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Originally Posted by Fourtyrulz
Either scientists DO find that ape ancestor or flat out, indisputable proof that evolution if true? Or if we make contact with extraterrestrial life?
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Neither are all that important to the core of most world religions by now. A few fringe religions would either evaporate or deny what happened.
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Originally Posted by Fourtyrulz
How will the religions of the world stand up to that pressure? No doubt some would be fulfilling some ancient prophecy by talking to aliens, but what about the major Yahweh religons: Christianity, Judaism, and Islam...built on the ideas that the universe was created by a single diety. Would there be an enormous backlash immediately or would they struggle on in some obsolete existence? Further than that, what if aliens came with their own religious beliefs that THEY were in fact created by a single God, therefore the sole creatures in the universe. Certainly a single god did not create both human and alien life in his image. Personally, I think the outcome of this event would be devastating to human kind (and possibly alien kind  ). In the case of proof of evolution, I think the church would refute and preach against the scientist's findings enough to make it cause little impact in the religious community. That would be a sad, sad day indeed. *Prays for the aliens to take me with them!* |
It is the tenant most of the Abrahamists religions that their single god created the entire universe. That an alien race also believes in a single god would either be interprited as the aliens being mistaken (the fact that the majority of humanity disagrees with their religion hasn't shaken their faith), or the aliens are worshipping the same god, in a mistaken fashon.
The term "in god's image" can be interprited to refer to consciousness and intelligence, not unimportant features like physical shape and appearance. Then both mankind and alien species could be made in the image of god -- in fact, you could interprit the genesis account to refer to the creation of intelligent life instead of the creation of mankind in particular.
Don't underestimate the hardiness of religious belief. Their belief structures are well built, and quite resistant to outside shock. Belief structures that lack this property tend to not last long.
More interesting, and somewhat related, would be: what if aliens showed up, and one of their religions shows definate correspondance with one or another human religion?