And this one is a classic so I've got to include it. Mr. Rich Branch is no longer at the Watchman Fellowship, by the way.

-=- Screaming Tomatoes and Blasphemous Rituals
Rick Branch What do screaming tomatoes, of the garden variety type, and blasphemous rituals, of the Aleister Crowley type, have in common? According to Martin Gardner, just one thing, Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard!

Gardner, citing several passages from the newly released book, Bare-Faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard, by Russell Miller, provides a great deal of fascinating information.

Mental Difficulties Gardner writes, "Hubbard was a deeply disturbed man -- a pathological liar who steadily deteriorated from a charming rogue into a paranoid egomaniac `unable to distinguish,' as Miller puts it, `between fact and his own fantastic fiction,'" (The New Age:

Notes of a Fringe Watcher, 1988, p. 246).

This conclusion was not just drawn by one individual but rather is based on the opinions of many.

"In 1965 an Australian Board of Inquiry issued a report calling Hubbard a `paranoid schizophrenic' with delusions of grandeur, a compulsion to neologize (invent words), and the behavior of a dictator.

"Scientology is evil... its adherents sadly deluded and often mentally ill.... Scientology is a delusional belief system....

Its founder, with the merest smattering of knowledge of the various sciences, has built upon the scintilla of his learning a crazy and dangerous edifice" the report stated,(Ibid, p. 250;

parenthesis added for clarity).

666 Hubbard also became involved with "...Jack Parsons, an addlepated California chemical propulsion expert who secretly practiced black magic.

"A firm believer in witchcraft, Parsons had become a devoted disciple of England's `Beast 666,' the notorious satanist Aleister Crowley.

"Hubbard, Parsons informed his `Blessed Father,' was a kindred spirit eager to assist in blasphemous rituals," (Ibid, p. 247).

Dianetics Hubbard's book Dianetics first appeared in print in a notably different format.

"It was while Ron was hacking out science fiction that he conceived of dianetics," Gardner writes.

"In this hilarious parody of psychoanalysis, ills are said to spring from `engrams' recorded on an embryo's brain by what it overhears even before it develops ears.

"After engrams have been erased by `auditing,' one becomes a `clear,' with perfect memory and robust health. The new science was released to the world in a rousing article by Hubbard in Astounding Science Fiction..." (Ibid, p. 247).

Appearing first as science fiction this new discovery later appeared as the book Dianetics. According to Gardner, "Ron saw at once that by combining dianetics with reincarnation he could fabricate an exotic `religion' capable of raking in millions of tax-free dollars," (Ibid).

Theology The basic premise of Scientology is, "...that every human body is inhabited by an immortal soul called a `thetan'... which entered our bodies only about 35,000 years ago.

"Thetans transfer from body to body. The aim of Scientology is to restore to a person the original powers of his thetan; to raise him to the level of `operating thetan.' "Neither Buddha nor Jesus ever rose that high. According to Ron they were only `a shade above clear'" which is one of the lowest levels in Scientology, (Ibid, p. 250).

Communists Hubbard also had a great deal of trouble with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Gardner explains, "Hubbard began to annoy the FBI with wild reports of Communist persecution. The Bureau considered him psychotic," (Ibid, p. 247).

Those who are familiar with Scientology have undoubtedly heard of the Sea Organization, Hubbard's floating Church of Scientology.

On this subject too, Gardner has some interesting things to say.

"For years Hubbard's Sea Org, as he called his fleet, wandered around the eastern Atlantic, its Commodore convinced that Nazis and Reds were chasing him," (Ibid, p. 248).

Screaming Tomatoes Perhaps the most amazing discovery by L. Ron Hubbard was his work with tomatoes. With the use of the E-meter, a crude lie-detector device, he was able to complete his research on the "emotions of tomatoes," (Ibid, p. 248).

Gardner explains, "On the estate of the Maharajah of Jaipur in Sussex, which Hubbard had purchased, he conducted plant research to `reform the world's food supply.' "E-meters convinced him that tomatoes scream when sliced," (Ibid, p. 247).

Conclusion Gardner summarizes his chapter on L. Ron Hubbard and the Church of Scientology's religious theological system with these words, "It would be hard to invent a more infantile mythology," (Ibid, p. 251).

While Scientology may, indeed, seem strange and bizarre to many Christians, it is becoming a very powerful and prominent force throughout the world. Not only has it attracted many of the rich and famous, it has also made vast inroads into the lives of hundreds of thousand of the not so rich and famous.

Also, through its front organization, such as Sterling Management, WISE and others (which Craig Branch of the Alabama Watchman Fellowship office has so well documented in past issues of the Watchman Expositor), it has infiltrated the medical profession.

The book Dianetics is sold in nearly every secular book store and is advertized on radio and television across the country.

Though there may not be a Church of Scientology just up the street, this powerful group boasted 6,000,000 adherents in 1985, (The Oregonian, May 23, 1985, p. D2). If this was true, how many more are there today? This is a group with which all Christians must be aware!

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