If you're gonna quote statistics, then I'll quote (or nearly) Douglas Adams:

The universe
Area - Infinite
Population - None. It is widely known that there are an infinite number of worlds, but that not every one of them is inhabited, therfore there must be a finite number of inhabited worlds. Any number devided by infinity is as close to 0 as makes no odds, and if every planet in the universe has a population of zero, the population of the universe must equal zero. This means that any people you do happen to meet are merely the products of a deranged imagination...

Did this poster say belief in God was ludicrous in a different thread cause I dont see anything like that here....As Sazerac said dont stir up old dog poop ;)

Is there life out there.............i hope so i think it would be good to make contact with another civilization to see how similar they are to ourselves...in things such as looks ldeologies morals and so on......

i feel that any person who says there can't be life out there because god didn't put it in the bible or whatever needs to remember that it was man who wrote the bible not god.

i also feel that if beliving in extra terrestrials is so ridiculous then so is beliving in god....a being who created the world in six days???????...........i mean give me a break.

i love fantasy books i love tolkien and so on and thats what i feel the bible is a great set of stories in fact lets face it its an epic....tolkien could never have writen somthing with such scope. unfortunatly people have taken it a bit too seriously.. i don't feel the need to belive in a god be it christian or moslem etc....i find that these religious books are fantastic stories....also set out good lesons on how to live your life...if you want to....i feel that when i die there will be nothing and when you think about it why is that scarey?...i mean you are not going to know any diff anyway are you?

To look at Oblivion's very first question, are religious topics not taboo? Well, as far as I understand the stance of the moderators here at IW, no. They're not taboo. They're just liable to be highly provocative, whereupon we're asked to engage in discussions of this nature with a good measure of maturity and restraint. Mutual appreciation would probably be a bit too much to expect of us for now...

As for the question whether there's intelligent life on other planets in other solar systems and galaxies, I'd say the sheer statistics alone make it the height of presumptiousness on our part to think we're the only species that can write poetry and invent things like computers. Why can't there be other species that can do the same or even better? If science cannot prove the existence of such species, at the same time neither can it disprove it.

Coming to whether the existence of such species would constitute a challenge to our religious beliefs, my answer would be that it depends on what your religious beliefs are. My religious beliefs are fully open to the possibility of intelligent alien life, but I am opting to remain silent about my beliefs as I have no wish to provoke anyone. :rolleyes:

BTW, it will be interesting to explore the question what sort of religious beliefs intelligent aliens will have. Any ideas? ;)

LOL, Skywalker! :D

[ 07-23-2002, 08:53 PM: Message edited by: K T Ong ]

Well Elric, I believe God made the earth in six days. Day meaning "period of time". That could mean anything from a fraction of a second to a million years. With that cleared up, how is it so hard to believe? Do you really think we are the highest force at work on the earth?
I too love Tolkien's writing. But he doesn't compare to the bible because the Bible is the truth... The One Truth!

Pastor Al

[ 07-23-2002, 08:53 PM: Message edited by: Evil Al ]

Al, the Bible is not absolute truth. Not every religion believes in the whole Chrstian Bible, and in fact only about 30% of the world population does according to what I've seen. It's allegedly second-hand, so mistranslations and interpretations are open, plus you can't possibly believe that ALL those monks had perfect handwriting or sight, can you? Plus, why is anyone comparing Tolkien and the Bible? They're two completely different genres, fantasy and general fiction.

Yes I truly beileve that the Bible is one hundred per cent true. I don't expect everyone to believe in it. All I expect is people to listen and not heckle.
I don't believe its second hand at all. My aunt who's a Methodist minister has learned the languages of the original texts and read them. In traslation they mean the same thing as the NIV (new international version).
But as I have said to Elric, i will not preach to you anymore and just pray for your salvation.

Pastor Al.

Generally, when people disagree with something they don't just sit there and shut up, they usually say something.
Now, the original texts. Those would be the original ones straight from God's hands and hot out of the oven, right?
But what if I don't want your prayers of salvation? Wait, if I don't believe in something, how could any effort to get that power to contact me do anything?

I will pray to Allah for your salvation you heathen christian. I know you live a good life but you dont believe in Allah and you will burn in hell. Its just the way the cookie crumbles.

Sephy - what's that anti-flag thingy sig you have there? You think that is a good idea? You might offend some people with it I am thinking.