Re: Why do people join?

Professor Falken (poulosio@netcom.com) wrote:

: H Keith Henson (hkhenson@shell.portal.com) wrote:

[much clipped]

: : The organization "as a whole" is involved with replicating the meme : : (or meme set) of Scientology. Part of the meme set is such items as : : "fair game," and related ideas about the "wogs" and "raw meat" outside : : of the fold, and the SPs who have left (or been driven out). The : : mental agents these memes build in believer's minds reduces the normal : : barriers to unsocial acts. A strong enough belief will allow people : : to kill, happens all the time. In deference to Godwin's law I will : : not mention another meme, but there *are* memes which we should : : actively discourage people from picking up.

: Like all of the religion memes.

Not at all! I have argued that religions play a very important role in keeping us sane in the face of our knowledge of our mortality. And, no matter how parasitic a meme is when it starts, if it survives, it becomes less parasitic and more symbiotic as time goes on. This is the typical fate of any parasite which does not kill of the host. And, one of the first things a parasite does on its way to becoming a symbiote is to protect its host from other parasites. There are *many* examples of this, for example a tapeworm will tend to protect cats from fleas. Being infected with almost any religion tends to protect you from something worse. Or, as I have put it, it is safer to be a methodist than to be susceptable to the lure of Jim Jones and Co. The change from a parasitic cult to a symbiotic religion is one of time and chance. Some make it long term, some don't. The ability of the meme set (or those it has infected and influences) to bend with the environment is critical for long range survival of the meme. In this respect, Scientology in its present form does not seem to have good long term chances, but if it survives, it will have to become less hard on its hosts.

Keith Henson