What if....

[akdiver 3]

Suppose that an alien probe or space craft were discovered orbiting the sun, or landed on the moon, or some other suitable place and that there is no doubt that the craft is of non-Earth origin, fully intact, totally authenticated by multiple sources, leaving absolutely no doubt (among those who can objectively apply logic, reason and rationality) that non-Earth intelligent life exists. Just suppose that it happens and it's all true.

In this instance - do you think the creationists and bible thumpers will continue to stick to their story? Do you think they will dismiss the painfully obvious and not at least admit there is E.T. life? Do you think they will modify their theology to accommodate this latest knowledge? What do you think people like the pope would do? Do you think this would dramatically alter the spiritual/religious approaches/tactics/beliefs that exist on earth? Do you think mass panic and a breakdown of society would be the result?

If YOU are a creationist and/or devout bible thumper - what would YOUR reaction be?

Edited September 25, 2008 by akdiver

[JohnSmith2007 353]

There is nothing in the bible that does not allow for life on other planets. Nothing would change in regard to religion IMO.

[IAMX 3,055]

Promptly study the newly discovered Book of Moltar, one of the Martian disciples of Jesus.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I doubt it would cause panic, but it might disillusion some people.

The again - there was an extreme evangelist guy on here a while back who subscribed to a weird theory that there are mathematical codes in the bible, his reference for this being some quack doctor / priest who had apparently gone on several expeditions into the Mojave desert looking for buried alien cylinders.

I'm not sure what the biblical rationale for this was - but its probably safe to say that it was outside the conventional thinking.

Edited September 25, 2008 by Paul Daniels

[almaty 19]

allot of folks would deny the event and say it was the work of the media..gov't or satan

[Otto 83]

...what if aliens landed in Rome and asked to speak to the Pope...

[alienlovechild 75]

In this instance - do you think the creationists and bible thumpers will continue to stick to their story? Do you think they will dismiss the painfully obvious and not at least admit there is E.T. life? Do you think they will modify their theology to accommodate this latest knowledge? What do you think people like the pope would do? Do you think this would dramatically alter the spiritual/religious approaches/tactics/beliefs that exist on earth? Do you think mass panic and a breakdown of society would be the result?

What happened historically when a proselitizing religion meets a new culture? They conquer it or send missionaries to convert them or both. A lot of Christians would see it as a chance to spread the faith whether the aliens would buy it of just study it is up for grabs. Christians at one time drew maps with Jerusalem in the center of world and had no idea about the Americas but Christianity didn't fall apart when the New World was discovered. Maybe some would convert to the alien religion (if they have one) blend it with Christianity or other faiths.

[ginger1981 0]

I tend to think there would be some fundies who would grasp at biblical straws and try to say that "so and so passage" really meant that aliens had come to give us a visit.

[SteveLaura 0]

Find one that says, "I can see Venus from here" and nominate her for VP.

[SpiritAlight 1]

Well, prepare thyselves because more and more emails and stories of such an event happening soon.

Christian faith and maybe others are based on earthlings being the only life-forms in the universe/multiverse.

So, yes, it could get messy.

[almaty 19]

Find one that says, "I can see Venus from here" and nominate her for VP.

[lucyrich 20]

There are a lot of people who deny that humans ever visited the moon. The evidence and documentation for this event is overwhelming, far more so than I think the evidence for any extraterrestrial spacecraft would be.

Goodness, there's even a flat earth society that's still alive and well.

The announcement of the finding of an extraterrestrial spacecraft is something that rightfully ought to be regarded with some skepticism. If we accept your initial premise that the spacecraft is found and it's got very solid verifiable evidence, I know that I probably wouldn't believe the first accounts of it. I'd first put it in the category of another bigfoot hoax, and it would take a lot of solid evidence to convince me otherwise. If your initial premise were true, I'd probably eventually come around to believe it, but it would take awhile. And it would take more than just one AP story and an article in Scientific American.

I have no doubt that there would be some who would take much longer to believe it than I would. And there would be some who would never believe, despite overwhelming evidence.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I guess it would be a more interesting question if aliens showed up with proof that Jesus' Resurrection was a plant

[Scott & Lai 12]

Christian faith and maybe others are based on earthlings being the only life-forms in the universe/multiverse.

So, yes, it could get messy.

It is? I must have missed that one in Catechism class, Bible studies, and four years at a Christian liberal arts college

[IAMX 3,055]

Christian faith and maybe others are based on earthlings being the only life-forms in the universe/multiverse.

So, yes, it could get messy.

It is? I must have missed that one in Catechism class, Bible studies, and four years at a Christian liberal arts college

I grew up religious and studied the bible extensively. Where does it specify dinosaurs and other planets? Especially that they (or at very least, dinosaurs) could be a few thousand years old.