Like most of you, I have heard of "Scientology" and have been vaguely aware of some of its precepts for quite a while.
I knew that Tom Cruise and John Travolta were devotees and advocates.
I knew that L. Ron Hubbard, the science fiction writer, founded the religion in the 1950's.
I knew about the "Dianetics" craze of the late 1980's.
But, also like most of you, I never really took the time or effort to really learn what all the fuss was about...until recently.
The other day I read a rather protracted article in Rolling Stone magazine in which the religion is all laid out...and man, what a trip!
I share this article with you today, in its entirety.
It is very, very long but please read it all. You will not be disappointed. This I guarantee.

But first, a pertinent bit of related news:

The battle between "South Park"creators Trey Parkerand Matt Stone and Scientology is escalating.The dust-up gained steam last week when Isaac Hayes, a practicing Scientologist who has long been the voice of the character Chef, quit after objecting to a "South Park" episode called "Trapped in the Closet," which lampooned both the religion and Tom Cruise. The skirmish continued this week, when Comedy Central abruptly pulled a repeat of that episode that was scheduled to air Wednesday evening. Showing instead was another memorable episode which featured Hayes's character, called "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls."
Blog reports pegged the mysterious episode switch to objections raised by Cruise, who, the reports stated, threatened to not promote "Mission: Impossible 3," the summer tentpole for Viacom-owned Paramount.A spokesman for Cruise denied that Cruise had ever made such a threat. "He never said any such thing about 'Mission: Impossible 3," the spokesman said.While the "South Park" creators didn't directly comment on Comedy Central's decision to pull the episode, they issued an unusual statement to Daily Variety indicating the battle is not over."So, Scientology, you may have won THIS battle, but the million-year war for earth has just begun! Temporarily anozinizing our episode will NOT stop us from keeping Thetans forever trapped in your pitiful man-bodies. Curses and drat! You have obstructed us for now, but your feeble bid to save humanity will fail! Hail Xenu!!!"The duo signed the statement "Trey Parker and Matt Stone, servants of the dark lord Xenu."