I’d like to commend Ruth Gledhill of the Times of London Articles of Faith for publishing a fair and full summary of her tour of the new Church of Scientology which opened in London (link taken down) last week. It was a gala affair, and her tour on the eve of the opening could have been full of gossip and innuendo and could have quoted the crackpots with an axe to grind — but she resisted all temptation and actually reported the facts. She even reported the good news that Canon Peter Delaney, Archdeacon of London and a Canon of St. Paul’s, sponsored a tea welcoming the new church to London, and senior clergy from churches in the City of London were also invited to get to know their new neighbors. Delaney is quoted as saying “The aim was to show them that we are not hostile to visitors to the City, to show that while we may not agree with them in detail, we were certainly not going to cold shoulder them and were going to say, ‘Welcome to the City.’ I do not consider them a threat… Their faith community cannot be a threat to people of faith. One of the things that is impressive about them is their drug treatment programme for young people.”
One Response to London Church of Scientology opens
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Jere,
I must agree, that was a fair, balanced report. I didn’t know that the Church was not registered as a charity in the UK. I find that sad, very thankfully I am sure that will change soon.
All in all people are begining to take another looks at Scientology, this time from the inside. In my opinion, I think that it is probably from finding out that there is alot of false information out in the media and on the internet with Scientology. Since Scientologists are in more public places and the numbers are growing large I think that people are meeting us face to face perhaps more then ever. I also believe that people are finding out that the best person to judge something is you, not an anti-religious people or former de-programmers. I also believe that the brainwashing myth has run its course and that people are tired of the stress of the modern secular world. I believe that people are all searching for happiness within religion as perhaps our modern depression is bcause we lack a spiritual existence. I also find in some cases that people are willing to try new things.
All and all a great article and a great interview. I am glad that she interviewed a Scientologist as this rarely happens.