I don't know if this should go here or inthe Religion forum so Mods feel free to do whatever.

For some time now I have been following the threads about aliens in ATS and still consider myself quite the novice on the subject. But, during my time here I keep drawing the comparisons in the belief in aliens to religion. In general religion needs a few things to exist.

First, you need people to claim to have had personal experiences with an unkown entity. This draws the attention of others. Soon those people begin to have the same experiences (whether it be real or self generated in thier minds). Those people who share similiar experiences gather together to discuss thier thoughts and feelings on the experiences, and in doing so find solice and companionship through the gatherings. Then someone with supposedly the most experience with the entity is usually voted to be the leader of the group where the members of the group can go to for advise and consulting. Pretty soon the gatherings shift from talking about the experiences with this entity to awe and adoration. This then leads to actual worship and placing godlike status on the entity. Next you make the group of worshipers an official club and place a name on yourselves. All that is next is to register yourselves as an official religion and get your tax free card.

Now, from what I can tell about the alien community, similiar things like this happen all the time. I have read things that speak about the aliens being our creator or that we evolved from a race of highly evolved aliens. This is about as close to religion as anything. Why hasn't an official religion been established that observes alien belief (Heck, didn't jedi become a religion?)? When I ask questions that require proof about an alien encounter, I usually get the same answer that ther eis no real proof, you just beleive in the personal experience that you have had. The same answers are given when asking someone about providing proof of thier "god" in thier religion. Does anyone have any insight to this?

[edit on 7-7-2004 by mpeake]

[edit on 7-7-2004 by mpeake]

Man, I've been meaning to write about this exact thing . Stop reading my mind- will ya ! And I agree with you. There are definetly similarities between the belief in ETs and religion.

The need for an explanation of our existance, what will happen when we die etc. is shared by most and has been through human history. So there is no doubt room for speculation on the matter.

Also, belief systems are usually shaped by our society and current knowledge. Hence there are not very many true believers in for example the Nordic AEsir Gods or Ancient Greek Gods in today's "informed" society.

As we constantly learn more - and maybe finding much of what is said in the Bible improbable, it may be that there's a need for a new belief system, an update of religion if you will.

One similarity I find interesting are the numerous amounts of different interpretations as to why the ETs are here, what they want with us, whether they are benevolent or not etc. Much like there are almost as many interpretations of the Bible as there are interpretors.

There are also those supposedly having first-hand experiences of meeting ETs. Much like there are people claiming they've met angels.

One thing's for sure, though. There's still a lot of which we have no clue. As long as this is the case; I choose to keep an open mind.

In my opinion much of the UFO/Alien beliefs that circulate through the UFO community today are nothing more than recycled Christianity, very similar to the way Christianity is recycled Judaism and various other pagan beliefs.

A large majority of the believers out there walk the same path when it comes to aliens and discarnate alien entities that "religious" persons do when it comes to Jesus and the angels. Both groups have "spiritual experiences", both develop theories around invisible beings creating mankind and blah blah blah.

I agree mpeake, there are major similarities which may really indicate that there's far less proof than we thought and this UFO community is nothing more than a big religion with it's spirits, contacting, preachers, zealots, collection plate and everything else.

Big differences though...as I've mentioned often lately to no avail it seems...

1. The eyewitnesses are reporting the same encounters even when separated by cultures, continents, etc. same beings, same craft, etc., not so with deities, as they are based on the observer's faith.

2. There are reams of government documents alluding to, sometimes even stating, their existence...not so with deities.

3. There are videos, photos, material evidence, etc. of these craft...again, not so with deities.

4. There are numerous professionals, high-ranking military officers, pilots, astronauts, even former presidents who have all gone on record as having sightings. Not so for the deities...

5. Common sense. It stands to reason that if the same conditions exist elsewhere in the universe (which is statistically almost a given), then it also stands to reason that life also developed in much the same way. We are not in the oldest part of the universe, so there is a real possibility of other, more advanced life out there... The same reason does not go to supporting deities....

While there are parallels, there is MUCH more evidence to support alien visitation, than there is religion...

I think there are some differences. For example, I wouldn't worship aliens just because they have much supperior tech than we have. Sure, they may be able to communicate with us through dreams or apparations, but that still don't make them gods.

Dimensional beings? No, I don't care from where they came from. I don't believe another "material" biological lifeform is 100% flawless or perfect. The only "being" I do believe is the one that created the "all" - God. Wheter the Bible, Koran or Torah tells the truth or not...

Certainly some people will draw parallels to religion with aliens. A large majority of contemporary humans have strong religious beliefs, so naturally that will flow into everything else in their lives. Much as how "God" is placed firmly in the structure of the U.S. government. People just have a tendency to add spirituality to everything.

Now, from what I can tell about the alien community, similiar things like this happen all the time. I have read things that speak about the aliens being our creator or that we evolved from a race of highly evolved aliens. This is about as close to religion as anything. Why hasn't an official religion been established that observes alien belief (Heck, didn't jedi become a religion?)?

There are official alien religions. Scientology (as you reach the higher levels of the group's beliefs) being the largest and the Raelians being another well known group.

[edit on 7-7-2004 by heelstone]

To answer the Jedi question...yes, it is an "official" religion, made so by voting... Even Lucas described it as a blend of many Eastern philosophies...

Just a tidbit, though we have a few resident "Jedi", who could likely go into more detail than I....

Eyewitnesses across the world corroborate visions of the Virgin Mary and crying statues as well. Even seperated by cultures thousands have stood in the same place and have seen the same thing.

Most of the "reams" of government papers stating that alien entities are factual have not been proven as factual themselves. Quite a few times those papers have been purposely misinterpreted by UFO "researchers".

There are photo's and videos of craft and unexplained phenomenon. They don't prove the existence of extraterrestrial visitation. There are also photo's and video footage of angels and the Virgin Mary over towns. Photographic and video evidence only "proves" something was able to be filmed. It rarely provides information as to origin unless it's proven as a hoax.

Eye witness testimoney by government officials certainly does not prove existence of alien species. It simply proves we're being informed of them by the government. It very well be nothing more than disinformation. This is no more proof of aliens than deities.

Common sense may tell you that there is a major possibility of alien existence, but that does not prove visitation.

The similarities between religion and the belief in aliens is growing more and more similar when you look at them objectively. Both fill the human desire for an answer to our beginnings and our place in the universe. There's quite a few similarities.

[edit on 7/7/2004 by Sinobyte]

I'm not saying that any of it "proves" alien visitation. If it did, we wouldn't be here discussing it...I'd be flying around in my antigrav car...

What I'm saying, is that there is more evidence to "SUPPORT" alien visitation, than there is evidence to support deities. Not all of the evidence is so suspect. Sure there's a lot of garbage...but there's some very real data out there too...including deathbed confessions (which are admissable in a court of law as evidence) of participants in the coverup.

I agree that the flimsy, circumstantial evidence out there supporting alien existence and visitation is far more proof than that offered by the religious community but I think this topic was really more about people drawing parallels about the UFO community and religion. Not which is more believable. In my opinion, the UFO community gets more and more quasi-religious as more new agers and crazy Christians filter in.

Trust me, my intent with this discusion was not to discredit or disprove alien belief or religion. Just to draw to draw the major comparisons between the two and see why a uniform alien belief religion hasn't been established. Hopes this helps explain my intent.

Also, if this is indeed an update of religion, it's only logical that it would seem more believable.

Originally posted by mpeake
Trust me, my intent with this discusion was not to discredit or disprove alien belief or religion. Just to draw to draw the major comparisons between the two and see why a uniform alien belief religion hasn't been established. Hopes this helps explain my intent.

There has never been a uniform religious belief on this planet. Tons of different theologies exist today. Scientology, Raelian-ology, and other UFO religions or "cults" are as valid and uniform as any current non-ET related religion.

Maybe they got a true feelings that ETs really exists so they dont need to create any "religion" to support them, they know they exists, "deep in the brain" Religions have been so changed all the time its joust a selfish lame supporting group. "Many people cant face reality" it can never be avoided.

[edit on 7-7-2004 by Cardu]

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[edit on 26-7-2004 by IXRAZORXI321]

It is also surprising that people will believe in god without any proof but they wont believe in something that is staring you in the face I mean how much more proof do they want before they believe in aliens.
and if they say they want more proof to believe in aliens funny they don’t seem to want any proof to believe in god deny Ignorance.

Some of you fail to realize that "religious" people will deny the existence of alien entities simply because it isn;t in the Bible. Others will claim aliens are demons. They mainly do this because anything that cannot be explained by using the Bible and is considered unknown is labeled "demonic". Not all are close minded enough to do this but many do...many ignore mans free will and blame demons in alien disguises as the cause of men not "serving god". It can be sad.

Actually, that thought process can also be dangerous. A simple look back in history at that which the Church as a whole deemed "demonic" and destroyed should give you a better understanding on their current standing with aliens.

I remember reading somewhere about someone who believed that the human race was created by aliens...maybe it was a movie, can't remember, anyways, the response to this line of thinking was, "ok then, who created the aliens?"

cheers,

StickyG

I think this discussion shows the one thing that seems to be the most obvious similarity between religion (take your pick of which one) and belief in aliens. Blind Faith. Both require blind faith to exist. Of course both have those that have stories of personal encounters, whether it be an abduction or a visitation by an alien, or a healing or visitation by God (take your pick). But the major theme of the two is Blind Faith. It was already said that the reason people don't need a general religion established for alien beleif is that they feel it deep down inside themselves so therefore there is no need to set up an established religion for that beleif. (And I use this term "religion" very loosely). That deep down belief is felt by anyone who follows thier God just the same, so why would it be any different?
It was also already said that there are so many different version of alien belief systems (hundreds even thousands I'm sure) which would make it hard to create a religion of alien beliefs. How is this any different than conventional religion?

Most anthropologists draw a parallel between aliens and supernatural beings that are NOT worshipped, such as tutelary spirits ("animal guides") or elves, fairies, etc.

Cultures that affirm the existence of fairies do not generally worship them, but see them as beings that can sometimes be outfoxed or otherwise manipulated into granting human wishes.

relationships with deities are much more one-sided.


Gazrock, have a look at my blog "why I don't believe in Aliens" for an update on the statistical probability of alien life.