An Alien Faith Passed On

One fear people have of alien contact is how the proof of alien existence will affect our theologies; this includes how, beyond "just" their existence, alien theologies will affect our theologies.

One thought that popped in my head the other day was what if an alien race had in their theology that they, as a people, would corrupt and lose their true religion - their church would be without leadership, without a head, and that one day a new church leader would come, one who at first did not know they were appointed to be their leader, one who was from another race, one extrasolar and thus alien to them, who would come from the stars, learn their religion and lead their church. How would that affect us?

If their mythology predicted their church would become corrupt and they would lose all knowledge of the true religion and that someone from the heavens would come to show them the right way - that would be a call to action for many, if not most, of the churches on Earth to send missionaries and possibly fight over who would lead the aliens to the light (as Earthlings see it).

But in the first scenario - a human would need to go to the alien planet, learn their religion, and lead them. Would that cause the alien religion to be adopted by some people on Earth? Would they adopt it because it essentially elevates humans as saviors? Would they adopt it because it presents the promise of power? Would they adopt is because they have become cynical of Earth religions? Would they adopt it because they would feel accepted, part of something greater that they were not able to get, for whatever reasons (good or bad or imagined), in churches here on Earth?

Brother Alien

The Vatican's Pontifical Academy of Sciences, along with the Vatican Observatory, held its very first conference on astrobiology, a week long event which concluded yesterday.

Jesuit Father Jose Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory, explained that "the questions of life's origins and of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe are very interesting and deserve serious consideration. These questions offer many philosophical and theological implications."

Father Funes reiterated what he has stated in the past - that the Catholic church has no problem with the idea of extraterrestrial life. The Church can not put a limit to God's creativity. All creation falls under God, and any intelligent extra-terrestrial life, no matter how diverse, would be brothers and sisters in God's expanded family of spirit children.

However, Paul Davies, Arizona State University cosmologist, believes that discovery of intelligent extraterrestrials would create a philosophical dilemma for Christians since "they believe that God became incarnate in the form of Jesus Christ in order to save humankind, not dolphins or chimpanzees or little green men on other planets."

While some fundamentalist sects may have a problem, Father Funes believes that there is no theological crisis here. In an interview with the Catholic News Service in May 2008, he states that aliens may not need redemption as maybe they never lost God's fellowship. Father Funes pointed to the parable of the lost sheep: "We who belong to the human race could really be that lost sheep, the sinners who need a pastor." Thus, that is why God became man in Jesus on this planet - it was we who needed saving the most.

Alternatively, if the aliens also need saving, Father Funes states feels that Jesus' sacrifice would apply not only to humans, but to all intelligent beings in the universe.  I am reminded of the gospel passage where Jesus tells his disciples that "other sheep have I" - maybe that includes aliens on extrasolar planets. Jesus picked Earth as the starting point. Either way, Jesus was God incarnate and sacrificed only once.

The Catholic Church is not the only Christian sect that accepts the concept of aliens. For instance in the LDS Church accepts the idea of extraterrestrials, though they feel they will be humanoid because all intelligent advanced life will be created in God's image, as were we. Unofficially some Mormons talk about how Jesus after his resurrection went to teach "other sheep" which includes aliens, and how this proves that the Earth is the worst of all the planets - we are the only ones to crucify Jesus.

Of course, when we say "in God's image" do we really know what He meant by that? Could it be a spiritual image and not necessarily a physical one?

References:

Butt, Riazat. "Vatican Ponders Extraterrestrials." The Guardian. Guardian News and Media Limited. 11 November 2009. Web. 11 November 2009. <http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/nov/11/vatican-extra-terrestrials-catholic>

Maxwell, Neal A. A Wonderful Flood of Light. Bookcraft Pubs, 1990: 25.

Thavis, John. "Vatican astronomer says if aliens exist, they may not need redemption." Catholic News Service. Catholic News Service. 14 May 2008. Web. 11 November 2009. <http://www.catholicnews.com/data/stories/cns/0802629.htm>


Image credit: Futurama, 20th Century Fox Television. 

Anthropocentric Religion

"Regis" © DigitalBlasphemy.com

In discussing speculations on alien religion, one thing needs to be kept in mind: while looking to our own planet for some insight is a good place to start (after all, here are examples of what can exist), we need to beware of the temptation to slide into anthropocentricity.

I came across today an old entry on the Speculist entitled "Alien Religion." His article brought up some good food for thought, and I will definitely try to track down a copy of Intelligent Life in the Universe? Catholic Belief and the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligent Life, by the Jesuit Astronomer Brother Guy Consolmagno. However, there is a passage that I must respectfully disagree with:

From reading their history, we will discover that they count certain religious leaders among the most influential members of their species and contributors to their civilization. Religion itself will have had a long and spotty history: nurturing the loftiest of ideals in one place and time and sanctioning atrocities in another. One day a tool of oppression plied by tyrants and scoundrels, the next day a tool of liberation used to smash the oppressors' chains. Here the friend of learning, there it's enemy.
In other words, meeting aliens will teach us exactly nothing about religion or about ourselves; nothing, that is, that we shouldn't already know.

He claims that "mono-cultural alien races" don't exist. It is true that humans are not mono-cultural. However, while mono-cultures may be rare in the universe, I doubt they are impossible. For instance, an alien sentient race that operates in a hive social structure will probably be essentially mono-culture. There may be some slight difference due to geographical variations on their planet, but overall, what the would essentially have is a mono-culture. Just because we do not see something existing on our planet does not mean that it can not exist on other worlds - "There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, Than are dreamt of in your philosophy" (Hamlet Act 1, scene 5, 159–167).

Take, for another example, a long lived race who has, over the long millennia, somehow managed to have only one religion left standing - yes, it would probably be an extraordinary long process, but once it has been achieved, and all children brought up in it, and in a world that knows of no other religion (all references to past ones long erased), it would essentially be a mono-culture. It may not last as one, but for a while it would be a mono-culture. And yes, some may outwardly act as if they believed, while inwardly be agnostic or even atheistic, that happens quite a bit on our own planet, but essentially, in practical purposes, they would be a mono-culture.

We must keep in mind that while there probably is a universal biology, it will still allow for a great diversity of biologies and there may be creatures out there that have no inherent need for religion (as blasphemous as that may sound to our own ears). They may not understand our need for it - and it does seem we have a need for it.

Think about our own little silly superstitions - those actions taken before a game, or before watching your favorite team, or before going on stage, or before going on a date, and so forth. While these actions are not the religious rituals of an organized religion, they are still religious acts - rituals to appease "something" so that we will be blessed in some way. Even some atheists will admit to missing the rituals of church. We humans, generally speaking, love ritual. And this love for ritual is connected, to a degree, to our need for religion.

Is this love for ritual, or is this greater need for religion an inescapable result of developing abstract thought, of developing high order sentience, of being pattern seekers? Is it the inevitable result of sentient beings being able to detect, to see, and to create abstract patterns? Is it the ineluctable result of sentient beings being able to ponder abstract questions?

If the answer is yes, then all sentient aliens will have, at least at some point in their histories, an inherent desire and need for religion.

If the answer is no, then there will be sentient aliens who will not understand the need for religion.

However, even this is too simple. If the answer is yes to the above question, it is still anthropocentric to assume that their religious history will reflect the "long and spotty" religious history of Earthlings (a short history compared to some aliens). Aliens will be part of the grand biological diversity in the universe. And they will be at the mercy (at least at first) of the randomness that is inherent in the evolutionary process. They will also have originated on planets with a wide range of diverse environmental conditions. And so, they may have different emotional characteristics and needs (which will definitely affect how they interpret and apply religion), including a possible lack (at least by our standards) of emotions. That doesn't necessarily mean they will all be Spock like in logic, just that they may seem emotionally limited.

I said "at least at first" above as it is not inconceivable that some, or many, alien races could at some point take over control of their own evolutionary process. Depending upon a number of social, political, and biological factors, if an alien race who is at this point technologically is being ruled by a dictator, it is possible that some dictators in that position would take advantage of the technology to create a people who will be controlled by the few ruling elite - and thus essentially a mono-culture. Yes, so far no dictator on Earth has been able to take over the entire planet, but that does not automatically mean it is impossible here or on other worlds. As we have so far thankfully seen on Earth, dictators do have a hard time keeping their power - thus it would seem logical that if a dictator had access to biological technology that could alter his people to make them easier to control, that he would be very tempted to use it.

It is also a form of anthropocentric thinking to judge an alien's history by our short history - theirs may be millions of years longer, even a billion years longer. Much can happen in that time i the way of physical, mental, emotional, and cultural evolution. Their religious history may only be spotty in the beginning (the first few dozen millennia, for example), and settle down as the aliens evolve. At some point their cultures could become unified. Just because it hasn't happened in our short history does not automatically mean it can not happen in an alien race's history, especially one with a much longer history and thus more chances for it to finally develop a mono-culture (not saying that a mono-culture is necessarily a good thing, mind you).

Finally, technological advances on our own planet have begun to make the planet a truly smaller place. There is much talk about the Earth being "Flat" (connected) of late (see the book The World is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman), where global communication and business can occur almost instantaneously - we are becoming increasingly connected at an accelerating rate, and, in some ways, more and more like a hive, or, for the more pessimistic, like the Borg.

Ah, the Borg - there is a model to be considered. Is it impossible for a sentient race to go down that path, whether intentionally (good or bad intentions) or by accident or by force? Such a society would very well be a mono-culture.

I will close by revisiting Mr. Bowermaster's words above: "In other words, meeting aliens will teach us exactly nothing about religion or about ourselves; nothing, that is, that we shouldn't already know." I disagree. Going to other planets. like Venus and Mars, to study their weather patterns, for instance, teaches us about our own weather. It is not so much the similarities that teach us, but the differences. And the more another system is like our own, the more any differences will help us learn how our system works. Weather is a complex system. I think this applies to complex theological systems as well. If there are many similarities with alien religions, with all having long and spotty records, there will still be differences, and those differences can be very telling, very instructive. Sometimes it is the smallest of variances that can give great results.

I think that the probability is high that meeting aliens will teach us something about ourselves, including religion.

Reference:

Bowermaster, Phil. "Alien Religion." The Speculist. 2 December 2005. 6 February 2008. <http://www.blog.speculist.com/archives/000530.html>

Clash of faiths

One question that needs to be addressed is if (or when) we contact an alien race, what would that mean to the Earth, theologically speaking?

Some Earth religions do not have a problem, or much of one, with the concept of the existence of alien sentient beings. Some feel that Jesus has visited them as well, others think that the lost tribe of Israel is on some other planet. Others mention creatures on other planets, but it is not clear if by creatures they mean intelligent creatures. Maybe the universe is teeming with life, but only Earth has high order sentient life.

And so I return to the opening question: if we contact an alien race, how will that affect us, theologically speaking? I feel there would be several possible responses, in three categories especially once we discover they have their own religion: A.it isn't anything like ours on Earth, B. at least one of their religions somehow resembles one of Earth's, C. they are all atheist.

A. Alien religions not like anything on Earth.

• Some humans would not be able to accept that fact - some because of the challenge that represents to their own faith view, and some because they cannot accept the existence of aliens for any reason - and would claim a conspiracy by atheists of faking contact with an alien race in order to destroy all religion.
• Some would want to convert the aliens to the One True Faith. However, there would be arguments between the various faiths on Earth, as each would deny the other the opportunity to convert the aliens. Prophets would suddenly appear, each claiming that God has chosen them to lead the way to the conversion of God's "other sheep."
  
• Some would state that freedom of religious expression should not only be for humans, but for all sentient beings and thus every religion has a right to proselytize to the aliens
• Some would claim the aliens as Satan or his followers, coming to deceive us.
• Some atheists would claim this as evidence that religion is arbitrary while some agnostics as well as some religious would claim this as evidence that there are more than one path to heaven, and others that this shows the universal importance of religion.
  
• Some would study the alien religion(s) and try to interpret them as being mentioned in the Bible or other scriptures (beyond the "and other sheep have I" Biblical passage), or that echoes of this or that Earth religion are to be found in the alien religion(s), thus minimizing to some degree the "otherness" of the alien religions - making them more of apostate or misinterpretations of the true religions on Earth.
  
• Some religions wouldn't care - they don't actively proselytize.
• Of course some people would leave their churches and embrace the alien religions, as many people are dissatisfied with religion - many go to church but are essentially agnostic or atheist in their hearts since they do not really follow their faith, and/or have major problems with it, but go out of habit or because there is nothing better or because of social pressure. Those looking for a church and have become disillusioned in their search may be drawn to this new religion, even if the aliens do not actively proselytize. And others would do so just to be rebellious, or to get attention, which may be the largest group, at least at first, since a religion that is totally alien would be difficult for many to accept (at least at first). Once people start joining it, and of course start "humanizing it," others would join as well.
  
• Humans embracing the alien religion would cause some (or many) churches to attack or deny the alien religions, or fight to restrict knowledge of them. Some would go as far as work to pass laws making joining alien religions illegal on Earth. Others would work harder to force people (humans) to be religious (to a particular religion, or a group of religions) by passing more and more religious dogma into secular laws.
• Although many people, while at first being fascinated, even if just mildly or momentarily, by the alien religions, wouldn't care or be bothered by them much after that - especially for religions that just didn't make any sense from an Earth perspective because of the totally alien environment that the alien religion came out of. Some of them would belong to the "don't bother me, I won't bother you" camp of thought.
• However, there will be those that will seize upon this as an opportunity to stir people up in order to control or direct them and gain power in the process. Many would be world leaders and tyrants have used this concept - take some "other" and demonize them, using them as scapegoats. With this, they are often able to conquer and gain power - at least for a time. If one after another tyrant and dictator or would-be tyrants have used this against "other" humans successfully to gain control over the people of a nation or region, then how much more successful could they be using a true "other" to gain control over people.

B. At least one of their religions somehow resembles one of Earth's.

• Some of those in the Earth religion that the alien religion resembles in some way would claim that as evidence that their Earth religion was The One True Faith.
  
• However, like in A above, some humans would not be able to accept that fact, especially if their religion was not the religion that the alien's resembled in some way as it would seem, by some, as to be evidence against them. And as above, some may even claim a conspiracy by those on Earth that are against their faith of faking contact with an alien race in order to destroy their religion.
• Some would want to convert the aliens to the fullness of the One True Faith - looking upon the alien religion as a corruption, or an apostatized, or an immature, or a misinterpreted version of the correct Earth version.
  
• Some would say the resemblances are accidental, or overblown, and of no concern.
  
• However, some would claim the aliens as Satan or his followers, coming to deceive us by presenting a corrupted version of an Earth religion to confuse us, or to better draw us to this false alien religion - and maybe the aliens are lying and made up the resemblance to trick us, to put us off guard.
  
• As above, some atheists would still claim this as evidence that religion is arbitrary, though it would be harder for them to convincingly argue that when an alien race has a religion resembling in some ways an Earth religion. They would have to argue for coincidence (which is statistically possible, though doubtful it would be probable). It would also be more difficult for some agnostics as well as some religious would claim this as evidence that there are more than one path to heaven, especially if the alien religion would be resembling just one path.
  
• Also, as above, some would study the alien religion(s) and try to interpret them as being mentioned in the Bible or other scriptures (beyond the "and other sheep have I" Biblical passage), or others would study the alien religions, fascinated by what comparisons there are. Some would even be trying to show how the alien scriptures mention Earth. For some, this would show all sentient species are truly "brothers" and "sisters" in a spiritual sense, as there would seem to be some common ground between ours and the alien's religion.
• Others would explain the differences as divinely inspired - adapted to the alien's non-human needs and abilities and their own particular spiritual challenges, and thus we should not be frightened or feel challenged by their religion - it's not for humans, only for the aliens.
  
• Of course some people would leave their churches and embrace the alien religions, as many people are dissatisfied with religion - many go to church but are essentially agnostic or atheist in their hearts since they do not really follow their faith, and/or have major problems with it, but go out of habit or because there is nothing better or because of social pressure. Those looking for a church and have become disillusioned in their search may be drawn to this new religion, some because it does resemble in some ways an Earth religion, and may come to feel it was the Earth's religions that had apostatized, and that the alien one was the pure one even if the aliens do not actively proselytize (though it is most likely that the Earth branch of the church would change as it would have to face pragmatic reality and adapt to humans - some aspects of the alien ritual may just not be doable by humans, for instance). Others would welcome the chance to try out another religion in their continuing search. And others would do so just to be rebellious, or to get attention.
  
• Possibly even more so than in category A, humans embracing the alien religion would cause some (or many) churches to attack or deny the alien religions, or fight to restrict knowledge of them. And as above, some would go as far as work to pass laws making joining alien religions illegal on Earth. Others would work harder to force people (humans) to be religious (to a particular religion, or a group of religions) by passing more and more religious dogma into secular laws.
  
• Though many people, while at first being fascinated, even if just mildly or momentarily, by the alien religions, wouldn't care or be bothered by them much after that. Even some of those at first scared would calm down with time, especially if the aliens didn't proselytize.
  
• However, as with category A, there will be those that will seize upon this as an opportunity to stir people up in order to control or direct them and gain power in the process. Many would be world leaders and tyrants have used this concept - take some "other" and demonize them, using them as scapegoats. With this, they are often able to conquer and gain power - at least for a time. If one after another tyrant and dictator or would-be tyrants have used this against "other" humans successfully to gain control over the people of a nation or region, then how much more successful could they be using a true "other" to gain control over people.

C. The aliens are atheists.

• Many humans would not be able to accept that fact - because of the challenge that represents to all human faiths - some, especially those wanting to deny aliens exist in the first place, would certainly claim a conspiracy by atheists of faking contact with an alien race in order to destroy all religion.
• Some would definitely want to convert the lost aliens to religion. Though which one? As with both categories above, there would be arguments between the various faiths on Earth, as each would deny the other the opportunity to convert the aliens. Prophets would suddenly appear, each claiming that God has chosen them to lead the way to the conversion of God's "other sheep."
  
• Some would state that freedom of religious expression should not only be for humans, but for all sentient beings and thus every religion has a right to proselytize to the aliens. Others would say "to each their own" and make it illegal for humans to proselytize to the aliens, especially if the aliens find it offensive. At first this would be easy as governments would control communication with the aliens. But as contact increased, and more readily achieved by the public, this would become a concern. However, the aliens being atheists would be less of a scary threat than category B - their religion having some resemblance to an Earth religion.
  
• Some would claim the aliens are deceived by Satan who is trying to deceive us through the spiritual ignorance of the aliens.
  
• Some atheists would claim this as evidence that religion is not only arbitrary, but false, and non-universal.
  
• Some religions wouldn't care - they don't actively proselytize.
• Of course some people would leave their churches and embrace the alien religions, as many people are dissatisfied with religion - many go to church but are essentially agnostic or atheist in their hearts since they do not really follow their faith, and/or have major problems with it, but go out of habit or because there is nothing better or because of social pressure. Some of these would see the atheist aliens as a sign or as evidence to leave religion and become atheists themselves even if the aliens do not actively proselytize. Though I doubt it would be a majority as humans seem to have evolved a need, on average, to have some kind of spirituality. And, of course, some would do so just to be rebellious, or to get attention.
  
• Some would work harder to force people (humans) to be religious (to a particular religion, or a group of religions) by passing more and more religious dogma into secular laws.
• Again, there will be those that will seize upon this as an opportunity to stir people up in order to control or direct them and gain power in the process. Many would be world leaders and tyrants have used this concept - take some "other" and demonize them, using them as scapegoats. With this, they are often able to conquer and gain power - at least for a time. If one after another tyrant and dictator or would-be tyrants have used this against "other" humans successfully to gain control over the people of a nation or region, then how much more successful could they be using a true "other" to gain control over people.

One result, though, could be that some churches may work harder to be more relevant to their members, or to address more actively their disillusionments.

The above is by no means an exhaustive listing. This topic will be revisited from time to time, and expanded upon.