Celebrating the Holidays With a Tamale Contest at the Church of Scientology

Guatemalan festival on L. Ron Hubbard Way in East Hollywood celebrates the culture and traditions of home.

When you think of Christmas dinner do you envision turkey or ham? Maybe your family preferred roast beef? Or rack of lamb? But some 4 million Latinx or Hispanic Angelenos are likely to think “Tamales”—a traditional food dating back millennia, according to one indigenous culinary anthropologist. 

To honor this culture and tradition, Guatemalan Migrant Newtwork’s Walter Batres and the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles organized a tamale contest as part of a Christmas festival hosted by the Church on L. Ron Hubbard Way.

The event also featured an open house at the Church, where those attending were introduced to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights through United for Human Rights, a human rights initiative the Church supports. Speakers addressed human rights issues affecting the Guatemalan community in Los Angeles at a critical time.  

There are nearly 5 million Hispanics and Latinx in Los Angeles County, including more than a half-million Central Americans. Los Angeles County is also home to 4.4 million immigrants. A December 2021 report found immigrants in the City of Los Angeles paid nearly $15 billion in taxes and held more than $38 billion in spending power. And the city’s immigrants make up nearly 72 percent of the essential services workforce.

Yet homelessness in this community has seen a recent 26 percent increase in the county and 30 percent increase in the city, according to the Los Angeles Homeless Services Authority as reported in the Los Angeles Times.

 

The Church of Scientology of Los Angeles has partnered with the Guatemalan community since the 1990s to provide tools to improve the quality of life and the future of the people of the country. 

Inspired by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard’s belief that “human rights must be made a fact, not an idealistic dream,” the Church of Scientology and Scientologists support United for Human Rights and make these materials available to educators, law enforcement, nonprofits and community leaders free of charge to help raise awareness of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

As an Ideal Scientology Organization, the Church is configured to service Scientologists in their ascent to spiritual freedom and serve as a home for the entire community—a meeting ground of cooperative effort to uplift people of all cultures and denominations.

An episode of Inside Scientology featuring the Church of Scientology Los Angeles was part of the special program when Scientology ecclesiastical leader Mr. David Miscavige launched the Scientology Network in 2018. This episode is available on DIRECTV channel 320 and can be streamed at Scientology.tv, through mobile apps and via the Roku, Amazon Fire and Apple TV platforms.

For more information on how Los Angeles Scientology Churches serve as hubs for religious organizations, like-minded groups and community leaders, visit the Scientology website.