Underground Exiles

More likely than not, this post is going to get me in trouble with the elders in charge of H20, as well as an ex-girlfriend, and various other groups of people.

I was recently told that if I would just be a little more meek, my sermons would go down easier. A couple of weeks before that, I was given practically the same advice.

I was raised Southern Baptist, with this image of

“gentle Jesus, meek and mild,”

to quote the old hymn by Charles Wesley. Then I grew up and read the New Testament for myself, and it seemed like Jesus really enjoyed screwing with religious people.

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So here’s a quick comparison between Christianity and Scientology:

1. “You have heard that it was said, An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, Do not resist the one who is evil. But if anyone slaps you on the right cheek, turn to him the other also.” - Jesus, Matthew 5.38-39
2. “An enemy… may be injured by any means or tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.” - L. Ron Hubbard, Penalties for Lower Conditions, HCO PL 18 Oct 67
3. “Let what you say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’; anything more than this comes from evil.” - Jesus Christ, Matthew 5.37
4. “Handling truth is a touchy business … Tell an acceptable truth.” - L. Ron Hubbard, The Missing Ingredient, 13 August 1970.

Maybe it’s pointless for me to attempt a point by point comparison of the Bible with Hubbard’s blasphemous views on the subject. The shocking differences are all too obvious. It’s difficult to resist the temptation, when Scientology publications state that “you can be a Christian and a Scientologist at the same time”.

To your right is the Wittenberg Door, where Martin Luther nailed his famous 95 theses. This series of blogs is written in the same spirit, and to promote the scholarly study of the beliefs and practices of Dianetics and Scientology. The “Church” of Scientology is less than forthcoming in revealing its entire belief structure to the general public. Scientology publicly claims to be an “applied religious philosophy”, as well as being compatible with other religious belief systems. However, the private upper levels of Scientology introduce many concepts that stretch the definition of “compatible”, and L. Ron Hubbard says many uncomplimentary things about religion in general and Christianity in particular. This blog series explores the beliefs and practices of Scientology, then compares those beliefs and practices to those of Christianity.

Firstly, Scientology believes that God exists, but goes on to say “As to the form in which He exists, we do not know,”¹.

Although Scientology does not know the exact form of God (i.e., the Supreme Being), it does teach that there are “gods above other gods, and gods beyond the gods of the universes”². Scientology also states that each thetan (person) “has as far as we can see in the manufacture of energy, about the same capabilities as those which have been assigned to the Supreme being in the universe”³. All of these views should be problematic for Christians, especially when Scientology claims to be compatible with all religions. These views are certainly not compatible with Christianity.

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1. Scientology: A World Religion, p. 17: What is Scientology, p. 200 [↩]
2. Scientology 8-8008, p. 72 [↩]
3. Philadelphia Doctorate Course#9, L. Ron Hubbard [↩]

I’ve recently joined a discussion group on Paul’s Letter To The Romans at ccel.org, and right now the particular passage being tackled is Romans 1.18-32.

Here’s a interesting quote on idolatry from Peter Kreeft:

“The opposite of Christianity isn’t atheism, the opposite of Christianity is idolatry.”

Martin Luther had two interesting things to say on the subject of idolatry and false religion. The first one is that, according to Luther, if you never broke the first two commandments, you could never break the other eight. Luther also said that false religion was the default mode of the human heart.

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