In 1998, the sensationalist tabloid The Sunday Mirror accused him of abuse of Cingalese children. Police of Sri Lanka, however, never found any evidence, and the newspaper itself then was exposed. In the year 2000, Clarke became a knight of the British Empire.
Clarke was always quite critical of religion, coming to affirm even in his book 3001 that this is the “madness of humanity.” Another story, The Star, states that the star that guided the Three Kings up to the manger where Christ was born was a supernova that destroyed a prosperous and peace-loving civilization. Even though it is true that many crimes were committed in the name of religion, it does not mean that this doctrine is to blame: anyone can write dogmas, more than noble it will be, and then they can be corrupted to serve as a pretext for cruel acts.
Moreover, Clarke committed the quite common mistake of believing that atheism is a scientific and rational position. We have no elements to affirm that there is a supreme being, but also we have none to deny it, and atheism is a question of equal faith to any religious belief. The only really scientific approach, on this type of question, is agnosticism, as well noted by the scientist (and also occasional writer of fiction) Carl Sagan.
On the other hand, Arthur Clarke always showed a great faith in humanist values. He believed that humanity should unite peacefully to explore and to colonize other planets, instead of wasting resources and lives in wars. He was very critical of the military-industrial complex and a story of his at age 50 shows a supercomputer planned by a genius anarchist to always answer with abuses every time they try to use it for war questions. Beyond that, already in his first works you can note his position of tolerance not only for all cultures and religions, but also for different sexual orientations.
On his 90th birthday, celebrated in October of last year, Arthur Clarke affirmed that his three greatest wishes were: that humanity would manage contact with an alien civilization, would depend less on oil, and would end the civil war in Sri Lanka. Unfortunately, he died without seeing them carried out.
Carlo MOIANA
Pravda.ru
Buenos Aires
Translated by Lisa KARPOVA
PRAVDA.Ru
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