The Destiny of Earthseed
- There is no end
- To what a living world
- Will demand of you.
-OctaviaButler, Parable of the Sower
The Church of Gaia/Earthseed shares with its parent movement the basic reasons for pursuing TheDestiny. However, it differs with both SolSeed and the original, fictitious Earthseed religion on the exact form TheDestiny should take.
TheDestiny of both SolSeed and OctaviaButler's Earthseed is to leave the solar system and take root among the stars. In Parable of the Sower, the founder of Earthseed says that the ultimate goal is to find other living worlds, already-fertile ground in which to plant ourselves and thrive.
But I don't think it's that simple. While it's possible that Earthlife could adapt to coexistence with an alien biosphere, the process would be intensely painful as each system experiences the sudden shock of contact with the other. Earthlife would have to carve out niches for itself that are either unfilled by any alien species or broad enough to share. Failing that, it might well conquer the existing biosphere, which is a terrible sin from the perspective of we who view all Life as precious.
Therefore, I believe the Seeds of Gaia will thrive best on barren ground, such as Mars, which was probably a living world long ago but is most likely dead now. That isn't to say it will be easy. The lack of Earthlike surface conditions on dead worlds means that humans will probably have to help Earthlife to adapt by careful application of genetic engineering, a science which will hopefully be more mature and less risky by the time a full-scale Martian colonization effort is underway. But the reward is raising a true child of Gaia on a planet of its own, and I think we will find that the joys of biospheric parenthood will more than compensate us for the initial challenges of terraforming.
--Scifiben 00:04, 4 August 2007 (PDT)
