This is the audio version of Chris Shelton's weekly Critical Question and Answer show on his YouTube channel. In this show, Chris answers questions posed by viewers in the comments section of his Q&A videos or sent by email to AskChrisShelton@gmail.com. Questions cover a wide range of topics but tend to focus on Scientology and critical thinking, as well as Chris' personal experiences with and in the Church of Scientology.
https://mncriticalthinking.com/posts/
Critical Q&A #135
The weekly show where I answer viewer questions. This week, the questions taken up are:
(1) Are you able to explain what L. Ron Hubbard meant by making a “Perfect Duplicate”?
(2) I had a question regarding how children are raised in Scientology. I was raised in the Mormon faith, and distinctly remember a strong emphasis being placed on having ample child-friendly materials. Though there was still plenty of studying plain scripture, much of the doctrine / stories / church history were delivered to kids through things like cartoons and activity pages. Many of these were contained in their own magazine just for young children called The Friend, whose soft edges and simple language contrasted starkly with the boring repetitive slag that was The Ensign. Things like “connect the dots to form the golden plates” and “color in the prophets from the Book of Mormon” were common sights.
I know this might seem like a silly question, but is there any sort of comparable equivalent in Scientology? Something like, “connect the dots to form the E-Meter”, or “Color in this image of L. Ron Hubbard”? I would think that their approach to that would be at least partially indicative of how much effort they put towards indoctrinating kids in the church. From the testimonies I’ve heard, most didn’t join or weren’t active until they were at least teenagers. Is there less of a focus on kids since there’s considerably less money to be fleeced out of them? Does the focus just fall squarely on the parents instead, trusting them to teach their kids instead of taking a more direct approach? Whatever the reality of it is, I’d like to hear your take on it!
(3) Have you read Revolt in the Stars? Is the pdf on wikileaks actually Hubbard’s writing?
AND
Whatever happened to the proposed film Revolt in the Stars?
(4) What are your views on the Bible, Jesus, Christianity, heaven and hell?
(5) Why do Scientologists believe that Scientology isn’t a belief system? What is so bad about a belief system in their eyes?
(6) It sure seems that there are a lot of divorces in the church. Are there more than the national average?
(7) How many times have your read Dianetics from cover to cover?
(8) Chris, can and would a Scientologist take Viagra? Many older people suffer from erectile dysfunction. Would a Scientologist be able to take a pill for that or would they have to go into session (which probably means no sex ever again, since it’s not a psychological problem if you’re, say, 70 years old)?