Scientology exhibit won’t help the mentally ill

by J Scott Christianson, Columbia Daily Tribune Columnist

On Thursday and Friday, the state Capitol Rotunda will host an exhibit titled “The Industry of Death.” If you’re thinking it’s about time an exposé about corporate chicken farming came to the Capitol, you’ll be sadly disappointed. However, if you believe that psychiatrists and the entire psychiatric profession are part of a secret plan for world domination developed in part by Adolf Hitler, then it’s time to load the kids in the car for a day of fun at the Capitol.

The “Industry of Death” exhibit is sponsored by the Church of Scientology and makes a host of outrageous claims about the field of psychiatry. Twenty-five percent of psychiatrists sexually abuse their patients. Psychiatrists deliberately kill about 10,000 people a year — sounds about right. And for the big surprise, psychiatrists were responsible for the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks — guilty by association, at least, since psychiatrists are responsible for the existence of terrorists and suicide bombers. Last year, Tom Cruise famously launched his own attack on psychiatry after learning some of these “facts” about the profession. This exhibit explains a lot about why he seemed so far out when discussing psychiatry with Matt Lauer on “Today.”

The Church of Scientology has always seemed to have it in for psychiatrists. Perhaps it is because psychiatry and psychology are based on science, while Scientology is based on the ramblings of a science-fiction writer from the 1950s. To paraphrase the official view of the Vatican — an institution with a long history of dealing with matters of science and religion — it is science that keeps religion from becoming superstition. This exhibit from the Church of Scientology is just one way Scientologists have clearly shown that they stand on the side of superstition.

In most countries, the Church of Scientology is not even recognized as a religion; rather, it is treated and taxed like the lucrative business that it is. Only after a 25-year battle with the IRS, in which the Church of Scientology allegedly used private investigators to put pressure on the IRS officials in charge of granting not-for-profit status, was it recognized in the United States as tax-exempt.

Regardless of its tax-exempt status, the Church of Scientology is more like a pyramid scheme than a church. A follower of Scientology pays to take classes to receive the wisdom of Scientology, which is…