Alien Question for Atheists

[The Grand Nudger]

Proof of what, moses and sorcerors turning sticks into snakes?  Gee, I wonder.  Maybe someone turning a stick into a snake might help?

[Mystic]

But you said it's the same as sorcery of sorcerers per the story of Quran. So how would it be helpful.

[KevinM1]

Proof of what, moses and sorcerors turning sticks into snakes?  Gee, I wonder.  Maybe someone turning a stick into a snake might help?

Thusla Doom could do it:

[Foxaèr]

Proof of what, moses and sorcerors turning sticks into snakes?  Gee, I wonder.  Maybe someone turning a stick into a snake might help?

I'm sure David Copperfield could do it.

[Succubus]

...A person who genuinely seeks truth wouldn't turn a blind eye to strong evidence that points in a different direction as what they already think is true. I suppose people like that exist in all groups.

The Truth is... the god of the Catholic Church does not, and can not exist.

[The Grand Nudger]

But you said it's the same as sorcery of sorcerers per the story of Quran. So how would it be helpful.

How would it be helpful to see someone turn a stick into a snake...as opposed to hearing stories about people turning sticks into snakes?  I'll let you sit on that one for awhile..see if you can figure it out.

[I_am_not_mafia]

Yeah. It's the same exact attitude as some religious folks take when they act like nothing could ever convince them that something about their religious beliefs is wrong. A person who genuinely seeks truth wouldn't turn a blind eye to strong evidence that points in a different direction as what they already think is true. I suppose people like that exist in all groups.

But it's not strong evidence.

Think about it, the similarities could only be limited precisely because aliens are not humans living on Earth with a similar evolutionary history. Like for example, the alien version of Jesus wouldn't die on a cross if it had 8 legs. And as I mentioned you'd have to also compare how similar other aspects of the culture were. If the culture was radically different in every other way except for a striking resemblance to christianity then that would be more noteworthy than if the two cultures were quite similar in all other regards.

That's if it's even possible to have an alien christianity. When you look at the issues in more depth it becomes as nonsensical as to trying to figure out what a god could possibly be.

And as I also mentioned, like with convergent evolution you would have to consider the function and role that the religion had within the both human and alien society and it's own history of how it evolved over time. And christianity as a human religion has evolved. The christianity that you practise will be very different from the form practised in the first century. And it's evolving as time goes by. This is why you get so many schisms and why the Pope comes up with new rules or why Mormonism was created and why they had to change their stance on black people.

[Mystic]

But you said it's the same as sorcery of sorcerers per the story of Quran. So how would it be helpful.

How would it be helpful to see someone turn a stick into a snake...as opposed to hearing stories about people turning sticks into snakes?  I'll let you sit on that one for awhile..see if you can figure it out.

Well, you tell me how it would helpful. Sure it would change your views on magic, but would that be a good thing or not.

Would you go the path of learning magic and relying on adapts and hidden beings who have no proof they are your guides.

Maybe you would believe in a Creator in this instance or just believe the universe is more mysterious.

The point is you explicitly said it's all the same miracles and sorcery, they are the same and on par.

So basically you would accept no miracle and would assert it's sorcery, as Arabs per Quran accused Mohammad of being.

[I_am_not_mafia]

What would be even more amazing than the aliens have a christian like religion would be if they looked exactly like humans. It's a standard trope in sci-fi which we all take for granted but the chances of that happening are negligible.

I'd be blown away by that too, but there could be evolutionary reasons for that to happen. Fingers are neccesary for tool use, upright walking for distance travel, etc. So I'd be shocked for sure, but I'd say a Christian like religion I'd put it in the realm of so shocking as to be miraculous.

But you could have two species occupying a similar niche leading to convergent evolution and coming up with similar solutions and you'd still not be able to pass one off as the other.

I mean, two eyes, a nose, mouth, upright, fingers, two ears etc. By itself it's not actually enough to look human. Humanoid aliens would also have to share a similar evolutionary history. And even then a neanderthal would stand out in a crowd from homo sapien for example. Because if you get too close but not close enough then you get the uncanny valley effect.

So yes, aliens able to pass themselves off as humans on the right side of the uncanny valley would be far more amazing than aliens with a religion that had simple functional similarities to christianity.

[The Grand Nudger]

How would it be helpful to see someone turn a stick into a snake...as opposed to hearing stories about people turning sticks into snakes?  I'll let you sit on that one for awhile..see if you can figure it out.

Well, you tell me how it would helpful. Sure it would change your views on magic, but would that be a good thing or not.

Would you go the path of learning magic and relying on adapts and hidden beings who have no proof they are your guides.

Maybe you would believe in a Creator in this instance or just believe the universe is more mysterious.

The point is you explicitly said it's all the same miracles and sorcery, they are the same and on par.

So basically you would accept no miracle and would assert it's sorcery, as Arabs per Quran accused Mohammad of being.

What;s the  difference between the "miracle" of a stick turning into a snake and the "sorcery" of a stick turning into a snake?  I;d be amazed that sticks could be turned into snakes, beyond that, meh.