Critical Q&A

The weekly show where I answer viewer questions left in the comments section of my Q&A videos or sent to me by email at AskChrisShelton@gmail.com. This week the questions I answer are:

(1) I have always viewed high school’s most important job as teaching critical thinking skills, but I feel that they have been farther and farther from that as they concentrate on teaching to take a test successfully. What are you feelings on this and do you think that it is or should be part of public schools mandate to teach such skills?

(2) Recently we were re-watching your What is Wrong with Scientology series. In, I believe the first one, you state that your focus and disagreement is with the abusive practices of the CoS and not with the dogma, or, technology. I’m wondering, now a few years later, if your view point on that has changed? As I understand it from a lot of things I’ve read, the technology is the primary instrument of indoctrination which creates the mental state where mind control is possible. One example: Boring, repetitive tasks such as word clearing a passage over and over again because one disagrees with the content can create enough mental discomfort that one will accept a disagreeable, dogmatic statement in order to end the boredom.

(3) Do you know what most loyal Scientologists might think about transgender people? I know that Hubbard held a very dim view of homosexuality, but gender dysphoria and related issues were not nearly as widely known in the 1950s (when Dianetics and Scientology’s doctrinal prejudices were being established) as they are today. I wonder if LRH was even aware of the existence of trans people; if so, is there an established Scientology position on them? Or would they just be put in the same category as gay/lesbian people (Covert Hostility) and subjected to the same hypocrisy and abuse?

(4) Greetings Mr. Shelton. In a variety of your videos you reference and/or describe a host of “orgs” each replete with its own “management.” In my own layman’s understanding of any type of organizational management, especially in a for profit environment, it’s not only important but necessary to recruit and to promote people with the proper skill sets and experience to run an organization. From watching your videos it seems to me that practically nobody at any level in Scientology has any idea as to how to run anything, let alone managing others and running a quasi business type endeavor. It just seems like they (Scientologists) just pick any old Tom, Dick, or Harry and give them a “management” position. I’m curious as to the qualifications Scientology requires for its various levels of management, could you explain this please?

(5) I wonder if L. Ron Hubbard ever laughed himself to sleep at night thinking “I just wonder how much more crazy bullstuffing I can get people to believe and pay for”?

(6) Scientologists often speak of “blowing charge.” What is the difference between charge and an engram? Are they the same thing?

(7) It’s well known that Scientologists aren’t allowed to look up facts about their Church, but are there other information taboos? They must surely have banned “The Producers” by Mel Brooks, since the parallels with “The Ideal Org” hoax are so painfully obvious.

The post Critical Q&A #87 appeared first on Chris Shelton - Critical Thinker at Large.