Extraterrestrials

Having just finished the four-part documentary, The Expanding Universe (World Almanac Video, 1999), the question of whether extraterrestrial lifeforms exist outside our planet's atmosphere lingers. It's not just a matter of primitive vs. intelligent lifeforms, but also how such existence affects my religious beliefs, my theology.

The discovery of fossilized bacteria in meteorites originating from Mars has renewed interest in the search of living micro-organisms on the red planet. But more importantly it presents strong evidence for the existence of other organisms, intelligent or otherwise, elsewhere in this vast universe. Of interest to me is not whether this is true, but rather how it might affect my beliefs in case it is.

If the universe is indeed littered with countless different species of micro-organisms, how does this fit into my creationist view? Can it be incorporated? Can we still claim that God created all things in heaven and earth, including all exotic lifeforms throughout the universe? Or can this only be explained by evolution? Furthermore, if there are indeed intelligent space aliens out there, how do they fit into the grand scheme of things? Were they also created by God? If so, where do they stand in the Biblical big picture?

On the other hand, suppose the universe is indeed ruled only by probability. Evolutionists argue that, despite the terrible odds against life starting in a swamp by a stroke of lightning, enough time had passed to make it a realistic possibility. By the same token, astronomers would insist that the sheer immensity of the universe determines that there is a realistic possibility of intelligent life flourishing somewhere else, probably with more advanced technology than us. The question is then, why haven't we seen signs of such alien lifeforms? Why haven't they made contact if they have such superior technology? Of course, many are convinced that they have. Others might argue that the vast intergalactic distances would mean that any alien spaceships would take years to travel from one galaxy to another, and with there being so many galaxies in the universe, and so many stars in any given galaxy, they may never come across our unspectacular planet. This should not be taken as a sign that alien lifeforms do not exist.

The lack of radio signals that might indicate intelligence from outer space should not be perceived as a decision argument against extraterrestrials either. As our own Milky Way is some 100 000 light-years in diameter, a radio signal travelling from one edge through the nucleus would take 100 000 years to arrive on the opposite edge. A lot can happen within 100 000 years, including the birth and death of whole civilizations and species. The closest neighbouring major galaxy, Andromeda (M31), is 2.2 million light-years away. That means whatever radio signals we may receive from Andromeda is only indicative of whatever happened 2.2 million years ago. Is this alien-chasing not a futile exercise?

Anyway, just a jumble of thoughts after too much documentary-watching. I'll post more thoughts regarding time travel and parallel universes later.