Raelianism: Modern Take on Religion - Research Paper Example

?Raelianism, A Modern Take on Religion In the 1960s, there was this rising French pop star called Claude Celler, who was Claude Vorilhon in real life. He was able to release six singles under his name. But by 1970s his singing career ended and he was next known as a racecar journalist and, later, a magazine publisher. Throughout his life - except perhaps when he ran away from home when he was 15 - everything was ordinary for Vorilhon. But one eventful day in 1973, he supposedly met an Elohim while driving and told him to prepare humankind for their arrival. This, essentially, how the Raelianism or the Raelian International Movement began. Vorilhon, who now assumed the titular name of Rael (2006), described it as the religion of the infinite, “an atheist religion whose goals are the diffusion of the messages of demystification, given by the Elohim, to the Earth’s population, and to build an embassy where they will make official contact with the governments of the Earth” (p. 248). Based on its history, its development and its objectives, Raelianism can be considered a legitimate form of faith, regardless of the strangeness of its practices and rituals. It has persisted for decades and this alone makes the religion worth a closer look. History and Philosophy Unlike other groups, claiming to be a form of religion such as Scientology and even the Mormons, Raelianism is not overly secretive and is quite open with regards to its beliefs, rituals and history. Its beginnings, hence, is readily available to those who want to be initiated are interested to know. Its history began during that fateful day in 1973 when Rael claimed to be driving in the middle of nowhere when the Elohim materialized. As per Rael’s account, these beings are extraterrestrials who came to the Earth and created life through scientific technologies. This was supposedly revealed to him and the responsibility to inform mankind and to prepare them to meet their makers rest on his hands. Thus, Raelianism was founded. The Raelian teachings, philosophies or what one would call catechism or dogma in the Christian religion are closely tied with existing religious texts such as the Bible. The idea is to view everything from their theoretical point of view. Here, the Christian God becomes the Elohim, a highly advanced extraterrestrial being. He was not an all too powerful omniscient or omnipresent mystical God but just an advanced race, with technological capability to design, manipulate and create life. For further insights, one could turn to the manner in which Raelian belief interpreted some parts of the biblical Genesis. Genesis 1:1 became: “In the beginning Elohim created the heaven and earth” (Rael, p. 11). The corresponding explanation revealed the framework further and to quote: Elohim, translated without justification in some Bibles by the word God means in Hebrew “those who came from the sky”, and furthermore the world is a plural. It means that the scientists from our world searched for a planet that was suitable to carry out their projects. They “created”, or in reality discovered the Earth, and realized it contained all the necessary elements for the creation of artificial life (p.11). The above example showed how Raelian belief tries to reconcile the religious texts that the world has with the concepts and artifacts of technology as we know or conceive of it today. It is not unlike rationalizing the mysteries of many religions, grounding it on scientific concepts. Eller (2007) summarized what the Raelianism stands for by saying that it is a “self-consciously atheistic religion” and that “the various world scriptures are attempts to communicate this reality but are garbled and confused” (p.268). The Elohim allegedly explained - and, therefore, such explanation became a core component of Raelian philosophy - that “the world’s existing religion were founded as a result of their direct communication with a series of human prophets for the purpose of implanting the idea of humanity’s celestial origins and other notions in the human race” (Lewis, 2003, p. 102). The outcome, if the Raelians would have their way, is that the primitive people, with their crude understanding of high technology, sort of lost everything in recounting or translating the messages in their awe and ignorance. Also, that premise is implying that Rael is a human prophet in the mold of Jesus and Moses. Structure, Rituals and Practices Initiation to the Raelian Church also involves baptism. What this entails is the so-called “transmission of the cellular plan” conducted by senior members or the equivalent of priests and bishops in the Raelian power hierarchy (Broomley 2007, p. 148). This was supposedly performed first by Rael for forty disciples in 1976. The details for the baptismal ritual was described in the following account: Rael (or one of his representatives) dips his hands in a bowl of water and holds the initiate’s head while both concentrate on establishing a telepathic link with the Elohim… the “baptism” is understood as a formal recognition of the Elohim, humankind’s Creators, and they believe that the initiates’ DNA codes are registered by the Elohim (Bromley, p. 148). The baptism also involves the turnover of the initiate’s bone fragment once he dies to the Raelian repository because they believe that upon the Elohim’s arrival, they will be cloned and, therefore, resurrected. Other important rituals include the completion of the Letter of Apostasy, a letter written and sent to the church they were previously baptized in, containing a renunciation of their baptism. There are also the controversial meditation rituals, which include the sensory and sexual experimentations supposedly made in the context of the Elohim approach or methods (Broomley, 2007, p. 148). This is particularly one of the aspects of Raelianism that scandalized many. The religion teaches the concept of sexual unity where gender supposedly does not exist and that both men and women have identical abilities. The Raelian belief in cloning renders the idea of sex as a form of reproduction obsolete, hence, it became purely an activity for man’s pleasure. According to Lewis (2003), sex: becomes a “panacea for mans’ violent impulses”; a way to promote world peace; and, a method of stimulation to encourage the growth of new brain cells (p.383). In the bouts of experimentation since its inception, Raelianism even came to “discover” that sex can establish telepathic contact with the Elohim (p.383). Raelianism is also aligned with several philosophies that seek to explain man and his existence. A critical aspect in this argument is the religion’s focus on happiness. Sexual expression, meditations, the rejection of discrimination and all other practices and sanctioned doctrines within the Raelian Church are all designed to perpetuate this aspect in human existence. By combining science with anything that tempers human brutality such as sex, meditation and positive outlook, Raelianists expect to maintain happiness, which is considered the natural state of humanity (Eller, p. 268). Skeptic and Other Thoughts There are many scholars who sought to explain Raelianism. Most of these agree that it is legitimate albeit a mere revision the traditional creationist religion, infusing science instead of the metaphysical explanations to human existence and purpose. According to Lewis, Raelian is distinguished from other groups that claims to be a religion based on scientific premise on account of its approach to base atheistic religion in the secularist worldview that is derived from natural science (p.102). This is supposed to be appealing to some people because offers all the psychological benefits of belonging to a religion and at the same time satisfies all the secular desires and requirements. Partridge also noted it is perhaps the most systematic form of physicalist religion, with complex belief system and philosophies that provides rational explanations to various issues such as sacred texts and aliens among others (p.189). He also pointed out that the religion focuses on technology, which certainly attracts the interest of a sector of the populace. There is, for example, Raelian’s actual capability - with its resources - to produce the first human clone (p.189). For some, Raelianism’s appeal also stems from its critique of Christianity. There are people who are natural born skeptics. A definition of this concept illuminates why Raelianism is attractive for some. It is argued that skeptics are people with doubting attitude, a “show-me” spirit, where the application of reason to any and all ideas is a must (Eller, p. 270). Indeed, Rael rejects the existence of a spiritual realm as well as “the existence of soul and of any immaterial god or devil” (Lewis, p. 102). There is also the focus on science and the rational explanation of things. In a way, it is simplistic: nothing is accepted which defies reason and what has been proven or probably within the realm of science. Conclusion Again, as has been cited at the beginning of this paper, Raelianism appears to be a legitimate faith and religion. This is mainly because its beliefs and what it teaches to its adherents are rational. In addition, as one academic pointed out, it has very systematic worldview and philosophies. There are many who might scoff at the practices, values, beliefs and rituals of its adherents but they cannot discount the fact that their faith is based on legitimate and rational premise. References Bromley, D. (2007). Teaching New Religious Movements. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Eller, J. (2007). Introducing Anthropology of Religion: Culture to the Ultimate. London: Routledge. Lewis, J. (2003). The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Lewis, J. (2003). Legitimating New Religions. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press. Partridge, C. (2006). Reenchantment of West(e). New York: Continuum press. Rael. (2006). Intelligent Design: Message from the Designers. Raelian Foundation. Read More