Dean Blair
Silver Meritorious Patron
I went to church Sunday as I usually do with my family. I was sitting there in my seat looking over the crowd of people most of whom I don't know. There was a wonderful Christmas display with lit up Christmas trees. There were lots of family's with kids. As I looked around I tried to estimate how many people were there and estimated that there were well over a thousand and we have three services every Sunday. I began to compare it to Scientology. There were no extras in the audience. No one had been called to church by the registrars or the call in unit. No...they just showed up like they do every week.
The pastor was talking about something called the "benevolent fund". That is a special fund where money is collected to help members of the church get by when they have experienced some hard ship such as losing a job or having a medical emergency that they were unable to fully pay for. In one week, the people in the congregation had donated $280,000 towards this fund without any hard sell or talk of eternal damnation. A video was shown of several recipients who had run into hard times and were helped. With the help the church gave, these people were saved from eviction and soon recovered to live happy normal lives again.
This is something I had never seen in Scientology in the 40 years I was a member. Scientology never helps people like this. Even if you don't believe in God or Jesus the unselfish actions of these people are to be commended. Attending this church has given me a whole new understanding of people and what a church should be like. As many people have stated here and in the press, Scientology is not a religion nor is it a church. It is a money making corporation that really benefits no one other than it's current leader David Miscavige and before him L Ron Hubbard.
The pastor was talking about something called the "benevolent fund". That is a special fund where money is collected to help members of the church get by when they have experienced some hard ship such as losing a job or having a medical emergency that they were unable to fully pay for. In one week, the people in the congregation had donated $280,000 towards this fund without any hard sell or talk of eternal damnation. A video was shown of several recipients who had run into hard times and were helped. With the help the church gave, these people were saved from eviction and soon recovered to live happy normal lives again.
This is something I had never seen in Scientology in the 40 years I was a member. Scientology never helps people like this. Even if you don't believe in God or Jesus the unselfish actions of these people are to be commended. Attending this church has given me a whole new understanding of people and what a church should be like. As many people have stated here and in the press, Scientology is not a religion nor is it a church. It is a money making corporation that really benefits no one other than it's current leader David Miscavige and before him L Ron Hubbard.