Interview with the author.... The thing I find most interesting is how far he (L Ron Hubbard) takes the idea that "we" (he actually) are "broken" or "wounded" and need to be mended. The same ideas appear in a lot of religions but in the context of Scientology we can clearly see that he IS broken, wounded and outright nuts.
I suspect the same is true of the foundational beliefs of other religions. Certainly Joseph Smith was just as nuts.
http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/fa/2013/01/20130124_fa_01.mp3?dl=1 (http://pd.npr.org/anon.npr-mp3/npr/fa/2013/01/20130124_fa_01.mp3?dl=1)
And a very cool mix of recording of L Ron Hubbard with a funky back beat...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI39MTtpKpg (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GI39MTtpKpg)
And the recordings of L Ron himself...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyemWoc7Cuc (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyemWoc7Cuc)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9DZBPTgMio (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9DZBPTgMio)
Quote from: BikerDude on January 25, 2013, 08:11:05 AM
The thing I find most interesting is how far he (L Ron Hubbard) takes the idea that "we" (he actually) are "broken" or "wounded" and need to be mended.
It's so pervasive a thing... we are regularly told that we are toxic in mind and body, and if we spend our money in certain ways we will be cleansed and healed and made whole and happy.
I do herbal medicine (on an amateur basis) and routinely encounter people who believe that their bodies are toxic and must be cleansed. They often complain of feeling tired and emotionally flat, and they blame parasites and chemicals for it. They'll take laxatives to shit their brains out on Friday, and spend the weekend fasting, and when they feel better on Monday they attributed it to having shat their brains out. The real reason is having spent the weekend at home, quietly doing nothing. The downtime.
But, as Twain said, it is easier to fool people than it is to convince them that they've been fooled.
Old father hubbard just patched anything together that served his purpose. Religious dudes love to prey on the vulnerable. That's how the whole 12-step movement got started.