Raëlian beliefs and practices are the concepts and principles of Raëlism, a new religious movement and UFO religion founded in 1974 by Claude Vorilhon, an auto racing journalist who changed his name to "Raël". AutoPop, la revue des pilotes Raël : Messie ou Menteur ?. Retrieved 20 June 2007.Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 135–136. The followers of the International Raëlian Movement believe in an advanced species of extraterrestrial aliens called Elohim who created life on Earth.Raël, Intelligent Design Raëlians are individualists who believe in sexual self-determination.Raël, Sensual Meditation 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 Raël terms Geniocracy.Raël, Geniocracy 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. As believers in the resurrection of Jesus through a scientific cloning process (which includes memory transfer) by the Elohim, they encourage scientific research to extend life through cloning;Raël, Yes to Human Cloning, p. 87. however, critics outside are doubtful of its possibility."The Cloning Debate" , MacNeil/Lehrer Productions. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 10 February 2007.
Active followers of Raëlianism have exhibited their sex-positive feminism and pacifism through outdoor contacts such as parades."raelity show" , Associated Press. Retrieved 13 March 2007.Translation: "Global anti-war rallies map series", Agence France-Presse. 15 March 2003. Retrieved 13 March 2007. 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.Palmer, pp. 58–59.
Beliefs
Structure of the Universe Raël says that "everything is in everything". He says that, inside the atoms of living things, are living things that are made of atoms, which themselves contain living things that are 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 of a living thing's atoms would undergo many millennia before enough time passes for that living thing to take a single step. Raëlians believe that the universe is infinite, and thus lacks a center. Because of this, one could not imagine where an ethereal soul would go, due to the universe's infinite nature. They believe that infinity exists in time as well as in space, for all levels of life.Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 153–155. Some critics believe that rationally it is not possible to connect the chain to infinity, and finally this chain must lead somewhere.
Raëlians believe that humankind would be able to create life on other planets only if humankind is peaceful enough to stop war. In that case, humans could travel the distances between starsRaël, Intelligent Design, p. 159. and create life on another planet.Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 70. Progress in terraforming, molecular biology,Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 293. and cloning would enable these teams to create continents and life from scratch.Raël, Intelligent Design, 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.Raël, Intelligent Design, 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.Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 280. The progress achieved by the science teams would ultimately sustain a perpetual chain of life.Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 91.
Intelligent Design
Creation of life on Earth by extraterrestrials
In his book The Message Given to me by Extraterrestrials (now republished as Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers 2006 ), 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 land, 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.Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 11–15.
Yahweh gave materialistic explanations of the Garden of Eden, a large laboratory that was based on an artificially constructed continent;Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 279. Noah's Ark, a spaceship that preserved DNA that was used to resurrect animals through cloning;Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 20–22.Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 240–242, 280, 332. the Tower of Babel, a rocket that was supposed to reach the creators' planet;Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 22. and the Great Flood, the byproduct of a nuclear missile explosion that the Elohim sent.Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 20. After tidal wave floods following the explosions receded, Elohim scattered the Israelites and had them speak the language of other tribes.Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 23.
According to Vorilhon, Elohim contacted about forty people to act as their prophets on Earth,Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 165. including Moses,Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 114.Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 312.Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 324. Elijah, Ezekiel,Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 45–53. Buddha,Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 89. John the Baptist,Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 293–306. Jesus, Muhammad, and Joseph Smith. The religions thought to be from Elohimic origins include Judaism, Buddhism, Christianity, Islam, and Mormonism.
According to Vorilhon, multiple 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 that they have asked Raël to build for them, and share their advanced scientific knowledge with humankind. Thus, one of the stated main goals of the Raëlian movement is to inform as many people as possible about this extraterrestrial race."An Embassy for Extraterrestrials", International Raëlian Movement. Retrieved 20 July 2007.
The controversy surrounding the origins of Raëlian 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. One of the best known researchers in this field is Erich von 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'."Chariots of the Gods", Chariots of the Gods. 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."Overview of Jean Sendy's works"
Humankind's chance of creating life on other planets Raëlians believe that humankind would be able to create life on other planets only if it is peaceful enough to stop war. If done, humans could travel the distances between stars and create life on another planet. Progress in terraformation, molecular biology, and cloning would enable these teams to create continents and life from scratch. 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. 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. The progress achieved by the science teams would ultimately sustain a perpetual chain of life.
A coming judgement 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.Raël, Intelligent Design, pp. 154–155. Instead the Raëlians think that advanced supercomputers of the Elohim are right now recording the memories and DNA of human beings.Raël, Intelligent Design, 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.Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 214. Vorilhon expressed an interest in cloning Hitler for war trials and retroactive punishment. 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.Cloning solution to terrorism, some say , The Maneater. 21 September 2001. Retrieved 6 April 2007.
Practices
Initiation of new members The major initiation rite in the Raëlian Church is the "baptism" or "transmission of the cellular plan". That rite is enacted by upper-level members of the Raëlian clergy who are called "guides". Canadian sociologist Susan J. Palmer says that in 1979, Raël introduced the "Act of Apostasy" as an obligation for people who are preparing for their Raëlian baptism.Palmer, p. 60. CTV Television Network states that apostasy from other religions is required for new Raëlian members.Paredes, Noelle, "The Raelians: Roots, beliefs and future plans", CTV Television Network. 27 December 2002. Retrieved 3 May 2007. Joining the Raëlian Church through transmission of the cellular plan happens only on certain days of the year. There are four such days, all of which mark anniversaries in the Raëlian calendar.Palmer, p. 64.
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. That Raëlian baptism involves a guide member laying water onto the forehead of the new member.Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 334. That practice began on "the first Sunday in April"Palmer, p. 58. of 1976, when Raël baptized 40 Raëlians. 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.Raël, Intelligent Design, p. 175.