Nobody pays me for the time I spend debunking the lies that Scientologists leave on message boards. I just do it because it needs doing; by responding to lies with truth I make the world a better place. I'm sure Scientologists can understand every part of that except the part where they are not the one in possession of the truth; the part where L. Ron Hubbard was just an amoral con man, and not The Friend Of Mankind that he claimed to be.

This Guest's response, though, just goes to show what Scientology really does to a person. If Scientology made you a more able and more intelligent person, Guest would be better able to comprehend the thought processes of people whose opinions differ from his own -- not less able. He would be able to analyze the critic arguments he reads, identify which portions are sound, identify where the error in logic occurs (remember, we are operating in a hypothetical world where Scientology does work) and put forth a cogent line of argumentation which spells out why the argument of the opponent of Scientology is flawed. He'd be capable of that, if he had actually gained what Scientology claims it can provide.

But what is he actually doing? With all his supposed gain in intelligence from auditing and processing, what is his best debating technique? "You're getting paid to attack Scientology! ... I actually have no way of knowing who any of you are, obviously, so I actually have no factual basis for making such an accusation. The fact that I am ready to make an accusation for which I have no factual basis shows to everyone that I am either deeply dishonest or just deeply bigoted."

That's supposed to impress us? Scientologists are supposed to be masters of MEST, and yet they can't actually answer criticism of their religion, they can only take ludicrous shots in the dark alleging their critics to be paid off? Well, jeez, wow, that proves the mighty power of Scientology, it's not like every half-baked idiot movement in the history of the world could get its followers to sprout half-baked idiocy about how its enemies were corrupt lackeys of a -- oh, wait, my mistake, that is something every half-baked idiot movement can and does do.