In a tweet in August, noted Christian fundamentalist and Young Earth Creationist Ken Ham insisted that aliens do not exist. Ham was responding to a Washington Post article that claims highly religious people are less likely to subscribe to the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life. The article's source was a study conducted by the Pew Research Center.
In a biblical worldview, we don’t expect alien life to exist. The Bible tells us Earth was formed to be inhabited (Isaiah 45:18), and the other celestial bodies were created for signs, seasons, days, and years (Genesis 1:14). It was to Earth that... https://t.co/IuHjGLFInh
— Ken Ham (@aigkenham) August 21, 2021
According to the Pew Research Center study, adult Americans who consistently maintain church attendance at least once per week are less likely to believe that intelligent life exists elsewhere. In contrast, those who rarely or never attend services are more likely to believe that intelligent life other than on Earth exists.
Aside from becoming famous by facing Bill Nye on a ludicrous debate about evolution versus religion and losing horribly, Ham also gained notoriety by building an ark in Arkansas, more than 300 miles from the nearest body of water capable of supporting it. Ham's The Ark Encounter is a theme park with the "Biblical tale of Noah's Ark." It's also one of the few places where visitors can view stupefyingly inaccurate depictions of humans interacting with dinosaurs.
In his statement via Twitter, Ham insisted that "Jesus came to save us, not another race of beings." The uncertainty of his claims was capped with him regressing to his initial statements that aliens do not exist "in a biblical worldview."
Whether aliens exist or not, one thing is sure with Ham's take on this matter. If they exist, they cannot be saved. If they don't, that's because the bible says so.
Ken Ham's mental gymnastics has caught the ridicule of netizens and other religious groups. Ham's inability to maintain a definitive stance on alien salvation is a stark contrast to Pope Francis' statement. The pontiff claimed in 2014 that if Martians come to Earth asking to be baptized, the Catholic church would grab the opportunity and swatch them all in one colossal baptism-palooza, saying, "Who are we to close doors?"
Another clergy, the former Director of the Vatican Observatory, opposed Ham's claims. In 2008, Father Jose Funes claimed that aliens' existence is "not in contrast with the faith." Father Funes added that "we cannot place limits on the creative freedom of God."
