Hubbard set up the Church of Scientology in Hollywood in 1954 for a reason. He understood that celebrity was increasingly a feature of American public life, and celebrities themselves were going to be worshiped as minor deities were in the ancient world. The idea was: if you could get them, think how many people would follow.
Interpretation
The quote discusses how celebrities are viewed in society and the power they hold over the public.
Lawrence Wright's quote highlights the understanding of L. Ron Hubbard that celebrities possess significant influence and control over public perception. By establishing the Church of Scientology in Hollywood, he aimed to harness this power of celebrity, suggesting that just as ancient societies revered their deities, modern society tends to idolize famous individuals. This reflects on the dynamics of fame and belief in contemporary culture.
In practice
In a discussion about the role of celebrities in shaping culture, this quote can be used to illustrate the historical context of fame.
The 2003 invasion of Iraq by U.S. and coalition partners stands as one of the greatest blunders in American history. The Islamic State, also known as ISIL or ISIS, rose out of the the chaos, throwing the region into turmoil that hasn't been equaled since the fall of the Ottoman Empire.
When I was trained as a journalist, as a race-relations reporter in Nashville covering the end of the civil-rights movement, we were strictly forbidden to use the first-person pronoun. There was kind of an electric charge around it. To come out from hiding and use the word 'I' carried a lot of fright for me.
You cannot make men good by law: and without good men you cannot have a good society.
If there is only empty space, with no suns nor planets in it, then space loses its substantiality.
We do not grow absolutely, chronologically. We grow sometimes in one dimension, and not in another, unevenly. We grow partially. We are relative. We are mature in one realm, childish in another. The past, present, and future mingle and pull us backward, forward, or fix us in the present. We are made of layers, cells, constellations.
A good cause can become bad if we fight for it with means that are indiscriminately murderous. A bad cause can become good if enough people fight for it in a spirit of comradeship and self-sacrifice. In the end it is how you fight, as much as why you fight, that makes your cause good or bad.
Progress just means bad things happen faster.
The desire to live in our imagination is driven by this suspicion that we're disembodied sensibilities cobbled into our bodies. That idea has infused most of human thought since the very beginning.
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