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255 Sons of Adam.” In all three religions, the nature of creation makes claim to a special relationship between God and a particular species: humans. Buddhism, Hinduism, and the Chinese religious complex have less of a fixation on the human form and its relationship to the godhead. The Mormon church—the only one surveyed with a stated doctrinal position on extraterrestrial intelligence—considers the existence of extraterrestri- als to be an inevitable part of God’s handiwork. The idea that extraterrestrial intelligence may exist did not create a theological or religious problem for Islamic or Jewish theologians. The Christian viewpoint was more complex, because doctrine is very central, particularly as it concerns Christ, and because Christianity is split into a large number of doctrinally different sects. Ashkenazi concluded that a decision about dealing with extraterrestrial intelligence will be reached fairly quickly within Catholicism and other centralized churches; it will be reached much more slowly in faiths that have diffused authority, such as Islam and Judaism, and is likely to be more varied. It may never be reached in those churches, such as pentacostalists, where doctrinal decisions are reached by popular consensus.*! A Dilemma The principal sacred writings of Christianity, Judaism, and Islam give us no guidance about contact with extraterrestrial intelligence, other than God. One anonymous author compared the silence of the Bible on extraterrestrial life to its silence on the indigenous peoples of the Western hemisphere. That was an awkward problem, but Christianity survived it. Philosopher Roland Puccetti predicted that human “religionists” would make every effort to subvert the finding that there are vast numbers of different religions in the universe. The easiest way to do that is to deny the existence of extra-human persons. However, that has the dangerous implication of making terrestrial faiths falsifiable if we dis- cover an alien civilization.” The simplest solution to this dilemma is to oppose the search. The adjustment will be less wrenching for Eastern religions that teach salvation through individual enlightenment. “If science proves some belief of Buddhism wrong,” said the Dalai Lama, “then Buddhism will have to change.”** Time might be a crucial factor. In the past, new knowledge could be debated by churches for centuries before it was gradually and grudgingly accepted. This adjustment time would not be available in the event of a confirmed contact. Everyone would learn quickly that humans are not alone, forcing a rapid change of beliefs.* The Impact on Human Religions