Jett Travolta, teenage son of John Travolta, died over the weekend, probably from an injury sustained during a seizure. Many people have put forth the observation that Jett was autistic, although the Travoltas have always denied it and he was never medically diagnosed with the condition. As reported by Damian Thompson at the UK Telegraph, Many Anti-Scientologists have rushed to blame the death on Scientology's anti-psychiatry stance that may have led to misdiagnosis and treatment for Jett.

Can we be any more ghoulish?

Whatever you may think of Scientology, there's never been any accusation or suspicion that the Travoltas neglected their child. They may have made different choices that many others would have not, but it is critically important to keep in mind that they still attempted to act in the best interests of their child. If Jett was denied medication, it was because the Travoltas believed (rightly or wrongly) that medications would cause more harm than good.

There's nothing wrong in criticizing beliefs. But there's a time and a place for it, and there are right and wrong ways of going about it. This article is a prime example of how to illuminate Scientology practices without resorting to the name-calling, unsubstantiated accusations, and just general whining that I see far too often in complaints about Scientology.

In the meantime, my sympathies go out to the Travolta family. Regardless of anything else, they have just suffered the loss of a child, which is something no one should be gloating over.

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The Church of Scientology has been vehemently against all forms of psychiatry for decades. While their arguments easily descend into the realm of conspiracy theories (which only hurts their argument, IMHO), they also highlight a variety of abuses or potential abuses within the current system, as well as our sometimes almost blind acceptance of anything labeled "science."

Years ago I was treated for clinical depression, and I was shocked by what my (thankfully) honest doctor confessed: treatment was essentially educated guesswork. While depression is theoretically caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain, there is no test involved in detecting such an imbalance. As such, medications were prescribed in hit-or-miss fashion: I'd take a new drug, and afterward the doctor would either adjust the dosage, discontinue the medication, or add additional medications depending on my reaction. A single dose of one such medication put me into a near psychotic frenzy.

Unlike the Scientologists, I don't view this incident as evidence of a conspiracy or foul play. But it did underscore for me the very rudimentary stage our understanding of the mind and how to treat it continues to be. In a hundred years people will probably joke about our understanding of mental illness the way people today joke about lobotomies, leeches, and other antiquated medical practices once considered mainstream treatments.

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Some people can't stop talking about their faith because they are honestly excited about it and want to share it with others. Other people follow religions which specifically cite evangelism as a tenet of the faith. The problem is this: most of us don't want to hear it.

There's certainly a time and a place for speaking out about one's faith, most often when a listener has expressed actual interest in hearing about it.

So rumors that Tom Cruise is stepping back from his Scientology evangelism encourage me that maybe he's growing up, although I'm interested to see what the Church of Scientology's opinion of the move will be, since it cultivates celebrity followers specifically so the religion has a more public face.

Purity is a common theme in religions, although the definition if such varies widely. In traditional Christianity, virginity, chastity, and general disconnection with the material world were prime markers of purity: this is why Catholic priests are required to remain celibate and monks and nuns give up both material possessions and sexual intimacy. In Hinduism, different castes are allowed to eat different things and work different jobs in order to remain pure. In Wicca, formal rituals are preceded by a ritual cleansing of the area and the creation of sacred space within a circle.