from Sacred Books & Sky Hooks

What, then, are we to make of the life, teachings, and accomplishments of Corky Ra?

In a November 2008 interview with the Salt Lake Tribune, the president of Summum, Su Menu, is reported to have asked, “Why should Ra’s encounters in the 1970s with ‘advanced beings’ . . . be any more suspect than those of, say, Joseph Smith?” Why, in a turnaround, should her mentor’s revelations be any less valid than those of other founders, especially the founder of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?

When she spoke these words, Ms. Menu clearly had a Mormon audience in mind. But a skeptic might reply, in turn: Why should Summum Bonum Amen Ra’s story of his purported meetings with his Summa Individuals be any less suspect than the meetings of the Prophet Joseph Smith with the angel Moroni—or, for that matter, than other reported meetings, including the classic tales of the Apostle Paul’s encounter with the risen Christ?