CultNEWS101 Articles: 7/19/2024 (New Zealand, Legal, Gloriavale, India, Kalia, Kidney Cult, Raelians, Switzerland, Yoga)

New Zealand, Legal, Gloriavale, India, Kalia, Kidney Cult, Raelians, Switzerland, Yoga

The Post: Former Gloriavale members prepare to sue Government

Former Gloriavale "slaves" are preparing to sue the Crown for not protecting them at the closed community.

The case has yet to begin but the intended plaintiff wants details about an inter-departmental committee set up nine years ago to look at the remote community on the West Coast.

After a win in the Employment Court where six women raised at Gloriavale were found to have been employees, and not just working as part of their commitment to the Christian community, their lawyer Brian Henry was seeking information he said was needed to file documents to start the next case.

Associate Judge Andrew Skelton reserved his decision at the High Court in Wellington on Tuesday.

Henry said it was thought there would be about 46 former Gloriavale members to make the claim. They needed to identify public servants who were negligent and then they could sue. The aim was to make the Crown liable for the actions of the public servants.

The Crown had evidence that the first intended plaintiff, Anna Courage, and others who would join her were in slavery and that Gloriavale was a slave camp, Henry said."

India TV: Indian-origin cult guru 'Kalia', who called himself 'God on Earth' raped his devotees, UK court fines £8M

"An Indian-origin "guru", who styles himself as the head priest of a religious society in England, is being sued for millions of pounds in the High Court in London this week over sexual assault allegations

brought by women who were his former "disciples". Rajinder Kalia, 68, is the defendant in an ongoing trial accused of using his sermons and teachings, as well as the purported performance of "miracles", to unduly influence followers' actions. The court has imposed a fine of 8 million pounds.

The claimants in the case, all of Indian origin, had won a previous legal fight two years ago after a judge allowed the case to proceed to trial. "There are triable issues to be determined in this case, with many of the factual issues being intertwined and subject to the claimants' cases as to the coercive control that the defendant (Kalia) exercised over them," Judge Deputy Master Richard Grimshaw concluded in June 2022."

7 News Spotlight: The dark reality of the Kidney Cult

Liam Bartlett investigates Australia's most dangerous doomsday cult and how it is connected to the worst mass suicide since Jonestown. Praying on vulnerable Aussie teenagers, this cult encourages its followers to donate their kidneys for God.

AFP: Top rights court upholds Swiss ban on UFO group's posters

"Raelian movement founder Claude Vorilhon, also known as Rael, answers questions during a press conference in 2004. More than a decade after Swiss police barred a UFO religious group from putting up posters depicting aliens, Europe's top rights court ruled Friday the sect's free speech had not been violated.

More than a decade after Swiss police barred a UFO religious group from putting up posters depicting aliens, Europe's top rights court ruled Friday the sect's free speech had not been violated. Police in the Swiss canton of Neuchatel in 2001 banned the Raelian group, which claims aliens created life on earth, from putting up the posters.

The local ban came after other authorities in Switzerland had allowed the posters. Neuchatel officials said the posters presented a public order threat because Raelians promote human cloning and "geniocracy," a system where leaders are picked according to their intelligence.

Additionally, a Swiss court found the Raelians had "theoretically" advocated paedophilia and incest, the European Court of Human Rights said in a statement Friday. The group had also been the subject of criminal complaints about sexual practices involving children, the court said. Swiss high courts affirmed the ban and Europe's top rights court in January 2011 upheld the decision. The Raelians then appealed the Strasbourg-based court's decision, ultimately winning an appeal for the Grand Chamber to hear the case. The 17-member chamber ruled Friday, nine to eight, that the Raelians' freedom of expression was not violated."

RNS: New York City celebrates the 10th International Day of Yoga

In bustling Times Square, hundreds of yoga practitioners gathered to celebrate International Day of Yoga: an initiative from the UN that marks a decade this year.

" ... 'It felt like we were turning this place of Times Square, which is usually full of a lot of passion, a lot of that rajas energy, into a big yoga playground,' said Hu, the lead yoga teacher at New York's Bhakti Center, a spiritual community affiliated with the International Society for Krishna Consciousness.

Her voice booming across three stages in the crowded Times Square plaza, Hu, more commonly known by her initiated name Brinda Kumari Devi Dasi, led nearly 300 city residents to "connect your body, your breath, your mind," sharing stories of Lord Shiva, "the first creative being who practiced all 8,400,000 yoga poses."

Originally from Shanghai, Hu, who grew up atheist and moved to New York in 2012, says that before being introduced to Bhakti Yoga, a devotional form of yoga, she had "always been trying to search for the purpose of my life." Sharing the ancient wisdom of the yogic philosophy, she believes, is the reason she is on this planet. 'It's not just a physical workout class, but rather it's a way of helping us to connect with our souls. It teaches (us) how to conduct ourselves in society, how to interrelate with each other, how to deal with our internal world, but also gives us the compass of how to really live our lives.'"

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Top rights court upholds Swiss ban on UFO group's posters

AFP News

13 July 2012

Members of the Raelian movement take part at a ceremony in front of the bronze statue of Giordano Bruno in downtown Rome in 2004. More than a decade after Swiss police barred a UFO religious group from putting up posters depicting aliens, Europe's top rights court ruled Friday the sect's free speech had not been violated.

Raelian movement founder Claude Vorilhon, also known as Rael, answers questions during a press conference in 2004. More than a decade after Swiss police barred a UFO religious group from putting up posters depicting aliens, Europe's top rights court ruled Friday the sect's free speech had not been violated.

More than a decade after Swiss police barred a UFO religious group from putting up posters depicting aliens, Europe's top rights court ruled Friday the sect's free speech had not been violated. Police in the Swiss canton of Neuchatel in 2001 banned the Raelian group, which claims aliens created life on earth, from putting up the posters.

The local ban came after other authorities in Switzerland had allowed the posters. Neuchatel officials said the posters presented a public order threat because Raelians promote human cloning and "geniocracy," a system where leaders are picked according to their intelligence.

Additionally, a Swiss court found the Raelians had "theoretically" advocated paedophilia and incest, the European Court of Human Rights said in a statement Friday. The group had also been the subject of criminal complaints about sexual practices involving children, the court said. Swiss high courts affirmed the ban and Europe's top rights court in January 2011 upheld the decision. The Raelians then appealed the Strasbourg-based court's decision, ultimately winning an appeal for the Grand Chamber to hear the case. The 17-member chamber ruled Friday, nine to eight, that the Raelians' freedom of expression was not violated. "Authorities had not overstepped the broad margin of appreciation given to them in view of the non-political dimension of the poster campaign," the court said. At a November hearing, a lawyer for the Raelians argued that cloning is not illegal. He said the religious movement had repeatedly condemned all acts of paedophilia and said it was contradictory to ban a poster when neither the sect nor the website were barred. The court also noted the ban only applied to putting posters on public property, "allowing the association to use other means of expression." The Geneva-based sect, which claims tens of thousands of members worldwide, was founded in 1976 by Claude Vorilhon, known as "Rael". According to its constitution, the group aims to make the first contacts and establish good relations with extraterrestrials. The poster in question was about one-metre (three feet) tall and across the top in big letters were the words: "The Message from Extraterrestrials", according to the court. Underneath was the Raelians' web address, a French phone number and the phrase: "Science at last replaces religion." The middle of the poster showed alien faces and a pyramid, together with a flying saucer and the Earth.

https://sg.news.yahoo.com/top-rights-court-upholds-swiss-ban-ufo-groups-170347355.html

Raëlian Melodrama Courtesy of Netflix

EMINA MELONIC
Chronicles
FEBRUARY 19, 2024

What is it about some people that makes them able to persuade others to follow them blindly? And what makes some people suspend their own judgement and free will in favor of pleasing such a leader? The question of obedience to authority has been the subject of many studies (Stanley Milgram’s being the most prominent and oft-cited), as well as films like The Lives of Others. A new Netflix documentary, Raël: the Alien Prophet, attempts to explore these questions, but suffers greatly from an awkward adherence to Netflix’s apparent insistence that all documentaries must resemble a Dateline or 48 Hours episode.

The documentary is a French production that tells the story of Claude Vorilhon, a Frenchman known to the world as Raël, leader of what he deems to be a religion named, as one might expect, after himself.

In 1973, Vorilhon claimed to have had “close encounters” of the alien kind. At first, he said, the aliens greeted him and told him that they are the Elohim—beings who created our world, including the human beings inhabiting it. Vorilhon says he later had a second visitation, whereupon the aliens took him aboard their spaceship to their home planet, showing him the miracle of human cloning.

Sitting at a table, he claimed, were clones of Moses, Jesus, Muhammed, and Buddha. In addition (of course!), there were plenty of attractive women aboard this spaceship. The Elohim anointed Vorilhon as the new prophet and charged him with spreading a message of love and peace to the rest of the world. He was instructed to build a Raëlian embassy so that the Elohim can have a place to visit when they come to Earth.

Of course, one Frenchie raving about aliens is harmless but what happens when a guy like this starts to gain a real following? This was the result of Raël’s “preaching,” and his movement grew, attracting thousands of members from around the world. What started as a the silly musings of this odd but earnest man grew into what, quite obviously, appears to be a cult.

The movement followed an all too familiar trajectory: One man makes an outlandish pronouncement, gains followers, builds a commune, and money starts pouring in from various sources. The magnetism of the leader is undeniable, and his objective is for people to free themselves from the silly sexual constraints of society (Hugh Hefner famously called these constraints, “the bugaboos” during his conversation with William F. Buckley, Jr.). Naturally, it all leads to nakedness and sex!

Among the Raëlians, people did indeed get plenty of both nakedness and sex: multiple partners, gay, straight—it didn’t matter, so long as their leader, Raël, had his choice of the pretty, buxom ladies.

Given these familiar patterns of behavior, Raël soon caught the attention of the French government and came under attack. People wanted to know whether the group was a was a cult and what was going on at the headquarters. The documentary filmmakers interview both current and former followers of Raël. Some regret that they have wasted decades of their lives being obedient to the master, while others still happily follow Raël, who is very much still alive, continuing to spread his message of happiness and extraterrestrials, though now in Japan.

Indeed, the biggest controversy surrounding the movement demonstrated how far beyond France the group might spread. One of the movement’s members claimed that the group had managed to achieve cloning the first human baby, and that this baby was alive and well, living in Israel. Of course, the entire event turned out to be a hoax, like almost everything that surrounding Raël.

The documentary (encompassing four episodes) builds unnecessary controversy, which in the end, does not resolve itself nor does it reveal anything that might be a fodder for further discussion. In adherence to Netflix’s formulaic documentary presentation, the film is rendered weak, despite having demonstrated and teased great potential.

For example, it’s not clear from the film why the French government pursued Raël. Was it because they suspected something far more sinister going on? It is left unsaid but implied. At one point, Raël was interviewed on French television and accused of sexual abuse of children. The television program’s host pressed him to admit this (which he denied). Although he has said some outlandish things about sexual education, thus far, there is no evidence that abuse happened.

Moreover, although Raël was criticized for having sex with numerous women on the Raëlian compound, nobody has lodged a complaint or an accusation of rape. It’s also clear that the members who left the group were free to do so, which would then negate any notion that this is a cult with compulsory membership. Could it be that Claude Vorilhon, after growing up Catholic and without a father, failed as a singer, a journalist, and race car driver, became fed up with life, and said, “What the heck? Why don’t I try this alien thing, and see if it bites?”

The documentary implies plenty of corruption within the movement, particularly the usual kind surrounding money. This is usually the case—any movement, even a cult, must function within the conventions of society, no matter how hard it rejects those constraints. Yet it’s unclear from this film whether Vorilhon’s personal control extended beyond his role as originator of this piecemeal extraterrestrial, New Age “philosophy.”

The most frustrating part of Raël: the Alien Prophet is that it creates a morally controversial mystique. A far superior exploration of Claude Vorilhon is Yoav Shamir’s 2020 documentary, The Prophet and the Space Aliens. Shamir takes a more objective and non-combative approach, similar to that of Werner Herzog. To be sure, he has his own judgments, but that documentary is not intended as a takedown of one man, so much as an exploration of the questions driving that faith. He shows rather than tells, and therefore does a much better job of revealing the sex-obsessed silliness of Claude Vorhilon.

Throughout Shamir’s film, he interviews the superb and well-regarded religious scholar, Daniel Boyarin, who offers his own thoughts and questions about why someone would be claiming to be a prophet. Shamir reveals his frustration with Raël to Boyarin, making it clear how badly he wants to prove that the claims of alien encounters are nothing but nonsense. But Boyarin asks him, “Why? That’s not really interesting.” For Boyarin, Raël’s brand of madness would only be interesting if Raël was actively harming people, as in making them commit mass suicide, for example.

Boyarin is right. Netflix’s Raël: the Alien Prophet tries very hard to turn Vorilhon into a dangerous man. It falls flat, however, because by the end of it, Raël appears to be just a guy who looks like George Carlin as Rufus in Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure (1989), a former gawky kid, who was rejected by girls, and who is now reveling in the fact that, finally, attractive women are following him around. It’s not the drama the Netflix documentary formula wants, but it may be the one it deserves.

https://chroniclesmagazine.org/web/raelian-melodrama-courtesy-of-netflix/

Raelians Join the Truckers in Anti-Vax Demonstrations on Ottawa's Parliament Hill

Susan J. Palmer

CESNUR
February 7, 2022

To my surprise, I received a photo of the Raelians demonstrating alongside the truckers and anti-vaxxers in front of Ottawa’s Parliament Hill. It accompanied this baffling email message from an old Raelian friend I used to invite to my “Cults” class at Concordia University: “My consciousness, nowadays, is with the truckers … in Ottawa … for a siege until the end of this sanitary madness, as well as with all the awakened in Canada and around the world.”

What’s going on? I wondered. Since the end of January, thousands of antivax protesters and hundreds of transport trucks have clogged the streets of downtown Ottawa, shutting down businesses and restaurants. The “freedom convoy’ from British Columbia as well as truckers from across Canada have been heading to Parliament Hill to protest a mid-January mandate, which requires drivers returning from the United States who are not fully vaccinated to quarantine. Just today, the Mayor of Ottawa declared a state of emergency over the trucker convoy protest.

And what does Rael, prophet-founder of the world’s largest “flying saucer cult” (to quote Carl G. Jung) have to say about Covid 19? As the author of Aliens Adored: Rael’s UFO Religion, I assumed Rael's advice would be to follow scientifically approved measures. After all, Raelians worship the Elohim; super-scientists from another planet who created humanity “in Their Own Image” from their own alien DNA. The Raelian slogan is: “La Science est notre Religion/Notre Religion est la Science.”

But I was wrong. I had forgotten how Rael tends to be unpredictable. During the AIDS epidemic Rael, unlike most religious leaders, did not blame homosexuals. I had quoted him in my 2000 book, AIDS as an Apocalyptic Metaphor, recommending “Utilisez cette petite merveille de la Science – le condom!”

But today, from his residence in Okinawa, Japan, Rael’s advice is, “No mask. No vaccine.” And as for social distancing, maskless Raelians around the globe are offering “Free Hugs” to passers-by.

I contacted Nicole Bertrand, a top female Bishop in the Raelian Movement who had facilitated my research in the past. In her charming, organized way she noted, “Rael has been sending us memos since the pandemie began, advising us not to comply with government regulations, but to trust in our immune system, which was designed by the Elohim to be very strong.”

(As a Religious Studies professor, I should briefly explain here that, for Raelians, DNA is sacred. DNA is the key to physical immortality. Their dietary laws—no coffee, alcohol or recreational drugs—are meant to safeguard their DNA so they will be eligible for cloning by the godlike extraterrestrials—and the Chosen Ones will be those mortals with pure, godlike DNA.)

And what about wearing masks?

“Rael says the mask interferes with our breathing,” Nicole said, “The Elohim designed us to breathe in and then breathe out, to get rid of toxins.”

Nicole spoke of how she rides le metro regularly and never wears a mask. “Nobody tells me anything. I smile my freedom and I hope they ask themselves some questions. Freedom is our right, and it is our right not to answer questions about our personal health, about Covid-like symptoms.”

Nicole then referred me to her Beloved Prophet’s June 2021 speech in Okinawa where he claimed, “those new, so-called vaccines—which are not real vaccines—contain RNA. After injecting millions of people, researchers discovered that RNA was affecting humanity's DNA.”

So, Rael has advised his yet unvaccinated flock, “Don’t do it. We don’t have the right to modify our DNA with that kind of gene therapy.”

I watched Rael’s video: “How to Build Your Immune System” (Rael Academy, August 2, 2021). Wearing white embroidered robes and cap, Rael, now addressed as “Maitreya,” is looking brown and lean at 75. In his playful manner, with echoes of a Japanese lady interpreter in the background, he instructs his adoring disciples in his strong French accent:

“Your DNA is perfect because it was made by the Elohim. You don’t have the right to modify it. There is no pandemic. There were pandemics in the Middle Ages with streets full of dead people. Do you see that today in Tokyo? No.” (Raelians laughing).

“Give me your microbes and your virus. I love them! They make my body stronger. I am 75. Never had any vaccine. I am very healthy!” (Raelians cheering)

“Stress destroys your immune system. Relax! There is no pandemic. Only the pandemic of fear. The governments are doing some modifications. They want to change human beings and make you sheep. Bahhh! Bahhh!” (Raelians clapping).

Nicole concluded our zoom interview saying, “So, we are totally consistent with our religious belief and understanding of life and health. We follow the Science of the Elohim through the Last Prophet, Rael!”

So, what are the Raelians doing now on Parliament Hill, mingling sans masques with anarchist truckers, Neo-Nazis, the Soldiers of Odin—and whoever defaced the statue of Terry Fox or parked and peed on the tomb of the Unknown Soldier?

“We support every group that is trying to regain their freedom,” replied Nicole. “We don’t tell people what to do, we just want our freedom. If people want to comply, that’s up to them. We are not ‘anti-mask; or ‘anti-vax’—or anti anything. We are pro-Freedom!”

https://www.cesnur.org/2022/raelians-join-truckers-anti-vax-in-ottawa.htm

Why 'cult' might be the wrong word for most new religious movements

Alice Moldovan for God Forbid
ABC News
September 29, 2019

If you've ever dismissed a new religious group as a cult because they believe in alien lords, you may want to think again.

The core tenets of many religious beliefs — including those that have been around for thousands of years — are just as incompatible with science, argues Carole Cusack, an expert in religious studies at the University of Sydney.

"There is nothing inherently crazier in believing in an alien messiah than in believing in the virgin birth, which is a core doctrine of Christianity," Professor Cusack told RN's God Forbid.

She's talking about the Raelian movement, who say on their website that "life on earth was created by extraterrestrials who were mistaken for gods by our primitive ancestors".

While some new religious movements take advantage of their members and leave them feeling isolated, Dr Cusack says "most of them are entirely harmless".

She says that when new religions break the law they should be subject to punishment — but the same rules should apply to established religions.

And she believes the word "cult" is a derogatory term that we may regret using in the future, because it's unlikely people will stop forming new communities around new religions.

"I like to call them baby religions," says Susan Jean Palmer, a researcher at McGill University in Canada who studies new religions.

"They start with an individual having a mystical experience, or revelation, and then he or she manages to communicate this to family and followers. And then it starts to grow."
'Falling in love' part of conversion

One of the religions Professor Palmer has studied is the Twelve Tribes, which started in Tennessee in 1972 and is now active around the world, including in NSW.

It has faced criticism in the past from former members who said they were cut off from family and friends while living in the religious community.

The community's aim is to create a perfect group "where everybody learns to love and help each other", she says.

The group sees itself becoming "the bride of Yahshua", the Hebrew name for Jesus that they've adopted.

During her recent work in Australia, Professor Palmer interviewed members of the Twelve Tribes in the Blue Mountains town of Katoomba.

She says some members were attracted to the group by "the community life, this close social life, the bonding between the members and cooperation" — rather than a religious zeal.

Some initially told her they "wished people would stop talking about the Bible and stop talking about God," she says.

"Eventually they got used to it and learned to understand that was the glue which kept the group together."

Members of the Twelve Tribes have been criticised for the way children are disciplined by being spanked with a thin rod as a form of religious observance.

Professor Palmer says the children she encountered in her research "are not abused, but well-cared for and happy".

The ABC approached the Twelve Tribes communities in NSW, but they did not respond by deadline.

Religion can provide something beyond a way of explaining how the world works: the promise of a better future with a like-minded community.

"Emotional connection — falling in love — is a huge part of religious conversion to any kind of group," says Professor Cusack.

But while this connection links charismatic leaders to their followers, Professor Palmer says it's not right to call all new religious leaders crazed.

"We don't really know what goes on in the brains of these talented people. I see them rather like creative artists who inspire other people," she says.

"It's sort of like saying, 'All concert pianists are crazy.' They have very different personalities. And they create these little cultures, and some of them take root and grow up to be major civilisations.

People 'should be allowed to choose' a new religion

There are many accounts of new religions discouraging contact with outside family and friends, and members facing difficulty when they leave.

Both academics agree that new religions should be subject to the law, but that ultimately, people will choose to join out of their own free will.

"When there are actual breaches of the law, obviously it is correct to intervene, because the modern secular state relies on the rule of law," Professor Cusack says.

"But if there aren't [legal breaches], and people choose, then they should be allowed to choose."

When it comes to the sensitive matter of children being born into a religion or community, Professor Cusack says there are parallels to life outside religion.

"Children don't ask to be born into abusive families either. It's a problem that secular society has as much as any religious group," she says.

"It's not right to see this issue as something exclusively pertaining to religious organisations."

Both academics want to find an alternative to "the c-word" to describe modern religious groups.

"We could stop using the word cult, though actually the word NRM ['new religious movement'] doesn't have quite the same bang," Professor Palmer says.

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-09-29/why-cult-wrong-word-for-most-new-religious-movements/11546284

Meet The 'Raelians'- The Religious Cult That Believes We All Emerged From The Aliens

Youth Ki Awaaz

Shikha Sharma

May 16, 2019

Origin stories of most religions border on the fantastical. Moses ascended to a mountaintop to talk to God. Jesus was born to a virgin mother. Buddha meditated under the Bodhi tree until he received alignment. And a French race car driver was abducted by aliens who told him that aliens were humanity’s one true God.

If you haven’t heard that last story, chances are you haven’t been introduced to Raelism yet. Part comic book, part sci-fi and part new age religio-mysticism, Raelism was founded by Claude Vorilhon (now known as Raël), a French sports car driver and journalist in 1973, after a purported encounter with extraterrestrials.

Since its inception, it has spread rapidly across Europe, Africa, USA and Asia, with millions of followers. Pop superstar Michael Jackson was an honorary Raelian guide. And Hugh Hefner, founder of Playboy enterprise, was an honorary priest.

In India, a small community of 78 registered Raelians exists, among whom a select group of 20 are actively trying to spread ‘the message’.

As far as world religions goes, Raelism is perhaps the most progressive and liberal one out there. Raelists aren’t bound by strict scriptures and worldwide, they renounce marriage, alcohol, nicotine, toxic substances, rituals and actively protest against the Catholic church. They routinely advocate for sex-positive feminism, genetically modified food, free sex, nudity and sensual pyjama parties.

They’re staunchly anti-war and are deeply interested in scientific research. Genetic cloning, in fact, plays a huge role in their belief system and the group even ran into a major controversy when one of the companies that have ties with it claimed to have created the first human clone baby.

In India, however, their practices are limited to cellular transmissions, scientific discussions and telepathic communication with the Elohim.

And Then The Aliens Said: Let There Be Light!

According to Raelists, all life on earth was scientifically created by an advanced race of extraterrestrials called

Elohim. The origin story of the religion begins at a volcano in France where it is believed Volhohim first communicated with a four foot alien from Elohim named Yahweh, who got off a flying saucer and communicated to him the secrets of creating mankind and everything on earth. Vorilhon claimed to have had six meetings with space travellers, after which he promptly formed the religion.

“Unlike other religions, we don’t believe in a human God or prophet, like Jesus or Muhammad. We are more like a higher intelligence’s science project,” says Tapan Naubagh, who works in a gaming company in Mumbai, and who adopted Raelism in 2013.

As believers of life in outer space, Raelists hope that human scientists will follow the path of the Elohim by achieving space travel through the cosmos and creating life on other planets. They also want to build an ET embassy to welcome the Elohim to earth.

Raelism: The India Story

The UFO religion probably found its first proponents in India through Japanese teachers who travelled to India to

spread the message in the early 2000s.

“I was always fascinated by sci-fi, UFOs, anything that had an ET element to it. At that time, I was even writing about aliens. So when I saw this woman talking about Raelism, I was instantly drawn. I read the book that she had and was blown away. It had a host of stuff in it: God, Religion, UFOs, Sex, Love, Spirituality, Science, Poverty, Hunger. Post that, I attended a seminar, and soon converted,” says Naubagh.

If it was love for sci-fi that made Naubagh adopt Raelism, for Sai Subramanium, it was the strength Raelism provided to help him quit smoking. “I was very skinny then, constantly drinking and smoking. It was taking a toll on my health. But deep meditative practices and telepathic connection helped me not only quit smoking but also find focus in my life,” he says, who works as a professional DJ.

Although they call themselves a religion, Raelism has no ‘religious customs’ except a mere suggestion for members to meditate for a minute daily. Raelians are encouraged to ask questions about God and faith and are strongly against those forcing their beliefs on anyone.

The only ritual they follow is perhaps a ‘cellular transmission’ for anyone who wishes to convert to Raelism through which “the cellular plan or the member’s DNA frequencies are transferred to the motherboard”.

“This is done through a guide who dips his hand in the water and places it on the forehead of the convert to download his genetic information to aliens. The ceremony can only occur between 3 and 4 p.m since it’s believed that at the particular time, the connection with the motherboard is the fastest,” says Kumar, who co-heads the Raelian chapter in India.

In addition, Raelians support a sense of complete individualism – an aspect that makes it appealing for many.

“I always had questions, but I never found any answers in my supposed religion Hinduism. Here though, we are encouraged to ask questions, even though we may not have the answers. My wife, my parents don’t get it. They think I have gone crazy, joined a cult. But I don’t care,” says Kumar, who became a Raelist after communicating with Raelist guides for more than a year, to clear his apprehensions.

True Lies Vs False Truth: What Do You Believe?

Even though the cult revolves around a fairly peaceful understanding of science, technology, and love, the movement has received plenty of bad press from, not only for its sensational beliefs but also some of its practices.

To many, the whole idea of criticizing established religion in favour of reason, and then blindly believing in a fake messiah who spouts another creation myth, seems wildly contradicting.

“Sure, you can be happy and support science, technology and love without the guilt of God and religion, but you can also do so without the fiction of Rael’s alternative creation myth, and without adopting an untrue belief system. The Raelian of the story of creation cannot be reconciled with what we know of evolutionary biology and our planet’s geological development,” writes Brian Dunning, in a scathing criticism of the group.

Ardent Raelists, however, say that it’s unfair to compare them to other religions. “Most religions are based on faith – ‘you believe us because we are telling you and don’t question us’. We’re not here to force anyone. We just want to pass on the information we have and then let people decide for themselves,” says Kumar.

Many also believe their theory of creation to be the most ‘realistic’. “It’s not a mere fantasy to believe in an extraterrestrial civilization anymore. Scientists now agree to a high probability of the existence of intelligent life outside our solar system. Humans are creating their own artificial intelligence. Knowing this, why can’t we accept that we could be the brainchild of a higher, more intelligent species? Is it really that far fetched?” Naubagh asks.

It’s a reasonable question. How you answer depends on what you choose to believe.

https://www.youthkiawaaz.com/2019/05/meet-the-raelians-the-religious-cult-that-believes-we-all-emerged-from-the-aliens/

NSFW Photos: Oglers With Cameras Outnumber Participants At 'Go Topless' Parade

GOTHAMIST IN ARTS & ENTERTAINMENT

August 27, 2018


The 11th Annual Go Topless Parade wound its way through part of Manhattan yesterday afternoon, with approximately 30 participants attracting hundreds of spectators—most of them men who seemed intent on photographing every inch of exposed flesh. As you can see here, a couple of photographers even staked out a position on top of a Subway sandwich shop awning for a top-down view of the toplessness.

Organizer Nadia Salois said she had "mixed feelings" about the unabashed male gaze that stalked the parade from the sidelines. "It's really great to have people to be there and encourage us and be there for us and support us," Salois told Gothamist. "On the other hand, as you can see, there's many males taking pictures, so this is one of the reasons why we do this. Because one day—the more we do it—one day it will become something natural... Hopefully one day it will be normal for women to walk topless and there won't be any pictures like today."

It is legal for women to go topless in New York State, following a 1992 state supreme court ruling that upheld that right for non-commercial purposes. Salois said the Topless Parade, which coincided with Women's Equality Day, is intended to "empower women, and give a platform for women to express their rights."

It's unclear if this message got through to many of the men photographing the event with zoom lenses. But topless participant Amy Martinez seemed unfazed by the number of male photographers swarming the parade route, which sent from Columbus Circle to Bryant Park.

"That's just society," Martinez said. "I don't blame them but I think to get more aware and see, we're just walking around. We're not sexualizing our breasts. It's hot out. Don't want to have a shirt on. So, why not? As long as they keep their hands away and don't comment on them, it's fine. It would work the same way if females were sexualizing a male. It's not right but I'm not doing it for them."

Photographer Alix Piorun, however, said she was "thoroughly creeped out" by the number of men aggressively photographing the parade. "I started crying and almost left," Piorun told us. "I am definitely not an emotional person nor do I have any trauma surrounding this, but it was just really sad, weird and creepy that all of these men were rushing forward to take photos of these topless women as if they'd never seen breasts before. To be fair, I'm sure many of them probably haven't seen real ones in a while, but the internet exists and it's easier than ever before, I don't understand why there was such a huge fanfare."

Still, Piorun said, it was "an empowering event." Participant Jessie Mayfield concurred, saying, "There's probably more people who came here to see us than people who actually marching which is okay for me because it's about getting a message out. We want lots of people to come and be able to see."

Go Topless spokesperson Rachel Jesse has previously claimed that there is a connection between Go Topless and the Raelian movement, which posits that aliens created life on Earth. "Spiritual leader ​Maitreya Rael, who inspired the creation of​ GoTopless and founded the Raelian Movement, says there must be absolute equality between men and women to ensure the preservation of society," Jesse said. "Centuries of gender inequality and exclusive male rule created major planetary imbalances that could prove fatal to society. It's time for change!" She added that enforcement of equal topless rights is a crucial aspect of gender equality.

Additional reporting by Tess Riski.

http://gothamist.com/2018/08/27/go_topless_parade_nyc.php#photo-4

Raelian movement in Ireland: 'Some think it's a cult but it's nothing like that'

Graham Clifford
Irish Times
July 28, 2018


“With the greatest of respect Claude, a lot of people would describe you as a nut,” – it’s a winter’s night in 1988 and Gay Byrne is in full flow.

Frenchman Claude Vorilhon, founder of the ‘UFO religion’ Raelianism, smiles as the Late Late Show host, and the studio audience titter.

The former sports-car journalist is telling the Irish nation that we all actually derive from extra-terrestrials, that they’ve taken him to their planet and that we’re to build an embassy on earth to welcome them back again.

Vorihon (or ‘Rael’ as he’s referred to), dressed in all white with a dark beard and a large pendant around his neck, doesn’t look like your average Late Lateguest of the grey 80s.

At its height the Raelian Movement had 200 members in Ireland but the figure today stands nearer 60

It's fair to say that few in the studio, or across the country, take him seriously.

But in a sittingroom in Artane a thirtysomething-year-old civil servant is intrigued by what she hears. She isn’t sniggering – on the contrary Moya Henderson wants to know more.

“He talked of how the bible was written in old Hebrew and then translated into Greek, Latin and other languages but that the word ‘God’ was mistranslated. The word in the original bible was ‘Elohim,” says Henderson, the head of the small Raelian Movement in Ireland.

She continues: “The Elohim means ‘those who came from the sky’ and it was they who made us and the world as we know it.”

Two days after that Late Late Show item she went to Liberty Hall for a public meeting where Rael was selling his book, speaking about his religion of peace, meditation and respect and hoping to sow the seeds of an Irish branch of his movement.

Henderson was soon fully involved and one of the most prominent members. Her friends, and colleagues in the Office of Public Works, warned her to be careful.

“They were worried for me but soon they realised I was still the same old Moya. Some think its a cult, that we all become brainwashed but its nothing like that. It’s not a dogmatic religion. You develop at your own pace, are encouraged to meditate, to blossom and bloom as a human being and to be the best person you can be.”

At its height the Raelian Movement had 200 members in Ireland but the figure today stands nearer 60. Internationally its is claimed the religion has 90,000 followers (though the actual figure is thought to be closer to 20,000) – the majority in Canada where the Raelian Movement is at its strongest.

Perfect sense

Sipping green tea in her Dublin home, Moya Henderson explains why the basis of the religion, rather than being fanciful or outlandish, makes perfect sense to her.

“I grew up a Catholic and was told what to believe. I couldn’t interpret the bible for myself because I was told I couldn’t understand it. Raelianism appealed to me because it offered that logical explanation. I haven’t heard a better explanation for who we are, where we came from and where we are going. Most religions are based on faith – ‘you believe us because we are telling you and don’t question us’ – this isn’t like that.”

On the table in front of her is a copy of the Raelian’s The True Face of God – the truth about our extra-terrestrial origins. On the cover is a picture of a flying saucer, a pyramid and the faces of extra-terrestrials.

And around Henderson’s neck is the Raelian symbol pendant – a Swastika encircled by the Star of David.

“The Star of David represent infinity and space and the swastika represents infinity, time and well-being. Some years ago we changed the swastika slightly to a spiral which represents our galaxy. I wear it all the time. I have earrings as well but I lost one of them.”

Rael appeared in a copy of 'Playboy' magazine in 2005 with some semi-naked young women strengthening the notion that sex is everywhere in the religion

One of the corner stones of the religion is the focus on meditation – especially sensual meditation. Indeed, sexual freedom, experimentation and nudity are encouraged.

“When I went to my first seminar in 1991, where I had my baptism ceremony or, as we call it, the Transmission of our Cellular Plan, I was surprised to see so many people in the nude. It was at a camping site in France and initially I was taken aback but sure within days I was running around in the nude as well,” she says.

Rael appeared in a copy of Playboy magazine in 2005 with some semi-naked young women strengthening the notion that sex is everywhere in the religion. The assumption irritates Henderson.

“Sometimes I get older men in Ireland ringing up asking ‘where’s the free sex?’ You’d swear that’s all we were doing. And the tabloids always focus on sex when they report on Raelianism. We do accept that nudity can be important as it helps you to love your body the way it is. And it’s important too to get to know yourself, get to know what you like sexually. But that’s only part of what we’re about.”

But who else in Ireland has converted to Raelianism?

Henderson, a former sprinter with Raheny Shamrocks who now spends much of her week looking after her 96-year-old mother, says members come from across the country.
Bright hope

“We still have some of our original members, people interested in science and a lot of young people. Recently I was down in Killarney speaking with a group of eight young lads who were interested. Now none of them have joined as yet but the seeds have been sown,” she says.

The new bright hope is a 22-year-old genetics student from the midlands. “He’s studying abroad at the moment and we hope he’ll come back and take it over. We’re getting older so it would be wonderful to have his youth and energy.”

August 6th is the religion’s new year and a baptism is expected to take place in Belfast on that date this year. Also the group will be celebrating 30 years in Ireland. Raelians believe in cloning and that when they die there is the possibility they will be ‘recreated’ by the Elohim and taken to their planet. The ‘transmission of cellular data’ alerts the extra-terrestrials to their wishes according to their beliefs.

“Also, if possible, we’re told that when we die there’s a triangular shaped bone, above the breach of the nose, which is to be removed and sent off to head office because that will have our DNA and will be used to facilitate our recreation – but only if we’ve lived a good life,” says Henderson.

I ask is she expects to be ‘recreated’?

“I really hope so, sometimes I think not....but I’m doing everything I can to make sure I am.”



https://www.irishtimes.com/life-and-style/people/raelian-movement-in-ireland-some-think-it-s-a-cult-but-it-s-nothing-like-that-1.3575205

How a Brisbane Artist Became a Priest for a UFO Pleasure Cult

Luke Roberts

Julian Morgans
VICE
January 18, 2018


Luke Roberts is a Raelian: "the only religion with female, gay, and transgender priests."

The man in the photo above is an artist named Luke Roberts. He’s standing beneath a piece of public artwork he built for the Brisbane City Council, which he says was designed to look like a UFO to symbolise the city’s migrant population. But after a pause he admits it also looks like a UFO because he believes extraterrestrials spawned the human race.

I’ve come to Brisbane to learn about this belief system, known as Raelism, and to meet Luke, who is probably Australia’s most prominent member. He’s been a Raelian for the best part of two decades, although he says it’ll be the next two that are probably the most eventful. That’s because Earth has until 2035 to build an embassy to receive humanity’s extraterrestrial ancestors, or face extinction.

We’ll come back to that. But first we’ll start with the Raelian movement, which all began in France.

In 1974, a sports writer and race driver named Claude Vorilhon published an account of meeting an extraterrestrial. In The Book Which Tells the Truth, Claude claimed he was walking to work one morning when he saw a tall, Asian-featured humanoid exiting a UFO. The humanoid told Vorilhon it was part of an ancient race called the Elohim, and they’d designed humanity via DNA synthesis. They’d then watched us from afar over the eons, occasionally sending visitors who had been misinterpreted as angels or prophets. And now the Elohim wanted to return, but only if Earth was sufficiently peaceful.

Claude Vorilhon says he was also asked to start calling himself Rael, which means “Ambassador of the Elohim,” and an ambassador is what he became.

Rael began preaching love, peace, and equality through a series of books, and slowly gathered up followers. By the early 1990s membership was in the tens of thousands, and two French brothers named Jarel and Alcy Aymonier (sons of Vorilhon’s original book publisher) travelled to Australia to set up a branch here. They began by hosting talks around Sydney and Newcastle, but as the group grew talks were held around the country. This was how in 2001 Luke Roberts became involved.

“It was a philosophy that just made sense to me,” he says. “An understanding of total equality with a scientific background.”

By this point in the story, Luke and I had moved to a café to find some shade. We sit in a courtyard, drinking juice and sweating, and Luke speaks softly with lots of pauses to get his words right. I look at his necklace, which features a Star of David around a Swastika. It’s a pretty intense symbol, but Luke tells me the Swastika predates the Nazis by a long way. It’s actually “an ancient symbol of love, peace, and infinity,” he says, which is why the Raelians use this Star of David/Swastika mashup as their emblem.

He then tucks his necklace inside his shirt and we move on.

Luke tells me he was raised as a Catholic in a tiny Queensland town called Alpha, knowing he was gay from a young age. “I was brought up to believe homosexuality was a sort of disease, to be eradicated from the planet,” he explains. “So when it came to a religion, I wasn’t going to put up with any nonsense related to homosexuality.”

He found that the Raelian movement was pretty open to his sexuality, which makes sense if you consider the human race was spawned by genderless humanoids who don't care who shags who.

“It is the only religion that has female, gay, and transgender priests,” he says. “It’s the most tolerant religion you’re ever likely to find.”

Today Luke estimates there are around 250 baptised Raelians around Australia, but admits that it’s hard to keep tally as their activities mostly take place online or overseas.

“We had more local followers in the early 2000s,” he says. “In terms of people who are actually active today I think maybe it would be between 50 and 100.”

In essence, the Raelian Movement these days has a two-pronged focus on propagating international peace while trying to build an embassy. Without global peace (or the embassy) they say our ancestors won’t return, so you can understand why these things need to be done before 2035.

In terms of trying to achieve global peace, Raelians spent much of 2017 lobbying governments to ratify the treaty for the abolishment of nuclear weapons. Their leader, Maitreya Rael—who published the original Raelian text and now lives in Japan—has written extensively about how nuclear weapons represent the largest threat to humanity, and therefore prevent us from meeting our makers.

Then there’s another peacekeeping initiative, this time in Africa, which at first seems a bit more bizarre. The Movement runs a medical clinic in Burkina Faso called Clitoraid, which performs reverse female-circumcision operations. “Female circumcision is about suppressing women,” says Luke. And Clitoraid is about empowering women by undoing these operations.”

But of course their most ambitious project, after world peace and disseminating sexual equality, is to build a UFO embassy in Jerusalem. The Raelians believe that if humanity were to make this happen, the feat would signal our preparedness to meet our ancestors. But so far the difficulty of securing four square kilometres of prime Israeli real estate has proven difficult.

Luke explains there have been several requests to the Israeli Government for land but all have failed. One possible reason is that that Raelian Star of David/Swastika symbol thing is offensive to everyone in Israel. Luke says this is a reason that Raelians in Israel have been using a different, sanitised version, which Luke wears on his finger as a ring. But in any case, Maitreya Rael announced in 2015 that Jerusalem might not be the right place after all.

“Ideally it was to be built in Jerusalem,” Luke says, “but it now appears to be the last place where the Elohim want the Embassy to be, mainly because of Israel’s behaviour towards Palestine.”

So they’ve since broadened their search to any country that is prepared to contribute sufficient land. For a while Russia was on the shortlist, but apparently the Elohim prefer a warm country, “ideally.”

At this point, I have to ask what the backup plan is if the embassy doesn’t get built. Oddly, he seems apathetic. “Most probably, no one will be alive on Earth to worry about it,” he says. “We’re on the edge of a nuclear catastrophe. The UN’s ban treaty has been open for ratification since September 2017 and Australia, as well as a list of nations, is totally ignoring it.”

It’s a problem that feels very much part of the zeitgeist. It’s stuff that keeps me awake too but I consider myself too cool for religion or UFOs—so I’m doing far, far less than Luke. And in this way I quite admire the guy. He makes art. He has a belief system. And he’s managed to combine the two in a way that makes him happy while doing his best to help.

We finish the afternoon at his latest sculpture, which is a giant steel flower topped with LED petals that glow red at night. He tells me that it’s a poinsettia, which is the floral emblem of Brisbane, and then he spends a few minutes dusting off its base. “What does it mean?” I ask, watching him.

“It aims to inspire optimism,” he says. “That and to evoke a sense of the transcendental.”

And then the lights started to come on and like his other sculpture; the whole thing looks a bit spacey. Spacey and transcendental, right in the middle of Brisbane.

https://www.vice.com/en_au/article/wjpyzw/how-a-brisbane-artist-became-a-priest-for-a-ufo-pleasure-cult

'Happiness Academy': Film Review

Frank Scheck

Hollywood Reporter
April 3, 2017

Kaori Kinoshita and Alain Della Negra's documentary/fiction hybrid examines a retreat for the members of the Raelian Church.


It’s hard to know what to make exactly of Kaori Kinoshita and Alain Della Negra’s documentary/fiction hybrid about the activities at a retreat run by the Raelian Church, a religious sect whose founder claims to have direct contact with extraterrestrials. Happiness Academy, which weaves an unnecessary fictional romantic triangle into a fly-on-the-wall look at the activities of the wacky subculture, exerts an undeniable fascination that could well drive up recruitment for the pleasure-loving cult. The film was recently given its U.S. premiere at the 2017 New Directors/New Films festival.

Resembling a New Age-style summer camp for hedonists, the Croatian retreat hosts dozens of attendees who all look really, really happy. And why shouldn’t they? They spend the bucolic summer days swimming, sunning, eating watermelon, meditating, doing yoga, and, oh yes, attending a masturbation class. The participants are a largely attractive and sexy bunch, although, admittedly, the filmmakers may simply have selected the more photogenic subjects.

The members, several of whom are seen delivering effusive testimonials to the church, follow the teachings of the elderly Claude Vorilhon, who calls himself “Rael.” Via Skype, the leader extols to his followers the virtues of “laughter, orgasm and meditation,” although he doesn’t specify in what order. The Raelians apparently also adhere to their own calendar, since some of the activities are occurring on a mid-summer night that they celebrate as New Year’s Eve. The holiday events include a cross-dressing dance party, with the attendees advised to stick to their new gender roles until at least the next day.

As you may have already deduced, sex is a key ingredient to the proceedings, although we never actually see anyone doing the deed. But we do see the attendees being given a choice of bracelets to wear, with the different colors signifying sexual preferences, including desires for a serious relationship or multiple partners. Naturally, the white bracelets indicate abstinence, although they don’t seem to be very much in demand.

The film’s weakest element is its fictional one, involving a rakish pop singer/composer (Arnaud Fleurent-Didier) and the two young women (Laure Calamy, Michele Gurtner) vying for his romantic attentions. As the three bland characters hang out in the resort’s spacious swimming pool engaging in tedious flirtatious banter, you’ll wonder why we’re supposed to care about them when we could instead be spending more time watching the masturbation seminar that at least might provide some useful tips.

Production company: Ecce Films
Directors: Kaori Kinoshita, Alain Della Negra
Screenwriters: Kaori Kinoshita, Alain Della Negra, Rose Philippon
Director of photography: Yoann de Montgrand
Editor: Nicolas Boucher
Costume designer: Francois-Louis Delfolie
Venue: New Directors/New Films

75 minutes

http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/review/happiness-academy-990800

CultNEWS101 Articles: 12/21/2016

Jehovah’s Witnesses, ​Bruderhof, ​City Harvest Church, Scientology, ​Opus Dei, CorePower Yoga, FLDS, ​Raelism, Psychic, Critical Thinking, Aum Shinrikyo, Unification Church, Palmarian Church, Nuwaubian Nation, The Brethren, John Frum, Nation of Yahweh, The Branch Davidians, Heavens Gate

Grunge: Famous cults you had no idea were still active

​ (​Aum Shinrikyo, Unification Church, Palmarian Church, Nuwaubian Nation, The Brethren, John Frum, Nation of Yahweh, The Branch Davidians, Heavens Gate)

http://www.grunge.com/34353/famous-cults-idea-still-active/

Fair Observer: Jehovah’s Witnesses Holds Women Back

An open letter to Serena Williams about

​​

 Jehovah’s Witnesses’ treatment of women.

http://www.fairobserver.com/region/europe/jehovahs-witnesses-women-religion-serena-williams-news-81664/

Guardian: Experience: I was abandoned by my cult

"All I remember of the day I was left on a roadside in Pennsylvania, in 1963, was a hand pulling $20 from his pocket, and my small suitcase. I can’t remember who drove me away from the 

​​

Bruderhof church community I had been shut in since I was a five-year-old girl; now, aged 24, I had been excluded. I was abandoned, but I could breathe again."

http://www.cultnews101.com/2016/12/experience-i-was-abandoned-by-my-cult.html

Mothership.

​ ​

SG: Kong Hee humbled he gets police escort on his way to church in Indonesia

"

​​

City Harvest Church founder pastor Kong Hee has posted a video on Facebook showing the police escort treatment he received in Jakarta, Indonesia, arranged for him by the organiser of his trip.

He wrote in his post that he was “humbled” by the way they honour his presence in Indonesia whenever he goes there to preach."

http://mothership.sg/2016/12/kong-hee-humbled-he-gets-police-escort-on-his-way-to-church-in-indonesia/

Chris Shelton

​ Critical Thinker At Large: ​

5 Reasons Why “Scientology and the Aftermath” is More Important Than You Think

​"​

As a former Scientologist turned advocate, Leah is on a roll to bring the fight to Scientology’s doorstep against its long-running history of human rights abuses, criminal activities and emotional blackmail and she’s doing a fantastic job. Many people who have not been involved with Scientology in the past or have not been keeping tabs on its activities are tuning in and finding out for the first time just how awful this whole thing is. While that can certainly be viewed as sensational or “headline grabbing media” there are actually some more important reasons why this show is having the success it is and why it needs to be seen even more far and wide. If you have been following the first three episodes, I’m sure you understand what I mean and I heavily encourage you to share links to the show by whatever means with all of your friends, family and social contacts. Only someone with a heart of stone, or a Scientologist, would think there is nothing worth seeing in Scientology and the Aftermath.

​"​

http://mncriticalthinking.com/2016/12/15/5-reasons-scientology-aftermath-important-think/

NPR: Powerful Roman Catholic Group Opus Dei Faces Transition After Leader's Death

"

​​

Opus Dei, the powerful but somewhat controversial Roman Catholic organization, faces a transition to new leadership following the death of its prelate, Bishop Javier Echevarría."

"For much of the group's history, however, Opus Dei has been the subject of controversy."

http://www.cultnews101.com/2016/12/powerful-roman-catholic-group-opus-dei.html

Crimefeed: COREPOWER YOGA GURU FOUND DEAD UNDER “SUSPICIOUS CIRCUMSTANCES” AT HIS CALIFORNIA HOME

The charismatic founder of the CorePower Yoga studio chain was found dead Monday in his San Diego home under what police have labeled “suspicious circumstances.”

http://crimefeed.com/2016/12/27388/?sf47080416=1

Fox13: Feds to use Warren Jeffs recording to keep followers in jail

​

"Federal prosecutors plan to use a prison recording of polygamist leader Warren Jeffs in an effort to keep two of his followers in jail pending trial on food stamp fraud and money laundering charges. (FLDS)

http://fox13now.com/2016/12/16/feds-to-use-warren-jeffs-recording-to-keep-followers-in-jail/

Observer-Dispatch: Irwin sentenced two years for Word of Life role

Daniel Irwin received two years in county jail on Friday for his role in Word of Life Christian Church deadly beating.

http://www.uticaod.com/news/20161216/irwin-sentenced-two-years-for-word-of-life-role

The Cambodia Daily: UFO Cult Struggles to Recruit New Followers

After witnessing the UFO circling Kandal province firsthand, Mr. Vichet said, it was the moment that he decided to become Cambodia’s first officially baptized member of the 

​​

Raelism movement.

http://www.cultnews101.com/2016/12/ufo-cult-struggles-to-recruit-new.html

NBC12: On Your Side: Woman says she was swindled by psychic in Henrico

"She said that this person hadn't done anything to me that he actually loved me a lot. He was just confused about a situation and that she could do a love candle for $190,” Toth said.  "She told me that I needed a gold tabernacle for $2,000 and she said that I had a dark spirit about me. So she really got me convinced and very paranoid and she got me to stop taking my medication she said you just need to rely on God."

http://m.nbc12.com/nbc12/db_345462/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=ryR60q42

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joekelly411@gmail.com​​

​)​

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