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The biggest problem I have with religion is dogmatic teachings that tell you what you can and cannot believe.
Beliefs that limit our capacity to explore and reason are unscientific. Galileo was persecuted and charged with heresy for a theory that turned out to be true. If a belief contradicts a scientific fact the fact is true and the belief is wrong. You can believe whatever you want to believe but rejecting a fact is called being in denial.
I had a conversation with a fundamentalist Christian once who argued that there cannot be intelligent life on other planets, intelligence equal to or surpassing human beings, because our intelligence is the defining attribute that God gave to the creation he chose to make in his own image. Our ability to reason and compehend is the essence of our soul. He said that if there was intelligent life on other planets they would be mentioned in the Bible. I told him how ironic it was that intelligence is our most important feature yet some religions teach us not to propose theories that challenge conventional beliefs. They teach us not to think and reason for ourselves.
The fact is that we don't yet know whether there is intelligent life on other planets or not. The only way to know for sure is to intevestigate every planet and moon in the Universe. Obviously we don't have the technology for that and may never have it. But it is perfectly reasonable to be open to the possibility. Our sun is an average sized star with one planet we know for a fact harbors an intelligent life form. There are around 100 billion stars in our galaxy alone. There are billions more galaxies in the known universe. That means there are trillions of stars out there with trillions of planets that possibly harbor life, even intelligent life.
The possibilities range from our planet being the lone planet with observable life (fossilized remains of bacteria have been discovered on Mars) to planets with civilizations more advanced than our own. There may be planets similar to Earth thriving with life no more advanced than the plants and animals on this planet with potential natural resources that humans will one day try to colonize. There may be planets with aliens so advanced their technology matches what we've only come to imagine in TV shows and movies.
We do not yet have the technology to travel into deep space so we cannot visit other solar systems. We haven't even placed a man on Mars. It's possible that our species will become extinct before we ever invent the technology to travel into deep space. War, natural distaster, an incurable disease they could all end the human hope for discovering other planets. Perhaps an alien society that has mastered space travel may be the ones to discover us and an invasion by them is how our world ends (think Independence Day).
What would the theologians so sure that intelligent extraterrestial life doesn't exist think then?
If we're lucky and do encounter an advanced alien civilization perhaps they will trade with us.
We don't know what the future has in store for us. Human civilization may very well look like Star Trek centuries from now or we may not be much more technologically advanced as we are today and still wondering about other worlds among the stars. It's important to keep an open-mind. Being open about the possibility of life on other planets is not nearly as extreme as the belief that we've already made contact and the government is trying to keep it a secret. A closed mind is an imprisoned mind.
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The best fighter is someone who can adapt on any style. He kicks too good for a Boxer, throws too good for a Karate man, and punches too good for a Judo man. - Bruce Lee
Sig/Av Record: 9 - 0
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