Scientology Faces Allegations of Torture.

Guardian UK 11-18-2009

The Australian prime minister has said he would consider an inquiry into allegations of  forced abortions, assault, torture, imprisonment, covering up sexual abuse, embezzlement of church funds and blackmail.

Australian Senator Nick Xenophon has publically accused The Church of Scientology of being “a criminal organization.”

This comes less than a month after a French court convicted the Church of fraud and fined it more $900,000. The religion of John Travolta and Tom Cruise seems to be on the run.

AP 10-27-2009

In 2007, Germany banned the makers of Tom Cruise’s movie Valkyrie from filming at military sites in the country because he was a Scientologist. The German defence ministry said Scientology is a cult that masquerades as a religion to make money.

BBC 2007

 

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Inside Scientology

 

After reading My Twisted Life as a Scientologist (New York Post 11/15/2009),  I thought it would be fun to do a little looking into Scientology’s closet.  I gotta tell you, the closet is full.

L. Ron Hubbard, the American science fiction writer, created a self-help system he called Dianetics. First published in 1950, it developed into doctrines and rituals as part of a new religion he dubbed Scientology.

Scientology is legally recognized as a tax-exempt church in the United States. Many countries, however, refuse to grant Scientology the status of a church. Canada, UK, Germany, France Belgium, Ireland, Israel, Luxembourg and Mexico do not recognize Scientology as a religion. In Greece, Scientology was banned in 1997, and the Greek government upheld the ban in 2003, rejecting an application for Scientology to be recognized as a religion.

Scientology is often referred to as a cult often accused of financially defrauding members. The teachings of The Church of Scientology are cloaked in secrecy. Most of what is known about the teachings of the church comes to us from ex-members.

An ex-member takes you on a behind the curtain tour.

Charles Manson Turns 75

CNN 75th birthday video

On November 12th Charles Manson, charismatic leader of the “Manson Family,” turned 75. Manson has been a resident of the California Department of Prisons since being convicted of Conspiracy to Commit Murder in 1971.

It seems that Manson still has quite a following despite his years of incarceration. The CNN video shows a 21 year old Manson follower who sounds just like the girls he brainwashed back in the Manson Family/Spahn Ranch days.

After watching the CNN clip and giving his newest webpage a look, I was amazed that his current rants seem to be about the environment, but after viewing the 1976 “Manson Follower” video below, I realized he had been saying this all along. Just not saying it in a very
coherent fashion.

Dialogue Between a Priest and a Dying Atheist

by Donatien Alphonse François

PRIEST – Come to this the fatal hour when at last from the eyes of deluded man the scales must fall away, and be shown the cruel picture of his errors and his vices – say, my son, do you not repent the host of sins unto which you were led by weakness and human frailty?

DYING MAN – Yes, my friend, I do repent.

PRIEST – Rejoice then in these pangs of remorse, during the brief space remaining to you profit therefrom to obtain Heaven’s general absolution for your sins, and be mindful of it, only through the mediation of the Most Holy Sacrament of penance will you be granted it by the Eternal.

DYING MAN – I do not understand you, any more than you have understood me.

PRIEST – Eh?

DYING MAN – I told you that I repented.

PRIEST – I heard you say it.

DYING MAN – Yes, but without understanding it.

PRIEST – My interpretation –

 

No Gods – No Masters

from Days of War Nights of Love – a CrimethInc book No Gods Once, flipping through a book on child psychology, I came across a chapter about adolescent rebellion. It suggested that in the first phase of a child’s youthful rebellion against her parents, she may attempt to distinguish herself from them by accusing them of not living up to their own values.For example, if they taught her that kindness and consideration are important, she will accuse them of not being compassionate enough. In this case the child has not yet defined herself or her own values; she still accepts the values and ideas that her parents passed on to her, and she is only able to assert her identity inside of that framework. It is only later, when she questions the very beliefs and morals that were presented to her as gospel, that she can become a free-standing individual. I often think that we have not gotten beyond that first stage of rebellion. We criticize the actions of those in the mainstream and the effects of their society upon people and animals, we attack the ignorance and cruelty of their system, but we rarely stop to question the nature of what we all accept as “morality.” Could it be that this “morality,” by which we think we can judge their actions, is itself something that should be criticized? When we claim that the exploitation of animals is “morally wrong,” what does that mean? Are we perhaps just accepting their values and turning these values against them, rather than creating moral standards of our own? Maybe right now you’re saying to yourself “what do you mean, create moral standards of our own? Something is either morally right or it isn’t-morality isn’t something you can make up, it’s not a matter of mere opinion.” Right there, you’re accepting one of the most basic tenets of the society that raised you: that right and wrong are not individual valuations, but fundamental laws of the world. This idea, a holdover from a deceased Christianity, is at the center of our civilization. If you are going to question the establishment, you should question it first! There is no such thing as good or evil. There is no universal right or wrong. There is only you… and the values you choose for yourself.