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The Flaw in Raelian Religion: No Nails
A Sermon by Pr. Larry Kirkpatrick ++ Mentone church of Seventh-day Adventists ++ 4 January 2003
The lyrics of the familiar song by Ned Washington include the line, "When you wish upon a star, makes no difference who you are, anything your heart desires will come to you." A week ago the Raelian Religion made the big-time as it was announced in a press conference that persons connected with their group had succeeded in producing the first human clone. Following this they succeeded in having their views broadcast viaan interview with Rael who claimed that cloning was an important step in humans becoming immortal.
Can it be that it is already nearly six years past? The Hale-Bopp comet of 1997 and the death of 39 members of the heaven's Gate cult based in San Diego is already a fading memory. But here today, upon our television screens is the latest in a new series of (perhaps inevitable) media-encounters with obscure religious ideas. Coalescing together under Heaven's Gate and Raelian schemes are found the following mix: unusual leader personality + use of contemporary media + science used as a trampoline + sexual eccentricity + anti-authoritarianism. All conveniently plastic-wrapped for media consumption.
A week ago the "Raelians" clamored onto the global media radar by, on a slow news day, announcing the birth of the first human clone
When a news reporter asked Rael whether he and his group had simply gotten away with a well-orchestrated publicity stunt, Rael responded by claiming he was having technical difficulties with his earpiece. "I am so sorry, but the sound is so bad. I cannot hear anything."
Isn't it interesting that their website was up and they were ready to go, to sell their book, and everything on last Friday? They were ready for the media onslaught that followed their sensational press conference.
Today we are going to address some points that may help us when similar things arise and drop into our awareness. Yes, this occasion, but in the future other occasions, will provide conversational grist, opportunities to drop something helpful into your discussion with others about the God who created heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh-day; the God who sent His Son to die for the human race and buy them back, and restore them, and repair all the damage that has been wrought by sin. So our talk today has a very practical purpose.
Cults General
There are a variety of definitions for cults. There are sociological definitions and doctrinal definitions, and others. Within Christianity you have this doctrinal definition of a cult that is fairly common. A cult is commonly characterized by one or more of the following:
- It comes into being primarily by the work of one highly charismatic leader. Whether you think the leader is highly charismatic or not is one question, but whether the adherents of the group find the leader to be one they wish to follow is usually another.
- It embrace some source of authority that is either equal to or operationally more authoritative than the Bible. This may be a claim to prophetic guidance, another writing, or even some master-key for interpreting inspired writings.
- It will either elevate man or demote God.
- It will provide an alternative form of salvation in which, in some way, one works for their salvation. Cults are invariably personal merit-based systems.
- It will develop and employ its own insider language and definitions. What you think of as salvation, glorification, justification, and so forth, will often have very different meanings to those participating in the cult than they do to you.
- It is almost always anti-authority in its early phases.
Because such groups are invariably small in their beginnings, they are often obsessed with obtaining a hearing for their teachings. They will sometimes go to great lengths to attain publicity. These groups must hold onto reality as they see it very tightly or they dissolve in short order. Many a cult has come and gone without serious notice except in the lives that were damaged by it.
Ellen G. White once said this about ideological error: "Error is never harmless. It never sanctifies, but always brings confusion and dissension. It is always dangerous." (Ellen G. White, Testimonies, vol. 5, p. 296). Those are sober words. The over 1000 deaths connected with the Jim Jones suicide tragedy in 1978 and the Waco tragedy in 1993 alone testify that she was right.
Even so, it is not only theology that matters. Often the most dangerous of these kinds of leaders are sociopathic, anti-social persons who are destructive not only to themselves but especially to others.
Robert Lifton in his seminal book Thought Reform and the Psychology of Totalism: A Study of 'Brain Washing' in China, wrote that this kind of ideological totalism was "the coming together of immoderate ideology with equally immoderate individual character traits -- an extremist meeting ground between people and ideas" (p. 419). In other words, the most explosive combination is fanatical people with fanatical ideas. That's when you see lives impacted or even destroyed by kookiness gone to its natural outcome.
Fanaticism Threatened Early Adventism
James and Ellen White spent much of their early to middle years in constant combat against fanatical elements. Those were the days before our church was formally organized in 1861 and there was little in the way of structure in place to hold persons accountable for their discrediting weirdness. Much of what you read about in Mrs. White's writings about fanaticism is what we would today classify, and quite rightly so, as church discipline.
My wife has done a marvelous job compiling numerous cases of fanaticism in those early years in a paper we have on the internet now. There is an extraordinary amount of insight for us in how serious such activities were viewed and how decidedly she and James dealt with them. Had fanaticism been allowed to continue unchecked in those years, this church would never have come into being. Because Pastor James White was very firm when he had to be very firm, we have a church today. God's blessing comes when we are aggressive about being faithful to Him. It departs when we are not.
Most of us are very sheltered today. Strange religious ideas are something that we hear about on television or the radio; these strange religious ideas rarely touch our own lives. If they come close to home, then they are the pastor's concern. After all, that's part of what his calling is about: protecting the flock of his Father. It is easy to criticize him from a distance when we don't know the lives that some destructive philosophical program has impacted. We don't have to get our hands dirty because it is the pastor's job to take care of those messy things. But I want to tell you, I admire James White. He did what he had to do, and again and again the flock was spared.
What is the Raelian Religion?
In a nutshell, what is the Raelian religion? It goes something like this. Claude Vorilhon a former race car driver and then French Journalist who reported on sporting events was driving to work one day in 1973 when he had an impression to go to another location. He proceeded to said location where he meditated for awhile. When readying to leave he experienced an alien encounter. The aliens asked him (in perfect French) to come inside their flying saucer where they told him many things. Among them, that they were the called the Elohim, a race of advanced alien beings from another world who had created life on earth long ago.
The aliens, according to Claude, told him that there had been scientists on their world who had wanted to do dramatic genetic experimentation but had been prohibited from doing so by the government of their world. They had then taken their experiments to space and eventually set up shop on earth near the location of present-day Jerusalem. They created plant-life, then animal life, and then, in their own image, they made humans. We were created in their laboratories. According to the Raelian's own website, humans were made to be "equal" to their creators.
It was soon discovered however that humans were inexplicably prone to violence. It came to the point where they had to be released into the natural environment. The aliens left but kept an eye on us down through the years. They introduced into the human population at various times genetically enhanced persons who took the role of prophets and spiritual guides. Moses, Jesus, Bhudda, Mohammed, and Rael himself are said to be some of these. With the release of humans into the environment, the edict went out that we were to be kept in ignorance of our origin until we had become sufficiently advanced for them to return and share their technology with us.
According to the Raelian website, all the major religions of planet earth were founded by ambassadors chosen by the Elohim. Unfortunately, they claim, the word "Elohim" in the Bible was mistranslated. It is a Hebrew plural form and should have, say the Raelians, been translated "Gods" or "those from the sky" rather than "God."
Our mission today, according to Claude, is to meet three requirements in order to satisfy the Elohim so they can come. We must demonstrate to them scientific maturity, which we have done by splitting the atom and by cloning. We must attain political maturity which we have done by forming organizations like the United Nations. And, they say, we must build the aliens an embassy in Jerusalem so that they will know we are interested in their coming and that we welcome them. Money to build the embassy can be sent, of course, to the Raelians. The presence of the embassy will, they say, help our world by greatly expanding our consciousness and anticipation of the return of the almond-eyed Elohim.
But things don't stop there. The Raelians come equipped with their own set of values, communicated through Rael for us to adopt. Here are some of those ideas (all these are taken directly from the Raelian website): Plurality of beliefs is the way for a society to function at its best. There is to be no domination of one philosophy. Society should allow each individual to receive a minimum existence revenue without having to work for it. Guilt must be taken away from man by taking away taboos against exploring sexuality. "Each human being has the right to engage in any type of relations with others as he/she wishes, be they of homosexual or heterosexual nature provided that these relations are established between consenting adults, no matter how many adults are involved." A global vision must be drilled into the human race of the right to pleasure.
Society must free itself of the desire to dominate others. People must not obey any order, no matter who gives it, that they find to be contrary to their conscience. Drugs, alcohol, tobacco, and coffee are forbidden because they damage our genetic code. We must engage in sensual meditation to release our stress (I will not explain what this appears to mean!). It is not enough to tolerate differences, but we must seek them out and praise them
Here's one you might find interesting. This is ARTICLE 12 of their "Universal Charter of Human Rights." Remember what they said before, they teach that Plurality of beliefs is the way for a society to function at its best and there is to be no domination of one philosophy. Now here is ARTICLE 12: "An ethical committee must be set up to insure that texts and practices of all religions including the dominant religions obey the rules of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights first, and then the Universal Charter of Human rights. If any religion does not respect both declarations, it must be taken to court and tried especially if its texts and practices represent a threat for humanity."
There is a new tithing system of 10% which replaces taxes. A government of geniocracy
According to Rael, eternal life is attained in the following manner. A human body is cloned of yourself. Through technology not yet available (maybe the Elohim will give it to us!) the clone grows to adulthood in a few hours or days. Finally, your consciousness is downloaded into the young clone. Assuming nothing big ever falls on you, or you never fall off of anything big, you get to live forever, just repeating the cycle. The Raelian literature does not address what is to happen to the "old" you. Presumably your old self is thrown out with the garbage at some point or turned into fertilizer.
So I guess you don't get to live forever after all. You get to die. But your memories (supposedly) will live on forever.
Raelian Claims Discussed
Elohim Means 'Those From the Sky'?
That was quite a stack of teachings. But then, remember, Claude has been working on all this stuff since 1973. And that's interesting, because Eric von Danekin originally published his book Chariots of the Gods first on Putnam press, in 1970 and then on Bantam books in 1973. Millions of dollars were made in the publishing of this book. And P.T. Barnum was exhonorated. You might recall that the theme of it was that long ago alien astronauts had come to earth and been mistaken as gods.
Sir Claude's theory about the Elohim is built upon one very bad idea. "The Raelian tradition is unique among UFO groups in that it offers a creation story that ties it to the sacred books of the monotheistic traditions. The core idea is that the ancient Hebrew concept Elohim should have been translated 'those who came from the sky' rather than 'God.'" New Religious Movements Homepage.
It is true that Elohim is a plural form. It is translated "God" when referring to the Creator God, and the same term is translated "gods" when referring to the various gods of the heathen found in the Bible. This might sound troubling, but remember, there are more words than simply "Elohim" used in the Bible to refer to God. He is referred to by many names in the Bible. Most, if not all of them, are singular. But what you do have in the Bible are grammatical manifestations of the "plural of majesty" or perhaps in some cases the "editorial 'we,'" when God is referred to. Let's touch on some of these evidences in favor of the way your Bible has been translated.
First, turn to Genesis 1:29. There we find the text saying, "And God [elohim] said, Behold I have given you . . ." The Hebrew definitely says "I," singular in the original just as it does in your Bible. Thus Elohim in the same sentence is to be translated singular also.
Elohim is used to speak of single individuals in other places in the Bible too. The witch of Endor told Saul that she saw "elohim" rising from the earth in her seance with him in 1 Samuel 28:13-14. The Elohim is identified as (supposedly) Samuel in the singular as you read the passage. Another Is Exodus 7:1, where Moses is made an Elohim to Pharoah. But there was only one Moses.
In 1 Kings 18 we have a showdown between the one true God YHWH and the one false God Baal. The contest is to determine who is "Elohim."
Then there is the Shema, found in Deuteronomy 6:4, where we have the statement, "Hear O Israel: the Lord our God is one Lord." The word for one is the Hebrew word for
Hebrew is a rich and beautiful language. Plurals are often used where you or I might expect a singular, for the purpose of emphasis. Examples of this are found in many places. Isaiah 53:9 for example says that Jesus was "with the rich in His death." The KJV translators rendered it death singular, but the Hebrew has deaths plural. You know what? The KJV translators knew exactly what they were doing. "Deaths" was used here for intensity, and they properly translated it into the English "death," which they noticed matched the other grammar in the verse. For those of you who missed it, those were the personal pronouns "he" (singular), "his" (singular), and then "he" and "his" again. All singular in the Hebrew. Good job KJV.
Furthermore, all through the New Testament God is referred to by the Greek Theos, which is a masculine singular noun. We could multiply the evidences, but the evidence is overwhelming that we are correctly translating "Elohim" as "God" singular when we so refer to Him in the Bible.
The Prophets Genetic Supermen, Alive through Cloning, Soon to Return
In one interview I found online with Claude, he says the following, "Jesus, as well as all the prophets, were scientifically recreated thanks to an advanced type of cloning. Cloning a baby is the first step. The second step will be to create an adult, and the third will be to transfer all his or her memory and personality in the adult new body." (Interview). Yes, that's what they teach. And I do not doubt that at some point someone could show up impersonating Mary and the prophets and apostles. But the Bible speaks clearly of resurrections, not cloning.
When God determined how death would function on planet earth after the fall of humanity, He very wisely designed things so that no one could, from beyond the veil of the grave, function as a false authority source by providing information "from beyond." Think about it. Cloning is unnecessary in God's world. Those who serve Him will be translated without dying, or, having died they will be resurrected and made immortal in the blink of an eye. And when we visit heaven and then the new earth, we won't need to download ourselves into new bodies periodically either.
But there are other things that this religion says to us when it says that the people who have shaped the history of religion on earth have all been genetically modified super-persons. It says that ordinary persons like ourselves are insufficient for spiritual activities. It says that Jesus was not like me, that He lived the way He lived because He was genetically modified. How can He be my example then? Our humanity is not even the same genetically.
If the Raelian religion lacks a doctrine of the fall, it certainly does not lack a doctrine of human racial inequality. They teach that some humans are more equal than others, because they have special genetic modifications, while others of us do not. The Bible's gospel puts us all on common terms. No one comes equipped with a genetic superiority over another. In the Raelian book Let's Welcome Our Fathers From Space, "translations" are provided of texts such as Genesis six into which considerable speculation is injected. You might recall that passage:
"And it came to pass, when men began to multiply on the face of the earth, and daughters were born unto them, That the sons of God saw the daughters of men that they were fair; and they took them wives of all which they chose. And the LORD said, My spirit shall not always strive with man, for that he also is flesh: yet his days shall be an hundred and twenty years. There were giants in the earth in those days; and also after that, when the sons of God came in unto the daughters of men, and they bare children to them, the same became mighty men which were of old, men of renown."
Rael twists the text to mean that the Elohim, our creator space-aliens, engaged in some reproductive adventures with the created human women, and that the results were genetically superior persons. It seems there is no passage or poetic statement of Scripture that cannot be spun around like a top to be claimed to teach what it does not. However, the very next verses speak of the evil of these persons and the flood that was sent.
Consider how the Scriptures here are used. An isolated poetic passage is injected with speculation. Spacemen came and joined with humans and the result was giants. But the rest of what the passage says is ignored. The next verses that speak of the judgment of the flood that covered the whole earth and swept these to doom are never mentioned. The fact that God 's analysis of the behavior of unrestrained carnality, that it was morally wrong, is never mentioned. The Bible was used the same way a drug addict uses his needle. A passage here or a passage there are found where something can be injected into it that doesn't belong there. And then you can go on a ride.
Warnings Concerning Bogus Ideological Religious merchandise
The Bible is filled with warnings against false religion. "When you wish upon a star . . . anything your heart desires will come to you." Humans can make up their own false little religions. And the result will be the illusion that anything your heart desires will come to you. But the Bible warns us against placing our trust in false things.
Satan began this trend by deciding he was beautiful and that anything he wanted to do he should be able to do. And what he wanted most was to be worshipped. He wanted to
Isaiah laughed at this when he pointed out that instead of accepting the true God people preferred to carve a god out of wood and decorate it and set it up as an idol in their home, and that they would fall down onto their knees and worship that stock of wood, while the rest of the wood from which it was made was thrown into the fireplace to keep them warm.
In the New Testament the warnings become even stronger. Jesus warned against our following anyone who would say that He had returned and was hidden in the desert or somewhere else, in the secret place, don't go there (Matthew 24:26). Will Jesus return, along with a busload of other genetically modified prophets on a soon-to-arrive flying saucer after the governments of planet earth unite to build them an embassy at Jerusalem? (incidentally, the Raelians have had little success in talking the nation of Israel into allowing the embassy to be built. In their earlier days, the Raelian symbol was a star of David, not with the swirls in the middle it has now, but with a swastika in the middle. They changed their religious symbol but Israel will have none of it!)
John 10 speaks of true shepherds and false ones
But think of another incident. Remember when the woman was caught in adultery and brought to Jesus. A true Shepherd, He confronted them and began to write their sins in the sand. And they, self-righteous false religionists that they were, fled in terror. The woman was granted mercy. The wolves were sent fleeing.
Jesus warned of those who would take truth and make it into a means of material gain. "And said unto them that sold doves, Take these things hence; make not My Father's house an house of merchandise." (John 2:16).
Paul, in contrasting his true apostolic ministry with that of false, said he had "renounced the hidden things of dishonesty, not walking in craftiness, nor handling the word of God deceitfully; but by manifestation of the truth commending ourselves to every man's conscience in the sight of God." (2 Corinthians 4:2).
He warned against those who would come in the guise spiritual leaders. "But what I do, that I will do, that I may cut off occasion from them which desire occasion; that wherein they glory, they may be found even as we. For such are false apostles, deceitful workers, transforming themselves into the apostles of Christ. And no marvel; for Satan himself is transformed into an angel of light. Therefore it is no great thing if his ministers also be transformed as the ministers of righteousness; whose end shall be according to their works." (2 Corinthians 11:12-15).
Peter warned about those who would turn real religion into an opportunity to fleece the sheep: "And through covetousness shall they with feigned words make merchandise of you." (2 Peter 2:3). And Jesus commended the church of the Ephesus period for its stringent care in keeping it free from false apostles: ""I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience, and how thou canst not bear them which are evil: and thou hast tried them which say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars." (Revelation 2:2). And finally, in Revelation chapter 18 you have the fall of Babylon, the destruction of all those who sold their merchandise to hyperventilating buyers.
It is true that most of these references are to false teachers who would come from within the church, whereas the Raelians come from outside. But whether in or out of the church, the false prophets and teachers are operating under the same premise, that of spinning the real religion and making it into an opportunity for selfish gain. And we think of the Raelians who used the media to obtain publicity but now refuse to provide the proof that they really have cloned this little girl.
Now if they haven't really cloned her, then they are liars and all this was merely some publicity stunt to gain them a hearing among those who might otherwise never have heard of them. But if they have cloned her, then they are playing fast and loose with human life in order to score publicity points. And what a risk to take with the little life, for cloning has, so far, been a real hit-and-miss proposition and many of the cloned animals have had terrible defects. Either way, the Raelian thing is a travesty.
And look at their beliefs. They are inconsistent with themselves. A group's behavior will always be consistent with its real beliefs. This is how you tell the difference between the window dressing and what's really happening. For the Raelian religion, what we appear really to have is the philosophy that the ends justify the means. All the pretense of being an organ of truth and justice in the world that they blather about is negated by their willingness to be irresponsible in this supposed cloning incident. For those who are reasonable, this has doubtless discredited the Raelians for good. But reason is rarely the measure of anything these days, is it?
No Nails
Remember, in Raelian religion sin is left unexplained. The goal is to enlighten people by having them participate in the right exercises, to condition humans to seek pleasure and to stop experiencing feelings of guilt. Remember that we are created by other creatures to be their equals, to one day create other creatures ourselves. In Raelian belief there are no Gods.
There is no distance between the created and his created creators but that of technology. There is no fall of man but when the first engineered humans left the Elohim laboratories. Therefore the Crucifixion of Jesus offers no sacrifice for sin. There is no atonement. N none is needed. The Raelian religion is conspicuous because it has no nails in it. No nails in the hands of the Savior Jesus.
No sin, no atonement. No divine Creator, no divine sacrifice. No moral boundary, no law to uphold. No example in Jesus, no followers of Jesus. But most of all, a religion with no nails.
Let's turn to Luke 23:33-34 and listen. "And there were also two other, malefactors, led with him to be put to death. And when they were come to the place, which is called Calvary, there they crucified him, and the malefactors, one on the right hand, and the other on the left. Then said Jesus, Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do. And they parted his raiment, and cast lots."
Jesus was crucified. The nails were driven through His hands. He died on a Cross. But where is anything near this in the Raelian plan? Nada. No one needs salvation. We need pleasure they say. And Jesus says broad is the road that leads to destruction.
Conclusion
Raelianism is one of the few cultic groups that fulfills all six of the markers we mentioned at the beginning f this talk. They are six for six. What would that be in Vegas? Three lemons? We may tell our friends that there are absolutes, and there is something better out there than the Raelian UFO plan for salvation where you download yourself into a new body and then expire, but your mental photo album lives on. This is pie-in-the-sky Santa Claus stuff. The Bible itself provides the solutions we need. We need a Savior from sin, not explanations about how it is that there is no sin. Rael gives no explanation for human fallenness, nor any hope of recovery from it. Instead you live your life of pleasure like a fly hovering around the manure, until you expire. There is something better our there.
Andy Warhol suggested in 1968 that in the future, everyone would have their fifteen minutes of fame. It seems that since then the media has become the fundamental measure of reality. Three centuries ago Descarte said, "I think; therefore, I am," but in our media-saturated world we have moved philosophically to, "I have been on television; therefore, I am." In the marketplace of ideas there are only so many niches. Every ideology, every eccentric weirdness is bursting out, searching for a vacuum to seep into. Everyone and every idea wants "airtime" so it can obtain credibility and adherents. Perhaps I am too cynical, but it seems to me the "eternal life" sought by the Raelians is really having the right people talking about them.
You believe in a religion with nails. Nails in the hands of Jesus for you. Never forget that your religion has the nail-print in Jesus' hand. He died on the Cross for you to give you real immortality and eternal life that you didnŐt deserve. Take Him up on it.
Remember what we were told:
- Error is NEVER harmless.
- Error NEVER sanctifies.
- Error ALWAYS brings confusion.
- Error ALWAYS brings dissension.
- Error is ALWAYS dangerous.
Did you hear the exclusive, global, all-encompassing "never" and "always" statements in the word through Ellen White? If you don't think it matters what you believe, ask the 3000 victims of the Al Quada attack that destroyed several commercial aircraft and the World Trade Center.
Yours and mine is a religion with nails. Jesus died for me. Rael never did. He is a man of pleasure. He says we shouldn't feel guilty for sin. Today it is Christ or antichrist. And only one is a religion with nails. Only one can redeem you, or says you must be redeemed or can be.
