Q:I've literally been researching Scientology all day, I've become so infatuated with it...when did you discover this religion? Would you recommend it to everyone?
I’ve been a Scientologist for over 20 years now. I had been exposed to it for some time through family and friends, and one day when I was looking for answers it finally clicked that they were available in Scientology.
I would recommend it to anyone who is honest and well-intentioned (or would like to become so), and truly desires to improve himself and help his fellows achieve a higher state.
Is science just a matter of faith?
An interesting article on how science can become a faith, as religion often does. From the article:
And therein lies the big problem for science and scientists. For most people, science is really a matter of trusting the expert who tells it to us and believing what they tell us. Trust and belief. Faith. Not understanding. How can we understand science, if we can’t understand the language of science? Feynman said, “Our imagination is stretched to the utmost, not, as in fiction, to imagine things which are not really there, but just to comprehend those things which are there.” He also said, “To those who do not know mathematics it is difficult to get across a real feeling as to the beauty, the deepest beauty, of nature.” That’s one of the great popularizers of science telling you that without a strong background in postgraduate horrific math and an active imagination, you’ll never really understand what science has to say about the deep truths of nature the way a scientist does. All we can get is the scientist’s interpretation of what the equations and the theory mean. There is simply no other way to apprehend the concepts. Without the math, you learn science by taking what scientists say on faith. You don’t know that Schroedinger’s equation is a scientific fact, you believe it is.
If we are honest with ourselves, we must admit that we accept the incredibly complex scientific phenomena in physics, astronomy, and biology through the process of belief, not through reason. We don’t practice the scientific method. We don’t rationally consider the evidence presented for a theory. We don’t learn science by doing science, we learn science by reading and memorizing. The same way we learn history. Do you really know what an atom is, or that a Higgs boson is a rather important thing, or did you simply accept they were what someone told you they were?
At the opening of the new Church of Scientology of Moscow (Саентологии Москвы)
Source: orgsaroundtheworld.wordpress.com
Inside the breathtaking new Church of Scientology of Moscow (Саентологии Москвы)
Source: orgsaroundtheworld.wordpress.com
New Church of Scientology opens in the heart of Moscow
This looks like a fantastic new church (click the link for photos):
The Scientology religion has opened its first major Church in the Russian Federation—the new Church of Scientology of Moscow. The building stands in the city’s central Garden Ring, just a mile from Red Square.
Commemorating this new Scientology Church, Mr. David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board Religious Technology Center and ecclesiastical leader of the religion, declared: “It has been said that Russia cannot be understood with the intellect, that it cannot be measured by any common standard and that it can only be believed in. Well, let Russia now believe this: The Church that now stands in Moscow possesses a technology that is all but synonymous with the human spirit. It is a technology to bring forth the goodness in people and the greatness they are destined to achieve. It is a technology that is both kind and strong. It is a technology for freedom and wisdom.”
Scientology established its first Church in the Russian Federation in 1993 after the fall of communism and has seen phenomenal growth in the years since. It has been recognized as a leading voice in the fight for universal human rights.
The new Moscow Church not only meets the needs of its growing congregation of Scientologists, but also serves as the center for all faiths to unite for community betterment and social improvement in the name of religious freedom.
The Church of Scientology of Moscow further coordinates the Church’s many humanitarian initiatives. The 65,000-square-foot building houses a Public Information Display presenting an introduction to all Church-sponsored programs, including those dedicated to drug education, literacy and human rights. The new Church also provides public conference rooms and an auditorium for religious community functions.
The Moscow Church already stands at the forefront of Russia’s greater human rights movement. It works in coordination with the internationally renowned Moscow Helsinki Group, founded by Ms. Lyudmila Alexeyeva. Ms. Alexeyeva is one of the original Soviet era dissidents to decry communist oppression. She is also the recipient of the European Parliament’s prestigious Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought. On the occasion of the Moscow Church opening, Ms. Alexeyeva stated: “For me, as a human rights advocate, all religions are equal in their rights. Your Church is particularly devoted to defending the freedom of belief not only for its own parishioners but for all religious people of any denomination.”
The Church’s religious freedom victories are now legend. Scientology’s landmark decisions before the European Court of Human Rights set the standard for religious rights in all 47 member states. In recognition of what this new Church of Scientology represents to religious freedom, Mr. Boris Nikolayevich Panteleyev from the Russian Federation’s Public Chamber stated: “The precedents you have set in the European Court of Human Rights regarding your Church are very important for all those who stand for religious freedom. Today all lawyers, religious scholars, human rights advocates and representatives of other faiths carefully study these texts, seeing in them hope for justice and protection from discrimination in our own land.”
Mr. Panteleyev, who presented the Church with a recognition commemorating its grand opening, continued, saying: “Scientologists work to see that all have the right to thought, to practice religion and to rejoice. You work to see that all people have the right to assemble, the right to establish and support their own churches and organizations; that they have the freedom to think for themselves and to the expression of their thoughts and ideas. These freedoms are the very manifestation of the individual spirit. So it is important that we rejoice today, for this is a glorious day in the name of freedom for all of Russia.”
Scientology’s Drug Free World initiative is but one of the Church programs now adopted by citizens of the Russian Federation. Among its foremost advocates is Dr. Victor Ivanovich Cherepkov, two-term State Duma Deputy, who said: “The drug industry has taken its toll on Russians for years. Until recently we had no solution that could prevent the problem. Your drug education is well recognized in Russia. We are already using your literature and your methods in the fight against drugs. In fact, these are widely disseminated throughout Russia. And it’s spreading for one reason only: it simply is working everywhere and anywhere.”
Dr. Cherepkov went on to say, “In the effectiveness of your anti-drug campaign, I see the wisdom of L. Ron Hubbard—the great teacher and philosopher. For he unlocked the human mind and human problems with knowledge, to free us from the wickedness of existence in the name of creation, perfection and kindness.”
With the new Church of Scientology of Moscow, so begins the next historic chapter for Scientology. It is a chapter that not only signifies a renaissance for the religion itself, but a new era for religious and human rights in Russia.
Source: scientologynews.org
What it's like to be a staff member in a Scientology organization
This is a great account of being a Scientology staff member:
Prior to my being on staff, I had a life which (I say now in retrospective) was a bit flat and purposeless. I had gotten a string of excellent IT jobs that made great money, and had no problem, really, acquiring any car, computer, vacation, or other worldly item I wanted. However, my activities were unpleasantly self-oriented, and I knew that. There’s only so much gratification one can get from helping oneself, and oneself only.
Once one has a great car, a nice house, all the computer equipment one could ask for, and a body in good health, one sort of realizes that there’s got to be a bigger game – and a cooler one too that doesn’t just involve oneself.
I then started dating a girl (now my wife of 11 years) who was a staff member at the Founding Church of Scientology in Washington, DC. After weeks of observing her and the fun she was having as a staff member, I decided to take a break from computer networking and take up a position on staff at the Church.
I honestly had no idea the number of changes that would make in me, all of them changes for the better.
European Union denounces religious discrimination
An admirable move:
On the 21st of February, the European Union Council issued a new statement which essentially reaffirmed their earlier November 2009 conclusions condemning acts of discrimination based on religious beliefs. Whilst the statement specifically targeted acts of violence against Christians and their places of worship, as well as toward Muslim Pilgrims, the statement clearly attempts to guide member states to take action to engender the respect of the religious beliefs of others.
Clearly, though, it’s now up to these member states to actually put that into action, as more than just Christians have been the subject of much discrimination on the basis of religious belief. Whilst many European countries would seem to the uninformed outsider to be fair-treating of all religions, countries like France have discriminated against Muslims for simply wearing a burqa, or have discriminated against Scientologists for simply practicing their own religion.
So now, it is indeed up to those in power in EU member states to actually take this statement to heart, and put real-life steps into motion to factually ensure religious freedom for all European citizens.
Follow the link for the full text of the resolution.
