ACROSS
Australia, people are looking to the skies for a saviour.
Many people have seen objects in the sky that they could not
identify, and many believe that we are not alone in the universe.
But there
are also people who have built spiritual belief systems around
the idea that aliens once came to Earth, and will return one
day to take them away to a better place.
The Raelians,
who had their "annual awakening seminar" earlier
this month in Queensland, are a prominent group in Australia
that believe aliens created them and will return.
These
are most commonly referred to as UFO cults, the most infamous
of which is Heaven's Gate, whose 39 members committed suicide
in 1997 in the hope that their souls would catch a ride to
the Kingdom of Heaven on a passing spaceship. But Monash University
sociology professor Gary Bouma said religions based on UFOs
are an "exceedingly tiny fraction" of religious
groups.
Professor
Bouma, an expert on religion and society, said they were "one
of the absolute fringes of spirituality".
"It's
simply a tiny little group pursuing an esoteric idea. Life
has been full of them, they've come and gone," he said.
"They
never stand up against the mainstream, for a whole variety
of reasons."
But since
space travel began in the 1950s, the idea of extraterrestrials
has taken hold of people's imaginations.
Films
like Close Encounters of the Third Kind and television series
like The X-Files have made aliens and UFOs a part of popular
culture.
There
is even a predominant image of an alien - a small, grey creature
with big, dark eyes.
And with
new technology such as the internet, small groups can have
a large and enduring presence.
The Raelians
are one group that has used the internet to become a worldwide
phenomenon. They have an international headquarters in Switzerland,
and offices all over the world, from Afghanistan to Zimbabwe.
They
claim there are up to 70,000 Raelians worldwide, with about
500 in Australia. A registered non-profit organisation, their
main aim is "to create peace on Earth".
The group
was founded in 1973 by Rael, a French journalist formerly
known as Claude Vorilhon.
He said
he had met extraterrestrials who told him to build an embassy
to await their return to Earth.
He claimed
they had created humanity, and would return to elevate them
to a higher evolutionary plane sometime before 2035. But members
of many groups deny that the word "cult" applies
to them, and would prefer to be called religions, if anything.
This
is a complicated idea. The High Court of Australia defines
religion as "a complex of beliefs and practices which
point to a set of values and an understanding of the meaning
of existence". By this definition, most groups with any
organised spirituality should be referred to as religions.
The proliferation
of magazines, books, and internet sites on the subjects suggests
most groups referred to as "cults" are not just
brainwashed followers of charismatic leaders, but diverse
groups of people looking for spiritual guidance. The Raelians
gained media exposure through their claims to have cloned
humans, and they have also weighed into the Intelligent Design
debate with their version of the origin of life. Roy Tyrrell
is a "guide" with the Raelians - a position which
he likens to being a priest.
He said
the Raelians believe "that life . . . was a scientific
creation".
"We
believe that beings, whom we call the Elohim (which translates
as 'those who come from the sky') came to the planet, and
with the synthesis of DNA they were able to create life."
"They
created man after their likeness, so we look like the Elohim,"
he said.
This
theory of the origins of humanity is common in UFO cults and
is often referred to as the Ancient Astronaut theory. Its
most famous proponent was Erich Von Daniken, whose 1969 book
Chariots of the Gods? Was God an Astronaut? was a bestseller.
Von Daniken
argued that aliens were a hidden force behind the history
of humankind, responsible for ancient civilisations. He suggests
that, once upon a time, there was a war between two worlds,
and the defeated race concealed themselves on Earth.
These
astronaut refugees then contacted the "feeble hominids"
(our ancestors) and decided to help them.
So they
mated with the hunter-gatherers and produced a superior race
of human beings.
VON Daniken
offered proof of his theory in the form of cave drawings that
he claimed looked like astronauts, complete with helmets and
spacesuits.
Mr Tyrrell
said Von Daniken has "provided evidence of the existence
of extraterrestrials doing things on the planet in the past".
He said
this supported the Raelians claim that the Elohim had been
here.
Professor
Bauma said that these extraterrestrial theories of the origins
of life are "an interesting but trivial phenomenon",
although for some people they are "a way of making sense
of the world around them".
"Von
Daniken said if you look at certain things a certain way they
look a bit like astronauts," he said. "I can't imagine
that he has any current credibility."
He said
that some people "seem to be vulnerable to some kinds
of charismatic leaders", and that people should be wary
of people trying to convert them to unconventional religions.
