Knee jerk reaction
If you were to get up in the morning, and the first source of media you accessed was reporting nothing but:
A. The return of Jesus Christ
B. Aliens landing on earth.
Which would you find more unbelievable?
Looking for what you believe you would think/feel right off the bat, in the initial moment of getting the information, before you started getting any other details other than this news is actually being reported by main stream media.
return of jesus would be more unbelievable for me just because it seems so implausible. at first i would think they were really hijacking the country into a new level of delusion but if there was confirmed evidence that was truly convincing, then i don't know what i would do. it would basically flip reality upside down for me but i am pretty sure if i knew for a fact that shit was real i would try to get on the winning team as quickly as possible.
aliens landing on earth i would doubt at first as well but if there was confirmed evidence that was truly convincing, i'd be like oh shit and then basically just watch to see what happens next.
Well, since some Christians, who are also anti-Mormons, think that Mormons believe in an Alien-god, Dr. Zoidberg has this one question for you:
More seriously, it strongly depends on the details. If the aliens seem remarkably close to the teachings of Christ and one among them claims to be The Christ with proven miracles, then I would buy a plane ticket, fly to Digi's city, go directly to Digi's apartment, smack him on the ass, and then say, "I toldja , b*tch!!!" Then, obviously, we'd feast on some sacrament wafers.
If it was aliens claiming to be aliens but wanted to help, I'd think they are aliens (as long as we proved, with their anatomy, that they had alien physiologies).
I'd find the return of SuperYid most unbelievable...unless he looked like Jesus in "I Pet Goat." That's, like, metaphysically superheroish, man.
I would find aliens landing on Earth worrisome. With starflight, advanced knowledge, etc, why in the name of Universe 616's Demiurge would they want to come here?
Maybe they need a good cry and/or a good laugh.
If we forbid extreme genetic or cybernetic modifications to humans, I could see myself wanting to visit an sapient species somewhere in the universe. Even if I could remotely study them and discern all of their language and customs: I'd still want to visit them and interact with them.
Perhaps that's why they are visiting us?
Also, I would want to spank one of their females. Hard enough to sting a bit but gently enough to be kinky.
I'd view both with equal skepticism, though the idea of sentient life on other planets possibly developing interstellar technology over an unknown number of centuries or millenia of development doesn't seem as far fetched considering our own current day technology and attempts at near space exploration (we'd be the precedent). It'd just be a matter of determining that these beings did in fact have completely alien genetics since we've mapped the genome of life here on Earth. It could just be a species that's much older than us. I would be wary of why they would be visiting a species so far less advanced than they are though. If they can travel between solar systems (or further) why visit us?
There's no precedent for magic and/or resurrections like there is for technology and space exploration so it'd be harder to accept someone claiming to be Jesus (as there are currently many people claiming to be reincarnations of Jesus in our contemporary world [Mitsuo Matayoshi, for example], or other prophets/holy men with communication with 'God', and they are pretty much all disregarded as kooks). If God/Jesus did come back I don't think it would require a news broadcast for an all powerful being to make it's presence known, so utilizing the media to get the message out rather than some kind of irresistible telepathic/magical message and impulse that would be undeniable to anyone alive on Earth at the time (particularly since this Being, being omnipotent, would know that not everyone on Earth has access to a television) would just add to my skepticism. Why would Jesus/God need CNN or BBC when he's supposed to have all power imaginable? It would be a "What does God need with a starship?" moment for me.
well the bible basically portrays him back in the day as walking around performing miracles for people which would eventually spread the word and that was basically their equivalent of the media. so it would make some sense to me if he came back in human form and let us recognize it through the methods of communication we have developed since then. the whole telepathy thing would be immense but a bit showy, and if that happened to me i would have to question whether i had just lost my mind.
Originally posted by riv6672Initial reactions:
I just want to mention, i AM looking for initial reactions, before any more details than "Jesus has returned" and "aliens have landed" are known.
1. Wouldn't believe it was really Jesus.
2. Assuming reports of e.t.'s came from reliable and multiple sources: I'd be roiling with emotion: stunned, scared, awed, hopeful. The greatest, perhaps most consequential event in the history of human civilization was happening in my lifetime.
Originally posted by red g jacks
well the bible basically portrays him back in the day as walking around performing miracles for people which would eventually spread the word and that was basically their equivalent of the media. so it would make some sense to me if he came back in human form and let us recognize it through the methods of communication we have developed since then. the whole telepathy thing would be immense but a bit showy, and if that happened to me i would have to question whether i had just lost my mind.
That was his initial coming and life in the Middle East. His return, on the otherhand, is supposed to be spicy details of The Book of Revelations, as in him being ushered in with Earth rattling trumpet blasts and the throne and host of heaven descending on Earth (depending on your denomination's interpretation). The 2nd Coming is supposed to be like a Shock and Awe attack where he comes back "like a thief in the night", and ushers in Armageddon, engaging in the final big cosmic battle with Satan. If the person claiming to be Jesus is just on Anderson Cooper transmuting a bottle of Vitamin Water into Boones Farm Wine there'd be some issues with prophesy according to the interpretations of Revelations by various denominations. People would be expecting "The Rapture", not an interview.
Originally posted by Mindship
I'd find the return of SuperYid most unbelievable...unless he looked like Jesus in "I Pet Goat." That's, like, metaphysically superheroish, man.I would find aliens landing on Earth worrisome. With starflight, advanced knowledge, etc, why in the name of Universe 616's Demiurge would they want to come here?
Maybe they need a good cry and/or a good laugh.
It's why Westerners go to West Papua.
Originally posted by Mindship
Initial reactions:1. Wouldn't believe it was really Jesus.
2. Assuming reports of e.t.'s came from reliable and multiple sources: I'd be roiling with emotion: stunned, scared, awed, hopeful. The greatest, perhaps most consequential event in the history of human civilization was happening in my lifetime.