Vatican Says Alien Life Plausible

An anonymous reader writes "According to BBC, the director of the Vatican Observatory stated in an article titled 'Aliens Are My Brother' that intelligent beings created by God could exist in outer space. 'The search for forms of extraterrestrial life does not contradict belief in God. — Just as there are multiple forms of life on earth, so there could exist intelligent beings in outer space created by God.' Mind that this is not the same director who said that evolution is more than a mere theory — that was Father Coyne. I myself agree. There might be intelligent beings created by God in outer space even if there are none here on earth."

Finaly!

[n1_111 (597775)]

And who is this God they are referring to ?

Re:Finaly!

[Forge (2456)]

There are two main theories groups that attempt to explain the creation of the Universe and the origin of life and humanity.

Group 1. Big Bang & Evolution. Essentially this version says, it all just happened, mostly by accident but with the amount of time and mass involved it was inevitable.

Group 2. Created by God (or gods). Essentially this version says it all originated from the imagination of a being with virtually unlimited intelligence and power.

You know what I find cool? That under both scenarios it's almost inevitable that we will encounter other intelligent life, somewhere out there.

Why? Because accidents tend to repeat when the conditions allowing them are also repeated. Sul isn't that uncommon a sun type so why shouldn't other Yellow dwarfs have wet rocky planets? And why shouldn't some of those mud-balls have critters on them ? Even intelligent critters?

As for the creation version. That makes it even more likely that the universe would be swarming with intelligent life. Religious people believe the Earth is teeming with life because God enjoys playing with DNA. So why wouldn't he just go wild when working with whole galaxies rather than just a single planet?

Re:Finaly!

[Cajun Hell (725246)]

There are two main theories groups that attempt to explain the creation of the Universe and the origin of life and humanity.

Group 1. Big Bang & Evolution. Essentially this version says, it all just happened, mostly by accident but with the amount of time and mass involved it was inevitable.

Bzzt, wrong. Group 1 knows the origin of humanity, but doesn't make any strong statements about the origin of life in general, or the origin of the universe. Group 1 merely says that Evolution and the Big Bang obviously happened. Group 1 also says they don't know what happened before that. They can't make any statements about origins, because there isn't any information to work with.

They keep making speculations about origins (particularly with life, since even though it's hard, it's a lot easier than the universe) but there's no consensus or unity. When scientists talk about origins, they're not a "group" at all, except that they're all saying, "Oh yeah? Show me why you think that" to the one who just advanced the speculation.

Re:Finaly!

[geekoid (135745)]

DOn't confuse evolution with the creation of the universe. two different things.
Evolution has FACTS, falsifiable test, and makes predictions.
Evolution is a fact, it's been proven. There is not scientific argument against it, only people saying it isn't so and lying about it, and refusing to look at any recent evidence.

The creation of the universe is another matter; however they go bacl very close to befor the first second with some very good science. What caused the big bang? Don't know.

neither of these prove or disprove the existence of God, only that the current Biblical interpretation probably isn't literal. Something almost every theologeon will tell you, btw.

If you look at the hebrew, the word interpreted to 'Day' didn't not mean a 24 hours day.
So even in the oldest context, Evolution fits fine with the Bible.
Considering the science is very good, and there are mountains of fact it is obvious that 6 days is not literal as we know a day.

Yes, the origins of life on the planets is pretty well known. Primordial soup and all that.

Re:Finaly!

[cheater512 (783349)]

Group 1 doesnt say its inevitable that we'll meed other intelligent life.
It says that there probably will be other intelligent life.

The chance of us meeting them is next to nothing.
Space is *big*.

Mythbusters

[qoncept (599709)]

I'm waiting for an answer from a legitimate authority.

Re:Mythbusters

[DanWS6 (1248650)]

How exactly would they attempt this? Adam would run around trying to kill Christians to see if God intervenes meanwhile Jaime would try to build a holy communication device to call God then at the end of the show they'd claim the myth is busted?

Re:Mythbusters

[c6gunner (950153)]

Not religious myself, but if you'd have a clue about catholicism you'd know that they argue that god's children are free beings, living to choose and work out their destiny.

They also argue that if you pray for something really really hard, the invisible man in the sky might make it happen. So which is it? Is prayer useless because god never interferes? Or is god an egomaniacal prick, who'll let thousands of people die for no particular reason, but will intervene in human affairs when you ask him real nice like?

Re:Mythbusters

[Knuckles (8964)]

You don't understand the catholic mindset :)
The whole point is to believe in it against all odds and, specifically, despite the fact that nothing happens.

I find it weird, too.

OTOH, I can imagine that the mere act of such a submission to a state of mind can have certain desirable effects (and, of course, also undesirable ones). I don't think it's an accident that many other religions propagate a certain way of "giving up".

Re:Mythbusters

[c6gunner (950153)]

OTOH, I can imagine that the mere act of such a submission to a state of mind can have certain desirable effects (and, of course, also undesirable ones). I don't think it's an accident that many other religions propagate a certain way of "giving up".

Oh without a doubt. I don't want to go too far off topic, but if I had to speculate about the origins of prayer, I'd say it's actually a clever way of capitalizing on a couple of aspects of the human psyche, such as the fact that we acquire habit through repetition, and our herd-mentality when in large groups. Since a religious person is encouraged to pray as often as possible (for an extreme example, see Islam), the constant repetition reinforces the basic tenets and beliefs in the mind of the believer. The more they repeat it, the stronger the belief becomes. Add to that the fact that humans in large groups respond strongly to simple statements with which they can identify (eg. "No War for Oil", "Meat is Murder", "Zeig Heil", "Zhu Mao Zhuxi wanshou wujiang!" etc.), and you have a pretty good incentive to want to indoctrinate your followers with something like prayer, and encourage them to repeat it whenever they can.

Re:Mythbusters

[Empiric (675968)]

You say "let people die" like you think there's an alternative, other than timing.

I find this form of argument very strange, though very common--making statements which presume ongoing continuity of life, or consciousness, while denying it. Reality is such that by default people don't die, so God should be blamed if they do, or reality is such that people do die by default, and your complaint is about when exactly it happens... which is it?

Re:Mythbusters

[spun (1352)]

You cannot petition the Lord with prayer.

Sure you can. "Oh Lord, smite this unbeliever who says I can't petition you." Look, I just petitioned the Lord, right there, plain as day.

Re:Mythbusters

[flewp (458359)]

Just once, instead of an athlete thanking God, I'd love to see one blame God for his poor performance.

Re:Mythbusters

[Rycross (836649)]

Personally I got tired how all the good things that happened in my life were God's blessings and how all the bad things were just part of some incomprehensible plan. A lot of non-believers like to talk about how religion is popular because it gives people hope, but for me it was a millstone around my neck. Imagine the kind of self-esteem issues one develops after being repeatedly told that you didn't really earn the good things in your life, and that the bad things in your life happened for some reasons beyond your comprehension.

I feel a lot better now that my life is my own to control. And its nice to know that sometimes bad things happen for no reason, and not because I've inexplicably displeased some supreme being.

Sorry, kind of off-topic, but I felt like sharing. The kind of logic you outlined in your post is probably the #1 reason I'm no longer religious. I always find it amusing that so many people view religion as comforting, since it was quite the opposite for me.

Re:Mythbusters

[Rycross (836649)]

So you hate the Catholic Church because their God (who happens to also be the Jew's God, Christian's God, and, come right down to it, the Muslim's God), drowned thousands of innocent children in a tsunami. Nevermind that He did NOT drown several billion other children that day.

I'm not sure if you're being serious, because my sarcasm detector is wonky, but are you seriously suggesting that not committing heinous atrocities is an admirable quality in a all-powerful being? That'd be like praising my friend John because, as far as I know, he hasn't killed anyone and dumped their bodies in the river. Or maybe like people who proudly state that they take care of their children, as if not leaving them to die in ditches is some extraordinary praise-worthy quality. Its kind of expected that normal people not do horrible things, much less omniscient, omnipotent beings.

Personally I'd like to describe God in terms other than "Allows thousands of people to die for no reason, but at least he isn't genocidal." Well as long as you ignore several books of the Old Testament.

Might be life?

[Clockwork Apple (64497)]

Doesn't the Pope have direct communication with god? Why doesn't he just ask for christ's sake?

C.

Re:Might be life?

[ceoyoyo (59147)]

Have you read the bible? God is obviously one of those irritating gurus/wisemen/martial art masters who speak in riddles to amuse themselves.

Re:Might be life?

[Scrameustache (459504)]

Riddles? Dude, he'll fucking kill your entire family on a dare from the devil, ask Job!

Re:Might be life?

[Eudial (590661)]

Riddles? Dude, he'll fucking kill your entire family on a dare from the devil, ask Job!

That was his Godzilla period. When he ran around shooting lasers out of his eyes, ravaging the countryside and toppling over buildings in Tokyo. Nowadays he's old and grumpy, sitting in a rocking chair on his porch yelling at the angels to get off the lawn.

Re:Might be life?

[setagllib (753300)]

Steve Jobs is Buddhist. He could believe he is a Buddha himself, and the funny thing is, even if he's wrong there's nothing wrong with that. It's not like there's an ISO Standard Buddha, and nobody would take his sutras seriously anyway.

Re:Might be life?

[ceoyoyo (59147)]

Accept the aliens amonst you, you cannot, until accept the alien within, you do.

Now levitate me and those rocks, you will.

Re:Might be life?

[JeanPaulBob (585149)]

Doesn't the Pope have direct communication with god?

Um... No, actually. Catholics think he is infallible when he speaks "ex cathedra", but not that he has verbal back-and-forth communication with God.

Re:Might be life?

[Fx.Dr (915071)]

Very true. The red phone on the Pope's desk actually links directly to Wayne Manor.

Re:Might be life?

[commodoresloat (172735)]

Holy See, Batman! It's ringing!!

Re:Might be life?

[Knuckles (8964)]

Catholics think he is infallible when he speaks "ex cathedra"

To be precise, they "believe" this since the First Vatican Council in 1870.

I Figure God...

[Wandering Wombat (531833)]

... just made humans as a cautionary example, and shows us on CCTVs all over the Universe as a sort of "The More You Know!" service.

the paranoid in me says--

[way2trivial (601132)]

there is a related announcement coming soon from world leaders,
and this pronouncement from the vatican is so that they don't bleed followers in the mayhem to follow.

Re:the paranoid in me says--

[jayhawk88 (160512)]

Not to go all tin foil hat, but this was the exact thought I had as well. There isn't a single aspect of modern life that wouldn't be somehow affected by the announcement that proof of alien life has been found. New religions (and cults) would spring up almost overnight. Industries related to space programs probably quadruple over the next 10 years. Diplomacy between countries is affected, either positively (OK it's us against them now) or negatively (You are not worthy to talk to our Space God). It doesn't matter if it's just microbes on Mars; just confirmation of the possibility of alien life means that everyone is suddenly taking the Drake Equation a lot more seriously. If I'm a world government, or some other group with international power and influence, and I know or suspect that an announcement like this is imminent, I don't want this dropping on the populace light a thunderbolt out of the sky.

Re:the paranoid in me says--

[Scrameustache (459504)]

there is a related announcement coming soon from world leaders,

There is a UFO cult called the Raelians, I did a school paper on them.
Basically, the cult leader is knee deep in pussy since he started telling people he's Jesus' half brother by way of their shared alien daddy, Yaveh.
Anyhoo, in his second book, said cult leader mentions that his alien overlords have created another race of intelligent beings, nearby, that don't know about them.

So if any aliens ever do land, and they don't know what the hell he's talking about, he's covered.

so that they don't bleed followers in the mayhem to follow

They're just covering their ass, just in case. There doesn't need to be any actual aliens, you just need to have all your credible bases covered. What if aliens land and say they never heard about this "god" fellow? Then we say Jesus was unique and we have to spread the good word to the stars!

Hmmm

[Bazman (4849)]

And is the Catholic church going to fund expeditions to these alien civilisations in order to convert them? Kinda sounds familiar, doesn't it?

Re:Hmmm

[NotBornYesterday (1093817)]

Whoa, do you suppose that could be the solution to the NASA budget crunch?

Catholics

[ceoyoyo (59147)]

Apologizing to Galileo, Hell is a metaphor, evolution is real, now aliens could exist. The Vatican is really taking their modernization seriously, aren't they?

Re:Catholics and condoms

[trolltalk.com (1108067)]

Apologizing to Galileo, Hell is a metaphor, evolution is real, now aliens could exist. The Vatican is really taking their modernization seriously, aren't they?

Next week they'll be approving a new brand of condoms. They're open at both ends ...

Galileo? How about Bruno

[number6x (626555)]

Bruno suggested that there could be an infinite number of worlds and that they could be inhabited by intelligent life [rice.edu].

For this they burned him at the stake.

Galileo was only 'shown the instruments' of torture and placed under house arrest.

Bruno is the guy they need to apologize to!

Re:Catholics

[gnick (1211984)]

Considering ... the Pope's alleged Hitler Youth past...

What's alleged about it? Germany made participation mandatory and the Pope complied. Does anyone in the church deny that?

Re:Catholics

[geekoid (135745)]

Yes, but the way he rubbed his hands together and laugh maniacally when he joined is kind of creepy~

How long until

[NotBornYesterday (1093817)]

UFO true believers stop pestering the UK government [slashdot.org] and start demanding to see the Vatican's top secret UFO files?

Church foward thinking

[spineboy (22918)]

I'm glad that the Catholic Church is taking an educated view of the sciences, with the support of evolution, and now this. Of course this will also lead to many useless comments about pedophilia, non-existance of God, and other useless flame wars.

Scientific illiteracy here in the states is really bad, and I'm embaressed that my church has a more progressive attitude than our current administration. This should change with the next admin thankfully.

This is Slashdot, and everyone needs to get their 2 cents in, but please try to submit meaningful/useful posts.

Re:Church foward thinking

[bugs2squash (1132591)]

I don't like to see childish attacks on anyone either. But it seems to me that the only reason the church is taking these strides is because it has been attacked on these issues in the past.

Do you imagine that the church would have made these statements without external pressure ?

Hell no, this is simply to inoculate the church against the inevitable progress in tolerance, and discovery and to try and carve out some future relevance.

Seems like the rock of the church is being eroded by the water of enlightenment - and about time too.

doubtful

[trybywrench (584843)]

So does that mean that any intelligent alien life is doomed to hell because they don't have the benefit of baptism and the forgiveness of original sin? Did they get a messiah from the catholic god and does that imply more than one "jesus"?

Or, being that they are not human and never ate from the garden of eaden does that mean that original sin doesn't apply to them? Better yet, does that make them more holy then humans and therefore closer to the catholic god?

I don't see how the catholic clergy can just say "yeah alien life doesn't contradict our religeon" without addressing these questiosn.

Re:doubtful

[illegalcortex (1007791)]

I don't see how the catholic clergy can just say "yeah alien life doesn't contradict our religeon" without addressing these questiosn.

Of course they can. The answer will just be "I don't know" and/or "God works in mysterious ways", same as their answer to numerous other major theological questions.

Bwahahaha!!

[deglr6328 (150198)]

Hello Earthlings, my name Zorbo, I'm from the planet sh388wg32 in what you call the Andromeda galaxy and I think the time has come to reveal ourselves to you. The reason I am contacting you now is that we have some Good News for you creatures, the all powerful creator of everything (Zippin52, praise be His name) has a plan for you and everyone you know!!! Can I take a little of your time to explain why we're all imperfect and need saving in His forgiveness??!

Yes Catholic church, that is precisely how idiotic you sound right now.

In related news...

[A beautiful mind (821714)]

...the Flat Earth society has just announced that there might be alien life "after and slightly beneath the fringes".

Belief in God is compatible with nearly any belief

[stinerman (812158)]

When you get right down to it, nothing can contradict that a supernatural being exists outside of it's actually appearing to us ... at which point it would become a natural being since we could observe it.

I can believe that the only two people in the world are Steven Hawking and Darl McBride and that ice cream is made from grub worms. If anyone provides me with evidence to the contrary, I can always say "Ah, but that's just what $DEITY wants you to think!"

The only thing a belief in a deity doesn't support is non-belief in a deity.

Re:But of course...

[Fx.Dr (915071)]

Yes, but he was looking in a funhouse mirror at the time. Go fig'.

Re:But of course...A Serious Reply

[clonan (64380)]

If god is omnipotent than he(she/it) can appear in any form (say a burning bush).

Therefore god must have created us in the image of the only part of him that doesn't change. His morality, his way of thinking and his personality. We have a dim image of this immutable portion of god.

Therefore aliens COULD look very different but still be created in his image.

The only remaining question is how did they get so many light years from eden?

Re:This is so not news

[gnick (1211984)]

This isn't news inside of Slashdot, and it certainly isn't news outside of Slashdot.

On a related note - I have nothing to say and thought that you all may enjoy it if I shared that fact with you. No need to thank me.

Re:astronomer my asshole.

[bn0p (656911)]

Why can't a Catholic priest be an astronomer? A Catholic priest, Father Georges Lemaitre, came up with the Big Bang theory [catholiceducation.org]

Re:astronomer my asshole.

[exp(pi*sqrt(163)) (613870)]

The important message is that good scientific ideas can come from anywhere, even from Catholic priests, and you don't judge an idea by where it came from, but by whether or not it does a good job, for example by making falsifiable predictions.

Re:Impressive move by the Church

[pubjames (468013)]

Well, I would prefer it if they made policy changes that actually changed people lives, like dropping their stupid stance on condoms.