What's scarier, demons or aliens?

I was out with some friends recently, and one brought up the title question. She said another friend of hers had told her that he thought aliens were scary, even scarier than demons. She was surprised by this, as asked us all what we thought about the subject.

Everyone present agreed that demons are much scarier. The consensus was that demons are, by definition, evil, while there’s at least a chance that alien visitors would be friendly to humans. Demons are also, by definition, supernatural, and could presumably possess people, take their souls, or lead them to be damned for all eternity. Even hostile aliens would presumably be able to do no more than torture or kill their victims, so even in a worst-case alien scenario it seems you’d still be better off than with demons. “I’d rather be probed than possessed” was how I put it.

My friend said that the alien-fearing guy is a devout Catholic, so we figure that his reasoning was that his faith would protect him from demons while aliens were much less likely to flee at the name of Christ.

From my perspective the only way aliens are scarier than demons is because I consider aliens to be a somewhat plausible threat while demons are strictly fantasy. But if for the sake of discussion we pretend that both are equally likely to be real, I think demons are worse.

So, what do you Dopers think? What’s scarier to you, demons or aliens, and why?

I think the aliens can be scarier. I personally don’t believe in demons, but am often surrounded by aliens as I go about my day–at the grocery store, mall, etc. Most of the aliens are fine, but there are some that can be a little scary at times.

Well, I would think that aliens, being extra-terrestrial, still at least obey the same laws of physics that we do. Their “powers” are attainable by humanity given enough time for us to catch up on their technological advances.

Demons, on the other hand, are extra-dimensional. Their powers may not obey the laws of our universe which leaves the possibilities pretty endless.

Therefore, demons are scarier.

I agree with this to a point. Real, undeniable demons would mean that the chances of there being a heaven just massively increased, for aliens, not so muchy.

Of course, even undeniable demons does not rule out an afterlife and universe entirely controlled by the Dark One, but still…

I’m not a devout Catholic but a string of frantically chanted "Our Father"s is a better defense than anything I have against aliens.

Demons are scarier because they’re of the human world and know how to get their hooks into you. Aliens are, well, alien. They might be benevolent or scary, but much more likely is that they’ll be completely outside our worldview and therefore incomprehensible.

Do aliens have demons? Alien demons sound scary to me.

Demons here.
Aliens I can totally rationalize, even the ones who’ll give me a facefull of wing wong. Demons on the other hand would force me to reconsider my whole reality (on top of setting me on fire for the lulz).

If we go by definitions, then aliens are scarier. My reasoning: Aliens are, by definition, alien- they are different and usually, in sci-fi settings, really commandingly so. There’s little you can identify with.
Demons on the other hand… Well, it’s a bit of mythology that I often bring up in similar discussions. The origin of the demon isn’t one of evil. Demons were, etymologically (sp?) speaking, simply messengers of the pantheistic deities. It was when such religions were being actively replaced that their messengers were (excuse the pun) demonized. I think a lot of supernatural ‘creatures’ got bad raps just due to their own religion / mythology falling out of favor.
Makes me wonder if angels will ever be considered ‘evil’ in the future…

I don’t know, Demons are alway characterized as somewhat human. Sure, they might be really evil™, but you can understand them and kind of anticipate what they will do (that varies with the characterization of demons, of course).

Aliens on the other hand are… alien. They might work completely different then we do. No way to understand or predict what they will do or think, and thats worse for me than evil, but understandable demons.

When have you ever heard of a demon anal probing someone?

It’s funny, I see it as being the other way around, with the demon being impossible to understand. It is after all supernatural, so all bets are off when it comes to how it functions. Although it might be capable of seeming human, I wouldn’t be able to trust that this was true or if it was manipulating my perceptions in some magical way. Since a demon would wish me harm just for the sake of being evil, there’d be no way to scare it off or bargain with it without getting myself into even more trouble.

Worse still, the existence of demons would mean that I have previously been very, very wrong about the way the universe works. If I had faith in any particular religion things would be otherwise, but that’s not the case for me. I’d have to hope that the existence of demons meant that two uncertain things were really true: first that there is a corresponding benevolent force that could protect me, and second that the old stories are correct in that the demon would have limited ability to harm me if I refused to deal with it. Even the former isn’t as helpful as it might be since, although I’d be perfectly willing to make a foxhole conversion at this point, there are a lot of religions and I couldn’t be sure of calling upon the right god. I might even be opening myself up to be fooled by another demon pretending to be a benevolent god. And since we’re talking demons here, I’d have to assume that if things go wrong I’m facing eternal torment.

An alien on the other hand is not inconsistent with my existing world view. Even a cruel or uncaring alien would be a living, physical being, presumably an intelligent one, and thus subject to many of the same limitations that I am. There’s also some hope of reasoning with an alien. It might be persuaded not to harm me, or it might be defeated through physical force. The odds might be very much against me, but it should in theory be possible to escape from or kill an alien. If I can’t, my suffering would at least end with my eventual death.

Aliens. Demons would, by definition, would be after your soul, and could be combated by righteousness. Aliens…who knows? They could be after your kidneys, or want to dissect your brain, or want to be your best friend. No one knows, that’s the scary part.

Demons aren’t so scary. Once you divine their true nature, and learn how to control or banish them, demons are trivial.

Never met any aliens, so I can’t speak for them.

Last Saturday at my neighbor’s house, judging from the sounds.

Demons scare me slightly more, as they’d evidently break the laws of physics and allow magic. That means heaven and hell could be real too. Uh-oh, this gay-boy is fucked, and not in a good way.

Aliens would scare the shit out of me because they’re potentially more intelligent than I am, and I might not even understand why they might want to lay waste to my planet or use me as food, but as long as they aren’t outside of physics, they seem more manageable. Aliens would intimidate the heck out of me, but they might just say “well, you suck, but we’re going to solve some of your problems.” Demons mean religion is right, and that really scares me.

If demons exist, then presumably they have always existed. So far, they aren’t much of a threat to humanity (or at least, they are a threat we are used to).

If aliens exist, we may just have not encountered them yet. Aliens who are malevolent and superior to us in technology could wipe us out as a species.

Therefore, aliens are scarier.

Demons have been here for aeons and so far, no hostile take-over.

Aliens, on the other hand, are technologically more advanced then us, and they came over personally, laser guns drawn, when they could have just sent an intergalactical card or something if they wanted to let us know we’re not alone in the universe.

Demons, I’d say. Demons prove the existance of extraplanar travel, other dimensions, and possibly the afterlife; a demon’s power is born, so to speak, and not learned, so there is no turning his technology against him.

Aliens at least inhabit our physical reality and abide by our laws of physics. Even if they have technology which surpasses our understanding of physics, at least it can (in theory) be understood.

I guess I’m in the minority then.

Aliens. Because IMO, it’s much more likely that they actually exist. I can’t be afraid of something (demons) that I don’t think could exist.