Question:
Scientology. With so many new religions being invented, I cant keep track anymore of who believes in what ?
2008-08-20 17:47:34 UTC
Whats this new fad call Scientology ? Is it a religion of the rich and famous, like actors and the like, who are too high and mighty to believe in old fashioned religions. How rich do I have to be, to belong to this clan ?
Twelve answers:
ZER0 C00L ••AM••VT••
2008-08-21 14:22:02 UTC
I can answer your questions, and also answer a few you never thought to ask!



Scientology, which questionably calls itself a new "religion", is the brainchild of science fiction writer & occult enthusiast L. Ron Hubbard. The organization, by means of Hubbard’s self created psychotherapy technique called “Dianetics”, claims to be able to help rid members of any & all mental constraints including but not limited to emotional scarring (from this & "past" lives) due to "engrams" (past negative experiences stored in our unconscious mind), psychological disorders & chemical imbalances (the solution is to convince members that these things don't actually exist) & drug dependence (including legally prescribed psychopharmaceuticals which counteract the effects of psychological disorders Scientologists believe to be nonexistent). Their “treatment” of substance abuse includes little more than massive, often dangerous doses of vitamins and unhealthy extended sessions in a sauna.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics#Scientific_evaluation_and_criticisms

Dianetics review: http://dir.salon.com/story/books/review/2005/06/28/dianetics/index.html

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,812852,00.html

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/detox.htm

http://www.nypress.com/20/22/news&columns/feature.cfm



Scientology is most certainly NOT a religion. In fact, one of the only reasons they enjoy "tax exempt status" on religious ground in the United States is because they bullied the IRS into a "deal" through extremely aggressive barratry (which is the offense of persistently instigating groundless lawsuits) against said government agency & its officials, & arranged to drop all 2,500 frivolous lawsuits only when an "agreement" was reached. In addition, Scientology's lawyers hired private investigators to dig up any "dirt" on IRS agents which was then used to blackmail or publicly smear all "vulnerable" agents. It was an all-out WAR that Scientology had waged against the IRS, & was even described as such by Scientology's "CEO", David Miscavige, in his 1993 speech to the International Association of Scientologists.

http://legalminds.lp.findlaw.com/list/fedtax-l/msg00445.html

http://www.lermanet.com/scientologynews/nytimes/nyt-irs-030997.htm

http://www.factnet.org/headlines/give-away.htm

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/essays/irs.html



The official Scientology organization is composed of a number of “levels”. One begins as a “preclear” & works their way up. One must purchase virtually every service crucial to advancement directly from the "church" & at staggering prices. "Auditing", for example, is purchased in 12½ hour blocks, costing anywhere from $200-$750 for introductory sessions to between $8,000 & $9,000 for advanced sessions. Basically, Scientology claims to possess exclusive knowledge of the path to religious redemption & then charges obscene amounts of money for every tiny incremental step towards this end. Visit this link to see how $380,000 is a conservative estimate for the total cost of moving all the way up the Scientology hierarchal ladder:

http://www.xenu.net/archive/prices.html

These are the total costs for auditing alone:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_as_a_business#Costs

Here’s an explanation of what “auditing” is:

https://answersrip.com/question/index?qid=20061224182319AA2nnd6



At level OT III (Operating Thetan Level 3), some very strange & fiercely guarded secrets are imparted upon worthy members who have paid enough money to advance to such a level (and no, this isn't a joke): The evil alien ruler Xenu killed millions of aliens (Thetans) from around the universe by kidnapping them, bringing them to earth in golden DC-8 “space-planes”, stacking them around volcanoes & blowing them up by dropping “h-bombs” into the volcanoes. Scientologists believe the souls of these aliens (these souls are "Body Thetans") were captured, brainwashed & released; they then attached themselves to our ancestors (and according to Scientology’s belief in Thetan immortality, they also attached to us during “past lives”) & cause many of our mental & physical ills to this day. Auditing is said to “clear” us of these Body Thetans as well as the “mental implants” they supposedly impose on our minds.

http://www.spaink.net/cos/essays/atack_ot3.html

http://sf.irk.ru/www/ot3/spaink-ot3.html

http://xenu.net/archive/leaflet/Xenu-Letter.pdf

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/OTIII/



Scientology has taken a very hostile stance towards psychiatry & psychiatric drugs irrespective of the fact that some people require medication to remain adequately functional during everyday life. It doesn’t recognize legitimate conditions like autism, epilepsy, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or ANY neurological disorder / chemical imbalance at all, & the “church” has been known to withhold prescription pharmaceuticals from members (often with harmful & deadly results). The “Church” blames psychiatry for the Holocaust, as well as school shootings & even September 11th. It’s been suggested that Hubbard’s vehement opposition was born of the psychiatric community’s rejection of his “tech” as a valid treatment method, but it’s also possible that Hubbard chose psychiatry as a scapegoat. Organizations like Scientology are notorious for villainizing a specific out-group because their “stand against the enemy” fosters cohesion within said organization, & psychiatry was an effective rallying point considering many people already distrust & oppose the mental health profession.

http://www.anti-scientologie.ch/usa-scientology.htm

http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=3137&IssueNum=136

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/07/01/sci_psy/index_np.html?pn=1

http://perkinstragedy.org



L. Ron Hubbard, the man behind the creation of Scientology, was & still is a controversial figure. Biographies & lists of personal accomplishments differ greatly between Scientology & non-Scientology publications as the “church” tends to exaggerate & outright lie about his early life, his education, his travels, his achievements etc, preferring to paint a distorted, flattering picture. Several books & articles present facts which flatly contradict these church-published accounts (links to free online copies of these books & articles are provided below), showing conclusively that he was NOT the brilliant, accomplished figure revered by Scientologists. During his autopsy, the sedative Vistaril™ was present in his body, which several of his assistants would later attest was only one of many psychiatric & pain medications Hubbard ingested over the years. It had also been said by many who knew Hubbard personally that at the end of his life he was “a psychopathic insane person screaming about BT's [Body Thetans]…”

http://www.apologeticsindex.org/Bare%20Faced%20Messiah.pdf

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/atack/contents.htm

http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/mom/Messiah_or_Madman.txt

http://lisatrust.bogie.nl/scientology/essays/jeff-hubbard.htm



To be blunt, Scientology is a cult. It employs semi-legitimate psychotherapy & self-help methods to keep people loyal & convinced of its merit while it simultaneously sucks them dry financially & attempts to keep them far away from ANYONE, even friends & family, who would dissuade them from remaining in such a harmful situation. It bullies all known critics, opponents, “enemies”, etc, often through malicious litigation & character assassination. It’s a particularly greedy as well as manipulative & dangerous cult that takes its anti-psychiatry fanaticism to deadly limits.

http://www.solitarytrees.net/racism/harass.htm#start

http://www.factnet.org/Books/SocialControl/scs.html#toc

http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/s/scientology/pignotti/

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/24/Tampabay/The_unperson.shtml

http://www.xenu.net/archive/personal_story/funkydonny.html
Shady
2008-08-21 00:53:29 UTC
It is a lovely alien worshiping cult started by a child molesting bad science fiction novelist on a bet at a sci fi convention. The bet was that L.Ron Hubbard could start a new religion... Guess what?! he won! and got very rich off of it to.

It is a religion that believes that our souls were trapped here buy the emperor Xenu, and the only way off of this planet to to learn not to feel, and to never ever ever do anything with a psychologist or psychiatrist because they only do harm.

Still want to join?
mikemodrell
2008-08-21 01:09:25 UTC
Where you been? Scientology is decades old, not new. They have a few valid understandings, but it's no religion. I gave them my address, and they haven't stopped mailing crap to me since the 70's. The basis of their direction is an E-meter. It's like a lie detector meter. they hook it to you, and ask questions. When the meter moves, during a particular area of (your life...) questions, they know you have a subconscious Engram - a short circuit of pain, in your brain... This is called Auditing. Its like feedback. They get rid of subconscious shortcomings, and they have (logically...) scientifically figured out most areas of life knowledge - they have a book for everything. The Problems of work, is one such book. It is simple logic, describing the framework of work. They Want thousands and thousands of dollars for these Audit sessions, and Training... John Travolta is from Scientology since the sixties...Did It Really work for him...? They are so scary, I have to think, one day they will make a virus to eliminate everyone else in the world...
2008-08-21 00:50:44 UTC
Actually if you join, you'll end up the opposite of rich.



You have to pay money to the "Church" of Scientology in order to advance in the religion.



They convert celebrities purposely so that others will follow... Google Scientology or look it up on YouTube.



There are a lot of horrible things going on within that "religion."
Affinity Warrior
2008-08-21 03:17:23 UTC
Scientology is a religious applied philosophy.



“It is possible to know about the mind, the spirit and life”



Scientology states that man is a Spiritual being that controls a body through a mind. To represent this life force, the Greek symbol for though: “Theta” was selected to avoid confusion with any prior practice.



http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=ncBcbVtEwUc



The mind (we are not talking about the brain that is just the center of the nervous system) is a bank of mental image pictures. This bank is what the spirit uses to make decisions; it is composed of the analytical mind and the reactive mind. The analytical mind is clear; it doesn’t have any hidden influences and is fully accessible by the Thetan. The reactive mind is a collection of bad mental image picture that include pain, unconsciousness and command value. The reactive mind is the hidden influence that aberrates reason. The reactive mind is the cause for all human aberration, insanity or evil purpose.



Scientology’s approach to solve human aberration: Auditing.

- “Communication is the Universal Solvent.”

- “All problems of the mind are created by the mind.”

- “The mind can solve all the problems of the mind”



When dealing with the reactive mind we are dealing with the problem that individual is trying to confront that which he thinks he can’t confront so he is stuck. To solve this problem Hubbard developed Auditing. A verbal therapy that uses questions to help the individual address what is bothering him. So the person by his own volition can solve his own problems. The big difference between Auditing and Psychoanalysis is that the Psychoanalyst evaluates for the person and tells him what to think. In Auditing you just ask and listen and let the person make his own mind about things. If you give a person a fish you can feed him one time but if you teach him to fish you can feed him for a life time. That’s Scientology’s approach.



There are no suggestions involved in Auditing, all conclusion are done by you by your own intelligence. Auditors are bound the Auditor’s Code to never evaluate for the preclear (preclear is a person receiving Scientology processing). Never get in a relationship with the preclear. All information released during auditing is protected by law and not even the police can gain access to that information. Enforcing this code of conduct is the Scientology Ethics Officer and Scientology law. Any violation to the Auditors code is considered a high crime in Scientology and will result removal of any Auditing Certificates and/or expulsion from the church. I have seen this happen and is a very serious matter.



Any friend or family member can audit you for free. Or you can take the courses and get your Auditing with other students. If you hire a professional auditing team it will cost you the fees of the professional auditing team. An auditing team is composed of the Auditor, Ethics Officer, Quality Assurance (the person that tells the Auditor what to do), Corrections (the people that constantly train the Auditor on how to do the process) and the rest of the administration of a Church of Scientology. These are not one on one services, these are a whole team working to better you. It is expensive because is expensive to create and maintain the team.

http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=kwK1byq0ndQ



How Scientology evolved?



Scientology evolved from Dianetics when it was discovered that man is a spiritual being. Scientology differs from Dianetics in that Dianetics deals with the mind and the rehabilitation of mental image pictures and Scientology deals with the rehabilitation of the human spirit itself.



http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=FhrlHU0W9UI



We don’t ask for your faith in Scientology. There is no faith needed, when you can observe and experience it working by your self.



http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=XUXR0XgmDNg



“Self confidence alone is security. Your ability is your security. There is no security but you. Let's make the best possible you." L Ron Hubbard



http://au.youtube.com/watch?v=dziK04-9qqQ



Cult status?



All great religions have been misunderstood, persecuted and attacked. Jesus was sentenced to death by a lynching crowd; his only crime: to teach Love and forgiveness. Christians were KILLED for centuries for their beliefs. It was believed that Christians performed cannibalistic rituals and that they were dangerous (didn’t they ate and drink the body of Jesus?).



Scientology is a worldwide religion that claims 10 millions of members. It has centers in almost every mayor capital in the world: Washington, London, Berlin, Johannesburg, Tokyo, Sydney, Tel Aviv Israel and Moscow to name a few. And for a church that is barely 40 years old this is great. Scientology is not a small sect based in a small town in Texas isolated from the rest of the world. Scientology thrives in the center of mayor cities, its member are community leaders, doctors, teachers and workers from all sectors of
2008-08-21 00:51:55 UTC
You could join the google religion ...
2008-08-21 00:53:07 UTC
it is not new, it is just the first time you have heard of it. I heard of it back in 1974 as to what it is, I have no idea. But i do know it is better to believe in only what you think is right & wrong & not worry about what others believe in!
Cholla Cacti are not nice
2008-08-21 00:50:13 UTC
It'd be easier to google it. You can find out about any religion that way.
Pagan Queen
2008-08-21 00:50:10 UTC
and isn't it nice to know what we believe!
guido
2008-08-21 00:51:12 UTC
scientology isn't new.
2008-08-21 00:50:01 UTC
you don't want to its stupid, but you can admit its funny to laugh at



http://theunfunnytruth.ytmnd.com/
2008-08-21 00:51:35 UTC
www.scientology.org


This content was originally posted on Y! Answers, a Q&A website that shut down in 2021.
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