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Russian court bans "extremist" Scientology literature
By Jeff MillsJuly 2nd, 2011, 3:15 pmComments (57)
Who would have imagined Scientology pamphlets being passed around as samizdat in 2011 Russia? But that may happen soon as a Moscow court recently ruled that works such as What is Scientology? and other books by hack sci-fi writer L. Ron Hubbard are "extremist," and will be placed on a federal list of extremist materials deemed unfit for Russian consumption.
This latest legal ruling will give Scientologists pause, after celebrating last month's victory in having the Russian Justice Ministry overturn a similar ban by a Siberian court. Russia's dominant Orthodox Church criticized the kooky organization as being a dangerous "totalitarian sect" back in 2001. (For the record, that statement also encompassed Jehovah's Witnesses, Unificationists, and Mormons.)
Today, in the U.S., Scientology is a legally-recognized, tax-exempt religion. Countries such as Canada, France, Germany, and the U.K. do not share that recognition. Scientology is basically an off-shoot of Hubbard's earlier self-help book, Dianetics, cropping up in the early '50s as a way of rehabilitating people spiritually. Ironically, the word "Scientology" was originally coined by author Allen Upward in his 1908 self-published book, The New Word: On the meaning of the word Idealist, to convey the idea of blind, unthinking belief in scientific doctrine. You know, like being brainwashed. Imagine if the whole movement turned out to be one big in-joke by Hubbard? If it is a religion, it seems like a pretty secular one to me, although they do have a concept of God expressed as the "Eighth Dynamic," or the urge toward existence as infinity.
Talk of "E-meters" and "auditing," of "clears" progressing to "Operating Thetans" and such does sound a little mumbo-jumboish to many, and the anti-psychiatric stance and cult-like trappings are obvious. But people shouldn't necessarily have a problem with goofy language or rituals; those charges could be leveled at almost all religions. People should have a problem with uninvited goon squads harassing defectors, as well as troubled and greedy individuals who pervert teachings.
Another problem, obviously, is our widespread tabloid culture that force feeds us sound and image bites that dismiss deeper reflection. If people were to learn more about Scientology, Tom Cruise might not be perceived by many as that cartoon action-movie hero who exuberantly jumped on Oprah's couch, and scolded Brooke Shields for taking pills for post-partum depression or something. Doesn't Brooke know that doing stuff like that will seriously cripple her chances of attaining the "Seventh Dynamic?"
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Commentarium (57 Comments)
Hey Jeff, who would have thought you could start all of your articles with a rhetorical question?
Is there a more annoying writing style?
Is there anyone more annoying than John Son?
We should all be fearful of banning "extremist" speech. If it's truly extremist, free people will see it as such and reject it.
Yeah, I remember when free people realized how "extreme" it was to have a president who claimed that God told him to bomb Iraq. It was a great day for America.
In this case, "fear" is for pussies. The First Amendment isn't going anywhere, and neither is the Second, Publius. However, morons claiming to be experts on any subject should be vilified and humiliated within a public forum such as this. Why? Maybe for the hope that they might educate themselves or grow a pair enough to admit that they don't know WTF they are talking about. One only hopes...
Could you reference the claim that God told him to bomb Iraq? Just curious how deeply your delusion runs.
I hope you're correct. "Concern" might have been more accurate. We can only hope those everyone, morons included, become more educated as to what's important. It's unlikely that will happen here though.
@jr - The First Amendment is under attack by those who would impose "hate speech" codes. The Second Amendment is always under attack, consider what's going on in Chicago. The Tenth is a dead letter, at least until the State's seize back the powers seized from them.
Don't be too hard on yourself. Your faith in the Constitution doesn't qualify you as a moron, although I think you're far too naive about the fragility of Constitutional protections. For the latter, it's safe to say you're not well enough informed to know "WTF" you're talking about. Still, you should feel free to comment.
Here's an interesting link:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/topstory/7630537.html
@jr - Happy Fourth of July!
Publius, I doubt you're aware of this, but you are really just proving my point. Fear is what binds conservatives together. Fear of race, religion, sexuality, science, nationality, etc. ad nauseam. Your rich, corporate overlords know that fear and misinformation is the best way to distract conservative lemmings from critical thinking or logical discourse. How else would they get you to vote against your own personal interests over and over?
On second thought, Publius, maybe you guys were just born that way. :) "A study at University College London in the UK has found that conservatives' brains have larger amygdalas than the brains of liberals. Amygdalas are responsible for fear and other "primitive" emotions. At the same time, conservatives' brains were also found to have a smaller anterior cingulate -- the part of the brain responsible for courage and optimism."
Ha! Good one, jr. "Rich corporate overlords!" "Fear is what binds conservatives together!"
Really, too, too funny. I guess I could say that left-wingers/socialists/etc just want to wield power over others but I don't want to be as lazy as that.
Smaller amygdalas? Oh, my.
I think it's safe to assume that liberals suffer from undersized amygdalas. Do not be saddened though - I'm sure medical science will address Liberal Undersized Amagdyla Syndrome soon.
Take heart that capitalism will soon offer a solution.
Publius, maybe you need to read that quote again: Large Amygdalas are responsible for fear and other primitive emotions. It would be hilarious if "Obama Care" cured your fear of "Obama Care".
I read it. It does not address the proper size of an amygdala. Also, note that capitalism will cure you, not a clumsy attempt to seize a sizable percentage of the US economy.
Whoops, sorry for the straw man. I now realize that there was no discussion of a "proper" size of an amygdala to begin with, and therefore my rebuttal is meaningless. The entire point hinged on the *relative* size of the amygdala, which I completely glossed over, probably because I was too scared of being attacked from behind by an illegal immigrant homosexual liberal who was out to "glitter" me.
Publius is correct. The implication is that an "oversized" amygdala causes problems but without a "proper" size being defined, it is as likely that conservative's amygdalas are properly sized.
You have to give it to Publius - he is undoubtedly one of the smartest and bravest posters on nerve.
Except I'm still wrong, because I still can't wrap my edumacated-to-the-point-of-dementia noggin around the notion of *relative size* which is the crux of the entire point. Comparing the relative size of the amygdala in conservatives and liberals, a pattern emerges, and when examined in light of what medical science knows about cognitive function and neural pathways, that pattern indicates that the brains of conservatives tend towards the biologically fearful, while the brains of liberals tend towards the opposite. Gotta run, I think I see some glitter.
lol, nope the "relative size" is not a point of the article. Read it again, sniffer.
Publius, I imagine you were thinking "bigger is better" but realized it wasn't the case?
"A study at University College London in the UK has found that conservatives' brains have larger amygdalas than the brains of liberals. "
I keep pretending I'm not trolling, but am I really so stupid that I can't extract the "relative size" facet of this statement? I just might be.
lol. Yes, the relative size was the entire point of the article. And causality, surprisingly, was proven.
Now back to the basement while I try to figure out why I correspond with someone who has the analytical abilities of an eighth grader and the writing skills of a fifth grader.
The answer as to why you correspond with me is obvious: because you envy me and how correct I'm proven to be.
PS There's *jr's* point and *the article's* point. Why you can't separate those might be related to you being a sniveling troll, or it might be related to you being a poopyhead. I can't figure it out.
PPS Your mom wears Army boots.
Publius, is it true? Does Mommy wear Army boots? Or is that another one of your lies, like when you said we'd play doctor and you needed to insert your probe up my bum?
Warning: This thread contains a comment or comments that may incorrectly be interpreted as legitimate incitements - and I really do think that's the proper use of the word! - to genuine discourse. Do not be fooled, despite how stupid I believe you to be.
Nerve Troll Alert = jock sniffer.
Proceed to engage the jock sniffer at your own risk and expense, as past performance indicates that the jock sniffer lives in his mother's basement, thinks he has literary talents and will construct ridiculous arguments at the drop of a hat. The jock sniffer will persist in thinking he's smarter than everyone else, despite evidence to the contrary, beyond the capacity of any individual person ("any individual person," literary genius!) is with a social life to respond.
Publius? Boson Higgs? John Son? tsuru?
On the one hand, I hate Scientology because it exposes the ugly underbelly of capitalism. On the other hand, I love it because it's a rare example of something that people despise more than my 24 hour troll mission.
Good one, jr! Now back to sniffing jocks for you!
That wasn't me, Publius.
It was me. In the study. With the pipe. It's nice to know our little troll punching bag Pooby Poob can't tell who's hitting him though.
@PubliusAntidote: It does make for some hilarious entertainment. I think Publius needs to get more inventive with his other fake names though. I swear he's starting to have some conversations with himself sometimes?
Wow, jr, that's an argument you made recently when you were using the "Publius" nick. Are you sure your undersized amygdala isn't causing other problems? Or perhaps it's other undersized body parts?
That would be pretty funny if it were true.
OK, it's true. I've been pretending to be several people, PubliusAntidote, Nerve Troll Alert and several others.
Nice try, Publius.
That you expect us to believe you don't pat yourself on the back with sockpuppets all damn day is one thing, but that you accuse several other people of being the same person is another. A completely hilarious "another."
Newsflash: more than one person is sick of your fallacious logic and moronic smarm. You may picture yourself as some sort of conservative Johnny Appleseed for all I know, but the picture of conservatives you paint for the rest of the world is a bleak one.
It's all one person and you know it. You want to be taken seriously, get into the debate. If you were a serious person, you'd find no need to impersonate others, no matter how much you secretly admire them.
No one can debate the unwilling, and you demonstrate an unfailing aversion to debate by ignoring facts, winging baseless assertions, employing every logical fallacy in the book, and generally being an ass. I don't know jr from Adam, and while there may be no acceptable way to conclusively prove that to you, that's irrelevant -- we're both enjoying this a lot more than you are. And that's about the best we can hope for with your ridiculous robo-troll excuse for an existence stinking up the comments.
@Publiushh: Who is Adam?
It's a figure of speech. When you "don't know from Adam" it means you don't know them at all.
Ahhh. Gotcha. Keep up the good work, sir!
And "Publiushh" translates as "the Publius wannabe who lives in his mother's basement."
Stay strong, sniffer! We're all pulling for you to get well.
Because if you want to be like me, the first step is living in your mother's basement. Got it?
Stop talking about me like I don't exist!
I really do not understand why this article was so sympathetic to Scientology. They are a cult. They prevent members from staying in relationships with non-members, including family. They require huge monetary contributions to achieve higher levels of access to sacred texts. And they prevent people from getting medical help they need, moreso than even Jehovah's witnesses and their blood transfusion thing.
TL;DR they are a dangerous cult, we don't have to treat them like they're just as rational and worthwhile as any other religion.
Scientology is no different than any other religion. All religions are high-octane belief systems that strive to erect a boundary between those that adhere and those that don't. It's a vestigal trait that evolution hasn't managed to dispense with yet. We developed it as a survival mechanism, but it's now anachronistic and only sows hatred amongst us.
Citing facts for me is like speaking Pig Latin to a member of an undiscovered tribe. It's good that you did this for all the people who bother to check facts and rely on them to form opinions, though not so good for close-minded bigoted trolls like myself.
Ha! Did you even read those citations, John Son? Publius is still kicking your ass.
er... I want to have whatever you're smoking.
I know, right? His delusions run the gamut: from grandeur to grammar and everything in between.
WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON
I could be wrong, but from what I gather "Publius" (one of many aliases) is one guy who's conservative echo chamber is being turned against him by one or more other people. It can be confusing sometimes, but still pretty funny. I'd bet money that he probably won't like this comment and will hijack my "jr" to reply.
No, Publius is one of the wisest commenters on the site. He has convinced me that it's time to stop living life with my head up my ass.
Thank you, Publius, thank you very much.
Ha! That response proved two points all in one comment.
I mean, you're all liars! Uh - except me, when I'm posting... as... me. Ah. Er... fuck you all!