EDITORIAL
I am very pleased to introduce you to Freedom, a publication that today celebrates its inaugural edition in Ireland.
Since it was founded in 1968, Freedom has become widely recognised as one of the foremost voices for social reform and human rights. Freedom editions are today published in 11 languages and distributed in more than 20 countries.
A forum for hard-hitting, investigative journalism, Freedom has taken on stories that other media have been reluctant to publish. It has featured important stories on the proliferation of the drug crisis as well as its solution; the forced behavioural drugging of schoolchildren and the growing voices of parents standing guard to prevent it; the violation of religious and civil rights and the courageous minority who persist in defence of those rights.
As Freedom’s international readership has grown, so has public awareness of areas in need of social reform. Which brings us to Freedom’s place in 21st Century Ireland.
Just a few miles walk from almost any home or establishment in Ireland today, will bring one face-to-face with some aspect of our increasing social failings: violence, crime, drugs, corruption, intolerance and familial strife chief among them.
Unable to respond adequately to such instability and threats to our moral well-being, we set ourselves up to collapse under the weight of these ills. Thus, our challenge today is to reverse this trend, to advance this society that has been weakened and debilitated by these and other social ills.
The obvious requisite for strengthening our moral fibre is the ability to work side by side in a spirit of tolerance and cooperation, defending always the right of all people to believe, worship and contribute to the bettering of their fellow man as they choose.
Mary Robinson spoke of this spirit when she told The Irish Times last year, “The very call to truth is also a call to defend freedom of expression and the search for truth, a call to listen to the truth traditions of others and to be open to being enriched by them.” Thus, our inaugural Freedom issue brings you some of the “truth traditions” — facts and information about the beliefs and practices — of the Scientology religion, the Church of Scientology and the social betterment activities of Scientologists here and abroad.
Our lead story shows the Church of Scientology’s campaign to help counter the scourge of drugs through drug education — an objective shared by all people in communities throughout Ireland.
In our “What is Scientology?” article, you will learn not only the practical basics of the Scientology religion, but how to gain a greater understanding of the subject.
Finally, it is Freedom’s view that people and groups can and will work together to improve society. Underpinning the vast potentials inherent in doing so is the ability to cooperate with one another — no matter our religious beliefs. We therefore conclude with an article on this important topic by L. Ron Hubbard, American philosopher and founder of the Scientology religion.
And, as with each issue of Freedom, we welcome your comments and views.
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