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Scientology: still as crazy as ever, but hopefully on its way out

Here’s a great New York Times piece on Scientology (which I discovered via Pharyngula).  It offers a glimpse inside the wacky, manipulative inner-workings of the Church of Scientology through the experiences of a former staff member.

Interestingly, the article points out that church officials are dodgy and indirect about how many members the church has, but religious identification surveys indicate that the number of Scientologists is rapidly shrinking.  Could Scientology be dying?

-Shane

Evidence That Little Touches Do Mean So Much

Holy crap.  This is a little off-topic, but I feel compelled to share this article because it’s currently listed as one of the most popular on NYT’s website and it mentions the research of Matt Hertenstein, a psychology professor from my alma mater.  DePauw’s a tiny institution that isn’t exactly known for doing a lot of research, let alone New-York-Times-worthy research.

I suppose it could be tied in to religion (e.g., the churches that stop and make you greet everyone around you in the middle of the Sunday program, shaking your neighbors’ hands and so on).  And this research could be helpful for, well, just about anyone who ever interacts with other people.  I’ll leave the conclusion-drawing to you, though.

-Shane

Can we be good without God?

I was reading the New York Times during class tonight, and I came across this article. The author (and others he quotes) seems to think that people with a secular view on life cannot possibly have a sense of right and wrong or morality. This reminds me of the episode of 30 Days when the atheist goes to live with the Christian family. (Yes, I definitely went home and watched it after the meetup on Sunday) A theme throughout the show was the family’s, and their friends’, lack of understanding of how the woman and her family could have any sort of moral compass without religion.

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