The president of Raelians in this country is a song-and-dance veteran of West End musicals
The Sunday Telegraph (England), Dec. 29, 2002
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The British head of the Raelian movement, which claims to be behind the birth of the world’s first human clone, is a star of West End musicals and has played the lead role in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s Jesus Christ Superstar.
Glenn Carter, the president of the Raelian cult in Britain, has starred in both the London and Broadway productions of the musical. He has also appeared in Les Miserables, Grease, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat and played the part of the man who was mistaken for Jesus in Whistle Down the Wind.
He has performed in several Royal Variety events and in a concert for the Prince’s Trust.
Mr Carter, who refuses to divulge his age, said he joined the cult six years ago after reading a book called The Message Given to Me by Extra-Terrestrials, written by Rael, the movement’s worldwide leader.
He said yesterday: “It cleared up so many things I didn’t believe or understand about philosophy, religion and science. I have played Jesus in the theatre and as part of my research have looked into different religions. This, however, was something very different. It made immediate sense to me.”
Mr Carter, who likens the movement to Buddhism without the mysticism, said Raelians reject any notion of a god or supreme being; instead mankind was the cloned creation of alien superbeings.
The movement claims to have 1,200 adherents in Britain. Two weeks ago a number of new recruits, who will pay pounds 60 a year as members, were welcomed into the cult at a manor house in Buckingham. Mr Carter dampened their foreheads and gave them a mild electric shock. They were told that their names had been put on a giant electronic computer that orbits Earth and monitors all communication.
Rael is a former French journalist called Claude Vorilhon. He founded the sect in 1973 after claiming to have met aliens who revealed the truth about the beginnings of the human race.
He was allegedly told that life was created 25,000 years ago in an alien laboratory and that Jesus was resurrected using an “advanced cloning technique”. He was ordered to spread a gospel of free love, cloning and the eventual return of aliens to earth. About 55,000 people in 84 countries now belong to the cult.
Mr Carter said: “Heading the Raelian movement has its challenges, but it is a vocational thing. I had no aspirations to be in charge here. We do not believe in a god, a heaven or a hell.
“Neither do we believe in evolution. We are created by a race of beings who are not unlike us.
“Our members are drawn from all sectors of society. We have artists, musicians and housewives. Some of them you will have heard of, but it’s not for me to advertise them.”
He defended the movement’s actions in cloning a human: “People say cloning is evil, but violence, threats and the taking of life is evil that goes on every day. That is the sort of behaviour we should condemn.”
Born in Staffordshire, Mr Carter has been acting for more than 20 years. Before that, he was a manager of rock bands.
Fans of the actor reacted angrily to the revelation that he is linked with the Raelians, venting their displeasure on his official website. One former admirer wrote: “I fear that a once-great talent has now lost the plot totally. It is so sad that a wonderful talent such as his is now lost in a world of depraved people.”-12-29