Luana’s Haven

There are plenty of people not members of the Church of Scientology who have gathered some personal experience. Usually they don’t get a voice but this one has been heard. found this interesting. The original is at Insecure.org (yes, the “hacker site”).

Harvey Silverglate is a former president of the ACLU of Massachusetts and a current board member. He is also a libertarian and co-author (with Alan Kors) of “The Shadow University: The Betrayal of Liberty on America’s Campuses.”

Here is what his viewpoint is on Scientology.

---
Subject: RE: Arnie Lerma replies to Scientology's Internet position paper
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2002 15:21:14 -0400
Declan,
	I realize that my objectivity may be questioned, because during
a 5-year span in the 1980s I represented the Church of Scientology in a
series of bogus "religious fraud" cases brought against the Church in
Boston and elsewhere. However, I did get to learn a lot about
Scientology during this period. Anyone who takes the trouble to study
the Church will understand that while it is of course true that
Scientology is careful to portray itself as a religion in part to ward
off governmental and individual attacks for "fraud", in fact the reason
it is able to do so, with considerable success, is that there is,
conceptually, no difference between Scientology and any established and
accepted religion of which I'm aware. If one reads the Supreme Court and
Court of Appeals case law as to what constitutes a religion, one
realizes that there is an enormously wide and diverse group of belief
systems that qualify -- belief systems that are traditionally theistic,
and belief systems that are very different. Scientology is the
quintessential non-theistic belief system. Sceptics ask Scientologists:
"How can you believe that stuff?" The very question would appear to
admit that Scientology is a religion! Why is it harder to accord First
Amendment protection to Hubbard's "religious technology" than to accord
such protection to espousal of belief in the Trinity?
	Hence, the operative question is NOT why Scientology emphasizes
its religious nature. It is OBVIOUS that one reason is to gain First
Amendment protection. So, what's wrong with that? The operative question
is whether Scientology's belief system qualifies for First Amendment
protection. The answer is equally obvious: Absolutely. It is neither
easier nor harder to believe in Scientology than to believe in One God.
There is absolutely no distinction between Scientology and a more
traditional religion, from a First Amendment perspective and analysis.
It is fair for critics to criticize Scientology's methods and zeal, but
it is equally fair, and equally easy, to criticize any more traditional
religious organization. Has the Scientology organization done some
things worthy of criticism? Yes, and it has at times admitted error. But
nothing that Scientology nor Scientologists have done since its founding
in the 1950s even compares to the atrocities committed by the world's
major religions over centuries. It takes the world's major religions
centuries to admit error; Scientology has a better record.
	Were I a Scientologist, and had I suffered the decades of
persecution that Scientology suffered at the hands of the Internal
Revenue Service and the Department of Justice, I, too, would emphasize
the religious nature of the belief system. I am not a true believer, and
I do not agree with all of Scientology's policies. (For example, I
disagree legally and philosophically with the Church's very restrictive
position on copyright issues.) But it is frivolous, and bigoted and
narrow-minded, to refuse to recognize that, for First Amendment
purposes, Scientology is as much a religion, and as much entitled to
First Amendment religion-clause protection, as any of the more
traditional, commonplace belief systems.
						Harvey A. Silverglate
						Silverglate & Good
						Boston

This arrest is a joke. What else can I say. The guy has no right to harass and intimidate members of a minority religion but arresting someone for a sign is a bit too much. They could have confiscated it if it violates the local rules. But I bet Anonymous will try to blame it on the Church of Scientology, violently ignoring - a usual - that the Church of Scientology is not the one to decide on this case.

Religious Freedom

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.

Scientology is supporting Youth for Human Rights.

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”).

(picture from Metro UK)

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.

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”.

(Source)