Religion In Childhood's End

In Childhood’s End by C.E Clark, religious archetypes such as devil imagery, biblical terms and relations between characters of the book and religious deities are used to examine the conflict between science and religion. The Overlords who represent scientific knowledge initially pose as a threat against the various religious beliefs and customs of the race of humans. The Overlords however see religion as a threat to not only themselves, but humanity.The Overlords deem it fit to defeat religion in order to preserve humanity and have no retaliation from the humans against their rule due to religious imagery. They do this in the most effective way possible, science

In “Childhood 's End”, science defeats religion in order to cease war caused …show more content…
According to Karellen, they fear that the Overlords know the truth about their beliefs and will tear them apart. “We represent reason and science, and, however confident they may be in their beliefs, they fear that we will overthrow their gods.” In the novel, science dominates religion, the Overlords are too advanced and have been studying mankind for a long time. The world’s religions are scared that Karellen will reveal something that will make their religions seem like a lie, whether the Overlords actually know it or not. The fact that the Overlords are more advanced and might have witnessed these events happening creates fear. Clarke showcases the conflict between science and religion using Stormgren and Karellen in this case to represent the scientific side and Wainwright to represent the religious side. Another conflict that Clarke creates in Childhood’s End is the free will being taken away from humanity. In a religious view, God gave mankind free will, the freedom to make their own choices, the Overlords know humanity will destroy themselves so they take their freedom away and solve all the problems in the world. Wainwright is the leader of the freedom league and he and his followers don 't know of the Overlord 's plan and are angry that their free will is being taken away from them. They try to fight the Overlords by attempting to convince Stormgren to go against Karellen …show more content…
The conflict between science and religion is enhanced throughout the novel. In “Earth And The Overlords”, humanity does not trust the overlords due to their human nature and religious beliefs. The overlords observe humanity for many years, gathering information on their lifestyle, and use scientific methods to gain their trust. Creating the illusion of many ships in the sky, for example, emphasizes their outstanding abilities through the human eye. Using the knowledge the Overlords have gathered on mankind, they are able to strategically make an appearance which changes humanities religious views. The Overlords are then able to change society, keeping humanity from destroying itself so they can successfully join the Overmind. Jan sneaking on board an Overlord ship, signifies religion attempting to conquer the scientific ways of the Overlords, but failing. Jans’ plan is the last bit of defiance against the Overlords before science completely takes over. Once the Overlords catch Jan and broadcast it to the rest of the world, humanity loses all doubt in the Overlord 's, accepting that their technology is too advanced for humanity. This event allows the Overlords to take the last step and see that humanity becomes part of the Overmind. Science ultimately defeats religion in the moment Jan