A new project

I've been working on a project for the past couple of weeks involving Scientology. Although I'm a Christian, I'm always interested in the ways in which other belief systems handle the issue of homosexuality. So I decided to investigate Scientology for myself to see what exactly it is that Scientologists believe. It has been incredibly enlightening.

For now I will say this... Although there are Christians who are also Scientologists (I encountered a Catholic and a Presbyterian), there is one fundamental difference between Christianity and Scientology, and it's a huge one that I just can't reconcile. Not that becoming a Scientologist was the purpose of this project. I'm just trying to discover more about what Scientology has to say about homosexuality, and in the course of that study I have discovered a plethora of challenging and interesting ideas about faith. Here's the fundamental difference: In Christianity, faith is in God through Christ Jesus. In Scientology, faith is in self.

Although Scientology studies the ways in which our spirit relates to self, the universe, other life, and ultimately a supreme being, it seems to me that in Scientology it is ultimately up to the individual to progress and make himself into a more enlightened spiritual creature. There is no reliance on God for wisdom, knowledge, love, etc.

Scientology has often been labeled as sort of a spiritual diving board that takes a person off the deep end, and for this reason some Christians would probably tell me to steer clear. To that I would say...why are you so afraid of the answers to your questions?

This experience has confirmed my Christianity. And it will make me a whole lot more knowledgable and less judgmental in future conversations about Scientology. In a faith full of fear-based ideas and reflex judgments, I want my own spiritual growth to be marked by confrontation and resolution--upon the answers to my questions, and not upon the fear of asking them. More on that to come.