Will stated that you should move from the official Miscavige-led church to one of the splinter churches more aligned with LRH's original teachings if you really cared about the church. I was just pointing out that most people find most of any church's benefits from their local congregation, and that such a move is nearly impossible, even if you disagreed with some global pronouncements, as long as your local church met your needs. This is a universal human trait and applicable to all religions, nothing specific to Scientology.
By "Laissez-fair" I refer to a loosely-aligned church without dictatorial central power. Most Protestant churches, particularly the more evangelical ones, are structured like this. There is no formal pressure to stay in on congregation, no official ostracism if you leave, and little in the way of centralized dogma or teachings, other than a shared philosophy of faith. Hence, "laissez-faire" - a term roughly translated as "leave it alone" and referring to any system left free of state (or political/centralized) control.
I would categorize the CoS and the Catholic church as very non-Laissez-Faire, in that they have a very formal structure of control and teachings, making variation of teachings quite minimal.
Thanks for clarifying that for me.
I gotta say its pretty amusing to have suggested to me "you should move from the official Miscavige-led church to one of the splinter churches more aligned with LRH's original teachings if you really cared about the church." as the current church is more aligned with Mr. Hubbard's teachings than ever before.
Mr. Miscavige and his staff have done an amazing job of making available to everyone a majority of Mr. HUbbard's written and recorded works. Thereby ensuring that the church is more and more in line with what Mr. Hubbard wanted done.
The benefits I have gotten have come from Mr. Hubbard's recording of his discoveries. And the work that has gone into making those works available to one and all has made it even easier to achieve the goals laid out by the founder. Local congregations apply these works of course but I think its fair to say that we all credit Mr. Miscavige with helping to ensure the purity of said works.
Splinter churches by definition are in direct opposition to writings by Mr. Hubbard on the subject. Every Scientologist has the responsibility to ensure the alignment of church activities with Mr. Hubbard's wishes. So if I "really cared" about the my church (and I do by the way) I would do my part to help it to flourish and prosper.
Besides from personal investigations I have done in the past I have found it remarkable how quickly a "splinter" group alters the application of Mr. Hubbard's work.
So part of my really caring about my church would be to not support such divergent activities. This is in accordance with the founder's wishes and my own personal observations of the matter.
A comment on leaving the church - Leaving the church and attacking it are two different things. I have had relatives and friends no longer have anything to do with the church. Who cares. I can think of only one or two personal acquaintances that have turned around and attacked my church. A whole different matter indeed.
Someone a little while ago was attacking my wife for her religious connections. We simply stopped talking with that person as they were an obvious nutjob.
I have at times not set foot in a church for years. Not that I would call this "leaving" but I guess for purposes of this discussion it will do. There was no pressure from anyone to "stay" nor was I ostracized for not attending church services on a regular basis. Now that I think about it the only experiences of ostracism I have experienced have been from people opposed to my religion on boards such as this. That's pretty darn funny when I think about it! Especially considering that close to everyone of them doesn't have a clue as to the basic tenets or principles of my religion. Once again, I guess that's the nature of the net.
Your last line does bring up an important issue which is a bit ironic as well. Splinter groups accuse my church of altering materials and they are toeing the straight line.
Yet you say "...making variation of teachings quite minimal." in reference to my church. Its true that a great deal of work as been put into making all of Mr. Hubbard's works available so anyone can peruse them and find out for himself what MR. Hubbard did or did not say on whatever topic is in question. I believe/think we are over two thirds done with that project but my estimate could be off.
Splinter groups accuse us of altering materials yet we have made more materials available than ever before. On the other hand splinter groups do alter procedures willy-nilly per my own observation. (I've seen this happen several times over the last few decades.)
In case its not clear we work very hard to not alter the materials and make them available to everyone. A monumental task. Yet I have seen several accusations that we have substantially altered materials. While I don't have access to all the archives per my own research the materials we currently have are a thousand times better than what was available in previous times. So that just doesn't hold any water with me. Yet the suggestion on the table is I should be part of a group that is more loosey goosey with Mr. Hubbard's works. No thanks!
Just like any organization (religious or otherwise) there are good times and bad times. Again I base my opinions on my own observations and judgment. Its quite clear to me that Mr. Miscavige has not broken my trust in him. So enough on that subject.
