The UFO Religion

Hi,

I've been discussing this with a lot of folks recently, so I thought
I'd make a thread about it, so others could share their thoughts,
both 'pro' and 'con'.

The basic notion is that for many people, UFO's have become
their religion; in other words they take their perception of the
'UFO phenonemon, if any' on faith and faith alone; with just
a smattering of pseudoscience as social cover. That in fact
these folks aren't particularly concerned with gathering data,
doing research, developing hypothesis and then testing
hypothesis to see if it's true.. but rather are just using
UFO's and Aliens conceptually as a source of religion
to make themselves feel better about things in a confusing
and hostile world.

But let's first discuss religion a bit, with some references;
I'll just use two to get things started.

Basic Characteristics of Religion

By going through that list, we can certainly see elements
of Ufology which fit these categories, such as:

1) Salvation - many 'good aliens' are supposedly here to save us
from this evil world which may just be a form of hell.. save us
from other evil space empires, etc. Perhaps even bestowing
lengthy or 'eternal life' to those they rescue... check.

2) Theological - the rationalization of the beliefs.. check

3) Anthropological - the possibilities of human beings..
(tinkered with our DNA, spiritual explanations,etc).. check.

4) Epistemology - how do we know what we know? Mostly
channeling as an explanation.. check

5) Ethics..relations between humans.. this one is less clear..
but there are the 'good humans' (the believers) and the
'bad humans' (the debunkers) and 'UFO ethics' deals with
the battle between the two, so check!

6) Cultic practices .. well there are plenty of UFO cults
out there.. and on the Internet (such as the Ra material)
so definitely check!

7) Temporal - gives meaning to events in time... such
as our 'seeding by UFO aliens, etc' ... check!

8) Cosmology - having to do with the meaning of the
Universe.. aliens and ufos are an 'easy explanation'
requiring no evidence to give all sorts of meaning
to the Universe.

So 8 out of 8 characteristics of religion, as taught by
a major US college...

So I think that it's fair to say that we have established that
UFOs and Aliens CAN be considered a religion, but that's
a bit fancy perhaps.

This following link says some interesting things by a
competent anthropologist:

Existential Angst

The bottom line, is that (IMHO) the reason so many people rave
about UFOs, making grand proclamations with not the tiniest
shred of evidence, without even once saying 'this is my theory
that i'm working on', is because UFOs and aliens serve two of
the major purposes for any faith-based system for them,
(as discussed in the previous article):

“Religion provides purpose and consolation. It gives meaning to life and relieves fear of death.”

UFOs in fact make a great religion for those who don't like more
traditional religions dealing with the inconvenience of getting up
and going to church and pretending to be moral, while gossiping
behind everyone's back.

Now, in all fairness, seeing a 'UFO' can shatter ones mind and cause one
to do anything to explain what happened. And IMHO that is completely
valid.. as I 100% concur that there are strange and sometimes shattering
unexplained events occurring, and religion is a common crutch used by
humans to deal with existential stress.

I wish that we had a UFO religion sub-forum, and that we could keep
the UFO religion postings separate from the UFO researching postings,
but hey; I suppose some folks might say that i follow a form of my own
'UFO religion'.

Well the difference with me, is that I say 'theory' quite liberally; I'm
actually researching it quite thoroughly, the theory is subject to
constant change and revision, and if necessary (if it's dis-proven)
i'll simply discard it, and develop some other theory, or take up some
other hobby.

Also, my theory (the Sentient Plasma theory) offers me no comfort
of any kind whatsoever.. if anything it strips away nearly all the
spirituality and religion from my life.. in terms of any sort of
eternal life, spiritual goals to be followed, any sort of 'ascension'
or 'salvation' and it does absolutely zero to quell any existential
terror i might feel from time to time.

But again, that's why I think it's a much better theory than ANY
of the UFO theories which lend themselves to being turned
into another religion.

Kevin

Well....I feel all this stuff is pretty scary. I am an atheist and I don't need salvation other than 3d printers that produce body parts (available in 10 years according to some!).

My trouble (not to be confused with the troubles of Haven) is that I NEED to know. When I watch a horrible documentary I still need to know what happened.

originally posted by: KellyPrettyBear
Hi,


but rather are just using
UFO's and Aliens conceptually as a source of religion
to make themselves feel better about things in a confusing
and hostile world.

LOL you can't be serious here.
This is an insult to every believer who has researched the topic.
What a joke. smh

originally posted by: TrueMessiah

originally posted by: KellyPrettyBear
Hi,


but rather are just using
UFO's and Aliens conceptually as a source of religion
to make themselves feel better about things in a confusing
and hostile world.

LOL you can't be serious here.
This is an insult to every believer who has researched the topic.
What a joke. smh

It seems spot-on to me...

Well... I also wonder about a lot of details re alien abuctions. For example do they clean their instruments? And the skin they penetrate (no pun intented ok?)?

a reply to: KellyPrettyBear

Great thread S&F

I agree with everything you stated. In fact, i believe the real problem starts with human perception and the human tendency/need to label everything with a word. The notion that something can exist that, the very nature of which cannot be properly defined by a word, seems rather outlandish to most.

Words end up having connotations and images attached to them, which creates confusion and misunderstanding.

a reply to: combatmaster

IMO it boils down to this: do people use words they know to describe the unknown OR do they refer to their modern day beliefs (Succubus in the Middle Ages for example).

originally posted by: AdmireTheDistance

originally posted by: TrueMessiah

originally posted by: KellyPrettyBear
Hi,


but rather are just using
UFO's and Aliens conceptually as a source of religion
to make themselves feel better about things in a confusing
and hostile world.

LOL you can't be serious here.
This is an insult to every believer who has researched the topic.
What a joke. smh

It seems spot-on to me...

Oh trust me, we know.
I wish I could get paid to predict your responses. I'd quit my day job.

originally posted by: TrueMessiah

originally posted by: KellyPrettyBear
Hi,


but rather are just using
UFO's and Aliens conceptually as a source of religion
to make themselves feel better about things in a confusing
and hostile world.

LOL you can't be serious here.
This is an insult to every believer who has researched the topic.
What a joke. smh

If this does not apply to you; if everything
you say is based on science and you have
no personal feelings involved, then there
is no insult.

Besides... the world is full of religion..
I'm sure that I have some in me too...

Very few humans are pure scientists..
most have emotional attachments
to their favorite ideas.

It's a good thing to learn to let go
of treasured ideas which have no
evidence whatsoever. It's called
growing up. It's hard for all of
us.

Kev

I got this far

but rather are just using UFO's and Aliens conceptually as a source of religion to make themselves feel better about things in a confusing and hostile world.

then stopped.

originally posted by: QueenofWeird
Well... I also wonder about a lot of details re alien abuctions. For example do they clean their instruments? And the skin they penetrate (no pun intented ok?)?

Actually there have been some reports of two
people standing side by side. One person says
they were abducted over days of time...while
the other person states their friend has glassy
eyes and is non-responsive.

So sometimes it seems 'abductions' are
just mind control or 'psychic abductions'.

Others seem to be military abductions.

Of course most abductions are probably
just hypnogogic experiences and false
memories implanted by improperly
performed hypnotic regression (I.e
leading questions).

A few actual abductions might happen,
but the plasma energy requirements
would be staggering.

Kev

Yes.

I think it boils down to the majority of people who seem to be interested in the "UFO" topic are not actually interested in finding what the real answers may be. Mainly because they have already decided what THE answer is and that satisfies their world (or in fact whole universe 'view'). So they simply seek confirmation of this view. Or worse still proclaim this view as the truth. When in fact none of us have enough knowledge in this subject to proclaim the real truth.

Some may think there is nothing to it all and so will always dismiss anything suggestive of an alien presence.

Others, who so want to believe we are not alone, decide that the alienz exist and are quarantining Earth or whatever other ET theory they've decided is their Holy Grail. So they run with that preconceived notion.

The data suggests it is probably a number of different things, most of which are mundane explanations (with just a few genuine unexplained ones that still may not point to ET).

But in general people decide what they want to believe and then want confirmation of it. It's too much hard work to keep looking for the answer and even considering the opposing views to our preconceptions. Even the heroes in the field like Friedman and Dolan have hit a brick wall these days and I wonder if they still believe what they are telling us.

Away from the UFO topic I am constantly amazed by how many people trust what 'a friend' tells them and they just believe it. They tell me all about it. I offer to do an internet search, tell them what it says, and when it doesn't confirm what they wanted to be true I then get verbally abused for not trusting what they had to say. People hate being shown to be a fool

I am subject to these fallibilities myself at times. It is a characteristic of being human.

a reply to: KellyPrettyBear

I try to be as pragmatic as possible when it comes to the unexplained. I am ok with what ever the truth is. And if known work from there.

As to hypnagogic states, I have been there many times both visual and auditory. It is clear to me that it is in my head. Don't think that a level headed person would actually think it's something out there.

originally posted by: QueenofWeird
a reply to: KellyPrettyBear

I try to be as pragmatic as possible when it comes to the unexplained. I am ok with what ever the truth is. And if known work from there.

I don't care what the truth is...but whatever
it is...it's not human friendly.. we don't live
in a human friendly Universe.

In my opinion most people would be
well served to NOT learn any 'cosmic truth'.
It's almost certainly not pleasant.

Kev

a reply to: KellyPrettyBear

You seem to be very set in what you belief. And that's your right. I try to be as open as possible without going of the deep end.

originally posted by: QueenofWeird
a reply to: KellyPrettyBear

You seem to be very set in what you belief. And that's your right. I try to be as open as possible without going of the deep end.

Set due to 50 years researching 'It'.
But all it would take for me to discard
it all would be a couple of new data points.

I'm actually ridiculously open minded..
liminal in fact.

But pure delusional faith with zero
to back it up....that keeps genuine
research stalled out (such as the
US Government being caught red
handed repeatedly hoaxing the
ETH) means that explanation has
the least possible credibility and
there is no point wasting much
time on it --- a highly documented
fraud.

Kev

(Sorry, nothing to add other than I agree with the general premise of the OP. I just wanted to follow the topic and the only way I know to do that is by commenting on it so I can see it in 'myATS'. As you were, Gents.)

originally posted by: KellyPrettyBear

.. but rather are just using
UFO's and Aliens conceptually as a source of religion
to make themselves feel better about things in a confusing
and hostile world.

How do UFOs and aliens make anyone feel better about a confusing and hostile world? If anything, it would just add to confusion and hostility.

If I wanted to believe some nonsense that would make me feel better about the world, I might choose to believe that cops have integrity or politicians are trying to help the middle class.

originally posted by: VictorVonDoom

originally posted by: KellyPrettyBear

.. but rather are just using
UFO's and Aliens conceptually as a source of religion
to make themselves feel better about things in a confusing
and hostile world.

How do UFOs and aliens make anyone feel better about a confusing and hostile world? If anything, it would just add to confusion and hostility.

If I wanted to believe some nonsense that would make me feel better about the world, I might choose to believe that cops have integrity or politicians are trying to help the middle class.

I couldn't agree more. But somehow
the UFO Religion folks think that they
are special somehow or 'evolved'
because they get all this attention,
positive or negative from UFOs or
aliens.

Read various of the Vallee books
especially "Messengers of Deception".
There are many UFO cults which
peddle this stuff.