Does a belief in Christ prevent a belief in Aliens?

Wanted to go back and touch on a subject that has been bugging me since the last post. In the last post I said this:

Now, this isn't because I am a Christian, and believe that God made the planet specifically for us, and made humans unique out of all the creature(s) in the universe.

The more I thought about this, the more I wanted to address the topic whether or not a belief in Jesus Christ prevents people from believing in Aliens that originate outside of planet earth. This isn't the first time I've gone after really controversial stuff, as one of my more controversial opinions is that you cannot be a Christian and a Democrat. In that case, the two are mutually exclusive. Is a belief in Aliens and Jesus Christ also mutually exclusive?

The first short answer is technically yes. A belief in Christ means you cannot believe in Aliens. The other short answer is technically no. Believing in Christ means you either have to believe in life outside of Planet Earth, or you have to accept the possibility that you are not alone in the universe.

Here's why the question can actually go both ways.

One of the major problems I have with Vertical Evolution is that teaches people that they are worthless. Vertical Evolution teaches that the universe, the solar system, the sun, the plants, the animals, planet Earth itself, and all the humans on it, derived from sheer numerical chance. In other words, you, as a person, are not special. You have no worth. You have no value. You are a product of chance, have a nice life.

Creationism teaches that people have value. You have been created by a force that you don't understand. That force loves you. That force cares for you. That force values you for you. You are special.

As already stated in the previous post, Vertical Evolution defies the laws of physics and requires that reality has broken itself with no consequence or other side effects that were not beneficial. While Creationism also defies the laws of physics and requires that breaking of reality, Creationism assigns a force behind those events, a force that does explain why the laws of our reality could be broken with only beneficial effects.

Now, I believe in what the Bible says. I believe that God created the Earth. I believe that God created Humans. I also believe it when God says that he made all humans special, above all of his other creations. If I accept what Genesis says at face value, and I have no scientific or theological reason not to, then I find myself in the position of presuming that God created no other planets like planet Earth, or creatures like humans.

Since I also believe in what the Bible says, I believe that the war for the souls of humans was fought on this planet. I believe that Jesus Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, was crucified by Jews, was buried in a tomb, and was raised from the dead by his father 3 days later.

I do not believe that Jesus merely swooned on the cross. The Roman soldiers pierced the body of Jesus with a spear, which in pop culture is often referred to as the Spear of Longinus. Now, while I freely admit that I'm not an expert on the Romans, I do know that the guys had the whole killing people for fun thing down pat. Keep in mind the Romans were the kind of people who would shove a fist through somebody's butt, grab their heart, and rip it out. Any Roman soldier shoving a spear into a person isn't going to do it gently, or with care. So when the Roman's said something to the effect of "This Guy is Dead" I'm inclined to BELIEVE THEM.

I do not beleive that the disciples stole Jesus's body away. Again, I'm not an expert on the Roman's, but I do know this. The Roman's posted their soldiers in front of my God's tomb. Soldier's who quite literally would be killed ON SIGHT if they were caught goofing off. As the records of Julius's Caeser's battles indicate, the Romans had a very good handle on group fighting, solo fighting, and generally kicking everybody's elses rump. I'm supposed to believe that a bunch of fishermen and a tax collector overcame a group of trained Roman Soldiers? I don't think so. I think so even less when later records revealed that the Roman soldiers were never punished for the event, strange when a simple theft would probably have been punished by the soldiers getting crucified.

I do not believe that Roman Soldier guard stood aside for a political plot either. The Roman government had no reason to cause conflict with the Jews. The Roman records seconded the Gospel's in reporting that Barabbas the murderer was released when Jesus was sent to be crucified, to pacify the Jews. Why on earth would the Roman government deliberatly cause additional conflict by telling their soldiers to stand aside while they hid the body? Again, I'm not an expert on the Roman's, but that's just pure insanity.

I therefor have to conclude that the over 500 indivual citizens that witnessed Jesus after the very public execution were telling the truth about what they saw. If I was a lawyer today and I had 50 witness's for a crime, I'd be dancing. To have TEN TIMES THAT NUMBER? Oh yeah, and then there's account of the disciples, many who died under methods that wouldn't seem out of place in a Saw movie. All of them were given the chance to recant and claim Jesus hadn't risen. None did. Can you imagine yourself willingly dying for something you knew for a fact that was a lie? If you can, go seek help.

Okay, so I believe that Jesus Christ rose. I believe that Jesus Christ won the war for my soul here, on this planet.

I am therefor in the position that I don't believe in life outside of Earth. As egotistical as it sounds, this planet is the center of the universe. Jesus died for us. Not for our dogs. Not for our cats. Not for our horses. Jesus died for the only sentient beings on the planet... humans.

Now here's the twister. Jesus Christ also commanded his followers to go and spread the news. To tell everybody that he had risen. Not just to tell the Jews that the prophicies of the Messiah had been fulfilled and that Jesus Christ was the Risen Savior, but to tell the Gentiles. According to the Bible, Jesus Christ appeared yet again to Peter, explicitely for the purpose of sending him unto the Unwashed Masses (Acts 10:9-16).

Back then, nobody had any idea how big the Earth was. Realistically, some people still don't know how big the earth is. I'm not saying that there are reports of lost jungle tribes being discovered everyday in South America, nor that there are undiscovered tribes in Africa, but as far as I'm aware, there are parts of the world that nobody who those in the US, Europe, or Japan, would consider civilized have stepped in.

If there is actually life outside of Planet Earth, it would be the mission of the Christian to take the message of the Risen Savior onwards.

The problem is complicated by the factor that Christians actually do have to believe that there exists life outside of Earth. Where did Jesus go to? Where is God? Where is Heaven? Where is Hell?

Emperical evidence dictates that other plains of existance do exist. Over 500 people at once saw Jesus Christ ascend to the sky. According to the Bible, Peter witnessed the return of Elijah and Moses to Earth, two figures in Jewish history who had reportedly been taken up to Heaven directly, who had never died.

Then there's the whole subject of Vertical Evolution / Creationism again. In order for God to create the universe... he'd have to exist outside of that universe.

So a Christian has to accept that there is life outside of Planet Earth. A Christian has to accept that there are Angles and that there are Fallen Angels. What was it, one third of the heavenly host at once ejected from Heaven?

So the original question becomes a trick question with no presumably correct answer. By a strict interpretation, Planet Earth is Unique and that's it. Also by strict interpretation, there is more than we can see, and there could have been more created.

***

Which is about where we lead into the next question: Why are so many people fixated on the possiblity of exterrestial life? Why do so many people invest in projects like SETI? Seriously, even if you accept a starting point of 1960 for when people first started collecting data, we've only got Electromagnetic Radiation that's 49 years old. Which means, in terms of light, we can only see 49 years into the past from items that are 49 light years away. Let me make that clear: We can only detect and witness events that travel at the speed of light, in order of long they took to travel, which from 1960 is 49 years. 1970 is 10, 1980 is 20, 1990 is 30, 2000 is 40, 2009 is 49.

So, even if something was found at the extreme end of that data, we'd still have no practical way of making use of that data. Now, I'm not saying that SETI is useless, but as a searching tool it makes Folding@Home look like a good idea.

The answer I think is simple, and I think OC Supertones said quite well in their Little Man song. There's a hole in my heart.

I've said before that I believe that this world is corrupted. I believe that this world is broken. I believe that the cause of that corruption is sin. The effects of sin reverberate throughout the world each day.

Sin is a defect in humans, and only God can fill in the hole caused by sin. People who reject God, reject Jesus, seek other means to fill the voids in their hearts. A good case in point is the classic rock genre where great musicians develop hideous drug habits, many who died as a result of thier addictions. Now, I'm not saying there is a John Schlitt for every John Bonham, somebody who turns around and makes their life better with the help of Jesus Christ after a serious drug addiction...

Yet the question remains: What were all of these stars with money, fame, and fortune searching for? Why did they turn to drugs? Why did they die? Didn't they have everything they wanted? Of course, from the perspective of now, they didn't have everything. They were lacking something... I think that something was Jesus, and I'll point to all of the artists who became Christians as prime examples of people who found what fame and fortune were not delivering.

In the same way, those who are fixated on exterrestial life could be trying to fill a void in themselves. They can't accept that our plane of existance, we very well probably are alone in this universe.

Many of the Alien watchers believe in Evolution, which again, teaches that they are wortheless specks of dust. For some, it's a pursuit of meaning. It's trying to find something that is more valuable than themselves.

It's not a complete answer, and in some ways I don't understand the desires of one who would want to find exterrestial life.

By that token though, I don't understand how a fully sane and rational person could ever be a Democrat. Perhaps I don't want to be able to understand.