Xenotheology 101

Delta4Embassy

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Dec 12, 2013
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Xenotheology is an emerging study of alien religious systems. Naturally, until we discover aliens we're mostly talking about what might happen to our Earthly religious systems when finally confronted by an alien one. But the issue comes up often in various science fiction novels and tv series and movies. Most notably, Babylon 5 where religion plays a huge part in the ongoing massive storyline of the whole series. Sci-fi enables us to speculate and discuss things like this because we've already seem speculations on how it might play out.

A character who comes into play by the end of season 3 is 'The First One.' While the series has some alien races who're collectively 'the first ones' (first alien species in our galaxy,) this character describes itself as THE first one for the entire universe. That is, the first living sentient being ever. Naturally immortal, from a species similarly naturally immortal. They all died off, but he endured.

If God exists as a discrete sentient being like us but of some different nature being "God," is God a native inhabitant of our universe, or did God create the universe from outside of it? We're only now beginning to find convincing evidence for 'verses outside of this one so the question arises, if a being we call God exists and can do the things we attribute to it it's probably not native to our universe (especially if "he" created it.) But it must be of some kind of nature, either native to our universe or another one. Consequently, it has a backstory or orign to itself. Saying it's existed forever solves many problems, but isn't much fun to talk about late at night. :)

So where's God from? A planet, another universe, another dimention of existence, something else? And how might the eventually likely discovery of aliens who may or may not have religions as we do unfold? What might a God who imparts its will onto 'people' impart onto aliens? And if aliens have religions, are they more or less valid than our's? Why or why not?
 
I think as far as religion goes, depends on your religion....

The Catholic church put out a statement that it matters naught if we discover Aliens do exist, or have visited here or any of that jazz....so, it may not matter to many of the so called religious

Vatican Astronomer Says Its OK to Believe in ET

Question: Do you refer also to beings similar to us, or even more evolved?

Funes: It’s possible. However, so far we haven’t got any proof. But in such a big universe, this hypothesis can’t be excluded.

Question: And that wouldn’t be a problem for our faith?

Funes: I don’t think so. Just like there is an abundance of creatures on earth, there could also be other beings, even intelligent ones, that were created by God. That doesn’t contradict our faith, because we cannot put boundaries to God’s creative freedom. As saint Francis would say, when we consider the earthly creatures to be our “brothers and sisters”, why couldn’t we also talk about a “extraterrestrial brother”? He would still be part of creation.
 
The subject of alien religions conflicting or drawing worship away from our own has been done well in various sci-fi shows. TV series "Alien Nation" did it well as did "Babylon 5." It's an intriguing question.

Be interesting to find out if spacefaring species like aliens who could even get here to begin with would even still have religion.
 

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