Why Should Alternatives To Scientology Exist ?

I recently posted the first long blog post on Alternatives To Scientology regarding the book Subliminal by Leonard Mlodinow.

I got an immediate response from someone who wrote that "the only alternative anyone needs to Scientology is to leave Scientology, you crazy cultist." Okay, how they know me well enough to call me a crazy cultist is an interesting question in itself.

If they think that by merely saying there are alternatives to Scientology I must be a crazy cultist that is an interesting question of how they judge crazy cultists and alternatives.

I left Scientology after twenty five years. Perhaps he didn't understand what Scientology entails. It provides beliefs and behavior and even feelings for members. It has definite directions regarding all these things for Scientologists.

It includes thousands of attitudes, and answers regarding psychology, history, morals, politics, marriage, family and thousands of other topics.

To say we  don't need any alternatives to Scientology besides leaving is saying we don't need any morals, any jobs, any family, any understanding of the past, any understanding of nature or anything. It's absurd.

People who were in Scientology and reject the doctrine and practices of Scientology entirely and effectively will find a couple things out quickly. They discover that they tend to discover, rediscover or develop other beliefs. They also learn that they get hung up both in a philosophical and practical manner regarding the ideas that guided them in Scientology which they feel a need to find replacements for that they have trouble getting straightened out. Sometimes they hang onto Scientology doctrine despite wanting to reject it. Sometimes they can't see how something from Scientology could not be true or they can't work out an acceptable alternative for themselves to something Scientology contained as it is tough to on the fly replace an entire philosophy of life, including answers on virtually everything they knew.

I think I have made it clear that some alternatives to Scientology are necessary. Now, some people have said things like once someone leaves Scientology or starts reading critical information on Scientology online the whole job of helping them is done or now theirs. To me that is like saying once a person unjustly sent to prison is released they need no further help or even once a person unjustly imprisoned reads information critical of their imprisonment, without being released, then they should be abandoned to work their way out of their situation on their own.

Now, some people have suggested everyone who leaves Scientology should just work out what to pursue on their own. I certainly believe the final decision should be up to each individual and what works for one might not always work for everyone else.

But I also think certain things are extremely helpful for lots of people and have found them to specifically resolve issues related to both answering questions Scientology raised with more scientifically validated answers and to show how Scientology or any pseudoscience differs from a more scientific approach.

Some ideas and subjects are ones Hubbard portrayed as either poorly developed or entirely incorrect in Scientology and so ex Scientologists often don't consider looking at them, unknowingly still following Hubbard's suggestions and commands they received in their cult indoctrination. He persuaded them so effectively and insidiously that the majority of his influence is often undetected by them, even decades after they leave.

So, I wanted to highlight some of the areas he claimed were poorly understood and show his understanding of many of them is actually decades behind their actual development and that development is often significant for trying to understand far more likely answers for many of the topics Hubbard claimed expert knowledge in.

I started with Leonard Mlodinow and his book Subliminal to give an easy book on the mind and subconscious with strong supporting evidence in scientific studies and experiments that a person with a high school education can easily understand.

The subconscious or unconscious mind as it is sometimes called has a definition in Dianetics and Scientology which is extremely different from the actual picture real scientific evidence presents. That's extremely relevant as how we think of ourselves and others is largely shaped by our impressions of the mind. By having a language of lies in Scientology shape beliefs and behavior Scientologists live a life of illusions and delusions more complex and difficult than other people, and it's difficult enough for everyone else.

I hope that article helps people to see my point and to pursue reading books like Subliminal in full and to form their own opinions on it and to share those opinions.

I also hope that future articles help to show Hubbard's ideas are not justified by sound reason or legitimate scientific research or evidence. I hope people that have been struggling to recover from Scientology get some assistance by looking at these topics and realizing which of Hubbard's ideas have been hanging around, unseen as his influence, and work out for themselves what they choose to believe, and to not just hang onto his ideas out of habit.

I hope now people can see why I believe that there's a need for alternatives to Scientology.