I was quite surprised just about fifteen minutes ago as I walked into my University to find a display in the front lobby of the library building. Now that there was a display wasn’t particularly surprising. It seems about once or twice a month we’ve got someone’s pictures up from their trip to Kenya or a god awful attempt at a career fair. No, this wasn’t the cheap poster board confection of your average budget-Concordia affair, but a full on mini-museum display. The walls erected have chain link fence and barbed wire painted over a mat black finish. Waiting at the entrance is a television (notable because flat screens are still well beyond Concordia’s budget) telling you of the evils of psychiatry.
It took me about three seconds of scanning the fine print on The Citizens Commission on Human Rights hand out to find where it says that they were “...founded by the Church of Scientology....” Nearly needless to say, the exhibit can be described as devoid of historical context, evidence or anything other than a single narrative used to weave an incredibly diverse array of subjects together at best (Hitler came to power for the same reason Curt Cobain committed suicide), or bat shit crazy at worst.
That’s not really the point though.
If you would like a much more in depth look at the exhibit, I believe what I found in school today was very close to what Andrew Gumbel describes in his story on the opening of the exhibit in Hollywood. Read that here
If you would like to know about why Scientology hates psychiatry, go here and read about body Thetans. They’re attached to you, you know, and only Scientology can help you get them off and rid you of their negative energies.
If you’d like a humorous explanation of Scientology, go here
What I’d like to do is thank the CCHR and Scientology. You see, I’m only a few days away from an Arts degree that has left me with nothing that really constitutes an actual skill set. All I have, all that I am at this point, is critical thought. This display has given me hope. It reminded me that some things are really retarded, and even though this particular retarded thing happens to be a well known retarded thing, there will be other, less blatant and better devised retarded things. And with five years of post-secondary education behind me, I just might be ready.
or not.
2 comments:
Great post here. I like the way you explain things, very entertaining. Appreciate you sharing this. Funny shots!
Thanks OnlinePosterPrinting.Com. When I clicked on you, I was sent to an online poster printer website (go figure). That may mean you don't exist, but it doesn't mean I don't appreciate you.
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