Page 33 - 200303 - The 'X' Chronicles Newspaper - February 2003

Rael the Raelian Clown 33 Rael the Raelian Clown 33 It's the Rael thing Since the announcement on Boxing introduced himself to Rael as Yahweh It's the Rael thing Day that Clonaid - a company founded by (God to the Hebrews) and turned out to be the cult's guru, His Holiness Rael - had Rael's father. successfully cloned the first human baby, After dictating a new version of the The Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), Feb. 1, 2003 Raelians have been besieged by the Old Testament over six days (Sodom and http://www.smh.com.au/ media. While the cult welcomes the Gomorrah destroyed by nuclear weapons, attention (or, at least, it did until its failure Noah taking DNA from all the animals to provide any proof of the cloning birth into a spaceship/ark, etc) in which the led to suspicion, scepticism then race of aliens - who call themselves the disbelief) a few of its members who hold Elohim - created humankind by cloning a respectable jobs fear the ridicule of being scant 25,000 years ago, Yahweh took outed. Vorhilon at seven times the speed of light With some justification, you have to the Elohim's home, the "planet of the to say. Raelians believe - at least, they say wise". they believe - in flying saucers, that Here Vorhilon had a wonderful mankind was created in an alien time flying around with the aid of gravity- RAEL laboratory, and that a nuclear defying belts, met Moses, Buddha, Armageddon will destroy the world by Muhammad and his (Rael's) long-lost 2035, with only 144,000 true believers to brother, Jesus, was given the gift of They believe in an alien super- race, preach Armageddon, and boast of be saved by being reconstructed (with healing, had sex with six perfectly formed cloning humans. So what draws their memory and personality intact) from biological robots (a brunette, a redhead, a Australians to the Raelians? Ben Hills their DNA. When Raelians die they have blonde etc) who were "submissive to all dons a white robe to infiltrate the cult. a square centimetre of bone removed my desires", saw his dead mother cloned The instructions are clear. "No from their forehead for safekeeping. from a photograph, was appointed the drugs," says Veronique, a Raelian So peculiar, in fact, are their beliefs Elohim's ambassador to Earth and on his organiser with a French lisp in a gauzy that they are even too much for laid-back return adopted the name Rael and began white gown decorated with a wisp of Byron Bay, tolerant host to a multitude of proselytising as "the last prophet". featherdown to signify her status as an wacky cults, where many Raelians have Thirty years later, the Raelians "Angel", "and zat includes tea and settled. The "alternative" Byron Bay Echo claim to have 55,000 members coffee." We are having our induction poured scorn on them, and they were even worldwide, though the figure - like briefing in what looks like an open-sided refused permission to have a stall at the almost everything else about the cult - has shearing shed, beside a sluggish tidal local markets. to be treated with a great deal of tributary of the Hawkesbury River buried "Perhaps it is because we are in suspicion. In books, magazines and on deep in craggy bushland near the village favour of genetically modified food," videotapes, the largest gatherings appear of Wisemans Ferry, 90 minutes' drive says the Raelians' Oceania "guide to involve no more than 200 or so, and north-west of Sydney. bishop", Jean-Francois Aymonier, then only when the Raelians adopt a Prospects for the weekend brighten gloomily. "Also, we favour science, popular cause such as a rally in Montreal considerably when it later becomes clear cloning and globalisation." According to at which they invited Catholics to that just about any other activity the books on sale at the conference, they publicly renounce their faith in protest at consenting adults can engage in is not believe in a lot more, too. priestly pedophilia. just OK, but encouraged. That evening I The cult was founded in 1973 by The Raelians' finances, which are absentmindedly pick an after-dinner mint Claude Vorhilon, a French motoring not publicly available, are now held in a from a proffered silver salver to discover journalist. From the scant biographical secret international bank account after in the nick of time that it is a condom. detail provided, he appears to have had an two Swiss banks terminated their The venue for the Australian unhappy early life - not knowing his accounts following complaints from other Raelian Movement's annual shindig and father, raised by relatives, bullied at customers. The cult claims to have raised "awakening seminar" for newcomers like school, working as a busker then as a $US12 million ($20 million) for its main myself is a vaguely paramilitary campsite motor racing writer until he realised he mission on Earth, which is to build an - plywood huts, a spartan toilet block and didn't like the noise and the smell of the embassy (shaped just like a convoluted mess hall, with bush treks, rope-climbs, a fuel fumes. "crop circle" which once appeared in a flying-fox and a flotilla of canoes. The About this time he was fortunate Wiltshire corn field) on four square price: $350 for six days including food. It enough to encounter a flying saucer in an kilometres of land in Jerusalem. (P-36) is hired out to groups like the Raelians extinct volcano at Puy de Lassolas in who cherish their privacy - they can central France. A replica of this vehicle is wander around naked knowing their on display at Centre UFOland, a cult pallid posteriors are unlikely to feature on theme park which has been built on an the news. A crew from The Daily 80-hectare site near Rael's headquarters Telegraph is headed off at the wooden in the town of Valcourt, in the boondocks suspension bridge that provides the only of Quebec, Canada. access, and the only way TV crews could According to the texts, a bald alien pry would be by helicopter, all of which 1.2metres tall with a goatee beard, are luckily engaged covering the almond-shaped eyes, a greenish skin and bushfires. a halo, got out of the spacecraft. He