From Abracadabra to Zombies
reader comments: Raëlians
9 October 2010
Comments for Raelian article:
It's unfortunate your article is littered with inaccuracies & fraught with convenient omissions. I will attempt to politely curb a few of them.
"-- sent to relay a message of peace and sensual meditation to humankind under his new name of Raël."
What is being grossly omitted here is that the main aim of the message was to inform humans that the Elohim created us (Jesus was their "son" - the son of "god").
reply: It is true that Raël claims the Elohim picked him out to inform us that 25,000 years ago they had traveled to Earth from their home planet and created all life here. Jesus was just one of several prophets sent here by the Elohim. Unfortunately, humans always garble and distort the message. Why the result should be any different with the prophet Raël is anyone's guess. Are we now to believe that the new prophet is claiming the Elohim are gods, not just advanced scientists with a penchant for interplanetary experimentation?
"Cloning is the way to immortality and there is no God or soul."
If you actually read Rael's "True Face of God," he states we each have a type of energy that can be scientifically measured that leaves our body when we die. I for one take that to be a soul. Whatever a soul is.
reply: If you believe that, then you are as foolish as your master. Still, I await the publication of your master's research demonstrating this scientifically measured energy that leaves the body upon death. When that appears I will have to admit my errors.
"According to Grescoe, "Raël's success seems to derive from providing a structured environment for decadent behavior."
Again, decadent according to who? Our antiquated judeo-Christian marriage system has produced a thing called "adultery." The Catholic it's-evil-to-be-gay and priests-can't-marry philosophy has produced the pain & heartache of thousands (maybe millions) of pedophilia victims. Rael simply proposes a more passionate, open & honest sexual (condom-using) alternative: to be more sexually honest, open and expressive. It's against what we've been taught our entire lives but does it make more logical sense? Maybe it does.
reply: Here I admit my error. Decadence is to be measured against the standards of the day. Your prophet's teachings regarding sex may not be aimed at simply satisfying his own lust, as seems to be the custom of religious ministers of other faiths who make it a habit of seducing young men and women, or worse, raping them under the guise of divine guidance.
His ideas are no weirder than believing an almighty being came out of the clouds and impregnated a virgin with his baby. Maybe it's because that's exactly what he believes. Except that the "almighty" was a man. A technologically advanced man who came from the heavens.
reply: You will find no disagreement with me on this issue: your prophet's ideas are indeed no weirder than those of any other religion.
"They have an "Evidence Page" on their Web site where they offer proof of their prophet's claims, thus relieving us of the burden of having to believe on pure faith."
Again, if you'd do your research (I learned about that in a journalism class I took in High School) you'd see that they present you with information while encouraging you to find truth in the manner of your choosing.
reply: I'm afraid I was being facetious when I referred to your prophet's "evidence page." Like the absurd claims of other religions, these claims have no credibility among rational people. To believe them at all, one must say with Tertullian: I believe because it's absurd.
"They take ancient legends, stories, and religious texts, and fit them into their preconceived theory."
Very true. They take stories such as 'the omnipotent god had people constantly sacrifice lambs and vegetables to him' & use the "preconceived theory" stating it was the extraterrestrial beings that needed food to eat, thus requesting said sustenance.
reply: no comment.
"Their evidence consists of claiming that we are about to create life in our laboratories and our creations will probably think we are god."
Nowhere does Rael state this. He says if we advance technologically to that point (if we in our ignorance don't kill each other off) then we will strive to create life elsewhere.
reply: no comment.
"Apparently, the Raëlians are not bothered by the rather absurd image of a race of superior beings working for thousands of years in a laboratory to create all our insects."
The race of beings who Rael says created is NOT superior to us. Again, if you read his book (The True Face of God), you would be aware of Rael stating the beings who created us made us superior in stature & brain capability. We just haven't yet caught up to them technologically. As for them spending thousands of years in the creation process, their lifespan is exponentially longer than ours.
reply: At least your prophet doesn't claim that his creators lived to be 900 years of age and continued to have offspring well into their 8 hundreds.
"And why would they wait 25,000 years to reveal their handiwork to a French race car driver who spots their UFO in a volcano?"
Rael states they've waited millennia for us to get to a place where they feel somewhat safe communicating with us without us trying to blow their heads off. We can be a violent destructive planet (in case you haven't noticed).
reply: I think you missed my point about the volcano and the race car driver. I am impressed, though, that your prophet did not emerge from a desert tent or cave raving like a lunatic about repentance before the end times.
"The kicker in their argument is their proof that evolution could not have occurred."
You need look no further than the modern internet to find scientists who simply can no longer believe the theory of evolution based on the meager scraps of 'evidence' presented.
-Bel Baca
reply: Bel Baca might be surprised to learn that you can find anything you might be looking for on the "modern internet," including people who think they can fly or turn water into wine by willing it.
Despite the claims of Claude Maurice Marcel Vorilhon, there were several creatures very similar to us wandering this planet 25,000 years ago. There is not only no evidence of any visitation from aliens at that time, there is no need to postulate such a visitation to account for the origin and development of our species or the rest of life on this planet.
Vorilhon might have some enlightened ideas about sexuality, but he will never have much influence on any society because of his bizarre claims about the Elohim and his association with Clonaid, the human cloning company. He will be viewed as a cult leader or worse. Nobody said it would be easy to be a prophet.
__________
01 Nov 2000
One can express his opinion freely, but information should be accurate, here are a few rectifications to be made to the following text by Taras Grescoe found on your website.
The Raëlians are UFO-cult (Cult having a negative connotation, as recommended by the UN, religious minority would be more appropriate).
His followers consider him to be "the prophet of the third millennium." Like all good religious leaders, Raël expects his followers to support him. A 10% tithe is the norm. ( No one in the Raelian religion is paid, Rael does not get any money collected by the different national movements. As a non profit corporation the money and subscription fees are to be spent for the goals of the movement: spreading the Message worldwide and building the Embassy. The 10 % does not go to Rael but to the movement. Rael gets his money from the sale of his books translated in 27 languages and sold at over a million copies. Rael also gets donations.
According to Grescoe, "Raël's success seems to derive from providing a structured environment for decadent behavior: (Have you personally witnessed so called decadent behavior? If not then you are spreading false rumors. Sexual freedom is not an obligation).
Michel Beluet Director, UFOLAND
Raëlians
