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I've never considered myself to be particularly naive. Perhaps, that was naive of me. Before delving into the topic below, please be aware that I support all freedom of religion that does not infringe on the rights of others or sublimate the basic human rights of individuals. People can worship giant Chicken-People from the land of Chickendonia for all I care. I also accept that hate speech, such as that espoused by discriminatory and prejudicial groups as a necessary evil, if I am to be assured that my own freedom of speech is not to be curtailed as well. I don't have to like it, listen to it, or support it, but I will stand up for the people's right to say what they will. To paraphrase a great man, who I will stupidly recall the name of later on, free speech is the last bastion of a great democracy.
All this being said, I've never spent much time pondering L. Ron Hubbard or his Church of Scientology other than a few rather ignominious incidents regarding celebrities duking it out (ala Tom Cruise and Brooke Shields). If people want to believe we're all decended from aliens or what have you, no amount of logical, scientific reasoning is going to dispel them from those beliefs. I alternatively believe in the elegant design that only a great Creator could have had a hand in, to agnostism, Paganism, and the ocassional spirl into atheism. The more information I take in, the more evervescent religious concepts become to me. I call myself frequently spiritual and rarely religious. My own personal beliefs tend to lend themselves to the thought that organized religion of any faction or sect have been proven historically to be far more divisive to a population than helpful and have been the tool of politics, used to subjugate specific groups of people, more than to lend a hand to a neighbor in need. If I'm going to be critical, even editorially, about something, I feel it only fair that I share my own potential biases up front.
I am now speaking editorially. That is, it is not my intention to libel, defame, or otherwise legally entangle myself with a group of people with far greater resources and waaaay more followers than I'll ever attain. The following is to be considered my personal opinion and nothing more. I hold the personal belief that The Church of Scientology and its founder L. Ron Hubbard were and are bigots, that their closely held beliefs regarding any number of issues are prejudical and discriminatory and that the 'solutions' that are suggested by their own literature are in theory an assault on human rights that is almost unparalleled in human history.
If, as some have suggested, this organization has managed to infiltrate our financial and political system as deeply as has been proposed, it is little wonder why America the Beautiful cannot seem to make even the slightest of strides forward regarding the topic of 'gay rights'.
I seldom like to refer to outside source material, especially that which has not been carefully vetted by myself and has been verified by at least several outside sources. I am about to provide a link for you to follow. What you read, should you go there, should shock and horrify you. It has me. The material in question has been verified to be from original source material and, while it may or may not be taken out of context, the words themselves are quite damning from a civil rights stand point.
From what I garner, in my opinion, the text clearly labels any homosexuals as perverted deviants who need to be quarantined from society and barring that, they must undergo some kind of 'purification ritual' performed by Scientology members to 'cure' them of their illness. I have a pretty strong constitution and an even bigger voice. This, in what my opinion is worse than tripe, makes me throw up in my mouth more than a little bit.
If you are gay or support gay rights, be warned that what you read here may be upsetting.
http://www.xenu.net/archive/projects/qd-leaflets/h2-1.txt
Go. Read. Think for yourselves. I'm going for some warm gingerale and some saltines. Blecch!
All this being said, I've never spent much time pondering L. Ron Hubbard or his Church of Scientology other than a few rather ignominious incidents regarding celebrities duking it out (ala Tom Cruise and Brooke Shields). If people want to believe we're all decended from aliens or what have you, no amount of logical, scientific reasoning is going to dispel them from those beliefs. I alternatively believe in the elegant design that only a great Creator could have had a hand in, to agnostism, Paganism, and the ocassional spirl into atheism. The more information I take in, the more evervescent religious concepts become to me. I call myself frequently spiritual and rarely religious. My own personal beliefs tend to lend themselves to the thought that organized religion of any faction or sect have been proven historically to be far more divisive to a population than helpful and have been the tool of politics, used to subjugate specific groups of people, more than to lend a hand to a neighbor in need. If I'm going to be critical, even editorially, about something, I feel it only fair that I share my own potential biases up front.
I am now speaking editorially. That is, it is not my intention to libel, defame, or otherwise legally entangle myself with a group of people with far greater resources and waaaay more followers than I'll ever attain. The following is to be considered my personal opinion and nothing more. I hold the personal belief that The Church of Scientology and its founder L. Ron Hubbard were and are bigots, that their closely held beliefs regarding any number of issues are prejudical and discriminatory and that the 'solutions' that are suggested by their own literature are in theory an assault on human rights that is almost unparalleled in human history.
If, as some have suggested, this organization has managed to infiltrate our financial and political system as deeply as has been proposed, it is little wonder why America the Beautiful cannot seem to make even the slightest of strides forward regarding the topic of 'gay rights'.
I seldom like to refer to outside source material, especially that which has not been carefully vetted by myself and has been verified by at least several outside sources. I am about to provide a link for you to follow. What you read, should you go there, should shock and horrify you. It has me. The material in question has been verified to be from original source material and, while it may or may not be taken out of context, the words themselves are quite damning from a civil rights stand point.
From what I garner, in my opinion, the text clearly labels any homosexuals as perverted deviants who need to be quarantined from society and barring that, they must undergo some kind of 'purification ritual' performed by Scientology members to 'cure' them of their illness. I have a pretty strong constitution and an even bigger voice. This, in what my opinion is worse than tripe, makes me throw up in my mouth more than a little bit.
If you are gay or support gay rights, be warned that what you read here may be upsetting.
http://www.xenu.net/archive/projects/qd-leaflets/h2-1.txt
Go. Read. Think for yourselves. I'm going for some warm gingerale and some saltines. Blecch!
