Scientology’s volunteers get frosty reception at fire scene

As fire raged inside the LaSalle Bank building, a band of serious-looking young adults in yellow jackets hustled past the police tape toward the action.

Their coats bore the words “Volunteer Minister.” But these weren’t your standard chaplains — like the five Catholic, Jewish and Protestant clerics already on the scene.

The volunteer ministers are members of the Church of Scientology, a religious group founded in 1954 by the late science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard and perhaps best known for celebrity followers such as John Travolta and Tom Cruise. Some critics — including the German government, which views it not as a religion but a money-making scheme — insist Scientology is a cult.

This was the first time the group’s ministers responded in an organized fashion to a fire in Chicago — and it probably won’t be their last, even though their debut didn’t go over too well with the Chicago Fire Department’s chaplain corps.

“I threw ‘em out,” said one chaplain. “If they want to minister to the people on the sidelines, that’s great . . . but they were standing in the triage and treatment area and they were making total chaos in there.

“We can’t have untrained people at a time when things are very chaotic and you need a sense of order,” he said. “Fire and police chaplains are trained in how to do this.”

Mary Ann Ahmad, a spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology in Chicago, was told by her people that the volunteers were looking for someone in charge “to find out what was needed and wanted, and they were told, ‘It’s dangerous for people in here, so go outside.’ “

If Scientology volunteers need special training, “they’re totally willing,” Ahmad said, adding Scientologists were at Ground Zero after the 9/11 attacks.

David Klarich, one of the Scientologists at Monday night’s blaze, said the church is planning on regularly showing up at fires and other disasters in the region to offer an “assist” — special techniques they use to aid the injured or traumatized.

A Chicago Fire Department spokesman was unaware of the situation but said he’d look into it.

Read the Chicago Sun-Times online

Read Another Article

Madonna sacked manager because of Kabbalah
Mormon Author Says He’s Facing Excommunication

Related News Articles Topic(s): Scientology Subscribe to Religion News Blog updates Subscribe to Religion News Blog [What is this?] Get Religion News Blog's headline by Email [What is this?] Follow Religion News Blog at Twitter Find Related Information Use our custom search engines to find additional research resources on religions and cults: ApologeticsSearch.com: Search for apologetics articles, books, videos, and other research resources across 135 Christian apologetics websites and blogs. CounterCultSearch.com: Search for information about (religious) cults, cult-like organizations, and cults experts -- as well as paranormal-, New Age, and pseudoscientific claims -- across 260+ websites, blogs and forums dedicated to cult research, spiritual abuse, ex-cult counseling & support. Find Related Religion & Spirituality Books at Amazon.com Scientology Possibly related... or Most Popular Religion News Articles Kent Hovind: Evangelist arrested on federal charges Beast’s real mark devalued to ’616′ Muslim Woman Gives Sex Advice on Arab TV Michael Jackson Confirms Conversion to Islam Kent Hovind, ‘Dr. Dino,’ guilty on all counts The fall and rise of Carlton Pearson Search False prophet Harold Camping sets another date for rapture: May 21, 2011 Watch the film Theo van Gogh was murdered for Kent Hovind — Dr. Dino — sentenced to 10 years in prison

Search Religion News Blog