So, the Vatican has taken up the question of intelligent life on other worlds? Too rich!

    This move has, of course, prompted discussion about what effect its discovery would have on religion. Here's a snippet from science writer Hanna Devlin of the Times of London (which published the clever icon above), followed by a rambling fugue of my own invention.

In a blog post titled "Does Jesus Save Aliens," Devlin writes:

    "Four hundred years after Renaissance philosopher Giordano Bruno was burnt at the stake for his belief in the "plurality of worlds" (aliens), scientists and religious leaders gathered this week at a seemingly more open-minded Vatican for a conference on astrobiology (aliens).  The meeting focussed on current science, rather than the theological quandaries thrown up by the possibilty of other life forms beyond this planet.    

   "But that hasn't stopped debate spilling over outside the conference. Yesterday I spoke to Paul Davies, a cosmologist from Arizona State University, just after he addressed the conference. In his view, the possibility of other civilisations - potentially more intelligent than our own - puts Christians “in a real bind”.  Specifically, he says that nobody's satisfactorily addressed the question of whether aliens get saved. “The Catholic church offers a very species specific brand of salvation. No one says that Jesus came to save the dolphins and certainly not little green men,” he said.

   "The possibility of extraterrestrial life does not pose the same problems for Eastern religions, which tend to be less Earth-centric, or Islam, which speaks explicitly of life beyond Earth, he said.

   "The Vatican does not have an official position on alien life forms, but a number of its scientists have spoken out on the issue. Father Jose Funes, director of the Vatican Observatory told the Vatican newspaper, L’Osservatore Romano, that the possibility of “brother extraterrestrials” was not incompatible with Catholic theology.

    "William Stroeger, an astrophysicist at the Vatican Observatory Research Group and a Jesuit priest, agreed: “There might be fundamentalists for whom the two things are incompatible but mainline congregations - Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, Methodists - would not have a problem with this,” he said."

                                                                      *   *   *

Clay comments:

    Let's face it, if E.T. were to land in a field in New Jersey tomorrow, we would surely not see the collapse of religion. If faith turned on facts, it would have fallen long ago. Galileo's discovery of sunspots alone would have done it. No, if an intelligent alien were to arrive, the Vatican and mainstream Protestant churches would shift their theologies around the new facts, just as they have with heliocentricity, evolution, and the long-ago Big Bang. The Creation Museum folks and their fundy friends would spin conspiracy theories to explain away the existence of alien life. For the faithful, nothing much would change.

    Unless, of course, the exo-bishop turns out to be a missionary. Now, that might be interesting. Imagine the live TV coverage of his first words upon stepping out of the steaming spacecraft.

    "People of Earth! I come in peace.

    "Actually, if you don't mind, I'd like to set aside the conventional alien pleasantries and cut, as I believe you say, to the chase. (I hope I make myself clear. I have studied your leading global language by monitoring broadcasts for the last 50 earth-orbits, but I confess that I don't quite understand that last phrase.)

    "At any rate, chase-wise, here is the cut. Now that your species has begun to discover planets outside your own little system, we know it won't be long before you discover the rest of us and start clamoring for a seat on the Galaxial Council. So, to save time and trouble they have sent me.

     "I can tell you that if Earth were to file today, your application would be turned down two-dimensionally. Er, sorry, I meant to say flat. Anyway, it's no use dreaming about joining the civilized interstellar world unless you first clean up the bloody mess that you Earthlings call religion.

    "So far as we can make out, a large portion of you believe that a magical Father-King made everything a few thousand years ago exclusively for the benefit of you Earthlings. He then sent an instruction manual to a tiny group of you located in what you call the Middle East, ignoring those in China, Europe, Australia, the Americas, and all the island nations.

    "At that point, you seem to disagree. It seems that the manual proved too confusing to follow. (It's the same on our world! Freakin' manuals are always useless!) So then, according to most of you, the Father-King sent his son to be a sort of living Help Desk, but you Earthlings killed him, and that made everything all right. Or, according to another billion of you, he sent a prophet with another armload of instructions to clarify how people are supposed to live.  The arguing over these hasn't ended yet.

    "Now, I've been sent by the Galaxial Council to brief you on how things actually stand. Why this is necessary I cannot imagine. Good heavens, anyone would think the truth would be apparent by now, but it seems that you need someone to spell it out. So here goes.

    "First, God is not a father. Or a mother. To be of one sex or the other is to be less than a whole. Surely, this is self-evident? And God is certainly not a king, or ruler of any kind. Look around you -- does it seem as if anyone is in charge? Does nature show any regard for human life? Or do tornadoes level churches, earthquakes flatten schools, and tsunamis devastate whole communities? Does lightning single out sinners? Or does it show a quaint preference for innocent golfers and sunbathers?

    "God is not even a long-distance lawgiver. Take a look at the laws themselves. Why would an eternal God write laws that are specific to a small set of tribes known as the Israelites, such as the prohibition against boiling a kid in its mother's milk? This might have been a great temptation in the old days, but does anyone today need a law to keep them from doing such a thing? On the other hand, where is your Scriptural injunction against texting while driving?

    "So, what is God? You may well ask. The interstellar answer is, we don't really know, and nobody else knows, either. Those who claim to know for certain are either seeking power over you, suffering delusions, or both. Ask yourself: Would a just and loving God single out certain people in certain times and places and give them exclusive truth and power? If magical communication -- what you call revelation -- were authentic, wouldn't you all receive it directly, perhaps on a weekly basis?

    "Earthlings, I tell you this: Faith is a search for truth beyond the limits of knowledge. It need not be a fruitless search. You can face facts and yet believe.

    "Was this enormous, life-giving bubble we inhabit intentionally created to harbor life? It may well be so. We cannot prove it, but no one can disprove it either. Is there a Creator out there who set the Universe in motion? There is nothing in all our scientific knowledge to deny it. Is there a purpose to life? Quite possibly. Can consciousness transcend material existence, or as you like to put it, can there be life after death? Perhaps.

    "All of these deep questions give wide scope and vitality to religious faith. But, I tell you this: you cannot hope to survive on this planet, much less become part of the interstellar community, if you continue to fight over the supremacy of one outdated religion or another. You must give up the arrogance of absolute truth. No living being possesses that. You must recognize that the only God-given laws are the laws of nature, and at the same time recognize that these include the laws of cooperation as well as competition. You must, above all else, relinquish the ancient habits of rapacity, cruelty, and war.

    "And now, to help you achieve this admittedly difficult transition, we on the Galaxial Council have decided to share with you the secret of limitless energy. Provided you curb your population and wisely tend to the Earth, this secret will allow every human to enjoy a full and rich life. So, here it..."

    At that point, gunfire erupts and the alien visitor is torn to shreds by assassin's bullets as a cry of "God is Great!" rents the air.  Ah well, not all fantasies have a happy ending.