The Power of Thou

I am convinced that if you write anything with enough “thous,” people will believe it. The prophet Raël, for example, founder of the Raëlian movement, author of Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers, and favored earthling of the alien Elohim made use of the King James Bible in his books and in his dealings with extraterrestrials. Big deal, you might say, everyone knows or uses the KJV at some time, why not the guy with the aliens? And that’s just the point: everyone knows or uses the KJV at some time, so of course the guy with the aliens would. It’s one of the best (and only) ways for someone with a message like his to demonstrate some kind of authority and relate to “sane, responsible Frenchmen.”

Anyone can say “we were made by aliens,” and most anyone could write a book about it as well. But believers have found the message of Raël so convincing because of its basis in an accepted, classic piece of literature. Claiming Biblical relevance was what secured an interested audience for him, and the choice of the KJV brought the whole concept together. There is, after all, something very authoritative about the words “ye” and “shall.” Just ask Monty Python – in goes outdated English and out comes something like scripture.

You’ve seen the language of the KJV in multiple contexts, from dramatic to comedic, and even in formats similar to the one used by Raël. It always does its job, making a text sound older and more authoritative than it is, and the writers who employ it then take that effect in the direction they will whether it be serious or ironically humorous. Across new religious movements like Raëlianism, the language, formatting, and tone of the Bible, particularly classic and wider known editions like the KJV, adds weight to the voice of the writer. That kind of authority goes a long way towards anchoring the new and often incredible messages of Raël and similar writers, thus giving a kind of stability to radical new ideas.