Saturday, February 10, 2007

Ufology: A Cult of Personality

Somewhere in my internet travels today, I can't remember where, I came across a post that referred to ufo believers as being cult like. What makes them cult like? I guess that they believe in something, but by that definition there would be an awful lot of cults out there. I know people who every year believe the cubs will win the world series, but I never considered them to be cultish. I would say by that definition, almost everyone out there is a member of some form of cult. It would also mean that those skeptic groups are cults, because they all seem to believe that science can answer all questions. The NRA believes in the right to have firearms, all the members believe that so they must be a cult too.
I know there are certain groups who believe in ufos or aliens in a "religious" way, such as the Raelians. There are also those who think aliens are enlightened beings that will step in and save planet earth from destruction. I am not a member of either of those groups. I am someone who has seen a few strange things in the sky and I believe ufos exist. What ufos are is something I can't answer. Could they be beings from another world or dimension? I think they could, but I also think there could be other answers and that no one answer would ever cover all sightings and all ufos.
Beyond that, for ufology to be a cult there would need to be a belief system that everyone followed. Anyone who is a member of ufo updates would quickly realize that ufologists agree on almost nothing. They all have their own theories and personalities and anyone who thinks they would all agree on anything, except that there are strange things in the sky, has never spent any quality time with a ufologist.
On the other hand, if my house could be considered a holy temple of ufo studies and I received tax exempt status I would be more than happy to say I belong to a cult.

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