Open Letter to the Air

Now nobody knew quite what to make of him or quite what to think, but there he was and in he walked.

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Location: Scottsdale, Arizona, United States

Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Bright Lights, Big Questions



The aliens are back. And this time they're pissed off!


Once again, the city of Phoenix has made news with it's story of "strange lights" in the sky. The Air Force denies any involvement. The airports have no records of planes being in that part of the sky at that time. They did not behave like flares. No one knows...



The question no one seems to be interested in asking is... could it have been hot air balloons? There are several companies that offer hot air balloon rides in the northern-Phoenix area. Some of them offer sunset rides. It wouldn't be outside the realm of possibility that some avid balloonists took to the skies late at night to get an aerial view of the cityscape at night. I would imagine the photographic possibilities would be quite worth the trip. I'm not even a journalist, and I thought to ask that question. I guess a good UFO story is hard to come by, and why ruin the ratings and the national attention it's bound to garner with a far more likely explanation than aliens from another planet?

[**UPDATE** The day after I wrote this, the man behind the lights confessed to a news channel that he tied flares to helium balloons. So I was wrong... but I was more right than the Area 51 crowd, wasn't I??]


All of this calls to mind the broader question of why the fascination with UFOs in the first place? To me the simple answer is because it's mysterious, and people are naturally attracted to mystery. I guess that's what makes the cheerleader walk into the dark cellar in all those horror movies.



But from a religious point of view, that would make sense. We all seem to know deep-down that we are made for something far greater than what this life has to offer. We all have a strong desire to explore that which eludes us in our quest to find that ultimate Mystery for which we were all created. For those who are squeamish about the ideas of divinity, demons or angels, we offer little green men.



I once put the question to Dr. Scott Hahn whether there was a Catholic viewpoint regarding the question of life on other planets. I wondered if the idea of life on other planets contradicts salvation history. His response was that we shouldn't put it beyond God's abilities to put life elsewhere in the universe. After all, we already know that he's created other sentient non-human beings in the form of angels. So there is a precedent. And he's right - to a point.



Angels are not unknown to us. They have been revealed to us by God. They play a role in salvation history. They are part of the story. Alien beings from another planet are completely different. I never have found a really concrete answer from a really concrete theologian like Dr. Hahn so what follows are my own musings, uninformed by any higher learning or theological training. So, if there are more profound thoughts out there by brighter minds, I'd really like to hear them.



First of all, let's be clear. Angels aren't the same as aliens. They're pure spirit. They can't be seen or heard by modern recording technology. Aliens supposedly can be heard by giant SETI radio dishes. Their spaceships can be observed and captured on video. They have bodies with large heads and strange eyes and advanced intelligence. So they are like humans in that they are embodied creatures, presumably with a soul, and therefore also presumably with free will. One would have to also presume that God created them "in his image and likeness" just as he has created humans. So the only difference is that they live outside of our atmosphere, and therefore also our history - including salvation history.



But does that still not contradict the whole point of salvation history? In brief, God created man to be God's image in the world. Okay so maybe he made aliens to be God's image(s) on other worlds. But he also made man so that God could enter into communion with man as a bridegroom takes his bride. So all of humanity is made to be in union with God as a wife is to her husband. All of salvation history shows the gathering of God's people into greater and greater communion with him until all of the world is finally brought into full communion with him through the Catholic (i.e. "universal") Church. By partaking of the body and blood of Christ in the Eucharist, we become one flesh with our God and share in a foretaste of the heavenly banquet feast where man and God will be united forever. Are we to presume that God will have a bride for each alien race he created as well? Is God a polygamist?



Or are the aliens also supposed to share in the one-flesh union for which mankind is destined? Do they somehow also share in the Body of Christ as we do this side of heaven? If so, how do they share in the Eucharist? Is it possible that Jesus had to "visit" each of these alien planets in a sort of Galactic Mormonism in order to redeem those races that may have made the same choice as Adam? For that matter, is it possible that there are some races who did not make the same mistake as Adam, and have continued to live for millennia in a perfect state of grace? If so, how did their share of the material order not fracture as the rest did when sin entered the world through Adam?



Has Jesus died a redemptive death more than once? Did he have to take on the nature of each alien species as he did when he took on human nature? The Church has always taught that Jesus is one Divine person with two natures - human and divine. Do we amend that number for each alien race that Christ has had to redeem? If Christ indeed took on the nature of another alien race, did he do so by becoming the child of an alien "Mary"? And did he later give his alien mother(s) all the same title of "Queen of Heaven"? Are there potentially millions of Queen Mothers enthroned in heaven (if Carl Sagan's figures are close)?



To me, this series of questions seems to be absurd enough that no serious theologian can continue to give credence to the notion that life exists on other planets. While it certainly makes sense to the Darwinian Evolutionists out there, it doesn't fit into a Catholic view of creation and salvation history.



In the movie "Contact", when contemplating an "alien-less universe" both the lead protagonist Ellenor Arroway and later the lead religious figure of the film Palmer Joss quip, "it's an awful waste of space". But isn't that selling God short? Isn't that a bit like saying the ocean is an awful waste of water, or that deserts are an awful waste of land? Just because it's big and seemingly empty is it truly a waste if it's meant to be there for some reason?


Could it be that the whole point of the universe being so immense and empty is specifically so that man could know both how infinite God is, and how precious we are? Can we not glean from that the greatness of his humility in becoming human and redeeming us? Don't the heavens declare the glory of God? Is that not enough?

[1/26/10 Update: I came across this excellent (but lengthy) article by Benjamin Wiker who makes the point far better than I can.]

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