Letter to a scientologist 3
You made the mistake of forcing me to do research. In fairness I started at your church’s FAQ. It was nice, tedious, and, in some parts, offensive, i.e. using the cross of Christ as your religious symbol and depriving poor people of quality “auditing” (if you can’t afford the “donation” an auditor in training will practice on you). Then I started reading the critics. So I’m outraged. And I’m starting to understand why you have such difficulty with the historicity of the Bible. It doesn’t matter how many witnesses there are to an event, if it threatens Co$ disbelieve it. 500 witnesses to Christ’s resurrection isn’t enough. Ex-member testimony isn’t enough. FACTnet estimates 90% of people who start in Co$ leave. How do you spin that? And if the Sea Org isn’t the closest thing to Faust’s bargain I don’t know what is. A billion year promise to Co$ - sounds like hell to me.
There is a difference between the sins of the church and the sins of Co$. When parts of the church are in sin other parts criticize it, as often happens on this list. We exchange info on groups in the church that do not represent Jesus as well as those outside of our tent who hurt people. The cool thing about Jesus is he made individual access to God possible and equips his followers with his Spirit to contribute to the mission, sometimes correctively, sometimes evangelistically, sometimes for fortification. A human institution, such as Co$ and sometimes within the church needs lots of controls to maintain appearances. The Bible doesn’t have to be rewritten every few years. Human institutions that try to be religious have to rewrite embarrassing things, delete them and claim they were never written or hide them so editing can continue without impunity. Did you ever read Orwell’s 1984?
Jesus offers it all with a method too. It’s an anti-method actually. Give up. Surrender. Let him take care of it all. He does surgery a bit at a time, sometimes you notice it sometimes you don’t. Sometimes heroin addicts are delivered at that moment and some struggle the rest of their lives. The hierarchy is Jesus and us. All other relationships are horizontal. Money is voluntary. It’s an expression of faith. It benefits the giver, whenever the giver is ready to take the risk. And there are no requirements where to give- your church, a ministry that does what you’d like to do, a poor family down the street. You can even get first class clergy services for free. God pays for everything he’s into. There are so many stories of checks showing up in the mail and groceries appearing on the doorstep. The miracles God does, his supernatural interventions in our lives, make you weep sometimes. And it’s all motivated by love, his for us and ours for his and each other. So money doesn’t matter nor does position. The Bible makes sure the equanimity is not forgotten. It is the humble who are honorable. Now when things get out of whack the Spirit makes sure it is addressed, remember this list. We all come from different flavors of Christ, or restaurants, good food but flavored differently, but if there is a dangerous serving, it is pointed out to everyone else as a warning. Knowledge is the weapon but spiritual enforcement is left to God. Let’s contrast with Co$.
Yessir, LRH made his million bucks. You can do it too. First claim anyone can join and they don’t have to stop doing or believing what they already believe. Offer them the world, or tell them you have a bridge to sell. Give away freebies. Crack dealers where I live do this too you know. Free personality tests, free intro to Co$. Parade around a few high profile trophies. Make correlations to all member successes. Then it’s time for the bait and switch. Say, “this can all be yours for a few bucks, and what’s a few bucks in light of eternity?” but after that course point out that, well, of course you aren’t at nirvana yet, but for a few more bucks we can get you closer. And as you dangle that carrot slowly introduce the stick. It sounds like after that first bait and switch people move out, thank God for the internet. But for some who remain the stick becomes more important than the carrot. For some, though, they never notice the stick. Gee, for anyone who shells out cash to hold tin cans, this may not be surprising. But if they keep coming up with the dough you gotta keep making more obstacles for them to overcome. So the levels keep coming. Of course LRH had to demonize psychology, because that explains the hypnotic states for suggestion of past lives and exteriorization. Suggestions can come from demons too. So can religions.
I pray God turns your baloney detectors back on. Others into it as far as you have had them kick started by too much use of the stick before they saw reality. After reading all this stuff on Co$ I now understand your sensitivities to my closing. It’s the knowable truth though.
Watch out for those pickpockets…
There is a difference between the sins of the church and the sins of Co$. When parts of the church are in sin other parts criticize it, as often happens on this list. We exchange info on groups in the church that do not represent Jesus as well as those outside of our tent who hurt people. The cool thing about Jesus is he made individual access to God possible and equips his followers with his Spirit to contribute to the mission, sometimes correctively, sometimes evangelistically, sometimes for fortification. A human institution, such as Co$ and sometimes within the church needs lots of controls to maintain appearances. The Bible doesn’t have to be rewritten every few years. Human institutions that try to be religious have to rewrite embarrassing things, delete them and claim they were never written or hide them so editing can continue without impunity. Did you ever read Orwell’s 1984?
Jesus offers it all with a method too. It’s an anti-method actually. Give up. Surrender. Let him take care of it all. He does surgery a bit at a time, sometimes you notice it sometimes you don’t. Sometimes heroin addicts are delivered at that moment and some struggle the rest of their lives. The hierarchy is Jesus and us. All other relationships are horizontal. Money is voluntary. It’s an expression of faith. It benefits the giver, whenever the giver is ready to take the risk. And there are no requirements where to give- your church, a ministry that does what you’d like to do, a poor family down the street. You can even get first class clergy services for free. God pays for everything he’s into. There are so many stories of checks showing up in the mail and groceries appearing on the doorstep. The miracles God does, his supernatural interventions in our lives, make you weep sometimes. And it’s all motivated by love, his for us and ours for his and each other. So money doesn’t matter nor does position. The Bible makes sure the equanimity is not forgotten. It is the humble who are honorable. Now when things get out of whack the Spirit makes sure it is addressed, remember this list. We all come from different flavors of Christ, or restaurants, good food but flavored differently, but if there is a dangerous serving, it is pointed out to everyone else as a warning. Knowledge is the weapon but spiritual enforcement is left to God. Let’s contrast with Co$.
Yessir, LRH made his million bucks. You can do it too. First claim anyone can join and they don’t have to stop doing or believing what they already believe. Offer them the world, or tell them you have a bridge to sell. Give away freebies. Crack dealers where I live do this too you know. Free personality tests, free intro to Co$. Parade around a few high profile trophies. Make correlations to all member successes. Then it’s time for the bait and switch. Say, “this can all be yours for a few bucks, and what’s a few bucks in light of eternity?” but after that course point out that, well, of course you aren’t at nirvana yet, but for a few more bucks we can get you closer. And as you dangle that carrot slowly introduce the stick. It sounds like after that first bait and switch people move out, thank God for the internet. But for some who remain the stick becomes more important than the carrot. For some, though, they never notice the stick. Gee, for anyone who shells out cash to hold tin cans, this may not be surprising. But if they keep coming up with the dough you gotta keep making more obstacles for them to overcome. So the levels keep coming. Of course LRH had to demonize psychology, because that explains the hypnotic states for suggestion of past lives and exteriorization. Suggestions can come from demons too. So can religions.
I pray God turns your baloney detectors back on. Others into it as far as you have had them kick started by too much use of the stick before they saw reality. After reading all this stuff on Co$ I now understand your sensitivities to my closing. It’s the knowable truth though.
Watch out for those pickpockets…
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