From: Joe Harrington Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology Subject: Scientology Sacred Scriptures on Christianity Date: 3 Feb 1997 05:26:54 GMT Organization: AT&T WorldNet Services Message-ID: <5d3suu$sho@mtinsc03.worldnet.att.net> NNTP-Posting-Host: 207.116.44.69 Hubbard's views on Christianity Any group that hold religious beliefs and practices can call themselves a "religion". Jim and Tammy Baker's PTL Club was a "religious practice", as was "Reverend" Jim Jones and his People's Temple. In the case of the latter, Jim Jones also had many testimonials from governmnent officials at the local, state, and federal levels, and "Tax-Exempt, Tax deductible" status from the IRS. The government even sent welfare and social security checks directly to the People Temple account, for forwarding to Jone's death camp in Guyana. It is not the role of any government agency to evaluate the merits of any organization's religious beliefs and practices. Hubbard's decision to operate under the cloak of "religion" was motivated by his desire to avoid income taxes and the scrutiny of the medical and mental health community. New Church members are told that Scientology's policy is to "Change no man's religion" and they are assured that Scientology doctrine does not conflict with any other religions, and indeed it is consistent and supportive of ALL religions, past and present. The Church asserts that Hubbard's writings constitute their "Sacred Scriptures" and they are unmutatable. They have registered Hubbard's writings as "copyrighted" and some of their "religious practices" as "trade secrets". Hubbard's deep-rooted bigotry and cynicism toward Christianity permeates all of his writings. Fewer than 2% of Church members have any formal technical training in Scientology and have never read Hubbard's views on Christianity. It is doubtful if the religious scholars mentioned in the OSA propaganda articles had more than a cursory view of the public-relations oriented articles that the Church has published in order maintain the sham of Scientology's religious tolerance. Unverifiable claims from religious "authorities" are meaningless and Scientology's claim of toleration and non-conflict with other religions can only be determined by an analysis of Hubbard's writing. This essay was prepared for that purpose, and in defense of the value of Christian Ethics and exposure of the underlying mean-spiritness of the Hubbardian dogmas. Scientology's constant refrain that they are victims of "Hate Crimes" and "Religious Bigotry" should be evaluated in the light of the "Sacred Scriptures" of their Chief High Priest and Founder, L. Ron Hubbard. Belief or Non-Belief in a Supreme or a Supreme Being can be a part of any religion. Scientology is essentially atheistic. Hubbard claimed that the creation of the physical universe was a joint venture by a group of "thetans" (spirits) who are now the victims of amnesia, enforced on them at the hands of hostile groups who obliterated their memories with electronic mind-control and encapsulated their consciousness in a body. In the Hubbardian cosmology, modern-day psychiatrists and medical doctors were the ancient nemesis who invaded galaxies and planets and enslaved the populaces. They, (the "Psychs") introduced religious concepts and symbols and incorporated them into their electronic mind-control techniques. The Church invests a substantial amount of manpower and finances into their Holy War to expose and exterminate Hubbard's ancient enemies. In the 1950's, Hubbard wrote a series of newsletter about his technical "discoveries" and called them PABS (Professional Auditor Bulletins). In PAB 31 Hubbard writes: "Religion does much to keep the assumption in restimulation, being basically a control mechanism used by those who have sent the preclear into a body. You will find the cross as a symbol all over the universe, and the Christ legend as implant in preclears a million years ago." In the same article, Hubbard's infers that Jesus Christ was an agent of a mind-control organization that was imported to Earth: "A few operating thetans -scarcity- could lead to trouble. Witness the chaos resulting from the activities and other determinism technology of one operating thetan, 2,000 years ago. It is despicable and utterly beneath contempt to tell a man he must repent, that he is evil. Those who talk most about peace on earth and good-will among men themselves carry forward the seas of unrest, war and chaos." Hubbard claimed that he was Guatama Siddharta, the founder of Buddhism. In "Hymn of Asia" he stated that he addressed the Buddhist Congress in London in 1955 and inferred he was the future Buddha that was predicted in the Pali Canon. In Certainty magazine, Vol.5, No. 10, he writes of his achievements as the Buddha, and positions himself as a contender with Jesus Christ. "Two and a half thousand years ago a handful of clears civilized half a billion people. What if we were all clear. Neither Lord Buddha nor Jesus Christ were OT's according to the evidence. They were just a shade above clear." In HCO bulletin of 18 July 1959 Hubbard wrote as a "Historical Note", "The whole christian movement is based on the victim. Compulsion of the overt-motivator sequence. They won by appealing to victims. We can win by converting victims. Christianity succeeded by making people into victims. We can succeed by making victims into people." Hubbard's criticism of Christian confessionals is utter hypocriscy, in view of his organization's policy of leaking the contents of confessionals and transgressions culled from the confidential records of dissident present and former church members. In HCO bulletin 21 Jan 1960 he writes, "Some Churches used a mechanism of confession. This was a limited effort to relieve a person of the pressure of his overt acts. Later the mechanism of confession was employed as a kind of blackmail by which increased contribution could be obtained from the person confessing." Hubbard continued his "research" on the insidious genesis of Christianity and in the "Heaven" bulletin of 11 May 1963 he released his latest "objective" findings which were: "Based on over a thousand hours of research auditing, analyzing the facsimiles of the reactive mind, and with the help of a Mark V Electrometer. It is scientific research and is not in any way based upon the mere opinion of the researcher...The contents of this HCO bulletin discover the apparent underlying impulses of religious zealotism and the source of the religious mania which terrorized Earth over the ages and has given religion the appearance of insanity." In his much touted 1950 book, "Dianetics, the Modern Science of Mental Health", Hubbard asserted that "engrams" were the root cause of ALL human abberations and psychosomatic illnesses. With his news discoveries of what transpired in Heaven, Hubbard offered a new cause of the human dilemma. "The Goals-Problems-Mass (GPM) implants, which are the apparent basic source of abberation and human travail, which began with the goal to Forget, were cynically done `in Heaven'. Hubbard dismissed the concerns of some members about his disparagement and cyncism about other religions, " For a long while, some people have been cross with me for my lack of co-operation in believing in a Christian Heaven, God and Christ. I have never said I didn't disbelieve in a Big Thetan but there was certainly something very corny about Heaven et al. Now I have to apologize. There was a Heaven. Not too unlike, in cruel betrayal, the heaven of the Assassins in the 12th Century who, like everyone else, dramatized the whole track implants - if a bit more so. The symbol of the crucified Christ is very apt indeed. It's the symbol of a thetan betrayed." Hubbard describes the incident as occuring 43+ trillion years ago. The stunned thetan was placed in a doll body and transported to Heaven in a ship. Over a period of one trillion years, the thetan was giving a series of electronic implants, containing the phrases To Forget, To Remember, To Go Away. Hubbard described the terrain of Heaven, "The gates of the first series are well done, well built. An avenue of statues of saints leads up to them. The gate pillars are surmounted by marble angels. The entering grounds are very well kept, laid out like Bush Gardens in Pasadena, so often seen in the movies. Aside from the implant boxes which lie across from each other on the walk there are other noises and sounds as though the saints are defending and berating." "The second series, probably in the same place, shows what a trillion years of overt acts does (or is an additional trick to collapse one's time). The place is shabby. The vegetation is gone. The pillars are scruffy. The saints have vanished. So have the angels. A sign on one (the left as you enter) says `This is Heaven'. The right has a sign "Hell" with an arrow and inside the grounds one can see the excavations like archaeological diggings with the raw terraces, that lead to "Hell". Plain wire fencing encloses the place. There is a sentry box beside and outside the right pillar. The roadway `leading up' to the gates is deeply eroded. An effigy of Joseph, complete with desert clothing is seen approaching the gates (but not moving) leading a donkey which `carries' the original Madonna and child from `Bethlehem'. The implanting boxes lie on either side of this `entering' path at path level." Hubbard concluded: "Further, we have our hands on an appalling bit of technology where the world is concerned. With rapidity and a Meter it can be shown that Heaven is a false dream and that the old religion was based on very painful lie, cynical betrayal." Hubbard was living in England at the time and his "breakthrough" was considered of major significance. His discovery of Heaven inspired the "poet laureate" of Scientology , Julian Cooper, to write: "They that worship Jesus nailed upon a cross above an altar, While an old priest chants.... Do they know what they worship? Do they know why they worship? Can they recognize what they worship? Bondage of unconfronted facsimiles implanted so as to control and invalidate, is what they worship." Hubbard abandoned Dianetics as the solution to an Un-Clear world after his discovery of the Heaven incident and the nature of the Goals-Problems-Mass implant. He spent the next five years "researching" the pattern of the implants and in 1967-68 he made another series of "discoveries" which are now know as "OT2" and "OT3". Hubbard wrote voluminous notes on the command phrases contained in the GPM implants, which he claimed were universal in nature. Church members undergoing initiation on these levels are required to mentally repeat these phrases until their effects are nullified. Hubbard's "major" breakthrough in this period was his discovery that human bodies are actually the result of the melding of thetans during a psychiatrically-inspired implant 76 million years ago. Hubbard wrote that a galactic despot, Xenu, rounded up the population of 76 planets in this sector of the galaxy and transported them to Earth, placed them in volcanoes, and exploded H-bombs, then subjected them to 36 days of electronic implanting, including the "Christianity" and "Heaven" implant. This incident created "Body Thetans" (BT/s), beings who were attached to other beings or human beings. They monitor one's thought and impede one's life. Hubbard developed a technique for exorcizing these Body Thetans. In 1978 Hubbard made another "Breakthrough!" which he called NOTS (New-Era Dianetics for OTs). Hubbard developed new techniques for dealing with BTs who were comatose or did not respond to his 1968 exorcizing techniques. Hubbard claimed that a human body was actually a mass of BTs who were comatose and diseases were simply BTs who were acting against the person. Hubbard claimed that eradicating these BTs from on or near the body would result in the creation of a Supra-Human, an Operating Thetan, capable of telepathic and telekinetic powers, without the need for a human body. Following the government raids of Hubbard's Secret Intelligence offices; he went into hiding, never publically to be seen again. In May 1980 he wrote the OT VIII, Confidential, Student Briefing bulletin wherein he summarized his ancient role in the never-ending fight against the psychiatric implanters. He writes: "With the exception of the original Buddhism, virtually all religions of any consequence on this planet, mono- and pantheistic alike, have been instruments to speed the progress of the "evolution of consciousness" and bring about the eventual enslavement of mankind." Hubbard re-states his claim of his prior existence as the Buddha and remarks about Christ and Christianity: "for those of you whose Christian toes I may have stepped on, let me take the opportunity to disabuse you of some lovely myths. For instance, the historic Jesus was not nearly the sainted figure he has been made out to be. In addition to being a lover of young boys and men, he was given to uncontrollable bursts of temper and hatred that belied the general message of love, understanding and other typical Marcab PR. You have only to look at the history his teachings have inspired to see where it all inevitably leads. It is historic fact and yet man still clings to the ideal, so deep and insidious is the biological implanting." It should be pointed out that some present and former church members have disputed the authenticity of this bulletin and claimed that it was a "forgery" written to "embarass" the church. Church officials have remained silent about it. The authenticity of the statements should be evaluated in the light of Hubbard's previous statements about the subject matter. His defamatory remarks about people's sexual habits are part of a long pattern in his dealings with people he considered his "enemies". Church members, staff and public, who have been exposed to Hubbard's "Upper Levels" writings are required to sign non-disclosure agreements for the rest of their lifes, in or outside of the Church. The Church has registered Hubbard's Upper Level exorcism techniques as its "trade secrets". The Church agressively attacks former members who discuss Hubbard's techniques. In statements made to the media after a former Church minister; Dennis Erlich, posted essays critical of Hubbard's doctrines; Karin Pouw, Church of Scientology International Public Relations Director said: "He deliberately defiled them in the computer, equivalent of desecrating a House of Worship with offensive graffiti." On 13 Feb 1995, the Church obtained a writ of seizure from a Federal Court and seized files and computer disks from Erlich's residence, alleging Erlich had "infringed" on their copyrights and violated the terms of the non-disclosure of trade secrets agreement that he executed when he was a church member in 1978. Commenting to the media after the raid, Warren L. McShane, president of the Religious Technology Center, the Keeper of Hubbard's copyrights and trade secrets, reiterated the necessity of keeping Hubbard's techniques away from the minds of the uninitiated: "McShane said the church had every right to agressively protect its text. And, he said, certain advanced texts could "do harm" if studied by people not yet deemed ready for them by church officials. `It's like jumping in an 18-wheeler and not knowing how to drive," McShane said, adding, "Spiritually, a person has to be ready for it." Joe