{"id":4568,"date":"2018-06-05T12:53:02","date_gmt":"2018-06-05T19:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/?p=4568"},"modified":"2018-10-01T12:15:01","modified_gmt":"2018-10-01T19:15:01","slug":"the-real-story-of-scientology","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/06\/the-real-story-of-scientology\/","title":{"rendered":"The Real Story of Scientology"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

For almost two decades of pent-up frustration, Scientologist Wil Seabrook<\/a> was unable to tell his personal truth of what Scientology is\u00a0and how it helps him and so many other people. <\/em>Imagine living in a world where you have something in your life that you find incredibly helpful and rewarding, something that gives you specific tools to solve day-to-day problems you\u2019re hitting up against, and the support system you need to be the best possible version of yourself. Imagine the happiness that comes from feeling like no matter what life throws at you, you\u2019ll be able to competently handle it and actively work toward making your personal goals and dreams a reality. Pretty great, right?<\/p>\n

\n
\"\"
Church of Scientology\u00a0Los Angeles<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n

Now imagine that at least once a week you come across a tabloid cover, a news media story, a billboard or advertisement or some other mass media communication that is specifically conveyed to denigrate and invalidate this positive thing in your life. The information being presented\u00a0clearly isn\u2019t true and has zero resemblance<\/a>\u00a0to your\u00a0years<\/i>\u00a0of experience and yet you see this misinformation being \u201cshouted from the rooftops\u201d in exchange for questionable ratings and financial gain. Not so great.<\/p>\n

Imagine this going on for years. The more you dedicate yourself to this positive thing in your life, the more you get out of it. Your life improves more and more, and you become as successful in virtually every respect as you\u2019d always hoped to be\u2014as a person, in business, as a family member and a friend and a contributing member of your community and society. And yet, wherever you go, you\u2019re still seeing this constant onslaught of what to you feels absolutely like bigoted hate speech doing everything possible to tear this thing apart that you value so highly. To say that it might grate on \u00a0<\/a>your nerves would be an understatement.<\/p>\n

And then, one day, through those same mass media avenues, someone finally presents something that\u2019s absolutely and comprehensively true to your experience of this positive thing in your life. And not only does it reflect your experience but it does so in a way that moves you to tears both in terms of the truth of it as you see it, but also in terms of the aesthetic presentation of it. Finally, it reflects everything you\u2019ve felt and experienced about this positive thing perfectly, but more importantly it reflects a worldview that aligns with your own outlook on life\u2014that people are basically good, that the world can be a much, much better place than it often is right now, and that there are solutions to every imaginable problem.<\/p>\n

\"Wil
Wil Seabrook (left) with friends<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

For me,\u00a0Scientology has been that positive force in my life<\/a>\u00a0for almost 20 years. And after experiencing relentless, bigoted and grossly unethical attacks on something that has literally and metaphorically saved my life over and over again, I and so many other Scientologists around the world have been given the gift of seeing our religion brought to life and shared with the world, without outside bias or agendas, through\u00a0Scientology TV<\/a>. And in my case I was fortunate and privileged enough to help with some of the very first programming to air. I was able to tell the world, on camera, some of the things this philosophy has meant to me and for me, my family, my friends and my community. Almost two decades of pent-up frustration at not being able to tell my personal truth of what Scientology is and how it helps me and so many other people was finally given a voice and an outlet, and presented to the world in an incredibly polished and artistic way. \u201cPretty great\u201d doesn\u2019t even begin to describe the feeling of satisfaction and pride.<\/p>\n

Scientology encourages every individual to think for him or herself<\/a>. And now finally there\u2019s an outlet for people who are curious about what it actually is to find out for themselves from the comfort of their own home. Every time I think about it, it makes me smile, makes me happy and fills me with hope.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

For almost two decades of pent-up frustration, Scientologist Wil Seabrook was unable to tell his personal truth of what Scientology is\u00a0and how it helps him and so many other people. Imagine living in a world where you have something in your life that you find incredibly helpful and rewarding, something that gives you specific tools […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":219,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1297,1374],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4568","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-scientology-beliefs","category-stand"],"yoast_head":"\nThe Real Story of Scientology<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"For almost two decades of pent-up frustration, Scientologist Wil Seabrook was unable to tell his personal truth of what Scientology is\u00a0and how it helps\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/06\/the-real-story-of-scientology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"The Real Story of Scientology\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"For almost two decades of pent-up frustration, Scientologist Wil Seabrook was unable to tell his personal truth of what Scientology is\u00a0and how it helps\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/06\/the-real-story-of-scientology\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Scientology Beliefs\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-06-05T19:53:02+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-10-01T19:15:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.standleague.org\/FURL\/imagecache\/cropfit@w=824\/blob\/images\/articles\/6\/6\/66a64444-57ce-11e8-aab4-42010a80013d\/la-org-tour-slides.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ScientologyBeliefs\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ScientologyBeliefs\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/06\/the-real-story-of-scientology\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/06\/the-real-story-of-scientology\/\",\"name\":\"The Real Story of Scientology\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2018-06-05T19:53:02+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-10-01T19:15:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#\/schema\/person\/de2d5509212ec54ab6ece4c23c7be1d3\"},\"description\":\"For almost two decades of pent-up frustration, Scientologist Wil Seabrook was unable to tell his personal truth of what Scientology is\u00a0and how it helps\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/06\/the-real-story-of-scientology\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/06\/the-real-story-of-scientology\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/06\/the-real-story-of-scientology\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"The Real Story of Scientology\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/\",\"name\":\"Scientology Beliefs\",\"description\":\"Scientologists Blogging about their Religion and Concerns\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#\/schema\/person\/de2d5509212ec54ab6ece4c23c7be1d3\",\"name\":\"ScientologyBeliefs\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/93be1a8bd8b9da5809a7c39e5907cf69?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/93be1a8bd8b9da5809a7c39e5907cf69?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"ScientologyBeliefs\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/author\/lwieland\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"The Real Story of Scientology","description":"For almost two decades of pent-up frustration, Scientologist Wil Seabrook was unable to tell his personal truth of what Scientology is\u00a0and how it helps","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/06\/the-real-story-of-scientology\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"The Real Story of Scientology","og_description":"For almost two decades of pent-up frustration, Scientologist Wil Seabrook was unable to tell his personal truth of what Scientology is\u00a0and how it helps","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/06\/the-real-story-of-scientology\/","og_site_name":"Scientology Beliefs","article_published_time":"2018-06-05T19:53:02+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-10-01T19:15:01+00:00","og_image":[{"url":"https:\/\/www.standleague.org\/FURL\/imagecache\/cropfit@w=824\/blob\/images\/articles\/6\/6\/66a64444-57ce-11e8-aab4-42010a80013d\/la-org-tour-slides.jpg"}],"author":"ScientologyBeliefs","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"ScientologyBeliefs","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/06\/the-real-story-of-scientology\/","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/06\/the-real-story-of-scientology\/","name":"The Real Story of Scientology","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#website"},"datePublished":"2018-06-05T19:53:02+00:00","dateModified":"2018-10-01T19:15:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#\/schema\/person\/de2d5509212ec54ab6ece4c23c7be1d3"},"description":"For almost two decades of pent-up frustration, Scientologist Wil Seabrook was unable to tell his personal truth of what Scientology is\u00a0and how it helps","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/06\/the-real-story-of-scientology\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/06\/the-real-story-of-scientology\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/2018\/06\/the-real-story-of-scientology\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"The Real Story of Scientology"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/","name":"Scientology Beliefs","description":"Scientologists Blogging about their Religion and Concerns","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#\/schema\/person\/de2d5509212ec54ab6ece4c23c7be1d3","name":"ScientologyBeliefs","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/93be1a8bd8b9da5809a7c39e5907cf69?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/93be1a8bd8b9da5809a7c39e5907cf69?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"ScientologyBeliefs"},"url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/author\/lwieland\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4568","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/219"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4568"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4568\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4568"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4568"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/scientologybeliefs\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4568"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}