Jokes aside and temporarily forgetting the cool rites of passage that some cults have (i.e. taking a dip in the local river to publicly display your commitment to God; marrying a man old enough to be your grandfather; marrying your grandfather; gun fights with the ATF), a cult can be defined as any group that deprives people of their ability and power to think for themselves.
There are believed to be thousands of cults operating in Australia at the moment. You have the Christadelphians, the Exclusive Brethren, Mormons, Jehovah’s Witnesses, and Seventh Day Adventists. All, although they have their quirks, are relatively snoozey. There is however one prominent cult/religion (depending on your point of view) that has been basking, undoubtedly quite unwillingly, in the media spotlight recently. The ‘Church’ of Scientology.
Scientology is no stranger to the media. It is often prodded by creepy reporters that really, really, want to get THAT story that reveals to the rest of us humans/aliens (again, depending on your point of view) what the Scientologist actually believe. However, some new issues have arisen in the last little while about evil goings on within the ‘Church’. Not evil as in ‘Sigourney-Weaver-Alien 2-Evil’, but talks of forced abortions and family separation.
Former Scientologist Janette Lang is speaking openly about these coerced abortions and threats of family separation. She, along with other ex-members of the cult, are pleading with the Australian Government for some form of intervention, or in at least an investigation. But then this raises the question: if the Government does go ahead with prying into this cult, will it set a premise for them to pry into every other religion, cult, sect, or organization that they wish to, regardless of the motive? Perhaps people should be a little more wary of institutions that they enter into and not depend on the government for their rescue. With freedom comes responsibility.
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