Mysterium tremendum

 

In the film "Watchmen", there is a strange character called Doctor Manhattan. He is some kind of superhero inadvertently created during a crazy scientific experiment. At one point, Manhattan leaves Earth for Mars and admires the red planet (which is of course entirely devoid of any living beings). Doctor Manhattan only sees...perfection. Or beauty? Naturally, he dismisses humanity as insignificant and life itself as overrated. How could the ever-changing dance of dust particles on Mars be greatly improved by an oil pipeline or shopping mall?

Interestingly, Manhattan seems to be an atheist. He can see the future and hence doesn´t believe in free will. At one point the superhero says that maybe the universe is a watch...but without a watchmaker. 

The reason why I find the musings of this character intriguing is that I get exactly the opposite reactions to pretty much the same facts (or factoids). The vastness and emptiness of space, entire planets with no life amidst the geological formations...this makes me think that God is real, after all. Or at least The Divine. Somehow, in some way, even a "watch" with no apparent maker, which simply self-exists, still cry out that God did it. 

Yeah, I know. This is probably the lowest stage of pagan god-realization. Some kind of "mysterium tremendum" without the ethics, without a so-called personal god, indeed, even without the salvation/liberation. Yet, here I must stand. Contemplating the silent expanses of the cosmos...