Blog
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
In keeping with the spirit of the day, I engaged in a bit of reflection on what the Constitution means to me personally. Certainly as a lifelong Scientologist, a religion that emerged in the 20th century, the promise of religious freedom, combined with the prohibition of any official state religion, stand out. Although the forward progress of Scientology has not been without challenges, I’ve personally observed the strong commitment of many Americans to the ideal of religious freedom which has helped it thrive.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Politics is a zero-sum game. It is a game of power and control, and for one party to win, another party has to lose. (There has never been an election where both parties won.) Religion, on the other hand, is a win-win game. When a Hindu worshipper strives for freedom from the endless cycle of life, death and rebirth, he does not impinge on a Muslim’s relationship with Allah, or a Christian’s worship of Christ, or any of the other myriad ways that believers manifest their beliefs.
TOLERANCE
When Pope Francis talks, 1.3 billion people listen. Thus, it is significant that on his recent trip to Hungary, the Pope called for an embrace of religious diversity.
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
The lesson of Yom Kippur is that all of us—no exceptions, no excuses—can change for the better.
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
A friend of mine who is not a Scientologist recently asked me to explain the Scientology symbol. It reminded me of my childhood growing up as a Christian in the Methodist church and everything the Christian cross represented to me and so many others—a symbol of God’s love and the personal sacrifice of Jesus for all mankind, the suffering that is a part of the human experience, but also the redemption that is possible for every individual.
COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE
Suppose a rock crashed through your window slamming into the wall of your living room, narrowly missing the sofa where your grandchild sits. Then suppose the tires were slashed on your car and truck, with hate messages and swastikas scrawled on those vehicles.
COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE
Since that time, nearly 140,000 other individuals have been the targets of hate crime in the United States. 140,000, many losing their lives, many others their livelihoods, their family members, and whatever hope and color their existence possessed prior to the crime—all of them, in a very real sense, victims of 9/11.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Protecting freedom of religion and the ability to speak and share religious ideas and beliefs openly, honestly and freely is vital to the health and well-being of all people, regardless of what they choose to believe.
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
The Islamic calendar is called the “Hijri.” Like most calendars that serve a religious community, the Hijri is based on a fundamental sacred event. Whereas the Gregorian calendar denotes year one as the year of Jesus’ birth, the Hijri counts year one as the year the Prophet Muhammad escaped from persecution by migrating from Makkah (Mecca) to Medina.
RELIGIOUS LITERACY
The sounding of the shofar is a call to awaken from complacency, and to simply look and see.
