When [Paul] Haggis first turned to Scientology, he considered himself an atheist. Scientology seemed to him less a religion than a set of useful principles for living. He mentioned the ARC Triangle; “ARC” stands for “Affinity, Reality, and Communication.” Affinity, in this formulation, means the emotional response that partners have toward each other; reality is the area of common agreement. Together, these contribute to the flow of communication. “The three parts together equal understanding,” Haggis said. “If you’re having a disagreement with someone, your affinity drops quickly. Your mutual reality is shattered. Your communication becomes more halted. You begin to talk over each other. There’s less and less understanding. But all you need to do is to raise one part of the triangle and you increase the others as well. I still use that.”
Some aspects of Scientology baffled him. He hadn’t been able to get through “Dianetics”: “I read about thirty pages. I thought it was impenetrable.” But much of the coursework gave him a feeling of accomplishment. He was soon commuting from London, Ontario, to Toronto to take more advanced courses, and, in 1976, he travelled to Los Angeles for the first time. He checked in at the old Chateau Élysée, on Franklin Avenue. Clark Gable and Katharine Hepburn had once stayed there, but when Haggis arrived it was a run-down church retreat called the Manor Hotel. (It has since been spectacularly renovated and turned into the flagship Celebrity Centre.) “I had a little apartment with a kitchen I could write in,” he recalls. “There was a feeling of camaraderie that was something I’d never experienced””all these atheists looking for something to believe in, and all these loners looking for a club to join….”
Since leaving the church, Haggis has been in therapy, which he has found helpful. He’s learned how much he blames others for his problems, especially those who are closest to him. “I really wish I had found a good therapist when I was twenty-one,” he said. In Scientology, he always felt a subtle pressure to impress his auditor and then write up a glowing success story. Now, he said, “I’m not fooling myself that I’m a better man than I am.”
So, he leaves Scientology because of their opposition to homosexual practice. He really ought to check out All Saint’s Pasadena. He might fit in well there.
The ‘Church of Scientology’ is a massive [b]fraud.[/b] It’s a [b]CULT,[/b] which has gypped millions of unsuspecting followers of their money…..and for [b]what?[/b]
1.,
It’s a great deal more complex than that. I’d suggest reading the article. Yes, all 26 pages of it.
A very chilling and compelling story…
One does not need ALL those pages to grasp that scientology is simply one more extreme cult – of which we have far too many already. But we knew this already, didn’t we? On the other hand, homosexuality IS a perversion, so this can hardly be a substantive argument against Scientology. LRH is simply a crackpot whose promises ensnare the lonely, the disconnected, the lost and alienated, who are looking for an in-group that will give them an identity to make up for the one they do not have. The more in-group-ish, the safer and more secure; the greater the power to exclude, the safer yet. Larry
Yes, Scientology is a cult and appears to have been intended to be one from its beginning, but it is important to read the whole article to understand why it should not be dismissed as simple in theory, practice, or membership.
I read three quarters of it, and it is a crackpot cult, using a superficial rationality to create a centripetal force to suck in the lonely and the alienated who hope that “reason” and “science” will give them a core to their lives. The reality is Scientology in practice: a vicious cult whose continuation demands brainwashing. Larry
“LRH is simply a crackpot whose promises ensnare the lonely, the disconnected, the lost and alienated, who are looking for an in-group that will give them an identity to make up for the one they do not have. The more in-group-ish, the safer and more secure; the greater the power to exclude, the safer yet.”
I have no interest in Scientology for sure, but I think there are far more condemning things that can be said about it than what is stated above. After all, i’ve heard people make the same statement in regards to Christianity (or any religion, for that matter).