Other Tongues -- Other Flesh | Page 2

him . . . .
The world has not let the theme of cosmic voyage willingly die, whether in poetry and fantasy, in satire or seriousness, in the pulps or in the comics. There has been the growing realization of the possibility of other universes than ours, a plurality of worlds, even an infinity of worlds. We have become more fully aware of the insignificance of both our satellite, the Moon, and this rather small planet, the Earth. Man began to think that if Life possibly did not exist on other planets in this system perhaps it would be found in other universes.
The idea that earthbound man may someday journey into the heavens to discover other men and women, like or unlike himself, seems to be a conception the world persists in entertaining. From the time of Lucian it has existed in European literature. Why the appeal of this perennial theme? Is it curiosity? Is it humility? Is it perhaps a result of the essential loneliness of man? Is it because within man's soul lies the truth--that mortals exist on other spheres?
From a fanciful vision of other worlds where all is beautiful and good and just, we come back in somber mood to Earth which seems indeed a sad and silent planet. Man on Earth knows in his heart that other worlds are also inhabited, but he is reluctant to admit even to himself that Earth is only one small house of the many mansions in the Father's House; and worse, that she is a fallen house; a disobedient house; a wayward house.
In 1867, Matthew Arnold described the Earth well when he said: ". . . a darkling plain, swept with con-fused alarms of struggle and flight, where ignorant armies clash by night."
The people of Earth today are either confused, amused, or simply terrified by the reports of Unidentified Flying Objects and various types of extraterrestrial space craft seen in the skies and detected under the seas. If they accept the theory that life exists on other worlds besides our own, they cannot believe anything but stories of monsters, robots, sinister vegetables, or armies of evil, invading, mechanical Frankensteins.
Many people today are asking: "If spacemen are here, why don't they land and contact our leaders? Why don't they explain their mission?" Did these same individuals ever stop to think that no sane Earthman would descend into a pit of crawling rattlesnakes? With all Earth's strife, with bloody wars that carry thousands of men, women and children to slaughter worse than any Circus of Nero or Medieval Inquisition, is it any wonder that spacemen have not landed here?
However, these brothers from outer space have landed here, and they have contacted those whom they knew would receive them in the spirit of brotherly love and truth. It is now reliably reported that over one-hundred personal contacts have been made between Earthmen and Saucer occupants. They sought and seek those who have been looking for them. This is what they mean when they say: "We do not choose you; you choose us!"
Would these highly developed beings care to contact those who have held the people in slavery for centuries? No, because their coming to Earth will eliminate all forms of greed and selfishness. The actual "owners" of the Earth are on the side of the negative-dark forces, while the "Sons of Light" of the Space Confederation are of a higher authority. And being of a higher authority, they seek out those who love TRUTH and Truth alone. Like Diogenes, they search long and unceasingly, but unlike Diogenes, they find a man here and a man there; not many, but some.
The people of Earth like to picture themselves as Lords of Creation. One well-known anthropologist believes that far-off worlds may contain "gelatinous masses that control diabolic machines", but of men elsewhere, he positively states: "Never!" Those who do accept life as existing on other worlds believe this life will be much as it is on Earth: vain, full of pride, lust, greed; life that is warlike and aggressive as it is here.
While one hand turns thumbs-down on the idea of other planets being inhabited, the other hand writes on and on about the inhabitation of other worlds beyond Earth. People have been brought up on Buck Rogers, Flash Gordon, Superman, and many other fictional heroes of outer space. They have lived in a world of fantasy and make-believe for so long they don't recognize the truth when it is presented to them. Yet, our world of fantasy has its purpose.
Many gaze at the starry heavens and ask: "Is it all part of some gigantic scheme; is there really a Creator? Or have we evolved from a single cell that originally developed because of a freak accident in nature? Are we alone in the Universe?" Reason