NationStates Jolt Archive


Scientology?

Nonconformitism
02-07-2005, 03:30
i have a general idea of what most religions beliefs are but absolutely no idea about teh principles of scientology. if anyone here knows about this religion please give me a general outline.
Boonytopia
02-07-2005, 03:34
Don't you have to be a Hollywood celebrity?
Saipea
02-07-2005, 03:35
Check out wikipedia.
I'm afraid to say more, because one man's cult is another man's religion.
President Shrub
02-07-2005, 03:39
i have a general idea of what most religions beliefs are but absolutely no idea about teh principles of scientology. if anyone here knows about this religion please give me a general outline.
They're basically a cult. One thing Ron Hubbard taught was that we have "Operating Thetan" levels, sort of like challenges our souls go through.

Well, to quote the Wiki on Scientology:
Most famously, all of those who reach OT level III will learn about Xenu, the galactic tyrant who stacked hundreds of billions of his frozen victims around Earth's volcanoes 75 million years ago before blowing them up with hydrogen bombs and brainwashing them with a "three-D, super colossal motion picture" for 36 days. The traumatised thetans subsequently clustered around human bodies, in effect acting as invisible spiritual parasites that can only be removed using advanced Scientology techniques. Reportedly, the cost of reaching OT III approaches $360,000
It's a cult. And I highly doubt that most of the celebrities even believe in it. If they do, then they're more out-of-touch with reality than I thought.

In most of the world, Scientology labels itself a "religion." But in Greece, where they get benefits for being a philosophy, Scientology labels itself a "philosophy", instead of a religion. They've also agressively sued people over copywrite infringement, using the name "Scientology" and its other aspects, as if they were products they could sell, rather than truth that should be openly shared.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology

But I wouldn't even say they're a religion. They're a company, trying to make a large cult, for profit. The followers believe it, though, I'm sure.
Neo-Anarchists
02-07-2005, 03:39
i have a general idea of what most religions beliefs are but absolutely no idea about teh principles of scientology. if anyone here knows about this religion please give me a general outline.
The reason that you don't know much about thier beliefs is possibly because they don't want you or anyone else outside their organisation to know about it. It's not generally common knowledge what all they believe.

I don't have many sources that aren't very anti-Scientology, so I'll just point you to Wikipedia here to begin with, as it seems fairly neutral about the whole thing, and fairly accurate.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology#Beliefs_and_practices
Achtung 45
02-07-2005, 03:41
"yeah, fuck L Ron Hubbard and all of his clones"
--Maynard James Keenan or whatever
Syniks
02-07-2005, 03:44
Everything you wanted to know about Scientology but were prevented by OpSec from finding out...

Operation Clambake:

http://www.xenu.net/

Read it all and be very frightened.
David G Hall
02-07-2005, 03:48
i have a general idea of what most religions beliefs are but absolutely no idea about teh principles of scientology. if anyone here knows about this religion please give me a general outline.


If you pay $1,000,000 to them you will reach true enlightenment and will become a historian on psychiatry. Just ask Tom Cruise!
Holyawesomeness
02-07-2005, 03:51
http://www.scientology.org/en_US/religion/index.html
That is their website, I am sorry that this is not a link. Anyway scientology is not seen as legitimate by many people. It was created in the 20th century by a fiction author and it has an insane dislike of psychiatrists.
BlackKnight_Poet
02-07-2005, 03:56
If you pay $1,000,000 to them you will reach true enlightenment and will become a historian on psychiatry. Just ask Tom Cruise!


I just loved that interview. :D
Fionnia
02-07-2005, 03:56
What's with all this respecting of other people's fsiths? It's much more fun to see them torn apart. One of the best sources for this sort of thing is my good friend the Rotten Library.

http://www.rotten.com/library/religion/scientology/

Enjoy
LazyHippies
02-07-2005, 04:09
http://www.xenu.net/ has a lot of info.

http://www.salon.com just finished a series of very good articles on scientology, including a review of the bible of scientology, "Dianetics". You should check out those articles. Here is the one on Dianetics: http://www.salon.com/books/review/2005/06/28/dianetics/index.html

Basically it boils down to this:

The premise of "Dianetics" is that the brain remembers everything we experience and is "utterly incapable of error" except for an evolutionary holdover called the "reactive mind." This portion of the mind, usually inaccessible to the reasoning or "analytical" mind, takes over when we are "unconscious." By "unconscious," Hubbard means not just the conventional sense of the word, but any condition of pain or fear. When you are "unconscious" and also suffering some kind of pain or discomfort, the reactive mind seizes upon all your sensory impressions at that moment and melds them together into an "engram." The engram is then "soldered" into the circuitry of the mind and, when retriggered by a combination of factors, causes people to think and behave in irrational and destructive ways.
President Shrub
02-07-2005, 04:38
http://www.xenu.net/ has a lot of info.

http://www.salon.com just finished a series of very good articles on scientology, including a review of the bible of scientology, "Dianetics". You should check out those articles. Here is the one on Dianetics: http://www.salon.com/books/review/2005/06/28/dianetics/index.html

Basically it boils down to this:

The premise of "Dianetics" is that the brain remembers everything we experience and is "utterly incapable of error" except for an evolutionary holdover called the "reactive mind." This portion of the mind, usually inaccessible to the reasoning or "analytical" mind, takes over when we are "unconscious." By "unconscious," Hubbard means not just the conventional sense of the word, but any condition of pain or fear. When you are "unconscious" and also suffering some kind of pain or discomfort, the reactive mind seizes upon all your sensory impressions at that moment and melds them together into an "engram." The engram is then "soldered" into the circuitry of the mind and, when retriggered by a combination of factors, causes people to think and behave in irrational and destructive ways.
Dianetics is not original at all, then. He's just stealing from Buddhism, from their methods of meditating to unlock the unconscious and see the true nature of things, "living in the moment", and "having a mind of no mind."

Also, there's no proof that the brain remembers things perfectly. It might be because of evolution that we have a creative memory. Basically, think of it as a computer saving data. It would be faster and more efficient to compress (or even delete) old data, being able to search for such compressed data through a series of key words (your "train of thought"). And minor details aren't important. So, it either deletes or severely compresses that data, and when uncompressing it, to recall it for some purpose, it fills in the holes. Sleep is when the brain organizes and compresses such data, bringing forth old or repressed feelings or thoughts that could be relevant to current cognitive dissonance. That's why, as it seems to me, some dreams are meaningless (just organizing random information) and some dreams have meaning (bringing forth memories and thoughts to relieve cognitive dissonance).

I also think Carl Jung was somewhat correct about the "collective mind", with dreams, because of the history of religions which believe in astral projection, the akashic records, and also, the experiences that many of us have had of dreaming the future, or sharing a dream with another person. There's no empirical evidence to support it, though.
Magical Ponies
02-07-2005, 04:42
I was going to post that Clambake link. :p

So is it true that Tom Cruise reached the "Clear" level? I heard that from someone, but I couldn't find anything about it online. If he did, and learned about Xenu, that is creepy. And he's getting Katie Holmes into it, too.

Yeah, if you reach the "Clear," or top level (which people seldom do, since it's so expensive), the Church of Scientology claims that you can no longer get sick. Ever.
Dontgonearthere
02-07-2005, 05:08
They're basically a cult. One thing Ron Hubbard taught was that we have "Operating Thetan" levels, sort of like challenges our souls go through.

Well, to quote the Wiki on Scientology:

It's a cult. And I highly doubt that most of the celebrities even believe in it. If they do, then they're more out-of-touch with reality than I thought.

In most of the world, Scientology labels itself a "religion." But in Greece, where they get benefits for being a philosophy, Scientology labels itself a "philosophy", instead of a religion. They've also agressively sued people over copywrite infringement, using the name "Scientology" and its other aspects, as if they were products they could sell, rather than truth that should be openly shared.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology

But I wouldn't even say they're a religion. They're a company, trying to make a large cult, for profit. The followers believe it, though, I'm sure.

Dammit, now were all going to get pnemonia and die. jerk :P

I should further add that anybody who is 'unprepared' and reads the OTIII story will supposedly get some horrible lung infection and die within a week.
Gutax
02-07-2005, 05:31
There's a chruch of scientogly near my uncle in Clearwater, and had some court case to determine wether or not it was a relgion, so it could be exmepted from taxes.
Syniks
02-07-2005, 05:39
Dammit, now were all going to get pnemonia and die. jerk :P

I should further add that anybody who is 'unprepared' and reads the OTIII story will supposedly get some horrible lung infection and die within a week.
Um, is that a week in Xenu/God time (1000 years is but a day) or in Human time. 'Cause if that's Human time I died a couple of years ago...

HEY OPSEC!.... ETHICS CALLING.... FNORD YOU!
Guadalupelerma
02-07-2005, 05:49
Aside from how freaky it is as a philosophy/religion, what really geeks me out is that you have your own personal auditor who you confess to like a priest. The difference is they keep hard copies of all your past naughtiness. I don't know about you, but I would think that the people in possession of the biggest dirt on these folks has a lot of power over them
"make this movie"
"no, I won't. I promots scientology and I'm over that now"
"then we release your file! evil laughter"
"Ok, when does production begin?"

What makes it so cultish is that you should distance yourself from anyone not in the movement and cut past ties. That way the only people you have contact with are other scientologists.
Holyawesomeness
02-07-2005, 05:56
Well, scientology really is very much of a cult. It was designed by a fiction writer who has a background that is primarily fiction. It also is very controlling and requires donations in order to find truth which is a very odd system to spread a good message. Personally I would advise that no one join this religion.
Kibolonia
02-07-2005, 10:19
I'm afraid to say more, because one man's cult is another man's religion.
Tom Cruise isn't a man, he's a Dwarf, or perhaps Hobbit. I'm pretty sure you could take him.
BackwoodsSquatches
02-07-2005, 10:32
This is what happens to you when you get into a cult, created by the same man who brought us "Battlefield Earth".


No good shall come of this.
Carnivorous Lickers
02-07-2005, 13:03
Tom Cruise isn't a man, he's a Dwarf, or perhaps Hobbit. I'm pretty sure you could take him.


I knew he was short, but didnt realize he's only like 5'5" or so.

And he looked totally derranged in that rant with Matt Lauer. He had sunken, wild eyes and dirty hair.

I expect he will go off the deep end shortly...

And someone tell him to shut up and act-No one really gives a flying f--k what he believes in.
China3
02-07-2005, 13:18
Personally i find scientology funny...whwnever i need a laff i read their site and do their free tests


i turn out to be very clean and great and i get:


"But you might still be corrupoted and poisoned"



rofl
Kibolonia
02-07-2005, 20:26
I knew he was short, but didnt realize he's only like 5'5" or so.

And he looked totally derranged in that rant with Matt Lauer. He had sunken, wild eyes and dirty hair.

I expect he will go off the deep end shortly...
Approach with caution. He may be carrying the Ring of Power. So beat the shit out of him if you want, but don't touch that ring.