Pubdate: Sat, 30 Jul 2005 Source: Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Copyright: 2005 Sun-Sentinel Company Contact: http://www.sun-sentinel.com/ Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/159 Author: Kathy Dillon MIND-ALTERING DRUGS COVER UP ILLS I'm beginning to think the South Florida Sun-Sentinel is run by intolerant bigots. There have been several letters scathingly mentioning the Church of Scientology by people who obviously know less than nothing about it. So let me set the record straight. The church was founded by Scientologists in 1954 who realized that what L. Ron Hubbard discovered about the spirit of man could be studied and practiced in none other than a religious realm. Several religious scholars have found Scientology to be a religion in the truest sense of the word. A person does not have to give up his current religion in order to practice Scientology. This is basically because in Scientology, the concept of God is left up to the individual to discover for himself and is the eighth dynamic of existence or the infinity dynamic. Church members are drug-free. This does not mean that they don't take medicines for physical illness. They do not, however, take mind- altering psychotropic drugs or similar street drugs like cocaine. In researching the spirit, Mr. Hubbard found that these drugs not only cover up problems but also can make them worse. A person who runs away from a problem will always have that problem. Kathy Dillon, Public Affairs Department, Church of Scientology of Florida, Coral Gables - --- MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom