Raëlism
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Raëlism is the religious, naturalist[1] belief system promoted by the Raëlian Movement, an atheist UFO religion founded in 1970s which focuses on the social ideas of sexual self-determination, individualism, and humanitarianism in the spirit of sharing and responsibility, which, they claim, will bring a new age of wealth and peace guided by those with greater intelligence, as predicted by main religions.
They also believe in scientifically advanced humanoid extraterrestrials known by our primitive ancestors as Elohim (or "those who came from the sky"). Raëlism espouses belief that Elohim synthesized life on Earth through mastery of genetic engineering, and that human cloning and "mind transfer" are mechanisms by which eternal life may be achieved.
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[edit] Core concepts
[edit] Elohim and their Message to Humanity
According to Raël, a message explaining our origins and future was dictated to him in December 1973, during personal meetings with a 25,000-year-old extraterrestrial named Yahweh who came in a UFO. Details of this epic were later published by Rael in the book The Message Given to me by Extra-terrestrials (now republished as Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers 2006 ISBN 2940252203). The story goes that after terraforming the Earth, human beings from another planet — the "Elohim" (Hebrew for the word "God" as found in the Hebrew Old Testament, which the extraterrestrial himself translated as meaning those who came from the sky in ancient Hebrew) — created humans and all life on earth using DNA manipulation and genetic engineering. The message dictated to Raël during his encounter with the Elohim states that the Elohim contacted about forty people to act as their prophets on Earth, among which are those who founded the world's major religions (Moses, Buddha, Jesus, Muhammad, etc.)
The Raëlians believe, furthermore, that the Elohim will visit the earth officially when enough of its population is peaceful and come to know about them. They believe this is foretold in all religious texts - the predicted "Age of Apocalypse" or "Revelation" (unveiling of the truth). They say these humans from the sky will meet in the "embassy" they have asked Rael to build for them and share their advanced scientific knowledge with us, their creation. Thus one of their major goals is "to inform as many people as possible about this extraterrestrial race."
[edit] Individuality
Raelians inside and outside the Raelian Movement structure believe in the individual responsibility, happiness, well being, as well as the right to believe as one wishes, as long it is said to not promote violence and injustice. The ones who "pull the trigger" are just as responsible as the ones who give the order to do so. This line of thought can be derived from the Raelian belief that everything that we do, including what we tell people, we are responsible for.
Individual potential should be realized, which according to Raelians, requires that one must be harmonious with the infinite surrounding he or she bathes in.
[edit] Human Society
Raelians believe that only love can stop war and injustice that currently persists in today's world. The form of love in which Raelians are interested not only includes emotional intelligence, but the science of the future including genetically modified food and nanotechnology that will enable mankind to reach a stage of bliss, in a unified world that embraces science and the potential pleasures and solutions it may provide to remove suffering. For Raelians, happiness and love are the key to success.
[edit] "New Commandments"
[edit] World Government (to unite the world)
The Raelian Messages state that a World Government would be more easily established by a world language and currency. The Raelian Messages also recommended that all nations at once must transform their armies away from being against other countries and toward the goal of protecting the life, liberty, and happiness of the people:
| Finally the trigger required to bring about such a union is the suppression of military conscription, which teaches only aggressiveness to young men. Professional armies must then be assigned to protect public order.
This must happen at the same time in all countries so as to provide an indispensable guarantee of security. |
[edit] Geniocracy (justice, reform, and public good by the intellectually gifted)
[edit] Humanitarianism (to free people from the obligation to work)
[edit] Human Cloning
It is important not to be confused by different uses of the word "cloning". In the scientific community, cloning refers only to the creation of a genetically identical living thing. Note that "genetically identical" does not mean altogether identical; this kind of cloning does not reproduce a living thing's memories or experiences, for example.
In discussions of Raëlism, cloning sometimes seems to refer not only to biological cloning, but to biological human cloning plus mind and/or brain transfer, or to a process where adult clones can be directly made.
[edit] "Eternal life thanks to Science"
The Raëlians believe that eternal life will one day be possible through science. Raël explains that this will be achieved in three stages:
Step One
1) Create a genetically identical copy of someone by human cloning. The first step, human cloning, while certainly not trivial, is widely recognized as a goal science is capable of pursuing, despite being thought of as science fiction only 20 years ago. Outsiders in general find both ideas ethically troublesome. A majority of Raëlians do not share these concerns, and a minority of Raëlians, including trained scientists, are actively researching this first step.
Step Two and Three
2) Cause the clone to mature much, much faster than normal. Raël makes the statement that in the future, scientists will discover an "accelerated-growth process" [2] in which a process like guided self-assembly of rapidly expanded cells or even nanotechnological assembly a whole human body may be created in a very short time.
3) Transferring the memory and personality of the original person to the mature clone by a kind of scientific process, presumably through a computer back up of the person's brain waves, which is then downloaded onto the fresh clone. However some critics believe this may be unethical due to the memory of the clone itself.
[edit] "No ethereal soul, just DNA"
Raëlians do not believe in reincarnation as dictated by mystical writings because they do not believe that an ethereal soul exists free of physical confinement. In Raëlian books, the soul is defined as primitive man's term for DNA. Raëlians consider human cloning as the only step toward everlasting life. Raelians claim that in the final stages of development, DNA alone would be enough to bring someone back. They say that prior to the final stage, reincarnation would require a "recording" of the individual's mind, for use in mind transfer into a fully grown adult clone which has not been exposed to any sensory input.
The memories and DNA of human beings for the past thousands of years are recorded by advanced supercomputers of the Elohim relatively close to our solar system. After the coming of the about 40 other prophets of Elohim, if that occurs, Raëlians believe, this information will be accessible to scientists on Earth who will perform resurrections of many billions of individuals either for long-term reward or short-term punishment. Raëlians do not believe in sadisms such as eternal suffering and punishment, but they believe in eternal life of pleasure for those that want it. The Raëlian Messages says that those who are neutral in their ways would not be resurrected, however, what it takes to be "neutral" in the case here is not really known.
Raël, the founder of the Raelian Movement, expressed an interest in bringing back famous individuals such as Jesus or Hitler, either for inspiration or to allow for retroactive punishment, but this is a low priority for him at this time. Raël also mentioned cloning as the solution to terrorism by suicide attacks, as the perpetrators wouldn't be able to escape punishment by killing themselves if they could be recreated after their attacks.
[edit] Criticisms and Allegations concerning Raelian views
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Amid the warnings of sober-suited scientists and bioethicists, Rael lent a sci-fri frisson to stories that speculated on the mind-boggling implications of cloning human beings. "A star-shaped pendant around his neck, his hair gathered atop his head in a bun, the white-suited leader of a Canadian religious group told lawmakers Wednesday that they should no more block his plans to clone human beings than they would stop the development of antibiotics, blood transfusions, vaccines and other medical advances," ran the lead in Aaron Zittner’s Los Angeles Times story.[3] |
| I consider that in trying to clone humans the Raelian groups are taking unacceptable risks with human beings and acting unethically," says Dr Donald Bruce, Director of the Church of Scotland's Society Religion & Technology Project, "But claims made by Clonaid that a cloned baby girl has been born must be treated as sceptical without proper confirmation.”[4] |
[edit] See also
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In fiction
The 2005 novel The Possibility of an Island - (translated by Gavin Bowd, original title La Possibilité d'une île) by the French writer, Michel Houellebecq is seen by reviewers as a description of Raëlism in the future.[5]
[edit] Further reading
- Rael, Maitreya. The Raelian Foundation, 2003.
- Rael, Sensual Meditation. Tagman Press, 2001.
[edit] References
- ^ Williams, Peter S, Raelians Successfully Clone Naturalism, Access Research Network. 2003. Retrived 9 December 2006
- ^ Sect leader: Cloning is just the beginning, Cable News Network. 31 Dec 2002. Retrieved 2 August 2006.
- ^ Susan J. Palmer, The Rael Deal, Religion in the News, Summer 2001, Vol. 4, No. 2.
- ^ Cloned baby claim met with doubt, BBC NEWS. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 30 September 2006.
- ^ Houellebecq, prêtre honoraire du mouvement raëlien, Le Nouvel Observateur. 19 October 2005. Retrieved 2 August 2006.
- Rael, Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers. Nova Dist., 2006. ISBN 2940252203. - The messages given to Rael published in 1973, 1975, and 1979.
- Rael, Geniocracy. The Raelian Foundation, 2004.
- Rael, La géniocratie. L'Edition du message, 1977. ISBN 2883950032.
- Raël, Yes to Human Cloning: Immortality Thanks to Science. Tagman Press, 2001. ISBN 1903571057; ISBN 1903571049.
[edit] External links
Official Raelian Sites
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Study concerning this New Religious Movement
Criticism from Skeptics
Odd Connection...
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Unofficial Raelian Sites
Raelian Research Interests |
