Another one of his books
I kicked myself a little when I wrote my last commentary, which was on David Malouf's Imaginary Life, namely because I did not actually read any of the other comments on Goodreads beforehand. Normally I do do that, but this time I didn't, which was really naughty of me. Just because I didn't take any notes in English I does not necessarily mean that nobody else did. However, that is really beside the point because I am beyond an Imaginary Life, and back to the Hubbard Decology. Mind you, there are pretty much no reviews on this book, but maybe it is because everything that needed to be said on this series has already been said, so we simply get to the point when we simply mark the book as read, give it a rating, and move on. However this is not something I plan on doing because I am endeavouring to write something on every book that I have read, and the only books that I haven't done so are the books on investing that. The reason for this is that I do not want anybody treating my comments as investment advice (which can be a bad thing here in Australia).
Anyway, two books ago I was writing about the concept of psychology, mind control, and sin. Now, I need to be clear that in these comments I am not specifically targeting any religion, and in particular I am not targeting Scientology. First, let us put behind all of the jokes that Scientology came about because a science-fiction writer (and not a good one at that) decided that he would become a millionaire by starting a religion, and did so. A lot of people criticise Hubbard for that, but I am going to say that he is not the first, and he is definitely not going to be the last. In fact the Christian Church has been riddled with people throughout history using the church to feather their own nests, and many of them have got away with it. Personally, it still happens today, and all we need to do is to point at the TV Evangelists of the 80s. One of the biggest concerns that I have with the church is the matter of tithing. While I do not have a problem with tithing (it is biblical) I am seriously concerned that it is being abused. I have seen Christians quit their jobs (and be applauded by the congregation) and in turn begin to raise money from the congregation to support them and their families. They claim that they are freeing up their time to serve God, but I am actually starting to question the need for this. While there is space for fulltime ministry, I am beginning to question whether we actually need so many people doing so. Foreign Missionaries yes, but fill time workers supported by the church in a developed society, I think not.
As such, my position is that, sadly, there is no difference between Scientology and many of the other Christian sects out there. Granted Scientology is not Christian, but there are lots of similarities. My understanding is that it is a belief that we are possessed by a telepathic race called the Thetans, and as long as they possess us then we will never reach our potential, so the whole idea of Scientology is to banish these Thetans from us. This is Christianity with another name, because Thetans are pretty much sin and Satan. However our full potential is not on this world but in the world to come. Some have suggested that Scientology entraps its congregations in the church, but guess what, so does Christianity.
