In Context: As the questioned appeared in print

At this point in the 21st century, I personally do not believe that we have ever been visited by alien civilizations or UFOs. However, I am also a fan of the late Carl Sagan, who said there were billions and billions of stars and planets out there, so I do believe that there could be life as we know it, or even life as we don't know it, on some distant planet, or even planets.
Each of us is trapped in time, and so each of us must use the knowledge and understanding that are available to us now. At one time, mankind thought the Earth was flat. At one time, the thinking was that the Sun, Moon and stars all revolved around little old us. That thinking has changed as our knowledge has changed.
If and when we do meet members of civilizations that took root on other planets, we'll have to change our thinking again, including our theological thinking. We religious people can sometimes be the most closed-minded people because we think God spoke once and for all through his holy prophets and through his holy books.
For Christians and Jews, the book is the Bible; for Muslims it's the Koran. In the United Church of Christ, we have a slogan that says, "God is still speaking." I believe that statement, and I believe most thinking believers would agree.
We get into trouble when we try to contain the living, breathing God in our poor conception of God. If God is as great as we believe God to be, we will never stop having new revelations from the One in whom we live, move, and have our being.
THE REV. C.L. "SKIP" LINDEMAN
Congregational Church of the Lighted Window
United Church of Christ
La Cañada Flintridge

Of course I do. What a fun thing to believe in.
Whether a person is religious or not, there is an element of logic that cannot be ignored. Namely, the universe is so large and so vast that it is logical to assume that we're not the only people in it. And, in the same vein, because the universe is so big and distances so far, we probably have not been visited by ET.
However, I enjoy this topic because it motivates us to wonder. We open our minds to possibilities. We can't regurgitate the standard lines because there are no standards. And so our thinking and expression are fresh.
Belief in alien existence gives us a chance to contemplate existence in general. Why are we here? Where are we going? What does this all mean?
And if you can't think outside the box, you have a lot of explaining to do because the Bible certainly has enough occurrences of life forms coming from heaven to sustain a belief in extraterrestrial existence.
So maybe the big question is, do they believe in us? If so, did that belief warrant a trip to our planet? And if not, then what?
FR. VAZKEN MOVSESIAN
Armenian Church
In His Shoes Mission

A friend of mine, Dr. Velvl Greene, is a biologist who was enlisted by NASA in the 1960s for a project to determine the status of life on Mars. He once asked my teacher, Rabbi Menachem M. Schneerson, if such a project was appropriate to engage in and whether it was in accord with Judaic teachings (after all, the Bible says nothing about extraterrestrial life).
Rabbi Schneerson replied, "Dr. Greene, definitely look for life on Mars. And if you don't find it there, look somewhere else in the universe for it. Because for you to sit here and say there is no life outside of planet Earth is to put limitations on the Creator, and that is not something any of His creatures can do."
Personally, I'm skeptical of the alien hype. I don't believe UFOs visit our backyards, and the alleged abductions of humans and pets seem a bit far-out to me. But building a UFO-themed amusement park is harmless, and will provide much enjoyment to many people — which is always worthwhile. And at the end, there may very well be some form of extraterrestrial life that is worth seeking out.
Even though we haven't found anything significant yet, one day we just may — and that discovery could have an incredibly positive effect on our lives. Wouldn't it be nice if we found the solution to our current gas crisis in the form of a new source of energy on some other planet that is safe, clean and inexhaustible?
RABBI SIMCHA BACKMAN
Chabad Jewish Center

Yes, I've seen them. Of course, they are UFOs to me, identifiable something-or-others to those who know what they are. Do I think we have Martians flying around, snatching and probing people? Nuh-unh. I like science fiction, and having a son keeps my interest in "Star Wars" alive, but that's about as close to ETs that we're going to get.
It's easy to throw up our hands and say, "sure, why not," as if there must certainly be other inhabitants out there, and that it would be unreasonable to think this planet alone may be the apple of God's eye and the focus of the entire universe, but I don't think astronomers concur.
There are hundreds of necessary parameters for planets to host physical life, yet for the trillions of stars we observe, there are few detectable planets orbiting them, and none qualify. No, Earth is unique in its proximity to the sun, composition, environmental cycles and even its orbit and tilt. As astronomer Dr. Hugh Ross put it, the likelihood of another habitable planet is one in 10,282. Lemme say that this is about nil.
I was in Santa Barbara once, and a group of us witnessed a UFO that defied physics with a 90° sudden change in direction. While unconvinced that what we saw was extraterrestrial, I don't doubt that nonphysical malevolent entities exist who would deceive people with the pretense of space travel.
Many cults arose this way, teaching impossible-to-disprove interplanetary origins, and don't forget the 1997 Heaven's Gate group that committed suicide to join souls with an imagined saucer hiding in the Hale-Bopp Comet.
Alien messages always contradict God, so if there is any validity to them at all, I'd say they are impostors.
God warns us that, "Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light" (2 Corinthians 11:14).
THE REV. BRYAN GRIEM
Senior Pastor
MontroseCommunityChurch.org

Considering the vastness of the universe and the unfathomable, life-giving nature of our God, I think life may very well exist on other planets. I don't believe UFOs have ever visited ours, though.
Mankind is blessed with a nature of curiosity. We search the heavens for intelligent alien life. We listen for extra-terrestrial radio signals and we have even sent a probe into deep space bearing our likeness and our contact information. We want to know: Is anybody out there?
Fact is, Someone has come looking for us. Not from the stars, but from Heaven. Jesus Christ, God's Son, didn't come searching for life, though. He came to give abundant and eternal life to all people.
Jesus didn't leave an empty space ship for us to examine. He left an empty tomb that we might examine our hearts.
Will we acknowledge the truth that He died for our sins, that He was buried, and that He rose again? That "there is but one God, the Father, from whom are all things, and we exist for Him; and one Lord, Jesus Christ, by whom are all things, and we exist through Him"?
It's possible that one day we'll find life on other planets.
It's certain that we'll find our Creator if we search for Him with all our hearts and souls.
PASTOR JON BARTA
Valley Baptist Church
Burbank

The 13th-century Dominican friar Thomas Aquinas is one of the most brilliant theologians of the last two millennia.
His writings continue to be the foundation of philosophical thought in universities throughout the world.
And yet, at the end of his life, after an insight into the mystical presence of God, he said all his writings were no more than straw that should be burned.
He realized that we humans can only capture glimpses of a God who is far beyond our ability to fully grasp and understand. How can we understand the depths of the ocean by studying a drop of water?
As Christians, we believe that Jesus reveals to us the essential nature of God, and yet there is much about God we'll never completely comprehend. Who of us can pretend with our finite mind to see into the mind of God, who is infinite?
Much of the universe itself continues to be a mystery and at best is explained by science, which often is imperfect and at times hypothetical.
Is it possible that God has created other life forms beyond those we know?
God can do whatever God wants, so the question can never be definitely answered. I imagine that on the day we meet God face to face, we'll realize that all our accumulated knowledge will be as so much straw that should be burned.
FR. PAUL J. HRUBY
Pastor
Church of the Incarnation
Glendale