A Case of Conscience by James Blish
"A Case of Conscience" is a science fiction narrative that explores deep ethical and theological dilemmas through the lens of a Jesuit priest and biologist, Ramon Ruiz-Sanchez. Set on the newly discovered planet of Lithia, home to an intelligent reptilian species known as Lithians, the story grapples with themes of morality, existence, and the influence of divine grace. Lithia presents itself as a utopia, devoid of crime and politics, with a societal structure grounded in reason rather than religious belief. However, Ruiz becomes increasingly troubled by the implications of this seemingly perfect world, suspecting that it may be a deception orchestrated by a malevolent force.
As Ruiz navigates complex discussions among his survey team, he ultimately decides to recommend the planet's quarantine under the belief that Lithia's virtues are a false front for a deeper malevolence. The narrative escalates as Ruiz grapples with the sentience of a Lithian embryo, Egtverchi, which develops rapidly into an individual capable of challenging terrestrial norms. The story culminates in a dramatic confrontation between scientific ambition and moral responsibility, particularly as the team faces the potential annihilation of Lithia due to political machinations and technological hubris. Through its intricate plot, "A Case of Conscience" raises profound questions about the nature of good and evil, the essence of free will, and the ethical implications of interventionism in alien societies.
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A Case of Conscience
First published: 1958 (book 1 abridged as “A Case of Conscience” in If, 1953)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—apocalypse
Time of work: 2049-2050
Locale: Lithia, a planet 50 light-years from Earth; New York City; and Vatican City
The Plot
Ramon Ruiz-Sanchez is a Jesuit priest as well as a biologist with the United Nations (U.N.) survey team on the recently discovered planet of Lithia. Lithia, dominated by a species of intelligent reptilians, is an apparent utopia. The Lithians have no crime, no politics, and no religion, and their ethical code (otherwise identical to that of Christianity) is based on pure reason. Despite their planet’s iron-poor crust, the Lithians have developed advanced technologies, including a planetary communications web based on pulses emitted by the gigantic Message Tree, the roots of which reach into the planet’s bedrock.
When the survey team meets to make its recommendations before departing from Lithia, Ruiz is in surprising near-agreement with physicist Paul Cleaver. Cleaver advises closing the planet publicly while secretly turning it into a nuclear weapons laboratory. Ruiz also votes to close the planet, with a permanent quarantine, because he has become convinced that Satan created Lithia as a convincing demonstration that virtue is possible without God’s grace. The other two team members recommend that Lithia be opened. The tie vote means that the planet will remain at least temporarily off limits. As the terrestrials leave, Ruiz’s Lithian friend Chtexa gives him a farewell gift, a sealed vase containing the fertilized embryo of Chtexa’s child. The embryo, as it develops outside the body, will replicate the evolutionary history of its species.
Book 2 opens in a U.N. laboratory back in New York, where Ruiz and lab director Liu Meid are observing the movements of the tiny Lithian, whose name (inscribed in his genetic code) is Egtverchi. When Lithia team member Mike Michelis arrives to request his help writing a nonclassified version of the Lithia report, Ruiz casually announces that he expects to be tried in Rome for teaching the heresy of diabolical creation.
As Egtverchi develops, it is clear to Ruiz that he will prove to be a sentient being eligible to become a naturalized U.N. citizen. Events rapidly prove Ruiz correct. Egtverchi, who reaches adulthood within months, becomes a television celebrity and a satirical commentator on terrestrial society. His large following seems to be composed primarily of psychopaths created by the unnatural living conditions of Earth’s “shelter economy.”
Meanwhile, the pope advises Ruiz to consider whether Lithia might be possessed rather than created by Satan. The distinction would allow Ruiz to abandon his heresy while literally exorcising the Lithian menace. As a last resort, Ruiz takes Egtverchi to the Canadian retreat of solid-state physicist Count d’Averoigne, who has devised an apparatus allowing simultaneous communication with the Message Tree. Egtverchi proves unresponsive to the remonstrances of his Lithian father, and Ruiz learns that Cleaver, back on Lithia in charge of the weapons project he proposed, is cutting down the Message Tree.
When Egtverchi’s last broadcast touches off widespread rioting, the United Nations attempts to arrest him, but he stows away on a starship bound for Lithia. Ruiz, Liu, and Michelis join Count d’Averoigne at his lunar observatory, where he has set up a telescope that allows simultaneous viewing of interstellar objects. Communicating through the starship, the count has warned Cleaver that his experiment might destroy the planet, but he fears that Cleaver may stubbornly persist. Ruiz pronounces his exorcism shortly before the image of Lithia explodes, taking the monitor screen with it.