darkmonk

Your hypotheticals in regards to alcoholism and scientology are too simplistically constructed to relate to reality.

Alcoholism is way more complex than a binary choice of violent or non-violent. Even if you have non-violent drunks, it impacts their lives and the lives of those who care about them in negative ways. It is self-destructive physically in terms of health, and mentally in terms of escapism and other psychological reasons. At the very least, it harms those who care because it will unnaturally shorten the lives of the victims, and decrease the quality of that shortened time in myriad ways.

Despite what the son has said here, there are similarities in this scientology situation. Working 3 jobs to support a "hobby" is not healthy. A marriage that has learned to subsist on grating tolerance and holding tongue because it was almost destroyed is not happy.

The happiness, if there exists any, is but a shallow and flimsy facade that turns ugly at the drop of a hat when challenged. It is not a real and healthy kind, it is a poor band-aid that costs tons of money to buy over and over for a wound it itself causes. Like a hard drug, over time it comes to cause how low you feel all the time instead of normal, and its chemical-induced high brings you back to normal. You ignore all about it that causes you pain and suffering. You develop logical fallacies and shady defense mechanisms to support its continuation. It is happiness in name only, and if we were able to visibly look under the hood, you'd see so much damage in there you'd be at a loss for how she continues to run.

She is suffering with a smile on her face, that comes from something that takes 3 jobs to buy and makes her hate her loved ones. I have my relatively simple annoyances for religions, but scientology is something that must be destroyed.

"But then, to what end," said Candide, "was the world formed?"

"To make us mad," said Martin.

"Do you think," said Candide, "that mankind always massacred one another as they do now? Were they always guilty of lies, fraud, treachery, ingratitude, inconstancy, envy, ambition, and cruelty? Were they always thieves, fools, cowards, gluttons, drunkards, misers, calumniators, debauchees, fanatics, and hypocrites?"

Another great irony of this event is that the Bill of Rights was designed toprotect human persons because of their vulnerability in relations with otherhuman persons who may be much more powerful. But corporations are bestowed withpotential immortality, can change their identity in a day, or even tear offparts of themselves and instantly turn those parts into entirely new “persons.”Yet regardless of all these superhuman powers, corporations are now consideredpersons.

Harry had never thought much about Valentine’s Day, mostly because his life had revolved around an evil mad man. He had never had time to think about those sort of things or make those important observations, that it, until now.

It was a wonder to notice what happened to the female population.

Their eyes were softer.

And they spoke quieter.

And they blinked a lot more.

The boys, many of them, were standing straighter.

They fiddled uncomfortably.

And they looked nervous.

Like they forgot something.

And their girlfriends looked at them expectantly

And they began to sweat.

He had singled me out again. "Suppose you merely scolded your puppy, never punished him, let him go on making messes in the house . . . and occasionally locked him up in an outbuilding but soon let him back into the house with a warning not to do it again. Then one day you notice that he is now a grown dog and still not housebroken -whereupon you whip out a gun and shoot him dead. Comment, please?"