Would the Discovery of ETI Provoke a Religious Crisis?

Abstract

Noting how some prophets of crisis forecast that traditional religious traditions are vulnerable to challenge if not collapse upon confirmation of the existence of extraterrestrial intelligent beings, this chapter subjects this claim to examination. Citing findings from the Peters ETI Religious Crisis Survey, we find evidence that those who affirm religious belief have no difficulty affirming the existence of ETI and incorporating ETI into their respective worldviews. This applies to Orthodox Christians, Roman Catholics, mainline Protestants, Evangelical Protestants, Jews, Mormons, Buddhists, and to those who self-identify as non-religious. Surprisingly, the self-identified non-religious respondents are the only ones who fear a religious crisis precipitated by contact with extraterrestrials, a crisis expected to happen to others but not to themselves. Turning to the new field of Astrotheology, the question of de-centering both geocentrism and anthropocentrism is raised in light of the prospect of discovering intelligent celestial neighbors.