Plain brass telescope on a low teal support, with a small loose ring beside it

Original artwork, not a still

Contact • 1985

Carl Sagan

Anything you don't understand, Mr. Rankin, you attribute to God. God for you is where you sweep away all the mysteries of the world, all the challenges to our intelligence. You simply turn your mind off and say God did it.

Behind the line

What it means

Our interpretation.

The speaker accuses Mr. Rankin of using God as a dumping ground for everything left unexplained. In this view, the habit ends inquiry: instead of wrestling with mysteries that challenge intelligence, the listener switches off thought and declares that God did it.

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