[no subject]

Rael-life mystery:
Who inspired cult? 

Talk about six degrees of tabloid separation. 
Could it be that Pete Townshend, the Who guitarist
busted the other day in London on suspicion of
downloading kiddie porn, inspired the Raelian cult -
the UFO sect that claims to have cloned the first
baby? 

Claude Vorilhon, who founded the sect 31 years ago in
France, has said it was a 4-foot alien who renamed him
"Rael." But some are wondering if Vorilhon may have
actually cribbed the name and the beginnings of
Raelianism from the 1967 record "The Who Sell Out."
The concept album closed with the pre-"Tommy" rock
opera number "Rael." 

The Townshend composition talks about a force he calls
"The Red Chins," which "will overspill their
borders/And chaos then will reign in our Rael/Rael,
the home of my religion/To me the center of the
Earth." 

While it's hard to say exactly what Townshend is
talking about, the lyrics suggest the same sort of
apocalyptic prophecy that Vorilhon says a greenish
spaceman entrusted to him. As Townshend sang: 

Now Captain, listen to my instructions/Return to this
spot on Christmas Day 
Look toward the shore for my signal/And then you'll
know if in Rael I'll stay 

Susan J. Palmer, a sociologist who has written two
books on the Raelians, finds the Who theory "an
interesting idea." 

"Claude Vorilhon was a pop star when he was a
teenager," she noted. "He went by the name 'Claude
Celler' and had a hit called 'Honey and Cinnamon.'
That is until the radio host who sponsored him
committed suicide." 

But Palmer says Vorilhon has maintained "Rael" is a
Hebrew word, a derivation of "Israel," which was
translated for us by Hebrew-speakers yesterday
variously as "light bearer," "striving with God" and
"chieftain of the Lord." 

Calls to Raelians for enlightenment were not returned.
Likewise, reps for Townshend, who no doubt has bigger
worries, also didn't get back to us.


=====
-Brian in Atlanta
The Who This Month!
http://www.thewhothismonth.com
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