In news:8jtcn09sg09qntfcsdgkgp2lc85k5hrbe7@4ax.com,
f/f george <george@yourplace.com> blithered:

On Wed, 20 Oct 2004 07:59:18 -0400, "Lambchop"
<holy_saiyan1@_(REMOVETHIS)_hotmail.com> wrote:

Hi,

There's been an awful lot of Christian-bashing going on lately in
the SETI forums, so I think that it's high time that one Christian
who doesn't believe that SETI is evil spoke out for the majority.

To me, it seems arrogant and selfish in the extreme for a supposed
Christian to say in no uncertain terms that humans are the only life
in the universe. If we were the only intelligent life, why would the
intelligent designer that Christians believe in bother creating a
whole universe?  Wouldn't just one solar sytem, or a galaxy suffice?
Why go through all that bother to create a seemingly infinite
universe, if He (or She) was going to just have one intelligent
species to inhabit it?

Also, in my humble opinion, that the universe, and exterrestrial
intelligence for that matter, serves a purpose much similar to that
of a neighborhood playground or park.  Please bear with me as I
continue this analogy.

Ever since we were born, we've been forced to look out the window at
this huge, beautiful playground, with all kinds of slides and swings
and tetter-totters.  We've wanted so badly to open the door and run
outside and see if there are any other kids to play with, but we
can't quite reach the doorknob, no matter how hard we try.

But, as time goes on and we grow taller and stronger, each attempt
gets us a little bit closer to turning the doorknob and opening the
door completely. Soon, we'll be tall enough and strong enough to
open that door and run outside and go play in that playground for as
long as we want, whenever we want.

Will there be other kids out there?  We don't know, but a part of us
hopes so.  If there are, some of them will want to make friends, and
maybe others will want to be bullies.  It's a playground for
everyone, not just one or two kids.  Sure, we'll get a few bruises
and get knocked around a little, but you can't live at home your
whole life!  Life "out there" might be tough, but it's worth the
friendships and worth the knowledge that you're not alone in the
playground.

The point of this analogy, and this post as a whole, is to basically
say that the teachings of Christianity and the Bible actually have
nothing to say about the subject of the existance of exterrestial
intelligence.  As I see it, SETI@Home is a good thing for humanity,
because it allows us to not only answer the question of "Are there
any other kids out there, or am I the only kid in my neighborhood?"
but it allows us to search ourselves and our beliefs.  How will
Earth react if intelligent life is found in the universe? I don't
know.  But SETI@Home gets people thinking about how THEY'd react,
and that is always a good thing.

The most challenging things to do are most always the ones that
people resist the most.

Jesse Hathaway

Very well said!

To Paraphrase Kelvin, The most obvious proof there is superior intellegent life 
out there is they've steadfastly avoided coming here!

-- 
UR SHGb02+14 &ICMFP
If at first you don't succeed,
maybe skydiving's not for you!