Aliens and the Bible

I have been looking into the subject since the mid 60s, and just like any other religious cult, like crystal power, astrology, bigfoot, the Loch Ness monster, ghosts, invisible faeries, poltergeists, magic magnetic bracelets, Charlie Manson, and so on and so on, are Bullshit!This is what happened at Roswell: Page not found | Skeptical Inquirer
As to any personal knowledge of the principals, I am a triple graduate of NMT, so obviously I have met Moore and Thomas and have even discussed this very incident with the latter.I have found that studying the generation of this new cult is quite informative and amusing. It is interesting that there were no alien bodies in the crash until the movie Hangar 18 came out in 1980.So not only are all the scientists involved in some worldwide conspiracy to promote things like evolution, an old earth, and gravity; but we also have the entire military all the way down to MP private Sad Sack able to keep his mouth shut about all those UFO debris and aliens on ice.Yet Stalin knew what was going on at Los Alamos before Truman was even informed by his own subordinates.Also, Isn't it a bit difficult to have more than one absolutely unquestionable and exclusive religion at the same time? What if the UFO cult says something that contradicts the fundie cult? How does one choose? dice? Tarot? Valerian chance? (oops that's Roman superstition, now we are introducing a third cult belief system).I would caution you about believing in every cult except those founded upon human reason, like the sciences. You may wind up in the looney bin or worse, following that UFO behind Hale-Bopp.

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Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider - Francis BaconThe more we understand particular things, the more we understand God - Spinoza

And I guess no such thing as linguistics. So Old English = Middle English = Modern English in your UFO infested world. Or a bat, or a bug, or a ... How postmodernist (sophist) of you, nothing can be known, therefore all attempts to make the world better by learning about it are futile. I think it's time to go back to the basics, and that means Socrates (via Plato). Sorry, if you don't want any critical analysis of your preponderances, you are in the wrong place, not us. Also, as it has been pointed out, not all positions are equal, otherwise Charles Manson's claim to be Jesus is equally valid as g=(m1)(m2)/r squared.Skepticism is a part of philosophy, especially the philosophy of science. Gullibly accepting all prepositions as equally true is part of drinking kool aid laced with cyanide.

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Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider - Francis BaconThe more we understand particular things, the more we understand God - Spinoza

OK, you have shown you don't know squat about linguistics.You have also rightly shown that further discussion in this vein is off topic.So, if the Bible writes about extraterrestrials flying about in metal spaceships, why does the Christian religion have no historic tradition of worshiping space aliens? Did they lose interest after the Old Testament?Also, while IMO, life in the universe may be quite common, technologically advanced life (meaning able to manipulate its environment on a grand scale, like space travel) may not only be rare, but for all we know, unique.Of course, I have studied the history of the earth and understand how evolution (a concept you even deny linguistics) may have been accelerated due to stress. The precise level of environmental stress in the history of this planet may be difficult to reproduce without either too little for 'fast evolution' or too much for 'damn, have to start over again from scratch.'Then again, both time and space in a universal sense is beyond my comprehension, and from looking at this forum, is even much worse for many others. There is plenty of room and time for that technological alien to exist. I just don't understand why they only reveal themselves to bumpkins with unusual, and even in some cases sexually weird, fantasy lives, instead of the UN building.

They could also be ghosts, poltergeists, faeries, hobgoblins, or manifestations of the flying spaghetti monster. Unless you can precisely define and measure what you are talking about, there is no way that anyone else can distinguish your 'flights of fancy' from the ravings of an inmate at a lunatic asylum. That is not to say that imagination is a bad thing, just that all concepts are not equally valid in terms of apprehending reality. So go ahead and use your imagination to your heart's content, just don't expect others to find your arguments concerning the validity of your imaginings at all convincing. I think the problem is not that you are a writer, it is that you apparently have reading comprehension issues. You have shown that you have difficulty understanding the philosophic implications of the position 'all ideas are equally valid.' You also clearly do not understand the concept of evolution in either the broad sense or in the narrow sense employed in the ToE. Evolution does not mean 'moving toward better' it means 'change in response to environmental factors.' In the stricter ToE sense, evolution means 'change in hereditary traits from generation to generation' (among other suitable definitions). Languages and life may or may not have gotten 'better,' which is a subjective human judgment at best, but languages and life have most certainly 'changed in response to environmental factors.' That means contrary to your assertions, that languages and life evolve.You were a part of the discussion on the definition of evolution and apparently you also did actually read my post concerning the inequality of belief systems in terms of reality, which you argued was a straw man. How is it you failed to comprehend what was being written and failed to apprehend their relevance? Where did I say, imply, or even remotely address, this statement?IMO your speculations concerning the nature of aliens and UFOs are presented and argued as facts when they are simply fantasies. Edited by anglagard, : Add quoteEdited by anglagard, : clarity

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Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider - Francis BaconThe more we understand particular things, the more we understand God - Spinoza

Thanks, I like being compared to a gadfly. From: http://mw1.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/evolution

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3: the process of working out or developing

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This definition is one that may be applicable to linguistics. Thanks for the unexpected support of my position in this matter. I did not say that anyone who thinks they experience paranormal activity is a lunatic. I said that without any supporting evidence how can one honestly tell the difference.This is what I mean by reading comprehension problems.My mother claims to have ESP and gets messages from aliens. Based upon this, she has been diagnosed as having dementia. She is confined to a rest home to keep her from wandering off and getting run over by a truck. Therefore the diagnosis is for her own physical safety.If someone else claims to have ESP and gets messages from aliens, what condition am I supposed to compare this to based upon my personal experience?Not all claims concerning the nature of reality are equally valid according to human experience and history. Agree or disagree?

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Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider - Francis BaconThe more we understand particular things, the more we understand God - Spinoza

The evolution of English from old, to middle, to modern, may be termed a progression I guess as long as it is understood there is no grounds for a subjective judgment of 'better' or 'worse' and there is no final goal as a result of this progression. To you maybe, but there are several definitions depending upon context. This thread is evolving, that is changing over time due to environmental factors, yet this specific topic appears to be a digression. Trust is earned, through evidence of trustworthiness. Not everyone feels empty because they didn't buy the Brooklyn Bridge from that well-dressed, smooth-talkin' guy. Well, if someone claims to see something extraordinary, like fairies, they better have more evidence then their unsupported claim of personal trustworthiness for me to consider them anything other than delusional or dishonest. But of course that is my skeptical mind at work, the one that is not taken in by bridge salesmen. I have never claimed to be God or to know everything. I only claim that it is better to use critical thinking to evaluate the reliability of information rather than just believe every outlandish claim regardless of evidence.Rather you seem to claim to know what I think even when I explicitly deny that is my position. I say you are the one claiming such great and godlike psychic powers, you know what I think without me having ever said anything at all about the subject, such as when you claimed I believe humans are 'better' than aliens. A person has to use the methods of science to do science, it's as simple as that. No, I am saying that anyone who claims to own the Brooklyn Bridge better not only have the deed but also the evidence to convince my lawyer they actually own said bridge.But thanks for asking what I think for a change instead of telling me what I think.Edited by anglagard, : remove extra word

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Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider - Francis BaconThe more we understand particular things, the more we understand God - Spinoza

How is the Christian God served by believing UFOs are anything but misinterpretations of physical phenomena? Did Jesus preach - believe in everything except science and critical thinking?IMO your apparent assertion that everything is true except science is a great way to demean the only direct works of God and therefore God herself. Also, when Charlie Manson says he is Jesus and Jim Jones says he is Jesus, how do you choose which one to believe? After all, from what I can gather according to your philosophy, both claims are equally true, as opposed to my skepticism, which says both are equally false.

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Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider - Francis BaconThe more we understand particular things, the more we understand God - Spinoza

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How is the Christian God served by believing UFOs are anything but misinterpretations of physical phenomena?

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You have falsely attributed this question to Dr. Adequate when it came from me (Anglagard). See Message 128While I am quite flattered to be mistakenly confused with Dr. A, we are two different posters. In the future, please try to be more accurate in linking quotations to the appropriate source as false attributions tend to detract from the integrity of your overall argument.

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Read not to contradict and confute, not to believe and take for granted, not to find talk and discourse, but to weigh and consider - Francis BaconThe more we understand particular things, the more we understand God - Spinoza