Scientologists and the Galactic Confederation
WHAT do Scientologists believe in? The story that L. Ron Hubbard founded the organisation to win a bet with science fiction writer Robert A. Heinlein â that Hubbard couldnât start a religion and make a fortune â must be dismissed as too good to be true; and it is in fact false.
The organisationâs many and busy lawyers are reported to have gone as far as obtaining two affidavits that Hubbard did not say anything like this in response to a question about making money from writing at a meeting of the Eastern Science Fiction Association in Newark, New Jersey, on 7 November 1948. These contradict an affidavit sworn for a lawsuit in Germany by Sam Moskowitz, who was the director of the association at the time, that Hubbard said: âIf you want to get rich, you start a religion.â
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Then thereâs the story that those Scientologists who progress to the level of the courses the organisation sells are told that humanityâs origins involve a complicated story featuring a Galactic Confederation led by an alien overlord named Xenu.
Scientology challenges this, at various times saying that itâs not true and that even if it were, publication of the Operating Thetan course notes is a breach of copyright, a breach of confidence or a breach of a trade secret. Another apparent âteachingâ is that if the document is not read in the correct sequence, the person reading it will be liable to fall victim to serious health problems, including pneumonia.
So Feedback was intrigued by the response of Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis in with reporter Nathan Baca of in Palm Springs, California. Baca put to him the claim that âScientology is about ridding the body of space alien parasitesâ. Davis replied that âthere are outrageous claims out there on the internet about what Scientologists believeâ and declared that âfor you as a non-Scientologist to talk to me about what my beliefs are or to ask me to explain any core religious belief, thatâs an offensive conceptâ. He therefore objected to any discussion of âthe confidential scripturesâ.
âThe most transparent way people can learn about it,â Davis said, âis by reading the books of L. Ron Hubbard.â He was therefore a bit discomfited when Baca read to him from a copy of Hubbardâs manuscript of âthe confidential scripturesâ, confirming the existence of the Xenu story.
âA sign on Route 31 near Owen Healyâs house in Hopewell, New Jersey, contradicts itself in large letters by announcing âUNPUBLICIZED SALEââ
Peer reviewing the peer review conference
YOU might think it goes without saying that all papers submitted to the forthcoming , held in Orlando, Florida, on 10 to 13 July, âwill be reviewed using a double-blind (at least three reviewers), non-blind, and participative peer reviewâ.
However, the preconference call for papers quotes David Horrobin, founder of the journal Medical Hypotheses, as asserting that peer review âis a non-validated charade whose processes generate results little better than does chanceâ. The statement goes on to say that this âhas been statistically proven and reported by an increasing number of journal editorsâ.
Paul Brown, who alerted us to this, is concerned. âA conference based on the perception that peer reviewing doesnât work is being peer reviewed,â he observes.
We agree that this appears to be contradictory. We can only assume the conference organisers see the occasion as an opportunity to sharpen their skills in irony.
DESCRIPTIONS of wine by would-be connoisseurs often flounder in verbal fruitloopery. Erich Plaut sent us a cutting from the wines and spirits catalogue of Shop-Rite in New Jersey which tells us that the supermarketâs Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc 2008 is âconcentrated and very intense, weaving together a harmonious medley of crushed stone, grapefruit and nut flavoursâ.
Erich, who has never tasted crushed stone, wonders whether all stones taste the same when theyâre crushed, or do different stones have different flavours? Would he have to chew up some stones to find out? We donât want to know â the very thought sets our teeth on edge.
FINALLY, one of the conditions listed on our colleague Stephen Battersbyâs 2-for-1 voucher for the UK restaurant chain Carluccioâs is that âAll entrants must be 18 years of age all over to purchase alcohol with mealsâ.
âSo itâs soft drinks only if your feet happen to be stuck in a time warp,â Stephen comments. âPerhaps less clear is whether the surgically enhanced diner will be permitted to tipple â and whether any waiter will have the nerve to ask âAre those really the same age as the rest of you, madam?'â