Can you grok this?

When I started Stranger in a Strange Land I was instantly fascinated. I had to move past the fact that it's now 2010 and we know there is no one on Mars and that for a senario similar to this book to exist it would have to involve not Martians, but a life form on a planet much farther away. It has its moments of sexism and homophobia, but so did the majority of the population in the 60s. In my interpretation highlighting these, and many other, flaws in our society was a big part of the book's purpose. Getting beyond that the story is instantly gripping and written in a way that is very accessible, most of the time. A human, born off planet and raised by Martians has now returned to Earth. There is government scandal, a great escape, and apparently this guy can "discorporate" people and things. We learn right along with Mike, the Man from Mars, all the things that humans take for granted and what elements of our society are a little difficult to comprehend.
We move along as Mike learns from Jubal, Jill, and all his other water brothers (Martian appreciation for water would make activists incredibly proud). And then he tries to comprehend the most bizaare concept of our society, religion. He studies and attends services. He talks to people and tries to understand why there are all these different understandings of the world. Ultimately Mike creates his own "church" which is part 60s love cult and part, well, kind of what I imagine Scientology to be. I must admit that I don't know all that much about Scientology, but I do know that the "founder" (L. Ron Hubbard) of this celebrity-loved religion is a science fiction writer and a contemporary of Heinlein. A quick internet search told me that the rumors surrounding the legend that Hubbard made up Scientology, just to see if he could, actually involved a bet between Heinlein and Hubbard to see who could get more money from a relgion they created. Well, Hubbard won, but I probably still won't read Dian3tics anytime soon. That said, Mike's "religion" in Stranger in a Strange Land is not exactly a religion and is supposedly compatable with all the world's major relgions, which ever you prefer. As I understand it, this is also true of Scientology. I would have to do more research on the topic to better grasp all of this, but I did think it was very interesting.
Regardless of Heinlein's intentions with regard to creating a religion, his critique, or more, analysis of society is riveting. I think that while looking at how Mike must see our world is enlightening, my favorite insights come from Jubal. This is a character who is constantly changing up his arguments to play devil's advocates, seeming to talk in circles at times. However it seems his true purpose is to make whoever he is talking to, and the reader, see all sides of an issue and to comprehend that nothing is as simple as it first seems. Through Jubal Heinlein highlights to complexities of our world, and is occaisionally able to boil them down to the simplest, most important elements at the same time.

And then it ends, with (spoiler) the new icon sacrificing himself for his cause, which seems to be bringing people to a higher understanding about themselves and the world.

Science Fiction is so intense. Double Rainbow intense. I'm still trying to grok it all, but Heinlein's most famous novel is definitely worth a read.