Article 230193 of alt.religion.scientology:
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From: emma@internetconnect.net (Emma Sanders)
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: THE RELIGIOUS HERITAGE OF SCIENTOLOGY
Date: 1 Nov 1996 04:52:50 GMT
Organization: University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center
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Many falsehoods and inaccurate statements regarding several aspects
of the religion of Scientology have been observed on ars.
The purpose of this message is to give you a sample of the true data
from the book 'What is Scientology?' and show you where you can look
to get the full contents of this book.

                         -------------


The dream of making the world a better place has long been embraced
by every religious movement in history. Indeed, religion has served
as the primary civilizing influence on the planet.

The knowledge that man is a spirit is as old as man himself. Only
recently, with the advent of Western psychology, have notions cropped
up that man is merely another animal, a stimulus-response mechanism.
Such espousals stand at odds to every religious tradition, which
variously speak of the "soul," the "spirit" or the "life force" &
to encompass a belief held by all civilized men.

The Scientology religion follows just this tradition of man's search
for his spiritual identity. In Scientology, the individual himself
is considered to be the spiritual being-a thetan (pronounced "thay`-
tn"). The term is taken from the Greek symbol or letter theta which
has long served as a symbol for thought or spirit. Thus, although
a new movement, Scientology is heir to the understanding of thinking
men since the beginning of human history that man is a spiritual
being who aspires to understand and improve life. The search was
long, but it has been successful and answers now exist in Scientology
for anyone who wishes to reach for them.

In Lascaux, France, 15,000 years before Christ, early man painted
bulls and other images deep inside the walls of caves. His underlying
belief held that such representations would bring the living animal
within their grasp, and so guarantee a successful hunt.

Like this ancient man with his primitive spear, in his attempt to
conquer the raging bull, human beings have been trying to understand
themselves and their relationship to other living things and the
physical universe for countless eons. That which has been recorded
in cave paintings, on stone tablets and in ancient myths stands as
a testament to this search.


For more information go to the following URLs:


          http://www.scientology.org
          http://www.lronhubbard.org
          http://www.dianetics.org

(c) 1993 Church of Scientology International. All Rights Reserved.