Nailed it! I escaped organized religion at the age of 14. My Christian “religion” has one member and I will never sell it door to door.
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When I was a huge science fiction fan I was only able to finish 2 1/2 volumes of L, Ron Hubbard’s 10 volume “Mission Earth”.
Actually all you have to do is apply with the IRS and it’s pretty much just given. And that’s only for tax purposes. But the IRS does NOT take a stand in denying one religion over another.
These are IRS recognized religions.
Jediism – The Jedi Religion
The Church of Ed Wood
Happy Science Religion
First Church of Cannabis
Is First Church of Cannabis an offshoot of Rastafarianism?
Wow, sgtrock21, I am impressed, I could not get past chapter 1 of anything L Ron Hubbard wrote. He could not be the worst Science Fiction writer that ever lived because that guy never got published but in my opinion he is by far the worst I ever read. I think his religious writings are even worse than his Science Fiction.
I read many of L ron Hubbard, and did not have a problem, heinlien was anothor fav, warship or worship I liked that reference
Isn’t it ironic that a failed Sci-Fi writer–who had a brief nautical background–invented a religion based on space creatures inhabiting our heads, and using nautical symbolism–and yet his followers somehow believe that he “discovered” the one true faith? How gullible does one have to be in order to not be able to see that this was just one more of his…fictions.
We’re in the age of the internet now. Before that (and actually it was the Scientology South Park episode that opened a lot of people’s eyes as to what they really believe) you had to get very high up in the chur… er… Cult, before they told you about all the insane beliefs like space aliens thawing in a volcano and infesting humans stuff.
In the lower levels it’s just a bunch of claims on learning to shape your personality/outlook to be happier and more successful - all BS claims, of course, but a lot more believable than the Xenu nonsense.
Odd… Jimmy Swaggart’s followers believe that HE discovered the one true faith! 
Yes, it is…odd. 
However, all of these charlatans do have something in common, in that they possess the skills necessary to convince weak-minded people to send checks to them, for their further enrichment.
On a related note, did you notice that Jim Bakker is back?
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Nope, I didn’t.
And now, having taken this enjoyable side trip, back to cars…
True, many of these religions believe theirs is the one true one. On the other hand though how many profess world domination and death to those that don’t believe in that one off shoot, and as a way to bring about the end times as envisioned in Revelations? Just as a side note, I’ve been to the cave where John wrote Revelations and from the look of that dwelling I can understand his very negative view of the future. I think he suffered from depression. What a surprise it must be when those virgins don’t appear after blowing themselves to bits. Nothing against religion, just all for self-defense.
Back to drivers license photos. Interesting Consumer Reports this month has an article on older drivers, and how to stay sharp and debunking the myths of the dangerous older driver. Personally, I’m not going to subscribe again. I did so against my better judgement but so far have found most of the information not useful to me, again.
Now that we’re off topic . . .
When I was at the dealership, one of my coworkers was enrolled in evening school, to become a reverend
He made it crystal clear that he wanted to be a rich reverend, driving obscenely expensive cars, and live high off the hog
We thought our ears were playing tricks on us
When further questioned, he himself stated that he was interested in making lots of money, not helping people
I’m not sure what ever became of him . . .
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Maybe your public library has a subscription. Mine does, and I can access it on line from home. That’ll put your local taxes to good use.
Bing, I cannot from your post ascertain your reasons for no longer subscribing to CR because of the article on older drivers. Being an older driver, your thoughts on this subject interest me. Can you elaborate?
Note that I have not read the article.
@db4690. I, too, decided to go into the ministry to get rich. I went to seminary to become a preacher. I was doing really well until we had to give sermons. My classmates gave their sermons about sin and they were against it. I gave my sermon with the opposing view about sin–I was for it. I was looking for job security. That was the end of my preacher career.
@bing I, too, hold the same view of CR. Consumer Reports now tests high end items. Since I didn’t make it as a wealthy preacher, much of what CR tests is out of my price range. CR’s auto tests don’t seem as thorough as the auto tests from ten or fifteen years ago.
I read the article on older drivers. I turned 75 last December and had to renew my license. I wasn’t able to do it online, because of my age. All I had to do was take a vision test. When I inquired about why I didn’t have to take a written exam and a driving test, I was told that I had no moving violations on my record and no auto accidents, so I am considered a safe driver. That seems sensible to me.
I just skimmed the article enough to that seniors tend to do things to minimize their risk like not driving at night, on unfamiliar roads, during rush hour, etc. I agree with that. I think they have gotten a bad rap in general and people don’t age anymore like they used to so plenty of active 80 year olds with the wisdom of age.
The article though, and my thoughts on CR are two different things. I just haven’t found their information very helpful to me and I’m not interested in 70% of the stuff they write about like insurance, vitamins, where to retire, etc. Even their review on riding mowers that they could have provided some useful detail on, they just glossed over. For example, just from memory, the current consumer grade even on up to $3000 mostly all have the same K46 hydro transmission that can’t take hills or pull anything and with a short life. Engines are only from three different vendors and they say nothing about choke problems with one line. They rate Cub Cadet different than Troy even though they are all made by MTD. And Sears different than Huskq. even though made by them. I just think it would be more helpful to have a one or two page chart with the brands, manufacturer, transmissions, engines, for a comparison.
My BIL bought a John Deere and he has no idea it has the same troublesome transmission as the Lowes Troy for half the cost or the Sears model. So for me its not useful information. Same thing with cars. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a quick chart of the trouble prone engines and drive trains on the various models versus those that were bullet proof? Just saying their information is not as deep as one would expect from tearing into a product and testing. Hate to say it but it seems they have become feminized. At any rate I don’t think I’ll buy it again.
John’s cave on Patmos is quite depressing on it’s own. He was exiled there by the Romans and probably wrote in bizarre codes that would not be recognized by them to be Christian.
I couldn’t agree more.
They had a good system for their ratings with the little circles with different degrees of shading. Now I can’t easily translate the new symbols.
Most of the content does not interest me. Products I’d consider aren’t there. The whole layout from the Table of Contents through the pages spattered with graphics is confusing and nowhere near as easy to read as it was in the past.
It’s been glitzed up and dumbed down. I’d feel like a fool if I kept my decades long subscription going.
CSA