I'm Back

This is my first post in almost two years. I have been extremely busy building my growing business and I have been to the Flag Land Base spiritual retreat several times since my last posting. Since returning, I have had the opportunity to read some of the books in L. Ron Hubbard's Basic Book series. I am really enjoying revisiting some of these books as well as reading a few I never read. While reading these books, I kept thinking how if people want to find out more about Scientology, they should avail themselves of these writings and recorded lectures.

In this day of fast-food learning, it has become much more convenient for people to learn about a subject by hearing what others have to say about it rather than get the real data from the "horse's mouth." This is what inspired me to start up this blog again. I'm looking forward to posting regularly again. See you in a couple of days...

I Read the News Today, Oh Boy

I conducted an experiment recently. I stopped watching the news and reading newspapers (I was reading up to three papers a day) and after a few days of withdrawal (okay, I'm a news junkie), I started feeling better in many ways. I noticed a decrease in a general feeling of crankiness, I literally felt happier and I started loving my fellow drivers in Los Angeles (okay, I made that one up).

I have been a Scientologist for over 25 years and have read on the Volunteer Ministers Course L. Ron Hubbard (LRH) referring to (some of) those in the media as Merchants of Chaos. I have had some friends recommend over the years that I wean myself from the mainstream media, these Merchants of Chaos, but I didn't buy it. I was a big enough man to be able to watch or read all the death and destruction that's fit to print or show on a TV screen without it affecting me. Having tried this experiment, I now see what LRH and my friends were referring to. I really can't believe (nor will I admit to my friends who bugged me about it for years) how much better I feel. Scanning my radio this morning for some good tunes, I had a temporarily relapse and stopped on the 24 hour news station. I immediately felt my anger and crankiness come back so I quickly turned to a soft-jazz station to help me calm down.

My suggestion to you is to conduct an experiment like I did - stop watching the news and reading the newspapers for a couple of weeks and see if you feel any differently. Who knows, you might even start liking your fellow drivers on the freeways.

The Bashing of Tom Cruise

Recently, many in the media have ganged up on Tom Cruise. I don't think there's been this level of celebrity-bashing since Fatty Arbuckle's incident with an under-age girl. Why this level of attack? What did Tom do? Does he deserve the slings and arrows of the press? Let's examine it:

1. He jumped for joy over his new love on the Oprah show. So what? Why would you bash somebody for unabashedly (pun intended) expressing his love.

2. He did battle with Matt Lauer on the Today Show for being glib about such an important subject - psychiatry's over-drugging of people they have created diseases for in order to sell them drugs. These very same drugs that now carry very serious warning labels. These very same "diseases" that psychiatrists claim are based on chemical imbalances in the brain, even though several days after the interview, the head of the American Psychiatric Association came out and said there are really no tests for determining this supposed "chemical imbalance.

3. He publicly chastised Brooke Shields for touting the wonders of antidepressants in handling post-partum depression, a "disease" that was created by the APA so they could sell more of their drugs. He never denied that women suffer from the "baby blues" but suggested that perhaps what we're really dealing with is a hormonal imbalance which can be treated nutritionally and naturally, without subjecting the new mother to these dangerous drugs.

4. He is "touting" his religion, Scientology. Is this any different than singers, when accepting their Grammy awards, thank Jesus or God? Like these "believers" who want to share their religious experiences with everyone because they feel the world would be a better place if more people subscribed to their beliefs, Tom has had experiences with Scientology that he feels very strongly about and truly believes that if the more people experienced what he has in Scientology, the world would be a better place.

5. He has been all over the world recently, promoting his new film. Some say he is overexposing himself. Doing what, his job? Not only is he the star of the film, but he is also a co-producer and he'd doing everything he can to make sure the movie is a success. Would you not want this kind of employee working for you?

So what's the deal here? It seems that every media outlet I turn to, Mr. Cruise is getting a public bashing. Doesn't this seem like too much ammunition to use to "kill" one actor? Why is there so much firepower aimed at one actor? Perhaps he's ruffled the feathers of a few folks? Could the pharmaceutical industry, the APA, the media outlets that accept money for pharmaceutical ads and others who fear the rapid worldwide spread of Scientology be too far behind this attack on one of the most successful actors of all time? Could it be that as Scientology spreads and people find out the truth about psychiatry and their barbaric practices, it will be the end of the road for them?

Something to think about. And, Something can be Done About it.

The Whole Truth and Nothing but the Truth

What is the truth? Is it what you read in the newspapers? Could it be what you watch on TV news? Perhaps it's what you read in the tabloids while waiting at the grocery checkout?

I don't know about you, but I can't believe anything I read in the newspapers or see on the TV news any more. I won't even give the rags (tabloids) a glance, no matter how bored I might be in the checkout line. I read several newspapers daily (while on the treadmill) so I have an interesting perspective on the subject. Two of the publications are considered to have a Liberal bias by many and the other has more of a Conservative slant. I remember back when news was news and opinions were saved for the Op-Ed pages. Now, so many news items are slanted to reflect the bias of the publication or to appease the advertisers who are supporting the publications or newscasts with their advertising dollars. Opinion and rumor become hard news which becomes imprinted in the impressionable minds of the public.

How many of your opinions are shaped by what you read in the newspaper or hear or see on the news? Have you ever had a thought or opinion about something and not know where it's coming from? You might be able to trace it back to a "news" story you read.

Case in point - I heard some local radio jocks today talking about Tom Cruise and they were all over his case about couch-jumping and his well-publicized Today show interview with Matt Lauer. They were all over him until one of the jocks stopped and said he didn't even know why he was attacking Tom. He actually said he didn't think the media has treated Tom fairly. After giving it some thought, he changed the subject. Here's a good example of somebody examining the facts and seeing that his opinion was totally swayed by the media's ganging up on Tom.
My studies in Scientology have taught me how to evaluate information to determine the reliability of the data. Many people regard the written word as gospel, no matter the source. Take a close look - you'll find newspaper articles filled with hearsay, rumor and speculation. Do you accept that as fact? Maybe you should take a closer look.

Break the Circle

I am often amused about the "Status Quo" and the urge of many to keep it as such. I have never been one to do anything "because everybody else is doing it." I think my parents broke me of these urges whenever I wanted to do something (usually of a non-survival nature) because somebody else was doing it. When my mother would confront me on something I shouldn't have been doing and I said it was because (Johnnie) was doing it, she always countered with, "If (Johnnie) jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you?"

My parents always taught me to think for myself and I thank them profusely for that. I take a look around at today's society and see many people robotically going through life. It reminds me of the scene in the Turkish prison in the excellent movie "Midnight Express in which the prisoners were walking in a circle in a room and Billy Hayes tried to walk the other way and break the "trance" of the other prisoners. They just couldn't have him walking the other way - they did everything they could to make sure he didn't ruin the pattern. Eventually he broke from the circle and that was the beginning of him coming to his senses again.

Are you walking around in a circle? Do you study the information you get from the media before you accept it as gospel or do you assume it's true because it's coming from the media? When you hear commercials for some new wonder drug that "everybody's taking", do you ask your doctor for a prescription or do you investigate the drug and its side effects? Do you try to find out if there's any scientific evidence that the drug will do what the commercial claims? Do you accept that a disease has genetic origins just because the "experts" claim it exists or do you actually do some research on the subject?

In Scientology, I have learned to think for myself. If you've been "walking in the circle," you have probably heard some negative opinions of Scientology and Scientologists. Have you ever attempted to learn anything about the subject first-hand? Have you ever actually met a Scientologist? If not, you need to "break out of the circle" and get some first-hand information. You should meet some Scientologists. You will be amazed that your own perception of the religion and its adherents once you have had first-hand experience will be quite different than the perception fed to you by the media.

Break the circle

Naming the Diseases

I have been reading with interest news articles financially linking the mental health "experts" who get to name mental "disorders" every year (in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Health) with the pharmaceutical companies that manufacture the drugs that "cure" these diseases.

I have also been wondering why this story that impacts millions of people is being kept under tight wraps by the major news media. Could it be that the very same drug companies that "pay" for these studies have a strong influence with the major news media because of the billions they pay these media companies to advertise these miraculous "cures?

Just a thought.

For the truth about who's being paid to name the "mental diseases of the year," go to the CCHR (Citizen's Commission on Human Rights) website by clicking here.

Noise About Quiet Birth

It never ceases to amaze me how "the media" can make a mountain out of a molehill. Case in point the recent "Quiet Birth" announced by Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes. It must really be a quiet news period if this story can garner so much media attention. What's next? Here are a couple of ideas if the media bigwigs run out of them:

• "Thirteen year old boy forced to wear uncomfortable suit, prayer shawl and head covering while chanting ancient readings in front of his friends and family."
• "People line up to be fed wafers and wine at church service."
• "Factory production closes down while workers all kneel on rugs facing the same direction."

My intention is not to make less of anybody's religious practices, but to show the folly of the news media. How you can take a simple religious belief or practice and blow it up into the story of the day is beyond my comprehension. First of all, I respect everybody's religious beliefs, whether (as in the examples above) Judaism, Catholicism or Islam. As a Scientologist and a Jew, I have experienced religious bigotry firsthand and would never even think of questioning somebody else's religious practices. As a Scientology Volunteer Minister, I am committed to helping all people, no matter their religion or race.

How can you help? First of all, if you are guilty of joking or spreading rumors about others' religions, stop doing so immediately. If you hear others doing the same thing, ask them if they're religious bigots. Most people would say no and would realize the potential damage they're doing by passing on bigoted statements or joke.

And, most of all, respect others' religious beliefs.