Over the summer, my friend and I planned to see a comedy show at the UCB theater on Franklin Ave in Los Angeles. However, we had about an hour to kill so we started walking around and noticed that directly across the street was the Scientology Celebrity Center. I have always driven past it so this was my first time getting a good look at it right in person. Since we had time to kill and were so curious about this huge building, we walked onto the property and looked around its surrounding gardens.
However shortly, a security guard on bicycle asked us to leave, but said we could go inside if we were interested in a tour of the place. We both thought, why not? We walked inside and it was magnificent and huge; it looked like an upscale, royal hotel.
We met with a tour guide who sat us down and told his life story. Basically, this guy was from New York and came to Los Angeles to become an actor. However, he had trouble finding work so he found a job at the Scientology Celebrity Center. After a few months of working here and studying scientology, he said his life improved so much. He got a raise and was making triple the amount he used to make, his IQ increased and he met his soul mate, who also worked at the center and after 2 months proposed to her. Perhaps, the strangest part was how he explained that after taking dianetics sessions, which I will explain later, he was able to fully recall his child birth….I am not joking. He had called up his mother even and recited the events. So once we heard his life story, which definitely made my friend and I very very skeptical about this person and scientology in general, he spent time talking about what scientology was. According to their website, scientology is:
The Scientology religion encompasses all life and provides practical solutions to every facet of existence. Its end goal is total spiritual freedom. More than a system of belief, Scientology is an applied religion that plays a vital role in both the lives of its congregation and the community at large. It brings spiritual enlightenment to man by way of religious practices that advance him to higher states of spiritual ability and understanding, while providing practical solutions to every facet of day-to-day living.
Although it was hard to take this guy seriously, the way he went about teaching us was very effective. He asked us to list some common preconceptions of scientology, in which he would then explain why it was incorrect. So below, I will list some of the things my friend and I came up with, and how our tour guide proved them to be wrong, or kind of did.
1. Myth #1: Scientology believes in Aliens.
Eh, kind of. Our tour guide explained that the only real reason people associate aliens with scientology are because the founder, L. Ron Hubbard was first a science fiction writer before he founded scientology. L. Ron Hubbard has written over 138 science fiction and adventure novels and other pulp fiction. I looked on line at the official scientology website and couldn’t find anything about aliens. However, when I looked at other websites, it described how there are secret teachings about aliens once one has achieved a higher level of initiation. Below is an excerpt from wikipedia about confidential materials:
Among these advanced teachings is the story of Xenu (sometimes Xemu), introduced as an alien ruler of the "Galactic Confederacy." According to this story, 75 million years ago Xenu brought billions of people to Earth in spacecraft resembling Douglas DC-8 airliners, stacked them around volcanoes and detonated hydrogen bombs in the volcanoes. The thetans then clustered together, stuck to the bodies of the living, and continue to do this today. Scientologists at advanced levels place considerable emphasis on isolating body thetans and neutralizing their ill effects.
2. Myth #2: Scientology is anti-medicine and psychology
True. Scientologists believe in dianetics, rather than pharmaceutical drugs and psychiatry. According to their website:
Dianetics comes from the Greek words dia (through) and nous (soul). Dianetics could be said to be what the soul is doing to the body. It provides answers to the fundamental riddles of the mind with a thoroughly validated method that increases sanity, intelligence, confidence and well-being. It gets rid of the unwanted sensations, unpleasant emotions and psychosomatic ills that block one’s life and happiness. Dianetics rests on basic principles that can be easily learned and applied by any reasonably intelligent person — as millions have. It is the route to a well, happy, high-IQ human being. Dianetics addresses the part of the mind that operates below the conscious level, exerting a hidden influence that causes you to react irrationally, say and do things that “aren’t you,” and have inexplicable emotions and ills that hold back intelligence and ability. It all resolves with Dianetics.
Our tour guide explained to us that they are anti-psychology and anti-psychiatry because in most causes it does more harm than good because people abuse pharmaceutical drugs and it is inhumane. The president of the church of scientology states:
What the Church opposes are brutal, inhumane psychiatric treatments. It does so for three principal reasons: 1) procedures such as electro-shock, drugs and lobotomy injure, maim and destroy people in the guise of help; 2) psychiatry is not a science and has no proven methods to justify the billions of dollars of government funds that are poured into it; and 3) psychiatric theories that man is a mere animal have been used to rationalize, for example, the wholesale slaughter of human beings in World Wars I and II.
3. Myth #3: Scientology is a cult
Eh, it’s debatable. According to the official scientology website, scientology is a religion. It states:
Scientology meets all three criteria generally used by religious scholars when examining religions: (1) a belief in some Ultimate Reality, such as the Supreme Being or eternal truth that transcends the here and now of the secular world; (2) religious practices directed toward understanding, attaining or communicating with this Ultimate Reality; and (3) a community of believers who join together in pursuing the Ultimate Reality.
4. Myth #4: Scientology believe in silent births
True. Scientologists believe in silent births because they want to create the most peaceful environment for a child to enter the world in. The tour guide explained how if a baby comes into this world hearing the doctor shouting “push, push” they will lead a chaotic life and will be always pushing him or herself.
Hanging out and talking to a tour guide at the Scientology Celebrity Center was perhaps one of the most interesting things I have ever done. Personally, it was hard to take everything he said seriously. However, the frightening part was that he was very convincing. Thus, I can see how other people who are more vulnerable or need guidance in their life would be susceptible to giving in to scientology.
Okay, I'll bite the bait. Scientology, for me, is a very strange and very interesting religion. And I use the term “religion” on purpose. To me, religion is merely a widely accepted cult. Take Mormonism: when someone describes what they believe in, I immediately think “cult.” However, it is the fastest growing religion in the United States. People should be able to believe in whatever makes them happy. When I saw a group of Christians on campus singing songs and playing games, I thought to myself “I wish I was that happy.” Take your tour guide: if he didn’t find Scientology, he may have wound up into drugs or on the street because he couldn’t get an acting job. Religion literally saved him. I personally use the same mantra for Republicans as I do for Scientologists: I don’t believe in anything they’re saying, but it is sure as hell interesting to listen to.
ReplyDeleteThank you for this post. Really. I didn't know much about Scientology, but always kind of thought it was a joke. I still kind of do, but at least I maybe understand it a little bit. The thing about any religion is, that as an outsider looking in, you're not really going to understand, and may want to criticize people for believing what they do. But really, as long as people are peaceful in their beliefs and don't use violence to try and convert people, to each their own. Whatever someone needs to get through the day. Especially in times like these, when things seems so hopeless for so many people, and there are so many bad things happening everywhere, people need to have something to believe in. There has to be something bigger than this world we live in, and whether you believe in Christianity, or Judaism, or Scientology, it all comes down to the fact that we are all people, and can all coexist if we tolerate each other. The first step i think to tolerance is understanding, and if we understand each others beliefs and needs to get through the day, there will be a greater respect for each other,and things will start to look better. But the likelihood of that happening seems so far off. We can hope though.
ReplyDeleteAnother true fact about Scientology: they believe their "faith" allows them to harass or destroy anyone who opposes them - something I've unfortunately witnessed firsthand. They also make believers pay to learn their teachings, something no other "religion" seems to do. I'll pass.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting and informative post, all I really knew about Scientology before reading this was what I saw in the spoof about it on South Park. Also I liked what Colleen said in her comment. While I may not understand why people are attracted to certain beliefs or religious groups, I sometimes wish it was easier for me to just believe whole-heartedly in something that makes me that happy. I feel that it's often very challenging for intelligent people who were raised without religion to simply join a religious group as an adult, when it has never been a part of their life before. And in reference to your last statement about the vulnerable being more susceptible and needing guidance, I'd have to say that I strongly disagree with the missionary component of any religion. I'm all about accepting other people no matter what they believe and however crazy it may be as long as they are not trying to push their beliefs on me. There is nothing that frustrates me more about the mormon religion than those damn missionaries...no wonder it's one of the fastest growing religions, any group would be if they sent all their men off to spend two years of their life solely devoted to converting others in impoverished regions of the world where people have nothing and are willing to believe anything that will give them hope. To them I say, I'm not trying to sell my views on you, don't try to push yours on me...
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