Every once in a while the Legislature produces something really ugly.
For example, in one of the low points of the recent legislative session, the House of Representatives passed HR196, “Commending the Church of Scientoogy for its humanitarian work and community service around the globe.”
“Commending” and “Scientology” are not words that belong together, in my humble opinion. There’s just far too much evidence to the contrary.
Primary sponsors of the reso were Rida Cabanilla and Mele Carrol, with Reps Cachola, Choy, Luke, and Ward signing on as co-introducers. It apparently passed without comment or a negative vote from any member of the House.
Apparently none of them have seen Pulitzer Prize-winning author Lawrence Wright’s book, “Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief,” or read any of the many recent reviews, like the one appearing in the NY Times back in January (“Eyes Wide Shut“), or any of the past investigative reports reaching similar conclusions.
Wright’s book…makes clear that Scientology is like no church on Earth (or, in all probability, Venus or Mars either). The closest institutional parallel would be the Communist Party in its heyday: the ruthless struggles for power, the show trials and forced confessions (often false); the paranoia (often justified); the determination to control its members’ lives completely (the key difference, you will recall, between authoritarian and totalitarian regimes, according to the onetime American ambassador to the United Nations Jeane Kirkpatrick); the maintenance of something close to prison camps where dissenters, would-be defectors and power-struggle rivals were incarcerated in deplorable conditions for years and punished if they tried to escape; what the book describes as mysterious deaths and disappearances; and so on. Except that while the American Communist Party, including a few naïve Hollywood types, merely turned a blind eye to events happening in faraway Russia, Scientology — if Wright is to be believed, and I think he is — ran, and maybe still runs, a shadow totalitarian empire here in the United States, financed in part by huge contributions by Tom Cruise and others of the Hollywood aristocracy.
There’s a radically understated interview with Wright by Christiane Amanpour available online, which gives a bit more of the flavor of what we’re talking about here.
Okay, this was one of those honorary resolutions, a political gesture, backing up a certificate awarded on the floor of the House to Scientology representatives, and votes for it were largely a courtesy to its sponsors.
But, in a case like this, I don’t think that’s any excuse.
What were our representatives thinking?
According to the House Journal for March 14, 2013:
Representative Brower lauded the eight dynamics and principles of the Church of Scientology and reaffirmed his belief that we are spiritual beings.
Representative Say commended the Church of Scientology on their booklet, The Way to Happiness, containing 21 precepts about how to live a happy life, which has helped bring peace to areas of turmoil.
Representative Ward thanked and commended the Church of Scientology for their work in providing disaster relief to devastated areas around the world.
Representatives McKelvey and Mizuno had the good sense, or good luck, to be elsewhere when the vote was taken.
Some responsible adult at the capitol should have taken the sponsors aside and explained why this resolution was a very bad idea, and simply pulled the plug on it. Instead, it ends up putting most legislators on record praising Scientology and gives this Legislature a black eye.
What an embarrassment.