Tuesday, January 27, 2004

Found this lovely blog today: The Active and Contemplative Life. It's beautiful, and also helpful. She gives tips on various facets of graphic arts.

I also found her Linkspage really interesting.

Here's another site created by the same artist: Words & Pictures, Site of Pam and Dean Blehert

Monday, January 19, 2004

I've found the following sites that discuss aspects of Scientology. They are each from a slightly different perspective, and I found them all quite interesting.

Scientology: This is a page on Religioustolerance.org. It explains the basic tenets of the Scientology religion. It also goes into detail on religious victories the Church has had, particularly in European countries like Germany where there is still discrimination against minority religions.

Selectsmart: Scientology Selectsmart has many different surveys to help you out how your beliefs or opinions stack up on different subjects. For example you can check out how your political views relate to various presidential candidates. One of the things you can look into is different religions. This page is a summary of Scientology religious beliefs. Once you take the quiz, this is the page that shows up if they think you are most aligned to Scientology among the religions they show. (By the way - the quiz is a bit off. I've taken it several times and they keep telling me I'm a Buddhist, but I've been a Scientologist for over 30 years and I answer my quiz based on my understanding of Scientology principles). But at any rate, the description of Scientology is quite good.

Scientology (CESNUR) CESNUR is Center for Studies on New Religions. There is so much controversy on religions in the world today. What is an established religion in one country is a minority religion somewhere else. If you are a Catholic in Germany, the government will allocate part of your yearly tax money to support the Catholic church. If you are a Roman Catholic in Russia, not to mention Iran, you are not in nearly such a choice position. CESNUR serves a really important function. It makes data available on new religions. In the 21st Century, when information is so readily available, there is no excuse for intolerance and prejudice. This page has links to many press articles and legal decisions showing why the Scientology religion has been recognized by various nations and courts as a bona fide religion.

Allexperts Scientology Q&A: This is a list of people who will answer questions about Scientology. They are experienced Scientologists and know what they are talking about!

Reviews for The Church of Scientology: Dr. Melton's book on the Church of Scientology is a definitive work, used as a text in various universities where Scientology is covered as a subject.

Lifepositive.com: L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology and Dianetics : This is one of my favorites. It is a page about Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard, written by Dr. Subhash Sood. Dr. Sood, one of the earliest Scientologists in India, explains how Scientology shares quite a few things with ancient Indian philosophy. It's really worth reading.

Yahoo! Groups : aboutscientology: An active group of Scientologists on the Net. Good people to meet.

Then there are some classic Scientology sites that I go back to time and again. There is a wealth of information in these pages:

Official Church of Scientology Site

What is Scientology

Scientology Handbook

Scientology Theology Reference. Theology & Practice of a Contemporary Religion: Scientology
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Thursday, January 15, 2004

Cyrus Brooks from down under put up a page of links here: Links for Scientology and the Church in Australia

G'day Cyrus. Best of luck in your interfaith work!
I had the pleasure of visiting Sweden a few years ago, right at this time. I thought I would find it very depressing - only a few hours of sunlight each day, snow, cold - such a change from LA.

To the contrary I found Sweden wonderful. I loved Stockholm. I adored the people. I found myself feeling totally at home, though in a very different culture.

There was even something oddly familiar to me to find the sun starting to set at 2 PM when it had only really fully risen at noon.

Sweden is not a perfect place, for example there's a pretty bad problem with drugs and alcohol in Sweden. (This site was created to help that: Facta on Droger )

But to my American sensibilities, it is a magical land that entices me to return again.

I visited the Scientology church in Stockholm. Its web site is here: Scientologi-kyrkan i Stockholm, Sverige .

I met lots of Swedish Scientologists.

Here are some of their home pages:

Margarita Islas

Pia Björkegren

Helena Nydahl

Anki Paulsén a Scientologist

Berit Edborg

Bernt Jansson a Scientologist

Boris Burchard

Ann Swenne-Johansson

Seija Comacho Hytönen

Tia Andersson

Anders Arvidsson

Helena Lindroth

Micke König

Göran Björnänge

Björn Björkegren

Hillevi Cervin

Here are some more interesting Swedish sites about Scientology:

Scientologi-kyrkan Malmö

Scientologikyrkan Göteborg

Scientologi: En modern religions

Sverige Freedom: Scientologi-kyrkans officiella organ sedan 1968

This site, Scientology (CESNUR), includes and article on the Church of Scientology being recognized as a religion in Sweden.

I brought home with me a fondness and interest in all things Swedish and look forward to returning.




Wednesday, January 14, 2004

In his article on Dianetics, .The Discovery Of Dianetics by L.Ron Hubbard, Kevin Owen describes how L. Ron Hubbard discovered how to restore the individual to optimal outlook and health through eradicating the effects of the mind and spirit on the body.

For more about Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard, visit RehabilitateNZ , where Owen presents a great deal of information on the Scientology religion -- from a New Zealand point of view.

Thursday, January 08, 2004

Tuesday, January 06, 2004

Okay. While I'm on the subject of blogs I like, here are a few more.

Educational Quotes is a good blog for parents who want educational information that's really interesting for their kids.

My Life as MomKat - Now there are animal people and there are other people. This is an animal person.

Here's a funny one. Who would have thought that there would be Hidden Mickeys all over the place. (Well, at least all over Disneyland). Leave it to a mom to know such things.

Homeschoolmum Reviews - it's a fun blog from a mom's perspective.

Here's one of my favorite blogs: My Scientology Blog

Grahame always has such interesting views on things, and he relates a lot of what is going on in world news, for example, to basic Scientology principles.

For example, yesterday he referred to Code of Honor based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard as containing a personal guideline people could use to improve life.

I know I try to use this myself, and it always gets me out of a tight spot when I do.

Thursday, January 01, 2004

One thing I find fascinating is how is the late when L. Ron Hubbard was doing the research that resulted in the publication of Dianetics and what is must have been like right after the release of the book. I loved reading the magazine called L. Ron Hubbard - The Dianetics Letters which which has been published online. It presents a window into that world through correspondence to and by Mr. Hubbard.

The Dianetics book is available in Swahili, Dutch, Afrikans. German, Italian, Swedish, Macedonian, Greek, Danish and some 50 languages in all. These books can be purchased in bookstores, at Scientology churches, and through Bridge Publications in the Americas or New Era Publications for anywhere else in the world.

(It's a good idea to use the Scientology and Dianetics glossary when browsing through these or any other Scientology sites.)