KNAPPSTER George Knapp is a longtime reporter and anchor for KLAS Channel 8.

Thursday, January 09, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Mercury

Knappster: Defending the Raelians

By George Knapp

Let's say it was a Hindu scientist who called a news conference to announce the first cloned human. Do you suppose the news stories would primarily concentrate on the religious beliefs of the scientist?

"That's right, Bob. We're here at the Clone-a-Rama lab in downtown New Delhi where a scientist who believes that dairy cows might represent the reincarnated spirit of his ancestors claims to have cloned the world's first human, a baby named Vishnu."

It's been fascinating to watch how the cloning story has played out over the past several days. Everyone in the media covered the Clonaid claim from the very beginning. And every one of the reports that I saw or read took potshots at the weird beliefs and customs of the Raelians. Nearly every report cautioned viewers that the Raelian claims should be taken with a grain of salt because, after all, this group believes that humans were cloned by space aliens. Yuckety yuck. And now the story has evolved to the point where journalists are kicking themselves in the ass for ever giving the story any credence whatsoever. The handwringing, finger-wagging and tsk-tsking is unfolding in every newsroom in the country.

There are plenty of reasons for doubting the veracity of the Raelian claims--they have yet to produce one iota of proof to back up their story--but you would think that attacking their religious beliefs would be off-limits for supposedly objective reporters. Are there journalists among us who know, beyond doubt, the truth about God, the universe, creation or the soul? Which God is the true god? Which beliefs are the right ones?

My general rule in dealing with religions is to avoid passing judgment on them. You could make the case that one is just as wacky as the next. Let's see now, the idea that space aliens cloned us seems really crazy, far nuttier than the concept that a gigantic invisible being in the sky created us in his own image and watches our every move and thought to determine if we are good or bad.

Or how about the religion of science? That's what it's become, after all, a religion, with its own commandments and blasphemies. The high priests of science tell us that a long time ago--before time existed, for that matter--there was absolutely nothing, nothing as far as the eye could see, except there were no eyes. Then, BAM, there was a big explosion, caused by nothing, and, afterward, the universe was filled with space and matter and galaxies. After billions of years, life evolved, purely by accident, on a single planet. That makes sense, huh? Once there was nothing, then there was something.

Like many of you, I saw the CNN interview with Rael. He was wearing a costume right out of Star Trek and sported a funny little ponytail. Wacky, right? Anyone seen the hats worn by the pope? How about the flowing beards of Islamic mullahs? The shaved heads of Buddhist monks? Hindu communities would rather starve than kill a cow. Resurrection, reincarnation, original sin, virgin birth, karmic debt, self-flagellation, demons, angels, heaven, hell, Nirvana--these are all issues of faith, not fact, and I don't think anyone knows for sure which ones are absolutely true and which ones aren't. In that sense, who can say for sure that Raelian beliefs are completely goofy?

The question of whether the Raelians really cloned a human is an entirely different issue. So far, they've done a pretty crummy job of supporting their claims. The promised independent DNA testing of "Eve" is thus far lacking. Frankly, if Eve were my clone, I'd also have reservations about making her identity known to the world. You can be certain there are some pissed-off true believers who would be only too happy to act as agents of retribution for the True God and would bump off little Eve in short order.

The cloning of a human will be a truly profound event. I don't blame journalists for covering it even though the Raelians were the ones making the claim. If anything, the coverage went out of its way to downplay the possibility that the Raelians had accomplished this feat. But make no mistake, the day is coming when it will happen for real. We can argue and worry and legislate if we want to, but it will happen soon enough. Here's what physicist Stephen Hawking says about it:

"Many people will say that genetic engineeering of humans should be banned, but it's doubtful we will be able to prevent it," Hawking writes in his book The Universe in a Nutshell. "Genetic engineering of plants and animals will be allowed for economic reasons, and someone is bound to try it on humans. Unless we have a totalitarian world order, someone somewhere will design improved humans."

Other stuff

Our item a few weeks ago about the ongoing feud between rival gossip writers Norm Clarke (R-J) and Tim McDarrah (Sun) drew a response from McDarrah, who told Knappster that he and Norm "get along fine" these days. McDarrah acknowledged making some "dumb remarks" about Clarke in the beginning but says he apologized and that, these days, both writers do a better job because they have each other to compete against. ... Cantankerous local attorney Tom Pitaro is returning to the radio airwaves. Pitaro and his co-host Charlie Waterman are both diehard liberals who take considerable delight in crafting blistering commentary about conservatives, Republicans, Rush Limbaugh types. On Jan. 15, Pitaro's guest will be Sen. Harry Reid. GOP blood will flow. The show airs on KLAV 1230-AM dial from 5-6 pm. ... Lawyers for Jessica Williams think they have new issues to raise on her behalf. Although they were turned down in their appeal to the U.S. Supreme Court, they soon will file papers in both federal and district courts regarding a "novel" issue not raised previously. Williams is in prison after running down several kids cleaning the median on Interstate 15. ... Questions soon may surface about why the Fremont Street Experience will hire a Korean company to give a facelift to the downtown canopy instead of giving the work to a firm here in Nevada, or at least in the USA.