A.D. After Disclosure: When the Government Finally Reveals the Truth About Alien Contact (38 page)

Disclosure may not resolve this matter. The dispute may continue for a long time.

Other Faiths, Easier Transitions

Some faiths appear positioned to accept the reality of “Others” arriving or living on Planet Earth.

Belief in extraterrestrial life is integral to members of the Church of Latter Day Saints. In Chapter One of the Mormon
Book of Moses
, we find this explicit statement: “And worlds without number have I created; and I also created them for mine own purpose; and by the Son I created them, which is mine Only Begotten. And the first man of all men have I called Adam, which is many. But only an account of this Earth, and the inhabitants thereof, give I unto you.”
¹⁹

God tells Moses that there are other worlds and other peoples. These other worlds are God’s business, and need not concern Moses or people on Earth. Yet Mormons do believe that they will have interaction with extraterrestrials after their death. Similar to other Christians, and like people of other faiths, Mormons see themselves as children of God. Unlike other versions of Christianity, however, they believe they will
become
God—who, according to their belief, was once a man. Members of the Latter Day Saints believe they are Gods in training, so to speak, who will rule a world with its own population in their next incarnation. How this might affect their attitude toward extraterrestrial or interdimensional entities that are here on Earth would certainly be interesting.
²⁰

Islam, with 1.5 billion adherents, is the world’s second most-practiced religion (after combining all the various Christian faiths). It does not have a strong position on the existence of extraterrestrial life; belief one way or the other is not related to the fundamentals of its creed. But neither does the religion provide any roadblocks toward accepting an extraterrestrial or interdimensional reality. One respondent of the Peters survey stated, “Islamically, we do believe that God created other planets similar to Earth.” Another wrote, “Only arrogance and pride would make one think that Allah made this vast universe only for us to observe.”

The texts of the Koran give support to these positions. “All praise belongs to God,” states Islam’s holy book, “Lord of all the worlds.” One commentator on this verse continues: “Worlds of Matter and Force, worlds of Spirits and Angels, worlds of Beauty and Goodness, worlds of Right and Law—worlds that we can imagine or understand and worlds which we cannot comprehend even in our imagination.”
²¹

The Islamic scholar Mirza Tahir Ahmad quotes another verse in the Holy Koran discussing the creation of “the heavens and the Earth, and of whatever living creatures He has spread forth in both….”
²²
Islamic scholars have long commented on the extraterrestrial implications of this verse. During the 1930s, Abdullah Yusuf Ali commented, “It is reasonable to suppose that Life in some form or another is scattered through some of the millions of heavenly bodies scattered through space.”
²³

Passages such as these will certainly hearten Muslims in the face of the acknowledged presence of Others on our world, whether they be extraterrestrial, interdimensional, or anything else. Allah rules over all, and may introduce them to humanity at His discretion.

The post-Disclosure world will also prompt many Islamic scholars to re-examine the nature of the jinn, commonly translated into English as
genie
. The jinn are frequently mentioned in the Koran as creatures occupying a parallel world to that of humankind. Along with humans and angels, they are one of the three sentient creations of God. Interestingly, only humans and jinn have free will. The jinn live in their own communities and, similar to humans, can be good or evil. The Koran mentions that they are made of “smokeless flame.” In other words, a source of heat or light.

Unlike Christianity, where the devil is a fallen angel (Lucifer, or “light bearer”) who had rebelled against God, the Islamic devil is a jinn named Iblis. He was granted the privilege to live among angels, then rebelled against God, and ever since—like his Christian counterpart—has continued to lead humans astray, which he will do until the Day of Judgment.

We can easily see, then, how other beings that become known to humans in the world AD, might be interpreted as fallen angels by Christians, or as jinn by Muslims. In the case of Muslim believers, however, the attitude may well be less antagonistic than those of Christians, because some jinn are said to be good. Furthermore, according to Islamic belief, while the jinn Iblis may be a deceiver, he has no power to mislead true believers in God.

Although Judaism has little to say about the idea of extraterrestrial life, the religion, like Islam, should have little difficulty in assimilating it.
According to the Talmud, there are at least 18,000 other worlds, although little else is said about them, including whether or not they are physical or spiritual. One kabbalistic book, the “Sefer HaBrit,” even mentions a planet called Meroz, where extraterrestrial creatures exist.

Buddhists, too, will have no problem assimilating the new reality. Buddhism has always understood that there are beings throughout the universe. This was taught by Siddhartha Gautama, the Buddha, more than 2,500 years ago. One Buddhist response to the Peters survey was that “ETs would be, essentially, no different than other sentient beings, i.e., they would have Buddha Nature and would be subject to karmic consequences of their actions.” Another wrote: “As a Mahayana Buddhist, with a worldview that includes in scriptures Buddhas and bodhisattvas from many different world systems, such news would not be shattering theologically, though of course institutions and practices might reverberate.”

The same reactions can be expected from adherents of Hinduism, which also holds to the idea of multiple worlds and their relationships with each other. In addition to these material worlds, there is also the unlimited spiritual world, where all purified living entities live with a perfect conception about life and reality. Indeed, spiritually evolved humans have received guidance and help from these entities of the spiritual world.

New Religions

Given the sheer diversity in worldwide religions, there will be no single religious response to Disclosure. Some already agree with the premise, others are moving in that direction, others have never considered it, some embrace the Others as divine emissaries, and some assail them as the work of the devil himself.

No matter what the disposition of the many religious institutions, standing pat will not be viable. Change will be a bumpy ride, more so for some faiths than others. In the end, most of the world’s faiths will expand their message. God will be seen to rule over all life in the universe, although undoubtedly some faiths will continue to claim that humankind has a special place in God’s plan.

Religion has never been a static human endeavor. We have seen Christianity and Judaism compete for loyalty, and we have seen Christianity fracture into its many permutations. Other faiths, too—such as Hinduism, Buddhism, and Islam—have gone through their own historical changes.

Undoubtedly, new religions will be formed in the post-Disclosure world, influenced by who the Others are and what we learn of them. They will also be influenced by some of the adept and facile minds that spring to take advantage of the instability.

At least one of these religions will explode into the public consciousness with the right message at the right time. It is possible that the top religion of the future is one of which you have not yet heard.

The Universal Order

As with all our examples, the claim is not that this particular chain of events will occur. Rather, by outlining one specific possibility, it is easier to understand the post-Disclosure dynamics that will be at work.

Imagine that the Disclosure is murky rather than clear. Authorities only confirm some form of visitation by intelligent non-human beings. Yet, we are not in any tangible contact with them, our knowledge of them is ambiguous, and they seem uninterested in communicating with us. Such a shadow world is perfectly suited for the creation of a new religion.

In this scenario, we focus on a congregational minister in Albuquerque, New Mexico, who uses Disclosure to vault into prominence. The minister, we can call him Reverend Harper, seizes the initiative on the first Sunday following the Disclosure announcement with a stirring speech from the pulpit. Rather than denounce these mysterious beings as being Satan’s army, he announces that he has been called by God to reach out, bringing them to Christian religion if they are not already devoted to Christ.

Reverend Harper puts his congregation to work 24/7. They build a website and send out an e-mail prayer. The message of his e-mail prayer is simple: Harper has received word from God to reach out to these Others and let them know that they are loved and welcome in the greater Kingdom of Heaven. Within days, Harper’s site has received millions of hits and
crashed servers. As the first week after Disclosure draws to a close, Harper has been interviewed by the major broadcast and cable networks and been quoted in major newspapers and magazines.

The publicity has caused groups to spring up in cities around the United States and elsewhere, all signing on to Harper’s agenda. Throughout this media blitz, his message has continually refined itself. His small church in Albuquerque has a new sign out front proclaiming itself “The Congregation of the Universal Order.”

Next Sunday, Harper’s sermon is covered live and streamed around the world. That night it is posted on YouTube to million of views. Ready or not, Reverend Harper, the Universal Order and his extraterrestrial connection, has gone viral. He also realizes he needs something more to keep people interested.

Now Harper announces that he is starting a prayer chain to contact the Others directly and speak to them about their feelings about the deity and to communicate to them the love that people of faith have to share. He points out that governments have had more than 60 years to communicate and have failed miserably. It is time now for God to be consulted. Harper says that when the membership of “The Universal Order” reaches 10 million, the prayer chain will focus its holy energy into an attempt to contact the mind and spirit of the Others in the service of the Almighty. They will extend the hand of friendship and ask them to join in common cause to find the greater Glory of God throughout the universe.

It takes two days to hit the 10 million number. At noon the following day, again to massive news coverage, Harper bows his head in prayer as the news cameras record millions of other people world-wide doing so. From Albuquerque to New York to Paris to Beijing to Mexico City, heads bow with him. It is the largest prayer chain ever attempted.

All eyes and cameras turn to Harper to see how he interprets the results. The man who less than two weeks earlier was a mid-level minister with no career prospects now has the ear of the world. He says he has been humbled by the experience and realizes he has been called by God to be his messenger. Harper confirms that, indeed, the Others have spoken directly to him. He has been given a vision to build a church in the middle
of the New Mexico desert. It will be large enough to accommodate 100,000 people. It is here, he says, that the Others will reveal themselves.

As the days go forward, Harper’s vision appears to have a price tag in excess of 1 million dollars. His critics argue that there is no way to verify any communication with this other intelligence. Harper’s answer is that the time for soldiers, lawyers, and bureaucrats to handle this affair has passed. Now it is time for men and women of faith to take the lead. Within weeks, ground is broken on property less than 75 miles from Roswell, New Mexico.

Within a year of Disclosure, the Congregation of the Universal Order holds its first services in the new church. One hundred thousand people have seats in the enclosed stadium-like affair, at least that many others are in RVs on the campgrounds surrounding the area, and nearly a billion people worldwide take part, in real time, as the Reverend Harper, the new Prophet of Contact and Channeler of the Universal Order, walks to the microphone. He turns his eyes toward the heavens and says, “We are here Brothers and Sisters. Are you listening?”

The Nature of God

While it may be useful to learn about free energy, an extraterrestrial United Planet, or to peruse the
Encyclopedia Galactica
, it may not be the first thing on our minds when we begin to engage in honest contact with the Others. If people could ask one single question, many would want to know how these Others conceive of God, followed closely by their attitude toward the afterlife. Energy, flying cars, and genetic manipulation will come further down the list.

Certainly, we may learn something new about God. Either these Others believe in some form of deity or they do not. If they do, it may be possible to compare ideas. If they do not, they may have their reasons, just as many of us have ours. It could lead to a spirited debate among humans, if not with the Others.

Most likely, what they think about religion will be related to the other great institution through which we interpret reality: science.

Science

The first great question that Disclosure will raise for scientists will be: How did the Others manage to get here?

Did they cross the incredible distances of the universe to get to us? If so, we would need to ask why most reputable scientists declared such a thing to be impossible. It will either mean that the laws of physics do not operate the way they think they do, or they have closed their collective minds to things that obviously were possible. Have the Others always been here in some manner? Did they traverse dimensions or even time? If so, it still means that scientists have collectively lived with their heads in the sand.