Aliens test the faith of Earth's religious believers

So here's a thought experiment to ponder, religious believers...

Aliens have come to Earth. They're from an advanced civilization in a galaxy far far away. Their spaceship is way beyond anything our scientists have even imagined. 

Technologically, it's immediately apparent that we are as sophisticated in their eyes as a chimpanzee with a termite-removing twig is to us. 

Fortunately, the aliens haven't come to destroy humanity. Well, let's rephrase that: they're fine with destroying us Homo sapiens one at a time. It's part of a game they like to play with denizens of the planets they visit.

The rules are simple. They ask intelligent beings (though, obviously, nowhere near as intelligent as they are) questions about reality. 

Not super-tough questions. The aliens understand that few, if any, cultures on the worlds they visit possess knowledge about the cosmos that's anywhere near as complete as what they know. 

So their game is to quiz members of the most advanced species on this planet, Earth, about things we should know. The aliens are expert at gauging the overall planetary I.Q. of the worlds they visit.

What they like to do is test individuals on their knowledge base -- sort of like an educator with a Ph.D. quizzing pre-schoolers on what they should have learned about the world. 

Except, in this game a wrong answer has a nasty consequence: death. These aliens are like planetary ant farmers. Aside from simply being fun to them, their game ends up with a planet inhabited by the beings most knowledgeable about reality.

Which to them is an open book.

There's a few nooks and crannies of the cosmos they don't totally understand, but not many. So they play a fair game -- especially since they only ask questions of humans that people should know the answers to.

Called to play the game (naturally you don't have a choice), you're pleased to see that the first questions you're asked are easy to answer. 

Water is composed of hydrogen and oxygen. Photons move at the speed of light. Our planet is spherical, not flat. You're beginning to feel pretty confident about winning this game and staying alive.

Until you hear the final question: "Does the God you believe in actually exist?" 

The aliens know your religious beliefs. After all, they know virtually everything. It won't work to respond with "I don't believe in God." They know that you do. 

Your problem with this question, compared to the others, is that you had good reasons for answering the aliens' previous queries the way you did. Facts are facts. A religious belief though... that's very different. 

The aliens are waiting for your answer.

You're tongue-tied, but your mind is racing. After all, for as long as you can remember you've been sure that God exists. Your faith is super strong. You've had no doubt, none at all, that the God of your religion is the most real entity in the cosmos.

Yet here you are, faced with aliens who know the truth about God in the same way they know the truth about every other significant fact about reality. There's no way to argue with them. They know if the God you believe in exists. 

What's your answer? Yes or No. Choose the wrong answer and your life is over. (The only upside is that you've learned whether your God is real before you die; the downside is that you're dead.)

Of course, the aliens could ask a similar question of human atheists: "Does any God actually exist?" We'd find it easier to answer, though, since the evidence points to "No." Religious believers are the ones who will have a much tougher time with "Does the God you believe in actually exist?"

So how would you respond deeply religious person? Are you willing to stake your life on your belief, knowing that the aliens possess the factual answer? 

Comments

[x]

Believers will assume the aliens are agents of the Devil, and will proudly confess their faith and accept their death, confident that they'll be rewarded in the afterlife for their steadfast stupidity.

[777]

:-)

The answer is : NO

because
Even if the concept of God would be correct
while dicting the answer Zillions of nanoseconds having passed
during which God made Xillions of new universes to still His endless desire for Love

God is a dynamic Entity
The questing is silly.

Btw : A race that establishes space achievements as you described
MUST have been at the top of IQ
and of course great EFFICIENCY

Then a civilization is far beyond such un-efficient energy waisting games-phantasies

An actuality is however that they detected c q still inquire about the Crown Chakra in humans.

how this flesh is woven over the Chakra system
and how they might copy that

777

[CL]

It's all about the Crown Chakra, duh.

[Jen]

Our universe may be a Matrix-like computer game designed by aliens, says NASA scientist - published: 11 May 2015:

http://www.express.co.uk/life-style/science-technology/575653/The-Matrix-Universe-Planet-Earth-NASA-Scientist

Rich Terrile, director of the Centre for Evolutionary Computation and Automated Design at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory, has spoken out about the digital simulation. 

"One explanation is that we're living within a simulation, seeing what we need to see when we need to see it."
..................

10 Reasons Life May Be A Computer Simulation

http://listverse.com/2013/12/02/10-reasons-life-may-be-a-computer-simulation/

It’s amazing that humans exist. For life to start on Earth, we needed everything to be just right. We’re the perfect distance away from the Sun, the atmosphere has the correct composition, and gravity is just powerful enough. And though there may be many other planets with those conditions, life gets even more impressive when you widen your perspective beyond Earth. If some cosmic factor like dark energy were even a little stronger, life probably wouldn’t exist, either here or anywhere else in the universe.

The anthropic principle asks, “Why? Why did these conditions come about so perfectly for us?”

One explanation is that the conditions were deliberately set in place with the intention of giving us life. Every convenient factor was a fixed condition in some vast lab experiment. The factors were just plugged into the universe, and then the simulation was started. This let existence and our individual planet evolve the way it has.

A consequence of this is that those behind the simulation needn’t be humans at all. Some other set of beings may be running it, and they choose to hide their presence from us. Perhaps alien life knows how to manipulate the computer program and can make themselves invisible to us.

[E Cameron]

If time in the multiverse we exist in is circular, then we are just seeds that have been planted by our ancestors. Our entire universe was probably created by entities way beyond of comprehension, which may of originally grown from mankind.

Man invents computer - man then merges with computer/tech to gain greater intelligence and longer life - machines become sentient - machines create more and more advanced machines.

Stars eventually die and Super God like machines eventually understand how to create a universe and supply the matter and components for new life to evolve.

And so it goes on forever.