Science Is Coming: Can Religion Survive A World Without Death?

If we could tell our ancestors that one day humans would have the chance to beat death or even find life on another planet, they might have burst out laughing. I mean, how would you explain that to someone whose best idea of science is using snail slime to cure a cough? Back in the day, death was as certain as Lagos traffic. No matter how many shortcuts you know, you still have to face it. That’s why religions thrived. They were there to help people accept that we are just passengers in life’s molue bus and that we’ll eventually alight at the final bus stop – death.

But wait, what happens if death isn’t the final bus stop anymore? Imagine for a second that scientists, in all their lab-coat-wearing brilliance, finally find a way to make us live forever. Or imagine this: we spot some aliens, maybe green-skinned with antennas, chilling on Mars, or come visiting us here on earth during the New Yam festival. What does that mean for religion? Will pastors and imams have to rewrite their sermons to accommodate the idea that heaven or hell might not be the only destination? Or will priests be standing at the pulpit with PowerPoint slides, trying to explain to the congregation how Jesus’ second coming might include a stopover at Mars?

Let’s start with death, the ultimate fear, the inevitable. Every faith has been built on its foundation. Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, even our traditional religions – they all depend on the simple fact that we will all die one day, and when we do, our eternal souls will face judgment. But here comes science, with its white lab coats and microscopes, saying, “Well, not so fast.” Apparently, death is not inevitable. It’s just a technical issue, something to fix like bad network reception. Did your heart stop? No worries, we’ll replace it. Do you have cancer? We will zap that tumor right out. Broken limb? We have spare parts in store. Old age? Ah, we are still working on it, but soon you might be able to reverse your wrinkles like you are reversing a WhatsApp message you sent by mistake. Science is here to save the day and make death a thing of the past.

Now, think about what this means for organized religion. For centuries, death has been our motivation to be good, to avoid sin, to tithe regularly, and to make sure we don’t miss prayer meetings. But if we don’t have to die anymore, where is the rush? Why would anyone worry about heaven or hell when you can just keep living forever? No need to repent, no need to confess your sins. If you mess up, just hit “restart” and carry on. Pastors and imams will have to rethink their strategy. It’s hard to preach “Thou shalt not steal” when the fear of death is off the table. “Well, you see, stealing is bad… but you will still live forever anyway, so, you know, no pressure.” Religion without death is like jollof rice without tomato Jos – it just doesn’t have the same bite.

But wait, it gets juicier. What if we discover life on other planets? Imagine waking up to CNN headlines saying, “BREAKING: Aliens Confirmed Living Peacefully on Jupiter.” Just picture the confusion in church that Sunday. How would the pastor explain to the congregation that, yes, God created humans in His image, but oh, by the way, there’s also a tribe of three-eyed, four-legged creatures God forgot to mention? Would religious texts be updated to say, “In the beginning, God created the heavens, the earth, and a few other places we haven’t visited yet”?

Let’s be honest, religion might need to do some major rebranding if extraterrestrial life turns out to be real. Some of the hymns will need to be remixed, with lines like, “All creatures of our God and King, including the Martians.” Mosques would have to consider how to direct prayers towards Mecca from outer space, and heaven itself might need a spaceport. This is the stuff that could give traditional religious scholars serious migraine headaches. I can already hear debates about whether aliens have souls or if they’ll need to be baptized before they can attend church. Will pastors conduct Zoom services for the aliens, or will we just assume they’ve figured out their own salvation plan?

Now, of course, this is all satire, but let’s be real – religion is in for a wild ride if science keeps pushing the boundaries. For now, we’re still here on Earth, where death is our reality, and heaven is our goal. But that reality could change. The scientific breakthroughs we’re seeing today, from gene editing to artificial organs, suggest that humans are inching closer to significantly extending life, maybe even to the point where death isn’t the grand finale we once thought it was. And let’s face it, that poses an existential threat to the very structure of organized religion as we know it.

But here’s the thing – religions have always been adaptable. Christianity and Islam have survived wars, plagues, technological advancements, and social revolutions. They have reinterpreted their texts and teachings to fit into different historical contexts. So, maybe they will survive the scientific revolution too. Maybe pastors will start incorporating life-extension therapies into their sermons. Perhaps mosques will offer prayers for successful genetic engineering. Maybe religious leaders will find a way to blend spiritual salvation with physical immortality, telling us that eternal life here on Earth is just a taste of the even better eternal life that awaits us in the hereafter.

But, let’s not forget, humans are tricky. Even if we do achieve immortality, we’ll probably still find a way to mess things up. People will still be petty, greedy, and selfish. There’s a strong chance that even with eternal life, humans will still have midlife crises. Imagine being 400 years old and suddenly deciding you want to quit your job as an accountant to become a DJ. Or imagine the awkwardness of breaking up with someone after 200 years together. “It’s not you, it’s me. I just feel like I need to rediscover myself… for the next 500 years.”

And then there’s the issue of space. If no one is dying, where will we all fit? Lagos is already crowded, and that’s with people dying every day. Just imagine Lagos in a world where people stop dying. You can’t even leave the house without bumping into the same people you’ve known for centuries. The traffic would be unimaginable. You’d have great-great-great-grandparents still hanging around, reminding you of how things were better in the “good old days” when people still respected elders and listened to highlife music.

Of course, with immortality, there’s also the question of boredom. After you’ve traveled the world ten times, learned every language, and watched every Nollywood film ever made, what next? Would people start inventing new problems just to stay entertained? Maybe religions could come in handy here – offering spiritual challenges or meditative quests to keep people occupied. “Next Sunday’s sermon: How to find inner peace when you’ve lived for 600 years.”

In the end, science may provide us with longer, healthier lives, or even the possibility of discovering new life forms. But will that change the human need for meaning? Will we stop wondering about the purpose of it all just because we no longer have an expiration date? Probably not. After all, humans are meaning-seeking creatures. Whether we’re here for 80 years or 800 years, we’ll still look for reasons to wake up in the morning, to love, to create, to hope.

So maybe religion won’t disappear after all. It will evolve, adapt, and reinvent itself to fit this new world of immortality and intergalactic exploration. After all, faith isn’t just about death and the afterlife – it’s also about community, purpose, and a connection to something greater than ourselves. Even if we find out that aliens exist or that we can live forever, we’ll still need stories to make sense of it all. We’ll still need guidance on how to live meaningful lives, whether those lives last for 80 years or 8,000.

But one thing’s for sure: religious leaders better start preparing their sermons now because the future is coming, and it’s going to be a lot weirder than we ever imagined.

– Mr Ozogwu is a public affairs commentator based in Abuja

Disclaimer: This article is entirely the opinion of the writer and does not represent the views of The Whistler.

Science Is Coming: Can Religion Survive A World Without Death? is first published on The Whistler Newspaper