UFO Religions

Mike on Coast to Coast AM Thursday Night

Many readers are familiar with Coast to Coast AM, the most-listened to late night talk show in the world. I’ll be on the evening of Feb 2. I’ve been on Coast over twenty times, and it’s always fun and unpredictable. The topics tend to be fairly wide-ranging when I’m on, but no doubt things like ancient astronauts and how Christianity could deal with an extraterrestrial reality will come up for discussion. One new item I am offering listeners is English translations to the only three scholarly articles on the Anunnaki that I know of. They are all in German, and over the past two years I have had them translated into English. Hopefully Coast listeners will want to actually engage the original sources in regard to the Anunnaki, which are a favorite candidate for ancient astronaut mythology.

Technorati Tags: aliens, Anunnaki, research, Sumerian

ET and the “Religious Right”

This is a post worth reading (including of course the original source post by Tony Bragalia) if for no other reason than it is illustrative of the “all or nothing” thinking on the alien (by conservative Christians) that I have cautioned about (here is part one of ten on that). Naturally, there’s a good deal of black-and-white thinking on the other side as well.

I hope in reading the full essay you can excuse the typical, mind-numbing tropes about the religious right. Want to know what’s scarier than the religious right? The fascist progressive left that is now in power. Want concrete examples? How about 30+ appointed (and so, un-elected) czars, dispensing with the sunset regulations on the Patriot Act, key pieces of bureaucratic control achieved by cleverly circumventing the Legislative Branch, and a full 60% of the American economy now directly under the authority of the Executive Branch (wasn’t it Congress to whom the Constitution gives the power of the purse?).  Oh, and then there’s the creation of a financial deficit amount larger than the cumulative deficit of the country’s entire history from George Washington to Ronald Reagan. That’s change we can believe in. And net neutrality and cap-and-tax yet to come! Kiss the first amendment on the Internet (and everything else communicated over the web regardless of point of origin) goodbye if that goes through (try reading the proposals, not listening to the talking heads). Yes, the left is so enlightened and beneficent. Bless their pointed little heads.

For a lesson in intellectual history, you should all read The Road to Serfdom and Liberal Fascism. They describe the American future under the Leftist elites. It is the Left that is most palpably opposed to individual freedom. I’d rather have a genuine Jesus-driven politician than a genuine Mao/Che/Chavez-driven politician any day.  Historically speaking (evidence available to anyone with a pulse and who can read), socialist Marxism has caused more human suffering in the history of the world than any other force, hands down.

But read the article to get back on subject.

Technorati Tags: Christianity, ET, extraterrestrials, Mars, religious right, socialism, UFO Religions

Understanding the Christian Fundamentalist View of UFOs and Aliens, Part 10

Well, it’s about time I got back to this.  When I last left you, I had noted that I was writing about end times over on my Naked Bible blog and that you needed to check out that discussion to understand my hesitation on agreeing with the typical Christian “fundamentalist” view of UFOs and aliens. I’m nearly done with that discussion (it’s 14 parts, and likely will only be one or two more; here is the archive). I can now summarize my thoughts.

The standard view of end times, to which the UFO and alien topics are married by many Christians, is riddled with problems. It’s not that the typical scenario — a rapture, then a seven year tribulation period in which the antichrist plays nice for the first half, then unleashes the forces of darkness, then Armageddon, then the second coming (think Left Behind) can’t work — it’s that it is based on a long series of presuppositions, guesses, and a few questionable exegetical points (but so is every other view). That’s what I’ve been illustrating and chronicling on the other blog. And so, given the tenuous nature of the entire reconstruction (and I know it’s news to many of you that there are any problems), when Christians want to insert aliens and UFOs into the picture, I see trouble.

By trouble I mean that those who do such a thing are setting themselves up for not only a potential, huge disappointment, but they risk all that they are saying about aliens and UFOs being construed as nonsense if their eschatology doesn’t pan out.  And they also risk many in the flock leaving the faith over disenchantment with the “assured” nature of their end times schemes. I just cannot endorse how the alien-UFO subject is married to a rapture, for example, because I’m quite uncertain there is even a thing such as a rapture taught in the New Testament. (Again, if that’s news, go to my archive – and please read ALL the posts starting at the beginning – they build on each other).

Other than this general uncertainty, I don’t think the major “exegetical” argument that is used to bolster aliens and UFOs factoring into the end times is at all sound. I speak here of the notion that Matthew 24:37 (“For as were the days of Noah, so will be the coming of the Son of Man”) is a reference to the fathering of nephilim by the sons of God in Genesis 6. This connection is critical to the typical “fundamentalist” view tying aliens and UFOs to the end times.  I’m also not a believer that Daniel 2:43 is about alien-human hybrids.

I’ll try and explain the problems I see with these interpretations in the next post or two.

Technorati Tags: aliens, end times, Matthew 24:37, nephilim, rapture, UFOs

Understanding the Christian Fundamentalist View of UFOs and Aliens, Part 9

Here is a link to my ongoing eschatology (end times) archive over on my other blog. I’m still showing how any view of end times is based on guesses and presuppositions. I should warn readers at this point, though. If you are married to the pre-trib / pre-mill view of end times, you may find the last two posts (numbers 8 and 9) at the other blog disturbing. I’m showing how the core ideas of that view are far from self-evident. I’m not taking any sides (again, I don’t care for any of the views), but I’m doing this since it will be the basis for explaining why I’m not on board with the common notion (among Christian ufologists) that UFOs and alien abductions are proof that we are living in the end times. Still setting the table for that.

Technorati Tags: aliens, Christian, end times, eschatology, prophecy, UFOs

Understanding the Christian Fundamentalist View of UFOs and Aliens, Part 8

Readers will recall that we’re looking at elements of Christian eschatology as preparatory to me getting into my concerns as to the marriage of one specific view of eschatology to the UFO / ET question on the part of Christians into UFOs and ETs.  Here is the latest installment of my eschatology discussion over on The Naked Bible.

Technorati Tags: 70 weeks, aliens, Daniel, end times, tribulation, UFOs