Scientology Today: New Program Launched by Foundation for a Drug Free World in Honor of Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. once said, 'Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.'

On the Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service, the Foundation for a Drug Free World announced a new program to help parents learn how to communicate to their children about drugs. Since so much of the crime that plagues our cities is drug-related, helping children and teens decide to live drug-free lives can help our communities enormously.

And with the sheer amount of devastation drug abuse causes, what could matter more to parents than helping their children make the right decisions about drugs?

Take that Press: Scientology Berlin Opening

If you check any of my last posts, I wasn't too impressed by the media coverage granted to the Scientology Grand Opening in in Berlin. The media (obviously under someone's influence) kept trying to downplay the thing, saying that there were only 150 people there, that it wasn't really happening, that it was all just protesters, that the public weren't invited, etc. All utter, complete, total fabrications.

A friend of mine just had his wife return from the Grand Opening there, as she was representing her Scientology Church in Florida. The final count of Scientologists there ended up being something like 5,035 or something like this. Perhaps I'm off by thirty or something, but it was in that range. Another friend of mine told me that even hours after the Grand Opening, it would take 20 minutes just to walk from one office in the buiding to another, because of the mobs of people one had to walk through.

2 days after the opening, there were still mobs of Scientologists and non-Scientologists alike hanging around the place.

So, in any case, I just see it fitting and funny to point out the fact that when you're a reporter, and you come to an event like this Church of Scientology Grand opening with your story already written for you, completely abandoning any journalistic integrity, you'll end up getting burnt. Unfortunately, this is now the case -- as the Grand Opening in Berlin was a huge success.

Ever since I heard Mr. David Miscavige announce the new Berlin church at my Church's Scientology New Year celebration, I knew this was going to be big. Well, all the press controversy turned out to create is to make it bigger. So, I guess their lying did some good for once!

German Power Elite Freaked out about Scientology

It's all over the news -- still.

You'd have to be living under a rock to be in Germany and not know about the new Church of Scientology that just opened in the capital city of Berlin. However, you do need to do a bit of reading between the lines to fully interpret the media that has been running on such.

Now, anyone with half a brain knows that the easiest way to pursue a political agenda is to completely manipulate the media, and let people know what "public opinion" is, by simply fabricating it and putting it in a news article.

Such is the case with Scientology in Germany, and has been for some time.

Read my last article on the new Church of Scientology in Berlin -- the new Berlin Scientology Church has displays and seminar rooms where anyone can just walk in off the street and find out what the Church is all about. Hardly the 'secretive sect' that some odd German media is trying to pump up the jam on. Seriously, the new Berlin Church has 360 degree windows that go all the way around the building -- you can't even have an office in that place without having a window. Just try to be secretive there!

But talking to friends I have there, who went to the opening and were some of the people from the U.S. waving flags all over the place, said that Germans on the street were just utterly curious, wondering what in the heck Scientology is -- as all they had heard was the random maunderings of the media. It's far from this scene that German news tries to trump up.

So, it really makes me wonder what in the heck various German government officials are trying to protect -- like, what are they sitting on? It's pretty well known that the Church of Scientology vigorously investigates people who create human rights abuses, and won't stand for that sort of thing at all. So what are these officials worried about? What would cause them to try to continue to badmouth an organization which has a dedicated following, which zealously works in fields of social reform, drug rehab, and general help?

When the grand opening was happening, I kept seeing odd news articles that talked about an "exclusive opening ceremony for 150 Scientologists" while the photos showed 1000 people, all out on the street, celebrating the opening. Who's kidding who here?

Seriously. Being in Germany, when all you hear is German media, it must be tough. But looking at it from the U.S., it just looks like wagging the dog to draw attention away from something we don't know.

References:

• Church of Scientology
• Sister Scientology Church in London
  
• David Miscavige - Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center
• Scientology Volunteer Ministers
• Scientology-sponsored Anti-Drug Programme
• Scientology - Human Rights Initiative
  

High-Tech Approach to Religion - Scientology in Berlin

Everyone is talking about the new Scientology Church in Berlin. Nasty politicians in Germany are pointing fingers at one another (especially the ones with their vested interests to protect) and the general public has just been pouring in to the building to find out what Scientology is all about. It has been at the top of Google.de news for the past 48 hours.

Now, that is where things get interesting -- especially from a technical standpoint. There's a curious problem that you get into when you're trying to explain to someone what your religion is all about. You're either very well versed in language, and can easily explain it in ways that someone can understand, and do this one-on-one, or you figure out a way to explain it much faster to more people.

Just try doing this for something like Shinto. What is it all about? You need to read a lot, and probably talk to some Shintos before you really grok it. Scientology is similar, in that you either have to talk to a Scientologist who's in the know for some time, or just go in to this new Berlin organization.

Inside the organization are some of the niftiest displays and films that have been devised specifically to solve this problem. Explained at a Scientology event by Mr. David Miscavige -- Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center, which is the holder of the Scientology & Dianetics trademarks -- this organization includes panels that literally let anyone walk in, touch a screen, and then by themselves -- with no input from others or person trying to explain anything -- get a full explanation of the various facets and practices of Scientology.

You can see some of this here:

A gallery of photos from the grand opening of the Church of Scientology of Berlin is available at the Scientology Berlin website.

The screens there just let you walk up, and visually get an explanation of the various principles of Scientology - such as the A-R-C triangle, which the average person got introduced to during Tom Cruise's wedding.

In any case, I would highly advise anyone who has been trying to find out what Scientology is really all about to actually just walk in to this new Berlin Church (or one of the other Scientology churches which have such panels in them) and just spend some time alone finding out what this movement is all about.

Other Churches I know of which have such panels are:

• Church of Scientology of New York
• Church of Scientology of London
• Church of Scientology Stevens Creek (San Jose, CA)
• Church of Scientology of Madrid, Spain
• Church of Scientology of Tampa, Florida
  

References for this article:

• Official David Miscavige website
• Scientology Germany Website
• The Scientology Handbook
  

Church of Scientology Releases International Epansion Figures

The Church of Scientology International released its expansion figures for 2006 this week and announced the launch of community outreach programs for 2007 that will far surpass any year in the Church's history.

Los Angeles, CA. (PRWEB) January 4, 2007 -- The Church of Scientology International released its expansion figures for 2006 this week and announced the launch of community outreach programs for 2007 that will far surpass any year in the Church's history.

Our programs are there to combat every one of society's ills

"We live in a world where conflict, crime and continual chaos dominate the news. It is time for positive and sweeping changes," said Church of Scientology International spokesman, Rev. Bob Adams. "Working hand in hand with other churches, community leaders, government officials and a wide range of organizations, we are making a difference. And we expect 2007 to be the most spectacular year yet, in terms of positive change."

Recapping the religion's growth in 2006, Rev. Adams pointed out that in the last year more than 1,500 new centers, missions and churches of Scientology were opened, including large new central churches in both London and Berlin. With new groups this year in Afghanistan, Niger, and Bahrain the international Scientology presence now totals more than 7,500 centers, missions and churches in 163 nations.

In far-flung regions of the world, Scientology Volunteer Ministers---best known for their disaster relief efforts---set up large tents where anyone encountering a problem in their life can go for help. Carrying forward the message that, "No Matter the Problem ... Something CAN be Done about it," the Church's Volunteer Ministers Corps numbers 87,000 in 114 nations.

With the 2006 release of 30 public service announcements that bring each article of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights to life, the Church's human rights campaign spans 71 nations. These compelling video clips aired on 2,000 TV stations worldwide in 2006, reaching over 50 million people.

"The purpose of the campaign is to educate people on their human rights. These rights are the foundation on which freedom and peace can be built," said Rev. Adams. "More than 200 schools have adopted the campaign and are teaching human rights to children and teens. Young people are getting involved."

For two decades, Scientology Churches have sponsored a worldwide drug abuse prevention campaign. In 2006, in response to the increasing demand for drug prevention information, the Church launched a massive drug education initiative --5 million drug education booklets printed in 19 languages and distributed throughout 30 countries.

"We recognize that drugs---both street drugs and psychotropic prescription drugs---are the source of a multi-billion dollar industry that is ruining an entire generation," said Rev. Adams. "Our drug prevention programs keep young people from falling into this trap."

Beyond activities administered directly by the Church, the popularity of the secular social betterment programs that use L. Ron Hubbard's discoveries was tremendous in 2006.

From its flagship organization in Oklahoma, Narconon delivers L. Ron Hubbard's solutions to drug abuse in 184 centers across 44 nations. Criminon administers successful criminal rehabilitation in 2,000 prisons. Applied Scholastics International saw to the introduction of L. Ron Hubbard's solutions to illiteracy to more than 1.6 million people this year. And The Way to Happiness Foundation International has distributed copies of L. Ron Hubbard's common sense moral code to 70 million people worldwide.

"Our programs are there to combat every one of society's ills," said Rev. Adams. "Drug abuse, crime, illiteracy, immorality, human rights violations---these problems cannot be ignored. And while the past year saw expansion greater than at any time in our history, 2007 will be even better."

The Church of Scientology International urges all people of goodwill to take part in making a better world. "We offer our help to anyone, no matter their religion, race or creed," said Rev. Adams. "We only ask that you use these effective solutions and make them available to others."

Scientology Introduction DVD

Dang! The sales of the Introduction to Scientology DVD are now over 91,000 -- just 3 days after release! Says so on the Scientology site! Yet another example of L. Ron Hubbard's work continuing to generate interest, year after year.

L. Ron Hubbard "An Introduction to Scientology" represents over 100,000 man-hours of film restoration

Just released on DVD last night was the filmed interview with L. Ron Hubbard, An Introduction to Scientology. This was released at the Scientology New Year celebration in Los Angeles just now, by Mr. David Miscavige - Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center. Similar to the release done last March by Mr. Miscavige of L. Ron Hubbard's Clearing Congress, the DVD An Introduction to Scientology encompassed hundreds of thousands of man-hours of work to restore and produce - quite a herculean task.

In this filmed interview -- the only filmed interview L. Ron Hubbard ever gave -- he answers the most commonly-asked questions about Scientology.

The questions answered in this DVD include:

"What is Scientology?"
"What is the Mind?"
"How did L. Ron Hubbard come to develop Scientology?"
"How did he make these discoveries?"
"What is an auditor?"
"Why is Man on this planet and what is his purpose here?"
"Why is many basically good?"

I would definitely recommend it for anyone who is endevoring to find out what Scientology is all about. More data on it can be found at www.scientology.org/interview/.