A question for aethists (and Sklansky)

[Zeno]

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Yes, and let them be perhaps pedantic and possibly douchebags but let them NOT be misanthropic.


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If they were misanthropic, I submit they would not land and furthermore, if they had the power, would destroy the Earth. I suspect that's your point. And a very bad one to my way of thinking. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

Le Misanthrope

[Zeno]

I'll interject some more fog into this thread. I did not read all the responses so I’m not really responding to something specific, just a general comment.

It is wiser, perhaps, to categorize yourself as a rationalist. (I made a post about this long ago in another "God/Atheist/Religion thread on this forum). The atheist label constrains the framework of the debate and pulls it into the field of theology and other metaphysical strictures and usual bogs the discussion down to 'GOD (RELIGON) Vs. ANTI-GOD (ANTI-RELIGION) Vs. IT IS ALL A MEANINGLESS QUESTION Vs VARIOUS DEGREES OF QUIBBLING'. Which is interesting, but limited, in my opinion. There are other and even more practical reasons for avoiding the atheist label.

-Zeno

[Mayhap]

This was an inside joke and not a serious statement. Not knowing that, I would have found it a bit strange and flawed as well. [img]/images/graemlins/smirk.gif[/img]

/M

[fluxrad]

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What if aliens landed on earth tomorrow and they also turned out to be Christian (or the same as any other religion currently worshiped on earth).

How would you feel about that? Would it change your views? Of course this is only in theory.

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The answer to this question is mu.

There is not enough evidence to go either way. How did the Aliens arrive at their Christianity? Had they observed it here, thought it was a cool religion, and decided to convert?

You also mentioned that it could possibly be an "equivalent" religion. If you just mean that they believe in God, I fail to see how that could be considered compelling evidence that there was one. Sagan's explanation of the origins of religion would also account for the rise of religion in any other advanced species.

Now then, if they'd never been here before, but had a religion that specifically talked about a dude nameed Jesus on a planet called Earth that no one had ever been to but was foretold by some Alien prophet named @#%WFwgrwgrw@R#R...

Then I'd probably start going to church.

[Belok]

If aliens came to earth...wouldnt the bible need to be rewritten to explain their existence?

[Piers]

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What if aliens landed on earth tomorrow and they also turned out to be Christian (or the same as any other religion currently worshiped on earth).

How would you feel about that

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Extremely surprised.

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Would it change your views?

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The first thing would be to analyse WHY the aliens are claiming they believe they are Christians.

From the current evidence I would say the most likely explanation is that they are lying.

Second most likely explanation is that they have been converted since making contact with humans.

Off hand can not think of any other likely explanations.

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Of course this is only in theory.

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I guessed.

[jmgurgeh]

Let's assume that these aliens are telling the truth. They are NOT sitting in their ships monitoring our beliefs and coming up with the most hilarious scam in the universe. They are NOT trying to use us to their own ends. And they are COMPLETELY honest about everything. If so, I would have questions.

What flavor Christian are these aliens? Are they Catholics? Do they believe in birth control? Are they against premarital sex? Are they still against both given the rampant starvation and spread of AIDS? Do they actually love their enemies, or do they proclaim god's love while hording a vicious contempt for nonbelievers and wrongdoers? Do they have exactly the same ten commandments? Do they believe literally in the Bible? And if so, which Bible? Do they have two creation and two flood stories in theirs? Do they tend to be conservative like American Christians who think the poor are trying to milk welfare and destroy our values, or liberal like the rest of the world, who think that we should care for the poor and that they are not an evil mass bent on replacing "family values" with Satanism? Is there a real Hell that god sends you to if you're bad, or is hell just a state you choose to be in, away from god, which is more of a concept than a patriarchal superbeing? And when they translated the line about not being a sin to kill a witch, did they translate it as "witch" or "poisoner"?

I guess the reason I have a hard time even theoretically answering the question is because the term "Christian" just doesn't mean anything concrete. It could mean something I was getting at above, or nothing like that at all.

What if aliens came down and they were all Moonies? Now that's a scary idea.

[jogumon]

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That would be stong evidence that the religion is true

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No. It is strong evidence that the psychological need for religion is universal.

[Little Fishy]

agnostics are the group open to believing, athiests are the group that don't believe in anything but what they can touch, and then again not even that

[akudlac]

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agnostics are the group open to believing, athiests are the group that don't believe in anything but what they can touch, and then again not even that

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If you're going to troll, at least try and put some effort into it.