True Crime-Paranormal-Conspiracy Theories Stories Part V #Wattys2023

Raelism: Claude Vorilhon Part I

Raëlism, also known asRaëlianism, is a UFO religion founded in 1970s France byClaude Vorilhon, now known as Raël. Scholars of religionclassify Raëlism as a new religious movement. The group isformalized as the International Raëlian Movement (IRM) or RaëlianChurch, a hierarchical organization under Raël's leadership.

Raëlism teaches that anextraterrestrial species known as the Elohim created humanity usingtheir advanced technology. An atheistic religion, it holds that theElohim have historically been mistaken for gods. It claims thatthroughout history the Elohim have created 40 Elohim/human hybridswho have served as prophets preparing humanity for news about theirorigins. Among them are The Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad, with Raëlhimself the 40th and final prophet. Raëlists believe that since theatomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, humanity has entered an Age ofApocalypse in which it threatens itself with nuclear annihilation.Raëlism holds that humanity must find a way to harness newscientific and technological development for peaceful purposes, andthat when this has been achieved the Elohim will return to Earth toshare their technology with humanity and establish a utopia. To thisend, Raëlians have sought to build an embassy for the Elohim thatincorporates a landing pad for their spaceship. Raëlians engage indaily meditation, hope for physical immortality through humancloning, and promote a liberal ethical system with a strong emphasison sexual experimentation.

Raël first published his claims tohave been contacted by the Elohim in his 1974 book Le Livre Qui DitLa Verité. He subsequently established an organisation devoted topromoting his ideas, MADECH, which in 1976 disbanded and was replacedby the Raëlian Church. Raël headed the new organisation, which wasstructured around a hierarchy of seven levels. Attracting morefollowers, the group obtained a country estate in France beforerelocating its operations to Quebec. In 1998, Raël established theOrder of Angels, an internal all-female group whose members arelargely sequestered from wider society and tasked with trainingthemselves to become the Elohim's consorts. In 1997 Raël initiatedClonaid, an organisation engaged in research in human cloningdirected by senior Raëlian Brigitte Boisselier. In 2002, the companyclaimed to have produced a human clone, a baby named Eve, bringingmuch critical scrutiny and media attention. The Movement hasattracted further attention through its public protests endorsingcauses such as women's and gay rights and against nuclear testing.

The International Raëlian Movementclaims tens of thousands of members, the majority in Francophoneareas of Western Europe and North America and parts of East Asia.Criticism of the philosophy has come from journalists, ex-Raëlians,and anti-cultists, while it has also been studied by scholars ofreligion.

Definition and classification

Raëlism is a religion that scholars ofreligion classify as a new religious movement. It has also beendescribed as a UFO religion, a UFO movement, and an ETI(extra-terrestrial intelligence) religion. The organization promotingRaëlianism is the International Raëlian Movement (IRM), or theRaëlian Church. In France, where the religion originated, thegovernment's Parliamentary Commission on Cults labels it a "secte",a French term with negative connotations similar to the English word"cult". In 1997, a parliamentary inquiry commissionissued a report through the Belgian Chamber of Representatives thatalso categorized the Belgian Raelian Movement (Mouvement RaëlienBelge) as a secte.

Raëlism is possibly the largest UFOreligion in existence, and in the mid-2000s, the scholar of religionAndreas Grünschloß called it "one of the most consolidatedUFO groups internationally active today." In its beliefs,Raëlism differs from many other UFO-based philosophies, with thescholar of religion James R. Lewis terming it "the mostthoroughly secular of all the UFO religions." Most other UFOreligions, such as the Aetherius Society, Ashtar Command, andHeaven's Gate, use many of the beliefs of the late-19th-centuryreligion theosophy; Raëlism does not. Raëlists have also beencharacterized as having a "belief in ufology", butRaëlians often stress that they do not regard themselves asufologists.