure. The pattern of history is set: man builds, God scatters. Man rises, God humbles.
Think of the French Revolution. It promised the end of tyranny and the birth of liberty. Instead, it birthed the guillotine, where men tried to force utopia on society, slaughtering all naysayers in the name of progress. Communism, another bold attempt, envisioned a world of equality, where wealth and power were distributed, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs", as Marx put it. And how did that work out? Ask Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn.
Transhumanism is the current iteration of Utopianism. Currently, we are all spellbound, trying to cross the boundary of humanity through technology, merging man with machine. Strangely, this is also Musk's doing. It is uncovering a myriad of ethical questions that yet need to be answered. But not here.
Then there is Mars colonization. Elon promises a fresh start. A world without the pollution, wars, or brokenness of Earth. A new history to be forged away from this failing Blue Marble. But the same sinful hands that corrupted it, will corrupt Mars. Mankind will take his fallen nature wherever he goes.
The Christian's hope is not in some man-made paradise. It is in the kingdom of the Son. We love science, exploration, and advancement, but not at the expense of hope. Our hope does not rest in trying to resurrect Eden from the dead. Christ alone is our hope. Only He will restore what's been lost. His kingdom alone will establish peace and righteousness. As Hebrews 11:10 says, we look "for a city which hath foundations, whose builder and maker is God."
Utopia will never come through the hands of men. It will come when Christ returns. The greatest lie of utopianism is that man, given the right conditions, can fix our brokenness. But history has already judged. No revolution, no system, no technology can rebirth the human heart.
There is a utopia coming—but it is not by the work of our hands. It will come only at the return of Jesus Christ, the true King, the only Redeemer, and the rightful Builder of the New Creation.
So let the world dream of its utopias. Let them build their Babels. But as for us, we will wait upon the Lord.