Raelism Vs Amish Research Paper

While most people stick to established religions or no religion at all, there still remains a large chunk of the population that does not conform to these norms. Today there are thousands of new religious movements in the United States alone. The two religious movements that I decided to research are Raelism and the Amish. These two movements are quite different in their practices and beliefs. Raelism is a fairly new movement that believes in the existence of intelligent extraterrestrial life and is considered a cult. The Amish on the other hand are considered a sect and have strong Christian ties. Raelism was started in the 1970s by a man named Claude Vorilhon. He claims that he was abducted by a UFO and instructed to act as their prophet

Vorilhon actually changed his name to Raël (meaning messenger of the Elohim) when he started Raelism. You could consider Raelism as a form of social dissent which is a characteristic of both sects and cults because this movement is completely contradictory to most established religions, denominations, cults, and sects. In this way you could say it is an attempt to eliminate all religion. That makes it very easy to have conflicts with other groups and society as a whole. Cults typically are not in good standing with society that it is in. Take this example from 2002. A company called Cloneaid, headed by a Raelian bishop, claimed that they successfully cloned a human child. However, they refused to allow scientists to examine the machines used or the alleged clone. Raelism has characteristics of both sects and cults but, should be classified as a cult. Contrasting the Raelists are the Amish. They are a sect unlike the Raelists. The Amish are best known for their simply living style. They do not use phones, cars, electricity, or much of modern technology at all. This is a diffused religious style meaning their religion plays a role in every aspect of their lives. They usually live in a community completely composed of other Amish people. In addition to that, they are weary of outsiders and are not afraid to excommunicate a member if they feel that they are not upholding Amish