Madness Comes To Brum

A disused mansion house in Birmingham is to be converted into the local headquarters for the ‘Church’ of Scientology. That’s all we need; don’t we already have enough Jehovah’s Witnesses and Mormons in the area who are more than willing to stop us in the street to preach? The scientologists released a statement saying that its following in the West Midlands had apparently increased by 25% in the last ten years, but that is slightly misleading without the specific figures because an increase as little as four members to five members would count as 25%. But most disturbingly hilarious of all, one wing of the building is going to be named after the founder of scientology, the science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. That’s right, the man who plucked this ‘religion’ out of thin air used to write sci-fi – what a coincidence! I mean it’s almost as if he was able to make the whole thing up! How this six million pound building redevelopment got approval is beyond me.