Quoted from Penoyer79 it was a nice concept when everyone thought the world was flat and Earth was the center of the universe... ...to say we are the only ones just defies logic and common sense.

Technically it hasn't been proven that Earth isn't the center of the Universe.  It very well could be.

Logic and common sense are great.  I use them all the time.  But they're not absolute.  Just because the law of probability says that there should be other intelligent life in the Universe, doesn't mean that there is.

There's always the possibility that we're the only intelligent life in the Universe.  Sad, I know.  But you have to accept that it's possible.

Just to clarify my position:  I think that there is intelligent life elsewhere in the Universe.  

Just to throw another log on the fire:  If the Universe is infinite, then that means there are an infinite number of me having this exact same conversation somewhere else in the Universe.  An infininte number of Jordans sounds like a pretty good universe to live in.  But that's just my opinion.

"Infinite" opens up a lot of possibilities.

Jordan

Quoted from CrusaderVoice Sadly, Christians have led the way in misinterpreting the Bible.

you cant interpret what is not truly interpretable.

too many abstract metaphors, and cryptic writings... its no wonder each line has 25 different meanings to 25 different people.

My guess is it's that way by design.

The Bible is not the word of God. He did not write it himself. It is man's interpretation of God and the word of God.

and if there is a God... its pretty clear to me whatever messages he left behind were lost in translation long, long ago.

My advice, follow your heart not a book. Life will be much more fulfilling that way.

you only live once. and the only sure thing in this life - is you in the here and now.

everything else is just a hope.

Quoted from Penoyer79 The Bible is not the word of God. He did not write it himself. It is man's interpretation of God and the word of God.

Phil

As a Christian, I grew up being taught that we were alone in the universe and that God created us as unique, special creations. No aliens.

Now that I'm older, I've examined my faith on my own, and watched a hella lot of Star Trek, I'm not so sure I believe we're the only sentient, intelligent lifeforms in the universe. The universe is so big and random, so it seems only natural that there should be life elsewhere. I get excited thinking about what kind of lifeforms we'd encounter. Star Trek has us meeting mostly humanoids, which I think would be inaccurate. After all the preaching it's done about how we should treat all races with compassion and respect, it'd be our luck that our first ETs are like half-organism/half-matter. They'd have some really great benefit that cures, I dunno...death, and we can never figure out if it's ethical to harvest it because we can't tell if it's sentient or not. Instead of being like First Contact where the Vulcans stop by and we, humans, get over ourselves, it's more like an episode of "Seinfeld" or "Curb".

However, if we're able to scour the universe someday and discover that we really were the only sentient, intelligent lifeforms out there, it would be kinda cool to know that we were the highest, most advanced lifeforms in existence. I think Mars is pointing to the idea that much lower organisms are out there--like a smorgasbord of amoebae and the tiniest hints of microscopic plant life--but beyond that, it would be strange to know we were the only ones. It's depressing because we're alone and we're the best the universe has to offer with our wars, disease, poverty, and death; but maybe we'd pull together more, too.

The way I see it,

God speaks to those who have a heart to hear.

It's real...It's as solid as any thing tangible we hold in this life.

A person who has a belief in God and his son Christ has a hope in our eternal outcome.

And by hope I mean faith, not a wish as some might ascertain.

I appreciate satire and jovial approaches to what some might assume is simply a "checking out" of this realm.

But for those of us who have a secure and absolute resolve in our eternal existence, it's not a skit. Nor is it a comedic slap down of Christianity simply because we refuse to follow the world at laughing at all religions that hold fast to the belief that a righteous God still loves us.

And that is the wonderful part here...Love...forgiveness...redemption...salvation.

Are all words NOT mentioned here by you, but by God as a means to redeam his creation.

YOU!

And to all of you that continually tear down Christians and do so by way of slap stick comedy videos and back handed comments, try saying the same things about Muslims.

I dare you!

But none of you will!

Christians are the easy marks these days.

Phil, we once discussed it as a relevant means of two people of opposing opinions to find a common ground.

I don't see that anymore.

You planted the first religious seeds into this conversation and it’s you that is watering them as it progresses.

For someone who professes there is no God, why do you continually interject the subject into conversations?

Shawn.....><
  

Quoted from Ledbetter The way I see it, God speaks to those who have a heart to hear. It's real...It's as solid as any thing tangible we hold in this life. A person who has a belief in God and his son Christ has a hope in our eternal outcome. And by hope I mean faith, not a wish as some might ascertain. I appreciate satire and jovial approaches to what some might assume is simply a "checking out" of this realm. But for those of us who have a secure and absolute resolve in our eternal existence, it's not a skit. Nor is it a comedic slap down of Christianity simply because we refuse to follow the world at laughing at all religions that hold fast to the belief that a righteous God still loves us. And that is the wonderful part here...Love...forgiveness...redemption...salvation. Are all words NOT mentioned here by you, but by God as a means to redeam his creation. YOU! And to all of you that continually tear down Christians and do so by way of slap stick comedy videos and back handed comments, try saying the same things about Muslims. I dare you! But none of you will! Christians are the easy marks these days. Phil, we once discussed it as a relevant means of two people of opposing opinions to find a common ground. I don't see that anymore. You planted the first religious seeds into this conversation and it’s you that is watering them as it progresses. For someone who professes there is no God, why do you continually interject the subject into conversations? Shawn.....><

Quoted from Ledbetter Phil, we once discussed it as a relevant means of two people of opposing opinions to find a common ground. I don't see that anymore. You planted the first religious seeds into this conversation and it’s you that is watering them as it progresses.

Actually, I wasn't the first.  You were in post number two:

Quoted from Ledbetter And no… I didn’t come descendant of the monkey!

That's an intelligent design quote if I ever heard one.


In post eight, I wrote:

Quoted from Phil I've always thought that those who think we're the only intelligent life forms in the universe are pretencious assholes.  There are millions of planets out there.  How can we possibly be the only ones who can ponder this question?

While while I said goes against your personal beliefs, it is not necessarily a statement against religion.  I'm sure that there are athiests/theists/agnostics/whatever who feel we are the only intelligent life in the universe.


Jordan actually referred to the Bible in post 16, and followed it up with a statement that stated a non-religious viewpoint:

Quoted from Jordan According to Genesis 6:11-14, life exists only on Earth. So...if you drink that Kool-Aid, then...no.  Aliens don't exist.

Arty posted something expressing a non-religious belief and then I pointed out two 'Bible facts' that have been disproven.

I'm not the only one here who shares my beliefs and I didn't start the fire this time.

Quoted from jayrex Unless we visit every planet out there, we can't rule it out.

Not necessarily true.  We could find intelligent life a lot sooner than that.  And we just need to find it on one planet


Phil

Quoted from dogglebe And no… I didn’t come descendant of the monkey! That's an intelligent design quote if I ever heard one. Phil

No, Actually...

It came from O'Brother, Where Art Thou-

              WIZARD
And from all those smart-ass folk
say we come descended from the
monkeys!  That's not my culture'n
heritage!

Not an exact quote but that was what I was eluding to...

Shawn.....><

I like the X Files.

Quoted from NickSedario Just curious as to what your personal take and/or belief is about aliens. Is there something or someone else out there?

Yes.

A few billion years more advanced or less advanced, but "Yes."


Put fuel, flame, and oxygen in a space and you're gonna eventually get fire whether you like it or not.
Same thing.

Probability suggests life should be abundant in the universe.

A problem is this: where is it?

If the universe is teeming with life, as it should be, why are there no signs yet?

So the mystery remains.

And if they are here visiting, I highly doubt they are flying around the Midwest mutilating cattle.

Quoted from KevinLenihan Probability suggests life should be abundant in the universe. A problem is this: where is it? If the universe is teeming with life, as it should be, why are there no signs yet?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_universe
"In physical cosmology, the age of the universe is the time elapsed since the Big Bang. The best measurement of the age of the universe is 13.798�0.037 billion years "

Think of a marathon.
After a few hours the competitors are strung out fairly well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mass_extinction

And here on Earth we keep stopping to tie our shoes every few hundred million years.

Now, consider how much human history has changed over the last hundred years, thousand years, ten-thousand years, hundred-thousand years, million years, ten-million years, hundred million years, five-hundred million years, one billion years, two, three, and four billion years.
Now imagine human evolution over the next million years, which cosmologically isn't squat.

Go back and join the marathon runner scenario with the human evolution scenario and peg us at 4.5billion years into a currently 14billion year race.

We're probably not going to technologically recognize the development of any other extraterrestrial life forms much farther ahead of us.
Anything behind us isn't getting off it's planet and out of it's solar system any better than we are.
Anything that can is likely pretty bizarre to us.
The likelihood of something else both being in a developmental near-tie with us - AND - nearby is pretty darn thin.



It's out there.
Just don't worry about it.
Bugs don't ponder entomologists for very long.

I can appreciate the logic of your math, Ray. However, the problem remains: no evidence.

The likelihood of lifeforms existing in a form we would recognize is indeed thin. And they would be spread pretty far out.

But in a universe of billions and billions of galaxies, even something that exists in a very tiny percentage of instances will be found millions of times.

So while I also believe alien life is likely, the lack of evidence does remain a scientific puzzle. I no more assume that intelligent alien life exists than I would that an intelligent creator does. I am open to all possibilities, but without evidence these remain mysteries worth pondering over coffee or decent scotch!

Quoted from Ledbetter No, Actually... It came from O'Brother, Where Art Thou-

But you made a statement by using that quote.

Quoted from Ledbetter And to all of you that continually tear down Christians and do so by way of slap stick comedy videos and back handed comments, try saying the same things about Muslims. I dare you! But none of you will! Christians are the easy marks these days.

There are no Muslims on Simplyscripts quoting from the Quran that we can 'tear down.'


Phil

My staement?

Excuse me,

But didn't you have as an Avatar, a dog hanging from a crucifix?

You have been and continue to be one of the most anti-Christian voices on this site.

Funny for a man who wrote his last script regarding biblical figures

Again, easy pickings...

Perhaps your next one can be about Muhammad…

Or better yet...Madalyn O'Hair. Wasn't she God in your Atheist world?

Shawn…..><