by Mayra M

Created on: June 25, 2008

A 1998 study conducted by the University of New Mexico showed that 50.3 % of Americans believe in angels and 49.7% believe in aliens. Below is a quote from the article published on May 24, 1998 by the Onion, an online news source:

[" According to University of New Mexico researcher Nathan Bailes, the differences between the two groups extend beyond their choice of other worldly being.

"The typical angel believer is a middle-aged, rural, churchgoing female who watches daytime television," Bailes said. "The typical alien believer, on the other hand, is a young, urban, non-churchgoing male who watches late-night TV."

The New Mexico study also found that the average angel believer has 5.4 children, compared to just 1.8 for the average alien believer.But for all their differences, Bailes stressed that the angel and alien halves of the U.S. populace are united by two shared characteristics: a crippling pre-millennial anxiety and a love of purchasing things. "It's important to remember that, deep down inside, we're really not all that different," Bailes said. "Whether we believe in winged messengers named Gabriel or bulbous-headed space creatures named XJ68734, we're all frightened of the unknowable void that is the future, and we all love to buy T-shirts, coffee mugs and other crap with angels or aliens on it."]

Bailes's last comment above gave me a good laugh because I love to buy stuff with angels on them, but he certainly has point when he says that we are all frightened about the unknown. I never really believed in angels as they are represented everywhere, and aliens were always a question mark and not because I thought they existed, but because I was of the mind set of "you never know." However, all that changed for me as I began to embrace my spirituality and look within for guidance and answers. I realized that in life you have to make choices about everything and leaving yourself open to believe whatever someone suggests to you intentionally or unintentionally will inevitably take you into a realm of fear, uncertainty and false beliefs that you were not meant to live or experience. You probably agree that with all of the information out there, true and not true, it is not easy to tell what's true or what isn't. But, once you start questioning everything you hear and you begin using your God-given logic and common sense you realize that the world isn't the mystery that it is portrayed to be. You are here living this life and this is the life you have to live,

• 1
• 2
• 3
• 4
• Next Page >>