Science vs. Religion | Scientology Targets Youth (again)
Science vs. Religion
It’s difficult to believe that anybody could actually be opposed to a call for science and religion to team up. The fact that the rallying call comes from a scientist, Martin Rees, not a religious figure, is actually touching.
Not surprising, the measure is opposed by a group led by Richard Dawkins. What a shocker. Dawkins gives his usual diatribe about religion leading to violence:
“If we are too friendly to nice, decent bishops, we run the risk of buying into the fiction that there’s something virtuous about believing things because of fate rather than because of evidence. We run the risk of betraying scientific enlightenment.”
Bishops themselves never killed anybody, but possibly made the world safer for “people who do kill people by extolling the virtues of faith as opposed to reason and evidence”.
Thank you, Dr. Dawkins, for all you do in the spirit of cooperation.
Scientology Targets Youth (again)
Yes, they are at it again, this time in the US.
Recruiting youth is actually a necessity. If you’re going to convince them that aliens from outer space descended upon the earth and attached themselves to our species, then you’ll need to hook them young.
Remember that a Creator existing outside of time because He invented time itself, as well as having no cause because He also invented cause-and-effect relationships, may seem no less fantastic to some, but is actually infinitely more plausible than the alien theory. Don’t believe me? Check out apologetics by William Lane Craig, who could explain this better than I could. He uses this approach in his apologetics and has a number of excellent articles.
Tom Cruise, my challenge stands.
I have to admit that I just don’t get how anyone can buy into Scientology either; it just goes to show how insipid the organization can be. Indeed, fringe-religious practices often get overlooked in the current battle between atheism & Christian faith (I was about to say Abrahamic religions, but Jewish and Islamic beliefs are not targeted as much as Christianity are). Part of the problem, I suppose, is that Scientology is so private that it’s hard to combat it when it’s so shadowy, but hopefully more and more people will come out against pseudoscience like Scientology, “The Secret,” etc.
I once took a scientology “class”. I had no idea what sceintology was, but a friend recommended this “class” as a way to speak better to a crowd. The class was alright as far as it went, but they had to “discipline” me for showing up late. I was amused so I humored them. I told them the class was for me and not them, and that I didn’t really care whether they considered me late or not, as long as I could continue to attend. They said they wouldn’t pass me. I said that was alright, and that left them in a quandry because I’d paid for a class they couldn’t say was completed. So, they offered me free “counseling”. That’s where it got good.
They hooked me up to this machine that measures your body’s natural electrical flow. I guess conflicted souls don’t have a nice electrical flow about them, and their counseling is designed to fix that. Well, mine registered really high… they couldn’t believe it! I’m sure it was the peace of Jesus (I was already a Christian), but I wasn’t wise enough to realize it at the time.
So, I went through the sessions, and talked about issues from my past that bugged me… why not? It always helps. They then asked whether it was still bothering me. I said yeah. They couldn’t believe it, because I registered as being so peaceful. They started asking me how this could be. I explained that talking about something made me feel better, and that I knew it would eventually not bother me anymore (and praise Jesus, it doesn’t!). I guess they’ve never heard, “Time heals all wounds,” because they had me repeat this strange theory to three different people, each at a level above the other. It was pretty trippy.
After I left, it took me six months to finally get their junk mail to stop filling my mailbox. I know this sounds condescending, but those poor souls really need our prayers.