Unspoken Theories about Aliens and God
Over the past four months, the U.S. government has been releasing unidentified anomalous phenomena (UAP) files. The releases were all over the news in May, but talk of them has dwindled off like stars at dawn, it seems.
The popular rhetoric surrounding conversations about aliens seems go something like this:
'There may or may not be extraterrestrial life, and the global elite may or may not already know about it. If they do, they've probably known for years, but are hesitating to tell the public because they have no idea how to reveal such sensitive information to us.'
I get that. Afterall, we can't even accept our own differences or refrain from fighting each other. Can you imagine what we'd do if we found out about another highly intelligent species with values and an anatomy significantly different from ours? So, it would make sense if the global elite were hiding information from us, because they think it's their pre-ordained responsibility to take care of us like we're children.
If there is intelligent life beyond our planet, this wouldn't change anything about us. We're still made in the image and likeness of the one true God, and are endowed by him with inalienable rights like life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
There may be other "gods" who have extraordinary powers, like Q from Star Trek, or Marvel superheroes. However, none of this would make them God.
The most distinct quality that distinguishes the One True God from all these other "gods" is love. In addition to being all-powerful, all-knowing, and ever-present, God is all-loving all of the time toward everyone unconditionally. And this is his choice, because if love is not freely chosen then it is not love.
It is God's all-loving nature that brings life into the world and the universe because love is life-giving. It is naturally fecund. Love intrinsically diffuses itself. It's contagious, like life. So, God is---he must be---the Creator of any living thing we encounter. Our God is the font of all life, the source of everything living, the first cause for all other causes.
So, with that formidable theological foundation, we can confidently talk about extraterrestrial life without being ostracized by fellow believers. God modestly reveals himself to those who seek him. The more we learn about reality and its possibilities, the more we see that the one true God is completely other, even when talking about otherworldly things.
The Shroud of Turin, believed by many to be the burial cloth in which Christ was buried, has a negative impression of Christ's resurrected body upon it. God, in the same way, is the negative impression of our understandings. He is what's left when we strip away everything we know, or think we know. The only aspects of him that we really know are what he has revealed to us. If we want to know more about him, we can only learn more by observing what he is not. He is the opposite of what we know, the other side of reality we cannot sense.
Sherlock Holmes (Sire Arthur Conan Doyle) noticed a similar quality about the truth, saying:
"When you have eliminated the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be the truth."
God is the truth that remains when we eliminate all of our false assumptions about reality. The more I admit my failure to comprehend him, the clearer the mystery of his existence becomes.
As for the mystery of alien life though, I'm not sure any amount of believing or theorizing will make the truth clearer. Looking into these UAP files to find common trends may lead to a clearer picture of who or what they may depict, and may be a worthwhile investigative reporting endeavor. If only we were as interested in God as we are in aliens.
If you actually are, check out my book Jesus Draws Near, a collection of my reflections on the Sunday Gospels.
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