4-16-99
Ears Still Shut
Warning:
Some of the links
contained in the following column lead to The Church of
Scientology sites.
I regard such as spiritual pornography and advise sensitive
folk to check only
my hyperlinks, not proceed further without getting drunk
first and having
a close friend nearby who will slap you silly if you read
something and casually
agree to it. Think
for yourself.
The recent hoopla
over the steamy teaser for this summer's Eyes Wide
Shut, the late director Stanley
Kubrick's final film and featuring lots of skin by
Scientologists Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman,
was personally disturbing.
Sure, I spent over a half an hour downloading
the clip so I could ogle Nic's
bare butt, and even sent the site-link to
friends and family, but ...afterwards I
felt bad. All that jumping through
hoops to look at the butt of an actress I
don't really care for. Shame on me...
The news that John Travolta (another
Scientologist) will soon begin a film adaptation
of the novel Battlefield: Earth,
alleged to have been written by Scientology
founder and bad science-fiction
author L. Ron Hubbard, is even more disturbing.
I know we're supposed to
separate a person's beliefs from their work,
but when that person belongs to a
dangerous con-cult, I find it impossible
to. My ears are still shut for pleas of
tolerance. Scientology is evil.
Period.
Maybe I'm unique
in my approach to L. Ron Hubbard, but I doubt it. At
the early age of thirteen or fourteen I
read a couple of science fiction
short-stories that Hubbard wrote in the
'40s. It was space-cowboy crap and
didn't fulfill the visionary goals of sci-fi
in the least. Shortly afterwards, when I
read of a mid-'30s meeting between Hubbard
and horror-writer H. P. Lovecraft
and his remarks about Hubbard's full head
of red hair, loud mouth, and
arrogance, my patience with the bad science
fiction writer was just about
exhausted.
In 1975, at the
age of seventeen and exploring various traditions (i.e.,
visiting a Hare Krishna temple while reading
about Kabbalah), I picked up a
copy of Hubbard's Dianetics
at a used bookstore. Someone finally did it, I
thought after reading a few pages.
A science fiction writer had taken the step
and began to play the dreaded "God Game."
1975 was also the same year
John Travolta discovered Dianetics.
People react differently to the same
stimuli. I immediately hated Scientology
and Travolta remains a member of
the Scientology con-cult to this day.
I've never cared
for Travolta as an actor. I think Welcome Back Kotter
was a waste of television air-waves, the
movies Grease and Saturday Night
Fever are still too painful
for me to discuss without swearing, and what roles
he's pulled off since then owe just as much,
if not more, to the other people
involved with the particular films.
Oh, and yes, I still carry a grudge against
Travolta for buying the film-rights for
Rice's Interview With The Vampire,
sitting on them for ten years while he insisted
he be given a major role in any
production of the film, and no, I don't
believe Tom Cruise's eventual
participation in the vamp-film was any Scientology
conspiracy. Even if it was,
it doesn't matter. There's so much
documented evil this con-cult has been up
to that petty rumors are unnecessary.
"Scientology is
evil; its techniques are evil; its practice is a serious threat to
the community, medically, morally, and
socially; and its adherents are sadly
deluded and often mentally ill... (Scientology
is) the world's largest
organization of unqualified persons engaged
in the practice of dangerous
techniques which masquerade as mental
therapy."--Kevin Anderson QC, later
Justice Anderson, Supreme Court of
Victoria, Australia.
"Scientologists believe that most human problems can be traced to lingering spirits of an extraterrestrial people massacred by their ruler, Xenu, over 75 million years ago. These spirits attach themselves by "clusters" to individuals in the contemporary world, causing spiritual harm and negatively influencing the lives of their hosts" [USD Judge Leonie Brinkema 4 Oct 96 Memorandum Opinion]
Are the above quotes "clear" enough? Scientology is an elaborate con-game which seeks to separate fools from their money. Hubbard played the God Game" with extraterrestrials substituting for Satan. There is no law, and should never be, which prevents fools from realizing their foolishness. One's personal beliefs and practices should remain inviolate. Yet, we must ask ourselves as responsible caretakers of truth, justice, and common sense: "When someone professes a belief in extraterrestrials should I giggle with tolerance or scream dumb shit at the top of my lungs?" Cute, huh? Wrong... Scientology is not cute; I say ...scream.
In 1993 Scientology
was awarded tax-exempt status and recognized as a
"religion" by the Internal Revenue Service
of The United States of America.
There is suggestive evidence that senior
IRS employees were set-up,
blackmailed, and otherwise coerced into
granting the designation "religion" to
a con-cult. [For a NYTimes story,
click here.]
The issue is far from settled and
many are actively involved in correcting
this mistake. To the credit of other
countries and governments, Scientology has
not faired as well gaining a similar
tax-exempt status overseas. Some Americans
have publicly criticized those
countries for standing up to Scientology
and ...I don't know whether to laugh,
cry, or scream some more. I think
I'll do the right thing and scream...
Not understanding
the mistake of our IRS in granting tax-exempt status to
Scientology and its current designation
as a "religion," and because Germany
ignored (read: thought for itself) America's
definition of a "religion," Tom
Cruise's lawyer, Bertram Fields, composed
an open-letter to Germany's
Chancellor Kohl in which he compared Scientologists
in Germany to Jews
during the early Hitler-era, and published
it as a full-page ad in several major
newspapers. [Click here
to view.] The ad contained the supportive signatures
of such celebrities as Goldie Hawn, Dustin
Hoffman, Larry King, Mario Puzo,
Tina Sinatra, Aaron Spelling, Oliver Stone,
and Gore Vidal. Dumb shits! The
German government was correct in refusing
tax-exempt status to a bunch of
whacks and crooks. Hopefully America
will catch up soon. ...And all those
*STARS* who supported Cruise, Travolta,
and Scientology? Dumb shits,
all...
Most celebrities champion good causes. Susan Sarandon getting arrested in NYC to protest the killing of an unarmed man, Alec and Kim doing some animal-rights thing, Sharon Stone and AIDS, Whoopi, Billy, and Robin with "Comic Relief," are just some of the many legitimate examples of worthy endeavors undertaken by celebrities. Standing up for Scientology? Travolta was interviewed for a German magazine in 1997 and claimed: "Back home this would be inconceivable. As American I consider it totalitarian if someone calls for a boycott of movies. It reminds me of the Germany of the 30s. To Americans religious freedom is sacred." Sure, John, ...and the 75 million year old alien spirits? [More excerpts of the interview here.]
Often we listen to celebrities pitch products, services, or charities because we trust them. I don't trust Scientologists... I'll probably see Eyes Wide Shut because it's Stanley Kubrick's last film. I might go see Travolta's version of Hubbard's Battlefield: Earth if I hear it has good special effects. But, then again, maybe I won't. It might be Travolta's right to be foolish, but it's my right not to be taken in by a con-cult. Gee, I wonder who's producing (and will make the most profits from) Battlefield: Earth?
turning on The Sci-Fi Channel,
Rick