[ WP ] The aliens made first contact . They are technologically much superior , but also deeply religious . They are shocked to know that humans have different beliefs and do not worship the same God .

``... and that just about covers it.'' 
 
 Yong Lu politely clapped along with the rest of the human delegation, though most of the rest were primarily focused on frantic whispering and scribbling notes. They were the contingent of doctors, here only for the day's biological sciences presentations. The scribbles made in these last few moments had the potential to advance medical technology on Earth by decades. 
 
 Such had been the past several weeks, ever since the Ragnimar ship had popped into existence just past the orbit of Neptune and introduced humanity to the rest of the universe. Apparently they had been keeping tabs on us for some time, and reached out to us once we had established a permanent self-sufficient colony on Mars with a hundred thousand inhabitants. They had already developed translation algorithms, so communication was never an issue. All in all, in was a smoother First Contact scenario than we could have dreamed of. 
 
 The Ragnimar had spent their time in our system softly uplifting us. Rather than give us immediate access to hardware, they instead were choosing to give us their knowledge of the universe. We could then apply that knowledge however we liked, but everything would have to be our own designs. 
 
 Yong pondered this idea as the doctors began to trickle out of the room, several stopping to ask some technical question of the Ragnimar representatives. All of this was over his head. He was simply a diplomat, not a doctor. He worked in alien culture, not bacteria cultures. The only reason he was there was to check off boxes with the UN. 
 
 A shadow fell over him and he looked up to find his Ragnimar counterpart standing next to his chair. 
 
 `` Human Yong,'' said the alien, extending her hand in imitation of the traditional human greeting. Yong responded in kind, though handshakes were still tricky with the Ragnimars' three fingers. `` A question has come from Ragnimar leadership. May we find some place to speak?'' 
 
 `` Yes, of course,'' said Yong, rising from his seat. He led the Ragnimar diplomat to an empty conference room and closed the door. `` What is it you wish to discuss?'' 
 
 `` As we have mentioned before, this is our species' first time uplifting another,'' she said slowly. `` As such, there are... kinks... that we had not accounted for. The formal state dinner is tonight, and yet the culture exchange presentations are not for two days. We have taken precautions to ensure none will be offended, but....'' 
 
 She paused, as though steeling herself to ask a question she did not want to hear the answer to. Finally she took a deep breath and continued. 
 
 `` The intention is to treat it as a state dinner on Ragnim, but we Ragnimar as a society are deeply religious. We typically begin such a dinner with a prayer. Now, we understand that you humans will not know our religion or our prayers, but do you have your own religion, your own prayers?'' 
 
 Yong laughed. `` Oh yeah we do,'' he said. `` We've got-'' 
 
 `` Good, good,'' the Ragnimar diplomat interrupted, whipping a device out of a pocket. She began tapping on it, typing a message. `` In that case, perhaps your leaders would like to have a spiritual leader say a prayer as well? We would want to be equal, of course, and not force your people into a prayer to a god they do not follow.'' 
 
 `` That....'' Yong swallowed. `` That might not be a good idea. You could do it, but the food would get cold.'' 
 
 The Ragnimar blinked in confusion momentarily, before her eyes lit up in understanding. 
 
 `` Oh! You must still have longer ceremonies rather than concise prayers. That wo n't be a problem, we can simply let the chefs know to put the food on hold until-'' 
 
 `` You misunderstand me.'' It was Yong's turn to interrupt. `` The prayers themselves are... two minutes, at absolute longest. It's just that if you want to be equal, every religion would have to get a chance to pray and we'd be there for hours.'' 
 
 The Ragnimar stared. 
 
 `` Every... religion....?'' She tapped her foot on the ground, the Ragnimar body language for confusion. `` You mean you... have more than one? Or.... oh! Do you have sects? Is that it?'' 
 
 Yong smiled to himself. 
 
 `` There are sects within religions, yes. There are also different religions, with entirely distinct belief systems. Think of it as geometric shapes. We have all manner of rectangles, but in the end they are still rectangles. All manner of triangles may look different, but are still triangles. So it is with human religion. There are several'core' belief systems, and then many sects within each. We've gotten used to hearing others' prayers at state dinners, yours will be perfectly acceptable.'' 
 
 `` But... but... How can you coexist without similar belief?'' 
 
 `` Honestly, for a long time we did n't. You'll learn all about that in the history lessons tomorrow - listen for the bits about the Crusades, the Great Schism.. or more recently, ISIS and the'war on terror'. Our differing religions gave us many wars, but they also gave us great beauty. Much of our finest music, art, and architecture came from religion. The great Gothic cathedrals, like Notre Dame. The intricate mosques, like Hagia Sophia and the Dome of the Rock. The beautiful handwritten copies of the Qur'an, the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, the great statues of Buddha... Different religions may not always get along, but they always manage to produce good despite that. 
 
 `` We have different religions because humanity is too broad for only one interpretation of the divine. The way the early tribes of North America saw the divine was different from how the Norse saw the divine, and different still from the Pacific Islanders. Earth is too wide for us all to have had the same experiences; your planet is much more uniform in climate and weather than ours, so your people were able to homogenize much more easily. Our world, our culture, is too diverse for that. And we have learned to accept that diversity as a strength, rather than shun it as a weakness. 
 
 `` For ultimately none of us are able to choose where we are born, or how our experiences are shaped. Someone born in the Midwestern United States may find that the open plain is at its most beautiful, most channeling the divine, when a powerful thunderstorm is barreling down upon them. Someone born on the Serengeti in Africa may find the open plain most divine when the sun is shining brightly and the great herds are migrating. We all experience the divine in different ways, because we all experience life in different ways. And to deny that would be to deny our very humanity.''
