Yes, I know, this is not really a blog about religion (or indeed aliens for that matter), but as you may know I am not afraid to deal with contentious issues and I am certainly not afraid of aliens or indeed science fiction.
I came across this article the other day and I found it very interesting. It raises all sorts of questions that I do not think anyone with even a passing interest in religion or spirituality can afford to ignore. I agree that some of our religions will indeed find it hard to reconcile the discovery of intelligent alien life with their core beliefs as currently stated, but as we know our desire to believe in things often allows for us to be very generous with our cognitive dissonances. Also, religions can be surprisingly agile and flexible when they want to be: Christians were happy to believe the earth was the centre of the universe. They were happy to kill any number of dissenters, they are now happy to believe that the earth is not even the centre of the solar system let alone the universe.
Given this ability to adapt I am sure that religious leaders will be very good at adapting teachings to new realities. No matter where you stand on this, it is worth considering how the (almost certain) discovery of alien life will affect your personal belief systems.
Happy cogitating!
Daniella's Ramblings 
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