religious improvisations - aliens adored, palmer Flashcards
what is the study and how can we understand raelian tradition
- a study of the Raelian movement = a new religion founded by the self proclaimed prophet: Raël, based upon his and other’s accounts of UFO sightings
- to understand and study the development of the Raelian tradition, one must first look to its founder and the “creation story” which accompanies his accounts of UFO encounters
raël
- founder = Raël who claims to be an ‘unwitting contactee’ and became part of a widening culture of ufology
- Raël and his “little green men” are universally mocked
- The first prototype prophet was George Adamski
It is Raël whom then forms an entire religious movement surrounding his ideas but also the one to introduce more liberal and contemporary protests against discrimination of minority groups, in contrast to Adamski’s supposed Nazi leanings
elohim
- This difference primarily rests on the ‘Elohim’ which, were ‘seven races’ who ‘provided the DNA for the four races of humankind.’ (Palmer, 20). These Elohim, only make their presence clear to Raël, and only do so to show support for his mission. Importantly to note, as a religious movement, Raelianism places a large amount of faith in science and scientific discovery. Indeed, ‘Rael claims his very existence is a response to the abuse of scientific knowledge’, in that the Elohim were appalled by humanity’s use of scientific discovery with the atomic bomb dropped in Hiroshima that they ‘decided to send us a prophet to warn humanity to stop war.’
where do the aliens come from
The aliens of post tend to come from remote planets - ‘They are our role models, our older brothers who offer hope that we too can make intelligent, rational choices that will overturn our urge to self – destruct and the paralysing fatalism of nuclear theology.’
‘nineteenth century contactees tended to predict amazing scientific developments… by the 1950s, the contactees who emerged… were far more cautious’ – the statements became less specific
‘By the 1960s, the leading contactees tended to confine their messages to theological, ethical, or environmental matters’
4 significant aspects to palmer
they are free love advocates, they actively oppose discrimination of the minority, and they embrace science and scientific discoveries, and yet pursue a strong and avid faith. This is perhaps the most intriguing and also the most emphasised aspect of Palmer’s study of the Raelians.
creationsim
- They ‘have a faith in science’ but in Palmer’s words ‘oddly enough, they reject Darwin.’
- ^ Instead, they are ‘Creationists,’ believing instead ‘that alien scientists [Elohim] created all life from scratch through the manipulation of the genetic code.’ - These scientists, standing in the centre of the universe are thought to have created and destroyed the dinosaurs and equally the Neanderthals ‘in a mood of artful experimentation.’
- These aliens are said to be Homo sapiens but also ‘atheistic super scientists.’ - the technology they use appears miraculous to us only because it is 25,000 years ahead of our own
gap between science and religion
- it attempts to bridge the gap between science and religion in a kind of ‘throwback to the golden age of science fiction’ - They believe, not in a God as our creator, but the power of the Elohim. They have faith, not in prayer or God’s will, but that any problem which science has caused; science can fix
religious status re. sources used by raël
- RELIGIOUS STATUS? - Raël claims to have two sources: the Bible and Science - he ‘pits the UFO against the crucifix’ - The planet of the Elohim is a real place, Eden is ‘now a laboratory’ and the creation “myth” has become fact.’ - Raël claims that ‘immortal father is named Yahweh and that his half-brother is Jesus Christ.’
- ^ introducing the important question of why ancient prophets are to be believed and why contemporary ones (such as Raël) are not - indeed many religious groups began with mocked outsiders
- “Science is our religion!” is a Raelian motto. Raelians are true children of the Enlightenment. They verbally assault the Catholic Church.. deploring mysticism, obscuratisme, and otherworldly spirituality, they turn to hard science to lead humanity to salvation.’ - Rael claims his very existence is due to the abuse of scientific knowledge
analysis - John saliba on problems with ufos
- John Saliba notes that the problem with UFOs is that their sightings are not open to the “normal procedure in the scientific world” - do angel sightings not have the same quality?
advantage of raelians
‘theological certainty that suits the modern condition’ - for Rael humans are made of atoms and dust and so do not have a soul - no issue with cloning debates etc
analysis - criticise palmer
- claims to be an objective observer - but reading between the lines, is she really? - as the title suggests she seems to have fallen into her own trap of adoration
- ^ claims to have first ‘stumbled’ across the movement at the 1987 Montreal physic fair and thus witnesses the movement grow from a small organisation to ‘a streamlined public relations machine’ with increasingly large numbers of followers
- finds she had been blacklisted by the movement when she was on the final draft of her book - is this then some kind of apology to them?
- she immersed herself in aspects of the tradition and yet has also ensured to remain distinct from them. Importantly, before even deciding to write a sociological account of the movement - she was visiting them, attending open meetings and for years relishing in unlimited access to the rapidly evolving movement.
but…doesnt mock it
analysis - controversy
- doesn’t seem to include an account of the great controversies surrounding the religion - Notably, that it is the only religious group who believes ‘human cloning is morally sound and theologically correct.’ - Rael is then not only blasphemous but according to the scientific community is also commotion an act of heresy although admits that his propositions to create a ‘slave race of biological robots’ gives an ‘uneasy impression’ that Raël’s line between what is human and science ‘is wearing very thin.’
