Daniel Wesangula
16 August 2008
Nairobi — There is a new religion in town. It recognises no sin, pays homage to no one, has neither angels in heaven nor fire and brimstone in hell and whose members say they can create miracles at will.
Its head office in Hollywood, California is set in a white, seven-storey modern building that resembles a castle set among palm trees.
To most Kenyans, it is a religion practised in the distant USA by Hollywood celebrities. It is called Scientology.
Quietly introduced
A year ago, it was introduced quietly in Nairobi. Its offices are tucked away on the third floor of an unremarkable building along Ngong Road between two Christian churches; a far cry from the mother church.
The stairway is dark. It is hard to reconcile this image with that of millionaires Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Will Smith who are all Scientologists.
A sign on the door reads: Office of the Scientology Mission in Nairobi. A bookcase in the reception area is loaded with the works of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology.
"Welcome to the Scientology Mission of Nairobi," says Lydiah, a staff member and Scientologist.
Christians have the Bible, Muslims the Koran, Hindus the Bhagavad-Gita; Scientologists follow the teachings of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, a book by Mr Hubbard that grew from a self-help bestseller to Scientology's final word.
It contains fragments of philosophy, management techniques and teachings of the Dalai Lama, Mahatma Gandhi and Jesus. The author claims to be a qualified engineer, atomic physicist and is a prolific science fiction.
According to Ms Esther Macharia, the executive director of Church of Scientology Nairobi Mission, Scientology is not a dogmatic religion that imposes beliefs.
"The truth only holds if it makes perfect sense to you. It is not what someone else thinks it to be. If you believe something is true, and you have seen it work for yourself, no one else can discourage you from that," she said.
In most other religions, the faithful go to a service expecting their souls to be nourished with selected words from their respective holy books.
But for Scientologists, there is no preaching or singing of praises in honour of a deity. What goes on during their Sunday meetings is "auditing", which is basically counselling between the church member and a qualified "auditor".
Before one begins the auditing process, one takes IQ and personality tests. Often, the person is not fully utilising his potential, so through a series of "auditing" sessions, an individual will be able to work on the elements of his personality like happiness, responsibility and composure that may be dragging him down.
This, according to the Scientologists, also increases your IQ. A fee has to be paid for all these sessions; a 10-hour audit costs Sh2,400. As long as your personality is not balanced, you will need to go in for more sessions until you attain the perfect balance in your spiritual life - a state Scientologists call "operating thetan", or the ultimate man.
The final stage can be reached after years of "auditing".
Regain our freedom
Scientologists believe that all men are good, and that sin does not exist.
Whatever people believe to be sins are only negative pictures that are stored in man's brain. These negative pictures prevent man from fulfilling his true potential. Scientologists say all this can be erased through the counselling (auditing) sessions. Consequently, hell, to them, is a state.
"We have been told from an early age that if we do wrong, we shall die and go to a frightening place called hell. We believe that what others perceive as sin are just the negative memories stored by our brain. Once we confess and confront them, they cease to haunt us and we regain our freedom," said Ms Macharia.
For a church member to be sure he has done away with all his "sins", his emotional stability is measured. It is only after a series of readings that the congregant can be certified as having become an "ultimate man" - spiritually.
At this state, they believe, man can acquire telepathic ability and move things that are miles away with the power of his brain. Getting to this stage takes years.
"When Christians say you can move mountains by faith, they are not far from the truth. Once you unlock your spirituality, you will be able to do exactly that.
Scientologists recognise God as having created man in his own image. So man, too, is a creator and an immortal. At death, he only sheds the vessel through which he lives and acquires another body.
And the Scientologists' view on heaven? They say heaven is already with us. All we need to do is liberate our spirit and live it.
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Reward for goodworks and helping your fellowman and conversly the penalties for harming your fellows is integrated into life and livingness itself. Scientology teaches a moral code Called The Way To happiness. It is a brilliant moral code based on common sense.
Your bigotry would wash away I would hope if you just read this booklet(google TWTH booklet. Scientology saved my life from poor choices I had made early in life.
It will only help Kenya and Africa improve conditions because thats all Scientology really does. It changes CONDITIONS for the individual, family, group and all of mankind.
All you are saying is gibberish. "life and livingness itself"? Is this how Scientology teaches you to talk? I don't need to ask that question, because that is what Scientology aims to do. Its purpose is to control people by intergrating their own vocabulary and acronyms, by telling them how other people react. In Scientology, everything bad that happens happens because of yourself, and everything good that happens happens because of Scientology. How is that any help to individuals? Scientology's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, was a science fiction author, a racist, a homophobic, and a drug abuser. He had no place in founding a religion: rather, he founded a cult. Was it not him who said that black men could not be audited, because they were too low on the scale? Was it not him who said that women should not be on their hands and knees cleaning -- get a n*gg*r, that's what they're there for! Was it not him who said that he liked "popping pink and blue ones"? And last, but not least, was it not him who said: "I don't want to make a penny a word writing books; I'll found a religion, that's where the real money is!"
The Way to Happiness is Scientology, Dianetics is Scientology, Narconon is Scientology, Volunteer Ministers is Scientology, Applied Scholastics is Scientology... and it all costs hundreds of thousands of dollars. Do not let this cult grow in Africa, it's the last thing it would ever need.
See www dot xenu dot net for accurate info about the cult of Scientology. Scientologists infiltrating Kenya for the cult of will never tell Kenyans the true beliefs of Scientology, which include aliens, science fiction false memory machines, volcanoes, and invisible bunches of dead alien souls clinging to Earth's inhabitants. Instead of being upfront and honest, Scientologists tell "acceptable truths," which is the Scientology term for LIES. (Google "Operation Snow White," Operation Freakout, and "acceptable truth lie gradient".
If their true intentions and beliefs were known, Scientology would be expelled from the country immediately. Scientology kills, brainwashes, abuses and manipulates people for their money and their lives, in an attempt to "clear" the world, and ensure that Scientologists eventually have the power to "quietly dispose" of those of us who will NEVER be converted. (Google "disposed of quietly and without sorrow.)
It's amazing how well the cult has concealed its goals until now. Thanks to the internet, now we know. Beware, Kenyan friends. Don't fall into the trap.
All these things are contained in the bible. If someone can graps the bible well these doctrines are not new only they happen in a long duration for humans to comprehend. We are in the last days brothers where people will hate the truth and embrace sin. Sinning these days is the inthing.
Thank you for your article. There are thousands of churches, missions and groups in countries all over the world, and the Nairobi Mission is not unlike most of them, where a Scientologist will take it on himself or herself to help the people of her town or city, and set up a group or mission. The key word is "help", and Ms. Macheria is doing that in abundance for the people of Kenya.
So how exactly will Scientology help Kenyans? By recruiting them into a self-help scam with dishonest and aggressive "hard sell" tactics? By pressuring them into spending all their money and going into debt, so that they can buy more books and coursework from the cult? By getting them to join staff so that they can work for a pittance, take courses for free, but then be threatened with a "freeloader's debt" if they ever decide to leave? Maybe by demanding that new recruits officially "disconnect" from their family if anyone close to them has doubts about the cult? Or maybe by getting young Kenyans to sign a billion-year contract to work for the cult's naval paramilitary organization, the Sea Org, so that their life is completely taken over by a ruthlessly unscrupulous organization that coerces its members to get abortions should they become pregnant and puts insubordinate members into corrective labor camps (the RPF) where normal meals, shelter, and sleep are denied and nonstop physical labor and psychological abuse keep the shamed member in place to be further mistreated by others.
Or maybe Scientology will cure AIDS in Kenya with quack psychotherapy and toxic vitamin brews (an amazing combination that can cure everything from poor eyesight to cancer, according to Hubbard). Maybe they'll use deceptive front groups (anti-drug groups, human rights groups, drug rehab, prison rehab) to lure unsuspecting members of the public into a cult.
Do tell! What plans does your cult have for the good people of Kenya?
Scientology has a very dark side and history. As for the statement it pays homage to no one, if so why is an office keep in each building for Hubbard who died many years ago.
No other so called religion has been convicted of so many crimes in so many countries. Before you become trapped please check out ....
xenu.net xenutv.com wefoundthecard.com
Or just use google
scientology and crimes scientology and deaths scientology and fair game scientology and operation freakout scientology and operation snow white
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I'm so sorry for Kenya if this religion is accepted. I am from America, and as an American I am disgusted by my country's choices in recent years. Scientology offers nothing reasonable to help either country. Instead, it does harm. It teaches that there is no heaven, no hell, no consequence for wrong, no reward for right. Why, then, should anyone do what is right, moral, or just?
Scientology was also CREATED by a man who a writer- of SCIENCE-FICTION!!! He was also heard to have made a bet that he could create a follow-able religion that suckers-- I mean "lost" would actually believe in. They have some of the most unheard of beliefs; brand new to the world, unheard of by any other religion or belief. It just happened to have come to a fiction writer.
Because of the acceptance of false beliefs like this, America suffers greatly. In the Judea/ Christian Scriptures, we learn that anytime throughout history that God (the real One) has judged a city or region, the judgment always starts at the "gates" of the city. For the US, that would be New York, California, the Gulf of Mexico.
Sept. 11, 2001- New York is struck by terrorists. A city known for corruption, homosexuality, violence and more. Aug. 25, 2005- Hurricane Katrina destroys New Orleans, a city known for an annual celebration which celebrates indulgence in sin, particularly sexual. This summer- California has massive wildfires, so much so that at times the sun was darkened; the streets closed due to lack of visibility. The governer had just passed into law the acceptance of gay marriage. While he was at an interview, Governer Swarchenegger was asked if he thought there was a connection to gay marriage and the fires. He said 'no'. By the end of that day, Los Angeles had over 8,000 cloud to land lightning strikes.
Do not accept this. Do not allow into Kenya any more turmoil. Remember the Holy Bible; the Truth. Jesus Christ.