The Shallow, Shiny Scientologist

I would like to preface this post by saying that I respect the fact that not everyone believes in God. That is your right. I am writing this today from my place as a Christian and for the purpose of rebutting a blog article written by a Scientologist with no care for the offense given. As Scientology claims it is a religion (it is NOT) I am answering from a religious standpoint.

There is a recent blog post on the STAND League’s website by a Shannon Burwell that is both naïve and insensitive at the very least. It is also an excellent example of the real lack of understanding by Scientologists for what religion is.

It can be found here in it’s entirety;

https://www.standleague.org/blog/how-science-helped-me-find-more-religion.html

In her post Shannon writes that through a 23andMe DNA test she “discovers” that she has some distant relationship with the Ashkenazi Jews.

“On one recent Christmas, my mother gave me a “23andMe” test. As I scanned down the results, I saw I was white, white, super-white, couldn’t be more white and

14.3% Ashkenazi

Wow!”

Suddenly she is Jewish.

“As soon as I learned, I announced on Facebook that my Jewish friends should welcome me to the tribe. I was so excited. I now had an entirely new group that I could call my own.”

Shannon, religion is not a club one joins for friends and fun. It is a calling. It is BELIEF in a person’s very soul. If you are going to call yourself a particular religion then you ascribe to that spirituality, you accept the fact that some things require faith and trust and you are ALL in.

DNA only identifies the fact that at some point in your family history someone with that heritage joined your ancestral lineage. It does not give you the right to claim that identity.

My ancestral lineage can be traced straight back to William The Conqueror but that doesn’t give me the right to a crown.

The Jewish people believe unconditionally that there is only ONE God. That belief alone means you cannot worship both God and Hubbard. There are thirteen core beliefs in Judaism including “The imperative to worship God and no false gods; all prayer should be directed only to God.”

Considering the Eighth Dynamic is ultimately that the Thetan is Immortal and The Creator with godlike powers, where does God fit in?

The Jewish people are still awaiting the coming of the Messiah.

Shannon, in your post you gush about how you “love Christmas”.

Why?

Is it because of the gifts and the music and the beautiful lights?

Is it because of the family get togethers and the big dinner?

Why, Shannon, do you “love Christmas”?

Christmas is the solemn celebration of the birth, in poverty and in persecution, of Jesus.

Your LRH wrote blasphemous and ugly things about the Christian Savior.

“For those of you whose Christian toes I may have stepped on, let me take the opportunity to disabuse you of some lovely myths. For instance, the historic Jesus was not nearly the sainted figure (he) has been made out to be. In addition to being a lover of young boys and men, he was given to uncontrollable bursts of temper and hatred…. You have only to look at the history his teachings inspired to see where it all inevitably leads. It is historic fact and yet man still clings to the ideal, so deep and insidious is the biologic implanting….”

All the fun and frolic aside, Christmas is about miracles and hope and salvation and FAITH.

Most of all it is about faith.

Faith in the fact that Jesus was born for one reason, to save Mankind from sin by shedding his blood on the cross. That without God and His redeeming Love we are lost.

No Christian OR Jew believes that we can save ourselves on our own.

Yet more beliefs that your Hubbard disparages and dismisses.

It seems to me, Shannon, that you miss entirely the point of religion. It seems to be a buffet for you, where you grab a plate and go down the line picking out what you find attractive and tasty whilst ignoring the meat of the meal.

That is not religion.

You want the enjoyment of the good parts without understanding or embracing where those things come from. You want the shallows without plumbing the depths.

As a STAND League member who claims to espouse freedom of religion and tolerance you seem to have absolutely no idea how your shallow appropriation of Christianity’s (and Jewish in your case) holiest symbols and celebrations while dismissing our core doctrines and beliefs is, frankly, offensive.

Your so called “church” displays a cross but you do not believe in what it MEANS.

For you it is just a pretty, religious thing on top of your buildings.

Scientology uses the Crucifix, the ultimate symbol of humility, in a show of proud defiance.

For a Christian it is the symbol of our salvation. That Jesus loved us so much, he died for us.

You believe that you do not need God for salvation. Hubbard dismissed God and religion as false implants. He first claimed Jesus did not exist, “there was no Jesus” and then he claimed Jesus was a pedophile.

You take our most holy of doctrines and use them as tools for your own agenda.

Shannon you are not a Christian. You are not a Jew. You have no understanding of what it means to be either. You certainly cannot be both. Jews do not celebrate Christmas and Christians believe in Jesus as Savior.

You are a Scientologist.

You take nothing on faith.

You have no true, sound spirituality other than in the end, Man is all there is.

You are in an organization that IS, not a religion that BELIEVES.

While you are running blindly forward in your smug superiority, touting freedom and inclusion and “Look at US! We are the superior religion! We have all the answers! We are the most ethical religion on the planet! Only Scientology can save Mankind!” you cannot even see that your words and actions achieve the very opposite.

“I love Christmas!”

“I’m a Jew!”

Both are religions that yearn towards God. Both recognize His Omnipotence.

You are a Scientologist to the exclusion of all else.

“Scientology is a very exact faith, and a fundamental doctrine of the religion is that it’s religious services must be orthodox. This doctrine holds that spiritual salvation can be attained if, and only if, the path to salvation outlined in the scripture’s religious technology is followed without deviation.”

—Church of Scientology International, I.R.S. Form 1023 Attachment

Shannon, for you and any other Scientologist who claims to be part of another religion I tell you this;

1. You are risking your precious Tax Exempt Status by claiming something diametrically opposed to one of the rules governing that status. By all means, please continue.

2. You cannot claim membership in or brotherhood with any other religion when your own teachings are heretical to the beliefs and doctrines of those other faiths.

3. Demanding that the world respect your so-called religion when you are so disrespectful, casual and callous towards the religion of others is hypocritical and selfish.

4. Just because you outwardly display the symbol or co-opt the practices of another faith does not make you of that faith. As the saying goes; “Going to Church doesn’t make you a Christian any more than standing in a garage makes you a car.”

“One of the main purposes of religion is to bring others closer together, and it does that.

This year, I intend to buy a menorah and light the candles each night. And I will celebrate Christmas just as enthusiastically.

And on the list of best Christmas presents I’ve ever received, finding out I’m a Jew is certainly towards the very top!”

With it’s practices of Knowledge Reports, Disconnection, Fair Game and declaring anyone who questions Scientology an enemy and Suppressive, Scientology does nothing to bring others closer together.

Bulling your way into the sacred beliefs of the rest of us is yet one more divisive behavior that shows how little you understand about the Faith of others.

When you buy your shiny new menorah, will you understand WHY you light each candle?

As you celebrate Christmas will you do so with humility and gratitude in your heart for God’s love for you? That He loved you so much he sent his only son to die in agony for your sins?

Or will you just smile at the pretty lights and all the presents and embrace your ignorance, uncaring as you put on your shallow guise of Christianity one moment and Judaism the next?

If Scientology is so wonderful, so fulfilling and so right, why do you have such a need to be part of anything else, Shannon?