Do you believe in God or in the concept of an almighty supreme being or force that created and watches over everything in the universe?
And if it turns out that Earth isn't the only planet in the known cosmos on which intelligent life evolved, what are the possibilities that alien civilizations also worship a god figure? It's one of those very big and complex questions that humans wonder about.
"It's really hard to imagine that any civilized society would have an answer for that," says actor Morgan Freeman. "It's impossible for me to imagine that we are all there is in a universe this large. And by universe, I mean just this galaxy. I can't imagine that we're all there is. I think there are probably many, many, many intelligent lifeforms," Freeman told The Huffington Post.
Of the many questions humans have ever asked, the concept of whether or not God is worshipped on other worlds could someday be paramount to our understanding of our actual place in the universe.
Freeman explores these provocative topics on "Through the Wormhole With Morgan Freeman," part of Science Channel's week-long series, "Are We Alone?"
If an ET were to make contact, Morgan knows exactly what he would say: "I would first ask, 'How the hell did you get here?' and the second question, 'Is there a God in your society?'"
The God concept isn't new to Freeman, who portrayed the supreme being in the films "Bruce Almighty" (2003) and "Evan Almighty" (2007).
Freeman acknowledges the idea of God can get very complex.
"It's quite a germane question, this whole concept of God as an alien. What if it is? It's probably united and enforced, if it is. If it isn't, then it would be perfectly understandable that people who are a lot more technologically advanced than us might have figured out something else."
Freeman's co-executive producer, James Younger, on "Through the Wormhole," told HuffPost of the ageless ideas about God that led them to create this provocative program.
"When you look at the heavens, you imagine that people initially thought about gods, and they may also have thought about aliens," Younger says.
"As technology starts to grow and develop, and maybe some of those ideas about the heavens change, they become more scientific. Is it likely that the idea of God will go away when you look thousands of years in the future when we have this incredibly advanced civilization? We'll probably know more and more about the way the universe works."
Another question that Freeman will pose on "Through the Wormhole" takes the speculation of aliens believing in God one step further.
"We're going to ask if religion is necessary for civilizations to be successful," Freeman told HuffPost. "What will happen to religion as technology evolves? Will we still believe in God once we've gone much further, technologically? Or will we all become part of some global connected brain that maybe has another concept to go by -- not what we now think of as God, the great creator?"
And, oh yes, since many of the themes of Science Channel's "Are We Alone?" week deal with the subject of UFOs and the ongoing speculation that some of these objects may originate from other planets, we asked Freeman what he thinks of it all.
"There is no such thing, I think, of a credible eyewitness to a UFO. A UFO, in the real meaning, is an unidentified flying object. It does not mean it came from outer space, number one. Number two, if there was such a thing flying around in our atmosphere, we would know clearly that it was there.
"I don't see why it would need to hide or we would need to hide it."
"Through the Wormhole With Morgan Freeman" premieres tonight (March 5) on Science Channel at 10 p.m. Check your local listings.
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