Save Katie Holmes!

[Trilby]

Ok, I just spent about an hour looking over some of the websites on Scientology and I'm just completely baffled that anyone would buy into this nuttiness. The official, church-sanctioned site is really amazon.com in disguise. You want to know the answer to a question about scientology? Buy the book! I've read enough to know that this stuff is even weirder than Donny and Marie, and that takes some effort. For one glaring example-the main premise of the "religion" is that long, long ago beings from another planet were dumped in the volcano's of the Earth and killed ( killed because the planets they were living on were just too darn over-crowded) via hydrogen bombs. Their spirits were trapped here and once mankind arrived on the scene the spirits attached themselves to man and caused him to be a slave to a delusional reality. CoS will free, or in their term "clear", you of this false reality. Of course, all this "clearing" takes money. Katie needs to run-not walk-to the nearest exit. This stuff is scary. Seriously scary. And apparently Clearwater, Fla. is practically owned by these nuts!~

[xoxoxoBruce]

You want to know the answer to a question about scientology? Buy the book!

You better buy a dictionary or two at the same time because the obfucation is plethoric.

[wolf]

The important thing to know about scientology is that the more money you give them, the clearer you become ...

OT8 (current highest rank, and what Tom Cruise is) goes for around $300K

[richlevy]

Well, the goal of any cult is to get enough money to go mainstream. The Unification Church bought the Washington Times and are trying to position themselves as standard social conservatives. It will be interesting to see how well they are welcomed into the big tent.

BTW, I will be selling 'grand master of the 12th element' certificates for a measly $1000 to anyone who, in my judgement, has attained a sufficient inner growth. I will require individuals with open minds and a credit score of at least 650.

[Trilby]

Tom Cruise claims scientology cured (?) him of his learning disabilities. I'd say not.
It's one of those things--I forget what you call them, you know, like a self-proving theory. Learning Disabled=High Probability of Becoming a scientologist. But that is sort of insulting to LD people. Doesn't anyone care that L. Ron Hubbard was a misanthropic cretin?

[Elspode]

Probably no more than the Church of All Worlds people care that Heinlein was a dirty old man.

[wolf]

Originally Posted by Elspode

Probably no more than the Church of All Worlds people care that Heinlein was a dirty old man.

Except that L. Ron intentionally created scientology, and heinlein wrote a really good book ... and then a couple of folks (Oberon and Morning Glory, my how 60s can you get) decided that they'd mix stuff from the book along with smidgens of gardnerian wicca and form their own religion.

Oh, and then they bred unicorns for a while.

[Troubleshooter]

Funny how we're talking about L. Ron and the season two box set of Millenium has a hilarious episode about how Juggernaut Onan Goopta, a failed detective story writer, who came up the the secular philosophy call, wait for it, Selfosophy. They have all of the details right. It's an excellent hack job.

I've not had a TV show creep me out and be so funny at the same time.

[Troubleshooter]

You say that like one religion has a more valid origin than any other.

Isn't it quite possible that Scientology simple hasn't had the time to evolve into something as pervasive and popular as any other religion, like say the Mormons?

[Trilby]

Originally Posted by Troubleshooter

You say that like one religion has a more valid origin than any other.

Isn't it quite possible that Scientology simple hasn't had the time to evolve into something as pervasive and popular as any other religion, like say the Mormons?

The origin of scientology is a science-fiction writer who was quoted as saying that writing for a penny a word was ridiculous and if you really wanted to make money starting a religion was the way to go. He was a drug-abusing narcissist who terrorized his own children (at least according to his son who left the CoS). This is a cult and a dangerous one at that.

PS-Mormon is a cult, too.

[Troubleshooter]

Originally Posted by Brianna

This is a cult and a dangerous one at that.

PS-Mormon is a cult, too.

You got that did you?

Just continue the analogy backwards indefinitely through time and you have the working model for all religions.

[Iggy]

Originally Posted by Brianna

The origin of scientology is a science-fiction writer who was quoted as saying that writing for a penny a word was ridiculous and if you really wanted to make money starting a religion was the way to go. He was a drug-abusing narcissist who terrorized his own children (at least according to his son who left the CoS). This is a cult and a dangerous one at that.

Amen. My mother was a scientologist, and let me tell you from first hand experience... It is a cult. All they want from you is your money and your open mind and they crowd it with all kinds of bullshit. The only reason it was made into a religion was for the tax benefits, which I don't think they deserve. The people that work there make no money and are expected to "volunteer" for like 80 hours a week. I also have an aunt and three cousins into it, and all of them have been divored at least once, sometimes 3 times. They don't allow for marriage. Everything you have "belongs" to the church and the only people making money are the people at the top. When I talk to them it is really sad the things they believe. I actually had one cousin ask me if I was into the "drugs" that all these horrible docters are prescribing. When I told her that I had to take tyroid medicine she told me that if I cleared my mind and body I wouldn't need it. Uh-huh... sure... whatever you say Madame of the Cult. And to add insult to injury I am pretty sure I know that my mother died because of those assholes. They think that the mind can control the body so much that someone with a heart problem doesn't need to take their high blood pressure medicine because some non-regulated herbal medicine is all you need. Your mind can do the rest. Bullshit. My mom died at the young age of 43 with a massive heart attack because of that (I am pretty sure... can't be certain). She wasn't overweight either, so that didn't cause it.

Uhh... Sorry. I just really don't like those people.

[Trilby]

Really? All religions? Are you sure about that? Wicca seems exempt from the cult status.

And why are you such a sarcastic butthead?

[Troubleshooter]

Originally Posted by Brianna

Really? All religions? Are you sure about that? Wicca seems exempt from the cult status.

And why are you such a sarcastic butthead?

All religions were at one point considered the out-group and thus a cult. Wicca, depending on your flavor, has come full circle sort of. What do you think the Romans thought when they showed up and had to deal with hordes of people painted blue with their hair on fire running towards them bearing weapons and little else?

And as to being a sarcastic butthead, I am not a butthead. I have little need or use for religion except at a topic of study. And no, I'm not at athiest, at least not as is popularly defined anyway.

[Trilby]

Spiritual, not religious? That brand? Whatever works (does that make me a pragmatist? I'm not). You can't just mean that a cult is simply the odd-man out at the latest party. A cult distorts doctrines of other faiths, especially pertaining to salvation (however that is defined) making salvation virtually unattainable. You get nowhere in a cult. Even Christians are more palatable than that! At least they tell you that jesus loves you just as you are!

But, seriously, I don't agree that all religions started as cults. Depends on the defintion of cult. And Wicca wasn't specific to the Celts and Picts only. Not everyone painted themselves blue and ran around with their hair on fire. Go back and trace the roots of Wicca and you find that road leads so far into pre-history that you can't know it's origins.