Religious folk: would the discover of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe change your perception/beliefs?

[pirana 0]

Eating grass, and leaving shit behind. Bad visuals.

" . . . the lust for power can be just as completely satisfied by suggesting people into loving their servitude as by flogging them and kicking them into obedience." -- Aldous Huxley

[chuckakers 426]

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A while back I saw an interview in which a preacher was asked the same question. He said something to the effect of "I'm sure that God loves them too."

He loves everybody, but is still going to condemn some portion to roast forever.

And where does He get all these virgins that He is going to shower on certain people? That's a lot of virgins. Must have a huge stockpile of them in some sort of virgin warehouse.

You are confusing God with Alah. Pretty sure the Muslims will tell you they aren't the same.

And where does he get those virgins?

Chuck Akers
D-10855
Houston, TX

[usedtajump 1]

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A while back I saw an interview in which a preacher was asked the same question. He said something to the effect of "I'm sure that God loves them too."

He loves everybody, but is still going to condemn some portion to roast forever.

And where does He get all these virgins that He is going to shower on certain people? That's a lot of virgins. Must have a huge stockpile of them in some sort of virgin warehouse.

You are confusing God with Alah. Pretty sure the Muslims will tell you they aren't the same.

And where does he get those virgins?

Spencer's Gifts and Novelty stores in most malls $18.95, just add air.
In the immortal words of my old skydiver friend Al Rosenburg, "If its inflatable, its dateable".

The older I get the less I care who I piss off.

[Rstanley0312 1]

That is the problem with christians they need aboslute answers where there simply are not any.

???? please explain this broad stroke of your brush.....

Top Gun is F'n great!

Life is all about ass....either you're kicking it, kissing it, working it off, or trying to get a piece of it.
Muff Brother #4382 Dudeist Skydiver #000
www.fundraiseadventure.com

[DJL 235]

The most likely outcome is that we entirely disagree with each other's religion and go to war over it.

"I encourage all awesome dangerous behavior." - Jeffro Fincher

[JackC 0]

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Top Gun? Are you kiddin' me? Take a closer look at the slo-mo volleyball scene.

I think you've lost that lovin' feelin'.

[shropshire 0]

Mate, mate ... Please burn your passport.. you are now a yank [Full Stop]

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[billvon 3,111]

>Really... you obviously have info that NASA doesn't.

NASA has found a few dozen, primarily very large planets around stars that are very close to us.

Imagine for a moment you get in your car and you get on the freeway. You see a few dozen cars near you, and pass a few dozen more going the other direction. The highway stretches for miles, and you see exit ramps, parking lots and driveways as you drive. What is the most likely conclusion?

1) There are only a few dozen cars in the world - because that's all you've seen.

2) There are probably a lot more based on the evidence.

NASA is one of the many organizations researching the Drake Equation. It's pretty well accepted - and the more planets we discover, the more data we can plug into it to get a better and better estimate for the number of planets. From a recent article:

(CNN) -- As NASA prepares to hunt for Earth-like planets in our corner of the Milky Way galaxy, there's new buzz that "Star Trek's" vision of a universe full of life may not be that far-fetched.

. . .

There may be 100 billion Earth-like planets in the Milky Way, or one for every sun-type star in the galaxy, said Alan Boss, an astronomer with the Carnegie Institution and author of the new book "The Crowded Universe: The Search for Living Planets."

He made the prediction based on the number of "super-Earths" -- planets several times the mass of the Earth, but smaller than gas giants like Jupiter -- discovered so far circling stars outside the solar system.

Boss said that if any of the billions of Earth-like worlds he believes exist in the Milky Way have liquid water, they are likely to be home to some type of life.

[shropshire 0]

...... staggering, mind blowing numbers and that's just a single Galaxy... wow my head hurts.

(.)Y(.)
Chivalry is not dead; it only sleeps for want of work to do. - Jerome K Jerome

[mnealtx 0]

He baldly stated

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we know that there are billions upon billions of planets

I proved we do NOT know that there are

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we know that there are billions upon billions of planets

Do I *think* that there are millions of planets out there? Yes. Do I *KNOW* that to be true? No, and neither does anyone else.

Speculation != evidence

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[billvon 3,111]

Ah, sorry, I didn't get that you were playing semantics games again. Carry on!

[JackC 0]

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Mate, mate ... Please burn your passport.. you are now a yank [Full Stop]

Fuck. I didn't even know yankism was catching. Is there an antidote?

[jakee 1,594]

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Speculation != evidence

Speculation?

We have found hundreds of extra solar planets, and we've only been looking at the stars closest to us, and only for about a decade. Unless you're suggesting that the rest of the universe doesn't play by the same physical rules as our corner of this galaxy, it's as safe a bet as they come that there are trillions of planets out there.

And that's the difference between people who think there are aliens out there and people who think that God is out there. One group thinks that something that we know has happened has probably happened more than once, the other group believes in something that is unlike anything that has ever been seen.

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[mnealtx 0]

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Ah, sorry, I didn't get that you were playing semantics games again. Carry on!

You and Kallend have taught me well.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[mnealtx 0]

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Speculation != evidence

Speculation?

We have found hundreds of extra solar planets, and we've only been looking at the stars closest to us, and only for about a decade.

You may want to read the link I provided.

Mike
I love you, Shannon and Jim.
POPS 9708 , SCR 14706

[DanG 1]

I believe there are bilions of planets in the universe. I also believe that many of them contain life, some of it "intelligent".

I do not believe in God.

On the other hand, I believe in intellectual honesty, and your argument has serious flaws. You state:

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And that's the difference between people who think there are aliens out there and people who think that God is out there. One group thinks that something that we know has happened has probably happened more than once, the other group believes in something that is unlike anything that has ever been seen.

Your argument depends on the assumption that life on Earth was not created by God. That may be true (I personally believe it is) but it is not a given in the debate. A believer can just as validly say, "You believe that something that we have never seen and know is impossible (abiogenesis) has happened billions of times, but something that we see every day and know is unique (the creation of humans by God) never happened."

This is the crux of the debate. The two sides (and really the two sides are caricatures of what most people actually think) don't start with the same assumptions, so they can never reach the same conclusions.

- Dan G

[JackC 0]

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Speculation != evidence

Speculation?

We have found hundreds of extra solar planets, and we've only been looking at the stars closest to us, and only for about a decade.

You may want to read the link I provided.

I think you may want to read the link you provided.

[jakee 1,594]

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Speculation != evidence

Speculation?

We have found hundreds of extra solar planets, and we've only been looking at the stars closest to us, and only for about a decade.

You may want to read the link I provided.

I read the link you provided. OK, so if you want to be pedantic we've been looking for about a decade and a half. Happy?

Do you want to have an ideagasm?

[SpeedRacer 1]

no, why would it? In fact, I think there might well be intelligent life on other planets.

Speed Racer
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[riddler 0]

Much of our non-tangential belief systems (e.g. "God") are rooted in early childhood experiences, and it's extremely difficult to change that. In the event that E.T. is made public and scientifically verified, it's not going to change anyone's belief in God. People are just going to find a way to mold and adapt that into their current psychological framework; maybe some will say that E.T. is God, others will create a new testament of the Bible that includes other life. The few that can't find some way to incorporate the new information will probably go insane.

These are my beliefs, and I'm not stating them as scientific fact.

Trapped on the surface of a sphere. XKCD

[catfishhunter 2]

There are as many worlds as they are grains of sand on the beach. So it would confirm my beliefs as God has always said we are not alone nor his only children.

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[tbrown 26]

Well, if intelligent life were to be discovered (or if they discovered us) elsewhere in the universe, would that change your religious beliefs any?

[quade 4]

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So it would confirm my beliefs as God has always said we are not alone nor his only children.

Whoa! Where'd he say that?

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver

[catfishhunter 2]

Not sure which Scripture your reading but would be happy to point you in the right direction.
In the mean time in you can read John 18-36 and John 14-2

MAKE EVERY DAY COUNT
Life is Short and we never know how long we are going to have. We must live life to the fullest EVERY DAY. Everything we do should have a greater purpose.

[quade 4]

No, no. Just show me where GOD said anything about aliens.

quade -
The World's Most Boring Skydiver