While this is not really a response, as the recent article printed in The Lantern on the subject of Scientology didn’t really hold any opinions about it, it was, I think, misleading when it comes to the religion’s credentials.
L. Ron Hubbard was a failure for most of his life. A failure in the military, and a failure at most business ventures, such as fake medical equipment (the “E-meter”) and his original 1950’s Dianetics run. So Hubbard started a business venture, and called it Scientology.
As Time magazine once put it “Scientology poses as a religion but really is a ruthless global scam.” Now, one might argue that this holds true for all religions, but Scientology is very open about it. Scientologist believe that after years of training with them you will start to ascend what they call Operating Thetans stages (OTI, OTII, etc.) Once at OTIX, the person is supposed to be able to turn themselves invisible, fly, control matter and energy with their minds, have a genius IQ and perfect memory, and all sorts of other things that break physical laws. How much does it cost to reach OTIX? Only an estimated $380,000.
Like any other fake, nonscientific worldview people willingly prescribe themselves to, they also control your life. They have filtering software for your computer, treat homosexuality as a curable disease (though not an unpopular thing among religions), and do not allow you to undergo certain medical procedures without their permission (of 3 elders, nonetheless). As you all may know from Tom Cruise’s rant, they don’t believe in things like psychotherapy, as if it were something you had a choice in believing or not.
This brings up the point that they use rich, famous people to promote their business. So, join me in boycotting movies starring scientologists. Just as I do not give money to churches of the larger religions so they cannot promote themselves with my money, I will not give money to the church of scientology. No more Tom Cruise or John Travolta movies (aren’t very good anyways). And, lastly, the most painful, no Simpsons, as our recent guest to the campus, Nancy Cartwright, has fallen to the global scam.
