11
Aliens Will Be Bestowed With Souls Before Taking Over Earth (But Only If They Ask Nicely)
"Only if they asked."
—Vatican astronomer Guy Consolmagno on the likelihood of his baptizing an alien, a question that came up after he talked about his sci-fi-borne love of the stars and noted to reporters in the UK that "any entity — no matter how many tentacles it has — has a soul." It would seem that he's even including the "narrow group of creationist fundamentalists in America" that he railed against elsewhere in his Q&A session in that soul census, which reads like something of a relative olive branch.
Did anyone ask if he would baptize The Machines? They'll take over long before we have to worry about aliens!
I think most Machines wouldn't handle submersion in water very well.
Actually:
"A computer has as much chance of being intelligent as a steam engine," he said.
Tell that to Mr. Hero, the Newmatic Man
This is the leader in the clubhouse for Best Reference of the Day.
Um, so by that rationale, an octopus has a soul? He's probably gonna get a call from the Pope: "Listen pal, the Church has enough problems without you going out there and pulling a Joe Biden."
Uh, Oobu the holy octopus, hello?
Hebbo!
Why does the Vatican need an astronomer? Don't they get that information gratis?
That's funny. I must add, I just need terribly to add, that the Vatican has a whole bunch of astronomers and they're mildly famous and do real astronomy. I love the very idea of the Vatican astronomers.
Me too. This guy has been giving great, smart quotes for years.
Take THAT, Mormons!