A little quiz to start of with. Was it Scientology or Christianity to which this statement referred:
[T]hey "direct themselves to the weak, the unbalanced, the immature, the rootless, and the mentally or emotionally unstable," and that their "authoritarian principles ... are a potential menace ... to the personality and well-being of those so deluded as to become its followers."
Answer here (19th paragraph if the title doesn't inform you). If you just found yourself hesitating, wondering, why?
Scientology is better than Christianity
Why? Because by a process of avoidance, a Scientologist has never tried to tell me to do anything or told me anything I do is evil. How refreshing. I've heard them talk - and while Scientology doesn't seem sound (to say the least) at its base - its followers - think exercise guru and her acolytes - are pretty much extremely happy with themselves and their achievements and they exude positive energy.
Am I a Scientologist? No. Would I ever become one? Nope, unless under penalty of death and then I would, because all religion is anti-science fantasy fiction anyway - and it's the closest to that ideal.
I am a questarian***.
From everything we've heard and read, was Jesus a better person than L. Ron Hubbard. A silly question - of course. However, the years, as time usually does, may have been kind to Jesus - and there have been a lot of people who had a personal interest in only saying good things about him.
Is Battlefield Earth really really good sci-fi? Yes.
That is, if you're talking about the books - absolutely. L. Ron Hubbard could write.
Is there a long history of misery and brainwashing with Christianity? Yes. Violence unto others? Yes. (And I am quite familiar with its group-think cult aspects.)
Is there a shorter history of misery and brainwashing with Scientology. Yes. Violence unto others? No. (And I am quite familiar with its group-think cult aspects.)
Article comments
— go to most recent comments1 - Randy Kirk
Christianity is open source.
2 - Nancy
Dave, muchos gracias, sehr dank, and many thanks for this most invaluable website and posting. I agree with you: if the bums have to actually READ what is written, I'll bet the laws get a lot shorter and more succinct very quickly; however, I do not underestimate the power of congress to totally ignore calls from the public to either do their work or clean up their acts without a major scandal forcing them to do so.
3 - Nancy
????????!!!!!! This was supposed to post to Dave Nalle's thread about making congress read the bills they pass. How did it get here????!!!!
4 - Bennett
Good one Temple. I'm not sure what comment #1 is all about. I thought open source was for software developers.
5 - Al E. Oop
An alternative to these aforementioned
Religions/Cults is "Frisbetarianism".
While around as a mode of thought since
the late 1920's,it didn't come to be the
fully developed ideological & physical
form of Spiritual fulfillment that it is
now until 1964. This is when our leader
"Whamm-O" made his first appearance on
this earth. He took on the shape of a
round brightly colored plastic disc who
was likely to show up at parks, beaches,
rock concerts & picnics. He was beloved
by not only those on the road to finding
spiritual enlightenment but also held an
appeal to those unlikely to be on their
vision quest including: Small children,
Stoned Teenagers and the family dog.
His philosophy,a most simple one: Enjoy
Me and Enjoy Life!!! For when you must
leave this mortal coil your soul will be
trapped upon the roof forever.
6 - Tan Hoang
I think almost all religions have some idea of good and bad. If I chose to follow another religion (used to be Christian), then I would choose Taoism because of its emphasis on the yin and the yang (balance in life). That to me makes more sense.
7 - Temple Stark
Al. E Oop - yep?
I don't understand comment 1 either?
I csan throw around "more open" for a little whle.
If he's saying well, it's like open source projects where the only connection is the computer, well perhaps.
But Christian "factions" make the religion even less about any secure base, doesn't it? In fact, it rapidly becomes "It is what you want it to be."
8 - Margaret Romao Toigo
"Open source" means that a computer program's source code is available to everyone.
Some aspects of Scientologist wisdom are secret and are only revealed to Scientologists after they have reached a certain level of enlightenment.
9 - wydok
Scientology does have a history of violence. Ever hear of Lisa McPherson?
10 - Temple Stark
No - but that's 1.
Crusades? 150 million or so.
Your serve.
11 - HW Saxton
Actually there has been a few "tell-all"
books about "Scientology" written by an
ex-member that are supposed to be none
too flattering. I've never read any but
I'm sure they can found easily enough if
someone cared enough to look. Of course,
it will be a little hard to top such an
event as The Spanish Inquisition (which
no one expects)and the rest of the fun
times had by all on the crusades.LOL.
12 - HW Saxton
This should read: "there have" not"has".
13 - Natalie Davis
"a Scientologist has never tried to tell me to do anything or told me anything I do is evil."
Brooke Shields might beg to differ.
But this was a very interesting piece. I am not into Scientology, but it's interesting that people feel they can discuss it in ways they would never think to discuss Judaism or Christian sects. For whatever reason,it's cool by many to dismiss Scientologists and Jehovah's Witnesses, which irks me to no end. This article offered something different, and I appreciate it, Mr. Stark. Thanks.
14 - Ida Camburn
I thought perhaps this was an informative blog until I read Gordon Melton used as a legitimate consultant. He is the one that went with his buddy
Lewis to Japan to let Japan know they were wrong in criticizing the Aum group that killed so many with poison gas.
Suggest you use Dr. Stephen Kent's works -He is not an apologist for Scientology.
15 - Aaron, Duke De Mondo
wonderful stuff Temple, and a voice of reason, which is always nice.
And let me tell you, any religion that spawns Battlefield Earth - The Motion Picture can only be some sort of super-religion of some kind.
What a remarkably brilliant piece of shit that film was.
16 - Silas Kain
Temple, you never cease to amaze me. I loved this piece.
I'm not a fan of Scientology but I did enjoy Battlefield Earth and I agree that L. Ron Hubbard was quite a sci-fi writer. I put him on the level of Frank Herbert who is my all time favorite sci-fi author.
I'm with Ms. Davis on the 'irk' factor. I honestly believe that there is something of value contained in every religion. Perhaps that is the result of my Unitarian studies.
I'm looking forward to your next focus.
17 - Dave Nalle
>>Why? Because by a process of avoidance, a Scientologist has never tried to tell me to do anything or told me anything I do is evil<<
This would be mainly because Scientology doesn't believe that evil exists. The religion/philosophy is entirely amoral, deriving as it does from the hedonistic philosophy of Aleister Crowley and being a cousin to contemporary Satanism. There is no good and evil to scientology, only what advances you and what holds you back.
Dave
18 - Matthew T. Sussman
"Wrong. My religion's better than yours." -anyone who has ever lived
19 - Victor Plenty
Many people's religions are better than mine.
20 - Rodney Welch
"Crusades? 150 million or so."
My own random unscientific check of Internet sources indicates that the death toll from the Crusades ranged between 1 million and 5 million, and the world population between 1100 and 1300 veered between 300 and 450 million people.
21 - Dave Nalle
Even 1 million people seems pretty high for the Crusades. They took place in an era when armies were very small by modern standards. The crusader armies were usually a few thousand men, and they didn't (with a couple of exceptions) massacre civilian populations in huge numbers. Saladin at his height had about 50,000 men under his command and that was an inconceivably enormous army for the time. Every chronicler remarked on the incredible size of that army. And he could only keep it together for a limited period of time.
Medieval armies just didn't have the logistical resources to maintain themselves at a large size for an extended period of time. They had to live off the land or very limited resources they could transport with them, and in the Crusades the lines of supply were incredibly long and depended on risky routes of transport and unreliable allies like the Venetians.
To get close to even 1 million casualties for the Crusades you'd have to include all of them, including the sack of Constantinople, which hardly really counts since it was Christians against Christians, and you'd have to include incedental deaths from starvation and disease.
If you want to lay a big death count on Christianity, look at the history of colonialism in south and central America or the 30 years war in Europe.
Dave
22 - Al Barger
My God can beat up your God!
23 - Temple Stark
You guys are playing the numbers games. 150 million I deliberately chose high because I knew someone would say, "It's only ...." (See last sentence about "Religion does not seem to be an equivelancy test for morality."
Your own equivelancty test on numbers of killed proved that.
And if you read the piece there is no defense of Scientology.
As much as it may surprise I have posted elsewhere that I am not anti-religion in the slightest unless it enters - and repeatedly violates - my life.
It never has.
I grew up without a belief in God, except a while in Theosophy as a child and a Sunday school class in Alaska put on me by my Mother's boyfriend at the time. All I remember there was that people were given big candy bars for answering questions correctly. And I remember that though I had barely cracked open a Bible I got quite the collection of candy - enough so I stopped answering.
Further religion can absolutely do some good - and scientology was the example I chose.
24 - Nicolette Rivers
**The religion/philosophy is entirely amoral, deriving as it does from the hedonistic philosophy of Aleister Crowley and being a cousin to contemporary Satanism.**
Crowley's Thoth was a quite interesting take on The Tarot though.
25 - Dave Nalle
That I can agree wtih, Nicolette. Very stylized and quirky.
Dave