How to Choose A Candidate

This may be a little late, seeing as how there are only a couple of days left before the election, but if you haven't voted yet, here's something that will help you to select the best (or least worst) candidate.

Go to the "Accurately Predict Human Behavior" course page, click on the "Play Video" button and watch the video. It gives you a basic intro to a method of predicting human behavior. Then take the free online course.

At that point you will be able to evaluate which of the candidates to vote for.

A couple of tips:

• Ignore all rumors
• Ignore all unproven accusations
• Look at the candidate's actions
• Look at how they treat others
• Look at how they handle others
• Look at how they react to setbacks
• Look at how they react to attacks
• OBSERVE

Good luck!

The US Presidential Campaign

People sometimes wonder about politics and Scientology.

In 1965, L. Ron Hubbard said. "I hereby declare Scientology to be nonpolitical and nonideological. ... Scientologists may be members of any political group on this planet without restraint ... Scientology is for a free people and is itself on this date declared free of any political connection or allegiance of any kind whatever."

That is official Church policy and has been since 1965.

Individual Scientologists are free to make up their own minds about who they support and who they don't support.

I know Scientologists who are Republicans, Democrats, Independents and Libertarians. I know some who yawn about politics and some who get very passionate about it. They are as varied as any other group of people.

Kirstie Alley recently announced her support for one particular candidate, but that was her choice and doesn't reflect either the policy of the Church nor the choice of most other Scientologists. For example, I sure don't endorse the guy she chose and wouldn't vote for him if he were the only candidate running.

So, there you go. A little official policy and a little personal opinion for you to chew upon.

Just one more thing. If you are a US Citizen, make sure you vote. It's an important right that should not be wasted.

The "Science" behind Psychiatric Drugs

I just came across this fascinating article about The Psychiatric Drug Crisis in the pharmaceutical industry.

The article covers not only that crisis, but also the history behind many psychiatric drugs and the complete lack of science behind them.

For example, the use of the drug lithium for people who experienced mania came about because it sedated guinea pigs that had been injected with the urine of manic patients. Honest, I kid you not. If you don't believe me, read the article (see the link above).

Here is a quote from the article:

By 1960, the major classes of psychiatric drugs—among them, mood stabilizers, antipsychotics, antidepressants, and anti-anxiety drugs, known as anxiolytics—had been discovered and were on their way to becoming a seventy-billion-dollar market. Having been discovered by accident, however, they lacked one important element: a theory that accounted for why they worked (or, in many cases, did not). That didn’t stop drug makers and doctors from claiming that they knew.

The article also exposes the truth about the myth of the "chemical imbalance," which even its long time proponents no longer espouse.

It's nice to have someone in the actual industry completely validate everything you've been saying for the past twenty plus years.

Church of Scientology Opens National Office in Washington, D.C.

On September 12th the Church of Scientology opened the latest in a long list of new churches and facilities, with the grand opening of the National Affairs Office in Washington, D.C.

The Church will use the new office to coordinate its many social and humanitarian initiatives on a national and international level.

You can read the full article here: Church of Scientology Opens National Office in D.C. Landmark

Basic Questions about Scientology Principles

martin jeffrey asked:

Hi Grahame,

I'm curious as to what the differences are between the mind and thetan. More specifically, I would like to know if memories and emotions are a product of the brain, or if the brain is more so used as a machine to interpret such things as memories and emotions that are a property of the thetan itself.

Further I am curious if the reactive mind is solely contained within the brain itself, or part of the thetan?

Sorry if my question seems a bit off mark, Scientology is an entirely new set of concepts for me.

Thanks

Hey Martin,

Excellent questions. They are totally answered in the book "Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought", but to save you the wait after you order it :) , here is the short version:

I'd recommend watching this video if you haven't already: "The Parts of Man". It gives you some useful background data in just a couple of minutes. I think it will help with understanding my explanation.

Now let's define our terms. Definitions from The Scientology Glossary.

Thetan: the person himself - not his body or his name, the physical universe, his mind, or anything else; that which is aware of being aware; the identity which is the individual. The term was coined to eliminate any possible confusion with older concepts. It comes from the Greek letter Theta (Theta), which the Greeks used to represent thought or perhaps spirit, to which an n is added to make a noun in the modern style used to create words in engineering.

Mind: a control system between the thetan and the physical universe. The mind is not a brain.

Body: the organized physical composition or substance of an animal or man, whether living or dead. The body is the thetan’s communication center. It is a physical object. It is not the being himself.

Your Questions:

Q1: I'm curious as to what the differences are between the mind and thetan.

A thetan is the person him or herself. The mind is the computer a thetan uses to store memories, make decisions, calculate things, etc.

Q2: I would like to know if memories and emotions are a product of the brain.

No. They are products of the thetan.

Q3: or if the brain is more so used as a machine to interpret such things as memories and emotions that are a property of the thetan itself.

No. The brain can be thought of as a sort of switch-board for the nerve impulses sent around the body. Emotion comes from the thetan, but can be influenced by the body and environment. Memories are recordings of the physical universe and the thoughts and conclusions of the thetan.

Q4: I am curious if the reactive mind is solely contained within the brain itself, or part of the thetan?

Definition of reactive mind: that portion of a person’s mind which works on a totally stimulus-response basis, which is not under his volitional control and which exerts force and the power of command over his awareness, purposes, thoughts, body and actions.

The reactive mind is not part of either the brain or the thetan. It is the part of the mind where moments of pain and unconsciousness are stored and thus is a difficult place for the thetan to get his attention into and is therefore not under his control.

I hope I've answered your questions. For more details you really have to read the book I linked to above.

If I haven't answered well enough or my answers have brought up more questions, then just ask some more.