Thanks Max. Answering people's questions is a lot more work than I thought it was going to be. I was expecting "What do Scientologists believe?" type questions and not one person so far has asked me that kind of questions.
The questions I'm getting are taking a lot of time to research and answer, or to think up simple (ish) answers that will be understandable to most people.
That's something I noticed - on your blog and elsewhere: Hardly anyone asks questions about your actual beliefs and practices. Instead, you're expected to explain things that other people make up about you. It doesn't seem fair, but you're doing a great job.
4:21 AM
Since I put up my post about Answering Questions About Scientology, I've gotten plenty of questions from individuals who are actually interested in finding out what it is all about and I want to thank the people who asked them and say - ask more!
However, it is interesting that a few of the questions I have received have not been asked to get an answer at all but to "open my eyes". I suspected this when I got the question from santarosa regarding something that happened in the 1970s. I did answer it, but I took a few days and santarosa was impatient, so before I had answered, he sent me two more comments which showed that he asked the question purely because he wanted to prove to me that there was something wrong with the Church of Scientology.
He started with a closed mind and it seems he ended with a closed mind because he hasn't asked me any other questions since I answered that one. It is sad that "critics", as they call themselves, are so small minded and are unwilling to look at anything that shows the Church of Scientology in a positive light.
Personally I don't think the people in the Church are some kind of perfect beings who never makes any mistakes and I don't think that Church leaders are somehow infallible. Sorry to disappoint you, santarosa, but no one is infallible. The true test is can you make a mistake, learn from it and not make it again? Yes, people in the Church make mistakes but when we do, we try to learn from them so we can do a better job next time.
An example is the incident santarosa asked me about. Some people in a rogue department of the Church did something incredibly stupid and illegal 30 years ago. So did the rest of us learn from it and did we do something to make sure it didn't happen again? If we didn't then it means we condone their behavior and might still be committing such acts. If we did learn from it then that indicates we aren't perfect, but we are doing our best to do the right thing.
Well, it's been 30 years since "Operation Snow White" and nothing like that has happened again, so I think it is fair to say that we do indeed learn from our mistakes and we are trying to do the right thing. I guess "critics" like santarosa don't like the truth when it puts Scientologists in a good light. Personally I call the obsessed and close-minded viewpoint of the santarosas of this world "fanaticism" and "extremism" and I regard it as dangerous both to the fanatic himself and to anyone connected to the target of his fanaticism.
santarosa said in his final comment "Don't fear the truth. The truth is your friend even if it hurts sometimes. Lies will only bring damnation in the end even if it feels less threatening now." I couldn't agree more. Perhaps he should practice what he preaches.
""Open your eyes" says santarosa"
3 Comments -
This is such a great blog. :-) I loved it. :-)
-Max
5:39 AM
Thanks Max. Answering people's questions is a lot more work than I thought it was going to be. I was expecting "What do Scientologists believe?" type questions and not one person so far has asked me that kind of questions.
The questions I'm getting are taking a lot of time to research and answer, or to think up simple (ish) answers that will be understandable to most people.
Anyway, I appreciate the acknowledgement.
10:02 AM
That's something I noticed - on your blog and elsewhere: Hardly anyone asks questions about your actual beliefs and practices. Instead, you're expected to explain things that other people make up about you. It doesn't seem fair, but you're doing a great job.
4:21 AM