Lost in Space, Catholic Style

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.

"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.

"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. 

"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.  CONTINUED

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Who said science and religion can't coexist?

Seriously, even my wife--the recalcitrant Catholic turned Pagan Druidess--was pleasantly surprised with this announcement.

I bet it made this gentlemen happy, too. 

Personally, I find it hard to believe that we're the only intelligent life forms amidst this vast universe; I mean, we can't be the only creatures to have discovered the fermentation process.

Of course, intelligent life form is relative:  to paraphrase Stephen Hawking, despite all our great efforts we just might be comparatively stupid to other sentient beings.

In addition, later on in the article the idea of synergizing religion with science pops up.  The potential for alien life aside, I'm on the fence whether we're the product of an accident or the fired clay of some intelligence greater than us.  Just meditating on what probabilities had to occur over zillions of years to ensure I'd exist for at least 35 years is simply mind numbing.

But what instances point me towards an intelligent creator?  Well, the fact that ice floats is a nice touch, or that the earth is precisely distanced and tilted to support life.  And fermentation. 

Then, when I look at the grand tapestry of human events it unfolds like a magnificent story, not an exercise in chaotic math.

What, then, points away from an intelligent creator?  The fact that life is so cheap, that the forces of nature are in constant life-and-death struggle, that in the grand tapestry of cosmic events we're just dust mites.  It really disturbs me to think when I die the lights will go out and all my learning a development as a human will ultimately be for naught.

But I digress... we're talking about aliens! 

Well, we'd just kill them all with the common cold. 

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Comments

[Debbie]

"we would just kill them with the common cold", probably correct. I figure my God is big enough, all powerful enough, and perfectly capable of creating other beings. I've never seen any of them though, ha.

[MOGS]

Well, leave it to me to be the paranoiac voice of concern: if there is other intelligent life out there, odds are it ain't friendly, not according to the laws of probability when you throw in a little game theory, esp the good ol' "Prisoner's Dilemma" - we ought to consider not advertising ourselves like a late-night Taco Bell drive thru until we have the means to do something about it. Nothing says "advanced civilization" like the ability to defend yourself from turning into a nice light snack, or what have you, quite like advanced planet-defending nuclear missiles :)

at least, according to Dr. Travis S. Taylor and other scientists...I think they're onto something...

[The Mad Pigeon]

"...we ought to consider not advertising ourselves like a late-night Taco Bell drive thru until we have the means to do something about it."

You mean, like this?

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=90429835