Was Thanos Right?

I loved Infinity War. If you haven’t seen it, stop whatever you’re doing and go see it immediately. I’d hate to spoil it for you.

The movie did the impossible. It juggled a massive cast and a believably unstoppable threat. Thanos, who had been looming since the original Avengers film, had finally struck. His plan? Well, he wants to wipe out half of the universe because of the scarcity of resources. That scarcity provides conflicts and pain. Thanos seeks the death of half the population to make it happier for those that remain.

Thanos was played as a stoic rationalist who saw his path as the only way. In the wake of the huge movie, there was considerable discussion about whether or not Thanos was right. If there were less people, would we be happier because there’d be more to go around for everyone else?

Many people smarter than me have debated this issue. Without going too deep into it, I’m firmly planted on the “duh, of course he wasn’t right” side. Could you imagine what would happen to society if half the population was wiped out? It’s not as if we were having any less wars when the population was half this size. The source of the problem is the fallen human heart, not the resources themselves.

But if that could be settled so easily in my mind, why bring it up? Besides, the movie has been out for awhile now, so… you know… it’s kinda old news.  It’s because I find the nature of the debate fascinating and somewhat telling of our culture in a very depressing way.

Utilitarianism and Thanos’ Decision

What’s ultimately at the heart of the debate is an ethical mindset. What we’re arguing is what is right based on results. What produces the most happiness? On one side, those arguing for Thanos’ point of view note how people would ultimately be happier because there would be less poverty. Why is it the right decision? The results. The ends justify the means.

Yet when other debate against this, they stay within the same ethical mindset. Even the few bits of defense that I gave at the beginning of this article are all about the results. The chaos of the aftermath. The persistence of war. Basically the debate stays within the realm of utilitarianism- what’s good is what produces the most happiness for  the most people. That’s why Thanos is doing what he’s doing. He believes it is the morally right thing to do because of its results. That’s how we argue back.

Christian Ethics

What’s strange about all this is that we see a slight loss of Christian ethics in this decision. Isn’t it funny that people don’t first say, “um, killing is wrong so… no. Bad Thanos”? That’s not the smart contribution to the discussion in our culture.

Christian ethics state that human life has value because we are created in the image of God. Those lives aren’t ours to take. It’s a pretty basic concept, but it’s actually a unique statement when it comes to worldviews and ethical structures. Looking to the highest power, God, we learn what is right and wrong. And more than results or any other ethical system, we learn the worth of people from the God that made us, the Messiah that delivered us.

It’s been engraved into our culture. On a typical sense, we inherently value human life.  That’s why we cheer on our heroes. They’re looking to save lives. This mindset is still somewhat in our culture.

The Nature of the Debate

But it’s not where we turn to when we want to argue about something like this. Why is that? Maybe it’s because Christian Ethics aren’t seen as intelligent or worth the elevated nature of internet debate (heh). Maybe it’s just me, but I find that the leanings of our culture when it comes to the vocabulary and nature of debates such as this very telling.

One might ask why Thanos is considered the bad guy. Another might answer that it’s because he’s killing people. But when someone asks why that is bad, we’ll quickly find that utilitarianism fails us. If our moral system isn’t based on something higher, you can give convincing arguments for anything, include wiping out the entire universe.

You can see how this plays out in the debates of the world that actually matter… when we step out of the world of fictitious aliens and infinity gauntlets. We step into major social issues are things that may seem to have an obvious answer are made muddy messes. In other words, we live in a culture where whether or not one should wipe out half the universe is actually debated. Kind of a scary thought, huh?