The Rabbit Hole

      What is crucial to recognize when literary work is up for religious interpretation is the difference between a religious belief system and a general belief system. To be spiritual is to deal with matters of the personal spirit. This idea greatly contrasts with theism; the belief in one or more divinities. Often aspects of a religious system are incorporated into a belief system but this is not always the case. Certain components must be met.

      Another line must be drawn to distinguish the religious from the philosophical. They often seek to answer the same variety of questions, such as “Why are we here?”, however, unlike philosophy, religion distinctly separates the profane from the acceptable (”Religious Belief”).

      As all is not equal in today’s brutal world, all is not equal in the realm of the religious. At the core of the most publicized of religious belief systems are three components; the first being the presence of a god or higher principle, the second a sense of self or jiva and lastly there are rituals or customs which provide the spiritual connection between the two. When all else is stripped away, these three basics are all that is needed to found a religion. However, most often there is also a set of myths or sacred beliefs.

        Narrowing the focus, a religious belief system can also fall into numerous categories, such as pluralism, universalism and so on. To identify a specific nest as a religious group it must first be decided where to place them.

      Unlike the most popular of religions those with Pluralist beliefs tend to find no distinctions between any of the hundreds of religions practiced. To them, each belief system is valid within the particular culture in which it is practiced and is this worthy of validity from everyone. One step further is the view of the Syncretist, who attempts to blend various religious ideas into a unique fusion that suits their own personal beliefs and needs.

      Other religions choose to utilize incorporation and project the deity into all aspects of their daily lives. Instead of thanking the lord solely on Sunday’s during the weekly visit to church the gods are thanked every morning for letting the sun rise and blamed when the cows go dry. This sort of belief is that of Universalism.

      A belief system categorized as systemization; such as Buddhism is reflective of its name and allows each believer to progress religiously by following the specified spiritual path (”Religious Belief”).

      The cause for wanting to be religious varies greatly on the situation. Reasons include a personal experience or emotion, a sense of fulfillment, spiritual and physiological gain, a sense of community and culture and so on. By comparison, there are also many reasons why one would not choose to believe, such as life restrictions, irrelevancy, alternative explanations, the promotion of ignorance, etc. These factors divide the religious world from the world of the non-believer, as it has always been.

      Yet, come 1961 an alien idea appeared, resting on the line of separation. This new belief system was the satirical realization of Robert A. Heinlein and was described in the seemingly innocent form of the allegorical novel the Stranger. Its dialogue littered with philosophical viewpoints quickly became the bible to a new generation, and whether it had been the intention of the author or not a new religion had been formed. His work hed clearly risen to religious heights and yet disproved traditional religion entirely, while being supported by the public. With fictional Martian Valentine Smith as its deity Heinlein fathered a new religiously fallowed anti-religious viewpoint.

       While an individual could consider any text or object to be ‘holy’, traditionally, for a literary work to be considered a “religious text”, as with a belief system to be considered religious, there are requirements. As most religions are hundreds of years old the associated holy writ is usually equally as ancient.

       It’s reign and secrecy varies from religion to religion. For some the scripts are readily available for all to read, but for others they are hidden away; the values and stories simply known. All differences aside, one thing remains the same, for most religions the scripts are seldom altered (”Religious Texts: Views”)

      Recurrent patterns are easily visible across all religious texts. For instance, “The Qur’an, the central religious text of Islam, contains references to over fifty people also found in the Bible, typically in the same or similar narratives” (”Qur’an”). As many characters and tales are shared amongst the religions if a new text originating from the same views were to develop, it could very easily grow a large following.

                Although the narratives of the Stranger operate on many different levels the main interpretation seems to be quite obvious, for the title, Stranger in a Strange Land, in itself is a quote from the bible. Comparable to Mike Gershom “said, I have been a stranger in a strange land”  Exodus 2: 21-22 (KJV). Mr. Smith seemingly takes on the literary role of Jesus, labeling the novel as an allegory for human religious belief.

                As the novel progresses Jubal Harshaw falls into the role of “father”, and teacher to Mike. Yet, his failed attempts to change those religions he views as false cause him to succumb to the realization that he knows as little as those he is attempting to change. It is in this grand attempt to “change” that Heinlein appears to model the story of Christ.

                However, through careful analysis of the novel it is seen that it is not at all a direct biblical allegory, for while there are obvious biblical parallels, they aren’t even slightly exact, and reader sympathies do not lie solely with Mike, the presumed Christ-like character but rather with Jubal. It is for this reason that the novel is an entirely different religious scripture as it greatly differs from biblical ideas.

                The ability to read the novel from a strictly allegorical standpoint quickly breaks down, as Jubal, the father, does loses his religious attitude. While classically, it is Jesus’ trail to remain faithful in his father, the roles switch in the novel and the unbelieving Jubal must try to hold onto his faith in Mike, even though he begins a controversial religious process.

                Holding true to the practice of Syncretism the elements of the novel compare to many human religions. “Besides traditional Christianity, he presents Islam, evangelicalism, atheism, astrology, and even irreligionï” (”Literary Qualities”).

                People of all beliefs can make connections between the Stranger and their personal beliefs. As the religion of all worlds is fused from many different belief systems it is a unique teaching that can be appreciated by all. For instance “Ghanaians are very similar in their fusion of beliefs. They incorporate Christian or Muslim beliefs into the traditional tribal beliefs without any problem” (”Stranger in a Strange Land”).

                Almost as prevalent is the evidence of an in-acceptance of religion within the novel but not of Atheism (the rejection of the existence of gods). Instead the stranger speaks not of a disbelief in gods but of the absurdity in religious belief. It is these two contradicting elements that bond to form the Martian religion.

One of the most scientific beliefs countering many religions is that of evolution, a theory that the Stranger does support. The process of evolution is clear by comparing what is known about the Martian species and what is true about the human species. The median, Smith, even partakes on his own, individual, process.

                From the fictional evidence it is clear that the Martians are a much more advanced civilization than Heinlein’s humans as they have excluded all elements of human life deemed unneeded. Had Mike continued to grow on Mars than on earth he would have evolved past his unnatural human nature, and would not have formed the religion of all worlds.

                Unlike human society the Martians of the novel held no form of government or money and had no sense of violence or deceit. These four aspects, often considered necessary to the human race were not used by the advanced race simply because they had brown beyond individual intellect.

                The mental capabilities of the Mars race vouch for their superiority. The alien abilities to bring themselves into near death states for long periods of time, withstand extreme temperatures and make all that is “wrong” disappear are clear improvements upon the less resilient nature of humanity.

                All aspects of Heinlein’s Martian life; their language, maps, art and ceremonial death were extremely more complex then those of the modern human race. Pushing all things aside, the greatest change of all was the growth from the need to physically bond to ability to mentally bond. Physical closeness or sexuality had subsided in to allow for mental closeness or grokking. While humanity was limited to physical relationships with only others of the same species, the Martians could grok and reach “beyond a purely conceptual understanding and [enter] a mode of being in relationship with the world” (”Grokking”).

                The ability to grok goes “beyond ordinary and even extraordinary levels of comprehension moving far into the vestigial core of being human and possessing, as well as using qualities rarely engaged these days” (”Grokking”). Hence, the Martian race had minds that were far superior to than those of the humans, because they were higher on the evolutionary chain.

                Valentine Smith is a more selective example of this process. From his beginnings as an innocent egg to becoming a masterful leader of men and self-appointed Messiah, he clearly adjusted, but it is his final action, his self-sacrifice, that serves as proof for his evolution, and supports the fact that no religion was present in the novel at all.

                Smith’s self sacrifice could have one of two reasons behind it, or both, the first being that it was done as a catalytic act. His position in the religious nest could be seen not as a preacher but as an accelerator to aid in the grokking of the rest of the members so that all of them could reach the “next level” or next evolutionary step. If he continued to intervene he could have instead become a hindrance and to the progress thus allowed his life to come to an end. It was done to set the nest free and allow them to come of age.

                The second reason for his saddening choice was that of evolution. Smith made the choice to evolve to the next level and graduate to archangelic status (”Stranger than Fiction”).

                Biologically, evolution is the process by which organisms develop by means of random mutation and eventual genetic recombination. While Smith’s process was much faster than that seen in the animal kingdom, and involved voluntarily action it is an excellent example of fictional evolution in the novel as it is driven by the same mechanisms as natural evolution.

                Naturally, two mechanisms drive the process of evolution, the first being natural selection. Deemed self-evident natural selection describes the evolutionary fitness of a species. At one point a heritable variation occurred in the Martian species giving it evolutionary advantage over the human race, which over much time, is the reason why Martians had physical and mental power over humans (such as their ability to make bad things ‘disappear’).

                Natural selection also aids the process of adaptation, which is itself a form of evolution, and is something that Mr. Smith learned to do quite well. Though not detailed on a biological level it is evident through the progress of the novel that he adapts to human customs, intellects, etc, as he adjusts to the need for money, sex, etc. (”Evolution”).

                Being that the Stranger supports a condensed viewpoint on biological evolution and yet contains all of the elements, which consider it to be a religious, it is ultimately a religious script for non-religious aliens.

                The already popular 60’s counterculture influenced by sexual freedom, self-responsibility and individual freedom immediately took the novel as somewhat of a manifesto.

                Like many other influential works of literature the piece soon made a contribution to the world of language with the popularization of the word “grok”. As it rapidly became common parlance among the younger generation it found it’s way into the Oxford English Dictionary, defined as “to understand intuitively or by empathy; to establish rapport with” and “to empathize or communicate sympathetically (with); also, to experience enjoyment” (”Grok”).

                As it become more apparent that the fictional Martian belief system was growing, the greatest of events occurred: the foundation of the Church of All Worlds in 1962. It not only borrowed its name from Smith’s religious movement but was also modeled after the fictional organization in many ways. “This spiritual path included several ideas from the book, including polyamory, non-mainstream family structures, social libertarianism, water-sharing rituals, an acceptance of all religious paths by a single tradition, and the use of several terms such as “grok”, “Thou art God”, and “Never Thirst”" (”Literary Significance”).

    While the alien idea that non-religious were simply in an off religion had long been floating around it was never formalized or written down as such until Heinlein concluded his religious text, Stanger in a Strange Land. While embodying the attributes of a true syncretist bible the story had little similarities to actual religious stories and closely followed the process of evolution, poking fun at the ridiculousness of religion between every line. Thus, as humanity began to read and accept the new satirical, free willed, opposing belief system it was ignored that religion was evidently unneeded and simply a comfort. Though all of the followers knew it, they also grokked it in its fullness and supported the nothing they had to support.