forepac

Walking into work this morning, I was horrified to find that the “Church” of Scientology has rented the space formerly occupied by Wordsworth Books in Harvard Square & set up a “traveling public awareness exhibit” called “Psychiatry: An Industry of Death.” Technically, the exhibit is run by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, but the “Church” website details their founding and sponsorship of CCHR, so, frankly, for all intents and purposes, CCHR = “Church” of Scientology. Signs visible from windows state:

GRAPHIC MATERIAL
Psychiatry’s damaging and lethal “treatments” are infamous. Psychiatrists claim their methods have changed. This shocking exhibit will give you the facts. You decide.

Another one I could see read “Destroying Creativity,” and it was peppered with black & white photographs of celebrities like Judy Garland, Marilyn Monroe, Stevie Nicks, and Kurt Cobain. Amazing. Sounds like they’re making the case that Cobain could have been saved with a healthy dose of pay-to-play-self-help and an E-Meter.

Here’s the photographic evidence — click the photos to embiggen:

Classy looking stuff, huh? Looks like it was created with a level of professionalism I haven’t seen since my last middle school play, or the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! Museum in Niagara Falls.

So why does this have me up in arms? Why is my blood boiling and pulse racing while even just typing this up? Because I truly believe that you have to be mentally damaged to believe any of the bullshit Scientology shovels. The father of Scientology, who developed its core tenets and wrote all of its primary source documents was a science fiction author. Science-bloody-fiction, people. One of the foundational, core stories centers around an alien named Xenu, who:

…according to Scientology founder (and speculative fiction writer) L. Ron Hubbard, was the dictator of the “Galactic Confederacy” who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of his people to Earth in DC-8-like spacecraft, stacked them around volcanoes and killed them using hydrogen bombs. Scientology holds that the essences of these many people remained, and that they form around people in modern times, causing them spiritual harm. (Wiki)

South Park, of all things, presented the Xenu story accurately in the classic “Trapped in the Closet” episode. This great clip from YouTube intercuts the Xenu story from the South Park episode with audio of L. Ron Hubbard telling the story himself:

This information isn’t presented up front to people the “Church” is trying to convert because, frankly, anyone with half a brain and even a tenuous grasp of reality would call instant shenanigans. They pepper you with pseudoscience (like the E-Meter and the “Industry of Death” traveling museum) and self-help hogwash instead to rope you in & get you on an expensive paid track to clarity and salvation.

Scientology is a bunch of bullshit. People who believe it are fools. Its scientific claims are lies and propaganda, and it drives me crazy that they successfully legitimize their operations by disguising themselves as a religion and as non-profit public advocacy groups. This move into the Square gives them even more legitimacy: “look, we’re at Harvard.”

How do I get an “Anonymous” protest at this exhibit scheduled?

Looking for a cup of Starbucks-brewed joe in the morning in Harvard Square? Try the location in The Garage, also home to Newbury Comics. The line at the other Starbucks on Church St. is usually about 15 people deep, but the Garage location is impressively empty that early in the day. You’ll be in and out in a flash.

You’re welcome.