SCIENTOLOGISTS MOBILIZE IN SUPPORT OF UN INTERNATIONAL DAY AGAINST RACIAL DISCRIMINATION

In cities around the world today, Scientologists organize or participate in round tables, petition drives, seminars and marches in support of the United Nations International Day against Racial Discrimination.

The UN General Assembly selected March 21 to commemorate the day in 1960 in Sharpeville, South Africa, when police opened fire on thousands peacefully demonstrating against apartheid, killing 69.

The first article of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights affirms: “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights.” Yet 64 years after the document’s 1948 adoption, headlines still feature racially and ethnically motivated violence.

As announced today, a grand jury in Florida will look into racism as the cause of the February 26 shooting death of 17-year-old African American Trayvon Martin. Four died Monday when a gunman opened fire on parents and children at an Orthodox Jewish school in Toulouse, France. Two Senegalese vendors were shot to death in Florence three months ago by an author known for his far-right extremism.

In his message today, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said, “Racism and racial discrimination have been used as weapons to engender fear and hatred. In extreme cases, ruthless leaders instigate prejudice to incite genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.” UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay said, “Leaving the dangerous societal problems of prejudice and racism to simmer on the back burner creates a real risk of explosive conflicts erupting, years or decades later.”

The human rights initiative of the Church of Scientology promotes education as the key to remedying these and other human rights abuse. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights begins with the injunction to “strive by teaching and education to promote respect for these rights and freedoms and by progressive measures, national and international, to secure their universal and effective recognition and observance, both among the peoples of Member States themselves and among the peoples of territories under their jurisdiction.”

Since its inception, the Church of Scientology championed human rights. The Creed of the Church, written in 1954 by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard, begins with the statement that Man is an immortal spiritual being and that all people of any race, color or creed are created with equal and inalienable rights.

“It is vital that all thinking men urge upon their governments (for the governments’ own sake if no other) sweeping reforms in the field of human rights,” stated Mr. Hubbard in 1969. To that end, today the Church sponsors one of the world’s largest nongovernmental human rights information campaigns, aimed at raising awareness and calling for governments to meaningfully support and ensure human rights.

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The Scientology religion was founded by author and philosopher L. Ron Hubbard. The first Church of Scientology was formed inthe United States in 1954 and has grown to more than 10,000 Churches, Missions and affiliated groups and millions of members in 167 nations.

"You may have been taught that the mind is a very difficult thing to know about. This is the first principle of Scientology: It is possible to know about the mind, the spirit and life."—L. Ron Hubbard

Scientology Volunteers Gather Signatures on Human Rights Petitions in 21 Countries

On United Nations Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Scientologists call for mandatory human rights education to promote peace and tolerance

LOS ANGELES—Volunteers from Churches of Scientology in 21 countries including Denmark, France, Australia, South Africa and Canada gathered signatures on human rights petitions March 21, on United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Discrimination. The petition drives were done to gain support for mandatory human rights education, and to bring about realization of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights statement that “…recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world.”

The Declaration was ratified by the UN General Assembly more than 60 years ago, yet racial and ethnic conflicts fuel wars throughout the world. The Scientologists say the answer is in human rights education.

The United Nations International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination is held each year on the anniversary of the day in 1960 when police opened fire in Sharpeville, South Africa, on a crowd of unarmed Black South Africans, killing 69 civilians who were protesting the repressive apartheid laws.

In a speech marking the 50 years since the Sharpeville tragedy, UN Secretary General Ban Kid-moon said, “The United Nations marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on this solemn anniversary to reaffirm our commitment to guard against a repeat of the horrors rooted in racism - from slavery to the Holocaust, from apartheid to ethnic cleansing and genocide.”

In addition to petition drives, Churches of Scientology partner with Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) to carry out a human rights awareness campaign to educate people of all ages on human rights.

“Most people don’t know the rights covered in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights,” said Tracie Morrow, Youth Coordinator for the Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology International Human Rights Office.

“Without an understanding of these rights as covered in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights people will not demand their own rights, let alone defend the rights of others. Through human rights education we have found young people become much more tolerant and understanding and many are inspired to become human rights advocates,” said Morrow.

The Church of Scientology has championed the Universal Declaration of Human Rights for more than 50 years and sponsors the largest non-governmental information campaign to make the Universal Declaration of Human Rights known the world over. The Church’s human rights initiative sponsors groups and activities and provides its materials to individuals, groups and government agencies in 82 nations. For more information on the human rights initiative of the Church of Scientology visit the Scientology website.

^{"You may have been taught that the mind is a very difficult thing to know about. This is the first principle of Scientology: It is possible to know about the mind, the spirit and life."—L. Ron Hubbard}

Scientologist Plans Cross-Country Ultra Marathon to Promote Moral Values

Fifty-four-year-old Scientologist from Monrovia, California, runs to combat violence and help youth make the right moral choices.

Ultra-marathoner John Radich is already training for the May 2010 launch of a 3,700-mile run to promote moral values. His Trans USA Run will follow historic Route 66 from Santa Monica to Chicago, and will carry on from there to New York City and Washington, DC.

Along the route, John will hand out The Way To Happiness, a non-religious moral code based wholly on common sense that can serve as a guide to better living. “Violence is a fact of life in our society, ” says Radich. “It doesn’t have to be that way. If youth learn common-sense values they can make the right choices.”

In addition to distributing booklets, Radich will hand out The Way To Happiness DVDs containing the unabridged book on film.

Radich, 54, has completed hundreds of ultra marathons and covered 30,000 miles since his first in 1979, raising over $100,000 for charities in the process.

He is a nine-time finisher of the 135-mile Badwater Run from Death Valley to Mt. Whitney, known as one of the world’s toughest races. He is a three-time Arizona Six-Day Run winner for 2005, 2006 and 2007 and has also run in the Angeles Crest 100-miler. In 1999 John ran for Human Rights from Athens, Greece, to Hamburg, Germany.

For more information or to help sponsor the program, visit the website at http://www.thetransusarun.blogspot.com/ or e-mail John at thetransusarun@gmail.com.

^{"You may have been taught that the mind is a very difficult thing to know about. This is the first principle of Scientology: It is possible to know about the mind, the spirit and life."—L. Ron Hubbard}

French Scientologists Celebrate UN Human Rights Year of Learning

Scientology Youth in France in partnership with Youth for Human Rights International work to give new meaning to human rights education.

Scientology volunteers across France are promoting human rights education, in support of the United Nations International Year of Human Rights Learning that began on December 10, 2008. The day is also marked as Human Rights Day, in honor of the United Nation’s adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) in 1948, a document drafted by a UN Committee chaired by Eleanor Roosevelt to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms.

Champions of human rights for decades, Churches of Scientology have spearheaded human rights reforms since the 1950s and in partnership with Youth for Human Rights International have distributed over 1.5 million human rights educational publications and obtained over 200,000 signatures in support of human rights education.

In France, volunteers of Scientology Churches are gearing up for Human Rights Day 2009 after a year of weekly human rights education events in Paris, Lyons, Marseilles, Vannes, Clermont-Ferrand, and Nice. Dedicating more than 5,000 man-hours to the cause over the past year, the young activists estimate they have promoted the UDHR to more than 48,000 people in France in 2009.

In addition to gaining support from individuals for human rights education through petition drives, the youth have distributed human rights booklets at music concerts, discussed actions to counter racial discrimination on a radio program and created their own song and dance performances demonstrating the UDHR article on Freedom of Expression. The volunteers also supported UN General-Secretary Ban Ki Moon’s call for a global ceasefire on the International Day of Peace, by distributing booklets at the Esplanade des Droits de l’Homme (Esplanade of Human Rights) where a monument commemorates the UN General Assembly’s adoption of the Universal Declaration.

“Human rights are something everyone needs to know,” said one volunteer. “Then you make sure everybody’s human rights are respected, including your own.”

^{"You may have been taught that the mind is a very difficult thing to know about. This is the first principle of Scientology: It is possible to know about the mind, the spirit and life."—L. Ron Hubbard}

^{Scientology Churches Celebrate Children’s Rights on 20th Anniversary of International Children’s Day}

Scientology Churches and their members, from Australia to Zimbabwe and Canada to the Ukraine celebrate the rights of children by demanding action by private citizens and governments on International Children’s Day. Twenty years ago the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Convention on the Rights of the Child, yet millions of children still die each year from preventable causes.

Scientologists ask:

· If the Convention on the Rights of the Child guarantees freedom from want, why do almost 16,000 children die of malnutrition—one child every five seconds?

· If children have the right to life, why did nearly 10 million children die in 2006 before they reached their fifth birthday?

· Why did an estimated 2 million children lose at least one parent to AIDS in southern Africa in 2003, a number expected to rise to 18 million in the year 2010?

· Why have an estimated 20 million children been forced to flee their homes because of conflict and human rights violations?

· How could 10,000 children be killed or maimed last year by landmines? Why have more than 2 million children died and 6 million been permanently disabled or seriously injured through armed conflicts?

· How come 300,000 boys and girls under the age of 18 have been pressed into service as child soldiers?

· And why do one million children suffer from sexual exploitation every year?

Churches of Scientology believe the answer lies with each of us, that only when people know their rights and freedoms will they insist on their enforcement, not only for themselves but for others.

That is why Scientology Churches partner with Youth for Human Rights International (YHRI) and United for Human Rights (UHR) in distributing the documentary The Story of Human Rights.

Released in June 2009 The Story of Human Rights is an educational tour de force, making the subject of human rights, its history and ramifications understandable to a very broad audience, used to getting their information as entertainment in this multimedia age. The film lays the responsibility for implementing human rights where it belongs—with each one of us, to fight for our own rights and the rights of others.

The Story of Human Rights explains that although the Universal Declaration of Human Rights was adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, “…it did not have the force of law. It was optional. And despite many more documents, conventions, treaties and laws, it is still little more than words on a page.”

The film ends with a hard-hitting appeal to the individual: “Those who fight today against torture, poverty and discrimination are not giants or superheroes. They are people—kids, mothers, fathers, teachers—free-thinking individuals who refuse to be silent, who realize that human rights are not a history lesson, they’re not words on a page, they’re not speeches or commercials or PR campaigns. They are the choices we make every day as human beings. They are the responsibility we all share, to respect each other, to help each other and to protect those in need.”

Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard once wrote, “Human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream.” Understanding human rights is the first step in bringing this about.

To sign a petition to mandate human rights education in schools in your country or to watch The Story of Human Rights online, visit www.humanrights.com. To learn more about the human rights education initiative of the Church of Scientology, visit the Scientology site.

^{"You may have been taught that the mind is a very difficult thing to know about. This is the first principle of Scientology: It is possible to know about the mind, the spirit and life."—L. Ron Hubbard}

Scientology in society

Found this article on The New Statesman. It's by Ken Eckersley, a founding Scientologist who's been active in the religion just about since the start.

What I liked best is he expressed exactly how I feel about what we do in society, and why I volunteer my time on our social betterment programs.

Because the fundamentals upon which Scientology rests embrace all aspects of life, certain key principles can be broadly employed to better any condition. Scientologists use these principles in their daily lives, and I have found that their usage alone can often make the difference between success and failure.

One of these principles provides a means to separately view the components of life so that its many activities, often confused, can assume a new clarity. L. Ron Hubbard discovered that the basic drive behind all of life is “Survive!” This dynamic urge can be subdivided into eight parts so that each one can be more easily inspected and understood. These parts are called the eight dynamics, and by understanding each of them and their relationship, one to the other, a person is able to increase his or her survival on all of them.

What I found was that these dynamics describe one’s drive to survive for self, family, groups, mankind, all life, the physical universe, the spiritual universe and the Infinite or Supreme Being, and I have personally used Scientology to enhance my survival in all of these spheres.

My parents and other family have helped me in numerous ways and I have been able to return that help. For example, in his twenties, my brother was able to rid himself of 19 years of asthma through Dianetics procedures. My first wife, after several years of non-conception, was diagnosed as totally incapable of bearing children, yet later gave birth to our two beautiful girls as a direct result of Scientology spiritual counselling.'As to groups, without membership of the C of E church choir, my Boy Scout Troop, the Air Cadets, my teachers and fellow pupils in the various schools I attended and without my colleagues in the companies in which I worked - I could never have achieved my present 80 years of enjoyment of life, and my good health and high level of activity in the community. Over that period I have regularly studied Scientology, and still do every week. Without this, I know my life to date could never have been as full or as satisfying to both myself and others, and might also have been much shorter.

Then there is the broader group we call Mankind. My Scientology beliefs guide me in contributing in numerous ways to other people. I voluntarily help to run a Narconon drug rehabilitation and prevention education charity, with a high success rate in helping our students achieve complete abstinence for life. I also work with the Citizens Commission on Human Rights; the Volunteer Ministers community help group; the Foundation for a Drug Free Europe in Brussels; Criminon the criminal rehabilitation programme; and with The Way To Happiness Foundation distributing a common sense guide to better living. I also support my wife in her work with Applied Scholastics the revolutionary teaching system which is today helping so many of our youth to escape illiteracy. Groups all utilising the work of L. Ron Hubbard.

Without all this, I could never be as fulfilled as I am. You have only to see the light of comprehension in the eyes of a child or a young offender; you have only to witness the relief of an individual who is now off heroin and holding down a job, or the relief of one who has just escaped physical or emotional pain - to know the value of Mr Hubbard’s work.

^{"You may have been taught that the mind is a very difficult thing to know about. This is the first principle of Scientology: It is possible to know about the mind, the spirit and life."—L. Ron Hubbard}