TAGS
FREEDOM OF RELIGION
COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE
The word “bigot” came into existence just under a thousand years ago.
MEDIA & ETHICS
Freedom of speech is a precious gift bequeathed to us by our Founding Fathers. Anti-Scientologists routinely abuse that right. I could now proclaim that even though I detest what the haters say about my church, I will defend their right to say it. But I won’t. It would be a lie. Why on earth would I want to defend the abuse of this precious right by for-profit hatemongers?
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
If you live in America you might find this hard to believe. Most people here and in Western countries are accustomed to Christians being “the norm,” with religious bigotry and scorn reserved for newer or less “mainstream” faiths. But that analysis would be missing one critical element: almost all religions are a minority somewhere.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
A friend of mine who lived among the native Inuits of far Northern Canada told me that if a person in the community, through his or her behavior, attitude and refusal to change, had now become a liability to others, he would simply “disappear” for the community. People would literally no longer see, communicate or acknowledge the person in any way, shape or form, even if he was standing right there. He would literally cease to exist, as far as the community went. Then, once he got his act together, people would once again see and acknowledge him.
TOLERANCE
We’re living at a time when it seems that to believe in something means you have to do whatever you can to force everyone else to believe the same thing. A few people do it with actual physical violence. Many, many more do it with overheated rhetoric and accusation.
TOLERANCE
I was 28 when I met Gunnar and Lois and their son Anders. When they asked me what I thought about Nixon and Watergate, I had to buy an English-language news magazine to find out what they were talking about.
SCIENTOLOGY RELIGION
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.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
I’ve studied the Constitution of the United States more than once and I love what our founders put in place for future generations.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
Have you ever gotten something off your chest and felt the relief? I'm talking about an act you committed, large or small, that was eating away at you, leaving you all balled up in regret and guilt.
COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE
I manage a software development team and have worked in and with technology for the last three decades.
