Religion Beyond Earth

I'd would join one of the alien religions... preferably one with ice temples.

History_Buff said:

Fairly simple question for the religious folks here, spurred on something I read in the Sci and Tech forum.

If life was discovered outside the Earth, would this shake your faith in your religion?

By religion, I don't neccesarily mean your personal God(s) either, it's more directed towards the established institutions of your religion, such as the Catholic Church, Anglican Church, Lutheran Church, Sunni Islam, etc. And if I've completely misunderstood the nature of your church here, I apologise, I'm simply not up on the non-Christian faiths.

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I haven't read anything in my Bible that says life, intelligent or otherwise, does or does not exist outside of the Earth. I think it's perfectly plausible that the universe could teeming with life and even full of intelligent species - or, alternatively, that the Earth is the only living planet out there, and the rest is completely barren. I think both are possible, and neither particularly disturbs me. (Although I admit, as a sci-fi fan, I kind of like the idea of alien empires being out there. ) And since I'm non-denominational, I don't really have an "established institution" that I believe in. Just the Christian Church in general - which is the Body of Christ, not a specific physical institution.

So no, the discovery of life outside the Earth wouldn't really shake my faith.

Elrohir said:

So no, the discovery of life outside the Earth wouldn't really shake my faith.

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Well.. what if those aliens had their own religion, their own God, and pretty solid evidence that he exists?

Poll is rigged. Why can't I pick "extraterrestrial life would reinforce my beliefs"?

He assumes it doesn't. Thankfully, there's an other...oh wait. Never mind. Just pick the one closest to you.

warpus said:

Well.. what if those aliens had their own religion, their own God, and pretty solid evidence that he exists?

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I think what warpus wants to say is what if those aliens had their own religion, their own God, and pretty solid Weapons , powerful enough to convince you he exists ?


(Are there more solid evidence for the followers of Religions ?)

Eran of Arcadia said:

And why not? The discovery of the New World led to a re-evaluation of Christian beliefs. (Also, the New World wasn't mentioned in the Bible . . . )

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Because religion is based on the location and time period it is formed in. All of our religions are so outdated it doesn't make much sense as to why anyone still follows them. When a book talks about slavery as if it was a god given right, it shouldn't be trusted.

Considering that I think (read: not believe as in a faith) that there is intelligent life somewhere out there, it shouldn't make that much of a difference in my faith if there is or isn't any found.

Huayna Capac357 said:

You're Sunni? You should open an Ask a Sunni thread! I'd post on it

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It's okay, you'll understand one day, young Padawan.

Ziggy Stardust said:

What if the aliens have their own God allready?

Deity Showdown!

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Syncretism FTW.

Eran of Arcadia said:

And why not? The discovery of the New World led to a re-evaluation of Christian beliefs. (Also, the New World wasn't mentioned in the Bible . . . )

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What re-evaluation was that?

Nylan said:

Ever seen Galaxy Quest?

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Those guys were Scientologists? And to think, I liked them so...

Luckymoose said:

Because religion is based on the location and time period it is formed in. All of our religions are so outdated it doesn't make much sense as to why anyone still follows them. When a book talks about slavery as if it was a god given right, it shouldn't be trusted.

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That's something that's always interested/bothered me as well.

As a Christian, I definitely think the message and truths of the bible are as true now as they were when they were written, and we use the bible mainly because it's the religious context into which Jesus and Paul and Peter and James and John, etc, was born, and because many of their teachings cite the Hebrew Scriptures and the culture around them, but that context seems very out of date.

Your slavery thing for existence. In that culture, slaves were tools, and few people even thought about the moral problems that they brought up. Most of the times when slaves are mentioned in the bible, it's either in passing (and so and so's slave said this or that), or in the laws in Leviticus that try to establish certain rights for slaves taken. (Must be allowed to rest on the sabbath, must be freed after 7 years, etc.) Nobody really questioned the idea of slavery as a whole, it was so much ingrained in the culture at the time.

Now of course, we've seen what a horror slavery is and have tried to end it whenever possible... it's certainly a big issue, and seen as barbaric. But think of "barbaric" things we do on a daily basis that we don't think about usually, because it's so much part of our culture. Buying goods produced in sweat shops (which work their slaves far harder than most ancient slaves, and with worse treatment), being obese while thousands starve every day, etc. etc.

I can imagine if the bible were written today, people 2000 years from now would be shocked by a passage saying that Peter was wearing Nike brand shoes and an Old Navy t-shirt when he and Jesus stopped at McDonald's to buy 2 big macs and 5 medium fries to feed the five thousand.

Well, I suppose the discovery of people who didn't know Christ led the people to believe that one person on only one area of the planet on only one planet could not be the only infallible man in the universe, leading to the Reformation ???

How am I a Padawan?! I really do have questions for Sunnis!

Continually, there is one God so gods cannot have a "showdown." Aliens worship the same God.

Huayna Capac357 said:

Well, I suppose the discovery of people who didn't know Christ led the people to believe that one person on only one area of the planet on only one planet could not be the only infallible man in the universe, leading to the Reformation ???

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You think Christians had never seen a non-Christian before?

How am I a Padawan?! I really dohave questions for Sunnis!

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One day, you'll understand.

Continually, there is one God so gods cannot have a "showdown." Aliens worship the same God.

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"Diety showdown" would refer to different understandings of the nature of that God. Thus, one would refer to each interpretation as being their "god" just as one would say their "America" or their "world" when referring to a specific frame of mind or school of thought.

I was somewhat trying to interpret that poster's comments. I do not personally agree with them, but I was trying to interpret them.


Understand what???


Ah. I get it. Don't we already have that?

Huayna Capac357 said:

I was somewhat trying to interpret that poster's comments. I do not personally agree with them, but I was trying to interpret them.

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So why would you answer it?

Understand what???

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Don't rush it.

Ah. I get it. Don't we already have that?

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Yes.

AngryZealot said:

Poll is rigged. Why can't I pick "extraterrestrial life would reinforce my beliefs"?

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Because in your case the second last option is still true

Cheezy the Wiz said:

Those guys were Scientologists? And to think, I liked them so...

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I meant to refer to the aliens watching the humans and then being "indoctrinated" by them. Imagine a universe with aliens who, by studying the internet, were converted to scientology

As far as the discovery of the New World . . . European Christians knew that there were non-Christians out there, but they mostly knew only Jews (whom they considered to have rejected Christ) or Muslims (whom they viewed as Christian heretics) and thus were comfortable with the idea that only Christians can be saved, since anyone who wasn't a Christian had only themselves to blame for that fact. It wasn't until they came into contact with large groups of people who had never had any opportunity to hear of Christ that they had to worry about it. I actually took a course in college that discussed this.

Eran of Arcadia said:

As far as the discovery of the New World . . . European Christians knew that there were non-Christians out there, but they mostly knew only Jews (whom they considered to have rejected Christ) or Muslims (whom they viewed as Christian heretics) and thus were comfortable with the idea that only Christians can be saved, since anyone who wasn't a Christian had only themselves to blame for that fact. It wasn't until they came into contact with large groups of people who had never had any opportunity to hear of Christ that they had to worry about it. I actually took a course in college that discussed this.

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And to what conclusion did their worries lead to ?

That it may be possible to be saved without being a Christian, if you never heard of Christ.

Of course, different people reached different conclusions on the matter. The most conservative (theologically speaking) still said that the inhabitants of the New World had no hope of salvation, but many others said they did.

Eran of Arcadia said:

That it may be possible to be saved without being a Christian, if you never heard of Christ.

Of course, different people reached different conclusions on the matter. The most conservative (theologically speaking) still said that the inhabitants of the New World had no hope of salvation, but many others said they did.

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Ah you offer a new perspective now than the one i witnessed last time.

How about the Convert to be saved or die so you do not , conclusions ?