- One of the more notable examples of this is Scientology, and the belief that a space demon named Xenu kidnapped a bunch of aliens from different worlds, brought them here (where they became "body thetans"), and these body thetans subsequently attach themselves to all of us here on earth, and cause us all sorts of problems. Top level Scientologists use their strength to keep Xenu imprisoned in a mountain somewhere. Very real to the higher level scientologist, very unbelievable to the normal rank and file human being.
- Another example would be Skinwalkers, in which a Native American Shaman is able to use his powers to assume the form of an animal. Skinwalkers are usually associated with dark power and evil in their respective cultures. I once worked with a number of Native Americans who wouldn't even utter the word, because of the belief that it draws the attention of the Skinwalkers to them. A very real phenomena to them, virtually unheard of in the homogenized modern world.
- Another reality that is gaining notoriety through news reports is the belief that strapping explosives to yourself, and detonating them in a crowded area - causing as much death and destruction as you can in the process - is a pleasing thing to God (Allah), and he will reward you with 72 virgins at the gate of heaven. Most people on earth believe that killing other people is an offense to God, as it destroys the work of His hands. Yet, the concept of homocide bombers and their resulting rewards in the afterlife are very real to the fundamentalist Muslim.
- How about the reality of Holistic medicine versus that of the medical establishment? My holistic doctor maintains that cancer is completely curable by simple, less painful and more natural ways than the traditional method of surgery, chemotherapy and radiation. During his career as a holistic doctor, he has referred over 300 people to a cancer clinic in Tijuana, Mexico... often with grim prognoses coming from their traditional doctors. Out of those 300+ people, only one of them ever died, and the rest made amazing recoveries. Yet, I have a number of friends that have gone the traditional route of cutting, chemo and radiation, and have eventually gotten better.
- Let's look at the reality of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has a sort of messianic complex that charges him with the task of wiping Israel off of the map and bringing about the return of "the Hidden Imam" (an apocalyptic figure, much like Christian traditions of Christ returning to the earth at the end of days). Completely real to Mr. Ahmadinejad and his followers… completely terrifying to the rest of the world, considering this man is working his ass off to obtain nuclear weapons.
- Then there's the reality of dinosaurs, evolution, and man growing into a human after having been an amoeba, then a slimy blob, then a swimming slimy blob, then a fish, then a lungfish, then a lungfish limping along the ground, then somehow the lungfish turned into a monkey over millions of years, and then from a monkey to a caveman, and then into what we know as a contemporary human being, and then into a metrosexual. Versus. The reality of religion, where the earth and everything on it was created by the hand of God. The jury is not only still out on this, but is fist-fighting in the aisles over it.
- I'm not even going to touch the whole "reality of what is good vs. what is bad" thing; there are as many opinions to that as there are people, it seems.
- And here is an interesting one to watch: The reality of the Holocaust. Do we believe pictures and written accounts from hundreds of people, or a group that contends that such a thing never happened, and is attempting to rewrite history, as it were?
- How about the reality of the moon? Is it real? (Joking!) There are some that contend, however, that our lunar trips in the late sixties and early seventies were nothing more than a soundstaged event, much like you see in the movie "Capricorn One" So what is it?
- I like delving into "Alternate History", sometimes just for laughs, but many times because I like to exercise my brain, and contemplate some of the possibilities:
- Ancient Egyptian settlement in the Grand Canyon
- Artificial Moon Theory
- Ancient Indian Flying Machines & Nuclear War
All of these things are very real to the people who research them, questionable to the populace at large, and pure bunk to the cynics...
So is truth a constant, or is it merely in the eye of the beholder? I know my answer to this question, but I'm more interested in yours...
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