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List of UFO religions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

UFO religionsare groups that deal with alleged communication between humans andextraterrestrialbeings. Proponents often argue that most major religions are already based on the concept of a supernatural being in heaven. Forms of communication includetelepathyandastral projection.Groups often believe that humanity can be saved after being educated by the aliens as to how to improve society.Alien abductionbelief can lead to formation of a UFO religion.I AM Religious Activity,founded in 1930 byGuy Ballard,is seen, according to one author, as the first UFO Religion, thoughAetherius Societyfounded byGeorge Kinghas also been given this distinction. Scholars identify the 1947Roswell incidentas a key event within the history of UFO spirituality. Melodie Campbell andStephen A. KentdescribeHeaven's GateandOrder of the Solar Templeas among the most controversial of the UFO belief groups.Scientologyis seen by scholars as a UFO religion, due to itsXenucosmogony and the presence ofSpace opera in Scientology doctrine.

Background

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J. Gordon Meltonidentifies the firstUFO religionas the group"I AM" Activity,founded byGuy Ballard(at left).[1]St. Germainis pictured above the mantle.

UFO religions generally deal with belief in communication with extraterrestrial beings.[2][3]Stephen Hunt writes inAlternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction,"One form of quasi-religion that perhaps borders on a more orthodox form of religiosity is that of the flying saucer cults".[2]In these groups, individuals believe that communication between aliens and humans can take the form of physical contact,telepathy,andastral projection.[2]Typically the groups believe that humanity will be saved by these aliens when humans are educated as to a better way to live life.[2]Some of the groups believe that aliens will come to take those that believe to a more positive location.[2]Often the extraterrestrial beings are seen to plead with humanity to improve itself and to move away from a society of greed and violence.[2]UFO religions place an emphasis on spiritual growth and the evolution of humanity.[2]A UFO religion can be formed before or after an individual claims to have experienced analien abductionand been taken aboard a spacecraft.[4]

Christopher Hugh Partridge writes inUFO ReligionsthatJ. Gordon Meltonidentifies the first UFO religion as the group"I AM" Activity,founded byGuy Ballard.[1]Partridge says it "can be seen as the obvious theosophical forerunner to UFO religions such as theAetherius Society,and to the thought of UFO religionists such asGeorge Adamski"but views it not as a UFO religion but as a theosophical religion.[5]

Partridge notes that within UFO religions, there is a belief that the supreme being or "evolved entity" did not ascend from Earth, but instead came from anotherplaneor another planet and descended to Earth.[6]While the vast majority of factions affiliated with I AM reject UFOs as unimportant, some modern-dayAscended MasterTeachings teachers such asJoshua David Stonemention UFOs.

Partridge describes the 1947Roswell incidentas a key point in time within UFO spirituality, commenting: "Roswell is now firmly established as what might be described as a keyufological'spiritual site' ";[7]andJames R. Lewisalso calls attention to this event in his bookThe Gods Have Landed,noting that it is seen by Ufologists as the date of the "emergence of UFOs into the public consciousness".[8]Partridge places UFO religion within the context oftheosophicalesotericism,and asserts that it began to be associated as "UFO religion" after the 1947 incident atRoswell, New Mexico.[6]According to Partridge, most UFO religions still have many of the key points associated with Theosophy, such as belief in the sameSpiritual Hierarchy,and he also draws parallels toNew Agethought.[6]He notes that within the thought processes of UFO religions after 1947, many of these groups maintained beliefs that extraterrestrial beings were "heralds of a new era".[6]

Hunt describes theAetherius Societyfounded byGeorge Kingin 1955 as "probably the first and certainly the most enduring UFOcult".[9]He places the Aetherius Society andRaëlismamong the "most renowned" of the "flying saucercults ".[2]Writing in theEncyclopedia of Religion and Society,contributors Melodie Campbell andStephen A. Kentplace the Aetherius Society andUnariusas among the "oldest and most studied" of the flying saucer cults.[10]They describe groupsHeaven's GateandOrder of the Solar Templeas the "most controversial groups combining UFO belief with variations ofcontacteeassertions ".[10]Gregory L. Reece classesScientologyas a "UFO group" in his bookUFO Religion: Inside Flying Saucer Cults and Culture,and discusses elements of theXenucosmogonyandSpace opera in Scientology doctrine.[11]He compares Scientology to the Aetherius Society and toAshtar Command,writing: "While it bears strong similarities to the Ashtar Command or the Aetherius Society, its emphasis upon the Xenu event as the central message of the group seems to place them within the ancient astronaut tradition. Either way, Scientology is perhaps most different from other UFO groups in their attempt to keep all of the space opera stuff under wraps."[11]A similar comparison is made inNew Religions: A Guide,which describes the Xenu mythology as "a basicancient astronautmyth ".[12]Author Victoria Nelson writes inThe Secret Life of Puppetsthat "[t]he most prominent current UFO religion is probably the science fiction writerL. Ron Hubbard'sChurch of Scientology".[13]

List

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Image Name Members Founder Founded
The Seekers(aka Brotherhood of the Seven Rays)[14][15][page needed] Defunct Charles Laughead (aka "Dr. Armstrong" ) or Dorothy Martin (aka "Marian Keech" ) 1953
Aetherius Society[2][3][10][16] Several thousand George King 1955
Freie Interessengemeinschaft für Grenz- und Geisteswissen-schaften und Ufologiestudien (FIGU) Billy Meier 1975
Ashtar Galactic Command[11][12][14] Thelma B. Terrill ( "Tuella") 1977
Chen Tao[14][17][18] 50,000 Hon-ming Chen 1993
Cosmic Circle of Fellowship[19] William A. Ferguson 1955
Fiat Lux[12][20] 2,935 Uriella 1980
Ground Crew Project[12][14] Sheldon Nidle 1980s
Heaven's Gate[10][21][22][23][24] Defunct Marshall ApplewhiteandBonnie Nettles 1970s
Industrial Church of the New World Comforter[14] Allen Michael 1973
Love Has Won[25][26] 46 Amy Carlson 2006
Mark-Age[19][27] Charles Boyd Gentzel and Pauline Sharpe 1962
Flag of the Nation of Islam
Flag of the Nation of Islam
 Nation of Islam[28] 50,000 Wallace Fard Muhammad 1930
The New Message from God[29] Marshall Vian Summers 1992[30]
Alphabet of Nuwaubianism
Alphabet of Nuwaubianism
 Nuwaubianism[31][32] Defunct Dwight York 1970s
Order of the Solar Temple logo
Order of the Solar Temple logo
 Order of the Solar Temple[10] Defunct Joseph Di MambroandLuc Jouret 1984
Raëlian symbol
Raëlian symbol
 Raëlism[2][3][11] 90,000 Claude Vorilhon 1974
Scientology logo
Scientology logo
 Scientology[3][11][12][13][33][34] 20,000 L. Ron Hubbard 1952
A map of Unarius centres worldwide
A map of Unarius centres worldwide
 Unarius[10][16][14][35][36] Ernest NormanandRuth Norman 1954
Universe People[37] Ivo A. Benda 1997
Urantia movement[16][38] Spiritual entities 1924 at the earliest and 1955 at the latest
Church of the SubGenius Ivan StangandPhilo U. Drummond 1970's
Falun Gong Logo
Falun Gong Logo
 Falun Gong Li Hongzhi 1992
Training centre for release of the Atma-energy[39] Heide Fittkau Garthe 1994
Joy of Satan Ministries Andrea Maxine Dietrich 2002

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^abPartridge 2003,p. 7.
  2. ^abcdefghijHunt 2003,p. 226.
  3. ^abcdPartridge 2005,pp. 444–445.
  4. ^Hexham 2002,p. 11.
  5. ^Partridge 2003,p. 8.
  6. ^abcdPartridge 2003,p. 36.
  7. ^Partridge 2003,p. 6.
  8. ^Lewis 1995,p. xiii.
  9. ^Hunt 2003,p. 227.
  10. ^abcdefSwatos 1998,pp. 531–532.
  11. ^abcdeReece 2007,pp. 182–186.
  12. ^abcdePartridge 2004,p. 374.
  13. ^abNelson 2002,pp. 178–179.
  14. ^abcdefTumminia 2005,p. 4.
  15. ^Festinger 1956.
  16. ^abcLandes 2000,p. 411.
  17. ^Lewis 2003,pp. 301–303.
  18. ^Lewis 2001,pp. 371–372.
  19. ^abBainbridge 1996,pp. 380–381.
  20. ^Partridge 2003,p. 180.
  21. ^Hunt 2003,pp. 27–28.
  22. ^Partridge 2003,p. 239.
  23. ^Lewis 1995,p. 137.
  24. ^Clarke 2006,p. 227.
  25. ^"Crestone Cult Love Has Won Leaves Man to die in Desert".23 July 2020.
  26. ^"From 'Mother God' to Mummified Corpse: Inside the Fringe Spiritual Sect 'Love Has Won'".Rolling Stone.26 November 2021.
  27. ^Lewis 2001,p. 367.
  28. ^Partridge 2003,pp. 280–281.
  29. ^Roberts, Michael (2011-02-04)."Marshall Vian Summers's latest message from God coming Sunday from Boulder".Westword.Retrieved2015-06-01.
  30. ^"The Society for the Greater Community Way of Knowledge".Archived fromthe originalon 2008-11-22.
  31. ^Reece 2007,p. 196.
  32. ^Partridge 2003,pp. 281–282.
  33. ^Partridge 2003,pp. 188, 263–265.
  34. ^Lewis 2003,p. 42.
  35. ^Lewis 1995,p. 85.
  36. ^Hexham 2002,p. 113.
  37. ^Saliba 2006.
  38. ^Clarke 2006,p. 153.
  39. ^La Vanguardia 1998.

References

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