Scientology or Above others-ology?

The symbol for Scientology and at first glance, one may ask… “What in the heck does that mean?” However, as the image tells you, it stands for the things that are a main staple in the religion. 

Also, The cross of Scientology:

has 8 points, which stand for the eight dynamics of Scientology. 1. The self. 2. Creativity, sex, procreation. 3. Group, society, community. 4. Species Survival. 5. Life forms in general. 6. Matter. 7. Spirit. 8. Infinity of the Supreme Being.

What is scientology? For some, you may know this answer, however, I didn’t know what this religion was, even after we saw the video of Tom Cruise talking about it. Scientology is a religion that offers a precise path leading to a complete and certain understanding of one’s true spiritual nature and one’s relationship to self, family, groups, Mankind, all life forms, the material universe, the spiritual universe and the spiritual being. (scientology.org) Scientology like most religions has a system of beliefs that they follow adamantly. It was created in 1952 by science fiction and fantasy author, L. Ron. Hubbard

            Man is an immortal being.

            His experience extends well beyond a single lifetime.

            He capabilities are unlimited, even if they aren’t presently realized.

While I was navigating through the scientology website, I noticed that almost every link you clicked on there was a video to explain what you needed. Also, in one of the videos someone had mentioned that inside the church there are video clips that explain concepts and someone just has to push a button and they can learn about the concept in a short two minutes.

 Scientology presents itself as a very technologically driven group of people. I mean look at that piece of technology they are presenting to the public. And not to mention they had multiples of these throughout the building. Technology is an important practice throughout this religion because it is the methods of applying the principles of something, as opposed to mere knowledge of the thing itself. This is important in Scientology because they are applying the beliefs they have to their lives, and within that application they are bringing those beliefs to life, and into practice, and they are following through with the methods of Scientology.
 

Even in the designs of the churches, it’s different than most churches that I have seen.

One the top is a picture of the Cathedral Bassilica in Saint Louis, Missouri and on the bottom is a picture of a Church of Scientology located in Spain.

From the two pictures listed above, I get the idea that the Church of Scientology is purposely avoiding the universal designs of typical churches such as the arched doorways, and stained glass windows, and possibly domes on the top of the buildings. The Church of Scientology doesn’t show any arched doorways and it has normal windows. Also, while the top image seems to look more like a castle, the bottom image seems to start narrow and branches out, representing a need in a way for expansion. Also, something else I noticed was that in most catholic churches or churches in general, they typically have a dome located on the top at some point, and that to me represents a way of getting closer to God, or the higher power. However, the Church of Scientology doesn't do this. I think that if someone where to see these two very different designs that may not even consider the "church" of Scientology a church because of the grave differences that are obviously apparent. I think that the Church of Scientology purposely makes these distinctions so that they can consider themselves greatly different than other religions.  

In the video of Tom Cruise that we saw in class, I thought it was interesting the way he portrayed himself as a scientologist. He portrayed himself as a person who believes that he is the only one that can help. I find this slightly selfish, because what happens in the case where multiple scientologist show up at the scene, do they begin to argue over who is best fit to lend their assistance? I find that if someone in the future were to see the video posted below they would probably think that Scientology is a selfish religion that places themselves above others.

As soon as the video starts Cruise says, “I think it’s a privilege to call yourself a scientologist. And it’s something you have to earn.” Now, I do not know much about religion, but, I do know that you should not have to earn the right to be a member of a certain religion.

He also mentions that being a scientologist means that if you drive by an accident, you get out and help because you “know” you’re the only one who can help in that situation. However, I find it difficult to believe that they are the only ones who can help in a dire situation. For example, unless there is a doctor who is a scientologist, they can’t help someone who just had a heart attack. For this reason, I find it hard to believe that this “religion” does not place themselves above others and other religions.

People are going to have different views on the religion of Scientology. I believe that when looking at such a different religion than most people are used to, one shouldn't look at it with a closed mind. They should look at it as if it's something that their religion was like, so when they observe their symbols and reasoning, they can find a contextual purpose for it, and not just shun it off as if it has no importance. 

The Book of Abraham

Before I began reading the Book of Abraham, I thought back to a conversation that was mentioned during class about how it is hard to read a text such as the Book of Mormon, and this text included without having some sort of outside thinking coming into the situation.

Something I found interesting throughout the reading that I noticed really early on was that this book is not adding the use of –eth, onto the end of certain words like it did in the Book of Mormon and that to me, makes it seem like this is more of a present day text than the Book of Mormon.

The thing that I would pay attention to the most would be the language and the words that they are using because words can tell you a lot about the historical context of a document. The words in this document appear to be normal everyday language that we would use in today’s society. However, the thing that makes me contemplate the timing of this document is the way the words are arranged and the sentences that it uses. For example, “it came to pass,” which is used multiple times throughout the document, is not something that we would normally say.

Overall, I think it is hard to determine if this context was written when it has been said to be written, because certain aspects allow me to think that it is more of present day writing, like the wording of sentences. However, on the other hand, the way the words are arranged in some passages makes me think that it was written at an earlier date.  

Skepticism of Mormonism

While reading the Book of Mormon this week for class, I could not help but be skeptical of this. Maybe it’s because of my own biases and what I myself believe. I honestly, do not know what to believe when it comes to this book. I think that some aspects of this could be his own but at the same time, I find it really difficult to imagine that him at such a young age, 15 years old, could contemplate all of the ideas listed in this book.

                Smith says,

                “And I, being only fifteen years of age, and being somewhat of a sober mind, therefore I was visited of the Lord, and tasted, and knew of the goodness  of Jesus,” (529)

                This is skeptical to me because why out of all of the people that he shared a community with would the Lord pick a 15 year old boy? The fact that he states he was forbidden to preach unto to the people, makes me wonder if this really happened, or if he is just trying to make a case so that people will believe him about this “encounter.”

                I think that he wanted to be able to commit to a religion without having to go through the troubles of everything that he possibly would have had to go through at his age in the video that we saw so he took concepts that people had already been aware of and made them relate to him, and then spoke to the people about it, and they believed him and followed him. 

Jesus in America

            While I was reading The Third Book of Nephi, I thought it was interesting how the story was presented. Before Christ had visited the people, there was a storm, earthquakes, and darkness. The darkness lasted for 3 days and then the resurrection of Christ. A figure clothed in white descended from the sky, and presented himself to the people as Christ. I think this series of getting to the presence of Jesus Christ in the Americas is interesting in a sense that it took much damage and disaster to get him there.

            Something that stood out to me was when Smith writes,     

            “And it came to pass that the people began to wax strong in wickedness and abominations; and they did not believe that there should be any more signs or wonders given; and Satan did go about, leading away the hearts of the people, tempting them and causing them that they should do great wickedness in the land,” (463).

            This stood out to me because later on they are given a sign of Jesus Christ. That sign being him simply professing who he is. I find it a little odd, that seeing that Satan had corrupting them and made them believe that their shouldn’t be any more signs or things like that, they immediately believed the sign of Christ. This makes me wonder, if Satan really did corrupt the people, or if they simply let him believe that he did.

            As far as what in their world would be challenged, I’m not sure I can answer that without a biased answer. I’d answer it by saying how can they simply believe Jesus when he comes back and claims that, he is who is when, when they don’t really know that. I say this because, I was taught that Jesus was crucified in front of the people and when he came back, it was known who he was. But, Jesus appeared in the United States and they didn’t know who he was before. So, I guess, the thing I would challenge would be the fact that they believed Jesus was who he said he was. 

Misunderstanding throughout this Religion

For the first blog post regarding the Baha'i faith I'll admit I was confused as to exactly what the Baha'i stood for. While reading the book, my initial reaction to this faith was one that was contradictory. Some followers of this religion were very compassionate and stood for unity throughout the nations and other religions. And other followers did not stand for either of those principles at all.

            After our class discussion, I came to realize that this religion is not like that in any way. This religion in all aspects stands for unity throughout nations, religious practices, and choices, it stands for compassion, and the betterment of others in a way. During class on Wednesday I thought of a quote that I think can summarize a little of what this religion stands for,

“It’s freedom OF religion, not freedom FROM religion”.

This quote came to mind because it seems like the Baha’I do not care about what other people believe when it comes to religion, or if they believe in religion. This is very important I feel in today society because so many people look down on others if they don’t follow the same religion as them.

I honestly had never heard of this faith before class, and I find that a little bit surprising considering that it is the second most widespread religion after Christianity. I’m not one to understand all the nitty gritty about the well-known religions, but I think that some of the aspects of Baha’I should be integreated into some of those religions a little bit more. For example, the unity of nations and religions, a good number of religious people, mainly Catholics and Christians seem to shun people in a sense when it comes to others religious beliefs. I have nothing against these religions in any way, however, I think that some aspects of Baha’I would make the religions a little bit more approachable. 

Compassion in Baha

In the video it is mentioned at the very beginning that rage is expressed in religious terms, and that not many people can see the compassionate side of religion, or that it is not at the forefront of their attention. For the compassionate aspect mentioned, she mentions the golden rule. And people give their testimonies of people from religious backgrounds being compassionate towards them.

Different aspects of this religion support the arguments shown in the video, while some aspects contradict the arguments.

For example, when the brother passes away, Baha ‘u’ llah, tells the brother that his last wish would be as he desired. Baha ‘u’ llah is being compassionate towards what the brother wants. He seems to be very compassionate for other beings throughout this book. He told the messenger of his letter that his life could be in danger, and if he didn’t want to deliver the letter then he would find a different person to do so. Baha ‘u’ llah, seems to be very compassionate towards other people that admire him, and want to follow his religion.

On the contradictory side of this argument however, I’m not sure if the people who are in charge of watching the people who are imprisoned actually follow the religion, but, they are not very compassionate towards the followers themselves. They   would torture messengers when they wouldn’t give information that the felt they knew, when they didn’t know anything. Also, they wouldn’t allow anyone in or out of the prison in which people were being held, they weren’t allowed to bath but once a week. The people in charge of watching over the prisoners did not treat them like they would have wanted to be treated. They treated them very poorly and in my opinion inhumanly. 

The Jamaican Man

I will never look at Bob Marley the same after learning about the Rastafari.  Before I learned about this way of life, I just thought of Bob Marley as a guy with dreadlocks and who smoked a lot of pot. But, now, I hear Bob Marley and I think of a guy who cares about the way of life he has taken, and who is passionate about the things that his homeland has gone through and how they relate the Bible to their own lives.

In the song Buffalo Soldier, at the very beginning you hear the words, “Buffalo soldier, dreadlock rasta,” this to me makes it known that Bob Marley is extremely proud of his way of life.

 “Stolen from Africa, brought to America. Fighting on arrival, fighting for survival.”

This line makes me think of the captivity of Babylon, and how the homelands were destroyed and had to start over and had to fight for their lives to be rebuilt. Bob Marley uses it in the context to me, as being taken from Ethiopia and not wanting to leave, and fighting to get back to where they came from.

Whenever we were shown the cover for the album, “Exodus” we mentioned what we thought was interesting. I thought it was interesting how the title of the album was larger and more prominent than the artists name. That to me says that Bob Marley was more concerned about the story he was telling, than his name being known.

                        

In the song Exodus, the words, 

“Send us another brother Moses (Movement of Jah people!) From across the Red Sea!”

 Bob Marley took direct instances from the Bible and incorporated them into his music. He includes things from Christianity, and his own way of life, Jah.

Bob Marley was not just a guy who made music and smoked a lot of pot, like I originally thought. Bob Marley’s music was a way of sending out the messages of his way of life in a way that would make people want to listen.