>>but at least growing up in the western world Christianity is "normal".
Only because Christianity has so much popularity. If Scientology had the numbers that Christianity does, it would likewise be considered "normal".
Scientology "took root" in the same way most other religions have: a guy wrote something, found people who agreed, and found practitioners who felt they got something out of it.
In any case, I don't know why it's so hard to believe that people can grab on to crazy ideas. Just look at how many people swear by urban myths. This is also the same "modern world" that bought 80 million Barry Manilow albums.
Edit: I understand that before information was available to all, and people relied on folklore and all it's exaggerations and distortions Christianity managed to take hold, but sci en-flippin-tology ?????
They were hardly mediocre . . . he was an international best selling author, had an idea about how a religion could be, and got a bit carried away with it. I guess he was more surprised than anyone at the success. What I cannot believe is the Thetan argument is accepted by so many people . . .
Whoa, whoa, whoa. Hold on there. Yeah, Scientology is a scam and yeah it's complete rubbish, but L. Ron Hubbard is actually a respected writer. Or was. I think he's dead now. He simply thought to make himself rich by exploiting the gullible. Scientology was never something L. Ron Hubbard actually believed in. It was something he used to buy himself a yacht. As for how it happened, people are stupid. No. Sorry. People don't bother thinking and when they've invested time & money into something, sunken investment fallacy ("I've put so much energy into this thing. I can't quit now!") takes them the rest of the way.
Actually I don't understand how Scientology became an official religion. I just don't get it.
Unlike Jewish and Christian texts, we know for a fact that the author of Scientology existed. He wrote sci-fie novels (poor ones at that). He came up with a story that had no roots anywhere else. For some reason the government has recognized this story as a religion.
I perfectly understand why someone might think that we came from alien life forms. Carl Sagan even pondered the idea that alien life (microbial) spread throughout the galaxy. We have circumstantial evidence to back this. None of this comes close to proving or even insinuating that some alien race had some major war and then some of them ended up here on Earth. I'm definitely summarizing the heck of out Scientology. But I'd know a lot more about the "religion" if they didn't charge me hundreds of dollars just to learn about their "religion".
If Scientology has a right to be a religion, then so do Jersey Shore followers. At least the people in Jersey Shore are real. Idiotic, but real.
I think that "normal" religions simply were not providing the spiritual evolution that everyone needs. Im not saying that Scientology does this any better than any other religion, but people will naturally look elsewhere if they are not getting what they need in one place.
I agree with most of what Geezah writes.I think greed played a very significant role in the continued spread of Scientology.It was designed to make lots of money quickly and it worked.Calling it a religion is lying in my book.
How seemingly intelligent people say publicly they believe in it is beyond me and you too it seems.
Scientology is a mock religion, a Church for those who don't really believe in God, so they get organized in a so called religion that preaches non-sense as an open mockery to everything sacred, a few good examples of this are the following:
The Church Elvis (Presley)
Eventualism
Discordianism
Kibology
Pastafarianism
The Church of Maradona
and the Jedi Religion.
Despite how "modern" human civilization has become, we aren't much different from our ancestors and I expect to see any religion taking a hold if enough people participate in it...
Never underestimate the power of good writing. Ron L. Hubbard may have been off his rocker, but he was very convincing. You'd be surprised what can be made to sound plausible when it's couched in the rules of good writing.
Scientologists are just in every aspect brilliant at convincing people of things. The basic doctrine that you hear looking into one of their churches is actually quite logical and enlightened. They claim that you should not be forced to accept anything based on faith, but based on logic and science--they then proceed to use various psychological tricks and clever mechanical devices to make a really convincing case that they have the truth. You don't find out about the "secrets" of Xenu and the Galactic Republic until you've gone through many levels of "auditing" and "meditation" which do actually provide some mental health benefits--while simultaneously making the practice completely willing to believe whatever the Church of Scientology tells them.
The only reason we know about the "secrets" without having gone through the Scientologist program of meditation and indoctrination is that a few Scientologists over the years have gotten all the way up to the final level of revelation and still had enough presence of mind to go "wt?" and release the "secrets" on the Internet in hopes of keeping anyone else from being drawn into what they basically consider to be a scam.
Of course in my mind the whole Galactic Empire thing is less of a problem than their rejection of psychology as being a "dangerous pseudoscience," but a surprising number of people seem willing to believe that part of it.
People like to think they've discovered something new and elite, something that helps them to be superior to everyone else. That plus celebrity, plus 'it's so crazy it must be true' and you have a successful cult.
I don't understand it either, do these people never stop and actually look at themselves? Same goes for that 'The Secret' or whatever the hell it was called: if you want something, the universe will give it to you? Really, you're going to just accept that, despite every scrap of evidence to the contrary, despite the fact that what you're implying is that the millions of people who die as a result of genocide or horrific illnesses wanted that to happen to them. Oh wait some Hollywood face who believes their own hype says it's true so it must be.
Hypochondria and people who always think their glass is half-full and that things could be better, that's what Tony Robbins and Scientology bank on, except Tony Robbins isn't trying to disguise his business as a religion so I can respect him more.
People in America as a general rule have a poor understanding of science and each and every one of these "hatted" OSA Scientology marketers try to act like their anecdotal marketing testimonials, the "success stories" are actually scientific instead of the hot air they actually are. L Ron mocked the theory of evolution when even in his own time there was overwhelming evidence for it, L Ron wouldn't know science or the scientific method if it bit him.
I'm a huge science-fiction fan and no one in the science-fiction community respects L Ron as a writer.
Scientology isn't as crazy as some people make it up to to be. A lot of people label something as "crazy" when they don't really understand it and depend on hearsay to make up conclusions about it. Here is what Scientology is all about, straight from the official source:
Developed by L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology is a religion that offers a precise path leading to a complete and certain understanding of one?s true spiritual nature and one?s relationship to self, family, groups, Mankind, all life forms, the material universe, the spiritual universe and the Supreme Being.
Scientology addresses the spirit?not the body or mind?and believes that Man is far more than a product of his environment, or his genes.
Scientology comprises a body of knowledge which extends from certain fundamental truths. Prime among these are:
Man is an immortal spiritual being.
His experience extends well beyond a single lifetime.
His capabilities are unlimited, even if not presently realized.
Scientology further holds Man to be basically good, and that his spiritual salvation depends upon himself, his fellows and his attainment of brotherhood with the universe.
Scientology is not a dogmatic religion in which one is asked to accept anything on faith alone. On the contrary, one discovers for oneself that the principles of Scientology are true by applying its principles and observing or experiencing the results.
The ultimate goal of Scientology is true spiritual enlightenment and freedom.
How on earth did something as crazy as Scientology take root in the modern world?
