Diary of a Network Geek

Oh, Mr. Cruise, what were you thinking?
It must have been those pesky Thetans, eh? Did you see this crazy interview with Tom Cruise and Mat Lauer? Basically, Mr. Cruise says that psychiatry doesn’t work because, empirical evidence aside, biochemical imbalances in the brain don’t exist. Instead, Mr. Cruise asserted that we should somehow get to the “root of the problem” and use vitamins instead of anti-depressants. Hmm, interesting. So, we’re not supposed to believe in a scientific method of behavior modification, but we are supposed to believe in posession.
After all, isn’t that what you call it when disembodied spirits inhabit a physical lifeform? And, what are those nasty Thetans, Tommy? Yeah, disembodied spirits that we’re supposed to exorcise, or “clear”, so that we can get on with our life unimpeded. In a nutshell, then, we’re supposed to ignore hundreds of years of empirical, scientific progress and return to the Middle Ages. Well, lawyers do say that posession is 9/10ths of the law, but I don’t think this is what they had in mind.

Now, I believe in “things unseen” and a spiritual world, but I don’t think that these things directly interact with my life. Certainly, not in the sense that I’d be posessed by Thetans that make me miserable. People make themselves plenty miserable without any help from invisible beasties! Honestly, much of my personal philosophy about how God works in the world comes from Why Do Bad Things Happen to Good People, which was written by a Rabbi. It may not be the hardline Christian point of view, but then, I’ve never been a very good hardline Christian, either. I think it was growing up in a Jewish neighborhood. Anyway, my point is that I’d rather rely on REAL science for help than some wacky pseudoreligion, invented by a science-fiction writer, that happens to have “science” in the name.

And, think about this, L. Ron Hubbard has been quoted in Science Fictionisms as saying:

“Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man wanted to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion.” –L. Ron Hubbard, Founder of Scientology

Now, do what few Scientologists would ask you to do, make up your own mind.

Advice from your Uncle Jim:
" Reasonable men adapt themselves to their environment; unreasonable men try to adapt their environment to themselves. Thus all progress is the result of the efforts of unreasonable men."
   --George Berbard Shaw