posted
Im taking an astronomy class this semester and was cruising some astronomy forums today and noticed an interesting topic concerning intelligent life on other planets and religion.
The general consensus on the forum was that if intelligent life were to be discovered on another planet, it would be a huge blow to religion.
Many of you know that I am a religious guy. I believe that it would actually HELP religion. I dont believe that we are God's only creations. If intelligent life were discovered on another planet, who is to say they would not have some form of religion?
I saw a movie a few years ago called "Enemy Mine" and it has become one of my favorite movies now. For those of you that have not seen it, it involves two races at war with each other, the Humans and the Drak.
A Human pilot and a Drak pilot crash land on a planet. At first they try to kill each other, but eventually learn that they must rely on each other to survive. The human (Dennis Quaid) notices that the Drak is always reading from this small book, and asks him what the book is about. The Drak tells him that it is a book about a great prophet that came to their people and taught them how they should live their lives. He reads a little from his book, and basically quotes the golden rule. Dennis Quaid says, "I have heard this before," and the Drak says, "Of course you have. Truth is universal.
Eventually they overcame their differences and became best friends.
So what do all of you think?
1) If intelligent life were discovered on another planet, would it be a blow to religion?
2) If intelligent life were discovered, would they have their own sense of right and wrong? Is truth universal?
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posted
1. It would not be a blow to MY religion, but I think it would cause many fundamentalists to question their faith. Rigidity in religion leaves little room for expanded knowledge. That said, religion will ultimately overcome...it always has. It was a huge blow to religion to discover that the Earth wasn't the center of the universe but we (humanity) got over it.
2a. I think they would have their own sense of right and wrong but (b) that it might not be the same as ours. Truth is ill-defined in this context, I think. We could go around in circles all day trying to define it, actually. Posts: 2392 | Registered: Sep 2005
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quote:1) If intelligent life were discovered on another planet, would it be a blow to religion?
It would certainly shake the faith of some, but by no means all, religious people.
Of course, the same thing happened with the discovery of a heliocentric universe and evolution. Some people abandoned religion, some people rejected the discovery, and other people incorporated them both into their worldview.
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posted
I am not sure of what religion either of you belong. As for Latter-day Saints (Mormons) life on other planets is a tiny theological teaching. Now, what would be challenging is what the intelligent life was physically like.
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I don't see how the discovery of alien life would shake anyone's faith. I don't see how the existence of aliens would change what god said, or didn't say here on earth.
Now whether aliens are good or evil in the eyes of god... might be some debate on that depending on how the aliens reacted to us.
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quote:I am not sure of what religion either of you belong. As for Latter-day Saints (Mormons) life on other planets is a tiny theological teaching. Now, what would be challenging is what the intelligent life was physically like.
I don't know of a specific Mormon stance on alien physiology (not saying there isn't one, just that I'm not aware of one), but I would think that in general aliens that were physiologically human would be a much greater blow to current scientific theories of the origin of human life than it would be to current religious beliefs on the subject.
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Noemon, there is no alien physiology stance. However, there is a lot of "folk theology" that declares that intelligent life has to look nearly human. It has to do with us as Childeren of God made in His image.
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posted
I don't think the discovery of alien life would by itself shake many people's faith. The nature of the aliens and how they interacted with us COULD change that however.
There is a science fiction short story where a planet is discovered with a marker that lists an important date. Through calculations they figure out that the inhabitants were all wiped out from a star that went super nova, and the light reached earth on April of 1AD (The Birth of Christ).
The inhabitants were all believers in Jesus and knew the star was going super nova as an advent to his birth, and the fulfillment of prophecy.
If we encountered an alien race that were all Buddhists, with very insignificant variation from our own Buddhism, I would be VERY intrigued.
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posted
I myself am LDS. I believe that aliens that where NOT physioligically human would be a blow to religion. Since most religions believe that God created man in his own image, it would be easier for religion to accept alien life if it resembled us physically. Like Noemon said, it would hurt the theory of evolution.
As far as the Latter Day Saints belief, if you watch the video released about six or seven years ago by the church where the President of the Church and the Council of the Twelve bear their testimonies, Neal A. Maxwell says that he believes that God created man on this earth as well as other planets.
I dont believe there is an "Official" stance on the subject however.
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quote:There is a science fiction short story where a planet is discovered with a marker that lists an important date. Through calculations they figure out that the inhabitants were all wiped out from a star that went super nova, and the light reached earth on April of 1AD (The Birth of Christ).
The inhabitants were all believers in Jesus and knew the star was going super nova as an advent to his birth, and the fulfillment of prophecy.
The story you are talking about is called "The Star" by Arthur C. Clarke.
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posted
I believe it was on "Amazing Stories" in the late 80s as well - although it could have been a different series.
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quote:Since most religions believe that God created man in his own image, it would be easier for religion to accept alien life if it resembled us physically.
Many of those religions don't believe that the "image of God" is a physical image, so what the aliens looked like wouldn't matter theologically.
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posted
Besides, God didn't create humans in His image. Humanity was a consequence of the Fall. I'm surprised you didn't all know that, it's a pretty general doctrine, isn't it?
Oh, and no need to flame me and accuse me of saying that I'm better than humanity and all that. I just pointing out that, scripturally, there are definite differences between the physiology of Adam and modern humans. Like the whole "mortality" business.
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posted
It would clearly be a blow to the more virulent kinds of religion, the sort that didn't really feel comfortable admitting that the earth isn't flat. It would not be a blow to the modern, insidious kind, which takes care not to make any assertions except the morally hand-wavy kind.
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Um...I think that you're misusing "virulent" here. The "insidious" kind would seem to be the more "virulent" by most standards, don't you think?
Actually, I thought this page was going to be something about the deep field images proving that the universe is really, really old. Or something like that. Because...what do extraterrestrial intelligences have to do with astronomy? That connection doesn't really jell for me.
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posted
I was using 'virulent' to mean 'fast-acting, violent, extreme'. The insidious kind is much slower to infect people, but harder to get rid of once it's gotten a foothold. You might say that the Black Death was virulent: It infected like lightning and killed in days; while AIDS is insidious, being hard to acquire but impossible to get rid of.
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quote:Many of those religions don't believe that the "image of God" is a physical image, so what the aliens looked like wouldn't matter theologically.
Thanks for saying this much more succintly than I could have - needless to say I agree.
I think finding out there's life on other planets would be fascinating and I don't think it would shake my faith at all.
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Finding intelligent life elsewhere in the universe will really confound some aetheistic friends of mine, since they firmly believe intelligent life does not exist anywhere in the universe, especially on planet earth.
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quote:Originally posted by Dan_raven: Finding intelligent life elsewhere in the universe will really confound some aetheistic friends of mine, since they firmly believe intelligent life does not exist anywhere in the universe, especially on planet earth.
posted
I'm LDS. A couple of years ago I was teaching the Gospel Doctrine (adult Sunday school) class when this topic came up. One person said there's life on other planets but it doesn't look like us. I asked him for a scriptural reference, which he couldn't give, but he was absolutely sure he was right.
A few weeks later, I found what I consider my answer to the question in Doctrine and Covenants 76:24. (LDS scripture, mostly revelations to Joseph Smith for those who aren't familiar with it.)
The previous verses were referring to Jesus Christ, then verse 24:
quote:That by him, and through him, and of him, the worlds are and were created, and the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God.
To me, that verse says that there is intelligent life on other planets and it physically resembles us, as we were created in Heavenly Father's image. I understand that not everyone will read that verse the same way and that non-LDS people won't recognize the validity of it.
Also, I love to read and watch science fiction and fantasy - this doesn't interfere with that at all.
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I think that some people are far too eager to have their faith explain everything with a final, succinct answer. "Are there aliens somewhere in the universe?" "The Bible doesn't say anything about aliens, so NO!" When actually, a much more reasonable response would be, "The Bible doesn't say anything about aliens, so who knows? That would be interesting to learn. I wonder what that would mean to the rest of my beliefs ..."
I tend to only extend my faith as far as it needs to go to support the things that I have learned to trust. I feel I can rely on my church, on god, and on my moral stance, and so I have faith in the things that support those beliefs. But when something is irrelevant to those trusted beliefs (like extraterrestrial life), I don't feel that I need my faith to give me an answer one way or another. There's no point in trying to force a faith-based answer to an irrelevant question — all you're going to do is set yourself up for needless crisis and disappointment if the answer you chose was wrong.
But I think, from reading this thread, that pretty much most religious people here are on the same page about that, so ... yeah Posts: 1539 | Registered: Jul 2004
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CaySedai: But at the same time we have so much flora and fauna on our own earth, is it impossible that God created planets that might be inhabited by human beings but at the moment are populated by animals and plants of immense diversity? Dinosaurs date to a time far earlier then humanity (not trying to start a creationist debate). Using JUST the scriptures it seems feasible at least that we could encounter life forms on other planets that if they were intelligent (would look very similar to us) and if they did not, they would likely be unintelligent.
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posted
Cay, the other way to read that quote is to note that it says nothing about the image of these other sons and daughters. We could well be in the image of God, while many others are not.
One could also note that that verse uses the word "begotten" in an unusual way. Normally, we use the word "begotten" to refer to someone's natural children, not to their spiritual offspring. So that verse is already toying with the language in a new way ... it could easily be speaking very broadly and figuratively, and may not be meant to be taken completely at face value.
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Okay, this is probably going way over the line, but I have to caution you about thinking that superficial similarity to the human form will necessarily equate with intelligence. I mean, not like you're going to meet many extraterrestrials anytime soon, or at least not before having those kinds of conceptions forcebly altered, but still.
Hmm...I think I just said something unneccessary.
I'm interested in KOM's ideas about "sudden onset fundamentalism", though. That's not something that I've heard about before.
Though I still have to contend the idea that discovering extraterrestrial intelligence could have any significant impact on people who still don't believe that the Earth is a planet. They'd probably just claim it was all a hoax.
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I think there's another subsequent discussion I can't find.
My POV is that the Bible didn't tell me about chocolate, either, but chocolate doesn't test my faith. Only my resolve not to eat too much.
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quote:Originally posted by Geraine: 1) If intelligent life were discovered on another planet, would it be a blow to religion?
2) If intelligent life were discovered, would they have their own sense of right and wrong? Is truth universal?
1. I don't think so. The bible says God created us in His image. It says nothing about creating other beings on other planets in other galaxies. After all, he made the cockroach.
2. That one is a thinker. I believe it is a universal truth. Although, what is right and wrong today is different than what was right and wrong in generations past. Not in an absolute value way (murder is murder), but in general, people are less sensitive to "smaller" sins. Maybe another being on another planet is farther advanced than us and their computer games are much more violent and, therefore, less sensitive to "smaller" sins. On the other hands, they may be Quaker-ish and we would be burned at the stake for being witches by flying down to their planet.
Good question though. I have struggled with Science vs. Religion myself. My faith has never waivered, but I wonder what the religious sect has to say about the age of the universe. What if we develop a telescope that can see far enough in space to see the beginning of time.
Maybe another thread.
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posted
I’m reminded of what Isaac Asimov said in a footnote in his article entitled “The Fateful Lightning” published in his anthology “The Edge of Tomorrow.” The article was about Ben Franklin’s invention of the lightning rod and how some of the clergy of the day thundered from their pulpits how lightning was the JUDGMENT OF GOD and how it was just evil and stuff to attempt to thwart the JUDGMENTS OF GOD by putting up evil lightning rods. But when the churches (which were usually the tallest buildings in town) kept getting hit and the brothels (which put up lightning rods) were not getting hit anymore, well then, the clergy started to lose their thunder on that issue. Asimov also mentioned the discovery of a certain anesthetic which helped to ease the pain of childbirth. And certain (male) clergy again thundered from the pulpits that it was a women’s lot to suffer. After all, they said, Eve was told BY GOD that he would “greatly multiply thy sorrow and thy conception” and that meant they were meant to suffer in childbirth. It is evil to try to thwart what God has decreed. Then the clergy kind of backed off on the rhetoric when Queen Victoria said something like, “Time out, guys, I’m taking the antithetic, thank you very much!”
So anyway, Asimov’s footnote was that NO SENSIBLE RELIGION HAS EVER BEEN HURT BY SCIENTIFIC ADVANCEMENT.
I tend to agree with him on that.
Cay, concerning that Gospel Doctrine class, your take on it is most likely the one best supported by scripture - that is that the inhabitants on other worlds created by our Creator are created in His image in the same sense that we are created in his image.
What that person you mention speculated on in the class, that they may not look like us, is only speculation. I think you did right in asking him for some documentation. I’m not aware of any scriptures that would support what he said. But that does not stop me from having a couple of my own hypotheses about what they might look like and their chemistry and such - which might be way wrong. Probably are wrong. Maybe I’ve read too much Hal Clement and Isaac Asimov. But anyway, I reserve my own speculations to gab fests with my friends.
At any rate, another layer of meaning for D&C 76:24 is that the inhabitants of other worlds are saved by the same Savior and Atonement that saves the inhabitants of this world. (really broadens our understanding of the scriptural phrase in Alma 34:10 “an infinite and eternal sacrifice,” doesn’t it?) So when it says that “the inhabitants thereof are begotten sons and daughters unto God” it is also the same sense in which we become “begotten sons and daughters unto God” as taught by Alma to those he had just baptized, “And now, because of the covenant which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born of him and have become his sons and his daughters.” ( Mosiah 5:7)
Then there are the scriptures: Moses 1: 27-39 in which Moses is shown other worlds, and several scriptures which say that, “the course of the Lord is one eternal round.”
So what it all amounts to is that the official Mormon doctrine on the subject is this:
Moses was shown many other worlds created by God through His Only Begotten Son.
Moses was shown the inhabitants of those other worlds.
He learned that various worlds were in various stages of development (the “eternal round” thing) and have yet to /have already gone through/ or whatever/ the same stages of development our Earth has gone through or has yet to go through.
The “inhabitants thereof” are the spirit offspring of God.
And (now, this is the BIGGY doctrine) that the work and glory of God “is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” on whatever world He has created for His children. And that is why He creates worlds for His children - to further their progression.
So that is the Mormon perspective on it.
And I said all that so that I could say this:
The discovery of intelligent people on other worlds would NOT shake my faith.
But if they turned out to be like the bad guys in stories like, say, “Independence Day” who come here to kick ass and erase names, then THAT would kind of shake my faith somewhat.
Oh yeah, another thing. I really loved the stories about the “People” by Zina Henderson. The stories are about humanoid aliens marooned on Earth. They have mental powers that Earth humans don’t have, and that causes them to get persecuted as witches until they either isolate themselves or learn to blend in by hiding their powers. One of the things that I loved about the stories is that the “People” are devout Christians because that religion is so compatible with the religion of their home world.
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Zenna Henderson was one of my very first science fiction authors - I love the People. ;-)
My response when teaching that class was the same whenever we came across a concept that I was unfamiliar with or unsure of - I would always ask for a scripture reference. That's because I honestly didn't know the answer but wanted to.
My personal feeling is that there are other worlds, many if not all are inhabited by intelligent beings who recognizably resemble us just as we resemble the Father. They won't be alone on their planets, they will live with animals and plants as we do.
But, I'm not a learned person in the scriptures. (I was totally shocked when I was called to teach Gospel Doctrine!) I'm open to learning more. I think about all kinds of possibilities.
One thing I said many times in my class when speculation came up is this: It's nice to think about, but it's not essential to my salvation.
Oh, and another thought ... Arthur C. Clarke's third law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. I don't have a problem believing (in a separate way from my faith in Christ) that these inhabitants of other planets could be more advanced than we are and can visit our planet. I also don't have a problem believing that Heavenly Father's control over the universe is indistinguishable from science (as we humans can understand it).
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posted
Clarke’s short story “The Star” had a way different tone than the Twilight Zone episode that aired around Christmas time in 1985. The story had a Jesuit Priest totally losing his faith because the supernova that destroyed a beautiful civilization turns out to be the star of Bethlehem that heralded Christ’s birth.
In the TV version, which Christianized the story a bit, has a part that isn’t in the short story where the priest’s best friend reads to him some of the translated text left by the civilization. They say something like, “Don’t morn for us . . . if this cache of our accumulated knowledge can be found and help some other civilization, then it has all been worth it.”
Or some positive message like that. Anyway, I really like both versions (separately but equally) and wish I had the TV one on tape.
But I can’t help but wonder how they slipped that past A.C. Clarke.
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quote:The story had a Jesuit Priest totally losing his faith because the supernova that destroyed a beautiful civilization turns out to be the star of Bethlehem that heralded Christ’s birth.
Yes and no. More than ever, he knew that God and Jesus are real.
He just found it impossible to still love them.
Which, in many ways, could be considered worse than losing your faith.
posted
And speaking of Clarke, he took a good natured, maybe even well deserved, poke at religion in his novel “The Fountains of Paradise” where, as a subplot, a robot supercomputer probe comes zipping through the solar system. It’s purpose is to exchange information with whatever civilizations it encounters. So among the knowledge downloaded to it from earth are all the religions texts. After analyzing all that stuff the supercomputer pronounces something like, “What a crock! Have a nice day.”
Of course, Clarke said it way better than I just did, but that’s the gist of it anyway. Great book, though.
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quote:So anyway, Asimov’s footnote was that NO SENSIBLE RELIGION HAS EVER BEEN HURT BY SCIENTIFIC ADVANCEMENT.
While comrade Asimov has a point, it's worth pointing out that in the absence of science, you don't get sensible religion. There's no ecological niche for it; fanaticism is inherently more appealing, especially to ignorant people with lice. Those hellfire-and-brimstone preachers you quote so disapprovingly are not some kind of aberration; that's the default state. It only retreats when somebody points out that what they are saying doesn't actually make any sense, backs it up with good economics, and then doesn't get burned at the stake for it.
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posted
1) If intelligent life were discovered on another planet, would it be a blow to religion?
As has been said by several others, it all depends on how well the individual religious person is able to adapt to new knowledge. Even now, many people are consistantly denying certain knowledge that interferes with their ('comfortable') way of viewing the world.
2) If intelligent life were discovered, would they have their own sense of right and wrong?
Probably, yes. But I doubt if it would be necessarily compatible with ours.
2a) Is truth universal?
Yes, it is. It is also very slippery. What I mean by this is that it'll never be possible to confine Truth into a very short text. Because the truth usually lies between the words. And, sadly, many people are unwilling to allow for a text to have multiple meanings, therefor pushing one interpretation (usually the most obvious, because thinking is soooo hard....) as the sole truth and creating more confusion as they find that in this way, many truthful words contradict each other.
originally posted by The Pixiest: Now whether aliens are good or evil in the eyes of god... might be some debate on that depending on how the aliens reacted to us.
Nah... Is it impossible for you to conceive the opposite idea? That the aliens are the beautiful enlightened people and we are the wicked ones? More logical would be that God approves of all of his creations, the more so if they're willing to keep an open mind.
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1) If intelligent life were discovered on another planet, would it be a blow to religion?
2) If intelligent life were discovered, would they have their own sense of right and wrong? Is truth universal?
1.) To most mainstream religions, yes. Certainly the Judeo-Christian variety. But I'm sure many believers could make adjustments to the faith, or reinterpret it in a way to accommodate the alien species.
2.) My guess is yes; to live intelligently, you need to make value judgements about what is favourable and what is to be avoided. Those become the basis of moral value judgements.
As for truth being universal, that depends on what definition of 'truth' you're using. If you take truth to be metaphysical or inherently religious, no. If by truth you mean non-subjective facts describing reality, then yes.
Edit to add:
I don't really understand the implied reasoning in the OP that aliens having *some* sort of religion would actually lend credibility to a given Earthling religion. Islam doesn't make Christianity more credible. Together, they do tend to indicate that a large proportion of the human race shares certain values (the gist of the golden rule, for example).
Also, if aliens had a belief system even vaguely resembling Christianity, I think the number of commandments they have would depend on the number of digits on their limbs.
posted
I don't think the discovery of intelligent life on other worlds would be a blow to religion in general.
I'd rather address the idea that the discovery of human-like beings on another planet would be a cripling blow to evolution. I'm not sure that it would be. As far as I know, there are no strong scientific pronouncements at all about what intelligent beings would look like on another planet. I think the discovery of human-like beings on another planet would simply fill in some already recognized gaps in evolutionary theory. Rather than be evidence that "evolution is wrong" it would simply be evidence that the human form is a likely end result of natural selection. If we found human-like beings on more worlds, we would more likely simply take it as more evidence that the "human form" is somehow more efficient than other forms for creating a dominant intelligent species.
Likewise, I don't necessarily believe that finding another intelligent species who believed in God would be a particularly stunning blow to atheism. If religion is a delusion created wholesale from the fears and dreams of a species evolving into intelligence, wouldn't it be just as likely that extra-terrestrials would also encounter religion somewhere along the way towards their development of intelligence and civilization? Seeing as the concepts of "creator(s)", "Saviors", "miraculous (and even 'virgin') births", "dying gods", "blood sacrifice", etc. are so prevalent across cultures among humans, is it really that much of a stretch that an extra-terrestrial intelligence might not also independently come up with many of those same concepts? Do you think it would take all that much similarity for the average Christian to recognize similarities and declare them "evidence"? Do you think the average non-Christian would suddenly convert just because an alien race also had a savior myth?
Now, if we discovered an extra-terrestrial species with a "Book of Xyzzlex" that told of Jesus's crucifixion, death and resurrection on a far away world called Earth, and his subsequent visit to them and preaching to them of a pretty-much verbatim Sermon on the Mount, then you might have a stronger case for Christianity, specifically. (At least as long as the physical evidence of such a thing were readily available to skeptics.)
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posted
I'm also puzzled by the reasoning that human-like alien species would hurt the theory of evolution. Wouldn't that just indicate that certain planetary conditions encourage certain survival traits, and that evolution is the guiding force of life everywhere?
Of course, if the alien planet contained no carbon, orbited around a star ten times as distant as our own, had gravity 100 times weaker than Earth, and was filled with seas of liquid nitrogen but the aliens were *still* physiologically human, that would be a blow to evolution.
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posted
There's a lot on this post from the POV of religious people, I thought I'd chip in as a hard core evolutionist =). It is my suspicion that in the unlikely event that we were to come across an alien race of equal or greater intelligence than us, we would find religion to be a uniquely human phenomenon. These aliens would probably be more peaceful than we have proved to be in the past, due to their evolving from a more complex and altruistic social structure. There is also a chance that they would be rather violent, as most of the more intelligent life forms on Earth are predators, but I believe that the more violent a society, the less quickly they advance. As far as "universal truth", I assume that you are talking about moral truth. I would not think this would be the same, except as far as altruism serves the common good of the species, and is therefore evolutionarily favored.
EDIT: Oh, and they would probably have an opposable thumb, or something similar. No, this is not proof that God has an opposable thumb. It is necessary to manipulate tools. Dolphins are very smart, but they're never going to be able to build anything, or communicate in a permanant way. Flippers are not very good for writing.
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posted
typing on the wii. I found the evolutionary question facinating. but if the human form is indeed the end result of evolution, wouldn't it make sense that all the phylums that have existed or do exist here would also be found there? Or perhaps I should say their flora and fauna should have strong similarities to earths.
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quote: The general consensus on the forum was that if intelligent life were to be discovered on another planet, it would be a huge blow to religion.
I disagree.
I'm evangelical Christian (for lack of a better term). I don't see it as a conflict at all.
Just because God doesn't mention life on other planets or worlds in our Bible, doesn't mean He didn't or couldn't create such things. He may not mention it, but He doesn't say it ISN'T there, either. God can do whatever He wants with the universe.
I would have no problem with it. (I'm not into "limiting God")
These aliens would probably be more peaceful than we have proved to be in the past, due to their evolving from a more complex and altruistic social structure. There is also a chance that they would be rather violent, as most of the more intelligent life forms on Earth are predators, but I believe that the more violent a society, the less quickly they advance.
Where did you get this? It's not based on anything we know. Or does the 'my sneaking suspicion is' qualifier apply to this part as well?
quote:Originally posted by dkw:
quote:1.) To most mainstream religions, yes. Certainly the Judeo-Christian variety.
Why?
Because Judeo-Christian doctrine and scripture is inherently human-centric; their tenets are based on the dynamics of human interaction, and the entire history of the religion takes place on earth. It would take a deliberate reinterpretation to accommodate an alien species.
quote:Originally posted by BlackBlade:
but if the human form is indeed the end result of evolution, wouldn't it make sense that all the phylums that have existed or do exist here would also be found there? Or perhaps I should say their flora and fauna should have strong similarities to earths.
Why? All evolution dictates is that reproducing entities with random genetic mutations favourable to their environment are more likely to survive and pass on their genes. We can't say any more than that. Maybe the flora/fauna categories are irrelevant. Maybe they're not even carbon-based.
posted
euripides: my post assumes their are humans or at least humanoids on the planet in the first place
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Arthur C. Clarke's third law: Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic. I don't have a problem believing (in a separate way from my faith in Christ) that these inhabitants of other planets could be more advanced than we are and can visit our planet. I also don't have a problem believing that Heavenly Father's control over the universe is indistinguishable from science (as we humans can understand it).
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