Alien Contact - Writing Prompt

Writing Prompt: We finally find extraterrestrial life in the universe: a lot of it in fact. However humans, raised on media constantly spouting how unique we are are struggling to grasp there is nothing special about them.

Ironically, it was the Church who pushed for War first. 5 years ago, humanity finally made contact with an alien race. Contrary to expectations, humans were thousands of years away from discovering other populated planets. These aliens found us, and they made contact on December 25th of 2025. Immediately, a sect of Christianity broke off claiming the aliens were the return of their lord. The Church denounced them as heretics immediately and closed ranks against the foreign entities. However, these aliens were here only for peace and to spread knowledge. They offered us scientific aid to bring our civilization up to speed with the rest of the universe, if we accepted, we could have eliminated greenhouse gas emissions within 2 years. Light speed travel could have been reached in another 5. Cures for all known diseases were readily available as well. We would be assisted in solving world issues until we were deemed advanced enough to join the Intergalactic Peacekeeping Association. 

    At first it seemed like we had been saved by the grace of god. Floods of people poured out to show their support for the Aliens help. But like most good things it was ruined by those who would not make money. The oil lobbyists and climate change deniers mounted enormous political protests against joining the rest of the universe. Without fossil fuels powering the planet the oil lobbyists would be out of a job and therefore lose millions. 

    The general public was initially almost entirely in support of accepting foreign aid. However, before the world leaders could make any decisions the attitudes of the masses changed. Civil unrest spread rapidly across the globe. Past party lines devolved and were redrawn around exclusively one policy point. The Church quickly became the centerpiece of the isolationist coalition, they preached that the world was being threatened and needed to be taken back in a holy crusade. Civil Wars broke out in Spain, France, Mexico, Germany, and The United States simultaneously after.

    When the alien ambassadors returned to earth to hear our response, they were shocked. Clearly humanity had not progressed far enough to accept there were others in the universe. A separate agreement was drawn up detailing that the Earth could opt out of the Intergalactic Peacekeeping Association, and that they would be left alone from any civilization that opted into the agreement past, present, or future. Unfortunately, this meant that if they ever made contact with an alien species it likely meant that they were hostile. The peacekeeping association was created to combat a particularly militant civilization that was attempting to take over the known universe. Without the help of the Peacekeeping Association Earth would be virtually defenseless.