What's Wrong With the Simon Wiesenthal Center Honoring Tom Cruise?

There has been a bit of a fuss about the recent announcement that the Simon Wiesenthal Center, Museum of Tolerance plans to honor Tom Cruise with its prestigious Humanitarian Award.

It is a very controversial decision.  I suspect that the Simon Wiesenthal Center had no idea it would be quite so controversial when they made the decision.

I don't think they fully understand what is wrong with that decision.

It isn't about Tom Cruise.  I don't know Cruise personally, and I certainly don't have any information about what he has done to warrant such an honor as a humanitarian.  Maybe he has done some amazing things that we don't know about.  I'd give him the benefit of the doubt on that.

The fact that Tom Cruise used to be the celebrity face of the Church of Scientology was not, and should not be, a factor in that decision.  After all, the museum has "tolerance" in their name -- and tolerance is a very, very good thing.

The above are not reasons why this award is a bad idea.

The problem with this award is how the Church of Scientology will use this award.  They will trumpet this award as if it means that the Simon Wiesenthal Center:

• approves of Scientology,
• endorses Scientology,
• validates Scientology's claims that they are a "humanitarian group" and
• confirms that Scientology supports Human Rights.

Of course none of those claims are true, but the Church of Scientology will spin the news of the award for exactly that purpose.  That's what they do.

And that's what's wrong here.  Even if the Simon Wiesenthal Center asks the Church of Scientology to not do that, they will anyway.  Scientologists do not believe that requests by non-Scientologists are binding on them.  They will do whatever they please.

The Church of Scientology is NOT a humanitarian group by any stretch of imagination.  It is arguable that the church is the biggest violator of Human Rights in the United States.  See my article Scientology and the Declaration of Human Rights.

The Church of Scientology does NOT contribute to any humanitarian efforts anywhere in the world.  Individual Scientologists certainly may, and I do recognize and honor that, but the Church of Scientology itself does not contribute anything.  See my article The Church of Scientology Loves Disasters.  This is an excellent example of how the church exploits the good work of others to polish their own image -- exactly as they will with this award.

But worst of all, in relation to this award, is how the Church of Scientology frames the Holocaust in relation to their own dogma.  I don't think the Simon Wiesenthal Center wants to have any association with Scientology because of their beliefs in this area.

The Church of Scientology redefines and exploits the Holocaust to forward their personal vendetta against the psychiatric profession -- they blame psychiatrists, and only psychiatrists, for the Holocaust.  Professor Deborah Lipstadt has termed this "soft-core" Holocaust denial -- although I'd use harsher terms to describe such crass exploitation.  Professor Lipstadt's writings on the church are here.

Second, and by far the worst, L. Ron Hubbard's dogma states that anything that happens to a person is their fault and only their fault.  This is called the "overt-motivator sequence".

The following are direct quotes from Hubbard's Dianetics and Scientology Technical Dictionary.

OVERT ACT

an intentionally committed harmful act committed in an effort to resolve a problem.

MOTIVATOR

an overt act against oneself by another. In other words, a motivator is a harmful action performed by somebody else against oneself.

OVERT-MOTIVATOR SEQUENCE

if a fellow does an overt, he will then believe he's got to have a motivator or that he has had a motivator.

Hubbard teaches that one cannot be harmed in any way by any action unless one has first committed a similar "overt" against someone else.  To put it simply, one cannot be harmed by a punch unless one has first punched another.  This is in the context that we have all lived thousands of lives and such overts may have been committed in some previous life.

Thus, in Scientology belief, all harm that happens to you is completely and totally your fault, you "pulled it in" because of your prior overt.

If you are paying attention then you will understand what this means in relation to the Holocaust.  According to Scientology, all the victims of the Holocaust were guilty of overts and it was all their fault that this atrocity happened.  Yes, this is straight Scientology dogma.

Understand that this is not some "fringe" belief of Scientology that can be changed or discarded, this is a fundamental teaching of L. Ron Hubbard.  These concepts are core, unchangeable beliefs of Scientology.

I think it's wonderful that the Simon Wiesenthal Center demonstrates tolerance towards Scientology, but I really don't think they want to directly associate themselves with the Church of Scientology in any way.

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To any Anonymous who might be reading this, I have some advice:  Do not protest this awards ceremony, it is highly unlikely that such an action would turn out well for Anonymous.  It would be easily misunderstood that Anonymous was protesting the Simon Wiesenthal Center.  The Church of Scientology would have a field day making sure that was the perception.
EDIT: Never mind, I have been convinced that protesting would turn out fine. 

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The Redefinitions of Scientology

A while ago, I wrote about the false claims of Scientology, especially outside of the Church of Scientology.  One practitioner claimed he was producing "Real live OTs!"  I object to fraud and deception, and this claim certainly lands squarely in that category.

At least, within the Church of Scientology, they've stopped promising the "Clear" as Hubbard described and stopped promising the "OT" that Hubbard defined.  See The Disappearing States of Clear and OT.

In that "Real live OTs!" article I urged Scientology practitioners to stop promising results they could not deliver.   But Scientology practitioners still promise the Grade Chart results that they can't and won't deliver.

Recent discussions amongst Scientologists make me think that this fraud and deception may change and the promises will follow the current trend in Scientology of redefining the expected results until they don't promise anything at all.

We may soon see Scientology practitioners changing the Ability Gained of Grade 0 from "Ability to communicate freely with anyone on any subject" to "A person who feels better about communication."

Grade 1 will change from "Ability to recognize the source of problems and make them vanish" to "A person who feels better about problems."

And so forth.

Why do I think this?  I've been following the raging debates on Leaving Scientology, Marty's blog and Scientology-Cult and I have seen Scientology True Believers come to an interesting consensus.

Scientologists seem to be overwhelmingly in favor of changing the definition of OT from Hubbard's:

A being who is cause over matter, energy, space, time, life, form and thought, subjectively and objectively

to:

A being who does things!

In the discussions and articles, this is the new definition of OT.  You start a new business?  You're an "OT"!  You volunteer down at the local shelter?  You're an "OT"!   It was even mentioned that moving your hand is the act of an "OT"!

What is the difference, then, between a "wog" starting a business and a Scientology OT starting a business?  The Scientology OT is aware that they are being OT!  And they are "being OT" because of Scientology.

They don't do anything particularly exceptional, but they are doing it as an OT!  That makes all the difference -- to a Scientologist.

And there you have it!  That totally solves the problem of Scientology never producing an OT as Hubbard defined it.  It solves the problem of Hubbard's last years, where he was sick, in pain, hiding from the law and betrayed by those he trusted.  It solves the problem for all those OTs that didn't get the powers and abilities promised.

Just redefine "OT" and you're good to go.

Well, I have to admit that does come under the heading of "don't promise what you can't deliver".  If you promise nothing, you're totally covered.
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Scientology's "Investigations"

I am so glad the Church of Scientology has staged their "independent investigation" of the St. Petersburg Times.

Of course it's a blatant attempt to intimidate the journalists who have been doing such a good job exposing the church's crimes, abuse and fraud, and the St. Petersburg Times is absolutely correct in refusing to have anything to do with it.

And, of course, the Church of Scientology can never release the "investigation", because it, obviously, would have shown that the journalists did a good job.

But I'm still glad the church did it, because it reminded me of many of the other "independent investigations" they did.

While not quite the same, they are still delightful stories.

One of my favorites is the independent investigation of Scientology's "Purification Rundown".  Non-Scientology doctors were paid by the Church of Scientology to thoroughly test the Purification Rundown and determine how effective (and wonderful) it was.  As with the St. Petersburg Times investigation, the church swore everyone involved to absolute secrecy -- only the church could publish the results.

This investigation was going to put all the critics and naysayers in their place!  This investigation was going to be the basis for a gigantic push to get the Purification Rundown accepted everywhere.

You've surely read the comprehensive Purification Rundown report, haven't you?

You haven't?  Oh, that's right, the Church of Scientology suppressed that report.  Do you need to ask why?

Here's the kicker:  What did the church do when the Purification Rundown was proven, in their own tests, to be bogus?  Did they cease selling and delivering the service?  Did they refund all the monies paid for this proven bogus service?

Nope.  The Purification Rundown is still required for every Scientologist.  They are still pushing their Narconon program, which is based on the Purification Rundown, as the replacement for all other drug treatment programs.

Next:  They did the same thing with their "Hubbard Study Technology".  Another independent investigation sponsored by the church and involving non-Scientology teachers and students -- carefully monitored and tested by independent researchers.  Again, everyone was sworn to secrecy -- only the Church of Scientology could release the results.

You've read that report haven't you?  Oh, that's right, that report was suppressed by the church as well.  Color me surprised.

And, of course, the kicker:  They are still pushing the proven bogus "Hubbard Study Technology" as the replacement for all other study methods.

I'm sure there are even more examples of independent investigations, funded by the Church of Scientology, that never made the light of day.  This latest investigation is just more of the same.  It won't be released.

Regular Scientologists don't know this, but the leaders of Scientology know all about these investigations and their results.

The horrible thing is, they don't care that their "solutions" are proven, by their own research, to be useless and worthless.  They still sell them.  And they still work very hard to throw out all other solutions.  This goes well beyond innocent belief and faith.  When they know their own "solutions" do not work and they still sell them, that is intentional fraud.
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The "Science" in Scientology

If you've read anything from the Church of Scientology or talked with a Scientologist, you've heard the claims, "Scientology is based on science."

Typical claims from the Church of Scientology:

"Dianetics technology works and is an effective science of mental health"

Hubbard applied "modern science to accomplish the goal of religion throughout history. "

"Scientology, drawing on the same advances in knowledge that led to the understanding of nuclear physics, provides modern answers to these questions."

And look at the titles of L. Ron Hubbard's early works:

• Dianetics: Evolution of a Science
• Dianetics, the Modern Science of Mental Health
• Science of Survival

They push this line hard. You can't have much of a conversation with a Scientologist without this claim coming up. "This isn't about belief," they will claim, "this is scientific."

It is interesting to me how Scientologists can spout this line and never, ever think about what it means. One might assume that Scientologists understand the concept of "science", "scientific research" and the "scientific method", many Scientologists are quite well-educated. Why, then, do they believe that Scientology is scientifically based?

Let's take a look at what is involved in science and scientific research and how this compares with Hubbard's work.

Now, I don't want to get into a long, dry dissertation on the scientific method. That's boring and a bit off the subject. Let's just take a high level view.

What is the primary activity of scientists? Research. The fundamental aspect of all science is research. Careful, accurate, honest, well-documented, repeatable research.

To be accepted as valid science, any research must be transparent. That is, any legitimate, interested person should be able to read the research documentation, duplicate the research work and validate or disprove the original findings.

So where is Hubbard's original research? Hubbard claimed to have done lots and lots of research before developing his technology and writing Dianetics. Where is his research?

Now, you must understand the Hubbard was a pack-rat. It is doubtful that he ever threw anything away. If you've visited the L. Ron Hubbard Museum in Hollywood, you would see how much he saved. He saved toys, diaries, tools, merit badges, everything. Some of it is displayed in the museum, but there was too much to display all of it.

So, where is his research?

No one has ever found any research papers, documentation, notes -- nothing. And, believe me, they looked. Are we to believe that Hubbard saved his scout merit badges and threw away his Dianetic research?

No research papers. None. So, of course, no one has ever vetted his "research" or his findings.

Even today, there is no proper research or documentation on any of Hubbard's findings. In fact, David Miscavige vehemently rejects any attempts to validate any of the claims of Scientology or Dianetics. You want to get attacked by the Church of Scientology? Tell them you are testing their claims.

This is not science. When you have a "technology" with no research, no documentation of research, no validation of findings, that is simply not science. That is belief.

I have no problem with people believing anything they want. But, until the Church of Scientology allows independent validation of their claims, it isn't science and it will never be science.

So, Scientologists: Look up the word "science". Look up "scientific method". And then stop trying to claim Scientology has anything to do with science. You have a long, long way to go and a lot of major changes before you could earn that title.
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