The Religious Disquiet Concerning Extraterrestrial Life

These two articles reflect some religious disquiet at the prospect of contact with ETI.

When faced with an alien civilization of enormous powers and the likelihood that they are not even approximately human, the differences that divide us on Earth are likely to seem increasingly trivial and irrelevant. At least for many people, Aere should be a real decline in ethnocentrism and xenophobia and a major upsurgence of an identification with the human species and the planet Earth. Warring tribes joining forces against a common enemy or even a possible common threat, has been a constant theme in human history. It ought to apply in spades in this case. Naturally nationalists, religious fundamentalists and chauvinists of various stripes will have a different view.

Carl Sagan, Memo to Ann Druyan, George Miller & Linda Obost concerning religious disquiet at prospect of contacting extraterrestrials (August 2, 1994)

• religion
• science
• tribalism