What Strikes My Fancy

I ran across this one on Digg.com.

I don’t know who wrote this, but I feel that way too. I’ll let him/her speak for me:

Scientologists are real people.

Wearing a Guy Fawkes mask is fun. Even in Toronto and Minnesota where they froze in sub-zero temperatures it was a lark. In fact “epic” is the description I read most.

But when you are standing outside my church, who are you really attacking?

Because it’s a who, not a what.

My church is real people, like me.

I’m a Scientologist. I’m a real person.

Not only that, I love my church and the people who work there. They are the hardest working people I know and they do it because they want to help, and are helping people all the time.

I’m a Volunteer Minister. And that’s something I’m really proud of.

A good friend who’s a Volunteer Minister (VM) went to Katrina two years ago. He told me he’ll never forget the two weeks he was there. He closed down his office and just took off for Louisiana, and spent two weeks just helping people in the shelters. He was one of about 900 VMs who went to help.

I have friends from Florida who drove out as soon as they heard the storm was coming. They thought they knew what to expect cuz they manned shelters and ran food and water out to victims of Florida hurricanes for a few years. But, like the rest of us, they were completely shocked by how brutal Katrina was and how unprepared everyone was to cope with it.

There was a Scientologist from some other part of Louisiana who’s a doctor. He and another doctor got into the quarantined part of New Orleans and brought VMs with him to help the police and rescue workers. The doctors gave them tetanus shots. The VMs helped them keep their sanity despite all the wreckage and dead bodies.

The whole Scientology Mission in Baton Rouge was turned into a relief center. Scientologists manned shelters in Baton Rouge, Lafayette, New Orleans and Vermilion Parish. And the Scientology church in Houston, TX manned shelters there.

I know two of the Scientologists who went to Jakarta last year when it was hit by an earthquake and they ended up working in the makeshift extension to the hospital that had to put people on mattresses on the floor of the parking structure to cope with the overload. They trained the nurses on how to do Scientology procedures that help people recover from trauma and the nurses were amazed at how fast patients were recovering. They also trained family members because the hospital was so short-handed they were having the parents or husbands or wives take care of the victims – they just couldn’t get to them all themselves.

I could probably go on for an hour. But I think you get the point—we are decent caring people and I am proud to be part of a movement that puts out to help people who need help.

And it makes me sick to hear the lies people spread about us.

Anonymous says it isn’t attacking Scientologists.

In the same breath they say they intend to destroy my church.

If you were Catholic and someone was planning on destroy the Catholic Church how do you think you’d feel?

If you saw Anonymous videos on YouTube tracking people down and publishing their addresses and phone numbers because they criticized what Anonymous was doing, and then you saw them threatening to destroy your community, how would you feel?

This has gotten completely out of hand. And it’s NOT fun. It’s criminal and it’s nuts.

So here’s my message to Anonymous—or at least to those of you who came to our churches last Sunday. Next time you come to my church, leave your mask at home and come talk to me, or to another Scientologist and find out who (not what) you are “protesting.”

Whoever wrote this, this is right. It is personal. Don’t hide behind a mask. If you have a problem with a Scientologist, talk to someone. You would expect the same if someone was coming after what was important to you.

With the announcement that the Church of Scientology of Boston has bought the former Alexandra Hotel at Washington Street and Massachusetts Avenue, Scientologists are eagerly planning to relocate their headquarters from Back Bay to the South End.

The move won’t be happening any time soon.  As with new Scientology churches opened in other major international cities over the past few years, such as New York, London and Berlin, the Boston Church will undergo extensive renovations before moving to its new home.

The new property is the former Alexandra hotel, a luxurious establishment when it opened its doors in 1875, it faded in prominence when the elevated transit line was built along Washington Street in 1900, closed in the 1960s and was finally gutted by a fire in 1993.  It has been vacant ever since.

Advised by Staubach Co. of New England LLC, the church bought the former 50-room hotel, at 1759-1769 Washington St., and an adjacent building on Washington. The church already has a storefront presence a few doors down on Washington.  Staubach has done other work for the church around the country and will be project manager on the design and redevelopment.

“This is a very prominent building,” said Brian Smallman, vice president of Staubach of New England “It could be an absolutely gorgeous building by the time they’re done with it, and they do everything first rate.”

“The city’s been tortured with this eyesore for so long,” said Gerard Renna, public affairs director for the Boston church.  Renna, who has been with the Church of Scientology of Boston since before it opened its current headquarters on Beacon Street in 1974, did not disclose the sale price, but pledged that the Church will  “transform the hotel to its original grace and elegance.”

The Scientology religion was founded by L. Ron Hubbard.  The first Scientology church was established in Los Angeles in 1954. 

I ran across this article that put the whole Tom Cruise bio in the right perspective.Thank god there’s a journalist with the courage to see what’s going on and come out and say it.

Mugged in print by bigots in righteous masks

Miranda Devine
January 31, 2008

It is a good idea to be suspicious any time the media pack decides to gang up on someone - as they have done with Tom Cruise. Sure, he belongs to a religion, Scientology, that seems pretty kooky on face value, but that is his right, as in any country that is supposed to respect freedom of religion.

He has done nothing to deserve the ridicule and character assassination which has reached a climax with the publication this month in America of Andrew Morton’s unauthorised biography.

The premise of Morton’s book is that Cruise is a dangerous nutter in the grips of a psychotic cult, and old videos posted on the internet gossip site Gawker.com of Cruise addressing a Scientology convention and inarticulately trying to convey his passion for the religion in a TV interview seem to have sealed the impression.

While Scientology certainly appears eccentric, with its talk of extra-terrestrials and “thetans”, so, too, does most New Age claptrap. Many traditional religions have oddball elements, strictly speaking, and among the most bigoted and dogmatic people around are atheists.

But if Scientology makes Cruise happy, and he doesn’t mind donating large chunks of his fortune to the church, so what? From what we have seen of Cruise, and the account Morton gives of his life, there is much to admire about him. >>

She goes on later to state:

Morton also describes a series of events in which Cruise has played good samaritan - in 1996 he stopped to help a hit-and-run victim in California and paid her hospital bills; he rescued two children being crushed in the crowd at a Mission: Impossible movie premiere in London, he sent the tender from his yacht to help five people who had abandoned a sinking boat and he “consoled a sobbing housewife” who had just been mugged near his house. While in New Zealand he stopped on a road to change the flat tire of a stranded couple.

What can we make from that? That he’s a nice guy, who doesn’t think he is above helping people he sees in distress. Why make it weird? Morton tries to weave these good deeds into his book as an example of Cruise’s Scientology induced monomania. But if that’s what his religion makes him do, there should be more of it.

She really hit the nail on the head here.

There have been times I’ve walked by someone who needed help. I’m not proud of that. I admire Tom Cruise so much for not being “above” helping people. And I know it’s not a status thing with him–it’s just that he does care about people. It is so obvious in the way he treats his fans. He spends hours signing autographs, and talking to people’s kids or folks on their cell phones. He’s just a genuinely nice person.

With so many celebrities who are bad examples, you have to ask yourself why there would be such a concerted effort to try to make Tom Cruise look odd because he is enthusiastic about his family, his religion and helping people. Do we really want to live in a society where you’re considered a nut because you care enough to express your views and help people? I sure as hell hope not.

Today’s story on the IOL.co.za web site is great news for Scientology and South African Scientologists:

A tax exemption has been awarded to the SA Church of Scientology by the SA Revenue Services (SARS), the Church said on Tuesday.

“We are ecstatic, this is a memorable and historic day for us as it provides us with an even better opportunity to serve our community and scientologists,” said President of the Church, Ryan Hogarth.

He said that SARS issued the Church with a certificate on Monday approving its status as a ‘Public Benefit Organisation’.

“This was after 42 years and 26 applications to the South African Revenue Service,” Hogarth said.

He said the approval followed similar recognition in countries such as Sweden, Germany, Spain, and New Zealand, as well the European Court of Human Rights.”

My two cents: Although South Africa was one of the earliest Scientology communities, it obviously couldn’t get recognized as a religion under the oppressive apartheid government. But since the rebirth of the new South Africa the Church has been working closely with civic and government groups as well as the private sector to help people all over the country, especially with their Volunteer Ministers program.

Several years ago Mr. David Miscavige dedicated the new Scientology church in Johannesburg and that launched a major expansion for the Church in that country and throughout Southern Africa.

Cool article in the University of Texas newspaper about the Scientology church in Austin.

Austin’s a really interesting town. Not at all what I thought Texas would be like. I always had the idea Texas was all desert–from too many Westerns no doubt.

When I first went to Austin I was shocked to find it was as humid as my native New York and way hot. It was green, with rolling hills, lakes and rivers. Nothing like I thought it would be.

Austin is the state capital, so there are the traditional American buildings that look like anytown capital USA.

And the college campus of UT was very much like any other college campus I’d ever seen.

But I also loved the friendliness and hospitality of the town, and the eclectic atmosphere that comes from a college town.

And then of course, there’s Willie!

Here’s a bit of the article:

The Church of Scientology of Texas is located across from the heart of UT’s campus, but there are few students who come to the center, said Director of Special Affairs Cathy Norman.

“Although we’re located near campus, we’re not exclusively students,” said Norman, who got involved with Scientology in the 1970s when she was a UT student. “The outreach is to everyone.”

There was a higher percentage of student involvement and interest when the center moved to its current location in 1980 because the Scientology movement was fairly young then, she said. There are not any certain programs aimed towards students now.

Scientology literally means “the study of truth,” according to the religion’s official Web site. It is about a set of ideas connected to the human mind and spirit and a set of practices that can be important to people, Norman said. >>

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers web site now has a virtual goodwill tour, where people can check out and take services online.

That means anyone, anywhere on Earth, can now have the kind of help the VMs are famous for.

This expands the activities a million-fold!

It takes guts to finish a marathon, and Katie Holmes not only finished her first one at the New York Marathon this weekend but she joined husband Tom Cruise that same night at the premier of his new film, Lions for Lambs.

Great news on the Scientology Press Office web site today. Scientologists in Spain have finally been given their freedom of religion in that country.

Today, the National Court in Madrid issued a landmark decision affirming the right to religious freedom in Spain by recognizing that the National Church of Scientology of Spain should be entered in the Registry of Religious Entities.

“This recognition marks the end of an era in which Spanish Scientologists were forced to fight for their rights to religious freedom. It vindicates the Church of Scientology and is a new beginning for all Spanish Scientologists,” said Ivan Arjona, spokesperson for the National Church of Scientology in Spain.

The National Court thoroughly examined the Church’s formative documents and aims and purposes to unequivocally determine that the National Church of Scientology of Spain has the right to be registered as a religion under Spanish law.

I remember when the Spanish case began in the late 1980’s and was so happy when we won the case a few years back and then we opened the Church of Scientology of Spain in Madrid to celebrate, but this is the best news yet!

I’m late commenting on it, but the “news” this week that Comedian Jerry Seinfeld credits Scientology with making him a better comic is interesting.

It makes sense to me.

For one thing, according to L. Ron Hubbard and what he covered in the book Science of Survival, sense of humor is connected to the emotional well being of the person.  If you can spot someone on the tone scale you can predict what he or she will find funny.   There is even a section in the book that helps someone locate the correct tone level (emotional state) of an entire audience in under 2 minutes.  That could mean the difference between popularity and a complete flop for a stand up comic.

Then there is communication.  What Seinfeld brought up in his interview was the skill he learned in communicating.  It is very true that Scientology emphasizes communication as a vital part of life.  If fact, Hubbard discovered that it is one of the three component parts of life, the other two being Affinity and Reality.

There are drills you can learn to improve your ability to communicate to anyone — even a dysfunctional boss or a family member.  What is amazing is how effective it is– no matter what the other person is like, if you have this skill you can actually keep the stress down to a bare minimum and even improve the relationship with those impossible people you know.

What a beautiful little girl.  It’s not every toddler who gets featured on the front cover of Us Weekly just for shopping with her mom and dad, but she certainly knows how to pull it off.