Raëlian beliefs and practices

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This article is about Raëlian beliefs and practices. For the Raëlian Church, see Raëlism.
Raëlians at Love Hug Festival in Seoul, South Korea
Raëlians at Love Hug Festival in Seoul, South Korea
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Raëlism

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Raëlian beliefs and practices concern the concepts and principles of the Raëlian Church, the religious mission of Claude Vorilhon, a former French auto racing journalist.[1][2] Followers of Raëlianism are believers in Elohim, an advanced race of extraterrestrials who created life on earth.[3] Raëlians are individualists who believe in sexual self-determination.[4] As advocates of the universal ethic and world peace, they believe the world would be better if geniuses had an exclusive right to govern.[5] As believers of life in outer space, they hope that human scientists will follow the path of the Elohim by achieving space travel through the cosmos and creating life on other planets.[3] As believers in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, they hope to extend life through cloning,[6] however critics outside are doubtful of its possibility.[7]

Active followers of Raëlianism have exhibited their sex-positive feminism and anti-war views through outdoor contacts such as parades.[8][9] The major initiation rite in the Raëlian Church is the baptism or Transmission of the Cellular Plan and is enacted by upper-level members in the Raëlian clergy known as guides.[10]

Contents

[edit] Beliefs

[edit] Extraterrestrial Elohim

Further information: History of Raëlism and Raëlian Embassy for Extraterrestrials

According to the book The Message Given to me by Extra-terrestrials (now republished as Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers 2006 ISBN 2940252203), Claude Vorilhon found a spacecraft shaped like a flattened bell that landed inside Puy de Lassolas, a volcano near the capital city of Auvergne in December 13, 1973. A 25,000-year-old human-like extraterrestrial inside the spacecraft named Yahweh said that Elohim was the name that primitive people of Earth called members of his extraterrestrial race—who were seen as "those who came from the sky". Yahweh explained that Earth was originally void of life, with thick clouds and shallow seas, but the Elohim came, broke apart the clouds, exposed the seas to sunlight, built a continent, and synthesized a global ecosystem. Solar astronomy, terraformation, nanotechnology, and genetic engineering allowed Elohim to adapt life to Earth's thermal and chemical makeup.[11]

Yahweh gave materialistic explanations of the Garden of Eden, a large laboratory that was based on an artificially constructed continent,[12] Noah's Ark, a spaceship that preserved DNA that was used to resurrect animals through cloning,[13][14] They believe that the Tower of Babel, was a rocket that was to supposed to reach the creators' planet,[15] and the Great Flood, the byproduct of a nuclear missile explosion that the Elohim sent.[16] After tidal wave floods following the explosions receded, Elohim scattered the Israelites and had them speak the language of other tribes.[15][17]

According to Vorilhon, Elohim contacted about forty people to act as their prophets on Earth,[18] including Moses,[19][20][21] Elijah,[19]Ezekiel,[22] Buddha,[23][20][21] John the Baptist,[24] Jesus,[19][20][21] Muhammad,[23][20][21] and Joseph Smith.[23][20] The religions thought to be from Elohimic origins include Judaism,[19] Buddhism,[23] Christianity,[19] Islam,[23] and Mormonism.[23]

From the Raëlian point of view, religious texts indicate that the Elohim would return at the age of Apocalypse or Revelation (unveiling of the truth). Humans from another world would appear to drop down from the sky and meet in the embassy they have asked Raël to build for them and share their advanced scientific knowledge with humanity. Thus, one of their stated main goals of the Raëlian movement is to inform as many people as possible about this extraterrestrial race.[25]

[edit] Sensuality

Further information: Sensual Meditation
Raëlian winter seminar (February 2000) in Toulon, France
Raëlian winter seminar (February 2000) in Toulon, France

According to Vorilhon's book Sensual Meditation, one should develop the ability to break free of habitual thoughts that prevent one from appreciating everyday phenomenon.[26] The book describes in detail six different meditations involving make full use of the lungs capacity to expand and contract, oxygenating the blood and the cells within, imagining heat travelling upwards from toe the head, allowing the skin to feel under itself, and experiencing touch with another person's body and examining their figure.[27]

According to the book Maitreya by Claude Vorilhon, love involves experiencing different varieties and possibilities that allow one to break habits in order to make life more pleasant and interesting[28] and that it is the only thing which can stop war and injustice that persists in today's world.[29] Raëlians believe in the right to form new religions or new political parties as long as they do not promote violence.[30] As individualists, Raëlians believe that the one who gives the order to harm others is less at fault than the one who executes it.[31]

Raëlians say they encourage adult homosexual, bisexual, and heterosexual relationships and that society should recognize them legally.[32] However, government authorities such as those in Switzerland fear that Raëlians are a threat to public morals for supporting liberalized sex education for children. The authorities believe that such liberalized sex education teaches youth how to obtain sexual gratification which would encourage sexual abuse of underage children.[33] The Raëlians disagree with those fears and stated that sex education done properly would involve educating parents as well as children.[34]

[edit] Human cloning

Further information: Clonaid

In the scientific community, reproductive cloning refers only to the creation of a genetically identical living thing. "Genetically identical" does not mean altogether identical; this kind of cloning does not reproduce a living thing's memories or experiences, for example. However, in discussions of Raëlianism, cloning sometimes seems to refer not only to reproductive cloning, but also reproductive human cloning plus mind and/or brain transfer, or to a process of making adult clones.[35] Raëlians take this even further and say that humanity can attain eternal life through the science of cloning.[36]

According to the book Yes to Human Cloning, the first stage of this extended cloning process is creating a human embryo through human cloning. Raëlian bishop and Clonaid CEO Brigitte Boisselier claimed that an American woman underwent a cloning procedure of this type that led to the birth of a girl named Eve in December 26, 2002. Claude Vorilhon told lawmakers that banning the development of human cloning was comparable to outlawing medical advances such "antibiotics, blood transfusions, and vaccines."[37]

The second stage of cloning, according to Raëlians, is causing the clone to mature faster than normal. Raël says that in the future, scientists will discover an "accelerated-growth process"[38] in which a process like guided self-assembly of rapidly expanded cells or even nanotechnological assembly of a whole human body can form in a very short time.[36]

The third stage is the transfer of memory and personality from the original person to the mature clone.[36] For the process to maintain one branch one personality and memory, as opposed to two, a recording of the individual's mind would be required before the time of death, and would be transferred to an adult clone body after the original has passed away.[36]

In the final stages of development, hitherto unknown information contained within undamaged DNA would be enough to bring others back from the dead[39] including their memories and personality.[40][41] This would be done by taking a small sample would be taken from someone's body and preserved at the time when the level of the brain's efficiency and knowledge is highest. On the day of death, a cell would be taken from the sample for the cloning to take place, and the memories and personality would be restored to their peak level.[42]

[edit] Government and economics

Further information: Geniocracy and Economic humanitarianism (Raëlianism)

According to the book Geniocracy, the form of government most effective for creating a worldwide political union is one that favors intelligence over mediocrity. While having a democratic electoral apparatus, it differs from traditional liberal democracy by requiring members of the electorate to meet a minimum standard of intelligence. The thresholds proposed by the Raëlians are 50% above average for a candidate and 10% above average for a voter.[43] Raëlians believe that a world government is only possible by the establishment of a global currency, a common language, and transformation of militaries of the world into civil police.[44] An anti-cult organization called Info-Cult argued that Geniocracy was a fascist ideology.[37] However, Geniocracy is not a political party because it allows for differing political viewpoints.[45]

In Raël's book, Extraterrestrials took me to their planet, Raël claims that an extraterrestrial gave him the idea of Economic Humanitarianism. Under the establishment of Economic Humanitarianism, people would not have ownership of businesses or exploitable goods created by others. Instead, people would rent each of them for a period of 49 years. The founders would be able to receive the rents for 49 years, but when they die, the remaining rents would be returned to the State.[46] By balancing inheritances, children would be born with enough financial means to forsake menial tasks for endeavors that may benefit the whole of humanity. Family houses could be inherited from generation to generation, free of rent.[47]

In his much later book, Maitreya, Raël says the road to a world without money is capitalism and globalisation, as opposed to communism. Capitalism would allow those who contribute much to society to also contribute to its scientific and technological development. Under capitalism, society would produce as much money as it can. The money would become important in the short run as nanotechnology quickly lowers the cost of goods while putting many people out of work.[48]

[edit] Raëlian cosmology

Further information: Raëlian cosmology
See also: Fractal

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.[49] Instead the Raëlians think that advanced supercomputers of the Elohim are right now recording the memories and DNA of human beings.[50] When Elohim release this information for the coming resurrection, people would be brought back from the dead and the judgments upon them would be realized based on actions in their past life. People excluded from physical recreation would include those who achieved nothing positive but were not evil.[51] Vorilhon expressed an interest in cloning Hitler for war trials and retroactive punishment.[52] Raël also mentioned cloning as the solution to terrorism by suicide attacks, as the perpetrators would not be able to escape punishment by killing themselves if the Elohim recreated them after their attacks.[41]

Raël says that, "Everything is in everything." Inside the atoms of living things, he says, are living things made of atoms which themselves have living things made of atoms, and so on, to the infinitely small. The universe itself is contained in an atom inside of another universe, and so on, to the infinitely large. Because of the difference of mass, the activity of life inside in a living thing's atoms would undergo many millennia before enough time passes for that living thing to take a single step. Raëlians believe the universe is infinite and thus lacks a center. Because of this, one could not imagine an ethereal soul would go, due the universe's infinite nature. They believe that infinity exists in time as well as in space, for all levels of life.[53]

Raëlians believe that humanity would be able to create life on other planets only if it is peaceful enough to stop war. If done, humanity could travel the distances between stars[54] and create life on another planet.[55] Progress in terraformation, molecular biology,[56] and cloning would enable these teams to create continents and life from scratch.[57] Progress in social engineering would ensure that this creation would have a better chance of both surviving as well as having the potential to understand its creators.[58] Research on how globalization would occur on another planet would allow scientists to decide what traces of their origin should be left behind so that their role in life creation would someday be revealed.[59] The progress achieved by the science teams would ultimately sustain a perpetual chain of life.[60]

[edit] Practices and history

Further information: History of Raëlism
Raëlians drawing with sand
Raëlians drawing with sand

Throughout the History of Raëlism, members of the Raelian Church have advocated the use of masturbation, condoms, and birth control.[61] Raëlians hope that genetically modified food[62] and nanotechnology[63] will allow humankind to eliminate the obligation to work, in a world that embraces science and technology.[64] In addition to the Clonaid project (now a private project not assosciated with the Raelian Movement), the Raëlians have founded the Clitoraid organization whose mission is to repair genitally mutilated clitorises.[65][66] Vorilhon, other Raëlians, and their critics have characterized Raëlian Church as an atheist religion that believes not in God, but in extraterrestrials.[67][68]

Raëlian structure members have set up exhibitions about their beliefs of extraterrestrial intelligent designers sending crop circles,[69] UFOs, and spaceships for their arrival at an embassy.[70] While there have been smaller meetings of Raëlians and non-Raëlians, annual Raëlian seminars have been typically larger.[71][72][73] Music has been a feature of large gatherings, where at night, Raëlians have had multiethnic cabaret performances.[74] Seminarists have used colored bracelets to indicate whether they wanted to be alone, be in a couple, or simply meet people.[75] Raëlian structure members who run the seminars have organized group exercises involving meditation with the senses. James R. Lewis—an authority on fringe religious movements—spoke of Raëlians who practiced sensual meditation and discovered "playing fields" where "radical self-reconstruction," "new forms of authority," and "new modes of self-relating" were encouraged.[76]

The seminars have attracted a diverse mix of sexually adventurous people.[77] KNBC called the annual Raëlian seminars "a cross between a nudist camp and new-age retreat."[78] A Spanish television reporter saw Raëlian men and women in crossdressing plays.[79] Susan J. Palmer said a French journalist went to a Raëlian Seminar in 1991 and taped couples having sexual intercourse in tents. These tapes gained widespread negative publicity—with news stories that described these practices as perverted and a form of brainwashing.[37] Two young adults named Abdullah Hashem and Joseph McGowen were welcomed into a Raëlian seminar and had permission to videotape it. Hashem believes the footage they took makes it clear that the Raelian Movement is a cult that should disband. He has opened a website, www.hashemsfilms.com, to promote his video series including them. However, a Raëlian guide said in a Wired interview that he was not ashamed of the activities displayed in the video.[80][81]

The Associated Press shared its picture of half-naked Raëlian women wearing pasties as part of an anti-war demonstration in Seoul, Korea.[8] A snapshot by Agence France-Presse revealed Raëlians in white alien costumes with signs bearing the message "NO WAR ... ET wants Peace, too!".[9] Raëlians have also been reported in Nevada's Burning Man festival of 2006, as verified on the Burning Man website and mentioned in Raelian Contact Newsletter #321.[82][83]

[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ AutoPop, la revue des pilotes Raël : Messie ou Menteur ?. Retrieved 20 June 2007
  2. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 135-6.
  3. ^ a b Raël, Intelligent Design
  4. ^ Raël, Sensual Meditation
  5. ^ Raël, Geniocracy
  6. ^ Raël, Yes to Human Cloning
  7. ^ THE CLONING DEBATE, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
  8. ^ a b raelity show, Associated Press. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
  9. ^ a b Translation: Global anti-war rallies map series, Agence France-Presse. 15 March 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
  10. ^ Palmer, p. 58–9.
  11. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 11-15.
  12. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 279.
  13. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 20-22.
  14. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 240-242, 280, 332.
  15. ^ a b Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 22.
  16. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 20.
  17. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 23.
  18. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 165.
  19. ^ a b c d e Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 114.
  20. ^ a b c d e Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 312.
  21. ^ a b c d Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 324.
  22. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 45-53.
  23. ^ a b c d e f Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 89.
  24. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 293-306.
  25. ^ An Embassy for Extraterrestrials, International Raelian Movement. Retrieved 20 July 2007.
  26. ^ Raël, Sensual Meditation, p. 66.
  27. ^ Raël, Sensual Meditation, pp. 90–91.
  28. ^ Raël, Maitreya, pp. 19, 71, 99, 182, 251.
  29. ^ Raël, Maitreya, pp. 18, 165.
  30. ^ Raël, Maitreya, pp. 165, 137-41.
  31. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 321.
  32. ^ Left Clones, National Review. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
  33. ^ Cult leader Rael denied residence in Switzerland, Agence France-Presse. 19 February 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
  34. ^ Pedophilia accusations are pure discrimination, Raelianews.org. 23 August 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
  35. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 366.
  36. ^ a b c d Raël, Yes to Human Cloning, pp. 35–37.
  37. ^ a b c Susan J. Palmer, The Rael Deal, Religion in the News, Summer 2001, Vol. 4, No. 2.
  38. ^ Sect leader: Cloning is just the beginning, Cable News Network. 31 December 2002. Retrieved 2 August 2006.
  39. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 167.
  40. ^ Raël, Geniocracy, pp. 47, 78.
  41. ^ a b Cloning solution to terrorism, some say, The Maneater. 21 September 2001. Retrieved 6 April 2007.
  42. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 109.
  43. ^ Raël, Geniocracy, p. 17-20.
  44. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 100.
  45. ^ Raël, Geniocracy, p. 21.
  46. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 98.
  47. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 97.
  48. ^ Raël, Maitreya, p. 217-8.
  49. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 154-155.
  50. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 171.
  51. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 214.
  52. ^ CULT BIDS TO CLONE HITLER FOR WAR TRIAL, Daily Record. 9 August 2001. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
  53. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 153-155.
  54. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 159.
  55. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 70.
  56. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 293.
  57. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 50.
  58. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 153.
  59. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 280.
  60. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 91.
  61. ^ Broughton, Philip D. Promise of as much sex as you want and everlasting life, The Daily Telegraph. 31 December 2002. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
  62. ^ Raël, Yes to Human Cloning, pp. 35–37.
  63. ^ Raël, Yes to Human Cloning, pp. 69–74.
  64. ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 156.
  65. ^ "On s'en est fait passer une p'tite vite!", Cyberpresse.ca. 5 December 2006. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
  66. ^ Raelian effort to promote sponsorship of clitorises, Clitoraid.org. Retrieved 9 August 2006.
  67. ^ Raelians and Cloning: Are They for Real?, CESNUR.com. 16 January 2003. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
  68. ^ Who are the raelians?, Time Magazine. 4 January 2003. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
  69. ^ Bourgeaux, Par Pierre, CROP-CIRCLES in the Streets of Switzerland, Raelian Contact 309. 23 May 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
  70. ^ Raëlian Exhibitions in Japan, (West) Japanese Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 28 November 2006.
  71. ^ Raëlian Seminars in the Americas, The International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved August 6, 2006.
  72. ^ Raëlian Seminars in Asia, The International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved August 6, 2006.
  73. ^ Raëlian Seminars in Europe, The International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved August 6, 2006.
  74. ^ Palmer, p. 62.
  75. ^ Brown, DeNeen L., The Leader of UFO Land, Washington Post. 17 January 2003. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
  76. ^ Lewis, p. 133.
  77. ^ The Sexual Messiah, National Post. 7 August 1999. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
  78. ^ 'Clone Baby' & Raelians, NBC 4 Los Angeles. 5 May 2005. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
  79. ^ "Sensual seminars” and flying saucers, Agence France-Presse. 22 September 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
  80. ^ Philipkoski, Kristen, Some Sex With Your Clone Perhaps?, Wired News. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
  81. ^ A VERY SPECIAL SEMINAR IN LAS VEGAS, Raelian Contact 273. May 26, 2005. Retrieved 26 June 2007. (French, raelianews.org version)
  82. ^ Embassy For Extra-Terrestrials, Burning Man. 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
  83. ^ Lara, RAELIANS BUILD EMBASSY AT BURNINGMAN, Raelian Contact 321. 16 October 2006. Retrieved 9 September 2007.

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[edit] External links