Date: 2/11/2005 10:17:00 PM
From Authorid: 62893
I don't think it's a cult, just a different religion. A very expensive one at that!  |
Date: 2/11/2005 10:55:00 PM
From Authorid: 42945
It's not a cult, but thats about all I know of it hun....hugs  |
Date: 2/11/2005 11:19:00 PM
From Authorid: 53961
I think the word "cult" has been flung around way too much. I don't know anything about it, only that the people I have seen and heard about who belong to it have made a very positive change in their lives.  |
Date: 2/11/2005 11:24:00 PM
From Authorid: 52155
True Story: A couple years back I took a group to Hollywood, for a siteseeing trip. Had never been there before, and thought it would be cool. As soon as we starting walking down the one street, we were given free "tickets" to a new museum that had just opened up. We thought it would be cool, and went to check it out. It was a museum dedicated to the life of L. Ron Hubbard. (founder of the church of scientology, didn't know that at the time, I just thought he was an author and speaker) I had heard of him, but really didn't know much about him, so we go in, and it is a guided tour throught the museum, complete with video and soundbites. At the first stop in the museum, we notice that our tour guide had vanished back out the entry door. I went to follow her, and we were locked in. Only when the audio stopped did she return. Really didn't to think much of it til she did vanished at each stop of the tour. She would just vashish, no one would see where she went or why, and only during the audio and video part of the tour. We get about 20 minutes into the museum, and I ask our guide how much longer the tour is gonna last. She tells us it will last another hour, so I told her that we had much more that we wanted to see that night and that we were gonna leave. She got an extremely displeased look on her face, and tried very hard to talk us out of leaving. I very polietly said that we had just driven all day to get there, hadn't had dinner yet, and didn't ecpect to be locked in a museum for the night. She reluctantly let us out, but annouced to the entire building that the reason we were leaving early is because we hadn't had dinner yet. The whole experiecnce was very wierd, and I can't help but wonder if there wasn't some sort of brainwashing going on in there...  |
Date: 2/12/2005 1:06:00 AM
From Authorid: 34912
I thin the word "cult" is an irrelavant word to begin with. Who says "who" is a cult and who isn't . According to Baptists, JW's are a cult and according to JWs, Baptists are a cult. The word has no meaning to me. The real issue is whether of not Scientology is true. I have actually read Dianetics and had an interest in Scientology when I was 18, but I was fortunate enought to have had the right people in my life who knew what it was a about. Beleive me, there a lot of disturbing things about the Church of Scientology. Anytime you have an organization that has "hidden" truths for "initiated" members who reach certain levels only, there is a problem.  |
Date: 2/12/2005 4:45:00 AM
From Authorid: 63035
Ive never heard of Scientology.. Intresting tho. -Dr.Stargazer  |
Date: 2/12/2005 5:38:00 AM
From Authorid: 46527
If it is a thing that makes it hard for you to leave of your own free will then it's a cult.  |
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Date: 2/12/2005 5:59:00 AM
From Authorid: 46527
Eddo, I had an experience like that years ago in London....NOT nice! |
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Date: 2/12/2005 7:04:00 AM
From Authorid: 52155
not nice at all... |
Date: 2/12/2005 7:16:00 AM
From Authorid: 14909
It's a CULT!!!!! Not good at all.  |
Date: 2/12/2005 7:49:00 AM
From Authorid: 31765
Yep, it's a cult.  |
Date: 2/12/2005 8:37:00 AM
From Authorid: 55967
Here are some things I found on it. (Some by reading Hubbard's own book). Part of correcting your own mind to work optimally is getting rid of "engrams," I believe, and these are problems in your brain due to problems in a past life. That means that if you put your faith in this, you have to completely believe in a past life, and that you can develop thinking problems in this life caused by the past life. The book was pretty strange. Then, I studied the founder a bit. He was a fabricator of his own past and accomplishments; most of what he said he did in interviews he never did, etc. I saw a show one time where there was a huge gathering of followers. There was a giant photo of Hubbard, and the people were praising him. This is not healthy, and as history shows, can lead to dire consequences. No one on earth should be praised like I saw that man being so. Celebrities can be in the program and have a much better time of it than common people because they have money and support. First, they are people the organization would want and who they would cater to, since they can bring a name to the organization. Secondly, celebrities would not fall into the trap that so many others do. That trap is basically slave labor. Those who have no money can live in the compound and will basically work their tails off for nothing and only live off the basics of life. The organization definitely exploits them. I usually have an open mind about a lot of things, even this at first, but the facts only speak for themselves. A "cult?" I don't like to label things, but this organization is one that every thinking person should stay away from.  |
Date: 2/12/2005 8:38:00 AM
From Authorid: 16671
Yep eddo that does NOT sound good.  |
Date: 2/12/2005 10:42:00 AM
From Authorid: 47218
first you have to nail down what the word "cult" means-- it's not particularly well-defined and in it's dictionary form could apply to practically any religion. Now, I would say that scientology is a bad religion-- they use high profile celebrity members to lure in and exploit people and cover up what is going on in the lower levels-- which is basically that they get you to take a silly personality test which is calibrated to always show that you are strong in two areas and weak in two areas so that they can sell you into taking their entry level classes (a couple of scientists did an experiment-- they filled out the test using a random generator and got the same result every time). Then, once they have you, you have to ever more take classes, each level gaining in expensive, to rise up in the religion-- people have lost their life savings. Yeah, I read that Time magazine article-- the guy that published the piece was being harassed by senior members of the church-- they were tapping his phone, having him followed, sending him threats trying to dig up dirt in his credit history...not good, not good at all.  |
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Date: 2/12/2005 10:53:00 AM
From Authorid: 16671
I don't understand why people think they can *buy* their way to heaven? Sure even in the bible God says that its good to pay tithes, but then he gives the reason for this and that is that when you pay tithes to a church or give to the needy or even help another person that you will be BLESSED yourself, that God will give unto US that give unto others. I've seen this principal work in my life too many times. AS I was a willing giver I was also being a reciever of needed things. But God knows ones heart, if they are just giving to look good unto others, then God says they have their reward in the site of men. As that is all they are looking for and that is being blessed by mankind and looking good. |
Date: 2/12/2005 11:19:00 AM
From Authorid: 47218
Here's a quote from the Time magazine article: "The Church of Scientology, started by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard to "clear" people of unhappiness, portrays itself as a religion. In reality the church is a hugely profitable global racket that survives by intimidating members and critics in a Mafia-like manner. At times during the past decade, prosecutions against Scientology seemed to be curbing its menace. Eleven top Scientologists, including Hubbard's wife, were sent to prison in the early 1980s for infiltrating, burglarizing and wiretapping more than 100 private and government agencies in attempts to block their investigations. In recent years hundreds of longtime Scientology adherents -- many charging that they were mentally of physically abused -- have quit the church and criticized it at their own risk. Some have sued the church and won; others have settled for amounts in excess of $500,000. In various cases judges have labeled the church "schizophrenic and paranoid" and "corrupt, sinister and dangerous."" Yeah, the scientologists try to argue that all the accusations of intimidation and harrassment are just fabrications by their detractors, but when it's been documented that the wife of your founder was arrested for wire-tapping-- well, it's kind of hard to argue with that, isn't it? Might I also add that the church of scientology attempted to sue Time for libel and LOST in 2001.
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Date: 2/12/2005 1:45:00 PM
From Authorid: 35720
Eddo, that is WEIRD.  |
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Date: 2/12/2005 2:26:00 PM
From Authorid: 52155
That is interesting about his past Gypsyhawk, becucase the first part of the museum (the part we saw) was dedicated to his life, and he seemed really to good to be true. Somehow, I omitted out of the story that the reason we decided to leave when we did was because of the creepy feeling we were getting from the whole experience. |
Date: 2/13/2005 4:46:00 PM
From Authorid: 28989
I started reading "Dianetics" without realizing that it was connected to Scientology. I got about two chapters into it, when I had a really bad feeling about it and actually threw the book away--one of the few books I ever threw away. There was something about how they divide people into "clears," people who've gone through the Dianetics process, and all the rest of us schmucks who are somehow inferior, whose heads are not "clear," but filled with all the junk that makes us human. It gave me the creeps. I think you also have to call some people to your house to have the "clear" you. Creepy!  |
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Date: 2/13/2005 4:47:00 PM
From Authorid: 28989
I mean, "have them clear you." |
Date: 2/18/2005 12:46:00 PM
From Authorid: 22080
what do actors have to do with it being a cult or not?  |
Date: 3/7/2005 11:38:00 AM
From Authorid: 15070
I live in Clearwater, Mecca for the Scientologists. I wonder how many people know the connection between, Alister Crowley, L. Ron Hubbard, and Silva Mind Control?.....hmmmmmmm. By the way, the age of a religion does not validate, 0r negate it. After, even Christianity was "new" at one time. The deeper question.......what is the difference between a "cult" and a "religion" *winks*. Back to the topic at hand, I don't bother Scientologists, they don't hassle me. What seems mad-wack to you, seens rational to them. 'Nuff said, right?  |
Date: 8/9/2006 1:58:00 PM
From Authorid: 63960
they belive in crazy things, my cousin, Allen, went to a mall and saw a scientology stand, he went up to it and acted like he's interested. then the started saying the "secrets" of the religion. the guy grabbed him and threw him into the wall. because to learn the "secrets" you had to spend over 10000 dollars just to hear it in little peices, and be in there many years. (i'll post all the secrets if i can find them)
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Date: 8/9/2006 2:00:00 PM
From Authorid: 63960
oh and, they "mind control" you, they make you belive what they belive |
62146 Category:(Debate) Created:(2/11/2005 9:55:00 PM)