The Bibliography of Fantastic Beliefs

Quoting Carl Sagan: “The idea that we are being visited – or were once visited – by powerful benign beings who live in the sky – is after all a religious idea. The terminology is just slightly different. We don't talk about angels – we talk about extra-terrestrials. But the emotional significance is identical. So at a time when – for whatever reasons – religions have gradually declined – in the degree to which the average person believes in them – but the same emotional needs are there – at a time when our society is in occasionally rather dire straits – it would be very nice to believe that there are powerful beings that look after us that are up there in the sky and may dip in and make things right. But it's a dangerous doctrine if it's false. Because it might – for example – lead us to do less than our own best efforts to put things right”

Copyright: BBC, 1977