If aliens from outer space were to come and visit Earth...

[Darwin333]

Originally posted by: jhu
hopefully they won't view us as inferior creatures and then slaughter us for food.

Our own history has proven that it usually doesn't work out well for the less advanced people when they meet up with a much more advanced civilization/society.

 

[Spineshank]

I know quite a few of religious people who all believe we are it when it comes to life.

 

[sixone]

Originally posted by: 0roo0roo
the existence of other religions and the horrors contained within their own scipture doesn't seem to phase the religious. they've actively turned off reasoning.

Wow. I really hope that's flamebait, and that you aren't really that much of a hypocrite.

 

[DrPizza]

Originally posted by: Zeppelin2282

Originally posted by: Maleficus
Nothing? I don't recall religions outlawing the existence of other intelligent life.

I heard an astronomer from the Vatican say on Coast to Coast that if we were to find/meet life from another planet, it would only further confirm the church's belief in God.

That speaks for the Catholics. They seem to really be on the ball during the past half century. The Catholics (since Pope Pious the some number in the 1960's) believe in the big bang and evolution. But, I think a few religious groups, particularly in the Southern U.S., will have a minor problem with this.

 

[Parasitic]

Originally posted by: ironwing
Scientology here I come!

That was my first thought too.

 

[Alistar7]

Originally posted by: DrPizza

Originally posted by: Zeppelin2282

Originally posted by: Maleficus
Nothing? I don't recall religions outlawing the existence of other intelligent life.

I heard an astronomer from the Vatican say on Coast to Coast that if we were to find/meet life from another planet, it would only further confirm the church's belief in God.

That speaks for the Catholics. They seem to really be on the ball during the past half century. The Catholics (since Pope Pious the some number in the 1960's) believe in the big bang and evolution. But, I think a few religious groups, particularly in the Southern U.S., will have a minor problem with this.

A catholic priest was actually the creator of the big bang theory, not Hubble. There are interesting interpretations of science being used to prove the existence of a "creator". I personally don't buy them, but they are fun arguements.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Georges_Lema%C3%AEtre

Monsignor Georges Henri Joseph Éduard Lemaître (July 17, 1894 ? June 20, 1966) was a Belgian Roman Catholic priest, honorary prelate, professor of physics and astronomer.

Fr. (later Msgr.) Lemaître proposed what became known as the Big Bang theory of the origin of the Universe, although he called it his 'hypothesis of the primeval atom'.

 

[alimoalem]

Originally posted by: DangerAardvark

Originally posted by: alimoalem
i haven't come to off topic in a while so i forgot most of the idiots are packed in this forum...i was actually hoping this would turn out to be a more serious thread (NOT saying everyone wasn't serious...after realizing this is ATOT, there are more serious answers than i should have expected)

harcorerobot, anyone that expects religion to explain everything is plain dumb. religion, for the most part, should be a way of life for people and have codes of law for people to live by, not to refer to for their chemistry homework. also, as others have stated, aliens do have a place in the Abrahamic religions.

whampom, care to explain your existence? i'm just curious, cause you seem to be single-handedly pulling down the intelligence rating. btw, i frankly don't give a rat's ass what you believe, but please do answer the question i've asked. and don't make a mockery of others' beliefs. if someone understands something incorrectly, correct them. if you can't prove them wrong, stfu, grow some balls and go out to the real world.

chaoticpinoy, your analogy kind of states dogs aren't humans so they weren't created in His image...btw, i really am behind on my biblical literature but couldn't creation in His image just refer to us being of him and not necessarily similar in appearance? not trying to start anything, just food for though.

Jeff7, there is mention of intelligent life aside from humans in religious scriptures. i don't think too much has been said about them but why should that deem them insignificant? it just doesn't seem like proper subject matter for a religious text, imo. i mean you don't open up a Bible or Quran to read about aliens, right? i think their acknowledgment was just meant for us to understand we aren't the only ones and that's it. their existence shouldn't have any impact on what we believe. about God's looks, He doesn't have to have a physical form. for those that believe in God and him omnipotence/omnipresence (i do), it seems simple-minded, imo, to have to put a physical form to Him. About the lack of love for other civilizations in the holy texts, why can't they get a separate book? like humans get a book so we can do our thing, non-humans get a different book(s) so they can do their thing.

DangerAardvark, do you always speak out of your ass?

Your post is so long yet you say so little. Tell me at what point in this thread I started making shit up, because you pretty much started 2 sentences in.

your first post: Pft, according to Muslims the Quran predicts space travel and nuclear energy too.

care to say where i started to make things up? and you still haven't answered my previous question.

 

[SSSnail]

Originally posted by: DarkThinker

Originally posted by: Wag

Originally posted by: PottedMeat
Grok?

Klaatu barada nikto?

Be teezo?

Grom ogar zurg zurg, kek.

 

[GagHalfrunt]

Nothing would damage religion. The whole idea is to ignore facts in favor of more comforting beliefs. If doesn't matter if we find alien life on a billion other worlds, it won't matter when we eventually prove the origins of the universe, the wannabelievers will keep ignoring that like they ignore all the things science has already disproved. A closed mind insulates against pesky facts.

 

[Homerboy]

Originally posted by: SketchMaster

33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.
34 And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many.
35 But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.

38 And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.

(Moses 1:33-35, 38)

Nice quote. Shows the bible does at least acknowledge the exisitant of "other worlds" both past and present (and likely future).

 

[Minjin]

I think we had a thread on alien contact a while back where we talked about how dangerous it would be. Doesn anyone remember? I recall there being something about three rules that we must keep in mind. Something about how they would act in their own self interest as would we and that each would know that the other knows that. Does that ring a bell?

 

[Jeff7]

Originally posted by: Minjin
I think we had a thread on alien contact a while back where we talked about how dangerous it would be. Doesn't anyone remember? I recall there being something about three rules that we must keep in mind. Something about how they would act in their own self interest as would we and that each would know that the other knows that. Does that ring a bell?

Indeed, it could be exceedingly dangerous. (Though I don't remember the particular thread.) What if their definition of "intelligence" is so far beyond anything we are capable of? It'd be like us trying to determine if a dog is truly self-aware. It has some sense of awareness - for example, it will do things that will prevent the sensation of pain. On some level, a dog knows this information, and is able to react. But is it true intelligence? "Intelligence" is whatever we define it to be. If an alien race is so far advanced beyond ours, it's possible that we might appear to them as little more than a nuisance animal, a potential source of contamination or infestation in the interstellar community. Already we litter the cosmos with electromagnetic chatter and little robotic probes. Is this considered acceptable behavior? Will it be recognized as typical behavior of a civilization still in its cosmic infancy? Or will it be seen as little more than a stimulus-response action?

So much depends on who it is that we happen to meet first. I did consider once that perhaps Earth should try to restrict all outgoing EM chatter, signaling our presence. Our knowledge of the interstellar ecology is so limited, for all we know, there are life forms out there which simply listen for this chatter, like a mountain lion listening for a rabbit moving through snow, waiting to pounce of young civilizations. Entire civilizations could undergo natural selection, just as animals do on Earth. A defenseless animal which advertises its presence may be quickly consumed by a predator. Civilizations which advertise their presence may similarly be picked off quickly, thus natural selection would favor the survival of "quiet" civilizations.
"The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena." - Carl Sagan

 

[Minjin]

I was just reading a good essay by David Brin on the topic: pdf

He makes some very good points. Mostly, he advocates that we get more people involved in talking about it before allowing Active SETI to continue.

edit: the main page I got that pdf from here

 

[videogames101]

Originally posted by: jhu
hopefully they won't view us as inferior creatures and then slaughter us for food.

read "shade's children" by Garth Nix, great book....

 

[puffff]

Nothing would happen.

I asked a religious friend once if he believed in aliens. He said yes. I asked him how it factored into his belief system. He said it was totally unrelated. As far as his religious texts were concerned, they only address the relationship between God and man. How God and Alpha Centaurians relate is between God and Alpha Centaurians, and has no place in his own religious studies.

 

[jpeyton]

It would definitely blow a big hole in the creationism argument.

Any alien visitors are going to be millions of years more advanced than ours. A civilization with a recorded history far older than ours will tear apart the "human/God"-centered views of our world's religions.

 

[WHAMPOM]

Thatthatisisthatthatisnotisnot. We have come to interview the one we consider your planet's most insightful philosophical thinker. George Carlin ring a bell?

 

[DangerAardvark]

Originally posted by: jpeyton
It would definitely blow a big hole in the creationism argument.

Any alien visitors are going to be millions of years more advanced than ours. A civilization with a recorded history far older than ours will tear apart the "human/God"-centered views of our world's religions.

We can already tear apart every Creationist argument. Creationists will just modify their views to fit the situation and claim it's what they believed all along.

 

[Flyback]

Can you qualify your question by suggesting which strands of faith you're asking it of?

Militant atheists (weak atheists/agnostics are far different) often use evolution* as their strongest 'tool' against those of faith. What, though, will the militant atheist turn to when evolution does not pose a problem to a believer?

(I'm not implying the OP is a militant atheist; I will assume he asked the question with benign intent / only curiosity to learn. I'm merely pointing out one of the single largest fallacies that I see with a common line of 'militant atheist' thinking in online forums and such.)

* I use evolution in the sense of a process that may very well occur in many places throughout the cosmos.

 

[Ruptga]

Originally posted by: Homerboy

Originally posted by: SketchMaster

33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.
34 And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many.
35 But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.

38 And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.

(Moses 1:33-35, 38)

Nice quote. Shows the bible does at least acknowledge the exisitant of "other worlds" both past and present (and likely future).

That's not in "the Bible," that's from the book of Moses, a book the Mormons added on.

Originally posted by: puffff
Nothing would happen.

I asked a religious friend once if he believed in aliens. He said yes. I asked him how it factored into his belief system. He said it was totally unrelated. As far as his religious texts were concerned, they only address the relationship between God and man. How God and Alpha Centaurians relate is between God and Alpha Centaurians, and has no place in his own religious studies.

That's well-put and would be my response as well... well, assuming I was going to give a serious answer. I don't think most in this thread deserve a serious answer, which is why I didn't give one in the first place.

 

[sandorski]

Originally posted by: ADDAvenger

Originally posted by: Homerboy

Originally posted by: SketchMaster

33 And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten.
34 And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many.
35 But only an account of this earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you. For behold, there are many worlds that have passed away by the word of my power. And there are many that now stand, and innumerable are they unto man; but all things are numbered unto me, for they are mine and I know them.

38 And as one earth shall pass away, and the heavens thereof even so shall another come; and there is no end to my works, neither to my words.

(Moses 1:33-35, 38)

Nice quote. Shows the bible does at least acknowledge the exisitant of "other worlds" both past and present (and likely future).

That's not in "the Bible," that's from the book of Moses, a book the Mormons added on.

Originally posted by: puffff
Nothing would happen.

I asked a religious friend once if he believed in aliens. He said yes. I asked him how it factored into his belief system. He said it was totally unrelated. As far as his religious texts were concerned, they only address the relationship between God and man. How God and Alpha Centaurians relate is between God and Alpha Centaurians, and has no place in his own religious studies.

That's well-put and would be my response as well... well, assuming I was going to give a serious answer. I don't think most in this thread deserve a serious answer, which is why I didn't give one in the first place.

Ah, thanks for the info, was about to post:"WhereTF is the Book of Moses in the Bible?" I've read the Bible many times and never once saw any reference to any Intelligent life outside Spiritual Beings(God, Angels, Demons, Satan) and Humankind on Earth. I suppose one could interpret Angels/Demons as "Aliens", but that would be a rather unconventional interpretation of Scripture, although possibly correct. Christian Religion(s) definitely have traditionally maintained the uniqueness of Life on Earth.

 

[Evadman]

Originally posted by: jhu
hopefully they won't view us as inferior creatures and then slaughter us for food.

om nom nom human rinds