A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture
A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture
A Genealogy of the Extraterrestrial in American Culture
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
magaz<strong>in</strong>e, <strong>the</strong> latter edited by iconoclast Elbert Hubbard who “urged lenient child-rear<strong>in</strong>g,<br />
advocated divorce for <strong>in</strong>compatible couples, and mocked all ‘smug’ religions—especially<br />
Christianity,”—causes which had all resonated with <strong>the</strong> spiritualists <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> previous century. 144<br />
Pelley began to issue <strong>the</strong> Philosopher, his attempt to propagate ideas central to his emergent<br />
philosophy, <strong>in</strong> Fulton, New York <strong>in</strong> 1909. Progressive child rear<strong>in</strong>g, manly <strong>in</strong>dependence, <strong>the</strong><br />
power <strong>of</strong> maternal love—<strong>the</strong> obvious tension between <strong>the</strong> two preced<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong>dicat<strong>in</strong>g Pelley’s<br />
ambivalence vis-à-vis <strong>the</strong> fem<strong>in</strong><strong>in</strong>e—and <strong>the</strong> “scientific, unsentimental” discussion <strong>of</strong> faith all<br />
received hyperbolic treatment <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> n<strong>in</strong>eteen-year-old’s journal. 145<br />
This last echoes <strong>the</strong><br />
n<strong>in</strong>eteenth century belief, so central to Spiritualism, and doomed to <strong>in</strong>creas<strong>in</strong>g obscurity<br />
follow<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> 1925 Monkey-Scopes trial, that science and religion were compatible. The notion<br />
that matters <strong>of</strong> faith would bear scientific scrut<strong>in</strong>y also aligns with a central tendency <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
nexus <strong>of</strong> communication between human and O<strong>the</strong>r —<strong>the</strong> materialization <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> spiritual. Pelley<br />
would cont<strong>in</strong>ue to assert <strong>the</strong> compatibility <strong>of</strong> science and religion throughout his life. In a much<br />
later communiqué he <strong>in</strong>toned, “‘religion’ and ‘science,’ <strong>in</strong> short are beg<strong>in</strong>n<strong>in</strong>g to be recognized<br />
as parts <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> same Truth, <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> same Reality, as <strong>in</strong>deed <strong>the</strong>y must be.” 146<br />
This ostensible<br />
compatibility was necessary <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> bid to ma<strong>in</strong>ta<strong>in</strong> a public space for spiritual discourse. In a<br />
period <strong>of</strong> ascendant positivism, spiritual discourse needed to be clo<strong>the</strong>d <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> language <strong>of</strong><br />
materialism.<br />
The Philosopher fur<strong>the</strong>r espoused a utopian vision led by a unified, non-denom<strong>in</strong>ational<br />
Christianity—a utopia characterized <strong>in</strong> part by <strong>the</strong> nationwide establishment <strong>of</strong> “Guild Houses”<br />
144 Leo P. Ribuffo, The Old Christian Right: The Protestant Far Right from <strong>the</strong> Depression to <strong>the</strong> Cold War<br />
(Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1983) 26.<br />
145 Ribuffo, 29.<br />
146 William Dudley Pelley, Books for your Soulcraft Library (Noblesville IN: Soulcraft Chapels Press). Undated<br />
material recovered from Noblesville, Indiana Public Library’s vertical file archive on William Dudley Pelley <strong>in</strong> July<br />
<strong>of</strong> 2005.<br />
86