What's All The Fuss About Scientology

I must admit I was never an admirer of Tom Cruise.Never understood what the big fuss was about him and his acting.Never liked either of them.My wife is a big fan of his....each to his own.But,it was with his name that I first heard of Scientology.I never bothered to read more about it as anything associated with Tom Cruise by default,earned my total disinterest.The only thing associated with him that I ever read about was Nicole Kidman.But that was when she looked like a woman.Now she looks very androgenous.Don't know if that's a desired effect or something else.Now coming back to Scientology,I thought it must be some science club.What else could you decipher of a name like Scientology? Then I was more perturbed by the reference "Church Of Scientology".A science church?I never gave it another thought.That was a couple of years back,but now I decided to enlighten myself on this news making entity,when I heard John Travolta was planning to exit Scientology,and how they were going to make it tough on him.Now,John Travolta I like.He's a natural actor,flies his own plane and is married to one of the most gorgeous women in Hollywood----Kelly Preston.It was very unfortunate what happened with his son.What a tragedy it is to loose your teenage son like that!

Now from what i understand,this whole Scientology thing was started by a science fiction writer Ron Hubbard.He wrote some beliefs and in his own words describes it as the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others, and all of life. One purpose of Scientology, as stated by the Church of Scientology, is to become certain of one's spiritual existence and one's relationship to God. One belief of Scientology is that a human is an immortal alien spiritual being, termed a thetan, that is trapped on planet Earth in a physical body.
It's believed that an individual should discover for himself that Scientology works by personally applying its principles and observing or experiencing desirable results. Also that a series of events, or incidents, occurred before life on earth, and also believe that humans have hidden abilities which can be unlocked.
In Scientology, the cosmic source or life force is represented by the Greek letter theta (Θ). Theta is meant to represent life or the life source, it is not part of the physical universe but it can control the universe. The individual expression of theta is called the thetan.
According to Scientologist mythology, thetans brought the material world into being largely for their own pleasure.Thetans are believed to have occupied innumerable bodies over time. This aspect of Scientology theology bears similarities to the Masonry, Hindu and Buddhist concept of reincarnation. Reincarnation in Scientology happens through a process called 'assumption'. The Scientology emphasis on the importance of present, consequence of past actions also resembles the concept of karma.
The Bridge to Total Freedom is the means by which Scientologists undertake personal spiritual development. The bridge has two sides: 'training' + 'processing'. Training is education in the religious principles of 'auditing'. Processing is the actual practice of 'auditing'.

It goes on and on about dynamics and practices and so on and so forth.I won't get into the details of all that.

Scientology has a rigid doctrine which discourages secondary interpretation of its writings.Emphasis is placed on keeping the writings in context.They believe in gradual learning of their doctrines.One central practice of Scientology is an activity known as auditing/listening which seeks to elevate a follower to a State of Clear, one of freedom from the influences of the reactive mind.

In his Chart of Human Evaluation Hubbard said that a man high in the chart has a strong interest in sex and the rearing of children. Hubbard described the sex emotion as a strong attention unit similar to a strong applause.I didn't quite understand that but then I'm not surprised.

The Church of Scientology has a requirement in order that every member sign a legal waiver document which covers their relationship with the Church of before engaging in Scientology services.Individual breakaway groups have been prosecuted and harassed,that have practiced Scientology outside the official Church without authorization.It's very autocratic and authoritarian.Then why crib about communism in China or Korea,when you have these organisations in a free country?

Now,I'm not sure as to why John Travolta may want to quit this cult like religion or sect or whatever you may please to call it.We,all know to some extent the kind of pressure and stress these Hollywood actors have to go through and how they all resort to some sort of addiction at some point or the other.From,what's been written in the tabloids,there are a lot of murky details in John's life which he'd rather not be made public.To the uninitiated,John's son was autistic and it's rumoured that the church of Scientology didn't believe he was and John just ignored them and did his own thing.There were rumours of him being gay and that his partner was the kid's nanny and blah blah blah.Now I would take all this with a pinch of salt,but it brings to the forefront,how powerful the cult religion has become.John Travolta is one of the biggest benefactor and one of the oldest.I believe he's been a member from as back as 1975.All I can say is that as a believer of God and him being the creator of the universe,it's really hard to believe that people can follow something that's man made.My prayers are with John,he's had a really hard time,and hope that he can make the right decision and be happy about it.In the absence of faith,people are easily misled into joining all kinds of groups offering them the path to salvation.Sometimes it's difficult to get out.Will John be able to get out?