Raëlism, also known as Raëlianism, is a UFO religion founded in the 1970s in France by Claude Vorilhon, now known as Raël. Scholars of religion classify Raëlism as a new religious movement. The group is formalised as the International Raëlian Movement (IRM) or Raëlian Church, a hierarchical organisation under Raël's leadership.
Raëlism teaches that an extraterrestrial species known as the Elohim created humankind by using their advanced technology. An atheistic religion, it holds that the Elohim have historically been mistaken for gods. It claims that throughout history the Elohim have created 40 Elohim/human hybrids who have served as prophets preparing humankind for news about their origins. Among them are the Buddha, Jesus, and Muhammad, with Raël himself the 40th and final prophet. Raëlians believe that since the atomic bombing of Hiroshima in 1945, humans have entered an Age of Apocalypse in which it threatens itself with nuclear annihilation. Raëlism holds that humans must find a way to harness new scientific and technological development for peaceful purposes, and that when this has been achieved the Elohim will return to Earth to share their technology with humankind and establish a utopia. To this end, Raëlians have sought to build an embassy for the Elohim that incorporates a landing pad for their spaceship. Raëlians engage in daily meditation, hope for physical immortality through human cloning, and promote a liberal ethical system with a strong emphasis on sexual experimentation.
Raël first published his claims to have been contacted by the Elohim in his 1974 book (The Book that Tells the Truth). He subsequently established an organisation devoted to promoting his ideas, MADECH, which disbanded in 1976 and was replaced by the Raëlian Church. Raël headed the new organisation, which was structured around a hierarchy of seven levels. Attracting more followers, the group obtained a country estate in France before relocating its operations to Quebec. In 1998, Raël established the Order of Angels, an internal all-female group whose members are largely sequestered from wider society and tasked with training themselves to become the Elohim's consorts. In 1997 Raël initiated Clonaid, an organisation engaged in research in human cloning directed by senior Raëlian Brigitte Boisselier. In 2002, the company claimed to have produced a human clone, a baby named Eve, bringing much critical scrutiny and media attention. The Movement has attracted further attention through its public protests endorsing causes such as women's and gay rights and against nuclear testing.
The International Raëlian Movement claims tens of thousands of members, the majority in Francophone areas 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 of religion.
Definition and classification
Raëlism is classified as a new religious movement by scholars of religion. It has also been described as a UFO religion, a UFO movement, and an ETI (extra-terrestrial intelligence) religion. The organization that promotes Raëlianism is the International Raëlian Movement (IRM), which is also called the Raëlian Church. In France, where the religion originated, the government's Parliamentary Commission on Cults labels it as a "secte", a French term that is equivalent to the English word "cult". In 1997, a parliamentary inquiry commission issued a report through the Belgian Chamber of Representatives which likewise categorized the Belgian Raëlian Movement () as a . Human Rights Without Frontiers International: Human Rights in Belgium Annual Report (Events in 2005).
Raëlism is among the largest UFO religions in existence, and in the mid-2000s, the scholar of religion Andreas Grünschloß called it "one of the most consolidated UFO groups internationally active today". In its beliefs, Raëlism differs from many other UFO-based philosophies, with the scholar of religion James R. Lewis terming it "the most thoroughly secular of all the UFO religions". Most other UFO religions, such as the Aetherius Society, Ashtar Command, and Heaven's Gate, use many of the beliefs of the late-19th-century religion Theosophy; Raëlism does not. Raëlists have also been characterized as having a "belief in ufology", but Raëlians often stress that they do not regard themselves as ufologists.
Raëlism is materialistic and rejects the existence of the supernatural, endorsing atheism and rejecting the idea that gods exist. The religion's founder, Raël, characterizes traditional religion as irrational and unscientific, presenting his alternative as a philosophy free from "obscurantism and mysticism". Raëlians call their belief system a "scientific religion", with the International Raëlian Movement using the motto "Science is our religion; religion is our science". The religion emphasizes the use of science to solve the world's problems, and practitioners regard Raël as a pioneer of science who will one day be regarded as a peer of Galileo and Copernicus. Many of its members call it an "atheistic religion", and compare it to Buddhism, some branches of which similarly do not promote belief in gods (especially Theravāda Buddhism).
Along with science, the other main basis of Raël's ideas is the Bible. Noting the "central role" of the Bible in Raëlism, the scholar of religion Eugene V. Gallagher suggested that it was a "thoroughly biblical and thoroughly Christian" philosophy. Similarly, the sociologist of religion Susan J. Palmer characterised Raëlism as both fundamentalist and Abrahamic in its reliance on the Bible. Raël nevertheless criticised Christianity for what he believed was its role in perverting the Bible's message, presenting himself as an opponent of the Roman Catholic Church. Raëlism is not inclusive of other religions, with new members expected to formally renounce any previous religious affiliations.
Beliefs
During the early 2000s, the scholar of religion George D. Chryssides said that Raëlism exhibits "a coherent worldview", but added that the movement remained in the "very early developmental stage". The religion is based on the teachings of Raël. Raël's claims are taken literally by practitioners of Raëlism, who regard his writings as scripture. From Palmer's extensive study of the philosophy and Raël himself, she thought that he genuinely believed his claims. The sociologist of religion Christopher Partridge noted that Raëlianism exhibits "a strong physicalist belief system".
Raëlism presents a form of the ancient astronauts theory which was well known at the time that the religion was formed. Several French authors, such as Jean Sendy, Serge Hutin, and Jacques Bergier, had already published books during the late 1960s and early 1970s stating that Earth was the outpost of an ancient extraterrestrial society. Swiss writer Erich von Däniken presented the same idea in his 1968 book Chariots of the Gods? Similar ideas had also been put forward in science fiction, such as the U.S. television series Star Trek. Raëlians often deny the effect of von Däniken on the philosophy, instead believing that it derives entirely from Raël's revelations.
The Elohim
Raëlism teaches that there exists an extraterrestrial species known as the Elohim. Raël has said that the word "Elohim", which is used for God in the Old Testament, is actually a plural term which he translates as "those who came from the sky". Raël calls individual members of the Elohim "Eloha". He claims that the Elohim gave him the honorific name "Raël", a term deriving from "Israel", which he translates as "the messenger of those who come from the sky".
In his first book, , published in 1974, Raël claimed that he initially encountered these alien beings on 13 December 1973, when he was 27 years old. He wrote that he was walking along the Puy de Lassolas volcanic crater in the Clermont-Ferrand mountains when one of their spaceships appeared and an Eloha emerged, who asked him to return the next day and bring a Bible. Raël did so, and over six days the Eloha explained to him the true meaning of its contents, revealing more about the Elohim's involvement in human history. In his 1976 book (The Extraterrestrials Took Me to Their Planet), Raël added that he was contacted by the Elohim again on 7 October 1975, when they took him aboard their spaceship and transported him to their home planet. Here he was offered six biological robot women with which to have sex, saw the Elohim create his clone, and taught the techniques of sensual meditation. The scholar of religion James R. Lewis noted that Raël's account of encountering the Elohim was similar to those of the "classic UFO contactees" of the 1950s and 1960s.
The Elohim are described as physically smaller than humans, with pale green skin and almond-shaped eyes, and they divide into seven different races. Raëlians are forbidden from painting or sketching them. According to Raël, their planet is outside the Solar System but within the Milky Way. Raël states that there are 90,000 Elohim on their planet, and that they are all quasi-immortal, and that they do not wear clothes. All of them are permitted to engage in free love with one another, and sexual jealousy has been eliminated. All of them are regarded as feminine in manner; Raël states that "the most feminine woman on Earth is only 10% as feminine as the Elohim.". They are not allowed to procreate, and many of them undergo a sterilisation operation to ensure this. Raël also reports that the Elohim can communicate with humans because they understand all human languages.
The Elohim on Earth Raëlism teaches that around 25,000 years ago, the Elohim arrived at Earth, and then transformed it so that life could develop thereon. It states that the Elohim used their advanced technology to establish all life on the planet. Raël characterises humans as "biological robots" that have been created and programmed by the Elohim. Raëlism teaches that humankind is modelled physically on the Elohim; for practitioners, this is indicated by the passage at Genesis 1:26. Also representing his own interpretation of Genesis, Raël teaches that the Elohim scientist responsible for creating humankind was named Yahweh, and that the first two humans to be created were named Adam and Eve. Raëlians believe that there were originally seven human races, modelling the seven Elohim races, but that the purple, blue, and green races have died out. In believing that the human species was created by the Elohim, Raëlians reject Darwinian evolution, and espouse creationism and intelligent design; Raëlians term their beliefs "scientific creationism". Raëlians believe that the Elohim were also created by an earlier species, and they before them, ad infinitum. They believe that the cosmos expands indefinitely, both in time and in space; infinity is an important concept for them.