From: cep@Apple.COM (Christopher Pettus)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: Re: Scientology information
Message-ID: <55328@apple.Apple.COM>
Date: 24 Jul 91 20:59:02 GMT
References: <1991Jul22.175707.17047@cadence.com> <1991Jul23.165100.32236@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> <17181@life.ai.mit.edu>
Organization: Uh, can I get back to you on that one?
Lines: 46

In article <17181@life.ai.mit.edu> whatis@pogo.gnu.ai.mit.edu (....What Is?....) writes:
>In article <1991Jul23.165100.32236@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu> mauler@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu writes:
>>L. Ron Hubbard was a "great man" to Scientologists; since many other "great
>>man" religions are also suppressive to women (see Islam, Christianity, Judaism,
>>for a few examples), and since the basic creed does not specifically mention
>>women, how can we assume that women are treated equally?
>
>iIn both orgs that I have been associated with, the Executive Director
>and all 3 division heads have been female.  Also, the best auditor I've
>ever had was female too.  They are not discriminated against.  I have
>never even seena HINT of discrimination.

I must confess that this parallels my experiences.  I've seen a LOT
of Scientologists and Scientology operations, and never seen anything
that would indicate that women were discriminated against.  Indeed,
it's probably better than most high-tech companies.

>>Is sex good only for reproduction, or are the partners permitted to enjoy
>>themselves too?
>
>Of course you're allowed to enjoy it!  This is not your typical "keep
>them ignorant and repress their basic motivations" religion.  It's not
>even your typical religion.  I personally have trouble calling it a
>religion because of all the negative connotations (like the above) that
>it brings up, but I can see why it is called one, and I can only
>conclude that there really is no proper English term for it.
>"Religion" is close.  "Philosophy" is close.

The Church will be the first group to tell you that Scientology is a
religion.  Tax reasons, I suppose.

Scientology actually doesn't have much to say on the subject of sex;
it's kinda assumed under "love" and general Second Dynamic kinda
stuff.  However, I've never met a Scientologist who felt the Church
prohibited recreational sex.

On the other hand, the Church's attitude towards homosexuality is
completely reprehensible, and is reflected by far too many of the
members.  The Ethics Officer at CC once told me that "AIDS is a
reflection of the basic PTS nature of gays," which is damn close to
saying that God is punishing them for being queer.  Ick.
-- 
-- Christophe

"Oh, so you're going to kill me!  What a finely-tuned response to the
situation!"