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(Redirected from Raëlian Church)
'Raëlism' or 'Raelian Church' is a UFO religion founded by a purported contactee named Claude Vorilhon, who is known recently for supporting Clonaid's claim that an American woman underwent a standard cloning procedure, which led to the birth of her new daughter Eve in December 26, 2002. National authorities, mainstream media, and young adults have increasingly investigated the church's activities as a result of controversial statements by Clonaid's head Brigitte Boisselier the day after.
Members of the Raëlian Church consist of people who have been baptized by Raëlian clergy in quarterly ceremonies, and among the converts are members of Raëlian-founded free love groups such as the ''Order of Angels'' and ''Raël's Girls''. The organization—which preaches a sensual philosophy and a physicalist explanation of the origin of life—could have as many as sixty-five thousand members.[1]
Susan J. Palmer, a sociologist from Canada, has studied the movement since 1987[2] and says the movement intentionally stirs a moderate level of controversy to maintain membership. This view is shared by Mike Kropveld—the executive director of an anti-cult organization with the name Info-Cult—who says the controversy leads to criticism by both religious and non-religious people.
Raëlism has attracted worldwide media attention since the controversial and unverified Clonaid claims of new human baby conceived through cloning technology. Lesser sources of the movement's notability include from conversion of clergy from other religions and advocacy of feminine pleasure in the form of sexual demonstrations. Significant past sources of notability also include encourage Raëlian-started controversies[3] such as the use of the swastika in the Raëlian logo.
The ''structure'' of the Raëlian Church is a hierarchal religious order with seven levels from ascending from level 0 to level 6.[5] The top four levels of the religious order consist of ''guides''. The level 6 ''guide'', known as the ''Guide of Guides'', has the final say on who becomes a level 5 ''bishop guide'' or a level 4 ''priest guide''. Bishops and priests promote lower-level members one level at a time during annual seminars. Each ''bishop'' or ''priest'' can propose a new guide as long as the candidate is from a level below his or her own. ''Guides'' can assist ''regional guides''—level 3 and above[6]—in their assigning of non-guide members to levels 3, 2, and 1 which are ''assistant priests'', ''organizers'', and ''assistant organizers'' respectively.
Members of the Raëlian structure begin as level 0 ''trainees'' during annual seminars. ''Structure'' membership counts by third parties are missing or nonexistent, but figures by the movement itself suggest that the size of the structure is small in relation of the size of the whole church. Issue 331 of ''Raelian Contact'' Newsletter suggests that the ''structure'' has about 2,300 members,[7] the Raëlian Press Release Site says there are about 170 ''guides'',[8] and an article on Raelianews.org says there are 41 ''bishops''.[9] After completing three 7-year terms, Claude Vorilhon holds the highest position.[10]
There are multiple accounts of former clergy of mainstream religions joining the Raëlian Church, especially in Quebec. The structure of the movement had promoted some of them to the level of a Raëlian ''priest'' or ''bishop'' due to "extensive Bible training and teaching skills".[11] Two ex-Roman Catholic Priests, Victor Legendre[12] and Charles-Yvan Giroux[13] wrote testimonials regarding their change of faith to Raëlianism.[14] According to one article, a former bishop of the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) joined the Raelian Movement in order to express his homosexuality.[15] In the same article, a quote from a Raëlian, Mark Woodgate, states that 8% of Raëlians worldwide are former Mormons. Religiously mixed couples are common in this movement, especially with spouses who are Christians or Buddhists.[16]
Women are a minority in the Raëlian Church, however, two anecdotes in the Raëlian Contact newsletter report female majorities joining the movement's Asian Mongolian chapter.[17][18] Despite the overall difference between the number of females vs. males in the movement, women such as Brigitte Boisselier, the Chief Executive Officer of Clonaid, play a powerful role in the Raëlian Church. There are two major groups of women in the Raëlian Church.
The ''Order of Angels'', founded in the 1990s, consists of over a hundred Raëlian women who call for femininity and refinement for all of humanity.[19][20] The initiation rites include declaring an oath or making a contract in which one agrees to become defender of the Raëlian ideology and its founder Raël.[21][22] The Order of Angels has its own hierarchy of ''rose angels'' and ''white angels'' which, as of 2003, are 6 and 160 women, respectively. After the Clonaid human cloning claim made the headlines, the Daily Telegraph wrote that members of the order not only provide sexual pleasure for Raël, but also help donate eggs for efforts towards human cloning.[23] A few days later, ''Time'' magazine wrote that French chemist Brigitte Boisselier is an Order of Angels member.[24] Around this time, cult specialist Mike Kropveld called the Order of Angels "one of the most transparent movements" he had ever witnessed, however, he was alarmed by the women's commitment to defend Raël's life with their own bodies.
Raël has instructed some women members to play a pro-sex feminist]] role in the Raëlian Church. ''Rael's Girls'' is another group of women in the movement which are against the suppression of feminine acts of pleasure, including sexual intercourse with men or women. Rael's Girls solely consists of women who work in the sex industry. In contrast to the teachings of the world's major religions, the women of Rael's Girls say there is no reason to repent for performing striptease or being a prostitute.[25][26] This organization was set up to counteract the influence of the ''JC's girls'' mission of the Christian ex-stripper Heather Veitch.[27]
Raëlians emphasize secular and hedonistic ideas, rather than worshiping a supreme metaphysical deity.[28] The Raëlian Church members follow a UFO religion that favors a ''strong'' version of physicalism - the belief that everything consists only of physical properties.[29] Raëlians deny the existence of the ethereal soul and a supernatural god, and believe that the mind is a function of matter alone—a paradigm which William James of (1964) would call epiphenomenalist.[30] This ties into their belief that mind transfer is possible and that it will be possible to create an identical human clone in terms of mind and personality—as long as the clone and the original are not alive at the same time.[31] These beliefs play a part in Raël's purported project, ''Valiant Venture Ltd.'' which he says provides a service called Clonaid for homosexual and infertile couples who want a child cloned from a partner's DNA.[32] Raëlians believe that other religions throughout history—such as Buddhism, Islam, and Mormonism—have testaments to extraterrestrial creators.[33] The Raëlian book ''Let's Welcome our Fathers From Space'' says that new advanced extraterrestrial civilizations will ultimately practice a final religion or "religion of the infinite".Raël, p. 248.
According to Susan J. Palmer, a majority of loosely affiliated Raëlian Movement members have often strayed from following rules concerning "diet, drugs, and sexual activity" as described in the messages. Sometimes, they will not attend monthly meetings or pay a tithe in proportion to their income. Only the more committed members, who do follow such rules, can remain in the movement's structure.[34] In addition to this, Palmer cites as Raël claiming that more than 60 percent of the Raëlian Movement's members do not tithe.[35] Dawson College students were able to verify this assertion in 1991 by conducting a survey of the membership. The results were that only one-third of respondents tithed.[36] According to Michel Beluet, the former director of a Raëlian-built museum called ''UFOland'', the only pressure exerted on members is to attend annual Raëlian seminars, which allows members convinced of Raël's enthusiasm to voluntarily tithe.
The movement traces its beginnings to a conference in Paris, France of two thousand people in 1974.[37] From there, the MADECH organization was born. The name MADECH is a double acronym in the French language. The first stands for "Movement for the welcoming of the Elohim, creators of humanity" ''('M'ouvement pour l‘'a'ccueil 'd'es 'E'lohim, 'c'réateurs de 'h'umanité)'' while the second stands for "Moses preceded Elijah and the Christ" ''('M'oise 'a' 'd'evancé 'É'lie et le 'Ch'rist)''.[38] A news agency said that by 1976, the International Raelian Movement became the replacement for MADECH as a result of Raël's influence.[39]
Various news media have given estimates of the movement's size, and the statistics agree with a long-term term trend of past growth. However, despite media efforts to provide accurate information, Raëlian Church membership estimates can vary even within a given year by tens of thousands.
Susan J. Palmer writes that in 1991, a French journalist went to a Raëlian Seminar and taped couples having sexual intercourse in tents. These tapes gained widespread negative publicity—with news stories describing these practices as perverted and a form of brainwashing.[40]
Palmer says since 1991, Raël's teachings on sexual intercourse have caused controversy among other religious groups. The next year, Catholic schools in Montreal, Canada objected to a proposed condom vending machine as contrary to their mission. In response, Raëlians guides gave the Catholic students ten thousand condoms. The Commissioner of Catholic schools for Montreal say they could do nothing to stop them. Around this time, Raëlians dub the event "Operation Condom".[41]
Sexual predators and guides who force missionary ideas against members are excommunicated by the Raëlian Church for a minimum of seven years—the amount of time Raëlians believe it takes for all of a person's biological cells to be regenerated.[42] Raëlians Issue #324 of ''Raëlian Contact'' shows a picture of Raëlians in Los Angeles, California expressing their condemnation of acts of pedophilia, particularly those associated with celibate Catholic priests. Their message is that minors and adults should not be mixed in the act of sex.[43] On the other hand, Raëlians claim children should have "complete sexual liberty". Therefore, authorities in the Swiss canton Valais denied an application by Raël to live in their area.[44]
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In February 1991, the Raëlian Church modified their symbol to remove the swastika to help in negotiations with building the "Third Temple of Israel". The official reason given was a request from the Elohim to change the symbol in order to help in negotiations with Israel for the building of a Raëlian "embassy" or "third temple of Israel" to greet the anticipated Elohim space vessels, although the country still denies their request.[45]
That same year, an anti-cult organization called ''Info-Cult'' of Montreal made statements against the Raëlian Church with an article on ''Le Devoir''. ''Info-Cult'' branded the Raëlians as promoters of fascism and racism. One reason given was that the church uses a swastika as part of their logo and the other is the Raëlian description of an extraterrestrial global government in which those less than ten percent above average intelligence are excluded from the electorate.[46] Outside Info-Cult's office, Raëlians spoke against the act of discriminating against a religious minority.
On January 2, 1992, a dozen people protested against the use of the swastika in the Raëlian logo in Miami's Eden Roc Hotel. Claude Vorilhon appeared at the end of this one week seminar—at a conference with an attendance of two hundred and thirty people. The use of the swastika and other Raelian practices has led to criticism from the group Hineni of Florida, a Jewish anti-cult organization.[47]
Raëlian organizers made deliberate attempts to shock, titillate, and capture the media's imagination.[48] The book ''Yes to Human Cloning'' (2001) attracted media attention after its release, including segments on 20/20 and 60 minutes.[49] Biophysicist Gregory Stock described the Raëlian Clonaid project as "sufficiently quirky to command instant media attention."[50] It has been estimated that the group received free publicity worth five hundred million US dollars as a result of the Clonaid claim.[51] Mark Hunt, a lawyer and politician who wished to clone his dead son with the help of the Clonaid services, was overwhelmed by the height of the media attention and in an interview said that Clonaid's Chief Executive Officer had become a "press hog".[52]
The Raëlian Church has close links with the controversial company Clonaid, which claimed in 2002 to have produced a cloned human being.[53] Around this time, Clonaid's subsidiary BioFusion Tech says that have in possession a cell fusion device with which they can create cloned human embryos.[54] The Vatican, however, says that experimenters expressed "brutal mentality" for attempting to clone human beings.[55] Former Pope John Paul II criticizes the experiment which he believes threatens the dignity of human life.[56] In response, the leader of the Raëlian Church dismissed the Pope's ethical concerns, calling them an "accumulation of religious prejudices."
In response to Raël's association with Clonaid, South Korean immigration authorities at the airport denied him entry into their country in 2003.[57] This decision led to the quick cancellation of the planned Raëlian seminar which seven hundred registered for. Raëlians of South Korea were instructed by Raël to protest near the center of the country of Ministry of Health and Welfare that ordered him to leave.
Officials detained Raël for nine hours at Incheon International Airport before he and his wife Sophie de Niverville left for Tokyo from where the would take another plane on their way back to Canada. Raël responded by saying that Korean officials treated him like a "North Korean" and that he would wait for an apology before coming back to Korea.[58]
In 2005, the Israeli Raëlian Guide Kobi Drori stated that the Lebanese government was discussing proposals by the Raëlian movement to build their "interplanetary embassy" in Lebanon. However, one condition was that the Raëlians did not display their logo on top of the building because it mixes a swastika and a Star of David. According to Drori, the Raëlians involved declined this offer, as they wished to keep the symbol as is.[59]
The government of France classifies the Raelian Movement as a (French word for cult). Journalists rarely question the Raëlian Movement's cult status. However, according to Glenn McGee, who is the associate director of the Center for Bioethics' at the University of Virginia, part of the sect is a cult while the other part is a commercial website that collects large sums of money from those interested in human cloning.[60]
In 2005, a Wired news report said that two young adults named Abdullah Hashem and Joseph McGowen were welcomed into a Raëlian seminar and had permission to videotape it. They believe the footage they took makes it clear that the Raelian Movement is a cult which should disband. However, a Raëlian guide said in a Wired interview that he is not ashamed of what is shown and that he has no concerns about this incident.[61][62]
Journalists also use the word sect as an alternative to the word cult to describe the movement. Journalists prefer this alternative over the word religion because it denotes the movement's lack of affiliation with any mainstream religion. However, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor[63] and sociologist Susan J. Palmer[64] have classified the International Raëlian Movement as a religion.
★ Cult
★ New Religious Movement
;General
★ Bates, Gary, ''Alien Intrusion: UFOs and the Evolution Connection'' ''New Leaf Press'', 2005. ISBN 0890514356.
★ Edwards, Linda, ''A Brief Guide to Beliefs: Ideas, Theologies, Mysteries, and Movements.'' ''Westminster John Knox Press'', 2001. ISBN 0664222595.
★ Lewis, James R. ''Controversial New Religions'' ''Oxford University Press'', 2004. ISBN 019515682X.
★ Palmer, Susan J. ''Aliens Adored''. ''Rutgers University Press'', 2004. ISBN 0813534763.
★ Partridge, Christopher H. ''UFO Religions''. ''Routledge'', 2003. ISBN 0415263239.
★ Raël, ''Intelligent Design''. ''Nova Distribution'', 2005. ISBN 2940253003.
★ Raël, ''Yes to Human Cloning: Immortality Thanks to Science. Tagman Press, 2001. ISBN 1-903571-05-7; ISBN 1-903571-04-9.
★ Stock, Gregory, ''Redesigning Humans: Choosing our Genes, Changing our Future.'' ''Houghton Mifflin Books'', 2002. ISBN 061806026X.
★ Tandy, Charles, ''Doctor Tandy's First Guide to Life Extension and Transhumanity'' ''Universal-Publishers.com'', 2001. ISBN 1581126506.
★ United States Congress, ''Medical science and bioethics: attack of the clones? Hearing before the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources of the Committee on Government Reform'', House of Representatives, One Hundred Seventh Congress, second session, May 15, 2002. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 2003. Government Documents. Y 4.G 74/7:B 52/7.
;Specific
1. 'Clone Baby' & Raelians, ''NBC 4 Los Angeles''. 5 May 2005. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
2. Review of Aliens Adored: Rael's UFO Religion by Publishers Weekly, ''Publishers Weekly''. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
3. Palmer, p. 77.
4. Raelianews: Downloads, ''Raelian Contact Newsletter''. Retrieved 12 July 2007.
5. Welcome to the Raelian World, ''British Raelian Movement''. 2006. Retrieved 22 April 2007.
6. Wong, Jan, Clone artist, ''The Globe and Mail''. 7 April 2001. Retrieved 12 July 2007.
7. For our pleasure..., ''Raelian Contact 331''. 7 April 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2007
8. Raelian Press Site, ''The International Raëlian Movement''. Retrieved 25 April 2007.
9. Rael Offers Excommunicated Archbishop Milingo to Become a Raelian Bishop, ''Raelianews.org''. 27 September 2006. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
10. Isaksson, Stefan, ''New Religious UFO Movements: Extraterrestrial Salvation in Contemporary America - AnthroBase'', California State University, Fresno''. Spring 2000. Retrieved 25 April 2007.
11. Palmer, Susan J. Susan J. Palmer: search terms are susan j palmer aliens adored teaching skills. New Brunswick, New Jersey: ''Rutgers University Press'', 2004.
12. Raël et le mouvement raélien, ''SECTES ET MOUVEMENTS RELIGIEUX''. Retrieved 19 April 2007.
13. Groups hurl accusations at anti-cult organization, ''Montreal Gazette''. 1 April 1993. Retrieved 19 April 2007.
14. Raël, ''Intelligent Design. Nova Distribution, 2006. ISBN 2940252203.
15. Cult Lures Gay Bishop into Fold, ''New Truth & TV Extra''. 23 April 2004. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
16. The Raelian Movement, ''Human Rights Without Frontiers''. Retrieved 2 December 2006.
17. Mongolia, ''Raelian Contact 288''. 25 October 2005. Retrieved 13 July 2007.
18. Celebrating the First Sunday of April, ''Raelian Contact 322''. 14 April 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2007.
19. Dellagloria, Rebecca, OTHERWORLDLY VIEW OF FEMININITY, ''The Miami Herald''. 7 March 2005. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
20. RaelRadio #7: Femininity Day, ''RaelRadio.net''. Retrieved 18 April 2007.
21. “Sensual seminars” and flying saucers, ''Agence France-Presse''. 22 September 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
22. McCann, Brigitte, 1 REALM OF THE RAELIANS: RAELIAN NATION - Part 1, ''Calgary Sun''. 7 October 2003. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
23. Broughton, Philip D. Promise of as much sex as you want and everlasting life, ''The Daily Telegraph''. 31 December 2002. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
24. Gibbs, Nancy, Abducting The Cloning Debate, ''Time Magazine in partnership with CNN''. 5 January 2003. Retrieved 12 May 2007.
25. I-Team: Alien Nation, Raelians Moving Headquarters to Las Vegas, ''WorldNow and KLAS''. 8 May 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2007.
26. Rael's Girls, 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2007.
27. RAEL's Girls in Support of Strippers, ''PR Newswire''. 10 May 2006. Retrieved 10 June 2007.
28. Partridge, p. 47.
29. Partridge, p. 21.
30. Palmer, p. 23.
31. Raël, p. 167.
32. Edwards, p. 470.
33. Raël, p. 89.
34. Palmer, p. 58
35. Palmer, p. 64
36. Palmer, p. 209
37. Rael: Messenger of the Elohim, ''The International Raelian Movement''. Retrieved 1 December 2006.
38. Raël, p. 104.
39. Raelians and Cloning: Are They for Real?, ''Zenit News Agency''. 16 January 2003. Retrieved 25 March 2007.
40. Susan J. Palmer, ''The Rael Deal'', ''Religion in the News'', Summer 2001, Vol. 4, No. 2.
41. Religious Movements Homepage: Raelians (paragraph on Operation Condom), ''University of Virginia''. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
42. Palmer, p. 63.
43. DIFFUSION IN THE WORLD: THE US TEAMS DENOUNCE CATHOLIC PRIESTS PEDOPHILIA, ''Raelian Contact 324''. 11 December 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
44. Cult leader Rael denied residence in Switzerland, ''Agence France-Presse''. 19 February 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
45. Religious Movements Homepage: Raelians, ''University of Virginia''. 11 April 2001. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
46. Rael, ''Geniocracy''. ''The Raelian Foundation'', 2004.
47. USE OF SWASTIKA LOGO PROMPTS BEACH PROTEST, ''The Miami Herald''. 3 January 1992. Retrieved 8 June 2007. ''(highlight)''
48. Lewis, ''Controversial New Religions'', p. 371.
49. Tandy, p. 156.
50. Stock, p. 157.
51. Bates, p. 15.
52. United States Congress, p. 356.
53. THE CLONING DEBATE, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
54. Human cloning firm sets up affiliate in Korea, ''Korea Herald''. 13 July 2002. Retrieved 19 July 2002.
55. Vatican slams 'brutal' clone claim, ''CNN''. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
56. Religious Leaders Condemn Report of Cloned Baby, ''CNN''. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
57. Ji-young, So, Raelian Cult Leader Threatens to Sue Korea Over Denied Entry, ''Korea Times''. 3 August 2003. Retrieved 12 March 2007
58. Goodenough, Patrick, Cloning Cult Miffed About Treatment of Leader, ''Cybercast News Service''. 6 August 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
59. Thomas, Amelia, Raelians want to establish ET embassy in Jerusalem, ''Middle East Times''. 18 November 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
60. Thomasch, Paul, The sportswriter, the aliens, and a cult with 55,000 believers, ''The Guardian''. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 24 May, 2007.
61. Philipkoski, Kristen, Some Sex With Your Clone Perhaps?, ''Wired News''. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
62. A VERY SPECIAL SEMINAR IN LAS VEGAS, ''Raelian Contact 273''. May 26 2005. Retrieved 26 June 2007. ''(French, raelianews.org version)''
63. International Religious Freedom Report 2003, ''Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor''. 18 December 2003. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
64. Palmer, pp. 1-3.
★ Raël, ''Geniocracy''. The Raelian Foundation, 2004.
★ Raël, ''Maitreya''. The Raelian Foundation, 2003.
★ Raël, ''Sensual Meditation''. Tagman Press, 2002.
'Criticism from Skeptics'
★ Raëlism Robert T. Carroll's skeptic dictionary entry
★ Rise of the Raelians: flying saucers, science, sex, and religion, Vern Bullough, ''Skeptical Inquirer'', July-August 2002
★ Raëlian information page, Rick A. Ross Institute
★ Questioning by former Raëlians of specific claims found in the Raëlian messages
'Raëlism' or 'Raelian Church' is a UFO religion founded by a purported contactee named Claude Vorilhon, who is known recently for supporting Clonaid's claim that an American woman underwent a standard cloning procedure, which led to the birth of her new daughter Eve in December 26, 2002. National authorities, mainstream media, and young adults have increasingly investigated the church's activities as a result of controversial statements by Clonaid's head Brigitte Boisselier the day after.
Members of the Raëlian Church consist of people who have been baptized by Raëlian clergy in quarterly ceremonies, and among the converts are members of Raëlian-founded free love groups such as the ''Order of Angels'' and ''Raël's Girls''. The organization—which preaches a sensual philosophy and a physicalist explanation of the origin of life—could have as many as sixty-five thousand members.[1]
Susan J. Palmer, a sociologist from Canada, has studied the movement since 1987[2] and says the movement intentionally stirs a moderate level of controversy to maintain membership. This view is shared by Mike Kropveld—the executive director of an anti-cult organization with the name Info-Cult—who says the controversy leads to criticism by both religious and non-religious people.
A gathering of Raëlians in South Korea
Notability
Raëlism has attracted worldwide media attention since the controversial and unverified Clonaid claims of new human baby conceived through cloning technology. Lesser sources of the movement's notability include from conversion of clergy from other religions and advocacy of feminine pleasure in the form of sexual demonstrations. Significant past sources of notability also include encourage Raëlian-started controversies[3] such as the use of the swastika in the Raëlian logo.
Structure and membership
Organizational structure
| 'Level 6:' ''Guide of Guides'' ''Planetary guide'' | |||||||
| |||||||
| |||||||
| 'Level 0:' ''Trainee'' | |||||||
The ''structure'' of the Raëlian Church is a hierarchal religious order with seven levels from ascending from level 0 to level 6.[5] The top four levels of the religious order consist of ''guides''. The level 6 ''guide'', known as the ''Guide of Guides'', has the final say on who becomes a level 5 ''bishop guide'' or a level 4 ''priest guide''. Bishops and priests promote lower-level members one level at a time during annual seminars. Each ''bishop'' or ''priest'' can propose a new guide as long as the candidate is from a level below his or her own. ''Guides'' can assist ''regional guides''—level 3 and above[6]—in their assigning of non-guide members to levels 3, 2, and 1 which are ''assistant priests'', ''organizers'', and ''assistant organizers'' respectively.
Members of the Raëlian structure begin as level 0 ''trainees'' during annual seminars. ''Structure'' membership counts by third parties are missing or nonexistent, but figures by the movement itself suggest that the size of the structure is small in relation of the size of the whole church. Issue 331 of ''Raelian Contact'' Newsletter suggests that the ''structure'' has about 2,300 members,[7] the Raëlian Press Release Site says there are about 170 ''guides'',[8] and an article on Raelianews.org says there are 41 ''bishops''.[9] After completing three 7-year terms, Claude Vorilhon holds the highest position.[10]
Relationship with religious people
There are multiple accounts of former clergy of mainstream religions joining the Raëlian Church, especially in Quebec. The structure of the movement had promoted some of them to the level of a Raëlian ''priest'' or ''bishop'' due to "extensive Bible training and teaching skills".[11] Two ex-Roman Catholic Priests, Victor Legendre[12] and Charles-Yvan Giroux[13] wrote testimonials regarding their change of faith to Raëlianism.[14] According to one article, a former bishop of the Church of Christ (Latter Day Saints) joined the Raelian Movement in order to express his homosexuality.[15] In the same article, a quote from a Raëlian, Mark Woodgate, states that 8% of Raëlians worldwide are former Mormons. Religiously mixed couples are common in this movement, especially with spouses who are Christians or Buddhists.[16]
Raëlian Women at the Seoul Korea Love Hug Festival
Role of women
Women are a minority in the Raëlian Church, however, two anecdotes in the Raëlian Contact newsletter report female majorities joining the movement's Asian Mongolian chapter.[17][18] Despite the overall difference between the number of females vs. males in the movement, women such as Brigitte Boisselier, the Chief Executive Officer of Clonaid, play a powerful role in the Raëlian Church. There are two major groups of women in the Raëlian Church.
The ''Order of Angels'', founded in the 1990s, consists of over a hundred Raëlian women who call for femininity and refinement for all of humanity.[19][20] The initiation rites include declaring an oath or making a contract in which one agrees to become defender of the Raëlian ideology and its founder Raël.[21][22] The Order of Angels has its own hierarchy of ''rose angels'' and ''white angels'' which, as of 2003, are 6 and 160 women, respectively. After the Clonaid human cloning claim made the headlines, the Daily Telegraph wrote that members of the order not only provide sexual pleasure for Raël, but also help donate eggs for efforts towards human cloning.[23] A few days later, ''Time'' magazine wrote that French chemist Brigitte Boisselier is an Order of Angels member.[24] Around this time, cult specialist Mike Kropveld called the Order of Angels "one of the most transparent movements" he had ever witnessed, however, he was alarmed by the women's commitment to defend Raël's life with their own bodies.
Raël has instructed some women members to play a pro-sex feminist]] role in the Raëlian Church. ''Rael's Girls'' is another group of women in the movement which are against the suppression of feminine acts of pleasure, including sexual intercourse with men or women. Rael's Girls solely consists of women who work in the sex industry. In contrast to the teachings of the world's major religions, the women of Rael's Girls say there is no reason to repent for performing striptease or being a prostitute.[25][26] This organization was set up to counteract the influence of the ''JC's girls'' mission of the Christian ex-stripper Heather Veitch.[27]
Beliefs and practices
Raëlians emphasize secular and hedonistic ideas, rather than worshiping a supreme metaphysical deity.[28] The Raëlian Church members follow a UFO religion that favors a ''strong'' version of physicalism - the belief that everything consists only of physical properties.[29] Raëlians deny the existence of the ethereal soul and a supernatural god, and believe that the mind is a function of matter alone—a paradigm which William James of (1964) would call epiphenomenalist.[30] This ties into their belief that mind transfer is possible and that it will be possible to create an identical human clone in terms of mind and personality—as long as the clone and the original are not alive at the same time.[31] These beliefs play a part in Raël's purported project, ''Valiant Venture Ltd.'' which he says provides a service called Clonaid for homosexual and infertile couples who want a child cloned from a partner's DNA.[32] Raëlians believe that other religions throughout history—such as Buddhism, Islam, and Mormonism—have testaments to extraterrestrial creators.[33] The Raëlian book ''Let's Welcome our Fathers From Space'' says that new advanced extraterrestrial civilizations will ultimately practice a final religion or "religion of the infinite".Raël, p. 248.
According to Susan J. Palmer, a majority of loosely affiliated Raëlian Movement members have often strayed from following rules concerning "diet, drugs, and sexual activity" as described in the messages. Sometimes, they will not attend monthly meetings or pay a tithe in proportion to their income. Only the more committed members, who do follow such rules, can remain in the movement's structure.[34] In addition to this, Palmer cites as Raël claiming that more than 60 percent of the Raëlian Movement's members do not tithe.[35] Dawson College students were able to verify this assertion in 1991 by conducting a survey of the membership. The results were that only one-third of respondents tithed.[36] According to Michel Beluet, the former director of a Raëlian-built museum called ''UFOland'', the only pressure exerted on members is to attend annual Raëlian seminars, which allows members convinced of Raël's enthusiasm to voluntarily tithe.
History
The movement traces its beginnings to a conference in Paris, France of two thousand people in 1974.[37] From there, the MADECH organization was born. The name MADECH is a double acronym in the French language. The first stands for "Movement for the welcoming of the Elohim, creators of humanity" ''('M'ouvement pour l‘'a'ccueil 'd'es 'E'lohim, 'c'réateurs de 'h'umanité)'' while the second stands for "Moses preceded Elijah and the Christ" ''('M'oise 'a' 'd'evancé 'É'lie et le 'Ch'rist)''.[38] A news agency said that by 1976, the International Raelian Movement became the replacement for MADECH as a result of Raël's influence.[39]
Various news media have given estimates of the movement's size, and the statistics agree with a long-term term trend of past growth. However, despite media efforts to provide accurate information, Raëlian Church membership estimates can vary even within a given year by tens of thousands.
Criticism and controversy
1990s
Sexual intercourse
Susan J. Palmer writes that in 1991, a French journalist went to a Raëlian Seminar and taped couples having sexual intercourse in tents. These tapes gained widespread negative publicity—with news stories describing these practices as perverted and a form of brainwashing.[40]
Palmer says since 1991, Raël's teachings on sexual intercourse have caused controversy among other religious groups. The next year, Catholic schools in Montreal, Canada objected to a proposed condom vending machine as contrary to their mission. In response, Raëlians guides gave the Catholic students ten thousand condoms. The Commissioner of Catholic schools for Montreal say they could do nothing to stop them. Around this time, Raëlians dub the event "Operation Condom".[41]
Sexual predators and guides who force missionary ideas against members are excommunicated by the Raëlian Church for a minimum of seven years—the amount of time Raëlians believe it takes for all of a person's biological cells to be regenerated.[42] Raëlians Issue #324 of ''Raëlian Contact'' shows a picture of Raëlians in Los Angeles, California expressing their condemnation of acts of pedophilia, particularly those associated with celibate Catholic priests. Their message is that minors and adults should not be mixed in the act of sex.[43] On the other hand, Raëlians claim children should have "complete sexual liberty". Therefore, authorities in the Swiss canton Valais denied an application by Raël to live in their area.[44]
Swastika controversy
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Oldest Raëlian logo to newest
In February 1991, the Raëlian Church modified their symbol to remove the swastika to help in negotiations with building the "Third Temple of Israel". The official reason given was a request from the Elohim to change the symbol in order to help in negotiations with Israel for the building of a Raëlian "embassy" or "third temple of Israel" to greet the anticipated Elohim space vessels, although the country still denies their request.[45]
That same year, an anti-cult organization called ''Info-Cult'' of Montreal made statements against the Raëlian Church with an article on ''Le Devoir''. ''Info-Cult'' branded the Raëlians as promoters of fascism and racism. One reason given was that the church uses a swastika as part of their logo and the other is the Raëlian description of an extraterrestrial global government in which those less than ten percent above average intelligence are excluded from the electorate.[46] Outside Info-Cult's office, Raëlians spoke against the act of discriminating against a religious minority.
On January 2, 1992, a dozen people protested against the use of the swastika in the Raëlian logo in Miami's Eden Roc Hotel. Claude Vorilhon appeared at the end of this one week seminar—at a conference with an attendance of two hundred and thirty people. The use of the swastika and other Raelian practices has led to criticism from the group Hineni of Florida, a Jewish anti-cult organization.[47]
2000s
Intentional stirring of the media by members
Raëlian organizers made deliberate attempts to shock, titillate, and capture the media's imagination.[48] The book ''Yes to Human Cloning'' (2001) attracted media attention after its release, including segments on 20/20 and 60 minutes.[49] Biophysicist Gregory Stock described the Raëlian Clonaid project as "sufficiently quirky to command instant media attention."[50] It has been estimated that the group received free publicity worth five hundred million US dollars as a result of the Clonaid claim.[51] Mark Hunt, a lawyer and politician who wished to clone his dead son with the help of the Clonaid services, was overwhelmed by the height of the media attention and in an interview said that Clonaid's Chief Executive Officer had become a "press hog".[52]
Stem cells and human cloning
The Raëlian Church has close links with the controversial company Clonaid, which claimed in 2002 to have produced a cloned human being.[53] Around this time, Clonaid's subsidiary BioFusion Tech says that have in possession a cell fusion device with which they can create cloned human embryos.[54] The Vatican, however, says that experimenters expressed "brutal mentality" for attempting to clone human beings.[55] Former Pope John Paul II criticizes the experiment which he believes threatens the dignity of human life.[56] In response, the leader of the Raëlian Church dismissed the Pope's ethical concerns, calling them an "accumulation of religious prejudices."
Raëlians asking to stop the prohibition of Raël's entry into Korea
Authorities deny entry of Raël and his wife into Korea
In response to Raël's association with Clonaid, South Korean immigration authorities at the airport denied him entry into their country in 2003.[57] This decision led to the quick cancellation of the planned Raëlian seminar which seven hundred registered for. Raëlians of South Korea were instructed by Raël to protest near the center of the country of Ministry of Health and Welfare that ordered him to leave.
Officials detained Raël for nine hours at Incheon International Airport before he and his wife Sophie de Niverville left for Tokyo from where the would take another plane on their way back to Canada. Raël responded by saying that Korean officials treated him like a "North Korean" and that he would wait for an apology before coming back to Korea.[58]
Interplanetary embassy proposal in Lebanon
In 2005, the Israeli Raëlian Guide Kobi Drori stated that the Lebanese government was discussing proposals by the Raëlian movement to build their "interplanetary embassy" in Lebanon. However, one condition was that the Raëlians did not display their logo on top of the building because it mixes a swastika and a Star of David. According to Drori, the Raëlians involved declined this offer, as they wished to keep the symbol as is.[59]
Cult status
The government of France classifies the Raelian Movement as a (French word for cult). Journalists rarely question the Raëlian Movement's cult status. However, according to Glenn McGee, who is the associate director of the Center for Bioethics' at the University of Virginia, part of the sect is a cult while the other part is a commercial website that collects large sums of money from those interested in human cloning.[60]
In 2005, a Wired news report said that two young adults named Abdullah Hashem and Joseph McGowen were welcomed into a Raëlian seminar and had permission to videotape it. They believe the footage they took makes it clear that the Raelian Movement is a cult which should disband. However, a Raëlian guide said in a Wired interview that he is not ashamed of what is shown and that he has no concerns about this incident.[61][62]
Journalists also use the word sect as an alternative to the word cult to describe the movement. Journalists prefer this alternative over the word religion because it denotes the movement's lack of affiliation with any mainstream religion. However, the Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor[63] and sociologist Susan J. Palmer[64] have classified the International Raëlian Movement as a religion.
See also
★ Cult
★ New Religious Movement
References
;General
★ Bates, Gary, ''Alien Intrusion: UFOs and the Evolution Connection'' ''New Leaf Press'', 2005. ISBN 0890514356.
★ Edwards, Linda, ''A Brief Guide to Beliefs: Ideas, Theologies, Mysteries, and Movements.'' ''Westminster John Knox Press'', 2001. ISBN 0664222595.
★ Lewis, James R. ''Controversial New Religions'' ''Oxford University Press'', 2004. ISBN 019515682X.
★ Palmer, Susan J. ''Aliens Adored''. ''Rutgers University Press'', 2004. ISBN 0813534763.
★ Partridge, Christopher H. ''UFO Religions''. ''Routledge'', 2003. ISBN 0415263239.
★ Raël, ''Intelligent Design''. ''Nova Distribution'', 2005. ISBN 2940253003.
★ Raël, ''Yes to Human Cloning: Immortality Thanks to Science. Tagman Press, 2001. ISBN 1-903571-05-7; ISBN 1-903571-04-9.
★ Stock, Gregory, ''Redesigning Humans: Choosing our Genes, Changing our Future.'' ''Houghton Mifflin Books'', 2002. ISBN 061806026X.
★ Tandy, Charles, ''Doctor Tandy's First Guide to Life Extension and Transhumanity'' ''Universal-Publishers.com'', 2001. ISBN 1581126506.
★ United States Congress, ''Medical science and bioethics: attack of the clones? Hearing before the Subcommittee on Criminal Justice, Drug Policy, and Human Resources of the Committee on Government Reform'', House of Representatives, One Hundred Seventh Congress, second session, May 15, 2002. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 2003. Government Documents. Y 4.G 74/7:B 52/7.
;Specific
1. 'Clone Baby' & Raelians, ''NBC 4 Los Angeles''. 5 May 2005. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
2. Review of Aliens Adored: Rael's UFO Religion by Publishers Weekly, ''Publishers Weekly''. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
3. Palmer, p. 77.
4. Raelianews: Downloads, ''Raelian Contact Newsletter''. Retrieved 12 July 2007.
5. Welcome to the Raelian World, ''British Raelian Movement''. 2006. Retrieved 22 April 2007.
6. Wong, Jan, Clone artist, ''The Globe and Mail''. 7 April 2001. Retrieved 12 July 2007.
7. For our pleasure..., ''Raelian Contact 331''. 7 April 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2007
8. Raelian Press Site, ''The International Raëlian Movement''. Retrieved 25 April 2007.
9. Rael Offers Excommunicated Archbishop Milingo to Become a Raelian Bishop, ''Raelianews.org''. 27 September 2006. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
10. Isaksson, Stefan, ''New Religious UFO Movements: Extraterrestrial Salvation in Contemporary America - AnthroBase'', California State University, Fresno''. Spring 2000. Retrieved 25 April 2007.
11. Palmer, Susan J. Susan J. Palmer: search terms are susan j palmer aliens adored teaching skills. New Brunswick, New Jersey: ''Rutgers University Press'', 2004.
12. Raël et le mouvement raélien, ''SECTES ET MOUVEMENTS RELIGIEUX''. Retrieved 19 April 2007.
13. Groups hurl accusations at anti-cult organization, ''Montreal Gazette''. 1 April 1993. Retrieved 19 April 2007.
14. Raël, ''Intelligent Design. Nova Distribution, 2006. ISBN 2940252203.
15. Cult Lures Gay Bishop into Fold, ''New Truth & TV Extra''. 23 April 2004. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
16. The Raelian Movement, ''Human Rights Without Frontiers''. Retrieved 2 December 2006.
17. Mongolia, ''Raelian Contact 288''. 25 October 2005. Retrieved 13 July 2007.
18. Celebrating the First Sunday of April, ''Raelian Contact 322''. 14 April 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2007.
19. Dellagloria, Rebecca, OTHERWORLDLY VIEW OF FEMININITY, ''The Miami Herald''. 7 March 2005. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
20. RaelRadio #7: Femininity Day, ''RaelRadio.net''. Retrieved 18 April 2007.
21. “Sensual seminars” and flying saucers, ''Agence France-Presse''. 22 September 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
22. McCann, Brigitte, 1 REALM OF THE RAELIANS: RAELIAN NATION - Part 1, ''Calgary Sun''. 7 October 2003. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
23. Broughton, Philip D. Promise of as much sex as you want and everlasting life, ''The Daily Telegraph''. 31 December 2002. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
24. Gibbs, Nancy, Abducting The Cloning Debate, ''Time Magazine in partnership with CNN''. 5 January 2003. Retrieved 12 May 2007.
25. I-Team: Alien Nation, Raelians Moving Headquarters to Las Vegas, ''WorldNow and KLAS''. 8 May 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2007.
26. Rael's Girls, 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2007.
27. RAEL's Girls in Support of Strippers, ''PR Newswire''. 10 May 2006. Retrieved 10 June 2007.
28. Partridge, p. 47.
29. Partridge, p. 21.
30. Palmer, p. 23.
31. Raël, p. 167.
32. Edwards, p. 470.
33. Raël, p. 89.
34. Palmer, p. 58
35. Palmer, p. 64
36. Palmer, p. 209
37. Rael: Messenger of the Elohim, ''The International Raelian Movement''. Retrieved 1 December 2006.
38. Raël, p. 104.
39. Raelians and Cloning: Are They for Real?, ''Zenit News Agency''. 16 January 2003. Retrieved 25 March 2007.
40. Susan J. Palmer, ''The Rael Deal'', ''Religion in the News'', Summer 2001, Vol. 4, No. 2.
41. Religious Movements Homepage: Raelians (paragraph on Operation Condom), ''University of Virginia''. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
42. Palmer, p. 63.
43. DIFFUSION IN THE WORLD: THE US TEAMS DENOUNCE CATHOLIC PRIESTS PEDOPHILIA, ''Raelian Contact 324''. 11 December 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
44. Cult leader Rael denied residence in Switzerland, ''Agence France-Presse''. 19 February 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
45. Religious Movements Homepage: Raelians, ''University of Virginia''. 11 April 2001. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
46. Rael, ''Geniocracy''. ''The Raelian Foundation'', 2004.
47. USE OF SWASTIKA LOGO PROMPTS BEACH PROTEST, ''The Miami Herald''. 3 January 1992. Retrieved 8 June 2007. ''(highlight)''
48. Lewis, ''Controversial New Religions'', p. 371.
49. Tandy, p. 156.
50. Stock, p. 157.
51. Bates, p. 15.
52. United States Congress, p. 356.
53. THE CLONING DEBATE, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
54. Human cloning firm sets up affiliate in Korea, ''Korea Herald''. 13 July 2002. Retrieved 19 July 2002.
55. Vatican slams 'brutal' clone claim, ''CNN''. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
56. Religious Leaders Condemn Report of Cloned Baby, ''CNN''. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
57. Ji-young, So, Raelian Cult Leader Threatens to Sue Korea Over Denied Entry, ''Korea Times''. 3 August 2003. Retrieved 12 March 2007
58. Goodenough, Patrick, Cloning Cult Miffed About Treatment of Leader, ''Cybercast News Service''. 6 August 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
59. Thomas, Amelia, Raelians want to establish ET embassy in Jerusalem, ''Middle East Times''. 18 November 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
60. Thomasch, Paul, The sportswriter, the aliens, and a cult with 55,000 believers, ''The Guardian''. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 24 May, 2007.
61. Philipkoski, Kristen, Some Sex With Your Clone Perhaps?, ''Wired News''. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
62. A VERY SPECIAL SEMINAR IN LAS VEGAS, ''Raelian Contact 273''. May 26 2005. Retrieved 26 June 2007. ''(French, raelianews.org version)''
63. International Religious Freedom Report 2003, ''Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor''. 18 December 2003. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
64. Palmer, pp. 1-3.
Further reading
★ Raël, ''Geniocracy''. The Raelian Foundation, 2004.
★ Raël, ''Maitreya''. The Raelian Foundation, 2003.
★ Raël, ''Sensual Meditation''. Tagman Press, 2002.
External links
| 'Odd Connection...' ★ The character Raël appears in Star Trek Episode "Wink of an Eye" | 'Study concerning this New Religious Movement' ★ Article on Raëlians by the University of Virginia |
'Criticism from Skeptics'
★ Raëlism Robert T. Carroll's skeptic dictionary entry
★ Rise of the Raelians: flying saucers, science, sex, and religion, Vern Bullough, ''Skeptical Inquirer'', July-August 2002
★ Raëlian information page, Rick A. Ross Institute
★ Questioning by former Raëlians of specific claims found in the Raëlian messages
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