Subject: Is Scientology a Sect?
Date: Fri, 8 Dec 2000 11:56:27 -0500
Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.96.1001208115157.120A-100000@darkstar.zippy>
Letter to the Editor
Not a Sect
Frankfurt, Germany
December 7, 2000
http://www.rhein-main.net
Frankfurter Neue Presse
Concerning the news material in the project "Newspaper
in School' (Only few sects are violent," HK of 22
November) we take the following position:
What is a sect? The definition that was given in their article
is right but not complete because one also has to look at
the meaning of the definition of a word as it is used today.
If one looks in Duden's [the German equivalent of
Webster's], one finds that a sect is a smaller denomination
which has split off from a larger congregation or a church.
Besides that the word "sect" is used more and more with
the idea of "something bad, dangerous or evil." According
to that the Evangelical Church is a sect since it split from
the Catholic Church.
Is Scientology a sect? No! Scientology is not a splinter
group.
Michaela Gross
Scientology Frankfurt
---
Editorial
by Joe Cisar
The above is a Scientology "correction." The idea behind a Scientology "correction" is not necessarily to correct information; it is to "correct" or alter the behavior of the person who is passing on the information. Sect: a dissenting or schismatic religious body; esp. one regarded as extreme or heretical Admittedly, that is not a Duden's dictionary, but it shows that a "sect" can be a dissenting OR a schismatic religious body. It does not say that a sect is a dissenting AND schismatic body, as implied by Scientologist Gross in her reply. Whether that is how "sect" is defined in German or not, OSA representative Gross then went on redefine the word "sect" by inappropriately generalizing it to mean "something" bad, dangerous or evil. Finally, that redefinition of "sect" was used to identify a Christian denomination, i.e., the probable denomination of the writers OSA is responding to, OSA being the controlling agency in Scientology. In summary, OSA's policy is to "introvert" its opposition. One way it does this is by: 1.Invading one's private sphere: in this case getting across the idea that the words you are using do not mean what you think they mean 2.Implanting the private sphere with an idea which will be disadvantageous to you: in this case assigning its own definition to the words you are using, then 3.seemingly turning your own words upon you, but with the new disadvantageous definitions. The purpose of the above is to take negative attention off Scientology by turning opponents' views in on themselves, like a mental ulcer or cancer. This is an exchange which people think of as "fair" because it mimics free discussion: there is an exchange of opinion and a dissenting opinion. What is not recognized is that logic is being altogether avoided through redefinition of words. Scientology's seeming dissent pivots on its own redefinition of words, not on the meaning the words were intended to convey. The above is an example of the devious means which OSA uses to "clear" the planet of opposing views. If OSA can succeed in getting people to recognize its own redefinition of words as a acceptable way of winning an argument, it will create an environment in which Scientology can expand. --- Unofficial translation/critical interpretation of German media, For
non-commercial use only. Recent events - http://cisar.org/trnmenu.htm
Informational publications http://members.tripod.com/German_Scn_News
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