TOLERANCE

I don’t really care what you think of my husband. Although he has passed on, I loved him. We got along great and laughed a lot. Anybody who tried to convince me that he was a terrible guy wouldn’t get very far. I worked with him and lived with him for 30 years.

My Ph.D. in Hate: A Scientologist STANDs Against Bigotry

I know a lot about hate. Unfortunately, I’ve had way too much experience with intolerance and bigotry. I’m an expert in it. You’d think that perhaps I grew up in the Jim Crow South or some war-torn nation in the Middle East.

Lessons in Tolerance from South Africa

I guess there is bigotry everywhere, but—oddly enough—I don’t experience too much of that here in South Africa. If you look for it, you will probably find it, but bigots are no longer welcome here.

One Senator’s “Religious Test” and the Antidote to Our Side-Taking Culture

At the beginning of June, a U.S. senator grilled an appointee to the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB). The senator attempted to use the appointee’s Christian beliefs to imply he was intolerant of other religions (namely Islam) and therefore unfit for the job.

On Religion & Politics, or What Not to Discuss at a Dinner Party

“Nothing ruins a dinner party faster than religion or politics.” It’s the unspoken agreement of a polite dinner host and guests. Why? Because people can’t keep their manners in when talking about these two subjects. They’re especially volatile in the current political climate.

The Power of Listening

The first course I took in Scientology was called, “The Communication Course.” The first exercise on the course was called “TR-Zero.” The “TR” stood for “Training Routine.

The Truth about Scientology, in my View

I remember when I was 17 years old and first walked into a Church of Scientology in Chicago. I was young, troubled, unsure of myself and not at all sure what Scientology was. I had just read the book Dianetics and it was absolutely revolutionary to me.

The Biggest Secret About Scientology

I won't get into how it was, but one day I was sitting in a hotel in Siberia, downing a few vodka shots with Misha, the owner. We were having a polite argument about what life was actually like in America.

In Spite of Everything

The defacing of a public monument is a despicable crime in and of itself. But when the target is a beloved figure like Anne Frank—as happened recently at the Idaho Anne Frank Human Rights Memorial—and when the motivation is clearly anti-Semitism, acts of defilement reach a whole new low.

Freedom of Thought: Infinitely Valuable and Incessantly Attacked

In the wake of the 1960’s, my father and mother began studying Dianetics and Scientology in New York and San Francisco. I grew up in a multi-denominational household—Christian, Jewish, Scientologist. I lived in an atmosphere of tolerance and respect.

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