I know. It's silly. But really finding aliens out there wouldn't likely upset people... Unless they were hungry. That would be a bummer because if they are advanced enough for interstellar travel we wouldn't be able to stop them from doing anything they wanted.

It's a new one for me.

the Aleins looked more or less human showing other planets have the same evolution as we do and we we're not put here by God.

Or that other planets were "created" in a similar fashion.

Such a discovery would be used like anything else. Any and all camps would twist it some way to suggest that it supports their point of view.

about discovering aliens would be that the new agers would never shut up about it.

Yep. I think it would definitely "shift" the conversation.

It's not like extraterrestrial creation is specifically excluded in any holy text of those with which I am familiar. Yes you'd think an omniscient god would have mentioned it, but far more startling omissions in scripture are glossed over as simply stylistic exclusions. That only one gospel thinks the dead rising after the cruicifixion was worth a passing mention is my favorite example. The usual retort is that none of the others say the dead did NOT rise, therefore there is no problem. Similarly there is no reference I know of in major religion creation myths that says no other races on other planets were created as well as humanity, and I'm sure that will be the typical theistic response to their putative arrival.

in the face of changing worldviews. Each adapts "the Truth" to newly discovered or understood facts, always claiming a divine source for the revelation of the previously obscured "the Truth". Or, as we see among fundies, they simply deny facts outright - hence we still have geocentrists around.

then I think that would be very interesting.

For example, if a large number of them were Hindu, and there was no evidence of us influencing each other toward Hinduism, then that might force me to reconsider Hinduism.

Consider the fact that native American civilizations, pretty much independent of Eurasian influence, developed their own versions of polytheistic and animist religions quite similar to those found elsewhere.

Perhaps this is not an indication that a religion is "real"?

For example, the names of gods and goddesses, creation myths, the same holy texts, etc.

I agree it would not be proof that Hinduism was literally true, but for me, it would be grounds for giving Hinduism significantly more consideration.

The internet makes me look like a genius.

thanks to my science fiction reading phase in the 1970s.

but nothing the usual doublethink couldn't cope with, I think.

For instance, assume we got radio signals that indicated the existence of aliens capable of transmitting them; and we decoded them, and found something about superstitions they used to have (or still have), but nothing about original sin, or a self-sacrifice by a god. Would the Christian churches who believe in such things say "looks like they're a better 'image of God' than us, since they've managed without Christ"? Or would they say that God has abandoned them, and not bothered to set them right on their sinning?

And, as I've said before, would they consider praying to God to tell us all about these new beings, and to relay our messages to them, rather than having to wait around for the speed of light? Or is God limited to c like everything in the universe?

Over 100 million people in this country believe that the universe was magicked into existence as is sometime in the last 10,000 years and the more those beliefs are shown to be complete bullshit, the tighter they cling to them.

Aliens are God's creatures, too, so my faith wouldn't be shaken at the discovery of extraterrestrial life. I'm sure fundies' faith would be shaken because they're weak at heart.

God plumb forgot about it. Anyway the faith afflicted would claim victory if we do find life, or if it turns out that intelligent life is rare and brief and we are alone in our moment of space and time.

At least the fundamentalists are more consistent about the truthiness of the bible. They of course will have a bunch of explaining if we do find a tech civ. but the cherry pickets can have it anyway they want. That part is myth, this part is real.

It ain't just the fundies doing that, but you already knew it.

silly lives.

Did discovering that the earth is not the center of universe shatter religious beliefs?

People adapt their irrational beliefs to whatever uncomfortable truths that circumstances force them to admit to.

Not one trifle. They either adopt it into their canon (Catholicism, liberal Protestants, most Eastern religions) or they stick their fingers in their ears and scream "La-La-La-La Is not. IS NOT!!!!" then they make laws to make teaching the science illegal.

There's a kind of dichotomy on how sects handle these things. 150 years since Darwin published and over 1/2 of US still believe creationism. I've heard it's as high as 2/3. In tracking individual polls, the numbers haven't much changed over the past few decades.

only reality can be. Beliefs aren't facts.

We have interplanetary travel..wars between worlds/alien species....even marriages with beings in other planets.... in our epics.
So it's cool.


PS:

Hinduism has always maintained that humans are Not special, and are by no means the only living beings in this universe..we are insignificant in the universal scale...especially if one considers infinite universes.