Does the International Raelian Movement (IRM) fit the bill for a manipulative cult?
Banners taken from http://www.howcultswork.com/
From Rael.org's FAQ:
"Raelians may make donations to this [Raelian] Foundation if they wish, but it is not mandatory." It's a Raelian "commandment" to pay Rael 1% of your income. Read: Raelism and Money: NO, HE MAKES NOTHING!! raelian-truth.blogspot.com/2012/01/raelism-and-money-no-he-makes-nothing.html
"Yes, everyone is welcome to attend our informal Raelian gatherings." The IRM has a practice of excommunicating dissidents for 7 years during which time they aren't allowed to attend any Raelian gatherings. [more below]. On the Internet, opponents of Rael are either banned or their commenting privileges revoked.
"If one defines the word cult as: "a great devotion to a person, idea or thing.", then we certainly are not a cult as we do not worship any individual, nor any supernatural entity and the only fanaticism that we would support is to be fanatic of non-violence." Raelism is based on the belief of ET creators whom we must love otherwise they won't come to the Embassy. Extreme devotion for the Elohim can be seen in the Raelian Order of Angels. http://raelian.com/doc/latest_message_for_order_of_angels.doc
"It is very clear in the Raelian Philosophy that pedophilia is a sign of mental disease and will never be tolerated within the organization." Check out: Rael and Pedophilia http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=280458658658948
"In the event of a cataclysm destroying humanity, only the people who follow [RAEL] will be saved, and they will have to repopulate the devastated Earth when all the danger has been dispersed, as happened in Noah’s time." (Intelligent Design, p. 150)
"You who are reading this message, understand clearly that you can have access to this marvelous world, this paradise. You will be welcomed [to the Planet of Eternal Life], you who follow our messenger, Claude Rael, our ambassador on the path to universal love and cosmic harmony, you who will help him realize what we will ask of him - for we see through his eyes, hear through his ears, and speak through his mouth." (p. 172)
Former Raelian Bishop Jean-Denis Saint-Cyr has revealed that Rael confessed to him that he'd never met any ETs. In retaliation, Rael has defamed him as a liar and thief who stole from the IRM and that he was excommunicated for it. Neither is fact: http://confessions.rael.jeandenissaintcyr.com/en/rael/response_rael.html
Rael had filed countless lawsuits against his opponents (and justly losing most of them) on the grounds of defamation and libel. Check out his case against childhood friend Roland Chevaleyre http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=273987135972767 and ex-RaelianDominique Saint-Hilaire http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=278503292187818
Debate is discouraged and criticism is NOT tolerated in the IRM. Members are told to report others who ask too may questions or criticize IRM and/or Rael to the Wise and Disciplinary Councils and not to engage individually. Check out: Raelian Thought Police http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=282107145160766
Local Raelian websites feature "Meet Raelians" with pictures of friendly Raelians. Members are always encouraged to bring along new people to their social gatherings where they exhibit how happy and friendly they are in order to initiate them to the "family". Here's a Raelian promo video of friendly Raelians socializing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rmrdCuYR8Sw
Needless to say, such instant friends also instantly disappear when one gets expelled from the "family".
Rael has not only excommunicated many Raelian dissidents but also cancelled their baptisms (transmission of cellular plan). He ordered his loyal members NOT to speak with and to avoid these people. From Raelian newsletter Contact 306 (April 2006): "In the event that an individual not only wants to leave the Raelian Movement but wants also to hurt it, the Raelian Movement must protect itself and protect its members from being harassed by such an individual who, most of the time, tries to convince others to do the same. In such a case, the Prophet Rael has the hard task to cancel the Cellular Plan Transmission, the Elohim recognition, which means that these people will not be recognized as Raelians by the Elohim anymore and also, they will not be able to join us again if they wish so before 7 years, they will not be able to attend our meetings and seminars. We also recommend to Raelians to not contact these people anymore since their intent is obviously to hurt us. Under friendly approaches, most of the time they try to get you tell things that they will use later against us by manipulating them or manipulating you."
Rael has already issued a warning to his loyal members NOT to visit my Facebook page (International Anti Rael Movement) and group (Raelian "TRUTH") as well as the sites of other ex-Raelians who are speaking out against Rael. Check out:
http://raelian-truth.blogspot.com/
While Rael says people who oppose him have every right to criticize Raelism, they have no right to "insult and slander" Raelians. To that effect, Rael vows to track down the IP addresses of dissidents and sue them. So fearful is Rael about anti-Rael sites that he and his lawyers "watch closely" to find any incriminating material so as to shut them down permanently. Check out Rael's warning: http://forum.raelian.com/viewtopic.php?t=73
"When one works eight hours a day and spends all one’s free time diffusing the messages, each free moment becomes precious. Not a single minute should be wasted on [other things] when it could be spent diffusing the messages." (Intelligent Design, p. 215)
The IRM also keeps its members busy by making them participate in parades and demonstrations such as in the Autralian Mardi Gras, Go Topless campaign (a supposedly non-IRM entity), fundraising forClitoraid (also a supposedly non-IRM entity), Pro-Swastika demos (you guessed it, another supposedly non-IRM entity) and other such diversions. These events are essentially fronts for "diffusing the Messages" while giving Raelians a false sense of activism that's raising humanity's consciousness level.
IRM has many "alternative news" propaganda outlets that help keep its members indoctrinated. Members perceive that they are getting unbiased and complete information from these sources alone. Examples: Rael-Science, Raelianews, RaelTV, RaelRadio, RaelPress, etc.
Come... take the "red pill" and break out of the Raelian Matrix.
Advocatus Diaboli
Check out Mark Woodgate's Testimony: http://raelian.com/en/mark_woodgate.php
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