Pat Robertson gives NASA a Bible lesson: God didn’t put life on ‘barren rocks’ in space

originally posted by: bitsforbytes
a reply to: JadeStar

I hope to be here no matter what the outcome.

We have certain leads on what we think it takes for life to sprout. We are hoping these leads are right.

Perhaps conditions for life are a lot more sensitive than we like to admit and that just having a blue planet at a certain distance from a sun is not enough. I certainly dont know. But i believe it could be so.

or perhaps life could exist outside our narrow parameters....

Life could take many forms beside just biological that we are familiar with. Crystals could have their own version of life.

Describe for me what "living" means to you....

"Life", to me, is best represented with the definition of "that which works against entropy"

Which doesn't include sentience. I can be aware, yet still unable to act. Being able to act is what makes life.

originally posted by: bigfatfurrytexan
"Life", to me, is best represented with the definition of "that which works against entropy"

Which doesn't include sentience. I can be aware, yet still unable to act. Being able to act is what makes life.

Is growth an act?

a reply to: olaru12

Therein lies the great question.....

A crystal growing is working against entropy. Does that make it life?

Its a forum and people come in all the time to help out where they can.
a reply to: Krazysh0t

Go Pat go, the man is sticking to his faith, I'm all for it myself. It would be cool to find life elsewhere but it wouldn't really change my opinion either.

a reply to: olaru12

You could be right, i concede that life is maybe not a fixed definition, we are speculAting at this point. We dont know, we hope, we think, we believe...

My point is we hold beliefs much like the religious man in the video does too.

I am open to what life could mean, however we are only sure of biological life thus far.

a reply to: Nochzwei

Fine. Knock yourself out, but don't get angry if I start pushing back on your beliefs.

a reply to: Lucid Lunacy

I see that TrueBrit has got this in-hand. My point was simply "don't lump all Christians in with Pat Robertson".

I really need to stop replying right before leaving for work.

originally posted by: ProfessorChaos
a reply to: Lucid Lunacy

I see that TrueBrit has got this in-hand. My point was simply "don't lump all Christians in with Pat Robertson".

I really need to stop replying right before leaving for work.

Why not...?

Conservatives lump all liberals in with Socialism, communism, progressiveism and everything else that they think will insult and help win the argument. It seems to be SOP for "discussions" on ATS.

I have a hard time believing that a God would give man a curious nature and an instinctivness to explore, then create an infinite universe full of unknown wonders that He didn't want explored. I would think that if God did create the universe, He'd want us to explore just to see and experience His creation and what all He's capable of.

Pat Robertson needs to get over himself and realize that science and religion can complement one another when given an objective opportunity.

a reply to: Lucid Lunacy

I would whole heartedly argue that the religious notion that we have answers to life's biggest questions, which is exactly what religion professes, is precisely antithetical to what is good and moral and what we should be doing.

The answers to life's biggest questions are all known. The answers lie in biology and most folk don't find them very edifying — 'Why are we here?' 'To have fertile grandchildren', etc — but there you go.

But it's okay. We don't have to tell people we know the answers. We can pretend we don't and encourage them to go on looking. Isn't that what it's all about?

We raise our glass to the ancient truth
We can't reveal to the innocent youth
Except to say it isn't worth a damn

Or, as it says in the same song, 'She's a hundred but she's wearing something tight.'

originally posted by: olaru12

originally posted by: ProfessorChaos
a reply to: Lucid Lunacy

I see that TrueBrit has got this in-hand. My point was simply "don't lump all Christians in with Pat Robertson".

I really need to stop replying right before leaving for work.

Why not...?

Conservatives lump all liberals in with Socialism, communism, progressiveism and everything else that they think will insult and help win the argument. It seems to be SOP for "discussions" on ATS.

"They started it!"
That's a rather childish, and counter-productive approach to take. Wouldn't you agree?

Is he still alive? The question is why are we really considering what this man is saying? After all we all know he is a con man, who is in it for the money, and only will make waves to gain more face time and viewers.

originally posted by: Krazysh0t
a reply to: Nochzwei

Fine. Knock yourself out, but don't get angry if I start pushing back on your beliefs.

I don't get angry at all. I have transcended mere belief and faith, only by His Grace, I might add. All Christians are actually tasked to bring the good news about The Kingdom of God.

I was not aware that this no talent ass clown was God's press secretary.

whats next.... His weather forecast?

This weeks snowy weather was caused by high pressure, moist tropical air and Gods hatred of homosexuality.

originally posted by: Xcathdra
I was not aware that this no talent ass clown was God's press secretary.

whats next.... His weather forecast?

This weeks snowy weather was caused by high pressure, moist tropical air and Gods hatred of homosexuality.

Hay you don't how true your statement is, in fact he blamed the Katrina disaster on the citizen's party lifestyle, and the earthquake in Haiti as God's punishment for freeing themselves from slavery because they apparently invoked their African ancestral deities to aid them in their successful rebellion against the plantocracy, yes even 911 was God's punishment to NYC in particular and America in general because of.. DA-GAYZ!!

originally posted by: olaru12
I hope to be here no matter what the outcome.

We have certain leads on what we think it takes for life to sprout. We are hoping these leads are right.

Yes.

Perhaps conditions for life are a lot more sensitive than we like to admit and that just having a blue planet at a certain distance from a sun is not enough. I certainly dont know. But i believe it could be so.

Well, having found life in extreme environments on Earth and the fact that it started so early in our Earth's history tends to lead us to the opposite conclusion. Life is hardy stuff. As the saying from Jurassic Park goes:

"Life Will Find A Way"

or perhaps life could exist outside our narrow parameters....

Quite possible. We don't know but the journey to this knowledge is incredibly intersting.

Life could take many forms beside just biological that we are familiar with. Crystals could have their own version of life.

Actually crystals while highly organized chemical reactions, do not exhibit all of the characteristics which would lead us to conclude they are living.

Describe for me what "living" means to you....

Life is based on chemistry; it is an ordered network of chemical reactions.

Life is a system that is not in equilibrium; it uses energy from its surroundings to organize itself.

Life is adaptive and self-optimizing. (Crystals are not._)

Life is compartmentalized – it needs cells that act as enclosures and vesicles.

The molecules used by life are suited to environments with water. Water is one of the most common (and uniquely useful) molecules in the universe and nature tends to use what is commonly available.

originally posted by: Spider879

originally posted by: Xcathdra
I was not aware that this no talent ass clown was God's press secretary.

whats next.... His weather forecast?

This weeks snowy weather was caused by high pressure, moist tropical air and Gods hatred of homosexuality.

Hay you don't how true your statement is, in fact he blamed the Katrina disaster on the citizen's party lifestyle, and the earthquake in Haiti as God's punishment for freeing themselves from slavery because they apparently invoked their African ancestral deities to aid them in their successful rebellion against the plantocracy, yes even 911 was God's punishment to NYC in particular and America in general because of.. DA-GAYZ!!

I find his view of a deity in the sky selectively punishing people on this tiny little rock among trillions of other tiny little rocks in the universe in like some scenario of the video game "From Dust" incredibly quaint and silly.

a reply to: olaru12

So two wrongs make a right?

Because some, not all, religious conservatives call names, and lump everyone all together in one nice little package, it's alright to do so in return?? Really? That's what you're saying?

Pat Robertson is stating his opinion. Not Gods. God gave us curiosity, and a thirst to know what's beyond that far horizon, and the means to learn to get there. First by learning to walk upright. Learning to make the wheel. Harness the power of the wind to sail, then harness the energy inherent in other sources. We learned to fly. Our next step is to fly to the stars. All this is what God gave us.

I have no problems reconciling faith and science. If Robertson does, that's his issue, and concerns me not at all, other than the undue influence he may, or may not, have on the political hacks who control the budget.