London. I don't really have anything to add, except that I think that there can be no diplomacy with people who commit acts like this. The fact that it happened at the same time as the G8 Summit is poignant to me: the terrorists do not represent the Muslim population in any meaningful way. Whether or not they're acting on literal Muslim doctrine is debatable; whether the jihadist mindset has any birth in violent or manipulative historical Western involvement is likewise debatable; but people who attack a country whose government is currently involved in seeking a solution to poverty afflicting a continent which contains a significant Muslim population simply cannot be conceded to. They can claim any motivations they want, but the truth of the matter is that they are homicidal mass murderers, and must answer to justice.

I don't want to give the impression that I'm a gloomy person; I'm not. I'm really not a ranting, yelling ball of rage, either. Most often I spend my mornings reading the news and blogs and so forth, and a lot of the time I see something which fills me with a desire to respond in some way. I feel the need to vent, to get these flares out of my head and onto 'paper'. That's one of the reasons I have my blog, I admit. The alternative is that I spend a fair amount of my day arguing to myself, which makes me seem more of a lunatic than I already must to my neighbors.

So, when I go from talking about London to tell you that I've been reading up on Scientology and that I'm horrified and disgusted by that organization's founder and actual activities, please don't take it to mean that I have a dark cloud hanging over my head and that I've lost all hope. As a matter of fact, it has been overcast this morning, but my hope is in Christ, and that makes all the difference, in the short view and the long view. Additionally, I'm a happy guy these days - I've been incredibly blessed with a stable, comfortable life pursuing what I really want to do, with an intelligent, witty, and loving (and entirely lovely) wife, and many friends and family members who care about me.

But enough about me.

I received The Wittenburg Door's e-newsletter the other day, which reprinted an interview with a former high-ranking member of the so-called Church of Scientology. From there, I followed a link or two and read quite a bit about L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology. I must say, I'm conflicted over whether to feel pity or revulsion about the former (heck, let's just go with both), and the latter just fills me with dread. Take the most controlling and repressive of cults, founded by a paranoid, drug-addled schizophrenic, add in the Mafia's business sense, a Satanist ethical code, and a hackneyed 1950s pulp science fantasy story as its cosmological model, given a shiny happy successful public image portrayed by movie stars, and you'd have a pretty good picture of Scientology.

I also happened to see a list of celebrities connected with or believed to be connected with Scientology. Obviously, there were the ones we all know about: Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, Juliette Lewis. Apparently Hubbard specifically endorsed targeting celebrities due to their increased media coverage, and, of course, the Scientologists have focused their proselytization accordingly, and have racked up an impressive number of names. However, I was a little surprised at some of the names which came up:

Beck (the singer); Catherine Bell (from "JAG"); Sonny Bono; William Burroughs (though he later satirized it); Nancy Cartwright (the voice of Bart Simpson); Chick Corea (jazz pianist); Placido Domingo, Jr.; Jenna Elfman;

Neil Gaiman;

Isaac Hayes; Chaka Khan; Peggy Lipton (she was on "Twin Peaks", but more notable for trying unsuccessfully to get Elvis Presley into Scientology); Charles Manson (though, to be fair, the murders came after he left the org); Christopher Masterson ("Francis" in "Malcolm in the Middle"); Danny Masterson ("Hyde" in "That 70's Show"); Bernadette Peters; Priscilla Presley; Lisa Marie Presley; Laura Prepon ("Donna" in "That 70's Show"); Jerry Seinfeld (may or may not still be a member, but very defensive on their behalf); and Jason Lee ("Chasing Amy").

Neil Gaiman, for cripes' sake. His father is apparently a huge bigwig operating in Russia for the organization. Though I admit that Laura Prepon caused a little spike in my attention - 'cause, you know, she's a cutie - after I read Gaiman's name, everything else was kind of a blur.

A good source for all the info you'll ever need on Scientology is at www.entheta.net/.

Now I need to pry myself away from the computer and do something to remind myself that while we war against powers and principalities not of this earth (and certainly not alien ghosts), Jesus has overcome them all. Praise God.