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Would-be cloning journalist: "I am a good old-fashioned Christian"
Michael Guillen, the former ABC News science reporter who was going to test the Raëlians' claim that they'd cloned a human, has been the brunt of a lot of media anger. When there was little to report after Clonaid's initial press conference, reporters cannibalized one of their own. He was portrayed as "flipped out," greedy, untrustworthy, a quackery-pusher, and too credulous of "pseudo-science."

Last week, after Clonaid refused to allow DNA testing of the supposed clone, Guillen, who was already distancing himself from the story, suggested that it all might be "an elaborate hoax." But it may be too late. "The story could tarnish Guillen, a former Harvard professor who left ABC last fall after 14 years," USA Today earlier reported. "After ducking reporters for two weeks, Guillen is trying to salvage his reputation."

As part of that, he talked to Beliefnet about his own beliefs and those of the Raëlians.

"I am a good old-fashioned Christian, and that's what is difficult for people to understand," said Guillen, the son and grandson of Pentecostal pastors. "I believe in the divinity of Jesus Christ and what the Bible says."

That's not something he was eager to make public before issues of cloning surfaced, he says. After the sheep Dolly was cloned, Guillen was part of a roundtable discussion on Good Morning America.

Charlie Gibson asked me what I thought of cloning. I said I was concerned about the implications of what [researcher Ian] Wilmut had done as a scientist—and as a scientist who believes in God. … When I was showering that morning to get ready for the show, I suddenly began to sob uncontrollably. … I realized I had never spoken about my belief in God on the air, and  … that if I was going to be honest, I would have to confess I believed in God. I didn't know how people would react. I had always tried to be impartial and keep my personal opinions to myself. … As I walked through the studio, every grip and camera guy shook my hand. It was a milestone for my career, but I felt ashamed for not having confessed sooner, for having been such a coward. It was also very painful when the media speculated that I was a Raëlian, and somehow I had gone over to the dark side with Clonaid.

Gullien says most of his critics don't believe that science and religion can ever be reconciled, and that journalists who reported their criticisms should have acknowledged the biases of their sources. But, he says, "I am completely at peace with what has happened. I am in God's hands. He loves me and even all this has purpose which will be revealed to me."

Beliefnet also has a defense by Gullien's interviewer.

"As the anti-Guillen crowd sees it, the reporter is a definite I-want-to-believe 'Mulder' type—to borrow from 'X-Files' iconography—in a role that needs him to be Scully, a hard-nosed skeptic," James Pethokoukis, who usually writes for U.S. News & World Report, says. "Yet a look at Guillen's reporting record—while undoubtedly showing a real interest in fringe topics, and, likely, the ratings they draw—also reveals a healthy dose of skepticism about those otherworldly subjects."

Pethokoukis also takes on Guillen's critics. By their criteria, he says, "any journalist who fails to reject any possible common ground between science and religion would seem to be a worthy nominee for … being a crackpot."

Mel Gibson: Jesus film "brings out a lot of enemies"
Speaking of discrediting people who integrate their faith and work, Mel Gibson says making a movie about the life of Christ has launched a media Inquisition.

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January (Web-only) 2003, Vol. 47