A couple of days ago, my attention was directed to this article in Slate that contends, essentially, that Scientology is not in fact a weird cult, but is just new, and that we aren't used to it yet. It supports this funny little argument by invoking Mormonism, which seems weird (but not as weird as Scientology) because it's relatively new, and then invokes Christianity and Judaism, asserting that you (the reader) don't find them weird at all, because they've been around for awhile. I don't know what it takes to become a "religion writer," but apparently, a grasp of the perceptions of other people isn't really required. This man Oppenheimer is possibly an idiot, and maybe some kind of robot. I don't think he has the normal perceptual range...
Let me just throw this out for you; In spite of the perfect tolerance we as human beings put on display all the time, pretty much everyone thinks other people's religions are weird. If they didn't, your religion would be their religion. It's one of those sign-up-at-the-door things, and when you don't sign up, it's because you think it's weird. ("You said you needed a haircut, they're gonna fucking cut your hair!" ) Christians think Jews are weird, Muslims think Christians are weird, Protestants think this about Catholics, most people about Mormons, and an even greater number of people think it about Scientology. And you can vice goddamn versa that whole last sentence. And yes, I deign to speak for humanity. Suck it up. Those of us who have no belief system that begins with a capital letter or has meetings every week pretty much think that E-Meters, Moroni, not celebrating birthdays, blue donkeys, the big-hat theory of intercession, redemption through murderous carpentry, sitting on unpadded furniture, and wearing boxes on your head - is weird. Sometimes people use words like "heathen," "sinful," "nutjob," "zealot," and "Tom Cruise," but they mean, "weird." It's a human being thing - check it out, Oppenheimer, when your frontal lobe grows back.
In short, though it's too late for brevity? I think Scientology is pretty fucked up way to live your life, but I don't care as long as it's your life and no one tells me I need to become Scientologist. (There's also that -ologist, which just wrecks credibility. JB will know what I'm talking about.) From what I gather, I couldn't afford it anyway. As Bill Hicks asserted, "beliefs are odd." Everyone's. Just because a larger mass of people believe the same thing you do (or indeed, indict you as wrong) doesn't make them right. It just makes them convicted.
This does raise a question I've been asking myself for a long time - how do you start a new, charismatic faith and dodge the weirdness factor? Any ideas?