Religious reconcile in the face of Proxima B

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thomaswardell's picture
Religious reconcile in the face of Proxima B

I'm new to the forums, and am so happy to have finally found a community of like minded individuals, through living with a family that is strictly religious.

This may not strictly be relevant for this community, but besides asking someone like Neil deGrasse Tyson or alike, I don't know who to ask for an opinion.

With the release of information about planets such as Proxima B, in our own cosmic backyard, how do we feel that the religious would reconcile their beliefs and holy scriptures with discovery of life on other planets, in other star systems?

I see so many religious people having unshakeable beliefs, and I would be interested to see them attempt to reconcile their beliefs with these discoveries.

Many thanks in advance.

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Nyarlathotep's picture
Yeah it is hard to keep

Yeah it is hard to keep claiming how unique the earth is, when there is a habitable planet, right next door.

algebe's picture
Well judging from past

Well judging from past experience, the religions will start out denying the new discovery, as in the case of evolution, because it contradicts their holy books. When the new knowledge becomes undeniable, they'll start doing all kinds of theological gymnastics to fit the new science into their world view. Finally they'll re-interpret obscure passages in their holy books to show that their prophets predicted the discovery, and that it was part of god's plan all along.

As we learn more about the number of stars and planets out there, it seems less and less likely that we are the only intelligent life. However, the other side of that coin is that the universe is deep in time as well as space, and the odds are against another intelligent species existing in our neighborhood contemporaneously with us. Intelligent species may be short-lived, especially if they have religions. But let's hope. We live in exciting times.

mykcob4's picture
Welcome!

Welcome!
Oh, the theist will reconcile (we call it apologize or justify).
But there are people here with such great knowledge (the atheist) that they can easily converse with you on cosmic matters. Cyberlin, Nayth..., are two that come to mind.

ThePragmatic's picture
Welcome to the forum.

Welcome to the forum.

I don't think moderate believers would be bothered much by it, they would just assume that it's more of "god's handy work".

The Christian jihadists on the other hand... I think it would be one more reason for division among them.

One group will try to deny, undermine, blame the devil, etc.

The other group, will just move the goalpost again. They have done so many times before. They will even turn it around to try to use it to prove the existence of their god.

Deforres's picture
No offence, John, but

No offence, John, but assumptions aren't worth much. Neither of those passages EXPLICITLY mentions life on other worlds(aside from angles, and I count those as mythological creatures).

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