{"id":27221,"date":"2026-06-27T02:32:49","date_gmt":"2026-06-26T21:02:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/religious-groups-are-more-prepared-for-aliens-than-you-think\/"},"modified":"2026-06-27T02:32:49","modified_gmt":"2026-06-26T21:02:49","slug":"religious-groups-are-more-prepared-for-aliens-than-you-think","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/religious-groups-are-more-prepared-for-aliens-than-you-think\/","title":{"rendered":"Religious groups are more prepared for aliens than you think"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div itemprop=\"articleBody\">\n<p><iframe title=\"Everlit Audio Player\" src=\"https:\/\/everlit.audio\/embeds\/artl_NKDzNiR3RGP?ui_title_intro=Listen+now%3A&amp;client=wp&amp;client_version=3.2.3\" width=\"100%\" height=\"136px\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>(RNS) \u2014 Roughly a third of the way into Steven Spielberg\u2019s new blockbuster film \u201cDisclosure Day,\u201d which focuses on the theoretical release of evidence documenting the existence of alien life, a conversation between the two main characters takes a sudden turn toward the spiritual.<\/p>\n<p>One of the characters, who is Catholic, begins fretting over what the release of such information would mean for religious people, worrying many will \u201cstop believing in God.\u201d People who believe in \u201csuperior beings,\u201d she says, will balk at news of \u201cactual\u201d superior beings \u2014 namely, technologically advanced aliens.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPeople can\u2019t handle both,\u201d she concludes.<\/p>\n<p>Her implicit question is left hanging, like a flying saucer hovering over the horizon, for most of the film: If intelligent life were to be discovered beyond Earth, would it shatter religious traditions?<\/p>\n<p>But for all the profound implications of intelligent extraterrestrial life, experts say the possibility is far less bracing for many religious practitioners across the globe. In fact, scholars argue many major faith groups have not only been thinking about the prospect of aliens for some time, some have even outlined extensive theological answers to the question of extraterrestrial life \u2014 or even fully embraced the idea.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat question is packed with drama, but it doesn\u2019t correspond to the lived realities of people,\u201d said Diana Pasulka, a religious studies professor at University of North Carolina Wilmington and author of the book \u201cAmerican Cosmic: UFOs, Religion, Technology.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4266064\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4266064\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Diana-Pasulka1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"500\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Diana-Pasulka1.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Diana-Pasulka1-427x285.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Diana-Pasulka1-807x538.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Diana-Pasulka1-768x512.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Diana-Pasulka1-1536x1024.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Diana-Pasulka1-600x400.jpg 600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Diana-Pasulka1-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Diana-Pasulka1-380x253.jpg 380w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Diana Pasulka on a podcast in 2025. (Video screen grab)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Pasulka, who has also published a book focused on Catholic theology and history, noted that despite the framing of Spielberg\u2019s film, Catholics in particular have long been <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/ufo-religion-aliens-demons-disclosure-day-500c2280dbdbcedfa09f3d2aa298f338\">interested in extraterrestrial life<\/a>. The idea was already showing up in the 15th century, when a German Catholic cardinal <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ewtnnews.com\/world\/us\/ewtn-news-explains-what-does-the-catholic-church-teach-about-uap-and-alien-life\">insisted<\/a> on the prospect of life on other stars. What\u2019s more, she noted that multiple heads of the Vatican observatory have <a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2014\/12\/03\/meet-popes-astronomer-says-hed-baptize-alien-given-chance\/\">openly discussed<\/a> the prospect of intelligent life elsewhere in the universe, with one <a href=\"https:\/\/cruxnow.com\/interviews\/2018\/04\/vatican-astronomer-says-studying-cosmos-is-worship\">saying<\/a> he would baptize an alien \u201cif she asks.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>When it comes to Catholics, she argued, aliens are simply \u201cnot a problem for them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Paul Gutjahr, a professor at Indiana University Bloomington and author of the forthcoming book \u201cFaith in Space: American Religious Belief in Extraterrestrial Life,\u201d said the situation is similar for other religious traditions. He noted that in the early 1700s, prominent Puritan clergyman Cotton Mather \u2014 a major figure in Colonial-era Massachusetts \u2014 was already opining about life on other worlds: Mather, Gutjahr explained, believed that God was \u201cso capacious, so big\u201d that life elsewhere was seemingly inevitable.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a sign of his greatness, his omnipotence, his ubiquity,\u201d Gutjahr said. \u201cThere has to be life on all these stars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>There was also a surge of discourse about aliens in the 20th century, particularly during the space race. In the 1960s, at least one rabbi wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/traditiononline.org\/the-religious-implications-of-extraterrestrial-life\/\">and extensive academic article<\/a> on the topic, pointing to Jewish texts some argue have long pointed to the existence of other worlds.<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<hr\/>\n<p>Pasulka said religion also often comes up when she interviews people who claim to have seen Unidentified Flying Objects, or UFOs, also known as or UAPs.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019ve met Orthodox Jewish people who had those experiences, and they\u2019re fascinated by the public conversation, but it doesn\u2019t shake their faith,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_3901472\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-3901472\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/webRNS-Catholic-UFOs1-051821.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"422\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/webRNS-Catholic-UFOs1-051821.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/webRNS-Catholic-UFOs1-051821-427x240.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/webRNS-Catholic-UFOs1-051821-807x454.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/webRNS-Catholic-UFOs1-051821-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/webRNS-Catholic-UFOs1-051821-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/webRNS-Catholic-UFOs1-051821-624x351.jpg 624w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/webRNS-Catholic-UFOs1-051821-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/05\/webRNS-Catholic-UFOs1-051821-600x338.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">(Image by Albert Antony\/Unsplash\/Creative Commons)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Pasulka added that many religious people interpret the prospect of aliens through their own religious beliefs. She said that includes Muslims she has met who say they have encountered UFOs, some of whom have described their experiences by referencing jinn \u2014 supernatural beings in Islam and some other religious traditions.<\/p>\n<p>Others have claimed that UFOs may be evidence of demons or \u201cpreternatural\u201d beings such as angels, Pasulka said. It\u2019s a belief that has garnered attention in recent months, with Vice President JD Vance referencing the idea in a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.usatoday.com\/story\/news\/politics\/2026\/03\/28\/jd-vance-ufo-aliens-demons\/89361033007\/\">March interview<\/a>. But it has also proven controversial: on June 3, Catholic authorities announced the removal of an exorcist from his post in the Archdiocese of Washington, with church leaders justifying the move by <a href=\"https:\/\/www.washingtonpost.com\/nation\/2026\/06\/04\/washington-archdiocese-removes-monsignor-stephen-rossetti-over-ufo-comments\/\">citing<\/a> the monsignor\u2019s claim that UFOs are demons. Cardinal Robert McElroy, who oversees the archdiocese, said such statements \u201cgravely undermine\u201d church teachings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat belief has been around since the early twentieth century,\u201d Pasulka said, referring to the association of UFOs with demons.<\/p>\n<p>But while the spectrum of views about religion and aliens is wide, belief in their existence is fairly common among religious Americans. A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pewresearch.org\/short-reads\/2021\/07\/28\/religious-americans-less-likely-to-believe-intelligent-life-exists-on-other-planets\/\">2021 Pew Research poll<\/a> found that while religious people in the U.S. are less likely than others to believe intelligent aliens exist on other planets, most Protestants and Catholics still said their best guess is that intelligent life is out there. Among the groups polled, the only outlier was white evangelicals, with only around 40% assuming intelligent life exists.<\/p>\n<p>And even then, there are prominent exceptions. In Congress, among the more vocal believers in aliens and UFOs is Rep. Tim Burchett of Tennessee, who is an evangelical Christian. Speaking to Religion News Service in December 2024, he said he saw evidence of UFOs in a passage from the biblical book of Ezekiel that describes a \u201cwheel within a wheel.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4266074\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\" style=\"width: 750px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4266074\" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Navy-UFO-UAP1.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"750\" height=\"424\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Navy-UFO-UAP1.jpg 1600w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Navy-UFO-UAP1-427x242.jpg 427w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Navy-UFO-UAP1-807x456.jpg 807w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Navy-UFO-UAP1-768x434.jpg 768w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Navy-UFO-UAP1-1536x869.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Navy-UFO-UAP1-300x170.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Navy-UFO-UAP1-600x339.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 750px) 100vw, 750px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Military pilots have encountered unidentified aerial phenomena (UAP). (Image courtesy DOD\/U.S. Navy)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>\u201cHe saw the wheel, and the wheel at that time was the most technologically advanced mechanized item that they had,\u201d Burchett said, referring to the prophet Ezekiel. \u201cHe described basically what I would say (is) a traditional flying saucer.\u201d<\/p>\n<hr\/>\n<hr\/>\n<p>Debate over aliens can be especially intense within Christianity, as one of the big questions surrounding the prospect of intelligent life on other planets is what that revelation means for Jesus Christ. Christians typically see Jesus as having died for the forgiveness of human sins, which raises a question: If aliens are real, did Jesus die for their sins too? Or do aliens have their own alien version of Jesus who dies for their sins?<\/p>\n<p>By at least the 1880s, some Christian groups already had their answers. Gutjahr noted that Ellen G. White, the co-founder of the Seventh-day Adventist tradition, wrote extensively about alien life at the time, including the question of what it means for salvation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOne of her takes was the Earth is the only fallen planet,\u201d said Gutjahr, referring to the Christian concept of humanity being sinful. \u201cThere is life elsewhere, but none of it fell \u2014 only Earth, so Earth was the only planet Jesus needed to die on to redeem humanity.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>According to White, Gutjar said, the result is that life elsewhere in the universe observes Earth as a sort of \u201cgiant amphitheater\u201d to witness \u201cGod\u2019s saving action.\u201d<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_4266068\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\" style=\"width: 303px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-4266068 \" src=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Paul-Gutjahr1-277x369.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"303\" height=\"404\" srcset=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Paul-Gutjahr1-277x369.jpg 277w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Paul-Gutjahr1-480x640.jpg 480w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Paul-Gutjahr1-300x400.jpg 300w, https:\/\/religionnews.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/webRNS-Paul-Gutjahr1.jpg 576w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 303px) 100vw, 303px\"\/> <\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-caption-text edd-enabled\"><span class=\"caption\">Paul Gutjahr. (Photo courtesy of Indiana University)<\/span><span class=\"credit\"\/><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>He added: \u201cWe become like a visual aid to the entire universe that you know about God\u2019s mercy.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>For his part, when Burchett was asked whether extraterrestrials would have their own alien versions of Jesus who died for their sins, he didn\u2019t hesitate.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Bible\u2019s pretty clear about there being one (Jesus),\u201d he said. \u201cJesus died for them just like everybody else.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>As for Spielberg\u2019s film, it ultimately showcases a more multifaceted vision for what the existence of aliens would mean for religion than its early lines would suggest. Gutjahr found that unsurprising: He recalled that when he first started his book on religion and aliens, he expected documented moments of religious discourse regarding the prospect of aliens to be few and far between.<\/p>\n<p>But as he began researching, he said, he was suddenly overwhelmed\u00a0by the sheer volume of examples.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt turns out that the whole freaking world has thought about life on other planets,\u201d Gutjahr said, laughing.<\/p>\n<p><!-- CONTENT END 1 -->\n        <\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/religionnews.com\/2026\/06\/26\/religious-groups-are-more-prepared-for-aliens-than-you-think\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(RNS) \u2014 Roughly a third of the way into Steven Spielberg\u2019s new blockbuster film \u201cDisclosure Day,\u201d which focuses on the theoretical release of evidence documenting the existence of alien life, a conversation between the two main characters takes a sudden turn toward the spiritual. One of the characters, who is Catholic, begins fretting over what [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":27222,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-27221","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail"],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27221","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=27221"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/27221\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/27222"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=27221"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=27221"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/banitoday.com\/hi\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=27221"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}