Maybe there are nicer places than this on Mars, but we haven’t found them yet.
What they mean is they’ve found suggestions that maybe, on certain rain occasions, and only temporarily, liquid water might be found somewhere on Mars–provided it also contains certain chemicals that would function as a kind of natural antifreeze.
Naturally, anyone would be excited if any life were found on Mars. And if it were, you can bet your last dime there’ll be talking heads all over the airwaves proclaiming that this half an amoeba found on Mars proves (mind you!) that there is no God and so can we please move on to worshiping… them?
Sometimes I really wonder what He sees in us.
I’ve never seen any incompatibility between a creating God and evidence of His creation on other planets (which are part of His creation, after all) beside our own.
You don’t see it because you’;re not a fat-head.
So, as I see it, there is a leap in logic here to the effect that if they find life on other planets, there can be no Creator. I’ve gotten into some in depth discussions regarding extraterrestrial life with other bible believing friends. The bottom line is that the scriptures neither suggest, nor deny, the possibility of material life elsewhere in the Universe. There are arguments to be made for positions for or against, but no one knows; it’s all a matter of inference.
Ultimately, it doesn’t matter. If there are living, intelligent material creatures elsewhere, I have no way to communicate with them. We know that there is a spirit realm, but once again, I’m not expecting any theophanies, so I offer my worship to the Creator and rely on Him for my ultimate sustenance.
As to water on Mars; the jury is out. It appears that there has been water there in the past, but there is no water to be found at the moment. I guess it’s possible that it exists in limited areas. I’m not losing any sleep over the matter.
Edgar Rice Burroughs vision of Mars is a whole lot better than Science’s.