I don't know if this has been discussed before but what if we find life on Mars? What do you all think would happen to bible based religion if we discover life on Mars? And a question for bible believers what would change in your belief if there is such a discovery?
Life on Mars
by Anti-Christ 17 Replies latest social current
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Awakened07
I've thought about the same question, and also about making just such a thread before myself.
I'm really not sure how people would react. On one hand, it would be really weird of God to create for instance bacteria on Mars. From a biblical perspective, what would they be good for? What would be their purpose? Why was it not mentioned?
On the other hand, I remember in the mid-nineties when they found a meteorite here on earth, that came from Mars and had what seemed like fossilized bacteria in it. I was in back then, and I thought it was really neat (I had always been interested in astronomy), but I can't remember what I thought about it theologically, or what my parents said about it. Interestingly, when I was visiting my parents last, we saw on TV that there would be a show called Life on Mars coming up, and my mom said "Oh - life on Mars!" (I was surprised at her seemingly interested comment). This is just a drama series that has nothing to do with life on Mars(!), and when I told her that, she almost seemed disappointed. Which I found weird. Maybe my mom isn't as strong a believer in the 'Truth' as I've thought? Maybe she's just waiting for a good excuse to leave?
Unfortunately, the meteorite find I mentioned was soon discredited and forgotten, and the excitement was over.
But I have a very vague recollection of thinking "If this turns out to be provably true, I'm going to have to reconsider my biblical beliefs". So maybe I've been "fading" for longer than I've thought.
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Abaddon
Well, as religous belief requires no proof and many forms of it exist in the face of contrary proof, I don't think much will change.
Some will have beliefs that already allow this possibility.
Some will allow their beliefs in a Creator to move to a Creator of life on many planets, even if they don't believe that now and would argue against it in the absense of proof.
Others will deny the evidence. Believe me, if people can ignore the evidence of evolution now and in the past, a few microbes on Mars are easily denied.
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KW13
Personally i dont believe it would change things for me, but that is just me.
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Paralipomenon
It would open a few minds, but likely the die hards would think that the soil had been contaminated by previous unmanned probes and life would move on.
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Terry
People indoctrinated with an ideology and world view filter everything through the indoctrination before it reaches their cognitive mind.
The "importance" of any event is sanitized, x-rayes, prepped, laundered and re-framed to fit preconceived notions.
There is no such thing as "raw materials" when it comes to propaganda.
You see what your are taught to expect to see and colors everything.
JW's think of all inexplicable phenomena, for example, as Satan and his demons. That explains things for them and they are satisfied.
Angels, demons, faries, unicorns, ghosts, aliens are all part of a collective vocabulary sorted into "meanings" by the religion you subscribe to.
I'm afraid nothing can penetrate this bubble.
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Anti-Christ
I'm afraid nothing can penetrate this bubble.
That's what I'm afraid of. I think it would take something very extreme to change the minds of indoctrinated people and even then I think a lot of die hard believers would take it as a test or something like that.
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Awakened07
When it comes to JWs (and some others), they believe that Earth and mankind is a first test, so that when Jehovah has proved his right to rule the universe, then other planets can be inhabited, because then a precedent has been established. At least, that's how I remember it. And so, in light of that, it would be very strange that Jehovah had created any kind of life elsewhere.
Then again, I guess (if we're talking bacteria or the like) they'd come up with something, like for instance Jehovah preparing Mars' surface for later life possibly to be put there way into the future.
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Jim_TX
...what if we find life on Mars?
I thought that we already had. Not walking humanoids perhaps, but a small form of life that is existing in the rocks of Mars.
Or, perhaps I mis-understood.
Regards,
Jim TX
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Anti-Christ
I thought that we already had. Not walking humanoids perhaps, but a small form of life that is existing in the rocks of Mars.
I think what you are referring to is the "fossil" of bacteria they found but I think it turn out to be something else. For me the big thing was wen they confirmed that there was liquid water on the surface in the form of lakes and rivers.