In fact, people would have fewer problems with Scientology if they’d just stop lying. Space opera? You can believe it if you wish. Just don’t lie about it. And it is what awaits you at the top of Scientology’s pyramid scheme. The push is on from the moment you buy that first course to move you up the bridge and regain your control over Matter, Energy, Space and Time.

So you can use some of the tools Hubbard cobbled together from various sources and feel better for awhile. But ultimately, if it comes down to “Your problems really are you are covered with Body Thetans (invisible dead space aliens) and you have to get rid of them through our expensive courses to really be the person we promised you would be,” then aren’t you being taken for a ride?

And if Scientologists don’t really know what Scientology is really leading to, do they really know Scientology? Really.

For instance, you say:

“Attacking the critics the way the church has been known to do is wrong. It’s psychotic, and it’s in complete opposition to the philosophical underpinnings of the subject. Even the most rabid ex-member would agree; Hubbard said “When in doubt, communicate” and “Communication is the universal solvent.” Squishing people who disagree with you is not communication.”

Yet, the entire ‘attack the critics’ scheme comes directly from L. Ron Hubbard, the same man you choose to honor for coming up with his noble quotes on communication. So you ignore his actions and prefer to blindly accept his empty rhetoric.

So do you really know Scientology if you don’t know the founder, his actions, his history, his lies, his twisted ability to say one thing while doing another?

It would be funny if it weren’t for all the people abused by Hubbard’s con. If it weren’t for the people who had to flee Scientology’s Sea Org in the middle of the night. If it weren’t for the families torn apart by Hubbard’s policy of Disconnection. If it weren’t for the years wasted and fortunes wasted by so many people before they wake up to having been duped by a charlatan named Hubbard.

That being said, my main issues with Scientology are two-fold:

1) Any ‘church’ that tells me that I should not associate with those who are no longer a part of the ‘church’ is highly suspect – that is pretty much #1 on the list of how to identify a cult. I have spoken to ex-Scientologists whose families have been destroyed by this rule. While that may happen within any organized religion, it is only the cult-like that actually demand it from their followers. My Baptist grandmother has a right to not talk to me anymore if I decided to become a Wiccan tomorrow, but it won’t be because her pastor told her to, or that the Bible said it. It’ll be because she has twisted the message of Christianity to justify her prejudice.

2) Any ‘church’ that tells me that I have to pay money to obtain salvation/knowledge/etc is clearly more interested in the money than the benefit and well-being of its followers.

The good that you speak of within the belief system of Scientology is known as something else in my world – common sense. And guess what? It’s free. There is nothing within Scientology that I would consider a benefit that isn’t part of pretty much every religion and plain old common sense. Being self-sufficient, taking personal responsibility for your triumphs and failures, help your fellow man. There’s nothing unique there. I’m not giving up my credit card number to hear what I can read in every single self-help book or website.

I respect your right to belong to the ‘church’ of Scientology, but with all due respect, I think that you can benefit just as much from what you like about its ethical teachings free of charge.

Only if you can spare a square.