Some Christian fundamentalists: no extraterrestrial intelligence

[braces_for_impact]

Originally posted by Ipetrich

Like saying that ET's are really demons.

That was Kent Hovind's take on it as I recall. Aliens aren't real, but UFO's are. Why? Because God is omnipresent and Satan isn't. Satan uses UFO's to get where he needs to go so he can arrive as quickly as possible.

 

[Underseer]

Their main argument seems to be "The Bible says it, I believe it, and that settles it!"

Kinda arrogant.
Like their believing it has any bearing on its factuality.

Should be "The Bible Says It, That Settles It!"
Posers.

They do seem to think that believing something hard enough makes it true.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Kinda arrogant.
Like their believing it has any bearing on its factuality.

Should be "The Bible Says It, That Settles It!"
Posers.

They do seem to think that believing something hard enough makes it true.

That is their operational pattern, but it shouldn't be part of the motto.

It should be a warning that your process is subject to a particular form of error.
"Reverend Jim Jones said it; I believed it; here, have some Koolaid."

 

[Underseer]

They do seem to think that believing something hard enough makes it true.

That is their operational pattern, but it shouldn't be part of the motto.

It should be a warning that your process is subject to a particular form of error.
"Reverend Jim Jones said it; I believed it; here, have some Koolaid."

Sure, but on the plus side it allows you to believe in God despite a complete lack of evidence. To a theist, the benefits outweigh the risks.

 

[Keith&Co.]

True, knowing what the right answer is before you ask the question does make research very efficient.

 

[James Brown]

Here's Conservapedia's take:

The question of whether the existence of an extraterrestrial race is compatible with the Bible is in sharp dispute. The dispute is probably of modern origin - the Catholic Church never issued any formal pronouncement on the question of alien life, and most Protestant confessions are silent on the matter. Those insisting that the Bible is entirely compatible with extraterrestrial races hold that the Bible contains no verse that says directly that man is the only sentient race in the universe.

 

[skepticalbip]

True, knowing what the right answer is before you ask the question does make research very efficient.

Efficient but not very interesting. Research only gets exciting when you "know" the answer but experiment tells you that you are wrong. i.e. Michelson and Morley knew about three possible answers to expect for how we moved through the local aether. Experiment showed them all to be wrong... in fact experiment showed the premise to be wrong..

 

[Keith&Co.]

True, knowing what the right answer is before you ask the question does make research very efficient.

Efficient but not very interesting. Research only gets exciting when you "know" the answer but experiment tells you that you are wrong. i.e. Michelson and Morley knew about three possible answers to expect for how we moved through the local aether. Experiment showed them all to be wrong... in fact experiment showed the premise to be wrong..

And if it had been left to the faithful to figure it out, the Answer A's would have excommunicated the B's, who would have slaughtered the C's in Holy Peer Review...

 

[Keith&Co.]

Of course, what's going to happen is about 10 years of the Faithful insisting that the aliens are a hoax or Satan, followed by a sudden realization that at least one verse in Scripture actually predicts the aliens, their society, their technology, and the time they would appear.

 

[lpetrich]

Of course, what's going to happen is about 10 years of the Faithful insisting that the aliens are a hoax or Satan, followed by a sudden realization that at least one verse in Scripture actually predicts the aliens, their society, their technology, and the time they would appear.

I wouldn't be surprised. If they can discover representative democracy in the Bible, then they may be able to come up with something like that.

 

[ideologyhunter]

What we need is a visit from a jaded, laid-back, sarcastic ET -- the anti-Yoda, one who arrives with no 'heavy' spiritual presence, one who has been several light-years out, knows the territory, thinks our religions are hooey -- especially one who has alien archives of Earth Study and can debunk all of Man's Great Religions back to their scriptural narratives. Wouldn't it be great to wake up and find the Pope out of work? I realize the denial would go on & on & on... but finally Megyn Kelly and Kirk Cameron would have to concede. And even the 2 dopes behind the Left Behind franchise. Then who would rule, Bible folks? We, the atheists, that's who (assuming the ET was too laid-back to want to rule a planet of superstitious peasants.)

 

[Learner]

Along this line of thought. Perhaps we could also assume ET believed and would tell us that they too were created by some greater being.By ET's advanced knowledge and experience they would help us to correctly refine our religious doctrines.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Along this line of thought. Perhaps we could also assume ET believed and would tell us that they too were created by some greater being.By ET's advanced knowledge and experience they would help us to correctly refine our religious doctrines.

Because religious thinkers are all about being corrected and refined by people with better grounding in the sciences and the way the universe actually operates?

I imagine the Channel 7 Weatherman moved backwards in time a few centuries. When he tells the people that Thunder and Lightning are not twin brothers who operate together, but both merely physical manifestations of a single event, would those worshipers welcome the advanced thinking or burn him for heresy?

 

[Learner]

Because religious thinkers are all about being corrected and refined by people with better grounding in the sciences and the way the universe actually operates?

I could agree with you there old friend,but I would say; those grounded in the sciences will need to keep updating the current theories of the universe.

I imagine the Channel 7 Weatherman moved backwards in time a few centuries. When he tells the people that Thunder and Lightning are not twin brothers who operate together, but both merely physical manifestations of a single event, would those worshipers welcome the advanced thinking or burn him for heresy?

Good post. Perhaps to be expected. Worshippers will divide on the interpretations (seperate into denominations). One searches for the understanding and truth whilst the other goes witch hunting.

 

[Keith&Co.]

I could agree with you there old friend,but I would say; those grounded in the sciences will need to keep updating the current theories of the universe.

Well, yeah. That's the beauty of a system that's open to updates. As opposed to systems which are supposedly fixed at the time of the last revelation...

I imagine the Channel 7 Weatherman moved backwards in time a few centuries. When he tells the people that Thunder and Lightning are not twin brothers who operate together, but both merely physical manifestations of a single event, would those worshipers welcome the advanced thinking or burn him for heresy?

Good post. Perhaps to be expected. Worshippers will divide on the interpretations (seperate into denominations). One searches for the understanding and truth whilst the other goes witch hunting.

Meh.
People who think they already know the truth are done searching. People who study facts keep building better telescopes/microscopes/ohmmeters/crowbars...

 

[Tigers!]

People who think they already know the truth are done searching. People who study facts keep building better telescopes/microscopes/ohmmeters/crowbars...

And mousetraps. Don't forget the mousetraps.

- - - Updated - - -

Damn double post. Fat fingers again.

 

[Learner]

Well, yeah. That's the beauty of a system that's open to updates. As opposed to systems which are supposedly fixed at the time of the last revelation...

Yes it is ongoing and also..

Meh.
People who think they already know the truth are done searching. People who study facts keep building better telescopes/microscopes/ohmmeters/crowbars...

People who are done searching can be applied to both believers on pure faith and Atheists (even in the science community).
Personally in my opinion (with limited knowledge) Data from a field of physics or rather physicists 'alone' will not get us any nearer and most definately should not be 'soley' relied upon.

 

[Keith&Co.]

Personally in my opinion (with limited knowledge) Data from a field of physics or rather physicists 'alone' will not get us any nearer and most definately should not be 'soley' relied upon.

Nearer to what?

My job involves systems that prepare a missile for a journey of 4000 nautical miles (unclassified range estimate), launching off of a submarine to low orbit, where it uses the position of any of a number of stars to update it's course, to deliver a nuclear weapon with admirable precision to whoever we're truly mad at. Every year the test shots provide significant evidence that the physicists involved in determining the physics involved in missile flight and the engineers who designed systems to meet the needs for the flight, mid-flight correction, delivery, detonation (with or without impact) and pretty light in the sky over Southern Cal are right on top of what they're doing.

Where do you think they come up short and why do you think this?

 

[Learner]

Nearer to what?

Hi Keith,

I was refering nearer to deducing sensible indications of a creator,...or otherwise.

My job involves systems that prepare a missile for a journey of 4000 nautical miles (unclassified range estimate), launching off of a submarine to low orbit, where it uses the position of any of a number of stars to update it's course, to deliver a nuclear weapon with admirable precision to whoever we're truly mad at. Every year the test shots provide significant evidence that the physicists involved in determining the physics involved in missile flight and the engineers who designed systems to meet the needs for the flight, mid-flight correction, delivery, detonation (with or without impact) and pretty light in the sky over Southern Cal are right on top of what they're doing.

Where do you think they come up short and why do you think this

Don't get me wrong, I think physicists do amazing work,as mentioned in your quote.And great respect to you. I think it takes a broad range of amzing people from a variety of places to better solve the unknown question(s) in the great debate.

Science on the whole come short in the paradoxes that violates natural law.

 

[skepticalbip]

People who are done searching can be applied to both believers on pure faith and Atheists (even in the science community).

Could you clarify? Science is a search - that is all it is. Once science understands enough about a particular thing it becomes engineering and science moves on searching for other answers.

Personally in my opinion (with limited knowledge) Data from a field of physics or rather physicists 'alone' will not get us any nearer and most definately should not be 'soley' relied upon.

It depends on what you want to get nearer to. Physicists, "soley", are getting us nearer to an understanding of quite a bit in this universe.