What's this Scientology lark all about?

**chris_uk_83** · March 01, 2007, 03:16 AM

Anyone know what Scientology is all about? All I know is that they're meant to be a bunch of weirdos who believe all manner of ridiculous things, but I'd like to know exactly how weird and what's ridiculous.

Any scientologists on this board who'd like to defend their religion?

**General Dissaray** · March 01, 2007, 03:18 AM

A simple Google serch found me this: http://www.whatisscientology.org/ I glanced at it and it seems like it should have all you want to know about it.

**chris_uk_83** · March 01, 2007, 06:20 AM

Well that's what they tell everyone about. I heard that they have to do what a machine tells them to do, and that the human race is decended from giant space clams. I didn't see anything about that on the website.

**General Dissaray** · March 01, 2007, 11:05 AM

Well I it was late and I didn't look thru much of it, sorry for the missleading link then.

I wached an episode of South Park that explained Sceientology, from what I understand they gave a good back story on it. I will try to reiterate that story here for you:

A long time ago there was this Galactic Council of Planets. It was heded by the evil Lord Zenu. This Zenu chericter thought his glaxy was geting over populated so he rounded up all the aliens he didn't like and had them frozen. He then put them on rokets that look like DC8s and sent them to Earth. Once the DC8 rokets reached Earth the aliens were droped into the volcanos of Hawii. The aliens died for obvious reasons and their souls started floating up into the sky. But Zenu, being the evil basterd he is, for saw all of this and biult a special soul catching device to keep them from escaping Earth. The soul catcher then took the souls to a special soul brainwashing center, also biult on the Earth. There the souls were fed a falce realaty, when they all bought into it they were releaced to wander the Earth. Wander they did, for millions of years untill the showing of man. Men haveing brains suficant for contact with the souls made perfect hostes and the souls jumped into them. These souls are the reason for all our problems as people, dipresion, anger, ect.

All of this was first writen down by L. Ron Hubbard, a scinece fiction writer who I belive onece said, "You can make money with any thing if you lable it a religion." But I can't be 100% sure that he said that so if it is found that he didn't, oops.

That is the back story, more or less, as I was told it. They have these things, Thetan meaters, that mesure how unhapy you are due to these souls or some thing like that. Then you have to pay them money and they will fix you, or some thing I guess. All in all it is a little weard and hingeing on the scamtastic side of things.

**Pnutmaster** · March 01, 2007, 11:34 AM

Originally Posted by General Dissaray

A simple Google serch found me this: http://www.whatisscientology.org/ I glanced at it and it seems like it should have all you want to know about it.

Talk about a biased source

People are better off learning about Scientology from that South Park episode you mentioned in your following post.

**Cúchulainn** · March 01, 2007, 11:28 AM

To answer your question scientology is a waste of your ****ING TIME. Created by a bigotted idiotic man as a bussiness and a bussiness only. I mean what kind of religion offers salvation by means of cash installments, to get to the higher levels(what?) you must give several thousand dollars to scientology. It's a cult and that alone.

**HeracliustheVictor** · March 01, 2007, 10:44 PM

To answer your question Scientology is a waste of your ****ING TIME.

It is.
I like the German goverment's view of it, they have it on some kind of list for organizations that defraud people.

**RZZZA** · March 01, 2007, 10:49 PM

Originally Posted by chris_uk_83

All I know is that they're meant to be a bunch of weirdos who believe all manner of ridiculous things....

Sounds pretty much like every religion to me...

ZING

**Gelgoog** · March 03, 2007, 04:45 PM

Originally Posted by RZZZA

Sounds pretty much like every religion to me...

ZING

i would have said every church.. religion isnt the problem until you organize it into a church who tell people what to do. but nicely put

**NaptownKnight** · March 03, 2007, 04:59 PM

Originally Posted by RZZZA

Sounds pretty much like every religion to me...

ZING

Oh no my friend, they are not. I guess I will type my explanation after all.

Scientology was founded by Ron Hubbard, an ex naval intelligence officer who was also a member of a cult that believed in magic, although they called it magik. Scientology was at first not scientology but dianetics, a form of psychology that may actually have some merit to it. Dianetics focused on clearing your mind of bad memories and thoughts, called engrams. This would help you acheive a greater level of happiness. Dianetics became Scientology in the 60's, and the "churches" headquarters were based somewhere in England ( I forget where). This was due to the fact the scientology churches had trouble with the federal government over the tax exempt status of most churches. Eventually however the government did give the churches tax exempt status. During the 60's Hubbard spent all of his time on a yacht that was based in the mediteraniean, cruising around to different countries (and gradualy getting banned from all of them) searching for sighns of Hubbards previous life. They visited ancient cultures, including a dive off of Tunis, looking for the ruins of Carthage, which the scientologists claimed they visited. Eventually Hubbard came back to america, more specifically Florida. Then the church ran into some trouble with the IRS when members were caught infiltrating the IRS building and stealing tax records on the church. Thats a very basic history of Scientology.

Scientologists believe that your physical body is just a prison, that your true self is a spiratual being called a Thetan. Thetans helped create the universe, untill they were captured by Lord Zou or whatever that guys name is. He then blew up all of the Thetans in a volcanoe and forced them into the bodily prisons that are our bodies. When our physical body dies we are imediately transfered to another body, so we have past lives in other bodies. Scientologists believe that by going on "The Bridge to Total Freedom" which involves clearing your thoughts of every bad memory and other things, you will be able to escape your body and become a full fledged Thetan. This is called operating thetan, or OT. And you guessed it, hubbard is the only scientologist to ever acheive OT. This also involves paying alot of money, as it costs to attend "church" and every member of scientology is requierd to attend church twice a month.

Scientology is a big load of bull, written by a Science Fiction writer (yes Hubbard is a "award winning" science fiction writer) who he himself stated " Writing books is no way to make money, if you really want to get rich, make up a religion". Scientologists also do extremely bad things to members, such as the RPF, where members who have violated a rule are allocated. These people are forced to live in the boiler room or another uncomfartable place in a scientologist complex. They are forced to eat with just their mouths, out of a community trough like a horse. They are also forced to do slave labor all day. That said their are a few good things scientology does, like it's extremely succesful drug rehab. Other than that it is just a big old sham to get your money.

**SickBoy13** · March 02, 2007, 12:09 AM

It was founded by a man who, years earlier, wrote a passage in a book on how to make millions by founding one's own church: write offs, alms, donations, all going to the founder.
A joke.
Yes, you may find it hypocritic of me to bash Scientology while being strongly religious, but I don't really care.

**Nurab Sol** · March 02, 2007, 02:18 AM

All religions are different, bashing one while adhering to another doesn't make you a hypocrite.

Quote:
Originally Posted by chris_uk_83 View Post
All I know is that they're meant to be a bunch of weirdos who believe all manner of ridiculous things....

Sounds pretty much like every religion to me...

Do you consider the idea of human dignity to be ridiculous? Or how about the right to life and liberty? Yeah, government by consent is just a load of crap isn't it?

**RZZZA** · March 02, 2007, 02:30 PM

Originally Posted by Nurab Sol

All religions are different, bashing one while adhering to another doesn't make you a hypocrite.

Do you consider the idea of human dignity to be ridiculous? Or how about the right to life and liberty? Yeah, government by consent is just a load of crap isn't it?

I was just joking, kind of tongue in cheeck. Of course I realize that many religions have done good for our society, and I respect some religous people. The smart ones...

**chris_uk_83** · March 03, 2007, 04:17 PM

I'd really like an actual Scientologist to come on this thread and defend scientology if that's at all possible. I fancy a good laugh!

**Tecumseh** · March 03, 2007, 04:29 PM

I'd really like an actual Scientologist to come on this thread and defend scientology if that's at all possible. I fancy a good laugh!

You won't find any, Scientology is a hollywood rich person cult.

I was just joking, kind of tongue in cheeck. Of course I realize that many religions have done good for our society, and I respect some religous people. The smart ones...

I agree, except vice versa seeing as I'm a theist(more or less).

Atheism(or any other -ism for that matter) doesn't bother me, stupid people bother me.

**NaptownKnight** · March 03, 2007, 04:43 PM

I did a school project on Scientology. Theres alot to talk about, so is there something specific you want to know? The farther you dig through stuff about them the crazier they sound. If you want to find out for yourself stop by your local library and check out atleast two books, one written by Mr. Hubbard or some one affiliated with the "church", and one that is critical of it.

**boofhead** · March 03, 2007, 04:47 PM

Just ask Tom Cruise....the guy can't shut up about it. Going by his example I believe practitioners have to jump around on lounges spouting dribble and insult people at every turn by being extremely self-righteous.

**TheKwas** · March 03, 2007, 04:49 PM

It's utterly amazing how this religion is a complete joke of a religion in just about everyone's mind (and rightly so), and yet people turn an intellectual blind eye towards equally absurd notions. I don't see how measuring one's soul with some device is more crazy than thinking you eat Jesus every time you go to church (or drink his blood for that matter). Nor do I see how believing in winged humans living in another universe that come to earth now and then is more absurd than Aliens that populate other planets with spirit-like things.