The Silliness of Scientologist's Xenu

The Church of Scientology, we can all agree if we look at it even half objectively, is a Christian cult. There are no two ways about it once studied and evaluated. Their beliefs and history just can't be taken seriously once you've done just a little research. You can take a look here at what I'm talking about, in addition to doing your own research if desired.

Before I talk about the subject of this post, Xenu, I just want to point out that this cult was founded in the early 1950s by science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard. And truthfully, the history of Scientology is read just like a science fiction novel. And it all starts with the story of Xenu.

Now after reading this Xenu story, how can any rational mind expect to believe in this. I mean, it's totally ludicrous to be taken seriously. As a science fiction novel, yes, it's quite interesting and sure to sell a lot of copies. But as this to be taken as absolute Truth, even to be taken as any kind of a Christian religion at all, I think not.

What's sad, in my opinion, is how many people are taken in by this Scientology cult, and how many people are brainwashed into believing this fantasy that is taken as literal truth. To actually believe that a dictator of some galaxy, Xenu, came to Earth millions of years ago on some sort of spacecraft that looks like a modern-day airplane, then murdering billions of his own people, really needs to take a step back and look at this objectively.

Is this Xenu character, and the story around this fantasy, something we can say really happened? Is it logical? Does it make sense? How rational is it? We don't even need to ask for proof, as it is so illogical to begin with that to ask for proof would be wasting time. Any man (or woman) who says "yes, this Xenu story is true" is either lying, or brainwashed, and needs to seek professional help immediately.

The South Park episode "Trapped in the Closet" Season 9, Episode 12, is very accurate regarding this Xenu story. This cartoon not only accurately tells what Scientologists actually believe, but also exposes Scientology as a whole. I don't use this South Park episode to prove my point, I only say that it's dead-on accurate.

To end this post, it all boils down to this - the Church of Scientologist's Xenu is pretty silly. There are many other items I would love to talk about regarding Scientology, but they'll have to wait for some future post, in some other time, in some distant galaxy.

"Marjoe" documentary is awesome!

Today I'd like to talk about a documentary I always enjoy watching, called "Marjoe". In the current world of mega-churches and faith healers, it's nice to have an inside look at the latter - of faith healing. This is an award-winning documentary made in 1972 that shows some of the stunts and tricks that faith healers perform. Even though this movie (documentary) is 40 years old, modern-day faith healers still practice these same tricks, and I'm sure future ones will too.

In short, this documentary is about the early life of Marjoe Gortner (Marjoe is short for Mary and Joseph), raised by his parents and at a very early age was taught by them on how to deceive believers, and make huge amounts of money doing so. He went from town to town doing tent revivals, preaching, healing, then collecting the people's money. Several years later Marjoe felt bad about what he was doing and quit. And then later in life he did one last revival tour, this time bringing a documentary crew with him. During this last tour we get behind-the-scene looks at how faith healers perform their tricks.

There's not enough good things to be said about this documentary. I'm sure that there are other documentaries that exposes faith healers, but this one is the original. This is the one that first shed light on this subject, and started bringing people out of the darkness.

One of the things I loved about this movie is a look at how powerful psychology plays a factor in people's minds. The psychological impact of a skilled preacher, combined with stirring worship music, surrounded by a crowd of other believers, the preaching and/or music gradually increasing in volume and tempo, is very overpowering to a lot of people. This is the state when people are most vulnerable and susceptible to power of suggestion and other forms of trickery. This is also the state where people will believe anything, even with any form of trickery being absent.

In fact, I remember one clip where Marjoe was touching people, who were all lined-up, on the forehead and then they would fall down. Now this one lady was next in line, and wanted so badly to fall down that she was literally shaking, her whole body was just shaking, waiting for Marjoe to touch her head. Once he finally did, that gave her all the excuse she needed to flop to the ground and start shaking. (Now I'm just shaking my head remembering that little clip.) The picture to the left is not that lady I just described, but just another lady.

In addition to exposing faith healers, Marjoe also briefly explains another phenomenon, speaking in tongues, and how that is done. I just can't stress enough the importance of seeing this documentary, regardless if you're a believer or not. Just watch it!

Here's a link for a little more info - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marjoe

The Existence of Angels, and of Demons

The belief of the supernatural is prevalent in nearly all cultures and religions, even in modern times. And one of the most common beliefs is the existence of a supernatural beings called an angel, and their opposite, of demons. But despite their popularity, do these beings even exist?

It's nice to believe in the existence of angels, of a supernatural being so powerful that they look over us and/or protect us. It's quite a comforting thought! But the question is, do angles exist? Is there any proof at all of their existence? Has there been any photographs of an angel? Can an angel be physically studied and observed? Of course the answer is no.

Now let's move on to the angel's evil cousin - demons. These scary supernatural beings are just as strong and powerful as of the goodly angels. And they should be, as according to the Bible, a demon is actually a fallen angel. And these demons are running amok in the world, spreading hate, fear, division, and just about any other negative you can think of.

But do demons really exist? These guys run into the same problem as do angels. Not one demon has ever been photographed. Not one demon, to the best of my knowledge, has ever been physically studied and observed. Some people claim a person being "demon-possessed" as proof as to the existence of demons. But "demon-possession" is in reality an individual having some sort of mental illness. (Demon-possession is probably another topic for another day, one I would like to cover more fully.)

Both angels and demons are left to our imagination, with only scant clues given in the Bible or other religious texts about these beings. There are many reasons why people continue to believe in these two supernatural forces with no proof. Basically, in the case for angels, it is a comforting thought to have a strong Protector looking over us. And in the case of demons, as scape-goats to blame the world's troubles on.

Neither angels nor demons can be proven. There's not one shred of proof. Some people have claimed to have met an angel who has helped them under unusual situations, but that's not proof. What's far more likely is that that's just a stranger helping out another fellow human.

These are my quick thoughts on these two supernatural, mythical creatures.

Are Miracles Real?

Are miracles real? Wow! That's a huge topic, which would take many pages and chapters to cover. My thoughts on this will be relatively short and simple, giving just a broad answer at this time. (By the way, this is my very first blog, so I hope it goes well.)



Before getting started, my definition of miracle is "An event that occurs that cannot be explained by science at that point in time". Some events that has happened in the past were labeled as "miracles" only because science has not yet caught up to that time. Now once science has caught up, and that event can be logically explained, that event is no longer a "miracle".

Now a magician or an illusionist can also use their "tricks of the trade" to accomplish a "miracle". They are masters of trickery and can trick an individual or an audience into believing something that never really happened. There are many examples of this, anywhere from watching a rabbit get pulled from a hat, to a woman getting sawn into two. As humans, we are easily deceived into believing in impossibilities, especially when watching any skilled magician that has mastered slight-of-hand.

In my opinion, this whole concept of miracle is over-used anyway. When was the last time you went through an entire day or week without hearing this word? I personally know some people who say "Oh, this is a miracle" when something happens, even a small something. Then I'm all "noooo, that's not a miracle. There was a 50-50 chance of that happening."

The term "miracle" should only be used, in my opinion, is when something happens that can't be explained by that individual, and not throw that word out so loosely. But then again, that event will always be explained in time anyway.

We are at the point in time when "miracles" are a thing of the past, a time when science and logic has over-ruled superstition and ignorance. There never was, and never will be, any true miracles. Miracles require proof. And the larger the miracle, the larger the proof needed.

And I will end my first post with that thought in mind.