Scientology service to mourn Isaac Hayes

By Lindsay Melvin , Memphis Commercial Appeal, Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Factnet news editor note: Scientology service to mourn Isaac Hayes in a Christian Church! Ya gotta love it! WWJD? Isn’t there a “conflict of interest” here? Breach of contract? According to his religious beliefs, what happens to Hayes now that he’s passed away? His soul will be “born again into the flesh of another body,” as the Scientology Press Office’s FAQ puts it. The actual details of how that rebirth occurs are not fully understood by church outsiders, but some core beliefs of Scientology are that every human being is really an immortal spiritual being known as a thetan and that the “meat bodies” we inhabit are merely vessels we shed upon death. (Members of the elite church cadre known as Sea Org, for example, sign contracts that pledge a billion years of service throughout successive lives.) Yeesh!

In life, soul icon Isaac Hayes was many things. He was a music pioneer, actor, author of a cookbook and the voice of a cartoon character. He was also a Scientologist.

Hayes, who died Sunday at age 65, will be remembered at a memorial service Monday at Hope Presbyterian in Cordova.

With mourners expected from around the globe, a Scientology minister will lead the service to wish well to Hayes as his “spiritual being” moves into a new life and body.

“One carries on lifetime after lifetime,” said Tommy Davis, a longtime friend of Hayes and a spokesman for Church of Scientology International in Los Angeles.

In Scientology, there are eight areas of understanding or “dynamics.” Church members try to reach the highest level.

Members are given the tools to deal with issues in this life and past lives that are hindering them from reaching full understanding. This is usually accomplished through a cleansing of negative energy called “auditing.”

Davis would not say what level Hayes had reached.

Scientology, which means “the study of truth,” was founded in 1954 by science-fiction author L. Ron Hubbard. Its adherents include many celebrities.

Hayes, a Memphis area native who got his start singing in church, found his way to Scientology 16 years ago while filming a movie in Hollywood, Davis said.

It was being shot in a large Scientology church, his friend said, and Hayes was curious what it was all about.

In July 1997, Hayes and fellow Scientologist Lisa Marie Presley founded the Church of Scientology in Memphis.

In many ways, the religion is geared toward ultratalented people, teaching that great artists, painters and musicians are a cut above ordinary men.

“He who can truly communicate to others is a higher being who builds new worlds,” states the Church of Scientology’s official Web site.

“Not everyone who walks the Earth can have the effect Isaac Hayes’ music has on you,” Davis said.

Hayes’ spiritual beliefs received national attention in 2006.

As the voice of Chef in the animated TV comedy “South Park,” he quit after an episode lampooned the Church of Scientology and its most famous follower, Tom Cruise.

At the time, Hayes said, “There is a place in this world for satire, but there is a time when satire ends and intolerance and bigotry toward religious beliefs of others begins.”

Even though Davis believes Hayes is not lost and his spiritual being lives on in another body, he says, “It’s no less heartbreaking.”

IMHO
FACTNet

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Posted by David Pike on August 15, 2008.
Filed under: News