My daughter is writing her research paper for school on what else (considering she's my kid)?
"Scientology: Should it be considered a religion, or is it truly a cult?". Her idea, not mine. In fact, I suggested something else, like "E85 Ethanol: Viable fuel alternative, or 'How to gum up your car's engine in 60 seconds'."
Okay, I made that part up, although I have some friends who ran E85 in their vehicles with not so thrilling results, but I digress. But I did ask her to maybe look at some other subject to write about, just to be on the safe side of not rocking the boat.
So, in true 15 year old style, she stuck with the Scientology angle, and although I not too concerned that I'll find a rattlesnake in my mailbox, or that someone tossed through my garbage (or her school locker, although I am sure someone could confuse her locker with a garbage can), I am so glad we don't live in the UK.
Showing posts with label Scientology. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Scientology. Show all posts
Wednesday, May 21, 2008
Sunday, May 4, 2008
Laws of Attraction
Last year, I decided to unhinge my analytical mind and read "The Secret", Rhonda Byrnes' book that discusses this "secret" she had discovered at a terribly low point in her life. Supposedly, all the learned people of the past knew the secret...Michelangelo, Einstein, DaVinci...even Jesus.
What was "The Secret"? It was basically the Law Of Attraction. And, according to Byrnes, it totally turned her life around.
Thoughts are energy, and what you concentrate on in your life, you bring into your life. But, the hook is, that goes for negative as well as positive.
Three-thousand people all had negative, life-ending thoughts on 9-11? Sorry, can't buy that one. Won't buy it. More died in a cyclone that hit Myanmar lyesterday. Were they sitting around, worried about the weather before the cyclone hit? My mom feared cancer all her life. It was her obsessive-compulsive niche. Did her thoughts alter her body on a biological level where one day her cells mutated, overran her system and killed her?
I do agree if a person wakes up every morning with anticipation in their heart instead of dread, they may see the world around them in a different light. It's your typical "feel good" mentality. But the idea that if something bad happened to me or someone I loved, I somehow was responsible for that malady just because a thought crossed my mind and I held on to it?
Or to put it in other words...I would have "pulled it in". And, where else have I heard that, the concept that if someone had a headache, or that they failed in business, or that life in general just wasn't going right, they were responsible?
Scientology.
A critic I have mentioned before in my blogs, Tory Christman, while in Scientology was dealing with epilepsy. She began to suffer from worsening seizures, since she was not medicated, as per the churches' beliefs. What was she told by "church"?
You pulled it in. Make it go right. (Go in for more auditing, give us more money). She finally was able to petition the church to allow her to take medication for the seizures, luckily, since anti-seizure medications obviously does not fall under the "mind-altering" category'. But the belief was still there. If there is something wrong with your life, no matter what, it's your fault.
"The Secret" was really big when it hit the media a few years ago...probably like "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health" was when it was first released many years ago before it morphed into the "church" of Scientology we have today. Now, what would have happened if Rhonda Byrnes woke up one morning and decided, "Hmmm...this would make for a good religion..."?
I mean, what's stopping her? Maybe knowing that a self-help concept does not a religion make.
What was "The Secret"? It was basically the Law Of Attraction. And, according to Byrnes, it totally turned her life around.
Thoughts are energy, and what you concentrate on in your life, you bring into your life. But, the hook is, that goes for negative as well as positive.
Three-thousand people all had negative, life-ending thoughts on 9-11? Sorry, can't buy that one. Won't buy it. More died in a cyclone that hit Myanmar lyesterday. Were they sitting around, worried about the weather before the cyclone hit? My mom feared cancer all her life. It was her obsessive-compulsive niche. Did her thoughts alter her body on a biological level where one day her cells mutated, overran her system and killed her?
I do agree if a person wakes up every morning with anticipation in their heart instead of dread, they may see the world around them in a different light. It's your typical "feel good" mentality. But the idea that if something bad happened to me or someone I loved, I somehow was responsible for that malady just because a thought crossed my mind and I held on to it?
Or to put it in other words...I would have "pulled it in". And, where else have I heard that, the concept that if someone had a headache, or that they failed in business, or that life in general just wasn't going right, they were responsible?
Scientology.
A critic I have mentioned before in my blogs, Tory Christman, while in Scientology was dealing with epilepsy. She began to suffer from worsening seizures, since she was not medicated, as per the churches' beliefs. What was she told by "church"?
You pulled it in. Make it go right. (Go in for more auditing, give us more money). She finally was able to petition the church to allow her to take medication for the seizures, luckily, since anti-seizure medications obviously does not fall under the "mind-altering" category'. But the belief was still there. If there is something wrong with your life, no matter what, it's your fault.
"The Secret" was really big when it hit the media a few years ago...probably like "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health" was when it was first released many years ago before it morphed into the "church" of Scientology we have today. Now, what would have happened if Rhonda Byrnes woke up one morning and decided, "Hmmm...this would make for a good religion..."?
I mean, what's stopping her? Maybe knowing that a self-help concept does not a religion make.
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
The Jason Beghe Interview
You'll have to dodge many an F-bomb, but here is the interview that was supposed to be posted on YouTube until Mark Bunker's account was pulled. Like there aren't other places on the Internet it could be posted to. So, if having Mark Bunker's account pulled was a Sci-ploy, it's another case of Scientology not being able to "handle the Internet".
http://xenutv.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/jason-beghe-interview/
He still uses a lot of Sci-terms that many who either haven't followed Scientology, or has actually been in, wouldn't understand. But what is understandable is Jason Beghe was a member of a "church" that was anything but. For one, how many churches' members get a commission for bringing someone into the fold? Pyramid scheme, much?
What brought him to Scientology was a need to know who he was. What got him to stay was his first personal "win" where in an exercise he was to sit in a chair, facing another person, but with his eyes closed for some amount of time. He was told not to think during this time. Just sit still with his eyes closed and not think. After awhile, he said he went "exterior" and discovered who he was.
Hmmmm....sounds like a simple meditation exercise to me. And this was some great, magical thing L.Ron discovered?
What got him to leave? Realizing that the longer he was "in" and the further he traveled up the"bridge", the worse he felt. And, he just left. Unfortunately, it isn't as easy for others just to "up and leave". Money and time invested (and time is money, really), keeps people in. Would you be able to so easily walk out the door if you knew that you invested tens of thousands of dollars into a "religion"? And that's just one of the many traps used to keep people in.
Another trap is the "ethics folder". An ethics folder contains Scientology's equivalent to a Catholic's confessional. If you knew all your dirty little secrets were being held over your head, that would make it just that much harder to leave.
What impressed me about Beghe in the interview was he stated that he believes that Scientoloists are good people. That for the most part, they honestly believe that they are doing their best to save this world. And for the most part, I'd like to believe that, also. I know that they all aren't these rabid adherents who pester picketers, trying to "find their ruin". Most of them are just stuck in what Tory Christman, ex-member since 2000 (I think) describes as "The Truman Show".
But, the "We're just following orders" doesn't keep one from being an accessory to the fact. They all can't be clueless to the disconnections, the abuse, the con. There has to be that itch of doubt in the back of their minds. And it seems that more and more are scratching that itch instead of pretending it doesn't exist.
http://xenutv.wordpress.com/2008/04/21/jason-beghe-interview/
He still uses a lot of Sci-terms that many who either haven't followed Scientology, or has actually been in, wouldn't understand. But what is understandable is Jason Beghe was a member of a "church" that was anything but. For one, how many churches' members get a commission for bringing someone into the fold? Pyramid scheme, much?
What brought him to Scientology was a need to know who he was. What got him to stay was his first personal "win" where in an exercise he was to sit in a chair, facing another person, but with his eyes closed for some amount of time. He was told not to think during this time. Just sit still with his eyes closed and not think. After awhile, he said he went "exterior" and discovered who he was.
Hmmmm....sounds like a simple meditation exercise to me. And this was some great, magical thing L.Ron discovered?
What got him to leave? Realizing that the longer he was "in" and the further he traveled up the"bridge", the worse he felt. And, he just left. Unfortunately, it isn't as easy for others just to "up and leave". Money and time invested (and time is money, really), keeps people in. Would you be able to so easily walk out the door if you knew that you invested tens of thousands of dollars into a "religion"? And that's just one of the many traps used to keep people in.
Another trap is the "ethics folder". An ethics folder contains Scientology's equivalent to a Catholic's confessional. If you knew all your dirty little secrets were being held over your head, that would make it just that much harder to leave.
What impressed me about Beghe in the interview was he stated that he believes that Scientoloists are good people. That for the most part, they honestly believe that they are doing their best to save this world. And for the most part, I'd like to believe that, also. I know that they all aren't these rabid adherents who pester picketers, trying to "find their ruin". Most of them are just stuck in what Tory Christman, ex-member since 2000 (I think) describes as "The Truman Show".
But, the "We're just following orders" doesn't keep one from being an accessory to the fact. They all can't be clueless to the disconnections, the abuse, the con. There has to be that itch of doubt in the back of their minds. And it seems that more and more are scratching that itch instead of pretending it doesn't exist.
Friday, April 18, 2008
Supression on YouTube
Last week, a critic of Scientology, Tory Christman, a warm, caring, compassionate, sometimes wacky person had her YouTube account pulled for reasons yet to be explained to her. All of her videos are of her in front of her web cam, telling about her experiences in the organization. Nothing violent, nothing obscene, nothing defamatory...just Tory telling her story. When she was asked to open fake Internet accounts in order to suppress the flow of information and discussion on the news group alt.religion.scientology, a news group for critics, Tory "blew" or left the "church". She was not for the suppression of free speech. In fact, one of the reasons she got into Scientology in the first place was because they claimed to be all about freedoms.
After many complaints to YouTube, Tory's account was re-instated. No explanation, no apology.
A few days later, another critic, this time, Emmy award winner Mark Bunker had his account pulled. He has been chronicling various pickets against Scientology for years, showing just how this "church" that was all about communication and the betterment of man, was really, in their own words, not a "turn the other cheek religion". They pressed Mark and other picketers about their alleged "crimes", because, after all, only an abberated criminal would picket a church. Mark Bunker showed the face of Scientology you don't see when they ask, "Would you like to take a free personality test?"
Bunker was about to release a video of an interview of actor Jason Beghe, who talks about his experiences in Scientology and why he finally left. The three minute "teaser" that Mark had posted earlier showed a man, very pissed off at the organization, and obviously had a lot of beans to spill. No where near as eloquent as Tory, but his message was very clear...Scientology is one f*cked up religion.
But, the day came, and with Mark's account pulled, no Beghe interview.
Scientology said years ago that they would "handle the Internet". If these suspensions are indeed the act of Scientology, what they would consider a "win", is going to be more like blow-back. It's as if Scientology, despite their shiny videos on their flashy website, are stuck in a pre-Internet mindset. L. Ron could not have perceived the Internet, how it would become a soap-box for many bloggers, vloggers and general discussion channels dwellers. Somewhere where the common man (or woman) could make his or her opinions known. All his "tech" is based in a time of mimeos, telexes and dictation machines. It's like trying to figure out how to operate a two-way radio with instructions on how to build a walkie-talkie with two cans and a bale of twine.
Tory Christman said that Scientology is creating it's own enemies. And they are enemies they cannot vanquish.
After many complaints to YouTube, Tory's account was re-instated. No explanation, no apology.
A few days later, another critic, this time, Emmy award winner Mark Bunker had his account pulled. He has been chronicling various pickets against Scientology for years, showing just how this "church" that was all about communication and the betterment of man, was really, in their own words, not a "turn the other cheek religion". They pressed Mark and other picketers about their alleged "crimes", because, after all, only an abberated criminal would picket a church. Mark Bunker showed the face of Scientology you don't see when they ask, "Would you like to take a free personality test?"
Bunker was about to release a video of an interview of actor Jason Beghe, who talks about his experiences in Scientology and why he finally left. The three minute "teaser" that Mark had posted earlier showed a man, very pissed off at the organization, and obviously had a lot of beans to spill. No where near as eloquent as Tory, but his message was very clear...Scientology is one f*cked up religion.
But, the day came, and with Mark's account pulled, no Beghe interview.
Scientology said years ago that they would "handle the Internet". If these suspensions are indeed the act of Scientology, what they would consider a "win", is going to be more like blow-back. It's as if Scientology, despite their shiny videos on their flashy website, are stuck in a pre-Internet mindset. L. Ron could not have perceived the Internet, how it would become a soap-box for many bloggers, vloggers and general discussion channels dwellers. Somewhere where the common man (or woman) could make his or her opinions known. All his "tech" is based in a time of mimeos, telexes and dictation machines. It's like trying to figure out how to operate a two-way radio with instructions on how to build a walkie-talkie with two cans and a bale of twine.
Tory Christman said that Scientology is creating it's own enemies. And they are enemies they cannot vanquish.
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