Have you ever wondered what it would be like living as an alien on Earth? If someone from another planet was to visit here, what would they think of us? Would we look simple-minded to a super-intelligent being? Or would they be impressed with our knowledge and technology? What would our moral flaws say about us? Would the visitor understand our divisions, violence, and wars?
Many science fiction novels and films have answered these questions with thought-provoking stories that encourage us to look at ourselves from the perspective of an outsider. One of my favorites is the 1951 movie The Day the Earth Stood Still.
Klaatu, the alien representative of a galactic league of peaceful planets, arrives on Earth to deliver a warning to our violent societies. Before delivering his message, however, Klaatu experiences living as an alien on our wayward planet. Although he meets some nice people, our military assumes him to be a threat. So, they hunt him down and shoot him while he is trying to escape to his spaceship.
Gort, the iconic robot who accompanies and protects Klaatu, reduces the military weapons to ash before rescuing and healing Klaatu in time for him to give his warning. “The universe grows smaller every day,” he says, “and the threat of aggression by any group, anywhere, can no longer be tolerated. There must be security for all—or no one is secure… Your choice is simple: Join us and live in peace or pursue your present course and face obliteration.”
I remember watching that movie as a kid on Saturday afternoon TV. A flying saucer, an awesome robot with a laser eye, army guys running around preparing for a fight—it was thrilling sci-fi. When Klaatu was finally able to deliver his message at the end, though, it really got me thinking: How do we look from the outside?
Klaatu’s federation obviously did not like what they saw—warring societies on the verge of spreading their violence to other planets. Would we really do that, I wondered? Plenty of fiction stories have been written about that, too. As if right from those pages and film reels, today the world’s superpowers are already developing defensive weapons that can be deployed in orbit. So, yes, we would easily take our savage ways to other planets.
Can we change? Again, science fiction has explored that possibility as well. Gene Roddenberry’s Star Trek assumed mankind would eventually put aside our barbaric ways, unite, and explore the stars in peace. Likewise, the mid-nineties TV series Babylon 5 depicted Earth as a galactic peacekeeper after a war with the alien Minbari people—a war that nearly destroyed mankind. In both series, humanity learned to unite around a shared love of peace. To have unity, we must have something at the center that everyone values above all else, even if it means giving up other things we think are important.
EXPLORING THEMES
In my own fiction writing, I wanted to explore these themes, too. First, I wondered if anyone else in the universe has gotten things right. What would a society be like if the people united in peace early in their development? Specifically, what if the inhabitants remained close to God after the fall of man?
My first novel, PLANET OF EDEN, answers this. Imagining a near-perfect society and environment was not easy, though. Our perceptions and beliefs of what is “perfect” are always going to be inadequate because they originate from imperfection; we can’t comprehend something perfect when our starting point is an imperfect mind. However, to create an intriguing story, I had to try. One caveat, however, is that nothing can be perfect in our universe until our Creator returns it to its original glory. In PLANET OF EDEN, the planet Hourou and its people are not perfect; they are as close as people can get while staying close to God and His ways. To the Earth visitors who experience Hourou, it is hard to believe such a thing can exist.
After being introduced to such a paradise in Eden, the second novel in my trilogy, PLANET OF PERDITION, shows what it would be like for someone from Hourou living as an alien on Earth. As you will recall from Eden, the Dah-Ahey boy, Sah, was left behind when his companions and wrecked spaceship were recovered by Eah’s family. Perdition takes up where that story ended, and we get to see what Earth is like through the eyes of Sah. Without giving too much away, it is a sharp contrast to how Sah lived on Hourou, even for a rebellious Dah-Ahey like him.
[Update as promised in my last post: PLANET OF PERDITION is already 1/3 written!]
Writing Perdition has reminded me of Klaatu and his experience walking among Earth people. For Sah, though, there is no moral high ground by which he judges humanity. Rather, he is a neutral observer—at first, anyway. Being a Dah-Ahey means that he has rejected the Ways of Ahey on Hourou, beliefs and behaviors that have ensured the near-perfectness of his home planet. Like the other Dah-Ahey, Sah wants to live life on his own, apart from any deity or restrictive moral code. What he finds on Earth are many people who feel the same way. When he learns what it has done to their planet and to their lives, will he still want to remain a rebel? You will find out in PLANET OF PERDITION.
A final thought about living as an alien on Earth: Though science fiction has provided many provocative stories on the subject, it is hardly a modern idea. After listing some of the Bible’s heroes of faith in chapter 11 of the book of Hebrews, verse 13 says “all these died in faith. They did not receive what had been promised but saw it and greeted it from afar and acknowledged themselves to be strangers and aliens on earth” (Hebrews 11:13).
One sure way to experience living as an alien on Earth is to have a relationship with the God who created you and loves you. When you put your faith in Him and live close to Him, you feel like an alien here, knowing for certain that perfection awaits you in Heaven and then later when God turns everything back to the way it was meant to be in the real Eden—on a new Earth.
My encouragement to you is this: Be the right kind of alien here. Not alien-ated from God, but an alien who knows where his or her home really is.
The first sentence in the first chapter of PLANET OF PERDITION is “Sah wanted a home.” We all want a home. We crave Eden, not Perdition. Can we get Eden back? Absolutely. But it starts with a decision from you.
If anything in this post resonates with you, I would love to hear about it. Comment below or Contact Me.
Be well and stay awesome, my Edenite friends!
