America has become a nation of mockers and scoffers
Dear Kaleidoscope Staff,
In regards to Josh Hernandez’s article Scientology; Religion or occult? I myself am not a religious person. I do not condemn religion. I do not believe the teachings of some sort of divine command theory, and any story of creation that has no a posteriori data behind it. To tackle this incredibly offensive piece I am going to go through point by point and show how much like every other religion Scientology is. Hernandez states that the doctrine was written over a period of 34 years, as if this is somehow a bad thing. St. Jerome’s Vulgate (the first official bible) was not completed until over 300 years since Jesus’ crucifixion, and almost all scholars agree that none of the books could actually have been written by the saints who are titular of the books of the Bible.
The member level system reminds me much of Jewish tradition, as well as Christian, baptism is shared in both where the Bris is a Jewish only ritual, of circumcision. Similar also is confirmation, or Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, while almost any religion has some sort of coming of age ritual. So having levels of knowledge is pretty typical. That is why there are different ranks amongst Catholic Priests, and regular Mormon followers.
The only way Scientology tears families apart is because Scientologists like to congregate amongst themselves because outsiders condemn the religion so thoroughly. If I were to have their beliefs I certainly would not want to be around Mr. Sarcastic Hernandez. Almost every church congregation has huge bonds, and usually makes up the members basis of friends. When a person marries outside of a religion in any strongly religious family, it is a huge deal. Religion can rip families apart, and Scientology is not the first to do it, look at the English House of Tudor, the Sunni Shia rift, or just the entire protestant revolution.
As for Scientology being so greedy most, if not all Christian denominations ask for tithes, usually 10% of the household income. It takes money to run a Church, there is upkeep, paying the pastor and some administrative staff, plus thousands donated to charities. Scientologists have these same obligations as Tom Cruise said quite ineptly. The bible pretty much condemns drug use as do most religions and excessive drinking. Islam forbids alcohol completely, along with Mormons who add caffeine and nicotine to that list. Thus, it is not at all odd that Scientologists condemn drugs that may literally alter the user’s behavior and thought processes.
Lastly the most offensive part of this article is a single sentence: “Very believable, huh?” No less believable than Christian, Islamic and Jewish doctrine which has the same story of God, Allah, and Yahweh respectively, creating the earth in seven days as per the book of Genesis, contained in the Bible, with very similar stories in the Torah and Qur’an. Is the notion that aliens created life any more absurd than to think that our universe came from some big bang that has since created this discus shaped what we are told is ever expanding, universe, or that some intelligent designer laid it all out. The only proof we have of this is based on things which are not visible, immeasurable, and taken from readings of man made equipment that very well could have a bias to show us what we want. If you are going to be sectarian toward a religion, do not publish it in a school paper.
When you come to the bottom line all belief systems have absurd aspects of them, even science, so demonizing people’s religious beliefs is ethnocentric and bigoted. It makes me wonder, would this paper run an article saying following Sunni doctrine is “Very believable, huh?” because only a few rich men voted for the Caliph that Sunni follow? I believe the staff of this paper, especially the author, needs to apologize for their terrible unprofessionalism.
Ian Nelson Wagener
In regards to Josh Hernandez’s article Scientology; Religion or occult? I myself am not a religious person. I do not condemn religion. I do not believe the teachings of some sort of divine command theory, and any story of creation that has no a posteriori data behind it. To tackle this incredibly offensive piece I am going to go through point by point and show how much like every other religion Scientology is. Hernandez states that the doctrine was written over a period of 34 years, as if this is somehow a bad thing. St. Jerome’s Vulgate (the first official bible) was not completed until over 300 years since Jesus’ crucifixion, and almost all scholars agree that none of the books could actually have been written by the saints who are titular of the books of the Bible.
The member level system reminds me much of Jewish tradition, as well as Christian, baptism is shared in both where the Bris is a Jewish only ritual, of circumcision. Similar also is confirmation, or Bar and Bat Mitzvahs, while almost any religion has some sort of coming of age ritual. So having levels of knowledge is pretty typical. That is why there are different ranks amongst Catholic Priests, and regular Mormon followers.
The only way Scientology tears families apart is because Scientologists like to congregate amongst themselves because outsiders condemn the religion so thoroughly. If I were to have their beliefs I certainly would not want to be around Mr. Sarcastic Hernandez. Almost every church congregation has huge bonds, and usually makes up the members basis of friends. When a person marries outside of a religion in any strongly religious family, it is a huge deal. Religion can rip families apart, and Scientology is not the first to do it, look at the English House of Tudor, the Sunni Shia rift, or just the entire protestant revolution.
As for Scientology being so greedy most, if not all Christian denominations ask for tithes, usually 10% of the household income. It takes money to run a Church, there is upkeep, paying the pastor and some administrative staff, plus thousands donated to charities. Scientologists have these same obligations as Tom Cruise said quite ineptly. The bible pretty much condemns drug use as do most religions and excessive drinking. Islam forbids alcohol completely, along with Mormons who add caffeine and nicotine to that list. Thus, it is not at all odd that Scientologists condemn drugs that may literally alter the user’s behavior and thought processes.
Lastly the most offensive part of this article is a single sentence: “Very believable, huh?” No less believable than Christian, Islamic and Jewish doctrine which has the same story of God, Allah, and Yahweh respectively, creating the earth in seven days as per the book of Genesis, contained in the Bible, with very similar stories in the Torah and Qur’an. Is the notion that aliens created life any more absurd than to think that our universe came from some big bang that has since created this discus shaped what we are told is ever expanding, universe, or that some intelligent designer laid it all out. The only proof we have of this is based on things which are not visible, immeasurable, and taken from readings of man made equipment that very well could have a bias to show us what we want. If you are going to be sectarian toward a religion, do not publish it in a school paper.
When you come to the bottom line all belief systems have absurd aspects of them, even science, so demonizing people’s religious beliefs is ethnocentric and bigoted. It makes me wonder, would this paper run an article saying following Sunni doctrine is “Very believable, huh?” because only a few rich men voted for the Caliph that Sunni follow? I believe the staff of this paper, especially the author, needs to apologize for their terrible unprofessionalism.
Ian Nelson Wagener