NoMoreFaith's suggestion

[Bueller]

Religious views: I believe that the god of the Bible is real and that Jesus is his son sent to guide us in our lives. However, I don't believe that the Bible was written by God. It was written by humans who, mostly, totally misunderstood the message that was being given which is why Jesus was sent, to clear things up if you like.

You do realise the glaring implication of what you just omitted right? If the writers of the Bible who supposedly were "divinely inspired" by this being yet totally misinterpreted the supposed "divine message" of this external supernatural source, then you have no basis whatsoever to assert the Bible as credible or reliable. You cannot assert its still a valid and factual representation of your deity if they completely misunderstood the messages. Where's your justification for this statement?

I don't think that the Bible is reliable or credible. If it were we wouldn't have needed Jesus. And if Jesus's message in the Bible was reliable or credible then we wouldn't need alien contact which I believe will come soon. The Bible however does contain many clues and signs as to what was happening back then that, if you read it correctly, can help us to understand our place in the Cosmos.

I believe this contact will come in the form of alien contact from an older and more advanced race who will teach us about the divine and share with us their knowledge and technology.

What happens if the first contact we get comes from an invasive warmongering alien species? Or worse? What if they're "life" but not as we know it? Life-forms which have the same regard and disdain for us as we would for mould growing on vegetables? They look upon us 'ugly carbon-based life-forms' with contempt and treat us no differently than an infestation that should be exterminated as quickly as possible. Why do you assume just because they're technologically more advanced than us they're certainly bound to be peace-loving, benign and respect diversity across the cosmos?

Yes, they might be warmongering aliens in which case we may be wiped out completely and that will be the end of the Human Race but, we will then be reincarnated into a similar species, perhaps some of us might end up as part of the race that wiped the Humans out.

We will also learn that up until that point we have been shielded from the rest of the Galaxy not only to protect us from some of the more dangerous races but also to allow us to develop unimpeded from unwanted interference.

Wait a minute... what? So there are dangerous life-forms out there that can invade us but something is preventing them? Like what?

Yes, of course there are dangerous civilisations out there, why wouldn't there be? Humans are a pretty dangerous race themselves. However, we are being protected from all that at the moment by decree of the, for want of a better phrase, Galactic government as we are so unable to defend ourselves.

Obviously therefore it follows that I believe that the Universe is brimming over with life and civilisations, some very young and spiritually undeveloped as we were before agriculture ranging all the way to so far advanced and knowledgeable that we would not even recognise them as life at all.

I don't know where this is coming from. The vast majority of the cosmos, as we know, is chaotic, violent and hostile to life in general. Case in point: How many planets in our solar system can support life?

Also, how much of that planet(s) surface/terrain is inhospitable to life?

The Earth can support life, Mars may have and perhaps still does, Europa shows all the signs of being habitable to its own marine life and Titan is a very good candidate for life with its dense atmosphere and abundance of organic chemicals.

And that's just in our solar system!

The more advanced a race becomes the closer to God

You just said there were dangerous races out there more technologically advanced than us didn't you?

Just because a race is more advanced than us does not mean that it is 'advanced' by Cosmic standards. We are certainly not the benchmark by which life throughout the Cosmos is to be judged.

ultimately it finds its own way to heaven, which is what God wants from us, to work things out for ourselves sometimes on our own and sometimes with the help of others.

Why does god want us to be independent by returning to him and thereby becoming dependant on him in an idyllic higher plane of existence? Sorry, but you're not making any sense so far.

We come from her and ultimately we will return to her. Doesn't mean that we won't retain our own sense of self and our independence.

If, like humans, we are still part of a somewhat primitive and ignorant civilisation then we stay within that group of civilisations that are on a similar level to us and get reincarnated to a level dictated by the life we have just led.

Ugh. I'm losing interest fast. Give me the void of oblivion any day over fucking reincarnation. I could never be so cruel as to drag someone who had a shitty life back into existence so they get to do the same song-and-dance all over again just for my amusement. That's a fate worst than death.

Glad to hear it. You're making the mistake of thinking of God as a separate person who does things at will for his own pleasure or purpose. That's not how it is at all.

Of course, if they then muck that life up there is nothing stopping them being demoted back to a lesser civilisation next time around. It's a bit like Cosmic snakes and ladders.

That board game analogy strengthens my resolve. Fuck that. I'd DEFINITELY prefer the void of oblivion over this endless cycle of specie-swapping bullshit.

If you really feel that way then who knows, maybe you'll get your wish. Just a shame that you won't be around to appreciate it.

During this time we can use the morphic resonance field to form a connection with them, although it does tend to be a bit hit and miss sometimes.

...please stop...

What a pointless thing to say :S

He is conscious, caring, loving and wise beyond our comprehension and that we, as conscious beings are a small but important part of that Cosmic consciousness.

Then why say he's conscious, caring, loving and wise if you can't comprehend the being you're talking about? Why say anything at all?

You can't comprehend the scale of the Cosmos but you still understand that it is immense.

He may be more powerful and knowledgeable than it is possible for even some of the most advanced races to comprehend but he, like us, is still learning and growing and we are a way to help him do that.

Apart from substituting the label 'universe' for 'god' which is a done-to-death exercise do you have any evidence for this?

Yes.

What is the name of these beliefs you have? It sounds like some bizarre integration of Christianity, Scientology, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism, and too many Friday nights watching reruns of Star Trek the Next Generation.

Farscape, Babylon V, Star Trek, Star Wars and the like have a lot more truth in them than you might imagine!!

Ok then sweetheart? Does that help?