Why I Concluded that Scientology is Bad

Introduction

This is an essay about why I concluded (based on very limited data) that the Scientology modern religion was bad.

Information

Author:

Shlomi Fish

Published:

11-November-2005

Last Modified:

12-November-2005

The Essay Itself

I first heard of Scientology in an article I read in the weekly addendum of Ha’aretz, which is an Israeli newspaper written in Hebrew, and which is considered to be a rather intellectual one. It featured a Hebrew translation of an article, originally published in a U.S. entertainment magazine, about Scientology, the fact its material was kept secret, various criticisms against it, and the fact several Hollywood figures were Scientologists. The article caused me to suspect that there was something fishy about Scientology.

A few weeks later, an Ha’aretz Addendum was published with a reaction against the article by the Head of the Church of Scientology, which I also read. This reaction eventually convinced me that the Church of Scientology was bad.

Here’s why:

1. In his note, the church head criticised the fact that Ha’aretz decided to publish an article by an Entertainment magazine. He reasoned that this was an unaccountable source.

   However, this is a variation of the Ad hominem logical fallacy, in which a critic criticises the source of a claim instead of the claim itself.

   I would expect anyone clueful enough to address the claims themselves, rather then criticise their origins.

2. He said that L. Ron Hubbard (the founder of Scientology) was a controversial genius just like Jesus Christ was ignored at his time, and turned out to be a genius later on. He said that to an audience of Israeli Hebrew speakers, which consisted mostly of Jewish intelligencia and possibly some intellectual Christian or Muslim people. Jews (especially in Israel) tend to have strong opinions against Jesus, and intellectuals tend to view his sayings as non-logical and harmful.

   Yet, he chose to mention that fact, and boast of it, to this kind of audience. Plus, since Jesus was in fact a hallucinating, scizophrenic Mystic, who said a great deal of things that are obviously wrong, then advocating the belief that he was a genius, also indicates that the Church of Scientology is irrational.

3. The tone of the entire article was very patronising and arrogant.

If a fire has caught the firs, what will the moss on the wall say? That very article by the top-most official of the Church, was enough to make me realise that they were irrational and harmful.

Other Anti-Scientology Resources

Xenu.net is the primary anti-scientology site on the Net. Otherwise, Dave Touretzky (who has recently become known for maintaining the DeCSS Gallery), has his own set of anti-Scientology pages.

It is well-known that Scientologist are trying to use various irrational laws to combat their Internet critics, by disabling their sites, or removing links to them from search engines, etc. They completely favour government control and regulation of online free speech ,and as such, act against a free, unregulated economy.