YOU HAVE A CHOICE

by Kerry Fouché


From: "Kerry Fouché" <khf@rmi.net>
Subject: YOU HAVE A CHOICE[a de-lurkers story]part 1
Date: 16 Nov 1998 00:00:00 GMT
Message-ID: <3650FEFB.8AA356BE@rmi.net>
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology

YOU HAVE A CHOICE


This is written for anyone contemplating hooking up with
Scientology(tm), and is dedicated to Lisa Mc Phearson and any others who
have died due to their association with Scientology; to the many people
whose humanity, dreams, and goodwill has been twisted and perverted by
their experiences in and with Scientology; and to those brave souls who
have broken Scientology's code of silence risking defamation,
litigation, financial ruin and degradation for daring to expose the
hidden agendas, deceits, and contradictions regarding  L. Ron Hubbard
and his creations: Dianetics and Scientology.

You have a choice, but choices always involve consequences. Pay
attention to that key part-as the consequences you'll live may not be
what you're promised or persuasively (dare I say coercively) led to
expect. You can choose to jump right in, over your head, into
Scientology without a thought or you can spend a little time researching
and getting a variety of viewpoints. Hey, it's up to you-it's your mind
and soul. It just may be that what's initially presented as Scientology
is merely one face of a many faceted group. Before you leap maybe it
would be a good idea to check out the other faces.

Perhaps you're looking for answers. Answers to questions about life, the
mind, society, or mankind. Maybe you're an idealist looking for
solutions to our worlds problems that would result in Utopia-Heaven on
Earth. It could be that you're wanting to better understand yourself,
your parents, your friends, or your significant other. You perhaps feel
you want to become more spiritual and better comprehend God, the cosmos,
and your place in it. Maybe you're concerned, even afraid of the
approaching millennium and the various predictions of social upheaval
and world changes. Lost a loved one? Depressed? Confused? Mid-life
crisis? Suffering from "optional paralysis"? Maybe there's nothing wrong
in your life, but you want more: more money, success, friends, status,
POWER. Need direction in your life? Want to get your life "under
control"? How about mystical, supernatural powers and answers to the
eternal questions posed by life itself? Feel drawn to the esoteric arts?
Maybe you just need a friend, someone to REALLY understand you. Want to
fix somebody, fix a relationship, fix society and just don't know how to
go about it? Are you looking for a "worthy cause" to channel your good
will, intelligence, and enthusiasm into? Perhaps you're a trusting
person believing in the basic goodness of people and want world peace,
freedom for all, an end to hate, an end to insanity, spiritual salvation
for everyone. Very noble of you.

Scientology will overtly or covertly lead you to believe ALL of the
above is possible through their "applied religious philosophy". Sounds
too good to be true, you might think. Well, find out for yourself. Find
out what some people who were in Scientology for years, spending LOTS of
time and money have to say . Plenty of books in the library, and the
bookstores. Plenty of websites, plenty of newspaper and magazine
articles, and of course this usenet group.

I suggest that if you only seek your answers from a Scientologist or the
publications of Scientology you will be doing yourself a great
disservice. They can only present their own point of view. Of course,
it's in their best interest to deny, obfuscate, and minimize any
evidence contrary to their position. They have vested interests, as
everyone does. So get the whole picture, read everything you can about
this incredibly controversial organization. You know, it always seemed
to me that there were three sides to every story: your side, my side,
and what actually is. Check it out. Do your research. Become informed.
Is Scientology really a cult? Well, go to the library and read up on
cults, sects, and alternative religions What really constitutes
brainwashing and how is it accomplished? Be an informed consumer, find
out. Is there really such a thing as "coercive persuasion", and if so,
what are the consequences to one so coerced?

Interestingly enough, Scientology would advise/persuade you NOT to
investigate what anybody else has to say. I guess you could ask Why?.
Very good question. Could it be they have something to hide?

Have you ever thought you'd found your "soul mate", your "one and only",
only to find out, much later, that there was a dark side to the person
that finally overwhelmed the relationship? Have you ever had that
perfect job only to find out, much later, it was really a dead-end, boss
was a jerk, the company's morals were only in terms of the bottom line,
and you were to be used until you burnt out, and quickly discarded? The
good thing about bad relationships and bad jobs is that you can leave
and choose another. I'm not sure if it works that way in Scientology.
But you have resources, you can find out from people who've been there.

Why does Scientology spend SO much money and effort trying to silence
critics? Seems kind of funny to me when you consider  a portion of their
creed which states, and I quote: 'That all men have inalienable rights
to think freely, to talk freely, to write freely their own opinion and
to counter or utter or write upon the opinions of others.'

Yes, I'm an EX-Scientologist
Yes, I wish somebody would have insisted I did not  go blindly into
Scientology
Yes, I wish that what the internet now provides was around 20 years ago
Yes, I wish I hadn't been so naive and trusting 20 years ago
Yes, I wish I hadn't believed in a "magic bullet"

And yes I believe in an oft repeated cliché: Think for yourself-and I
might add-before somebody, unbeknownst to you, starts doing your
thinking for you by emotionally appealing to all that's best in you.

You have a choice.

Respectfully, Kerry Fouché


Some places you might want to check out:

www.xenu.net/
www.factnet.org/
www.lermanet.com
www.clever.net/webwerks/veritas/

--
_______________________________________________________________________
A truth that's told with bad intent, beats all the lies you can invent.
_____________________________________________________William Blake_____




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