Ellie Arroway Religion

Atheist! Is the first pejorative directed at someone with a differing faith or ideology by zealots of any religion. (Shermer 40). Even in our modern, educated and by all accounts progressive society, it still happens and if history is correct it will continue long after we have all died and discovered the truth of the greatest mystery for ourselves. One of the greatest popularizers of science, Carl Sagan, is a victim of this indignity. So much so, Some religious scholars label him as an “enemy of the faith.” (Bohlin para 32). In reality, he was a very spiritual person with a deep feeling of connection to universe. His major heresy was his view of God was not of a sapient old man sitting on a throne wearing robes monitoring every thought

Fortunately, if Sagan meant this to be a cryptic or vague comparison, he did not do a very good job. The similarities between he and his character are remarkable. From their all to similar modest mainstream religion exposure as children, (Davidson 84) to the loss of their fathers (or at least believed father figure in the case of Arroway). (Spangenburg 99). Even their education and profession, the similarities are undeniable, ultimately the only significant difference is that Arroway is female and Sagan male. The similarities culminate at the root of this argument about Sagan’s alleged atheism, Sagan and Arroway debate not the non-existence of God, but the nature of God, in doing this western religion tends to vilify those who see God any other way than their perceived incarnation. Humorously, Sagan devotes almost the entirety of chapter 11 of “Contact” to this debate. (Sagan, “Contact” 173). Arroway is Sagan, through a flawed or polished mirror, depending on which biographer you choose, their stories diverge at Arroway’s discovery of the message, a dream come true for Sagan, one he would only realize through