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What everyone is talking about in Norway today:
The daughter of a member of Norway's parliament committed suicide hours after she received what her family claims were "devastating" results from a personality test administered by the Church of Scientology. Police in France, where the young woman was studying, are investigating.
...
Yeah. That's just... Yeah. The Church of Scientology is calling it unfair to be dragged into it, psychologists are calling the test a dangerous hack tool and I'm just staring at it all with large amounts of RAGE.
I'm an atheist. It's not a choice I've come to lightly, because there is a side of me that feels fairly spiritual. I want to believe in something. But I don't believe there is a god, as many religions preach. I can't - perhaps it would have been a strength if I could, perhaps it would have been a bad. Either way, I don't. So I've come to believe in life and the universe, and that both might have things beyond our capacity for understanding.
Someone on my flist once made a remark that went something like 'I can't understand how someone can't believe in God'. I've always been tempted to answer 'I don't understand how someone can believe in God', but that's not entirely true. I understand why someone would want to believe. Oh yeah, that I understand.
Belonging, purpose, direction, support, comfort - all these things religion might give. I've never felt the particular hostility towards religion in general, it's more hostility when a particular religion is pushing its views too much.
So what's with my RAGE on Scientology? Is it because I feel it's so clearly bogus, while I give other religions a pass for being more plausible? Is it the total loathing of Tom Cruise, or just the way Scientology has behaved in general? Is it the media attention? Is it that I just don't count it as religion and more as the vein of Fred Phelps, just using religion as a cover for preying on people?
I am not all too sure, but I do know that the mere mention of Scientology drives my blood-pressure up these days and all I really want to say to them is this:
"GTFO of my humanity, you hack cult of (potentially damaging) weirdness even Mulder would disown. And don't clone Tom Cruise on your way out."
The daughter of a member of Norway's parliament committed suicide hours after she received what her family claims were "devastating" results from a personality test administered by the Church of Scientology. Police in France, where the young woman was studying, are investigating.
...
Yeah. That's just... Yeah. The Church of Scientology is calling it unfair to be dragged into it, psychologists are calling the test a dangerous hack tool and I'm just staring at it all with large amounts of RAGE.
I'm an atheist. It's not a choice I've come to lightly, because there is a side of me that feels fairly spiritual. I want to believe in something. But I don't believe there is a god, as many religions preach. I can't - perhaps it would have been a strength if I could, perhaps it would have been a bad. Either way, I don't. So I've come to believe in life and the universe, and that both might have things beyond our capacity for understanding.
Someone on my flist once made a remark that went something like 'I can't understand how someone can't believe in God'. I've always been tempted to answer 'I don't understand how someone can believe in God', but that's not entirely true. I understand why someone would want to believe. Oh yeah, that I understand.
Belonging, purpose, direction, support, comfort - all these things religion might give. I've never felt the particular hostility towards religion in general, it's more hostility when a particular religion is pushing its views too much.
So what's with my RAGE on Scientology? Is it because I feel it's so clearly bogus, while I give other religions a pass for being more plausible? Is it the total loathing of Tom Cruise, or just the way Scientology has behaved in general? Is it the media attention? Is it that I just don't count it as religion and more as the vein of Fred Phelps, just using religion as a cover for preying on people?
I am not all too sure, but I do know that the mere mention of Scientology drives my blood-pressure up these days and all I really want to say to them is this:
"GTFO of my humanity, you hack cult of (potentially damaging) weirdness even Mulder would disown. And don't clone Tom Cruise on your way out."
