Alien Discovery and Controversy in Religion - Research Paper Example

Alien Discovery and Controversy in Religion Introduction Strange events within our airspace and in other parts of the earth’s atmosphere have led to an increase in the discussion on the possibility of extraterrestrial life in space. The space exploration by different countries has pointed to the possibility of other creations with human similarity, intelligence and abilities. A number of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) have been identified accidently and purposefully and all these have increased the possibility of new life within the space. Though these discoveries have only pointed to the possibility of their existence, the fact that an alien visit may occur or human-alien encounter may be a possibility has led to panic from different quarters including religion. Movies and fictions films have continued to portray different picture of the events that may precede the invasion and how human and the aliens may relate during the process. Movies like the Independence Day and the visitors point at a negative image towards the encounter as the two forms of life may be keen to outdo each other on warfare and intelligence (Smith-Christopher 15). Apart from the war and intelligence impacts of alien strike, the impacts of such a possibility on religion has remained raw on theologizes and faithful alkies. According to the biblical teaching, man created human beings in his own likeness and no other forms of life are mention. This possibility could affect the faith of people in their religion and impact significantly to a shift especially in if the intelligence of the aliens is beyond that of human beings. In this paper, the impacts of an alien strike on religion across the globe will be examined. The paper will evaluate available theoretical discourse on the topic and how films and movies have depicted the reactions of Christians to alien invasion (Smith-Christopher 15). Impact of alien invasion on religion Within different religious groupings, the belief that a spiritual being out there is tasked with the role of ensuring our wellbeing has dominated since the history of man. The actions of religious leaders are believed to be under the command of the Supreme Being and this enable them to tell us the nature of the spirits and their impacts on life. The catholic church for, for example, has always expressed its zeal to impose monotheism in the world which is based on the trinity (Dunning 21). To achieve this, the church adopted a ruthless approach that suppressed the polytheists in Europe and the smaller kingdoms in the region. Among the Judeo-Christian, the possibility of the presence of a small but powerful homely being that has the ability to administer old trauma and transcendence among us without regard to the established religious groupings is considered vanity. According to number of Christians, the fact they believe in the presence of spirit in the universe cannot make them comfortable seeing the spirits in body form invading our planet (Smith-Christopher 15). The interpretation of scriptures has been influenced by the belief of the existence of only one form of life on earth that is believed to be a creation of a supreme being. However, an alien invasion will possibly create the need for a more accommodative biblical interpretation to accommodate their existence and impact on us. The impact of terrestrial existence on religion may not be uniform across all religions due to the presence of polytheism and monotheism. Among the polytheist, the presence of other forms of life may be accommodated within their teachings and reflects the actual imaginations within their beliefs (Smith-Christopher 15). According to a study conducted by Ted Peters of the pacific Lutheran theological seminary, an alien strike will most likely create a religious crisis despite the fact that some religions may not be affected. As opposed to other religions like the Buddhists and the Hindu religion, Christianity and other western religion will be more affected than the rest. The geocentric nature of the Christian faith however places it at more vulnerable position as compared to others like Judaism. However, the basic conception of God among the Christians has faced test over the past several years due to the development of theories which have attempted to discredit the biblical creation story like the theory of evolution (Dunning 21). According to biblical, Koranic and other sacred writings, the focus on earth and our existence here makes it a special place where Gods concern for humanity lies. The possibility of an alien attack will most possibly shake this belief as it will point towards the presence of other central places within the solar system. This will threaten the religious foundation of the main religious groups as the belief that the earth is the only special place may seem misplaced and fallacious. An analysis of the discoveries of the presence of extraterrestrial life will be helpful in preempting the likely religious reaction to an alien invasion (Dunning 21). The news of the presence of alien life in other planets including mars have existed for sometimes now since the discovery of microfossils in mars. However, despite the sensitivity of the information, no panic buttons were dialed nor did the churches, mosques and temples crumble due to these discoveries. The fact that no ballistic response has emanated from the churches since such news began to grow points to the fact that our churches and mosques may receive such information with mixed but moderate reaction. According to Gabriel Funes, the correspondent astronomy researcher at the Vatican, the Roman Catholic Church will possibly treat the aliens with humility and welcome their existence among us (Smith-Christopher 15). In the movie the visitors, an alien invasion impacts significantly on the faith of people as they come with goodies and ability to treat a number of diseases beyond human capabilities. As most Christians are healed of their life long sicknesses, their reception and relationships with the alien’s changes and they begin to engage more often. Some of the Christians abandon their faith and decide to believe in the capabilities of the aliens due to their ability to handle the different challenges that they have continued to face. At the center of this film is the Roman Catholic Church, whose priest openly embraces the aliens and even invite their leader to the Vatican to express their friendship. Based on the depiction on this fiction movie and the expression of the astronomy researcher at the Vatican, the Roman Catholic and by extension other Christian faiths may welcome the aliens and corporate with them (Cook 141). In the United States, a poll recently showed that a large population of the people believes in the presence of extraterrestrial life which makes an invasion a confirmation of something they have believed in for long. As a result, as opposed to being shaken to its core by the news of an alien invasion, religious groupings and especially Christians may possibly accept this, develop adaptive measures and biblical interpretations and move on (Dunning 21). Most religious groups conceptualize their religion based on their understanding on the world and the teachings in their religion. Despite the fact that religious groups have conceived the theories of evolution and the fact that human beings were not created but evolved, the presence of alien life and their invasion of earth may not receive similar reception. If other forms of life exist within the different cosmic formation within space and bearing in mind the deity’s revolution that has existed on earth, what religion these people subscribe to (Gromacki 31). Among the Christians, Christianity is the true faith and God sent his only son Jesus to come down and save us from our sins. The dilemma comes in when the possibility of alien life is floated as many Christian’s theologians have questioned the possibility of other faiths in the planets. Did Jesus move to all the planets with life if Christianity is the only true faith and he is the only son of God? If Islam is the only true religion in the world as believed by the Muslims, does it imply that entire creations including the aliens are destined for Jahannam? Most religious writings including the bible and Koran are believed to be the holly work of Allah through his prophets. However, these two holly books fail to mention the existence of any form of life on any other planet within the cosmos (Ladd and Borshuk 328). While the discovery of extraterrestrial life may not have had any impact on the different faiths within the world, a strike by an actual human like creation from a number planet will create a number of questions among Christians and Muslims alike. If Jesus Christ was the son of God sent to earth to cleanse us of our sins, did the same happen in the planets where there are other forms of life? Does that means that He incarnated himself and existed before other forms of life as he did on earth to save them from their sinful ways? During a presentation at the royal society in London, the questions of the impacts of these discoveries on religion arose (Cook 141). Western culture and the modern world have been blamed by the radical changes that have affected the grip of religious groups across the world though the problem may have no direct relation on the advances of civilization. According to the ancient Greece Ciccro, the youths of the country would one day precipitate the country to a downfall as they would not be willing to conform to the tradition and practices that the country and society has been custom to. This prediction has come to pass in the form of apostasy which has affected the dominance of religion in the world and led to the weakening of its grip on the society. The soul of man has stopped to be guided by the spiritual being and they have continued to be self-seekers who are not satisfied by what they have nor affected by the suffering of others (Ladd and Borshuk 328). Therefore, the Sikhs cult believes that man is an action being with the power and capabilities to overcome obstacles through meditation and freewill. However, the pursuit for shaping the future and developing a stronger being with a brighter future should not be influenced by selfish ends but the service for mankind. Sikhs therefore have a strong belief in the freewill and karma as the determinants of man’s destiny as opposed to a premeditated fate like ending As Ted Peters puts it, extraterrestrial life will lead to different religions questioning whether the creation story was replicated in other planets as it happened here on earth. In a survey to determine the impacts of extraterrestrial life discovery on the response of the different religions, Peters and his crew surveyed over 1,300 individuals belonging to the Roman Catholics, evangelical Protestants, the mainstream Protestants and the orthodox Christians. Other religious groups like the Muslims, the Mormons, Jews, Buddhists and non-religious groups were also interviewed and their take on the impact of the strike noted (Cook 141). According to this study, a large number of the participants surveyed, irrespective of their religion believed that an invasion may not in any way affect their religious belief or collapse their faith. The non-religious group however believed that the discovery of extraterrestrial intelligence will lead to the swaying of the common religious beliefs (Dunning 21). The aftermath of the strike may however have more impact on religion than just an appearance of alien life without any meaningful interaction with humans. In the event that the encounter between man and aliens is smooth and exchange of ideas and intelligence occurs, the discovery of other religious belief among them may have an impact on the common beliefs within earth (Lash). What if the alien strike leads to the introduction of a much more secular form of salvation and belief among us? The possibility of alien intelligence being more advanced than the knowledge within earth could affect the religious groupings and increase the possibility of conversion to the foreign religion. The possibility of converts can also increase in the event that the earth’s and space’s religion have a common convergence point and a reference to one Supreme Being (Ladd and Borshuk 328). Just like Christians, Jews and Muslims have their own set of distinguishing symbols; the possibility of alien religion will also come with the possibility of distinct symbols. With alien life coming with a new set of religious symbols, our theologians will wish to gain insight into these symbols and this will render those astrotheologians as a result of alien invasion. By analyzing the symbols from space, these theologians will be interested in determining any convergence between their belief and the space alien region. From this discourse presented by Peters and his crew, alien invasion may have significant impact on religion but not on the faith of Christians, Muslims, Jews and other religious groups. The nature of the impact will also be influenced by the interaction that will occur immediately after the strike and the possibility of an existing religion within space and among the aliens (Cook 142). According to research conducted by the exopolitics communities, the development of religion and capitalist must have been a creation of the aliens as a way of controlling human and turning them into useful cabals of elites. Based on this thinking, the aliens target specific strategic areas including religion and business enterprises as a way of gaining foothold on earth. According to this research, aliens will use religion and capitalism to initiate human self-destruction through extreme manipulation. The ancient gnostic disciples of Jesus believed that the creation of false gods and demons was an act of the aliens as a way of penetrating human religion and corrupting their beliefs (Yansky 37). Among the Judeo-Christian, the possibility of the presence of a small but powerful homely being that has the ability to administer old trauma and transcendence among us without regard to the established religious groupings is considered vanity. According to number of Christians, the fact they believe in the presence of spirit in the universe cannot make them comfortable seeing the spirits in body form invading our planet (Lash). The interpretation of scriptures has been influenced by the belief of the existence of only one form of life on earth that is believed to be a creation of a supreme being. However, an alien invasion will possibly create the need for a more accommodative biblical interpretation to accommodate their existence and impact on us. The impact of terrestrial existence on religion may not be uniform across all religions due to the presence of polytheism and monotheism. Among the polytheist, the presence of other forms of life may be accommodated within their teachings and reflects the actual imaginations within their beliefs (Cook 141). Conclusion Extraterrestrial life is not a new topic but extraterrestrial intelligence remains a controversial area due to the impact such a discovery may have on our beliefs and practices. As human beings, our actions have been influenced by our belief on earth as the center of the universe and the only place with any form of life. The discovery of other forms of intelligent life in other parts of the cosmos could create massive confusion that could affect different spheres of life including religion (Ladd and Borshuk 328). However, the discovery of alien life has not had any significant upset within the different religious groups and this makes it possible to conclude that the discovery of intelligence may be accepted as normal within the different religions. Work cited Cook, Rob. "Would The Discovery Of Alien Life Prove Theologically Embarrassing? A Response to Paul Davies." Evangelical Quarterly 84.2 (2012): 139-154. Ladd, Kevin and Borshuk, Catherine. "Metaphysical Chauvinism and Perceptions of Deviance in Religion, Atheism, and Alien Realms." International Journal for the Psychology of Religion 23.4 (2013): 325-337. Gromacki, Gary. "Ancient Aliens or Demonic Deception?" Journal of Ministry & Theology 16.2 (2012): 24-62. Lash, john. The gnostic theory of alien intrusion. Phenomena magazine, 2013. Retrieved from http://www.metahistory.org/. Yansky, Brian. Teachers guide for alien invasion and other consequences. Candlewick, 2010. Print. Smith-Christopher, Daniel L. Battleground Religion. Westport, CT: Greenwood, 2009. Print. Dunning, Benjamin. Aliens and Sojourners: Self as Other in Early Christianity. Philadelphia: U of Pennsylvania, 2009. Print. Read More