by Keith Edward Tolbert Judy Norton Taylor, former TV star of The Waltons, has recently tu

 by Keith Edward Tolbert

  Judy Norton Taylor, former TV star of The Waltons, has recently 
  turned to exploiting her bygone celebrity status for promoting  
  Dianetics, the controversial self-help book written by L. Ron   
  Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology.  According   
  to Taylor, she is not alone as a performer who adheres to       
  Scientology as "other artists; Christy Allie, John Travolta,    
  Karen Black and Michael McNeal" are all scientologists.

  Taylor promoted Dianetics in two shows at the Universal Mall in 
  Warren, MI, before hundreds of shoppers.  The highly            
  coordinated show included a dramatic video tape on a large      
  screen TV touting Dianetics, followed by a session in which     
  scripted questions were asked of Taylor.  In addition, there    
  were two literature tables filled with Dianetics                
  advertisements.  As if that were not enough, the B.Dalton book  
  store, within easy sight of the show, featured two large        
  displays of Dianetics in the store's front.

  While the show was certainly entertaining and Taylor congenial, 
  two aspects of the show might not have been clear to the        
  audience.  First, in the video tape, Dianetics seemed to be     
  portrayed as a new scientific discovery when a paralyzed        
  football player is diagnosed as beyond the hope of medical      
  doctors.  However, after a friend drops off a copy of           
  Dianetics, he is healed.  [The doctors, seeing their economic   
  future in jeopardy, behind the back of the healed football      
  player, remark "We have to get rid of that book."]

  Though unspoken, the visual grammar of the video speaks loudly  
  that Dianetics works like, if not better than, medical science. 
  However, in reality, the film never makes any spoken claim that 
  practicing Dianetics is able to heal anyone of anything.        
  Instead, the carefully scripted film has the healed football    
  player rejoicing "I read the book and Im healed."  He does not  
  say "I read the book causing me to be healed" or "Im healed     
  because I read the book."  In fact, a disclaimer embedded in    
  the credits at the end of the video dissociated Dianetics from  
  any claim to heal.

  This is consistent with the history of Scientology.             
  Originally, L. Ron Hubbard attempted to establish Scientology   
  as a mental science, but was drummed out of the scientific      
  community.  Later, he repackaged Scientology and began          
  marketing it as a religion.  Taylor concurs on this point when  
  she said "It (Scientology) classifies itself as a religious     
  philosophy.  Its a religion in the oldest sense of the word ... 
  the overall aspect is dealing with man as a spiritual being as  
  opposed to just a body.  ... We are going in and treating the   
  persons mind and their spiritual side.  Its considered a        
  religion from that aspect.... We are trying to raise the        
  spiritual awareness of the person and make them freer as a      
  spiritual being."  Of course Scientologists have every right to

  advertise their religion, but during this show, to me, it       
  seemed to be portrayed once again more as a science than as a   
  religion.

  Secondly, to the typical shopper at the mall, the connection    
  between Dianetics and the Church of Scientology was not         
  apparent.  "Scientology" was never mentioned 
  once in the film, from the platform or in the advertisements.   
  This may have been accidental, but in the face of all the       
  recent negative press regarding the Church of Scientology, I    
  doubt it.  (For instance, several Scientology leaders were      
  recently arrested in Spain.)

  The connection between Scientology and Dianetics is certainly   
  underscored as the film touting Dianetics is copyrighted by the 
  Church of Scientology and all of the addresses in the Dianetics 
  literature were of Scientology churches - not to mention that   
  Dianetics was authored by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church 
  of Scientology.  Likewise,  Judy Norton Taylor, her scripted    
  questioner and all the table-workers were Scientologists.  In   
  fact, Taylor has achieved the level of "clear" inside           
  Scientology.  During my interview, Taylor nicely summed up the  
  relation between Dianetics and the Church of Scientology when   
  she said "Dianetics is a separate subject within Scientology"   
  and that "it (Dianetics) is certainly a good introduction to    
  the subject (of getting clear)."  

  The Church of Scientology believes that man is a spirit         
  ("Thetan" - usually residing in the skull) linked to a Body     
  which he controls through his Mind.  Although this              
  "Spirit/Mind/Body" model bears some resemblance to a Biblical   
  model, it is in fact quite different.  Each Thetan (Spirit),    
  according to Scientology, has existed for approximately 75      
  trillion years.  Through our supposed thousands of              
  reincarnations during the past 75 trillion years we have had an 
  untold number of bad experience which have left their impact on 
  our brains ("Engrams").  Scientology seeks to remove our        
  alleged "Engrams" and thus make us all "clear."

  When I asked Taylor about the charges some make that            
  Scientology is a cult, she replied "I certainly wouldnt         
  consider it (Scientology) a cult.  My feeling is that its a     
  very workable technology."  [A Biblical critique of Scientology 
  appeared in the April, 1987 issue of the ARC UPDATE or can be   
  order through the enclosed ARC Resource Catalogue.]