The Divine Invasion -> Sideways Reality by Dabrownone

I have no idea if someone (or a lot of people) have posted theories like this, but here it is.

We already know from the producers, and the appearance of the book 'Valis' in season 4 (John hands it to Ben in 'Eggtown'), that the work of Philip K. Dick (PKD) has been influential to Lost. After seeing the latest Desmond-centric episode however, my feeling is that the real key to unlocking Lost is the book 'The Divine Invasion' (TDI).

Both of these books were important to me personally; in the words of Charlie, they were 'consciousness-altering'. The parallels between Lost and TDI are numerous, and thought-provoking. TDI is the story of a God, Yahweh of the Old Testament, who was banished by the Evil One, from the Earth. He now lives on a distant planet, and was worshiped by the indigenous people there. Eventually, this planet is colonized by human settlers, and Yahweh decides it's time to come back to Earth and invade the Zone of Evil that surrounds Earth since he's been driven him away. He does this by way of Immaculate Conception with one of the settlers, who then attempts to return to Earth with him.

When the boy, named Emmanuel, is born, and grows to about 10 years old (I don't remember exactly, i'm recalling from memory) he meets a young girl at a school he is in. He eventually learns the true identity of this girl, which is actually fairly complicated. To put it succinctly (spoiler alert), she turns out to be half of the original Godhead, of which Emmanuel is the other part. Some ancient event has caused the Godhead to fracture, leaving these two parts. Throughout history, the girl, who has many names, has tried to protect mankind from Yahweh's terrible wrath. In fact, Emmanuel is so sickened by what the world has become in his absence, he threatens to obliterate everyone, until the girl convinces him otherwise.

She does this by taking Emmanuel into her reality, or 'realm' as they call it. It is a reality in which the same people exist, but in very different circumstances. Emmanuel argues that although people are happier here, this realm is an illusion, and therefore meaningless. Only He can make something real, and reality isn't always pretty.

It turns out that the first realm, where the Evil One is in control, is also an illusion, and eventually, Emmanuel breaks through and finds the original, 'real' realm he had created. In this reality, the human characters we had been following slowly begin to realize that something has changed, that a war is being waged between good and evil. By the end, we see that each person will have a personal choice to make, between choosing the Evil One, or the team of Emmanuel and the girl, and this is the reality that perhaps is closest to our 'real' reality.

SO, how does this relate to Lost? If you haven't guessed already, here are a few ideas. The island world, and the sideways world may not be the only worlds that exist. Perhaps the final endgame for Jacob will be that the two realities are combined somehow. It seems like destroying one or the other reality wouldn't really be a satisfying conclusion. Given the attachment viewers have to the Island reality, I doubt the Sideways one will survive, but perhaps elements of the Sideways reality should be incorporated.

Or, recall that Jacob said that the Island is a cork, holding back the darkness. But perhaps the darkness is not evil in the moral sense, but the darkness of perception, the 'Black Iron Prison' of PKD, where the truth can't be seen because a malevolent force is obscuring it. It appears that Desmond wants to open the eyes of the Oceanic survivors, so they can see beyond this world into the Island reality. The interesting question then becomes, who would choose the harsh reality of the island to fairy tale world of the Sideways.

I was going to end it there, but I realize now that some characters may choose the Island for sure. Kate seems likely to choose the island, as Desmond will, it seems, and perhaps Jin and Sun. I don't think characters who are dead will be involved, so Boone, Charlie etc. can't go back. Out of the main characters extent, those are the only ones I can think of whose lives are more appealing in the Island reality (assuming they are allowed off the island again). Maybe you guys can debate who you think would choose to go back, and who won't.