UFO Cults (Part V) : Fun for all the family; Who are the Raelians?

The Raelians

If you're looking for a bonafide UFO cult that is perhaps a little left of centre, yet encompasses many of the beliefs of other UFO cults/religions, there are worse things you could do than look at the Raelians. Clearly they don't have the weight of money, celebrity, and power that more mainstream cults (cough) like the Scientologists do, but if you are inclined in a certain way it's not hard to see the potential appeal.

Claude Maurice Marcel Vorilhon

Born on September 30th, 1946, Claude Vorilhon is the founder and leader of the Raelians. A somewhat colourful figure, Vorilhon was a French pop star at a young age, and later became a professional car racing journalist. He also has his own car racing magazine by the name of 'Auto Pop', and Vorilhon himself is a test driver for cars he reviews.

So what prompts a successful young man to found his own UFO religion? According to Wikipedia;

en.wikipedia.org...

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. He traveled the world to promote his books for over 30 years.

Yes, as with many of our UFO cult leaders, there often seems to be a chance encounter (or not so chance) with an alien being. Usually these alien beings have some sort or message to deliver, and it's no surprise to see that there's a message delivered to Mr Claude Vorilhon.

The Message, or what Raelian's believe

Would it surprise you to learn that Raelians believe we were created by an extraterrestrial race? Would a tie in to some of the great religions be of any surprise either? I thought not.

en.wikipedia.org...

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 and when having personal contacts with the descendants of the humans they made, they previously misinformed (on purpose) early humanity that they were angels, cherubim or gods. Raëlians believe messengers, or prophets, of the Elohim include Buddha, Jesus, and others who informed humans of each era. 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.

Of course there's the obligatory, 'we shall be saved and you won't' message so common to UFO cults.

io9.com...

In the meantime, it's up to the followers of Maitreya (Rael) to make the world ready. But what if they don't succeed, I ask. What if humans just aren't going to evolve fast enough to build the embassy on the Elohim's timetable? Nicole says they've considered that possibility — and there's a "Plan B." If the human race fails to evolve fast enough, we will probably wind up destroying ourselves with our high technology. And if that happens, then certain people will be spared — anybody who's followed Rael, plus certain people who have been working to make the world a better place.

Why the Raelians are kind of cool when compared to other UFO Cults

The Raelians seem no better, nor worse than the Scientologists who believe in Xenu, the I AM Activity with their special television for viewing life on Venus, Adamski and his Venusians, or the updated Adamski, Mr Billy Meier and his Pleiadian messengers.

No, the belief system is one thing, but codes and conducts of behaviour are another altogether, and the Raelians seem to take the prize for the sex, drugs, and rock'n'roll UFO religion (or the sex part at least). The Raelians are upfront about their own brand of weirdness. How many other UFO cult leaders are there with a photo of the leader, some Raelian women, and Hugh Hefner.



According to Skeptoid

skeptoid.com...

Philosophically, Raëlians oppose war and violence in all its forms. Raëlians frequently appear at anti-war rallies dressed as aliens (which seems incongruous since they say that aliens look like humans). Raëlians also embrace free love and nudity. They consider love to be the answer to virtually all of the world's problems. It's been reported that at some Raëlian conferences, attendees wear colored wristbands indicating what gender or genders they'd like to have sex with tonight. Nudity is the de facto uniform at many Raëlian retreats. I have heard from more than one source that sexual tourists to Asia are catching onto the Raëlian movement. Show up in Japan or Korea, find a local Raëlian chapter and pretend to be a fellow Raëlian, and you get all the sex you want; plus it's free and much cleaner and safer than what you get from the back alley brothels. There are affiliated Raëlian organizations dedicated to free love: Raël's Girls, for example, is comprised exclusively of atheist female adult film stars dedicated to Raël. Their web site says "Raël's Girls want to share the understanding that you can be spiritual, you can be happy, without the guilt of God and religion."

While they're weird, they certainly do not court anywhere near the amount of controversy others like the Scientologists do, the most controversy I could find being related to a claim a company run by a Raelian had created a human clone

altreligion.about.com...

In 2002, Clonaid, a company run by Raelian bishop Brigitte Boisselier, made claims worldwide that they had succeeded in creating a human clone, whom was named Eve. However, the Clonaid has refused to allow independent scientists to examine the child or the technology used to create her, ostensibly to protect her privacy. Lacking any peer verification of the claim, the scientific community generally considers Eve to be a hoax.

Interested? Want to join?

Of course being a modern cult/religion, the Raelians have a website at www.rael.org. I have no personal interest in joining any cult, but if a sexy UFO cult appeals to you, there are instructions on the Raelian website on how to join.

rael.org...

A Raelian is someone who publicly recognizes the Elohim as humanity’s creators. Each year presents four opportunities to do so through participation in a demystified Raelian baptism ceremony. The four designated dates are also official Raelian holidays: the first Sunday of April, August 6, October 7 and December 13. The baptism ceremony takes place at 3 p.m. local time worldwide.

Hmm i donno about the cloning part.

What do they look like? Can't seem to find a description of what these E.T look like.

Weird about the alien sex cult lol.

Hmmm still can't find out what these E.T they worship look like.
Just calling anything *Elohim* Or *Yahweh* could end you up in some trouble.

If its good enough for Heff its good enough for me, count me in!!!

Quick question, is there a waiting period before I get all the free alien sex?

a reply to: cuckooold

Sounds like this guy just created this cult so he can bang all the chicks he wants without any strings attached.

I must say, if that's the case, then good for him. But I'm sure there is a great deal of brainwashing involved, which I don't agree with.

-SAP-

It would be funny if one day they all realized they were all just faking it for the sex, and all this "rael" stuff only served as what seemed like a good excuse to do what they would prefer to do anyway, but would feel guilty about it without the "rael" pretense there to give their actions some kind of legitimacy...

kind of reminds me of a comedy skit ive seen before... not sure why.

I don't recall if Bill Birnes or I ever spoke about this publicly but this thread reminds me of something you'll all get a kick out of. Since it's not likely to happen, why not share it?

Rael wears this pendant. I can't remember his story for it but I think he might have gotten it from aliens. Sure, let's go with that. Anyway, the other reality of it is that when he was a down-on-his luck homeless man in France, he was friends with an artist who made the pendant. The artist is now somewhat famous and, of course, I've forgotten his name. Rael stole it from the man one night and never saw him again.

The dude is still bitter about it to this day. So Bill's idea was that we do a documentary wherein I infiltrate the Raelian cult and at the end, snatch the pendant from Rael's neck and run out the door to deliver it back to the artist and we peel away in a van. I thought it was genius. Again, my memory is foggy here (this was about 8 years ago), but I remember that Bill was friendly with the artist who was a bit cantankerous, and in the end, I think he rejected the idea.

I find the "nazi-jew"(a swastika inside a hexagram) symbol hilarious, reminds me of this clip:

www.criticalcommons.org...