Scanners Set To Discernment: Examples Of Ufo Religions

To most Americans, the idea of beings from beyond this world does not at the moment impact their lives to any appreciable degree. Usually to most people the consideration of the topic is more akin to a transient pondering that may creep intermittently into their minds from time to time. Sadly, in that way then, such entities are a bit like God to many who are, for the most part, self-sufficient in their own hearts and existentially content. However, it is because of this philosophical complacency that the idea of powers from beyond the terrestrial sphere becomes such a danger in terms of worldview since the hearts of so many are open to persuasion and influence.

Though they are at present considered to be outside the mainstream of contemporary thought and convention, there are a number of sociological cults, theological sects, and religious organizations that embrace what our culture categorizes as UFO’s or extraterrestrials as the pivotal elements of their respective belief systems. It might be asked that, if these groups and their adherents are for the most part found along the fringes of acceptability, then why ought Christians take the time to acquaint themselves with these outlooks when the church finds itself confronted by a staggering number of other spiritual challenges?

The simplest response as to why the Christian should acquaint themselves with the rudiments of UFO religions is that Christ died for these people as well. II Peter 3:9 assures that the Lord is not willing that any should perish. In I Corinthians 9:22, Paul writes that "I have become all things to all men, that I might by all means save some." These verses indicate that believers need an apologetic for these people as well as they do for more conventional styles of unbelief such as evolution or the New Age. After further study, one will likely discover a degree of philosophical overlap with these more widely known systems of thought that often serve as intellectual tributaries introducing many to worldviews embracing extraterrestrials.

There are also reasons of a more practical nature as to why the Evangelical Christian needs to have a basic grasp regarding a number of these seemingly bizarre groups. Admittedly, the most enthusiastic adherents of these kinds of ideas regarding extraterrestrials may not rank among the most conventionally gregarious of people that come to mind. Often comedians such as Jay Leno make jokes deriding the social skills of science fiction fans a regular feature of standup routines. However, members of these groups often posses a zeal for what they believe comparable to career missionaries or professional clergy in more establishmentarian religions.

World history teaches that the obscure sects of one era can become the major religions later on down the flow of time. For example, Christianity was in its early days in the time of the Roman Empire considered a minor cult within Judaism and Buddhism began as one troubled Hindu's quest to find true enlightenment. Thus, if for no other reason, the Christian needs to be aware of the basics of UFO-based systems of belief in order to protect the church against infiltration by these doctrines and to prevent loved ones from being lured into what could very well be part of the strong delusion spoken of in II Thessalonians 2:11.

Perhaps the most prominent example of a group drawing its spirituality from UFO's and extraterrestrials was the Heaven's Gate cult. This particular group earned a place in infamy when, on March 26, 1997, thirty-nine members committed mass ritualistic suicide. Though this act is not necessarily the outcome that will befall all of those embracing ideas about UFO’s, it does serve as a warning as to how seriously some of the most enthusiastic are willing to take their beliefs. For it was a belief in UFO’s that prompted the group to end their lives together.

Heaven’s Gate was founded by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Lu Nettles. The two met when Nettles served as Applewhite’s nurse during a hospitalization for a heart blockage in 1975. A relationship blossomed around a shared interest in the occult. Nettles ultimately abandoned her family to devote herself full time to these pursuits that would take on a fanatic missionary fervor.

Nettles and Applewhite were not simply interested in UFO’s from the standpoint of an aerial phenomena or even as a scientific curiosity pointing to the possibility of life elsewhere in the universe. Richard Abanes writes in End Time Visions: The Doomsday Obsession, “They came to believe that they were each possessed by a space being from The Evolutionary Level Above Human [T.E.L.A.H] (33).” Applewhite claimed he had been possessed by the entity inhabiting Jesus. Nettles claimed that the being humanity referred to as God the Father resided within her. The two were not satisfied simply with the knowledge that they had been selected to host such august cosmic personages. The duo wanted to spread their "revised gospel" to the world.