Church of Scientology

LimpingFish · Fri 08/06/2007 19:39:00

Actually after Ron died, Scientology began to (and continues to) distance itself from the Xenu belief system.

I found their hijacking of The Holocaust to give credence to their vendetta against the psychiatric industry pretty disturbing.

Their E-meter system is quite funny though.

Pumaman · Fri 08/06/2007 19:44:11

Quote from: space boy on Fri 08/06/2007 12:17:49
There are thousands of cults/religions(whatever you wanna call it, same thing) and all of them work on the same principle. Scientology, christianity, the ministry of papa smurf are equally ridiculous and potentially dangerous. It's very easy to start your own religion, you just have to find gullible or desperate people. And we all know there's plenty of them.

I don't think you can really put scientology and christianity in the same ballpark. Somehow, I can't see the pope sending out his minions to follow and harass anyone who criticises the church.

QuoteI think any group whose leader says 'I am God and you have to listen to me and follow me, because I am God', that group is very dangerous for our society.

I am God and you have to listen to me and follow me, because I am God.

MrColossal · Fri 08/06/2007 20:15:08

QuoteI can't see the pope sending out his minions to follow and harass anyone who criticises the church.

In.. This day and age you mean? Because well.. history.

scotch · Fri 08/06/2007 20:51:24

Yeah, you wouldn't have to go back very far until that was exactly the case in the Catholic church (even ignoring little things that happen today, like people protesting blasphemous movies and plays). We'll not even go into modern Islam...

Even so, it's worth noting the huge differences between Scientology and established religion. I think they're more interesting than the similarities, which are the usual basic religion things.

Scientology is amazing to watch because, well, there's not even 2000 years to make the source material look credible. It reminds you how gullible people are. The adoption of pseudoscientific presentation is pretty unique in a religion that size, too, I think... Also the way it's very nearly run like a corporation, employing PR people and buying advertising, and gets away with it, tax free (in many countries). If it wasn't for the "religion" facade, there would certainly be a lot of grounds for prosecution over their many frauds... it's amazing what you can get away with under the religion banner. The price we pay for religious freedom, I suppose.

space boy · Fri 08/06/2007 21:27:37

Quote from: scotch on Fri 08/06/2007 20:51:24
If it wasn't for the "religion" facade, there would certainly be a lot of grounds for prosecution over their many frauds... it's amazing what you can get away with under the religion banner. The price we pay for religious freedom, I suppose.

That's exactly the problem I have. An organization just needs to call itself a religion and suddenly it gets special treatment. Let's say someone believes little invisible green people are responsible for things falling down and if you give these little people moon shaped cookies they will let go of you and you will be able to fly. You would say this person is an idiot. But if they call that a religion everyone is like "oh, I respect your beliefs and I won't say bad things about it so I don't hurt your feelings. Also would you like to pay no taxes?"

Pumaman · Fri 08/06/2007 23:02:34

Quote from: space boy on Fri 08/06/2007 21:27:37
That's exactly the problem I have. An organization just needs to call itself a religion and suddenly it gets special treatment. Let's say someone believes little invisible green people are responsible for things falling down and if you give these little people moon shaped cookies they will let go of you and you will be able to fly. You would say this person is an idiot. But if they call that a religion everyone is like "oh, I respect your beliefs and I won't say bad things about it so I don't hurt your feelings. Also would you like to pay no taxes?"

It's not that easy though -- Scientology's application to be recognised as a religion was rejected in the UK at least, partly because a religion must be shown to be of benefit to the general public.

But there is certainly something rather odd about the fact that a belief can be either protected or ignored by the law, depending on whether it happens to fall under the banner of religion. You could well argue that either all beliefs should be protected against criticism or none should; but religion has become so deeply entrenched in human culture over the centuries that it's here to stay.

lo_res_man · Fri 08/06/2007 23:11:32

***************19+ warning!*************

If you want weird cult, there is is this tiny little cult (200+) of guys that worship the phallus
you heard me, the dick the shlong the one-eyed monster...the penis. they say while straight guys aren't disallowed, things usually considered homosexual are entailed in the ceremony's. I saw it on an episode of sextv on citytv ( on my tvtv

) what I think is rather hypocritical is south park has lampooned every religion in the world, but when they lampooned Scientology's they guy who did "chef" quit, what do you peoples think. I think if you gonna lampoon religion you shouldn't mind if they lampoon yours.

space boy · Fri 08/06/2007 23:26:27

Quote from: Pumaman on Fri 08/06/2007 23:02:34
It's not that easy though -- Scientology's application to be recognised as a religion was rejected in the UK at least

It's kinda funny... the first thing I thought when I read this was "thank god". Stupid habits....

Erenan · Fri 08/06/2007 23:35:34

Going the other way, when I left Christianity I stopped saying "thank God" but started saying things like "for Christ's sake," "oh my God," and "God damn it!"

Andail · Fri 08/06/2007 23:54:58

Quote from: lo_res_man on Fri 08/06/2007 23:11:32
If you want weird cult, there is is this tiny little cult (200+) of guys that worship the phallus
you heard me, the dick the shlong the one-eyed monster...the penis.

Don't look so shocked. Probably a majority of all the cults in history have worshiped phallus. Symbols, monuments, obelisks, drawings...you'll find phalluses everywhere.

Steel Drummer · Sat 09/06/2007 00:01:25

This religion is ridiculous. Sounds like the guy had been drunk while watching many sci-fi movies in one night.

It seems like the time for threads about 'Church Of ____________(insert church type/name)' in ol' AGS land.

LimpingFish · Sat 09/06/2007 00:02:38

Quote from: Andail on Fri 08/06/2007 23:54:58
Don't look so shocked. Probably a majority of all the cults in history have worshiped phallus. Symbols, monuments, obelisks, drawings...you'll find phalluses everywhere.

Yes. Like in my pants! Plus I worship every day!

...

Sorry.

Sylpher · Sat 09/06/2007 00:38:06

If the intention of this thread was to get anyone in the community to come out and speak about their belief I think it has completely failed. Even though I may disagree with Scientology very strongly I see no attempts by you, Meowster, to keep this thread serious or any intentions on your part except to ridicule anyone who might follow it. If I was a follower of Scientology this thread would be the last place I would try to have an open discussion about it.

Also, South Park might be fun for a laugh, but if you are taking that as your source of information then, well...Good luck to you.

Radiant · Sat 09/06/2007 00:40:23

Quote from: space boy on Fri 08/06/2007 21:27:37
That's exactly the problem I have. An organization just needs to call itself a religion and suddenly it gets special treatment.

Actually, yes. Scientology is considered a "religion" only in the USA. In most other countries it is called a "sect", which means it emphatically does not get legal benefits and/or tax cuts. In some countries such as Germany, said sect is forbidden by government.

Does anyone know the Dutch Satan Church? No, not Satanism, although they're sometimes confused for one another. It's basically a practical joke gone way too far... in the seventies, there was this man who owned a nightclub, and at some point he realized that religions had tax benefits. At that point he declared his nightclub a religion, with some added poohah, and this being the seventies, got away with it.

Radiant · Sat 09/06/2007 00:42:16

Quote from: Steel Drummer on Sat 09/06/2007 00:01:25
This religion is ridiculous. Sounds like the guy had been drunk while watching many sci-fi movies in one night.

Oh and yeah, before starting his church, L. Ron Hubbard was a third-rank science fiction writer. His work consists of ten (?) thick books called Battlefield Earth, which never sold particularly well. A hollywood-based scientologist made a movie about it which got abysmal ratings.

LimpingFish · Sat 09/06/2007 00:43:40

What you may fail to grasp, Sylpher, is that Scientologists themselves seem to be adverse to openly discussing their "faith" with anyone who isn't likely to agree with them.

That's the reason so many people have problems with it/them. They simply close ranks and accuse you of being "out to get them". Try it sometime. Walk into one of those Scientology centres and say "Y'know, I'm interested in Scientology, but I've heard that it's a cult."

If you find yourself stalked by black SUV's with tinted windscreens, don't say you weren't warned.

Steel Drummer · Sat 09/06/2007 00:48:01

Quote from: Sylpher
If the intention of this thread was to get anyone in the community to come out and speak about their belief I think it has completely failed. Even though I may disagree with Scientology very strongly I see no attempts by you, Meowster, to keep this thread serious or any intentions on your part except to ridicule anyone who might follow it. If I was a follower of Scientology this thread would be the last place I would try to have an open discussion about it.

Scientology just isn't credible enough to hold itself up as a religion. Satanism is, and so Satanism's thread had/has a far more serious discussion.

Quote from: Radiant
Does anyone know the Dutch Satan Church? No, not Satanism, although they're sometimes confused for one another. It's basically a practical joke gone way too far... in the seventies, there was this man who owned a nightclub, and at some point he realized that religions had tax benefits. At that point he declared his nightclub a religion, with some added poohah, and this being the seventies, got away with it.

Never heard of it, but that sounds pretty funny.

Sylpher · Sat 09/06/2007 00:50:50

I'm not failing to grasp anything. I have a fairly good understanding of Scientology and my own opinions about it, but if you are going to try to defend that this thread was really intending to get someone to openly discuss it then I would love to hear how. If you want to make a thread of satire then go for it, but don't pretend like you have any sort of noble intentions.

LimpingFish · Sat 09/06/2007 00:57:32

That's the point. There is no way to openly discuss it. It's not open. You don't get told anything until you sign up!

You find me one Scientologist, just one current Scientologist, who will discuss their faith beyond "It changed my life! Tom Cruise is our Jesus!" and I'll happily join in.

There is nothing to understand about Scientology, except what they deem fit for you to know. To question their faith, you must first become part of it.

You know no more than any of us; Dianetics, Xenu, etc. There is nothing more to know outside Scientology.

Andail · Sat 09/06/2007 01:02:32

Scientology is basically a hybrid between a self-help philosophy and an exclusive club.

Self-help techniques with spiritual guidance and methods and expensive classes and books pop up on a regular basis, especially in the USA. It seems a brand new revolutionizing set of self-help ideas are being marketed every tenth year or so in the states. It sells like butter. People always talk about those ideas as if they've seen the light. Typically, they claim to:

* Open your senses, and make you more intuitive/spiritually balanced/sensitive/etc
* Optimize your capacities. These techniques can make you use all of your brain! Did you know that you only use 10% of your brain? Well, it's not true but it sounds good.
* It will make you more successful in business, and improve your chances to get rich. This is very important. If people aren't promised riches, all the spiritual harmony in the world won't sell any books.