If "First Contact" occurred, what would that do to mainstream religions on earth?

I would like to know what the OP means by the mainstream religions? I don't know how any of them would be effected except for some Christians that don't read and understand the Bible. I don't see how Buddhists, Catholics, JW's, Islam or many others would be effected. Mormons on the other hand think they get their own planet filed with women when they die to make spirit babies so I can't see how Mormonism would e effected.

The Bible has several examples of what we would call UFO's or flying saucers and the Bible tells us exactly what they are, so if you are a Christian that knows his Bible contact with what appears to be extraterrestrial life wouldn't effect us so much...

Originally posted by JasonT
However, reading the Quran, as well as various Hadith leads me to believe that every world will have had various "messengers" and "prophets" sent to them to enlighten them about the One God, similar to the course of human history in light of Judaism, then Christianity, then Islam. Obviously, those aliens species won't have their holy books called the "Quran", or the "Bible", but I'd be most interested in finding out whether the text is similar, methods of prayer etc.

you're anthropomorphising alien life, you assume they will have written language, eyes, and books, like humans. the chances of those coincidences occurring are astronomically slim. what about sentient magnetic vortices who live in the corona of a star? kinda hard to keep a book in mint condition, there.

And regarding the last paragraph - Try reading it in Arabic, not an "English translation", which I've noticed can deviate wildly from what was originally meant, the example you gave as being the perfect example. On the other hand, you can read the Bible in whatever language you like - The contradictions and other various problems remain.

Thank you. Now kindly piss off.

[edit on 21-10-2008 by JasonT]

the old saw of 'you have to read it in arabic' is flawed, false and laughable.

i read the koran in 3 separate english translations, by esteemed islamic scholars.

allah is not a difficult guy to grok, he speaks very, very plainly (how educated was mohammad, anyway?)

to imply that allah was so shortsighted and imperfect to have not considered how his message would translate in other languages used by 'his creation' borders on dangerous blasphemy.

dont you think allah anticipated his words might be translated and interpreted in other languages?

as they say in islam 'may piss be upon you'.

Originally posted by Oscitate

..... I believe that people will be more inclined to twist their beliefs into fitting before witnessing the collapse of their beliefs. The point I wish to make is that many modern day Christians do not take the bible literally.

Why would people "twist" their beliefs? Are there beliefs that say mankind are the only (semi) intelligent beings in the universe? I think most christians would settle into the view that EBE's are just another one of God's creatures.

I have no doubt that havoc and doom would run amok among many people, but religion has a way of evolving. Essentially, unless the fundamental ethical tennets of Christianity were threatened, it would probably evolve.

I wouldn't wager a months salary on that though

I think most people would pay attention for 60 seconds, yawn, and then go back to their soap operas. Do you recall the public (non)reaction when NASA held the press conference about possible pertified microbes in a martian meteor found in the antartic?

Orson Welles got people (christians included) to panic in 1938 with the radio broadcast of "War of the Worlds" because:

1) many people did not realise it was a play &
2) they thought the barbarians-were-at-the-gates
3) radio was the mainstream media of the period




[edit on 10/21/2008 by anonymousATS]

Originally posted by Thebudweiserstuntman
Most, if not all religions would probably collapse, specifically Christianity and Islam due to the premise that we were created in God's image (Who's image were the aliens created in then!?)

Puppy Poop!!!

Islam has no issues with the existance of life on other planets. They are quite confortable with the fact that Allah created many worlds..

Go ask an Aman or read the Qu'ran especially the story of Gog and Magog

ALIENS IN THE QURAN
www.answering-christianity.com...

Aliens - The Islam Factor

The existence of creatures of a spiritual nature,such as angels,in the universe,is accepted as a fact by all Muslims,as well as people of other religions, such as Christians.The point that generates excitement among the public,and scientists is the question of whether material lifeforms like ourselves,which can be found by science,do actually exist outside the earth. (7) The objective of this article is to present evidence from the Quran for the existence in the universe,of MATERIAL lifeforms ("Life as we know it").

www.islamfactor.org...

Catholics...

Vatican Official Declares Extraterrestrial Contact Is Real

Monsignor Corrado Balducci, a theologian member of the Vatican Curia (governing body), and an insider close to the Pope, has gone on Italian national television five times, including recent months, to proclaim that extraterrestrial contact is a real phenomenon. Balducci provided an analysis of extraterrestrials that he feels is consistent with the Catholic Church's understanding of theology. Monsignor Balducci emphasizes that extraterrestrial encounters "are NOT demonic, they are NOT due to psychological impairment, they are NOT a case of entity attachment, but these encounters deserve to be studied carefully." Since Monsignor Balducci is a demonology expert and consultant to the Vatican , and since the Catholic Church has historically demonized many new phenomena that were poorly understood, his stating that the Church does not censure these encounters is all the more remarkable.

www.ufodisclosure.com...

Vatican scientist says belief in God and aliens is OK

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican's chief astronomer says there is no conflict between believing in God and in the possibility of "extraterrestrial brothers" perhaps more evolved than humans.

"In my opinion this possibility (of life on other planets) exists," said Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, a 45-year-old Jesuit priest who is head of the Vatican Observatory and a scientific adviser to Pope Benedict.

"How can we exclude that life has developed elsewhere," he told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano in an interview in its Tuesday-Wednesday edition, explaining that the large number of galaxies with their own planets made this possible.

Asked if he was referring to beings similar to humans or even more evolved than humans, he said: "Certainly, in a universe this big you can't exclude this hypothesis".

In the interview headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother," he said he saw no conflict between belief in such beings and faith in God.

www.reuters.com...

Vatican Says Aliens Could Exist

The Pope's chief astronomer says that life on Mars cannot be ruled out.

Writing in the Vatican newspaper, the astronomer, Father Gabriel Funes, said intelligent beings created by God could exist in outer space.

Father Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory near Rome, is a respected scientist who collaborates with universities around the world.

The search for forms of extraterrestrial life, he says, does not contradict belief in God.

The official Vatican newspaper headlines his article 'Aliens Are My Brother'.

news.bbc.co.uk...

Vatican Ponders Baptism of Extraterrestrials

A pocket-sized book published by the Catholic Truth Society in the UK addresses Catholic attitudes to extraterrestrial life. Independent Catholic News reports that with increasing numbers of people believing not only in the possibility of intelligent life on other planets, but even claiming encounters with aliens, it is not surprising that the Catholic Church is beginning to explore what effect the discovery of sentient ETs might have on Christian theology.

www.indcatholicnews.com...

Tibetan Buddhists...

Tibetan Monks say ET will Save Us - 2012

Remote viewing is nothing new in Tibetan monasteries. For thousands of years remote viewing in the middle of other spiritual activities have dominated Tibetan culture. What some Indian tourists came to learn from a few Tibetan monasteries under the current Chinese rule is extremely alarming and fascinating.

And at that time something remarkable will happen, says, Buddhist monk of Tibet. Supernatural divine powers will intervene. The destiny of the world is not to self-destruct at this time.

Scientific interpretation of the monks’ statements makes it evident that the Extra Terrestrial powers are watching us every step of the way. They will intervene in 2012 and save the world from self-destruction.

www.indiadaily.com...


Seems the religions of the world are ready for ET...

reply to post by zorgon


Well, as we know, there is a theory which suggests all Abrahamic religions are of alien origin. Alien abduction of Mary and Jesus being a hybrid is an example; and the creation story being genetic engineering of mankind.

Originally posted by feydrautha
you're anthropomorphising alien life, you assume they will have written language, eyes, and books, like humans. the chances of those coincidences occurring are astronomically slim. what about sentient magnetic vortices who live in the corona of a star? kinda hard to keep a book in mint condition, there.

You are posting that in a thread asking about the religious view of Aliens?

If God was indeed the creator... as I am sure most religions are in agreement with... then why might God not create others in his image on the BILLIONS of other star systems He created?

Yeah I know it messes up the pet theories about Reptilians, Grays and other sordid species... but since you cannot show me the proof of those species, what if the Aliens looked like us... it might be a little hard to find evidence that they were indeed visiting us..



Besides, perhaps God like being creative with a sense of humor... after all he made the Penguin and the Platypus

[edit on 21-10-2008 by zorgon]

Originally posted by infinite
Well, as we know, there is a theory which suggests all Abrahamic religions are of alien origin. Alien abduction of Mary and Jesus being a hybrid is an example; and the creation story being genetic engineering of mankind.

Yes WE know... but the rest are still bumbling around in the dark ages The mere fact that God, the Angels and all the other Heavenly host are NOT OF THIS EARTH makes them automatically ET in the true sense of the definition..

Satan et al were kicked out, down to Earth so they are landed immigrants. Wonder if Bush gave them green cards?




[edit on 21-10-2008 by zorgon]

Originally posted by feydrautha
you're anthropomorphising alien life, you assume they will have written language, eyes, and books, like humans. the chances of those coincidences occurring are astronomically slim. what about sentient magnetic vortices who live in the corona of a star? kinda hard to keep a book in mint condition, there.

What a small-minded person you are. God is God, he knows everything. If he wanted to bring enlightment to "sentient magnetic vortices who live in the corona of a star", he'll find a way, whether through a book or some other way. People like you look at things from the human perspective a bit too much, and thus are some of the most narrow-minded idiots I've ever had the misfortune of replying to.

Originally posted by feydrauthato imply that allah was so shortsighted and imperfect to have not considered how his message would translate in other languages used by 'his creation' borders on dangerous blasphemy.

dont you think allah anticipated his words might be translated and interpreted in other languages?

“And if we had made it a Qur’an in a foreign tongue, they would certainly have said: If only its communication had been made clear? What! A foreign tongue and an Arab?” (Qur’an 41:44)

“Surely we have revealed it -- an Arabic Qur’an -- that you may understand.” (Qur’an 12:2)

God completed his promise when He said he will "make a nation" from the people of Ishmael (The Quran & Islam). He chose Arabic for the final revelation by God. Not Hebrew, not Latin, but Arabic. Thus, as the first verse above clearly states, there would be no point in giving a Holy Book to the people of Ishmael unless it was written in Arabic, which is further backed up with the following verse:

“And We did not send any Apostle but with the language of his people, so that he might explain to them clearly” (Qur’an 14:4)

In reply to what you said, God knows all languages. However, differences between these manmade languages have made it hard to translate from one language to another (And there's millions of examples). But He has said that Arabic specifically has been chosen for the Quran. Non-Muslims can either accept that fact, or just jump off a cliff or something.

p.s. Ask yourself this - If the Quran came to the Christians from a Christian man, would there have been so much resistance to it from Christians? The answer is - Yes.

Just like the Pharaohs did to the Jews, then the Jews did to the Christians, this "Christian prophet" would have been persecuted as Satan in disguise or whatever other stupid excuse they would've let out. When it comes to Christians and Jews, they're all a bunch of backstabbing morons that couldn't see the light of God if it came and smacked them in the face. I'm not at all sure why the Jews and Christians are generally called our brothers in faith in the Quran and Hadith, especially the Christians, since I don't see it.

But hey, no-one except God knows the grand scheme of things, and thus it could be very different in the future.

Originally posted by JasonT
What a small-minded person you are. People like you look at things from the human perspective a bit too much, and thus are some of the most narrow-minded idiots I've ever had the misfortune of replying to.

hey, you're the one assuming aliens have texts and pray... its you who thinks in human terms, only. whats human about sentient gas filled balloons who live in the atmosphere of gas giants, or sentient magnetic vortices living on stars?

i'll tell you. nothing at all.

whats human about assuming aliens have texts and pray? everything.

you should break out of your disney-centric view of the universe, if you want to accuse anyone of being narrow minded, oh great one.

“And if we had made it a Qur’an in a foreign tongue, they would certainly have said: If only its communication had been made clear? What! A foreign tongue and an Arab?” (Qur’an 41:44)

yes, we all know allah is a racist, and favors arabs over all his creation, blah blah blah... (care for the verses that support that claim?)

still, it doesnt refute the fact that the koran is not a difficult book to understand at all.

for instance:

allah didnt know that earth moves, that it orbits the sun.

he didnt know that humans are not formed from a congealed blood clot

he isnt sure whether it took him 2 days or 6 days to create the earth...

allah describes the earth numerous times, and always as flat... didnt allah know that the earth is a sphere in space?

the koran is supposed to be scientific, and perfect to be valid.

all the english translations are in harmony with each other, translated by esteemed islamic scholars and recognised as canon.

The late sheikh Abdul Aziz Bin Baz was in his time the highest Islamic authority in Saudi Arabia, and to many Muslims in the whole world. Sheikh Bin Baz was a man of unquestionable knowledge in Islam and the Arabic language, and a very dedicated Muslim. As recently as 1982, he issued a fatwa that earth is flat and those Muslims who say otherwise contradict the Quranic teaching

thats right. 1982.

now, allah demands this to be a muslim world, i wonder if he meant to leave other worlds alone? this will come as a big relief to the population of mizar-5 ...

i wonder if they have room for fleeing human infidels?

"But He has said that Arabic specifically has been chosen for the Quran. Non-Muslims can either accept that fact, or just jump off a cliff or something."

Uhh the Quaran is based on the bible my friend. All of these religions, Catholicism, Judaism and Islamic all come from the same orginal source, the same place and the same people.

I even know Muslims who will tell you that. Your faith is no more than an equivalent of the others, the orgins are the same.

reply to post by ou_sooners_19


All of the religions would compete to turn the aliens into praying, paying members of their church.

.

Seriously they would try and convince them that their god and religion are true path to heaven or what ever...

reply to post by Thebudweiserstuntman


I think it would depend more on what the alien beings looked like. Depending on their genetic make up in relation to ourselves and their level of technology, there could be an abundance of evidence supporting Creationism over Evolution. We could be an alien species' experiment combining the genes of their fellow beings with our primates. If we could prove this traditional Creationism couldn't be followed. We are the only beings on Earth that stand upright, naturally. And as for Christian religions collapsing because the other beings wouldn't have been created in the image of God, what are the other animals on Earth created in the image of?

in order to cause maximum unrest and pandemonium as is the psychological warfare strategy of the ais,the fake aliens who are infact future ai's themselves,will pretend they created all religion.
the intention is to cause as much bother for us as possible,what more bother could be caused by irking all the worlds major religions by pretending you created all of them,and probably pretending to be god.

Very interesting views! One thing I have noticed, and this seems to be a global phenomena, is that Islam seems to be treated with more favour and tolerance, than the others; especially here in the UK where we have prayer rooms for Mulsims and so on, yet a christian lady is forced to remover her neclace because it has a cross on it.

Now please don't misunderstand me, I hold no religous beliefs at all, they're all OCD to me, but I don't see why one OCD holds more wieght than another! Surely, they are all equal?

Returning to topic, I would be very surprised if ETs had a religions, indeed their phillosophies might be so alien that we would not even recognise it as a belief. Out of all the faiths here I think probably Bhuddism would probably survive the most intact.

I assume the Roman Catholic Church, ironically perhaps the most progressive of the mainstream religions, would simply welcome them as "Brothers under God" or some other wording. Same thing with most Eastern religions as well as Jews and moderate Muslims.

The fun will begin when we see how the Fundie Christian and Muslims react. Honestly, I can't tell you how they would react. It could range from them thinking the aliens are Messiahs and worshiping them to them being enemies of God and wanting to Nuke them.

As for religion as a whole, unless we make contact with a very advanced civilization who hands us some kind of formula that disproves God, it will survive.

Just my 2 cents... since I was raised as a Catholic and have lot of friends admitting to having that particular believe system at heart. I see a gradual shift from accepting the dogmas to searching for the true meaning of all those things in the Bible.

This of course can lead to either:

1) dissolving organized religious structures (do not confuse that with dissolvement of the faith itself), futher leading to individual's quest for identity and super-truths.

or

2) it is a sign of an evolution of organized religion.

Since I see more and more people in my country asking questions I believe the 1st option is more probable. But, unfortunatelly our lifestyle promotes laziness. We like to have things wrapped up for us. Religions does this very well (for most). It has all the answers. The quest for finding God is finished and only marginal adjustement are allowed withing the structure.

And since I just love to argue with mysef, I say the 2nd option is a reality

But... cheer up Those thinking out of the box are always outsiders

Originally posted by silver6ix
"But He has said that Arabic specifically has been chosen for the Quran. Non-Muslims can either accept that fact, or just jump off a cliff or something."

Uhh the Quaran is based on the bible my friend. All of these religions, Catholicism, Judaism and Islamic all come from the same orginal source, the same place and the same people.

I even know Muslims who will tell you that. Your faith is no more than an equivalent of the others, the orgins are the same.

I'm not disputing that. I'm just replying to the moron earlier that stated that God must have known the Quran would be translated, and compensated for it when revealing the Quran.

Whatever language a Holy Book is revealed in, it is revealed to make full use of the words of that specific language - Kind of like allowing the optimising a computer program to efficiently use the programming language you're encoding it with. You use a different language to achieve the same goals, and it will probably be similar, but never the same. Try translating Japanese into English, and you'll know what I mean!

And to "feydrautha":

‘Whenever it is said to them, "Spread not disorder on the earth", their reply is, "We only seek to put things aright".
- Al Qur’an Al Kareem: 2 Al Baqarah: 11
‘Beware! They do spread disorder but they realize it not.’
-Al Qur’an Al Kareem: 2 Al Baqarah: 12

I'm not going to bother with you anymore. I've already stated that the English and Arabic versions can differ wildly from verse to verse, so if you can't understand that, I have more intelligent people than you to talk to. Enjoy living a life of ignorance and stupidity.

[edit on 22-10-2008 by JasonT]

Hey I'm new to this contributing to peoples' thread thing so I hope this is not off topic..

First I want to say that this is one of the more interesting threads I've come across and I want to thank those that have offered some decent insights into, and facts on varying religious texts.

I also want to remark that it's been refreshing and very non-boring to see some polite interchange between members (on this site, in particular the first couple of pages .. but probably discluding the above reply). Especially amongst the usual defensive and any-excuse-for-attack replies that often go on in the forums ......it's soooo boooring!!

Anyway, this thread relates to the thread I've started (see "STS or STO?") which queries whether the ETs core philosophies will be aligned with any of the mainstream religions - ie, will they promote service-to-others or will they emphasis the current mode of service-to-self? In relation to this, I pose the question: Does anyone know if or conclude that Jesus's ultimate teachings were to serve others? Does this core theme run through any of the mainstream religions?

Further, I have noted that the new age stuff seems to be about "self" (service-to-self), this might say something: I wonder if it's evidence supportive to the argument that the new age philosophies are ultimately in opposition to Christianity (if Christianity main teaching is STO)..

I hope this sparks some curiosity with someone else, it's something that I ponder regularly. I hope my querying is not too much of a jumble here, it's kinda complex to articulate. Please note, I am not committed to any one religious persuasion, but I guess rather I'm an intellectual philosophic dabbler



[edit on 26-10-2008 by sasss]

[edit on 26-10-2008 by sasss]

Originally posted by Thebudweiserstuntman
Most, if not all religions would probably collapse, specifically Christianity and Islam due to the premise that we were created in God's image (Who's image were the aliens created in then!?)

The spiritual religions such as budism would probably prevail as from what I understand they seem to have a more wholistic view on 'life'.

I think it would have to be intelligent life for this to happen and not some amoeabic organisms found in martian soil for example.

I'm with you on this one Budstunt . Christianity is so barbarous that no civilised ET would touch it with a ten foot pole.

I mean ,worshiping the image of a man nailed to a cross ! Thats Love ?


The only thing I would add is that many churches are already desperately re-jigging their dogma to make ET fit . Actually I can think of a few regulars here who are doing that work for them .

Well lets just hope ET is more tolerant than the christians . Because Jesus gave up on them a long time ago by the looks of it .

Originally posted by zorgon

Originally posted by feydrautha
you're anthropomorphising alien life, you assume they will have written language, eyes, and books, like humans. the chances of those coincidences occurring are astronomically slim. what about sentient magnetic vortices who live in the corona of a star? kinda hard to keep a book in mint condition, there.

You are posting that in a thread asking about the religious view of Aliens?

If God was indeed the creator... as I am sure most religions are in agreement with... then why might God not create others in his image on the BILLIONS of other star systems He created?

Yeah I know it messes up the pet theories about Reptilians, Grays and other sordid species... but since you cannot show me the proof of those species, what if the Aliens looked like us... it might be a little hard to find evidence that they were indeed visiting us..

Besides, perhaps God like being creative with a sense of humor... after all he made the Penguin and the Platypus

[edit on 21-10-2008 by zorgon]

yeah well that would fit your pro human agenda nicely Zargon . but if you are SO superior to the other species ,how come you still have not got off this rock ? Maybe its because you are religious and therefore cannot think logically .

And since when have you dregged up any proof positive beyond question ?

Humans.....

And you wonder why other species dont waste their time contacting you ?