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Korindo (Raëlian temple)

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 This article relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (August 2011)



 The Raëlian symbol with the swastika (left) and the modified version (right)


 Korindo Raëlian temple, December 2010.
Korindo is a Raëlian temple near Narito, Japan. It is the first such temple,[1] dedicated to the Elohim, and meditation.[2]
Korindo is a Japanese word, that means "light coming from the sky". [2] It is the first recognised Raëlian temple for about 1500 active members and promoters of this UFO religion, mentors, and over 50,000 followers of Raëlism[3] from about 84 countries,[4] and is situated at a village near Narita in Japan.[2] In Asia, Japan dominates in proportion of the people, who have faith in Raëlism, as compared to other Asian nations.[5] It is believed by the Raëlians that life on Earth was created by the extraterrestrial scientists from space, in their own image and resemblance.[6][7][2][8] Moreover, Raëlians further claims that it was a Sunday, when Adam and Eve were brought into being by the Elohim.[9]


Contents  [hide]
1 Inauguration
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

Inauguration[edit]
The temple was inaugurated on October 7, 2010 in the memory of the 35th anniversary of the second meeting of Rael with the Elohim.[2] Raël also claims to have visited the Elohim's planet at that time.[10] Many Raëlians, and over 100 mentors attended the inauguration of the Korindo, which coincided with a two day seminar for the Raëlians.[2]
See also[edit]
Raëlism
Raëlian beliefs and practices
Ancient astronauts
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Beyer, Catherine (2010-12-19). "Raelians Build First Elohim Temple". About.com Guide. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "The Korindo, first Raelian temple dedicated to the Elohim". Raelianews. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
3.Jump up ^ "Raelians and Cloning: Are They for Real? Researcher Massimo Introvigne Talks About an Atheistic Religion (Part 1)". Cesnur. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
4.Jump up ^ "Raelians". About.com. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
5.Jump up ^ Beyer, Catherine (2010-12-19). "Raelians Build First Elohim Temple". About.com Guide. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
6.Jump up ^ Beyer, Catherine. "The Elohim within the Raelian Religion". About.com Guide. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
7.Jump up ^ "The Message". Rael. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
8.Jump up ^ "Raelians and Cloning: Are They for Real? Researcher Massimo Introvigne Talks About an Atheistic Religion (Part 1)". Cesnur. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
9.Jump up ^ Beyer, Catherine. "Raelian Movement: An Introduction to Raelians for Beginners". About.com Guide. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
10.Jump up ^ "Raelians and Cloning: Are They for Real? Researcher Massimo Introvigne Talks About an Atheistic Religion (Part 1)". Cesnur. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
External links[edit]
Official Website of the Raëlian Movement
Official News and Views of the Raëlian Movement
Who are the Raëlians? David Chazan, BBC News 2002.
  


Categories: Raëlism
Temples in Japan





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Korindo (Raëlian temple)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to:  navigation , search


Question book-new.svg
 This article relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (August 2011)



 The Raëlian symbol with the swastika (left) and the modified version (right)


 Korindo Raëlian temple, December 2010.
Korindo is a Raëlian temple near Narito, Japan. It is the first such temple,[1] dedicated to the Elohim, and meditation.[2]
Korindo is a Japanese word, that means "light coming from the sky". [2] It is the first recognised Raëlian temple for about 1500 active members and promoters of this UFO religion, mentors, and over 50,000 followers of Raëlism[3] from about 84 countries,[4] and is situated at a village near Narita in Japan.[2] In Asia, Japan dominates in proportion of the people, who have faith in Raëlism, as compared to other Asian nations.[5] It is believed by the Raëlians that life on Earth was created by the extraterrestrial scientists from space, in their own image and resemblance.[6][7][2][8] Moreover, Raëlians further claims that it was a Sunday, when Adam and Eve were brought into being by the Elohim.[9]


Contents  [hide]
1 Inauguration
2 See also
3 References
4 External links

Inauguration[edit]
The temple was inaugurated on October 7, 2010 in the memory of the 35th anniversary of the second meeting of Rael with the Elohim.[2] Raël also claims to have visited the Elohim's planet at that time.[10] Many Raëlians, and over 100 mentors attended the inauguration of the Korindo, which coincided with a two day seminar for the Raëlians.[2]
See also[edit]
Raëlism
Raëlian beliefs and practices
Ancient astronauts
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Beyer, Catherine (2010-12-19). "Raelians Build First Elohim Temple". About.com Guide. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f "The Korindo, first Raelian temple dedicated to the Elohim". Raelianews. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
3.Jump up ^ "Raelians and Cloning: Are They for Real? Researcher Massimo Introvigne Talks About an Atheistic Religion (Part 1)". Cesnur. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
4.Jump up ^ "Raelians". About.com. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
5.Jump up ^ Beyer, Catherine (2010-12-19). "Raelians Build First Elohim Temple". About.com Guide. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
6.Jump up ^ Beyer, Catherine. "The Elohim within the Raelian Religion". About.com Guide. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
7.Jump up ^ "The Message". Rael. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
8.Jump up ^ "Raelians and Cloning: Are They for Real? Researcher Massimo Introvigne Talks About an Atheistic Religion (Part 1)". Cesnur. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
9.Jump up ^ Beyer, Catherine. "Raelian Movement: An Introduction to Raelians for Beginners". About.com Guide. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
10.Jump up ^ "Raelians and Cloning: Are They for Real? Researcher Massimo Introvigne Talks About an Atheistic Religion (Part 1)". Cesnur. Retrieved 2011-08-17.
External links[edit]
Official Website of the Raëlian Movement
Official News and Views of the Raëlian Movement
Who are the Raëlians? David Chazan, BBC News 2002.
  


Categories: Raëlism
Temples in Japan





Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



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Read

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Clonaid

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Jump to:  navigation , search

Clonaid


Type
 Private
Industry
Biotechnology
Predecessor
Valiant Venture Ltd.
Founded
Bahamas (1997)
Founder
Raël

Key people
 Brigitte Boisselier, Thomas Kaenzig
Products
RMX568, RMX2010
Services
CLONAID, INSURACLONE, OVULAID, CLONAPET
Subsidiaries
BioFusion Tech Inc.
Website
http://www.clonaid.com/
A series of articles on the

Raëlian Movement

Adam, Eve, and Elohim (Raëlism).png
Founder • History
Beliefs & practices
Cloning (Clonaid)
Funds

Views on:
Politics
Economics
Cosmology

This box: view ·
 talk ·
 edit
   
Clonaid is an American-based human cloning organization, registered as a company in the Bahamas. Founded in 1997, it has philosophical ties with the UFO religion Raëlism, which sees cloning as the first step in achieving immortality. On December 27, 2002, Clonaid's chief executive, Brigitte Boisselier, claimed that a baby clone, named Eve, was born. Media coverage of the claim sparked serious criticism and ethical debate that lasted more than a year. Florida attorney Bernard Siegel tried to appoint a special guardian for Eve and threatened to sue Clonaid, because he was afraid that the child might be treated like a lab rat.[1] Siegel, who heard the company's actual name was not Clonaid, decided that the Clonaid project was a sham.[2] Bioethicist Clara Alto condemned Clonaid for premature human experimentation and noted the high incidence of malformations and fetal deaths in animal cloning.[3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Company founding 1.1 Premise
1.2 Responses by scientists
2 The year before the alleged clone baby claim
3 Alleged clone baby Eve 3.1 Responses by politicians and ethicists
3.2 Request for a temporary guardian
3.3 Request for a DNA verification test
4 Claims of further human clones
5 Embryonic cell fusion machine
6 Additional skepticism
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links

Company founding[edit]
On May 31, 1997, an issue of the popular science magazine, New Scientist said that the International Raëlian Movement was starting a company to fund the research and development of human cloning. This alarmed bioethicists who were opposed to such plans. They warned lawmakers against failing to regulate human cloning. At the time, European countries such as Britain had banned human cloning, but the United States had merely a moratorium on the use of federal funds for human cloning research. President Clinton requested that private companies pass their own moratorium. Claude Vorilhon, the founder of Raëlism, was opposed to this move and denied that the technology used to clone was inherently dangerous.[4]
On June 15, 1998, Brigitte Boisselier said the headquarters of Clonaid was located in Las Vegas and that Clonaid did not have enough funds for human cloning research.[5] On December 19, 1998, a New Scientist article said the cost of Clonaid cloning services would be $200,000, much lower than the $2.3 million that researchers at Texas A&M University planned to use for cloning a dog named Missy. Mainstream scientists said it was unlikely that Clonaid would be able to clone anything in the near future.[6] Although the project's ultimate objective was human cloning, Boisselier said that pet cloning would help finance the operations.[5]
Premise[edit]
On June 9, 1997, Clonaid stated its intention to offer homosexual and/or infertile couples the chance to have a genetically, identical child and take a step toward immortality. According to an Internet announcement, the Raëlian leader and a group of investors founded a company in the Bahamas and called it Valiant Venture Ltd., whose project mission was named Clonaid. Valiant Venture expected to have one million potential customers.[7]
Claude Vorilhon held a meeting in a Montreal hotel on September 21, 2000, where he announced that a wealthy American couple was willing to fund the Clonaid project. The first pending clone, according to Vorilhon at the time, was the couple's 10-month-old girl, who had died due to a medical mistake. He said that the couple was willing to pay $500,000 to clone their deceased daughter, but the wife was not willing to be the surrogate mother. Jamie Grifo, a fertility specialist at the New York University School of Medicine, and Nobel laureate Paul Berg of Stanford University said that Vorilhon was providing a false hope that the child was going to be the same one. Boisselier revealed the roles of four scientists she says were involved—"a biochemist, a geneticist, a cell fusion expert and a French medical doctor"—but without revealing their identity. She did not identify the wealthy American couple.[8]
Responses by scientists[edit]
According to cloning specialist and physiologist George Seidel of Colorado State University, cloning a human being would not be difficult if many people donated their eggs or offered their wombs for implantation of clone embryos.[8] Lee Silver, a molecular biologist from Princeton, noted the advantages that Raëlians had, as a pro-cloning religious group, in finding willing surrogates.[8] A biotechnology company called Advanced Cell Technology had cloned human embryo cells for medical purposes, and its CEO Michael D. West said that the directions for cloning a human being were available in published scientific literature.[8] Experts knowledgeable of the scientific advances in the field have noted that human reproductive chemistry is better understood than that of most animals.[8] For this reason, they thought that a higher rate of success was possible in human cloning compared with animal cloning.[8] Brigitte Boisselier anticipated that the work could begin on the preserved cells as soon as October, but there was no evidence that Clonaid had medical knowledge necessary for its success.[8] There was no evidence that the Clonaid claim was more than a publicity stunt.[8]
The year before the alleged clone baby claim[edit]
In the spring of 2001,[9] the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations inspected Clonaid's lab in the small city of Nitro in West Virginia.[10] It was located inside a rented room within a former high school. Staff scientists reviewed the lab's research documentation and found them inadequate, the work of a graduate student extracting ovum from cow ovaries from a slaughterhouse. The FDA said that the equipment in lab was state-of-the-art and had been bought by Mark Hunt, a former West Virginia state legislator, who wanted to clone his 10-month-old son, Andrew, who died in 1999 due to congenital heart disease. Following investigation of the West Virginia lab, Mark Hunt made an agreement with the FDA-OCI to not clone his dead son within the United States.[10]
On March 2001, Boisselier said that a woman would be pregnant with a cloned fetus in April. She said that cells had reached the blastocyst stage, but she refused to speak of any specific implantation or pregnancy associated with them. According to a CNN article that November, the Clonaid laboratory was outside the United States. Clonaid claimed that it had developed human cloned embryos before Advanced Cell Technology was able to do the same.[11] CNN could not confirm the unpublished work. Due to Clonaid's association with Raëlians and the lack of evidence for cloning, authorities remained skeptical as to whether Clonaid could clone anything at all.[12]
Alleged clone baby Eve[edit]
On Friday, December 27, 2002, Boisselier, a Raëlian bishop and CEO of Clonaid, announced at a press conference in Hollywood, Florida that Clonaid had successfully performed the first human reproductive cloning. Boisselier said that the mother delivered Eve by Caesarean section somewhere outside the United States and that both were healthy. Dr. Boisselier did not present the mother or child, or DNA samples that would allow for confirmation of her claim at the press conference. It has subsequently become apparent that she announced the birth before genetic testing to evaluate whether the child in question is actually a clone: Dr. Boisselier was therefore stating her belief that her procedure had resulted in a clone, not announcing results showing that the child was a clone.[13]
Shortly after the announcement, Korean prosecutors raided the offices of Clonaid's Korean branch, BioFusion Tech. In the process, the prosecutors removed records from homes and offices while barring two representatives of BioFusion Tech from leaving the country. An official company statement revealed that three Korean women applied to become surrogate mothers. Officials of BioFusion Tech told the prosecutors that 10 Korean women wanted to clone themselves and have filled out applications.[14]
The Food and Drug Administration stated its intention to investigate Clonaid to see if it had done anything illegal. The FDA contended that its regulations forbid human cloning without prior agency permission. However, some members of the United States Congress believed that the jurisdiction of the FDA on human cloning matters was shaky and decided to push Congress to explicitly ban human cloning.[15]
Responses by politicians and ethicists[edit]
President George W. Bush said that human cloning was "deeply troubling" to most Americans. Kansas Republican Sam Brownback said that Congress should ban all human cloning, while some Democrats were worried that Clonaid announcement would lead to the banning of therapeutic cloning. FDA biotechnology chief Dr. Phil Noguchi warned that the human cloning, even if it worked, risked transferring sexually transmitted diseases to the newly born child.[15] The White House was also critical of the claims.[3]
Panos Zavos, a former professor of the University of Kentucky, at the time had plans to create human clone embryos, but he stated to the effect that Clonaid's claims were without merit and that Eve did not exist.[16] Severino Antinori, who had worked with Zavos on the development of human clone embryos, was critical of Clonaid's announcement, and said of it that, "An announcement of this type has no scientific corroboration and risks creating confusion."[13] Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technologies said that Clonaid has no record of accomplishment for cloning anything, but he said that if Clonaid actually succeeded, there would be public unrest that may lead to the banning of therapeutic cloning, which has the capacity to cure millions of patients. The Vatican said that the claims expressed a mentality that was brutal and lacked ethical consideration.[3] The Christian Coalition of America urged a human cloning ban and saw the alleged clone baby as an "aberration".[16]
University of Wisconsin–Madison bioethicist Alta Charo said that even in other ape-like mammals, the risk for miscarriage, birth defects, and life problems remains high.[3] Arthur Caplan, the director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, expressed concerns that many dead and sick children could result from the cloning of human beings.[16]
Request for a temporary guardian[edit]
Clonaid spokeswoman Nadine Gary claimed that Eve went home with her mother on 30 December 2002,[17] but Florida attorney Bernard Siegel filed a petition as a private citizen[18] in the Broward County Circuit Court requesting that a temporary guardian be appointed for the purported cloned child. Two local attorneys, Barry Wax and Jonathan Schwartz were retained to represent Clonaid in the matter.[citation needed] As the court case played out over the next month, Dr. Boisselier testified under oath that there was a cloned child, born in Israel. However, Clonaid did not present demonstrative evidence that the child really existed.[19] Boisselier said that Eve would travel to the United States that day for DNA tests. She said that a pediatrician saw Eve and her mother in good condition, but she refused to mention the location of the surrogate birth, the testing lab, or the biological mother's home, which she wanted to reveal at a later time. The mother was said to be 31 years old with an infertile husband.[3]
Florida attorney Bernard Siegel subpoenaed Thomas Kaenzig, a vice president of Clonaid, to appear on a civil proceeding set to occur on 22 January 2003. Siegel's office sent summonses to Thomas Kaenzig and "Jane Doe", the purported mother of Eve. Siegel hoped that the action would coax those involved to provide some answers. He believed the child, if she existed, needed an appointed guardian and would need extensive medical treatment which he doubts Clonaid could offer. He wanted the court to make a decision on how to best protect her. However, Clonaid prevented scientists from meeting the purported child and mother.[20]
Request for a DNA verification test[edit]
Michael Guillen, a former ABC News science editor, made an agreement with Boisselier for him to choose independent experts to test for a DNA match. Clonaid refused to identify the independent experts, because if revealed too soon, others could track the baby from the testing place into the mother's house. Clonaid said the parents had the final say on whether they want to test the baby and that a Dutch lesbian couple would be the parents of the next cloned baby.[21] Boisselier said she would hand over the evidence to show that a clone had in fact been born but was concerned that the details of Clonaid's cloning procedure might leak out.[3] The next day, Vorilhon claimed that the baby was healthy. He said those who are against cloning for ethical reasons would be dismayed if the clone baby was in good condition.[3]
Thomas Kaenzig refused to testify in a court hearing, but Florida judge John Frusciante Sr., father of musician John Frusciante,[22] was able to convince Kaenzig through a telephone to reveal some of the details. Kaenzig testified that Clonaid left him ignorant of the cloning project and that it was not even a corporation. The judge summoned Kaenzig and Brigitte Boisselier to a Florida court and warned the two that they would be condemned if they did not show there on 29 January 2003.[23] As the court case played out, Dr. Boisselier testified under oath that she saw videos of a cloned child born in Israel.[19]
Michael Guillen was disappointed when he discovered that Clonaid withdrew their offer to provide the tests. The company said that before the tests were done, the parents wanted to be sure that their baby would not be sent away, but a Florida attorney asked that a guardian for Eve be appointed and threatened the company with a lawsuit. Guillen, who remained skeptical, said it would be unwise to dismiss the Clonaid project without proper confirmation.[24]
Claims of further human clones[edit]
The day after Boisselier made her announcement, she added that four more human clones were to be born within a few weeks,[25] Boisselier claimed that Clonaid had a list of couples who were ready to have a cloned child.[15] and that 20 more implantations of human clones were on the way after the first 10 which happened in the previous year. She said that other companies have used cloning procedures with different specifics that lead to their high failure rate. Boisselier argued that failed attempts at human cloning would be like those of in vitro fertilisation where early miscarriages occurred more frequently than abortions. Nevertheless, she said that if deformities were detected in Eve, someone would abort her.[3]
Raëlian spokesman Bart Overvliet claimed that another cloned baby was born to a Dutch lesbian couple in the Netherlands the previous day and that the mother and baby were in good health. A Dutch Raëlian spokeswoman could not comment on any further details about the mother, but Boisselier said that the mother gave birth to her own clone. An official from the Dutch Health Ministry told Reuters that the Netherlands forbade human cloning but not the birth of baby clones.[26] On 5 January 2003, Brigitte Boisselier said to the BBC that her medical team produced hundreds of human clone embryos before proceeding to ten implantations, two of which led to births. The head of the UK Roslin Institute was critical of the assertion, "Clonaid [has] no track record but claim[s] to have cloned hundreds of embryos - it just doesn't ring true." [27]
A Raëlian spokeswoman from Japan[23] claimed that a baby boy, cloned from a comatose two-year-old of a Japanese couple, was born the previous day. Boisselier said that a surrogate participated since the biological mother was 41 and more likely to have a miscarriage. Scientists knew that many cloned animals suffer arthritis and ailments with the lungs and liver, and they were concerned that too many unanswered questions surround the prospect of cloning of humans safely. Clonaid set up press conferences in which they described their method of cloning, but they did not give any details. However, they did say that the third cloning was different, in that did not involve a mothers egg, but the surrogate's egg with the injection of the boy's DNA.[28]
According to Boisselier, Mark and Tracy Hunt, who were seeking to clone their dead son, invested $500,000 in the former Clonaid lab in West Virginia and its equipment, which the Food and Drug Administration shut down. The Clonaid CEO proposed a cloning lab on Brazilian Island for creating the next generation of clone babies.[2] Clonaid claimed that five baby clones were born between 26 December 2002 and 4 February 2003 which had developed normally.[29]
In late July 2002, Clonaid's branch in South Korea, BioFusion Tech, said a woman became pregnant with a human clone. However, in the week of 27 September 2002, South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that it would ban human cloning and sentence violators to a 10-year prison term. Branch spokesman Kwak Gi-Hwa said that the surrogate mother, unmarried at 26 years old, moved out of South Korea into another country. The spokesman said he had no knowledge of which country that was and that only a few people in Clonaid knew. He described himself as simply a volunteer for the branch which had closed under government pressure following their claim. He accused the government of Korea of considering Christian opinions of human cloning over those of scientists who criticized the proposed human cloning ban. He was later summoned to witness in front of the Korean Parliament.[30]
In February 2004, Clonaid claimed that a sixth clone baby was born in Australia.[31] Additionally, it claimed to have produced human embryos in South Korea. The small number of companies that have access to cloning technology has resulted skepticism by cloning experts in Korea, who accused Clonaid of defaming the now debunked stem cell work of Doctor Hwang Woo-suk.[32] By March 2004, Clonaid claimed that eight extra baby clones had been brought to term for a total of thirteen baby clones.[33]
Embryonic cell fusion machine[edit]
Besides offering cloning services, Clonaid has developed one product, an "embryonic cell fusion device" called the RMX 2010.[34]

Clonaid, a human cloning firm, has established an affiliate company in Korea, participants at the International Bio Expo in Japan said Thursday. Participants and foreign media who attended the first biotechnology exposition in Tokyo, said that Clonaid's vice president Thomas Kaenzig claimed that BioFusion Tech Inc., a South Korean company owned by Clonaid, had developed an "embryonic cell fusion system or RMX2010." The sources in Japan said that the RMX2010 allegedly creates a stable electronic pulse required to develop human embryos to the blastocyst stage. The blastocyst stage is the state an embryo reaches five or six days after it has been fertilized, which is a critical step to instigate the cloning procedure. They also said that Kaenzig believes human cloning will become "commonplace" within ten years, though he failed to comment on any advances the company has made toward actually cloning a human being. Related to this, an official at BioFusion Tech Inc. confirmed that the company was set up two months ago as a wholly owned subsidiary of Clonaid and that there were currently three Korean technicians and six foreign employees working at the company. The BioFusion employee also said that about 10 Koreans have asked for cloning services, which according to the company Web site (www.clonaid.com) can cost around $200,000.[35]
—Korea Herald, 2002
CNN Money has listed the RMX 2010 as the fourth "Dumbest Moment in Business 2003", stating "Clonaid sells the RMX 2010, a $9,220 contraption that ... well, nobody's quite sure what it does. To help clarify the matter, Clonaid lends one to a British science museum—under strict orders not to open it to find out what's inside."[36]
Additional skepticism[edit]
Scientists interviewed about the announcement averred skepticism regarding both the authenticity and the ethics of Clonaid's procedures. These included Lord Robert Winston,[37] head of the IVF research team at London's Hammersmith Hospital, and Tanja Dominko[38] of the Oregon Regional Primate Center's monkey cloning project. Scientists with experience in animal cloning have encountered low rates of success per implantation, where cloned fetuses are often malformed and dead before birth. Regardless, people continue to be surprised that Clonaid appears to have overcome those problems; either Clonaid has been extremely lucky in discovering a superior method of cloning, or the company is making false claims.[28]
Clonaid charges up to $200,000 for its "cloning" services.[8] Clonaid has not shown verifiable evidence of any human cloning, despite claims that they would do this within days of their initial announcement. They claim that the parents of the first cloned child had second thoughts about submitting their child to scientific tests after attorney Bernard Siegel filed suit.[23] According to sealed court documents received by the Boston Globe which were reported on 27 April 2003, Clonaid had two employees but no address or board of directors.[39] CBS News reported that Clonaid was not a company. Boisselier revealed that in a strict sense, Clonaid was just the product name, even though Clonaid's website[40] had touted it as the company name.[2]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Clone Newcomer Bends U.N.'s Ear, Wired News. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c Clonaid Nothing But Double Talk?, CBS News. 2 June 2003. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h CNN.com - Clonaid: Baby 'clone' returns home - 1 January 2003, CNN. 1 January 2003. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
4.Jump up ^ Cohen, Philip, Cult's bizarre vision rekindles cloning debate, New Scientist. 31 May 1997. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
5.^ Jump up to: a b Is cloning Spot the next step towards cloning human being? Clonaid betting on it, Transplant News. 15 June 1998. Retrieved 9 September 2007. (highlight)
6.Jump up ^ From little seeds…, New Scientist. 19 December 1998. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
7.Jump up ^ SWISS GROUP LAUNCHES FIRM TO MARKET HUMAN CLONING, San Jose Mercury News. 9 June 1997. Retrieved 9 September 2007. (highlight)
8.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Weiss, Rick, Human Cloning's 'Numbers Game', Washington Post. 10 October 2000. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
9.Jump up ^ 'Raelian' biochemist insists she will clone human, CNN. 30 June 2001. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Kolata, Gina, and Chang Kenneth, For Clonaid, a Trail of Unproven Claims, New York Times. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
11.Jump up ^ Pro-cloning group claims to have embryos, CNN. 28 November 2001. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
12.Jump up ^ Clonaid Claims It Has Cloned a Baby Girl, CNN. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
13.^ Jump up to: a b Young, Emma, First cloned baby "born on 26 December", MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
14.Jump up ^ Goodenough, Partrick, Korea Will Cooperate With FDA Probe Into Human Cloning Cult, Cybercast News Service. 6 January 2003. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
15.^ Jump up to: a b c FDA Probes Sect's Human Cloning, Wired News. 26 December 2002. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
16.^ Jump up to: a b c Vatican slams 'brutal' clone claim, CNN. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
17.Jump up ^ Clone Maybe Baby Goes Home, Wired News. 31 December 2002. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
18.Jump up ^ "Guardian sought for alleged clone". ONE News. 1 January 2003. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
19.^ Jump up to: a b Where is the Clone?, CNN. 29 January 2003. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
20.Jump up ^ Clonaid summoned to U.S. court, CNN. 12 January 2003. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
21.Jump up ^ Wired News: Clonaid Baby: A Clone or a Fake?, Wired News. 30 December 2002. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
22.Jump up ^ http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/PubArticleDBR.jsp?id=1202469828776
23.^ Jump up to: a b c Clonaid exec expected in court Wednesday, CNN. 28 January 2003. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
24.Jump up ^ Reporter caught in the wreckage of Clonaid story, USA Today. 7 January 2003. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
25.Jump up ^ Clonaid Claims of Human Clone Scoffed At By Most Scientist, CNN International. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
26.Jump up ^ Dutch lesbian 'has clone baby 2', Cable News Network. 4 January 2003. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
27.Jump up ^ Dutch clone claimed - but no proof, New Scientist. 6 January 2002. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
28.^ Jump up to: a b Clonaid says it's cloned first boy, CNN. 23 January 2003. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
29.Jump up ^ 5 Babies Update, Clonaid.com. 15 October 2003. Retrieved 3 February 2007.
30.Jump up ^ Woman Claiming to Carry Cloned Baby Flees S. Korea Ahead of Ban, Cybercast News Service. 27 September 2002. Retrieved 11 October 2007.[dead link]
31.Jump up ^ Sixth Cloned Baby Born Down-Under !, Clonaid.com. 9 February 2004. Retrieved 3 February 2007.
32.Jump up ^ Clonaid Claims Embryos Needed for Human Cloning Produced in Korea, Chosun Ilbo. 24 February 2004. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
33.Jump up ^ Alive and Well, Clonaid.com. 28 March 2004. Retrieved 3 February 2007.
34.Jump up ^ "Embryonic cell fusion redefined: The new RMX2010". Clonaid. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
35.Jump up ^ Human cloning firm sets up affiliate in Korea, Korea Herald. 13 July 2002. Retrieved 19 July 2002.
36.Jump up ^ The 101 Dumbest Moments In Business 2003 EDITION, CNN Money. 1 April 2003. Retrieved 10 March 2007.
37.Jump up ^ Suroor, Hasan, Scepticism, concern over Clonaid's claims, The Hindu. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
38.Jump up ^ Cloning news received with widespread skepticism, The Times of India. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
39.Jump up ^ Little behind Clonaid, files reveal, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 27 April 2003. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
40.Jump up ^ The first human cloning company, Clonaid.com. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
Further reading[edit]
Raël, Intelligent Design. Nova Distribution, 2005. ISBN 2-940252-20-3.
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 0-618-06026-X.
Tandy, Charles, Doctor Tandy's First Guide to Life Extension and Transhumanity Universal-Publishers.com, 2001. ISBN 1-58112-650-6.
External links[edit]
Clonaid's website
StemAid Clonaid's sister company offering stem-cell therapy.
Rael.org The philosophy behind the Clonaid project.
BBC news story: Clonaid ordered to reveal 'clone'
Reflections on the Cloning Case
  


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 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Clonaid









Clonaid

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Clonaid


Type
 Private
Industry
Biotechnology
Predecessor
Valiant Venture Ltd.
Founded
Bahamas (1997)
Founder
Raël

Key people
 Brigitte Boisselier, Thomas Kaenzig
Products
RMX568, RMX2010
Services
CLONAID, INSURACLONE, OVULAID, CLONAPET
Subsidiaries
BioFusion Tech Inc.
Website
http://www.clonaid.com/
A series of articles on the

Raëlian Movement

Adam, Eve, and Elohim (Raëlism).png
Founder • History
Beliefs & practices
Cloning (Clonaid)
Funds

Views on:
Politics
Economics
Cosmology

This box: view ·
 talk ·
 edit
   
Clonaid is an American-based human cloning organization, registered as a company in the Bahamas. Founded in 1997, it has philosophical ties with the UFO religion Raëlism, which sees cloning as the first step in achieving immortality. On December 27, 2002, Clonaid's chief executive, Brigitte Boisselier, claimed that a baby clone, named Eve, was born. Media coverage of the claim sparked serious criticism and ethical debate that lasted more than a year. Florida attorney Bernard Siegel tried to appoint a special guardian for Eve and threatened to sue Clonaid, because he was afraid that the child might be treated like a lab rat.[1] Siegel, who heard the company's actual name was not Clonaid, decided that the Clonaid project was a sham.[2] Bioethicist Clara Alto condemned Clonaid for premature human experimentation and noted the high incidence of malformations and fetal deaths in animal cloning.[3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Company founding 1.1 Premise
1.2 Responses by scientists
2 The year before the alleged clone baby claim
3 Alleged clone baby Eve 3.1 Responses by politicians and ethicists
3.2 Request for a temporary guardian
3.3 Request for a DNA verification test
4 Claims of further human clones
5 Embryonic cell fusion machine
6 Additional skepticism
7 References
8 Further reading
9 External links

Company founding[edit]
On May 31, 1997, an issue of the popular science magazine, New Scientist said that the International Raëlian Movement was starting a company to fund the research and development of human cloning. This alarmed bioethicists who were opposed to such plans. They warned lawmakers against failing to regulate human cloning. At the time, European countries such as Britain had banned human cloning, but the United States had merely a moratorium on the use of federal funds for human cloning research. President Clinton requested that private companies pass their own moratorium. Claude Vorilhon, the founder of Raëlism, was opposed to this move and denied that the technology used to clone was inherently dangerous.[4]
On June 15, 1998, Brigitte Boisselier said the headquarters of Clonaid was located in Las Vegas and that Clonaid did not have enough funds for human cloning research.[5] On December 19, 1998, a New Scientist article said the cost of Clonaid cloning services would be $200,000, much lower than the $2.3 million that researchers at Texas A&M University planned to use for cloning a dog named Missy. Mainstream scientists said it was unlikely that Clonaid would be able to clone anything in the near future.[6] Although the project's ultimate objective was human cloning, Boisselier said that pet cloning would help finance the operations.[5]
Premise[edit]
On June 9, 1997, Clonaid stated its intention to offer homosexual and/or infertile couples the chance to have a genetically, identical child and take a step toward immortality. According to an Internet announcement, the Raëlian leader and a group of investors founded a company in the Bahamas and called it Valiant Venture Ltd., whose project mission was named Clonaid. Valiant Venture expected to have one million potential customers.[7]
Claude Vorilhon held a meeting in a Montreal hotel on September 21, 2000, where he announced that a wealthy American couple was willing to fund the Clonaid project. The first pending clone, according to Vorilhon at the time, was the couple's 10-month-old girl, who had died due to a medical mistake. He said that the couple was willing to pay $500,000 to clone their deceased daughter, but the wife was not willing to be the surrogate mother. Jamie Grifo, a fertility specialist at the New York University School of Medicine, and Nobel laureate Paul Berg of Stanford University said that Vorilhon was providing a false hope that the child was going to be the same one. Boisselier revealed the roles of four scientists she says were involved—"a biochemist, a geneticist, a cell fusion expert and a French medical doctor"—but without revealing their identity. She did not identify the wealthy American couple.[8]
Responses by scientists[edit]
According to cloning specialist and physiologist George Seidel of Colorado State University, cloning a human being would not be difficult if many people donated their eggs or offered their wombs for implantation of clone embryos.[8] Lee Silver, a molecular biologist from Princeton, noted the advantages that Raëlians had, as a pro-cloning religious group, in finding willing surrogates.[8] A biotechnology company called Advanced Cell Technology had cloned human embryo cells for medical purposes, and its CEO Michael D. West said that the directions for cloning a human being were available in published scientific literature.[8] Experts knowledgeable of the scientific advances in the field have noted that human reproductive chemistry is better understood than that of most animals.[8] For this reason, they thought that a higher rate of success was possible in human cloning compared with animal cloning.[8] Brigitte Boisselier anticipated that the work could begin on the preserved cells as soon as October, but there was no evidence that Clonaid had medical knowledge necessary for its success.[8] There was no evidence that the Clonaid claim was more than a publicity stunt.[8]
The year before the alleged clone baby claim[edit]
In the spring of 2001,[9] the Food and Drug Administration Office of Criminal Investigations inspected Clonaid's lab in the small city of Nitro in West Virginia.[10] It was located inside a rented room within a former high school. Staff scientists reviewed the lab's research documentation and found them inadequate, the work of a graduate student extracting ovum from cow ovaries from a slaughterhouse. The FDA said that the equipment in lab was state-of-the-art and had been bought by Mark Hunt, a former West Virginia state legislator, who wanted to clone his 10-month-old son, Andrew, who died in 1999 due to congenital heart disease. Following investigation of the West Virginia lab, Mark Hunt made an agreement with the FDA-OCI to not clone his dead son within the United States.[10]
On March 2001, Boisselier said that a woman would be pregnant with a cloned fetus in April. She said that cells had reached the blastocyst stage, but she refused to speak of any specific implantation or pregnancy associated with them. According to a CNN article that November, the Clonaid laboratory was outside the United States. Clonaid claimed that it had developed human cloned embryos before Advanced Cell Technology was able to do the same.[11] CNN could not confirm the unpublished work. Due to Clonaid's association with Raëlians and the lack of evidence for cloning, authorities remained skeptical as to whether Clonaid could clone anything at all.[12]
Alleged clone baby Eve[edit]
On Friday, December 27, 2002, Boisselier, a Raëlian bishop and CEO of Clonaid, announced at a press conference in Hollywood, Florida that Clonaid had successfully performed the first human reproductive cloning. Boisselier said that the mother delivered Eve by Caesarean section somewhere outside the United States and that both were healthy. Dr. Boisselier did not present the mother or child, or DNA samples that would allow for confirmation of her claim at the press conference. It has subsequently become apparent that she announced the birth before genetic testing to evaluate whether the child in question is actually a clone: Dr. Boisselier was therefore stating her belief that her procedure had resulted in a clone, not announcing results showing that the child was a clone.[13]
Shortly after the announcement, Korean prosecutors raided the offices of Clonaid's Korean branch, BioFusion Tech. In the process, the prosecutors removed records from homes and offices while barring two representatives of BioFusion Tech from leaving the country. An official company statement revealed that three Korean women applied to become surrogate mothers. Officials of BioFusion Tech told the prosecutors that 10 Korean women wanted to clone themselves and have filled out applications.[14]
The Food and Drug Administration stated its intention to investigate Clonaid to see if it had done anything illegal. The FDA contended that its regulations forbid human cloning without prior agency permission. However, some members of the United States Congress believed that the jurisdiction of the FDA on human cloning matters was shaky and decided to push Congress to explicitly ban human cloning.[15]
Responses by politicians and ethicists[edit]
President George W. Bush said that human cloning was "deeply troubling" to most Americans. Kansas Republican Sam Brownback said that Congress should ban all human cloning, while some Democrats were worried that Clonaid announcement would lead to the banning of therapeutic cloning. FDA biotechnology chief Dr. Phil Noguchi warned that the human cloning, even if it worked, risked transferring sexually transmitted diseases to the newly born child.[15] The White House was also critical of the claims.[3]
Panos Zavos, a former professor of the University of Kentucky, at the time had plans to create human clone embryos, but he stated to the effect that Clonaid's claims were without merit and that Eve did not exist.[16] Severino Antinori, who had worked with Zavos on the development of human clone embryos, was critical of Clonaid's announcement, and said of it that, "An announcement of this type has no scientific corroboration and risks creating confusion."[13] Robert Lanza of Advanced Cell Technologies said that Clonaid has no record of accomplishment for cloning anything, but he said that if Clonaid actually succeeded, there would be public unrest that may lead to the banning of therapeutic cloning, which has the capacity to cure millions of patients. The Vatican said that the claims expressed a mentality that was brutal and lacked ethical consideration.[3] The Christian Coalition of America urged a human cloning ban and saw the alleged clone baby as an "aberration".[16]
University of Wisconsin–Madison bioethicist Alta Charo said that even in other ape-like mammals, the risk for miscarriage, birth defects, and life problems remains high.[3] Arthur Caplan, the director of the Center for Bioethics at the University of Pennsylvania, expressed concerns that many dead and sick children could result from the cloning of human beings.[16]
Request for a temporary guardian[edit]
Clonaid spokeswoman Nadine Gary claimed that Eve went home with her mother on 30 December 2002,[17] but Florida attorney Bernard Siegel filed a petition as a private citizen[18] in the Broward County Circuit Court requesting that a temporary guardian be appointed for the purported cloned child. Two local attorneys, Barry Wax and Jonathan Schwartz were retained to represent Clonaid in the matter.[citation needed] As the court case played out over the next month, Dr. Boisselier testified under oath that there was a cloned child, born in Israel. However, Clonaid did not present demonstrative evidence that the child really existed.[19] Boisselier said that Eve would travel to the United States that day for DNA tests. She said that a pediatrician saw Eve and her mother in good condition, but she refused to mention the location of the surrogate birth, the testing lab, or the biological mother's home, which she wanted to reveal at a later time. The mother was said to be 31 years old with an infertile husband.[3]
Florida attorney Bernard Siegel subpoenaed Thomas Kaenzig, a vice president of Clonaid, to appear on a civil proceeding set to occur on 22 January 2003. Siegel's office sent summonses to Thomas Kaenzig and "Jane Doe", the purported mother of Eve. Siegel hoped that the action would coax those involved to provide some answers. He believed the child, if she existed, needed an appointed guardian and would need extensive medical treatment which he doubts Clonaid could offer. He wanted the court to make a decision on how to best protect her. However, Clonaid prevented scientists from meeting the purported child and mother.[20]
Request for a DNA verification test[edit]
Michael Guillen, a former ABC News science editor, made an agreement with Boisselier for him to choose independent experts to test for a DNA match. Clonaid refused to identify the independent experts, because if revealed too soon, others could track the baby from the testing place into the mother's house. Clonaid said the parents had the final say on whether they want to test the baby and that a Dutch lesbian couple would be the parents of the next cloned baby.[21] Boisselier said she would hand over the evidence to show that a clone had in fact been born but was concerned that the details of Clonaid's cloning procedure might leak out.[3] The next day, Vorilhon claimed that the baby was healthy. He said those who are against cloning for ethical reasons would be dismayed if the clone baby was in good condition.[3]
Thomas Kaenzig refused to testify in a court hearing, but Florida judge John Frusciante Sr., father of musician John Frusciante,[22] was able to convince Kaenzig through a telephone to reveal some of the details. Kaenzig testified that Clonaid left him ignorant of the cloning project and that it was not even a corporation. The judge summoned Kaenzig and Brigitte Boisselier to a Florida court and warned the two that they would be condemned if they did not show there on 29 January 2003.[23] As the court case played out, Dr. Boisselier testified under oath that she saw videos of a cloned child born in Israel.[19]
Michael Guillen was disappointed when he discovered that Clonaid withdrew their offer to provide the tests. The company said that before the tests were done, the parents wanted to be sure that their baby would not be sent away, but a Florida attorney asked that a guardian for Eve be appointed and threatened the company with a lawsuit. Guillen, who remained skeptical, said it would be unwise to dismiss the Clonaid project without proper confirmation.[24]
Claims of further human clones[edit]
The day after Boisselier made her announcement, she added that four more human clones were to be born within a few weeks,[25] Boisselier claimed that Clonaid had a list of couples who were ready to have a cloned child.[15] and that 20 more implantations of human clones were on the way after the first 10 which happened in the previous year. She said that other companies have used cloning procedures with different specifics that lead to their high failure rate. Boisselier argued that failed attempts at human cloning would be like those of in vitro fertilisation where early miscarriages occurred more frequently than abortions. Nevertheless, she said that if deformities were detected in Eve, someone would abort her.[3]
Raëlian spokesman Bart Overvliet claimed that another cloned baby was born to a Dutch lesbian couple in the Netherlands the previous day and that the mother and baby were in good health. A Dutch Raëlian spokeswoman could not comment on any further details about the mother, but Boisselier said that the mother gave birth to her own clone. An official from the Dutch Health Ministry told Reuters that the Netherlands forbade human cloning but not the birth of baby clones.[26] On 5 January 2003, Brigitte Boisselier said to the BBC that her medical team produced hundreds of human clone embryos before proceeding to ten implantations, two of which led to births. The head of the UK Roslin Institute was critical of the assertion, "Clonaid [has] no track record but claim[s] to have cloned hundreds of embryos - it just doesn't ring true." [27]
A Raëlian spokeswoman from Japan[23] claimed that a baby boy, cloned from a comatose two-year-old of a Japanese couple, was born the previous day. Boisselier said that a surrogate participated since the biological mother was 41 and more likely to have a miscarriage. Scientists knew that many cloned animals suffer arthritis and ailments with the lungs and liver, and they were concerned that too many unanswered questions surround the prospect of cloning of humans safely. Clonaid set up press conferences in which they described their method of cloning, but they did not give any details. However, they did say that the third cloning was different, in that did not involve a mothers egg, but the surrogate's egg with the injection of the boy's DNA.[28]
According to Boisselier, Mark and Tracy Hunt, who were seeking to clone their dead son, invested $500,000 in the former Clonaid lab in West Virginia and its equipment, which the Food and Drug Administration shut down. The Clonaid CEO proposed a cloning lab on Brazilian Island for creating the next generation of clone babies.[2] Clonaid claimed that five baby clones were born between 26 December 2002 and 4 February 2003 which had developed normally.[29]
In late July 2002, Clonaid's branch in South Korea, BioFusion Tech, said a woman became pregnant with a human clone. However, in the week of 27 September 2002, South Korea's Ministry of Health and Welfare announced that it would ban human cloning and sentence violators to a 10-year prison term. Branch spokesman Kwak Gi-Hwa said that the surrogate mother, unmarried at 26 years old, moved out of South Korea into another country. The spokesman said he had no knowledge of which country that was and that only a few people in Clonaid knew. He described himself as simply a volunteer for the branch which had closed under government pressure following their claim. He accused the government of Korea of considering Christian opinions of human cloning over those of scientists who criticized the proposed human cloning ban. He was later summoned to witness in front of the Korean Parliament.[30]
In February 2004, Clonaid claimed that a sixth clone baby was born in Australia.[31] Additionally, it claimed to have produced human embryos in South Korea. The small number of companies that have access to cloning technology has resulted skepticism by cloning experts in Korea, who accused Clonaid of defaming the now debunked stem cell work of Doctor Hwang Woo-suk.[32] By March 2004, Clonaid claimed that eight extra baby clones had been brought to term for a total of thirteen baby clones.[33]
Embryonic cell fusion machine[edit]
Besides offering cloning services, Clonaid has developed one product, an "embryonic cell fusion device" called the RMX 2010.[34]

Clonaid, a human cloning firm, has established an affiliate company in Korea, participants at the International Bio Expo in Japan said Thursday. Participants and foreign media who attended the first biotechnology exposition in Tokyo, said that Clonaid's vice president Thomas Kaenzig claimed that BioFusion Tech Inc., a South Korean company owned by Clonaid, had developed an "embryonic cell fusion system or RMX2010." The sources in Japan said that the RMX2010 allegedly creates a stable electronic pulse required to develop human embryos to the blastocyst stage. The blastocyst stage is the state an embryo reaches five or six days after it has been fertilized, which is a critical step to instigate the cloning procedure. They also said that Kaenzig believes human cloning will become "commonplace" within ten years, though he failed to comment on any advances the company has made toward actually cloning a human being. Related to this, an official at BioFusion Tech Inc. confirmed that the company was set up two months ago as a wholly owned subsidiary of Clonaid and that there were currently three Korean technicians and six foreign employees working at the company. The BioFusion employee also said that about 10 Koreans have asked for cloning services, which according to the company Web site (www.clonaid.com) can cost around $200,000.[35]
—Korea Herald, 2002
CNN Money has listed the RMX 2010 as the fourth "Dumbest Moment in Business 2003", stating "Clonaid sells the RMX 2010, a $9,220 contraption that ... well, nobody's quite sure what it does. To help clarify the matter, Clonaid lends one to a British science museum—under strict orders not to open it to find out what's inside."[36]
Additional skepticism[edit]
Scientists interviewed about the announcement averred skepticism regarding both the authenticity and the ethics of Clonaid's procedures. These included Lord Robert Winston,[37] head of the IVF research team at London's Hammersmith Hospital, and Tanja Dominko[38] of the Oregon Regional Primate Center's monkey cloning project. Scientists with experience in animal cloning have encountered low rates of success per implantation, where cloned fetuses are often malformed and dead before birth. Regardless, people continue to be surprised that Clonaid appears to have overcome those problems; either Clonaid has been extremely lucky in discovering a superior method of cloning, or the company is making false claims.[28]
Clonaid charges up to $200,000 for its "cloning" services.[8] Clonaid has not shown verifiable evidence of any human cloning, despite claims that they would do this within days of their initial announcement. They claim that the parents of the first cloned child had second thoughts about submitting their child to scientific tests after attorney Bernard Siegel filed suit.[23] According to sealed court documents received by the Boston Globe which were reported on 27 April 2003, Clonaid had two employees but no address or board of directors.[39] CBS News reported that Clonaid was not a company. Boisselier revealed that in a strict sense, Clonaid was just the product name, even though Clonaid's website[40] had touted it as the company name.[2]
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Clone Newcomer Bends U.N.'s Ear, Wired News. Retrieved 11 September 2007.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c Clonaid Nothing But Double Talk?, CBS News. 2 June 2003. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h CNN.com - Clonaid: Baby 'clone' returns home - 1 January 2003, CNN. 1 January 2003. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
4.Jump up ^ Cohen, Philip, Cult's bizarre vision rekindles cloning debate, New Scientist. 31 May 1997. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
5.^ Jump up to: a b Is cloning Spot the next step towards cloning human being? Clonaid betting on it, Transplant News. 15 June 1998. Retrieved 9 September 2007. (highlight)
6.Jump up ^ From little seeds…, New Scientist. 19 December 1998. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
7.Jump up ^ SWISS GROUP LAUNCHES FIRM TO MARKET HUMAN CLONING, San Jose Mercury News. 9 June 1997. Retrieved 9 September 2007. (highlight)
8.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i Weiss, Rick, Human Cloning's 'Numbers Game', Washington Post. 10 October 2000. Retrieved 21 March 2011.
9.Jump up ^ 'Raelian' biochemist insists she will clone human, CNN. 30 June 2001. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Kolata, Gina, and Chang Kenneth, For Clonaid, a Trail of Unproven Claims, New York Times. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
11.Jump up ^ Pro-cloning group claims to have embryos, CNN. 28 November 2001. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
12.Jump up ^ Clonaid Claims It Has Cloned a Baby Girl, CNN. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
13.^ Jump up to: a b Young, Emma, First cloned baby "born on 26 December", MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
14.Jump up ^ Goodenough, Partrick, Korea Will Cooperate With FDA Probe Into Human Cloning Cult, Cybercast News Service. 6 January 2003. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
15.^ Jump up to: a b c FDA Probes Sect's Human Cloning, Wired News. 26 December 2002. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
16.^ Jump up to: a b c Vatican slams 'brutal' clone claim, CNN. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
17.Jump up ^ Clone Maybe Baby Goes Home, Wired News. 31 December 2002. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
18.Jump up ^ "Guardian sought for alleged clone". ONE News. 1 January 2003. Retrieved 24 September 2011.
19.^ Jump up to: a b Where is the Clone?, CNN. 29 January 2003. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
20.Jump up ^ Clonaid summoned to U.S. court, CNN. 12 January 2003. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
21.Jump up ^ Wired News: Clonaid Baby: A Clone or a Fake?, Wired News. 30 December 2002. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
22.Jump up ^ http://www.dailybusinessreview.com/PubArticleDBR.jsp?id=1202469828776
23.^ Jump up to: a b c Clonaid exec expected in court Wednesday, CNN. 28 January 2003. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
24.Jump up ^ Reporter caught in the wreckage of Clonaid story, USA Today. 7 January 2003. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
25.Jump up ^ Clonaid Claims of Human Clone Scoffed At By Most Scientist, CNN International. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
26.Jump up ^ Dutch lesbian 'has clone baby 2', Cable News Network. 4 January 2003. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
27.Jump up ^ Dutch clone claimed - but no proof, New Scientist. 6 January 2002. Retrieved 11 October 2007.
28.^ Jump up to: a b Clonaid says it's cloned first boy, CNN. 23 January 2003. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
29.Jump up ^ 5 Babies Update, Clonaid.com. 15 October 2003. Retrieved 3 February 2007.
30.Jump up ^ Woman Claiming to Carry Cloned Baby Flees S. Korea Ahead of Ban, Cybercast News Service. 27 September 2002. Retrieved 11 October 2007.[dead link]
31.Jump up ^ Sixth Cloned Baby Born Down-Under !, Clonaid.com. 9 February 2004. Retrieved 3 February 2007.
32.Jump up ^ Clonaid Claims Embryos Needed for Human Cloning Produced in Korea, Chosun Ilbo. 24 February 2004. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
33.Jump up ^ Alive and Well, Clonaid.com. 28 March 2004. Retrieved 3 February 2007.
34.Jump up ^ "Embryonic cell fusion redefined: The new RMX2010". Clonaid. Retrieved 2 January 2008.
35.Jump up ^ Human cloning firm sets up affiliate in Korea, Korea Herald. 13 July 2002. Retrieved 19 July 2002.
36.Jump up ^ The 101 Dumbest Moments In Business 2003 EDITION, CNN Money. 1 April 2003. Retrieved 10 March 2007.
37.Jump up ^ Suroor, Hasan, Scepticism, concern over Clonaid's claims, The Hindu. Retrieved 17 February 2008.
38.Jump up ^ Cloning news received with widespread skepticism, The Times of India. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
39.Jump up ^ Little behind Clonaid, files reveal, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 27 April 2003. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
40.Jump up ^ The first human cloning company, Clonaid.com. Retrieved 10 September 2007.
Further reading[edit]
Raël, Intelligent Design. Nova Distribution, 2005. ISBN 2-940252-20-3.
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 0-618-06026-X.
Tandy, Charles, Doctor Tandy's First Guide to Life Extension and Transhumanity Universal-Publishers.com, 2001. ISBN 1-58112-650-6.
External links[edit]
Clonaid's website
StemAid Clonaid's sister company offering stem-cell therapy.
Rael.org The philosophy behind the Clonaid project.
BBC news story: Clonaid ordered to reveal 'clone'
Reflections on the Cloning Case
  


Categories: Biotechnology companies
Raëlism
Companies of the Bahamas
Companies established in 1997
Privately held companies








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Raëlian beliefs and practices

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A series of articles on the

Raëlian Movement

Adam, Eve, and Elohim (Raëlism).png
Founder • History
Beliefs & practices
Cloning (Clonaid)
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Raëlian beliefs and practices are the concepts and principles of Raëlism, the religion founded by Claude Vorilhon, a former French auto racing journalist who changed his name to Raël.[1][2] Followers of Raëlism are believers in an advanced race of extraterrestrials called Elohim 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 in what Rael terms Geniocracy.[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 through a scientific cloning process (which includes memory transfer) by the Elohim, they encourage scientific research 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  [hide]
1 Beliefs 1.1 Structure of the Universe
1.2 Intelligent Design 1.2.1 Creation of life on Earth by extraterrestrials
1.2.2 Humanity's chance of creating life on other planets
1.3 A coming judgement
2 Practices 2.1 Initiation of new members
2.2 Activism 2.2.1 Topless Rights of Women

3 Advocacy 3.1 Embassy for Extraterrestrials
3.2 Ideas on how government and the economy should run
3.3 Liberal sensuality
3.4 Cloning of humans
4 See also
5 References 5.1 Cited texts
6 Further reading
7 External links

Beliefs[edit]
Structure of the Universe[edit]
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 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 where 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.[11]
Raëlians believe that humanity would be able to create life on other planets only if humanity is peaceful enough to stop war. In that case, humanity could travel the distances between stars[12] and create life on another planet.[13] Progress in terraforming, molecular biology,[14] and cloning would enable these teams to create continents and life from scratch.[15] Progress in social engineering would ensure that this creation would have a better chance of both surviving and having the potential to understand its creators.[16] Research on how civilization 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.[17] The progress achieved by the science teams would ultimately sustain a perpetual chain of life.[18]
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.[19] Instead the Raëlians think that advanced supercomputers of the Elohim are right now recording the memories and DNA of human beings.[20] 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.[21] Claude Vorilhon expressed an interest in cloning Hitler for war trials and retroactive punishment.[22] 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.[23]
Intelligent Design[edit]
Creation of life on Earth by extraterrestrials[edit]
Further information: History of Raëlism



 Puy de Lassolas
In his book The Message Given to me by Extraterrestrials (now republished as Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers 2006 ISBN 2-940252-20-3), Vorilhon claims that on 13 December 1973, he found a spacecraft shaped like a flattened bell that landed inside Puy de Lassolas, a volcano near the capital city of Auvergne. 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.[24]
Yahweh gave materialistic explanations of the Garden of Eden, a large laboratory that was based on an artificially constructed continent;[25] Noah's Ark, a spaceship that preserved DNA that was used to resurrect animals through cloning;[26][27] the Tower of Babel, a rocket that was supposed to reach the creators' planet;[28] and the Great Flood, the byproduct of a nuclear missile explosion that the Elohim sent.[29] After tidal wave floods following the explosions receded, Elohim scattered the Israelites and had them speak the language of other tribes.[28][30]
According to Vorilhon, Elohim contacted about forty people to act as their prophets on Earth,[31] including Moses,[32][33][34] Elijah,[32] Ezekiel,[35] Buddha,[33][34][36] John the Baptist,[37] Jesus,[32][33][34] Muhammad,[33][34][36] and Joseph Smith.[33][36] The religions thought to be from Elohimic origins include Judaism,[32] Buddhism,[36] Christianity,[32] Islam,[36] and Mormonism.[36]
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.[38]
The controversy surrounding the origins of Raelian beliefs centers on the writings of several authors in the late 1960s. Jean Sendy, a French writer, translator, and author of books on the esoteric and UFOs wrote several novels detailing the creation of Earth by extraterrestrials.[38] One of the best known researchers in this field is Erich van Däniken, the 'father' of the Ancient Astronauts theory, which postulates that Earth might have been visited by extraterrestrials in the remote past.
With the publication of Chariots of the Gods? in 1968, Erich von Däniken introduced the intervention theory to the general public. Von Däniken wrote that the technologies and religions of ancient civilizations were granted by extraterrestrials worshiped as gods. Von Däniken argued that only extraterrestrial intervention can explain the higher technological knowledge presumed to be essential for the production of ancient artifacts such as the Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge and the Moai of Easter Island. Humans in ancient times considered this extraterrestrial high-tech to be supernatural and the aliens themselves to be 'gods'.[38] One can find direct parallels to the messages that Vorilhon claimed to have received and written about in his books. Marie-Hélène Parent, ex-guide Raëlian priest, describes Sendy and Vorilhon meeting several times for drinks and conversation throughout the years of 1973 and 1974, prior to Vorilhon's claimed extraterrestrial encounter.[39]
Humanity's chance of creating life on other planets[edit]
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[40] and create life on another planet.[41] Progress in terraformation, molecular biology,[42] and cloning would enable these teams to create continents and life from scratch.[43] 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.[44] 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.[45] The progress achieved by the science teams would ultimately sustain a perpetual chain of life.[46]
A coming judgement[edit]
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.[47] Instead the Raëlians think that advanced supercomputers of the Elohim are right now recording the memories and DNA of human beings.[48] 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.[49] Vorilhon expressed an interest in cloning Hitler for war trials and retroactive punishment.[50] 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.[51]
Practices[edit]
Initiation of new members[edit]
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] Canadian sociologist Susan J. Palmer says that in 1979, Raël introduced the "Act of Apostasy" as an obligation for those preparing for their Raëlian baptism.[52] CTV Television Network states that apostasy from other religions is required for new Raëlian members.[53] Joining the Raëlian Church through transmission of the cellular plan happens only in certain days of the year. There are four such days—marking anniversaries in the Raëlian calendar.[54]
The Raëlian baptism is known as transmission of the cellular plan where "cellular" refers to the organic cells of the body and the "plan" refers to the genetic makeup of the individual. This Raëlian baptism involves a guide member laying water onto the forehead of the new member.[55] The practice began on "the first Sunday in April"[56] of 1976 when Raël baptised 40 Raëlians.[56] Raëlians believe that their genetic information is recorded by a remote computer and would become recognized during their final hour when they will be judged by the extraterrestrial Elohim.[57]
There is continuing debate on whether Raëlians can be identified as a cult. The government of France classifies the Raelian Movement as a "secte" (French word for cult). However, according to Glenn McGee, 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.[58] The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the United States Department of State[59] and sociologist Susan J. Palmer[60] have classified the International Raëlian Movement as a religion.



 A Raëlian protest sign is raised at political rally demanding the return of U.S. troops
Activism[edit]
Raëlians routinely advocate sex-positive feminism and genetically modified food and actively protest against wars in addition to the Catholic Church. For example, a photographer of the Associated Press snapped a 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] On 6 August 2003, the first day of Raëlian year 58 AH,[61] a tech article on the USA Today newspaper mentions an "unlikely ally" of the Monsanto Company, the Raëlian Movement of Brazil. The movement gave vocal support in response to the company's support for genetically modified organisms particularly in their country. Brazilian farmers have been using Monsanto's genetically engineered soy plant as well as the glyphosate herbicide to which it was artificially adapted. The Raëlians spoke against the Brazilian government's ban on GMOs.[62]
Topless Rights of Women[edit]
Several Raëlian groups in the United States have organized annual protests, claiming that women should have the same legal right to go topless in public, that men enjoy without fear of arrest for indecent exposure.[63] Some have called this a publicity stunt designed to recruit members. Go Topless Day is their annual event, with women protesting topless except for nipple pasties to avoid arrest. It is held near 26 August, the anniversary of the day women were given the USA right to vote.[64]
In July 2001, Raëlians on the streets attracted Italians and Swiss people as they gave leaflets in protest to over a hundred child molesters in existence among Roman Catholic clergy in France. They recommended that parents should not send their children to Catholic confession. The Episcopal vicar of Geneva sued the Raëlian Church for libel but did not win.[65][66] The judge did not accept the charges for the reason that the Raëlians were not attacking the whole of the Catholic Church.[65]
In October 2002, Raëlians in a Canadian anti-clerical parade held handed out Christian crosses to high school students. They were invited to burn the crosses in a park not far from Montreal's Mount Royal and to sign letters of apostasy from the Roman Catholic Church. The Quebec Association of Bishops called this "incitement to hatred", and several school boards attempted to prevent their students from meeting Raëlians.[67]
Advocacy[edit]
Embassy for Extraterrestrials[edit]



 Tent mockup of the Raëlian Embassy for Extraterrestrials
Raëlians believe that life on earth—as well as many religions of the world—was the work of extraterrestrial influence. They believe these were scientists and that ancient people saw them as "gods" and gave the name "Elohim".[68][69] Raëlians believe that the Embassy for Extraterrestrials or "Third Temple"[70][71][72] is to support an official contact with Extraterrestrial Elohim and their messengers of the main religions at the "New Jerusalem".[70][73] Writers who have influenced Raëlian beliefs include Zechariah Sitchin and Erich von Däniken.[74][75]
The International Raëlian Movement envisions having an entrance with an aseptic chamber leading to a conference room for twenty-one people as well as a dining room of the same capacity.[76] In the plan are seven rooms for the purpose of receiving human guests into the embassy. The embassy building, along with the swimming pool, would be in the center of a large park and protected from trespassing by a wall−a maximum of two stories-to surround the entire complex's circumference. Trees and bushes are to be planted in the outskirts of the wall's area. The walls are to have a northern and southern entrance. The landing pad for the embassy should be able fit a spaceship of twelve meters of diameter or 39'4" on its terrace. The terrace is to be above the rooms in the torus, which are for extraterrestrials only. The seven rooms directly underneath the landing pad would be protected from occupants of other rooms with a thick metal door. Finally, the International Raëlian Movement wants to avoid military and radar surveillance of the airspace above the embassy. Buildings for administration, food and water provisions, and state-of-the-art sanitation and communication systems are part of this vision.[76] A nearby replica of the Raëlian Embassy for Extraterrestrials open to the public is expected to show visitors what it is like inside the real one.[68]
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 telepathic request from extraterrestrials called 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 coming of extraterrestrials and founders of past religions, although the country still denies their request.[77]
On 13 December 1997, the leader of the International Raëlian Movement had decided to extend the possibility of building the embassy outside of Jerusalem and also allow that a significant portion of the embassy property be covered with water. The area of the proposed embassy property is still envisioned at a minimum of 3.47 square kilometers, with a radius of at least 1.05 kilometers.[78]
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.[79]
Ideas on how government and the economy should run[edit]
Further information: Geniocracy and Economic humanitarianism (Raëlianism)
According to the book Geniocracy, creating a peaceful worldwide political union requires a form of government 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.[80] Raëlians believe that a world government is only possible through establishing a global currency, a common language, and a transformation of militaries of the world into civil police.[81]
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 up to 49 years or when they die, which ever is later. Any rents not inherited by relatives after 49 years would go to the State.[82] 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.[83]
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.[84]
An anti-cult organization called Info-Cult argued that Geniocracy was a fascist ideology.[85] However, Geniocracy is not a political party because it allows for differing political viewpoints.[86]
Liberal sensuality[edit]
Further information: Sensual Meditation
According to Vorilhon's book Sensual Meditation, one should develop the ability to break free of habitual thoughts that prevent one from appreciating everyday phenomena.[87] The book describes in detail six different meditations involving making full use of the lungs' capacity to expand and contract, oxygenating the blood and the cells within, imagining heat travelling upwards from toe to the head, allowing the skin to feel under itself, and experiencing touch with another person's body and examining their figure.[88]
According to the book Maitreya by Vorilhon, love involves experiencing different varieties and possibilities that allow one to break habits in order to make life more pleasant and interesting[89] and that it is the only thing that can stop war and injustice that persists in today's world.[90] Raëlians believe in the right to form new religions or new political parties as long as they do not promote violence.[91] As individualists, Raëlians believe that the one who gives the order to harm others is less at fault than the one who executes it.[92]
Raëlians say they encourage adult homosexual, bisexual, and heterosexual relationships and that society should recognize them legally.[93] 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.[94] The Raëlians disagree with those fears and stated that sex education done properly would involve educating parents as well as children.[95]
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 publicity—with news stories describing these practices as perverted and a form of brainwashing.[85]
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, Raëlian guides gave the Catholic students ten thousand condoms. The Commissioner of Catholic schools for Montreal said they could do nothing to stop them. Around this time, Raëlians dubbed the event "Operation Condom".[85][96]
Cloning of humans[edit]
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.[97] Raëlians take this even further and say that humanity can attain eternal life through the science of cloning.[98]
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 on 26 December 2002. Vorilhon told lawmakers that banning the development of human cloning was comparable to outlawing medical advances such as "antibiotics, blood transfusions, and vaccines."[85]
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"[99] 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.[98]
The third stage is the transfer of memory and personality from the original person to the mature clone.[98] For the process to maintain one branch for 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 died.[98]
In the final stages of development, hitherto unknown information contained within undamaged DNA would be enough to bring others back from the dead[100] including their memories and personality.[51][101] This would be done by taking a small sample from someone's body and preserving it 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.[102]
The Raëlian Church has close links with the controversial company Clonaid.[7] Brigitte Boisselier, a Raëlian and chief executive of Clonaid, made a controversial and unverified claim that a human baby was conceived through cloning technology.[103] Around this time, Clonaid's subsidiary BioFusion Tech claimed to have in possession a cell fusion device that assisted the cloning of human embryos.[104] The Vatican, however, says that experimenters expressed "brutal mentality" for attempting to clone human beings.[105] Pope John Paul II criticized the experiment which he believed threatened the dignity of human life.[106] In response, the leader of the Raëlian Church dismissed the Pope's ethical concerns, calling them an "accumulation of religious prejudices."[105]
See also[edit]
Geniocracy
History of Raëlism
Raëlism
Korindo
 Biogenesis
Cosmic ancestry
Exotheology
Directed Panspermia
 Brigitte Boisselier – French CEO of Clonaid
Claude Vorilhon/Raël – French singer, guitarist, and former automobile journalist
Glenn Carter – British singer, actor
Nayah – French singer

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77.Jump up ^ Religious Movements Homepage: Raelians, University of Virginia. 11 April 2001. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
78.Jump up ^ "AMBASSADORIAL NEEDS", International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
79.Jump up ^ Thomas, Amelia, "Raelians want to establish ET embassy in Jerusalem", Middle East Times. 18 November 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
80.Jump up ^ Raël, Geniocracy, p. 17-20.
81.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 100.
82.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 98.
83.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 97.
84.Jump up ^ Raël, Maitreya, p. 217-8.
85.^ Jump up to: a b c d Susan J. Palmer, The Rael Deal, Religion in the News, Summer 2001, Vol. 4, No. 2.
86.Jump up ^ Raël, Geniocracy, p. 21.
87.Jump up ^ Raël, Sensual Meditation, p. 66.
88.Jump up ^ Raël, Sensual Meditation, pp. 90–91.
89.Jump up ^ Raël, Maitreya, pp. 19, 71, 99, 182, 251.
90.Jump up ^ Raël, Maitreya, pp. 18, 165.
91.Jump up ^ Raël, Maitreya, pp. 165, 137–41.
92.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 321.
93.Jump up ^ Left Clones, National Review. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
94.Jump up ^ Cult leader Raël denied residence in Switzerland, Agence France-Presse. 19 February 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
95.Jump up ^ "Pedophilia accusations are pure discrimination", Raelianews.org. 23 August 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
96.Jump up ^ Religious Movements Homepage: Raelians (paragraph on Operation Condom), University of Virginia. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
97.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 366.
98.^ Jump up to: a b c d Raël, Yes to Human Cloning, pp. 35–37.
99.Jump up ^ Sect leader: Cloning is just the beginning, Cable News Network. 31 December 2002. Retrieved 2 August 2006.
100.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 167.
101.Jump up ^ Raël, Geniocracy, pp. 47, 78.
102.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 109.
103.Jump up ^ Gibbs, Nancy, "Abducting The Cloning Debate", Time Magazine in partnership with CNN. 5 January 2003. Retrieved 12 May 2007.
104.Jump up ^ Human cloning firm sets up affiliate in Korea, Korea Herald. 13 July 2002. Retrieved 19 July 2002.
105.^ Jump up to: a b "Vatican slams 'brutal' clone claim", CNN. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
106.Jump up ^ "Religious Leaders Condemn Report of Cloned Baby", CNN. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
Cited texts[edit]
Lewis, James R. The Gods Have Landed: New Religions from Other Worlds SUNY Press, 1995. ISBN 0-7914-2329-8.
Palmer, Susan J. Aliens Adored. Rutgers University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8135-3476-3.
Raël, Geniocracy. The Raëlian Foundation, 2004.
Raël, Intelligent Design. Nova Distribution, 2006. ISBN 2-940252-20-3.
Raël, Maitreya. The Raëlian Foundation, 2003.
Raël, Sensual Meditation. Tagman Press, 2001.
Raël, Yes to Human Cloning: Immortality Thanks to Science. Tagman Press, 2001. ISBN 1-903571-05-7; ISBN 1-903571-04-9.
Further reading[edit]
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.
Raël, La géniocratie. L'Edition du message, 1977. ISBN 2-88395-003-2.
External links[edit]
Who are the Raëlians? David Chazan, BBC News 2002.
The Raëlian books compared to Jean Sendy's
Testimonies by ex-Raelians Site by former Raelian.
  


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Raëlian beliefs and practices





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Raëlian beliefs and practices

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A series of articles on the

Raëlian Movement

Adam, Eve, and Elohim (Raëlism).png
Founder • History
Beliefs & practices
Cloning (Clonaid)
Funds

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Raëlian beliefs and practices are the concepts and principles of Raëlism, the religion founded by Claude Vorilhon, a former French auto racing journalist who changed his name to Raël.[1][2] Followers of Raëlism are believers in an advanced race of extraterrestrials called Elohim 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 in what Rael terms Geniocracy.[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 through a scientific cloning process (which includes memory transfer) by the Elohim, they encourage scientific research 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  [hide]
1 Beliefs 1.1 Structure of the Universe
1.2 Intelligent Design 1.2.1 Creation of life on Earth by extraterrestrials
1.2.2 Humanity's chance of creating life on other planets
1.3 A coming judgement
2 Practices 2.1 Initiation of new members
2.2 Activism 2.2.1 Topless Rights of Women

3 Advocacy 3.1 Embassy for Extraterrestrials
3.2 Ideas on how government and the economy should run
3.3 Liberal sensuality
3.4 Cloning of humans
4 See also
5 References 5.1 Cited texts
6 Further reading
7 External links

Beliefs[edit]
Structure of the Universe[edit]
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 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 where 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.[11]
Raëlians believe that humanity would be able to create life on other planets only if humanity is peaceful enough to stop war. In that case, humanity could travel the distances between stars[12] and create life on another planet.[13] Progress in terraforming, molecular biology,[14] and cloning would enable these teams to create continents and life from scratch.[15] Progress in social engineering would ensure that this creation would have a better chance of both surviving and having the potential to understand its creators.[16] Research on how civilization 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.[17] The progress achieved by the science teams would ultimately sustain a perpetual chain of life.[18]
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.[19] Instead the Raëlians think that advanced supercomputers of the Elohim are right now recording the memories and DNA of human beings.[20] 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.[21] Claude Vorilhon expressed an interest in cloning Hitler for war trials and retroactive punishment.[22] 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.[23]
Intelligent Design[edit]
Creation of life on Earth by extraterrestrials[edit]
Further information: History of Raëlism



 Puy de Lassolas
In his book The Message Given to me by Extraterrestrials (now republished as Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers 2006 ISBN 2-940252-20-3), Vorilhon claims that on 13 December 1973, he found a spacecraft shaped like a flattened bell that landed inside Puy de Lassolas, a volcano near the capital city of Auvergne. 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.[24]
Yahweh gave materialistic explanations of the Garden of Eden, a large laboratory that was based on an artificially constructed continent;[25] Noah's Ark, a spaceship that preserved DNA that was used to resurrect animals through cloning;[26][27] the Tower of Babel, a rocket that was supposed to reach the creators' planet;[28] and the Great Flood, the byproduct of a nuclear missile explosion that the Elohim sent.[29] After tidal wave floods following the explosions receded, Elohim scattered the Israelites and had them speak the language of other tribes.[28][30]
According to Vorilhon, Elohim contacted about forty people to act as their prophets on Earth,[31] including Moses,[32][33][34] Elijah,[32] Ezekiel,[35] Buddha,[33][34][36] John the Baptist,[37] Jesus,[32][33][34] Muhammad,[33][34][36] and Joseph Smith.[33][36] The religions thought to be from Elohimic origins include Judaism,[32] Buddhism,[36] Christianity,[32] Islam,[36] and Mormonism.[36]
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.[38]
The controversy surrounding the origins of Raelian beliefs centers on the writings of several authors in the late 1960s. Jean Sendy, a French writer, translator, and author of books on the esoteric and UFOs wrote several novels detailing the creation of Earth by extraterrestrials.[38] One of the best known researchers in this field is Erich van Däniken, the 'father' of the Ancient Astronauts theory, which postulates that Earth might have been visited by extraterrestrials in the remote past.
With the publication of Chariots of the Gods? in 1968, Erich von Däniken introduced the intervention theory to the general public. Von Däniken wrote that the technologies and religions of ancient civilizations were granted by extraterrestrials worshiped as gods. Von Däniken argued that only extraterrestrial intervention can explain the higher technological knowledge presumed to be essential for the production of ancient artifacts such as the Egyptian pyramids, Stonehenge and the Moai of Easter Island. Humans in ancient times considered this extraterrestrial high-tech to be supernatural and the aliens themselves to be 'gods'.[38] One can find direct parallels to the messages that Vorilhon claimed to have received and written about in his books. Marie-Hélène Parent, ex-guide Raëlian priest, describes Sendy and Vorilhon meeting several times for drinks and conversation throughout the years of 1973 and 1974, prior to Vorilhon's claimed extraterrestrial encounter.[39]
Humanity's chance of creating life on other planets[edit]
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[40] and create life on another planet.[41] Progress in terraformation, molecular biology,[42] and cloning would enable these teams to create continents and life from scratch.[43] 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.[44] 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.[45] The progress achieved by the science teams would ultimately sustain a perpetual chain of life.[46]
A coming judgement[edit]
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.[47] Instead the Raëlians think that advanced supercomputers of the Elohim are right now recording the memories and DNA of human beings.[48] 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.[49] Vorilhon expressed an interest in cloning Hitler for war trials and retroactive punishment.[50] 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.[51]
Practices[edit]
Initiation of new members[edit]
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] Canadian sociologist Susan J. Palmer says that in 1979, Raël introduced the "Act of Apostasy" as an obligation for those preparing for their Raëlian baptism.[52] CTV Television Network states that apostasy from other religions is required for new Raëlian members.[53] Joining the Raëlian Church through transmission of the cellular plan happens only in certain days of the year. There are four such days—marking anniversaries in the Raëlian calendar.[54]
The Raëlian baptism is known as transmission of the cellular plan where "cellular" refers to the organic cells of the body and the "plan" refers to the genetic makeup of the individual. This Raëlian baptism involves a guide member laying water onto the forehead of the new member.[55] The practice began on "the first Sunday in April"[56] of 1976 when Raël baptised 40 Raëlians.[56] Raëlians believe that their genetic information is recorded by a remote computer and would become recognized during their final hour when they will be judged by the extraterrestrial Elohim.[57]
There is continuing debate on whether Raëlians can be identified as a cult. The government of France classifies the Raelian Movement as a "secte" (French word for cult). However, according to Glenn McGee, 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.[58] The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the United States Department of State[59] and sociologist Susan J. Palmer[60] have classified the International Raëlian Movement as a religion.



 A Raëlian protest sign is raised at political rally demanding the return of U.S. troops
Activism[edit]
Raëlians routinely advocate sex-positive feminism and genetically modified food and actively protest against wars in addition to the Catholic Church. For example, a photographer of the Associated Press snapped a 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] On 6 August 2003, the first day of Raëlian year 58 AH,[61] a tech article on the USA Today newspaper mentions an "unlikely ally" of the Monsanto Company, the Raëlian Movement of Brazil. The movement gave vocal support in response to the company's support for genetically modified organisms particularly in their country. Brazilian farmers have been using Monsanto's genetically engineered soy plant as well as the glyphosate herbicide to which it was artificially adapted. The Raëlians spoke against the Brazilian government's ban on GMOs.[62]
Topless Rights of Women[edit]
Several Raëlian groups in the United States have organized annual protests, claiming that women should have the same legal right to go topless in public, that men enjoy without fear of arrest for indecent exposure.[63] Some have called this a publicity stunt designed to recruit members. Go Topless Day is their annual event, with women protesting topless except for nipple pasties to avoid arrest. It is held near 26 August, the anniversary of the day women were given the USA right to vote.[64]
In July 2001, Raëlians on the streets attracted Italians and Swiss people as they gave leaflets in protest to over a hundred child molesters in existence among Roman Catholic clergy in France. They recommended that parents should not send their children to Catholic confession. The Episcopal vicar of Geneva sued the Raëlian Church for libel but did not win.[65][66] The judge did not accept the charges for the reason that the Raëlians were not attacking the whole of the Catholic Church.[65]
In October 2002, Raëlians in a Canadian anti-clerical parade held handed out Christian crosses to high school students. They were invited to burn the crosses in a park not far from Montreal's Mount Royal and to sign letters of apostasy from the Roman Catholic Church. The Quebec Association of Bishops called this "incitement to hatred", and several school boards attempted to prevent their students from meeting Raëlians.[67]
Advocacy[edit]
Embassy for Extraterrestrials[edit]



 Tent mockup of the Raëlian Embassy for Extraterrestrials
Raëlians believe that life on earth—as well as many religions of the world—was the work of extraterrestrial influence. They believe these were scientists and that ancient people saw them as "gods" and gave the name "Elohim".[68][69] Raëlians believe that the Embassy for Extraterrestrials or "Third Temple"[70][71][72] is to support an official contact with Extraterrestrial Elohim and their messengers of the main religions at the "New Jerusalem".[70][73] Writers who have influenced Raëlian beliefs include Zechariah Sitchin and Erich von Däniken.[74][75]
The International Raëlian Movement envisions having an entrance with an aseptic chamber leading to a conference room for twenty-one people as well as a dining room of the same capacity.[76] In the plan are seven rooms for the purpose of receiving human guests into the embassy. The embassy building, along with the swimming pool, would be in the center of a large park and protected from trespassing by a wall−a maximum of two stories-to surround the entire complex's circumference. Trees and bushes are to be planted in the outskirts of the wall's area. The walls are to have a northern and southern entrance. The landing pad for the embassy should be able fit a spaceship of twelve meters of diameter or 39'4" on its terrace. The terrace is to be above the rooms in the torus, which are for extraterrestrials only. The seven rooms directly underneath the landing pad would be protected from occupants of other rooms with a thick metal door. Finally, the International Raëlian Movement wants to avoid military and radar surveillance of the airspace above the embassy. Buildings for administration, food and water provisions, and state-of-the-art sanitation and communication systems are part of this vision.[76] A nearby replica of the Raëlian Embassy for Extraterrestrials open to the public is expected to show visitors what it is like inside the real one.[68]
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 telepathic request from extraterrestrials called 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 coming of extraterrestrials and founders of past religions, although the country still denies their request.[77]
On 13 December 1997, the leader of the International Raëlian Movement had decided to extend the possibility of building the embassy outside of Jerusalem and also allow that a significant portion of the embassy property be covered with water. The area of the proposed embassy property is still envisioned at a minimum of 3.47 square kilometers, with a radius of at least 1.05 kilometers.[78]
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.[79]
Ideas on how government and the economy should run[edit]
Further information: Geniocracy and Economic humanitarianism (Raëlianism)
According to the book Geniocracy, creating a peaceful worldwide political union requires a form of government 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.[80] Raëlians believe that a world government is only possible through establishing a global currency, a common language, and a transformation of militaries of the world into civil police.[81]
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 up to 49 years or when they die, which ever is later. Any rents not inherited by relatives after 49 years would go to the State.[82] 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.[83]
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.[84]
An anti-cult organization called Info-Cult argued that Geniocracy was a fascist ideology.[85] However, Geniocracy is not a political party because it allows for differing political viewpoints.[86]
Liberal sensuality[edit]
Further information: Sensual Meditation
According to Vorilhon's book Sensual Meditation, one should develop the ability to break free of habitual thoughts that prevent one from appreciating everyday phenomena.[87] The book describes in detail six different meditations involving making full use of the lungs' capacity to expand and contract, oxygenating the blood and the cells within, imagining heat travelling upwards from toe to the head, allowing the skin to feel under itself, and experiencing touch with another person's body and examining their figure.[88]
According to the book Maitreya by Vorilhon, love involves experiencing different varieties and possibilities that allow one to break habits in order to make life more pleasant and interesting[89] and that it is the only thing that can stop war and injustice that persists in today's world.[90] Raëlians believe in the right to form new religions or new political parties as long as they do not promote violence.[91] As individualists, Raëlians believe that the one who gives the order to harm others is less at fault than the one who executes it.[92]
Raëlians say they encourage adult homosexual, bisexual, and heterosexual relationships and that society should recognize them legally.[93] 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.[94] The Raëlians disagree with those fears and stated that sex education done properly would involve educating parents as well as children.[95]
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 publicity—with news stories describing these practices as perverted and a form of brainwashing.[85]
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, Raëlian guides gave the Catholic students ten thousand condoms. The Commissioner of Catholic schools for Montreal said they could do nothing to stop them. Around this time, Raëlians dubbed the event "Operation Condom".[85][96]
Cloning of humans[edit]
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.[97] Raëlians take this even further and say that humanity can attain eternal life through the science of cloning.[98]
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 on 26 December 2002. Vorilhon told lawmakers that banning the development of human cloning was comparable to outlawing medical advances such as "antibiotics, blood transfusions, and vaccines."[85]
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"[99] 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.[98]
The third stage is the transfer of memory and personality from the original person to the mature clone.[98] For the process to maintain one branch for 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 died.[98]
In the final stages of development, hitherto unknown information contained within undamaged DNA would be enough to bring others back from the dead[100] including their memories and personality.[51][101] This would be done by taking a small sample from someone's body and preserving it 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.[102]
The Raëlian Church has close links with the controversial company Clonaid.[7] Brigitte Boisselier, a Raëlian and chief executive of Clonaid, made a controversial and unverified claim that a human baby was conceived through cloning technology.[103] Around this time, Clonaid's subsidiary BioFusion Tech claimed to have in possession a cell fusion device that assisted the cloning of human embryos.[104] The Vatican, however, says that experimenters expressed "brutal mentality" for attempting to clone human beings.[105] Pope John Paul II criticized the experiment which he believed threatened the dignity of human life.[106] In response, the leader of the Raëlian Church dismissed the Pope's ethical concerns, calling them an "accumulation of religious prejudices."[105]
See also[edit]
Geniocracy
History of Raëlism
Raëlism
Korindo
 Biogenesis
Cosmic ancestry
Exotheology
Directed Panspermia
 Brigitte Boisselier – French CEO of Clonaid
Claude Vorilhon/Raël – French singer, guitarist, and former automobile journalist
Glenn Carter – British singer, actor
Nayah – French singer

References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ AutoPop, la revue des pilotes Raël : Messie ou Menteur ?. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
2.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 135–6.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Raël, Intelligent Design
4.Jump up ^ Raël, Sensual Meditation
5.Jump up ^ Raël, Geniocracy
6.Jump up ^ Raël, Yes to Human Cloning, p. 87.
7.^ Jump up to: a b "The Cloning Debate", MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
8.^ Jump up to: a b "raelity show", Associated Press. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Translation: "Global anti-war rallies map series", Agence France-Presse. 15 March 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Palmer, p. 58–9.
11.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 153–155.
12.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 159.
13.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 70.
14.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 293.
15.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 50.
16.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 153.
17.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 280.
18.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 91.
19.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 154-155.
20.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 171.
21.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 214.
22.Jump up ^ CULT BIDS TO CLONE HITLER FOR WAR TRIAL, Daily Record. 9 August 2001. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
23.Jump up ^ Cloning solution to terrorism, some say, The Maneater. 21 September 2001. Retrieved 6 April 2007.
24.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 11–15.
25.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 279.
26.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 20–22.
27.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 240–242, 280, 332.
28.^ Jump up to: a b Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 22.
29.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 20.
30.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 23.
31.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 165.
32.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 114.
33.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 312.
34.^ Jump up to: a b c d Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 324.
35.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 45–53.
36.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 89.
37.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 293–306.
38.^ Jump up to: a b c "An Embassy for Extraterrestrials", International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 20 July 2007.
39.Jump up ^ "Overview of Jean Sendy's works"
40.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 159.
41.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 70.
42.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 293.
43.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 50.
44.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 153.
45.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 280.
46.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 91.
47.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 154–155.
48.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 171.
49.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 214.
50.Jump up ^ "Cult Bids to Clone Hitler for War Trial", Daily Record. 9 August 2001. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
51.^ Jump up to: a b Cloning solution to terrorism, some say, The Maneater. 21 September 2001. Retrieved 6 April 2007.
52.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 60.
53.Jump up ^ Paredes, Noelle, "The Raelians: Roots, beliefs and future plans", CTV Television Network. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
54.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 64.
55.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 334.
56.^ Jump up to: a b Palmer, p. 58.
57.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 175.
58.Jump up ^ Thomasch, Paul, "The sportswriter, the aliens, and a cult with 55,000 believers", The Guardian. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 24 May 2007.
59.Jump up ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2003, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. 18 December 2003. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
60.Jump up ^ Palmer, pp. 1–3.
61.Jump up ^ International Committee Against Christian Calendar Imperialism, icacci.org. Retrieved 30 March 2007.
62.Jump up ^ "With friends like these, Monsanto needs no enemies", USATODAY.com. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
63.Jump up ^ [1], gotopless.org. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
64.Jump up ^ "Men Wear Bras So Women Can Go Topless", gotopless.com. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
65.^ Jump up to: a b Palmer, p. 91.
66.Jump up ^ "The bishops react to the attacks anti-catholics of the Raëlian movement" (translated), Infosekten. 22 May 2001. Retrieved 1 August 2007. (translated)
67.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 92.
68.^ Jump up to: a b Raël, p. 370.
69.Jump up ^ Sethi, Atul, "Was God an astronaut?", Times of India. Retrieved 3 August 2007.
70.^ Jump up to: a b Yoel Ben Assayag, A Dinner With the Messiah, Raelian Contact 320. 10 October 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2007.
71.Jump up ^ "WORDS OF OUR BELOVED PROPHET", Raelian Contact 317. 24 August 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2007.
72.Jump up ^ "OUR BELOVED PROPHET IN ACCRA", Raelian Contact 257. 4 January 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2007.
73.Jump up ^ Uriel, "Invitation and welcoming with the Kimbangists", Raelian Contact 269. Retrieved 15 February 2007.
74.Jump up ^ Genta, Giancarlo (2007). Lonely Minds in the Universe: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Springer. p. 231. ISBN 978-0-387-33925-2.
75.Jump up ^ Colavito, Jason (2005). The cult of alien gods: H.P. Lovecraft and extraterrestrial pop culture. Prometheus. p. 320. ISBN 978-1-59102-352-4.
76.^ Jump up to: a b "ELOHIM'S INSTRUCTIONS", International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
77.Jump up ^ Religious Movements Homepage: Raelians, University of Virginia. 11 April 2001. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
78.Jump up ^ "AMBASSADORIAL NEEDS", International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
79.Jump up ^ Thomas, Amelia, "Raelians want to establish ET embassy in Jerusalem", Middle East Times. 18 November 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
80.Jump up ^ Raël, Geniocracy, p. 17-20.
81.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 100.
82.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 98.
83.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 97.
84.Jump up ^ Raël, Maitreya, p. 217-8.
85.^ Jump up to: a b c d Susan J. Palmer, The Rael Deal, Religion in the News, Summer 2001, Vol. 4, No. 2.
86.Jump up ^ Raël, Geniocracy, p. 21.
87.Jump up ^ Raël, Sensual Meditation, p. 66.
88.Jump up ^ Raël, Sensual Meditation, pp. 90–91.
89.Jump up ^ Raël, Maitreya, pp. 19, 71, 99, 182, 251.
90.Jump up ^ Raël, Maitreya, pp. 18, 165.
91.Jump up ^ Raël, Maitreya, pp. 165, 137–41.
92.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 321.
93.Jump up ^ Left Clones, National Review. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
94.Jump up ^ Cult leader Raël denied residence in Switzerland, Agence France-Presse. 19 February 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
95.Jump up ^ "Pedophilia accusations are pure discrimination", Raelianews.org. 23 August 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
96.Jump up ^ Religious Movements Homepage: Raelians (paragraph on Operation Condom), University of Virginia. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
97.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 366.
98.^ Jump up to: a b c d Raël, Yes to Human Cloning, pp. 35–37.
99.Jump up ^ Sect leader: Cloning is just the beginning, Cable News Network. 31 December 2002. Retrieved 2 August 2006.
100.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 167.
101.Jump up ^ Raël, Geniocracy, pp. 47, 78.
102.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 109.
103.Jump up ^ Gibbs, Nancy, "Abducting The Cloning Debate", Time Magazine in partnership with CNN. 5 January 2003. Retrieved 12 May 2007.
104.Jump up ^ Human cloning firm sets up affiliate in Korea, Korea Herald. 13 July 2002. Retrieved 19 July 2002.
105.^ Jump up to: a b "Vatican slams 'brutal' clone claim", CNN. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
106.Jump up ^ "Religious Leaders Condemn Report of Cloned Baby", CNN. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
Cited texts[edit]
Lewis, James R. The Gods Have Landed: New Religions from Other Worlds SUNY Press, 1995. ISBN 0-7914-2329-8.
Palmer, Susan J. Aliens Adored. Rutgers University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8135-3476-3.
Raël, Geniocracy. The Raëlian Foundation, 2004.
Raël, Intelligent Design. Nova Distribution, 2006. ISBN 2-940252-20-3.
Raël, Maitreya. The Raëlian Foundation, 2003.
Raël, Sensual Meditation. Tagman Press, 2001.
Raël, Yes to Human Cloning: Immortality Thanks to Science. Tagman Press, 2001. ISBN 1-903571-05-7; ISBN 1-903571-04-9.
Further reading[edit]
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.
Raël, La géniocratie. L'Edition du message, 1977. ISBN 2-88395-003-2.
External links[edit]
Who are the Raëlians? David Chazan, BBC News 2002.
The Raëlian books compared to Jean Sendy's
Testimonies by ex-Raelians Site by former Raelian.
  


Categories: Intelligent design
Raëlian beliefs and practices





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Sensual Meditation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to:  navigation , search


Question book-new.svg
 This article relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (May 2015)

Raelian texts
Intelligent Design
Yes to human cloning
Sensual Meditation
Geniocracy

v ·
 t ·
 e
   
Sensual Meditation is the set of exercises made public by Claude Vorilhon in his book La méditation sensuelle.[1] It is practiced by members of International Raelian Movement (IRM).[1] The first of these exercises is usually taught in Raëlian Seminars.[1]
First Activity: Harmonization with Infinity The first step is to arrange a setting in which to meditate. Harmonious settings are preferred such as lying beneath a star-lit night sky, under good weather conditions. Or, prepare a room, decorated with pleasurable sights, textures, and smells. During the program of sensual meditation, being undressed or wearing soft silky material is preferable. Work clothes which are subject to pollutants and material which constrict blood flow and compress the sexual organs are not recommended.[1]
The goal of a breathing exercise is to improve the oxygenation of the cells within one's organism in order to balance the chemical secretions within the body. This involves a few to several minutes of deep regulated breathing and increasing of one's mental and physical awareness of the introduction of oxygen inside the many kinds of organs within the human body. Conscious awareness of these effects is important for a process of bodily feedback.[1]
The next step is to feel, from within oneself, all the cells and tissues one is made of, and to consciously link them through our central and peripheral nervous systems. After this feeling is felt throughout the body, one begins feeling the vibrations and pulses of musical sounds not only by the ears but through the pores and within the body itself.[1]
In the following step, one feels the animate external environment through the many penetrating vibrations animating ones body from all angles and radial distances. This attentive awareness develops the sense of feeling harmony that surround one's organism. Lastly, one uses this feeling to become aware of the humanity he or she is a part of.[1]
Second Activity: Becoming Aware of Our Life Breathing begins again in a more physically arousing way by feeling the exchange of air inside the whole respiratory apparatus including the bronchial tubes inside the lungs, nasal cavity, and mouth. As the oxygenation is increasingly felt within, one then begins to feel the heart pulsating and pumping blood within one's chest. While being highly oxygenated and having the tactile sensuality developed in the previous exercise, the calming pulse of this blood is felt spreading from the heart and into the rest of the body.[1]
Third Activity: Body Awareness After having sensually connected the many cells and tissues in the body by developed the tactile sense of touch from within the body itself and feeling the pulsing phenomena within the body itself, the sensuality of external senses is developed. As one closes his or her eyes one begins to develop the sense of touch and does so intensely by feeling the parts of oneself by enjoying being the touched and toucher while feeling more intensely with the fingertips. The taste of one's own skin is then explored. The feeling of oneself talking is then guided by a hand touching the parts of the head which vibrate during speech. Then the eyes are opened to discover oneself by appreciating the moving of one's hands, a bit like a baby, though now one can be fully conscious of his or her animation. One looks at oneself with new eyes, looking in places where one would not normally look, as if discovering our physique for the first time and with attraction rather than aversion.[1]
Fourth Activity: Meditation with Symbol of Infinity Decorations are placed around the room as well as posters to contemplate for their harmonious expression of various patterns and colors of lights they reflect. Among them is the symbol of infinity which in Raëlian cosmology represents the infinitely large particles and infinitely small particles that dance and intermingle among themselves as an animation which endures without beginning or end.[1]
Fifth Activity: Another Universe - Our Partner This exercise involves a massage by a partner, not necessarily sexual, (and vice versa) the purpose of which is to become conscious of one another's shape and constitution through the sensuous touching. This exercise need not be erotic when involving gentle kneading of the individual one feels in order to become aware of their contour of flesh and bones (and vice versa). The expectation of being touched in certain places turns into pleasure improves one's unity. This meditation is the last exercise for those without sexual partners.[1]
Sixth Activity: Eroticism and Mutual Excitement After the intense vaporous breathing exercise, which is performed at the beginning of each meditation, one lies down with their eyes closed while becoming aware and feeling another's gaze as it caresses their body which they present to the gazer. The person lying down anticipates the gaze of the other as though it were a source of a soft diffuse beam of light. Erogenous zones are later excited though a very light and delicate massage by the partner of the one lying down. Sensual feedback is expected between the massager and the massaged so that individual preferences and sensitivity are accounted for which allows both partners to receive maximum pleasure from the exchange. After seeing, touching, and hearing, the senses of taste and of smell are introduced. Breathing in with the nose enhances smell whereas breathing out through the mouth allows for exhalation on the skin of the one lying down to occur more sensually. This, as well as kissing, encourages the exchange of hormones between the caresser and the caressed. At the end of this exercise, it is repeated, where the massager now becomes the massaged and the massaged becomes the massager.[1]
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l Raël, Sensual MeditationFind reference
External links[edit]
Sensual Meditation e-book
  


Categories: Raëlian beliefs and practices





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Sensual Meditation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to:  navigation , search


Question book-new.svg
 This article relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (May 2015)

Raelian texts
Intelligent Design
Yes to human cloning
Sensual Meditation
Geniocracy

v ·
 t ·
 e
   
Sensual Meditation is the set of exercises made public by Claude Vorilhon in his book La méditation sensuelle.[1] It is practiced by members of International Raelian Movement (IRM).[1] The first of these exercises is usually taught in Raëlian Seminars.[1]
First Activity: Harmonization with Infinity The first step is to arrange a setting in which to meditate. Harmonious settings are preferred such as lying beneath a star-lit night sky, under good weather conditions. Or, prepare a room, decorated with pleasurable sights, textures, and smells. During the program of sensual meditation, being undressed or wearing soft silky material is preferable. Work clothes which are subject to pollutants and material which constrict blood flow and compress the sexual organs are not recommended.[1]
The goal of a breathing exercise is to improve the oxygenation of the cells within one's organism in order to balance the chemical secretions within the body. This involves a few to several minutes of deep regulated breathing and increasing of one's mental and physical awareness of the introduction of oxygen inside the many kinds of organs within the human body. Conscious awareness of these effects is important for a process of bodily feedback.[1]
The next step is to feel, from within oneself, all the cells and tissues one is made of, and to consciously link them through our central and peripheral nervous systems. After this feeling is felt throughout the body, one begins feeling the vibrations and pulses of musical sounds not only by the ears but through the pores and within the body itself.[1]
In the following step, one feels the animate external environment through the many penetrating vibrations animating ones body from all angles and radial distances. This attentive awareness develops the sense of feeling harmony that surround one's organism. Lastly, one uses this feeling to become aware of the humanity he or she is a part of.[1]
Second Activity: Becoming Aware of Our Life Breathing begins again in a more physically arousing way by feeling the exchange of air inside the whole respiratory apparatus including the bronchial tubes inside the lungs, nasal cavity, and mouth. As the oxygenation is increasingly felt within, one then begins to feel the heart pulsating and pumping blood within one's chest. While being highly oxygenated and having the tactile sensuality developed in the previous exercise, the calming pulse of this blood is felt spreading from the heart and into the rest of the body.[1]
Third Activity: Body Awareness After having sensually connected the many cells and tissues in the body by developed the tactile sense of touch from within the body itself and feeling the pulsing phenomena within the body itself, the sensuality of external senses is developed. As one closes his or her eyes one begins to develop the sense of touch and does so intensely by feeling the parts of oneself by enjoying being the touched and toucher while feeling more intensely with the fingertips. The taste of one's own skin is then explored. The feeling of oneself talking is then guided by a hand touching the parts of the head which vibrate during speech. Then the eyes are opened to discover oneself by appreciating the moving of one's hands, a bit like a baby, though now one can be fully conscious of his or her animation. One looks at oneself with new eyes, looking in places where one would not normally look, as if discovering our physique for the first time and with attraction rather than aversion.[1]
Fourth Activity: Meditation with Symbol of Infinity Decorations are placed around the room as well as posters to contemplate for their harmonious expression of various patterns and colors of lights they reflect. Among them is the symbol of infinity which in Raëlian cosmology represents the infinitely large particles and infinitely small particles that dance and intermingle among themselves as an animation which endures without beginning or end.[1]
Fifth Activity: Another Universe - Our Partner This exercise involves a massage by a partner, not necessarily sexual, (and vice versa) the purpose of which is to become conscious of one another's shape and constitution through the sensuous touching. This exercise need not be erotic when involving gentle kneading of the individual one feels in order to become aware of their contour of flesh and bones (and vice versa). The expectation of being touched in certain places turns into pleasure improves one's unity. This meditation is the last exercise for those without sexual partners.[1]
Sixth Activity: Eroticism and Mutual Excitement After the intense vaporous breathing exercise, which is performed at the beginning of each meditation, one lies down with their eyes closed while becoming aware and feeling another's gaze as it caresses their body which they present to the gazer. The person lying down anticipates the gaze of the other as though it were a source of a soft diffuse beam of light. Erogenous zones are later excited though a very light and delicate massage by the partner of the one lying down. Sensual feedback is expected between the massager and the massaged so that individual preferences and sensitivity are accounted for which allows both partners to receive maximum pleasure from the exchange. After seeing, touching, and hearing, the senses of taste and of smell are introduced. Breathing in with the nose enhances smell whereas breathing out through the mouth allows for exhalation on the skin of the one lying down to occur more sensually. This, as well as kissing, encourages the exchange of hormones between the caresser and the caressed. At the end of this exercise, it is repeated, where the massager now becomes the massaged and the massaged becomes the massager.[1]
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l Raël, Sensual MeditationFind reference
External links[edit]
Sensual Meditation e-book
  


Categories: Raëlian beliefs and practices





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Claude Vorilhon

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Raël)
Jump to:  navigation , search


Claude Vorilhon "Raël"

Born
30 September 1946 (age 68)
Vichy, Allier, France[1]

School
Raëlism

Main interests
 Auto racing,
Universal morality

Notable ideas
 Sensual Meditation,
Geniocracy,
Raëlian cosmology
Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers

Influences[show]




Influenced[show]



A series of articles on the

Raëlian Movement

Adam, Eve, and Elohim (Raëlism).png
Founder • History
Beliefs & practices
Cloning (Clonaid)
Funds

Views on:
Politics
Economics
Cosmology

This box: view ·
 talk ·
 edit
   
Claude Maurice Marcel Vorilhon[2] (born 30 September 1946) is the founder and current leader of the UFO religion known as Raëlism.
Vorilhon began singing at a young age[citation needed] and soon became a sports-car journalist and test driver for his own car-racing magazine, Autopop.[3][4] Following what he said was an extraterrestrial encounter in December 1973, he formed the Raëlian Movement and changed his name to Raël (allegedly meaning "messenger of the elohim"). He later published several books, which detail his claims of an encounter with a being called Yahweh in 1973.[5] He traveled the world to promote his books for over 30 years.[6]


Contents  [hide]
1 Early life
2 The Raëlian messages
3 Marriages
4 Racecar driver
5 Views on technology
6 Criticism 6.1 Plagiarism
6.2 Appearances in the media
6.3 Appearances in court
6.4 Government action against Raël
7 Discography
8 Bibliography
9 See also
10 Notes
11 References

Early life[edit]
Vorilhon was born in Vichy, Allier, France.[1] He was raised in Ambert in the home of his maternal grandmother, who was atheist.[7] His father was Jewish and his mother was a Catholic.[citation needed] He attended a Catholic boarding school with Le Puy-en-Velay and caused a scandal[citation needed] by taking part in communion without being baptized. His parents withdrew him from the boarding school to put him in the school of Ambert.[7]
At age 15, Vorilhon ran away from boarding school and hitchhiked to Paris, where he spent three years playing music on the streets and in cafés and cabarets. He met with Lucien Morisse, the director of a national radio program, who was scouting for young talent. Vorilhon signed a record contract[citation needed] and became a rising teen pop star on the radio.[citation needed] He took on a new identity, assuming the name Claude Celler, and released six singles, including a minor hit song, "Le miel et la cannelle" (Honey and Cinnamon).[8] Vorilhon had a passion for the songs of Belgian singer Jacques Brel, and tried to imitate his singing style.[7] He was saving up his money to buy a racing car, a dream he had had since he was a young boy, but his prospects as a singer came to an abrupt end when Morisse, his sponsor, committed suicide in September 1970.[9]
Vorilhon decided to work as a sports journalist to gain access to the world of car racing. He met Marie-Paul Cristini, a nurse.[9] They moved to Clermont-Ferrand, where Vorilhon started his own publishing house.[10] He created a sports car magazine entitled Autopop, whose first issue was released in May 1971.[11] One of the tasks for his new startup was the position of testing new automobiles, which enabled him to enter the motor racing world.[10]
The Raëlian messages[edit]
Further information: History of Raëlism
In the book Le Livre qui dit la vérité ("The Book Which Tells the Truth"), Vorilhon stated that he had an alien visitation on 13 December 1973. According to Raël, in a secluded area within a French volcanic crater, an extraterrestrial being came out of a craft that had descended gently from the sky, and told him, in French, that he had come for the sole purpose of meeting with him. Raël said that he was given a message by this alien and told that it was his mission to pass this message on to the people of Earth.[12]
The book states that advanced human scientists from another planet with 25,000 years of scientific advances created all life on Earth through DNA manipulation.[13][14] These scientists, Raël said, were originally called Elohim or "those who came from the sky".[15] He wrote that some forty[16] prophets in Earth's history were sent by Elohim,[17] but their messages were distorted[18] by humans, largely because of the difference in the level of civilization between the advanced race and Earth's primitive one.[19]
Raël said he was given the mission of informing the world of humanity's origins in anticipation of the return of these extraterrestrials by building a residential embassy in neutral territory.[20] He stated that certain mysteries were explained to him based on new interpretations of sacred texts such as the Bible.[21] He said that, on 7 October 1975, he was contacted by one of the Elohim, who took him to another planet to meet Buddha, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. He stated that his second book, Les extra-terrestres m'ont emmené sur leur planète ("Extraterrestrials Took Me To Their Planet"), relates the teaching he received from these people. In this book, Raël describes harmonious and peaceable beings, who were free of money, sickness, and war.[22]
Marriages[edit]
Raël was married three times.[23]
In 1974, Raël decided to give up his automobile magazine, Autopop.[3] That September, the last issue, number 34, was published.[11] Raël then devoted himself to the task he said was given by his "biological father", an extraterrestrial named Yahweh.[24] Shortly after a first public conference, Raël founded MADECH – a group of people interested in helping him in his task, which later became the International Raëlian Movement.[25] Sociologist Susan J. Palmer said that Cristini, a nurse, diagnosed Raël as clinically depressed after he appeared at her door step in 1987, burnt out from the tasks he carried out within the movement.[26]
Raël focused on spreading his message in Japan in the 1980s, and by 1987, he met Lisa Sunagawa. Sunagawa soon began accompanying Raël during his travels to Lima, Miami, Brazil, and Martinique. In a television documentary, They're Coming! (1990) by Radio Canada, Raël was seen with four women,[27] while Lisa, in slow-motion, wore a pink tutu and held hands with him.[23]
Raël separated from Sunagawa sometime between 1990 and 1992. Around that time, Sophie de Niverville, whose mother and aunt were both Raëlians, was convinced of the authenticity of the messages. Sophie received a Raëlian baptism at age 15. When she turned 16, she married Raël at Montreal's city hall. This was done with her mother's permission. During a December 2001 interview with sociologist Susan J. Palmer, Sophie spoke positively about Raël despite their divorce the previous year.[28] In 2003, he was married to Sophie.[29] On 6 August 2003, the Cybercast News Service said Raël moved back to Canada with his wife Sophie after being escorted out of South Korea by government officials.[29]
Racecar driver[edit]
In 1994, wealthy Japanese Raëlians rented a racecar and showed it to Raël. They believed that if Raël would race it, it would generate publicity for the movement. Raël accepted the offer on the condition that the funding not come from member tithes or embassy funding. Funding for Raël's races, which took place in the 1990s and early 2000s, came mostly from well-funded European and Japanese people.[30] His best finishes included "a 3rd place finish in GT 1 in Lime Rock with the Mosler Raptor in 1997, and a 7th place finish at Watkins Glen with a Viper GTS R in the FIA GT 1999 race".[31] Raël participated in the 1999 BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am Series and the 2000 Speedvision GT Championship. According to Palmer, Raël made an announcement in November 2001 that he intended to retire from professional auto racing. She said that Raël still enjoyed automobile racing, albeit in the form of video games.[30]
1999 BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am Series

Round
Date
Car
Start
Finish
Laps
Track
Source
Two 23 May 1999 Chevrolet 21st 19th 35 out of 40 Mosport International Raceway Motorsport.com[32]
2000 Speedvision GT Championship events

Round
Date
Car
Start
Finish
Laps
Track
Source
One 1 April 2000 Lotus Esprit 29th 32nd 15 out of 29 Lowe's Motor Speedway Motorsport.com[33]
Two 21 May 2000 Lotus Esprit 31st 18th 27 out of 27 Mosport International Raceway Motorsport.com[34]
Three 27 May 2000 Lotus Esprit 38th   Lime Rock Park Motorsport.com[35]
Eight 15 October 2000 Porsche 911 GT3 32nd 25th 25 out of 26 Laguna Seca Raceway Motorsport.com[36]
Nine 29 October 2000 Porsche 911 GT3 25th 25th 29 out of 30 Las Vegas Motor Speedway Motorsport.com[37]
Views on technology[edit]
Much of Raël's advocacy concerning futuristic technology is described in his 2001 book, Yes to Human Cloning. He supported human genetic engineering in order to avoid genetically inherited diseases and to reduce the economic burden on society. He said that no distinctive emphasis needed to be allocated to a particular race or religion.[38][39] Elsewhere in the book, he stated that nanotechnology will make it possible to have micro-distributive power generation (essentially a power plant in each house), fur-like furnishings that are self-cleaning with hair-like fibers that move on their own,[40] and biological robots.[41] Nanostructures control biology, so Raël expected that meat and salads will someday be grown in a machine via molecular construction.[42][43]
Raël believed that genetically modified food is the only way to stop hunger everywhere in the world, and he saw a future where qualities of different foods can be combined through direct genetic modification.[44] In Raël's book, Extraterrestrials took me to their planet (book number 2 in the volume Intelligent Design), he said that animation of plant life was possible through nanotechnology and that he was presented genetically modified flowers, that swayed and changed colors with music, while on another planet.[45]
Criticism[edit]
Plagiarism[edit]
In recent years, many ex-Raelians have accused Claude Vorilhon of plagiarism.[46] They have cited numerous quotes from Rael's books and compared them with those of author Jean Sendy. Raelian concepts such as chemical education, infinity, geniocracy and others may all be found in Sendy's books. Most of Rael's "Sensual Meditation" book is said to have been derived from the Silva 'Mind Control' Method which was allegedly taught to him by ex-level-5 guide of the Canadian Raelian Movement, Jean-Denis Saint-Cyr.[47]
In her book "Raël : Voleur d'âmes", Maryse Péloquin provides the result of her 10 years of thorough research into Claude Vorilhon and his movement, with compelling evidence to support a similar view that Rael has taken concepts and often paraphrased full paragraphs from other UFO and ancient astronaut authors of the 50's, 60's and early 70's such as Jean Sendy, Brinsley Le Poer Trench, and Robert Charroux.[48] In her book, the dialogue of Rael's "encounter with an ET" is shown to closely resemble that of "contactee" George Adamski who had an encounter on December 13, 1952.
Much of the Raelian philosophy also closely matches that of Osho.[49] The white costume which Rael wears closely resembles that which Osho was known to have worn at one time.
Appearances in the media[edit]
In 1992, Raël appeared on Ciel mon Mardi, a French talk show hosted by journalist Christophe Dechavanne. Toward the end of the show, Raël's liberal views on sex were critiqued by a priest, a social worker, and a psychologist. A former Raëlian named Jean Parraga believed that his wife and children were being held as prisoners and that Raël attempted to break up his family. He thought they were being treated like criminals in activities such as orgies and sacrifice involving children at the Sensual Meditation camp. Parraga also had a criminal record as a drug dealer and car thief, and in August 1992, he attempted to shoot Raël.[50]
Raëlians from around the world sent letters of protest to Dechevanne's TV station. Dechavanne felt that this was "incitement to violence" and sued Raël. The judge appointed to the case decided to question Raël. Raël agreed to ask his members to stop sending letters if the station apologized publicly. The two parties agreed to drop the feud.[50]
In 2004, Raël appeared on the first airing of the Quebec version of the French talk show Tout le monde en parle, hosted by Guy A. Lepage. During this appearance, Raël upset panel members with his statements on democracy and cloning. The situation reached its peak when caricaturist Serge Chapleau called Raël a "farce" and a "nerd", ridiculed his clothes, and grabbed him by the chignon.[citation needed] Raël left the stage, followed by his disciples. A fellow guest on the show, Parti Québécois Member of Quebec Legislative Assembly Pauline Marois, who would later become Premier of Quebec, called Raël "insane". The Raëlian Movement asked Marois to apologize, which she refused.[51]
A Swiss newspaper, who called Raëlians "rat heads", was sued for defamation. Another suit was brought against journalist Stephane Baillargeon for writing in the Montreal daily Le Devoir that the Raëlians defended pedophiles and that certain ex-Raëlians claimed the "gourou" liked very young girls. After some negotiation, Le Devoir published a letter from Raël condemning the charge as "ignominious defamation" and asserting that the Raëlian Movement had "always condemned pedophilia and promoted respect for laws that justly forbid the practices that are always the fault of unbalanced individuals".[50]
Appearances in court[edit]
In 1991, Raël sued French journalist Jean-Yves Cashga for defamation; Raël lost, however, and was ordered to pay court costs. The judgment remains uncollected. Amidst growing legal problems in France, Raël decided to emigrate to Canada.
On two separate court dates of 2 September 1994 at the High Courts of Paris and 1 October 1996 at the Appeal Court of Paris, journalists Jacques Cotta and Pascal Martin of Flammarion Publishing were found guilty of attributing racist statements and distorted quotations to Raël in their book Dans le secret des sectes. They were fined 10,000FF in damages and 13,000FF in proceedings costs. They were also ordered to insert stickers mentioning the sentence on copies not yet distributed, suppress of the passage in the next editions, and were told that they would be fined 100FF for each non-conforming copy.[52]
On 26 January 1994, in emergency proceedings by the Appeal Court of Reims, Myriam Assan was accused of defamation for claiming in his book that "Raël was often sentenced for corruption of minors". Assan was given a provisional sentence of 10,000FF in damages and ordered to withdraw of the book. He was sentenced to pay a penalty of 300FF per infringement and 5,000FF in proceedings costs and to publish the judgment in Le Monde and Le Figaro.[52]
On 13 December 1994, Gérard Chol, director of Le Maine Libre, was declared guilty by the High Court of Le Mans for public defamation for claiming that the Raël's movement was laundering money coming from drug trafficking, prostitution, arms dealing, and the sale of pornographic videotapes. Chol was ordered to pay 1FF in damages and 3,000FF in proceedings costs and to publish the penal judgment in Le Maine Libre.[52]
In 2003, Vorilhon sued Ottawa columnist Denis Gratton and Le Droit newspaper for $85,000 in defamation damages over a 23 January 2003 column; Raël lost and was ordered to pay court costs by Quebec Superior Court on 21 June 2006.[53]
Government action against Raël[edit]
In response to Raël's association with Clonaid, South Korean immigration authorities at the airport denied him entry into their country in 2003.[54] A planned Raëlian seminar continued, with Raël making some brief "big screen" video-camera appearances via the internet for the several hundred who attended. Raëlians of South Korea were instructed by Raël to protest near the Ministry of Health and Welfare that ordered him to leave.[29][54]
Officials detained Raël for nine hours at Incheon International Airport before he and his wife, Sophie de Niverville, left for Tokyo. From there, they took another plane 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.[29]
Raëlians say they encourage adult homosexual, bisexual, and heterosexual relationships and that society should recognize them legally.[55] Some governments, notably in Switzerland, fear that Raëlians are a threat to public morals for supporting liberalized sex education for children. The Swiss authorities argue that such liberalized sex education would encourage sexual abuse of underage children.[2] The Raëlians disagree with those fears and state that sex education done properly would involve educating parents as well as children.[56]
In February 2007, Raël, who wanted to start commercial activities with Swiss vintners, was denied residence in the Swiss Canton Valais, in part because he was feared to be endangering public values by promoting the concept of sexual liberty and the education of children on how to obtain sexual pleasure. Also cited was his association with the Clonaid human cloning claim; Switzerland forbade human cloning. In a brief statement, Raël said he considered appeal at the European level.[2]
Discography[edit]
1966: "Sacrée sale gueule"[57]
1966: "Dans un verre de vin"[58]
1967: "Le Miel et la cannelle" (Honey and cinnamon)[59]
1967: "Madam' Pipi" (Mrs. Toilet attendant)[60]
1967: "Monsieur votre femme me trompe" (Mister, your wife is cheating on me)[61]
1967: "Quand on se mariera" (When we'll get married)[62]
Bibliography[edit]
1974: Le Livre qui dit la vérité ("The Book Which Tells the Truth")
1975: Les extra-terrestres m'ont emmené sur leur planète ("Extraterrestrials Took me to Their Planet") (collected in English as "The Message Given to Me by Extra-Terrestrials") ISBN 4-900480-05-3
1978: La géniocratie ("Geniocracy")
1979: Accueillir les extra-terrestres ("Welcoming the Extraterrestrials") ISBN 4-900480-06-1
1980: La méditation sensuelle ("Sensual Meditation") ISBN 1-903571-07-3
1992: Le racisme religieux financé par le gouvernement socialiste
1995: Vive le Québec libre!
2001: Oui au clonage humain ("Yes to Human Cloning") ISBN 1-903571-05-7
2003: Le Maitraya ("The Maitraya")
2006: Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers -recompiled English compilation of the 1974,1975 and 1979 books ISBN 2-940252-20-3
See also[edit]
Ancient astronauts
Human rights
List of Buddha claimants
List of messiah claimants
List of people who have been considered deities
Notes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 123.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c Cult leader Raël denied residence in Switzerland, Agence France-Presse. 19 February 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
3.^ Jump up to: a b AutoPop, la revue des pilotes Raël : Messie ou Menteur ?. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
4.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 135–6.
5.Jump up ^ Raël's Bio Raëlian Official Website
6.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, Photo Section
7.^ Jump up to: a b c Palmer, p. 32.
8.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 32-33.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Palmer, p. 34.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Raël, Intelligent Design 135–6.
11.^ Jump up to: a b AutoPop, la revue des pilotes Raël : Messie ou Menteur ?. Retrieved 20 June 2007
12.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, 11–109.
13.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, 90, 107, 113, 159.
14.Jump up ^ Harvey, Neil, AND NOW THIS A COMPENDIUM OF NEWS, The Roanoke Times. 23 September 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2007.
15.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, 11.
16.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, 161–5.
17.Jump up ^ Segall, Rebecca, Close Encounter of the Raëlian Kind, The Village Voice. 4 September 2001. Retrieved 20 December 2007.
18.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, 11, 33, 88, 293, 332.
19.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, 73.
20.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, 101–104.
21.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, 10–79.
22.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design 163–4.
23.^ Jump up to: a b Palmer, p. 43.
24.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design; 290–1.
25.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design 139–40.
26.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 54-5.
27.Jump up ^ Lewis, p. 127.
28.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 43-5.
29.^ Jump up to: a b c d Goodenough, Patrick, Cloning Cult Miffed About Treatment of Leader, Cybercast News Service. 6 August 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
30.^ Jump up to: a b Palmer, p. 41.
31.Jump up ^ Raël to compete in Charlotte Motorsport.com. 27 March 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2007.
32.Jump up ^ Mosport Race Report, Results and Points, Motorsport.com. 23 May 1999. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
33.Jump up ^ Charlotte GT Opener Race Results, Motorsport.com. 1 April 2000. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
34.Jump up ^ Mosport GT results, Motorsport.com. 21 May 2000. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
35.Jump up ^ Lime Rock Park line up GT, Touring, Motorsport.com. 27 May 2000. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
36.Jump up ^ Laguna Seca Fitzgerald wins third straight in GT, Motorsport.com. 15 October 2000. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
37.Jump up ^ Las Vegas GT results, Motorsport.com. 30 October 2000. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
38.Jump up ^ Raël's press conference in London at the Wayback Machine (archived February 12, 2003), Raël Press File. 5 February 2002. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
39.Jump up ^ Raël, Yes to Human Cloning, p. 51-55.
40.Jump up ^ Raël, Yes to Human Cloning, p. 133-6.
41.Jump up ^ Raël, Yes to Human Cloning, p. 132.
42.Jump up ^ Brown, DeNeen L., The Leader of UFO Land, Washington Post. 17 January 2003. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
43.Jump up ^ Raël, Yes to Human Cloning, p. 72.
44.Jump up ^ Raël, Yes to Human Cloning, p. 57-60.
45.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 138.
46.Jump up ^ "Testimonies by ex-Raelians". raelian.com.
47.Jump up ^ SAINT-CYR, JEAN-DENIS (2009). CONFESSIONS DE RAËL À SON EX-BRAS DROIT. Les Éditions au Carré inc. ISBN 978-2-923335-18-6.
48.Jump up ^ Péloquin, Maryse (2004). Raël : Voleur d'âmes. ISBN 2-89588-088-3.
49.Jump up ^ "Testimonies by ex-Raelians". http://raelian.com.
50.^ Jump up to: a b c Susan J. Palmer, The Raël Deal, Religion in the News, Summer 2001, Vol. 4, No. 2.
51.Jump up ^ Radio-Canada (September 21, 2004). "Marois refuse de s'excuser à Raël". radio-canada.ca. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
52.^ Jump up to: a b c The Raëlian Movement, Human Rights Without Frontiers. Retrieved 2 December 2006.
53.Jump up ^ Block, Irwin, Welcome to real world, judge tells head Raëlian, Montreal Gazette. 3 July 2006. Retrieved on 5 July 2006.
54.^ Jump up to: a b Ji-young, So, Raëlian Cult Leader Threatens to Sue Korea Over Denied Entry, Korea Times. 3 August 2003. Retrieved 12 March 2007
55.Jump up ^ Left Clones, National Review. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
56.Jump up ^ Pedophilia accusations are pure discrimination, Raelianews.org. 23 August 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
57.Jump up ^ Claude Celler – Sacrée sale gueule, Bide&Musique. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
58.Jump up ^ Claude Celler – Dans un verre de vine, Bide&Musique. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
59.Jump up ^ Claude Celler – Le Miel et la Cannelle, Bide&Musique. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
60.Jump up ^ Claude Celler – Madam' Pipi, Bide&Musique. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
61.Jump up ^ Claude Celler – Monsieur votre femme me trompe, Bide&Musique. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
62.Jump up ^ Claude Celler – Quand on se mariera, Bide&Musique. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
References[edit]
Lewis, James R. The Gods Have Landed: New Religions from Other Worlds SUNY Press, 1995. ISBN 0-7914-2329-8.
Partridge, Christopher H. UFO Religions. Routledge, 2003. ISBN 0-415-26323-9.
Palmer, Susan J. Aliens Adored. Rutgers University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8135-3476-3.
Raël, Intelligent Design – Message from the Designers. Nova Distribution, 2006. ISBN 2-940252-20-3.
Raël, Yes to Human Cloning: Immortality Thanks to Science. Tagman Press, 2001. ISBN 1-903571-05-7; ISBN 1-903571-04-9.
The Raëlian books compared to Jean Sendy's
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: Claude Vorilhon


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Claude Vorilhon

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Claude Vorilhon "Raël"

Born
30 September 1946 (age 68)
Vichy, Allier, France[1]

School
Raëlism

Main interests
 Auto racing,
Universal morality

Notable ideas
 Sensual Meditation,
Geniocracy,
Raëlian cosmology
Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers

Influences[show]




Influenced[show]



A series of articles on the

Raëlian Movement

Adam, Eve, and Elohim (Raëlism).png
Founder • History
Beliefs & practices
Cloning (Clonaid)
Funds

Views on:
Politics
Economics
Cosmology

This box: view ·
 talk ·
 edit
   
Claude Maurice Marcel Vorilhon[2] (born 30 September 1946) is the founder and current leader of the UFO religion known as Raëlism.
Vorilhon began singing at a young age[citation needed] and soon became a sports-car journalist and test driver for his own car-racing magazine, Autopop.[3][4] Following what he said was an extraterrestrial encounter in December 1973, he formed the Raëlian Movement and changed his name to Raël (allegedly meaning "messenger of the elohim"). He later published several books, which detail his claims of an encounter with a being called Yahweh in 1973.[5] He traveled the world to promote his books for over 30 years.[6]


Contents  [hide]
1 Early life
2 The Raëlian messages
3 Marriages
4 Racecar driver
5 Views on technology
6 Criticism 6.1 Plagiarism
6.2 Appearances in the media
6.3 Appearances in court
6.4 Government action against Raël
7 Discography
8 Bibliography
9 See also
10 Notes
11 References

Early life[edit]
Vorilhon was born in Vichy, Allier, France.[1] He was raised in Ambert in the home of his maternal grandmother, who was atheist.[7] His father was Jewish and his mother was a Catholic.[citation needed] He attended a Catholic boarding school with Le Puy-en-Velay and caused a scandal[citation needed] by taking part in communion without being baptized. His parents withdrew him from the boarding school to put him in the school of Ambert.[7]
At age 15, Vorilhon ran away from boarding school and hitchhiked to Paris, where he spent three years playing music on the streets and in cafés and cabarets. He met with Lucien Morisse, the director of a national radio program, who was scouting for young talent. Vorilhon signed a record contract[citation needed] and became a rising teen pop star on the radio.[citation needed] He took on a new identity, assuming the name Claude Celler, and released six singles, including a minor hit song, "Le miel et la cannelle" (Honey and Cinnamon).[8] Vorilhon had a passion for the songs of Belgian singer Jacques Brel, and tried to imitate his singing style.[7] He was saving up his money to buy a racing car, a dream he had had since he was a young boy, but his prospects as a singer came to an abrupt end when Morisse, his sponsor, committed suicide in September 1970.[9]
Vorilhon decided to work as a sports journalist to gain access to the world of car racing. He met Marie-Paul Cristini, a nurse.[9] They moved to Clermont-Ferrand, where Vorilhon started his own publishing house.[10] He created a sports car magazine entitled Autopop, whose first issue was released in May 1971.[11] One of the tasks for his new startup was the position of testing new automobiles, which enabled him to enter the motor racing world.[10]
The Raëlian messages[edit]
Further information: History of Raëlism
In the book Le Livre qui dit la vérité ("The Book Which Tells the Truth"), Vorilhon stated that he had an alien visitation on 13 December 1973. According to Raël, in a secluded area within a French volcanic crater, an extraterrestrial being came out of a craft that had descended gently from the sky, and told him, in French, that he had come for the sole purpose of meeting with him. Raël said that he was given a message by this alien and told that it was his mission to pass this message on to the people of Earth.[12]
The book states that advanced human scientists from another planet with 25,000 years of scientific advances created all life on Earth through DNA manipulation.[13][14] These scientists, Raël said, were originally called Elohim or "those who came from the sky".[15] He wrote that some forty[16] prophets in Earth's history were sent by Elohim,[17] but their messages were distorted[18] by humans, largely because of the difference in the level of civilization between the advanced race and Earth's primitive one.[19]
Raël said he was given the mission of informing the world of humanity's origins in anticipation of the return of these extraterrestrials by building a residential embassy in neutral territory.[20] He stated that certain mysteries were explained to him based on new interpretations of sacred texts such as the Bible.[21] He said that, on 7 October 1975, he was contacted by one of the Elohim, who took him to another planet to meet Buddha, Moses, Jesus and Muhammad. He stated that his second book, Les extra-terrestres m'ont emmené sur leur planète ("Extraterrestrials Took Me To Their Planet"), relates the teaching he received from these people. In this book, Raël describes harmonious and peaceable beings, who were free of money, sickness, and war.[22]
Marriages[edit]
Raël was married three times.[23]
In 1974, Raël decided to give up his automobile magazine, Autopop.[3] That September, the last issue, number 34, was published.[11] Raël then devoted himself to the task he said was given by his "biological father", an extraterrestrial named Yahweh.[24] Shortly after a first public conference, Raël founded MADECH – a group of people interested in helping him in his task, which later became the International Raëlian Movement.[25] Sociologist Susan J. Palmer said that Cristini, a nurse, diagnosed Raël as clinically depressed after he appeared at her door step in 1987, burnt out from the tasks he carried out within the movement.[26]
Raël focused on spreading his message in Japan in the 1980s, and by 1987, he met Lisa Sunagawa. Sunagawa soon began accompanying Raël during his travels to Lima, Miami, Brazil, and Martinique. In a television documentary, They're Coming! (1990) by Radio Canada, Raël was seen with four women,[27] while Lisa, in slow-motion, wore a pink tutu and held hands with him.[23]
Raël separated from Sunagawa sometime between 1990 and 1992. Around that time, Sophie de Niverville, whose mother and aunt were both Raëlians, was convinced of the authenticity of the messages. Sophie received a Raëlian baptism at age 15. When she turned 16, she married Raël at Montreal's city hall. This was done with her mother's permission. During a December 2001 interview with sociologist Susan J. Palmer, Sophie spoke positively about Raël despite their divorce the previous year.[28] In 2003, he was married to Sophie.[29] On 6 August 2003, the Cybercast News Service said Raël moved back to Canada with his wife Sophie after being escorted out of South Korea by government officials.[29]
Racecar driver[edit]
In 1994, wealthy Japanese Raëlians rented a racecar and showed it to Raël. They believed that if Raël would race it, it would generate publicity for the movement. Raël accepted the offer on the condition that the funding not come from member tithes or embassy funding. Funding for Raël's races, which took place in the 1990s and early 2000s, came mostly from well-funded European and Japanese people.[30] His best finishes included "a 3rd place finish in GT 1 in Lime Rock with the Mosler Raptor in 1997, and a 7th place finish at Watkins Glen with a Viper GTS R in the FIA GT 1999 race".[31] Raël participated in the 1999 BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am Series and the 2000 Speedvision GT Championship. According to Palmer, Raël made an announcement in November 2001 that he intended to retire from professional auto racing. She said that Raël still enjoyed automobile racing, albeit in the form of video games.[30]
1999 BFGoodrich Tires Trans-Am Series

Round
Date
Car
Start
Finish
Laps
Track
Source
Two 23 May 1999 Chevrolet 21st 19th 35 out of 40 Mosport International Raceway Motorsport.com[32]
2000 Speedvision GT Championship events

Round
Date
Car
Start
Finish
Laps
Track
Source
One 1 April 2000 Lotus Esprit 29th 32nd 15 out of 29 Lowe's Motor Speedway Motorsport.com[33]
Two 21 May 2000 Lotus Esprit 31st 18th 27 out of 27 Mosport International Raceway Motorsport.com[34]
Three 27 May 2000 Lotus Esprit 38th   Lime Rock Park Motorsport.com[35]
Eight 15 October 2000 Porsche 911 GT3 32nd 25th 25 out of 26 Laguna Seca Raceway Motorsport.com[36]
Nine 29 October 2000 Porsche 911 GT3 25th 25th 29 out of 30 Las Vegas Motor Speedway Motorsport.com[37]
Views on technology[edit]
Much of Raël's advocacy concerning futuristic technology is described in his 2001 book, Yes to Human Cloning. He supported human genetic engineering in order to avoid genetically inherited diseases and to reduce the economic burden on society. He said that no distinctive emphasis needed to be allocated to a particular race or religion.[38][39] Elsewhere in the book, he stated that nanotechnology will make it possible to have micro-distributive power generation (essentially a power plant in each house), fur-like furnishings that are self-cleaning with hair-like fibers that move on their own,[40] and biological robots.[41] Nanostructures control biology, so Raël expected that meat and salads will someday be grown in a machine via molecular construction.[42][43]
Raël believed that genetically modified food is the only way to stop hunger everywhere in the world, and he saw a future where qualities of different foods can be combined through direct genetic modification.[44] In Raël's book, Extraterrestrials took me to their planet (book number 2 in the volume Intelligent Design), he said that animation of plant life was possible through nanotechnology and that he was presented genetically modified flowers, that swayed and changed colors with music, while on another planet.[45]
Criticism[edit]
Plagiarism[edit]
In recent years, many ex-Raelians have accused Claude Vorilhon of plagiarism.[46] They have cited numerous quotes from Rael's books and compared them with those of author Jean Sendy. Raelian concepts such as chemical education, infinity, geniocracy and others may all be found in Sendy's books. Most of Rael's "Sensual Meditation" book is said to have been derived from the Silva 'Mind Control' Method which was allegedly taught to him by ex-level-5 guide of the Canadian Raelian Movement, Jean-Denis Saint-Cyr.[47]
In her book "Raël : Voleur d'âmes", Maryse Péloquin provides the result of her 10 years of thorough research into Claude Vorilhon and his movement, with compelling evidence to support a similar view that Rael has taken concepts and often paraphrased full paragraphs from other UFO and ancient astronaut authors of the 50's, 60's and early 70's such as Jean Sendy, Brinsley Le Poer Trench, and Robert Charroux.[48] In her book, the dialogue of Rael's "encounter with an ET" is shown to closely resemble that of "contactee" George Adamski who had an encounter on December 13, 1952.
Much of the Raelian philosophy also closely matches that of Osho.[49] The white costume which Rael wears closely resembles that which Osho was known to have worn at one time.
Appearances in the media[edit]
In 1992, Raël appeared on Ciel mon Mardi, a French talk show hosted by journalist Christophe Dechavanne. Toward the end of the show, Raël's liberal views on sex were critiqued by a priest, a social worker, and a psychologist. A former Raëlian named Jean Parraga believed that his wife and children were being held as prisoners and that Raël attempted to break up his family. He thought they were being treated like criminals in activities such as orgies and sacrifice involving children at the Sensual Meditation camp. Parraga also had a criminal record as a drug dealer and car thief, and in August 1992, he attempted to shoot Raël.[50]
Raëlians from around the world sent letters of protest to Dechevanne's TV station. Dechavanne felt that this was "incitement to violence" and sued Raël. The judge appointed to the case decided to question Raël. Raël agreed to ask his members to stop sending letters if the station apologized publicly. The two parties agreed to drop the feud.[50]
In 2004, Raël appeared on the first airing of the Quebec version of the French talk show Tout le monde en parle, hosted by Guy A. Lepage. During this appearance, Raël upset panel members with his statements on democracy and cloning. The situation reached its peak when caricaturist Serge Chapleau called Raël a "farce" and a "nerd", ridiculed his clothes, and grabbed him by the chignon.[citation needed] Raël left the stage, followed by his disciples. A fellow guest on the show, Parti Québécois Member of Quebec Legislative Assembly Pauline Marois, who would later become Premier of Quebec, called Raël "insane". The Raëlian Movement asked Marois to apologize, which she refused.[51]
A Swiss newspaper, who called Raëlians "rat heads", was sued for defamation. Another suit was brought against journalist Stephane Baillargeon for writing in the Montreal daily Le Devoir that the Raëlians defended pedophiles and that certain ex-Raëlians claimed the "gourou" liked very young girls. After some negotiation, Le Devoir published a letter from Raël condemning the charge as "ignominious defamation" and asserting that the Raëlian Movement had "always condemned pedophilia and promoted respect for laws that justly forbid the practices that are always the fault of unbalanced individuals".[50]
Appearances in court[edit]
In 1991, Raël sued French journalist Jean-Yves Cashga for defamation; Raël lost, however, and was ordered to pay court costs. The judgment remains uncollected. Amidst growing legal problems in France, Raël decided to emigrate to Canada.
On two separate court dates of 2 September 1994 at the High Courts of Paris and 1 October 1996 at the Appeal Court of Paris, journalists Jacques Cotta and Pascal Martin of Flammarion Publishing were found guilty of attributing racist statements and distorted quotations to Raël in their book Dans le secret des sectes. They were fined 10,000FF in damages and 13,000FF in proceedings costs. They were also ordered to insert stickers mentioning the sentence on copies not yet distributed, suppress of the passage in the next editions, and were told that they would be fined 100FF for each non-conforming copy.[52]
On 26 January 1994, in emergency proceedings by the Appeal Court of Reims, Myriam Assan was accused of defamation for claiming in his book that "Raël was often sentenced for corruption of minors". Assan was given a provisional sentence of 10,000FF in damages and ordered to withdraw of the book. He was sentenced to pay a penalty of 300FF per infringement and 5,000FF in proceedings costs and to publish the judgment in Le Monde and Le Figaro.[52]
On 13 December 1994, Gérard Chol, director of Le Maine Libre, was declared guilty by the High Court of Le Mans for public defamation for claiming that the Raël's movement was laundering money coming from drug trafficking, prostitution, arms dealing, and the sale of pornographic videotapes. Chol was ordered to pay 1FF in damages and 3,000FF in proceedings costs and to publish the penal judgment in Le Maine Libre.[52]
In 2003, Vorilhon sued Ottawa columnist Denis Gratton and Le Droit newspaper for $85,000 in defamation damages over a 23 January 2003 column; Raël lost and was ordered to pay court costs by Quebec Superior Court on 21 June 2006.[53]
Government action against Raël[edit]
In response to Raël's association with Clonaid, South Korean immigration authorities at the airport denied him entry into their country in 2003.[54] A planned Raëlian seminar continued, with Raël making some brief "big screen" video-camera appearances via the internet for the several hundred who attended. Raëlians of South Korea were instructed by Raël to protest near the Ministry of Health and Welfare that ordered him to leave.[29][54]
Officials detained Raël for nine hours at Incheon International Airport before he and his wife, Sophie de Niverville, left for Tokyo. From there, they took another plane 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.[29]
Raëlians say they encourage adult homosexual, bisexual, and heterosexual relationships and that society should recognize them legally.[55] Some governments, notably in Switzerland, fear that Raëlians are a threat to public morals for supporting liberalized sex education for children. The Swiss authorities argue that such liberalized sex education would encourage sexual abuse of underage children.[2] The Raëlians disagree with those fears and state that sex education done properly would involve educating parents as well as children.[56]
In February 2007, Raël, who wanted to start commercial activities with Swiss vintners, was denied residence in the Swiss Canton Valais, in part because he was feared to be endangering public values by promoting the concept of sexual liberty and the education of children on how to obtain sexual pleasure. Also cited was his association with the Clonaid human cloning claim; Switzerland forbade human cloning. In a brief statement, Raël said he considered appeal at the European level.[2]
Discography[edit]
1966: "Sacrée sale gueule"[57]
1966: "Dans un verre de vin"[58]
1967: "Le Miel et la cannelle" (Honey and cinnamon)[59]
1967: "Madam' Pipi" (Mrs. Toilet attendant)[60]
1967: "Monsieur votre femme me trompe" (Mister, your wife is cheating on me)[61]
1967: "Quand on se mariera" (When we'll get married)[62]
Bibliography[edit]
1974: Le Livre qui dit la vérité ("The Book Which Tells the Truth")
1975: Les extra-terrestres m'ont emmené sur leur planète ("Extraterrestrials Took me to Their Planet") (collected in English as "The Message Given to Me by Extra-Terrestrials") ISBN 4-900480-05-3
1978: La géniocratie ("Geniocracy")
1979: Accueillir les extra-terrestres ("Welcoming the Extraterrestrials") ISBN 4-900480-06-1
1980: La méditation sensuelle ("Sensual Meditation") ISBN 1-903571-07-3
1992: Le racisme religieux financé par le gouvernement socialiste
1995: Vive le Québec libre!
2001: Oui au clonage humain ("Yes to Human Cloning") ISBN 1-903571-05-7
2003: Le Maitraya ("The Maitraya")
2006: Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers -recompiled English compilation of the 1974,1975 and 1979 books ISBN 2-940252-20-3
See also[edit]
Ancient astronauts
Human rights
List of Buddha claimants
List of messiah claimants
List of people who have been considered deities
Notes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 123.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c Cult leader Raël denied residence in Switzerland, Agence France-Presse. 19 February 2007. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
3.^ Jump up to: a b AutoPop, la revue des pilotes Raël : Messie ou Menteur ?. Retrieved 20 June 2007.
4.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 135–6.
5.Jump up ^ Raël's Bio Raëlian Official Website
6.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, Photo Section
7.^ Jump up to: a b c Palmer, p. 32.
8.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 32-33.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Palmer, p. 34.
10.^ Jump up to: a b Raël, Intelligent Design 135–6.
11.^ Jump up to: a b AutoPop, la revue des pilotes Raël : Messie ou Menteur ?. Retrieved 20 June 2007
12.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, 11–109.
13.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, 90, 107, 113, 159.
14.Jump up ^ Harvey, Neil, AND NOW THIS A COMPENDIUM OF NEWS, The Roanoke Times. 23 September 2006. Retrieved 20 December 2007.
15.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, 11.
16.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, 161–5.
17.Jump up ^ Segall, Rebecca, Close Encounter of the Raëlian Kind, The Village Voice. 4 September 2001. Retrieved 20 December 2007.
18.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, 11, 33, 88, 293, 332.
19.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, 73.
20.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, 101–104.
21.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, 10–79.
22.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design 163–4.
23.^ Jump up to: a b Palmer, p. 43.
24.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design; 290–1.
25.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design 139–40.
26.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 54-5.
27.Jump up ^ Lewis, p. 127.
28.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 43-5.
29.^ Jump up to: a b c d Goodenough, Patrick, Cloning Cult Miffed About Treatment of Leader, Cybercast News Service. 6 August 2007. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
30.^ Jump up to: a b Palmer, p. 41.
31.Jump up ^ Raël to compete in Charlotte Motorsport.com. 27 March 2007. Retrieved 7 October 2007.
32.Jump up ^ Mosport Race Report, Results and Points, Motorsport.com. 23 May 1999. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
33.Jump up ^ Charlotte GT Opener Race Results, Motorsport.com. 1 April 2000. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
34.Jump up ^ Mosport GT results, Motorsport.com. 21 May 2000. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
35.Jump up ^ Lime Rock Park line up GT, Touring, Motorsport.com. 27 May 2000. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
36.Jump up ^ Laguna Seca Fitzgerald wins third straight in GT, Motorsport.com. 15 October 2000. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
37.Jump up ^ Las Vegas GT results, Motorsport.com. 30 October 2000. Retrieved 18 August 2007.
38.Jump up ^ Raël's press conference in London at the Wayback Machine (archived February 12, 2003), Raël Press File. 5 February 2002. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
39.Jump up ^ Raël, Yes to Human Cloning, p. 51-55.
40.Jump up ^ Raël, Yes to Human Cloning, p. 133-6.
41.Jump up ^ Raël, Yes to Human Cloning, p. 132.
42.Jump up ^ Brown, DeNeen L., The Leader of UFO Land, Washington Post. 17 January 2003. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
43.Jump up ^ Raël, Yes to Human Cloning, p. 72.
44.Jump up ^ Raël, Yes to Human Cloning, p. 57-60.
45.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 138.
46.Jump up ^ "Testimonies by ex-Raelians". raelian.com.
47.Jump up ^ SAINT-CYR, JEAN-DENIS (2009). CONFESSIONS DE RAËL À SON EX-BRAS DROIT. Les Éditions au Carré inc. ISBN 978-2-923335-18-6.
48.Jump up ^ Péloquin, Maryse (2004). Raël : Voleur d'âmes. ISBN 2-89588-088-3.
49.Jump up ^ "Testimonies by ex-Raelians". http://raelian.com.
50.^ Jump up to: a b c Susan J. Palmer, The Raël Deal, Religion in the News, Summer 2001, Vol. 4, No. 2.
51.Jump up ^ Radio-Canada (September 21, 2004). "Marois refuse de s'excuser à Raël". radio-canada.ca. Retrieved January 28, 2013.
52.^ Jump up to: a b c The Raëlian Movement, Human Rights Without Frontiers. Retrieved 2 December 2006.
53.Jump up ^ Block, Irwin, Welcome to real world, judge tells head Raëlian, Montreal Gazette. 3 July 2006. Retrieved on 5 July 2006.
54.^ Jump up to: a b Ji-young, So, Raëlian Cult Leader Threatens to Sue Korea Over Denied Entry, Korea Times. 3 August 2003. Retrieved 12 March 2007
55.Jump up ^ Left Clones, National Review. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
56.Jump up ^ Pedophilia accusations are pure discrimination, Raelianews.org. 23 August 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
57.Jump up ^ Claude Celler – Sacrée sale gueule, Bide&Musique. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
58.Jump up ^ Claude Celler – Dans un verre de vine, Bide&Musique. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
59.Jump up ^ Claude Celler – Le Miel et la Cannelle, Bide&Musique. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
60.Jump up ^ Claude Celler – Madam' Pipi, Bide&Musique. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
61.Jump up ^ Claude Celler – Monsieur votre femme me trompe, Bide&Musique. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
62.Jump up ^ Claude Celler – Quand on se mariera, Bide&Musique. Retrieved 19 August 2007.
References[edit]
Lewis, James R. The Gods Have Landed: New Religions from Other Worlds SUNY Press, 1995. ISBN 0-7914-2329-8.
Partridge, Christopher H. UFO Religions. Routledge, 2003. ISBN 0-415-26323-9.
Palmer, Susan J. Aliens Adored. Rutgers University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8135-3476-3.
Raël, Intelligent Design – Message from the Designers. Nova Distribution, 2006. ISBN 2-940252-20-3.
Raël, Yes to Human Cloning: Immortality Thanks to Science. Tagman Press, 2001. ISBN 1-903571-05-7; ISBN 1-903571-04-9.
The Raëlian books compared to Jean Sendy's
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History of Raëlism

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 Raëlian Messages on van
A series of articles on the

Raëlian Movement

Adam, Eve, and Elohim (Raëlism).png
Founder • History
Beliefs & practices
Cloning (Clonaid)
Funds

Views on:
Politics
Economics
Cosmology

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Throughout the history of Raëlism, members of the Raëlian Movement have advocated the use of sex-positive feminism, condoms, birth control, masturbation, meditation, genetically modified organisms, and human cloning.[1] In the past, projects such as Clonaid, for human cloning, and Clitoraid, for repairing genitally mutilated clitorises,[2][3] have been founded. Raëlians are also believers of the Raëlian movement's version of its history as described in the books written by Claude Vorilhon.


Contents  [hide]
1 Early years 1.1 Founding
1.2 Sightings
1.3 Geniocratic movement
2 Middle years 2.1 Claude Raël travels around the world
2.2 First wave of sexual advocacy
2.3 Raël's return to racing
2.4 Calls for religious and tax-exempt status
3 Recent years 3.1 Museum for the paranormal
3.2 Anti-clerical campaigns
3.3 Advocacy
3.4 Africa
3.5 Relocation of the North American headquarters
3.6 Members leaving after claims that Raëlian books were plagiarized from Jean Sendy's works
4 See also
5 References 5.1 Cited texts
6 Further reading

Early years[edit]
The beginnings of Raëlian history goes back to the history of Raël, which concerns the origins of Raël, his personage, and his works, which developed from Claude Vorilhon. The personage purportedly began as the result of encounters described in Raëlian Messages, mainly from The Book Which Tells the Truth (1974) and Extraterrestrials Took Me to their Planet (1975). None of these encounters is verified from a factual standpoint but they tie into the beliefs of Raëlians.
Raëlian books are a primary source of Raël's history. Translated portions of the original text are distributed freely worldwide in 36 languages on the Internet.[4] Some of the books include the contents of multiple Raëlian books and have testimonials, footnotes, updates, and hyperlinks appended to them. In addition to the Raëlian books, a Canadian sociologist named Susan J. Palmer writes about Raël's struggle to organize the young Raëlian movement.[5]
Founding[edit]



 Puy de Lassolas
According to Raëlian beliefs, on the morning of 13 December 1973 (Julian Date 2442029),[6] Claude Vorilhon — who was at the time a professional test driver and automobile journalist for the Autopop Magazine — had a first meeting with an extraterrestrial humanoid, an Eloha (plural: Elohim), who landed a UFO within an inactive volcano called Puy de Lassolas near the capital of Auvergne, France (Clermont-Ferrand).[7]
Two days later, in the third meeting, an Eloha referred to similar insignias: one engraved his spaceship and one on his spacesuit. Both were formed by interlocked triangles which according to the Eloha, means "as above, so below" enclosing swastika which means "all is cyclic in infinite time". In Raëlism, the swastika symbolizes, "The choice between paradise, which the peaceful use of science makes possible, and the hell of returning to the primitive stage where humanity submits to nature instead of dominating and benefiting from it." This is the original emblem of the Raëlian Movement which is used primarily in the African and Asian continents.[8]
Three days later, Claude Vorilhon meets Yahweh Elohim for the last time that year on a Tuesday. On that day, Vorilhon was given the name for the religious movement which he was to establish. The six-letter name is "MADECH", which stands for "mouvement pour l‘accueil des Elohim créateurs de l’humanité" or "movement for welcoming the Elohim, creators of humanity". It also stands for "Moise a devancé Elie et le Christ" meaning "Moses preceded Elijah and the Christ". The "New Commandments" presented to him on that Tuesday concerned the establishment of Geniocracy, Economic Humanitarianism, World Government, and his mission to catalyze these endeavors and to hasten the return of the Elohim[9] to Earth.[10]
On 19 September 1974, Claude Vorilhon held his first public conference Paris, France which attracted more than 2000 people.[11] Soon after, Raël founded and began to establish MADECH.[11] On 13 December, this was brought into fruition as 170 MADECH members gathered at Puy de Lassolas and formed an organization of "a president, a treasurer, and a secretary" who each signed a 10,000 franc check payable toward the publication of the first Raëlian book.[12]
Susan J. Palmer commented that in UFO platform societies like the MADECH organization, there was no obligation of membership and commitment like those found in cults, but rather an open place where people could freely exchange their views and relate their experiences on the subject of UFOs. Only the first Raëlian book had surfaced at the time, and Palmer says it had consisted largely of a "creation myth and eschatology" but it had "no rituals, no priesthood, no experiential dimension, and no coherent system of ethics" which would lead to an organized movement that had any chance of committing to large projects guided by a leader.[13]
At the Place de la République in March 1975, Claude Vorhilon staged a purging of leaders which hampered his own creativity.[14] In the following month, Claude Vorhilon called for a meeting of the MADECH organization, which held its headquarters in Paris, and as its president, he conducted it with the intention to rid the organization from the kind of occultism and pseudoscience which contradicted his physicalist point of view.[12] In addition to this, the MADECH officials had an increasing desire to blend in with the rest of the ufologists and trekkies and were becoming less interested in the Raëlian view of Elohim extraterrestrials. A schism was becoming more apparent among the officials, and subsequently Vorilhon dismissed all of them. Their positions were replaced by an inner circle of seven people whose mission was to inform the public of the Raëlian messages and to raise funds for building an embassy for extraterrestrials.[12] Vorilhon says he resigned as president of MADECH by that June, because it seemed to him that MADECH could survive on its own and that he had made a mistake by structuring it into a form that he likened to a "petanque club or a war veterans' association." Then he speaks of a personal desire to settle in the countryside and write an autobiography of events happening prior to his purported extraterrestrial encounters beginning on 13 December 1973.[15]
Sightings[edit]
In his book Intelligent Design, Raël claims the following events occurred. On 31 July 1975, along with his wife Marie-Paul and a devoted MADECH member, François, Raël sights a UFO near his new home in the countryside near Clermont-Ferrand,[15] the town he previously had lived in.[16] The glowing craft performed aerial start-and-go maneuvers along a zigzag path. Raël thought that this was a verification that the new location that he and his wife were now living in was the right place and time.[15]
He said that on 7 October 1975, an hour before midnight,[6] after having a sudden urge to observe the night sky, he decided to go to Roc Plat, an uninhabited place between two brooks surround by a forest. According to him a spacecraft suddenly landed and shone a bright light behind a bush. He said he then met the same extraterrestrial from his first encounter on 13 December 1973. He said after a few words, he was taken up in that spacecraft with the Eloha and sent to a remote base relatively close to the solar system where he was given a resort-style relaxation treatment including an organic breakfast and over an hour in a jacuzzi of warm blue liquid, slightly thicker than water.[17]
He said that on the morning of 8 October, Rael sat mesmerized and listened to a 3 hour lecture from Yahweh Elohim about his religions and philosophers, the need for geniocracy, Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism, and about the ideas of God and Soul, and later traveled to the Planet of the Eternals. He said the planet orbited around a very large star and had a climate similar to the rain forests of Earth. He later claimed to have sat down with the Eloha and had a meal with the major prophets including Buddha, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed. He said that a guide showed him installations that housed machines for creating biological robots. He gave a picture of his mother to a machine which he claimed created similarly-appearing biological robot. He said that in the night, he received an introduction to build his future home at the Planet of the Eternals and was presented young, mature female biological robots. He said that before reaching a climax, he wore a helmet which played music controlled by his thoughts, which the females danced to. Then the climax happens.[18]
He said that on the morning of 9 October, he took a scented bath and that soon after, Yahweh Elohim (an extraterrestrial) presented Claude Vorilhon to a machine which maximized his faculties. Yahweh Elohim then gave advice to him, the one who has become Claude Raël. Claude Raël then spent a few more hours on the planet, doing Yoga and being given a long guided meditation session, and enjoyed what that world had to offer while he was there, including meeting with the past messengers of the Elohim.[19] By midnight of 10 October (Julian Date 2442695),[6] 666 days after the first meeting with the Elohim and minutes after the last one, Claude Raël is back on Roc Plat.[20] His entire experience has taken exactly 72 hours.
He said that in the afternoon of 7 October 1976, at la Negrerie of France, fifty Raëlians witnessed cotton-like substances falling from the sky[21] which Raël said has a historical relationship to manna.[22] Raël said that manna was a pulverized synthetic chemical food made by the Elohim, and that it was sent to Israelites on the ground in similar manner during their journey through an artificial passage in Red Sea formed by a repulsion beam.[22]
Geniocratic movement[edit]
In 1978, Raëlians had a conference for the French press announcing their vision for a worldwide political movement for Geniocracy. In March 1978, one of their members was voted onto the city council of Sarlat. However, in the previous December, the authoritarian nature of the Geniocratic model of government, the Raëlians being a sect, and the swastika in their logo prompted the police to seize documents from Raël's home as well as from the homes of other Raëlians.[23]
Middle years[edit]
Claude Raël travels around the world[edit]
See also: Raëlian Church membership estimates
From 1980 to 1992, Raël and his movement became increasingly global. Beginning from 1980, Claude Raël's fifth Raëlian book Sensual Meditation was published for the first time and formal publication of the Raëlian Messages in the Japanese language began[24] as part of the Raëlian mission to Japan.[25] Two years later, Africa became another target area in the mission to spread the Raëlian messages.[25] In May 1983, Claude Raël visited a famous landmark that survived the atomic bombing at Hiroshima, Japan known as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.[26]
At sundown in 1986, in a restaurant next to Villa Pamphilli park—just outside Vatican City—Raël began claiming to members that he was the true pope and played a guitar hymn about extraterrestrials.[27] In 1990, Australians became the next Raëlian target,[25] and in 1992, Canada's Raëlians purchased 115 hectares near Valcourt, Quebec for a series of summer seminars in North America, and their leader gave it the name "Le Jardin du Prophète" (The Prophet's Gardens).[28]
First wave of sexual advocacy[edit]
Quebec remained as the epicenter for Raëlian campaigns and testing of experimental ideas.[25] In December 1992, a project—Operation Condom—was launched in response to a veto of the Montreal Catholic School Commission against the installation of high school condom vending machines. A mobile condom vendor—a pink van dubbed the "condom-mobile"—was orchestrated by a Raëlian, who advocated the notion that extraterrestrial Elohim wanted the teens to live a long life of pleasure and criticized the commission by quoting statistics about teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.[29] About 10,000 condoms were distributed.[30]
In Montreal 7 July 1993, a conference about masturbation entitled "Yes to Self-Love" was hosted by Betty Dodson, Raël, and a Raëlian bishop.[31] Betty Dodson, who came to Montreal the previous month,[32] spoke about her dream of a worldwide masturbation campaign for the 2000 New Year's celebration. Raël described his view on self-love, saying it is how people become linked to the cosmos, while Daniel Chabot—a local college psychology professor—spoke about the psychological benefits of masturbation.[31][33] Chabot's statements, along with his status with the sect and his purported use of his psychological credentials to attract new recruits led to some controversy with a corporation. The corporation won the suit but was ultimately charged by Chabot.[33]
Raël's return to racing[edit]
In 1994, rich Japanese Raëlians rented a race car and showed it to Claude Vorilhon. They believed that it would generate publicity for the movement. Claude accepted the offer on the condition that the funding must not come from member tithes or embassy funding. So the funding of Raël's races which took place in the 1990s and early 2000s came mostly from well funded European and Japanese people.[34]
Calls for religious and tax-exempt status[edit]
On 7 October 1994, Raëlians began implementing their own version of baptism in front of a baptismal font inside St. Peter's Basilica, however, in response to Catholics' complaints, Vatican guards escorted the Raëlians to the exit gates of the city. In the same week, Raël purportedly handed a copy of his book Le Livre qui dit la vérité to Pope John Paul II.[27]
In March 1995, the Raëlians attained religious-corporation status in Quebec and was therefore eligible to apply for federal tax exemption in Canada. However the tax department refused the application since according to them, they did not meet the requirement of religions which believe in transcendental and immaterial beings. Raëlians made an appeal which did not go through. However, in the United States, the Raëlians' attempt to achieve tax-exempt status was a success.[35]



 Raëlians at UFOland
Recent years[edit]
Museum for the paranormal[edit]
In August 1997, UFOland—built by the Raëlians as the largest structure in North America made out of bales of hay—opened on their Valcourt estate. Its purpose was to inform the public about the Raëlian interpretation of the UFO phenomenon and to attract funds for the Raëlian Foundation. The first room served as an attraction for their proposed Raëlian embassy for extraterrestrials. Audio visual presentations in six other rooms displayed teachings about the Raëlian message, sightings, and government cover-ups concerning UFOs. In 2001, UFOland was closed to the public. The reason given by the director for UFOland was that the revenue did not justify the costs—including two hour trips from Montreal.[36]
Anti-clerical campaigns[edit]
In July 2001, Raëlians on the streets attracted Italians and Swiss people as they gave leaflets in protest to over a hundred child molesters in existence among Roman Catholic clergy in France. They recommended that parents should not send their children to Catholic confession. The Episcopal vicar of Geneva sued the Raëlian Church for libel but did not win.[27][37] The judge did not accept the charges for the reason that the Raëlians were not attacking the whole of the Catholic Church.[27]
In October 2002, Raëlians in a Canadian anti-clerical parade held handed out Christian crosses to high school students. They were invited to burn the crosses in a park not far from Montreal's Mount Royal and to sign letters of apostasy from the Roman Catholic Church. The Quebec Association of Bishops called this "incitement to hatred", and several school boards attempted to prevent their students from meeting Raëlians.[38]
Advocacy[edit]
On 26 December 2002, Brigitte Boisselier, a Raëlian Bishop and CEO of a biotechnology company called Clonaid, announced the birth of baby Eve, a human clone, which at that point ignited much media attention, ethical debate, doubt, critics, and claims of a hoax. Spokespeople for the movement, such as Claude Vorilhon, have suggested that this is only first step in achieving a more important agenda, saying that accelerated growth process and mind transfer, in combination with cloning are mechanisms by which eternal life may be achieved.[39][40]
According to the Japan Today of 10 February 2003, that Sunday, about sixty Raëlians celebrated with banners celebrating the purported birth of the first cloned babies: 1) a baby girl named Eve, 2) a daughter and clone of a Dutch lesbian, 3) a son and clone of a Japanese male. The small parade event began at Hiroshima Station and ended at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. In the article, figures by the observers and a representative of the movement suggest that one percent of Japan's Raëlians participated in the event.[41]
On 6 August 2003, the first day of Raëlian year 58 AH,[42] a tech article on the USA Today newspaper mentions an "unlikely ally" of the Monsanto Company, the Raëlian Movement of Brazil. The movement gave vocal support in response to the company's support for genetically modified organisms, particularly in their country. Brazilian farmers have been using Monsanto's genetically engineered soy plant as well as the glyphosate herbicide to which it was artificially adapted. The Raëlians spoke against the Brazilian government's ban on GMOs.[43]
The Raëlian Movement promoted 2004 as the "year of atheism".[44] On 11 December 2004,[45] Raëlians marched in the Atheist Convention in Rome. One of them said, "[Just as] children need to understand that there is no Santa, people need to realize there is no God."[46] In YouTube, Raëlians have posted videos in denial of the Holy Spirit in response to the Blasphemy Challenge. Despite their anti-religious leaning, Raëlians—who are philosophical materialists—believe that a trained mind can achieve telepathic communication with extraterrestrial Elohim.[47]
See also: List of people in Playboy 2000–2009 § 2004
"The group of UFO believers wants to clone its most beautiful members"—the Raëlians—appeared in the October 2004 issue of Playboy magazine.[48][49] On 12 April 2005, Raël and a few of his partners had a meeting with Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner at his Playboy Mansion and were photographed in issue 269 of the Raëlian Contact newsletter.[50][51]
Africa[edit]



 Clitoraid event in South Korea with Koreans in blackface.
In 2006, the Raëlian Movement vocally advocated the concept of a "United States of Africa" following a more honest and complete decolonization that would involve the disbanding of corrupt rulerships as a result of Africans returning to their non-Christian ancestors' religious and territorial roots, which existed before colonization by Europeans.[52] However, Raëlians later emphasized that the word "Africa" was colonial in origin, so on 28 December, an article in Raëlian Contact 325 suggested a different name: The United Kingdoms of Kama.[53]
In the same year, the Raëlian Movement founded a public fundraising effort, Clitoraid, to pay for repairs of clitorises, especially for women in Africa where excision is rampant.[3] In January 2007, representatives of the organization raised funds for the cause at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada.[54][55][56]
Relocation of the North American headquarters[edit]
In February 2007, the Raëlian Movement put up for sale the UFOland headquarters compound near the small village of Maricourt, Quebec for $2.95 million (Can.). Their intention was to shift the headquarters to somewhere in the southern United States, possibly to Palm Springs, California.[57]
In May 2007, the Canadian retreat was sold.[58] The Raëlian Movement relocated their North American headquarters to Las Vegas, Nevada. Ricky Roehr, the President of the Raëlian Movement in the United States, said the Raëlians chose Las Vegas because they thought that it was a happy and open-minded community. The Raëlians planned to build a place or buy and renovate a hotel in order to conduct their seminars.
Members leaving after claims that Raëlian books were plagiarized from Jean Sendy's works[edit]
In November 2009, Wonjune Lee, an eleven-year member of the Raelian movement, came across information regarding works of fiction that were published by Jean Sendy, a prominent UFOlogist and French author. Particular passages in one of Sendy's works, "Those gods who made heaven & earth", published in 1969, were paralleled with particular passages in the Raelian book The book which tells the truth, published in 1974. Although review of the fundamental differences between the work of Sendy and Rael is quite clear. Sendy like many of his contemporaries hypothesised that human evolution had some form of intervention from extra-terrestrials, where as Rael's message states that human beings did not evolve but were created by the extra-terrestrials (Elohim) using the matter found on earth. Also the concept of infinity as described by Rael is unique.
See also[edit]
Clonaid
Raëlian beliefs and practices
Raëlism
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Broughton, Philip D. Promise of as much sex as you want and everlasting life, The Daily Telegraph. 31 December 2002. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
2.Jump up ^ "On s'en est fait passer une p'tite vite!", Cyberpresse.ca. 5 December 2006. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Raëlian effort to promote sponsorship of clitorises, Clitoraid.org. Retrieved 9 August 2006.
4.Jump up ^ The Raëlian Movement: Downloads, The International Raëlian Movement. 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
5.Jump up ^ Palmer, pp. 37-8, 57.
6.^ Jump up to: a b c In France, Julian Dates 2442030 and 2442696 begin at 1:00 P.m. on 13 December 1973 and 10 October 1975, respectively. All times are GMT +1:00.
7.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 3-9.
8.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 62.
9.Jump up ^ Angels or fallen angels in Christianity and Jinn (Genies) in Islam.
10.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 104.
11.^ Jump up to: a b Raël: Messenger of the Elohim, The International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 1 December 2006.
12.^ Jump up to: a b c Palmer, p. 37.
13.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 57.
14.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 38.
15.^ Jump up to: a b c Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 142-143.
16.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 135.
17.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 145-148.
18.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 148-171.
19.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 171-178.
20.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 178.
21.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 356-7.
22.^ Jump up to: a b Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 28.
23.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 86.
24.Jump up ^ Harmony Revolution, Japanese Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 2 November 2006.
25.^ Jump up to: a b c d Palmer, p. 64.
26.Jump up ^ Geniocracy (Japanese copy), International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 3 February 2007.
27.^ Jump up to: a b c d Palmer, p. 91.
28.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 61.
29.Jump up ^ Lewis, p. 375.
30.Jump up ^ Susan J. Palmer, The Raël Deal, Religion in the News, Summer 2001, Vol. 4, No. 2.
31.^ Jump up to: a b Palmer, p. 69.
32.Jump up ^ Clitoraid America, Raëlian Contact 316. 11 August 2006. Retrieved 30 September 2006.
33.^ Jump up to: a b Lewis, pp. 375.
34.Jump up ^ Palmer, Susan J. Aliens Adored - search term is "wealthy Japanese followers". New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2004.
35.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 66.
36.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 65.
37.Jump up ^ The bishops react to the attacks anti-catholics of the Raëlian movement (translated), Infosekten. 22 May 2001. Retrieved 1 August 2007. (translated)
38.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 92.
39.Jump up ^ THE CLONING DEBATE, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
40.Jump up ^ Todd, Stephanie, Scientists scoff at cloned baby claim, Scotsman.com. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
41.Jump up ^ Japan's Raëlians hold parade to celebrate human clone births, Worldwide Religious News, Japan Today. 10 February 2003. Retrieved 10 November 2007.
42.Jump up ^ International Committee Against Christian Calendar Imperialism, icacci.org. Retrieved 30 March 2007.
43.Jump up ^ With friends like these, Monsanto needs no enemies, USATODAY.com. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
44.Jump up ^ ThereIsNOGod.info, The International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 25 November 2006
45.Jump up ^ THE ATHEIST CONVENTION IN ROME, Raëlian Contact 255. 1 December 2004. Retrieved 1 October 2006.
46.Jump up ^ Rome Gets Raël; Blessing of the Bambinelli, Zenit News Agency. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
47.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 199-200, 312.
48.Jump up ^ PlayboyStore.com - Playboy October 2004 Issue - Playboy Magazine Back Issues For 2004 - Girls of the ACC and Kim Holland, Playboy. October 2004. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
49.Jump up ^ Names in the news, Knight Ridder. 16 September 2004. 10 August 2007.
50.Jump up ^ OUR BELOVED PROPHET MET HUGH HEFNER AT THE PLAYBOY MANSION, Raëlian Contact 269. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
51.Jump up ^ New Nominations, Raëlian Contact 268. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
52.Jump up ^ AFRICA, THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY, The International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 9 August 2006.
53.Jump up ^ TALK TO THE KAMAENS, Raëlian Contact 325. 28 December 2006. Retrieved 14 January 2007.
54.Jump up ^ Clitoraid at the AVN Porn Convention in Las Vegas, Raelia News. 23 January 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
55.Jump up ^ Staffle, Polly, 2007 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo - Day 1, PollyStaffle.com. Retrieved 18 March 2007.
56.Jump up ^ AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, AdultEntertainmentExpo.com. Retrieved 18 March 2007.
57.Jump up ^ Peritz, Ingrid, For sale: prime place for a prophet to play - Raëlians want $2.95-million for compound Globe and Mail. 16 February 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2007. ("We've been in Quebec for 30 years and our membership is saturated. Our future is in the United States")
58.Jump up ^ I-Team: Alien Nation, Raëlians Moving Headquarters to Las Vegas, WorldNow and KLAS. 8 May 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2007.
Cited texts[edit]
Lewis, James R. Controversial New Religions Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-19-515682-X.
Raël, Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers. Nova Distribution, 2006. ISBN 2-940252-20-3. - The messages given to Raël published in 1973, 1975, and 1979.
Palmer, Susan J. Aliens Adored. Rutgers University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8135-3476-3.
Further reading[edit]
Raël, Geniocracy. The Raëlian Foundation, 2004.
Raël, Maitreya. The Raëlian Foundation, 2003.
Raël, Sensual Meditation. Tagman Press, 2001. ISBN 1-903571-06-5.
Raël, Yes to Human Cloning: Immortality Thanks to Science. Tagman Press, 2001. ISBN 1-903571-05-7; ISBN 1-903571-04-9.
  


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 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Ra%C3%ABlism









History of Raëlism

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 Raëlian Messages on van
A series of articles on the

Raëlian Movement

Adam, Eve, and Elohim (Raëlism).png
Founder • History
Beliefs & practices
Cloning (Clonaid)
Funds

Views on:
Politics
Economics
Cosmology

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Throughout the history of Raëlism, members of the Raëlian Movement have advocated the use of sex-positive feminism, condoms, birth control, masturbation, meditation, genetically modified organisms, and human cloning.[1] In the past, projects such as Clonaid, for human cloning, and Clitoraid, for repairing genitally mutilated clitorises,[2][3] have been founded. Raëlians are also believers of the Raëlian movement's version of its history as described in the books written by Claude Vorilhon.


Contents  [hide]
1 Early years 1.1 Founding
1.2 Sightings
1.3 Geniocratic movement
2 Middle years 2.1 Claude Raël travels around the world
2.2 First wave of sexual advocacy
2.3 Raël's return to racing
2.4 Calls for religious and tax-exempt status
3 Recent years 3.1 Museum for the paranormal
3.2 Anti-clerical campaigns
3.3 Advocacy
3.4 Africa
3.5 Relocation of the North American headquarters
3.6 Members leaving after claims that Raëlian books were plagiarized from Jean Sendy's works
4 See also
5 References 5.1 Cited texts
6 Further reading

Early years[edit]
The beginnings of Raëlian history goes back to the history of Raël, which concerns the origins of Raël, his personage, and his works, which developed from Claude Vorilhon. The personage purportedly began as the result of encounters described in Raëlian Messages, mainly from The Book Which Tells the Truth (1974) and Extraterrestrials Took Me to their Planet (1975). None of these encounters is verified from a factual standpoint but they tie into the beliefs of Raëlians.
Raëlian books are a primary source of Raël's history. Translated portions of the original text are distributed freely worldwide in 36 languages on the Internet.[4] Some of the books include the contents of multiple Raëlian books and have testimonials, footnotes, updates, and hyperlinks appended to them. In addition to the Raëlian books, a Canadian sociologist named Susan J. Palmer writes about Raël's struggle to organize the young Raëlian movement.[5]
Founding[edit]



 Puy de Lassolas
According to Raëlian beliefs, on the morning of 13 December 1973 (Julian Date 2442029),[6] Claude Vorilhon — who was at the time a professional test driver and automobile journalist for the Autopop Magazine — had a first meeting with an extraterrestrial humanoid, an Eloha (plural: Elohim), who landed a UFO within an inactive volcano called Puy de Lassolas near the capital of Auvergne, France (Clermont-Ferrand).[7]
Two days later, in the third meeting, an Eloha referred to similar insignias: one engraved his spaceship and one on his spacesuit. Both were formed by interlocked triangles which according to the Eloha, means "as above, so below" enclosing swastika which means "all is cyclic in infinite time". In Raëlism, the swastika symbolizes, "The choice between paradise, which the peaceful use of science makes possible, and the hell of returning to the primitive stage where humanity submits to nature instead of dominating and benefiting from it." This is the original emblem of the Raëlian Movement which is used primarily in the African and Asian continents.[8]
Three days later, Claude Vorilhon meets Yahweh Elohim for the last time that year on a Tuesday. On that day, Vorilhon was given the name for the religious movement which he was to establish. The six-letter name is "MADECH", which stands for "mouvement pour l‘accueil des Elohim créateurs de l’humanité" or "movement for welcoming the Elohim, creators of humanity". It also stands for "Moise a devancé Elie et le Christ" meaning "Moses preceded Elijah and the Christ". The "New Commandments" presented to him on that Tuesday concerned the establishment of Geniocracy, Economic Humanitarianism, World Government, and his mission to catalyze these endeavors and to hasten the return of the Elohim[9] to Earth.[10]
On 19 September 1974, Claude Vorilhon held his first public conference Paris, France which attracted more than 2000 people.[11] Soon after, Raël founded and began to establish MADECH.[11] On 13 December, this was brought into fruition as 170 MADECH members gathered at Puy de Lassolas and formed an organization of "a president, a treasurer, and a secretary" who each signed a 10,000 franc check payable toward the publication of the first Raëlian book.[12]
Susan J. Palmer commented that in UFO platform societies like the MADECH organization, there was no obligation of membership and commitment like those found in cults, but rather an open place where people could freely exchange their views and relate their experiences on the subject of UFOs. Only the first Raëlian book had surfaced at the time, and Palmer says it had consisted largely of a "creation myth and eschatology" but it had "no rituals, no priesthood, no experiential dimension, and no coherent system of ethics" which would lead to an organized movement that had any chance of committing to large projects guided by a leader.[13]
At the Place de la République in March 1975, Claude Vorhilon staged a purging of leaders which hampered his own creativity.[14] In the following month, Claude Vorhilon called for a meeting of the MADECH organization, which held its headquarters in Paris, and as its president, he conducted it with the intention to rid the organization from the kind of occultism and pseudoscience which contradicted his physicalist point of view.[12] In addition to this, the MADECH officials had an increasing desire to blend in with the rest of the ufologists and trekkies and were becoming less interested in the Raëlian view of Elohim extraterrestrials. A schism was becoming more apparent among the officials, and subsequently Vorilhon dismissed all of them. Their positions were replaced by an inner circle of seven people whose mission was to inform the public of the Raëlian messages and to raise funds for building an embassy for extraterrestrials.[12] Vorilhon says he resigned as president of MADECH by that June, because it seemed to him that MADECH could survive on its own and that he had made a mistake by structuring it into a form that he likened to a "petanque club or a war veterans' association." Then he speaks of a personal desire to settle in the countryside and write an autobiography of events happening prior to his purported extraterrestrial encounters beginning on 13 December 1973.[15]
Sightings[edit]
In his book Intelligent Design, Raël claims the following events occurred. On 31 July 1975, along with his wife Marie-Paul and a devoted MADECH member, François, Raël sights a UFO near his new home in the countryside near Clermont-Ferrand,[15] the town he previously had lived in.[16] The glowing craft performed aerial start-and-go maneuvers along a zigzag path. Raël thought that this was a verification that the new location that he and his wife were now living in was the right place and time.[15]
He said that on 7 October 1975, an hour before midnight,[6] after having a sudden urge to observe the night sky, he decided to go to Roc Plat, an uninhabited place between two brooks surround by a forest. According to him a spacecraft suddenly landed and shone a bright light behind a bush. He said he then met the same extraterrestrial from his first encounter on 13 December 1973. He said after a few words, he was taken up in that spacecraft with the Eloha and sent to a remote base relatively close to the solar system where he was given a resort-style relaxation treatment including an organic breakfast and over an hour in a jacuzzi of warm blue liquid, slightly thicker than water.[17]
He said that on the morning of 8 October, Rael sat mesmerized and listened to a 3 hour lecture from Yahweh Elohim about his religions and philosophers, the need for geniocracy, Hinduism, Islam and Buddhism, and about the ideas of God and Soul, and later traveled to the Planet of the Eternals. He said the planet orbited around a very large star and had a climate similar to the rain forests of Earth. He later claimed to have sat down with the Eloha and had a meal with the major prophets including Buddha, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed. He said that a guide showed him installations that housed machines for creating biological robots. He gave a picture of his mother to a machine which he claimed created similarly-appearing biological robot. He said that in the night, he received an introduction to build his future home at the Planet of the Eternals and was presented young, mature female biological robots. He said that before reaching a climax, he wore a helmet which played music controlled by his thoughts, which the females danced to. Then the climax happens.[18]
He said that on the morning of 9 October, he took a scented bath and that soon after, Yahweh Elohim (an extraterrestrial) presented Claude Vorilhon to a machine which maximized his faculties. Yahweh Elohim then gave advice to him, the one who has become Claude Raël. Claude Raël then spent a few more hours on the planet, doing Yoga and being given a long guided meditation session, and enjoyed what that world had to offer while he was there, including meeting with the past messengers of the Elohim.[19] By midnight of 10 October (Julian Date 2442695),[6] 666 days after the first meeting with the Elohim and minutes after the last one, Claude Raël is back on Roc Plat.[20] His entire experience has taken exactly 72 hours.
He said that in the afternoon of 7 October 1976, at la Negrerie of France, fifty Raëlians witnessed cotton-like substances falling from the sky[21] which Raël said has a historical relationship to manna.[22] Raël said that manna was a pulverized synthetic chemical food made by the Elohim, and that it was sent to Israelites on the ground in similar manner during their journey through an artificial passage in Red Sea formed by a repulsion beam.[22]
Geniocratic movement[edit]
In 1978, Raëlians had a conference for the French press announcing their vision for a worldwide political movement for Geniocracy. In March 1978, one of their members was voted onto the city council of Sarlat. However, in the previous December, the authoritarian nature of the Geniocratic model of government, the Raëlians being a sect, and the swastika in their logo prompted the police to seize documents from Raël's home as well as from the homes of other Raëlians.[23]
Middle years[edit]
Claude Raël travels around the world[edit]
See also: Raëlian Church membership estimates
From 1980 to 1992, Raël and his movement became increasingly global. Beginning from 1980, Claude Raël's fifth Raëlian book Sensual Meditation was published for the first time and formal publication of the Raëlian Messages in the Japanese language began[24] as part of the Raëlian mission to Japan.[25] Two years later, Africa became another target area in the mission to spread the Raëlian messages.[25] In May 1983, Claude Raël visited a famous landmark that survived the atomic bombing at Hiroshima, Japan known as the Hiroshima Peace Memorial.[26]
At sundown in 1986, in a restaurant next to Villa Pamphilli park—just outside Vatican City—Raël began claiming to members that he was the true pope and played a guitar hymn about extraterrestrials.[27] In 1990, Australians became the next Raëlian target,[25] and in 1992, Canada's Raëlians purchased 115 hectares near Valcourt, Quebec for a series of summer seminars in North America, and their leader gave it the name "Le Jardin du Prophète" (The Prophet's Gardens).[28]
First wave of sexual advocacy[edit]
Quebec remained as the epicenter for Raëlian campaigns and testing of experimental ideas.[25] In December 1992, a project—Operation Condom—was launched in response to a veto of the Montreal Catholic School Commission against the installation of high school condom vending machines. A mobile condom vendor—a pink van dubbed the "condom-mobile"—was orchestrated by a Raëlian, who advocated the notion that extraterrestrial Elohim wanted the teens to live a long life of pleasure and criticized the commission by quoting statistics about teen pregnancies and sexually transmitted diseases.[29] About 10,000 condoms were distributed.[30]
In Montreal 7 July 1993, a conference about masturbation entitled "Yes to Self-Love" was hosted by Betty Dodson, Raël, and a Raëlian bishop.[31] Betty Dodson, who came to Montreal the previous month,[32] spoke about her dream of a worldwide masturbation campaign for the 2000 New Year's celebration. Raël described his view on self-love, saying it is how people become linked to the cosmos, while Daniel Chabot—a local college psychology professor—spoke about the psychological benefits of masturbation.[31][33] Chabot's statements, along with his status with the sect and his purported use of his psychological credentials to attract new recruits led to some controversy with a corporation. The corporation won the suit but was ultimately charged by Chabot.[33]
Raël's return to racing[edit]
In 1994, rich Japanese Raëlians rented a race car and showed it to Claude Vorilhon. They believed that it would generate publicity for the movement. Claude accepted the offer on the condition that the funding must not come from member tithes or embassy funding. So the funding of Raël's races which took place in the 1990s and early 2000s came mostly from well funded European and Japanese people.[34]
Calls for religious and tax-exempt status[edit]
On 7 October 1994, Raëlians began implementing their own version of baptism in front of a baptismal font inside St. Peter's Basilica, however, in response to Catholics' complaints, Vatican guards escorted the Raëlians to the exit gates of the city. In the same week, Raël purportedly handed a copy of his book Le Livre qui dit la vérité to Pope John Paul II.[27]
In March 1995, the Raëlians attained religious-corporation status in Quebec and was therefore eligible to apply for federal tax exemption in Canada. However the tax department refused the application since according to them, they did not meet the requirement of religions which believe in transcendental and immaterial beings. Raëlians made an appeal which did not go through. However, in the United States, the Raëlians' attempt to achieve tax-exempt status was a success.[35]



 Raëlians at UFOland
Recent years[edit]
Museum for the paranormal[edit]
In August 1997, UFOland—built by the Raëlians as the largest structure in North America made out of bales of hay—opened on their Valcourt estate. Its purpose was to inform the public about the Raëlian interpretation of the UFO phenomenon and to attract funds for the Raëlian Foundation. The first room served as an attraction for their proposed Raëlian embassy for extraterrestrials. Audio visual presentations in six other rooms displayed teachings about the Raëlian message, sightings, and government cover-ups concerning UFOs. In 2001, UFOland was closed to the public. The reason given by the director for UFOland was that the revenue did not justify the costs—including two hour trips from Montreal.[36]
Anti-clerical campaigns[edit]
In July 2001, Raëlians on the streets attracted Italians and Swiss people as they gave leaflets in protest to over a hundred child molesters in existence among Roman Catholic clergy in France. They recommended that parents should not send their children to Catholic confession. The Episcopal vicar of Geneva sued the Raëlian Church for libel but did not win.[27][37] The judge did not accept the charges for the reason that the Raëlians were not attacking the whole of the Catholic Church.[27]
In October 2002, Raëlians in a Canadian anti-clerical parade held handed out Christian crosses to high school students. They were invited to burn the crosses in a park not far from Montreal's Mount Royal and to sign letters of apostasy from the Roman Catholic Church. The Quebec Association of Bishops called this "incitement to hatred", and several school boards attempted to prevent their students from meeting Raëlians.[38]
Advocacy[edit]
On 26 December 2002, Brigitte Boisselier, a Raëlian Bishop and CEO of a biotechnology company called Clonaid, announced the birth of baby Eve, a human clone, which at that point ignited much media attention, ethical debate, doubt, critics, and claims of a hoax. Spokespeople for the movement, such as Claude Vorilhon, have suggested that this is only first step in achieving a more important agenda, saying that accelerated growth process and mind transfer, in combination with cloning are mechanisms by which eternal life may be achieved.[39][40]
According to the Japan Today of 10 February 2003, that Sunday, about sixty Raëlians celebrated with banners celebrating the purported birth of the first cloned babies: 1) a baby girl named Eve, 2) a daughter and clone of a Dutch lesbian, 3) a son and clone of a Japanese male. The small parade event began at Hiroshima Station and ended at Hiroshima Peace Memorial Park. In the article, figures by the observers and a representative of the movement suggest that one percent of Japan's Raëlians participated in the event.[41]
On 6 August 2003, the first day of Raëlian year 58 AH,[42] a tech article on the USA Today newspaper mentions an "unlikely ally" of the Monsanto Company, the Raëlian Movement of Brazil. The movement gave vocal support in response to the company's support for genetically modified organisms, particularly in their country. Brazilian farmers have been using Monsanto's genetically engineered soy plant as well as the glyphosate herbicide to which it was artificially adapted. The Raëlians spoke against the Brazilian government's ban on GMOs.[43]
The Raëlian Movement promoted 2004 as the "year of atheism".[44] On 11 December 2004,[45] Raëlians marched in the Atheist Convention in Rome. One of them said, "[Just as] children need to understand that there is no Santa, people need to realize there is no God."[46] In YouTube, Raëlians have posted videos in denial of the Holy Spirit in response to the Blasphemy Challenge. Despite their anti-religious leaning, Raëlians—who are philosophical materialists—believe that a trained mind can achieve telepathic communication with extraterrestrial Elohim.[47]
See also: List of people in Playboy 2000–2009 § 2004
"The group of UFO believers wants to clone its most beautiful members"—the Raëlians—appeared in the October 2004 issue of Playboy magazine.[48][49] On 12 April 2005, Raël and a few of his partners had a meeting with Playboy magazine founder Hugh Hefner at his Playboy Mansion and were photographed in issue 269 of the Raëlian Contact newsletter.[50][51]
Africa[edit]



 Clitoraid event in South Korea with Koreans in blackface.
In 2006, the Raëlian Movement vocally advocated the concept of a "United States of Africa" following a more honest and complete decolonization that would involve the disbanding of corrupt rulerships as a result of Africans returning to their non-Christian ancestors' religious and territorial roots, which existed before colonization by Europeans.[52] However, Raëlians later emphasized that the word "Africa" was colonial in origin, so on 28 December, an article in Raëlian Contact 325 suggested a different name: The United Kingdoms of Kama.[53]
In the same year, the Raëlian Movement founded a public fundraising effort, Clitoraid, to pay for repairs of clitorises, especially for women in Africa where excision is rampant.[3] In January 2007, representatives of the organization raised funds for the cause at the AVN Adult Entertainment Expo in Las Vegas, Nevada.[54][55][56]
Relocation of the North American headquarters[edit]
In February 2007, the Raëlian Movement put up for sale the UFOland headquarters compound near the small village of Maricourt, Quebec for $2.95 million (Can.). Their intention was to shift the headquarters to somewhere in the southern United States, possibly to Palm Springs, California.[57]
In May 2007, the Canadian retreat was sold.[58] The Raëlian Movement relocated their North American headquarters to Las Vegas, Nevada. Ricky Roehr, the President of the Raëlian Movement in the United States, said the Raëlians chose Las Vegas because they thought that it was a happy and open-minded community. The Raëlians planned to build a place or buy and renovate a hotel in order to conduct their seminars.
Members leaving after claims that Raëlian books were plagiarized from Jean Sendy's works[edit]
In November 2009, Wonjune Lee, an eleven-year member of the Raelian movement, came across information regarding works of fiction that were published by Jean Sendy, a prominent UFOlogist and French author. Particular passages in one of Sendy's works, "Those gods who made heaven & earth", published in 1969, were paralleled with particular passages in the Raelian book The book which tells the truth, published in 1974. Although review of the fundamental differences between the work of Sendy and Rael is quite clear. Sendy like many of his contemporaries hypothesised that human evolution had some form of intervention from extra-terrestrials, where as Rael's message states that human beings did not evolve but were created by the extra-terrestrials (Elohim) using the matter found on earth. Also the concept of infinity as described by Rael is unique.
See also[edit]
Clonaid
Raëlian beliefs and practices
Raëlism
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Broughton, Philip D. Promise of as much sex as you want and everlasting life, The Daily Telegraph. 31 December 2002. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
2.Jump up ^ "On s'en est fait passer une p'tite vite!", Cyberpresse.ca. 5 December 2006. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
3.^ Jump up to: a b Raëlian effort to promote sponsorship of clitorises, Clitoraid.org. Retrieved 9 August 2006.
4.Jump up ^ The Raëlian Movement: Downloads, The International Raëlian Movement. 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2012.
5.Jump up ^ Palmer, pp. 37-8, 57.
6.^ Jump up to: a b c In France, Julian Dates 2442030 and 2442696 begin at 1:00 P.m. on 13 December 1973 and 10 October 1975, respectively. All times are GMT +1:00.
7.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 3-9.
8.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 62.
9.Jump up ^ Angels or fallen angels in Christianity and Jinn (Genies) in Islam.
10.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 104.
11.^ Jump up to: a b Raël: Messenger of the Elohim, The International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 1 December 2006.
12.^ Jump up to: a b c Palmer, p. 37.
13.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 57.
14.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 38.
15.^ Jump up to: a b c Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 142-143.
16.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 135.
17.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 145-148.
18.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 148-171.
19.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 171-178.
20.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 178.
21.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 356-7.
22.^ Jump up to: a b Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 28.
23.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 86.
24.Jump up ^ Harmony Revolution, Japanese Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 2 November 2006.
25.^ Jump up to: a b c d Palmer, p. 64.
26.Jump up ^ Geniocracy (Japanese copy), International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 3 February 2007.
27.^ Jump up to: a b c d Palmer, p. 91.
28.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 61.
29.Jump up ^ Lewis, p. 375.
30.Jump up ^ Susan J. Palmer, The Raël Deal, Religion in the News, Summer 2001, Vol. 4, No. 2.
31.^ Jump up to: a b Palmer, p. 69.
32.Jump up ^ Clitoraid America, Raëlian Contact 316. 11 August 2006. Retrieved 30 September 2006.
33.^ Jump up to: a b Lewis, pp. 375.
34.Jump up ^ Palmer, Susan J. Aliens Adored - search term is "wealthy Japanese followers". New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2004.
35.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 66.
36.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 65.
37.Jump up ^ The bishops react to the attacks anti-catholics of the Raëlian movement (translated), Infosekten. 22 May 2001. Retrieved 1 August 2007. (translated)
38.Jump up ^ Palmer, p. 92.
39.Jump up ^ THE CLONING DEBATE, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
40.Jump up ^ Todd, Stephanie, Scientists scoff at cloned baby claim, Scotsman.com. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
41.Jump up ^ Japan's Raëlians hold parade to celebrate human clone births, Worldwide Religious News, Japan Today. 10 February 2003. Retrieved 10 November 2007.
42.Jump up ^ International Committee Against Christian Calendar Imperialism, icacci.org. Retrieved 30 March 2007.
43.Jump up ^ With friends like these, Monsanto needs no enemies, USATODAY.com. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
44.Jump up ^ ThereIsNOGod.info, The International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 25 November 2006
45.Jump up ^ THE ATHEIST CONVENTION IN ROME, Raëlian Contact 255. 1 December 2004. Retrieved 1 October 2006.
46.Jump up ^ Rome Gets Raël; Blessing of the Bambinelli, Zenit News Agency. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
47.Jump up ^ Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 199-200, 312.
48.Jump up ^ PlayboyStore.com - Playboy October 2004 Issue - Playboy Magazine Back Issues For 2004 - Girls of the ACC and Kim Holland, Playboy. October 2004. Retrieved 10 August 2007.
49.Jump up ^ Names in the news, Knight Ridder. 16 September 2004. 10 August 2007.
50.Jump up ^ OUR BELOVED PROPHET MET HUGH HEFNER AT THE PLAYBOY MANSION, Raëlian Contact 269. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
51.Jump up ^ New Nominations, Raëlian Contact 268. Retrieved 26 November 2006.
52.Jump up ^ AFRICA, THE FUTURE OF HUMANITY, The International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 9 August 2006.
53.Jump up ^ TALK TO THE KAMAENS, Raëlian Contact 325. 28 December 2006. Retrieved 14 January 2007.
54.Jump up ^ Clitoraid at the AVN Porn Convention in Las Vegas, Raelia News. 23 January 2007. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
55.Jump up ^ Staffle, Polly, 2007 AVN Adult Entertainment Expo - Day 1, PollyStaffle.com. Retrieved 18 March 2007.
56.Jump up ^ AVN Adult Entertainment Expo, AdultEntertainmentExpo.com. Retrieved 18 March 2007.
57.Jump up ^ Peritz, Ingrid, For sale: prime place for a prophet to play - Raëlians want $2.95-million for compound Globe and Mail. 16 February 2007. Retrieved 12 March 2007. ("We've been in Quebec for 30 years and our membership is saturated. Our future is in the United States")
58.Jump up ^ I-Team: Alien Nation, Raëlians Moving Headquarters to Las Vegas, WorldNow and KLAS. 8 May 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2007.
Cited texts[edit]
Lewis, James R. Controversial New Religions Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-19-515682-X.
Raël, Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers. Nova Distribution, 2006. ISBN 2-940252-20-3. - The messages given to Raël published in 1973, 1975, and 1979.
Palmer, Susan J. Aliens Adored. Rutgers University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8135-3476-3.
Further reading[edit]
Raël, Geniocracy. The Raëlian Foundation, 2004.
Raël, Maitreya. The Raëlian Foundation, 2003.
Raël, Sensual Meditation. Tagman Press, 2001. ISBN 1-903571-06-5.
Raël, Yes to Human Cloning: Immortality Thanks to Science. Tagman Press, 2001. ISBN 1-903571-05-7; ISBN 1-903571-04-9.
  


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Raëlism

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Raëlism
A gathering of Raëlians in South Korea.jpg
A gathering of Raëlians in South Korea.

Formation
1974
Type
New religious movement
UFO religion

Headquarters
Geneva, Switzerland[1]

Founder
 Claude Vorilhon ("Raël")

Key people

Claude Vorilhon
Brigitte Boisselier

Website
rael.org
A series of articles on the

Raëlian Movement

Adam, Eve, and Elohim (Raëlism).png
Founder • History
Beliefs & practices
Cloning (Clonaid)
Funds

Views on:
Politics
Economics
Cosmology

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Raëlism, also known as Raëlianism or the Raëlian movement, is a UFO religion that was founded in 1974 by Claude Vorilhon, now known as Raël. An adherent of Raëlism is a Raëlian.
The Raëlian Movement teaches that life on Earth was scientifically created by a species of extraterrestrials, which they call the Elohim. Members of this species appeared human when having personal contacts with the descendants of the humans that they made. They previously misinformed (on purpose) early humanity that they were angels, cherubim, or gods. Raëlians believe that messengers, or prophets, of the Elohim include Buddha, Jesus, and others[2][3][4] who informed humans of each era.[5] The founder of Raëlism, members claim, received the final message of the Elohim and that its purpose is to inform the world about Elohim and that if humans become aware and peaceful enough, they wish to be welcomed by them.



 Japanese Raëlian character mascot.
The Raëlian Church has a quasi-clerical structure of seven levels. Joining the movement requires an official apostasy from other religions. Raëlian ethics include striving for world peace, sharing, democracy and nonviolence.[6] Sexuality is also an important part of the Raëlian doctrine. The Raëlian Church, with its liberal views of sexuality, has attracted some of its priests and bishops from other religions.[7]
Raël founded Clonaid (originally Valiant Venture Ltd Corporation) in 1997, but then handed it over to a Raëlian bishop, Brigitte Boisselier in 2000.[8] In 2002 the company claimed that an American woman underwent a standard cloning procedure that led to the birth of a daughter, Eve (b. 26 December 2002). Although few believe the claim, it nonetheless attracted national authorities and the mainstream media to look further into the Raëlians' cult status.
The Raëlians frequently use the swastika as a symbol of peace, which halted Raëlian requests for territory in Israel, and later Lebanon, for establishing an embassy for extraterrestrials. The religion also uses the swastika embedded on the Star of David.[9] Starting around 1991, this symbol was often replaced by a variant star and swirl symbol as a public relations move, particularly toward Israel.


Contents  [hide]
1 History
2 Member hierarchy 2.1 Women-only groups
3 Rites and practices 3.1 Initiation 3.1.1 Ceremony
3.1.2 Ceremonial dates
3.2 Sensual Meditation
4 Other activities, outreach and advocacy 4.1 UFO exhibits
4.2 Seminars
4.3 Activism
4.4 Converts from other religions
4.5 Intentional controversy
5 Beliefs 5.1 Voluntarism
5.2 Human cloning 5.2.1 Clonaid
5.3 Ethics 5.3.1 LGBT issues
5.3.2 Sensuality and pleasure
5.3.3 Views on pedophilia
5.4 Structure of the Universe
5.5 Intelligent Design 5.5.1 Creation of life on Earth by extraterrestrials
5.5.2 Humanity's chance of creating life on other planets
5.6 A coming judgment
5.7 Embassy for Extraterrestrials 5.7.1 Proposed architecture and location
5.8 A form of meritocracy 5.8.1 Status
5.9 Religious symbol
6 Reception
7 See also
8 References 8.1 Cited texts
9 External links

History[edit]



 Membership estimates from various sources
Further information: History of Raëlism
The beginnings of Raëlism are rooted in the claims of a French former automobile journalist and race car driver Claude Vorilhon. In his books The Book Which Tells the Truth (1974) and Extraterrestrials Took Me to their Planet (1975), Vorilhon alleges that he had alien encounters with beings who gave him knowledge of the origins of all major religions.
The movement traces its beginnings to a conference in Paris, France of two thousand people in 1974.[10] From there, the MADECH organization was born.[10] 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" (Mouvement pour l‘accueil des Elohim, créateurs de l'humanité) while the second stands for "Moses preceded Elijah and the Christ" (Moise a devancé Élie et le Christ).[11]:p. 104 By 1976, Raël transformed MADECH into the International Raelian Movement.[12]
Table of worldwide membership estimates

[show]Date
Estimate
Scope
Reference

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

Table of regional membership estimates

[show]Date
Estimate
Scope
Reference

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

From 1980 to 1992 Raël and his movement became increasingly global. In 1980 Claude Raël's fifth Raëlian book Sensual Meditation was published and formal publication of the Raëlian Messages in the Japanese language began[47] as part of the Raëlian mission to Japan.[16]:p. 64 Two years later, Africa became another target area in the mission to spread the Raëlian messages.[16]:p. 64
On 26 December 2002, Brigitte Boisselier, a Raëlian Bishop and CEO of a biotechnology company called Clonaid announced the birth of baby Eve, supposedly the first-ever human clone. The announcement ignited much media attention, ethical debate, doubt, criticism, and claims of a hoax. Spokespeople for the movement, including Claude Vorilhon, have suggested that this is one of the first steps in achieving a more important agenda. They claim that through cloning they can combine an accelerated growth process with some form of mind transfer, and in such, may achieve eternal life.[48][49]
Member hierarchy[edit]

Level 6:
Guide of Guides
Planetary guide
Level 5:
Bishop Level 4:
Priest Level 3:
Assistant Priest
Continental head
National guide
Regional guide National guide
Regional guide Regional guide

Level 2:
Organizer Level 1:
Assistant Organizer

Level 0:
Trainee
Sources[50][51]

See also: Raël, Glenn Carter and Brigitte Boisselier
The structure of the Raëlian Church is hierarchical, with seven levels ascending from level 0 to level 6.[52] The top four levels 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".[52] 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[50][51]—in their assigning of non-guide members to levels 3 ("Assistant Priests"), 2 ("Organizers") and 1 ("Assistant Organizers").
Members of the Raëlian structure begin as level 0 "trainees" during annual seminars. The Raelian structure claimed in 2007 to have about 2,300 members,[53] 170 "Raëlian guides",[54] and 41 bishops.[55] Claude Vorilhon has held the highest position for three seven-year terms.[52]
Women-only groups[edit]
Women make up only a third of the membership in the Raëlian Church,[16]:p. 117 though two anecdotes in the Raëlian Contact newsletter report female majorities joining the movement's Asian Mongolian chapter.[56][57] 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.[58][59] 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.[60][61] The Order of Angels has its own hierarchy of "rose angels" and "white angels" which, as of 2003, are six and 160 women, respectively.[12] After the Clonaid human cloning claim made the headlines, the Daily Telegraph wrote that members of the order not only provided sexual pleasure for Raël, but also helped donate eggs for efforts towards human cloning.[62] A few days later, Time magazine wrote that French chemist Brigitte Boisselier was an Order of Angels member.[63] Around this time, cult specialist Mike Kropveld called the Order of Angels "one of the most transparent movements" he had witnessed, though he was alarmed by the women's promise to defend Raël's life with their own bodies.[61]
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.[64] The women of Rael's Girls say there is no reason to repent for performing striptease or being a prostitute, although they say "we continue to foster the notions that sex and sexuality are acts only to be shared between marital partners".[64][65] This organization was set up "to support the choice of the women who are working in the sex industry".[66] Rael's Girls and its founder Raël were featured in a pictorial in the October 2004 issue of Playboy.[67]
Rites and practices[edit]



 Raëlians drawing with sand
Initiation[edit]
Ceremony[edit]
The major initiation rite in the Raëlian Church is the "baptism" or "transmission of the cellular plan" and is performed by upper-level members in the Raëlian clergy known as guides.[16]:pp. 58–9 In 1979, Raël introduced the "Act of Apostasy" as an obligation for those preparing for their Raëlian baptism.[16]:p. 60[68]
The Raëlian baptism is known as transmission of the cellular plan where "cellular" refers to the organic cells of the body and the "plan" refers to the genetic makeup of the individual. This Raëlian baptism involves a guide member laying water onto the forehead of the new member.[11]:p. 334 The practice began on "the first Sunday in April"[16]:p. 58 of 1976 when Raël baptised 40 Raëlians.[16]:p. 58 Raëlians believe that their genetic information is recorded by a remote computer and would become recognized during their final hour when they will be judged by the extraterrestrial Elohim.[11]:p. 175
Ceremonial dates[edit]
Baptisms can only be performed on four special days in the year. The dates mark anniversaries in the Raëlian calendar.[16]:p. 64
The dates are the 6 August, which marks the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945,[11]:p. 151[11]:p. 151 13 December, marking the day that Raël in 1973 says he had his first personal encounter with one of the extraterrestrial Elohim,[11]:pp. 4, 121–2, 136, 143, 223 7 October in which the Elohim, Raël says, took him up in a spacecraft in 1975 and the following day had meals with Jesus, Buddha, and other past religious figures[11]:pp. 145–178 and the first Sunday in April, which Raëlians believe is the date when dark-skinned extraterrestrials created Adam and Eve.[16]:p. 64[69]



Sensual Meditation (1980), Raël's fifth book about Raëlism.
Sensual Meditation[edit]
Main article: Sensual Meditation
Sensual Meditation is the set of exercises made public by Claude Vorilhon in his book La méditation sensuelle.[70] It is practiced by members of International Raelian Movement (IRM).[70] The first of these exercises is usually taught in Raëlian Seminars.[70]
Other activities, outreach and advocacy[edit]
Throughout the history of Raëlism, members of the Raëlian Church have toured public settings advocating masturbation, condoms and birth control.[62] Raëlians hope that genetically modified food[71]:pp. 35–37 and nanotechnology[71]:pp. 69–74 will allow humankind to eliminate the obligation to work, in a world that embraces science and technology.[11]:p. 156
Raëlians have founded Clonaid, a company that envisions that someday human beings can be scientifically recreated though a process of human cloning, and Clitoraid, an organization whose mission is to oppose female genital mutilation.[72][73]
UFO exhibits[edit]
Raëlian structure members have set up exhibitions about their beliefs of extraterrestrial intelligent designers sending crop circles,[74] UFOs, and spaceships for their arrival at an embassy.[75] While there have been smaller meetings of Raëlians and non-Raëlians, annual Raëlian seminars have been typically larger.[76][77][78]
Seminars[edit]
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 a Raëlian exercise called Sensual Meditation and discovered "playing fields" where "radical self-reconstruction," "new forms of authority," and "new modes of self-relating" were encouraged.[79]:p. 133
Music has been a feature of large gatherings, where at night, Raëlians have had multiethnic cabaret performances.[16]:p. 62 Seminarists have used colored bracelets to indicate whether they wanted to be alone, be in a couple, or simply meet people.[80]
On a yearly basis, Raëlian members organize seminars that are often attractive to the sexually adventurous.[81] News KNBC called the annual Raëlian seminars "a cross between a nudist camp and new-age retreat."[39] A Spanish television agency reported Raëlian men and women in cross-dressing plays.[60] Activities such as observations of one's own genitals and masturbation with them disturbed Brigitte McCann, a Calgary Sun reporter who entered one of the Raëlian seminars.[82] 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.[83] The tents were actually put up for the privacy of attendees whom were sharing dormitories and the person was ejected by the Raelians for misrepresentation for the sake of sensationalism of their so-called research, so called infiltration is encouraged by the Raelians to clear up myths perpetrated by the media and rogue researches.



 A Raëlian protest sign is raised at political rally demanding the return of U.S. troops
Activism[edit]
Raëlians routinely advocate sex-positive feminism and genetically modified food. They also have protested against wars and the Catholic Church.
Pro-GMO: On 6 August 2003, the first day of Raëlian year 58 AH,[84] a tech article on the USA Today newspaper mentions an "unlikely ally" of the Monsanto Company, the Raëlian Movement of Brazil. The movement gave vocal support in response to the company's support for genetically modified organisms particularly in their country. Brazilian farmers have been using Monsanto's genetically engineered soy plant as well as the Roundup herbicide to which it was artificially adapted. The Raëlians spoke against the Brazilian government's ban on GMOs.[85]

Anti-war: In 2006, About 30 Raëlians, some topless, took part in an anti-war demonstration in Seoul, Korea.[86] In 2003, Raëlians in white alien costumes bore signs bearing the message "NO WAR ... ET wants Peace, too!" to protest the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.[87]
Topless rights of women: Several Raëlian groups in the United States have organized annual protests, claiming that women should have the same legal right to go topless in public that men enjoy without fear of arrest for indecent exposure.[88] This is known as topfreedom. Some have called this a publicity stunt designed to recruit members. Go Topless Day is their annual event, with women protesting topless except for nipple pasties to avoid arrest. It is held near 26 August, the anniversary of the day women were given the USA right to vote.[89]
Anti-Catholic: In 1992 Catholic schools in Montreal, Canada objected to a proposed condom vending machine as contrary to their mission. In response, Raëlian guides, in an event dubbed "Operation Condom", gave the Catholic students ten thousand condoms. The Commissioner of Catholic schools for Montreal said they could do nothing to stop them.[83][90]
In July 2001, Raëlians on the streets attracted Italians and Swiss people as they gave leaflets protesting the existence of over a hundred child molesters among Roman Catholic clergy in France. They recommended that parents should not send their children to Catholic confession. The Episcopal vicar of Geneva sued the Raëlian Church for libel but did not win.[16]:p. 91[91] The judge did not accept the charges for the reason that the Raëlians were not attacking the whole of the Catholic Church.[16]:p. 91 In October 2002, Raëlians in a Canadian anti-clerical parade held handed out Christian crosses to high school students. They were invited to burn the crosses in a park not far from Montreal's Mount Royal and to sign letters of apostasy from the Roman Catholic Church. The Quebec Association of Bishops called this "incitement to hatred", and several school boards attempted to prevent their students from meeting Raëlians.[16]:p. 92
Converts from other religions[edit]
Raëlians do not believe in a god (or other deity), but in extraterrestrials.[12][92] Former clergy of mainstream religions have joined the Raëlian Church, especially in Quebec.[37][93][94] The structure of the movement had promoted some of them to the level of Priest or Bishop due to "extensive Bible training and teaching skills".[93]
Two ex-Roman Catholic Priests, Victor Legendre[94] and Charles-Yvan Giroux[95] converted to Raëlianism.[11] A former bishop of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) joined the Raelian Movement so he could be openly gay.[37] The Raëlian, Mark Woodgate, stated that 8% of Raëlians worldwide are former Latter-day Saints. Religiously mixed couples are common, especially with spouses who are Christians or Buddhists.[7]
Intentional controversy[edit]
Further information: Clonaid
Susan J. Palmer, a sociologist from Canada, has studied the movement since 1987[96] and says the movement intentionally stirs a moderate level of controversy to maintain membership. For example, Rael and the group attempt to tie their views with topical matters, ranging from Tiger Woods' promiscuity to strained relations in the Middle East, in regular online postings[97] and press releases.[98] 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.[61]
Raëlian organizers made deliberate attempts to "shock, titillate, and capture the media's imagination".[99]:p. 371 The book Yes to Human Cloning (2001) attracted media attention after its release, including segments on 20/20 and 60 Minutes.[100]:p. 156 Biophysicist Gregory Stock described the Raëlian Clonaid project as "sufficiently quirky to command instant media attention."[101]:p. 157 It has been estimated that the group received free publicity worth US$500 million as a result of the Clonaid claim.[102]:p. 15 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 had become a "press hog".[103]:p. 170[104]:p. 283[105]:356



 Raëlians asking to stop the prohibition of Raël's entry into Korea
Beliefs[edit]



 A passerby meets a Raëlian at a booth in Tel Aviv, Israel.
See also: Raëlian beliefs and practices
Theologian of new religious movements, George D. Chryssides, described the Raëlian Church as being in an "early developmental stage" and that their beliefs distance it from a "dominant intellectual climate".[106]:p. 46 Raëlism claims that all life on Earth, humans included, was created scientifically by Elohim, members of an extraterrestrial race who appeared similar to small humans and so were often depicted as angels,[11]:pp. 308–14 cherubs,[11]:pp. 49–50 or gods.[11]:pp. 153–6 Raëlians, who are not monotheists, believe the correct historical meaning of the word Elohim is the plural sense, "those who came from the sky". Belief in extraterrestrial Elohim play a central part in Clonaid's claim of offering cloning services for homosexual and infertile couples who want a child cloned from a partner's DNA.[107]:470
Chryssides states that Raëlism is discernible from other UFO religions for its heavy support for physicalism and repudiation of supernaturalism.[106]:p. 21 Susan J. Palmer, a social scholar who had long contacts with Raëlians, associated epiphenomenalism[16]:p. 23 with the belief in Raëlism that mind transfer coupled with human cloning can implant mind and personality into a new and disease free body.[11]:p. 167 Raëlians publicly deny the existence of the ethereal soul and a supernatural god,[92] but they believe that humanity for many generations past will be resurrected, albeit in a scientific way.[11]:p. 171
Raëlians believe that throughout the ages, members of the Elohim civilization sent different prophets, including Moses, Jesus, Buddha and many others whose role was guide humanity and to prepare humans for the future, all of whom were created as a result of a sexual union between a human woman and one of the Elohim. To Raëlians, this was possible because the Elohim had advanced DNA synthesis and genetic engineering. The Elohim later reduced the frequent visits so that humans were largely left to progress on their own, until the time of the Apocalypse/Revelation when they would send their final messenger and disclose themselves at an extraterrestrial embassy, establishing political and economic ties.
Raëlians believe that sex is a normal, natural and healthy part of life and encourages people to be true to their natural sexuality.[108] They promote healing from damaging messages from strict puritanical belief systems and social stigmas that stifle one's natural sexuality. Acceptance of masturbation, homosexuality, bisexuality, pansexuality, naturism and any legal, safe and consensual adult activity is promoted as part of a healthy and long life, and this is used to attract young converts to the religion.[109] Raelians believe that sexuality is a gift of pleasure to mankind from the Elohim.[110] 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" that involves ubiquitous practice of Sensual Meditation.[11]:p. 248
According to Giancarlo Genta and Jason Colavito, writers who have influenced Raëlian beliefs include Zechariah Sitchin and Erich von Däniken.[111]:p. 231[112]:p. 320
Voluntarism[edit]
Raëlians are encouraged to do as they feel right, whether that matches the rules of the culture in which they live or not. 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 Raëlian books. 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.[16]:p. 58
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.[16]:p. 209 Palmer cited Raël, who claimed that more than 60% of the Raëlian Movement's members do not tithe.[16]:p. 64 Dawson College students conducted a survey of the membership in Canada 1991 which found that only one-third of respondents tithed.[16]:p. 209
Human cloning[edit]
As opposed to the scientific definition of reproductive cloning which is simply the creation of a genetically identical living thing, Raëlians seek to both genetically clone individuals, rapidly accelerate growth of the clone to adulthood through a process like guided self-assembly of rapidly expanded cells or even nanotechnology[71]:pp. 35–37[113] and then transfer the mind and personality of the donor into the clone.[11]:p. 366 Raëlians believe humanity can attain eternal life through the science of cloning.[71]:pp. 35–37
Claude Vorilhon told lawmakers that banning the development of human cloning was comparable to outlawing medical advances such "antibiotics, blood transfusions, and vaccines."[83]
Clonaid[edit]
Raël founded Valiant Venture Ltd Corporation in 1997, to research human cloning. The company name was later changed to Clonaid and handed over to Raëlian bishop, Brigitte Boisselier in 2000.[8] In 2002, Brigitte Boisselier, as chief executive of Clonaid, claimed that a human baby was conceived through cloning technology.[63] Around this time, Clonaid's subsidiary BioFusion Tech claimed to have in possession a cell fusion device that assisted the cloning of human embryos.[114] The Vatican said that experimenters expressed "brutal mentality" for attempting to clone human beings.[115] Pope John Paul II criticized the experiment which he believes threatens the dignity of human life.[116] In response, the leader of the Raëlian Church dismissed the Pope's ethical concerns, calling them an "accumulation of religious prejudices."[115]
In response to Raël's association with Clonaid, South Korean immigration authorities at the airport denied him entry into their country in 2003.[34] 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 Ministry of Health and Welfare that ordered him to leave.[34][117] Officials detained Raël for nine hours at Incheon International Airport before he and his wife Sophie de Niverville left for Tokyo from where they took 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.[117]



 Woman on bed adorned with Raëlian symbol
Ethics[edit]
LGBT issues[edit]
The Raelian movement defends the rights and freedoms of gays and lesbians, recognises gay marriage and ordains gay clergy.[118] Some Raelian leaders have performed licensed same-sex marriages.[119]
Sensuality and pleasure[edit]
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[120]:pp. 19,71,99,182,251 and that it is the only thing which can stop war and injustice that persists in today's world.[120]:pp. 18,165 Raëlians believe in the right to form new religions or new political parties as long as they do not promote violence.[120]:pp. 137–41,165 As individualists, Raëlians believe that the one who gives the order to harm others is less at fault than the one who executes it.[11]:p. 321
Raëlians say they encourage adult homosexual, bisexual, and heterosexual relationships and that society should recognize them legally.[121] Some Swiss government authorities responded to Raëlians' views about Sensual Meditation with a fear that Raëlians are a threat to public morals for supporting liberalized sex education for children. They express the view that such liberalized sex education teaches youngsters how to obtain sexual gratification which would encourage sexual abuse of underage children.[122]
Views on pedophilia[edit]
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.[16]:p. 63 In 2006 Raëlians in Los Angeles, California condemned acts of pedophilia which Raelians consider a disease, particularly those associated with celibate Catholic priests, saying that minors and adults should not be mixed in the act of sex.[123] Authorities of the Swiss canton of Valais claimed that Raëlians support a doctrine of "complete sexual liberty", and they denied an application by Raël to live in their area.[122] The website Raelianews.org denied that sexual freedom between consenting adults in any way implies pedophilia.[124]



 Raëlian cosmology
Structure of the Universe[edit]
Raëlian cosmology as proposed in 1973 by Raël states that the observable universe has no creator and is infinite in time and finite in size and surrounded by infinite space.[11]:pp. 211
In Raëlian cosmology, our observable universe is an "atom" of a much larger level of matter (and possibly organism) and subatomic particles in our bodies also possess universes like our own, but on a much smaller scale. This pattern, atom within universe within atom, is believed to be infinitely repetitive, from the infinitely small, to the infinitely large.[11]:pp. 211 The Raëlian Messages by Raël state that humanoid extraterrestrials, who were originally called under the name Elohim (singular: Eloha), verified this cosmology scientifically.[11]:pp. 153–155
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 in time and space and lacks a center. Because of this, one could not imagine where an ethereal soul would go.[11]:pp. 153–155
The Raëlian cosmology is meditated upon during the fourth activity in the rite of Sensual Meditation.
Intelligent Design[edit]



 Puy de Lassolas
Creation of life on Earth by extraterrestrials[edit]
In his book The Message Given to me by Extraterrestrials (now republished as Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers 2006 ISBN 2-940252-20-3), Claude Vorilhon claims that on 13 December 1973, he found a spacecraft shaped like a flattened bell that landed inside Puy de Lassolas, a volcano near the capital city of Auvergne. 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]:pp. 11–15
Yahweh gave materialistic explanations of the following:
the Garden of Eden: a large laboratory that was based on an artificially constructed continent[11]:p. 279
Noah's Ark: a spaceship that preserved DNA that was used to resurrect animals through cloning[11]:pp. 20–22[11]:pp. 240–242,280,332
the Tower of Babel: a rocket that was supposed to reach the creators' planet;[11]:p. 22
the Great Flood: the byproduct of a nuclear missile explosion that the Elohim sent.[11]:p. 20 After tidal wave floods following the explosions receded, Elohim scattered the Israelites and had them speak the language of other tribes.[11]:pp. 22,23
According to Vorilhon, Elohim contacted about forty people to act as their prophets on Earth,[11]:p. 165 including Moses,[11]:pp. 114,312,324 Elijah,[11]:p. 114 Ezekiel,[11]:pp. 45–53 Buddha,[11]:pp. 89,312,324 John the Baptist,[11]:pp. 293–306 Jesus,[11]:pp. 114,312,324 Muhammad,[11]:pp. 89,312,324 and Joseph Smith.[11]:pp. 89,312 The religions thought to be from Elohimic origins include Judaism,[11]:p. 114 Buddhism,[11]:p. 89 Christianity,[11]:p. 114 Islam,[11]:p. 89 and Mormonism.[11]:p. 89
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.[125]
Humanity's chance of creating life on other planets[edit]
Raëlians believe that humanity would be able to create life on other planets only if humanity is peaceful enough to stop war. In that case, humanity could travel the distances between stars[11]:p. 159 and create life on another planet.[11]:p. 70 Progress in terraforming, molecular biology,[11]:p. 293 and cloning would enable these teams to create continents and life from scratch.[11]:p. 50 Progress in social engineering would ensure that this creation would have a better chance of both surviving and having the potential to understand its creators.[11]:p. 153 Research on how civilization 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.[11]:p. 280 The progress achieved by the science teams would ultimately sustain a perpetual chain of life.[11]:p. 91
A coming judgment[edit]
Raëlians do not believe that an ethereal soul exists free of physical confinement.[11]:pp. 154–155 Raëlians believe that advanced supercomputers of the Elohim are right now recording the memories and DNA of human beings.[11]:p. 171 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.[11]:p. 214 Vorilhon expressed an interest in cloning Hitler for war trials and retroactive punishment.[126] 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.[127]
Embassy for Extraterrestrials[edit]
Raëlians believe that life on Earth—as well as many religions of the world—was the work of extraterrestrial influence. They believe these were scientists and that ancient people saw them as "gods" and gave the name "Elohim".[11]:p. 370[128] Raëlians believe that the Embassy for Extraterrestrials or "Third Temple"[129][130][131] is to support an official contact with Extraterrestrial Elohim and their messengers of the main religions at the "New Jerusalem".[129][132]
The Raëlian Embassy for Extraterrestrials is the vision of the International Raëlian Movement to establish an embassy, at a base cost of $20 million, with a landing pad that would serve as spaceport for extraterrestrial spaceships. The funding of the embassy has been reported over time by the media.[13][133][134] Its location is intended to be in neutral territory, preferably Jerusalem, and would be surrounded by acres of campground capable of supporting about 144,000 people[11] or more than twice the estimated Raëlian membership as of 2005.[40]
On 16 April 1987, the Chicago Sun-Times estimated the funding for the "cosmic kibbutz" at $1 million. In 1997-1998, the funding had risen to $7 million.[24][107]:p. 467[133][135] By 2001, $9 million had been saved for the embassy,[16]:p. 64 and in October 2001, the funding had reached $20 million.[134]



 Tent version of the Embassy for Extraterrestrial Elohim for use in a Raëlian seminar in Colombia, South America (1/4 the width, 1/4 the length, and half the height of the proposed embassy)
Proposed architecture and location[edit]
The International Raëlian Movement envisions having an entrance with an aseptic chamber leading to a conference room for twenty-one people as well as a dining room of the same capacity.[136] In the plan are seven rooms for the purpose of receiving human guests into the embassy. The embassy building, along with the swimming pool, would be in the center of a large park and protected from trespassing by a wall−a maximum of two stories-to surround the entire complex's circumference. Trees and bushes are to be planted in the outskirts of the wall's area. The walls are to have a northern and southern entrance. The landing pad for the embassy should be able fit a spaceship of twelve meters of diameter or 39'4" on its terrace. The terrace is to be above the rooms in the torus, which are for extraterrestrials only. The seven rooms directly underneath the landing pad would be protected from occupants of other rooms with a thick metal door. Finally, the International Raëlian Movement wants to avoid military and radar surveillance of the airspace above the embassy. Buildings for administration, food and water provisions, and state-of-the-art sanitation and communication systems are part of this vision.[136] A nearby replica of the Raëlian Embassy for Extraterrestrials open to the public is expected to show visitors what it is like inside the real one.[11]:p. 370
On 13 December 1997, the leader of the International Raëlian Movement had decided to extend the possibility of building the embassy outside of Jerusalem and also allow that a significant portion of the embassy property be covered with water. The area of the proposed embassy property is still envisioned at a minimum of 3.47 square kilometers, with a radius of at least 1.05 kilometers.[137]



 The book cover of Rael's book Geniocracy: Government of the People, for the People, by the Geniuses (Printed for the first time in English: 2008 Nova Distribution.)
A form of meritocracy[edit]
In his book Geniocracy, Raël outlined his plan for a peaceful worldwide political union that, while democratic, would require 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.[138]:pp. 17–20 The world government would also have a global currency, a common language, and a transformation of militaries of the world into civil police.[11]:p. 100
Raelians deride the current state-system as inadequate for dealing with contemporary global issues that are typical of Globalisation, such as Environmentalism, Social Justice, Human Rights, and the current economic system. In line with this, Geniocracy proposes a different economic model called Humanitarianism.[138]
Raël recommends a world government with 12 regions. Inhabitants would vote for which region they want to be part of. After the regions are defined, they are further divided into 12 sectors after the same principle of democracy is applied. While sectors of the same region are defined as having equal numbers of inhabitants, the regions themselves may have different levels of population, which would be proportional to its voting power.[138]
Status[edit]
The current difficulty in the ideas of Geniocracy is that the means of assessing intelligence are ill-defined. One idea offered by Rael in Geniocracy is to have specialists such as psychologists, neurologists, ethnologists, etc., perfect or choose among existing ones, a series of tests that would define each person's level of intelligence. They should be designed to measure intellectual potential rather than accumulation of knowledge.
The lack of scientific rigour necessary for inclusion of Geniocracy as properly testable political ideology can be noted in number of modern and historical dictatorships as well as oligarchies. Because of the controversies surrounding Geniocracy, Raël presents the idea as a classic utopia or provocative ideal and not necessarily a model that humanity will follow.[12]
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 up to 49 years or when they die, which ever is later. Any rents not inherited by relatives after 49 years would go to the State.[11]:p. 98 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.[11]:p. 97
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.[120]:pp. 217–8
Religious symbol[edit]



 The Raëlian symbol with the swastika (left) and the alternative version (right)
Raelians believe in reclaiming the swastika by restoring its historical meaning as a symbol of peace and good luck.[139][139] Swastika has been used for millennia in the East as a religious symbol of peace and harmony.
In 1991, a Montreal anti-cult organization called Info-Cult made statements against the Raëlian Church with an article on Le Devoir, branding Raëlians as promoters of fascism and racism,[83] due to the church's use of the swastika as part of their logo and the Raëlian description of an extraterrestrial global government in which those less than ten percent above average intelligence are excluded from the electorate.[138] Outside Info-Cult's office, Raëlians spoke against the act of discriminating against a religious minority.[83] On 2 January 1992, a dozen people protested against the use of the swastika in the Raëlian logo in Miami's Eden Roc Hotel. The use of the swastika and other Raelian practices has led to criticism from the group Hineni of Florida, a Jewish anti-cult organization.[140]
In February 1991, the Raëlian Church modified their symbol. 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 the Extraterrestrial Embassy to greet the anticipated Elohim space vessels, although the country continued to deny their request.[22] 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 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.[141] From 1991 to 2007, the official Raëlian symbol in Europe and America did not have the original swastika, but Raël, founder and leader of the Raëlian Movement decided to make the original symbol, the Star of David intertwined with a swastika, the only official symbol of the Raelian Movement worldwide.[142]
Reception[edit]
In 1995, a parliamentary commission issued a report through the National Assembly of France that categorized the Raelian Movement (Mouvement Raëlien) as a "secte"[143] (French word for cult), but does not give reasons for this classification. In 1997, a parliamentary inquiry commission issued a report through the Belgian Chamber of Representatives that categorized the Belgian Raelian Movement (Mouvement Raëlien Belge) as a sect.[144] Glenn McGee, professor at the University of New Haven, stated that 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.[145] The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the United States Department of State[146] and sociologist Susan J. Palmer[16]:pp. 1–3 have classified the International Raëlian Movement as a religion.
In 2005, two Wired News reporters 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. 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.[147][148]
The estranged former wife of Vorilhon characterised him as a 'cult leader' and claimed he brought groups of female Raëlians home and held orgies which affected the children from an early age.[149]
See also[edit]

Portal icon Religion portal
Portal icon Sexuality portal
Ancient astronauts
Korindo (Raëlian temple)
New religious movement
Nontheistic religions
References[edit]
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59.Jump up ^ RaelRadio #7: Femininity Day, RaelRadio.net. Retrieved 18 April 2007.
60.^ Jump up to: a b "Sensual seminars" and flying saucers, Agence France-Presse. 22 September 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
61.^ Jump up to: a b c McCann, Brigitte, REALM OF THE RAELIANS: RAELIAN NATION – Part 1, Calgary Sun. 7 October 2003. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
62.^ Jump up to: a b Broughton, Philip D. Promise of as much sex as you want and everlasting life, The Daily Telegraph. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
63.^ Jump up to: a b Gibbs, Nancy, Abducting The Cloning Debate, Time Magazine in partnership with CNN. 5 January 2003. Retrieved 12 May 2007.
64.^ Jump up to: a b I-Team: Alien Nation, Raelians Moving Headquarters to Las Vegas, WorldNow and KLAS. 8 May 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2007.
65.Jump up ^ Rael's Girls, 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2007.
66.Jump up ^ The Raelian Movement (10 May 2006). "RAEL's Girls in Support of Strippers (Press release)". PR Newswire. Retrieved 10 June 2007.
67.Jump up ^ Names in the news, Knight Ridder. 16 September 2004. 10 August 2007.
68.Jump up ^ Paredes, Noelle, The Raelians: Roots, beliefs and future plans, CTV Television Network. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
69.Jump up ^ RaelAfrica.org, RaelAfrica.org. Retrieved 9 August 2006.
70.^ Jump up to: a b c Raël, Sensual MeditationFind reference
71.^ Jump up to: a b c d Raël, Yes to Human CloningFind reference
72.Jump up ^ "On s'en est fait passer une p'tite vite!", Cyberpresse.ca. 5 December 2006. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
73.Jump up ^ Raëlian effort to promote sponsorship of clitorises, Clitoraid.org. Retrieved 9 August 2006.
74.Jump up ^ Bourgeaux, Par Pierre, CROP-CIRCLES in the Streets of Switzerland, Raëlian Contact 309. 23 May 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
75.Jump up ^ Raëlian Exhibitions in Japan, (West) Japanese Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 28 November 2006.
76.Jump up ^ Raëlian Seminars in the Americas, The International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
77.Jump up ^ Raëlian Seminars in Asia, The International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
78.Jump up ^ Raëlian Seminars in Europe, The International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
79.Jump up ^ Lewis, The Gods have landed: new religions from other worldsFind reference
80.Jump up ^ Brown, DeNeen L., The Leader of UFO Land, Washington Post. 17 January 2003. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
81.Jump up ^ The Sexual Messiah, National Post. 7 August 1999. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
82.Jump up ^ McCann, Brigittee. "Get undressed". Calgary Sun. Retrieved 8 September 2007.
83.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Susan J. Palmer, The Rael Deal, Religion in the News, Summer 2001, Vol. 4, No. 2.
84.Jump up ^ International Committee Against Christian Calendar Imperialism, icacci.org. Retrieved 30 March 2007.
85.Jump up ^ "With friends like these, Monsanto needs no enemies", USATODAY.com. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
86.Jump up ^ raelity show, Associated Press. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
87.Jump up ^ Translation: "Global anti-war rallies map series", Agence France-Presse. 15 March 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
88.Jump up ^ [1], gotopless.org. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
89.Jump up ^ "Men Wear Bras So Women Can Go Topless", gotopless.com. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
90.Jump up ^ Religious Movements Homepage: Raelians (paragraph on Operation Condom), University of Virginia. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
91.Jump up ^ "The bishops react to the attacks anti-catholics of the Raëlian movement" (translated), Infosekten. 22 May 2001. Retrieved 1 August 2007. (translated)
92.^ Jump up to: a b Who are the Raëlians?, Time Magazine. 4 January 2003. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
93.^ Jump up to: a b Palmer, Susan J. Susan J. Palmer: search terms are susan j palmer aliens adored teaching skills. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2004.
94.^ Jump up to: a b Raël et le mouvement raélien, SECTES ET MOUVEMENTS RELIGIEUX. Retrieved 19 April 2007.
95.Jump up ^ Groups hurl accusations at anti-cult organization, Montreal Gazette. 1 April 1993. Retrieved 19 April 2007.
96.Jump up ^ Review of Aliens Adored: Rael's UFO Religion by Publishers Weekly, Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
97.Jump up ^ Raelianews: News, Raelianews.org. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
98.Jump up ^ Raelian Press Site, RaelPress.org. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
99.Jump up ^ Lewis, Controversial New ReligionsFind reference
100.Jump up ^ Tandy, Doctor Tandy's First Guide to Life Extension and TranshumanityFind reference
101.Jump up ^ Stock, Redesigning Humans: Choosing our Genes, Changing our FutureFind reference
102.Jump up ^ Bates, Alien Intrusion: UFOs and the Evolution ConnectionFind reference
103.Jump up ^ Alexander, Rapture: A Raucous Tour of Cloning, Transhumanism, and the New Era of ImmortalityFind reference
104.Jump up ^ Shanks, Human genetic engineering:a guide for activists, skeptics, and the very perplexedFind reference
105.Jump up ^ 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 ReformFind reference
106.^ Jump up to: a b Partridge, UFO ReligionsFind reference
107.^ Jump up to: a b Edwards, A Brief Guide to Beliefs: Ideas, Theologies, Mysteries, and MovementsFind reference
108.Jump up ^ Exhibit on homosexual behavior in animal kingdom, Raelianews.org. 8 December 2006. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
109.Jump up ^ To stop Pedophilia, It is urgent to give right to sex to Catholic Priests, Raelianews.org. 9 December 2006. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
110.Jump up ^ Raelians Offer Full Frontal Support, Raelianews.org. 21 February 2005. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
111.Jump up ^ Genta, Lonely Minds in the Universe: The Search for Extraterrestrial IntelligenceFind reference
112.Jump up ^ Colavito, The cult of alien gods: H.P. Lovecraft and extraterrestrial pop cultureFind reference
113.Jump up ^ Sect leader: Cloning is just the beginning, Cable News Network. 31 December 2002. Retrieved 2 August 2006.
114.Jump up ^ Human cloning firm sets up affiliate in Korea, Korea Herald. 13 July 2002. Retrieved 19 July 2002.
115.^ Jump up to: a b Vatican slams 'brutal' clone claim, CNN. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
116.Jump up ^ Religious Leaders Condemn Report of Cloned Baby, CNN. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
117.^ Jump up to: a b Goodenough, Patrick, Cloning Cult Miffed About Treatment of Leader, Cybercast News Service. 6 August 2003. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
118.Jump up ^ A modern nation is a nation where gays and lesbians are free retrieved 4 August 2013
119.Jump up ^ A Raelian official licensed to perform legal marriages for same-sex couples in Hawaii retrieved 4 August 2013
120.^ Jump up to: a b c d Raël, MaitreyaFind reference
121.Jump up ^ Left Clones, National Review. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
122.^ Jump up to: a b Cult leader Rael denied residence in Switzerland, Agence France-Presse. 19 February 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
123.Jump up ^ DIFFUSION IN THE WORLD: THE US TEAMS DENOUNCE CATHOLIC PRIESTS PEDOPHILIA, Raelian Contact 324. 11 December 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
124.Jump up ^ Pedophilia accusations are pure discrimination, Raelianews.org. 23 August 2007. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
125.Jump up ^ "An Embassy for Extraterrestrials", International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 20 July 2007.
126.Jump up ^ "Cult Bids to Clone Hitler for War Trial", Daily Record. 9 August 2001. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
127.Jump up ^ Cloning solution to terrorism, some say, The Maneater. 21 September 2001. Retrieved 6 April 2007.
128.Jump up ^ Sethi, Atul, Was God an astronaut?, Times of India. Retrieved 3 August 2007.
129.^ Jump up to: a b Yoel Ben Assayag, A Dinner With the Messiah, Raelian Contact 320. 10 October 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2007
130.Jump up ^ WORDS OF OUR BELOVED PROPHET, Raelian Contact 317. 24 August 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2007
131.Jump up ^ OUR BELOVED PROPHET IN ACCRA, Raelian Contact 257. 4 January 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2007
132.Jump up ^ Uriel, Invitation and welcoming with the Kimbangists, Raelian Contact 269. Retrieved 15 February 2007.
133.^ Jump up to: a b Alien ideas of Genesis? Oak Ridger. 2 January 1998. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
134.^ Jump up to: a b Nichols, Hans S. Clones of Aliens Are Among US?, Insight on the News. 29 October 2001. Retrieved 17 July 2007. (highlight)
135.Jump up ^ The Raelian Church to Build Embassy on the Beach!!!, PR Newswire. 27 December 1997. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
136.^ Jump up to: a b ELOHIM'S INSTRUCTIONS, International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
137.Jump up ^ AMBASSADORIAL NEEDS, International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
138.^ Jump up to: a b c d Rael, GeniocracyFind reference
139.^ Jump up to: a b Pro-Swastika, Pro-Swastika.org. 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
140.Jump up ^ USE OF SWASTIKA LOGO PROMPTS BEACH PROTEST, The Miami Herald. 3 January 1992. Retrieved 8 June 2007. (highlight)
141.Jump up ^ Thomas, Amelia, Raelians want to establish ET embassy in Jerusalem, Middle East Times. 18 November 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
142.Jump up ^ The Official Raelian Symbol gets its swastika back, Raelianews.org. 17 January 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2007."
143.Jump up ^ Assemblée Nationale (10 June 1999). "Les sectes et l'argent - Annexes (Cults and money - Appendices)" (in French). République Française. Retrieved 20 April 2009. "La Commission a choisi de sélectionner une trentaine de sectes (1) qui lui paraissent disposer d'une influence économique et d'un poids financier significatifs, et pour lesquelles elle a pu rassembler des informations qu'elle juge utile de rendre publiques. [The Commission chose to select some thirty cults which appeared to it to have significant economic influence and financial clout; and for which it could assemble information which it judged useful to publicise.]"
144.Jump up ^ Human Rights Without Frontiers International: Human Rights in Belgium Annual Report (Events in 2005).
145.Jump up ^ Thomasch, Paul, The sportswriter, the aliens, and a cult with 55,000 believers, The Guardian. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 24 May 2007.
146.Jump up ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2003, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. 18 December 2003. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
147.Jump up ^ Philipkoski, Kristen, Some Sex With Your Clone Perhaps?, Wired News. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
148.Jump up ^ A VERY SPECIAL SEMINAR IN LAS VEGAS (Note: Only the French language version is available.), Raelian Contact 273. 26 May 2005. Retrieved 26 June 2007. (French, raelianews.org version)
149.Jump up ^ I was married to clone cult leader Rael 15 years. He wrecked my life and our children's., Mail on Sunday/12 January 2003. [2]
Cited texts[edit]
^ Alexander, Brian, Rapture: A Raucous Tour of Cloning, Transhumanism, and the New Era of Immortality Basic Books, 2005. ISBN 1-56025-695-8.
^ Bates, Gary, Alien Intrusion: UFOs and the Evolution Connection New Leaf Press, 2005. ISBN 0-89051-435-6.
^ Colavito, Jason, The cult of alien gods: H.P. Lovecraft and extraterrestrial pop culture. Prometheus, 2005. ISBN 978-1-59102-352-4. (Also see article on Wikipedia)
^ Edwards, Linda, A Brief Guide to Beliefs: Ideas, Theologies, Mysteries, and Movements. Westminster John Knox Press, 2001. ISBN 0-664-22259-5.
^ Genta, Giancarlo, Lonely Minds in the Universe: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Springer, 2007. ISBN 978-0-387-33925-2.
^ Lewis, James R., Controversial New Religions Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-19-515682-X.
^ Lewis, James R., The Gods have landed: new religions from other worlds State University of New York Press, 1995. ISBN 0-7914-2329-8.
^ Palmer, Susan J., Aliens Adored. Rutgers University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8135-3476-3.
^ Palmer, Susan J., Women in Controversial New Religions, in New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America, ed. Derek H. Davis & Barry Hankins, p. 66. Baylor University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-918954-92-4
^ Partridge, Christopher H. UFO Religions. Routledge, 2003. ISBN 0-415-26323-9.
^ Raël, Intelligent Design. Nova Distribution, 2005. ISBN 978-2-940252-22-0
^ Raël, Geniocracy. The Raelian Foundation, 2004.
^ Raël, Maitreya. The Raelian Foundation, 2003.
^ Raël, Sensual Meditation. Tagman Press, 2002.
^ Raël, Yes to Human Cloning: Immortality Thanks to Science. Tagman Press, 2001. ISBN 1-903571-05-7; ISBN 1-903571-04-9.
^ Shanks, Pete, Human genetic engineering:a guide for activists, skeptics, and the very perplexed Nation Books, 2005. ISBN 1-56025-695-8.
^ Stock, Gregory, Redesigning Humans: Choosing our Genes, Changing our Future. Houghton Mifflin Books, 2002. ISBN 0-618-06026-X.
^ Tandy, Charles, Doctor Tandy's First Guide to Life Extension and Transhumanity Universal-Publishers.com, 2001. ISBN 1-58112-650-6.
^ 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, 15 May 2002. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 2003. Government Documents. Y 4.G 74/7:B 52/7.
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Raëlians.
Official sitesWeb site of the Raëlian Movement
Official News and Views of the Raëlian Movement
Clonaid – Stemaid – Clitoraid
OtherThe Raëlian books compared to Jean Sendy's. Testimonies by ex-Raelians.
Whittemore, Faye. "Religious Movements Homepage: Raelians". University of Virginia. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007.
Raëlism Robert T. Carroll's skeptic dictionary entry
Rael : The Masonic Messiah?
Who Are the Raelians, and Why Are They Naked? by Brian Dunning


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Raëlism

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Raëlism
A gathering of Raëlians in South Korea.jpg
A gathering of Raëlians in South Korea.

Formation
1974
Type
New religious movement
UFO religion

Headquarters
Geneva, Switzerland[1]

Founder
 Claude Vorilhon ("Raël")

Key people

Claude Vorilhon
Brigitte Boisselier

Website
rael.org
A series of articles on the

Raëlian Movement

Adam, Eve, and Elohim (Raëlism).png
Founder • History
Beliefs & practices
Cloning (Clonaid)
Funds

Views on:
Politics
Economics
Cosmology

This box: view ·
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Raëlism, also known as Raëlianism or the Raëlian movement, is a UFO religion that was founded in 1974 by Claude Vorilhon, now known as Raël. An adherent of Raëlism is a Raëlian.
The Raëlian Movement teaches that life on Earth was scientifically created by a species of extraterrestrials, which they call the Elohim. Members of this species appeared human when having personal contacts with the descendants of the humans that they made. They previously misinformed (on purpose) early humanity that they were angels, cherubim, or gods. Raëlians believe that messengers, or prophets, of the Elohim include Buddha, Jesus, and others[2][3][4] who informed humans of each era.[5] The founder of Raëlism, members claim, received the final message of the Elohim and that its purpose is to inform the world about Elohim and that if humans become aware and peaceful enough, they wish to be welcomed by them.



 Japanese Raëlian character mascot.
The Raëlian Church has a quasi-clerical structure of seven levels. Joining the movement requires an official apostasy from other religions. Raëlian ethics include striving for world peace, sharing, democracy and nonviolence.[6] Sexuality is also an important part of the Raëlian doctrine. The Raëlian Church, with its liberal views of sexuality, has attracted some of its priests and bishops from other religions.[7]
Raël founded Clonaid (originally Valiant Venture Ltd Corporation) in 1997, but then handed it over to a Raëlian bishop, Brigitte Boisselier in 2000.[8] In 2002 the company claimed that an American woman underwent a standard cloning procedure that led to the birth of a daughter, Eve (b. 26 December 2002). Although few believe the claim, it nonetheless attracted national authorities and the mainstream media to look further into the Raëlians' cult status.
The Raëlians frequently use the swastika as a symbol of peace, which halted Raëlian requests for territory in Israel, and later Lebanon, for establishing an embassy for extraterrestrials. The religion also uses the swastika embedded on the Star of David.[9] Starting around 1991, this symbol was often replaced by a variant star and swirl symbol as a public relations move, particularly toward Israel.


Contents  [hide]
1 History
2 Member hierarchy 2.1 Women-only groups
3 Rites and practices 3.1 Initiation 3.1.1 Ceremony
3.1.2 Ceremonial dates
3.2 Sensual Meditation
4 Other activities, outreach and advocacy 4.1 UFO exhibits
4.2 Seminars
4.3 Activism
4.4 Converts from other religions
4.5 Intentional controversy
5 Beliefs 5.1 Voluntarism
5.2 Human cloning 5.2.1 Clonaid
5.3 Ethics 5.3.1 LGBT issues
5.3.2 Sensuality and pleasure
5.3.3 Views on pedophilia
5.4 Structure of the Universe
5.5 Intelligent Design 5.5.1 Creation of life on Earth by extraterrestrials
5.5.2 Humanity's chance of creating life on other planets
5.6 A coming judgment
5.7 Embassy for Extraterrestrials 5.7.1 Proposed architecture and location
5.8 A form of meritocracy 5.8.1 Status
5.9 Religious symbol
6 Reception
7 See also
8 References 8.1 Cited texts
9 External links

History[edit]



 Membership estimates from various sources
Further information: History of Raëlism
The beginnings of Raëlism are rooted in the claims of a French former automobile journalist and race car driver Claude Vorilhon. In his books The Book Which Tells the Truth (1974) and Extraterrestrials Took Me to their Planet (1975), Vorilhon alleges that he had alien encounters with beings who gave him knowledge of the origins of all major religions.
The movement traces its beginnings to a conference in Paris, France of two thousand people in 1974.[10] From there, the MADECH organization was born.[10] 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" (Mouvement pour l‘accueil des Elohim, créateurs de l'humanité) while the second stands for "Moses preceded Elijah and the Christ" (Moise a devancé Élie et le Christ).[11]:p. 104 By 1976, Raël transformed MADECH into the International Raelian Movement.[12]
Table of worldwide membership estimates

[show]Date
Estimate
Scope
Reference

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

Table of regional membership estimates

[show]Date
Estimate
Scope
Reference

    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    

From 1980 to 1992 Raël and his movement became increasingly global. In 1980 Claude Raël's fifth Raëlian book Sensual Meditation was published and formal publication of the Raëlian Messages in the Japanese language began[47] as part of the Raëlian mission to Japan.[16]:p. 64 Two years later, Africa became another target area in the mission to spread the Raëlian messages.[16]:p. 64
On 26 December 2002, Brigitte Boisselier, a Raëlian Bishop and CEO of a biotechnology company called Clonaid announced the birth of baby Eve, supposedly the first-ever human clone. The announcement ignited much media attention, ethical debate, doubt, criticism, and claims of a hoax. Spokespeople for the movement, including Claude Vorilhon, have suggested that this is one of the first steps in achieving a more important agenda. They claim that through cloning they can combine an accelerated growth process with some form of mind transfer, and in such, may achieve eternal life.[48][49]
Member hierarchy[edit]

Level 6:
Guide of Guides
Planetary guide
Level 5:
Bishop Level 4:
Priest Level 3:
Assistant Priest
Continental head
National guide
Regional guide National guide
Regional guide Regional guide

Level 2:
Organizer Level 1:
Assistant Organizer

Level 0:
Trainee
Sources[50][51]

See also: Raël, Glenn Carter and Brigitte Boisselier
The structure of the Raëlian Church is hierarchical, with seven levels ascending from level 0 to level 6.[52] The top four levels 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".[52] 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[50][51]—in their assigning of non-guide members to levels 3 ("Assistant Priests"), 2 ("Organizers") and 1 ("Assistant Organizers").
Members of the Raëlian structure begin as level 0 "trainees" during annual seminars. The Raelian structure claimed in 2007 to have about 2,300 members,[53] 170 "Raëlian guides",[54] and 41 bishops.[55] Claude Vorilhon has held the highest position for three seven-year terms.[52]
Women-only groups[edit]
Women make up only a third of the membership in the Raëlian Church,[16]:p. 117 though two anecdotes in the Raëlian Contact newsletter report female majorities joining the movement's Asian Mongolian chapter.[56][57] 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.[58][59] 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.[60][61] The Order of Angels has its own hierarchy of "rose angels" and "white angels" which, as of 2003, are six and 160 women, respectively.[12] After the Clonaid human cloning claim made the headlines, the Daily Telegraph wrote that members of the order not only provided sexual pleasure for Raël, but also helped donate eggs for efforts towards human cloning.[62] A few days later, Time magazine wrote that French chemist Brigitte Boisselier was an Order of Angels member.[63] Around this time, cult specialist Mike Kropveld called the Order of Angels "one of the most transparent movements" he had witnessed, though he was alarmed by the women's promise to defend Raël's life with their own bodies.[61]
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.[64] The women of Rael's Girls say there is no reason to repent for performing striptease or being a prostitute, although they say "we continue to foster the notions that sex and sexuality are acts only to be shared between marital partners".[64][65] This organization was set up "to support the choice of the women who are working in the sex industry".[66] Rael's Girls and its founder Raël were featured in a pictorial in the October 2004 issue of Playboy.[67]
Rites and practices[edit]



 Raëlians drawing with sand
Initiation[edit]
Ceremony[edit]
The major initiation rite in the Raëlian Church is the "baptism" or "transmission of the cellular plan" and is performed by upper-level members in the Raëlian clergy known as guides.[16]:pp. 58–9 In 1979, Raël introduced the "Act of Apostasy" as an obligation for those preparing for their Raëlian baptism.[16]:p. 60[68]
The Raëlian baptism is known as transmission of the cellular plan where "cellular" refers to the organic cells of the body and the "plan" refers to the genetic makeup of the individual. This Raëlian baptism involves a guide member laying water onto the forehead of the new member.[11]:p. 334 The practice began on "the first Sunday in April"[16]:p. 58 of 1976 when Raël baptised 40 Raëlians.[16]:p. 58 Raëlians believe that their genetic information is recorded by a remote computer and would become recognized during their final hour when they will be judged by the extraterrestrial Elohim.[11]:p. 175
Ceremonial dates[edit]
Baptisms can only be performed on four special days in the year. The dates mark anniversaries in the Raëlian calendar.[16]:p. 64
The dates are the 6 August, which marks the anniversary of the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945,[11]:p. 151[11]:p. 151 13 December, marking the day that Raël in 1973 says he had his first personal encounter with one of the extraterrestrial Elohim,[11]:pp. 4, 121–2, 136, 143, 223 7 October in which the Elohim, Raël says, took him up in a spacecraft in 1975 and the following day had meals with Jesus, Buddha, and other past religious figures[11]:pp. 145–178 and the first Sunday in April, which Raëlians believe is the date when dark-skinned extraterrestrials created Adam and Eve.[16]:p. 64[69]



Sensual Meditation (1980), Raël's fifth book about Raëlism.
Sensual Meditation[edit]
Main article: Sensual Meditation
Sensual Meditation is the set of exercises made public by Claude Vorilhon in his book La méditation sensuelle.[70] It is practiced by members of International Raelian Movement (IRM).[70] The first of these exercises is usually taught in Raëlian Seminars.[70]
Other activities, outreach and advocacy[edit]
Throughout the history of Raëlism, members of the Raëlian Church have toured public settings advocating masturbation, condoms and birth control.[62] Raëlians hope that genetically modified food[71]:pp. 35–37 and nanotechnology[71]:pp. 69–74 will allow humankind to eliminate the obligation to work, in a world that embraces science and technology.[11]:p. 156
Raëlians have founded Clonaid, a company that envisions that someday human beings can be scientifically recreated though a process of human cloning, and Clitoraid, an organization whose mission is to oppose female genital mutilation.[72][73]
UFO exhibits[edit]
Raëlian structure members have set up exhibitions about their beliefs of extraterrestrial intelligent designers sending crop circles,[74] UFOs, and spaceships for their arrival at an embassy.[75] While there have been smaller meetings of Raëlians and non-Raëlians, annual Raëlian seminars have been typically larger.[76][77][78]
Seminars[edit]
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 a Raëlian exercise called Sensual Meditation and discovered "playing fields" where "radical self-reconstruction," "new forms of authority," and "new modes of self-relating" were encouraged.[79]:p. 133
Music has been a feature of large gatherings, where at night, Raëlians have had multiethnic cabaret performances.[16]:p. 62 Seminarists have used colored bracelets to indicate whether they wanted to be alone, be in a couple, or simply meet people.[80]
On a yearly basis, Raëlian members organize seminars that are often attractive to the sexually adventurous.[81] News KNBC called the annual Raëlian seminars "a cross between a nudist camp and new-age retreat."[39] A Spanish television agency reported Raëlian men and women in cross-dressing plays.[60] Activities such as observations of one's own genitals and masturbation with them disturbed Brigitte McCann, a Calgary Sun reporter who entered one of the Raëlian seminars.[82] 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.[83] The tents were actually put up for the privacy of attendees whom were sharing dormitories and the person was ejected by the Raelians for misrepresentation for the sake of sensationalism of their so-called research, so called infiltration is encouraged by the Raelians to clear up myths perpetrated by the media and rogue researches.



 A Raëlian protest sign is raised at political rally demanding the return of U.S. troops
Activism[edit]
Raëlians routinely advocate sex-positive feminism and genetically modified food. They also have protested against wars and the Catholic Church.
Pro-GMO: On 6 August 2003, the first day of Raëlian year 58 AH,[84] a tech article on the USA Today newspaper mentions an "unlikely ally" of the Monsanto Company, the Raëlian Movement of Brazil. The movement gave vocal support in response to the company's support for genetically modified organisms particularly in their country. Brazilian farmers have been using Monsanto's genetically engineered soy plant as well as the Roundup herbicide to which it was artificially adapted. The Raëlians spoke against the Brazilian government's ban on GMOs.[85]

Anti-war: In 2006, About 30 Raëlians, some topless, took part in an anti-war demonstration in Seoul, Korea.[86] In 2003, Raëlians in white alien costumes bore signs bearing the message "NO WAR ... ET wants Peace, too!" to protest the 2003 Invasion of Iraq.[87]
Topless rights of women: Several Raëlian groups in the United States have organized annual protests, claiming that women should have the same legal right to go topless in public that men enjoy without fear of arrest for indecent exposure.[88] This is known as topfreedom. Some have called this a publicity stunt designed to recruit members. Go Topless Day is their annual event, with women protesting topless except for nipple pasties to avoid arrest. It is held near 26 August, the anniversary of the day women were given the USA right to vote.[89]
Anti-Catholic: In 1992 Catholic schools in Montreal, Canada objected to a proposed condom vending machine as contrary to their mission. In response, Raëlian guides, in an event dubbed "Operation Condom", gave the Catholic students ten thousand condoms. The Commissioner of Catholic schools for Montreal said they could do nothing to stop them.[83][90]
In July 2001, Raëlians on the streets attracted Italians and Swiss people as they gave leaflets protesting the existence of over a hundred child molesters among Roman Catholic clergy in France. They recommended that parents should not send their children to Catholic confession. The Episcopal vicar of Geneva sued the Raëlian Church for libel but did not win.[16]:p. 91[91] The judge did not accept the charges for the reason that the Raëlians were not attacking the whole of the Catholic Church.[16]:p. 91 In October 2002, Raëlians in a Canadian anti-clerical parade held handed out Christian crosses to high school students. They were invited to burn the crosses in a park not far from Montreal's Mount Royal and to sign letters of apostasy from the Roman Catholic Church. The Quebec Association of Bishops called this "incitement to hatred", and several school boards attempted to prevent their students from meeting Raëlians.[16]:p. 92
Converts from other religions[edit]
Raëlians do not believe in a god (or other deity), but in extraterrestrials.[12][92] Former clergy of mainstream religions have joined the Raëlian Church, especially in Quebec.[37][93][94] The structure of the movement had promoted some of them to the level of Priest or Bishop due to "extensive Bible training and teaching skills".[93]
Two ex-Roman Catholic Priests, Victor Legendre[94] and Charles-Yvan Giroux[95] converted to Raëlianism.[11] A former bishop of the The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) joined the Raelian Movement so he could be openly gay.[37] The Raëlian, Mark Woodgate, stated that 8% of Raëlians worldwide are former Latter-day Saints. Religiously mixed couples are common, especially with spouses who are Christians or Buddhists.[7]
Intentional controversy[edit]
Further information: Clonaid
Susan J. Palmer, a sociologist from Canada, has studied the movement since 1987[96] and says the movement intentionally stirs a moderate level of controversy to maintain membership. For example, Rael and the group attempt to tie their views with topical matters, ranging from Tiger Woods' promiscuity to strained relations in the Middle East, in regular online postings[97] and press releases.[98] 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.[61]
Raëlian organizers made deliberate attempts to "shock, titillate, and capture the media's imagination".[99]:p. 371 The book Yes to Human Cloning (2001) attracted media attention after its release, including segments on 20/20 and 60 Minutes.[100]:p. 156 Biophysicist Gregory Stock described the Raëlian Clonaid project as "sufficiently quirky to command instant media attention."[101]:p. 157 It has been estimated that the group received free publicity worth US$500 million as a result of the Clonaid claim.[102]:p. 15 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 had become a "press hog".[103]:p. 170[104]:p. 283[105]:356



 Raëlians asking to stop the prohibition of Raël's entry into Korea
Beliefs[edit]



 A passerby meets a Raëlian at a booth in Tel Aviv, Israel.
See also: Raëlian beliefs and practices
Theologian of new religious movements, George D. Chryssides, described the Raëlian Church as being in an "early developmental stage" and that their beliefs distance it from a "dominant intellectual climate".[106]:p. 46 Raëlism claims that all life on Earth, humans included, was created scientifically by Elohim, members of an extraterrestrial race who appeared similar to small humans and so were often depicted as angels,[11]:pp. 308–14 cherubs,[11]:pp. 49–50 or gods.[11]:pp. 153–6 Raëlians, who are not monotheists, believe the correct historical meaning of the word Elohim is the plural sense, "those who came from the sky". Belief in extraterrestrial Elohim play a central part in Clonaid's claim of offering cloning services for homosexual and infertile couples who want a child cloned from a partner's DNA.[107]:470
Chryssides states that Raëlism is discernible from other UFO religions for its heavy support for physicalism and repudiation of supernaturalism.[106]:p. 21 Susan J. Palmer, a social scholar who had long contacts with Raëlians, associated epiphenomenalism[16]:p. 23 with the belief in Raëlism that mind transfer coupled with human cloning can implant mind and personality into a new and disease free body.[11]:p. 167 Raëlians publicly deny the existence of the ethereal soul and a supernatural god,[92] but they believe that humanity for many generations past will be resurrected, albeit in a scientific way.[11]:p. 171
Raëlians believe that throughout the ages, members of the Elohim civilization sent different prophets, including Moses, Jesus, Buddha and many others whose role was guide humanity and to prepare humans for the future, all of whom were created as a result of a sexual union between a human woman and one of the Elohim. To Raëlians, this was possible because the Elohim had advanced DNA synthesis and genetic engineering. The Elohim later reduced the frequent visits so that humans were largely left to progress on their own, until the time of the Apocalypse/Revelation when they would send their final messenger and disclose themselves at an extraterrestrial embassy, establishing political and economic ties.
Raëlians believe that sex is a normal, natural and healthy part of life and encourages people to be true to their natural sexuality.[108] They promote healing from damaging messages from strict puritanical belief systems and social stigmas that stifle one's natural sexuality. Acceptance of masturbation, homosexuality, bisexuality, pansexuality, naturism and any legal, safe and consensual adult activity is promoted as part of a healthy and long life, and this is used to attract young converts to the religion.[109] Raelians believe that sexuality is a gift of pleasure to mankind from the Elohim.[110] 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" that involves ubiquitous practice of Sensual Meditation.[11]:p. 248
According to Giancarlo Genta and Jason Colavito, writers who have influenced Raëlian beliefs include Zechariah Sitchin and Erich von Däniken.[111]:p. 231[112]:p. 320
Voluntarism[edit]
Raëlians are encouraged to do as they feel right, whether that matches the rules of the culture in which they live or not. 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 Raëlian books. 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.[16]:p. 58
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.[16]:p. 209 Palmer cited Raël, who claimed that more than 60% of the Raëlian Movement's members do not tithe.[16]:p. 64 Dawson College students conducted a survey of the membership in Canada 1991 which found that only one-third of respondents tithed.[16]:p. 209
Human cloning[edit]
As opposed to the scientific definition of reproductive cloning which is simply the creation of a genetically identical living thing, Raëlians seek to both genetically clone individuals, rapidly accelerate growth of the clone to adulthood through a process like guided self-assembly of rapidly expanded cells or even nanotechnology[71]:pp. 35–37[113] and then transfer the mind and personality of the donor into the clone.[11]:p. 366 Raëlians believe humanity can attain eternal life through the science of cloning.[71]:pp. 35–37
Claude Vorilhon told lawmakers that banning the development of human cloning was comparable to outlawing medical advances such "antibiotics, blood transfusions, and vaccines."[83]
Clonaid[edit]
Raël founded Valiant Venture Ltd Corporation in 1997, to research human cloning. The company name was later changed to Clonaid and handed over to Raëlian bishop, Brigitte Boisselier in 2000.[8] In 2002, Brigitte Boisselier, as chief executive of Clonaid, claimed that a human baby was conceived through cloning technology.[63] Around this time, Clonaid's subsidiary BioFusion Tech claimed to have in possession a cell fusion device that assisted the cloning of human embryos.[114] The Vatican said that experimenters expressed "brutal mentality" for attempting to clone human beings.[115] Pope John Paul II criticized the experiment which he believes threatens the dignity of human life.[116] In response, the leader of the Raëlian Church dismissed the Pope's ethical concerns, calling them an "accumulation of religious prejudices."[115]
In response to Raël's association with Clonaid, South Korean immigration authorities at the airport denied him entry into their country in 2003.[34] 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 Ministry of Health and Welfare that ordered him to leave.[34][117] Officials detained Raël for nine hours at Incheon International Airport before he and his wife Sophie de Niverville left for Tokyo from where they took 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.[117]



 Woman on bed adorned with Raëlian symbol
Ethics[edit]
LGBT issues[edit]
The Raelian movement defends the rights and freedoms of gays and lesbians, recognises gay marriage and ordains gay clergy.[118] Some Raelian leaders have performed licensed same-sex marriages.[119]
Sensuality and pleasure[edit]
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[120]:pp. 19,71,99,182,251 and that it is the only thing which can stop war and injustice that persists in today's world.[120]:pp. 18,165 Raëlians believe in the right to form new religions or new political parties as long as they do not promote violence.[120]:pp. 137–41,165 As individualists, Raëlians believe that the one who gives the order to harm others is less at fault than the one who executes it.[11]:p. 321
Raëlians say they encourage adult homosexual, bisexual, and heterosexual relationships and that society should recognize them legally.[121] Some Swiss government authorities responded to Raëlians' views about Sensual Meditation with a fear that Raëlians are a threat to public morals for supporting liberalized sex education for children. They express the view that such liberalized sex education teaches youngsters how to obtain sexual gratification which would encourage sexual abuse of underage children.[122]
Views on pedophilia[edit]
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.[16]:p. 63 In 2006 Raëlians in Los Angeles, California condemned acts of pedophilia which Raelians consider a disease, particularly those associated with celibate Catholic priests, saying that minors and adults should not be mixed in the act of sex.[123] Authorities of the Swiss canton of Valais claimed that Raëlians support a doctrine of "complete sexual liberty", and they denied an application by Raël to live in their area.[122] The website Raelianews.org denied that sexual freedom between consenting adults in any way implies pedophilia.[124]



 Raëlian cosmology
Structure of the Universe[edit]
Raëlian cosmology as proposed in 1973 by Raël states that the observable universe has no creator and is infinite in time and finite in size and surrounded by infinite space.[11]:pp. 211
In Raëlian cosmology, our observable universe is an "atom" of a much larger level of matter (and possibly organism) and subatomic particles in our bodies also possess universes like our own, but on a much smaller scale. This pattern, atom within universe within atom, is believed to be infinitely repetitive, from the infinitely small, to the infinitely large.[11]:pp. 211 The Raëlian Messages by Raël state that humanoid extraterrestrials, who were originally called under the name Elohim (singular: Eloha), verified this cosmology scientifically.[11]:pp. 153–155
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 in time and space and lacks a center. Because of this, one could not imagine where an ethereal soul would go.[11]:pp. 153–155
The Raëlian cosmology is meditated upon during the fourth activity in the rite of Sensual Meditation.
Intelligent Design[edit]



 Puy de Lassolas
Creation of life on Earth by extraterrestrials[edit]
In his book The Message Given to me by Extraterrestrials (now republished as Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers 2006 ISBN 2-940252-20-3), Claude Vorilhon claims that on 13 December 1973, he found a spacecraft shaped like a flattened bell that landed inside Puy de Lassolas, a volcano near the capital city of Auvergne. 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]:pp. 11–15
Yahweh gave materialistic explanations of the following:
the Garden of Eden: a large laboratory that was based on an artificially constructed continent[11]:p. 279
Noah's Ark: a spaceship that preserved DNA that was used to resurrect animals through cloning[11]:pp. 20–22[11]:pp. 240–242,280,332
the Tower of Babel: a rocket that was supposed to reach the creators' planet;[11]:p. 22
the Great Flood: the byproduct of a nuclear missile explosion that the Elohim sent.[11]:p. 20 After tidal wave floods following the explosions receded, Elohim scattered the Israelites and had them speak the language of other tribes.[11]:pp. 22,23
According to Vorilhon, Elohim contacted about forty people to act as their prophets on Earth,[11]:p. 165 including Moses,[11]:pp. 114,312,324 Elijah,[11]:p. 114 Ezekiel,[11]:pp. 45–53 Buddha,[11]:pp. 89,312,324 John the Baptist,[11]:pp. 293–306 Jesus,[11]:pp. 114,312,324 Muhammad,[11]:pp. 89,312,324 and Joseph Smith.[11]:pp. 89,312 The religions thought to be from Elohimic origins include Judaism,[11]:p. 114 Buddhism,[11]:p. 89 Christianity,[11]:p. 114 Islam,[11]:p. 89 and Mormonism.[11]:p. 89
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.[125]
Humanity's chance of creating life on other planets[edit]
Raëlians believe that humanity would be able to create life on other planets only if humanity is peaceful enough to stop war. In that case, humanity could travel the distances between stars[11]:p. 159 and create life on another planet.[11]:p. 70 Progress in terraforming, molecular biology,[11]:p. 293 and cloning would enable these teams to create continents and life from scratch.[11]:p. 50 Progress in social engineering would ensure that this creation would have a better chance of both surviving and having the potential to understand its creators.[11]:p. 153 Research on how civilization 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.[11]:p. 280 The progress achieved by the science teams would ultimately sustain a perpetual chain of life.[11]:p. 91
A coming judgment[edit]
Raëlians do not believe that an ethereal soul exists free of physical confinement.[11]:pp. 154–155 Raëlians believe that advanced supercomputers of the Elohim are right now recording the memories and DNA of human beings.[11]:p. 171 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.[11]:p. 214 Vorilhon expressed an interest in cloning Hitler for war trials and retroactive punishment.[126] 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.[127]
Embassy for Extraterrestrials[edit]
Raëlians believe that life on Earth—as well as many religions of the world—was the work of extraterrestrial influence. They believe these were scientists and that ancient people saw them as "gods" and gave the name "Elohim".[11]:p. 370[128] Raëlians believe that the Embassy for Extraterrestrials or "Third Temple"[129][130][131] is to support an official contact with Extraterrestrial Elohim and their messengers of the main religions at the "New Jerusalem".[129][132]
The Raëlian Embassy for Extraterrestrials is the vision of the International Raëlian Movement to establish an embassy, at a base cost of $20 million, with a landing pad that would serve as spaceport for extraterrestrial spaceships. The funding of the embassy has been reported over time by the media.[13][133][134] Its location is intended to be in neutral territory, preferably Jerusalem, and would be surrounded by acres of campground capable of supporting about 144,000 people[11] or more than twice the estimated Raëlian membership as of 2005.[40]
On 16 April 1987, the Chicago Sun-Times estimated the funding for the "cosmic kibbutz" at $1 million. In 1997-1998, the funding had risen to $7 million.[24][107]:p. 467[133][135] By 2001, $9 million had been saved for the embassy,[16]:p. 64 and in October 2001, the funding had reached $20 million.[134]



 Tent version of the Embassy for Extraterrestrial Elohim for use in a Raëlian seminar in Colombia, South America (1/4 the width, 1/4 the length, and half the height of the proposed embassy)
Proposed architecture and location[edit]
The International Raëlian Movement envisions having an entrance with an aseptic chamber leading to a conference room for twenty-one people as well as a dining room of the same capacity.[136] In the plan are seven rooms for the purpose of receiving human guests into the embassy. The embassy building, along with the swimming pool, would be in the center of a large park and protected from trespassing by a wall−a maximum of two stories-to surround the entire complex's circumference. Trees and bushes are to be planted in the outskirts of the wall's area. The walls are to have a northern and southern entrance. The landing pad for the embassy should be able fit a spaceship of twelve meters of diameter or 39'4" on its terrace. The terrace is to be above the rooms in the torus, which are for extraterrestrials only. The seven rooms directly underneath the landing pad would be protected from occupants of other rooms with a thick metal door. Finally, the International Raëlian Movement wants to avoid military and radar surveillance of the airspace above the embassy. Buildings for administration, food and water provisions, and state-of-the-art sanitation and communication systems are part of this vision.[136] A nearby replica of the Raëlian Embassy for Extraterrestrials open to the public is expected to show visitors what it is like inside the real one.[11]:p. 370
On 13 December 1997, the leader of the International Raëlian Movement had decided to extend the possibility of building the embassy outside of Jerusalem and also allow that a significant portion of the embassy property be covered with water. The area of the proposed embassy property is still envisioned at a minimum of 3.47 square kilometers, with a radius of at least 1.05 kilometers.[137]



 The book cover of Rael's book Geniocracy: Government of the People, for the People, by the Geniuses (Printed for the first time in English: 2008 Nova Distribution.)
A form of meritocracy[edit]
In his book Geniocracy, Raël outlined his plan for a peaceful worldwide political union that, while democratic, would require 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.[138]:pp. 17–20 The world government would also have a global currency, a common language, and a transformation of militaries of the world into civil police.[11]:p. 100
Raelians deride the current state-system as inadequate for dealing with contemporary global issues that are typical of Globalisation, such as Environmentalism, Social Justice, Human Rights, and the current economic system. In line with this, Geniocracy proposes a different economic model called Humanitarianism.[138]
Raël recommends a world government with 12 regions. Inhabitants would vote for which region they want to be part of. After the regions are defined, they are further divided into 12 sectors after the same principle of democracy is applied. While sectors of the same region are defined as having equal numbers of inhabitants, the regions themselves may have different levels of population, which would be proportional to its voting power.[138]
Status[edit]
The current difficulty in the ideas of Geniocracy is that the means of assessing intelligence are ill-defined. One idea offered by Rael in Geniocracy is to have specialists such as psychologists, neurologists, ethnologists, etc., perfect or choose among existing ones, a series of tests that would define each person's level of intelligence. They should be designed to measure intellectual potential rather than accumulation of knowledge.
The lack of scientific rigour necessary for inclusion of Geniocracy as properly testable political ideology can be noted in number of modern and historical dictatorships as well as oligarchies. Because of the controversies surrounding Geniocracy, Raël presents the idea as a classic utopia or provocative ideal and not necessarily a model that humanity will follow.[12]
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 up to 49 years or when they die, which ever is later. Any rents not inherited by relatives after 49 years would go to the State.[11]:p. 98 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.[11]:p. 97
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.[120]:pp. 217–8
Religious symbol[edit]



 The Raëlian symbol with the swastika (left) and the alternative version (right)
Raelians believe in reclaiming the swastika by restoring its historical meaning as a symbol of peace and good luck.[139][139] Swastika has been used for millennia in the East as a religious symbol of peace and harmony.
In 1991, a Montreal anti-cult organization called Info-Cult made statements against the Raëlian Church with an article on Le Devoir, branding Raëlians as promoters of fascism and racism,[83] due to the church's use of the swastika as part of their logo and the Raëlian description of an extraterrestrial global government in which those less than ten percent above average intelligence are excluded from the electorate.[138] Outside Info-Cult's office, Raëlians spoke against the act of discriminating against a religious minority.[83] On 2 January 1992, a dozen people protested against the use of the swastika in the Raëlian logo in Miami's Eden Roc Hotel. The use of the swastika and other Raelian practices has led to criticism from the group Hineni of Florida, a Jewish anti-cult organization.[140]
In February 1991, the Raëlian Church modified their symbol. 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 the Extraterrestrial Embassy to greet the anticipated Elohim space vessels, although the country continued to deny their request.[22] 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 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.[141] From 1991 to 2007, the official Raëlian symbol in Europe and America did not have the original swastika, but Raël, founder and leader of the Raëlian Movement decided to make the original symbol, the Star of David intertwined with a swastika, the only official symbol of the Raelian Movement worldwide.[142]
Reception[edit]
In 1995, a parliamentary commission issued a report through the National Assembly of France that categorized the Raelian Movement (Mouvement Raëlien) as a "secte"[143] (French word for cult), but does not give reasons for this classification. In 1997, a parliamentary inquiry commission issued a report through the Belgian Chamber of Representatives that categorized the Belgian Raelian Movement (Mouvement Raëlien Belge) as a sect.[144] Glenn McGee, professor at the University of New Haven, stated that 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.[145] The Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor of the United States Department of State[146] and sociologist Susan J. Palmer[16]:pp. 1–3 have classified the International Raëlian Movement as a religion.
In 2005, two Wired News reporters 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. 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.[147][148]
The estranged former wife of Vorilhon characterised him as a 'cult leader' and claimed he brought groups of female Raëlians home and held orgies which affected the children from an early age.[149]
See also[edit]

Portal icon Religion portal
Portal icon Sexuality portal
Ancient astronauts
Korindo (Raëlian temple)
New religious movement
Nontheistic religions
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ International Headquarters: Raelian Movement, Rael.org. Retrieved 20 October 2010.
2.Jump up ^ Nickerson, Colin, CANADIAN CULT SAYS FIRST HUMAN CLONE IS NEAR BIRTH, Boston Globe. 20 December 2002. Retrieved 21 March 2011. (highlight)
3.Jump up ^ Krishtalka, Leonard, Cloning Spawns Silliness, Lawrence Journal-World. 31 December 2002. Retrieved 21 March 2011. (highlight)
4.Jump up ^ Davis, James D., UFO-BASED FAITH PROMOTES CLONING MEMBERS BELIEVE CONSCIOUSNESS CAN BE TRANSFERRED TO CREATE ETERNAL LIFE., South Florida Sun-Sentinel. 9 August 2001. Retrieved 21 March 2011. (highlight)
5.Jump up ^ Norris, Michele, Analysis: Raelian origin and organization are discussed, National Public Radio. 27 November 2002.. Retrieved 21 March 2011. (highlight)
6.Jump up ^ Susan J. Palmer (2004). Aliens adored: Raël's UFO religion, Page 62
7.^ Jump up to: a b The Raelian Movement, Human Rights Without Frontiers. Retrieved 2 December 2006.
8.^ Jump up to: a b Clonaid Homepage: History Retrieved 26 March 2008.
9.Jump up ^ http://altreligion.about.com/od/symbols/ig/Raelian-Symbols/Official-Raelian-Symbol.htm
10.^ Jump up to: a b c d Rael: Messenger of the Elohim, The International Raelian Movement. Retrieved 1 December 2006.
11.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az ba bb bc bd be bf bg bh Raël, Intelligent DesignFind reference
12.^ Jump up to: a b c d Raelians and Cloning: Are They for Real?, CESNUR.com. 16 January 2003. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
13.^ Jump up to: a b Gorov, Lynda, Raël is here with message from folks in space, Chicago Sun-Times. 16 April 1987. Retrieved 9 April 2007. (highlight)
14.Jump up ^ RAELIANS ARE WAITING FOR THE SPACESHIPS, The Wichita Eagle. 9 January 1990 Retrieved 23 March 2007. (highlight)
15.Jump up ^ Volume3: Subgenius Digest V3#153, The Church of the SubGenius. 28 August 1992. Retrieved 9 April 2007.
16.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y Palmer, Aliens AdoredFind reference
17.Jump up ^ Levine, Art, They Walk Among Us, The Miami Herald. 4 May 1995. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
18.^ Jump up to: a b c Ortega, Cristina M., GROUP SAYS ALIENS FROM OUR GALAXY CREATED MANKIND 25,000 YEARS AGO, The Miami Herald. 14 January 1996. Retrieved 13 March 2007. (highlight)
19.Jump up ^ SWISS GROUP LAUNCHES FIRM TO MARKET HUMAN CLONING, San Jose Mercury News. 19 June 1997. Retrieved 5 June 2007. (highlight)
20.Jump up ^ Switzerland, a Cult Magnet, Attracts Aliens and Cloning Offers, New York Times. 12 August 1997. Retrieved 5 June 2007. (highlight)
21.Jump up ^ Ireland, Rowan. NEW RELIGIOUS ASSOCIATIONS IN AUSTRALIA, Australian Association for the Study of Religions. January 1998. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
22.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Religious Movements Homepage: Raelians, University of Virginia. 11 April 2001. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
23.Jump up ^ FLORIDA CHURCH SEEKS EMBASSY FOR SPACE ALIENS, St. Paul Pioneer Press. Retrieved 19 August 2007. (highlight)
24.^ Jump up to: a b Weiss, Rick, [Human Cloning's 'Numbers Game'], Washington Post. 10 October 2000. Retrieved 21 March 2011. (highlight)
25.Jump up ^ Human Cloning - CBS News, 60 Minutes. 13 March 2001. Retrieved 13 April 2007.
26.Jump up ^ 'Raëlian' biochemist insists she will clone human, CNN. 30 June 2001. Retrieved 5 June 2007
27.Jump up ^ An Activist's Vision of Cloning, Wired News. 14 August 2002. Retrieved 5 June 2007.
28.Jump up ^ Kevles, Daniel J. RAELIAN IDEAS ARE RELATIVELY OLD HAT, Lexington Herald Leader. 29 December 2002. Retrieved 4 June 2007. (highlight)
29.Jump up ^ Marquez, Myriam, This earthling prefers to be grounded _ Amen!, The Orlando Sentinel. 31 December 2002. Retrieved 5 May 2007. (highlight)
30.^ Jump up to: a b Report: Prosecutors probe claims that a Korean woman pregnant with cloned baby, AP Worldstream. Retrieved 31 December 2002. (highlight)
31.Jump up ^ Fed: Human clone claim sparks international interest in Raëlians, AAP General News. 3 January 2003. Retrieved 5 June 2007. (highlight)
32.Jump up ^ EDITORIAL: The key to eternal life?, University Wire. 29 January 2003. Retrieved 13 April 2007 (highlight)
33.^ Jump up to: a b Japan's Raëlians hold parade to celebrate human clone births, Worldwide Religious News, Japan Today. 10 February 2003. Retrieved 10 November 2007.
34.^ Jump up to: a b c d Ji-young, So, Raelian Cult Leader Threatens to Sue Korea Over Denied Entry, Korea Times. 3 August 2003. Retrieved 12 March 2007
35.Jump up ^ Reading from the left, Financial Times. 16 March 2004. Retrieved 19 August 2007. (highlight)
36.Jump up ^ Knapp, George, Raëlian Leader Makes Fertile Announcement, KLAS.com. 26 March 2004. Retrieved 21 April 2008.
37.^ Jump up to: a b c d Cult Lures Gay Bishop into Fold, New Truth & TV Extra. 23 April 2004. Retrieved 23 March 2007.
38.Jump up ^ Hornyak, Tim, [10 years after Aum sarin attacks, pseudo-religions thriving in Japan], Japan Today. 13 March 2005. Retrieved 28 December 2006.
39.^ Jump up to: a b c 'Clone Baby' & Raelians, NBC 4 Los Angeles. 5 May 2005. Retrieved 12 March 2007.
40.^ Jump up to: a b Thomas, Amelia, Raëlians want to establish ET embassy in Jerusalem, Middle East Times. 18 November 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
41.^ Jump up to: a b Clones from outer space, The Daily Telegraph. 25 June 2006. Retrieved 4 June 2007. (highlight)
42.^ Jump up to: a b Rael Press retrieved 12 November 2012
43.Jump up ^ Davis, James D. UFO-based sect backs human cloning., South Florida Sun-Sentinel. 8 August 2001. Retrieved 4 June 2007. (highlight)
44.Jump up ^ They Believe in Mom, Apple Pie and Alien Creators. KSL-TV. 12 February 2003. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
45.Jump up ^ Pratt, Timothy, National Raëlian meeting in Las Vegas draws about 50, Las Vegas Sun. 4 April 2003. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
46.Jump up ^ Williams, Eoghan, Green men may land on the Emerald Isle, Irish Independent. 20 April 2003. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
47.Jump up ^ Harmony Revolution, Japanese Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 2 November 2006.
48.Jump up ^ THE CLONING DEBATE, MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
49.Jump up ^ Todd, Stephanie, Scientists scoff at cloned baby claim, Scotsman.com. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
50.^ Jump up to: a b Wong, Jan, Clone artist, The Globe and Mail. 7 April 2001. Retrieved 12 July 2007.
51.^ Jump up to: a b Raelianews: Downloads, Raelian Contact Newsletter. Retrieved 12 July 2007.
52.^ Jump up to: a b c Isaksson, Stefan, New Religious UFO Movements: Extraterrestrial Salvation in Contemporary America – AnthroBase, California State University, Fresno. Spring 2000. Retrieved 25 April 2007.
53.Jump up ^ For our pleasure..., Raelian Contact 331. 7 April 2007. Retrieved 25 April 2007
54.Jump up ^ Raelian Press Site, The International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 25 April 2007.
55.Jump up ^ Rael Offers Excommunicated Archbishop Milingo to Become a Raelian Bishop, Raelianews.org. 27 September 2006. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
56.Jump up ^ Mongolia, Raelian Contact 288. 25 October 2005. Retrieved 13 July 2007.
57.Jump up ^ Celebrating the First Sunday of April, Raelian Contact 322. 14 April 2007. Retrieved 24 June 2007.
58.Jump up ^ Dellagloria, Rebecca, Otherworldly View of Femininity, The Miami Herald. 7 March 2005. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
59.Jump up ^ RaelRadio #7: Femininity Day, RaelRadio.net. Retrieved 18 April 2007.
60.^ Jump up to: a b "Sensual seminars" and flying saucers, Agence France-Presse. 22 September 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
61.^ Jump up to: a b c McCann, Brigitte, REALM OF THE RAELIANS: RAELIAN NATION – Part 1, Calgary Sun. 7 October 2003. Retrieved 10 January 2007.
62.^ Jump up to: a b Broughton, Philip D. Promise of as much sex as you want and everlasting life, The Daily Telegraph. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
63.^ Jump up to: a b Gibbs, Nancy, Abducting The Cloning Debate, Time Magazine in partnership with CNN. 5 January 2003. Retrieved 12 May 2007.
64.^ Jump up to: a b I-Team: Alien Nation, Raelians Moving Headquarters to Las Vegas, WorldNow and KLAS. 8 May 2007. Retrieved 8 May 2007.
65.Jump up ^ Rael's Girls, 2006. Retrieved 1 June 2007.
66.Jump up ^ The Raelian Movement (10 May 2006). "RAEL's Girls in Support of Strippers (Press release)". PR Newswire. Retrieved 10 June 2007.
67.Jump up ^ Names in the news, Knight Ridder. 16 September 2004. 10 August 2007.
68.Jump up ^ Paredes, Noelle, The Raelians: Roots, beliefs and future plans, CTV Television Network. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
69.Jump up ^ RaelAfrica.org, RaelAfrica.org. Retrieved 9 August 2006.
70.^ Jump up to: a b c Raël, Sensual MeditationFind reference
71.^ Jump up to: a b c d Raël, Yes to Human CloningFind reference
72.Jump up ^ "On s'en est fait passer une p'tite vite!", Cyberpresse.ca. 5 December 2006. Retrieved 21 September 2007.
73.Jump up ^ Raëlian effort to promote sponsorship of clitorises, Clitoraid.org. Retrieved 9 August 2006.
74.Jump up ^ Bourgeaux, Par Pierre, CROP-CIRCLES in the Streets of Switzerland, Raëlian Contact 309. 23 May 2006. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
75.Jump up ^ Raëlian Exhibitions in Japan, (West) Japanese Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 28 November 2006.
76.Jump up ^ Raëlian Seminars in the Americas, The International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
77.Jump up ^ Raëlian Seminars in Asia, The International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
78.Jump up ^ Raëlian Seminars in Europe, The International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
79.Jump up ^ Lewis, The Gods have landed: new religions from other worldsFind reference
80.Jump up ^ Brown, DeNeen L., The Leader of UFO Land, Washington Post. 17 January 2003. Retrieved 3 May 2007.
81.Jump up ^ The Sexual Messiah, National Post. 7 August 1999. Retrieved 3 June 2007.
82.Jump up ^ McCann, Brigittee. "Get undressed". Calgary Sun. Retrieved 8 September 2007.
83.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Susan J. Palmer, The Rael Deal, Religion in the News, Summer 2001, Vol. 4, No. 2.
84.Jump up ^ International Committee Against Christian Calendar Imperialism, icacci.org. Retrieved 30 March 2007.
85.Jump up ^ "With friends like these, Monsanto needs no enemies", USATODAY.com. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
86.Jump up ^ raelity show, Associated Press. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
87.Jump up ^ Translation: "Global anti-war rallies map series", Agence France-Presse. 15 March 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
88.Jump up ^ [1], gotopless.org. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
89.Jump up ^ "Men Wear Bras So Women Can Go Topless", gotopless.com. Retrieved 23 August 2010.
90.Jump up ^ Religious Movements Homepage: Raelians (paragraph on Operation Condom), University of Virginia. Retrieved 4 March 2007.
91.Jump up ^ "The bishops react to the attacks anti-catholics of the Raëlian movement" (translated), Infosekten. 22 May 2001. Retrieved 1 August 2007. (translated)
92.^ Jump up to: a b Who are the Raëlians?, Time Magazine. 4 January 2003. Retrieved 15 September 2007.
93.^ Jump up to: a b Palmer, Susan J. Susan J. Palmer: search terms are susan j palmer aliens adored teaching skills. New Brunswick, New Jersey: Rutgers University Press, 2004.
94.^ Jump up to: a b Raël et le mouvement raélien, SECTES ET MOUVEMENTS RELIGIEUX. Retrieved 19 April 2007.
95.Jump up ^ Groups hurl accusations at anti-cult organization, Montreal Gazette. 1 April 1993. Retrieved 19 April 2007.
96.Jump up ^ Review of Aliens Adored: Rael's UFO Religion by Publishers Weekly, Publishers Weekly. Retrieved 4 June 2007.
97.Jump up ^ Raelianews: News, Raelianews.org. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
98.Jump up ^ Raelian Press Site, RaelPress.org. Retrieved 10 March 2010.
99.Jump up ^ Lewis, Controversial New ReligionsFind reference
100.Jump up ^ Tandy, Doctor Tandy's First Guide to Life Extension and TranshumanityFind reference
101.Jump up ^ Stock, Redesigning Humans: Choosing our Genes, Changing our FutureFind reference
102.Jump up ^ Bates, Alien Intrusion: UFOs and the Evolution ConnectionFind reference
103.Jump up ^ Alexander, Rapture: A Raucous Tour of Cloning, Transhumanism, and the New Era of ImmortalityFind reference
104.Jump up ^ Shanks, Human genetic engineering:a guide for activists, skeptics, and the very perplexedFind reference
105.Jump up ^ 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 ReformFind reference
106.^ Jump up to: a b Partridge, UFO ReligionsFind reference
107.^ Jump up to: a b Edwards, A Brief Guide to Beliefs: Ideas, Theologies, Mysteries, and MovementsFind reference
108.Jump up ^ Exhibit on homosexual behavior in animal kingdom, Raelianews.org. 8 December 2006. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
109.Jump up ^ To stop Pedophilia, It is urgent to give right to sex to Catholic Priests, Raelianews.org. 9 December 2006. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
110.Jump up ^ Raelians Offer Full Frontal Support, Raelianews.org. 21 February 2005. Retrieved 11 April 2008.
111.Jump up ^ Genta, Lonely Minds in the Universe: The Search for Extraterrestrial IntelligenceFind reference
112.Jump up ^ Colavito, The cult of alien gods: H.P. Lovecraft and extraterrestrial pop cultureFind reference
113.Jump up ^ Sect leader: Cloning is just the beginning, Cable News Network. 31 December 2002. Retrieved 2 August 2006.
114.Jump up ^ Human cloning firm sets up affiliate in Korea, Korea Herald. 13 July 2002. Retrieved 19 July 2002.
115.^ Jump up to: a b Vatican slams 'brutal' clone claim, CNN. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
116.Jump up ^ Religious Leaders Condemn Report of Cloned Baby, CNN. Retrieved 29 April 2007.
117.^ Jump up to: a b Goodenough, Patrick, Cloning Cult Miffed About Treatment of Leader, Cybercast News Service. 6 August 2003. Retrieved 7 July 2009.
118.Jump up ^ A modern nation is a nation where gays and lesbians are free retrieved 4 August 2013
119.Jump up ^ A Raelian official licensed to perform legal marriages for same-sex couples in Hawaii retrieved 4 August 2013
120.^ Jump up to: a b c d Raël, MaitreyaFind reference
121.Jump up ^ Left Clones, National Review. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
122.^ Jump up to: a b Cult leader Rael denied residence in Switzerland, Agence France-Presse. 19 February 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
123.Jump up ^ DIFFUSION IN THE WORLD: THE US TEAMS DENOUNCE CATHOLIC PRIESTS PEDOPHILIA, Raelian Contact 324. 11 December 2006. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
124.Jump up ^ Pedophilia accusations are pure discrimination, Raelianews.org. 23 August 2007. Retrieved 18 March 2011.
125.Jump up ^ "An Embassy for Extraterrestrials", International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 20 July 2007.
126.Jump up ^ "Cult Bids to Clone Hitler for War Trial", Daily Record. 9 August 2001. Retrieved 18 September 2007.
127.Jump up ^ Cloning solution to terrorism, some say, The Maneater. 21 September 2001. Retrieved 6 April 2007.
128.Jump up ^ Sethi, Atul, Was God an astronaut?, Times of India. Retrieved 3 August 2007.
129.^ Jump up to: a b Yoel Ben Assayag, A Dinner With the Messiah, Raelian Contact 320. 10 October 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2007
130.Jump up ^ WORDS OF OUR BELOVED PROPHET, Raelian Contact 317. 24 August 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2007
131.Jump up ^ OUR BELOVED PROPHET IN ACCRA, Raelian Contact 257. 4 January 2006. Retrieved 15 February 2007
132.Jump up ^ Uriel, Invitation and welcoming with the Kimbangists, Raelian Contact 269. Retrieved 15 February 2007.
133.^ Jump up to: a b Alien ideas of Genesis? Oak Ridger. 2 January 1998. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
134.^ Jump up to: a b Nichols, Hans S. Clones of Aliens Are Among US?, Insight on the News. 29 October 2001. Retrieved 17 July 2007. (highlight)
135.Jump up ^ The Raelian Church to Build Embassy on the Beach!!!, PR Newswire. 27 December 1997. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
136.^ Jump up to: a b ELOHIM'S INSTRUCTIONS, International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
137.Jump up ^ AMBASSADORIAL NEEDS, International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 17 July 2007.
138.^ Jump up to: a b c d Rael, GeniocracyFind reference
139.^ Jump up to: a b Pro-Swastika, Pro-Swastika.org. 2008. Retrieved 10 April 2008.
140.Jump up ^ USE OF SWASTIKA LOGO PROMPTS BEACH PROTEST, The Miami Herald. 3 January 1992. Retrieved 8 June 2007. (highlight)
141.Jump up ^ Thomas, Amelia, Raelians want to establish ET embassy in Jerusalem, Middle East Times. 18 November 2005. Retrieved 13 March 2007.
142.Jump up ^ The Official Raelian Symbol gets its swastika back, Raelianews.org. 17 January 2007. Retrieved 20 October 2007."
143.Jump up ^ Assemblée Nationale (10 June 1999). "Les sectes et l'argent - Annexes (Cults and money - Appendices)" (in French). République Française. Retrieved 20 April 2009. "La Commission a choisi de sélectionner une trentaine de sectes (1) qui lui paraissent disposer d'une influence économique et d'un poids financier significatifs, et pour lesquelles elle a pu rassembler des informations qu'elle juge utile de rendre publiques. [The Commission chose to select some thirty cults which appeared to it to have significant economic influence and financial clout; and for which it could assemble information which it judged useful to publicise.]"
144.Jump up ^ Human Rights Without Frontiers International: Human Rights in Belgium Annual Report (Events in 2005).
145.Jump up ^ Thomasch, Paul, The sportswriter, the aliens, and a cult with 55,000 believers, The Guardian. 28 December 2002. Retrieved 24 May 2007.
146.Jump up ^ International Religious Freedom Report 2003, Bureau of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor. 18 December 2003. Retrieved 6 August 2006.
147.Jump up ^ Philipkoski, Kristen, Some Sex With Your Clone Perhaps?, Wired News. 31 August 2005. Retrieved 14 July 2014.
148.Jump up ^ A VERY SPECIAL SEMINAR IN LAS VEGAS (Note: Only the French language version is available.), Raelian Contact 273. 26 May 2005. Retrieved 26 June 2007. (French, raelianews.org version)
149.Jump up ^ I was married to clone cult leader Rael 15 years. He wrecked my life and our children's., Mail on Sunday/12 January 2003. [2]
Cited texts[edit]
^ Alexander, Brian, Rapture: A Raucous Tour of Cloning, Transhumanism, and the New Era of Immortality Basic Books, 2005. ISBN 1-56025-695-8.
^ Bates, Gary, Alien Intrusion: UFOs and the Evolution Connection New Leaf Press, 2005. ISBN 0-89051-435-6.
^ Colavito, Jason, The cult of alien gods: H.P. Lovecraft and extraterrestrial pop culture. Prometheus, 2005. ISBN 978-1-59102-352-4. (Also see article on Wikipedia)
^ Edwards, Linda, A Brief Guide to Beliefs: Ideas, Theologies, Mysteries, and Movements. Westminster John Knox Press, 2001. ISBN 0-664-22259-5.
^ Genta, Giancarlo, Lonely Minds in the Universe: The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence. Springer, 2007. ISBN 978-0-387-33925-2.
^ Lewis, James R., Controversial New Religions Oxford University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-19-515682-X.
^ Lewis, James R., The Gods have landed: new religions from other worlds State University of New York Press, 1995. ISBN 0-7914-2329-8.
^ Palmer, Susan J., Aliens Adored. Rutgers University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-8135-3476-3.
^ Palmer, Susan J., Women in Controversial New Religions, in New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America, ed. Derek H. Davis & Barry Hankins, p. 66. Baylor University Press, 2004. ISBN 0-918954-92-4
^ Partridge, Christopher H. UFO Religions. Routledge, 2003. ISBN 0-415-26323-9.
^ Raël, Intelligent Design. Nova Distribution, 2005. ISBN 978-2-940252-22-0
^ Raël, Geniocracy. The Raelian Foundation, 2004.
^ Raël, Maitreya. The Raelian Foundation, 2003.
^ Raël, Sensual Meditation. Tagman Press, 2002.
^ Raël, Yes to Human Cloning: Immortality Thanks to Science. Tagman Press, 2001. ISBN 1-903571-05-7; ISBN 1-903571-04-9.
^ Shanks, Pete, Human genetic engineering:a guide for activists, skeptics, and the very perplexed Nation Books, 2005. ISBN 1-56025-695-8.
^ Stock, Gregory, Redesigning Humans: Choosing our Genes, Changing our Future. Houghton Mifflin Books, 2002. ISBN 0-618-06026-X.
^ Tandy, Charles, Doctor Tandy's First Guide to Life Extension and Transhumanity Universal-Publishers.com, 2001. ISBN 1-58112-650-6.
^ 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, 15 May 2002. Washington: U.S. G.P.O., 2003. Government Documents. Y 4.G 74/7:B 52/7.
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Raëlians.
Official sitesWeb site of the Raëlian Movement
Official News and Views of the Raëlian Movement
Clonaid – Stemaid – Clitoraid
OtherThe Raëlian books compared to Jean Sendy's. Testimonies by ex-Raelians.
Whittemore, Faye. "Religious Movements Homepage: Raelians". University of Virginia. Archived from the original on 6 July 2007.
Raëlism Robert T. Carroll's skeptic dictionary entry
Rael : The Masonic Messiah?
Who Are the Raelians, and Why Are They Naked? by Brian Dunning


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