Are aliens atheists?

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/belief/2014/feb/18/aliens-atheists-richard-dawkins-tweeted

Version 0 of 1.

If aliens ever visit us, will they be atheists? Richard Dawkins is certain that they will and has tweeted as much: "If we ever talk to aliens, their civilisation will be far more advanced than ours (because of distances involved). They won't be religious!"

Obviously, this is just another way to express the belief that religion is a delusion which we must outgrow to survive. But won't the aliens who visit us have some reason to do so? And won't their reasons come to them in the form of stories and hopes, reinforced by ritual?

Even in Star Trek the strictly logical characters are the exception among a crew much given to ritual and myth. What else could make them boldly go?

And if we have a choice, it would be better to be visited by aliens with a sense that the cosmos wanted them to explore it and to find new things, rather than those who knew exactly what they wanted from our planet: that – since they'd be so much more advanced than us – could only be raw materials.

Do you believe aliens are atheists or otherwise? Share your thoughts below.