Perfectly stated all around Richard. One sure thing to prevent arguments, never discuss religion or politics!!!.

I am NOT nor do I ever claim or say I am a psychic. Friends have asked me on rare occasion “what I see for them”. Of course I tell them I can’t predict that….I am not a soothsayer or psychic. IF something “comes to me” it’s automatic & I have no control over it.

As a 9 year old my family was outside having a BBQ, my Grandmother went to sit in a certain chair & I suddenly blurted out “Gram DO NOT sit in that chair”…..Well, she did anyway & the chair gave way yet dumping her gently on the patio blocks..the chair gave way “sideways” so she more or less simply slid off it.

Needless to say, She was quite angry at me & thought I had fooled with the chair to make it collapse under her. She was an averaged size person, so it was NOT her weight….we had had no previous problems with that chair yet something told me not to have anyone sit on it.

Yes, my husband goes to church every weekend either Saturday or Sunday, when he gets home I ask him “Did you get saved”…..he shakes his head at me….but he grew up within the bonds of the Catholic Church & A Catholic School Education….as much as I feel being somewhat brainwashed into the regalia of it all & that stuff. I always tease him that I’ve “got my marshmallows , hotdogs & a long fork ready just in case”….cause I don’t know which way I’m headed after death!

IF those in COS feel it is a religion so be it. As my once neighbor’s “new church” was started by a young man who was VERY magnetic & charismatic, kind of like Joel Osteen…HE departed the original church & HE STARTED this new rigid fundamentalist type church where his “demeanor” drew in well over two hundred people early on, & it continue to grow. That young man became VERY wealthy….need I say more!

Thank you friend for your feedback, I got a good deal of joy reading it!

Got it Balletlady. Thanks for sharing.

I’ve witnessed and experienced a few things which could be called paranormal or supernatural so I’m not skeptical when someone says they have some innate exceptional ability.

I was being a bit facetious above but like most people I believe everyone has the right to their own religious beliefs. It’s often the organizational part of religion which turns people into fanatics.

I once got into a debate on a scn blog where someone was insisting that Hubbard always said scn was a religion and must be accepted as such. After some back and forth I admitted that when I was “in” scn I believed everyone should eventually “do” scn so in a sense it was my “faith” (belief). That was a good enough compromise for him and ended the debate – haha

THANK YOU Richard….seriously thank You. I carried some of that guilt with me for years as these neighbors lived three houses down from us & my daughter was friends with their daughter (before WE were banished for being non believers). My daughter was broken hearted her then BFF rejected her (& us) as prior to their being sucked in, we were friends. I knew how passionate they were about that church, & we NEVER spoke again. They’d drive by our house & not even wave or stop to say hello. I was really happy we moved out of state a few years later as it was hurtful.

My parents were NOT at all religious…my mother Lutheran my father Catholic (non practicing for decades) & mom made us attend religious education…that is, once we were confirmed at 14/15 my brothers opted out entirely I have to admit my Mom coerced me into a church marriage….scheez. I did it to make her happy, my father could have cared less. My husband to this day a practicing Catholic married to a ‘non believing heathen, lol! Our kids are baptized Catholic & attending religious education…I told them “once you are 18 you can decide for yourself what you want to do…….they OPT OUT on religion as well.

I remained within the realm of the Lutheran Church til I was 18 & taught Sunday School. Then things changed…the church made “adjustments to the Lutheran Church/religion I had known for years. I did not like or agree with it so I left. I tried “other churches” but to this day..a big zero.

I am SPIRITUAL……..I am NOT as I said in any way religious…….it is what it is. I DID have the experience of the “religious education”…..I don’t see it as viable in many respects…..but that’s my personal option. If someone feels that need & connection I am happy for them.

For me, since childhood….my Spiritual connection with WHOMEVER has been very strong. ……OK so I am going to sound nuts here but since I was a child I just “knew things”…i.e…..I could predict certain things were going to happen etc. IF I said something people often thought “that will never happen, that’s nuts”…then it DID happen & you can guess the outcome…as in ” HOW did YOU know that??? It did & does creep people out, but it’s a “gift” I didn’t ask for or expect so what can I say?

I live my life with no regrets, helping others as often as I can. I am what I am & who I am, not going to be that person who attends church weekly to “look good in the eyes of the community & church”… but who won’t help anyone in time of need. It’s a personal choice so I can fully understand being “dragged to church” when one does it to make SOMEONE ELSE happy!

Well, depends on your definition of rule. Every scientologist is expected to be on course every day in an ideal world. It doesn’t happen. But that doesn’t mean they don’t demand it or do everything in their power to make it happen…

Balletlady – You are hereby absolved of the sin of getting your neighbors punished

Some years after I left scn I was friends with a young man and woman who were best friends with each other. They both got saved at the same time and after that the conversation always drifted to, “We like you, Richard, and we want you to be in Heaven with us.”

My mother was raised in the Russian Orthodox Church but her opinion was “God is where you find him” and she attended the local Methodist church. I guess you could say she had a rational attitude toward religion. She would drag my father along with her to church on the major Christian holidays to prove to the community that he wasn’t a heretic.

(This was in response to Bryon Eckert)

Quite right Cav. I remember reading the telex traffic from orgs to CIC Flag explaining the GI/CGI gaps because of refunds paid out and of course the Refund stat reports.

Wow “Course Admin”, what lower condition are you working on and for what offense? Someday you might wake up and cringe remembering your post here.

Cavalier. The 2.5 hours a study rule she is referring to is when you are taking a course. NOT a rule that one must be taking a course every day of their life.

Jere, similar if not the exact same rules were in other PLs back from the 60’s and 70’s. I wasn’t course in 1990 or later either but minimum course schedules had been policy for a couple decades before that 1990 policy in line with Day & Foundation hours of operation.