For those already uncomfortable with the erosion of the separation of church and state in voucher programs and faith-based programs under Presidents Bush and Obama, a new proposal in Flint Michigan is likely to seen the inevitable result of this trend. The Flint city council is considering using police and other public officers to distribute copies of “The Way To Happiness,” a book by Scientology creator L. Ron Hubbard.
Scientologist Monika Biddle reportedly introduced the council to the book during an August 22 meeting as a way to reverse the high rates of crime and poverty in the city. The message appeared to resonate with Councilwoman Monica Galloway (right) who said “We need to sow [values] into these children [because these] are things they are not getting.”
While presented as a nonreligious moral code, the book is obviously associated with Scientology and written by its founder. Putting aside the controversy over Scientology and the view of some countries that it is a cult or criminal organization, there remains the more pressing question of the use of material closely associated with a religious organization. The book contains 20 different principles like “Don’t Be Promiscuous,” “Be Temperate,” and “Do Not Murder.” It has been distributed by The Way to Happiness Foundation which claims a distribution of 100 million copies of the book all over the world. The Foundation and distribution of the book has been the source of long controversy around the country, particularly in schools.
Police Chief James Tolbert did not balk at the notion of police officers passing out the book. He is quoted as saying “From the information I’ve seen, apparently it works. I’m for anything that works.” (You may recall Tolbert from the Detroit scandals)
Secularists have objected to the plan for obvious reasons. First, the use of public employees to distribute such a book is highly troubling, particularly when the book is written by a religious leader. I would feel the same if it is Hubbard or a rabbi or the Pope. It further erases the line of separation that is already under fire in our society. Second, the notion that a book like this will save the city of Flint shows how detached from reality some members of the government have become. The idea that a police officer will hand a copy of this book to a drug dealer and he will suddenly realize that killing and promiscuity is wrong seems less than likely. Finally, the role of politicians in trying to instill morality in a population is a dangerous proposition. Not only are politicians the last group that I would look to for such lessons, they often use such gimmicks to take away from the fact that they are making no serious efforts to address these social problems.
Flint has enormous and growing problems. It will not help its image with investors to be seen as using public employees to pass out a book like this. More importantly, it will not help its citizens. Flint has lost too much in jobs, the environment, schools and other areas. It does not need to add the separation of church and state as another casualty of its long-standing downturn.
You need to hand out free condoms in packages which say on the cover: Do Not Pork On Sunday.
@annie, I’d be surprised if Squeeky wasn’t a Scientologist, given how hard she is defending TWTH. If she is a baptist, she should really educate herself about LRon before jumping on the bandwagon. After all, he called Jesus a pedophile and said that the whole Christian religion, among others, was simply an “implant,” haha. Beyond that, yes, I agree that separation needs to be maintained, whatever the “religion.”
Michelle, perhaps Squeeky hasn heard about the more ‘seedy’ side of Scientology? Each to their own I suppose, but Separation needs to be maintained. Professor Turley’s article that he linked to ( above) that discusses Separtion of Church and State is excellent and worth reading. Maybe Squeeky could read it?
Michelle, eh, it’s not worth engaging her over. Actually, I think Squeeky has said she was a Baptist.
@squeeky fromm “A person can do evil by simply undermining the good.” Yep, this is what L Ron Hubbard did when he stole nuggets of wisdom from other sources and recast them for his own diabolical purposes.
@squeeky fromm Wow, you totally missed @annie’s point. How like a Scientologist.
@annie
No, Annie, you are not endorsing the Satanist Rules. What you are doing is far more devious and destructive. You are equating and blurring the distinctions between “If someone bothers you, ask him to stop. If he does not stop, destroy him” and “Try to treat others as you would like them to treat you.”
To you, it is supposedly all the same. A person does not have to directly attack the good to do evil. A person can do evil by simply undermining the good.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
The Eleven Satanic Rules of the Earth
by Anton Szandor LaVey
© 1967
Do not give opinions or advice unless you are asked.
Do not tell your troubles to others unless you are sure they want to hear them.
When in another’s lair, show him respect or else do not go there.
If a guest in your lair annoys you, treat him cruelly and without mercy.
Do not make sexual advances unless you are given the mating signal.
Do not take that which does not belong to you unless it is a burden to the other person and he cries out to be relieved.
Acknowledge the power of magic if you have employed it successfully to obtain your desires. If you deny the power of magic after having called upon it with success, you will lose all you have obtained.
Do not complain about anything to which you need not subject yourself.
Do not harm little children.
Do not kill non-human animals unless you are attacked or for your food.
When walking in open territory, bother no one. If someone bothers you, ask him to stop. If he does not stop, destroy him.
***********************************
I’m not endorsing these! But just think for a moment how it would go over if the town board gave these to cops in tract form to hand out to juvenile delinquents. Some think Scientology is almost as bad as Satanism. I think we need to simply honor the principle of Separation and allow the churches and or parents, Boys and Girl clubs, YMCA, etc. to do their thing as far as promoting values in the community.
@Squeeky Fromm, Girl Reporter The problem with this is that the Way to Happiness, like anything put out by Scientology, despite everything they claim to the contrary, is a recruiting tool for the cult. L Ron Hubbard came up with it at a time when the organization needed some positive PR after years of FBI investigations, raids and the prosecution of some of its top members. Anything that recruits even one member to the cult is a dangerous thing.
Furthermore, despite its somewhat pedestrian tenets like “do not murder” (uh, duh), or the even more ridiculous statement “The way to happiness does not include murdering or your friends, your family or yourself being murdered” (double duh), there are also bits of wisdom like “The test of any “truth” is whether it is true for you…If one blindly accepts “facts” or “truths” just because he is told he must, “facts” and “truths” which do not seem true to one, or even false, the end result can be an unhappy one.” This is complete BS. Facts are facts, whether you like them or not.”
To compare L Ron to Aristotle is laughable. Your doing so shows your ignorance of one or the other–or both. Anything worthwhile that L Ron stole from other sources tends to get negated by the mold in which he recasts it. And yes, I have read both.
Michelle Barnes, I retrieved your comment at 1:30.
@MikeA
This might help you some with your comparison. It is a list of the chapter titles of the 21 Precepts. Within each chapter is an exegesis, and sub points.
1. Take Care of Yourself
2. Be temperate.
3. Don’t be promiscuous.
4. Love and help children.
5. Honor and help your parents.
6. Set a good example.
7. Seek to live with the truth.
8. Do not murder.
9. Don’t do anything illegal.
10. Support a government designed and run for all the people.
11. Do not harm a person of good will.
12. Safeguard and improve your environment.
13. Do not steal.
14. Be worthy of trust.
15. Fulfil your obligations.
16. Be industrious.
17. Be competent.
18. Respect the religious beliefs of others.
19. Try not to do things to others that you would not like them to do to you.
20. Try to treat others as you would like them to treat you.
21. Prosper and flourish.
Here is the link:
http://www.lronhubbard.org/ron-series/profile/humanitarian/the-way-to-happiness.html
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
DBQ:
I’m glad to hear such rules exist and are applied; however, some may say that their religious views are relevant to the topic at hand. So my point was that a citizen responding in that way would be more appropriate than the board itself endorsing such avenues.
As MikeA put it, it’s clearly unconstitutional. If Ron L Hubbard took his ideas from some great philosophers, great, but he repackaged them in his religion of Scientology. So he rebranded them as religion which by the board injecting them into government, is violating Separation of Church and State. If only those criminals in Flint would’ve listened to their Sunday School teachers instead of sneaking out to smoke as five year olds, all would be well in Flint. I do wonder why some people get angry over those churches that do, as Glenn Beck calls it, “Social Justice” preaching,engage in community services and outreach programs for the troubled. Maybe some who didn’t learn values as youngsters could learn some remedially as adults in such outreach churches.
Okay, Squeeky, I’ll check it out. And to be completely honest, Hubbard wasn’t part of the curriculum in my philosophy department, even for extra credit!
@MikeA
Good! When you have brushed up on the Nicomachean Ethics, perhaps you can come back and say:
“Thank you, Squeeky, for pointing out the similarities! I didn’t realize Hubbard had cribbed so much from Aristotle and other sources in writing his 21 Precepts.”
🙂
Cheeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
LOL. Gee, thanks, Squeeky, but I think I can still find my slightly dog-eared copy of the real thing among the rest of the volumes of “stuff” I acquired in the course of earning my philosophy degree.
A lot of people around the world think that religion is the key to preventing chaos among the illiterate and even giving comfort to the illiterate. If only it would stop there it would be fine. Unfortunately, like other good intentions, it metamorphises into bands of torture, rape, and killing machines attacking those with a different religion.
Change from entrenched and problematic institutions that demand adherence without individuals using their ‘god given?’ abilities of common sense, logic, and rationalization will always hit speed bumps along the way. Because a society is suffering momentarily from a recession and fractured social values does not require that society to about face and proceed back to the past from which countless millions died to free us. Hitler started the same way. A seemingly benevolent despot is always attractive in times of strife and chaos. L. Ron Hubbard is nothing more than a self proclaimed messiah, an ego trip, a step backward.
The ball is in society’s court, not the world of fairy tales and absolute adherence. If you need reminding, read your history and compare the christian past with the sewer which is the Middle East.
Dave said: If a priest attends his or her local board meeting, walks to the mic, and then wants to pray, I have no problem with that: because a local citizen is voicing himself or herself in that context.
I don’t know how it works for other States public entity boards or councils, but in California (where I sit on a public board) the citizens are allowed at the beginning of the meeting a certain amount of time (usually 3 to 5 minutes) to address the board on “any item that is not currently on the agenda and over which the board has jurisdiction”. Items that are on the agenda will be open to the same limited public comment before the board takes up that item and if they start talking about an agenda item in the beginning session, they are told to wait/hold it until that time. (Sit down and shut up, we will allow you your time to speak when the topic arises and not until then)
Over which the board has jurisdiction is the crucial point. This stops people from standing up and wasting our time talking about things over which we have zero ability to control. Like religion and God for example. We have no jurisdiction over that. Our board also is not a school board so we have no ability to or interest in taking up education issues and when people do get out in left field we stop them and advise them of this and tell them to take it to the school board….Next public commenter please.
Why can’t the Flint Board/Council use the same rules and stop all of this idiocy?
@MikeA
Since you have probably never read Nicomachean Ethics, and probably won ‘t, here is a link to the Spark Notes:
http://www.sparknotes.com/philosophy/ethics/summary.html
The link to the 21 precepts is above.
Squeeky Fromm
Girl Reporter
The Islamic State is not a cancer as has been recently labeled: crap like this is. Because it’s already internal and metastasizing everywhere.
Many maybe-well-meaning elected officials do not understand the role and function of government in the United States. Power is in the people, not in some politician’s version of a sky-monster. Government should be neutral in all matters of religion and instead should spend its time working on real issues.
If a priest attends his or her local board meeting, walks to the mic, and then wants to pray, I have no problem with that: because a local citizen is voicing himself or herself in that context. But the board ITSELF should not be strolling a minister out and officially enacting a prayer. This distinction is vital to ensure that all religious freedom is maintained: because it’s a personal right, not a government imposition.
I shouldn’t be forced to listen to this nonsense if I’m attending for permitting reasons or opposition to zoning proposals or simply voicing suggestions to improve the community. Go to church if you want to hear an idle prayer. There’s work to do.
In terms of book distribution, if these politicians want to do so at their own expense and when they’re not working, they can go right ahead, doing so as individual citizens. It’s the official context that’s inappropriate.