How would you explain religion to an alien?

You don't have to look to outer space for ridicule.

There are some tribes in Africa that laughs at the idea of an invisible man in the sky because they have never thought about a "creator."

If the aliens are advanced in science and technology then they would probably have a good understanding of God and maybe even be able to travel to Gods heavenly dimension. Look at us now, we have people on our TVs ghost hunting and researching anything to do with the other side or sides that will lead to us knowing more and more about ghosts and the other sides over time and some day the truth what ever it maybe. So I think if the aliens are advanced they will know already as will we some day. Great thread OP thanks for letting us think out of the box, star an flag.

I would put my money on them having a religion of some kind themselves. I think it would be much more difficult for a civilization to advance that much without something directing their moral compasses. But as we have seen on Earth, religion can create bloody conflict when it isn't collective, (and sometimes when it is), so effectively I would guess that the entire planet where the aliens reside has one religion...

I do not believe any civilization can advance without destroying itself if they do not possess a high moral and philosophical foundation. I will admit that this is possible without theology, but it could make it much easier.

But then again, when a culture and race has had that long to advance scientifically, maybe they could have used that science to replace any type of religion. I suppose it is possible, but I'm not quite sure, when you get down to the logistics, how it would be accomplished.

Originally posted by Punisher75

Originally posted by redwine425
I'd tell them a bunch of people on this planet have a mental illness. One where they talk to an imaginary person from childhood to death.

I'd then tell them a lot of people think that they(Aliens) are actually "demons" and in cahoots with "satan". Then i'd be like "satan" is an imaginary person these "ill" people blame bad things on.

You know not all religion is not based on Christianity right? There must be a "I don't like Christianity thread" someplace around here right?

actually all religions are pretty much the same like christianity ....... everything is the same except the outer crust but the basic ides is the same which is to use religion as a ''tool'' to mass control people by telling them if you do something that I dont like you go to hell

Why even waste time even trying to talk to them,because they wouldnt want to talk to us,they only have to observe us and see the diffrent thoughts and proccess's from birth to death and how it has shaped the world,they if they exist and if they are more advanced than us then they will also be able to tell our future and where we will be in the years ahead,religion is another thought proccess man contructed around himself, aliens will know everything about us.

Originally posted by sepermeru
I believe every intelligent species would go through a religious phase once they acquired language. So I don't think I would have to. They'd already understand. Hopefully they would have moved past the phase themselves. Otherwise the alien invasion would surely be more like a crusade. On both sides.

exactly what i had in mind. if they were a few million years more evolved than us then they would have eventually gotten past the ''religious'' phase. because there is no such thing as a god and religion is just a primitive way to explain where we came from. eventually we will also get past this phase whether some religious people like it or not. its natural and the aliens would more likely understand what we are trying to explain to them as they would have at one time in their early history witnessed these things and would have killed their own kind in the name of ''god''.

its as simple as that

I would say something like, "There are individuals in my society who still cling to supernatural beliefs. That is, the belief in beings called 'gods' that they have never seen. These beings were written about thousands and thousands of years ago, and the writings were preserved over the ages. However, due to political manipulation and corruption, the elite humans on my planet keep these superstitions alive so as to control the populace. Massive groups of people are tricked into believing in invisible beings with their 'faith', and as such, the people at the head of these groups can make those people do whatever they want. During one era, huge wars were fought between opposing belief groups. During another, two slightly different groups within the same belief system, who worshiped the exact same deity, fought against each other. One of these groups literally tortured and killed the other group. This cultural phenomenon known as 'religion' is the worst blight on the history of my species and I am ashamed of it."

Edit: It's a hypothetical scenario that is created in order to retrieve a response. You're missing the point if you are dodging the situation.

Originally posted by TiberianPurifier
because there is no such thing as a god and religion is just a primitive way to explain where we came from.
its as simple as that

I would like to introduce the term "Pathetic Atheism". Can we settle on this, yes? I mean seriously, it is on occasion demanded from theists that they prove god exists, yet here we have an obvious New Atheist who makes the positive claim that there is no god, creator, designer, whatever. And a positive claim means the burden of proof rests on the claimant. In this case TP would have proof in his pocket that the universe is merely the result of blind pitiless indifference, as Carl Sagan once said.

Now, the truth is, the New Atheist does not need or want proof for his metaphysics (read: unproven philosophy), he merely assumes it is true. Yes, I see, simple indeed.

I would telll them that a man who ways over 500 pounds wants to teach people about self discipline, or that a guy with long hair and a dress can walk on water, or that a guy with a towel on his head will give you 70 young tight sluts if you willing-ly kill your self in his name.

I would explain to them religion is something you can neither prove or disprove. I would then explain taking up a religion is a personal choice rather than the choice of society as its more than likely 'aliens' will have a concept of religion unless, of course, they look up to a 'leader' already which would then suggest they do have some sort of religion. Its strange actually talking about religion because when you compare our various religions and faiths they are probably in the same position as us in regards to having no proof their 'God' existed (if you catch my drift). This is probably the best thread I've seen in a while.

OP --
It all depends on what you mean by "religion".

Do you mean:

(1) The dogma, pomp, and circumstance associated with the reverence of a supreme being -- one who needs to be revered "or else!"...
Or
(2) The belief that some independent outside force created the universe in which we live.

I think we can explain #2 pretty easily. People can have the belief that the universe was created by "something intelligent" without resorting to all the trappings that usually goes along with an organized religion -- i.e., without the usual requirement that the supreme being NEEDS to be revered.

I think if you simply described religion as an attempt to answer the question "why is our universe here", then another alien may understand that.

Originally posted by jclmavg

Originally posted by TiberianPurifier
because there is no such thing as a god and religion is just a primitive way to explain where we came from.
its as simple as that

I would like to introduce the term "Pathetic Atheism". Can we settle on this, yes? I mean seriously, it is on occasion demanded from theists that they prove god exists, yet here we have an obvious New Atheist who makes the positive claim that there is no god, creator, designer, whatever. And a positive claim means the burden of proof rests on the claimant. In this case TP would have proof in his pocket that the universe is merely the result of blind pitiless indifference, as Carl Sagan once said.

Now, the truth is, the New Atheist does not need or want proof for his metaphysics (read: unproven philosophy), he merely assumes it is true. Yes, I see, simple indeed.

edit on 30-4-2011 by jclmavg because: (no reason given)

im sorry if i offended you and i know that we humans have very little understanding of space outside the surface of our planet. i know i cant just make a claim that god does not exist, but i just want to ask what is the proof that god exists?

ive asked this question to some people who take religion seriously and they say god exists because he just does. dont they realize that humans are curious creatures and want answers fast, so the early god belief was started by us humans to explain things such as volcanoes, tsunamies etc that the early humans didn't understand much about. they thought that when this god or gods get angry at us they cause disasters and the only way we can live happily is if we keep them happy. over time this got specialized into the religion we see today.

i admit that i have very little understanding of how our universe came into existence and how we get atoms and different elements but they sure were not ''created'' by some thing. if they were created by a god then who created god?

We should ask ourselves that question.. After all we are gods to some people. Anyone here ever watch the documentary about a group of people that flew over an isolated tribe for a week or two and when they returned about a month later they said the people of the tribe made statues of their planes and even treated them as gods upon their return..

To be honest I think a lot of people in todays world would do the the same thing.. If aliens are as advanced as I believe than we may or may not be able to tell the difference between a highly superior race or a god.

I myself dont believe in religion but I would try to explain it to them that there are many stories on earth that tell of a creator who conjured everything we see in this universe today..However I would also tell them of our other main belief, Science. I would tell them that on Earth there is a war being waged between the two main beliefs, Religion and Science. I would also tell them of how pointless a war it is, that we have been fighting for thousands of years over who has the "better" religion.. To be honest I would ask them for help more than anything, I would ask if they possess any knowledge that would help the human race see eye to eye, instead of fighting over our own beliefs.

We should ask ourselves that question.. After all we are gods to some people. Anyone here ever watch the documentary about a group of people that flew over an isolated tribe for a week or two and when they returned about a month later they said the people of the tribe made statues of their planes and even treated them as gods upon their return..

To be honest I think a lot of people in todays world would do the the same thing.. If aliens are as advanced as I believe than we may or may not be able to tell the difference between a highly superior race or a god.

I myself dont believe in religion but I would try to explain it to them that there are many stories on earth that tell of a creator who conjured everything we see in this universe today..However I would also tell them of our other main belief, Science. I would tell them that on Earth there is a war being waged between the two main beliefs, Religion and Science. I would also tell them of how pointless a war it is, that we have been fighting for thousands of years over who has the "better" religion.. To be honest I would ask them for help more than anything, I would ask if they possess any knowledge that would help the human race see eye to eye, instead of fighting over our own beliefs.

I would not need to. The alien would fully understand religion since it would be part of their history as well. As we have grown up and understood the world more religion has declined. At some point in the future nobody will fall for such nonsense especially as we start flying around the universe.......just like an alien.

Originally posted by rigel4
reply to post by arbiture

 

I don't understand the connection to religion
and explaining it to an Alien.

I would have no problem in explaining religion too ET's. All I would have to say too them, is that my religion is the allmighty dollar, and I'm sure that they would have no problem in understanding that.--lol-- Just kidding.

On the other hand, I would be shocked to find the current crop of ET's, or there robot's, who are visiting our planet Earth, would have no knowledge of the religions here on Earth.

Since the ET's can visit us, but we can't visit them; brings me to speculate that there scientists would have haven a chance to pick-up historical text's of mostly all of the religions here on Earth, and study them while on their long journey's to and from our planet.

Take for example: The Holy Bible-- I believe that the ET's, want to communicate some kind of Bibical Scripture to us, because that would be the easiest form of communication that alot of people could understand.

In conclusion: I cannot prove this, but If I did, alot of people would laugh me off this website for sure.

So here's alittle bit of ET DISCLOUSURE for ya'll.-- The ETs, use some kind of laser holograms, that can project images of scripture. The most favorite image, that the ET's use, to my knowledge is: Jonah and the Whale.

The only difference is when Jonah, asks God, for him to be spit out of the whale, the deed is performed by a Tyrannosaurus Rex, that bites behind the top of the head of the whale, thus forcing the Whale to spit out Jonah!!!


Cheer's,

Erno86

Explaining religion to an alien would be an exercise in futility, since aliens are in fact fallen angels in service of Lucifer. They have made their choice a long time ago and since they have no souls they have no hope.

Originally posted by romanmel
Explaining religion to an alien would be an exercise in futility, since aliens are in fact fallen angels in service of Lucifer. They have made their choice a long time ago and since they have no souls they have no hope.

we dont have souls either !!

How to explain religion to an intelligent ET... here's how:

They were born from cultural tales, sometimes used for mass control, taking care of the poor, religions appear often supernatural and fictional but the important thing is the ethical lesson which must be taught in symbolic form to children so they understand, however the way people interpret religions varies greatly due to differences in understanding level.

Originally posted by Hitoshura

Originally posted by arbiture

Originally posted by Hitoshura
I'd say :

"Sorry if this is confusing, it's just the belief systems that the beings in this sphere use."

Your point is very valid, and you may be right but if you may please provide greater "targeting" may help all. I need more, start with your idea of what is a definition of "a belief sphere" I am not in anyway making less of, or mocking what you have said. Please give me more, by your leave. You are close to ideas I came up with that equivicate aspects of "actions" in the world of 4d "physics" or our so called world Einstein defined.

Sorry, had been out drinking before I posted and said sphere when I should've just said planet. Wasn't trying to suggest anything complicated.

edit on 30-4-2011 by Hitoshura because: (no reason given)

Not a problem buddy. Been there, done that... I admire your honesty.