Astrophysicist Neil DeGrasse Tyson is known for standing up for science in the face of religion, but he’s actually standing up for one religion: Scientology. Tyson wondered how Christians could attack the controversial religion and argued that it should be considered a religion.
Tyson was interviewed by The Daily Beast and was asked about the religion, founded by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. The topic came up because of Going Clear, Alex Gibney’s documentary, which HBO aired over the weekend.
“So, you have people who are certain that a man in a robe transforms a cracker into the literal body of Jesus saying that what goes on in Scientology is crazy?” Tyson asked. “Let’s realize this: What matters is not who says who’s crazy, what matters is we live in a free country.”
Tyson later said that he “doesn't care what the tenets are of Scientology. They don’t distract me. I don’t judge them, and I don’t criticize them.”
When the Daily Beast pointed out that the point of Going Clear was to suggest that Scientology shouldn’t be considered a religion by the government, Tyson asked why they shouldn’t be consider a religion.
“If you’ve been around 1,000 years you’re a religion, and if you’ve been around 100 years, you’re a cult. That’s how people want to divide the kingdom,” Tyson said. He later noted that there are some “space-exotic” ideas in Mormonism, but that is only considered more acceptable because it is older.
For Tyson, the more important line is the one between church and state. He said that there is a danger to governing based on beliefs, not objective truths.
Tyson recently hosted the Fox revival of Cosmos. During his interview, he hinted that producers are in talks to do another season, but nothing is set in stone.
image courtesy of INFphoto.com