SCIENTOLOGY RELIGION | DECEMBER 8, 2020

Scientology: The “Other” Philosophy

Whenever you find controversy or conflict surrounding Scientology, or for that matter just about anything, what you are actually witnessing is a conflict of two philosophies.

One is the philosophy of avoiding and escaping life. The other is the philosophy of facing and handling life. If you were to examine any personal, familial or societal conflict, you would actually discover some form of clash in those two competing philosophies.

Philosophy-book — Photo by Chinnapong/Shutterstock.com

The philosophy of facing and handling life requires things like responsibility, courage, self-reliance, the ability to reason well, honesty and many other characteristics considered desirable. The philosophy of avoiding and escaping involves the opposite: irresponsibility, fear, dependence, lack of resolve and dishonesty, to name a few.

On the face of it, the choice seems like a no-brainer. People who live happy and successful lives number in the millions and are all examples of the face-and-handle philosophy. Results of the avoid-and-escape philosophy can be found in prisons and drug rehab centers. But unless a person is conscious that the two philosophies exist as opposing philosophies, making up one’s mind about what to do with the situations and confusions of everyday life can become muddled and messy.

What if you could create a life that was far more interesting than anything on TV or in the movies?

The avoid-and-escape philosophy is easy and seductive, while the face-and-handle philosophy requires that one face and handle tough and unpleasant stuff. It requires effort, determination and persistence—sometimes for years, often with no promise of a payoff. So whether we are conscious of it or not, it’s a choice all of us have to make many times every day.

The problem with this choice—avoid or face—are the enormous industries, philosophies and entire lifestyles constructed around avoid-and-escape. From entertainment to pharmaceuticals to human and drug trafficking, even personal security, all delivering the promise of “we’ll do the hard stuff for you.”

Convenient.

Don’t get me wrong. It’s ok to make life easier and more efficient. There’s nothing wrong with hiring a professional. But the reason and point of view one adopts in doing so is the difference. Are you using a convenience to avoid and escape, or to take on more life?

The irony is that the people who handle and run your life for you—the companies who help you avoid and escape—are themselves started and run by people who adopt the philosophy of facing and handling life. Everyone from slick-talking politicians to entertainment moguls and CEOs of multinational pharmaceutical companies. But often their very living and very existence depends upon getting as many people as possible to choose the avoid-and-escape life.

What if you could create a life that was far more interesting than anything on TV or in the movies? What if your life was so satisfying, adventurous and enjoyable that you never became depressed? What if you were perfectly capable of analyzing information and determining the truth for yourself and didn’t need an “authority” to do it for you?

When something like Scientology comes along and starts showing people they can face and handle life and then shows them how to do it, and when those people then start to enjoy facing and handling life, it’s no wonder some of these players and industries begin to see Scientology as a threat and begin campaigning to smash it out of existence.

So whenever you see or hear anti-Scientology bigotry, or see Scientology being mugged and outrageously mischaracterized in the press, just realize what is going on and what and who is behind it. Facing and handling life is independence. It’s freedom. Avoiding and escaping is the opposite.

We’re in the business of freedom.

It’s really just that simple.

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