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Letter to the Editor
In Response to Sean Stubblefield's Scientology: You'll Pay For Your Insolence
By JC
In regards to Mr. Stubblefield's opinions regarding the Church of Scientology, I found multiple flaws in his analysis of how they operate and in the comparisons to the Christian and Muslim faiths. He states that Christianity can be seen as an extortion cult in much the same way as Scientology, and this cannot be further from the truth. If one enters a Christian church and asks about Jesus or God, the pastor will take a pair of bibles and give you information regarding whatever information you're interested in. If you enter a Mosque, the Qur'an (Or Koran) is publicly accessible and any devoted Muslim will be more than happy to instruct you on quote "the final revelation of God" and tell you all about the prophet Muhammad.
If you enter a Church of Scientology, they will charge you roughly US$350,000 to learn about Xenu (or Zenu, the proper spelling is Xenu though it has been spelled both ways). Information on Xenu can be found easily on Wikipedia or on Operation Clambake. As to harassing critics, self-defense would be considered a possibility if there were an attempt at defamation of character or some other insult to their integrity. As it happens, the Church of Scientology is guilty of breaking into the IRS to get tax exemption, something no other church enjoys (see: Operation Snow White), and also their attempt to have Paulette Cooper committed to a mental institution or imprisoned (See: Operation Freakout).
From what I saw on your site, Mr. Stubblefield did very minimalistic research into the Church of Scientology, and didn't feel like checking out as to whether or not any claims about what the CoS was up to in the past. If he feels that attacking Tom Cruise is all that anyone has against the Church, all that can say to me is that he hasn't taken the article from theSOP.org's advice to "Watch the video, research Scientology and make up your own mind." He made up his own mind on the spot and decided that people were attacking a religious institution and never took the time to inquire whether it was the religion they were attacking or their practices.
As it happens, I have read through Enturbulation, I have read Dianetics, I have looked over what allegations that people protesting the business aspect of Scientology have brought up. So far everyone on the side of Anonymous and those that have been fighting Scientology in the past have had materials that back up their statements and show where to go to inquire about those exact materials that they themselves used. On the other hand, the Church of Scientology has had nothing but a bunch of legal threats, lawyers and personal attacks against peaceful protesters, which makes them look bad.
As to my problem with Mr. Stubblefield, if he had done some research and explained the ways that Christian and Muslim faiths are similar to Scientology, I'd have listened. As it is, he made not only the CoS look bad by comparing personal donations to required fees that need to be paid for "Auditing" to learn more about your own faith, he nearly outright called it a business - something that critics have been doing for a long time - with the statements, "And why shouldn't Scientology make a profit from services rendered? You pay high fees to therapists for their counseling services." An innocent enough description for what he wants to convey personally shows to me that he understands the business aspect, and accepts it; but he sidesteps the "tax-free business" piece of the puzzle entirely, which leaves a sour taste in my mouth.
If you're going to charge people fixed amounts of money for services rendered, and Christians, Jews, Muslims, etc. have to pay for it, why don't Scientologists? This is one of the big questions that critics of the church want answered, and until it is we aren't going to be silenced with comparisons to other faiths that don't get to have the same special set of rules that Scientology does.
Editor's note: We would also like to hear how Muslims and Christians feel about the content in the above mentioned article. Please send comments to comment@newsblaze.com.
judythpiazza@newsblaze.com
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