From the religiousite perspective, an alien from another planet would have to be, by definition, not a son of Adam, and therefore, regardless of apparent sentience and intelligence, it would not be an ensouled living being.
(and yes, I am aware the Pope is REALLY confused about this)
And as such, it's status would be equivalent to an animal. Now, as to whether or not we'd eat 'em, I would suggest making sure they aren't looking for an excuse to nuke us, and I'd think the testing needed to ascertain if they would be SAFE to eat, might take millions, if not billions of dollars, and might take decades.
Hope you're not hungry.
(my safe to eat concerns are centered around doing long term toxicity and prion effects on ALL alien proteins and their analogs. It would be EXTREMELY difficult and expensive to determine the edibility of an alien life form!!!)
(and yes, I am aware the Pope is REALLY confused about this)
And as such, it's status would be equivalent to an animal. Now, as to whether or not we'd eat 'em, I would suggest making sure they aren't looking for an excuse to nuke us, and I'd think the testing needed to ascertain if they would be SAFE to eat, might take millions, if not billions of dollars, and might take decades.
Hope you're not hungry.
(my safe to eat concerns are centered around doing long term toxicity and prion effects on ALL alien proteins and their analogs. It would be EXTREMELY difficult and expensive to determine the edibility of an alien life form!!!)
