Christianity Clumsily Squares Itself with ET

VATICAN CITY (Reuters) - The Vatican's chief astronomer says there is no conflict between believing in God and in the possibility of "extraterrestrial brothers" perhaps more evolved than humans.

Uh, wait a minute here. Isn't the Bible the absolute and unquestioned word of God, the pure-spun gold, burning-but-not-consumed, sublime voice of the impossible-to-know made printed word? If so, why doesn't the Bible ever discuss other planets, species on other worlds, the possibility of other civilizations outside of our own, or the possibililty that they are more evolved than us? If God was hard at work on other, apparently human or human-like "extraterrestrial brothers" (EBs) way back a-when--I guess it was in that mysterious 6000-odd years ago when the universe and our world sprang into existence and Adam and Eve were new, which by the way is completely invalidated by all available science--why isn't there any mention of any of this actiity? Or did God just in the last coupla years get around to EBs? Is God keeping some kind of dark secret from us, a mystery sibling, the rough equivalent of daddy's secret other family? Why would God do that to us? Doesn't he love us, um, like the Bible says over and over that he does (in between the begetting and smiting and fire and salt pillars and rules upon rules upon rules about doing and not doing)?

"In my opinion this possibility (of life on other planets) exists," said Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, a 45-year-old Jesuit priest who is head of the Vatican Observatory and a scientific adviser to Pope Benedict.

First, note that it's just "his opinion." It's not like he's putting out, you know, a Church position on this. That's a big stretch, Jose, to say that a "possibility exists." Really going out on a limb there, Rev, good on ya.

"How can we exclude that life has developed elsewhere," he told the Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano in an interview in its Tuesday-Wednesday edition, explaining that the large number of galaxies with their own planets made this possible.

Now we're making some progress. We know as hard, indisputable scientific fact that there are untold billions of galaxies, each of them holding billions and billions of stars, so that makes the likely number of planets around them in the mega-bazillion-range, to be purely scientific here. Science has detected planets around distant stars. And to assume that we are the only critters to have become self-aware and to have taken direct and increasingly absolute (and destructive) control of our environment is the height of arrogance. Again, I don't remember the Bible discussing any of this, the whole other galaxies, dark matter, inhabitable planets, other beings thing. It sure didn't come up in Confirmation classes.

Asked if he was referring to beings similar to humans or even more evolved than humans, he said: "Certainly, in a universe this big you can't exclude this hypothesis."

Again, he skims the surface by saying "you can't exclude a hypothesis." He's admitting to nothing here, really, covering his and the Church's collective holy ass, as it were. And how does this square with the Bible's pronouncement that God made us in his image? If there are EBs out there, did he make them in his image, too? So that means they're exactly like us, slightly furry mammals who dance and jump and spit? They'll all have diferent religions, speak different languages, hate and kill each other over trivial things and petty tribal differences, just like us?

In the interview headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother," he said he saw no conflict between belief in such beings and faith in God. "Just as there is a multiplicity of creatures on earth, there can be other beings, even intelligent, created by God. This is not in contrast with our faith because we can't put limits on God's creative freedom," he said.

Will EBs believe in the same God? What if they don't? Who, then, is right?

Wait, I'm getting confused here: if the EBs out there are more intelligent than us, meaning generally that they're more powerful, more technologically advanced, that is, BETTER than us, that's okay, because God did it that way? But WE were created in God's image, right? But if they're more advanced than us, God created us in his, less-advanced image? Do we reflect God, or do the EBs reflect him? Which one is it? Or do we default to the Grand Mystery of the Will and Intent of God and all of that rationalizing, self-protected dogmatic spew? If the EBs are more evolved than us, doesn't that mean God likes them better?

"Why can't we speak of a 'brother extraterrestrial'? It would still be part of creation," he said.
Funes, who runs the observatory which is based south of Rome and in Arizona, held out the possibility that the human race might actually be the "lost sheep" of the universe.

So now the human race is a lost tribe? How is it we're "lost," if God is all-present and all-knowing, beyond space, time and airline scheduling difficulties? God went off and did more universally central and (apparently, from context) more important things, and kind of forgot about us? Is that it? I smell "Battlestar Gallactica" seeping in here. Is the Reverend saying that we need to get out into the universe to, uh, find our way back to some sort of central God-place? Is this the search for Shaka-ri?

"There could be (other beings) who remained in full friendship with their creator," he said.

So they could be even closer to God than us? Does that make us second-class worshippers, if he favors them over us? But (whining), we were made in his image...

Or is it they have their own creator and we have our own, so there are two or more gods? His words are imprecise, to say the least.

THE "BIG BANG"?
Christians have sometimes been at odds with scientists over whether the Bible should be read literally and issues such as creationism versus evolution have been hotly debated for decades.
The Inquisition condemned astronomer Galileo in the 17th century for insisting that the earth revolved around the sun. The Catholic Church did not rehabilitate him until 1992.

Well, duh. That's because the Bible is cobbled together from close to 1000 years of oral history, tribal ritual, superstition and myth, codified over centuries in a period that had no concept of chemistry or physics or quantum mechanics. As science has shed light on the true nature of things, the Bible, Christianity, and all of its contemporary religious competitors have had to struggle to remain somehow relevant in the face of true knowledge which at its core invalidates just about every belief system.

Funes said dialogue between faith and science could be improved if scientists learned more about the Bible and the Church kept more up to date with scientific progress.

What do scientists stand to gain from the Bible? A better understanding of mankind's innate, paralyzing fear of death and limitless ability to deny it in endless religious fabrication? A better understanding of the power of fear, guilt, superstition, and the power of belief in wish-fulfillment and mindless ritual? Why don't scientists need to learn more about the Holy Quran or the Bhagavadgita or Buddhist doctrine? But then again, if the church really kept up with scientific progress, it would be hard-pressed to truthfully explain itself and its foundations for existence, other than the standard pathetic catch-all of, "Have faith."

Funes, an Argentine, said he believed as an astronomer that the most likely explanation for the start of the universe was "the big bang," the theory that it sprang into existence from dense matter billions of years ago. But he said this was not in conflict with faith in God as a creator. "God is the creator. There is a sense to creation. We are not children of an accident...," he said.
"As an astronomer, I continue to believe that God is the creator of the universe and that we are not the product of something casual but children of a good father who has a project of love in mind for us," he said.

Hoo, boy, there's a lot going on in this last bit. So, God caused the Big Bang? What did he do before it? Did he exist before it, and if so, what was he waiting for? Why did we have to go through the Big Bang--billions of years ago, which ironically leaves plenty of time for this wacky, wacky concept called...wait for it...evolution--if God has the power to just zap! a guy like me into existence on a whim, right down to my Reeboks? Does this mean God works in real time, or is he outside of time? Is God so patient that he can wait a bazillion years to watch something as pathetic as Man come about?

And "there is a sense to creation..." what in the hell does that mean? That there is a purpose to it? What is the purpose of the Big Bang, an intentional causation of existence to begin? If God was around before and caused it, then that means existence predated the Big Bang? But how is this possible? You're entering the do-loop of religious rationalization...

The truth is that we are not the children of accident, but the children of billions of years of random and eventually self-selecting physical (as in physics) and chemical interaction and reaction. That's evolution. We've come from somewhere, be it amino acids zapped by lightning in the acidic seas of 3 billion B.C. or alien spores dropped into the planet by comets and meteors from worlds eons away. And we're going somewhere, be it pure thought-energy, brains in glass jars, or complete and total self-destruction.

And finally, God is some kind of "good father who has a project of love in mind for us?" Really? Then where the hell is he? If he loves us and cares for us, where is he when we need him? I've been asking earnestly and repeatedly for about 35 years for him to come down and introduce himself to me, to let me know where he is, what he's about, and what he has in mind for me and everything else. I've asked deferently, adoringly, reverentially, pleadingly, and in pure rage, but he's never answered, offered absolutely nothing. From all I've heard, he's got more than enough ability to give me a few minutes, but he won't do it. That's more than enough to tell me that this good father isn't around to take care of his children.

God is an absent father, if anything. And a "project of love," that's an ugly and deceptive misnomer, a beautiful and sincere wish that doesn't exist. How does God's project of love explain centuries of human sacrifice to pagan gods, pedophile priests and the knowing and complicit hierarchy which has hidden and protected them? How does God's project of love come through given the Holocaust, Cambodia, Rwanda, Stalin and Mao's genocides, the Inquisition, horrific disease in young children, slavery, chemical and biological warfare, the making of profit from others' misery, in AIDS, leprosy, ALS, CP, diabetes? If God has a project of love, how does it lead to fathers murdering their children and ex-wives out of selfish spite and rage? If God has a project of love, how does Columbine and VA Tech fit in?

It's all hollow, Reverend, a Hollywood storefront with nothing behind it. Sure, there are other worlds out there, and there likely are a lot of species a lot smarter than we are. Let's just hope that they are not motivated by religion and belief systems when the find us, because if they are, every citizen of earth will face the fate of convert or die, or more likely simply summary extinction for not being wise enough to make the right choice in the first place.