NEW! LOWEST RATES EVER -- SUPPORT THE SHOW AND ENJOY THE VERY BEST PREMIUM PARACAST EXPERIENCE! Welcome to The Paracast+, eight years young! For a low subscription fee, you can download the ad-free version of The Paracast and the exclusive, member-only, After The Paracast bonus podcast, featuring color commentary, exclusive interviews, the continuation of interviews that began on the main episode of The Paracast. We also offer lifetime memberships! Flash! Take advantage of our lowest rates ever! Act now! It's easier than ever to susbcribe! You can sign up right here!

Reply to thread

Message

Great post, except this part is too general a statement:

I'm not assuming that the comment above is a slam, but in most of the cases I've seen where the religious parallel card has been played, it's been part of an agenda to discredit whatever it is that it's being applied to. The tactic isn't anything new. Just draw comparisons between the target and something undesirable and whether or not the comparison is true, it serves to tarnish it. So let's clarify the issue. Something is either a religion or it's not. Drawing parallels to religion that degrade the credibility of a field ( intentionally or otherwise ) has a negative impact, so unless one is intending to tarnish a reputation, such parallels are better avoided. Now a few points to debunk the religious analogy:

The only places genuine religion is going on that involves UFOs is in isolated cases like The Raëlians. The 20 year span of USAF Projects Sign and Blue Book studies weren't religious. They were military, and I'd certainly not include myself or our group ( USI ) in the religious segment. To justify the claim that ufology in general is a religion, one would have to show evidence of widespread deification of aliens and/or UFOs the same way cargo cults deified airplanes and combined them with worship and rituals. This isn't the reality of the situation. Our group and most other groups I'm aware of that take UFOs seriously have not deified UFOs, and the aim is to find out more about them, not to worship them.

<blockquote data-quote="Randall" data-source="post: 242096" data-attributes="member: 2682">Great post, except this part is too general a statement:I&#039;m not assuming that the comment above is a slam, but in most of the cases I&#039;ve seen where the religious parallel card has been played, it&#039;s been part of an agenda to discredit whatever it is that it&#039;s being applied to. The tactic isn&#039;t anything new. Just draw comparisons between the target and something undesirable and whether or not the comparison is true, it serves to tarnish it. So let&#039;s clarify the issue. Something is either a religion or it&#039;s not. Drawing parallels to religion that degrade the credibility of a field ( intentionally or otherwise )&nbsp; has a negative impact, so unless one is intending to tarnish a reputation, such parallels are better avoided. Now a few points to debunk the religious analogy:The only places genuine religion is going on that involves UFOs is in isolated cases like The Raëlians. The 20 year span of USAF Projects Sign and Blue Book studies weren&#039;t religious. They were military, and I&#039;d certainly not include myself or our group ( USI ) in the religious segment.&nbsp; To justify the claim that ufology in general is a religion, one would have to show evidence of widespread deification of aliens and/or UFOs the same way cargo cults deified airplanes and combined them with worship and rituals. This isn&#039;t the reality of the situation. Our group and most other groups I&#039;m aware of that take UFOs seriously have not deified UFOs, and the aim is to find out more about them, not to worship them.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Randall, post: 242096, member: 2682"] [FONT=Arial][SIZE=4]Great post, except this part is too general a statement:[/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=Arial][SIZE=4]I'm not assuming that the comment above is a slam, but in most of the cases I've seen where the religious parallel card has been played, it's been part of an agenda to discredit whatever it is that it's being applied to. The tactic isn't anything new. Just draw comparisons between the target and something undesirable and whether or not the comparison is true, it serves to tarnish it. So let's clarify the issue. Something is either a religion or it's not. Drawing parallels to religion that degrade the credibility of a field ( intentionally or otherwise ) has a negative impact, so unless one is intending to tarnish a reputation, such parallels are better avoided. Now a few points to debunk the religious analogy: The only places genuine religion is going on that involves UFOs is in isolated cases like The Raëlians. The 20 year span of USAF Projects Sign and Blue Book studies weren't religious. They were military, and I'd certainly not include myself or our group ( USI ) in the religious segment. To justify the claim that ufology in general is a religion, one would have to show evidence of widespread deification of aliens and/or UFOs the same way cargo cults deified airplanes and combined them with worship and rituals. This isn't the reality of the situation. Our group and most other groups I'm aware of that take UFOs seriously have not deified UFOs, and the aim is to find out more about them, not to worship them.[/SIZE][/FONT] [/QUOTE]

Verification