The Help Factor

I had to do some hard thinking yesterday, because that day was the first deadline of a series of jobs I want to apply. As of late I have been in a sort of very long dream holiday... But everything has an end.

Without going into details, I am in a position where I have a wide variety of job opportunities, and sometimes making the right choice is not easy. I was in a closed quandary as to what to do until I found what for me was the key, and that is - the help factor. "In which position am I best placed to really help people?" This is the angle that really appeals to me. Not "which job will bring me the most money?"

And so, I passed on this first deadline. I didn't apply, because, although the job came with lots of gusto and relish, the help factor was limited. Mind you, it does not automatically mean that a job where the help factor is important is necessarily one that pays less. But the consequences simply should not take precedence on the purpose - and that was my "cognition" into this question, which resolved the quandary. The feeling is completely different. I guess I still have not lost my "cultic" need of "meaning" in what I do.

And this brings me to the reason why I am blogging about this at all, and that is that such a key should also be the one to guide my web site. (As for my blog I mostly write for my own benefit so I am not as "constrained" there, haha :-)

Anyway, it brought me to re-write my opening page , with this in mind, as follows:

"Hell is paved with good intentions" - Dante.

This sentence may summarize the whole Scientology controversy.

I have no doubt that Scientologists feel they have a "technology" of the mind and spirit that can really help people and society. To a certain extend, they do. The problem with Scientology is the extreme position its founder took on various issues. Their good intentions, thus, can also turn into hell in certain circumstances.

These extremes is what anti-cult groups try to address. Unfortunately, they often fall themselves in the same traps cults do and, ironically, sometimes illustrate cultic zeal better than what they are trying to address. Here too, they end up doing more wrong than right - all wrapped in genuine good intentions as well.

Scientology has its limits. These are what I try to point out in my critical section. However, it also is not the monster critics try to paint. Such a depiction leads to discrimination, ostracism, and sometimes to outright drama and tragedies. This is the reason why I try to debunk the most common anti-Scientology myths. We need to take a critical stand towards Scientology, but we also have to avoid falling in the opposite trap of oppressing a religious minority. This is what I refer to as the Third Way.

Ultimately, it all boils down to our common search for true meaning and values. Obviously, good intentions are not enough. There is something else that ought to go with it. Understanding the issue at hand may help us find what this missing ingredient is.