Vatican: It's OK To Believe In Aliens

[Teacher Mark 53]

VATICAN CITY - The Vatican's chief astronomer says that believing in aliens does not contradict faith in God.

The Reverend Jose Gabriel Funes, the Jesuit director of the Vatican Observatory, says that the vastness of the universe means it is possible there could be other forms of life outside Earth, even intelligent ones.

In an interview published Tuesday by Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano, Funes says that such a notion "doesn't contradict our faith" because aliens would still be God's creatures.

The interview was headlined "The extraterrestrial is my brother." Funes said that ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom.

http://www.14wfie.com/Global/story.asp?S=8317204

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

Funes said that ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom.

Sounds consistent to me.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

So when is the Pope going to rip off his rubber mask?

[nane1104 146]

Funes said that ruling out the existence of aliens would be like "putting limits" on God's creative freedom.

Sounds consistent to me.

Yes, makes sense if you put it that way.

[Teacher Mark 53]

So when is the Pope going to rip off his rubber mask?

[dalegg 143]

I'm wondering now why he would say this. The Vatican didn't accept the world as being round until it was unmistakingly proven. They didn't accept that the Earth wasn't the center of the Universe until that was unmistakingly proven. Now its okay to accept Aliens? Hmm. What have they seen?

[Chica Yeyé 41]

So when is the Pope going to rip off his rubber mask?

You mean this one????

[Teacher Mark 53]

So when is the Pope going to rip off his rubber mask?

You mean this one????

:rofl:

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I'm wondering now why he would say this. The Vatican didn't accept the world as being round until it was unmistakingly proven. They didn't accept that the Earth wasn't the center of the Universe until that was unmistakingly proven. Now its okay to accept Aliens? Hmm. What have they seen?

Michael Jackson

[nane1104 146]

I'm wondering now why he would say this. The Vatican didn't accept the world as being round until it was unmistakingly proven. They didn't accept that the Earth wasn't the center of the Universe until that was unmistakingly proven. Now its okay to accept Aliens? Hmm. What have they seen?

LOL, I doubt they have seen anything...I think they are just pointing out that nowhere in the Bible does it say that there can't exist any other forms of life besides the human race.

On the other hand, nowhere in the bible can you read about the excistance of other creatures away from what lives on earth.

So, they aren't really saying anything.

[Teacher Mark 53]

The Drake Eqaution

The Drake Equation was developed by Frank Drake in 1961 as a way to focus on the factors which determine how many intelligent, communicating civilizations there are in our galaxy. The Drake Equation is:

N = N* fp ne fl fi fc fL

The equation can really be looked at as a number of questions:

N* represents the number of stars in the Milky Way Galaxy

Question: How many stars are in the Milky Way Galaxy?

Answer: Current estimates are 100 billion.

fp is the fraction of stars that have planets around them

Question: What percentage of stars have planetary systems?

Answer: Current estimates range from 20% to 50%.

ne is the number of planets per star that are capable of sustaining life

Question: For each star that does have a planetary system, how many planets are capable of sustaining life?

Answer: Current estimates range from 1 to 5.

fl is the fraction of planets in ne where life evolves

Question: On what percentage of the planets that are capable of sustaining life does life actually evolve?

Answer: Current estimates range from 100% (where life can evolve it will) down to close to 0%.

fi is the fraction of fl where intelligent life evolves

Question: On the planets where life does evolve, what percentage evolves intelligent life?

Answer: Estimates range from 100% (intelligence is such a survival advantage that it will certainly evolve) down to near 0%.

fc is the fraction of fi that communicate

Question: What percentage of intelligent races have the means and the desire to communicate?

Answer: 10% to 20%

fL is fraction of the planet's life during which the communicating civilizations live

Question: For each civilization that does communicate, for what fraction of the planet's life does the civilization survive?

Answer: This is the toughest of the questions. If we take Earth as an example, the expected lifetime of our Sun and the Earth is roughly 10 billion years. So far we've been communicating with radio waves for less than 100 years. How long will our civilization survive? Will we destroy ourselves in a few years like some predict or will we overcome our problems and survive for millennia? If we were destroyed tomorrow the answer to this question would be 1/100,000,000th. If we survive for 10,000 years the answer will be 1/1,000,000th.

When all of these variables are multiplied together when come up with:

N, the number of communicating civilizations in the galaxy.

The real value of the Drake Equation is not in the answer itself, but the questions that are prompted when attempting to come up with an answer. Obviously there is a tremendous amount of guess work involved when filling in the variables. As we learn more from astronomy, biology, and other sciences, we'll be able to better estimate the answers to the above questions. Many of these questions will be addressed in depth in future issues of Enigma.

Try it yourself!

http://www.activemind.com/Mysterious/Topic...e_equation.html

[HAL 9000 96]

God at the Vatican (An Alien)

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I'm wondering now why he would say this. The Vatican didn't accept the world as being round until it was unmistakingly proven. They didn't accept that the Earth wasn't the center of the Universe until that was unmistakingly proven. Now its okay to accept Aliens? Hmm. What have they seen?

LOL, I doubt they have seen anything...I think they are just pointing out that nowhere in the Bible does it say that there can't exist any other forms of life besides the human race.

On the other hand, nowhere in the bible can you read about the excistance of other creatures away from what lives on earth.

So, they aren't really saying anything.

Wouldn't that cause some sort of problem for the Church though - if we encountered some sort of intelligent alien life?

[Chica Yeyé 41]

Like the South Park version better....

[*JG* 2]

I think Aliens run the Vatican! Who else would ride around in that little Pope-mobile? I bet that thing really flies when no one is watching.