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.

Final ways to judge between religions and worldviews

In previous blogs I have discussed a couple of ways a person can judge religions to see which one would be the best. The first way was to look at the factual evidence (manuscripts, history, archaeology, anthropology, founders of each religion). The second way was to examine each set of beliefs for logical inconsistencies. For this blog I would like to examine a final two areas -- religions as they deal with ethics/human nature and the satisfaction they can bring.

Some religions are simply weaker when it comes to ethics and human nature. Think about Eastern religions with their focus on karma compared to Christianity. Under the concept of karma, a person suffers because of past-life sins, so he/she must work out and pay for these moral shortcomings. If you see somebody suffering, just keep going and don't interfere with his/her karma. Christianity, on the other hand, from its very beginning was focused on helping the poor, the needy, the sufferers. The Roman world was amazed and impressed at how early Christians took care of those unwanted by their society. I don't think there is any doubt that the Christian system is superior here in its care for other humans.

Christianity strikes me as the best religion when it comes to understanding human nature. For example, it is the only religion that understands the weaknesses of humanity. Why do I say that? Christianity is the only one not based on works. All others tell their adherents to complete task after task, which leads to frustration and feelings of guilt or inadequacy. None of us can live up to the standards and requirements other religions burden us with. In addition, it's only Christianity that says humans are a mixture of good and evil. This belief explains the wonderful things we can do as well as the horrific deeds that we can inflict on each other. It explains our low self-esteem since we are honest with ourselves and know our shortcomings, no matter what sort of face we put on for the rest of the world. It also explains why we feel guilty.

Christianity is also superior for the way it deals with morality. Unlike other religions and cults, Christianity says morality is from God. Standards of right/wrong are outside us rather than made up by us as we go along. This is far more satisfying and saves us from the trap of relativism in which each person generates his/her own set of principles, a recipe for anarchy, frustration, and social upheaval.

Finally, a fourth way to judge religions has to do with subjective satisfaction. For example, we can live the Christian life -- we eliminate guilt and the sense of frustration when we fall short of ethical and moral standards. Compare this to other religions -- we can't live Christian Science (we know death is real), Scientology (it's a fantasy based on money), Eastern religions (all is maya, an illusion??), Mormonism (no factual basis). In addition, Christianity provides a sense of awe. Consider some of its claims -- God is a three-personed being, He created all out of nothing, He came to earth for us, He rose from the dead, He cares about each one of us. Christianity also satisfies in the things it declares to be real -- miracles, resurrection, prayer, existence of the soul. It explains many things--pleasures that never totally satisfy, our refusal to be amoral, and our longings for truth and beauty.

One other thing about Christianity that is satisfying is how it unites the two-story house modern man lives in. There is a lower story in which humans are told the only thing that counts is science and facts. So here dwells the idea of people as machines/products of mindless evolution. This level says there is no point to life. So we can't really live there. Instead, people escape to a second story where meaning, freedom, values, ethics, and wishes exist. People who have ignored Christianity have been trying to live in this schizophrenic way. But the Christian faith says we can have it all and integrate both stories due to the existence of a God who cared enough to come into our world and save us from ourselves.

So when someone says we can't judge between religions, let him/her know there are several ways--how the religions correspond to reality, whether they are logically consistent, what they say about ethics and human nature, and whether they are satisfying to us in deep ways. I never wanted to be part of a religion because it "resonated" with me. I wanted to follow a religion that was true.

Can we judge religions?

We live in an interesting society today. People are schizophrenic when it comes to judging things. They have no trouble deciding which car to buy, which house to live in, which job to take. But if you ask them which religion is the best one, you get replies like "Who can say," "There is no way to tell," "I just picked one that resonated with me." But in the next few blogs I'd like to suggest that there are four good, careful, rational ways to select a religion.

First of all, there is such a thing as factual evidence when it comes to religions, contrary to popular opinion. Let's start with scientific evidence, an area I'll spend the rest of this blog covering. All religions have some sort of holy book. Consider the manuscript evidence available for major world religions. Only Christianity has the earliest manuscripts (closest to the originals) and the largest number of manuscripts, which allows a better way of determining what the originals said. Compare this to other religions like Buddhism, Islam, or Hinduism. Their religious documents were compiled hundreds of years after the founder, so who knows what he originally said.

Then there is archaeological evidence. Again, think of all the places and people mentioned in the New Testament. Over and over scientists have discovered the accuracy of these claims. But consider Mormonism -- this religion says there was a huge civilization in Central and North America. However, nobody has ever found a single shred of evidence to indicate that this is true. In addition, Mormons believe Native Americans are Jewish remnants, but modern scientific study using DNA has shown these people to be Asiatic.

Other scientific discoveries have shown some religions are more accurate than others. Take cosmology. Hinduism says the world has always been here, going through cyclical processes. However, in the last 100 years evidence has mounted for the Big Bang, a beginning to the universe at a particular point in time. So the cosmos is not eternal as Hinduism claims. Islam says human life starts in a clot of blood -- not true. It also claims the sun sets in a muddy pool -- again, not true. The American Psychiatric Association denounces Scientology as a quack religion. It is the Judeo-Christian belief that looks good here. Consider its reference to God creating out of nothing--sounds like the Big Bang.

We can also factually examine the history of religions. Let's start with Jehovah's Witnesses. Almost everything practiced by them before 1935 is now considered pagan-- voting, participating in war, observing holidays, smoking, believing Jesus died on a cross. Scientology has a history of indictments of its top officials. Mormonism has seen its Book of Mormon go through many changes although Joseph Smith claimed it was the most perfect book ever written. Islam got its start through bloodshed and warfare. Today, it is the fundamental, true believer in Islam who creates all the problems of terrorism because this individual is staying true to the original aims of his religion. How does Christianity do in this area? Much better than the others. It started as a small group proclaiming a resurrected Jesus in the very city in which he was put to death, which tells me something amazing must have happened for them to be able to make that claim where it would have been easy to prove it false. Christianity spread due to the compassion that it showed to women, children, the poor, those on the lower rungs of society.

I want to continue this in future blogs, but I'll stop here and give you something to think about. Keep in mind that I'm going through a lot of information very quickly, but you can verify all that I have said here if you are curious about this topic. Next time I'll look at the founders of religions to see if we can judge between them.

Scientology--a rational religion??

A news item reports four former church officials have revealed much about Scientology. In an exercise dreamed up by the founder, L. Ron Hubbard, leaders who messed up were taken out to sea and made to walk the plank with the admonition, “We trust you will rise a better Thetan (immortal spiritual being).” Think about it—people who have rejected Christianity as being “superstition,” too “miraculous,” or “full of fairy tales,” have thought long and hard before committing themselves to Scientology. Now there’s a rational religion, right?