Sun Apr 18, 2010 (Religion) Comments

[My brother in law forwarded a humorous article to me. In it, the screenwriter of Battlefield Earth apologizes for writing "the suckiest movie ever." I took this as an opportunity to say a few words about one of my favorite subjects, Scientology.]

I Penned The Suckiest Movie Ever - Sorry!

Funny stuff. Though The Greatest Story Ever Told is not exactly thrilling cinema either.

I am fascinated by the subject of Scientology. Absolutely fascinated by the questions it provokes when juxtaposed with the world's major religions.

My interpretation is that Scientology was invented by a bitter and misanthropic man as a big joke on humanity- a joke intended to expose middle-class sensibilities as nothing more than hollow received wisdom. Middle class society believes implicitly in its order. A person's station in life is an indication of their work ethic. There's nothing more to it than that. If a person is rewarded or punished, or an idea is promoted or suppressed, well it must be because he or she or it deserves it. L. Ron Hubbard played by the middle class rules and was not rewarded, was not so much as even noticed. "Well, fuck 'em", he must have said. "Let's invent a new world order with me at the top."

It's a fun game guessing who's in on the joke and secretly laughing at the masses as they condemn Scientology's "misguided, crazy, fictional, cultish, and heretical" beliefs. And guessing who's been duped into thinking Scientology is actually serious.

I mean isn't there some perverse pleasure in watching the same people who scoff at a genesis theory based on aliens, volcanoes, and vaporized souls dutifully nod their head in agreement on Sunday when the priest discusses the holy ghost, Noah's ark, and the pearly white gates? And what state of mind allows a person to characterize Scientology's recruitment efforts as "brain washing" and its congregation "a cult" and yet entices the pagan with promises of eternal life (John 3:16) and cosmic justice? Seriously, the Beatitudes preached by Jesus were used by the privileged class to justify the feudal system in the Middle Ages. And Scientology is a cult?

It all seems crazy to me. Pick your crazy- a long established one or hip new one. Scientology, Christianity- they're both based on believing many things a priori, without any need to test or verify the knowledge. I can't relate to that. I mean, I understand why religious belief persists to this today- it alleviates anxiety. But I can't understand the criticisms different congregations hurl at each other. There's no sense of self-awareness in any of it.

[See my previous essay on Scientology.]