Harold#1
A VERY STABLE SUPER GENIUS!!
the Sri Lanka Independence Day celebration at the Church of Scientology of the Valley
By Hassina Leelarathna
In a message published in the Sri Lanka America Association of Southern California’s (SLAASC) souvenir to mark its Independence Day 2020 celebration, the association’s President claimed his group was “back in the saddle, in organising the signature event”.
Well, not quite, as evidenced by a press release issued 19 February by the Church of Scientology.
In fact, all signs are that SLAASC, among the oldest Sri Lankan expat community groups in the US, is the latest outpost to capitulate to the mighty Church of Scientology.
In good ole cowboy style, SLAASC bartered bragging rights to the church in exchange for free use of one of its facilities and to Scientology’s leading advocates Dr. Walter Jayasinghe and wife Aesha for a cash donation of $ 7,000.
In the press release dated 19 February, the Church of Scientology International makes no mention of SLAASC, headlining the event as one where ‘The Southern California Sri Lankan community gathered at the Church of Scientology of the Valley to celebrate their freedom from English rule’.
In addition, and most importantly, the Church, represented by Way to Happiness Ambassador to South Asia Naseema Qureshi, and the Jayasinghes, got a captive audience at Sri Lanka Independence Day where it ran a 30-minute long video highlighting its work in Sri Lanka.
While the showing of the video to the largely Sinhala Buddhist audience, including monks from the local temples, was indicative of Scientology’s influence in the expatriate community, its contents provide troubling details on the wide swath it has cut into the highest echelons of Sri Lankan Government including the President’s Office (under President Sirisena). The Church boasts it has made inroads into various branches of Government in Sri Lanka and the Buddhist communities.
“Today, The Way to Happiness is widely used in schools and Government institutions across all of Sri Lanka,” says Qureshi.
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Noteworthy is that while a church facility may be obtained free-of-charge, there’s still a price to pay: it requires the audience to watch a Scientology video at the start of the event. In addition, books containing the Church’s teachings are distributed at the venue.
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