Ra毛lian - The Skeptic's Dictionary

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<div class="logo"> <img src="_images/logo_01.png" alt="The Skeptic's Dictionary" width="270" height="60" border="0" />           <br /> by <a href="http://skepdic.com/refuge/bio.html">Robert Todd Carroll</a> * est. 1994 </div> <div class="slogan"> <img src="_images/slogan_01.gif" alt="A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions" width="362" height="30" /> </div> </div> <div class="menu"> <ul> <li></li><li><a href="http://skepdic.com/">Home</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/news/">Newsletter</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/feedback.html">Feedback</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/faq.html">FAQ & Interviews</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tour.html">Site Map</a></li> </ul> </div> <div class="middle"> <div class="left"> <h2>Topical Indexes</h2> <ul class="nav_1"> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/tialtmed.html">Alternatives to Medicine</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/ticriticalthinking.html">Critical Thinking</a></li> 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href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Y">y</a></li> <li><a href="http://skepdic.com/contents.html#Z">z</a></li> </ul> <webContent><h1>Ra毛lian</h1> <p align="left"><font size="3"><img border="0" src="graphics/rael.gif" align="right" alt="Claude Vorilhon" width="120" height="150"></font><font size="3" face="Arial">A Ra毛lian is a follower of <a href="http://www.rael.org/"> Ra毛l</a>, a Frenchman and former motor sport journalist and race-car driver whose parents, the Vorilhons, called him Claude when he was born in 1946. He claims that on December 13, 1973, he was in a volcano near Clermont-Ferrand, France, when he saw a <a href="ufos_ets.html"> UFO</a> "7 meters in diameter made of a very shiny silver metal and moving in a total silence." He says a radiant being emerged and entrusted him with a message revealing the true origin of mankind. They told him that henceforth he would be known as <a href="http://www.answers.com/topic/ra-l">Ra毛l</a>, which means "messenger."</font></p> <p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">His followers consider him to be "the prophet of the third millennium." Like all good religious leaders, Ra毛l expects his followers to support him. A 10% tithe is the norm. </font></p> <p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">He explains his mission in his book, <i> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20000711041929/http:/www.rael.org/int/english/index.html">The True Face of God</a></i> [sic]. According to Taras Grescoe of <a href="http://www.salon.com/travel/feature/2000/03/08/raelians/index.html">Salon.com</a>, Vorilhon claims that</font></p> <blockquote> <p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">he was taken to the planet of the Elohim in a flying saucer in 1975, where he was introduced to noted earthlings such as Jesus, Buddha, Joseph Smith and Confucius. The Elohim, small human-shaped beings with pale green skin and almond eyes, were apparently the original inspiration for the Judeo-Christian god. They informed Vorilhon that he was the final prophet -- sent to relay a message of peace and sensual meditation to humankind under his new name of Ra毛l -- before the Elohim would return to Jerusalem in 2025.</font></p> </blockquote> <p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Ra毛l claims that the Elohim have taught him that the human race was created from the DNA of aliens some 25,000 years ago. (In fact, <i>all</i> life on earth was created in alien laboratories.) Among other things, Ra毛l has also learned that cloning is the way to immortality and there is no god or soul. According to Ra毛l, our alien creators want us to be beautiful and sexy and enjoy a sensuous life, free from the restrictions of traditional Judeo-Christian morality.</font></p> <p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">According to Grescoe, "Ra毛l's success seems to derive from providing a structured environment for decadent behavior: He offers a no-guilt playground for hedonism and sexual experimentation." Fortunately, the Ra毛lians are big on using condoms. They won't spread as much disease that way. However, using condoms won't suffice to deplete their numbers, Ra毛l believes, since he has formed a cloning company called <a href="http://www.clonaid.com/">Clonaid</a> which promises to</font></p> <blockquote> <p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">provide assistance to would be parents willing to have a child cloned from one of them. This service offers a fantastic opportunity to parents with fertility problems or homosexual couples to have a child cloned from one of them.</font></p> </blockquote> <p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Scientists say that there is no possibility of Clonaid actually working in the near future and dismiss its goals as pure fantasy (Cohen). However, Clonaid should be a reminder of what might happen in the distant future if controls on genetic engineering are not developed to prevent religious fanatics and lunatics from gaining more control of the planet than they already have.</font></p> <p align="left"><font size="3" face="Arial">The Ra毛lian headquarters are in Montreal but the cult is international and claims to have some 50,000 members in 85 countries. 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. Unfortunately, the evidence provided is likely to satisfy only those eager for delusion and self-deception. For example, the <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20050418122800/http:/www.rael.org/int/english/evidence/evidence/body_history1.html">historical evidence</a> is of the type <a href="velikov.html">Velikovsky</a>, </font> <font size="3"> <a href="vondanik.html"> <font face="Arial">von D盲niken</font></a></font><font size="3" face="Arial"> and other mytho-historians have provided: they take ancient legends, stories, and <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20050418061337/http:/www.rael.org/int/english/evidence/evidence/body_religious1.html">religious texts</a>, and fit them into their preconceived theory. The Ra毛lians also consider <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20050418104147/http:/www.rael.org/int/english/evidence/evidence/body_ufo1.html">UFO sightings </a>as proof of their messenger's claims.</font></p> <p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Their attempt at <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20041204223356/http:/www.rael.org/int/english/evidence/evidence/body_science1.html">"scientific" evidence</a> will have some appeal to the scientifically illiterate and the logically-challenged. The scientific evidence is nothing more than speculation and assumption in juxtaposition to facts. Their evidence consists of claiming that we are about to create life in our laboratories and our creations will probably think we are gods. Therefore, it is reasonable to conclude that we were created in laboratories and think of our creators as gods. The rest of the "scientific" evidence consists of a list of scientific accomplishments which, I suppose, are imagined to have to have occurred elsewhere before the living things on our planet could have been created in the lab. All of which begs the question as to whether this occurred elsewhere 25,000 years ago.</font></p> <p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Apparently, the Ra毛lians 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, fungi, bacteria, viruses, etc., not to mention all their lovelies that have gone extinct. Why would any beings do such a thing? 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? And then tell him that the message is to clone ourselves so we can be immortal. Then again, is this story any stranger than the ones in the Bible?</font></p> <p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">The kicker in their argument is their proof that <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20041204224230/http:/www.rael.org/int/english/evidence/evidence/body_science3.html">evolution could not have occurred.</a> They claim scientists have discovered that genes have a DNA repair mechanism (<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/disease/p53.html">p53</a>) which prevents mutation, an important process in evolution. Species couldn't have diversified if this mechanism were present. p53 was at first thought to be an oncogene but is now thought to be <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/1542908.stm">anti-oncogenic</a>. It is of little interest to the Ra毛lians, I suppose, that p53 itself mutates. And it is pure speculation on their part that the entire genetic code of all species always consists of genes which prevent mutation from occurring. Even if they're right, however, it wouldn't follow that Vorilhon's preposterous UFO tale is true. Just ask the so-called <a href="creation.html">creation scientists</a>, the <a href="refuge/hubbard.html">Scientologists</a>, the <a href="urantia.html">Urantians</a>, the followers of <a href="pleiades.html">Barbara Marciniak</a> or <a href="http://www.figu.org/us/figu/billy_meier/interview.htm">UFO Billy</a>, the remaining members of <a href="refuge/bunk3.html">Heaven's Gate,</a> or the surviving members of other <a href="http://members.tripod.com/~uforelie/">UFO religions</a>.</font></p> <p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3">Anyway, if the Ra毛lians are right, I am looking forward to asking the Elohim why they created the mosquito. In the meantime, I may take up Ra毛l's offer of $2,000 to anyone who starts a new religion.</font></p> <p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><b>See also</b> <a href="cryonics.html">cryonics</a>, <a href="cults.html">cult</a>, <a href="pleiades.html">Pleiadians</a>, and <a href="ufos_ets.html">UFO</a>.</font></p> <p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><b><a href="comments/raelcom.html">reader comments</a></b></font></p> <p align="left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><b>further reading</b></font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><b><font face="Arial" size="3"> <a name="web">websites</a></font></b></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"> <a href="http://www.gotopless.org/index.php">August 23rd is go topless day, says Rael</a></font></p> <p style="text-align: left"> <font face="Arial" size="3"> <a href="http://www.rael.org/int/press_site/english/pages/press_releases/200904.html"> The Raelian Movement supports the academic debates about the Theory of Intelligence Design VS. the Theory of Evolution</a></font><p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://www.salon.com/travel/feature/2000/03/08/raelians/index.html">Ra毛l love A gorgeous group of alien spawn hones a hedonistic hankering for sex </a>by Taras Grescoe of Salon.com</font><p style="text-align: left"><b><font face="Arial" size="3">news stories</font></b></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"><a href="http://www.s-t.com/daily/05-97/05-31-97/a03wn019.htm">Cult's bizarre vision rekindles cloning debate</a> by Philip Cohen, San Francisco (<i>New Scientist</i> May 31, 1997)</font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font face="Arial" size="3"> <a href="http://web.archive.org/web/20060104184931/http:/www.rickross.com/reference/raelians/raelians9.html">The god game no more The feds crack down on a human cloning lab by Nell Boyce and David E. Kaplan</a> U.S. News and World Report </font> </p> <p style="text-align: left"><font size="3" face="Arial"> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2883161.stm">Company shows 'cloned baby' </a></font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font size="3" face="Arial"> <a href="http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/article.asp?ARTICLE_ID=30605"> Raelian leader: Clone claim possible hoax </a></font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font size="3" face="Arial"> <a href="http://www.smh.com.au/articles/2003/01/31/1043804519714.html">It's the Rael thing</a> (Australian Raelian)</font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font size="3" face="Arial"> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/2608655.stm">Cloned baby claim met with doubt</a> </font> </p> <p style="text-align: left"><font size="3" face="Arial"> <a href="http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/2148864.stm">S Korea probes human clone claim</a> </font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font size="3" face="Arial"> <a href="http://www.religionnewsblog.com/940-_Oddball_Raelians_take_a_wild_swing_at_Catholic_church.html">Oddball Raelians take a wild swing at Catholic church </a>By INGRID PERITZ , The Globe and Mail</font></p> <p style="text-align: left"><font size="3" face="Arial"><a href="http://www.post-gazette.com/columnists/20011117roddy1117p5.asp">Prophet sounds as if he came from another planet</a> Dennis Roddy, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette </font> <p></webContent>Last updated 27-Oct-2015 </p> </div> </div> <div class="right"> <div class="right_it"> <div class="search"> <form method="get" action="http://www.google.com/custom" target="_top"> <input type="hidden" name="domains" value="skepdic.com" /> <input type="text" name="q" maxlength="255" value="" size="20" /> <input type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" /> <br /> <div class="search_2"> <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="" /> Web     <input type="radio" name="sitesearch" value="skepdic.com" checked="checked" /> Skepdic.com <br /> <img src="_images/logo_google.gif" alt="Google" width="48" height="19" /> </div> <input type="hidden" name="client" value="pub-3542920166946725" /> <input type="hidden" name="forid" value="1" /> <input type="hidden" name="ie" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="hidden" name="oe" value="ISO-8859-1" /> <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="GALT:#008000;GL:1;DIV:#336699;VLC:663399;AH:center;BGC:FFFFFF;LBGC:336699;ALC:0000FF;LC:0000FF;T:000000;GFNT:0000FF;GIMP:0000FF;FORID:1;" /> <input type="hidden" name="hl" value="en" /> </form> </div> <div class="center"> <p align="right"><a href="http://skepdic.com/authorpage.html"><strong>Books by R. 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