scientology myths 2.0

That is a tough question to answer, but I can answer this. Scientology is done on gradients. You are not given all the scriptures in one fell swoop and told to read them. You learn basics, then you learn more intermediate data, then there is more advanced information. This is not unique to Scientology, see the Scriptures Chapter. It is a central belief of all Scientologists that people must be properly prepared -- spiritually and ethically -- to receive these materials and that premature exposure would impede the spiritual development of individuals so exposed, an outcome that is inimical to the goal of Scientology -- the achievement of spiritual freedom for everyone living on this planet.

There are not many such scriptures. A number of years ago some confidential Scientology materials were stolen, altered and released by admitted enemies of the Church. This is the "OT" or "OT Level" information available on the internet. It is altered and perverted data.

As Scientology is done on a gradient, and OT Levels are considered to be upper level, and confidential, a great many (close to 95%) of Scientologists have never read this information. The confidentiality is because this information, gotten into the wrong hands and perverted (as has happened) can cause a great deal of upset and misunderstanding. Scientologists do not discuss this information as they have been asked not to.

Also Scientologists do not pray to or worship somebody called Zenu, Xemu or Xenu. This is a myth.

Says religious scholar Jean E. Rosenfeld: "All religions have origin myths, and all religions keep secrets from the uninitiated. ... Myths are symbolic expressions of existential truths; they are not literal accounts of historical events. Their truth — religious truth — is not subject to experimental verification. Religious truth sustains and organizes human societies and gives identity — and thus, sanity — to human beings. Expressing oneself religiously and symbolically is an essential ingredient of being human. Myth will always be with us, whether created by cosmologists, as the Big Bang theory, or by poets and prophets as alternative accounts of world creation."

Source: Los Angeles Times, 22 February 2008[1]. Jean E. Rosenfeld is a historian of religions at the UCLA Center for the Study of Religions)