Google Questions Answered on Scientology – Episode #1

As this is a personal site with a rather varied set of topics related to Scientology, I get some interesting results in terms of search terms people use to arrive at my site.  Some of them are understandable, others – well, not so much.   But I figured it might be of interest to give a bit more info for some of this week’s top search terms, just to make sure future searchers find what they’re looking for:

“what do scientologists say about earthquakes”

An interesting Google search indeed.  Not sure what “Scientologists say” except for that they happen, and when they do, some tragic results can ensue.  Obviously it’s incumbent upon the science community to be able to better predict them, but in terms of handling the results, Scientologists have been extremely active.  The Scientology Volunteer Ministers blog has info on what our teams are currently doing in Japan as a result of the recent tsunami, and the Scientology VM site has more info on what our volunteers have done in the wake of other disasters. 

“scientology ybor grand opening youtube”

Photos of the Grand Opening of the new Ybor Square Church of Scientology in Tampa are here, and I think the video you’re after of the Grand Opening is right here:

 

“becoming a member of the scientology church”

Well, that’s a fairly easy one.  If you were Googling this because you were wondering why someone might be a Scientologist, I did a fairly detailed write up here.  If you were wondering on what’s involved with being a Scientologist, well, it’s easy enough to just check out some of the free courses in Scientology that are available on-line, apply it and see if it works for you.   If you have any questions, just ask.

 

“difference between ias and able scientology”

The IAS is the International Association of Scientologists – the official membership association of the Scientology religion.  The purpose of the IAS is: “To unite, advance, support and protect the Scientology religion and Scientologists in all parts of the world, so as to achieve the aims of Scientology as originated by L. Ron Hubbard.”  I wrote more on the IAS here, and you can find out more about the programs that the IAS supports in a nutshell on this video.

ABLE is the Association for Better Living and Education.  In a nutshell, ABLE has the purpose of reversing the social decay that threatens our societies by resolving the worst problems that plague man today — drugs, crime, illiteracy and immorality.  While supported by the actions of many Scientologists and non-Scientologists alike, ABLE is a secular (non-religious) activity, and uses the technologies of L. Ron Hubbard to forward four major areas:

• Narconon International
• Criminon International
• Applied Scholastics International
• The Way to Happiness Foundation International.

You can find out more about each of these areas on their site.  Hope that answers the question!

 

“i’m a scientologist how do i raise my children”

I have a site dedicated to that question.    Let me know if there’s a question on parenting which is not answered on that site, and I’ll take it up!

“church of scientology staff”

There were about 6 different permutations of that search term in the last week.  You can see my take on being on staff in a Scientology organization here.   I know of at least one person who’s now on staff after reading this, so that’s a good thing.  Let me know if you have any questions about being on staff and I’ll answer them. 

“scientology reviews”

Interesting – quite a few searches this week for “Scientology Reviews”.  Well, I’ll certainly give you my review of Scientology.

 

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Curious to see what the next week turns up in searches!

New Meet a Scientologist Video Series

Sometimes it’s tough trying to get across to someone what it’s like to be a part of a religious movement that the other fellow has no real experience with aside from what a quick Google search told them.   It’s rough because one can get some odd ideas.

I can only imagine what Muslims in the US have to go through, as they face existing archetypes – false data like “everyone who’s a Muslim is a terrorist or religious extremist” or something bizarre that really couldn’t be further from the truth.

As such, it’s such a relief to have a resource like the Meet a Scientologist videos on the Church of Scientology Youtube Channel to be able to quickly give a vignette of what it’s like to be a Scientologist. 

On the Scientology Parent blog, I highlighted some of the Scientologist Parent videos, but there are a bazillion others.

One I took a particular liking to was this one of Bishop Fraser, a Pentecostal Minister who is also a Scientologist – elucidating how he has merged and reconciled the two faiths in something that is very spiritually satisfying and workable for him.

Each of these videos is only a snapshot into the lives of these people, but I think it’s a very satisfying one, which says in only a minute or so of time why so many people just plain like being a Scientologist.