Freedom of religion is a cornerstone of society. To flourish, that freedom must include a tolerance for disparate faiths. It is one of the great paradoxes that, while religions act as primary forces for mutual respect and peace, a significant percentage of the world’s turmoil arises from deep-seated intolerance toward other beliefs and practices.
As a result, religion today is subject to much discussion and critical consideration. Yet at no time has its civilizing influence been more important. We live in a world where many solutions advanced to cure the world’s pressing problems ignore the spiritual nature of humanity. The explosion of intolerance, the plague of drug abuse, the increasing ills of illiteracy, crime and immorality and the rapid rise in terrorism and international conflict demonstrate the futility of purely scientific solutions alone.
Religious organizations, therefore, have an important contribution to make in resolving the ills of society. Indeed, the Scientology religion holds that a reaffirmation of the primacy of the human spirit will bring about resurgence in our civilization.
On 13 March 2008 the Church of Scientology launched a Scientology Video Channel which provides users with more than 80 informational clips, about three hours of video content, to introduce Scientology to the public. And - last week the Scientology Video channel also went up on Youtube!
I like Tom Cruise movies! I grew up with this great actor! And I never agreed to this “special deal” he gets on the internet when it comes to his membership in the Church of Scientology. So I am glad he could go on Oprahs Winfrey’s show (which I do not watch, normally) and say something about the allegations. I mean, in the end, he is an actor, a father, a family man, and a Scientologist. No big deal. Check out his new website, www.tomcruise.com (doesn’t work somehow without the “www”).
If you had to work during the show (like me) and misprogrammed your VCR (like me) there is a chance to watch it the part of last Friday online at redlasso.com.
Tom Cruise was featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show on Friday from his Telluride, Colorado home.
Cruise made national attention the last time he was on the show in May 2005. Cruise was on the set, jumping on the couch, professing his love for his new girlfriend, whom he did not mention by name. His girlfriend was later identified as Katie Holmes, who he married one month later.
This is part one of a two-part interview with Cruise on the Oprah Winfrey show.
Winfrey was welcomed to the Telluride, Colorado home with her own pair of personalized slippers.
Winfrey interviewed Cruise about his couch-jumping incident and his involvement with The Church of Scientology.
“That was a moment, and it was real, and I don’t know if I would (do it differently). I really don’t,” Cruise admitted about jumping on the couch.
“It’s a minority religion, and I think that sometimes people misinterpret [it],” he says about Scientology. “I think the best thing is for people to read about it themselves. I believe people have the right to choose what they believe in.
“The code of Scientologists says you respect the religious beliefs of others,” Cruise adds. “That’s part of being a Scientologist, and that’s who I am as a person.”
In the Oprah Show this Friday actor Tom Cruise was shown in an interview at his home in Telluride, Colorado, which did not spare any questions about Cruise’s Scientology membership and current personal attacks on him.
A video that was shown on the Internet showing an animated Cruise talking about the virtues of Scientology was taken “totally out of context,” he said, as it was out of a congregational meeting and edited before being spread online.
In reference to the past three years Cruise said he learned that there are times to communicate more and better explain his opinions. Per Associated Press he said: “I feel like definitely things have been misunderstood, and things that I could have done better”.
Another South-African news story (yeah, this is where the action is):
A delegation of American human rights activists from Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) are in West Africa to establish a leadership program to promote human rights reform in Liberia, Ghana and Sierra Leon.
Representatives from Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) helped the Liberian teams set up an organizational structure, and trained them in the skills they will need for the program.
For the past several years YHRI has been working with human rights groups in West Africa. This year’s leadership program is an outgrowth of that work, and the program is geared to activate youth to make an impact on the most serious human rights issues in their countries, through a grassroots education initiative.
Read these materials and imagine how the world would look like if a majority could be convinced to adhere to this! It’s a great dream and with a bit of effort we can make it!
I am not usually in favor of hot climate. California is almost a little too dry for me. So it never crossed my mind that South Africa could be a place to live. But seeing the new Scientology buildings and places the Church of Scientology created in the past two months makes me dream of going Africa this year:
Church of Scientology has acquired the famous Johannesburg landmark, the Kyalami Castle, to be the home of its new advanced spiritual retreat. This marks a significant step for Scientologists who until now had to travel all the way to the U.S., Australia, Denmark or England for their higher spiritual progress.
Kyalami Castle now belongs to the Church of Scientology.
Wow, maye now all the Scientologists from California, UK and Denmark are coming to SA….
I was searching for some information about growing up in Scientology and how this is like. Aside from obviously dramatized and paid “stories” I was very happy to find a source which is open about its purpose and origins: the website Scientology Kids (scientologykids.org, actually it routes to the unwieldy name correctscientology.org). After skimming through the stories on the page I am mostly impressed with what Matt has to say about Growing up as a Scientologist. I have no kids yet but this is how I can imagine my children would grow up in Scientology.
“This marks a significant step for the Scientologists who until now had to travel all the way to the US, Australia or England for their higher spiritual progress, said Paul Sondergaard, National Director of the Church’s Public Affairs Office .
Hate Crimes (also known as bias motivated crimes) occur when a perpetrator targets a victim because of his or her membership in a certain social group, usually defined by race, religion, sexual orientation, disability, ethnicity, nationality, age, gender, gender identity, or political affiliation. Hate crimes differ from conventional crime because
