Life on Mars?

[Lai]

Disclaimer: This thread is not about whether or not you think it's scientifically possible that there may be life of Mars. Please read my intro paragraph thoroughly.

I was just watching the Colbert Report, and a good point was made. Even though the Bible has never mentioned anything about life on Mars, it has pretty much become widely accepted that there is a possibility that life once existed on Mars. I can't really put it in other words, or really clarify any more, so I'll do the best I can: If the "people of the book" are so anti-anything not in the Bible, how come they're not lobbying against the alleged life on Mars?

This isn't a thread about bashing religion. I'm curious as to whether or not anybody really knows this. On a side note, completely unrelated to this thread, seeing as how we now have the technology to have land rovers working up on Mars, it is entirely possible that aliens may have come from Mars in the past. However, as science has shown us, there are no longer proper living conditions to allow life on Mars anymore. Sorry, ET.

[Sasquatch]

First of all, nobody is "anti-anything not in the Bible". Not most of us, anyway. If something is proven, it's accepted. Computers aren't in the Bible, but that doesn't mean most Christians consider them evil.

As for life on Mars, there's a difference in life and intelligent life. Bacteria are not intelligent life.

And if there ever was, is now, or ever will be intelligent life on Mars ... what would it matter? I don't see how Christians would have a problem with that, if it was found to be true. So what?

So there's your answer. Christians are not lobbying against the possibility of life on Mars because life being found on Mars would not conflict with our beliefs. There'd be no point to it.

[Lai]

Why are you taking offense to what I asked?

The Bible, as far as I know, states that God only created life on Earth. Life is still life, whether intelligent or not. That's all I was asking about.

[Sasquatch]

I'm not taking offense at all. I'm just saying it wouldn't make any difference.

The Bible talks about life on earth. It doesn't say that life wasn't created anywhere else, it doesn't say that we are God's only life.

So if life is found somewhere else, it doesn't matter. It's like wondering if we'll all start doubting Pythagorean's Theorum if Wal-Mart has a sale on ice cream. They're two completely unrelated subjects.

(Except the comment about how Christians are "anti-anything not in the Bible", I took slight offense to that. Because it's extremely ignorant. But I would imagine that it was ignorance and not intent to offend that spawned that comment.)

[James D.]

The "people by the book" go against things that the Bible mentions, albeit vaguely, that are wrong. Mainly, homosexuality. The Christian God is not the God of Earth, but the God of everything. Not the galaxy, not the universe. He is the universe. The Bible states that we are made in His image, but it never makes remarks about life on other planets. You have to remember they thought the world was flat and the Sun revolved around us up until a few hundred years ago. They didnt have a grasp of other planets.

[Lai]

But wouldn't that just kind of verify that it was just a bunch of stories? I mean, go on and correct me. I'm not ignorant, I'm just uneducated on the matter. So hearing someone else's opinion on the matter would be a lot better than me just going around acting like my way and only my way was right.

The Bible talks about life on earth. It doesn't say that life wasn't created anywhere else, it doesn't say that we are God's only life.

But that completely contradicts the ancient church's doctrine on how Earth was the center of the universe and the only planet that mattered. Yes, I realize that ancient is the key word, but in some way, it just seems a little bit messed up to me.

[Kimmy37]

Originally Posted by Lai Lai Hei

But that completely contradicts the ancient church's doctrine on how Earth was the center of the universe and the only planet that mattered. Yes, I realize that ancient is the key word, but in some way, it just seems a little bit messed up to me.

Priests also used to take money from people and say, "This will buy your dead relatives into Heaven." (You can't buy anyone into Heaven, btw.)

The Church used to say and do a LOT of things that were not in the Bible (greedy humans can corrupt anything, after all). You can't judge what is or isn't in a Christian's mind by what the Church did in the past. After all, they used to (some still do) NOT encourage reading the Bible (so they could tell the flock whatever they wanted, and the people would follow blindly, as they didn't double check for themselves).

Anyway, life on Mars would not contradict the Bible. I, as a Christian, believe in life on other planets. Intelligent life? Who knows? It could be out there, though I do doubt it (even though I wouldn't be terribly shocked if there were). Why would God create such a large universe to only populate one little planet?

[Jof]

The universe is constantly expanding so it is only feasable that there is life on another planet somewhere.

[Chez Daja]

This is the second post of yours I've come across today, Jof. Both one-sentence posts.

Please add more content to your posts in TFF, especially in Intellectual Discussion, since we like to know your personal views, as well as one sentence claiming there's life on Mars.

I won't warn you, since you're pretty new. But please, in the future, add more content to your posts.

Thank you.

Let the topic continue.

[Angantyr]

Well I wouldn't be surprised if there was bacteria and even more advance forms than that on Mars but I highly doubt there is intelligent life on Mars otherwise we would of found something at least by now. Also I don't know what the atmosphere is like there but I doubt it would have the ability to Sustain life.

Kind of off topic but I wouldn't be surprised if their was intelligent life, maybe more advance than us living out there in other Galaxies. How ever us ever having contact seems quite impossible unless we manage to perfect molecular(sp) transportation. The distance is huge which means that I am sure there is something out there.

[Lai]

Also I don't know what the atmosphere is like there but I doubt it would have the ability to Sustain life.

That's the thing, though. We know what life on Earth needs to survive, but for all we know, life could have formed elsewhere that has different living conditions than us and can adapt to surviving. The atmosphere on Mars causes the planet to be a lot colder than Earth both during the day and the night. But again, life could very well have adapted. So it's really hard to say.