Okay now I know all of you are curious, don't deny it!
Everyone who has ever heard of the church of Scientology has
wondered what it is all about. There was much more to Scientology than I had
realized. I have seen a few documentaries on it as well as their occasional
appearances in popular television such as Comedy Central's South Park.
We have all heard about them at some point and the same question in your minds is
likely what is on mine, "how much of this is really true?” That is what we
set to find out! Though I'll admit, the people we spoke with weren't very
helpful so in the future we might try something else. While I am not exactly the authority on it, I can at the very
least share with you the experience I had with this very... er.... shall we
say, interesting religion.
It was founded by science fiction writer, L. Ron Hubbard.
Yes, already off to a great start here. Maybe Mr. George R.R. Martin has fodder
enough to assemble the Holy Faith of the 7-faced god of Weteros.
So what is Scientology? Well for starters a horrible chimera
of redundant terminology that bastardized two words for knowledge while the
organization ironically is anti psychology. Scientology comes from two words
from two languages meaning the same thing. Science as we know it in English
comes from the Latin word "Scientia", meaning knowledge coupled with
the Greek suffix "logy" (stemming from logos, where we also get our
word 'logic'), meaning "study of". So they say the word means the
study of knowing... Uh I think there is already a word for that... Oh yes,
EPISTEMOLOGY! But that word was taken so Mr. Hubbard had to make something up
that almost sounded legitimate enough for people to buy into, I guess.
http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Epistemology
" Epistemology (
I/ɨˌpɪstɨˈmɒlədʒi/ from Greekἐπιστήμη, epistēmē, meaning
'knowledge, understanding', and λόγος, logos, meaning "study
of") is the branch of philosophy
concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge[1][2] and
is also referred to as 'theory of knowledge'"
I/ɨˌpɪstɨˈmɒlədʒi/ from Greekἐπιστήμη, epistēmē, meaning
'knowledge, understanding', and λόγος, logos, meaning "study
of") is the branch of philosophy
concerned with the nature and scope of knowledge[1][2] and
is also referred to as 'theory of knowledge'"
If you see this van.... RUN!
This is a mysterious group, only those in the higher levels
of the organization are permitted to access the entirety of their true... for
lack of a better word... doctrines. Scientology is broken up into divisions,
almost like rungs on a latter. Each member has to level up before they are
allowed to have access to certain information and perform specific duties. This
being the case it is little wonder that the representatives we were able to
talk to were either unable or unwilling to help us.
COMMUNITY: 3/10 candles
They got away with 3/10 candles here mainly because they
were polite and because the non members made it more enlightening with their
questions and input. Most of the
people there for the service as it turns out weren't even Scientologists. There
were two or three members, the rest were people who were curious to see what it
was all about. This became more apparent during the Q&A. The other people
were asking questions similar to mine, in fact it took me a while before I
decided to step in and ask what was on my mind (see SERVICE section).
The members though were welcoming enough I suppose, just not
very helpful. It seemed like they were just there to sell stuff. There really
isn't much else to say.
After the questions I asked to see an E-meter demonstration
as was mentioned in some of their literature and free DVDs (again, see SERVICE
section)
SERVICE: 1/10
candles
Didn't really care for the service, it felt like one of
those meetings your friends or relative tricked you into attending, where
someone is trying to sell you a time share. It was a sales pitch with few to no
questions answered. The experience was frustrating, it was like when we visited
the Christian Scientist Church all over again.
The actual service consisted of a 15 minute reading from a
thick book led by a woman at a podium and after that became an hour of Q&A
then at my request an E-meter demonstration, which turned out to be yet another
very vague disappointment. They also spent a great deal of time talking about
the church founder, L. Ron Hubbard and bragging about what a great person and
author he was. Boasting that he was THE most widely published author in the
world and that his book Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health was
one of the most published in the world! So Chad and I did a little fact
checking later and found that the Harry Potter had sold more copies than
this masterpiece by Mr. Hubbard since both their publishing, even with the
former's 40 year head start! So here is a list of bestselling authors if anyone
cares to take a look:
You may all have noticed that Mr. Hubbard is not on that
list. So we see here that it is a list of fiction authors.... let's try the
non-fiction category because surely Dianetics must be NON-fiction right?
Well, he doesn't seem to be on any of these lists...
strange.
I didn't get much of an answer when I asked what some of the
standardized theological beliefs of scientologists were. I thought perhaps she
(the woman that led the service) didn't understand the question so I rephrased
it by asking what do all scientologists believe? Is it a theistic religion? Do
the scientologists worship a specific god or gods? Still didn't get a concise
answer and this bothered me.
The people we talked to at the Church described it as an
all-denominational religion, meaning people of all faiths can be
scientologists. There can me Mormon scientologists, Jewish, catholic, or even
atheist scientologists. She went on to add that eventually as a scientologist
you will learn that there is a higher power. So basically take in anyone who
will later conform.
I tried not to bring up the issue of the intergalactic
warlord, Zenu (Xenu), which many of us have probably heard about in popular
media. For those of you who don't know, there is this notion that parts of the
beliefs of Scientology include evil alien souls from outer space that stick to
our bodies and are responsible for things like confusion, depression, and
negativity. Through Scientology you learn how to remove them and become what
they call, "clear".
They also believe in what they call Thetans. Derived from
the Greek letter Theta, they believe it to be what other religions might call a
soul. It is the invisible force that moves the body, not the central nervous
system (CNS). We can see here, based on their views on thoughts, emotions, and
the CNS why they disapprove of psychology. Everything seems to be controlled
either by outside sources or something more mysterious. If this is truly what
they believe then I wonder how they reconcile this with what the last century
of neurological studies has told us about the brain and the mind with the image
they try to perpetuate as a progressive, growing, free thinking church. It
baffles me...
The woman kept talking about how Scientology was the tool to
achieve the ultimate goal. She had said this several times before during some
of her commentary during the presentation so I decided to ask what she meant by
that, and "what is the ultimate goal?"
"Sanity" she replied matter-of-factly. Anyone else
seeing the irony here? She had earlier told us how Scientology helped her
overcome her paranoid schizophrenia. She shared some stories of how she used to
think there was someone after her and so on. Things got uncomfortable when she
turned to Chad and asked "do I look crazy to you?"
There was an awkward pause and then Chad finally said, “I
have a friend who is a schizophrenic. There are days when she seems perfectly
okay but she has moments where she is not the same person."
So what we gathered here is that through Scientology we have
people who are untreated schizophrenics and are not encouraged to seek help for
it.
On to the E-meter...
The E-meter, they claim, is a special tool used to help
identify negative energies and to see if your emotional responses are
appropriate for what you see, think, or experience. The process is called
auditing and is carried out by members who are qualified to do the reading,
called auditors. Once you reach a high enough level you can purchase your own
E-meter and audit yourself.
So the demonstration was simple, the person being audited
would hold in to two metal cans and the auditor would ask questions and look at
a needle on some sort of meter on the face of the machine. At one point the
auditor would pinch the person holding the cans and have them observe the
needle on the machine. Then he would wait a moment and tell the person to
recall the moment of the pinch. Observing the needle, it was supposed to have
moved in the same direction as when the person had been pinched. When I had
done it the needle moved in the opposite direction. He said,"Good, that's
what we're looking for." What exactly he was looking for I had no idea, I
would have assumed the needle would have had to move in the same direction when
we thought of the discomfort as when we had experienced it, that's how he
explained it anyway...
Chad was up next, his needle went opposite as mine, in same
direction as the pinch. "Good, that's what we're looking for." So no
matter what the needle did it was "what he was looking for". The
needle really only moved when the auditor touched the machine, you can take
that as you will, but the whole thing seemed suspicious and pretentious. Maybe
it wasn't working properly with me or I wasn't doing it right. The needle was
all over the place for everyone who went up there for the demonstration.
This thing was a joke. There was even a psychologist in the
audience who called it out and asked if it was like a biofeedback machine. They
had no idea what it was and honestly neither did I but when the auditor
explained how it worked, the man said that it basically was a biofeedback
machine and those had no merit to them either, they sense currents that run
through you but that's it. go on a Google search and you might find something, but if you would rather I write a rant and include that please let me know in the comment section.
MESSAGE: 1/10 candles
There really wasn't one. At least none that I could gather
from the service we attended. The two hour introductory promotional video on
the other hand is another matter. That had too numerous messages to cover but I
may touch on those in a rant or a video, I'll leave it for you to decide. Leave
me some comments if you wish to hear more about these high production valued
pieces of propaganda.
"Scientology provides you with the tools to live a
happy life"
"Scientology is the way to achieve sanity"
OVERALL: 1/10 candles
Probably one of my least favorite visits. Not as boring as
the Mormon Sacrament service, and not as frustrating as the church of Christian
Science, but still not a positive experience overall. However I will say that
if you are curious, feel free to give it a visit. You may not learn much from
the members but their materials have very high production value, then again
there are and were quite a few Hollywood stars as members. Grab some if the
free DVDs, sit down and watch their orientation video (which has an AWESOME
sound track by the way) under their top of the line surveillance. Also help
yourself to any of their over 50 different pamphlets regarding the L.R. Hubbard
books in their book store and why you can't live without them! And for the low
low price of $5 you can have a copy of their time scale that shows which
emotions are good and which ones are bad!
Honestly folks I don’t know where to begin and I feel I
don't know where to place these guys as a religion. I've heard some from other
sources describe it more like an alternative to psychology, some stick to
calling it a religion proper, while others call it a flat out cult. I have come
to learn that that word is somewhat a taboo to the organization and a very
touchy subject so I would recommend abstaining from using it around them to
avoid confrontation.
Personally I would lean more towards the later seeing as how
I could not really get any answers out of the people we tried speaking to. They
are very evasive when you ask them any questions about what they believe; to be
honest I don't think they even know what they believe. At least those who find
themselves lower in the hierarchy. In addition, this hierarchy is very
expensive to climb. They offer "workshops and courses" for a fee that
will help you rise your Thetan level.
From what I saw and experienced, it seemed to me more
like a very extensive, very EXPENSIVE, self-help pyramid scheme. They were
CONSTANTLY pushing their product at every possible opportunity
Instead of answering questions visitors have, they suggest
we visit their book store and purchase expensive books and literature to
investigate for ourselves… yeah right! Either answer my simple question admit
you don’t know. I am not interested in buying your pretentious, convoluted,
vague, logically fallacious, illusionary mumbo jumbo! The lady said that
Scientology supports and encourages free thinking and to question, but based on
what I have seen here, that is not what they practice.
For more information I recommend watching the BBC
documentary, Scientology and Me.
and... here are a few more thoughts from us...
*****COMING UP *******
Thanks for waiting patiently and tuning in! Chad and I
have something in the works now that may be of interest. Details to come.
Next entry I will cover my experience at Habad Jewish
Synagogue in SLC (actually just down the street from the Sci-Ties!)
Also to come: I will rant about a very obnoxious ebay
experience! This one will be fun!
Cheers, all !!
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