One of our closest primate relatives, the bonobo, has been shown to voluntarily share food, scientists report.

This sort of generous behaviour was previously thought by some to be an exclusively human trait.

But a team has carried out an experiment that revealed that bonobos were more likely to choose to share their food than opt to dine alone.

The research is published in the journal Current Biology.

Dr Brian Hare from Duke University, US, and Suzy Kwetuenda from Lola y Bonobo, a centre for orphaned bonobos in the Democratic Republic of Congo, gave a hungry bonobo access to a room with some food in it.

This room was adjacent to another two rooms, which the creature could easily see into. One of these rooms was empty while the other contained another bonobo.

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I am humbly in the debt of the bonobo for showing the way... Truly.

Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has slammed the major parties for blocking his moves for an inquiry into the Church of Scientology.

Senator Xenophon has been calling for a full inquiry into the church since revealing claims of forced abortions and other abuses in Parliament last year.

Today he accused Prime Minister Kevin Rudd of hiding behind process and vowed to continue to fight for further examination of Scientology in Australia.

"There is a certain cowardice in turning your backs on people who ask for help and ask just to be heard," he said.

"I ask Kevin Rudd and [Opposition Leader] Tony Abbott, what is it about forced abortions you do not want to know about?

"What is it about false imprisonment that you don't want to know about? I will not turn my backs on the victims of Scientology. I will not let this lie. This issue will not go away."

Senator Xenophon now says he will move another motion for an inquiry into the church, which he says will focus on specific allegations made against it, next week.

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Gus: some truth will come out in ... 2098...

In the same way sexual abuses have been "investigated" in the various christian churches, abuses of various kind from within and on the border of scientology will come out. The major problem with the scientologists is their core "beliefs" which prevent most medical conditions of being treated by medicine and psychiatry, only allowing a 'religious-inspired" treatment.

In other cases of "abuse", such as the strict controlled separation of adherents — away from other family members who have different beliefs — is mean and somewhat contrary to the "freedom" of the scientology pseudo-teachings...

No drugs, sure... It is commendable to a point in a world where drugs have been abused, except we should not forget that "religion itself is the opium of the people".

Yes, religion is a powerful "drug" (a mind altering substance or suggestive concept) that can induce and masks all sorts of mental trouble ...  What we, the "normal" people see as "abuse" can be deemed to be beneficial "treatment" to the "soul", by the pushers — such having to perform menial task in the most humiliating way without proper reward, except the illusion of a better after-life. In christianity this has developed into self-flagellation, into non-participation to society's activities (such as the non-voting brotherhood) and silent orders of nuns and monks... How far are we prepared to accept such "abuse" (deemed to be inspired by conviction of the religious hubris), reflects on how far we believe the value of similar deeds in our own set of crooked beliefs...

There is NO FREEDOM of thoughts in any mono-phased belief systems such as scientology. The only choice is to be in or out. But being out — after having been powerfully brainwashed to make it difficult to get out — has been cleverly designed by the belief system to lead to anguish in people's mind. The system becomes (and is) a virtual prison where the shackles are in our own mind rather than at our feet — all managed with an illusion of "freedom" within the confines. It's a bit like the clones in "The Island", the movie... This also applies to all the Judeo-related beliefs system, from islam to christianity. This is why the "christians", Rudd and Abbott, won't touch the subject. They are not scared of the "implants of thetan", they are scared of dipping a toe into their own religious idiosyncrasies..

Religion has always been an excuse for the most heinous crimes of human existence - and is continuing unabated.  It has been the obvious and sometimes, not so obvious, cause of wars of false pride and arrogance in the claim that only IT represents a single God.

IMHO, probably the most cruel and unforgiving of all faiths is the Roman Catholic Church.

This almost hegemonic "business" is enormously wealthy and influential in world affairs.  However, it is fair to say that the power of the Vatican has been seriously tested by two world wars and the better education of so many of its slavish congregations.

My Anglican religion has never tried to coerce me into bludgeoning anyone else into our beliefs – because we respect other faiths – the Catholics do not.

In my little town we have some Roman Catholics of Italian origin who are lovely people and who I am proud to call my friends.  Nevertheless, there are some who are so brainwashed and bigoted that their religious beliefs are being exhibited in some way, almost every day.

The history of the Roman Catholic Church is based on the death of Jesus Christ – ergo Christian.  This means that as far as I can understand it, all Christian religions of the belief in one God had their beginnings in Roman occupied Judah?

So has any religion helped society to live together peacefully and try, at least, to abide by any of the ten commandments?

It is reported (struth that sounds like Murdoch press) that the country with the most variable faiths, is America.  Its people seem to genuflect to their motto of “In God We Trust”.  Which god?

The simple belief in one God, I believe, goes back to the Hebrew religion and its seems that “the meek shall inherit the Earth” really means six foot of it.

The history of the planet depicts “the survival of the fittest” and, no matter how religion or politics may claim to change it – wealth decides the “fittest” of all contemporary nations.  It is still the provider of power to those who may not even be capable of the physical effort which was originally meant by the term “fittest”.

Like the “Mad Monk” I may criticize but I do not have any idea how to resolve that problem.

The only thing that is consistent is change.

God Bless Australia.  NE OUBLIE.

A former Scientologist who says she was a "child slave" and alleges she saw a six-year-old boy chained up in a ship's hold is disappointed the Senate has blocked a full inquiry into the religious organisation.

Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has been calling for a full inquiry into the church since revealing claims of forced abortions and other abuses in Parliament last year.

Keryn, 54, grew up in the church and has asked the ABC to identify her only by her first name.

She says she was a victim of "hard labour, mental brutality and separation" on Scientology ships, which were used for the Church's elite band of followers in the 1960s to 1970s. She is angry the motion for a Scientology probe has been blocked in Parliament.

"Australia is an egalitarian society; Scientology is not egalitarian," she told ABC News Online.

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Gus: see articles above...

...

The Tasmanian Liberal senator Eric Abetz, the great-nephew of an SS officer, seemed the think moves against Scientology were the first step in a commo plot while the South Australian Liberal senator Cory Bernardi accused the Greens of conducting religious witch-hunts. ''This is the organisation, remember, that wanted the members of the Exclusive Brethren Christian organisation to mark their businesses so people would know who they were,'' he said. ''The Star of David … that the Greens wanted to impose.''

It was a bridge too far for the Greens leader, Bob Brown, who rose demanding a withdrawal.

Bernardi retreated, slightly.

''I will withdraw the inference that the Star of David was the symbol that the Greens wanted to put on every Exclusive Brethren business,'' he said.

''Make no mistake that the Greens wanted to ensure that people of a particular religious persuasion were going to be marked in their businesses.''

The independent Xenophon thought the major parties ''cowardly'' and said the government withdrew support for his bill for fear of pre-empting a tax review report that was sitting on Rudd's desk unread as yet.

''I ask Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott, what is it about forced abortions you don't want to know about? What is it about false imprisonment that you don't want to know about? What is it about a policy of breaking up families that you don't want to know about?"

------------------------------

Apparently, in jest, at least I hope, the name of the scientology founder (not a prophet mind you) has been copyrighted and can only be mentioned by cartoonist in the same breath as rhubarb. see toon and articles above.

A woman who claims she was pressured by Scientologists to have two abortions has urged the Prime Minister to support an inquiry into the church.

Janette Lang was a member of the Church of Scientology for 13 years from when she was 20 years old.

She says she has been damaged by her involvement with the church and some years worked for a pay of just $2,000.

Speaking at Parliament House in Canberra today, Ms Lang says she was pressured to have two abortions or risk being cut off from the church.

"On the day I had the [first] abortion I asked not to be fully sedated just in case I got the courage to say no and pull out of the operation," she said.

The Government and Opposition have refused to support a Senate inquiry into the church but Ms Lang has urged Prime Minister Kevin Rudd and Opposition Tony Abbott to allow it to go ahead.

"I say to Kevin Rudd and Tony Abbott please don't make us suffer in silence," she said.

The Government and Opposition have again blocked Independent Senator Nick Xenophon's moves for a Senate inquiry into the Church of Scientology.

But the failed motion has not deterred Senator Xenophon's desire to probe the church's activities and he will move another motion when Parliament sits in May.

Senator Xenophon wanted the Senate to examine whether the criminal code is adequate to deal with allegations of abuse and harassment made by former church members.

He also wanted the inquiry to consider the adequacy of labour laws and occupational health and safety rules for those working for the church.

"This is about law reform, about the protection we need to give to individuals who are caught up in an organisation that acts unconscionably," he said.

But the Government says the allegations are best investigated by police.

------------------

see toon at top.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is still cold on the idea of a Senate probe into the Church of Scientology, but has left the door open for possible support for another kind of inquiry.

Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has vowed to make a third push for a Senate inquiry into the Church after last year airing allegations made by ex-members of coerced abortions, criminal activity and abuse.

But both major parties will not support the inquiry, saying the Senate is not the right place to examine criminal allegations.

Mr Rudd has told Channel 7 he still has deep concerns about alleged mistreatment of members but is not convinced a Senate inquiry should go ahead.

"We've got to be very careful about using parliamentary forums to air potentially criminal charges or criminal allegations," he said.

"Let me take some further advice on the separation between general concerns about the Church of Scientology - many of which I deeply share - and on the other hand, allegations of criminality... which are properly left with law enforcement authorities.

--------------

Gus: I think Rhubard had a wicked knack with names... unless he had a lisp...

The daughter of the president of the Church of Scientology in Australia has spoken out against the organisation, describing it as toxic and accusing the church of tearing some families apart.

In an exclusive interview on ABC 1's Lateline, Scarlett Hanna has detailed life growing up in the former Cadet Org: a group set up for the children of Scientology's elite unit, the Sea Org.

"The best way I can describe it is cattle," Ms Hanna said of their treatment. We were property of the organisation."

Ms Hanna is the only child of Vicki Dunstan, president of the Church of Scientology in Australia, and Mark Hanna, a former Asian/Pacific director of public affairs for the church.

She claims children of Sea Org members rarely had contact with their parents, lived in separate homes and were granted only 20 minutes each night with their parents.

"I can't describe it. It was just an incredibly lonely childhood. I had no-one to talk to or to look after to me, or to ask me how I was after school or any of those things that most of us take for granted," Ms Hanna told ABC 1's Lateline.

------------------

see toon at top and stories below it...

The Catholic Church is again being urged to remove the sanctity of the confessional for child abuse cases.

New South Wales police are investigating complaints that now-Adelaide Archbishop Phillip Wilson mishandled alleged sexual abuse cases by clergymen in the 1970s and '80s.

An official for the Archbishop says the allegations are without basis.

South Australian Senator Nick Xenophon says the law requires priests to report sexual abuse cases to the police but not if they learn about them in the confession booth.

from the ABC

A senior figure in the Church of Scientology has been accused of trying to cover up the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl in Sydney.

In an exclusive interview for ABC1's Lateline program, a former member of the Church of Scientology says she was coached by a senior figure in the church to lie to police about the abuse at the hands of her stepfather.

Carmen Rainer's mother Phoebe was a member of the Church of Scientology and went to the organisation for advice when she learnt her daughter was being sexually abused.

Police are now investigating claims Jan Eastgate, who was in charge of a church-founded organisation at the time, told both mother and daughter to lie to police and community services about the abuse.

Ms Rainer also says the church told her the abuse, at the hands of her then-stepfather Robert Kerr, was her own fault.

"They told me it was my fault because I'd been bad in a past life - I'd probably done something bad in a past life so I pulled it in," she said.

"I believed them. As a child I believed them. I was 11. That's what I knew. I grew up believing what they believed."

-----------------------

Gus: what is worse for me to forgive in such cases, is the rape of the mind... A physical hurt can heal and leave a scar, but a psychological trauma rarely heals unless one finds ways to bury the memory of the deed — and that of the brainwashing — in compensation, in acknowledgement from the perpetrators and from the relinquishment of beliefs that has underpinned many years of wrongly fed "knowledge" which was bullshit... A world collapses and a new one has to be rebuilt. Few humans know how to build a castle out of non-belief, but eventually this is the key of life... Thus, often, the same mistakes are made, or uncertainty becomes unmanageable... while a desire to be accepted stays unfulfilled, You know the rest.

from the ABC

Police have found guns, detonators and ammunition in raids across Adelaide and nearby country areas of properties allegedly connected with a religious group.

About 90 police have raided 10 properties allegedly owned, occupied or associated with the group Agape Ministries.

They allege that a substantial amount of high-powered ammunition was found hidden in metal bed frames.

Two men - a Mount Compass man, 49, and an Upper Sturt man, 46 - have been arrested and another two men, 48 and 38, have been reported for firearms offences.

The Fair Work Ombudsman is investigating the Church of Scientology over allegations it has grossly underpaid staff members.

A number of former employees of the church have told ABC's Lateline they were only paid a few thousand dollars per year for full-time work and had to resort to welfare payments to survive.

Janette Lang, who worked for the church for seven years, says the most she was paid in a year was $3,114 in 2001.

She was second in charge of the Church of Scientology in Canberra at the time.

Ms Lang told Lateline it was "awful".

"Trying to survive as a staff member was a constant battle," she said.

Ms Lang says she had to go on welfare to get by. She says this practice was widespread in the church.

The Church of Scientology declined Lateline's request for an interview, but in a written statement said: "the Church denies any widespread use of welfare by its staff members. Her allegations are unfounded and false."

Leaders of the Church of Scientology last night launched a vigorous defence of their organisation and their treatment of the faith's adherents amid what they described as "sensationalist" claims they have been under investigation by an FBI task force on human trafficking.

The move came after Paul Haggis, an Oscar-winning screenwriter who renounced Scientology in 2009 after 34 years as a member, broke a long public silence to help the New Yorker magazine compile a lengthy investigation into the Church's affairs.

Some of the most extraordinary claims raised by the 25,000-word article, published at midnight on Sunday, centre on the Church's chairman, David Miscavige, who was best man at Tom Cruise's wedding. He is accused of a number of incidents of threatening behaviour towards followers.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/sect-scandal-scientologists-outraged-by-defectors-claims-2207428.html

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Of course the same can be said of ALL OTHER "religions". The threats may be different but the mantras via the repeated prayers tells of the huge penalties should one go astray — some penalties being "morally spiritual" such as in the humble Catholic Church with image of fire in hell — and physical torture with slow death such as with the stoning Muslims or honour killing Muslims. With the Jews, the penalties are more subtle but long-lasting, like "banishment forever" and "being sent to err for about 2000 years"... The pressures of tantrumic scientologist leaders of little green men seem to be tame in comparison...

see toon at top...

An Australian resident has told Lateline the Church of Scientology imprisoned her on its cruise ship The Freewinds.

Valeska Paris says the Church of Scientology's leader David Miscavige sent her to the ship when she was 17, to prevent her mother taking her away from Scientology.

Ms Paris says she ended up being on the ship for over a decade, and was unable to leave The Freewinds for the first six years without an escort.

She has also described the church's leader David Miscavige as a psychopath and says he should be put on trial.

Ms Paris was born into a Scientology family in Switzerland, and at the age of six she moved to Scientology's headquarters in the UK where she was placed in its then youth wing the cadet org.

At 14 she joined the Church's elite Sea Organisation, signing a contract binding her for a billion years, a commitment that would override her bond with her own family.

"I was basically hauled in and told that my mum had attacked the church and that I needed to disconnect from her because she was suppressive," she said.

Her mother had denounced Scientology on French TV after her ex husband Albert Jaquier committed suicide.

A self made millionaire, his last days were spent in poverty, and in a diary he kept, he blamed the Church of Scientology for fleecing him of his fortune.

Ms Paris says the church was so worried her mother would take her away that Mr Miscavige intervened, ordering she be taken to the church's cruise ship The Freewinds.

"He decided the ship, and I found out two hours before my plane left, I was woken up in the morning and I was sent to the ship for 'two weeks'," she said.

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-11-28/woman-27imprisoned27-on-scientology-cruise-ship/3700390

A simmering conflict at the Church of Scientology has been made spectacularly public after a member of the organisation's clergy circulated a letter raising severe criticisms of both the management style and financial policies of its current leader, David Miscavige.

Debbie Cook's email, which was sent to 12,000 fellow Scientologists shortly after midnight on New Year's Day, alleges that Mr Miscavige has adopted a dictatorial leadership style which is at odds with the doctrines laid down by the church's founder, the science fiction author, L Ron Hubbard.

She further claims that, since succeeding Hubbard after his death in 1986, Mr Miscavige has become obsessed with fundraising. His regime is now "hoarding" a cash reserve of more than a billion dollars, she claims, and has spent tens of millions more on a portfolio of large, "posh" buildings which largely sit empty.

Ms Cook's criticisms strike a chord with many disaffected recent defectors from the church. But her highly respected status within the usually secretive world of Scientology may also give them weight among more active members.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/conflict-at-the-heart-of-scientology-is-exposed-in-bitter-email-outburst-6284546.html

Followers of Scientology offer quack therapy to Vietnamese victims of US chemical weapon

VICTIMS of the Vietnam War-era chemical weapon Agent Orange are to be treated by the Church of Scientology. The Independent reports that the ‘Purification Rundown’, a process involving saunas and vitamins, has been made available to residents of Hanoi whose lives are still affected by exposure to the toxin dropped by US forces during the Cold War conflict.

The news comes almost a month after the US government launched a $43 million project to clean up Agent Orange from the areas in which it remains most concentrated.

The Purification Rundown will be provided by the Association for Better Living and Education, a Scientology offshoot which aims to "rid the world" of "drugs, crime, illiteracy and immorality" through the teachings of sci-fi author and founder of their ‘religion’ L. Ron Hubbard.

Dozens of Vietnamese are reported to have signed up for a course, hoping for respite from health issues - including cancer and physical deformities - which might have been caused by exposure to Agent Orange.

Officials at the Vietnam Association of Agent Orange Victims told the press that the Purification Rundown, usually offered as therapy for drug addiction or alcoholism, had already been trialled in the northern Thai Binh province, and has now been used to treat 22 individuals in a Hanoi military hospital.

Experts have dismissed the Rundown as quackery: Dr Ronald Gots, a toxicology specialist from Maryland, emphasises that “no recognised body of toxicologists, no department of occupational medicine, nor any governmental agencies endorse or recommend such treatment".

Scientology threatens Vanity Fair over Tom Cruise 'auditions' claims

Guy Adams

Citing a mixture of "shoddy journalism" and "religious bigotry," the Church of Scientology is threatening to sue Vanity Fair over a recent article claiming that it helped "audition" young actresses to find a suitable girlfriend for Tom Cruise.

In an eight-page legal letter, the Church has accused the magazine's editor, Graydon Carter, of a "reckless disregard for the truth," complaining that key allegations in his title's story are "false" and "defamatory".

The document was published by Scientology's PR team amid continued controversy over this month's Vanity Fair cover story "What Katie Didn't Know", which alleges that the Church attempted to set him up with an eligible young actress following the breakdown of his marriage to Nicole Kidman.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/scientology-threatens-vanity-fair-over-tom-cruise-auditions-claims-8122450.html#

Film-makers reportedly 'beefed up' security at last night's NY premiere after barrage of complaints

SCIENTOLOGISTS are reportedly planning a campaign against Paul Thomas Anderson's controversial new film The Master.
 
The movie explores the early days of a self-help religion called The Cause, which bears more than a passing resemblance to the Church of Scientology. Joaquin Phoenix plays a Naval veteran who returns home from war feeling uncertain about his future until he is drawn into the religion by its charismatic leader, played by Philip Seymour Hoffman.

In February last year, Samoa's Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele was photographed alongside Warren Meyer, the "humanitarian ambassador" for a group called Applied Scholastics.

• An investigation revealed that Scientology material is being taught in six Samoan schools
• Experts warn Scientology is covertly pushing its ideology in schools across the world
• It uses affiliate groups like Applied Scholastics and ABLE to obscure its involvement
• There are two schools here in Australia that use the works of Applied Scholastics

The two were holding a textbook titled Learning How To Learn — one of 10,000 copies gifted to the small Pacific island nation. 

But the friendly photograph belies a more bizarre and complex reality. 

The much-needed educational resources for the children of Samoa were in fact books containing the teachings of L Ron Hubbard, the founder of the controversial Church of Scientology. 

It has now been revealed — thanks to an investigation by the Samoa Observer published earlier this week — that there are at least six schools in Samoa using these teaching methods. 

Applied Scholastics has also told the ABC that more than a dozen Samoan educators have travelled to the group's headquarters in Missouri for training. 

The deeply Christian island nation of Samoa may seem an unlikely destination for Scientology to promote its teachings, but it's just one of many far-off corners of the globe Applied Scholastics is seeking to expand to.

Read more:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-05-05/scientology-campaign-to-push-educ...

Read from top.

See also: the commerce of religion...

and:

http://www.yourdemocracy.net.au/drupal/node/30311

Note that Scientology is a non-democratic tax-deductible Ponzi scheme and has NOTHING TO DO WITH SCIENCES.