If we made contact with aliens, how would religions react?

[Judge]

A bit beforehand (not shown on this video), Father Matthew thinks no real attempt has been made to communicate with the aliens and that if they're more advanced than us then they 'should be nearer the creator for that reason'.

Maybe he misinterpreted all those burning bushes the Martians were creating.

Ironic how virtually all of such films inevitably say more about us than about "them". Though it does beg the question of whether or not extra terrestrials can be as ethnocentric of their own species as we are.

 

[kay]

When I used to go to church and went to Bible study we enjoyed looking for aliens in the Bible. We also had fun celebrating the crash at Roswell with a cake decorated to depict the crash. We were an odd bunch I guess, but I don't think any of us really believed in flying saucers and aliens. We just all watched the X-Files too much.

 

[Judge]

When I used to go to church and went to Bible study we enjoyed looking for aliens in the Bible. We also had fun celebrating the crash at Roswell with a cake decorated to depict the crash. We were an odd bunch I guess, but I don't think any of us really believed in flying saucers and aliens. We just all watched the X-Files too much.

Indeed.

Priest: "I'm sorry sir. You'll have to put out your cigarette during mass services."
Smirking Cancer Man: "Or you'll do what?"

 

[Mary Anne]

How would religions react?

Probably badly after the aliens landed their spacecraft on the White House lawn only to see the children be immediately separated from their parents.

Perfectly said, Judge! And then a full-on alien attack like in the movie Mars Attacks!

 

[unreality]

I think it would break a lot people away from their religion, but over time new religions would form.

 

[Fridgemagnetman]

Maybe he misinterpreted all those burning bushes the Martians were creating.

Ironic how virtually all of such films inevitably say more about us than about "them". Though it does beg the question of whether or not extra terrestrials can be as ethnocentric of their own species as we are.

Thinking back to all the B movies from the 50's.
Any alien film quite clearly shows the current paranoia of that time .
My take anyway
Some great films those days.

 

[Progster]

If extraterrestial life were proven to exist, the scriptures of the various religions would need to be reinterpreted to accommodate the new facts. This has happened in the past with the theories of Copernicus, and then Galileo Galilei proven to be correct beyond doubt, monotheistic religions survived past this and so no doubt could do so in future.

 

[Mr Allen]

Perfectly said, Judge! And then a full-on alien attack like in the movie Mars Attacks!

Or the original War of the Worlds by HG Wells.

No, not that pants 1953 movie which had almost no connection to the book.

 

[CMZ]

I'm a member of a Christian religion that believes there are other planets inhabited with humans like us. I mean, it's not the main thing we talk about but we do believe it.

 

[Mary Lyn]

That's interesting - which religion is that? Is it Mormon?

 

[Tom]

I don't know how religions would react but unless they arrive in the Starship Enterprise, I think it wise to assume the aliens are here to eat us.

 

[CMZ]

That's interesting - which religion is that? Is it Mormon?

Yes. From our scriptures (emphasis added):

27 And it came to pass, as the voice was still speaking, Moses cast his eyes and beheld the earth, yea, even all of it; and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God.

28 And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a soul which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the Spirit of God; and their numbers were great, even numberless as the sand upon the sea shore.

29 And he beheld many lands; and each land was called earth, and there were inhabitants on the face thereof.

I remember while I was growing up we used to say, "At some point in time astronomers will start to find that there are planets similar to ours out there that revolve around their own sun. We just haven't been able to find them yet." Next step (could be quite some time down the road) is finding life on them.

 

[AGXStarseed]

Thinking of this, I'm reminded of the book Escape to Witch Mountain by Alexander Key.
*Spoiler Alert ahead*

Spoiler: Summarised Plot of the Book

In the book, it focuses on two children with paranormal abilities who are forced to go into juvenile detention facility when their foster parent dies. They encounter a variety of people whom are untrustworthy, greedy, and hateful - the most notable been a man called Lucas Deranian.
The children are helped on their journey to find what may be their home by a Roman Catholic priest, Father O'Day, with the children recovering their memories along the way and discovering they are alien refugees who came to Earth because their world was dying.

This bit is quote from Wikipedia:
"Through a series of hardships, Tony and Tia find their way to their own people. When their would-be captor, Lucas Deranian (who O'Day earlier in the novel had likened to the devil), attempts to interrogate Father O'Day, the priest speaks to the effect that God is capable of creating many worlds and many peoples; that there are "mysteries far beyond [Deranian's] narrow dreaming."

O'Day's theory is, in my opinion, an interesting one. What if it was true but on every world something slightly different was done and none of us were told about the other worlds?
By the time we've gotten to the level where we could explore space more and encounter these other worlds (or they could encounter us), maybe we'd be at a level of intelligence where most of us would be accepting of it rather than reacting with hate and prejudice like we have against members of our own people for simple reasons such as skin colour as an example.
(Just my thoughts on the matter)

 

[Mary Lyn]

CMZ thank you. Can you give me the reference for your quote thanks. Why do you think that God would want to keep peoples apart, on separate planets?

 

[Mary Lyn]

Also why do you say you are Christian when the term means a follower of Christ, who is God himself who lived for some time in human form?

 

[Crossbreed]

I am skeptical of both true AI and extra-terrestrial zoology. I don't feel the need to challenge that position based on hypothetical evidence.
-------------------------------------
On a related note, has anyone else ever questioned the sci-fi trope where invading, warp drive-level aliens start eating humans before [we] are methodically tested to see if [we] are safe for their consumption...!?

I can see that for invasive animal species, but such tech-savvy pilots, et al., should know better. Even our fruits

& vegetables

could be toxic to them.

 

[Propianotuner]

Or devastate Earth because we keep filling space with our trash and radio signals. We're like that obnoxious neighbor that plays loud music non-stop.

Or perhaps there is nothing exceptional either about our lack of a collective ability to reason through the consequences of our actions. It could be that the ET's find themselves at a religious crossroads as well and it is perfectly possible that they have self destructive and environmentally unsustainable habits.

 

[Propianotuner]

Also why do you say you are Christian when the term means a follower of Christ, who is God himself who lived for some time in human form?

Christians not only believe that but they also believe that God continues to exist in human form.

 

[CMZ]

CMZ thank you. Can you give me the reference for your quote?

Reference:

Moses 1

Why do you think that God would want to keep peoples apart, on separate planets?

I don't know everything. My guess is that the separation will not last forever. Maybe it's an extension of people living on this planet in separate cities, states, countries, etc.

Also why do you say you are Christian when the term means a follower of Christ, who is God himself who lived for some time in human form?

Because I aim to follow Christ.

 

[Mary Lyn]

CMZ Thank you for answering my questions. You say that you aim to follow Christ. It is good to aim to follow Christ but the Bible, which if corrupted, would want to soften these words as it says that any work of man is condemned, no work is justified in His sight:

Isaiah 64: 6 We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf,

Romans 3:10 as it is written: None is righteous, no, not one; 11 no one understands; no one seeks for God.

12 All have turned aside; together they have become worthless; no one does good, not even one. 13 Their throat is pan open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of asps is under their lips. 14 Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness. 15 Their feet are swift to shed blood; 16 in their paths are ruin and misery, 17 and the way of peace they have not known. 18 There is no fear of God before their eyes.

19 Now we know that whatever the law says it speaks to those who are under the law, so that every mouth may be stopped, and the whole world may be held accountable to God. 20 For by works of the law no human being 3 will be justified in his sight, since through the law comes knowledge of sin. And our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.

7 There is no one who calls upon your name, who rouses himself to take hold of you; for you have hidden your face from us, and have made us melt in the hand of our iniquities.

Romans 3:23 for fall have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, 24 gand are justified by his grace as a gift, ithrough the redemption that is in Christ Jesus, 25 whom God jput forward as a propitiation by his blood, to be received by faith. This was to show God’s righteousness, because in his divine forbearance he had passed over former sins. 26 It was to show his righteousness at the present time, so that he might be just and the justifier of the one who has faith in Jesus.