Just hop up on the couch, Mr. Cruise-- Scientology

It's that time of the month again, kiddies! Hope you brought your eye protection! Strap in, and please keep your hands and feet inside the blog at all times, because it's time for the Cult of the Month!

Scientology

Founder: L. Ron Hubbard, via the book Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought
First Founded: 1950
Some Basic Beliefs: That man is immortal and a spiritual being, that his capabilities are limitless though they may not be realized (this means I can go leap off a cliff if I only realized that I could fly by taping cardboard to my arms!), can achieve everlasting happiness by reaching a higher awareness (of what, I have no idea). That whatever is true is only what one has observed to be true (Black=white, I tell you!). There is none of this accepting stuff on faith or on a belief system. That absolutely any sort of chemical additive in ANYTHING (yes, including medicine) is a barrier to our well being (So... they would rather us all die of influenza? Mmkay.), and that sweating in a sauna cleanses the system. Anybody that can see the actual source of his problems isn't just a MAN, he's a freakin' higher being, no longer just a "man"! (One, two, three... *steely-eyedglance* *problems vanish* WHEE, I'm a demigoddess! Bow, puny mortals!)

Right. This is just too weird. *takes a breath* Right, to the next paragraph! I'm having a great time with this!

Scientology gives a person the ability to handle POWER (and yes, POWER. ALL IN CAPS.) without abusing it or being scared of it. (As opposed to man being a fallen being and not being physically able to handle any kind of true power without screwing it up somehow. Pfft.) A soul is a thetan, using whacked-out Greek. Having an Operating Thetan means that one exists without physical means and that one is fully onesself (bzuh???).

Aims? Oh, there are aims, all right- impossible ones. A war-free world in which crime and insanity don't exist, and only the honest ones have any rights. (Good luck. I repeat: MAN IS A FALLEN BEING.)

Evaluation: Hoooo, boy. I'm drowning in the humanism-- it's like man pretty much is God, God doesn't exist, and that man can actually make himself perfect without any outside help. Puh-leaze. How many times have we tried this and failed? Merely being influenced by thinking men doesn't help; they're imperfect like the rest of us.

I'm also seeing some suspicion of outsiders in here, a lot more so than I've seen in the Christian Church. Apparantly you'll never be betrayed so long as you are a member of Scientology. According to their web site, the "sun never sets on Scientology", which, in my opinion, attempts to pacify people into thinking that everything will be all right, that there is no impending judgement, and that it's no one's fault that they don't succeed, because it's man's current inability to realize his potential that causes everyone's problems. As a Christian using the Christian point of view, this is simply wrong. Man is limited. Man is imperfect. Man is responsible for his own actions. Man was, is, and will pretty much always be man. Period. End of story.

Okay, I'm done here. Feel free to critique my critiquing; I'm always eager to figure something else out.

Disclamer: Now, tell me you didn't read my little explanation using the First Amendment that I did in my last entry... Please be aware that I am not trying to rip up any particular person (except maybe Tom Cruise, but pretty much everyone makes fun of the odd little man), merely giving out my opinions on various religions. Don't sue; I'm not worth much.