While I like horror movies and am able to tolerate many science fiction movies, I can't say I've ever been particularly enthusiastic about the alien invasion flicks that involve human-looking aliens among us. There have been a few that I've enjoyed, but most don't do much for me. I recently found myself wondering if that might be because they hit too close to home. When I listen to Matt Gaetz (R-FL 1st District), for example, I find myself wondering if we are in the midst of an alien invasion. I'm just not sure how else to explain how someone like this still has a job. Are people really that desperate for the return of Beavis and Butthead?
But more to the point, I don't know of any atheist living in the U.S. who hasn't had the "stranger in a strange land" experience at least once. I am referring to that jolt that comes out of nowhere when one suddenly realizes that one is surrounded by people who believe some very strange things. Needless to say, that has been a recurrent experience for me in Mississippi. It goes well beyond mere culture shock. The idea that it might all be due to an alien invasion would explain a lot, even if it is a possibility I see as very unlikely.
The "stranger in a strange land" feeling became much worse for me during Donald Trump's first term as president. The Christian extremist part of it was already there, but the bizarre cult-like worship of Trump, the alternate reality he created for his devotees to inhabit, and the nutty conspiracy theories that emerged out of it were just too much. Seeing people fall victim to it reminded me of the various body snatcher flicks.
Now that COVID-19 is surging again as a direct result of the Delta variant plus whatever is going on with so many of these people, the possibility that we are under attack from aliens just seems a bit too real. It is almost like the aliens have figured out that they don't need weapons when our own stupidity makes such an effective one!
I suppose it is a good thing that the alien mythology has never been terribly appealing to me. Otherwise, I might end up thinking that there really were aliens among us. That wouldn't be good for my skepticism, not to mention my already fragile humanism.
