Religion
Next Entries »Is It Fair?
Tuesday, March 4th, 2008I read a few news stories earlier today about a group of Buddhist monks in Thailand who were using the internet social networking site Hi5 to lure women back to the monastery for sex. Some reports said they were raping these women, other reports say it was consensual so I’m not going to draw any conclusions about that.
I am going to predict, however, that these monks are going to be representative of the whole religion in the eyes of the unforgiving public. It seems like a trend nowadays that if someone who holds religious office does something immoral, the entire religion is blamed for it.
Take the Catholics, for example. The whole Catholic priest pedophilia scandal rocked the world when it was brought to light. Ever since the first allegations of this came out, the entire Catholic faith was put under a microscope and every single Catholic priest was under suspicion. I was raised Catholic, spent some time as an altar boy, went to a Catholic University and I can tell you first hand that I never witnessed any sort of misbehavior by a priest. I was never molested, nor did I hear of any other child I knew being molested by a Catholic priest.
In college I spent a lot of time with the Franciscan order of Friars. These were some of the most decent, moral men I had ever known and have known to this day. Never did I see one act innapropriately toward anyone else.
This same type of stereotyping is going to happen with the Buddhists now that this incident has come to national attention. Since the media likes to sensationalize everything, this is going to become a major scandal and the Buddhists are going to be treated as unfairly as the Catholics.
The reason it’s unfair is because members of any religious order who commit acts of immorality are singled out. There are a lot of sexual predators on this planet, but they’re not stereotyped like Catholic priests are because they come from all walks of life. There are literally thousands of registered sex offenders in the United States alone, and only a handful of those belong to any religious order. It can be safe to say that there are more sex offenders that belong to a particular race (whether that be Irish, Black, Hispanic, Polish, or whatever ; I’m not singling out an entire ethnicity because I’m arguing against stereotyping here) than there are Catholic priests who commit these offenses. There are probably more lay Catholic sex offenders than there are offenders in the clergy. But that doesn’t make national headlines because it’s not sensational enough.
Shawn Lonsdale – Murdered?
Friday, February 22nd, 2008I was going to write a blog about this, but I found an excellent post regarding the death of Shawn Lonsdale on another site. I’m posting the link and the contents.
http://dreamsendweb.com/2008/02/19/suspicious-death-of-scientology-critic-shawn-lonsdale/
The following was taken from the blog “Dream’s End” which can be found by clicking on the above link.
For a brief time, Shawn Lonsdale, 39, was a fixture outside Scientology’s infamous Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida (the hotel in which Lisa McPherson died under the “care” of Scientologists). He was filming what he called a pseudo-documentary and stood for hours at a time gathering footage. He also posted frequently on various anti-Scientology discussion forums and was a well known activist.
He endured death threats and smear campaigns. He worked for a brief time in his younger days as a male prostitute, and flyers with this information were posted all over town. He was undeterred by these tactics. You can read more about him here. You can also see Lonsdale featured in a BBC documentary about Scientology, including a scene in which uberhandler Tommy Davis rushes onto the scene to make sure that reporter John Sweeney knows about Lonsdale’s minor criminal convictions. The link takes you to a compilation video of what Sweeney endured in filming his documentary. Lonsdale’s bit starts at around 2:45.)
And now, one week after the most widespread anti-Scientology action in history, he is dead from what police are calling an “apparent suicide.”
Scientology Revisited
Wednesday, January 16th, 2008Back in 2003, Chuck and I paid a visit to the new Church of Scientology building in Buffalo. It was their grand-opening Gala, and for some reason they invited us. We were at the time, freelance writers working mostly for the Buffalo Beast, and independent newspaper circulating in the city. A lot of talk of Scientology has happened recently, what with Tom Cruise showing his true colors to the world and Katie Holmes turning into a robot, as seen in a recent guest appearance on ‘Regis and Kelly.’ There’s also a new unauthorized biography of Cruise that states that his and Holmes’ daughter, Suri, is the spawn of bad Sci-Fi writer L. Ron Hubbard himself. The author of the book goes so far to compare her birth to ”Rosemary’s Baby.”
A few years back, the boys from South Park did an episode about Scientology that starred Tom Cruise, John Travolta, and Galactic Overlord Xenu. Non-surprisingly it was blocked by Mr. Jerry Maguire himself, and now can only be found in various places around the internet.
With this newfound fascination with Scientology, I’ve decided to re-open my interest in this goofy religion. Following is the article Chuck and I wrote, which appeared originally in The Buffalo Beast. This time, though – the punctuation is there and a spell check has been run so it’ll be a much better read:
The Beast Goes Scientological
By Rob Gerke and Chuck Notaro
It’s been said that there are two sides to every story. I’ve found this to be true in almost everything I’ve experienced or thought about. The case of Scientology is no different. It has its supporters and its detractors. I, myself, have never given much credibility to a religion that was founded by a science fiction writer. I’m not even much of a Sci-Fi reader any longer. But I’ve never been one to openly express an opinion about something unless its an informed one, which is the reason I paid a visit to Buffalo’s new Church of Scientology this past Sunday when it celebrated its grand opening.
I’ll admit, I knew next to nothing about Scientology before I attended the opening ceremony, and honestly, I’m not sure it’s any clearer to me now.
Let’s start with the basic question: What is Scientology? In founder Lafayette Ron Hubbard’s words, Scientology is an “applied religious philosophy.” Does that clear things up for you? If not, Hubbard goes on to say that it is the “study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes and other life.”
Scientologists believe it to be a path to enlightenment gained through auditing. This is where an upper-level Scientologist evaluates you, and through certain scientific method, helps you gain control of your true self. Your inner spirit. Your “Thetan,” as the Scientologists call it.
Good Luck Keith Henson
Saturday, March 10th, 2007After reading Rob’s last entry I was buzzing around the net looking to see if there was any recent developments surrounding the Church of Scientology. As you may or may not know Rob and I did a piece on them a while back for a local newspaper when they opened a new church in our area so we have dealt with them before. In my browsing I find a headline on Operation Clambake that just pissed me the fuck off.
Keith Henson arrested in U.S (Link leads to a small blurb on slashdot.org)
During my research on Scientology I became aware of Mr. Henson’s story.
The quick version of the story is that in 1996 some of Scientology’s “secret” documents, New Era Dianetics A.K.A. NOTS, were leaked onto the internet, Henson read them and came to the conclusion that Scientology was committing medical fraud.
From the Wikipedia article on Mr. Henson:
The NOTS documents, he said, contained detailed instructions for the treatment of physical ailments and illnesses through the use of Scientology practices. However, a Supreme Court decision in 1971 had declared that Scientology’s writings were meant for “purely spiritual” purposes, and all Scientology books published since then have included disclaimers stating that Scientology’s E-meter device “does nothing” and does not cure any physical ailments (United States v. Founding Church of Scientology et al., US District Court, District of Columbia 333 F. Supp. 357, July 30, 1971 [1]). The NOTS procedures, Henson claimed, were a violation of this decision. To prove his claim, Henson posted two pages from the NOTS documents onto the Usenet newsgroup alt.religion.scientology.
Eventually a part of the church called the Religious Technology Center hit him with a lawsuit. He lost and was ordered to pay $75,000, it is estimated that the organization spent a total of about $2 million in litigation against Henson. The judge would not allow him to argue that posting the documents in order to discredit them was covered by Fair Use. Henson filed bankruptcy and continued his protest of the church while the church continued to harass him.
While protesting outside of the Gold Base Scientology film studio he was arrested and hit with criminal charges. The church claimed he was a dangerous stalker with a background in explosives. They said he was a terrorist and likened him to Timothy McVeigh. They claimed he said in a post to alt.scientology that he was going to blow up the studio.
Henson was charged with making terrorist threats, attempting to make terrorist threats, and making threats to interfere with freedom to enjoy a constitutional privilege, all misdemeanors under California Law.
During the trial the church filed several motions to exclude a good amount of Henson’s defense including the testimony of the lead investigator, Sheriff’s Detective Tony Greer. Greer had previously said “In reviewing all of the Internet postings I did not see any direct threat of violence towards the church or any personnel of the church.”
Ready for the kicker?
The judge allowed this. How in the hell was this even close to a fair trail?
He was eventually convicted on only one of the three counts, making threats to interfere with freedom. Instead of serving jail time, where he feared that his life would be in danger, he fled to Canada and applied for asylum. He stayed in Canada for three years until his plea for asylum was denied. He then fled again, this time back into the U.S. and remained for two years until his recent arrest in Arizona.He His hearing is set for May 8th.
One more quote from Wikipedia before I go:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation, as well as Henson’s supporters on the USENET newsgroup alt.religion.scientology, claim his trial was biased, unfair and a mockery of justice.
I would like my name added to that list.
You Mean Xenu Could Have Saved Her?
Friday, March 9th, 2007During my internet travels today, I visited one of my favorite websites: Findadeath.com. Everything you ever need to know about celebrity deaths can be found here. It’s funny, I could care less what celebrities are doing in their personal lives while they’re among their living, but once they die I’m all over it.
I was reading about Anna Nicole Smith, who as you all know recently bought the proverbial farm. I still can’t figure out why she was so popular in the first place, and why her death seems to have become the preoccupation of every American since it happened. She got more publicity when she died than Geroge Harrison, for Christ’s sake. It was on every freakin’ channel, and even Larry King was in tears. He’s probably just pissed because he never got to sleep with her when she was alive. Apparently she was on his show quite a bit.
Anyway, back to my original point. Anna Nicole is dead, and about 1,000 men are claiming to have fathered her spawn. It’s a big mess that coul apparently have been avoided, though. John Travolta says so. According to him, Lord Xenu could have saved her life. Here’s the article taken from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/section/1501119/story.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10426673 :
John Travolta says Scientology could have saved Anna Nicole Smith.
The actor insists the late Playboy Playmate may still be alive if she had checked into the controversial Scientology drug and detox programme Narconon.
John, who worked with Anna Nicole on Be Cool, said: “It’s so sad. We could have helped her with Narconon but didn’t get the chance to. I wish we had.”
Narconon has been widely criticised for its unorthodox methods which are inspired by the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. The treatment includes taking large doses of vitamins, an intensive running programme, and long sauna sessions which “run out” drugs and “radiation” from the body. Scientologists insist Narconon is 85 per cent effective, but it has been alleged the method has been used to convert vulnerable drug addicts to the bizarre sci-fi cult.
A toxicology report from Anna Nicole’s autopsy is yet to be released.
The model-and-actress died on February 8, after being found unconscious in Hollywood’s Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino.
Methadone and prescription drugs were found in her hotel room.
Of course Scientology could have saved her. Scientology can do anything, even cure homosexuality. Hell, Scientology was even able to help Tom Cruise spawn. That’s a modern miracle!
I could go on here about my feelings about Scientology, but I’ll save that for another time. I’m just anxiously awaiting the arrival of the new religion inspired by the writings of Dean Koontz.
