Documentary
The film is called Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief. Now as we all know, 75 million years ago the Galactic Federation of Planets led by Zenu, the Supreme Ruler, rounded up aliens from various planets and froze them. The bodies of the frozen were then loaded up and taken to Earth and dumped into the Hawaiian volcanoes. Zenu then had hydrogen bombs dropped into the volcanoes. The aliens died of course but their souls were captured by Zenu as they floated up into the sky. He forced them to watch brainwashing films and then released them onto the Earth. When the first people evolved from lesser life forms, the souls of the tortured alien beings found rest by living as parasites within these new humans. And to this day, all of our sadness and problems are caused by the residual alien spirits living within us.
If you didn’t already know, this is a small part of the Church of Scientology. But little is actually known about this fascinating religious group. Going Clear is a documentary film by Alex Gibney that appeared at the Sundance Film Festival this year. It also aired in March on HBO and focused on how people become attracted to and gripped by scientology. It is extremely interesting. Watch it, watch the reviews, watch the Church of Scientology’s responses to it. Oh, and keep in mind that we too believe many things even our own scriptures say are “foolishness to the wise.” So you know, be careful what you do with those stones.
Find it @ hbo.com/documentaries/going-clear
Minister’s Blog
Rev. John Shuck is a minister in the Presbyterian Church (USA). He gained attention when his church, Southminster wrote an overture to the national church with the hopes of changing the denomination’s language about marriage from “a man and a woman” to “two people.” Shuck appears to be a very kind and thoughtful man and has a strong component of social justice in his life and work. But what is most interesting about him is his stance on “belief-less Christianity.” Rev. Shuck believes that religion is a human invention; the Bible is solely a human work; that God is a powerful symbol and that Jesus (though probably based on a historical person) is essentially a figure of legend. Now, I don’t say this to be insulting to Rev. Shuck, I say it because he openly says it. I very much disagree of course with his theological views, but his position is growing and his blog is worth a read.
Find it @ www.shuckandjive.xyz
Persecution
Deeper Life Christian Ministries is a multi-site, charismatic Christian church and church planting network in Lagos, Nigeria. The main church has more than 40,000 kids in Sunday school. And that’s just the one site. The network actually has 700,000 people. Depending on how you categorize churches (and specifically Full Gospel, Korea) it is the world’s largest church. But it’s also a church in turmoil. The Bible studies have faced multiple attacks. One was entered by a gunman and fired upon. Nineteen people were killed and many others injured. They also receive a lot of hate mail and threats. In short, they are a target for persecution. Prayer support is much appreciated.
Find it @ deeperlifeonline.org
Video
CWCRadio is a small YouTube channel I don’t really know much about. It seems mainly to be made up of the videos of a professor from Bethel University. However, there is also one goofy little animation. I don’t know if it is the creation of Dr. Sam Mulberry or just something he came across but it’s theology nerd gold. It’s a three-minute bit about Martin Luther and is called The Reformation Polka. As far as information goes, it gets right to the point. Education is important. So are cartoons.
