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[Dunamisdeos]

I think Muslims are forbidden to travel to other planets anyways. IIRC there was a fatwa covering that about a decade ago. Not sure if it's for all muslims, or just Sunni / Shii specific.

Muslims can't... wait a second, you're right.

Huh.

[smjjames]

Here's the kicker:

What if the planetary system you colonize has a retrograde orbit compared to the galactic plane's rotation?

(EG, all the planets in the system orbit in the opposite direction, and all the axis of rotation for those planets is reversed, resulting in the sun rising in the west, and setting in the east.)

Good luck obeying those religious edicts about facing mecca.

And if we ever colonize a planet that is tidally locked to it's star? Good luck!

Most of the religions I know of with observances tied to specific astronomical events also include a general rule that their adherents will not be expected to do the impossible, as well as a provision for their clergy (or equivalent) to issue guidance in cases not covered by dogma.

Thus, as fun as it is to speculate about, in the unlikely event that we ever do reach other planets the most probable solution is to simply do whatever's reasonably achievable on a case-by-case basis. In most cases we might expect this to be designating some point fixed relative to the habitat for people to pray towards and working out a local conversion of the lunar/solar calendar.

I think Muslims are forbidden to travel to other planets anyways. IIRC there was a fatwa covering that about a decade ago. Not sure if it's for all muslims, or just Sunni / Shii specific.

So much for the Iranian space program then, huh? Don't know what the reasoning behind that is other than 'AAAH! We can't figure out a way to pray towards Mecca on other planets, so lets not!'

Makes no sense to me, but if they want to lose out on joining the rest of humanity in space, not my problem. I bet saner heads will prevail eventually.

I think Muslims are forbidden to travel to other planets anyways. IIRC there was a fatwa covering that about a decade ago. Not sure if it's for all muslims, or just Sunni / Shii specific.

Muslims can't... wait a second, you're right.

Huh.

Oh, it has to do do with the one-way trip thing which some leaders were saying was tantamount to suicide. I can understand them being leery about a colonization effort with zero chance of a return trip.

All the more reason to practice colonization on the Moon, right?

[Dunamisdeos]

There was also a mention that the people leaving could possibly be fleeing some manner of religious punishment, and we can't have that since apparently God can't get you if you're in space.

I'm paraphrasing a wee bit.

[smjjames]

Going with that line of logic, if god can't get you when you're in space, then Christians shouldn't be in space either, but hey, that's not an issue because god doesn't exist! Also, if god doesn't exist in space, then he isn't omnipresent either! lol the reasoning. /end religion trolling

What they're really saying is that the religious authorities can't get you if you're in space and they don't want you to run away from them.

[Dunamisdeos]

Going with that line of logic, if god can't get you when you're in space, then Christians shouldn't be in space either, but hey, that's not an issue because god doesn't exist! Also, if god doesn't exist in space, then he isn't omnipresent either! lol the reasoning. /end religion trolling

What they're really saying is that the religious authorities can't get you if you're in space and they don't want you to run away from them.

I laughed.

Also, basically that second part. You might not be on the approved list of "people meant to exist" and they need to properly keep you under their heel. It's only civilized. /end cynicism

[Reelya]

I wonder how astrology would work if you live on a different planet, too. BTW scary thing, I was googling Astrology polls and it seems there's been a big uptick in belief with 58% of young adult Americans (18-24) believing that Astrology is scientifically proven.

In 2012, slightly more than half of Americans said that astrology was “not at all scientific,” whereas nearly two-thirds gave this response in 2010. The comparable percentage has not been this low since 1983.

So, there's been a rapid shift toward believing astrology is scientific, and it's almost entirely because of the new generation of young adults being added to the polling numbers. WTF is happening with young Americans science education? Just at the time we need them getting on board with scientific consensus, they're reverting back to ancient superstitions.

[Dunamisdeos]

I have a number of friends that are into crystals and astrology and good energy and the like. They are generally in their mid-20's.

[Reelya]

Having given it a moment's thought, the very recent uptick is most likely due to the fracturing of mass media into self-selecting consumption. teens now use Youtube much more than other social media such as Facebook. Young people have grown up in an "echo chamber" where algorithms point you at content that reaffirms whatever other content you just watched. Note how if you look up one specific thing, youtube over-reacts and assumes you want to watch all this other stuff that repeats the exact same messages.

So people get funneled into more and more specifcally self-affirming content, whether that's extreme SJW, extreme-right, game-geek, science-stuff, or crystal-healing-moonbeam stuff. If you click on something then blindly click on whatever it suggests next you tend to be dragged into more and more specific areas of content. e.g. kids into astrology aren't being directed to Neil Degrasse Tyson videos about science fact. The algorithm is going "oh you watched that astrology video, here have this one about crystal healing and this other one about ghosts", based on the fact that people who liked the video you just watched probably didn't like a video of Neil Degrasse Tyson debunking astrology.

[smjjames]

For within the Solar System, I assume they'd just either keep it relative to Earth or adjust it relative to the planet their on. Though the main problem would be what to do with Earth and The Moon. Probably have to start including the moons of the gas giants when we establish colonies there

For extrasolar systems, I guess they'd develop their own that is centric to the local system.

Literally everything that is Earth-centric is going to change when leave the planet.

I have a number of friends that are into crystals and astrology and good energy and the like. They are generally in their mid-20's.

Heh, reminds me of the game Space Pilgrim (the protagonists last name is Pilgrim, the game isn't about pilgrims) since theres this wacky cult around crystals from Fornax V (well, the Fornax system). It doesn't go into much detail about it, it's just this wacky cult that's present in the game universe. It is subverted somewhat in Space Pilgrim Academy, Year Two in that theres an ambassador from that system who says that not all of them are as wacky as those the protagonist encountered. Though, TBH, she encountered the wacky crazies in a prison, so, her experience is kind of biased by circumstance.

[EnigmaticHat]

I think Muslims are forbidden to travel to other planets anyways. IIRC there was a fatwa covering that about a decade ago. Not sure if it's for all muslims, or just Sunni / Shii specific.

Muslims can't... wait a second, you're right.

Huh.

According to the article, they're forbidden specifically from traveling on a one way trip to Mars because it would be effectively suicide and Islam forbids suicide (same as most denominations of Christianity).  Guess whoever issued the fatwa isn't a fan of Elon Musk.

[Doomblade187]

I think Muslims are forbidden to travel to other planets anyways. IIRC there was a fatwa covering that about a decade ago. Not sure if it's for all muslims, or just Sunni / Shii specific.

Muslims can't... wait a second, you're right.

Huh.

According to the article, they're forbidden specifically from traveling on a one way trip to Mars because it would be effectively suicide and Islam forbids suicide (same as most denominations of Christianity).  Guess whoever issued the fatwa isn't a fan of Elon Musk.

That is... A very honest interpretation of a one way Mars trip.

[A Thing]

Going with that line of logic, if god can't get you when you're in space, then Christians shouldn't be in space either, but hey, that's not an issue because god doesn't exist! Also, if god doesn't exist in space, then he isn't omnipresent either! lol the reasoning. /end religion trolling

What they're really saying is that the religious authorities can't get you if you're in space and they don't want you to run away from them.

"Sorry YHWH, you don't have a permit for Mars."

[Rolan7]

I think Muslims are forbidden to travel to other planets anyways. IIRC there was a fatwa covering that about a decade ago. Not sure if it's for all muslims, or just Sunni / Shii specific.

Muslims can't... wait a second, you're right.

Huh.

According to the article, they're forbidden specifically from traveling on a one way trip to Mars because it would be effectively suicide and Islam forbids suicide (same as most denominations of Christianity).  Guess whoever issued the fatwa isn't a fan of Elon Musk.

That is... A very honest interpretation of a one way Mars trip.

I get why it feels that way, but it's wrong.  If I leave town and never come back, I haven't died.  This is just Islamic leaders reinforcing their self-serving doctrine that you must never leave the "community", in various senses of the word.

[Doomblade187]

I think Muslims are forbidden to travel to other planets anyways. IIRC there was a fatwa covering that about a decade ago. Not sure if it's for all muslims, or just Sunni / Shii specific.

Muslims can't... wait a second, you're right.

Huh.

According to the article, they're forbidden specifically from traveling on a one way trip to Mars because it would be effectively suicide and Islam forbids suicide (same as most denominations of Christianity).  Guess whoever issued the fatwa isn't a fan of Elon Musk.

That is... A very honest interpretation of a one way Mars trip.

I get why it feels that way, but it's wrong.  If I leave town and never come back, I haven't died.  This is just Islamic leaders reinforcing their self-serving doctrine that you must never leave the "community", in various senses of the word.

That's probably what they were going for, I suppose. I was just thinking about mission failure chances.

[smjjames]

Besides, colonists on the frontier know that there is a greater chance of death. Explorers and colonists don't go out there to commit suicide, they go out there knowing there is a chance of the trip being a one way trip.

It's a dumb interpretation of colonization, exploration and just dumb all around. Despite it being apparently specific to that colonization effort (which seems sorta bogus anyway), more reasonable heads will prevail.

I think Muslims are forbidden to travel to other planets anyways. IIRC there was a fatwa covering that about a decade ago. Not sure if it's for all muslims, or just Sunni / Shii specific.

Muslims can't... wait a second, you're right.

Huh.

According to the article, they're forbidden specifically from traveling on a one way trip to Mars because it would be effectively suicide and Islam forbids suicide (same as most denominations of Christianity).  Guess whoever issued the fatwa isn't a fan of Elon Musk.

That is... A very honest interpretation of a one way Mars trip.

I get why it feels that way, but it's wrong.  If I leave town and never come back, I haven't died.  This is just Islamic leaders reinforcing their self-serving doctrine that you must never leave the "community", in various senses of the word.

That's probably what they were going for, I suppose. I was just thinking about mission failure chances.

That's obviously what they were going for. More reasonable heads will prevail here, otherwise they'll lose out on what the rest of humanity is enjoying if they keep up that attitude.