*snicker*
Now that I have your attention, let me continue in a slightly more serious vein and offer you some evidence for the statement above.
What sparked this was the song, “Be Still” by the band Storyside :B. Follow the link, listen to the Youtube and then come back here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q5PgheXxLqQ&feature=related
The chorus reiterates over and over that “we are not alone”.
*ninety degree turn*
World-class astronomer, space popularizer and the author of the book that became the hit movie, CONTACT, believed in his heart of heart and “…spent [his life] trying to establish links between strange phenomena and the existence of life in outer space…Carl Sagan theorized that alien life such as bacteria exist not only in our planet but throughout the universe. He also insisted that it is impossible that no other intelligent life exists in the universe other than on Earth.” http://www.buzzle.com/articles/aliens-are-there-aliens.html (I note that this statement is not a direct quote as I could not find out when or where it originated. Many websites repeat this statement.) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carl_Sagan. Based on some 138 quotes attributed to Carl Sagan’s writings (http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/10538.Carl_Sagan), I think it is safe to say that he was a materialist. Materialism is a position that believes that all things that are real have a material or physical substance. It discounts any metaphysical reality. www.postmodernpsychology.com/Postmodernism_Dictionary.html
Yet Sagan – and all the other materialist science fiction readers and writers have no evidence whatsoever that life exists off of Earth. Yet they do not hesitate to say that they “believe” that there is such life. I submit that based on their previous track record of non-belief in the unseeable and an inability to accept anything that does not have physical substance, that scientific materialists are intellectually, culturally, and spiritually UNPREPARED to believe in alien life and will be poor choices for First Contact.
Christians on the other hand, have plenty of experience with the belief that we are NOT alone in the universe. Hebrews 12:1 states: “Therefore, since we have so great a cloud of witnesses surrounding us…”
Romans 8:38 also intimates the Christian belief that we are not alone in the universe: “For I am convinced that neither…angels, nor principalities…nor powers…will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord."
Christians – and others of deep faith – KNOW that they are not alone in the universe. We have contemplated it, believed it, lived it, prayed it and for us, “others out there” is a matter not only of faith, but of incontrovertible, EVERY DAY fact.
Materialist scientists can only IMAGINE really, really hard that there is intelligent life in the universe and hope that it’s possible that their imagination is factual.
Who would you rather have talking to the Klingons the first time – someone who has always known that that they were not alone and spoken regularly and intelligently with those Others. Or would you like someone who just found out that their imagination wasn’t anywhere near weird enough and are now tongue-tied or babbling incoherently as the Other is suddenly standing in front of them?
4 comments:
An interesting statement, that I don't believe for a second. . . I cannot dispute that Christians should be better for a possible 'first contact' due to a constant, holistic belief in the unseen.
However.
Having seen the Christian religion as a whole fail to react with anything but fear and panic to the fact that the Earth revolves around the Sun, genetics having a role in the likelyhood of being a religious person, or the entire idea of cloning,
I think the simple fact that Christians have been told their entire life that this or that particular - possibly flawed! - interpretation of a bible passage is TRUTH (with all capitals, of course) they feel like their entire being is under attack when something unexpected crops up. People will look at Genesis and hysterically decide that the aliens can only be horrors, demons, or abominations against the works of God.
I think I would pick the skeptic, who will believe the alien when he sees them, and approach the circumstance with an open mind.
I'm glad you have such high expectations of myself, Connie Willis, Michael Flynn, John C. Wright, C.S. Lewis...all of whom are included in your "whole"...;-) at one time, I think you would have included yourself. As well, your simple fact is just a tad on the "narrow view" side -- within the billion Christians world-wide (NOT just American Christians, by the way. There are Christians elsewhere on Earth -- to quote a very, very old movie and take the comment slightly out of context: "Only human arrogance would assume the message must be meant for man (or that aliens would contact Americans first) Your experience with Christians might not be as wide as the experience of others. There will be some ready for first contact -- and we SHOULD be.
BTW -- American skeptics kept Alfred Wegener's plate tectonic theories at bay for 40 years because he was a German. No other reason. Skeptics can be just as close-minded as Christians...IMHO.
Fair enough. My frustration towards the Christian religion, not Christians themselves, is spilling over into my opinion. I meant no offense to you or those you admire, I apologize. I still grudgingly include myself, but with the ideal, not the religion.
It is the slow, ponderous religion side of it, that seems so intolerant of all other views, that scares me so. When we sailed across the ocean and thrust a flag into the sand, our Christian viewpoint did not help those we saw as different from ourselves. I worry that this same mentality is still wrapped up in the same legalistic side of Christianity that is still SO present in the terrified masses who are so pro-war and anti-gay that they nearly satire themselves.
I've no doubt that some Christians would be fantastic picks for a contact, and I've no doubt that MANY scientists would be terrible choices. . . It's just that from my personal, self-centered, white American viewpoint I have more faith for a situation like this in the average skeptic than the average Christian.
I hope that was more clear, and you would have heard a great deal of amused annoyance and not spite in my voice had this been in person.
It IS more clear. I understand -- and I'm glad to still find us on the same side, albeit in slightly different places.
Just so you know, if you'd have heard me words in real time, you'd have heard more gentle chiding than reproof. Sometimes plain English is SO hard to communicate in!
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