COMBATING BIGOTRY & HATE | APRIL 21, 2022

Why Scientologists Fight Back Against Discrimination

A little while ago I came across someone on social media objecting to Scientologists who would “shout down and belittle” some filmmaker trying to make a buck promoting anti-Scientology.

Just so that we’re straight, according to this social media guy, it was okay for this so-called “filmmaker” to stalk Scientologists for a pre-scripted hatchet job designed to “shout down and belittle” each of us, our families and our religion, but it was not okay for Scientologists to voice their objection to it.

I guess in his mind we’re just supposed to shut up, roll over and take it.

Oh, really?

Well at least this fellow has company. Bigots and bullies, rapists, robbers and murderers are always quite offended by intended victims who fight back. How dare they? In the mind of a bigot or bully they have a perfect right to do anything they want to anyone. They reckon that their intended victims are somehow a sub-human underclass, weak and easy pickings. It must be okay to bully them because they themselves are doing it.

That really is all the thought they put into the act and boy do they scream about how unfair it all is when their intended victim doesn’t put up with it.

Anywhere the freedom of a person or a people has been lost, at any time, it’s because they were not alert and did not fight back.

When someone tries to “shout down and belittle” Scientologists—tries to disturb our peaceful practice of our chosen religion or to take away our right to do so—we not only fight back, we do our best to ensure they don’t come back to attack anyone else’s religious freedom either.

As a student of history, L. Ron Hubbard himself said: “Constant and continual alertness is the price of freedom. Constant willingness to fight back is the price of freedom. There is no other price, actually.” And if you think about the subject of freedom in general—applied to anyone anywhere in the world in any era—he’s exactly right. Anywhere the freedom of a person or a people has been lost, at any time, it’s because they were not alert and did not fight back.

For someone who knows the everyday reality of Scientology and Scientologists, these anti-Scientology so-called “exposés” are no different than a gaggle of high-school mean girls picking on some quiet, bookish kid who doesn’t fit into the social hierarchy—calling her a slut, a nerd, a whatever, when the poor girl is simply living her own life, minding her own business and getting her schoolwork done.

Whenever I go into my local church I deal with quick, bright, helpful people only interested in seeing me do better in life, and who then proceed to assist me to do just that.

What’s not to like about that?

But when some wannabe journalist or YouTuber comes along and sees Scientologists as easy pickings to enhance their status and make a few bucks with no work, they usually get quite upset when we don’t just roll over and let them have their way.

After all, fighting back is just so impolite!

We Scientologists would much rather get along. We’d rather resolve issues with friendly communication. We’d rather be left alone to live our lives. But failing that, we’re more than willing to lay the truth on the line and give a good account of ourselves and the other guy—and bullies and bigots just HOWL with indignation when we do.

So bullies and bigots be warned. We will fight back. We will put out the true story. And if you don’t like it, you just might want to find someone else to pick on.

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AUTHOR

Rodger Clark

Contractor, history buff, compulsive learner, currently in recovery from authoritarian education.

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