It could be polarizing, where from a religious perspective, other life doesn't break anything and is more evidence of the divine. From a political perspective,

It could be polarizing, where from a religious perspective, other life doesn't break anything and is more evidence of the divine. From a political perspective, it is risky because all our current rules are based on a now-obsolete ontology, nothing needs preservation, we are just animals again, all is material. It creates a power vacuum that some people will rush into. The rationale for that would be, if you don't have to fear the aliens, and we're tiny specs in the universe, why should you fear other men? We are now one species and if you can't get on board with that, there are no moral consequences to shortening your time here, since as we are not the top of the pyramid, we can no longer be held morally responsible to each other - there is only this new power. If it doesn't control us, nothing does, etc. I think the religious view would be that they must also know God, and the only way you can trust another species enough to relate to it is either it accepts your dominion, or recognizes some similar principles of divine authority. Someone who has a personal relationship with God is perfectly equipped to relate to other beings as best a human can, whereas without that, they'd have to worry about you stealing stuff.