As a kid I went to a Methodist church every Sunday ("Methodists? Ha, we used to make them sit in the middle of the pew!" once admitted a fellow UFO researcher who attended a Baptist Church as a child) and my family was involved in church events. When the Reverend Montgomery died following many years of service, his position was filled with the Reverend Smith, and he and my dad didn't exactly hit it off because dad had always questioned whether one needs a "middle man" to communicate with or steer people to God. They had a couple of heated discussions, enjoyed very much by both, but eventually our church attendance dwindled as other family and social issues came into play.
By the time I reached my teenage years and graduated from a childhood love of monster and science fiction movies and publications to a very serious interest in the topic of UFOs and other phenomena (the "other" side being the result of reading Charles Fort's books -- you know, like the guy I quote at the top of this blog?), my church attendance was zero. Our church relationships had unraveled over time and we all drifted to other realms. Me, I was beginning to wonder if religious teachings and UFOs had anything in common.
But a Sunday church visit was still in my future. During early Air Force basic training in 1968, there came upon the base a Sunday drenched in rain, and nevertheless the training instructors strongly "encouraged" we basic trainees of the Christian faith to attend church services on base. Reluctantly, I dressed appropriately, threw on a raincoat and splashed my way to the base church.
Sitting there as the roof of this lofty house of worship was pelted with a continuous barrage of rain, I and other airmen in attendance already felt a depression we had never endured, for we knew not whether our continued technical training after basic would qualify us to go to Vietnam or to some other hell hole.
It had been my experience in churchgoing days of the past that members of the clergy who speak before the faithful generally try to inspire the heart, or the soul if you wish, and if things go as they should the flock should exit the building feeling somewhat heightened in spirit. On this particular Sunday, that did not happen.
In fact, the Air Force clergyman, a captain as I recall, took the opportunity on this dark and hopelessly dreary day to depress us further, reminding us as we already realized how sad we were to be called away from our homes (many of us enlisted as an alternative to the military draft which had already barked at our heels). For some, raindrops still clustered about their clothing gave way to tears quietly flowing as the man droned on, UN-inspiring and depressing the crap out of us.
By the time this session had mercifully ended and we, the congregation, departed in silence, the gloom had grown gloomier. For me, this was the one day a church sermon might have been welcome. Instead, I felt as though I had been exposed to some very, very bad theater.
Turn the radio dial and a smattering of talk show hosts will advise that we attend church because going back is the only way to save the country. Maybe, I'm not sure. Now that the decades have elapsed, I'm not into organized religion -- not because of some grain of hatred, but because I've read too much about "the strange and unknown." Once you encounter out of the ordinary things most typical sources don't or won't touch because they fear tipping over the cart of conventionality, you might start to ponder how bizarre our existence is and what's actually behind it. Stuff to drive you nuts.
I think there are individuals and groups who are already insane because of an immersion into a little too much organized religion and they can't make the jump from there to here without becoming violent. If one has been "beaten with the Bible" or any other Holy book to excess, to the point where they are literally unable to express an original thought created by their own mind, won't deep frustration or even violence become the outlet? When one harbors a self-imprisoned compulsion with no release in sight, what happens?
May I gently suggest that a solution to the UFO issue alone may settle a myriad of questions regarding the who, how, why and where of the world's religions? If you happen to be a person of deep religious faith you will consider me deluded or ignorant, and that's okay. You be you . . . and I won't be you. https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=xTPmCSu_55M
