A question for the Religious (especially Fundamentalists)... Do you believe that we are ALONE???

OK, first the set up. I have absolutely no doubt that the Universe is just teeming with life! Since the discovery in 2008 that organic molecules are created by the impacts of ordinary carbon-containing chondrite meteorites - the most common type of meteorite, into the early oceans, it is readily apparent that the Universe itself must contain billions and billions of planets where organic molecules are plentiful, thus simple life would therefore be just a few chemical reactions away. Here's just a few visuals to illustrate the magnatude of number of other star systems in the Universe:

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/4300a06785f5.jpg[/atsimg]
[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/88139afbc030.jpg[/atsimg]

I also am under the impression, due to my study of all of the Major Organized Religions, that there is absolutely no room for life outside of Earth in their Dogmas. They all have a central theme... that the Universe was created for us, and that we are special and unique. So, my question here to all of the Faithful (especially the Fundamentalists) is, do you really believe that we are ALONE in the Universe? Do you believe that there is no other sentient life in the Universe? And if you believe that we are not alone, how can this mesh with your Faith???

I'm not catholic, but if the pope says their can be life, why is you say there is no room in religious dogma for life?
I'm what you might call a nonpracticing christian and I believe there's life for the same reasons you do.
Another reason might be the amount of planets we're finding with such fledgling extrasolar-detecting equipment.
But yeah, I believe in Jesus, and I think there's aliens. A lot of parents tell kids they're special when they're not. Maybe God did that too.

I am also what they call 'non-practicing' Christian. I am more open-minded than a lot of people that share the same faith as me, so I guess that is why I am considered 'non-practicing.' Although I do believe that we have life out there, it would be one hell of a surprise if we didn't. I look at a more logical perspective, with 26 x 10 ^26 stars out there (I am sorry I didn't want to write all the zeros, scientific method will suffice) there has to be possibilities.

-SD

Messianic-jew here. I think it is absolutely absurd for any religious leader or person to make the claim that god did not create something.

"few chemical reactions away" .. maybe the understatement of the year
I assume you knew that when your wrote it though, just trying to make a point?

i personally believe that there is no limit to god's creativity. i dont see why there should be any argument against that. i firmly believe and god and i'm still antsy to see if all this research and exploration will turn up with another living entity out in that beautiful universe...

Proud Christian here. Used to be a Baptist.

As I understand the Bible, it does not say the Universe was made for man. It does say the Earth was made for man, and that God made the stars also. Ergo, I have no doubt that amongst the vast number of galaxies, each containing an equally vast number of stars, there are enough Earth-like planets to support life, and quite a good probability of intelligent life.

I do not believe we are being visited by such life, which is why I normally avoid this forum. I believe that, should we ever manage to travel beyond the limits of our own solar system, the first thing we will encounter will be a ring (sphere?) of space buoys, with the following message (or something to the same effect) written across them (in whatever language):

"DANGER! DANGER!
No trespassing beyond this point!
Dangerous primitive creatures!
THIS AREA IS UNDER QUARANTINE!"

Let's face it, folks... we live in a society where people will get into arguments over what time it is! I know; I have seen such arguments at truck stop restaurants! No intelligent beings able to roam the Universe at will want anything to do with us, nor are they afraid of us.

That said, there is a place in the Bible where it mentions fallen angels being cast into the Earth... so that means if one wanted to call purely spiritual beings (angels, demons, cherubim, etc.) "extraterrestrial" (which could be seen as accurate), then I could accept that.

TheRedneck


[edit on 1/5/2010 by TheRedneck]

[edit on 1/5/2010 by TheRedneck]

A quick analogy if you'd allow me to indulge:

Think of the universe as the grass in the yards on a street, each blade a galaxy or so. If your neighbor was walking around barefoot one day and caught some exotic disease that ate his flesh and killed him in a rapid and horrible fashion, you could imagine that some forensic specialists and maybe even some scientists would show up to investigate. Now imagine, the experts say very quickly that the disease he caught is the only known case of its kind (life) and after they studied a few blades of grass they assert that no more of this disease exists anywhere else. Would you be outside without shoes?

Life is guided by some intelligent force, yes!
Do we understand that force, no!
Both religion and evolution are flawed theories.

I think a more interesting hypothetical is regarding what if intelligent life counters what is considered sacrosanct.

First you remind the fundamentalist that they believe absolute the bible (or w/e) as the accurate word of God then you ask them what if intelligent life counters some of the "indelible truths" about the world, the universe and human origin?

You'll be surprised how quick the "fundamentalists" state almost everything that the aliens counter is now magically "oh it was all a metaphor really, God didn't really make the universe in 7 days" / adam eve etc. "metaphor" "metaphor" etc.

At that point the "indelible truths" become an empty shell with very little persuasive integrity and everything else in the bible is undermined as a result.

Man isn't the center of creation.

The Vatican has become very interested in extra terrestrial life this past decade. I'm guessing the Vatican is hoping they'll be the first to make "deals" behind closed doors with the Aliens to not rock the boat. Hopefully the Aliens will have none of that nonsense.

in my opinion.

I was raised a christian , but a non practicing one these days even though I still believe in what I learnt growing up . not catholic by the way
Anyhoo , anyone who believes that man kind is the only intelligent species ever created in a universe as vast as this one is fool .
If you believe the Bibles version of history , then man kind has only been living on earth for about 7 thousand years or so .
And just look at the size & age of the universe , billions and billions of years old , of course God would have created many other creatures to fill it all up with .
As others have mentioned there are of course the angels , fallen or otherwise , to my mind they are Aliens because they aren't originally from here .

In revelation the Bible speaks of some weird creatures that praise god etc.
Another thing it says is that man kind is a spectacle to the universe , an example of what a world full of sin in really like .
To my mind that means there are many many other intelligent species out there watching us at this very moment .
My 2 cents


[edit on 6-1-2010 by Takka]

sorry for the off topic but something jsut occured to me after seeing those two pictures again.

they both look fake -

the first one looks like a bad fake actually. look closely at teh galaxies. especially teh yellow in the lower right corner.

i dunno mayb ei'm just stayin up too late but those look like photoshop to me now. i never thought of it before.

Reply to post by JaxonRoberts

The Pope begs to differ as far as your religous dogma saying we are alone stance.


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reply to post by TheRedneck



Agreed. The Bible does speak of the Principalities of the Heaven(s).
But what I have seen so far are the demons in their ships (needed because they gave up their heavenly bodies to have corporal sex with women (the children of man).
I apologize for the brevity of my reply, but it's late, debrief was long, and I need to sleep. Peace Out

reply to post by JaxonRoberts


as the religions in the US and UK are dying out (those of christ anyway) I think with low numbers, and desperation... they woll tell you what ever you want to hear

Of course we are not alone - how vain to think that.

The Creator - God, or whatever name you have for Him, created myriad worlds and universes. Not only are we not alone - we are even smaller than we thought!

Imagine a million milky ways, suns, moons etc.

The reason we are here is to try and be humane - which, given that we are humans, should be easy, but we are too dumb to learn that.

I am religious although far from fundamentalist. And I do not believe we are alone. The odds of there being life elsewhere in the universe are simply overwhelming, given the sheer, mind-boggling number of stars out there.

I try not to state my exact religious affiliation on this board, but let me just say that I take NO religious text literally, although I believe MANY contain great wisdom. And I believe in evolution, and the big bang, and the fact that the earth is round and was created much longer than 6,000 years ago.

None of this conflicts with holding deep religious sentiments, IMHO. Only if you let it.

The divine will always be vaster and more incomprensible than you can imagine...just like the size of the universe. There are still many mysteries. Let us both bask in their glories as mysteries, and simultaneously seek to unravel them rationally. Why limit yourself? A landscape can contain both a mountain and a lake. A human mind can contain both devotion and science.

And peace on earth and good will towards all, by the way.

reply to post by JaxonRoberts

Many forms of life out there and not only in our particular universe.

However, earth is the 'silent planet'...
...there is us humans and a fallen group of Watchers that are beings of a different order...
...they bathe in light as we bath in water.

We are all currently limited to a space within the outer orbit of the moon...
...until some are remade and some are unmade.

The remaking and unmaking will happen soon but not before a huge deception is perpetrated by the Watchers against humanity...
...when this happens it will be so convincing that even those who are to be remade would be deceived if it was possible.

When the humans who are to be remade, are remade...
...they will then be introduced to the infinite variety of life beyond our current limitations...
...wouldn't it be cool if you were one of them?

Many religious people I know fully accept that there may well be life elsewhere in the universe - sure there are some fundamentalist extremists who delude themselves that the entire cosmos was created just for them but I think, on the whole, most religious folk have no problem with it.

Heres an interesting quote by a theologian from the University of Notre Dame:

"It is precisely because I believe theologically there is a being called God,and that He is infinite in intelligence,freedom, and power,that I cannot take it upon myself to limit what He might have done.
Once He created the Big Bang.....He could have envisioned it going in billions of directions as it evolved,including billions of life-forms and billions of kinds of intelligent beings...
As a theologian,I would say that this proposed search for extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI) is also a search for knowing and understanding God through His works-especially those works that most reflect Him.Finding others than ourselves would mean knowing Him better"
Theodore M. Hesburgh ,C.S.C.,University of Notre Dame

Cheers.

[edit on 02/10/08 by karl 12]

reply to post by JaxonRoberts


Jaxon, what does it matter if the religious don't believe in aliens? How does that affect you and your belief? Correct me if I'm wrong, but based on your question and your signature you're coming across as an evangelical yourself. I think you're trying to pick a fight that doesn't need to be fought.

[edit on 6-1-2010 by DoomsdayRex]

Seems to me when God, or whomever/whatever, created the Universe, with all its innumerable stars, and the planets that we're just now discovering to go along with them, he left a lot of room for other beings who are just as much her creation as we are.

MHO, of course.