Who is afraid of L Ron Hubbard?

What is it about Scientology that frightens people? Especially, it seems certain Frenchmen, the Catholic Church and assorted Christian denominations.

Do they honestly believe that Scientologists want to destroy the Christian faith or the world?

After centuries of rumors and historical fact left in the wake of the Vatican and its henchmen, one might think Catholics, especially in France -- think 14th century French Inquisition -- would want to avoid closer scrutiny.

Perhaps this all sounds simplistic, but I am making a simple point. If Christians desire to eliminate every philosophy that might contradict their own religious teachings, they should start with the mirror.

Show me documentation exposing anything Scientologists have done that casts a sliver of shadow across the torrent of violence Christians committed during the fourth crusade and many times before and since then.

My experiences have brought me directly into contact with hundreds of Christians from various denominations.

In addition, I have spent time with Scientologists.

Radical Christians threaten those who disagree with them using words, and occasionally vile deeds. I have experienced this personally.

Cult Christianity demonstrated its violence in Kansas yesterday.

Never, have I read or heard about Scientologists harming another human being for any reason in any way.

* * *

Now about L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology, the man who started it all. The man some people fear.

It turns out that L. Ron Hubbard was a writer first, a good one. While he wrote successfully as a young man, he discovered something he found quite disturbing. Publishers did not want to take a chance on new writers. They only wanted to publish writers they considered tried and true. Risk free sales.

He decided to change the status quo, and assisted writers he knew so they too might be published. He succeeded and perhaps because of his efforts, much of subsequent science fiction became available to the reading public. Likewise, if he had not cared, science fiction and fantasy probably would not have thrived as both have.

The success of his efforts back then, drove him later in life to again endeavor to help unknown writers become known and to have a chance at success. He created the L. Ron Hubbard Writers of the Future contest.

Entry was and is free, and the winners, twelve per year, received both publication in a special volume of short stories, and a cash prize. How could he do it? He personally financed the endeavor. Then, he asked published science fiction authors to act as judges. They did.

A few years after the contest began, L. Ron Hubbard decided to add artists, and again he was a man leagues ahead of his time.

The contest became extremely successful and since its inception in 1984 has developed into the most important contest of its kind in the world.

L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, was a brilliant man with a huge heart. He cared deeply about others. He did not ask for anything in return. His generosity has helped many struggling writers and artists, and outside of the Sundance Film Festival, there is nothing that compares to his efforts.

Yet, so many fear him it makes me question their values not L. Ron Hubbard's values. His actions have shouted across the years since his demise. The philosophy he created, Scientology is also part of his legacy. It too has helped hundreds live a better life guided from within not without.

I am not a scientologist.

However, my personal experience with Scientologists came when the contest administration team flew me to Los Angeles to receive my award for being one of twelve writers to win the Writers of the Future contest in 2004.

I went without preconceived expectations. I am not driven particularly by religion, politics, and or structured prejudices. I do not mean that as an indictment, but as a statement of my beliefs.

I have my own philosophy for life, part of which is to attempt to keep an open mind, learn, and do what I am here to accomplish even if I do not understand what that might be. Narrow thoughts lead to a narrow unfulfilled life.

Within two days of my arrival in LA, I had the distinct feeling that I associated with some of the finest people I might ever know. It was not just, because of how they treated my wife, and me, which was exceptional. It was the way they conducted themselves, worked together as if meshed by something more than employment that radiated from them and led me to believe that they knew something about themselves and living, which I did not know about me.

Later, I wondered how I might have reacted if a church taught me to fear Scientologists. Then, I knew the answer. No one who could fear people as kind and generous as those that I met in LA -- people very much like L. Ron Hubbard -- would consider writing science fiction or fantasy.

Thank you, L. Ron Hubbard! I knew there was an answer.
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