Religion and alien life.

[Muffled]

It would confirm my view that most religions are Homocentric.

I can not get my head round the Idea that man is in the image of God. It is quite extraordinarily unlikely to be so.
To even have an inkling about the concept of God , must embrace the universe.
Our place in the scale of things is vanishingly imperceptible.

It is highly likely that the concept of religion and God is universal.

I believe that would be true if the image were material but I believe it is spiritual and would fit into an alien body fine if God wished it to be so.

 

[columbus]

Maybe we are the only ones dumb enough to believe a talking snake and muck up Paradise.

Maybe everyone else is blissfully happy and God keeps us ignorant to protect them. Sort of like putting a violent criminal in a rubber room for everyone's safety.

Tom

 

[Shadow Wolf]

It wouldn't change anything for me. I already assume there is probably some other intelligent life out there somewhere, so definitive proof would really not change any of my beliefs.

Actually quite the contrary; the LACK of extraterrestrial life would probably make me start questioning because it wouldn't make sense with this vast universe.

I think I would be utterly stunned if it was proven we are alone in this massive universe filled with countless planets. I think I would begin to question why we are here if we are alone.

 

[Bird123]

I wish the aliens would hurry it up and show up. I'm having some trouble getting my Flying Saucer to fly. :faint:

Seriously, aliens would probably know more about God. After all, it takes great intelligence to be able to travel millions of light years just to get here.

God has the sum of all knowledge. Intelligence actually brings one closer to God. On the other hand, Blind Faith will always make the journey to God longer. God isn't about believing. God is about KNOWING. Of course, learning and growing seldom follows a straight line. So often our Egos lead us into left field. We can be our own detour to discovering the real truth.

 

[CynthiaCypher]

I think they are waiting for us to get our **** together.

Romans 8:19:

The cosmos is waiting with excitement for God to show his children’s glory completely.

 

[Sir Doom]

Maybe we are the only ones dumb enough to believe a talking snake and muck up Paradise.

Maybe everyone else is blissfully happy and God keeps us ignorant to protect them. Sort of like putting a violent criminal in a rubber room for everyone's safety.

Tom

Nah, we're not that lucky.

 

[Bunyip]

I wouldn't think that the discovery of alien life would make any difference to the world's major faiths.

No more than did the discovery that heaven was not above us nor hell beneath us. Religions flow and evolve around such things uninterrupted.

 

[Shadow Wolf]

I think they are waiting for us to get our **** together.

Romans 8:19:

The cosmos is waiting with excitement for God to show his children’s glory completely.

I've often wondered if their version of "campfire horror stories" revolve around earth and scary savage humans. Their stories and threats to get children to behave I have wondered if they go something like "Don't give me any lip, son! Those humans brutally kill each other, what do you think they'll do to you when we send you there?They will carve you up alive boy!"

 

[logicalperson]

According to Islam our world is the only one.

 

[ImaTroll]

Here's a fun topic (well, I hope it stays fun, anyway!):

How do you think it would be if we discovered or came into contact with intelligent extraterrestrial life, in regards to religion? If you're a faithful person, would it shake your faith? Or would you be able to integrate it into your beliefs with little or no problems?

GOD and angels are aliens. that is why we have so much trouble accepting their existence.

 

[DayRaven]

I'm of the opinion that intelligence is incredibly rare (I wouldn't be surprised if there were no other advanced civilisations in our galaxy). I'm also of the opinion that communication would be virtually impossible; we can't communicate with our genetic relations on earth, believe me I've tried and strawberries have little to say, so how would we converse with an alien mind?

 

[Muffled]

My cousins friend said he was abducted by an alien demon last week when he was frog gigging!!!!

No.... although I do would hope that any alien beings we encounter would be as benevolent as in much of our science fiction, I doubt they would be, or even care about us if we were noticed.

I do think it is a mathematical improbability that there are no life forms, somewhere else though.

I believe that I am descnded from aliens and that all Caucasians are.

I believe Hel (Norse myths) was a lizard person and from a race that is an ancient enemy of the Caucasians.

I believe the grey aliens most often depicted these days are from another galaxy and don't have an oar in our dsputes. They are just scientists studying other life forms.

 

[Muffled]

I'm of the opinion that intelligence is incredibly rare (I wouldn't be surprised if there were no other advanced civilisations in our galaxy). I'm also of the opinion that communication would be virtually impossible; we can't communicate with our genetic relations on earth, believe me I've tried and strawberries have little to say, so how would we converse with an alien mind?

I beleive if one were to simply rely on evolution theory and random chance one would not expect there to be many other beings like us but if there is a God who likes to create humanoids the possibilities are endless but then I believe we have a God who likes diversity in the humanoids He creates.

 

[Muffled]

GOD and angels are aliens. that is why we have so much trouble accepting their existence.

I beleive if we accept that God is omnipresent then He is never an alien anywhere alllthough I am sure some people think of Him as a stranger.

THeoretically angels are aliens beccause they are not of this world.

 

[ImaTroll]

THeoretically angels are aliens beccause they are not of this world.

or perhaps we are aliens to the angels and their world.

 

[joshua3886]

I was the only one who voted "it would completely destroy religion to me". It wouldn't destroy my religion, but I think it would destroy all other religions. How could religious people explain that alien life has never heard of their God(s)? This would put the final nail in the coffin of organized religion, because without the argument of "everyone has been touched by {insert Deity}" religious people might be forced to look at things scientifically and unbiased.
Although we might have to switch to a Futurama religion because many people have already stated they simply need religion because of the social support, so let's get started with "Oprahism" or Robotology before the aliens arrive.

 

[Levite]

I was the only one who voted "it would completely destroy religion to me". It wouldn't destroy my religion, but I think it would destroy all other religions. How could religious people explain that alien life has never heard of their God(s)? This would put the final nail in the coffin of organized religion, because without the argument of "everyone has been touched by {insert Deity}" religious people might be forced to look at things scientifically and unbiased.
Although we might have to switch to a Futurama religion because many people have already stated they simply need religion because of the social support, so let's get started with "Oprahism" or Robotology before the aliens arrive.

So by that logic, if we encounter aliens who number among them theists in some fashion, or even monotheists in some way, will that shake or shatter your atheism?

As far as I can tell, the only religious people who insist that everyone must share their specific beliefs about God are fundamentalists. The rest of us non-fundamentalist religious folks have no such notion, and therefore are unlikely to be particularly swayed one way or the other by the theism or atheism or completely alien take on spirituality that extraterrestrials may or may not have.

 

[joshua3886]

So by that logic, if we encounter aliens who number among them theists in some fashion, or even monotheists in some way, will that shake or shatter your atheism?

As far as I can tell, the only religious people who insist that everyone must share their specific beliefs about God are fundamentalists. The rest of us non-fundamentalist religious folks have no such notion, and therefore are unlikely to be particularly swayed one way or the other by the theism or atheism or completely alien take on spirituality that extraterrestrials may or may not have.

If we come across aliens who believe in the same organized religion that we do here on Earth, then yes it would shake my atheism. But I seriously doubt that because no religious text has ever mentioned alien life.

 

[Levite]

If we come across aliens who believe in the same organized religion that we do here on Earth, then yes it would shake my atheism. But I seriously doubt that because no religious text has ever mentioned alien life.

Why does it have to be the same organized religions we have here? I don't assume if I go to some far-flung corner of this planet that the people there will practice an organized religion like mine? Why would I assume anything like that about aliens?

What I was asking was whether you felt your atheism would be shaken if they had religions or systems of spirituality of their own (either like ours in certain ways or not at all).

 

[Jayhawker Soule]

It surprises me that, as of this writing, 36 of 37 voters chose "It would have little or no negative effect."

I would think that much would depend on the nature of the life, what it had to say about religion, and my estimation of the credibility of the source. The poll options are pathetically insufficient.