Forget missionary trips to Africa. Let's try another planet!

[Bukkake Sensei]

This thread is inspired by the Xenobiology Discussion thread posted by Piercing Light. It's not necessary that you read it to understand and participate in this thread, but exercising a little curiosity can't hurt, right?

In short, astronomers recently discovered a planet in a nearby solar system that is within that solar system's habitable zone. That is to say, it may either harbor life, or at the very least be capable of harboring life. I think this discovery is awesome. I've had a fascination with astronomy, space travel and xenobiology for longer than many of the people on this forum have been alive; when NASA starts enlisting civilian volunteers for the first ever colonization of a foreign planet, I'm going. I do not care who I have to blow to guarantee that I'm on that list. However, it's not my enthusiasm that I want to discuss, but rather the enthusiasm of another person that genuinely surprised me: Dogenzaka.

Dogenzaka is quite possibly the most devout Christian that I've ever known, and a person who is very much defined by his faith. It's extremely difficult for me to even think about him as a person without immediately making note of that association. He's definitely not the type of guy that I would ever have thought to have an interest in things like this, but apparently I can be wrong sometimes (though I'd beg to differ).

Either way, after considering how surprised I was at the positive attitude of one religious person towards xenobiology, I was hit with a litany of questions for anyone (including Dogenzaka, of course) who identifies themself as a believer in a certain religion:

What effect would the discovery of sapient extraterrestrial life have on your faith? Does your particular religion account for the possibility of such a discovery? If not, how would you reconcile your beliefs with such a tremendous revelation?

Would you take it upon yourself to try introducing your beliefs to an intelligent alien race? Do you think your religious belief system could be pragmatically applied to a totally different species? Do you think your deity would approve of non-human followers?

Nonbelievers, you are welcome to post and share your thoughts as well, but you will be respectful. This is not a debate thread.

 

[Forever Atlas]

What effect would the discovery of sapient extraterrestrial life have on your faith? Does your particular religion account for the possibility of such a discovery? If not, how would you reconcile your beliefs with such a tremendous revelation?

Hypothetically let's say there is another planet with some sort of extraterrestrial life on it. That really has no impact on the issue that we have on Earth right now (that is, unless the ETs came here! =x). So in effect, it would not affect my beliefs at all and the issues that the Bible clearly puts forth for humans on Earth.

Would you take it upon yourself to try introducing your beliefs to an intelligent alien race? Do you think your religious belief system could be pragmatically applied to a totally different species? Do you think your deity would approve of non-human followers?

It wouldn't be bad to talk about my beliefs to an alien race, more as a history lesson and introduction to a way of life and/or culture here on Earth. A learning experience lets say. But to try and spread it to the alien race in hopes that they convert? No. We have our religions and beliefs here and things may be completely different there. Maybe they have the perfect society not in any need of salvation. However, whatever their circumstance it has no impact on the matter that was set forth in the Bible, that between Heaven and the planet we call Earth.

And would my God approve of their worship? According to my beliefs, my God is the creator of all things in the Universe, so yes, he would likely accept their [pure] worship as well as they would be His creation too.

 

[Ulti]

You know, I always thought that life on another planet would pretty much piss off every religious person. Well, besides those religions that would allow other planet life.

I'd be ecstatic to discover other life. It would be amazing to see the path of evolution on other worlds.

 

[Lord betrayus]

Personally, I think that religions wouldn't even stop to think how it impacts their religion, I wouldn't be surprised if they actually just jumped on board with the whole extra-terrestrial thing, and tried to convert the aliens immeadiatley, though we shouldn't call them aliens that would be rude. I don't know a better way to explain this but you know i'm fourteen and young so I just wanted to throw out my view on the impact it would have on religions. Though I don't know much about their workings mind you.

 

[MomentoMori]

What effect would the discovery of sapient extraterrestrial life have on your faith? Does your particular religion account for the possibility of such a discovery? If not, how would you reconcile your beliefs with such a tremendous revelation?

It would have absolutely no effect on my faith whatsoever. Especially because I don't even know what my faith is exactly anymore.

Would you take it upon yourself to try introducing your beliefs to an intelligent alien race? Do you think your religious belief system could be pragmatically applied to a totally different species? Do you think your deity would approve of non-human followers?

No, because unless the other race wants to discuss their beliefs, I'll keep mine to myself. I would assume my deity would approve.

 

[Solar]

:

What effect would the discovery of sapient extraterrestrial life have on your faith? Does your particular religion account for the possibility of such a discovery? If not, how would you reconcile your beliefs with such a tremendous revelation?

Would you take it upon yourself to try introducing your beliefs to an intelligent alien race? Do you think your religious belief system could be pragmatically applied to a totally different species?[/B] Do you think your deity would approve of non-human followers?

1) My faith would be strenghtenend
2) Yes, it does account for such
3) Not personally but I would be open to the idea of interstellar Muslim missionaries
4) Yes, it's a universal religion
5) He would


Quotes of interest:

In Sura 42,Verse 29 (42:29) of the Quran,we are told, "Among His (God's) signs is the creation of the heavens and the earth,and the living creatures that He has scattered through them :and He has power to gather them together when He wills." (8) Before proceeding further,a point or two must be noted.The word "sama",translated "heavens",is also the Arabic for "sky".One may object that the verse refers to creatures in the sky (which would be birds),not in the heavens.However,birds are mentioned seperately from creatures of the heavens in 24:41, "Seest thou not that it is God Whose praise all beings in the heavens and on earth do celebrate,and the birds (of the air) with wings outspread?..." (9) In a note to 42;29,Muhammad Asad states,"In the Quran,the expression "the heavens and earth" invariably denotes the universe in its entireity." (10) The Quran mentions that inanimate objects also worship God:"Do they not look at God's creation, (even) among (inanimate) things- how their (very) shadows turn round,from right to left,prostrating themselves to God..."(16:48). (11) Therefore,may not the creatures spoken of in 42:29 in the heavens,be inanimate creatures of God.No.The next verse,16:49 goes, "And to God doth obeisance all that is in the heavens and earth,whether moving (living) creatures or the angels...". (12) The word translated "living creatures" here is the same as that in 42:29-

"Dabbatun".Comments Asad,"The word dabbah denotes any sentient,corporeal being capable of spontaneous movement and is contrasted here with the non-corporeal,spiritual beings designated as "angels" ". (13) In other words,42:29 is referring to precisely the type of lifeforms that science is searching for,not some metaphysical entities.

After all, Muhammed (pbuh) was called a "mercy to the worlds"

 

[Jesus]

Islam, as Solar has quoted above, acknowledges the possibility of extraterrestrials and I personally would try to get those guys on the Islamic train like ASAP.

One thing that scares me though is the possibility that they could be hostile and decide to enslave us all, but I watch a lot of sci-fi

 

[Dogenzaka]

Ooo, calling me out

Well, I'm extremely interested in us finding another inhabitable planet or another planet with life on it.
Even if we are never able to visit it, I find it fascinating.

I've asked some of my Christian friends about this and they often say "I wouldn't know what to believe" or "I don't think there can be life out there" in regards to the question "What if we found life outside of earth?". My response is usually to direct them to the Bible in regards to the New World.

Did the Bible ever directly mention the New World? No. Did it exist however? Yes.

When people first found North and South America, Europeans were shocked. Everything that they knew had suddenly become a speck of knowledge in the grand scheme of things. Some even believed that the Native Americans that were found there couldn't be human! Why? Because they said "Well, if God never mentioned them in the Bible....and since grapes don't grow in America and they can't take communion....then they can't be Christians....therefore they can't be human!"

But it's amazing how much you can learn with just one voyage to the other side of the planet, right?

I think of it similarly in terms of extra-terrestrial life. I don't think that if we found life somewhere else, it would even be particularly harmful to the doctrine of the Bible. Some people might take personal offense to the idea of finding life off of earth and think that it totally makes the Bible errant, or makes God or humans less "special", but really? The Bible never mentions what God did with other planets and stars...it just says that He made them, but that He made humans in His image and that we are His beloved...

But why would that discredit the possibility of finding life or inhabitable conditions in other corners of the universe? It shouldn't. And I don't believe it does. Just like how finding the New World doesn't suddenly invalidate what was said before it was found....there were verses in the Bible that mentioned the earth being round, and humans spreading in the cardinal directions of the earth, but it's likely that people then still interpreted that as meaning only as far as Europe to Asia and Africa.

This has zero to do with science or the Bible, but I personally don't think we will find life as advanced as we are somewhere else, or at least as far as we know. Earth still has the perfect conditions for life, and until something matches it completely or 1-ups it, I think it'll be difficult to find anything quite like us in the universe. Further than that, I think advanced life would probably find us before we find it (and in that case it might be malicious, because who would travel so far to a planet to meet a population of life unless they were hoping to harvest their resources?). Beyond even that, I just personally think that humans are so special that it would be incredibly unlikely that we would find anything quite like us, and I believe that because the Bible mentions God creating us in His image, which was something special that He didn't afford to anything else in creation (as far as we know, at least).

If we found life as intelligent as us, however, I'm just not sure where the gospel would go in terms of that alien race. The Bible mentions every human being having the ability to go to heaven, since we are in the image of God, albeit a fallen kind. Aliens, however, have no mention of being that sort of distinction, so I'm not sure if the gospel could apply to them...I haven't really thought about this, but it's something I will, for sure.

Oh, and as far as finding an inhabitable planet to where we could travel to in case of emergency or something, I don't think it's going to happen. This is just me, but I think it'll be far too long until we figure out how to travel distances like that conveniently, and are able to mass populate another region, especially in times of crisis. Furthermore, I believe in the Bible's account of the end of the world in Revelation, where the old earth and the old heaven will pass away and be succeeded by a new earth and new heaven to be created by God and populated by His followers. In that account, it basically states that everything on earth will wither and die and the only thing left will be the judgment of creation and then the new heaven and new earth being created, where sin can no longer fester.

 

[Square Ninja]

go read stranger in a strange land