The science fiction religion

I love science fiction and have taught it several times out at Palomar College. When I was researching Scientology, I read about L. Ron Hubbard's belief in thetans. Wow, it's another great science fiction story. The only downside is that it has deluded so many people over the years and taken so much of their money. Here's the thetan story in a nutshell.

In the primordial past thetans brought the material universe into being largely for their own pleasure. The universe is thought to have no independent reality, but to derive its apparent reality from the fact that most thetans agree it exists. Thetans fell from grace when they began to identify with their creation, rather than their original state of spiritual purity. Eventually, they lost their memory of their true nature, along with the associated spiritual and creative powers. As a result, thetans came to think of themselves as nothing but embodied beings.

When a person dies — when a thetan abandons its physical body — he/she goes to a "landing station" on the planet Venus, where the thetan is told lies about its past life and its next life. The Venusians take the thetan, "capsule" it, and send it back to Earth to be dumped into the ocean off the coast of California. Says Hubbard, "If you can get out of that [the capsule], and wander around through the cities and find some girl who looks like she is going to get married or have a baby or something like that, you're all set. And if you can find the maternity ward to a hospital or something, you're OK. And you just eventually just pick up a baby." This is basic reincarnation.

Now, there's so much to say here. First, isn't it sad that sharp people who have ridiculed Christianity for its miracle stories of Jesus will fall for Hubbard's nonsense? None of his story can be backed up, of course, unlike the gospel stories of Jesus which have good manuscript evidence. Secondly, I love Hubbard's comments--they don't sound like they were thought out very well. Third, I'm amazed people don't see how he has simply taken Eastern religion and put it in a new wrapper.

People say it's too hard to choose between religions ("they're all the same"). Nah, that's lazy thinking. There are huge differences--look at the founder, look at the beliefs, consider the evidence they present. I'll take Christianity any day over the science fiction of L. Ron Hubbard.