wildernesse

Taffer,

I always think of the Ender series when this question comes up--and it gave me plenty to think about while I was reading the series!

Would anyone try to teach religion to aliens in reality? I can't say that they would--but I know that it would be interesting!

I don't think that it would destroy any faith--especially Christianity. Look at what happened when Christians came to the New World. As a technologically and immunologically(?) more powerful group, their religion/customs swallowed native peoples. Did native culture/religion die? No--it borrowed from here and there and much of it remains. We would probably take powerful symbols from the aliens and incorporate them into our own culture--including religion.

--tibac

Biff the unclean

They always seem to take one of two courses. With Galileo and Darwin they attacked. With interspecies communication they ignore.
There are a few other intelligences on this planet already, they just aren't extraterrestrial. In the past 40 years we have been able to communicate with dolphins, false killer whales and every species of great ape. In fact there is a bonobo named Kwanzii (sp?) who is learning spoken English and not just sign language.
Religionists ignore this work. If they think about it at all they consider it a circus trick and never consider the implications.

MrDarwin

I can't see that it would make any more difference than the discovery by the Christian world, about 500 years ago, of an assortment of islands and two entire continents full of people who had never heard of Christianity or Jesus.

lpetrich

Be careful. While chimps like Kanzi can learn a lot of signs, they have little talent for stringing them together to make coherent sentences. And nobody has succeeded in communicating in complete sentences with some cetacean, as far as I know.

And there is an important difference between contacting the other human societies on our planet and contacting ET's. Those other human societies were technological inferiors. ET's are most likely our technological superiors.

But even then, I'm sure that followers of various religions will think of various theological accommodations.

christ-on-a-stick

That's a great point.

I think for *some* people it would be the impetus to deconversion... however I think for the most part Christianity would just "evolve" to accept and find an explanation for it, just as it has over the years for all the other scientific discoveries showing the bible to be false...

Literal Creationism = "Old Earth" Creationism
Flat Earth = "the Bible was being metaphorical"
"Oops, Galileo was right... guess the bible was being metaphorical there too!"
Demon Possession = Mental Illness (but those demons still exist I tell you! )

The fundies will of course scream conspiracy and trickery, but liberal Xianity will find a way to dance around it, and some people will abandon it completely.

Ojuice5001

Suppose that the aliens are or have been religious, and they evolved to be supernaturalists. Would that discovery have an impact on atheists? I think it should; I think the fact that even one sentient race (humans) evolved to be supernaturalist is a strong argument in favor of supernaturalism.

I don't speak for anyone else (as usual ), but I would lower my estimate of supernaturalism's probability if the aliens had at least our intelligence, but no history whatever of being supernaturalist. (I'd probably still believe supernaturalism, but be less sure of it. Obviously that's not compelling evidence for naturalism.) I get the feeling, though, that the naturalists wouldn't do likewise if the aliens were supernaturalist. Why is that (assuming it's true)?

Marduk

"It would DESTROY Christianity. If the people on other planets never had a Jesus, it would be quite confusing to the Christians. Jesus is supposed to be the only Son of God. He would have to go to every planet. If he did not go to every planet, then that would mean that either 1. Christians have to evangelize the universe, or 2. Jesus' death is not necessary. "


ahhhh! but what if the alien Adam & Eve didn't eat that apple! They wouldn't need a visit from Jesus!

I can see it now, aliens land and start asking questions about all these crosses they see, someone explains our Bible to them,
The aliens recoil in horror
"Great Klattu's ghost!! we have stumbled upon the Planet of sinners! the ones who ate the apple!!! this is the Devil's Planet! Come we must leave at once!! Gort! lock & load! we must destroy this place!!!!!

Ojuice5001

[double post]

Bill Snedden

...on whether "Jesus" or "Buddha" or "Mohammad" or "Ayn Rand" or "insert earthly prophet here" had visited them as well?

Any earthly religion whose doctrine resembled the alien doctrine in the slightest would cite it as evidence that theirs was the One True Faith. Others will lose/gain adherents based on normal human reaction to adversity/change.

Of course, if they had a Quran or Gita or Bible or "insert holy book here" that was word for word the same as ours....

In reality, it wouldn't surprise me at all if aliens have some form of religion. I suppose learning about our Jesus might have the same impact on them as our learning about their *dDe#.

Regards,

Bill Snedden

Ab_Normal

I'm with c-o-a-s. I can just hear the wackier fundies saying that the aliens are actually demons from satan, sent to trick us into their unrighteous ways. Oy.