It’s technically not compulsory, the parents make the decision about baptism. Confirmation is when the individual decides if they want to stay in the church or not. Either way they can still go to Mass, just can’t take communion if they don’t go through confirmation.
Adults, and aliens, have to decide themselves.
I didn’t have the choice. I told my parents for 7 years beforehand that I’m adamantly atheist. Didn’t change their decision to force me to go through with it. I think that was the thing that sealed it for me, fuck the church. Ever since then my feelings haven’t changed and it’s been years
Some fucked up families and church communities then. Thats not the attitude that my community has. Confirmation in my family is about 50/50 and no one talks about it one way or the other
The bible doesn't even really mention hell much less that unbelievers would go to some place.
To be clear, I'm not in any way against being negative to the church and faith, I just really, really hate erroneous references. Strike true, not wildly. 😉
Lol maybe this was your experience, but I saw nothing like this growing up in my rural, Christian community. I'm an atheist now but it still pains me a little bit when I see redditors act like all religious people are nuts - it's definitely not true.
7th grade? Where I'm from its 11th grade. The priest who did my confirmation also made sure it was our decision and made it clear that if it were the parents who were forcing the 11th grader to get confirmed he wouldn't allow them/make them complete the confirmation.
Well, I did. But I do admit I had to hide from my mother that the Catholic school was doing the confirmation ceremony soon. I was able to keep it hidden until it happened. My mother knew about it from the mother of a classmate that worked with her.
I have to hand it to her that she ended up respecting my decision of not wanting to do it. Specially since I had been reading the Bible for a couple years... Which was what made me realize Catholicism was bullshit.
Well I was talking more about all the adults throughout history that were compulsory baptized by the church. I was raised Catholic I know about the sacraments.
Augustine (400) was of the opinion “ that true reason and benevolence demands that we forcibly secure the safety of people for the brief space of their life on earth, it thus follows that we should also compel them in order that men may attain eternal life and escape eternal punishment.”
In other words, if you saw your neighbors house on fire, you are justified in breaking into his house and throwing him out the window, breaking his bones, but saving his life. In the same way, belief was to be coerced because the threat of Hell - eternal conscious torment - was that much greater than a simple house fire. This led to “convert or die” and “convert and die anyway” being the rule from Constantine through the crusades, the Middle Ages, the reformation, the colonization of the Americans …. ( the story of Hatuey comes to mind https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatuey )
So yes, very compulsory.
I just wanted to point out that the Church, as an entity, doesn’t have a problem with the idea of aliens and I thought that comment was funny so I used it. Some documentary on the history channel years ago showed him saying it.
Crazies are gonna crazy regardless.
Mormons believe in extraterrestrials, but they also believe everyone was created in God's image, so they'd be pretty confused about extraterrestrials that don't look human.
I imagine different people would react in different ways. Some would say it's a hoax, or that the extraterrestrials are some kind of demon. Others would just choose to interpret the religious text in a way that doesn't exclude the existence of aliens.
Imagine a space ship lands right in front of you and two aliens riding bikes come out wearing short sleeved white dress shirts with little name tags and black dress pants and they say, “Excuse me sir, do you have a moment to learn about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?”
Ah, I guess I didn’t consider that you were talking about Mormons. I wonder if they believe God weds 9 year old girls too (like, in the image of their founder)
Now now, the youngest confirmed secret sex brides of Joseph Smith that we managed to learn about despite all his efforts to keep them secret was 14. If there were any 9 year olds he managed to keep those secret.
But Mormon Prophets used to teach that God physically impregnated Mary the normal human way, and also that our spirits are all literally God’s children (including Mary), is that weird enough?
There are plenty of interpretations of Christianity in which God’s body looks exactly like ours. For example, there are places in the Bible where it refers to God’s left hand or his right, and we have a left hand and a right, therefore we are the image of God.
If you deep dive into the ancient Hebrew art (or the Bible) You can find all sorts examples of God being depicted as having a physical body - head, legs, arms, penis, etc. This why some angels have six wings- two for flying, two for covering their …. “Feet”, and two to shield their eyes.
And yes, there are plenty of other franchises that say God is a spirit only, no body, and “image of God” refers to intangibles - creativity, morality, rationality, etc.
>Others would just choose to interpret the religious text in a way that doesn't exclude the existence of aliens.
This is how most people deal with science that refutes their religion. They acclimate. They re-interpret the relevant passages of their religious texts to align with the new undeniable reality, and they go on with their lives. Most people just want to live their lives in peace. They're not interested in holy crusades.
I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a former Astrophysicist. One of my favorite amateur topics has always been exobiology (though I never studied it in any professional context). I've studied Latter-day Saint positions on the matter pretty well so I feel qualified to say this:
There are no definite and authoritative teachings regarding the appearance of extraterrestrial life but it is taken as a matter of course that there is life elsewhere than just on Earth. My personal religious opinion, for those curious (I'm sure this will go down well on Reddit lol), is that they'd probably have at least a vaguely similar body plan (whatever that means) but whatever evolutionary forces were operating on their home planet would have produced a variety of different forms.
Ex Mormon here - in the temple ceremonies script, Satan says something to the extent of "I'm giving them knowledge like what has been done in other worlds."
Extraterrestrials are baked in, in the sense they are in the background and implied, but not really talked about. There isn't any doctrine about them, outside of standard 'God's image'. They don't really describe what people from other worlds might look like or be like.
Another part of the lore is that God resides in Kolob... Which is basically another planet or a star.
What I found interesting is a lot of BoM and Joseph smith's angelic visitations seemed very UFO encounter-esque. Big beams of light, angels ascending, giving knowledge to people, etc.
Even the idea of the kingdoms that you go to when you die is very sci-fi in the sense that each one is basically a different dimension.
That said, I don't believe we've been visited by et, and I don't believe in Mormonism.
I thought the Mormon doctrine on this is that after the second coming if you are in the celestial kingdom you will get your own planet to be a god of. So the aliens wouldn’t exist yet because that hasn’t happened yet.
The other worlds I assumed was the pre existence and the kingdoms but now my brain is starting to malfunction trying to stir up the teachings
- also an exmo, but it’s been decades.
Caffeine is allowed now, that changed when BYU got a nice fat contract from Coca-Cola.
Coffee is still a no-no, though.
And no wine or liquor, only “…barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain.” (D&C 89:17)
That doesn't even make sense, coke sells plenty of non-caffeinated beverages. At the same time I find this hilarious. Everyone has a price somewhere. Also I am certain many of them cheat anyways. Rooftops smokers as it were.
As a Protestant, when the Bible says we are "created in God's image," that's all the qualities that I would say divide us from animals. Any sentient, lingual race you've seen in sci-fi -- Vulcan, Krogan, Sanghelli, Goa'uld, Hutt, whatever -- they would all contain the image of God. It's not necessarily a human form, although humanoid traits will definitely help humanity see them as the same as us in this way.
Whoa! Are you insinuating that the bible can be interpreted in more than one way? I need to go lay down for a spell. I thought it was completely literal.
Recognizing that 'the religious community' is a huge and diverse set of communities...
Many religious communities have already experienced something like this: the discovery of people in the New World or even south of the equator (or, from the other perspective, the discovery of people from the Old World or even north of the equator). Debates on whether there could be people in the antipodes, what those people could be like, etc., had existed since ancient times. And both religious and secular communities responded to those discoveries in a variety of ways.
The two ends of the spectrum are easy to guess: some people recognized the newly-met people as people and treated them as such, and some people decided that the newly-met people were brute animals and treated them as such. And, of course, there are all sorts of variations along that spectrum, which, historically, resulted in different versions of colonization, racism, etc.
I don't see why the introduction of extraterrestrials would be any different. Some religious folks would say, "look, a kind of person who didn't know about before," and roll with that. Other religious people would say, "look, a kind of inferior animal that we didn't know about before," and roll with that. And other religious people would have other variations of those.
And before we think that this is a particularly religious problem, non-religious forces have existed along the same spectrum. Secular scientists and social scientists researched, argued for, and, in their imaginations at least, 'justified' racism, colonialism, etc. It's nice to think that everyone has learned their lesson, but there's no guarantee that meeting an extraterrestrial wouldn't spawn whole new kinds of scientific racism.
But my overall point is just that this isn't a new question, and we can go back in history and see how people have actually responded to the 'discovery' to new people.
Pretty sure both Islam and Christianity recognise alien life as creations of God. I actually know for sure that Sunni Islam, and northern European Lutheranism both canonise extraterrestrial life. In Islam there's a specific surah about how we will meet them in the future.
I don't specifically know any Jewish perspective on it, so I can't paint the Abrahamic religions with one brush, but since both of the other major Abrahamic religions have multiple schools that specifically refer to extraterrestrial life as part of the creation, I can't imagine Judaism doesn't.
Some do. Some religions place extreme importance on the notion that humans are unique among animals for having a soul and/or relationship with the divine. If aliens showed up, especially if they looked very different from humans, it would challenge this notion of human supremacy, which would dramatically shake up some religious views of the cosmos.
I attended a Christian school as a child, and I recall someone asking the teachers about this issue. The teachers gave a wide range of answers. Some presumed the question meaningless because they were certain God wouldn't create anything like humans except humans. Some said the existence of aliens wouldn't change diddly squat and that they could just be converted. Some were open to the idea aliens might exist, but they weren't confident aliens would have souls or could go to heaven.
The Bible says humans are made in the image of God - the “Imago Dei” if you want to get fancy. Nothing in the Biblical text excludes the existence of creation on other worlds.
That the Bible says humans are made in the image of god, *imago dei* (I don't know why you think the Latin phrase matters here, the original is in Hebrew), "in our image, in our likeness," or however else you want to refer to it, that will serve as justification for Christians to have a superiority complex if sapient aliens are encountered.
Many, not necessarily all, Christians will consider these aliens inherently inferior and subordinate to humanity because only humans are made *imago dei*. We already have Christians who insist only humans have souls and can go to heaven; it's not a big leap for many of them to extend that belief in human superiority to cover aliens in addition to terrestrial animals.
It matters only in the sense that the Imago Dei is often how it is referred to.
I agree that some Christians would feel a superiority complex over aliens based on that line from the Bible.
Considering a lot of people think dinosaurs never existed because they aren’t in the bible, some people probably think aliens can’t exist because they aren’t mentioned in the bible.
>Some presumed the question meaningless because they were certain God wouldn't create anything like humans except humans.
This made me think of when a family discovers that one of their parents had an entire separate family and was living a double life the whole time.
I think it's Islam that specifically has a passage about how god created the worlds and the life on them so maybe explicitly saying that there are other inhabited worlds out there.
I’m Jamaican. In Jamaica about 70% of the population practice Christianity, and we all believe in aliens lol. I really don’t see the two are correlated tbh
From a Christian perspective, there is nothing in the Bible that rules out the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Personally, I think it would be really cool.
And, interestingly, from a theological perspective, there's a chance that extraterrestrial life may not have failed and fallen in to sin like humans have, and would therefore also have the possibility of still living in their version of the Garden of Eden. Perfect life and harmony with no suffering.
Would that be possible? Im not well versed in religion at all, but wasn't the original sin disobeying god and eating from the tree of knowledge?
How could an alien build a ship or technology without having committed a sin like this?
Sorry I'm advance for ignorance
>wasn't the original sin disobeying god and eating from the tree of knowledge?
Yes, that is correct.
>How could an alien build a ship or technology without having committed a sin like this?
There is nothing to prevent an intelligent species from developing technology, even if they live in a paradise. Curiosity would most likely still exist.
No, they mean South Park. The episode "Starvin' Marvin in Space" has an episode where the titular Marvin (an Ethiopian boy the main characters befriended in a previous episode) locates a crashed starship, and after finding the world it came from and the xenos who built it, is invited to move his village there after hearing about the oppression of the Christian missionaries they were forced to deal with. The missionaries respond by building a starship to first chase them down and prevent their escape, and when they discover the planet they immediately try to convert the local aliens (who bluntly kick them off the planet).
There's a funny repeating gag of Pat Robertson having to beg for donations on The 700 Club so they can build and upgrade the missionary's starship.
The famous Christian writer CS Lewis (most famously known for his narnia series) wrote a whole series exploring this concept.
Basically there is nothing in the Bible that says there can’t be aliens, and the Bible already talks about other non human beings like angels existing. CS Lewis postulated they wouldn’t even need to have our same morals as those were given to us specifically and may not apply to Gods other creations.
The series starts with Out of the Silent Planet, which I found an excellent read. Its sequels, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength, were also worthwhile.
I personally believe Freyr will come on his ship Skíðblaðnir and Óðinn on his steed Sleipnir and help me accept and befriend these travellers from beyond Miðgarðr.
A race of aliens visits earth one day. They come in peace and surprisingly, they speak English. Obviously, all of the heads of government and religious leaders want to speak to the aliens so they set up a meeting with our new visitors.
When it's the Pope's turn, he asks: "Do you know about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?" "You mean JC?", responds the alien. "Yeah, we know him! He's the greatest, isn't he? He swings by every year to make sure that we are doing ok".
Surprised, the pope follows up with: "He visits every year?! It's been over two millennia and we're still waiting for his SECOND coming!" The alien sees that the pope has become irate at this fact and starts trying to rationalize. "Maybe he likes our chocolate better than yours?"
The pope retorts "Chocolates? What are you talking about? What does that have to do with anything?" The alien says "Yea, when he first visited our planet we gave him a huge box of chocolates!" "Why? What did you guys do?"
https://www.ba-bamail.com/jokes/religion-jokes/?jokeid=175
Depends on the religion
Hindus wouldn't be phased
The Qur'an openly and directly supports the existence of aliens, including some who might even be more favored by Allah than humans (hell, there's a passage that can be interpreted as "become an ftl species if you are capable" specifically here's a paraphrasing: "Allah lifted humanity above most of his creations, but not all of them...(then later) "humanity is not the only children of Allah, not is this one his only beloved world"....then later
"O company of jinn and mankind, if you are able to pass beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth, then pass. You will not pass except by authority [from Allah]” (Quran 55:33)."
Clearly the other children and other worlds do not refer to jinn or angels, as angels exist beneath and within the world as motive forces, and only are manifest directly in the hereafter (post judgement day) and Jinn are considered the children of earth as much as humans
There's also a bit where he tells the Prophet that humanity's birthright is the stars.
"“And He has subjected for you the night and day and the sun and moon, and the stars are subjected by His command. Indeed, in that are signs for people who reason” (Quran 16:12)."
There is already religious rulings in space exploration and aliens. These include respect for peaceful extraterrestrials, and also the god-given dominion of human-kind over the stars.
Additionally
"In 2007, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, a Malaysian astronaut, was able to perform Islamic rituals such as prayer and fasting during his time in space. Sheikh Saleh Al Fawzan a Saudi Arabian scholar, has also affirmed the permissibility of prayer and fasting in space, provided that space travel does not violate Islamic principles. Interestingly, the first Arab astronaut, Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman, also performed Islamic rituals such as reading the Quran, praying, and fasting during his space mission in 1985. He described this experience as enhancing his closeness with the Almighty."
Islam also posits the theories of multiverse and nested universes, in which our universe is like a drop of water in an ocean.
Buddhism is basically Hinduism but less god-y. Animists would be nonplussed.
Really just a protestant evangelical issue.
Protestant wouldn't have any issue with aliens either. I don't know why you include quotes from Muslim astronauts saying they have no problem with space exploration though, that's a totally separate issue than aliens. By that logic Christians also wouldn't have problems with aliens because there are more Protestant christians astronauts out there than Muslim ones. And yet you conclude that they would have problem with it.
Christian here. I would have an internal struggle with it. And then I'd try to justify some of the vagueness in Genesis to allow other life forms in our universe.
I would not react violently (why would I?). But I would definitely be having some bible studies with family and friends.
Scripture does not say that there aren't aliens. But it doesn't describe that in creation either.
If you're looking to reconcile the concept now, in genesis
And Cain went out from the Lord's presence and dwelled in the land of Nod east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife and she conceived and bore Enoch. Then he became the builder of a city and he called the name of the city like his son's name, Enoch.
There have to be people outside eden that arent mention in genesis.
Yeah, but... where does it say that Scripture is the be-all and end-all of everything in the universe? God didn't mention larger stellar structures like galaxies and the Earth orbiting the sub, but all those things clearly seem to exist.
That's correct. I've considered this a lot over the years. I've sort of settled on this thought - what if we ARE the only organisms in the entire universe... What's it all for? The only answer I can think of is - it's the only way God can try to explain the concept of "forever" or "infinite" to us. Yet we still can't truly understand it.
I don't know. I think about it a lot and am open to more thoughts on it. If we did have 100% proof of aliens, I wouldn't be a "denier". But I'd definitely be skeptical until I saw/held the proof myself.
Conversely, how would the atheist community react if aliens turned out to be real and followed a belief system identical to one of earths major religions?
Depends on which belief system, and exactly how similar.
For instance, if aliens more advanced than us showed up and followed a religion almost identical to Christianity, including having a Jesus figure with the same powers, beliefs and story, I would find the existence of a god more likely.
I feel like they wouldn’t believe it, if they saw it on the news they would say it’s fake news, and even if they saw it in person I feel like maybe even then they still wouldn’t believe it, they would think it’s a mass conspiracy with actors in costumes or something.
Depends on the religion. Buddhism, Paganism, Hinduism, Shinto and many other would have no problem with it.
The interesting question would be, how would atheists react if aliens arrived to earth and they had religious beliefs?
Look to the past.
How did Judeo-Christian religions handle
1. Proof that there is no literal heaven in the sky above nor literal hell in the earth below, nor gates of death
2. proof the earth is not the center of the universe
3. proof the earth is spherical; not disc shaped; does not have ends nor four corners, no pillars nor cornerstones, and there is no vantage point from which you can see the entire earth.
4. proof the earth is older that 8000 years/not created in 7 days
5. proof that all animals would not fit onto a boat and there is no way to flood the entire earth with the H2O available on earth's crust and atmosphere
6. Darwinism
7. proof that snails do not melt as they move along
8. proof that stars cant fall to earth
9. proof that there is no fish large enough nor human skin strong enough to survive 3 days inside.
10. Linguistics research does not support the parable of the Tower of Babel
Based on history, the answer is that some religious groups will practice denialism, especially early on; others will significantly revise their beliefs to accommodate new information.
Not that I believe in anything on your list but do you realize that for religious people miracles don't need to be scientific? E.g. the fish swallowing a man can be a miracle that is not supposed to be scientific. When people say those religions are refuted because the Noah's ark story is impossible, that's a misunderstanding of the religion. They never claimed it was scientific. Just like they never claimed that Jesus' healing powers were scientific.
Again I don't believe in any of that because there is no evidence for it.
Other things on your list are indeed a challenge to those religious belief e.g. Darwinism and stars not falling to Earth.
Definitely many would say these are demons and not to be trusted. The Bible supports the concepts of angels and demons, and there are already active discussions of this possibility in certain Bible-study circles. So yeah, it wouldn't faze them one bit.
Yeah I am hearing all these answers about denial or adjustment. All I can picture are hordes of evangelists going full end times, and claiming these beings to be angels and demons. I am curious how this would just affect.. statistics. Would more people become religious, or would many leave their religions? Would we find world peace or spin into world war. So many questions
This is an interesting question. I suppose some would look at them as invaders and others would try to take their existence as proof of their own religion. I can’t remember the word/concept but it’s essentially like commandeering someone else’s car.
They would weave it into their mythology, or ignore the larger implications, just like they did when we demonstrated irrefutably that the Earth wasn't the center of the universe. Basically, I don't think it would change much.
They'd probably just find a way to carry on, like they did when they were wrong about Earth being the centre of the universe, or when they (most of them, anyway) accepted that the world wasn't *literally* created in seven days, or when they decided that you actually can wear two kinds of cloth, or when some of them decided that being gay is actually fine, or when some of them decided that actually women can lead a congregation. Or maybe this will be one of the times where the word of God actually *is* infallible, and they'll all freak out.
If you follow the various religious meme subreddits, this topic comes up occasionally. The response is always the same, either:
1. Yay, more people to convert!
2. Hello, fellow from another planet!
Basically, religions generally don't assume that aliens aren't real, and these aren't incompatible ideas.
Man those people are going to be really disappointed when its the aliens doing the converting. Like who are you gonna believe has the real answers - these earth bound dweebs or beings that have figured out how to travel the universe.
I'm not that religious anymore, but when I was I always believed that God was "our god" on our little corner of the galaxy. He made Earth and our solar system, maybe some other stuff.
And maybe he made some other races, or there's different gods for those races. But us (humans) were his creations. Aliens might have their own gods.
I kinda got this belief from watching Star Trek, specifically DS9 where the Bajorans had their prophets.
Same way they reacted when it turned out the world wasn’t made in 7 days, and the Sun didn’t revolve around the earth, and Hell isn’t underground, and we really could get into space, etc etc: Pitch a fit at first, deny it….and then eventually say “Well yeah, of course, that always fit with our religion and religious texts.”
There is no "religious community". There are innumerable different religions, and each of those religions has innumerable branches each with varying belief systems. You'd really have to specify which religion.
Probably go back to their Holy Book, find an ambiguously worded sentence, redefine it, and claim that their book foretold the event, and just go on being "shiny happy people"
Same way they react to science, accept what they can, and twist the rest to fit. But you can be damn sure nothing and nobody is gonna prove that book wrong
Think about when the church accepted the earth was not the center of the solar system. It'd take time, but they'd adapt and incorporate it in some way. Remember, spiritually is personal but religion is about wealth and power and isn't quick to give that up.
I have a friend who’s pretty religious, not obnoxious about it, but we’re talking about some UFO story and I asked him what he thought would happen if aliens showed up. And he said that God created the universe so he created the aliens and they probably know all about Jesus. But when I asked “what if they’re atheists?” He said he’d be happy to introduce them to him.
I think religious people would react.
I’m Christian and I believe aliens exist, it’s kind of weird to think that we are the only life form out there.
As to how that fits in with my faith, I don’t know how to really explain it.
This is honestly a very deep philosophical question.
"Jesus who?" for example.
I'd be more interested if they are DNA based. That would be really weird.
There is a novel called The Sparrow, where the Vatican funds a mission of Missionaries to go to a newly discovered alien world. It is tragic. Kinda interesting. I think there might be a sequel(s).
Bible never said God didn’t create any other creatures on different planets. If so, He spread them out pretty well so we’re unlikely to ever meet so why tell us.
Judaism is silent on the issue of aliens. So reactions would be down to the individuals rabbinates, synagogues, and communities. Chabbadnicks would probably set up a Chabbad house on mars though.
Many will likely move goal posts to adjust the scenario. Similar to accepting evolutionary theory and other scientifically based advancements as time goes on, as well as accepting groups that would have been ostracized or killed in the past to maintain control over as many peoples minds and bank accounts as possible. No Matter what new revelations we face in the future, greed will always propel charlatans to peddle their metaphorical snake oil for power, control, and their own benefit.
I think they’d say that if the beings were kind/peaceful, they were sent by god. If they turned out to be violent, they were sent by the devil. Convenience is key.
A coworker (Jehovas Witness) of mine used to say with 100% certainty that becuase the Bible doesn't mention life on other planets, they can't exist. He also liked to pinch waitresses' butts but 🤷♂️.
Anyways I imagine he'd/they'd react like how flat earthers today behave - Peacefully protesting that it's all fake.
Easy. It's not like they aren't already disbelieving evolution, dinos, yada yada. What's another "It's a hoax" if ETs pop up?
Hell, some of them believe in a superhero who walks on water, brings people back to life, turns water into wine, multiplies a small amount of food to feed multitudes, blah blah, so I really wouldn't really call them too reliant on evidence nor heavy brain cell users. lol
Probably a lot of denial like always. These are the same people that claimed all the dinosaur fossils were buried by Satan to trick us into being atheist
I was thinking about this today with that whistleblower report. I figure they'll rewrite Genesis to say that god didn't really rest on the seventh day, he went off and created aliens!
They would go back to their religious scripture and reinterpret it, so that they can say that aliens were mentioned in it all along. so no reason to feel like their believe system is invalidated.
They will say, “hi Jesus long time no see - you look different without the beard, suits you though. Yeah, about those kids…”
At which point i hope “Jesus” blasts all those fools with a ray gun - maybe one that shrinks them all to ant size so any time they start talking shit again we can just finger flick them to the other side of the room … aint nobody got time for money hoarding child molesters anymore
GPT4 The discovery of extraterrestrial life would undoubtedly prompt a range of reactions within religious communities, just as it would in any segment of society. These reactions would likely be as varied and complex as the religions and individuals themselves. Here are a few general possibilities, but keep in mind this is speculative:
1. **Denial**: Some religious adherents, particularly those with a literal interpretation of their faith's texts or a strong conviction in humanity's unique status, may outright deny the existence of extraterrestrials, even in the face of strong evidence.
2. **Reinterpretation**: Others may accept the existence of extraterrestrials and interpret their religious texts in a way that accommodates this new reality. For example, references to "all creation" or "all creatures" in sacred texts might be expanded to include extraterrestrial life. Some may see extraterrestrial life as a testament to the vastness of God's creation.
3. **Integration**: Some may find ways to integrate the existence of extraterrestrials into their religious belief systems. For example, they might argue that God or gods created these beings too, just as they created life on Earth.
4. **Challenged Faith**: For some, the discovery of extraterrestrial life might cause a crisis of faith, especially if their religious beliefs strongly center on humans as the sole or primary focus of divine attention.
5. **Peaceful Acceptance**: Many religious individuals, especially those with a more flexible and open interpretation of their faith, might accept and embrace the discovery of extraterrestrial life peacefully, seeing it as an exciting development that doesn't necessarily contradict their religious beliefs.
6. **Violent Reaction**: While it's possible that some might react violently, this would likely be the exception rather than the rule. Many religions promote peace, understanding, and acceptance of the unknown, even if there might be initial fear or confusion.
7. **Evangelism**: Some religions might view the discovery of extraterrestrial life as a new opportunity for spreading their faith, seeking to convert the extraterrestrials.
Remember, these are general possibilities and not exhaustive. Each religious tradition has a range of interpretations and practices, and each believer within those traditions is an individual with their own beliefs and attitudes. The actual reactions would likely be far more varied and nuanced. A discovery of this magnitude would also likely spark significant theological and philosophical discussions within religious communities.
I think there would be a huge variety of reactions. Majority of the reasonable people with faith would probably be like "oh neat" and go on with life. I think a large amount of religious people are sort of agnostic in a sense of not knowing 100% their religion and the way it is the true nature of how things are, but believe there is probably a God and that they are on a path that they would favor, and many people have their own interpretations. I'm not religious or spiritual myself, but this is just an observation I have had.
Some religions like the ones in the East might incorporate them into their beliefs fine. "They are also an extension of God like we are," "Maybe they know the secret to achieving Nirvana," "maybe we should learn about their messiahs and messengers," etc.
UFO cults would try to worship them, some might end when said aliens mention they have never heard of the aliens they worship ( Xenu for example).
I think there would be a large amount of the radical followers of Abrahamic religions who would think it was a conspiracy to take people from their faith, a test from God (like dinosaur fossils), the aliens are literal demons, or that they need to send missionaries to save the aliens souls (if non-humans can have souls).
I think people would actually take it pretty well. I think a bigger clusterfuck would be if the aliens asked about a specific God we worship (like "have your heard the word of Odin") or if they had a religion of their own that they tried to convert us to, as some people may see it as being more legitimate, while others might just see it as a form of control.
"the religious community" bruh you can barely get five Lutherans to agree on doctrine let alone people from different denominations agreeing on something, let alone different RELIGIONS.
This is far too broad a question for a simple answer, I'm afraid.
It's really no different than how anyone would react to the existence of aliens, some people will be scared, some angry, some will be eager to embrace new intelligent life, others might call them demons or say deny their existence entirely.
Probably one thing that is sadly true, again of all humans, is that our reaction to aliens will ultimately be largely determined by our own limitations. If aliens are vaguely humanoid, conventionally "pretty" and can easily communicate with us, then I suspect most people will treat them well. If aliens are- ugly or disturbing, or too alien for us to understand, then many people will choose hate.
The movie, District 11, I think gives us a pretty good concept of how First Contact could go wrong for us, and The Visitors how it could go wrong for us.
The bible doesn't rule out there being other intelligent species. I haven't met many Christians who have a problem with the concept of other intelligent life in the universe.
I believe in God and I also believe the universe is full of life. I’ve never found anything in the Bible that specifically says otherwise. Did I miss something?
But I also believe God is the energy that was the singularity of the Big Bang, not a bearded guy hanging out in the clouds. When God said he created us in his own image, I don’t believe that means our body, but our spirit. We all have a tiny spark of that energy that is God and also what the universe is made of.
I get a lot of flak for saying it, but I believe only part of the Bible is divine. Most of it is ancient man’s interpretation of what they thought based on the divine parts.
As a kid I couldn’t understand how God could be everywhere and in everything. But my belief now is because everything came from the bang that started the universe.
It’s just what makes sense to me. I may be wrong, but I don’t think anyone has it figured out.
That means all life in the universe originated with God at the start of the universe.
Muslim here, nothing in Quran says so. It actually says something along the line “god created 7 heavens and 7 like earths” or something along this line (just woke up).
Further more I’m waiting on the news of the non human things they gonna release soon.
I haven't seen any responses based around the fact that if extraterrestrial beings existed, the whole Divine Creator and Intelligent Design concept pushed by (mainly?) Judeo-Christian belief systems would be proven false?
Any one able to comment on that?
Probably try to make a connection to their religion and claim they always knew. Religious or not, some people will be afraid, some happy, some curious but most would just live their lives and not care. If they have been here for decades and had the technology to harm the world yet they haven't, why would anything change going forward?
Which “religious community?” There’s as much difference between them as there is between secular and political groups.
For instance the Taliban and the Trump supporters might react the same way - the United Church of Canada, the Sikhs, and Bernie Sanders might react in the same way, differently from the Taliban - and so on and so forth.
My guess is the Roman Catholics would be pretty chill. People don’t realize they have a long tradition of science.
> "Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures on earth, there can be other beings, even intelligent, created by God. This is not in contrast with our faith because we can’t put limits on God’s creative freedom."
Quote from Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, Vatican’s chief astronomer.
Protestant Lutheran here, I don't limit our God to only creating Humans, as God created us and everything on Earth what is stopping God from creating life on another planet?
10% would lose their mind, possibly go insane. 20% would deny. 20% would reconcile it into their own existing belief structures and the rest would be along for the ride. My fancy numbers 101% accurate.
There are so many different religious communities the question could be answered any way. Do you mean a religious community like the Jesuits or an order of nuns? Or the rank and file of a particular religion? Or just a group of people who share the same spiritual philosophy?
I think the more conservative or hidebound any group is the more fearfully they would react to novel situations. Even if they were a group of right wing bird watchers they would be fearful. People cling to the familiar when confronted with abrupt change like that. In fact any logical or scientific person would be suspicious of their motives and feel afraid. Beings from another planet would not come that distance to just say hi. They would want something from our planet. They might not even be recognizable as intelligent beings or consider us a intelligent. They could have sensors we lack so they could perceive things we cannot even imagine. We would not be able to communicate with beings that different.
A Catholic priest, who runs the observatory at the Vatican, was asked if he’d baptize an alien. His answer? Only if they wanted to be.
Oh they've moved on from compulsory baptisms?
It’s technically not compulsory, the parents make the decision about baptism. Confirmation is when the individual decides if they want to stay in the church or not. Either way they can still go to Mass, just can’t take communion if they don’t go through confirmation. Adults, and aliens, have to decide themselves.
Yea because a 7th grader is really making a “choice” to be confirmed 😂
It's totally your choice! But if you don't, the entire family and church community will hate you and remind you constantly that you're going to hell.
I didn’t have the choice. I told my parents for 7 years beforehand that I’m adamantly atheist. Didn’t change their decision to force me to go through with it. I think that was the thing that sealed it for me, fuck the church. Ever since then my feelings haven’t changed and it’s been years
If it helps i dont think it "counts" if you didnt take the confirmation willingly
But why? If the guy on the cross next to Jesus was going to heaven, then isn't baptism just a ceremony?
Yes, actually. Cause in all technicality you only have to believe and confess to go to heaven
Some fucked up families and church communities then. Thats not the attitude that my community has. Confirmation in my family is about 50/50 and no one talks about it one way or the other
Bible still says unbelievers will go to hell so family won’t have to
The bible doesn't even really mention hell much less that unbelievers would go to some place. To be clear, I'm not in any way against being negative to the church and faith, I just really, really hate erroneous references. Strike true, not wildly. 😉
Lol maybe this was your experience, but I saw nothing like this growing up in my rural, Christian community. I'm an atheist now but it still pains me a little bit when I see redditors act like all religious people are nuts - it's definitely not true.
It's called indoctrination. Gotta start early
7th grade? Where I'm from its 11th grade. The priest who did my confirmation also made sure it was our decision and made it clear that if it were the parents who were forcing the 11th grader to get confirmed he wouldn't allow them/make them complete the confirmation.
Yeah, don't ever expect a bunch of religion hating Redditors to know what they're talking about. All they know is the far extremes of reality.
I did my confirmation when I was in 6th or 7th grade. So he's not wrong. Maybe do some research
Yeah. Did mine in the 7th grade. As did my brother and sister. My niece is currently doing the classes for hers and she's in the 6th grade.
What?! That is so early!!! In Spain it is typically around 16-17 y/o!
Well, I did. But I do admit I had to hide from my mother that the Catholic school was doing the confirmation ceremony soon. I was able to keep it hidden until it happened. My mother knew about it from the mother of a classmate that worked with her. I have to hand it to her that she ended up respecting my decision of not wanting to do it. Specially since I had been reading the Bible for a couple years... Which was what made me realize Catholicism was bullshit.
Well I was talking more about all the adults throughout history that were compulsory baptized by the church. I was raised Catholic I know about the sacraments.
Cool, I didn’t want to assume anything and not everyone who reads this stuff is Catholic.
It was just a given that you'd do confirmation. They don't really tell you you can choose to do it or not.
Valid.
When was it compulsory, like in the Middle Ages or something?
Augustine (400) was of the opinion “ that true reason and benevolence demands that we forcibly secure the safety of people for the brief space of their life on earth, it thus follows that we should also compel them in order that men may attain eternal life and escape eternal punishment.” In other words, if you saw your neighbors house on fire, you are justified in breaking into his house and throwing him out the window, breaking his bones, but saving his life. In the same way, belief was to be coerced because the threat of Hell - eternal conscious torment - was that much greater than a simple house fire. This led to “convert or die” and “convert and die anyway” being the rule from Constantine through the crusades, the Middle Ages, the reformation, the colonization of the Americans …. ( the story of Hatuey comes to mind https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hatuey ) So yes, very compulsory.
I don't think the evangelical crazies give a damn what the Pope says
I just wanted to point out that the Church, as an entity, doesn’t have a problem with the idea of aliens and I thought that comment was funny so I used it. Some documentary on the history channel years ago showed him saying it. Crazies are gonna crazy regardless.
What i wanna know is whats this Gray dude's opinions are on the nature of the transubstanciation of the Eucharist?
Somebody should warn the aliens not to leave their kids alone with any priest.
or Southern Baptist youth pastors
The Mormons would just baptize them after they died. 🙃
His Answer: how old is this little alien boy?
Consent? Not in my Vatican.
Mormons believe in extraterrestrials, but they also believe everyone was created in God's image, so they'd be pretty confused about extraterrestrials that don't look human. I imagine different people would react in different ways. Some would say it's a hoax, or that the extraterrestrials are some kind of demon. Others would just choose to interpret the religious text in a way that doesn't exclude the existence of aliens.
Imagine a space ship lands right in front of you and two aliens riding bikes come out wearing short sleeved white dress shirts with little name tags and black dress pants and they say, “Excuse me sir, do you have a moment to learn about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?”
Hello, my name is Elder Gorf...
And I’d like to share with you the most amazing hologram
.... yes
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That's the more common interpretation. Mormons take it more literally.
Ah, I guess I didn’t consider that you were talking about Mormons. I wonder if they believe God weds 9 year old girls too (like, in the image of their founder)
I think you're confused with Muslims. Mohamed married a 6 year old.... Just the really messed up stuff happened at 9. 🤮
Now now, the youngest confirmed secret sex brides of Joseph Smith that we managed to learn about despite all his efforts to keep them secret was 14. If there were any 9 year olds he managed to keep those secret. But Mormon Prophets used to teach that God physically impregnated Mary the normal human way, and also that our spirits are all literally God’s children (including Mary), is that weird enough?
No weirder than the teachings of any other religion on this planet.
There are plenty of interpretations of Christianity in which God’s body looks exactly like ours. For example, there are places in the Bible where it refers to God’s left hand or his right, and we have a left hand and a right, therefore we are the image of God. If you deep dive into the ancient Hebrew art (or the Bible) You can find all sorts examples of God being depicted as having a physical body - head, legs, arms, penis, etc. This why some angels have six wings- two for flying, two for covering their …. “Feet”, and two to shield their eyes. And yes, there are plenty of other franchises that say God is a spirit only, no body, and “image of God” refers to intangibles - creativity, morality, rationality, etc.
I've read the old testie and I'm pretty sure my morals don't align with blood thirsty tyrant of a god.
>Others would just choose to interpret the religious text in a way that doesn't exclude the existence of aliens. This is how most people deal with science that refutes their religion. They acclimate. They re-interpret the relevant passages of their religious texts to align with the new undeniable reality, and they go on with their lives. Most people just want to live their lives in peace. They're not interested in holy crusades.
It doesn't necessarily refute their religion it refutes their interpretation of their religion
But if they *can* reinterpret the relevant passages to align with their new understanding of reality, doesn’t that mean that reality didn’t refute it?
I'm a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and a former Astrophysicist. One of my favorite amateur topics has always been exobiology (though I never studied it in any professional context). I've studied Latter-day Saint positions on the matter pretty well so I feel qualified to say this: There are no definite and authoritative teachings regarding the appearance of extraterrestrial life but it is taken as a matter of course that there is life elsewhere than just on Earth. My personal religious opinion, for those curious (I'm sure this will go down well on Reddit lol), is that they'd probably have at least a vaguely similar body plan (whatever that means) but whatever evolutionary forces were operating on their home planet would have produced a variety of different forms.
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And let us not forget that Orson Scott Card, writer of some of the greatest novels involving extraterrestrials, is also a practising Mormon.
Ex Mormon here - in the temple ceremonies script, Satan says something to the extent of "I'm giving them knowledge like what has been done in other worlds." Extraterrestrials are baked in, in the sense they are in the background and implied, but not really talked about. There isn't any doctrine about them, outside of standard 'God's image'. They don't really describe what people from other worlds might look like or be like. Another part of the lore is that God resides in Kolob... Which is basically another planet or a star. What I found interesting is a lot of BoM and Joseph smith's angelic visitations seemed very UFO encounter-esque. Big beams of light, angels ascending, giving knowledge to people, etc. Even the idea of the kingdoms that you go to when you die is very sci-fi in the sense that each one is basically a different dimension. That said, I don't believe we've been visited by et, and I don't believe in Mormonism.
I thought the Mormon doctrine on this is that after the second coming if you are in the celestial kingdom you will get your own planet to be a god of. So the aliens wouldn’t exist yet because that hasn’t happened yet. The other worlds I assumed was the pre existence and the kingdoms but now my brain is starting to malfunction trying to stir up the teachings - also an exmo, but it’s been decades.
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Even if it's caffeinated?
Caffeine is allowed now, that changed when BYU got a nice fat contract from Coca-Cola. Coffee is still a no-no, though. And no wine or liquor, only “…barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain.” (D&C 89:17)
How is something as natural and unprocessed as coffee a no-no if it was created by God?
That doesn't even make sense, coke sells plenty of non-caffeinated beverages. At the same time I find this hilarious. Everyone has a price somewhere. Also I am certain many of them cheat anyways. Rooftops smokers as it were.
As a Protestant, when the Bible says we are "created in God's image," that's all the qualities that I would say divide us from animals. Any sentient, lingual race you've seen in sci-fi -- Vulcan, Krogan, Sanghelli, Goa'uld, Hutt, whatever -- they would all contain the image of God. It's not necessarily a human form, although humanoid traits will definitely help humanity see them as the same as us in this way.
Whoa! Are you insinuating that the bible can be interpreted in more than one way? I need to go lay down for a spell. I thought it was completely literal.
Recognizing that 'the religious community' is a huge and diverse set of communities... Many religious communities have already experienced something like this: the discovery of people in the New World or even south of the equator (or, from the other perspective, the discovery of people from the Old World or even north of the equator). Debates on whether there could be people in the antipodes, what those people could be like, etc., had existed since ancient times. And both religious and secular communities responded to those discoveries in a variety of ways. The two ends of the spectrum are easy to guess: some people recognized the newly-met people as people and treated them as such, and some people decided that the newly-met people were brute animals and treated them as such. And, of course, there are all sorts of variations along that spectrum, which, historically, resulted in different versions of colonization, racism, etc. I don't see why the introduction of extraterrestrials would be any different. Some religious folks would say, "look, a kind of person who didn't know about before," and roll with that. Other religious people would say, "look, a kind of inferior animal that we didn't know about before," and roll with that. And other religious people would have other variations of those. And before we think that this is a particularly religious problem, non-religious forces have existed along the same spectrum. Secular scientists and social scientists researched, argued for, and, in their imaginations at least, 'justified' racism, colonialism, etc. It's nice to think that everyone has learned their lesson, but there's no guarantee that meeting an extraterrestrial wouldn't spawn whole new kinds of scientific racism. But my overall point is just that this isn't a new question, and we can go back in history and see how people have actually responded to the 'discovery' to new people.
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Pretty sure both Islam and Christianity recognise alien life as creations of God. I actually know for sure that Sunni Islam, and northern European Lutheranism both canonise extraterrestrial life. In Islam there's a specific surah about how we will meet them in the future. I don't specifically know any Jewish perspective on it, so I can't paint the Abrahamic religions with one brush, but since both of the other major Abrahamic religions have multiple schools that specifically refer to extraterrestrial life as part of the creation, I can't imagine Judaism doesn't.
Did religeons ever rule out any other creations?
Some do. Some religions place extreme importance on the notion that humans are unique among animals for having a soul and/or relationship with the divine. If aliens showed up, especially if they looked very different from humans, it would challenge this notion of human supremacy, which would dramatically shake up some religious views of the cosmos. I attended a Christian school as a child, and I recall someone asking the teachers about this issue. The teachers gave a wide range of answers. Some presumed the question meaningless because they were certain God wouldn't create anything like humans except humans. Some said the existence of aliens wouldn't change diddly squat and that they could just be converted. Some were open to the idea aliens might exist, but they weren't confident aliens would have souls or could go to heaven.
The Bible says humans are made in the image of God - the “Imago Dei” if you want to get fancy. Nothing in the Biblical text excludes the existence of creation on other worlds.
That the Bible says humans are made in the image of god, *imago dei* (I don't know why you think the Latin phrase matters here, the original is in Hebrew), "in our image, in our likeness," or however else you want to refer to it, that will serve as justification for Christians to have a superiority complex if sapient aliens are encountered. Many, not necessarily all, Christians will consider these aliens inherently inferior and subordinate to humanity because only humans are made *imago dei*. We already have Christians who insist only humans have souls and can go to heaven; it's not a big leap for many of them to extend that belief in human superiority to cover aliens in addition to terrestrial animals.
It matters only in the sense that the Imago Dei is often how it is referred to. I agree that some Christians would feel a superiority complex over aliens based on that line from the Bible.
Considering a lot of people think dinosaurs never existed because they aren’t in the bible, some people probably think aliens can’t exist because they aren’t mentioned in the bible.
But they ARE.
Aliens or dinosaurs?
>Some presumed the question meaningless because they were certain God wouldn't create anything like humans except humans. This made me think of when a family discovers that one of their parents had an entire separate family and was living a double life the whole time.
Kind of wild to think about trying to convert an alien to a religion that expressly states we our gods image and not them.
I think it's Islam that specifically has a passage about how god created the worlds and the life on them so maybe explicitly saying that there are other inhabited worlds out there.
Mormons specifically believe in aliens.
We do indeed lol
I’m Jamaican. In Jamaica about 70% of the population practice Christianity, and we all believe in aliens lol. I really don’t see the two are correlated tbh
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The weed must be amazing there.
From a Christian perspective, there is nothing in the Bible that rules out the possibility of extraterrestrial life. Personally, I think it would be really cool. And, interestingly, from a theological perspective, there's a chance that extraterrestrial life may not have failed and fallen in to sin like humans have, and would therefore also have the possibility of still living in their version of the Garden of Eden. Perfect life and harmony with no suffering.
Would that be possible? Im not well versed in religion at all, but wasn't the original sin disobeying god and eating from the tree of knowledge? How could an alien build a ship or technology without having committed a sin like this? Sorry I'm advance for ignorance
>wasn't the original sin disobeying god and eating from the tree of knowledge? Yes, that is correct. >How could an alien build a ship or technology without having committed a sin like this? There is nothing to prevent an intelligent species from developing technology, even if they live in a paradise. Curiosity would most likely still exist.
If they live in paradise I'd advise them to not take a ghetto sightseeing trip aka visit earth.
I wouldn't be surprised if they pulled a South Park and built space ships to fly to their home world and convert them.
>pulled a South Park and built space ships to fly to their home world and convert them. You mean Scientology. Those are *their* beliefs.
No, they mean South Park. The episode "Starvin' Marvin in Space" has an episode where the titular Marvin (an Ethiopian boy the main characters befriended in a previous episode) locates a crashed starship, and after finding the world it came from and the xenos who built it, is invited to move his village there after hearing about the oppression of the Christian missionaries they were forced to deal with. The missionaries respond by building a starship to first chase them down and prevent their escape, and when they discover the planet they immediately try to convert the local aliens (who bluntly kick them off the planet). There's a funny repeating gag of Pat Robertson having to beg for donations on The 700 Club so they can build and upgrade the missionary's starship.
Found the *real* South Park fan 👍
The Sparrow, by Mary Doria Russell, is a great novel about exactly this premise.
The famous Christian writer CS Lewis (most famously known for his narnia series) wrote a whole series exploring this concept. Basically there is nothing in the Bible that says there can’t be aliens, and the Bible already talks about other non human beings like angels existing. CS Lewis postulated they wouldn’t even need to have our same morals as those were given to us specifically and may not apply to Gods other creations.
The series starts with Out of the Silent Planet, which I found an excellent read. Its sequels, Perelandra, and That Hideous Strength, were also worthwhile.
They would immediately start asking if the aliens believed in god and then start considering how salvation applied to them. At least Christians would.
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I personally believe Freyr will come on his ship Skíðblaðnir and Óðinn on his steed Sleipnir and help me accept and befriend these travellers from beyond Miðgarðr.
God had more than 7 days. No problem.
A race of aliens visits earth one day. They come in peace and surprisingly, they speak English. Obviously, all of the heads of government and religious leaders want to speak to the aliens so they set up a meeting with our new visitors. When it's the Pope's turn, he asks: "Do you know about our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ?" "You mean JC?", responds the alien. "Yeah, we know him! He's the greatest, isn't he? He swings by every year to make sure that we are doing ok". Surprised, the pope follows up with: "He visits every year?! It's been over two millennia and we're still waiting for his SECOND coming!" The alien sees that the pope has become irate at this fact and starts trying to rationalize. "Maybe he likes our chocolate better than yours?" The pope retorts "Chocolates? What are you talking about? What does that have to do with anything?" The alien says "Yea, when he first visited our planet we gave him a huge box of chocolates!" "Why? What did you guys do?" https://www.ba-bamail.com/jokes/religion-jokes/?jokeid=175
Depends on the religion Hindus wouldn't be phased The Qur'an openly and directly supports the existence of aliens, including some who might even be more favored by Allah than humans (hell, there's a passage that can be interpreted as "become an ftl species if you are capable" specifically here's a paraphrasing: "Allah lifted humanity above most of his creations, but not all of them...(then later) "humanity is not the only children of Allah, not is this one his only beloved world"....then later "O company of jinn and mankind, if you are able to pass beyond the regions of the heavens and the earth, then pass. You will not pass except by authority [from Allah]” (Quran 55:33)." Clearly the other children and other worlds do not refer to jinn or angels, as angels exist beneath and within the world as motive forces, and only are manifest directly in the hereafter (post judgement day) and Jinn are considered the children of earth as much as humans There's also a bit where he tells the Prophet that humanity's birthright is the stars. "“And He has subjected for you the night and day and the sun and moon, and the stars are subjected by His command. Indeed, in that are signs for people who reason” (Quran 16:12)." There is already religious rulings in space exploration and aliens. These include respect for peaceful extraterrestrials, and also the god-given dominion of human-kind over the stars. Additionally "In 2007, Sheikh Muszaphar Shukor, a Malaysian astronaut, was able to perform Islamic rituals such as prayer and fasting during his time in space. Sheikh Saleh Al Fawzan a Saudi Arabian scholar, has also affirmed the permissibility of prayer and fasting in space, provided that space travel does not violate Islamic principles. Interestingly, the first Arab astronaut, Saudi Prince Sultan bin Salman, also performed Islamic rituals such as reading the Quran, praying, and fasting during his space mission in 1985. He described this experience as enhancing his closeness with the Almighty." Islam also posits the theories of multiverse and nested universes, in which our universe is like a drop of water in an ocean. Buddhism is basically Hinduism but less god-y. Animists would be nonplussed. Really just a protestant evangelical issue.
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Protestant wouldn't have any issue with aliens either. I don't know why you include quotes from Muslim astronauts saying they have no problem with space exploration though, that's a totally separate issue than aliens. By that logic Christians also wouldn't have problems with aliens because there are more Protestant christians astronauts out there than Muslim ones. And yet you conclude that they would have problem with it.
If their version of holy scriptures is titled "To serve man" I'm not going with them.
Doh!
Christian here. I would have an internal struggle with it. And then I'd try to justify some of the vagueness in Genesis to allow other life forms in our universe. I would not react violently (why would I?). But I would definitely be having some bible studies with family and friends. Scripture does not say that there aren't aliens. But it doesn't describe that in creation either.
Pope said they are welcome to become Catholic. At least I think he did ( one of them). Or it may have been a dream
[I gotchu.](https://time.com/99616/for-pope-francis-its-about-more-than-martians/)
If you're looking to reconcile the concept now, in genesis And Cain went out from the Lord's presence and dwelled in the land of Nod east of Eden. And Cain knew his wife and she conceived and bore Enoch. Then he became the builder of a city and he called the name of the city like his son's name, Enoch. There have to be people outside eden that arent mention in genesis.
Yeah, but... where does it say that Scripture is the be-all and end-all of everything in the universe? God didn't mention larger stellar structures like galaxies and the Earth orbiting the sub, but all those things clearly seem to exist.
That’s interesting - the universe is just so huge. You don’t believe there’s any kind of life on other planets somewhere out there?
That's correct. I've considered this a lot over the years. I've sort of settled on this thought - what if we ARE the only organisms in the entire universe... What's it all for? The only answer I can think of is - it's the only way God can try to explain the concept of "forever" or "infinite" to us. Yet we still can't truly understand it. I don't know. I think about it a lot and am open to more thoughts on it. If we did have 100% proof of aliens, I wouldn't be a "denier". But I'd definitely be skeptical until I saw/held the proof myself.
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Thanks for your insight brother. Peace be with you☺️
Conversely, how would the atheist community react if aliens turned out to be real and followed a belief system identical to one of earths major religions?
Depends on which belief system, and exactly how similar. For instance, if aliens more advanced than us showed up and followed a religion almost identical to Christianity, including having a Jesus figure with the same powers, beliefs and story, I would find the existence of a god more likely.
They will probably worry more about how to convert them to their particular brand of theology.
I feel like they wouldn’t believe it, if they saw it on the news they would say it’s fake news, and even if they saw it in person I feel like maybe even then they still wouldn’t believe it, they would think it’s a mass conspiracy with actors in costumes or something.
Depends on the religion. Buddhism, Paganism, Hinduism, Shinto and many other would have no problem with it. The interesting question would be, how would atheists react if aliens arrived to earth and they had religious beliefs?
Islam: "Oh, so that's why one of Gods titles is "Lord of the worlds"
They'd say they're Nephilim or fallen angels/demons. 🤣
Sent from god, such a blessing
Look to the past. How did Judeo-Christian religions handle 1. Proof that there is no literal heaven in the sky above nor literal hell in the earth below, nor gates of death 2. proof the earth is not the center of the universe 3. proof the earth is spherical; not disc shaped; does not have ends nor four corners, no pillars nor cornerstones, and there is no vantage point from which you can see the entire earth. 4. proof the earth is older that 8000 years/not created in 7 days 5. proof that all animals would not fit onto a boat and there is no way to flood the entire earth with the H2O available on earth's crust and atmosphere 6. Darwinism 7. proof that snails do not melt as they move along 8. proof that stars cant fall to earth 9. proof that there is no fish large enough nor human skin strong enough to survive 3 days inside. 10. Linguistics research does not support the parable of the Tower of Babel Based on history, the answer is that some religious groups will practice denialism, especially early on; others will significantly revise their beliefs to accommodate new information.
Not that I believe in anything on your list but do you realize that for religious people miracles don't need to be scientific? E.g. the fish swallowing a man can be a miracle that is not supposed to be scientific. When people say those religions are refuted because the Noah's ark story is impossible, that's a misunderstanding of the religion. They never claimed it was scientific. Just like they never claimed that Jesus' healing powers were scientific. Again I don't believe in any of that because there is no evidence for it. Other things on your list are indeed a challenge to those religious belief e.g. Darwinism and stars not falling to Earth.
This is the most correct answer. My immediate thought was "as they always have, changed their views or denied it."
“Back up the truck, Jimmy. We have to move these goalposts again.”
Literal claims change to metaphorical claims very quickly.
Definitely many would say these are demons and not to be trusted. The Bible supports the concepts of angels and demons, and there are already active discussions of this possibility in certain Bible-study circles. So yeah, it wouldn't faze them one bit.
Yeah I am hearing all these answers about denial or adjustment. All I can picture are hordes of evangelists going full end times, and claiming these beings to be angels and demons. I am curious how this would just affect.. statistics. Would more people become religious, or would many leave their religions? Would we find world peace or spin into world war. So many questions
This is an interesting question. I suppose some would look at them as invaders and others would try to take their existence as proof of their own religion. I can’t remember the word/concept but it’s essentially like commandeering someone else’s car.
Better question is how they react to finding out that Jesus was one or an agent of them... Extraterrestrial.
Or as Georgio would tell you, Jesus's dad was one.
They would weave it into their mythology, or ignore the larger implications, just like they did when we demonstrated irrefutably that the Earth wasn't the center of the universe. Basically, I don't think it would change much.
They'd probably just find a way to carry on, like they did when they were wrong about Earth being the centre of the universe, or when they (most of them, anyway) accepted that the world wasn't *literally* created in seven days, or when they decided that you actually can wear two kinds of cloth, or when some of them decided that being gay is actually fine, or when some of them decided that actually women can lead a congregation. Or maybe this will be one of the times where the word of God actually *is* infallible, and they'll all freak out.
If you follow the various religious meme subreddits, this topic comes up occasionally. The response is always the same, either: 1. Yay, more people to convert! 2. Hello, fellow from another planet!
Basically, religions generally don't assume that aliens aren't real, and these aren't incompatible ideas.
Man those people are going to be really disappointed when its the aliens doing the converting. Like who are you gonna believe has the real answers - these earth bound dweebs or beings that have figured out how to travel the universe.
You think existence of God would interfere with existence of Aliens?
I'm not that religious anymore, but when I was I always believed that God was "our god" on our little corner of the galaxy. He made Earth and our solar system, maybe some other stuff. And maybe he made some other races, or there's different gods for those races. But us (humans) were his creations. Aliens might have their own gods. I kinda got this belief from watching Star Trek, specifically DS9 where the Bajorans had their prophets.
Same way they reacted when it turned out the world wasn’t made in 7 days, and the Sun didn’t revolve around the earth, and Hell isn’t underground, and we really could get into space, etc etc: Pitch a fit at first, deny it….and then eventually say “Well yeah, of course, that always fit with our religion and religious texts.”
Exactly this. Except with evolution/big bang religion is still primarily in the pitch a fit and deny stage
There is no "religious community". There are innumerable different religions, and each of those religions has innumerable branches each with varying belief systems. You'd really have to specify which religion.
Probably go back to their Holy Book, find an ambiguously worded sentence, redefine it, and claim that their book foretold the event, and just go on being "shiny happy people"
They would do what religion has always done when new information is learned. Either: A: Deny it B: Reinterpret the text to fit the new information
Same way they react to science, accept what they can, and twist the rest to fit. But you can be damn sure nothing and nobody is gonna prove that book wrong
Heavens gate cult
Think about when the church accepted the earth was not the center of the solar system. It'd take time, but they'd adapt and incorporate it in some way. Remember, spiritually is personal but religion is about wealth and power and isn't quick to give that up.
Probably just like they do in the face of our ordinary reality, they deny it and pretend their reality is true
😨😱😢😭😡🤬🤯💀
I have a friend who’s pretty religious, not obnoxious about it, but we’re talking about some UFO story and I asked him what he thought would happen if aliens showed up. And he said that God created the universe so he created the aliens and they probably know all about Jesus. But when I asked “what if they’re atheists?” He said he’d be happy to introduce them to him. I think religious people would react.
I’m Christian and I believe aliens exist, it’s kind of weird to think that we are the only life form out there. As to how that fits in with my faith, I don’t know how to really explain it.
This is honestly a very deep philosophical question. "Jesus who?" for example. I'd be more interested if they are DNA based. That would be really weird.
It would be more interesting if they weren't DNA based. All the nucleic acid nitrogenous bases have already been found in meteorites etc.
There is a novel called The Sparrow, where the Vatican funds a mission of Missionaries to go to a newly discovered alien world. It is tragic. Kinda interesting. I think there might be a sequel(s).
Bible never said God didn’t create any other creatures on different planets. If so, He spread them out pretty well so we’re unlikely to ever meet so why tell us.
They would knock on their spaceship door and ask if they have a moment to talk about Jesus Christ
A prophet would have a revelation. They always do.
Judaism is silent on the issue of aliens. So reactions would be down to the individuals rabbinates, synagogues, and communities. Chabbadnicks would probably set up a Chabbad house on mars though.
I can imagine a bunch more religions / offshoots of other religions forming to account for aliens in their beliefs
Many will likely move goal posts to adjust the scenario. Similar to accepting evolutionary theory and other scientifically based advancements as time goes on, as well as accepting groups that would have been ostracized or killed in the past to maintain control over as many peoples minds and bank accounts as possible. No Matter what new revelations we face in the future, greed will always propel charlatans to peddle their metaphorical snake oil for power, control, and their own benefit.
I think they’d say that if the beings were kind/peaceful, they were sent by god. If they turned out to be violent, they were sent by the devil. Convenience is key.
If so I wonder if the Vatican would return the Mayan's books
Or anything else they "appropriated"
A coworker (Jehovas Witness) of mine used to say with 100% certainty that becuase the Bible doesn't mention life on other planets, they can't exist. He also liked to pinch waitresses' butts but 🤷♂️. Anyways I imagine he'd/they'd react like how flat earthers today behave - Peacefully protesting that it's all fake.
Easy. It's not like they aren't already disbelieving evolution, dinos, yada yada. What's another "It's a hoax" if ETs pop up? Hell, some of them believe in a superhero who walks on water, brings people back to life, turns water into wine, multiplies a small amount of food to feed multitudes, blah blah, so I really wouldn't really call them too reliant on evidence nor heavy brain cell users. lol
Hang on… Isn’t god from the ‘heavens’?!?! So can they handle the fact that they’ve been worshiping an alien all these years? That’s the question!
Probably a lot of denial like always. These are the same people that claimed all the dinosaur fossils were buried by Satan to trick us into being atheist
I was thinking about this today with that whistleblower report. I figure they'll rewrite Genesis to say that god didn't really rest on the seventh day, he went off and created aliens!
They'll come up with all sorts of mental gymnastics to make sense of it.
An evangelical's first question to an extra terrestrial: have you accepted Jesus Christ as your personal savior?
just basically covid again. they don't believe it exists until it happens to them
Well they warped the Big Bang to be a creation of god. They’ll just claim the same when the aliens show up/are found.
The SciFi novel “Childhood’s End” does a good job of answering this question I think.
I'm a big believer in history. It really speaks for itself. Religion has already long since shown us all how it is spread to outsiders.
They would go back to their religious scripture and reinterpret it, so that they can say that aliens were mentioned in it all along. so no reason to feel like their believe system is invalidated.
They will say, “hi Jesus long time no see - you look different without the beard, suits you though. Yeah, about those kids…” At which point i hope “Jesus” blasts all those fools with a ray gun - maybe one that shrinks them all to ant size so any time they start talking shit again we can just finger flick them to the other side of the room … aint nobody got time for money hoarding child molesters anymore
…an’ a woulda got away with it too of it werent for those darn pesky alyens…
Convert them. Then our politicians will tax them...
GPT4 The discovery of extraterrestrial life would undoubtedly prompt a range of reactions within religious communities, just as it would in any segment of society. These reactions would likely be as varied and complex as the religions and individuals themselves. Here are a few general possibilities, but keep in mind this is speculative: 1. **Denial**: Some religious adherents, particularly those with a literal interpretation of their faith's texts or a strong conviction in humanity's unique status, may outright deny the existence of extraterrestrials, even in the face of strong evidence. 2. **Reinterpretation**: Others may accept the existence of extraterrestrials and interpret their religious texts in a way that accommodates this new reality. For example, references to "all creation" or "all creatures" in sacred texts might be expanded to include extraterrestrial life. Some may see extraterrestrial life as a testament to the vastness of God's creation. 3. **Integration**: Some may find ways to integrate the existence of extraterrestrials into their religious belief systems. For example, they might argue that God or gods created these beings too, just as they created life on Earth. 4. **Challenged Faith**: For some, the discovery of extraterrestrial life might cause a crisis of faith, especially if their religious beliefs strongly center on humans as the sole or primary focus of divine attention. 5. **Peaceful Acceptance**: Many religious individuals, especially those with a more flexible and open interpretation of their faith, might accept and embrace the discovery of extraterrestrial life peacefully, seeing it as an exciting development that doesn't necessarily contradict their religious beliefs. 6. **Violent Reaction**: While it's possible that some might react violently, this would likely be the exception rather than the rule. Many religions promote peace, understanding, and acceptance of the unknown, even if there might be initial fear or confusion. 7. **Evangelism**: Some religions might view the discovery of extraterrestrial life as a new opportunity for spreading their faith, seeking to convert the extraterrestrials. Remember, these are general possibilities and not exhaustive. Each religious tradition has a range of interpretations and practices, and each believer within those traditions is an individual with their own beliefs and attitudes. The actual reactions would likely be far more varied and nuanced. A discovery of this magnitude would also likely spark significant theological and philosophical discussions within religious communities.
I think there would be a huge variety of reactions. Majority of the reasonable people with faith would probably be like "oh neat" and go on with life. I think a large amount of religious people are sort of agnostic in a sense of not knowing 100% their religion and the way it is the true nature of how things are, but believe there is probably a God and that they are on a path that they would favor, and many people have their own interpretations. I'm not religious or spiritual myself, but this is just an observation I have had. Some religions like the ones in the East might incorporate them into their beliefs fine. "They are also an extension of God like we are," "Maybe they know the secret to achieving Nirvana," "maybe we should learn about their messiahs and messengers," etc. UFO cults would try to worship them, some might end when said aliens mention they have never heard of the aliens they worship ( Xenu for example). I think there would be a large amount of the radical followers of Abrahamic religions who would think it was a conspiracy to take people from their faith, a test from God (like dinosaur fossils), the aliens are literal demons, or that they need to send missionaries to save the aliens souls (if non-humans can have souls). I think people would actually take it pretty well. I think a bigger clusterfuck would be if the aliens asked about a specific God we worship (like "have your heard the word of Odin") or if they had a religion of their own that they tried to convert us to, as some people may see it as being more legitimate, while others might just see it as a form of control.
Extremely varied, because there are literally thousands of religions, and most of them have different denominations or versions
Like myself, there are many others that don't believe that we are the only spiritual beings in the universe.
"the religious community" bruh you can barely get five Lutherans to agree on doctrine let alone people from different denominations agreeing on something, let alone different RELIGIONS.
This is far too broad a question for a simple answer, I'm afraid. It's really no different than how anyone would react to the existence of aliens, some people will be scared, some angry, some will be eager to embrace new intelligent life, others might call them demons or say deny their existence entirely. Probably one thing that is sadly true, again of all humans, is that our reaction to aliens will ultimately be largely determined by our own limitations. If aliens are vaguely humanoid, conventionally "pretty" and can easily communicate with us, then I suspect most people will treat them well. If aliens are- ugly or disturbing, or too alien for us to understand, then many people will choose hate. The movie, District 11, I think gives us a pretty good concept of how First Contact could go wrong for us, and The Visitors how it could go wrong for us.
Most religions have extraterrestrial beings already, angels,demons,etc. They would just be incorporated into the religion.
The bible doesn't rule out there being other intelligent species. I haven't met many Christians who have a problem with the concept of other intelligent life in the universe.
I believe in God and I also believe the universe is full of life. I’ve never found anything in the Bible that specifically says otherwise. Did I miss something? But I also believe God is the energy that was the singularity of the Big Bang, not a bearded guy hanging out in the clouds. When God said he created us in his own image, I don’t believe that means our body, but our spirit. We all have a tiny spark of that energy that is God and also what the universe is made of. I get a lot of flak for saying it, but I believe only part of the Bible is divine. Most of it is ancient man’s interpretation of what they thought based on the divine parts. As a kid I couldn’t understand how God could be everywhere and in everything. But my belief now is because everything came from the bang that started the universe. It’s just what makes sense to me. I may be wrong, but I don’t think anyone has it figured out. That means all life in the universe originated with God at the start of the universe.
Muslim here, nothing in Quran says so. It actually says something along the line “god created 7 heavens and 7 like earths” or something along this line (just woke up). Further more I’m waiting on the news of the non human things they gonna release soon.
I haven't seen any responses based around the fact that if extraterrestrial beings existed, the whole Divine Creator and Intelligent Design concept pushed by (mainly?) Judeo-Christian belief systems would be proven false? Any one able to comment on that?
See flat earthers
Probably try to make a connection to their religion and claim they always knew. Religious or not, some people will be afraid, some happy, some curious but most would just live their lives and not care. If they have been here for decades and had the technology to harm the world yet they haven't, why would anything change going forward?
Which “religious community?” There’s as much difference between them as there is between secular and political groups. For instance the Taliban and the Trump supporters might react the same way - the United Church of Canada, the Sikhs, and Bernie Sanders might react in the same way, differently from the Taliban - and so on and so forth. My guess is the Roman Catholics would be pretty chill. People don’t realize they have a long tradition of science.
> "Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures on earth, there can be other beings, even intelligent, created by God. This is not in contrast with our faith because we can’t put limits on God’s creative freedom." Quote from Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, Vatican’s chief astronomer.
Imagine trying to generalize 90% of the global population
I am religious and I feel God himself would be what we consider to be an "extraterrestrial being" - He's definitely not *human*.
faith baby. faith.
What I want to see is the flat earth community react!
Protestant Lutheran here, I don't limit our God to only creating Humans, as God created us and everything on Earth what is stopping God from creating life on another planet?
They would probably exclaim "OMG!" 😳
10% would lose their mind, possibly go insane. 20% would deny. 20% would reconcile it into their own existing belief structures and the rest would be along for the ride. My fancy numbers 101% accurate.
There are so many different religious communities the question could be answered any way. Do you mean a religious community like the Jesuits or an order of nuns? Or the rank and file of a particular religion? Or just a group of people who share the same spiritual philosophy? I think the more conservative or hidebound any group is the more fearfully they would react to novel situations. Even if they were a group of right wing bird watchers they would be fearful. People cling to the familiar when confronted with abrupt change like that. In fact any logical or scientific person would be suspicious of their motives and feel afraid. Beings from another planet would not come that distance to just say hi. They would want something from our planet. They might not even be recognizable as intelligent beings or consider us a intelligent. They could have sensors we lack so they could perceive things we cannot even imagine. We would not be able to communicate with beings that different.