SETI Receives Message from ET: How would you react?

[FrumiousBandersnatch]

...To me this film pointed to the fact that some people refuse to believe in God because they find the idea of a God who knows about their inner thoughts and who judges hem accordingly unacceptable. They wish to live in a universe where they are morally accountable only to themselves.
...
Of course the film portrayed her that way to get the point across as dramatically as possible and to force the viewer to consider just why some people are so fanatically opposed to accepting a creator as a reality.

Wow, that's bizarre - do you think there really are people who are atheist because they don't want to be spied on?

 

[Radrook]

You know what? Don't you worry about it...take care now.

I'm not worried my queen.
Thanks for the feedback.

BTW
Actually, the mom's non-Christian reaction at film's end makes the film's introductory statement describing her as God fearing rather dubious.

Thanks for the film's title.
I had forgotten it.

Peace!

 

[Radrook]

Wow - do you think there really are people who are atheist because they don't want to be spied on?

Do you feel comfortable with that concept?
I personally would prefer some privacy.

 

[FrumiousBandersnatch]

Do you feel comfortable with that concept?
I personally would prefer some privacy.

Yeah, me too. Let's not believe in CCTV either

 

[Radrook]

Yeah, me too. Let's not believe in CCTV either

What's CCTV?

Ah, you mean surveillance via close circuited television?
But that doesn't delve into your innermost thoughts and scrutinize emotions.
Big difference. In any case, we are going way off topic. Perhaps it's my fault for bringing in atheism as a side subject. I will be more careful about that from now on. My apologies.

 

[Radrook]

I personally doubt that Humanity will ever encounter intelligent aliens. Given the size and age of the universe, whilst there is almost certainly intelligent life, the odds of humanity encountering, or even identifying a signal from them is very very small.

Aren't angels intelligent aliens?

 

[Radrook]

There is nothing that can happen in the physical universe that proves or disproves God's existence. This includes anything science finds or fails to find. To counter the idea he doesn't exist, one could always just suggest God is taking a vacation in another dimension, alternate universe, or alternate reality. More interestingly, of course, is can we find proof for or against the Christian God's existence. However, the conclusion is the same.

The scriptures disagree with that concept:

Romans 1:20
19For what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them. 20For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities, His eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly seen, being understood from His workmanship, so that men are without excuse.

 

[Greg J.]

The scriptures disagree with that concept:

In context, my statement refers to proof that works for people without faith. There isn't any such thing.

 

[2PhiloVoid]

Thank you, Papa!! I'm looking forward to taking a gander at that TZ episode. I don't think I've ever seen it.

 

[Radrook]

In context, my statement refers to proof that works for people without faith. There isn't any such thing.

Many Christians were once faithless and were convinced either via proof text, as the Ethiopian Eunuch was when Philip explained to him how the OT had prophesied about Jesus or else via miracles such as the resurrection of a Roman's daughter or the miracle of tongues on the day of Pentecost and based on such things acquired faith.

Still other faithless ones might acquire faith via the observation of nature and how it compellingly displays indisputable evidence of a creating mind. Some modern-day formerly-faithless scientists have been swayed by the marvelously coordinated way in which living cells function.

 

[Radrook]

I wrote a short poem once about an alien who arrived claiming that its kind too had been made in God's image and outraged religious humans attacked and killed it because it offended their religious sensibilities. It perished while screaming in agony through its parrotlike beak and flailing its tentacles wildly about like a wounded squid.

 

[Greg J.]

Many Christians were once faithless and were convinced either via proof text, as the Ethiopian Eunuch was when Philip explained to him how the OT had prophesied about Jesus or else via miracles such as the resurrection of a Roman's daughter or the miracle of tongues on the day of Pentecost and based on such things acquired faith.

Still other faithless ones might acquire faith via the observation of nature and how it compellingly displays indisputable evidence of a creating mind. Some modern-day formerly-faithless scientists have been swayed by the marvelously coordinated way in which living cells function.

These things have nothing to do with "proof."

 

[FrumiousBandersnatch]

Aren't angels intelligent aliens?

Conceptually, perhaps - it seems unlikely that they are real entities. But what would that make God?

 

[Radrook]

Conceptually, perhaps - it seems unlikely that they are real entities. But what would that make God?

Good question!
Technically, an Extraterrestrial alien is a creature or being who originates or lives in a place other than Earth.

Extraterrestrial life

,[n 1] also called alien life (or, if it is a sentient and/or relatively complex individual, an "extraterrestrial" or "alien"), is life that does not originate from Earth.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Extraterrestrial_life

So technically, God falls under that category as do the angels.
However, most people don't feel comfortable viewing neither the angels nor God in that way.

 

[Greg J.]

Technically, an Extraterrestrial alien is a creature or being who originates or lives in a place other than Earth.

I agree with this definition as "alien" is usually used. One could also say they originated in our physical universe. However, some people would see something as "alien" because it is either unlike us or unknown to us.

By the way, God didn't originate anywhere.

 

[Radrook]

I agree with this definition as "alien" is usually used. One could also say they originated in our physical universe. However, some people would see something as "alien" because it is either unlike us or unknown to us.

By the way, God didn't originate anywhere.

Actually, origin or lack of origin is irrelevant to the definition of alien.
The entity referred to as "Q" in the Star Trek New Generation TV series seems to be immortal and lack origin and he is considered an alien as well as all his other eternal seemingly almighty Q ""brothers" who dwell in what is referred to as the Continuum.

Even humans who are imagined to eventually undergo extreme biological modifications in order to be better adapted to alien environments would soon be considered aliens if those modifications made them drastically different from the common-variety of humans on Earth.

In stark contrast, it would be deemed blasphemy or disrespectful if applied to our heavenly father. In fact, even when applied to angels who share his spirit nature albeit lack his eternal one it seems inappropriate from a Christian viewpoint.

Why? Because although God is described as our heavenly father and angels are called sons of God and so are we. So we tend to view them as family, as our elder brothers. As brothers we share the faculties which God has bestowed on his children, the ability to reason, love, attain wisdom and a power over nature far above the ability of creatures which are referred to as animals.

BTW

This reminds me of a short story I read concerning a space expedition with a mission to investigate the nature of a recent supernova explosion that had bathed an orbiting planet with deadly radiation. While on that mission they discovered the remains of a non-human civilization that had been wiped out. All the evidence indicated that the aliens involved seemed to have been caught totally by surprise.

Later, they human expedition crew encountered a spacecraft of a race of aliens who were also examining the black hole remnants of the supernova and who had had escaped the devastation by moving their planet's population a safe distance away.

Strangely, this triangular-headed three-eyed narrow-lipless slit-mouthed alien race had known about the impending disaster but had not bothered to warn the other though they had been in contact for centuries during which a brisk trade was established and flourished.

When asked why they had NOT taken time or made absolutely no effort to warn the other aliens of the impeding danger, after a prolonged silence during which time they seemed utterly confused by the question, they responded in the following way:

"Why should we have warned them? They were as nothing to us!"

True, they were grotesque and bore absolutely no resemblance to humans. However, it was their complete inability to feel compassion which really separated them from being our spiritual brothers and not their appearance.

The same concept is conveyed in the film, Village of the Dammed starring Christopher Reeves. The children involved appear outwardly fully human. But as the minister in the film explained in one of his sermons to the harassed village people-the children bore the OUTWARD appearance of mankind but were not of mankind due to their cruel nature which made no room for compassion.

In contrast our heavenly brothers the angels reflect the Nature of God via an innate ability to feel and express compassion and convey all of God's admirable qualities such a loving convcern for others and the willingness to extend a brotherly helping hand as God's faithful angels do.

it is for that reason that we feel uncomfortable referring to them as either extraterrestrials or aliens since those terms, though technically accurate, carry a negative connotation which they do not deserve.

 

[AirPo]

I think it was a Twilight Zone flick I'm thinking of. They have a book they leave at the United Nations titled "To Serve Man" but it turns out to be a cookbook. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0734684/reviews

edit: http://www.sherryshriner.com/sherry/to-serve-man.htm

The Simpsons did a great spoof on it.

 

[High Fidelity]

I'd ask if he was finally able to phone home.

On a serious note, that'd be awesome

 

[FrumiousBandersnatch]

...So technically, God falls under that category as do the angels.
However, most people don't feel comfortable viewing neither the angels nor God in that way.

Philosophically, unless explicitly qualified, 'God' is taken to be the traditional or orthodox perfect tri-omni supernatural entity of major religions of the last 1,500 years (e.g. the Judeo-Christian God, from the original Platonic 'demiurge' that Augustine elaborated in the 4th century). If some other kind or type of god is being invoked, it should be carefully qualified. But it's a moot point whether it's useful or confusing to call a physically constrained entity 'God', or whether, for example, the universe as a whole can be usefully called 'God' unless it is said to have traditionally god-like attributes, or neutral monism as in Spinozism.

 

[Radrook]

Philosophically, unless explicitly qualified, 'God' is taken to be the traditional or orthodox perfect tri-omni supernatural entity of major religions of the last 1,500 years (e.g. the Judeo-Christian God, from the original Platonic 'demiurge' that Augustine elaborated in the 4th century). If some other kind or type of god is being invoked, it should be carefully qualified. But it's a moot point whether it's useful or confusing to call a physically constrained entity 'God', or whether, for example, the universe as a whole can be usefully called 'God' unless it is said to have traditionally god-like attributes, or neutral monism as in Spinozism.

Since you identify as an atheist and atheists reject all notions of gods and a God, how any deity is identified to an atheist is really totally time-wasting and pointless. If it isn't pointless, then please tell me what is 'the point?