don't know if you noticed, but Ron is dead.
people are responsible for their own actions.
Geez. What BULLSHIT! Sure people are responsible for their own actions. BUT . . .
IDEAS run the world. The primary battles in this world are over and for the acceptance of IDEAS. Sure, people accept and forward "ideas", BUT a body of knowledge DOES have a slant, often inherent postulated motivations, clearly described BEHAVIORs, and so forth.
Example. Here are two IDEAS. Without any people involved.
1. Do Unto Others As You Would Have Them Do Unto You (Jesus)
2. Attack and destroy all critics using noisy investigations, overwhelming lawsuits and manufactured phony crimes. (Hubbard)
The ideas themselves, without any person involved, CONTAIN tremendous ramifications for ACTIONS in the physical universe.
Follow the first idea and see what happens. Follow the second idea and see what happens.
Ideas are NOT "entirely neutral". They are NOT always like a "gun" where the intention and use matter ONLY and entirely. There is the idea that "people commit crimes, not guns". That is true, but the relationship of the person and the gun, is NOT at all the same as the relationship between a person and an IDEA. Guns are "neutral", while IDEAS often are NOT.
Yes, with an idea such as ARC, it can be used with decent intentions or with bad intentions. But, MANY ideas include the intentional slant and acceptance of the idea involves acceptance of the slant.
Hubbard may be dead, BUT his IDEAS continue to exist, and people accepting, thinking with, and exactly applying MANY of these Scientology ideas directly cause various abuses. There IS a
close relationship between IDEAS and the actions those ideas define, describe, and encourage. One may not directly "cause" the other, but they are VERY far from being unrelated.
Your above statement is just so shallow, and possibly contrived.
Ideas are often NOT "neutral". Very often, when ANY person accepts certain ideas he or she MUST also accept the slant and intention. There is no way to be responsible accepting the above idea number 2, and NOT harm people. The only sane option is to understand the IDEA as the nonsense it truly is, and choose NOT to accept it or apply it in any way. If a person accepts the framework of the ideas inherent to organized Scientology, it is nearly impossible NOT to behave as some sort of an asshole.
Ideas limit and direct behavior - in VERY many cases (at least when any person accepts, thinks with, and acts on the ideas).
In addition, the Scientology paradigm is highly deceptive, and ANY person accepting and forwarding many of the ideas cannot do anything other than trick, manipulate and confuse "responsibility" in the minds of participants. The subject itself is NOT some unliving, value-free, and neutral thing. When ANY person operates with these Scientology ideas, he or she breathes life, and a very specific and well-defined type of life as based on the ideas, into an exact FORM and manifestation of actions and behaviors.
The apple never falls far from the tree. For the not-too-bright, in this metaphor, the tree is the "idea", and the apple involves the attitudes and behaviors described and defined by the idea.
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