No wonder Hubbard avoided interviews with the press! Note that the VO (voice over) sections of the interview they attack and pick him apart- when they could have asked him about the topics to his face! In fact when they do ask him, he appears to handle himself quite well. The above interview is a pretty clear, so to speak, example of the interview as ambush. They simply added the attacks after the fact.
Hubbard spent his last years on his boat, and created a group known as Commodore's Messenger Organization. This group on the boat was made up of teen girls whose uniforms were modeled after the clothes worn by the women in QUEEN OF OUTER SPACE- sort of early miniskirts.
The girls relayed messages to the crew on the boat - yep, Hubbard managed to fulfill every World War 2 vets fantasy. He searched for an island they could all live on, to no avail. He died on a private estate he owned, which should have been the end of it.
But it wasn't!
Cults usually shut down after the death of their leader, but Scientology continued to grow. (Hubbard had separated himself from the group in the last years of his life, perhaps anticipating this).
Critics attack Hubbard's early days with Jack Parsons, a leader in the O.T.O. (Orderis Templis Orientis, a group that has kept Crowley's work in print) as "black magic" which smacks of Christian propaganda. Crowley was an atheist. He even gave a speech, WHY I AM AN ATHEIST. So that argument won't work with me.
While there are many almost violently opposed to the group and they are entitled to their opinion, let's look at my former cult. We now know that for decades the Priesthood in the Catholic Church became a magnet for anti- female child and teen molesters. When caught, parents were told to forget it and the Priests were simply moved from parish to parish. ( Interesting to note that when the Church stopped protecting child molesters membership in the Priesthood collapsed and many Parishes have had to turn to the parishioners to keep going! That's a hint to how widespread this was). In the 50's, 60's and 70's police departments refused to prosecute Priests.
Talk about abuse!
None of these kids have shown up at churches to yell at people going in, stood up in Mass and yelled " THE WAFER DOESN'T HAVE THE HOLY SPIRIT" or anything else.
Some sued (and cost the Church billions) and others just went on with their lives.
Nothing that Scientology has done in my view comes close to the abuse done by the so-called "real" religion. Countries that refuse to recognize Scientology have no problem letting in Evangelical preachers who claim to heal people. OH PLEASE!
Was the religion based on science fiction? Well, why not?
The fastest growing church on earth is based on science fiction!
More than 70,000 people in Australia have declared that they are followers of the Jedi faith, the religion created by the Star Wars films.
A recent census found that one in 270 respondents - or 0.37% of the population - say they believe in "the force", an energy field that gives Jedi Knights like Luke Skywalker their power in the films. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2218456.stm
Over 53,000 people listed themselves as Jedi in New Zealand. New Zealand has the highest per capita population of reported Jedi in the world, with 1.5% marking "Jedi" as their religion on the census[8]. Statistics New Zealand treated Jedi responses as "Answer understood, but will not be counted". However, if Jedi were counted it would be the second largest religion in New Zealand. The percentages of religious affiliations were:
- Christian: 58.9%
- No religion: 29.6%
- Object to answering: 6.9%
- Jedi: 1.5%
- Buddhism: 1.2%
- Hindu: 1.2%
In
England and
Wales 390,000 people (0.7%) stated their religion as Jedi on their 2001 Census forms, surpassing
Sikhism,
Judaism, and
Buddhism, and making it the fourth largest reported religion in the country.
In other words, so what if Scientology is based on science fiction?
You see religion, like good science fiction, is based on MYTH.
There was no Moses. There is no proof that Jews wandered in the desert for decades. The Ten Commandments are stolen word for word from a Pagan funeral prayer!
Does knowing this destroy people's faith? Hey, if historical truth was used to judge any religion, what would be left?
Let's look at the word MYTH. It does not mean lie. Separate the word. My/ th. My as in me, th(e) as in infinite. ( "th" is infinite until you add a word like end to it, as in The End). So the word myth is "my infinite self". All religion is the hope that the religion you are in will help you become the best you can be.
That's it. It doesn't matter if the Church charges you a fortune to have a marriage in one (how many Catholics have had to get a mortgage to marry off their kids?) or charges you for classes that help you focus, hey go right ahead. But you ain't gettin' my money!
The Scientologists I've worked with in my plays and film I would work with anytime. They were professional, punctual, they never complained without offering an alternative.
I work with pagans, Christians, atheists if they do the job I want. The Scientologists I've worked with never tried to win me over, and seemed fascinated by my take on the subject. They were also way more calm than the typical actor. To my knowledge, I have never worked with a Jedi, but I'm not opposed to it! Still.....
Did you know science is on the verge of creating a new universe?
This is something. The Japanese will create a new universe that will propel itself away from us, we will then have no contact or idea where it is.
http://snipurl.com/14pec
http://www.netscape.com/viewstory/2006/08/07/scientists-in-japan-to-create-mini-universe-in-a-lab/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.casavaria.com%2Fsentido%2Fscience%2F2006%2F06-0802-new-universe.htm&frame=true
So as life evolves there, should the beings created imagine gods and religions to explain why they exist, fight wars to prove who God loves more, make up stories about the creators life, kill scientists who try to understand their universe or-
should they try to understand their world, who they are, and eventually create their own universe?
Interesting question, don't you think?
What if atheists went out for converts the way religious people do?
You open your door at 9am on a Sunday with a wicked hangover after incessant buzzing. It isn't the Jehovah's Witness people- it's PENN AND TELLER!
"Hi my name is Penn and this is my partner Teller. He doesn't say much. I would like to talk to you about DNA and evolution".
I guess I'd still be pissed about being woken up!
