Math: A Universal Language?

It has been said by many that mathematics is the only true "universal language." Is this true?

"Very few people, if any, are literate in all the world's tongues -- English, Chinese, Malay, Tamil, Hindi, Bengali, and so on. But virtually all of us possess the ability to be literate in the shared language of mathematics. It is this shared language of numbers that connects us with people across continents and through time."
1/28/09 - http://sps.nus.edu.sg/~huyihuyi/maths.html

One of the reasons for believing that mathematics is a universal language is the fact that it is a universal truth. No matter what state, country, planet, solar system, or galaxy you belong to 2+2 will always equal 4, Pythagoreas' theorum will always hold true, and Pi will always exist.
Because of this, its reasonable to believe that life on other planets have discovered these same truths (or invented them depending what you believe), and thus communication with intelligent lifeforms on other planets is feasable. However, opposing views do present themselves.

"People often say that mathematics is a universal language. There's an important truth there, but we should always keep in mind that the phrase is a play on an ambiguity. Obviously, the notations in which we write mathematics are not universal, and certainly the terms attached to the notations, and in terms of which we explain them, are not universal... ...The play on words involved in saying that mathematics is a universal language lies in this: mathematics is universal, and mathematics is a language; but it is not universal as a language, nor is it a language insofar as it is universal. The underlying principles, the things discussed, are universal; quantities and structures of various kinds and the logic, so to speak, of how they can relate to each other. But we human beings do not have immediate intellectual access to these things, so we build up to an intellectual understanding of them by efforts of the imagination -- cognitive processes leading to expression in talking, writing, and drawing."
1/28/10 - http://branemrys.blogspot.com/2009/04/on-mathematics-as-universal-language.html

Lastly, consider this scene from the movie "Contact" and formulate an opinion.



The sources I have above are, of course, limited compared to the amount of discussion that exists on this topic. So as with all blog assignments, extra credit will be assigned to those who cite their own sources.