What the heck is Scientology?

[Trekker4747]

My best friend is Mormon and I tease him about it, lightly, sometimes.

He told me once about baptizing dead people and I admit I gave him a look like "... really?!" But then he filmed me in on it.

It's a rather cool ritual, especially if you do the genealogy work yourself, you get to learn some cool stuff about people you thought you knew... some times you even learn The Rest Of The Story when it comes to family history.


Other times its a great way to disturb the &*@& out of people.

I was fixing my mailbox one day, and a couple of missionaries in the neighborhood stopped off at my house for a chat then went on their way. Neighbor comes over while I'm measuring my mailbox post and asks me a couple things about the Church, missionaries and "that big temple down in Palmyra." Which leads to the following conversation.

"So what do you do in there? Can you discuss it with outsiders?"

"Oh yeah... Nothing strange or freakish. For example one of our rituals is the baptism of dead people so they might have a chance to join our church."

"That sounds like an... interesting... ritual."

"It is, in fact I'm going to do some relatives next week. While you're over here can I borrow your shovel?"

""

Comedy is all in the timing. Its not what you say but HOW and WHEN you say it.

You've got a hint of evil to you.

I like it.

So what are you going to do when you get your own universe? I admit, that has an appealing sound to it.

 

[ShamelessMcBundy]

I think the Daily Show and their take on it in This Week in God may help too (it's even got animation).

Now with Chalice holder!

 

[Marie1]

^ I can't see it cuz it only works in the US. I hate that!!

 

[Aquehonga]

Scientology is a dangerous, insidious, manipulative, sleazy brainwashing cult which also financially hemhorrages people.

L. Ron Hubbard, call him Nimrod Hubbard, was a flakey whackjob who proved how disturbingly gullible & easily manipulated alot of folks are.

3 braintrusts spring to mind pronto:

Tom Cruise, Kirstey Alley & John Travolta

 

[Captain X]

Tom Cruise, Kirstey Alley & John Travolta

And then the day came when the Scilons overthrew their master David Miscavige...

 

[Strider]

I actually know far too much about the subject, and not because I'm a Scientologist. Quite the reverse, actually. Take that however you want, but if you have a specific question I'll try to answer it the best I can.

 

[LaxScrutiny]

Speaking as a Five Point Calvinist...

Yes, but what does that have to do with Scientology? OT spam. At least make the attempt to be relevant to the thread.

My friend's ex is a Scientologist, and they have a daughter. My friend, the daughter and me were room-mates for a time, so I caught all the culty stuff.

There was huge pressure on this 15 year old to stay in the Church and have nothing to do with her father. She was torn in two, basicly. Eventually she moved away and married a Scientolist priest or whatever they are, and he's never seen her again. She did mail him a photo of her baby a few years ago.

The courses and auditing and whatnot are no more flaky than Interpersonal Therapy or Cognitive Behavioural Therapy or a variety of other therapies. But the purpose behind them is to cut the subject off from the rest of society, and especially the medical community. They aren't flaky because they seem to work just fine.

Members get huge huge pressure discrediting any kind of psychology or psychiatry, which of course prevents them from ever getting any POV counter to Scientology. In comparison most therapists have no problem with a patient trying an alternative therapy, they aren't into brainwashing.

Scientology charges a lot of money for "courses" which are required to advance within the "Church". I have a friend who was a severe alcholic to the point where he needed to be hospitalized to sober up because the lack of alchohol would have killed him. He looked into different options and Scientology wanted to put him on some kind of vitamin therapy for a few weeks at the cost of $10,000. We put him in the hospital for a week in a publicly funded detox program instead. Whether the vitamins would have worked or not is moot, he had been fired from his job and was losing his apartment and was broke. Scientology had no way of helping someone who was destitute, which alone says everything I need to know about it.

 

[Guartho]

I saw a bit of that ceremony with Cruise and the current leader. It was like some sort of Nazi ceremony.

Where do we find this? What are the appropriate youtube search strings? Or are you saying you saw it in person?

 

[JoeZhang]

I saw a bit of that ceremony with Cruise and the current leader. It was like some sort of Nazi ceremony.

Where do we find this? What are the appropriate youtube search strings? Or are you saying you saw it in person?

http://gawker.com/345563/tom-cruise-uncut-the-freedom-medal-award-ceremony

http://gawker.com/5002269/the-cruise-indoctrination-video-scientology-tried-to-suppress

(the second link - he sounds completely batshit).

 

[jgdst]

Tom Cruise, Kirstey Alley & John Travolta

And then the day came when the Scilons overthrew their master David Miscavige...

I hear there are nine other models...

I've got nothing against other belief systems and creeds (I refrain from using the word religion in this case), but nothing has ever convinced me that Scientology is anything more than a fabricated idea that is pushed onto people as truth that involves an awful lot of "charitable donation" to new converts. The same could be said by a cynic of any other religion, I suppose, but I see more in common with Tolkien's History of Middle Earth than I do with any religious scripture.

Just my two pennies...

 

[Stone_Cold_Sisko]

I saw a bit of that ceremony with Cruise and the current leader. It was like some sort of Nazi ceremony.

Where do we find this? What are the appropriate youtube search strings? Or are you saying you saw it in person?

http://gawker.com/345563/tom-cruise-uncut-the-freedom-medal-award-ceremony

http://gawker.com/5002269/the-cruise-indoctrination-video-scientology-tried-to-suppress

(the second link - he sounds completely batshit).

Check out the end when he breaks into maniacal laughter. Wow insanely crazy!

 

[JoeZhang]

Where do we find this? What are the appropriate youtube search strings? Or are you saying you saw it in person?

http://gawker.com/345563/tom-cruise-uncut-the-freedom-medal-award-ceremony

http://gawker.com/5002269/the-cruise-indoctrination-video-scientology-tried-to-suppress

(the second link - he sounds completely batshit).

Check out the end when he breaks into maniacal laughter. Wow insanely crazy!

and in the first one, where in the last video, they all turn and salute a picture of old ron!

 

[Plecostomus]

So what are you going to do when you get your own universe? I admit, that has an appealing sound to it.

Well I don't think our "local flavor" believes in that aspect but if I do get my own universe I plan to outlaw certain kinds of nasty-tasting cough-syrups... among other things.

 

[Trekker4747]

I saw a bit of that ceremony with Cruise and the current leader. It was like some sort of Nazi ceremony.

Where do we find this? What are the appropriate youtube search strings? Or are you saying you saw it in person?

http://gawker.com/345563/tom-cruise-uncut-the-freedom-medal-award-ceremony

http://gawker.com/5002269/the-cruise-indoctrination-video-scientology-tried-to-suppress

(the second link - he sounds completely batshit).

I like how in that video the music behind it keeps playing the opening notes to the MI theme without actually ever kicking into it.

 

[LaxScrutiny]

Tom Cruise, Kirstey Alley & John Travolta

And then the day came when the Scilons overthrew their master David Miscavige...

I hear there are nine other models...

I've got nothing against other belief systems and creeds (I refrain from using the word religion in this case), but nothing has ever convinced me that Scientology is anything more than a fabricated idea that is pushed onto people as truth that involves an awful lot of "charitable donation" to new converts. The same could be said by a cynic of any other religion, I suppose, but I see more in common with Tolkien's History of Middle Earth than I do with any religious scripture.

Just my two pennies...

I don't care if people believe in aliens (this is TrekBBS for goodness sakes) or if they want to make up a religion, but it bothers me to see friends hurt, and to see a group that is using mind control to convert people and charge them large sums of cash for the privilege.

 

[CaptJimboJones]

Scientology is no weirder than any other religion. I know a guy who is a devout Catholic and joined Opus Dei, and ended up giving an enormous portion of his salary to the Church, as well as engaging in corporal mortification (whipping himself), all of which were encouraged by this very "mainstream" church.

It was every bit as cultish as Scientology.

 

[Guartho]

What happens if he decides to leave Opus Dei though?

 

[Red Ranger]

I chekced wikipedia a while ago because I didn't really know either.
I never got to the alien stuff, but it still sounded like crap because it was all about 'auditing' out the bad memories or feelings from your past or something. Sounds more like bad psychology than a real belief system in any sense of the word.

You're on the right track, it's more about "getting the evil spirits out of your brain that are living there after Xenu destroyed their bodies in the giant bomb in the volcano.

No, I'm not making this up.

Not only that, isn't Xenu your homeboy? He's my homeboy, too! -- RR

 

[Peacemaker]

Yes, but what does that have to do with Scientology? OT spam. At least make the attempt to be relevant to the thread.

Perhaps LAX, you should actually read the thread. At that point in the thread, my comments were addressing another poster who made grossly inaccurate comments about Pentecostalism, so if the comments are "OT Spam" why aren't his or those of others discussing Pentecostalism? Why select my comments but not those of Trekker and Plecostomus about Mormonism?...That's par for the course in these parts...people, particularly religious skeptics, start making grossly inaccurate comments about religion. Somebody needs to correct them. The funny thing, of course, is that when we do, we're accused of writing "OT spam" but when others come in and start talking about Pentecostalism or denigrating religion in general, this is allowed by such persons as yourself to pass by.

 

[NCC1701]

So what I don't get is, Xenu is supposed to be an evil alien overlord, right? And the aliens dumped in Earth's volcanoes and then vapourised were pretty harmless? So why are they evil now that they are inhibiting our bodies? It's like a badly written season one episode of Enterprise.

Not only is that wanker Hubbard a hack writer, he fails at getting his own religion's history right. F for effort, epic fail.

Oh, and from what I've seen of Scientologist, they're a complete pack of cunts. Skidmarks on the underpants of society, indeed.