Day: July 14, 2024

By Larry Judkins

Glenn County Observer

Have you seen any of those TV commercials that end with the URL, “thewaytohappiness.org”? There are several different ads, but they all end by showing that particular URL.

I have seen four of the commercials, but I have reason to think there are more – perhaps as many as 17 more. The four I have seen promote the following messages:

“Take Care of Yourself”;

“Safeguard and Improve Your Environment”;

“Respect the Religious Beliefs of Others”; and

“Honor and Help Your Parents”.a

In and of themselves, I have no serious complaints about any of these ads, but the last one, “Honor and Help Your Parents”, got me to wondering. The commercial features a teenager talking to his friends. One friend asks the teen how things went, and the teen answers that it made his mom cry.

Another friend asks the teen, “What did you do?” Viewers then learn that the teenager unexpectedly cleaned up his parents’ house while they were away. As I said above, the ad ends with the URL, thewaytohappiness.org.

I asked myself, “Self, what is this ‘Way to Happiness’ organization?” Since the wording of “Honor and Help Your Parents” is similar to the biblical commandment, “Honor thy father and thy mother”, my initial thought was that the commercial is probably from an evangelical group employing what is known as “Stealth Christianity” tactics to promote their religious beliefs without being obvious about it. I was wrong, however.

Upon visiting “The Way to Happiness” website, I learned that the themes of the four ads are from what the website calls “The 21 Precepts”. “The 21 Precepts of whom? Or what?” you ask.

After checking out the 21 Precepts, I moved my cursor to “About Us” at the top of the page. One of the five options that was offered under “About Us” read, “L. Ron Hubbard”. I immediately knew who was behind the 21 Precepts and the TV commercials based on them. For those who don’t know, the late L. Ron Hubbard is most famous as the inventor of Dianetics (generally considered to be a pseudoscience by mainstream psychologists); author of the 1950 book, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health; and, in December of 1953, founder of the Church of Scientology.

Taking a closer look at the 21 Precepts page, I found the following near the bottom of the page:

“The Way to Happiness Foundation is a purely secular charitable organization, coordinated by the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE), an organization dedicated to resolving the major societal ills of drugs, crime, illiteracy and immorality. The Church of Scientology and its parishioners proudly sponsor ABLE and each of its social betterment groups.”

Okay. The Way to Happiness Foundation and its TV ads are ultimately sponsored by the Church of Scientology. So what?

Actually, I fully accept – even support – the right of the Church of Scientology and its affiliated groups to advertise their beliefs – which in no way means that I necessarily accept or support any or all of the beliefs themselves. There is a huge difference between respecting the right to express a particular belief and respecting the belief itself.

However, I am also a big supporter of “full disclosure.” Before anyone connects with the Way to Happiness Foundation, he or she should know about not just that it is affiliated with the Church of Scientology, but also the church’s core beliefs. For example, even according to my very broad and inclusive definition of Christianity, the Church of Scientology is not a Christian denomination. By my definition, to be a Christian, one must believe the following three things:

(1) The God of the Hebrew Bible (the so-called Old Testament) is at most the one and only God and at least the supreme God among a pantheon of gods; and the God of the Old and New Testaments are (somehow) one and the same deity.

(2) Jesus was/is, if not God or the Son of God, at the very least the greatest and most morally perfect human being who ever lived.

(3) The souls of some number of human beings, perhaps as many as the entire human race or as few as 144,000, are destined to achieve immortality.

Thus, according to my definition, committed Scientologists are not Christians. Besides some difficulties with belief number 1, they “flunk” belief number 2, that Jesus was at the very least the greatest human being who ever lived. In his early writings and lectures, L. Ron Hubbard maintained that Jesus was simply a teacher for humanity, one of many such teachers and not the greatest. Later, Hubbard is alleged by some of his followers to have claimed that Jesus was essentially a historical fiction, implanted into our collective minds as a false memory.

Scientology is said to be a blend of a variety of sources, including Buddhism, Hinduism (for instance, Scientologists believe in reincarnation), science fiction, and Thelema (the religion invented by occultist Aleister Crowley, 1875-1947, inspiration for heavy metal rocker Ozzy Osbourne’s 1980 song, “Mr. Crowley”).

There you go. Now, if you want to check out thewaytohappiness.org, you should be well-enough informed to know who and what it is with whom you are getting involved, even if you just plan to keep the involvement very brief.

By Larry Judkins

Glenn County Observer

Last month, more than 40 years after his original conviction, Darrell Lescallett was again found guilty of the brutal murder of Edith Jackson of Willows.

In the early morning hours of Saturday, Sept. 22, 1979, Darrell Lescallett, now 69 years old (25 at the time of the murder); his brother, Gary Lescallett; and companion Frank Kamlan encountered Edith Jackson, a 79-year-old retired teacher from Willows, at the Denny’s restaurant, formerly located on the west side of Humboldt Avenue, south of Wood Street, in Willows. Prior to meeting Jackson, the three men had committed several burglaries in the region.

The three men asked Jackson for a ride, which she apparently agreed to give them; however, when they were inside her car, they pulled her into the back seat and forced her to the floor. Just south of Willows, they locked Jackson in the trunk and drove to Oakland. When the men stopped for gas, they paid for it with money stolen from Jackson.

While enroute, the trio discussed killing Jackson (thereby establishing that the murder was premeditated). Once in Oakland, the three used heroin and cocaine. Darrell and Gary Lescallett then went to kill Jackson. She was stabbed eight times. The nearly 80-year-old woman was also sexually assaulted by Darrell Lescallett.

The precise motive for the crime was unprovoked and unknown.

Darrell Lescallett was originally convicted more than 40 years ago. In mid-June of this year, his sixth parole hearing was held. Parole was denied. His next parole hearing is scheduled for about a year from now.

Under California law (SB1437), Lescallett was granted a new trial to determine beyond a reasonable doubt if he was guilty of the murder. The hearing was held in Alameda County on May 30, 2024. The court issued its ruling on June 24. It found that the People proved beyond a reasonable doubt that Lescallett was the “actual killer.” The court also decided the People had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Lescallett was a “major participant who acted with reckless indifference” to human life.

Lescallett is scheduled for sentencing on October 17, 2024.