i have to ask, what exactly is the deal with scientology?
after reading the article w/ brandy throwing blows at a baptist church over god's view of lust vs. Scientology to tom cruise. what is the deal. and what exactly is Scientology? a cult?
I have been trying to figure that out for the longest while. I do not know what it is but Tom Cruise sickens me to my stomach. He is so much a fanatic now. I never liked his relationship with that girl. I don't even know why she would want to marry him. Is she desperate. She is young.
I think that it is a cult. Who the h*** can give birth in silence. Not even animals do it.
Of all the biblicalLyased cults in America today, Christian Science is one of the most interesting. Not only does it deny the essential doctrines of Christianity, but it has completely reinterpreted the Bible. It drastically redefines the Bible?s culture and terminology and rips thousands of scriptures out of their historical and biblical contexts. The result is a non-Christian mixture of metaphysical and philosophical thoughts.
A stated goal of Scientology is to "rehabilitate" the the tan (roughly equivalent to the soul) to regain its native state of "total freedom." Church spokesmen and practitioners attest that Hubbard's teachings (called "Technology" or "Tech" in Scientology terminology) have saved them from a plethora of problems and enabled them to better realize their highest potential in business and their personal lives.[1][2] However, outside observers?including journalists, lawmakers, and national governing bodies of several countries?have reached conclusions about Scientology that are sharply at odds with the Church's self-representations. These include allegations that the church is an unscrupulous commercial enterprise that harasses its critics and brutally exploits its members.[3][4]
Although some scholars and many world governments [5] accept Scientology as a Nona Fidel religion,[6][7] it has also been characterized as a pseudo religion, a cult[8] or a transnational corporation.[7]
Basically they say that humans were pure before aliens came and contaminated us. By the way, it might not come as a surprise that the founder, Ron Hubbard was a science fiction author.
Scientology can properly be labeled a cult. It is based on a book, whose title I am not even going to tell you because it is junk. It has gained some notoriety of late because of the antics of a certain celebrity who professes to believe in it. (I used to think that he had more sense.) The Wikipedia material quoted by another responder is accurate. But another responders reference to Christian Science is not on point -- that's something altogether different.
So some aliens were in this volcano and the volcano exploded. Now these aliens were really bad but humans were really good. So when the volcano exploded these alien's badness covered all the good humans. So the good humans do bad stuff. Scientology teaches you how to get rid of the badness of these aliens. It costs about $400,000 to learn how to get rid of these aliens badness from your human goodness. I guess if you don't have this money then you can't get rid of this badness.
How about this instead. We're all bad and we need to be made good in the eyes of God. God is perfect and we are not. To be forgiven for our sins against God we need a savior. Out of God's love for us, He sent a savior, his son, Jesus to bridge the gap between our sinfulness and his perfection. By repenting of our sins and trusting Jesus to save us , we avoid God's justice and receive the perfect love of God. And God's love is AWESOME!
Well I don't know is that article is true I highly doubt it, but this is Scientology:
First I want to clarify that the story of Xeno is just a fable and no Scientologist believe it to be true. In fact most Scientologist I have meet haven't even heard the story. Scientology isn't a faith system but a series of processes that a person uses to find his own truth. Here are some of the principles.
1. What is true for you is what you your self observe to be true.
2. Man is his spirit not his mind or his body.
3. The spirit creates his own mind. Please do not confuse the mind with the brain that is a physical thing. The mind is composed of mental image pictures as explained in Dianetics. These pictures serve the spirit to give him knowledge and experience. These pictures are composed of energy. The energy in the picture can affect the spirit. You can feel better by remembering something that you like or angry by remembering something else. These emotions are actually energy waves emanated by the picture. You can actually feel pain by remembering a pain memory. Sometimes this pictures are accompanied by ideas or considerations. Lets supposed that you father beat you mom up in front of you. Your father was the dominating figure so you might conclude that you have to act like your father in some situations. This is what we call in Scientology an aberration (a conclusion that is impose to you by a mental picture). This picture is what we call a engram; A pain memory that affects your judgement and free will.
4. A spirit is capable of considerations and ideas and this ideas are solely based on uglyness and beautyfullness. The spirit reject ugly things and intends on making everything beautyfull. Do you like your car, you house, your job, your friends? Are you friends nice with you? Can you improve things in your life? All these are ideas based on uglyness and beautyfullness. This is why the spirits rejects the ugly memories and by rejecting the ugly memories (not confronting them) he is unknowingly affected by them.
5. You can discharge the energy in this pictures true communication. This is Auditing, the Auditor directs your attention to this pictures regardless of how ugly they are and you confront the picture and discharge the energy of the picture true the communication line. Is like if you have battery, in order to discharge the battery you need to discharged against something. If you try to discharge it against your self is just going to chock you.
6. Unethical behavior and wrong doings are the #1 reason a spirit diminishes it power. In order to stop your self from hurting others, you hinder your own abilities and force. The rehabilition of your own abilities and force is dependent on you taking full resposability for your actions.
7. You are fully resposible for your condition. Blaming others for your condition will never solve that condition. It doesn't matter what that condition is, blamming other will never help. Only by fully taking ownership of you condition can you solve that contidition.
Scientology is a very interesting religion that takes years of study to master. I just mentioned a few fundamentals. Scientology is so advance and so different that people can't understand it. People think that they know everything there is to know about life. And when they see Scientology they jump to conclusions when in reality they don't have a clue what are they talking about. The reality is that man attacks what he can't understand. That's why Scientology gets so much bad press.
http://www.chaplaincare.navy.mil/Scientology.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/scientol.htm
http://www.beliefnet.com/sem/scientology-religion.asp?source=YAHSCT&campaign=096&medium=PPC &nopop=1&WT.mc_id=YAHSCT&WT.srch=1
Now about Zero Cool anti-Scientology propaganda just bellow me I have this to say:
1. I'm sorry to burst your bubble but Scientologist don't believe in Aliens. The story of Xenu is just a fable like the story Jonah in the Whale in the bible. Fables are not intended to be taken seriosly. The story of Xeno doesn't have any significance in Scientology beliefs.
2.What the heck is a "body theta". A thetan is the Scientology term for the human spirit, there is no such thing as body thetans. I have been in Scientology for over 10 years and I have never heard the term "Body Theta".
3. "The reality of chemical imbalance"? What reality of chemical imbalance? It has never been proven that man can have a chemical imbalance that affect its behavior. Blood test, cat scan, x-rays or any medical test can't determine if a person is crazy. Crazyness are is a label applied to certain socially unacceptable behaviors. A disease is something that a person has and is some form of cellular irregularity or abnormality. Many experts agree that Psychiatry is solely based on opinion and long term use of Psychiatric druds are highly harfull not to mention many side effects including addiction. Anti-drepresants should only be used as a short term solution to calm your nerves during a highly stressfull situacion like a family death and post-partum depresion, ect.
http://www.cchr.org/files/14887/48_hours...
4. What coersive to recruit methods? Scientology has in your face solutions for in your face problems. This seems very strait foward to me.
5. We label everyone who disagrees or questions Scientology a Supresive? That's not true, we only label those that try to harm or attack Scientology or Scientologist.
6. Its founder leader is self-appointed, dogmatic, messianic, not accountable and has charisma? So was Jesus Christ, Bhuda and Mahomma what's your point?
7. It believes 'the end justifies the means' in order to solicit funds & recruit people? Hey, we have our code of conduct too. There are thing we consider right and wrong like everyone else. http://twth.org/eb/?id=16664j
8. Its wealth does not benefit its members or society? Scientologist are highly involved in their comunities and run many comunity help programs.
Do you know that the campain "Say no to drugs and yes to life" was started by scientologists?
http://www.notodrugs-yestolife.org/index...
http://www.emediawire.com/releases/2006/...
Do you know that Scientologist fight for Human Rights?
http://www.youthforhumanrights.org/...
Do you know run the biggest criminal rehabilitation oeganisation there is?
http://www.criminon.org/
Do you know run the most sucessful drug rehab program there is, with a 75% long term sucess rate.
http://www.narconon.org/narconon_results...
Do you know that Scientologist provide for free a very basic, easy to understand and to apply "moral code".
http://twth.org/eb/?id=16664j
http://www.sptimes.com/2005/10/30/tampab...
9. "Cults are extremely harmful. To remain within the strict mental and social confines of a cult for even a short time can have the following disastrous effects: Loss of choice and free will. Diminished intellectual ability, vocabulary and sense of humor? Reduced use of irony, abstractions and metaphors. Reduced capacity to form flexible and intimate relationships. Poor judgment. Physical deterioration. Malnutrition. Hallucinations, panic, dissociation, guilt, identity diffusion and paranoia. Neurotic, psychotic or suicidal tendencies."
Anwser: Scientologist are some of the more inteligent, able and sucessfull people in this planet. Including Jenna Elfman, Kelly Preston, John Travolta, Priscilla Presley, Sofia Milos and Leah Remini. Even Danny Masterson from the that's That '70s Show is a Scientologist and he is freaking funny. Also Bryan Zwan CEO of Digital Lightwave and Craig Jensen CEO of Executive Software International are scientologist too.
10. Those sites that she mentions are no more credible than the sites that say that 9/11 was a plot from the goverment and that the hollocaust never happened.
For example the reference on wikipedia about Xenu is just a fable and no Scientologist believe it to be true. In fact most Scientologist I have meet haven't even heard the story. The fable of Xeno doesn't have any significance on Scientology believes.
The site" http://theunfunnytruth.ytmnd.com/... " alleges that Lisa McPherson died of neglect when in fact it was determined by several forensic examiners that "Lisa McPherson, died suddenly and unpredictably of a blood clot in her left lung that originated from a knee bruise she suffered in a minor auto accident 17 days earlier." The forensic examiner that originaly said that Lisa died of dehidration and bed rest (Dr Joan Woods) admited that she didn't perfom the autopsy and afther examining the facts she changed the cause of death of Lisa to be natural.
http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/acce...
Also that site alleges that Lisa McPherson was held against her will when in fact Lisa was taken to the Scientology resort by her own request. In Judge Quesada's own words "Based on the undisputed facts of this case, plaintiff has not made and cannot make a showing that Lisa McPherson was unlawfully restrained 'against her will' by the defendants. In fact, all of the evidence indicates the opposite. Lisa McPherson refused psychiatric observation or admission at the hospital; she expressly stated her desire to receive the religious care and assistance from her fellow congregants"http://pqasb.pqarchiver.com/sptimes/acce...
I can challenge the information in those sites and "PROVE" that the information in those sites are not only false but absurd.
There are 10 million of Scientologist in the planet living happy and fruitfull lives.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/news/world/ar...
Last years Scientology opened 1,300 missions including missions in Nepal, India and Venezuela.
http://www.scientology.org/html/opencms/...
http://www.scientology.org/html/opencms/...
The reason that Scientology is here and growing is simple: "Because Scientology works".
Here's what it's all about. This explanation isn't sugar-coated, it's not influenced by loyalty to the church and it's not B.S. This is what Scientologists ACTUALLY believe:
Xenu was an alien ruler of the "Galactic Confederacy" who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of people to Earth in spacecrafts resembling Douglas DC-8 airliners, stacked them around volcanoes and blew them up with hydrogen bombs. Their souls then clustered together and stuck to the bodies of the living. The alien souls continue to do this today, causing a variety of physical ill-effects in modern-day humans. L. Ron Hubbard (a science-fiction writer and the creator of Scientology) called these clustered spirits "Body Thetans," and the advanced levels in Scientology place considerable emphasis on isolating them and neutralizing their ill effects.
To rid ourselves of "Body Thetans" and also ?engrams? (past negative experiences stored in our unconscious mind) so that we can become ?clear?, we have to go through "auditing" with a member of the ?church? who uses an "e-meter" to measure our ?reactive mind?...... and we have to pay lots and lots and lots of money for ?auditing? (purchased in 12.5-hour blocks, costing anywhere from $750 for introductory sessions to between $8,000 and $9,000 for advanced sessions) and to take courses on Scientology to advance to higher ?levels? in the ?church?. The ?church? has also taken a very hostile stance towards psychiatry and psychiatric drugs irrespective of the fact that some people require medication to remain adequately functional in everyday life. The ?church? has been known to withhold prescription pharmaceuticals from member (with deadly results).
Scientology is undeniably a cult. Every cult can be defined as a group having all of the following five characteristics:
(1) It uses psychological coercion to recruit, indoctrinate and retain its members [convincing potential members that they are unhappy and Scientology is the only means of helping themselves]. (2) It forms an elitist totalitarian society. [they label everyone who disagrees or questions as a ?Suppressive Person? and requires members to ?disconnect? from them] (3) Its founder leader is self-appointed, dogmatic, messianic, not accountable and has charisma. [Yes, that would be Hubbard] (4) It believes 'the end justifies the means' in order to solicit funds & recruit people. (5) Its wealth does not benefit its members or society. [self evident proof for 4 & 5 as it does milk members for virtually everything they have and it?s wealth dozen?t find it?s way back to it?s members or society at all]
Cults are extremely harmful. To remain within the strict mental and social confines of a cult for even a short time can have the following disastrous effects:
Loss of choice and free will. Diminished intellectual ability, vocabulary and sense of humor. Reduced use of irony, abstractions and metaphors. Reduced capacity to form flexible and intimate relationships. Poor judgment. Physical deterioration. Malnutrition. Hallucinations, panic, dissociation, guilt, identity diffusion and paranoia. Neurotic, psychotic or suicidal tendencies.
i have to ask, what exactly is the deal with scientology?
