I remember first to hearing about it from my uncle Peter who lives in Long Beach, and
记得我第一次听说这个教是在我长滩的叔叔彼得那里
when I visited him in L.A. for the first time he told me about this religion that had been
我第一次在洛杉矶拜访他时 他和我谈论这个宗教
created by a sci-fi writer called L. Ron Hubbard, and that it was beloved of actors and celebrities,
该教由科幻小说作家L.Ron Hubbard创立 受到演员和名人喜爱
and that they used hard sales tactics.
他们使用强行推销策略

These were all his allegations; I mean I'm sure Scientology would deny it.
这都是他的观点 我确信科学神教会否认它
And that they were very secret, no one really knew what was going on inside.
然后他们十分神秘 没有人确切知道里面什么样
And in fact he told me—I remember him saying, “You can go down and look at their base;
他告诉我 我记得他是这么说的 “你可以试着接受去看看他们的本质
they've got walls around it with spikes on, but the spikes don't face outward…the spikes face inward.”
他们将其用围墙围起来并钉上钉子 但钉头不朝外……而是朝内的”
And I thought all of this was sort of really appealing.
我觉得所有这些都很吸引人
I mean my own sense of both the absurd but also the macabre was massively piqued.
我是说我感到既荒诞又可怕 真是太气愤了
Scientology to me seems to be a kind of junction of so many quintessentially American qualities.
在我看来 科学神教与众多典型美国特质之间似乎存在某种共通之处
You've got the celebrity dimension; you've got the fact that it's in Hollywood; you've
你会知道他们有名人 它在好莱坞
got its sort of relation to the business world and its swash-buckling form of capitalism
他们还与商业界和虚伪的资本主义之间有某种联系
that we have in the U.S. where you find a need and you market to it, and if the need doesn't exist then you create the need.
在美国 如果你发现需求就去经营它 而如果你没有需求 就要去创造需求
To me it's always very telling when you realize that basically McDonald's and Scientology
对我来说 一个很好的比较就是 麦当劳和科学神教
came into existence at almost exactly the same time.
几乎是同时出现的
Around about 1950 Dianetics was published and the first McDonald's was established.
大约在1950年《通灵术》出版了 而麦当劳也同时建立
And actually as business models they're rather similar in they both work using a franchise system.
在商业模式方面 他们在各自的领域内都使用相似的特许经营模式
And in a sence to me Scientology is selling the spiritual hamburgers, if you like.
某种意义上讲 对我而言 科学神教就是在贩卖精神汉堡
But it’s this piquancy that's added to it because of the strangeness and humor that's
它被怪异和滑稽围绕着 这很刺激
wrapped around it, you know, the bizarreness of the language and the ritual.
你知道的 也就是那些稀奇古怪的语言和仪式
The packaging is to me quite funny.
对我来说 这个包装很有趣
At the heart of Scientology is a kind of contradiction, which is that they want to spread the good
科学神教的核心是矛盾的 他们想要传播
news about Scientology and Dianetics, that it’s a life-changing, life-saving system
关于科学神教和《通灵术》的正面信息 也就是转生和永生体系
that allows you to be your best, and in fact more than that is our last, best hope for
它让你变得完美 而实际上更多的是关于我们的余生
saving the planet from war, insanity, crime, intolerance, and so forth.
即从战争 疾病 犯罪 狭隘等等之中拯救世界的希望
But they also don't want to give up those secrets too easily either, because they would
但他们不想太早放出这些秘密 因为他们
say you have to go through a certain path, and that takes a “Bridge to Total Freedom,” as they call it.
告诉你必须经过某种途径 到达“真正自由之桥（Bridge to Total Freedom）” 他们这么称呼它
But actually arguably it's because it's their business model to sell secrets.
但实际上这正是他们的商业模式 即贩卖秘密
So the contradiction is, well how do you market a secret?
这个矛盾就是你如何贩卖秘密
And unlike other religions that I can think of, Christianity—you can get a Bible, in
不同于其他宗教 像基督教 你可以买《圣经》
any hotel room you'll find one in the top drawer of your bedside table.
在任何一家旅馆的房间 你都可以在床头柜上的抽屉里找到一本
And Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, all the major religions as far as I'm aware, their sacred
像伊斯兰教 佛教 印度教 所有我知道的主流宗教
texts are freely available, and there aren’t a whole bunch of secrets, you know, origin
他们的经典都是可以免费得到的 它没有一套完整的秘史
stories or mysterious myths, that you have to pay to learn.
像是起源故事或神话 你必须花钱才能知道
“Well what's inside the box? What could it be?”
“什么是最终的秘密？那到底是什么？”
And they also regard outsiders, and particularly journalists, as enemies.
他们对待外人 特别是记者 就像是敌人
To me, it's actually both a problem in as much as they're not giving access
对我而言 问题是 他们不仅没有给你接近采访的权利
but it's also massively appealing and tantalizing tobe aggressively confronted and then turned away.
但又十分吸引人 引诱着人去跟他们对质 然后再拒绝
Unlike most religions that you think of as being sort of welcoming, and ethical, and
不同于你所知道的大多数宗教会欢迎入教 它们有伦理道德
in the normal way where they sort of invite you—“Come on in, film with us, we'll tell
会以通常的方式邀请你——“来来来 和我们一起录个影
you what we do”—Scientology is constantly, it seems to me, kind of pushing you away and
我们会告诉你我们是做什么的” 科学神教让我觉得它不断地把你推开
telling you that they don't want your coverage.
并告诉你他们不需要你的报道
That nothing you can say about them is going to be the truth.
很难说他们有什么是真的