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.
A culture is not the anonymous product of undifferentiate d masses, but the sum of the intellectual achievements of individual men.
If the universe were just electrons and selfish genes, meaningless tragedies ... are exactly what we should expect, along with equally meaningless good fortune. Such a universe would be neither evil nor good in intention ... The universe we observe has precisely the properties we should expect if there is, at bottom, no design, no purpose, no evil and no good, nothing but blind pitiless indifference.
The challenge of modern freedom, or the combination of isolation and freedom which confronts you, is to make yourself up. The danger is that you may emerge from the process as a not-entirely-human creature. (Referenced in How to Lose Friends and Alienate People by Toby Young)
Nothing is miserable unless you think it so; and on the other hand, nothing brings happiness unless you are content with it.
I'm always fascinated by the way memory diffuses fact.
People who care about animals tend to care about people. They don't care about animals to the exclusion of people. Caring is not a finite resource and, even more than that, it's like a muscle: the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets.
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