regina:
Susan Palmer is cult apologist.
See [
www.cultnews.com]
[b:f83076954d]Cult apologist proclaims Raelians “world’s largest UFO religion”[/b:f83076954d]
Cult apologist Susan Palmer likes to call the controversial “Raelians” her “friends,” and proclaims that they are now the “world’s largest UFO religion,” within an article run by Trinity College’s online newsletter.
The Canadian religious studies teacher recounts, “My Raelian friends boasted that membership had skyrocketed from 50,000 to 60,000 since [making their clone claims].”
However, whatever Palmer says must be taken with more than a grain of salt. She is a self-professed “cult lover” who has been paid by such groups to defend them in court.
Palmer chooses to describe Raelian leader “Rael,” as a playboy and a sportsman and a social satirist.”
However, news reports routinely refer to him as a “cult leader.”
In fact, Rael’s own family sees him quite differently than Palmer.
The man’s real name is Claude Vorilhon. And the aunt who raised “Rael” calls him “little Claudy.” When confronted about her nephew’s claims of communication with alien beings from outer space she says Vorilhon is a “cornichon” (pickle), which is French for nitwit.
Palmer disregards Vorilhon’s personal history and seems to be deeply invested in Raelian myths. After all she has a book coming out about the Raelians.
“The [cloning] affair was…an unqualified success. The media…played right into his hands…[and] for the first time elicited a direct response from the Vatican,” says the seemingly infatuated Raelian chronicler.
Palmer doesn’t seem to care that the clone claims were a hoax, or that the group reportedly bilked a couple for a considerable amount of cash. She is impressed by “little Claudy,” even if his family is not.
Don’t expect this religious studies teacher to critically or objectively analyze anything about Rael or his Raelians. Palmer has pronounced the group “benign” and she is invested in that position, despite serious allegations of sexual abuse and various investigations still pending in France.
Perhaps that’s why when the cult apologist “bumped into a group of [Raelians]…they pecked [her] cheeks enthusiastically.”
Also see [
www.cultnews.com]
[b:f83076954d]Newsweek quotes “cult lover” as expert on Raelians[/b:f83076954d]
First the Raelians hand picked Michael Guillen as their “expert” to coordinate DNA testing, which would supposedly prove their cloning claims. Later, Guillen was exposed as Clonaid CEO and Raelian bishop Brigette Boisselier’s “friend.”
Skeptics see Guillen as largely an apologist for paranormal claims. He received a “Pigasus” award (”when pigs fly”) from noted debunker James Randi.
Have the Raelians found another friendly “expert”?
Newsweek recently quoted Susan Palmer, a professor at Dawson College in Montreal and the author of a forthcoming book on the Raelians, in an article about the “cult” called “Spaced Out.”
Palmer described Claude Vorilhon or “Rael,” founder and leader of the Raelians, as a ” a playboy and a sportsman and a social satirist.” And she characterized the group as “benign.”
Palmer is also the author of an article which appeared in the Montreal Gazette titled “No sects - please we’re French.” She essentially attacked the French effort to identify and monitor destructive cults. Palmer prefers the politically correct term “new religious movements” (NRMs).
According to Palmer the “Moonies,” Scientologists, Hare Krishnas and of course the Raelians, are all NRMs. She likes to take her college students on “field trips” to the Hare Krishna temple and to witness Raelian baptisms.
Palmer admits, “If I were a French sociologist…I would be out of a job. I would be called a ‘cult lover.’”
Palmer also has defended an anti-Semitic cult group called the “Twelve Tribes,” which was fined for child labor violations in New York and has been the focus of frequent allegations regarding child abuse.
Professor Palmer appears to be more of a cult apologist than an objective observer or “expert.”
Serious questions have been raised about the research of academics like Palmer.
Benjamin Zablocki a professor of sociology at Rutgers University lamented, “The sociology of religion can no longer avoid the unpleasant ethical question of how to deal with the large sums of money being pumped into the field by the religious groups being studied…in the form of subvention of research expenses, subvention of publications, opportunities to sponsor and attend conferences, or direct fees for services, this money is not insignificant, and its influence on research findings and positions taken on scholarly disputes is largely unknown. This is an issue that is slowly but surely building toward a public scandal.”
How has Professor Palmer’s Raelian research and coming book been funded and/or supported? And what fees, money, expenses and/or sponsorships has she received from groups called “cults”?
Maybe James Randi should consider Susan Palmer for a “Pigasus”?
See [
www.culteducation.com]
This is a collection of articles about cult apologists like Palmer that a frequently paid by cults to defend them. They also are often provided funding to write books by cults anxious to apologize for their behavior reported in the press, such as the Raelians, who Palmer has written about and defended.
Others in the field of religious studies and sociology have criticized such apologists.
See [
www.culteducation.com]
None of Palmer's books are considered "seminal" by serious scholars, other than her fellow apologists and those that are either in or support groups called "cults."
See [
www.culteducation.com]
Note that there are some books listed about ISKCON and other groups.
"Cults in Our Midst" by Margaret Singer is a seminal book by a well-recognized expert.
"Bounded Choice" in an interesting book by Yanja Lalich
"Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism" is a seminal book by noted psychiatrist Robert Jay Lifton.
Cults are big business and cult apology is something like a cottage industry for some academics, often willing to trade on their credentials and tread on the facts for profit.