Life on Mars - what are the implications for religion?

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EspressoJunkie

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First off I just want to make it clear that this thread is not meant to offend anyone of any religious denomination, I just want a mature and sensible discussion of a very interesting and relevant topic.

With NASA poised to reveal "something earthshaking" on December 3rd, there is a massive amount of speculation that this could finally be evidence that life once existed on Mars.

So if this is the case then how will the worlds major religions react?

To anyone here how would react (even hypothetically) if this turns out to be the case? Would your faith be shaken or could you accept it as part of your beliefs?

Personally I would class myself as a atheist, but I have close family who are Christians, so I feel that I have a fairly balanced outlook from both sides of the argument.
 
I consider myself an Atheist too, so any life on another planet to our own would have no effect apart from "told you so". I find it hard to believe our planet is the only one in the vastness of the universe/outer space (or whatever the correct terminology is for it) that holds life. I would be surprised if it's anything more than a plant fossil or something though.

It will be interesting to see what religions do make of it. Might stir things up a bit :)
 
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Ignore it and say and it is part of some major conspiracy. That's how I'd expect them to react!

Atheists don't war over which no god there is.

Maybe this is what the end of the world is. It's the end of the religious world and all its trappings and the dawn of a new age of science and truly helpful beliefs.
 
It's obvious isn't it? It was put there to confuse, fascinate, entertain and baffle us by a greater being :bonk:

I bet what they reveal is no where near that revolutionary though.
 
Nothing said by a scientist or evolutionist would shake my faith, I have seen similar "earthshaking" announcements before ... Piltdown Man, what a prehistoric monster looks like from a tooth they found etc etc.
How would the major religions react?
There would be a variety of reactions, mainly a further watering down of the scriptures by the 'established' church but also encompassing a probable demonstration against science from others ... then there would be the conspiracy theorists.

The again on December 3rd they'll probably say they've found Father Christmas! :D
 
"NASA poised to reveal "something earthshaking" " .............. another astronomical damp squib perhaps. Standby to be underwhelmed.
 
Since when did religions let facts get in the way of their propaganda and influence over the ignorant masses?

No matter what the announcement is about, it will have no impact upon religion. It should! It should blow them apart. But it won't.
 
theres no reason why proof of life on another planet should 'blow religions apart' - the obvious answer is that god/jehova/allah/vishnu/odin or whoever created it - as , to the faithful, it is apparent that He most have created the other planets , so either He created life there, or He created the record of life in order to test your faith.

simples

(and i'm an aetheist btw, but I don't see the need to enforce my aethesim on the religious arround me, so long as they give me the same respect in return)
 
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an earth shaking discovery a day, helps you work rest and play
 
If NASA announce life on another planet..I would hope everyone just stands up and shouts... WE KNOW!

I mean for crying out loud...of course life exists elsewhere..
 
Simple they will just say god created all things on this world and all others and infact this proves god to be real. Or Sumat like that.
 
nigpd said:
And Mars really is made of Mars :D
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Now it makes sense why it was positioned further from the sun. Imagine a planet made of mars that was a little too close to a giant burning ball of gas. That would make a mess of the universe! :lol:
 
KIPAX said:
If NASA announce life on another planet..I would hope everyone just stands up and shouts... WE KNOW!

I mean for crying out loud...of course life exists elsewhere..
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Ditto.
 
I think that there might be a percentage of people who follow any given religion that may be swayed to reconsider their outlook on life.

But then there's people who no matter what the evidence who will tell you that God/Allah/whoever did it all, and that's their entire argument.
 
I guess it depends what you accept as "evidence", e.g. evolution is an unproven theory with many supporters and taught as fact in schools ... then at the other end of the scale when man stepped on the moon there were those who said it was all happening in a warehouse in the US done to confuse the Russians.

Non-believers will say that there is no evidence in the bible, believers will say that it's packed with evidence.
I can only speak as a Christian but of the main-stream religions claiming to be Christian, most have already changed their views on many things in the bible ... homosexuality, sex before marriage, women priests etc so I doubt that any claims of 'life on Mars' would cause much soul-searching and the 'faith' would easily be changed to accommodate it - I can see the Synod discussing the merits of allowing 'little green men' to man the collection plates. :D
 
gramps said:
I guess it depends what you accept as "evidence", e.g. evolution is an unproven theory with many supporters and taught as fact in schools ...
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It is frightening that people actually believe this. There is overwhelming evidence all around of the existence of evolution. Trouble is, some just don't want to believe or accept it.
 
No more evidence for evolution that the existence of God, it just depends on what evidence you believe ... for me (and many others) it is more frightening that people actually don't believe in God.
Evolution is a 'theory' and has never been proved as anything other than that by anyone.
 
i think there is life out there is it on mars? who knows, there is that many planets there has got to be some form of life maybe not as we know it , they may have found signs of some form of et landing many many many years before we did they may have found some form of sign or signal
 
gramps said:
No more evidence for evolution that the existence of God, it just depends on what evidence you believe ... for me (and many others) it is more frightening that people actually don't believe in God.
Evolution is a 'theory' and has never been proved as anything other than that by anyone.
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Actually there is a huge amount of evidence pointing towards evolution, and to be brutally blunt none which points towards a god of any sort, especially one who is portrayed to be loving.

I can completely empathise with how strongly someone can believe, and I don't mean to attack anyone of any religion, but to say there is no evidence for evolution is, to my mind, simply ignoring facts.

I have done a lot of reading of both sides of this argument, including books on intelligent design, and all it simply comes across that anti-evolution arguments seem to clutch at straws, and usually revert back to a creator of some sort, even if that argument is cloaked in 'science'.

As I said though I can understand the strength of belief (my wife is a Christian), but in my opinion as science continues to advance I honestly feel that all religion will slowly cease to exist as there will simply be nothing left for it to explain.
 
gramps said:
No more evidence for evolution that the existence of God, it just depends on what evidence you believe ... for me (and many others) it is more frightening that people actually don't believe in God.
Evolution is a 'theory' and has never been proved as anything other than that by anyone.
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You are 100% wrong Gramps. The existence of human chromosome 2 (for example) provides much more evidence for evolution than the church provides as evidence that there is a god.
The pelvic structure of birds can be see in dinosaurs. There are a multitude of proofs that you just don't want to accept.
Let's not forget, your "god" if you choose to believe your bible, is a hateful, vengeful and violent being. Unless you choose to ignore those parts and only focus on the other parts. Why anyone would be interested in it mystifies many.

As for their being life on Mars, I await the announcement with interest. The universe is so very vast, that I am sure it's teeming with life. If not, it's an awful waste of space.
 
Oops won't be long until this religious thread will be extinct.


As per forum rules.
 
An announcement like this will never dissuade believers from their beliefs. When you don't need evidence to back up your theory, and believe in something that can never be disproven in the first place, a simple scientific discovery is never going to change your mind anyway.

I mean you only have to look at the loonies who believe in dinosaurs having lived alongside humans.

Personally I think it's sad that people in this day and age still need the crutch of organised religion to live their lives.
 
EspressoJunkie said:
Actually there is a huge amount of evidence pointing towards evolution, and to be brutally blunt none which points towards a god of any sort, especially one who is portrayed to be loving.

I can completely empathise with how strongly someone can believe, and I don't mean to attack anyone of any religion, but to say there is no evidence for evolution is, to my mind, simply ignoring facts.

I have done a lot of reading of both sides of this argument, including books on intelligent design, and all it simply comes across that anti-evolution arguments seem to clutch at straws, and usually revert back to a creator of some sort, even if that argument is cloaked in 'science'.

As I said though I can understand the strength of belief (my wife is a Christian), but in my opinion as science continues to advance I honestly feel that all religion will slowly cease to exist as there will simply be nothing left for it to explain.
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Okay, I don't feel under attack and, I am perfectly able to defend my beliefs, I also perfectly understand that others do not feel that they can believe in a God :)
I didn't say that there is no evidence in favour of evolution, there is quite a bunch of scientific evidence that can be used to support evolution but equally a great bunch that can support creation, scientists themselves have divided opinions.
Pure science leaves aside faith, which down through the ages has enabled men and women to look beyond the limitations of human experience and 'see' the evidence for God, ... fulfilled prophecy, the evidence of design in the creation etc.
The main problem is that so many 'religions' misrepresent God and that is probably why you think of any idea of God as being "unloving" ... I on the contrary see the evidence of his love.


Ricardodaforce said:
You are 100% wrong Gramps. The existence of human chromosome 2 (for example) provides much more evidence for evolution than the church provides as evidence that there is a god.
The pelvic structure of birds can be see in dinosaurs. There are a multitude of proofs that you just don't want to accept.
Let's not forget, your "god" if you choose to believe your bible, is a hateful, vengeful and violent being. Unless you choose to ignore those parts and only focus on the other parts. Why anyone would be interested in it mystifies many.

As for their being life on Mars, I await the announcement with interest. The universe is so very vast, that I am sure it's teeming with life. If not, it's an awful waste of space.
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My God Ricardo is not a "hateful, vengeful and violent being" but men are "hateful, vengeful and violent" and often portray God as being a God that would send someone to 'hellfire', or kill others in an attempt to prove themselves religiously superior - most religions themselves misrepresent God by the way they conduct themselves and in the course of doing so turn many more away from him.
The God I know is a God of love who gave his Son in order to provide a way of salvation to all who would exercise faith in his Son - but in a secular, commercial and wicked world that message is not popular.
 
EspressoJunkie said:
Actually there is a huge amount of evidence pointing towards evolution, and to be brutally blunt none which points towards a god of any sort, especially one who is portrayed to be loving.

I can completely empathise with how strongly someone can believe, and I don't mean to attack anyone of any religion, but to say there is no evidence for evolution is, to my mind, simply ignoring facts.

I have done a lot of reading of both sides of this argument, including books on intelligent design, and all it simply comes across that anti-evolution arguments seem to clutch at straws, and usually revert back to a creator of some sort, even if that argument is cloaked in 'science'.

As I said though I can understand the strength of belief (my wife is a Christian), but in my opinion as science continues to advance I honestly feel that all religion will slowly cease to exist as there will simply be nothing left for it to explain.
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Exactly its overwhelming just from the fossil record alone :)
 
gramps said:
The God I know is a God of love who gave his Son in order to provide a way of salvation to all who would exercise faith in his Son - but in a secular, commercial and wicked world that message is not popular.
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Fine, we'll just ignore all those parts of the bible that show the different side.

Maybe we should keep this thread on track.
 
Ricardodaforce said:
Fine, we'll just ignore all those parts of the bible that show the different side.

Maybe we should keep this thread on track.
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Or ignore those parts that show otherwise? :thinking:
 
Can I ask a serious question that i'm honestly not 100% sure about? Just wondered what evidence there is for Gods existence? I obviously know about the Bible but is there anything else?
 
Creation gives one of the finest lines of evidence and there are witness statements (in the Bible of course) which you may or may not chose to consider, depending upon how open-minded you are.

For example, many say that man came from the primordial 'slush' (whereas the bible says man was created by God) - of course to go any further there had to be not just the chance arrival in the mud of one sex but the chance arrival in the mud of the other sex - many feel that that is just too much of a step to be believable and way beyond their experience of how things happen, (takes too much faith for me I'm afraid).
On the other hand the bible says that God created man and then created woman who both went on to produce offspring (how unusual :D ) and many people find that to be perfectly understandable.
 
fatmarley said:
Can I ask a serious question that i'm honestly not 100% sure about? Just wondered what evidence there is for Gods existence? I obviously know about the Bible but is there anything else?
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And that is why Christianity and other religions are called "faiths" ..or " faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see"
If your question could be answered with undeniable evidence then everyone would believe in God.

There are certain known quantities sure, but at the end of the day there are some things that cannot be proven - that is true in the scientific world as much as the religious world and personally I don't see the two as mutually exclusive.
 
gramps said:
For example, many say that man came from the primordial 'slush'
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Eh? :thinking: I don't think anyone says that at all. What I think you have conveniently done is ignore hundreds of millions of years between the spark of life and the emergence of primates and their subsequent evolution.
 
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