Science and Society

"Now he is gone. I cannot help wondering what sort of odyssey he has now begun."

As an atheist, Clarke would take extreme offense at this utterance. He's begun nothing, his journey has ended. A great man now passed, he had no need for archaic beliefs--and whatever your thoughts on the matter to the contrary as evidenced by your post--he deserves to end as he chooses, without any fanfare for a deity in whom he had no faith.

Clarke may have been an atheist, but that doesnt mean he didnt believe in an afterlife, or another life in a different form. Clarke's stories were strewn with beings who changed form (from physical bodies into energy as an example)as part of their natural progression. This idea is what the writer of the article was expounding upon. Being an atheist simply means one doesnt believe in God nor do they commit to any specific religious doctrine.

Phil Hall--don't confuse his aethism with all-or-nothing existance. Even a cursory look at his writings reveals his belief in various existential planes...his aethism is merely contempt for the 'social club' of institutionalized religion (IMHO).

Good luck to him on his journey.

i do think aliens maybe visited us millions of years ago and nudged us toward advancement. but i don't believe they've visited any time soon. but to go from figuring out fire to where they quickly got to, there had to be intervention. the great pyramid? how the hell did they build that?

C'mon guys, Clarke's religion or lack of it isn't the point of the whole article. The whole write-up was about Ned Potter's encounters with Clarke through his works and in person. Mr. Potter, you wrote well.

Regardless of religious inclination, he was a great writer and freelance thinker. From Geosynchronous satellites to the "The Sentinel," he added much to our collective presence. He will be missed.

As a 30-something editor in 1954,I interviewed a 3- years younger Clarke. I had been a fan for some years. Even at lunch, his mind gave out story ideas almost automatically. Making small talk, I asked his thoughts about a then-newsworthy US (unarmed) experimental missile that had been launched and lost track of when it left it course vaguely in the direction of South America. Without missing a beat, Clarke said, drily, "I'm sure it's somewhere in a Brazilian jungle, being worshipped as a god!" Great beginning, yes?

The term "atheist" was coined as a pejorative term by religionists. I recommend all of those who don't practice religion stop using it.

jg...belief in a god who would punish his own children--children of his own making, no less!--does not seem like the all-knowing guy everyone makes him out to be.
See ya, Arthur.

Im an athiest/anti-theist myself, but somehow I don't find the notion of our passing being followed by a release, and therefore continuing existence of energy all that far-fetched. I don't believe it, but the idea does not perplex me and I find it to have zero baring on the fact that I don't believe in a god/creator. We know we are all composed of energy so the idea that energy morphs into something else really isn't that expansive. Again, I don't believe it .... but I can't say the idea doesn't intrigue me. Much more than the childlike, biblical stories of the afterlife do.

Yeah, you can tell he was an atheist. He life was marked with excellent work, service to his country, and nary a bad word said about anybody, and apparently nobody has a bad word to say about him. You religious freaks could learn something from him.

An interesting post, Ned. I envy your having met the man in person. I've always admired his work and the admiration will hang around as long as I do. As a rabid internet surfer and TV addict, I'll always pay him his due for having thought up the Clarke Belt. By the way, his "Nine Billion Names of God" never fails to give me goosebumps.

what has religion done to mankind? up to now nothing but war between christians and moslemms, jews and palestinians. world better without religions. good bye, mr. clarke

Are we forgetting one of the fundamentals of matter?

Matter is never anihilated - only altered.

He has changed in form, but his energy can never be eliminated. He is somewhere, sometime, somehow.

And that makes me smile

Clarke's passing, like Asimov's is a great loss to Science and Literature. I never understood why soome of these woprks were not required reading in school. Farewell and fare well.

A great writer who will be miss. I love his Odyassy series of books. I'll remember him.

In the late 1940's speculative fiction fans held in reverence a group they referred to as The Big Three: Asimov, Clarke, and Heinlein. Now, all three are gone. Religious philosophies aside, I'm sure the three of them are having a marvelous reunion party somewhere/somewhen. This makes me smile when contemplated.

The downside is that we will no longer have any new stories from any of them. There are some wonderful writers out there, and I find solace in their work, but they cannot replace The Big Three. As we were lifted by their stories, we are now somewhat diminished by their passing - I fear we will never see their like again.

Another theme in his books was in oriental cosmology. My favorites were "Rendezvous with Rama" (1972) which is supposedly going to be released as a movie in 2009, and "Childhood's End" with a hitchcock like twist to the end of the story.

Well, I guess he didn't give us any answers so we have to stay with the truths that Moses told us.

Fights about Heaven and Hell, people sitting in eternal-judgement over a single man, contradictory truths being thrown right and left to justify eachs' faith. Plenty of spin here for a A.C.C. novel or even better a Heinlein novel!
Gonna miss the man and his truths amidst the 4 billion (or is it nine billion) others held the world over.

What Mr. Clarke will find in death is truth, not what he thought or believed nor what you or I believe is there beyond the door of death. One came back from that door and He made it clear, death is only the beginning. And that's not my opinion, it's historical fact.

Not believing there is God does not make Him any less real.