The left-wing is crazy and the right-wing scares the shit out of me!

Allan's Perspective is NOT recommended for the politically correct, or the overly religious. Some people have opinions. Some people have convictions......... What we offer is PERSPECTIVE!




Wednesday, 11 November 2009

Aliens come out of the closet!

The Roman Catholic Church has been making some profoundly interesting moves lately in it's acceptance of mainstream science!

As a mater of fact folks, when you read between the lines, the "Answer Man" has come to the conclusion that further "earth shattering" revelations are in the works.

First a brief summary of what we already know !

Guest Post by ARIEL DAVID, Associated Press:

The Roman Catholic Church's relationship with science has come a long way since Galileo was tried as a heretic in 1633 and forced to recant his finding that the Earth revolves around the sun.

(Church teaching at the time placed Earth at the center of the universe!)

Today's top clergy, including the Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes, an astronomer and director of the Vatican Observatory, openly endorse scientific ideas like the Big Bang theory as a reasonable explanation for the creation of the universe.

The theory says the Universe began billions of years ago (13.7) in the explosion of a single, super-dense point that contained all matter.

Earlier this year, the Vatican sponsored a conference on evolution to mark the 150Th anniversary of Charles Darwin's "The Origin of Species."

The event snubbed the Baptist Church, (and other proponents of alternative theories, like creationism and intelligent design) which sees a higher being, rather than the process of natural selection behind the evolution of species.

Working with scientists to explore fundamental questions that are of interest to religion is in line with the teachings of Pope Benedict XVI, who has made strengthening the relationship between faith and reason a key aspect of his papacy.

Recent Popes have been working to overcome the accusation that the Church was hostile to science — a reputation grounded in the Galileo affair.

In 1992, Pope John Paul II declared the ruling against the astronomer was an error resulting from "tragic mutual incomprehension."

The Vatican Museums opened an exhibit last month marking the 400Th anniversary of Galileo's first celestial observations.

Tommaso Maccacaro, president of Italy's national institute of astrophysics, said at the exhibits Oct. 13 opening that astronomy has had a major impact on the way we perceive ourselves.

"It was astronomical observations that let us understand that Earth (and man) don't have a privileged position or role in the universe," he said. "I ask myself what tools will we use in the next 400 years, and I ask what revolutions of understanding they'll bring about, like resolving the mystery of our apparent cosmic solitude."

The Vatican Observatory has also been at the forefront of efforts to bridge the gap between religion and science. Its scientist-clerics have generated top-notch research and its meteorite collection is considered one of the world's best.
Still, according to some Catholic spokesmen, there are divisions within the Church that could make it difficult to accept the concept of alien life.

Alien Life?

How did this backroom issue suddenly get lumped in with all the other scientific stuff that has been discussed with such fervor over the last while?

I mean, right out of the blue, the Church throws "aliens" into the soup........, and this gets people wondering what's going on!

I know I do!

Well, let's look at it carefully, throw some of this crap against the wall....., and see what sticks!

After all, it's widely accepted that our Governments can't, and won't, support the idea of Alien intelligences interacting with people here on earth!

However, no such limitations (that I am aware of) would be placed on the Church, and if anybody is in a position to know........ it would be the Pope and his buddies!

"The questions of life's origins and of whether life exists elsewhere in the universe are very suitable and deserve serious consideration," said the Rev. Jose Gabriel Funes.

Funes, a Jesuit priest, presented the results Tuesday of a five-day conference that gathered astronomers, physicists, biologists and other experts to discuss the budding field of astrobiology — the study of the origin of life and its existence elsewhere in the cosmos.

Funes said the possibility of alien life raises "many philosophical and theological implications," but added that the gathering was mainly focused on the scientific perspective and how different disciplines can be used to explore the issue.

"Both science and religion posit life as a special outcome of a vast and mostly inhospitable universe," he told a news conference Tuesday. "There is a rich middle ground for dialogue between the practitioners of astrobiology and those who seek to understand the meaning of our existence in a biological universe."

Thirty scientists, including non-Catholics, from the U.S., France, Britain, Switzerland, Italy and Chile attended the conference, called to explore among other issues "whether sentient life forms exist on other worlds."

Funes set the stage for the conference a year ago when he discussed the possibility of alien life in an interview given prominence in the Vatican's daily newspaper.

The Church of Rome's views have shifted radically through the centuries since Italian philosopher Giordano Bruno was burned at the stake as a heretic in 1600 for speculating, among other ideas, that other worlds could be inhabited.

Scientists have discovered hundreds of planets outside our solar system — including 32 new ones announced recently by the European Space Agency. Impey said the discovery of alien life may be only a few years away.

"If biology is not unique to the Earth, or life elsewhere differs bio-chemically from our version, or we ever make contact with an intelligent species in the vastness of space, the implications for our self-image will be profound," he said.

This is not the first time the Vatican has explored the issue of extraterrestrials: In 2005, its observatory brought together top researchers in the field for similar discussions.

In the interview last year, Funes told Vatican newspaper L'Osservatore Romano that believing the universe may host aliens, even intelligent ones, does not contradict a faith in God.

"How can we rule out that life may have developed elsewhere?" Funes said in that interview.

"Just as there is a multitude of creatures on Earth, there could be other beings, even intelligent ones, created by God. This does not contradict our faith, because we cannot put limits on God's creative freedom."

Funes maintained that if intelligent beings were discovered, they would also be considered "part of creation."
So, after everything is said and done, could it be that the Church is about to come out of the closet and spring little green men on us?

Allan W Janssen is the author of the book The Plain Truth About God (What the mainstream religions don't want you to know......!) and is available as an E-Book H E R E! and H E R E! And as a paperback H E R E ! and H E R E !

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