69% of all Americans are Online

I saw the stats tonight and I was absolutely shocked to find that more that two thirds of Americans are online.

I think that's great.

So much access to information, and so much potential communication!

Speech by David Miscavige at the Grand Opening of the Church of Scientology of Johannesburg

South Africa Ascendant

When the Church of Scientology of Johannesburg moved to its new church a few years ago it was the start of a new era for southern Africa.

L. Ron Hubbard is quoted as saying "“From Southern Africa will spring the next great civilization on this planet....”

The Church of Scientology of Johannesburg is dedicated to accomplishing a better life for the people of Africa and accomplishing this dream, stated by LRH.

In his speech, David Miscavige said:

"It is my honor to address you, to walk in a land where L. Ron Hubbard laid so many milestones and on this, your milestone day. And for the greater meaning of just why this is a milestone day, in fact, an historic one, it follows from the history of Scientology in Africa."

He went on to explain the special significance South Africa held for L. Ron Hubbard during the very turbulent years of the late 1950s and early 1960s.

"It's a history extending back more than 40 years, but an era not so very different than our own. Instead of hot wars in the Middle East, it was cold war across the US, Europe and Asia. Instead of impending terrorist strikes, it was saber-rattling with intercontinental ballistic missiles.

"So quite in addition to all other reasons to form a new church and bring the help Scientology brings everywhere, LRH envisioned a special role for this nation as a point of safety to yet salvage man no matter the potential devastation at the hands of a madman.

That's why he descended on Johannesburg, in 1960, to take the helm of a fledgling Church. But if those were his reasons for embarking to South Africa, it took on a whole new meaning when he arrived. For what he found was a land representing both all that is good in this world, and all that is bad.

In terms of the bad, a single word said it all, apartheid and the suppression of virtually every indigenous people, perpetrated by the same psychiatric ideologies that laid 6 million to rest under the banner of eugenics during the second World War. But beneath that surface, that obvious suppression he found something far more significant: An unbroken tradition of spiritualism extending back to the very dawn of man."

The full text of Mr. Miscavige's speech can be read on the Church of Scientology of Johannesburg web site.

Thomas Jefferson on Religious Tolerance

"Say nothing of my religion. It is known to God and myself alone. Its evidence before the world is to be sought in my life: if it has been honest and dutiful to society the religion which has regulated it cannot be a bad one."

Scientolgy Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tours

There is another very interesting story about the work of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tour at Kin Men Island on the Scientology News web site today.

Kin Men island is a tiny place, and the work they are doing seems to be making quite an impact.

International Day of Peace

I think the Internatioanl Day of Peace is a very important celebration.

We may be far from having acheived international peace, but it is activities like this that bring all of us together as a human family, where we acknowledge that our similarities as human beings far outweigh our differences.

All but the most depraved among us wants peace.

Let us all work together, to do anything we can, to accomlish it.

Scientology and Children

L. Ron Hubbard put a great deal of emphasis on helping children, treating them as people - not as some other kind of entity that has no rights.

He always emphasized communication.

I've seen this to be so effective.

There's a great section about children in the Scientology Handbook

It has great tips on how to live with kids and how to help them blossom and grow up self determined and confident.

Mr. David Miscavige Describes Ideal Scientology Organizations

At the Grand Opening of the Church of Scientology of Buffalo, David Miscavige explained why we are so intent on building huge new Scientology churches in every city -- so they can really help the community.

Mr. Miscavige said:

"...as we look down these streets, we can speak of unemployment, we can speak of the need for renewal, we can speak of all else that plagues every part of this world in terms of addiction, illiteracy, criminality and immorality not to mention economic instability. But, if we do, my friends, let's not speak in terms of those "problems". Let's speak in terms of "solutions"—solutions for that which can solve every one of them. Because what drives it all is the individual—the forgotten worker and our prominent leaders.

If revitalization is what we seek, then let's help revitalize the individual himself. For the Scientologists of Buffalo, the church that stands before you is something we have dreamed about for decades."

"...here stands the central organization to bring our solutions of drug rehabilitation, education, morality, not to mention even more groups, centers and missions to every community of the Buffalo area.

"And that's the story of churches like this one world over, and they are coming very fast."

Mr. David Miscavige
Acknowledges the Scientology Volunteer Ministers

Why do Volunteers Burn Out?

People want to help. But how frustrating is it when you use your own precious free time with the idea of helping people and it just doesn't work?

Anyone who has tried to help friends or family members has run into this phenomenon: You see someone who obviosly is in trouble, or he or she comes to you for advice. You are distant from it and can see so clearly what they should do to improve the situation. But you suggest it and they tell you - no and give you one or five and 50 reasons why it can't work.

Or what about this: You have a friend or family member who has experienced a terriby loss - a love affair gone wrong, the death of a dear friend or a sister or husband - or even worse, the death of a child. Maybe they think they're to blame for it. If only they had.... You see their lives change before your eyes. The enthusiasm and joy of living is gone. They are encased in a universe that resonates with the loss. What can you possibly do to help them?

No wonder there so many organizations are plagued by volunteer burnout. They put time and money into training volunteers only to have them disappear after a year, a month, a week.... It's just not viable.

That's what is so differenet about the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program. Because it uses the Scientology Handbook, the volunteers it trains have the skill they need. When you see that your help IS help, when you can see that the people you help feel better, are more confident and actually change their lives for the better because of what you have given them.

After 9/11, David Miscavige, Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center, called upon all Scientologists to increase their committment to improving society. Scientologists DO have a technology that covers such a broad range of subjects, from improving relationships to overcoming iliteracy, and ever the skill to help people overcome the emotional and spiritual factors in of trauma and illness so a person can heal faster and overcome losses and get on with their lives. With that knowlege comes a commensurate responsibility. After all, if you had discover the cure for HIV/AIDS and then didn't USE it, how could you live with yourself while millions whom you could save, died.

In his speech called This is Scientology, delivered at the Church of Scientology Celebrity Center International in August 2004, David Miscavige described the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program to an audience of over 2000 leaders in the fields of the arts, entertainment, commerce and government. Mr. Miscavige described the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program to them in these terms:

"The final word, as regards our front-line work bringing our help wherever and whenever needed is our corps of 30-thousand Scientology Volunteer Ministers — on call, 24 hours a day in scores of nations."

He goes on to say:

"They have become internationally known and recognized for what has been described as spiritual first aid, and to that end they are ready and organized to respond to any disaster — 'man-made' or by force of nature."

Mr. Miscavige sums it up with the following:

"And it's all with no desire or wish for anything in return — other than the satisfaction of an indiscriminate act of kindness and compassion.

"That's how, and why, just since 9/11, our Ministers brought personal aid, one-on-one, to over 1.7-million people.

"So when it comes to helping those in most desperate need, we not only know we can help, we are doing something about it."

In the two years since he gave this speech the Scientology Volunteer Ministers have responded to disasters all over the world and tens of thousands of new Volunteer Ministers have been trained and hundreds of thousands more helped.

And why do they keep helping? Because they CAN!

I loved this article on the Scientology Volunteer Ministers in Fiji.

I've been fascinated with the South Pacific since I was a child.




My father had a recording of the Broadway show "South Pacific."

Then a few years later I saw the movie and cried for days at the sad ending (I can't even remember now what the ending was -- I think one of the heroes must have died).

A few years after than I saw Paul Gaugin's paintings of Tahiti and was mesmerized again.

And a bit later I read "Mutiny on the Bounty" and again was captivated by the tropical islands of the South Pacific once more.

Now there's a Scientology Volunteer Ministers Goodwill Tour traveling through the Pacific Islands and I expect I'll be following their progress whenever there is news.

I think it is just terrific that the VMs are going through the South Pacific.

Heading into Fall

Summer is fading and Fall is upon us.

Not that you'd ever know in LA, Los Angeles being a nearly monotone climate year round.

I remember when I first came to LA.

I'd been living in upstate New York. Winter starts in mid-October and ends around the first week of May, and the summer, though fleeting, is so beautiful it makes it all worth it.

I came to LA in March.

I had the hardest time placing anything in time for years, because when I looked back at some event, I couldn't tell when it happened. I realized I had been classifying all my experience with a weather tag -- (Oh that happened in November - I can tell because the leaves were brown but still on the trees and the snow wasn't sticking yet.)

In LA I had to devise other ways to recall when something happened.

I thought this was a great that this little story of a Volunteer Minister showed up on the Scientology Press Office web site.

It's not a major story. It's just the kind of thing that somebody who cares does to help his/her fellow man.

What beautiful children. I found their photo on the Scientology Press Office web site.

The"Say No to Drugs" initiative gives kids like this a real chance to stay drug-free by proofing them up against the barrage of pro-drug propaganda they will get in a few years - and anything it takes to help these kids is worth the effort.

Scientology Volunteer Ministers in Kin Men

The Scientology Press Office published this beautiful photo with a story of the VM Asian Goodwill Tour.

I figured she'd be beatiful, but...

All parents and family members think their baby is the most beautiful in the world, but in this case this one really is. Here's to baby Suri!

There is a thriving community of Scientologists in Taiwan. There's an intersting story on the Scientology Handbook site on the work one of the Scientology missions there is doing to help children stay off drugs. >>

Scientology Press Office

If you want a real treat, check out the Scientology Press Office. It has a brand new look and feel and it ROCKS!