Cult Alert: The Raelian ReligionOutline
IntroductionThe author of this article first came across the Raelian Religion during December of 2001. At that time, a project to refute this belief system was barely begun but never bear fruit due to the research load into other areas. One year later, the Raelian Religion would receive mainstream media attention with its claim of being the first to successfully clone humans. As a result, curiosity and interests about the Raelian Religion grew. With the Raelian Religion in the public eye, many might find themselves asking, are the teachings of the Raelian Religion true? Who are the Raelians?The Raelian Religion was begun by a French journalist name Claude Vorilhon after an alleged encounter with UFOs and alien contact on December 13th, 1973. From that point on, he was called Rael and his assigned mission was to spread the message that humans being were the descendants of far away aliens called by the Raelians as Elohim. Eventually, as the Raelians believe it, “as soon as enough people on this planet learn about the Elohim and want to welcome them to earth, an embassy will be built and our Creators will return.?(Footnote 1) Besides UFO, the Raelians also believe that cloning would result in one being able to live forever. Rael is strongly atheistic and espouse moral relativism. It also believes in a form of mediation called sensual meditation. Objection 1: An Atheistic ReligionIn an email dated January 2nd, 2003 to the author, Donna Grabow of Raelian Religion public relations stated, “Like Buddhism, Raelism is an atheist religion? While a full discussion on atheism is beyond the scope of this article, some quick point is worth mentioning. If God did not create this world, logically Rael has only two options of how the world came to be. Either the world was always there thus the universe never did have a beginning or the world began but had no cause with everything happening by chance. The world however, did have a beginning. Certain part of the universe is warmer than other parts of the universe. If the universe always existed, then there would be no warmer or colder spots in the universe such as the burning sun or artic Pluto. Time would already have made the universe temperature balanced out. The universe besides having a beginning was also caused and intended. A demonstration of the absurdness of thinking that everything came by chance can be seen in how this author finished a rebuttal on an atheist website in his ?a href="art_webprofile_sykowingnut.htm">Web-Profile: Sykowingnut’s Website?. Obejection 2: Misrepresentation of 'Elohim'The word Elohim is Hebrew in origin. Rael asserts that the Hebrew term ELOHIM, “means "THOSE WHO CAME FROM THE SKY?(Footnote 2)and that it describes extraterrestrials rather than God. While it’s easy for Rael to make this assertion, it’s definitely another thing to PROVE it. Historically and linguistically, the word Elohim has always meant God. The radical and artificial redefinition of the word Elohim and attempt to beat it back into the original meaning of the word in the Bible is a futile act. By the end of the day however, it’s just one more imagination of a man who has not studied Hebrew for himself. Objection 3: UFO PhenomenonThe aliens that Rael encountered supposedly gave mankind the Bible as one alien even stated, “Only the parts of the Bible that I will translate are important. Other parts are merely poetic babblings of which I will say nothing.?(Footnote 3)Why such “intelligent?aliens would write babblings of nonsense is beyond this author. But from the excerpt given, we can see that the Raelian Religion accept parts of the Bible as containing truths from these aliens. Interestingly enough, the Bible that was supposedly from these aliens doesn’t even mention aliens! To go further, the aliens that supposedly wrote the Bible, slit their own throat! Though the Raelian Religion does not believe in God, the Bible itself says that “the fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.?(Psalms14:a) How strange it is when the Bible which Raelians alleged as coming from aliens does not even mention aliens existence but instead heavily presupposes God, which Raelian’s don’t believe in the existence of! Objection 4: CloningIs cloning immoral or immortal? Interestingly enough, Rael loudly scream at one speaker for the need of “science?(Footnote 4)and then turns around at another point to say that cloning would result in one’s immortality. This results for Rael, some internal problem in holding these two beliefs. As of to date, all the cloning of sheep, monkeys, mice and other animals haven’t made any of these organism live forever but on the contrary, to die earlier than normal. Cloning is not immortal, but IMMORAL. It would result in many baby fetuses death in the bizarre experiments to clone. It is not easy. To murder little human life is an act of sin. Some may attempt to argue that fetuses are not human, but to clone a human being one must realize that to do so is to clone a fetus. Again, the scope of this article cannot cover the entire depth of the issue of cloning but the truth is clear: When one is cloning a human being, he or she is working on and cloning a HUMAN BEING, be it called a fetus or a baby. Objection 5: Moral RelativismRael's drive for sexual sins and adultery is the under current for his teachings of moral relativism. The Raelian Religion rejection of moral standards can be seen in Rael's comment: “The interesting aspect is that ‘the moral authority of the communist regime is fast disappearing?..Because communist like the Messages said is bad...as bad as the ‘moral authority?of the catholic church...People from catholic or communist roots just want to enjoy freely life and sex! (Footnote 5) And this comment: “It looks like doctors are saying that a change of partner may be the best natural medicine for women who don't experience orgasms any more!?(Footnote 6) Rael’s teaching of moral relativism is fully and critically dealt with in an article by this author titled ?a href="art_realethics.htm">Rael or Real Ethics?? an article that was later featured on Tektonics Apologetics Ministry. Rael is clearly shown to be in error. ConclusionThe Raelian Religion alien claims are false, their attempt to clone dangerously evil and its doctrines in error. One must come to the God of the Bible, renounce Rael’s alien teachings and come to Christ in repentance from one’s sin. May the Lord lead those who are caught up in this movement to get out of it. --Jimmy Li Footnotes Back to Top
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Last Edited October 20, 2007 0:43
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