Tag: Scientology

Scientology Volunteers Clean Up Kaohsiung’s Popular Cijin Beach

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The Kaohsiung chapter of The Way to Happiness Foundation puts the precept “Safeguard and Improve Your Environment” into practical terms with a cleanup of Cijin Beach.

Press Release
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Jul 28, 2016

Kaohsiung, Taiwan, July 28, 2016 (Newswire.com)
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Taking a tip from The Way to Happiness, a group of volunteers from the Church of Scientology of Kaohsiung spent a recent afternoon cleaning up a section of the city’s famous Cijin Beach.

Just off the coast of Kaohsiung, Cijin Island is a popular destination where tourists and local residents enjoy the swimming, the beautiful sandy beach, the expansive view, and what has been described as the best fresh seafood in the city.

Like many Scientology Churches around the world, the Church of Scientology Kaohsiung sponsors a chapter of The Way to Happiness Foundation, where members adopt areas around their city to help keep them clean and beautiful.

One of the precepts of this common sense moral code includes taking care of the environment:

“Care of the planet begins in one’s own front yard. It extends through the area one travels to get to school or work. It covers such places as where one picnics or goes on vacation. The litter which messes up the terrain and water supply, the dead brush which invites fire, these are things one need not contribute to and which, in otherwise idle moments, one can do something about.”

The Church of Scientology Kaohsiung, an Ideal Scientology Organization (Org), opened in December 2013. For the past 12 years the Scientology Church and Missions of Taiwan have been awarded the Ministry of Interior’s Excellent Religious Group Award for their volunteer activities that include cleanups such as this, and its extensive drug prevention and human rights education initiatives. The Church’s team of Scientology Volunteer Ministers respond to natural and manmade disasters and provide one-on-one help to anyone in need.

Source: ScientologyNews.org

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July 28, 2016
How Traditional Values Can Impact the Quality of Life
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An open house on environmental issues focused on the connection between environmental crime and morality and a humanitarian program the Church supports to instill moral values.

Press Release
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Jul 12, 2016
Rome, Italy, July 12, 2016 (Newswire.com)
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A community open house held in one of the seminar rooms at the Church of Scientology of Rome promoted the importance of environmental responsibility. Emceed by the Church’s Social Reform Officer, speakers discussed environmental issues from their own unique perspective. They included a professor of philosophy and sociology, an attorney, and a retired police officer.

According to the United Nations’ World Environment Day (WED) website, the dollar value of eco-crime outstripped illegal trade in small arms this year at an estimated $258 billion. This is 26 percent higher than previous estimates.

The WED website also points out that:
- More than one quarter of the world’s elephant population has been killed in the last decade.
- Some of the world’s most vulnerable wildlife such as rhinos and elephants are being killed at a rate that has grown by more than 25 percent every year in the past decade.
- Money generated from the illegal exploitation of natural resources funds rebel groups, terrorist networks and international criminal cartels.
It was clear from each of the presentations at the forum that environmental irresponsibility is first and foremost a moral issue—a matter of personal choice. No matter how many regulations and laws exist, without a moral compass there is nothing to restrain people from destroying the natural resources we hold in trust for future generations.

To address this and other pressing moral issues, the Church supports distribution of The Way to Happiness—a nonreligious moral code based entirely on common sense. Written in 1981 by author, humanitarian and Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard and published in 111 languages, it fills the void in an increasingly immoral society.

The Church of Scientology and its members are proud to share the tools for happier living contained in The Way to Happiness with all who seek to create a better world.

Source: ScientologyNews.org
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July 12, 2016
Seminar Covers Simple Steps to Achieve Happiness

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The Church of Scientology Pretoria teamed up with a local business executive to help people find happiness, using the nonreligious moral code The Way to Happiness.

Press Release
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Jun 20, 2016

Pretoria, South Africa, June 20, 2016 (Newswire.com)
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Most people rank happiness among the most important things in life, yet few achieve it. For example, a recent survey found a third of Americans feel trapped in their current career.

The Wall Street Journal reports, “Having to work hard in a job you feel stuck in is energy draining at best and… associated with higher illness at worst.”

And happiness at work is not one a personal issue. According a 2012 report published by the Stanford Graduate School of Business, it affects the lives of other employees, their families and the community because of the influence it has on the success of the business itself. It reports, “employee happiness leads to increased productivity, increased generation of innovative ideas, fewer sick days, higher income, favorable evaluations from supervisors, and a more supportive working atmosphere. Customer happiness leads to company loyalty, increased spending on company products, and even customer-driven marketing”

This year’s World Happiness Report addressed this problem, saying we “need a new ethics which incorporates the best values to be found in all religions, but which is equally convincing to people with no religious faith at all.”

The Church of Scientology Pretoria hosted a program June 6 addressing this very issue. More than 100 local business people attending a seminar on The Way to Happiness, a nonreligious moral code written by author and humanitarian L. Ron Hubbard containing 21 precepts anyone may use to create a happier life.

Director of Special Affairs Maurithus Meiring played several brief videos that illustrate The Way to Happiness precepts and led a discussion on how this moral code can help their employees achieve greater happiness by encouraging them to uphold these standards at work and in life.

The Church of Scientology Pretoria is an Ideal Scientology Organization (Org), configured to provide the full services of the Scientology religion to its parishioners, while also serving the community with social betterment and outreach programs.

Source: ScientologyNews.org

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June 20, 2016
Is It Possible to Resolve Conflicts?

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Conflicts are very hard to handle. Right? Just ask either side of a bitter divorce—not to mention rival gangs. Is there really a way to resolve them?

Press Release
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Jun 16, 2016

Los Angeles, California, June 16, 2016 (Newswire.com)
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On completing the Scientology Volunteer Minister course called The Cause of Conflicts, an Illinois woman realized the harm you can create when you exaggerate your grievances or complain about someone to another. This is what she had to say.

“The most important lesson I have learned is the value of my own words. Sometimes I communicate loosely or state things that might be an assumption rather than a hard and fast fact. That results in a misunderstanding. On some occasions I think I could have communicated better, especially if [what I said] was shared in confidence and resulted in a disagreement between others.”

“I am also more alert as to the weight I give private reports, regardless of the source,” she continued. “So many times, I record reports from third parties as fact because I value the reporter. Many times I have mishandled situations based on reports that later turned out to be false or misconstrued for the benefit of the reporter.”

The Cause of Conflicts is one of 19 free online courses available through the Scientology Volunteer Ministers website and Scientology.org.

According to the website, in researching the causes of violence, L. Ron Hubbard unearthed a fundamental and natural law of human relations that explains why conflicts between people are so often difficult to remedy. And he provided an immensely valuable tool that enables one to resolve any conflict. Widespread application of this law can make peace and harmony among people a reality.

Source: ScientologyNews.org

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June 16, 2016
To Be Honest—They Weren’t Being Honest

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Scientology Volunteer Minister seminars are making an impact in villages in western Kenya.

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June 16, 2016
Do You Want to Do Something Effective to Stop Crime?

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Volunteers at the Criminon Center in Clearwater, Florida, say that with a few hours each week you can do something effective to reduce crime. Help close the “revolving door” through which prisoners return to a life of crime and wind up back in jail.

Press Release
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Jun 10, 2016

Clearwater, Florida, June 10, 2016 (Newswire.com)
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More than 10.1 million people are held in penal institutions internationally, with 2.2 million serving time in the United States. Of the 100,000 inmates in Florida’s prison system, nearly one in three released will be behind bars again within three years. And Pinellas County ranks second in the state in the number of juvenile arrests.

Criminon Florida, a criminal rehabilitation program, says that with even a minimal investment of time, anyone can do something effective to reduce crime. The group holds a weekly open house at their new headquarters in Downtown Clearwater to introduce the community to the program and encourage new volunteers to join.

The Florida group has guided some 20,000 inmates through courses designed to help them make a fresh start as productive members of society.

Criminon Florida headquarters is one of six new centers opened in Clearwater, Florida, in July 2015 to house the humanitarian and social betterment programs supported by the Church of Scientology. In the center, 83 volunteers invest some 1,000 hours each month, assisting more than 900 inmates in 101 prisons in Florida by supervising them through correspondence courses. Criminon also conducts onsite programs for groups of inmates in eight Florida prisons, some of them supervised by the inmates themselves.

The weekly Criminon open houses are attended by those interested in volunteering and others who simply want to find out more. They are joined by local businesspeople and rehabilitation specialists interested in supporting or implementing the program to tackle this urgent social problem.

Criminon, meaning “without crime,” is based on the discovery by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard that the path to true rehabilitation is for the offender to “find out when he lost his personal pride.” Mr. Hubbard states, “Rehabilitate that one point and you don’t have a criminal anymore.”

Today, Criminon is active in some 1,000 prisons and correctional facilities worldwide, with nearly 13,000 inmates enrolled in the program.

Source: ScientologyNews.org

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June 10, 2016
Psychiatric Crime Exposed by Russian Human Rights Group

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Closed-door conference organized by Citizens Commission on Human Rights
St. Petersburg, Russia, reveals psychiatric fraud and flagrant violations of human rights.

Press Release
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Jun 3, 2016

St. Petersburg, Russia, June 3, 2016 (Newswire.com)
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Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR) St. Petersburg held a closed-door conference where panelists and victims of psychiatry presented facts, figures and personal testimony of human rights violations and fraud in the psychiatric industry.

Specific cases of citizen complaints including extortion and abuse by psychiatrists and psychiatric institution employees were reviewed.

Attending the conference were victims who spoke of the abuse they suffered at the hands of psychiatry. One was a man who objected to the room being too dark when he was trying to take an examination to extend his driver’s license. He was removed from the room and falsely labeled schizophrenic. He is appealing to the courts to have that label lifted.

Another case was an elderly woman who was forcibly committed to a psychiatric hospital and administered psychiatric drugs. She testified about the serious physical harm she suffered as a result of these drugs, which triggered intense pain and joint degeneration.

A study of records of the Oktyabrsky district court from 2012 to 2014 showed blatant psychiatric violation of medical ethics and human rights. Psychiatrists spent an average of 10 minutes in examining each of the 1,340 cases they involuntary committed during those two years. In 115 of these cases the examination was conducted in less than a minute. Additionally, those examined were not read their rights.

CCHR organized this conference to inform citizens, supervisors and human rights advocates of the flagrant violations extant in the psychiatric industry today and the urgent need to bring psychiatry under the law.

Every year, hundreds of victims turn to CCHR Russia to report abuses and psychiatric crimes including false imprisonment, fraud, rape, inhumane treatment, appalling conditions in psychiatric institutions and the deprivation of fundamental human rights. For the past 15 years, CCHR Russia has been investigating and exposing human rights violations in the field of mental health and coming to the aid of psychiatric victims.

Citizens Commission on Human Rights is a nonprofit charitable mental health watchdog co-founded in 1969 by the Church of Scientology and professor of psychiatry emeritus, the late Dr. Thomas Szasz. It is dedicated to eradicating psychiatric abuses and ensuring patient protection.

Source: ScientologyNews.org

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June 3, 2016
Providing Help in Burundi Displacement Camps

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Burundi physician establishes 50-member Scientology Volunteer Ministers Group to bring real help to the people of his country.

Press Release
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May 11, 2016

Bujumbura, Burundi, May 11, 2016 (Newswire.com)
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A doctor at Kamenge Hospital in Bujumbura, Burundi, has formed a Scientology Volunteer Ministers group as part of his commitment to improving conditions in his country.

While still in college, Dr. Jacques Mpawenimana and his friend Jean Pierre Hakizimana formed the nonprofit Health for All, with the goal of funding rural health centers and helping to integrate orphans into mainstream society.

One recent week, they visited a displacement camp in Carama, in northern Bujumbura, where 850 live in privation, with little food, clothing or medical care. The Burundi volunteers delivered clothes, salt and soap to those living in the camp along with treats for the children.

African Child Policy Forum estimates there are 740,000 orphans in the country. And Burundi ranks 167th out of 177 countries in the United Nations Human Development Index. The country’s civil war is blamed for the poverty rate plummeting from 48 down to 67 percent between 1994 and 2006. And once again, political and ethnic conflict has plunged the country into turmoil with hundreds of thousands fleeing and seeking refuge in neighboring countries.

So, when Mpawenimana heard about the Scientology Volunteer Ministers program earlier this year, it resonated with him immediately. Here was technology he could learn, use and share with others to begin to reverse Burundi’s overwhelming problems.

By mid-March, He and Hakizimana completed the entire series of 19 free on-line courses offered on the Volunteer Ministers website. And he put what he learned to immediate use. While studying The Answers to Drugs Course, for example, Mpawenimana withdrew two young addicts from drugs.

One of the courses is called Assists for Illnesses and Injuries. Assists are techniques developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard that are based on his discoveries into the mind and the spirit. They speed healing by bringing the being into better communication with the body. Mpawenimana trained 23 members of Health for All to deliver these techniques.

Many members of Health for All have also enrolled on the on-line courses and have now become Scientology Volunteer Ministers.

On completing the Integrity and Honesty Course, another group member, Eric Barakamfitiye, who has completed the entire series of courses, said, “I have personally changed completely from the useful knowledge I gained from this course. I’m not the person I was before. When I now look in the mirror, my face is brighter and happier.”

Soon the new Volunteer Ministers group had swelled to 50 new members, all of them training on this technology to use it to improve the lives of the people of this country.

Whether serving in their communities or on the other side of the world, the motto of the Scientology Volunteer Minister is “Something can be done about it.” The program, created in the mid 1970s by L. Ron Hubbard and sponsored by the Church of Scientology International as a religious social service, constitutes one of the world’s largest international independent relief forces.

The Volunteer Minister “helps his fellow man on a volunteer basis by restoring purpose, truth and spiritual values to the lives of others.”

A global network of Volunteer Ministers mobilizes in times of manmade and natural disasters, answering the call wherever needed. Collaborating with some 1,000 organizations and agencies, they have utilized their skill and experience in providing physical support and spiritual aid at hundreds of disaster sites.

Source: ScientologyNews.org

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May 11, 2016