Okay!

Scientology is no more or less valid than any so-con protestant megachurch, prosperity gospel, any arena preacher anywhere in America with the wide smile and the Republican social conservative talking points and the expensive capped teeth. I’m sorry, but it’s true.

I am far more worried about Republican so-con protestants than I am about Scientologists, Scientology is a scam most people are aware of AS a scam, megachurch protestants and Republican front groups that manage the social conservative talking points to keep Republicans bigoted and fearful of gay people and Americans whose lives differ from their own, they are far more powerful scammers that can actually do real harm to real lives.

The difference is, of course, we’re all mostly protestants here. My parents are. My friends are. I know a couple Jewish people. A couple catholics. I know dozens of protestants. And of course, dozens of athiests, agnostics, and irreligious people who have no need for any flavor of religious hierarchy because I’m an outsider nerd, and we clever outcasts find each other quite easily. :-)

When’s the last time you saw a Scientologist in the House? In the Senate? As a Governor? hell, in any sort of elected office? No googling! It’s a distraction. Scientologists get a disproportionate amount of garbage thrown at them, because it’s othering. What did Beck ever do to anyone except make weird music? It’s weak target, it’s an easy layup. Everyone can slam Scientology, because they’re obviously a scam, and a real scummy Hollywood brand of scam.

I stood outside the Scientology Celebrity Center in Hollywood a few years back when I was visiting a friend. Saw all the Mercedes SUVs with anti-psychology propaganda bumper stickers parked on the streets outside. His father referred to it as The Hotel California, which I enjoyed. Anon has already had their way with Scientologists. So has the book “Big Secrets”. So have TV shows. So have a million clever people, for decades. Operation Clambake was a thing before the internet. I was reading up on Scientology in the 90’s. I worked with a former Scientologist, once upon a time. It’s been a laughingstock for 15 years. Give me a break, it is PLAYED OUT. Might as well spend your time dissing Aum Shinrikyo.

I give the static to the real enemy, and the real enemy are social conservative protestant power structure, and the GOP politicians who use it as a political tool. Who demonize gay people, who encourage attacks on gay kids. Witness the so-con resistance to any gay-straight alliances, to anti-bullying. THEY WANT GAY CHILDREN TO BE ABUSED. THAT IS THEIR INTENT. That’s the real bigotry. That’s the mainstream Klan. It’s these talking-point factories like Focus on the Family, Media Research Center (who runs Newsbusters and the Parents television Council) these stealth klansmen. You know who they are, the alphabet soup of self-sustaining think-tank bigotry.

it’s time we stopped pretending that it’s all just different flavors of the same manure. Let’s start shovelling from the much bigger, smellier pile, maybe? Let’s call out the real threat, and it ain’t buying its own Dianetics books by the truckload to get them onto the best seller lists. It’s so-cons selling hatred to America and it’s a billion dollar industry.