Believe what you want. It's not my place - or anyone else's - to tell you what to put your money, your faith and your time into. I'm not a religious person; I'm almost religiously non-religious. However, I do have a mouth, a mind and a soapbox. So, read that first sentence again... "It's not my place - or anyone else's - to tell you what to put your money, your faith and your time into". THIS is why I am against religion as a "thing".
But - forgetting what reasons I might have for attacking religion - the big three have a basis in legend, myth, history even. Islam, Judaism and Christianity have age-old texts behind them, written by now-long-dead documenters of the acts and words of prophets and messiahs, around which a solid - if blindly obedient, in many cases - following has gathered. What the hell, then, is Scientology all about?!
A "religion" based on the belief that an alien warlord and the spirits of extraterrestrial beings from many generations past has as much clout in "the way" as a genuine and sometimes helpful "philosophy for life" written - not passed down, or mythologised, or "given" - but actually, transparently created by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. I have not read much about the theory. But I have read enough to see that - at base - the ideas of Scientology (what does that even mean, by the way?) are not evil; quite the opposite. They are a valued and valuable set of suggestions about what may - that's may - make life a little nicer to live. Of course, for this to work you must suspend disbelief somewhat. Now, that's something I have no problem at all with when I'm watching Doctor Who, but when it comes to living my life everyday it's something I can't justify.
Then, like all religions, there's the money thing. Donate and thou shall be saved. And lo, the people did giveth plentifully, and the greasy, boy-buggering, hypocritical reps of [insert deity of choice here] on Earth smiled and thought it good. Well, of course they bloody did! GOD says give us all your money. If you don't - well, you're just not that into Him. At least the older religions give all they have and ask for the money later, though! With Christianity you get the book, the teachings and the support and you're encouraged to give what you can. That's almost a charity. With Scientology, absurdly, you're given the teachings in tiers, based on how "ready" you are and how "engaged with the way" you may be - for which read "based on how much money you've given us...". As one fellow Tweeter so eloquently put it earlier, using the unlikely, yet surprisingly apt "social networking analogy": "They only reveal the secret to the religion once you've clicked "Like" and invited 100 friends. #StupidScientology"
I don't have a conclusion to this post. I don't think there would ever have been a conclusion. The post itself may well have read just eight words and saved us all a few minutes' reading time. It may well have read SCIENTOLOGY IS A LOAD OF SHIT, ISN'T IT? Well, isn't it? If YOU'RE a Scientologist, or whatever you call yourselves, then please - get in touch with me using Twitter. Let me know what I'm missing. Set the record straight. Saying that, if you're a Muslim, a Jew or a Christian - or anything else - tell me your side! Why's religion helped you? I guarantee you won't tell me anything I've never been told before... I abhor religion and think it dangerous. Especially when the power is taken from the many and given to the few.
I'm also resigned to the fact that, if there is a hell, I'm going there... But just think how much better the conversation will be, than above, when I get there.
