Extraterrestrials, Government Revelation, and Abrahamic Faiths

 

Recent social media memes have alluded to a secret meeting between government officials and “some” pastors warning of a forthcoming release of files regarding aliens.

The story, which I read from a news publication which I shall not present here because I think the whole matter to be exaggerated if not fabricated, warns how the Christian public might respond to the revelatory files.

First, and minimally, I think, if true, these government officials and “some” pastors, in a condescending manner, underestimate the intelligence and faith of well-informed followers of the Abrahamic faiths.

Second, and a bit more weighted in importance, having studied the Bible for decades, I don’t find anything in either New Testament or what we Christians call the Old Testament (much respect to my Jewish friends) to suggest, deny, inform, verify, refute or otherwise address the notion of extraterrestrials or their habitats.

Thirdly, to make a somewhat trinitarian (lower case t) argument, I believe these three Abrahamic faiths accept God (or as I sometimes describe as “the initial cosmic impulse”) as creator of all that is in existence.

It is a shame that my friend Dean is no longer with us. He and I, both enthusiasts of extraterrestrials, time travel, and all things unearthly, would have had great discussions while out at the golf course swinging at aerodynamically designed, usually white, objects to chase if ever we made contact of first, second, or third kind.

 

Inviolable Conscience and King Charles III

 

Recently, King Charles III, speaking before Congress, spoke the following words…

“I am mindful that we are still in the season of Easter, the season that most strengthens my hope. It is why I believe, with all my heart, that the essence of our two Nations is a generosity of spirit and a duty to foster compassion, to promote peace, to deepen mutual understanding and to value all people, of all faiths, and of none.”

This King of England referred to Congress as “this citadel of democracy created to represent the voice of all American people to advance sacred rights and freedoms.”

This British fellow seems to understand what many leaders, elected, podcasted, or substackted in the United States seem to have forgotten or never understood to begin with; that these “sacred rights and freedoms” are for all people, of all faiths, and of none.”

I again invoke a preeminent right embedded in the Constitution before even the Bill of Rights amended that Constitution…

Article VI clause 3....

but no religious test shall ever be required as a qualification to any office or public trust under the United States.

As a Christian, as a preacher, as a pursuer of Jesus teaching in action, I believe that we should always foster compassion, promote peace, deepen mutual understanding and  value all people whatever religion to which they subscribe or none. I am convinced that the most basic notion of the Unted States as envisioned by the framers is that each person is entitled to their inviolable conscience.