Thursday, December 19, 2013

Raelism vs. Science: Raelism, Long Hair & Telepathy

After Rael made the comment, "another confirmation of Elohim’s messages ..." in regards to a Web article by Signs Of The Times (SOTT) claiming to explain: The Truth About Hair and Why Indians Would Keep Their Hair Long, Raelianews published an article titled: Why do Raelians keep their hair long.

The Web article, as summarized by Brian Dunning in Skeptoid #393, "tells the story of native American trackers who were recruited for the Vietnam War, but once given military haircuts, they lost their ability to track, and became useless to the war effort. So formalized testing was instituted, and it was confirmed that only trackers whose hair had not been cut were able to perform, and that cutting their hair caused them to score lower on tests where they had previously scored high. The story goes that the military then exempted native American trackers from regulation haircuts, and that some of the experimenters even chose to do the same."

According to the Raelian Messages:
The point about not shaving off any hair is very important. The human brain is like a huge transmitter, capable of sending out a multitude of very accurate waves and thoughts. In fact, telepathy is nothing more than that."
But this type of transmitter requires antennae, and the hair and beard are these antennae. That is why you should not shave off any hair if you want to make use of your transmitters. (Intelligent Design, pp. 35-36)
As such, the Raelianews article claims that the web article stands as a confirmation to Rael's special knowledge that hair "are [sic.] like antennae" that allowed native American trackers to "access a 'sixth sense'" as long as they were allowed to keep their hair traditionally long instead of very short as required in a standard military haircut. Note, though, Raelism would require one not to shave in order to acquire and maintain telepathic abilities.

Friday, March 22, 2013

[RaelTV FAIL] The Raelian Sandcastle


Raelian You Tube channel RaelTV has just released a video promoting their plans to build an "Embassy" for their imagined creator ETs to finally reveal themselves. It has some new CGIs of their embassy model, an excerpt from an old 1988 interview of Rael and some questionable images they imply is evidence for their Elohim.

Rael started his "mission" to welcome back the Elohim in 1973. In 1975, the Elohim expressed their desire to have their embassy be built "near Jerusalem". The last time, according to Rael's "official Messiah" website, Israel refused Rael extraterritorial land for building the "3rd Temple"/Embassy for ETs was 20 years later in 1993. Refusal by Israel will have dire consequences:
"In case of a final refusal from Israel, the Elohim will withdraw the protection they have always granted to the Hebrew State since its creation. Israel will then be destroyed and there will be a new Diaspora.
In 1997, Rael apparently got permission to build the embassy anywhere on Earth (Intelligent Design, pp. 358-361). Then in 2003, Rael had declared what remains of his "mission" was to only build the Embassy:
"First, he claimed his mission was “50 percent complete.” He was referring to his mandate to spread the message. “It’s done. I’ve informed the entire planet of my message.The remaining “50 percent” is building the embassy... Raël’s second announcement was that he had appointed Brigitte Boisselier as his successor. He expressed delight that she had found such an effective means of spreading the message. (Aliens Adored, p. 191)
This year will commemorate 40 years of Rael's NON-ACTION to build his Embassy... one wonders if his non-action is what is keeping Israel intact. Meanwhile, the most media coverage Rael's getting these days is from other "actions" such as their annual GoTopless publicity events which doesn't really help Rael realize his dream house.

At 3'06" of the video, Rael admits how he won't be able to ever convince everyone to help him fulfill his prophetic mission... he says "those who are ready will help us". To this effect, the producer of the video embeds popular images of UFOs to make a case for the existence of ETs. The problem is, those images are all either hoaxes or misrepresentations by "those who are ready". To date, Rael has failed to provide any convincing evidence of any flying saucers and thus has not been able to link UFOs to his Elohim. Raelians just have deep faith it's all true. : /

Wednesday, March 20, 2013

IRM and CLONAID™ - completely independent??

    Rael.org has the following FAQ:

    Where is Eve, the clone baby?
    The Raelian Movement is an organization which is completely independent from Clonaid. Clonaid is the name of a project (not a company), and it is managed by a raelian member named Dr. Brigitte Boisselier. Neither Rael nor the Raelian Movement bring any funds to it, and they have no relationship whatsoever with Clonaid, besides their moral support concerning the cloning technologies. For more details visit clonaid.com.
    ---------------
    The International Raelian Movement (IRM) is NOT exactly completely independent from Clonaid.

    clonaid.com
    rael.org
    First, the websites rael.org and clonaid.com used to be registered under the name of a Raelian named Marc Lavoie at the same domain name provider (Go Daddy) as of 08 January 2003.

    Wednesday, February 6, 2013

    ‎[CLITORAID WATCH] Arrested Development


    Clitoraid is running almost 2 more than 4 years behind schedule but more than doubled its initial budget building the Pleasure Hospital.


    The Pleasure Hospital was supposed to have been inaugurated back in January 2011 as announced on 23 March 2010.

    On 4 January 2011... "Clitoraid has almost completed construction of the very first “Pleasure Hospital” in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina Faso."

    However, a month later on 4 February 2011... “ We are now *half way* through the construction of our 'pleasure hospital' in Bobo Dioulasso, Burkina faso, where we will welcome women of the area and of West Africa to be repaired for free

    Then in Nov 2011, they said it "should open in 2012". Here, they say "by the end of 2012".  This press release from 08 March 2012 also says "later this year".

    *LATEST NON-DEVELOPMENT* (updated 17 April 2015)

    As far as 17 June 2013 from their press releases, they had stated " The Kamkasso hospital, which was built for this purpose, will be inaugurated on October 8th in Burkina Faso, West Africa."

    But then a month later, in a 8 July 2013 press release, it was stated: "Clitoraid plans to open [the pleasure hospital] in Burkina Faso, West Africa, in March 2014, which will be the first of its kind in the world."

    And what do you know, in a 3 March 2014 press release, it was stated: "pressure from the Catholic Church and other detractors of the International Raelian Movement (IRM) has caused Burkina Faso's government to block the scheduled March 7 opening of Clitoraid’s clitoral repair hospital." President of Clonaid, Brigitte Boisselier further explained, “Nevertheless, we will go ahead with our inauguration ceremony as planned. And our surgical team will still operate on the patients scheduled for the procedure, but that will take place at another hospital."

    But days later, in a 13 March 2014 press release, it was announced: "Medical licenses previously granted to the American medical staff of Clitoraid ..[ ].. have been revoked in Burkina Faso due to “blatant discrimination against the Raelian Movement."

    Months later, in an open letter to the First Lady of Burkina Faso in 13 October 2014, it was declared: "We eagerly wish to inaugurate our hospital on February 6, 2015, a day that the UN has decreed, "Zero Tolerance Day for FGM."

    6 February 2015 has long since passed. :/


    -----
    Here are the financial records for 2006 - 2014 (strangely, records for 2010 weren't disclosed).

    Announcement on in March 14 2011: "The total cost to build the facility and supply it with medical equipment is $200,000."

    Latest announcement as of December 2012: "The total cost to build the facility and supply it with medical equipment is $450,000. At this time, $350,000 have already been raised and $100,000 is missing to complete the project. "

    The latest (non-)update of their FAQ page states: "The Pleasure Hospital will be inaugurated on March 8th 2014, however $100,000 is still needed each year for its maintenance and continued medical operation."
    -----

    Friday, February 1, 2013

    Bad Astronomy and Raelism

    According to Rael, the Elohim's star/planet is about a little less than 1 light-year away from Earth. (Intelligent Design, p. 89)

    But, the closest known star is Proxima Centauri and which is 4.2 light-years away.

    To explain away this anomaly, Rael came up with a *NEW* Raelian idea that NOTHING IS CONSTANT IN THE UNIVERSE in a FAQ in his 4th book (Let's Welcome the ETs) published in 1979. It is NOT part of the "Messages" as in "dictated to Rael by the Elohim".

    Rael wrote:
    "Scientific members of our movement have put forth an hypothesis: the distance between their planet and ours could be about four light years by following the light, which could be moving in a pronounced curve, but would only be one light year away if we travelled in a straight line. That is a possibility." (p. 234)
    It's a possibility indeed, BUT a very slim one since we're talking about a curvature 4 times longer than the "actual" distance!!... it'll look like the silhouette of a penis with tiny balls. : P

    He then added:
    "I might add that light does not move at the same speed in all strata of the universe, because nothing is invariable, neither in space nor time." (p. 234)

    Sure enough, BUT it was Yahweh who spoke of his "home planet" in clearly defined terms of a uniform speed of light:
    "The parasang is a unit of measurement just like the parsec, which stands for the distance that light can travel in one second, which is about 300,000 kilometers. Our planet is 30,000,000 parasangs away from Earth or about nine thousand billion kilometers, just a little less than a light year." (pp. 88-89) LOL

    [RAELIAN DISINFO] THE 10% MYTH


    Rael perpetuates the 10% myth... while this may be true for Rael personally, the rest of us happily use all of our brains. LOL

    THE TEN-PERCENT MYTH http://www.snopes.com/science/stats/10percent.asp

    Also, Rael's Sensual "in-dept brain-washing" Meditation technique is allegedly a rip-off of the Silva Mind Control self-help method http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Silva_Method

    [RAELIAN DISINFO] Einstein invented the Atomic Bomb

    Had Einstein known how his invention was to be used, he would never have allowed it. When he did realize, it was too late: The organized brutes of the military were already flying their fortresses toward Hiroshima. -Rael (Geniocracy, p. 4)


    Einstein did NOT invent the Atomic Bomb.

    However, Einstein's greatest role in the invention of the atomic bomb was his indirect signing of a letter to President Franklin Roosevelt urging that the bomb be built to stop the Nazis! 

    In 1939, a group of Hungarian scientists that included Hungarian emigre physicist Leó Szilárd attempted to alert Washington of ongoing Nazi atomic bomb research. The group's warnings were discounted. Einstein and Szilárd, along with other refugees such as Edward Teller and Eugene Wigner, "regarded it as their responsibility to alert Americans to the possibility that German scientists might win the race to build an atomic bomb, and to warn that Hitler would be more than willing to resort to such a weapon." In the summer of 1939, a few months before the beginning of World War II in Europe, Einstein was persuaded to lend his prestige by writing a letter with Szilárd to President Franklin D. Roosevelt to alert him of the possibility. The letter also recommended that the U.S. government pay attention to and become directly involved in uranium research and associated chain reaction research.

    Einstein biographer Ronald Clark has observed that the atomic bomb would have been invented without Einstein's letters, but that without the early U.S. work that resulted from the letters, the a-bombs might not have been ready in time to use during the war on Japan (Clark, pg. 682-683).


    Einstein later expressed regret about his letter to Roosevelt. In 1947, Einstein wrote an article for The Atlantic Monthly arguing that the United States should not try to pursue an atomic monopoly, and instead should equip the United Nations with nuclear weapons for the sole purpose of maintaining deterrence.

    Looks like Rael relies on popular myths instead to support his ramblings. LOL



    References:
    see, World War II and the Manhattan Project
    Einstein–Szilárd letter
    ALBERT EINSTEIN and the ATOMIC BOMB

    Albert Einstein's political views

    [RAELIAN DISINFO] The GATE OF PISCES or the FISH GATE?

    You will date your writings counting the year 1946 as “year one”, after Claude Rael, the last of the prophets. Then 1976 is therefore year 31 after Claude Rael, or year 31 of the era of Aquarius, or year 31 of the age of the Apocalypse, or year 31 of the golden age. (Intelligent Design, p. 206)


    The Bible quote from Zephaniah 1:10 does NOT refer to the Constellation of Pisces but an actual gate to the Old Temple called the "Fish Gate". It acquired its name from where fish were sold, or the fish market. The actual verse reads:
    And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the LORD, that there shall be the noise of a cry from the fish gate, and an howling from the second, and a great crashing from the hills. (Zephaniah 1:10)
    Rael's books were originally written in French and he certainly quoted from a French version of the King James Bible and therefore conflating the French word for fish with Pisces of the zodiac. The current English version of Rael's books contains a footnote (number 19, p. 379) admitting that Rael had deliberately distorted the English KJV Bible verse by leaving the French word pisces in order to claim a connection to the Age of Pisces. In French, both "fish" and "Pisces" are "poisson".

    The Bible verse is NOT a prophesy of the creation of the State of Israel, nor the birth of the Messiah.

    Furthermore, 1946 is NOT the beginning of the Age of Aquarius. It was Jean Sendy who is among the very few who asserts that the Age of Aquarius began in 1950. Check out Jean Sendy's books comparison with those of Claude Vorilhon Rael.

    If an "Age" lasts 2,160 years and most scholars place Jesus' birth between 6 and 4 BCE, then the Age of Aquarius should begin on the years between 2154 to 2156 CE. LOL




    References:
    http://laise.org/?page_id=45
    http://www.jewish-history.com/palestine/jerusalem.html
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astrological_age#The_Age_of_Pisces_.28The_Piscean_Age.29
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Age_of_Aquarius
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chronology_of_Jesus
    http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Zephaniah

    Note: Initially, the Raelian Movement counted the years using the notation A.R. (after Rael). But now, they use the notation A.H. (after Hiroshima) with 1945, the year when the atomic bomb was dropped on Hiroshima, as year 0.

    Tuesday, January 29, 2013

    Bad Archaeology and Raelism

    Last year in August, the Raelian Movement published an article and press release titled "Chinese pyramids confirm that an advanced civilization existed on Earth more than 10,000 years ago". There, they make many wide claims based on "anonymous sources" and other questionable information found on the Internet linking several archaeological structures to "advanced civilizations" and UFOs.

    Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor
    First they claim that the Chinese government and their scientists are keeping anything to do with "Chinese pyramids" under wraps. This claim is categorically untrue as many of the sites are open to tourism such as the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor which incidentally is also a UNESCO World Heritage Site (the site is famous for the discovery of the Terracotta Warriors). The picture used in the Raelianews article is from a map displayed at the popular historical cite. These structures known popularly in the West as the Chinese pyramids are actually ancient mausoleums and burial mounds built to house the remains of several early emperors of China and their imperial relatives. About 38 of them are located around 25 kilometres (16 mi) - 35 kilometres (22 mi) north-west of Xi'an, on the Qin Chuan Plains in Shaanxi Province. Here's a scan of a map outlining the locations of these imperial tombs in Xi'an.

    The alleged "Great White Pyramid"
    The Raelians claim there are 100 white pyramids in China. The mention one of them being white comes from the very first popularized report in the mid-1900s in which U.S. Army Air Corps pilot James Gaussman is said to have seen a white jewel-topped pyramid during a flight between India and China during World War II. Later, Colonel Maurice Sheahan, Far Eastern director of Trans World Airlines, told an eyewitness account of his encounter with a pyramid in the March 28, 1947 edition of The New York Times. A photo of Sheahan's pyramid appeared in The New York Sunday News on March 30, 1947. This photograph later became attributed to James Gaussman. The first published paper concerning Chinese burial mounds was back in 1915. Many articles found on the Internet claim approximately 100 of these structures. In fact, a more recent survey by independent Russian researcher Maxim Yakovenko states that there are more than 400 of these structures across China. Yakovenko's site has more up-to-date information regarding these "pyramids".

    Pyramids around the World
    The next claim the Raelians make is that "According to the few archaeologists who have approached the site, these Chinese pyramids are located at the same latitude as the pyramids of Egypt." A quick Google search reveals that this is not the case. The pyramids on the Giza plateau are located on latitude 29°N while the pyramids in Xi'an are on latitude 34°N. In fact, pyramids are found all over the world and they are certainly not aligned on the same latitude. 

    The Raelian article provides no evidence for their claims that these Chinese pyramids were built around 10,000 BCE and that they "share a common origin with the world-famous pyramids of Egypt and Central America” let alone theiclaim that "everyone admits that they can hardly be duplicated with today's modern technology" implying that it was only possible through advanced ET technology (check out the links at the bottom that debunks this notion). The Chinese pyramids were built with mere clay and are not bigger than the Great Pyramid of Giza (which is about 150 meters tall and made of quarried stone blocks)... but, the Raelian article claims an exaggerated 500-meter tall Chinese pyramid! German UFOlogist Hartwig Hausdorf (and Belgian fringe science radio-host Philip Coppens) reported that the Chinese pyramids date back at least 5,000 years ago. Hausdorf reported that Chinese archaeologist Professor Wang Shiping believes the pyramids have an astronomic alignment and could be dated to only 1,500-500 BCE. The most number of Chinese imperial tombs are found in Xi'an and are attributed to the Western Han dynasty which dates back to only 206 BCE – 220 CE.

    On the topic of pyramids, it should be noted that there is no mention in Rael's books of the Elohim building any pyramids whatsoever. There is mention of the Elohim initially having "bases" up in the mountains and later under the sea. There's mention of "traces of great civilizations" in Peru and the Himalayas, but with no further elaboration (Intelligent Design, p. 84 and 232). While the former did host ancient peoples such as the Incas, the Himalayas are yet to reveal any besides the notion of a fictional paradise known as Shangri-La popularized in the West just before Rael was born. It is claimed how the "Raelian scriptures describe [the presence in antiquity of a highly advanced civilization] very well". Let us not forget that Rael's books are largely based on the Biblical narrative of human history with an ET twist, which limits its story to the Israelites in the middle-East and not around the world.

    As for Elohim "bases" under the sea, recently there has been some fascination in Raelian circles surrounding some natural underwater formations off the coast of Japan near Taiwan called the Yoneguni Monument. Rael has been living in Okinawa, Japan since the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in early 2011. Here's an excellent debunking of this by Brian Dunning: Yonaguni Monument: The Japanese Atlantis

    The article ends with some other examples of "precision-engineered, ancient megalithic structures [that] exist all over the planet" such as Puma Punku, Baalbek and the Great Pyramid (King's Chamber). There's very good chance that the Raelians are basing all their claims on the History Channel's dubious Ancient Aliens series (they used to link to it at rael.org as evidence for their Elohim). And so, not surprisingly, here's Mike Heiser's informed debunking of those claims: Puma Punku, Baalbek and the Great Pyramid.