I’d like to take a moment and defend Will Smith. Will Smith is being pilloried on Twitter, largely due to an easily mockable video of Will Smith on Tavis Smiley’s program (previously). I’ve joined in the mocking. But the caption of the video is “Will Smith on Will Smith, Scientologist”, and I’d like to reflect on what it means to accuse someone of being a Scientologist in this country, as opposed to what it means to accuse someone of being a Christian.
According to advanced Scientology doctrine, “thetans” are spirits that have existed for 300 trillion years. This is, of course, ludicrous. The universe is only, roughly, 14 billion years old. Scientology is off by four orders of magnitude. But according to Christian tradition — and many Christians, especially in the United States — the universe is 6,000 years old. This is off by six orders of magnitude.
Scientology teaches that the human mind is a thing of great power, capable of amazing things. This is true, in that the human brain does measurably do things. Not all the things that Scientology says it can do, to be sure, but stuff. But in the Christian Bible (John 11) human bodies that have been buried for four days come back to health. This can’t happen.
Scientology uses weird pseudo-technological boxes of wires, switches, and lights to aid in its teaching. The boxes do nothing. But some boxes of wires, switches, and lights do do things. I’m typing on one right now. But a device made by crossing two sticks? That’s supposed to be, essentially, magic in Christianity, but most are too small to do anything but metaphorically beat things.
The Church of Scientology is a wealthy organization able to command great donations from its followers, and claims many adherents among celebrities. But the wealth of this church absolutely pales in comparison with the wealth of the Roman Catholic Church, which claims not only many, many more Hollywood celebs, but actual lawmakers able to make decisions that affect my life and the life of my son.
A valid comment on Scientology, however, is that it is new. As far as I can tell, this is the primary differentiating factor from Christianity.
Now, to you, the Christian reader (I know there are many): some of you will claim that of course you don’t believe in the magic part of Christianity. Of course the universe is old, of course putrid bodies don’t come back to life, of course totems hold only placebo value. And many will admit that the Christian churches wield a frightening and inappropriate amount of power in the world, and especially the U.S. But, to get to the core point: Will Smith is not a Scientologist. He’s a bit loony, to be sure, but what he actually says is “I just think a lot of the ideas in Scientology are brilliant and revolutionary and non-religious”. And I’d like you to reflect — to reflect carefully — on how this is different from someone who discards the magic in Christianity and embraces it as a historically novel and revolutionary ethical framework.
Not a troll. Please think. And the next time you are writing a check to a multi-billion-dollar organization and supporting it in public: introspect. And maybe cut the Scientologists a bit of slack.
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