Can the world REALLY handle disclosure?

After reading a part from an article that was posted from this thread that stated the following:

If billions could find a way of coping with the overwhelming threat of atomic annihilation for half a century, it is reasonable to assume we can cope with the knowledge of these "Other Intelligence's" from the stars. We can cope with the fact they are visiting earth, and have been since the beginning of history.

I immediately wanted to open this thread to see what the views and thoughts of ATSers could be on how they think the world would react to a disclosure event.

IMO, they made a valid point, but i believe that since the thought of the atomic annihilation is still a thought that is within Earth and not "outside" of it, people are able to cope with it. When thoughts of new ideas and possibilities begin to arise that surpass just the boundaries of our atmosphere, people start going haywire!

Can people handle disclosure? Sure! Many welcome the idea.

Can organized religion handle disclosure? Not a chance! It would instantly discredit those who worship deities. Those who have used religion to assume power over others would instantly be stripped of implied power.

It would be the best thing for people, and the worst thing for TPTB. Unless disclosure means they're coming back and need our world or our forced labor. Then it's bad for everyone.

Thank you for the post.

Personally I believe that out of the billions of people on our planet that some are still terrified of atomic warfare, even some are still living in the dark ages without technology. I don't think that humanity will ever be 100% ready for disclosure but it's all part of growing as a species and eventually we will have to face our fears and accept the truth.

reply to post by Truther101


Dear Truther101,
You raise a very interesting point, which i'm sure many of the members here have often thought about. I think it's a case of "awareness". Those who are already open to the fact it could be real will, with no doubt, embrace disclosure. Those who are not open minded, or fervently religious will have their world rocked so to speak. Since most religions depict a God and somewhat sole existence in the Universe I think they will panic. Of course I presume, since I am not religious and the act has not happened.

There is also the flip side, whereby if disclosure does occur the people will of course have an overwhelming feeling of disappointment, hatred (perhaps) towards their governments for having covered things up. This could in itself lead to chaos, rioting, loss of faith in the system, anarchy etc.. In my opinion that is what any stable government fears over anything else. Imagine an entire global revolution based on the fact we have and are being lied to. It is not far fetched at all. We all know that governements lie, in certain respects at times they have had to, or feel they have had to in order to "save" us from the reality, or simply to control us.

It also truly depends on the disclosure. If, for instance, the disclosed information were in the order of "People of the world, we are about to be invaded by a malevolent space faring race" then I am sure you can imagine the outcome. I think to answer your question one would have to truly "know" all the facts and what exactly has been going on behind our backs for years.

Regards,
T

If by disclosure you mean: "Hey people, there are countless intelligent species out there", then that would at first make for disbelief or maybe resistance on one hand, and excitement and interest on the other hand. I think that in the end it would help us to become one; less division, for we would all be the 'humans from the planet earth'. I think that it will also gradually put a stop to religions all over, which imo is a veeery good thing, it will speed up our development both technologically and rationally. Though all of this heavily depends on the nature of this extraterrestrial life; if we go boom then there is not much to be said

The world can't handle sharing food,resources and physical space without raping, killing and stealing from each other.

Can we handle disclosure? Sure...why not.

reply to post by UsuallyNot


Understanding, but when it comes to putting a stop to all religions, i think it depends on the religion, because the Vatican already stated that they would accept aliens as just another creation from God.

reply to post by PayMeh

Can organized religion handle disclosure? Not a chance! It would instantly discredit those who worship deities. Those who have used religion to assume power over others would instantly be stripped of implied power.

What do you suppose would happen if we were introduced to an alien culture and found out that they too worship deities? I wonder how organized religion would deal with that? Or atheists for that matter?

reply to post by Truther101


On one hand i believe the public who does not know or care to know need to know it is a fact and not fiction when it comes to UFOs and Alien encounters.On the other it freaks me out to know many will freak out and start looting and going crazy in the streets everywhere and will put us deeper in the hole than the world already is.

I can imagine such information would be met with denial from a big portion of earths population. There are however nothing comparable to such an announcement, so we're basically speaking of unknown territory and we're left to speculate.

Frankly, I don't think disclosure is something that's going to happen. We're being contained and shielded from smaller truths than the subject of UFOs and/or ETs by our governments already, so disclosure isn't something anyone should expect. That is if there's anything to disclose at all to begin with.

Disclosure would have to be handled VERY carefully.

In addition, the AGENDA of the aliens would be a prime driver in how the secret would be revealed to the public.

Some considerations:

How will it affect the economy? (will new advances make some industries obsolete? what about the economic impact of those lost jobs? if health advances increase lifespans, what about population increases?)

How will it affect organized religion? (we could see some (especially exclusivist religions) claiming the end of the world, mass suicides, inciting holy wars, etc. At the very least, many humans will wonder why they are no longer the most advanced thing out there, and thus, how can they be made in God's image?, etc.)

What will the military fallout be? (in addition to economic impact of obsolete weapon systems, what about elements who feel the need to attack a perceived enemy?

And these are just if the aliens are PEACEFUL....(and there are many more).

What if disclosure means the aliens are now ready to enslave the planet, or start loading up the food ships, etc.?

It's not as simple as just saying, "Hi folks, guess what? We've been hiding the existence of aliens since 1947, but we want you to know that now they are here!"

Originally posted by butcherguy
reply to post by PayMeh

 

Can organized religion handle disclosure? Not a chance! It would instantly discredit those who worship deities. Those who have used religion to assume power over others would instantly be stripped of implied power.

What do you suppose would happen if we were introduced to an alien culture and found out that they too worship deities? I wonder how organized religion would deal with that? Or atheists for that matter?

edit on 29-10-2010 by butcherguy because: added quote

Butcherguy, Very well put. I've yet to see quotes from reliable sources of any major religion that refutes the possibility of life existing somewhere other than Earth, even though many on ATS seem to think that is the case.

As you say, what if an alien culture worshipped deities, but then again, what if those that came to say hello said they didn't - what does that actually prove, why is there an assumption 'they' would know better?

I doubt as many people would have a problem with the revelation of alien intelligent life as you might think; Our pop culture is obsessed with alien life, and I think most people would be very excited to finally learn the truth about what's really out there in the universe.

reply to post by Gazrok


www.abc.net.au...

uk.reuters.com...

You mentioned organized religion- At least the catholics wouldn't have too much of a problem with it.

There's so much secret nonsense going on in the world that an ET disclosure would probably seem like child's play.

If anything, disclosure would force our terrestrial secrets out into the open.

Okay, I need to clarify.

In all religious texts, they mention sky gods. The Christian "God" is called by different names in the Hebrew texts leaving many to believe that they were indeed individuals, YHWH, Elohim, ect. My statement is based on the Ancient Astronaut theory. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there isn't a deity if there are aliens. I'm just saying that if there are aliens who have the ability to travel here and have done so before, our religions have made them what we worship - either out fear or just marvel at the advanced technology.

Again, it wouldn't disprove religion, just the hierarchy systems of deities we've come to know.

reply to post by FTD Brat


That's easy to say as a generality and without it yet being a fact, but how do you justify the Biblical claim that humans are "made in God's image" when there is a different, more advanced race now in existence? For many believers, it will be a tough pill to swallow, no longer being the pinnacle of creation...regardless of any press releases to the contrary.

Personally, I'd be more worried about the economic fallout though... Can you imagine what the stock market would do after such a revelation? And that's before even any statements about possible tech advances being shared.

reply to post by Gazrok


I suppose you're right. An economic side to disclosure is something I've never really thought about. I'd be so excited to know the truth, that I wouldn't care how wall street did on that particular day. Hopefully, it would be for the best.

Who knows, perhaps the stock for companies like Virgin Galatic and such would skyrocket.

I don't see how Religion would crumble. Going off of everyone's (seemingly) consensus that a space traveling civilization would have gotten rid of religion long ago, the religions would just do what they did to other civilizations they "found" try and convert, and if they don't call them heathens.

I think a religion could fully function if aliens are revealed to us. In the Bible it clearly states that God created all existence. To be hateful, non accepting of aliens would be religiously hypocritical. I know it's happened before, but none the less, it would be hypocritical.

I'm not saying this to be contrary-an, I'm have always been at a loss to why religion couldn't really function with aliens. For the record, this is coming from someone outside of religion. I don't subscribe to any, although I was raised in a Catholic home and went to Catholic school, so I have a good grasp on the ideology.

As for the government, I still have to say that we have no hard evidence they are hiding anything. Quite plainly, all we have to go off of is conjecture and myth that the government is secretly working with aliens. I really think if that was the case, we FOR SURE would know. There would be enough people, enough just Joe Shmo contract workers, who would cash in in a heart beat. Not to mention enough good hearted scientist who would leak stuff.

I know I got a good shot at getting flamed for that last part, but I think it's true.

But to answer the question at hand, yes. I think we could, for the most part.

Originally posted by PayMeh
Okay, I need to clarify.

In all religious texts, they mention sky gods. The Christian "God" is called by different names in the Hebrew texts leaving many to believe that they were indeed individuals, YHWH, Elohim, ect. My statement is based on the Ancient Astronaut theory. Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying there isn't a deity if there are aliens. I'm just saying that if there are aliens who have the ability to travel here and have done so before, our religions have made them what we worship - either out fear or just marvel at the advanced technology.

Again, it wouldn't disprove religion, just the hierarchy systems of deities we've come to know.

edit on 29-10-2010 by PayMeh because: (no reason given)

Actually that's an interesting point but isn't it a little double sided? If sentient beings from somewhere not of Earth appeared and said "we are your God, oh and by the way, that commandment about not coveting your neighbours ass? I was kidding, I only threw that in to round up the numbers.", what would that mean? Would it be the biblical Judgement Day when God makes himself visible again to his people? If so, followers of any religion that subscribe to that belief may be wearing a smug smile for a long time and the words "there you are, told you so" would haunt many an atheist for the rest of their days.

Personally, I don't believe many religions do believe in a 'sky God'. The Christian religion believes in an omnipresent deity so that God is both above and below. It often talks about the kingdom of God being in the heavens, but I always took that to mean not on Earth - not sure exactly where that means it is though, I'm too much an agnostic to have a view. What I don't believe in though is the ancient astronaut theory purely because it applies mid twentieth - early twenty first century thinking to artwork and writings of over 2,000 years ago without taking into account the culture and thinking of the time.

Just my opinion, not saying it's right, not saying it's wrong.