In it's relatively short life-span, Scientology has garnered a lot of attention from the media and public at large - mainly for its unorthodox idea's about the world and humanity as well as the way in which it takes money from it's members. My question is - can Scientology be called a religion? Or is it merely a cult? And moreover, should it be allowed to advertise itself on the internet if it IS a cult?
It seems to me that the only goal of Scientology is to relieve as many rich and dumb people of their money as possible. The 'Audits' that they have to pay increasingly ridiculous amounts of money for are supposedly stripping the person of 'negative traumatic incidents' from past lives and yet they use This to do it - which seems weird.
So to sum up: Is Scientology a religion? Or a cult?
Is it harmful to the people that follow it?
(Until the world agrees that Scientology is either a religion or a cult) Should they be allowed to advertise themselves to people?
Do you have any personal views or experiences of Scientology?
i already mentioned l ron, thanks very much freakenstein.
i have yet to mention operation snow white. (in a nutshell aka the wikipedia opening)
Operation Snow White was the Church of Scientology's name for a conspiracy during the 1970s to purge unfavorable records about Scientology and its founder L. Ron Hubbard. This project included a series of infiltrations and thefts from 136 government agencies, foreign embassies and consulates, as well as private organizations critical of Scientology, carried out by Church members, in more than 30 countries; the single largest infiltration of the United States government in history with up to 5,000 covert agents. This was also the operation that exposed 'Operation Freakout', because this was the case that initiated the US government investigation of the Church.
Under this program, Scientology operatives committed infiltration, wiretapping, and theft of documents in government offices, most notably those of the U.S. Internal Revenue Service. Eleven highly-placed Church executives, including Mary Sue Hubbard (wife of founder L. Ron Hubbard and second-in-command of the organization), pleaded guilty or were convicted in federal court of obstructing justice, burglary of government offices, and theft of documents and government property. The case was United States vs. Mary Sue Hubbard et al., 493 F. Supp. 209 (D.D.C. 1979).
I've seen a reportage once about members who were able to quit and told what it was like. Don't ask me for details, but principally they are picking out easy targets, they completely isolate them from their family and friends (trying to replace them, organizing so much events that you simply have no time), they scam their money (you have to buy all the things necessary for each of the roughly 200 steps themselves; and if you can't pay, they do like they would offer you one step, but finally you end up owing them a lot more money) and destroy their bodies (One step of 'urging' involves buying packages of vitamin pills (very expensive, and you have to buy many of them) and the amount you have to take is beyond all treshhold values and sanity). In short, they are brainwashed, cut from society, rid of their money...
NO, scientology is either a religion or a cult, it is some kind of organized crime, a thieves guild if you want, hiding under the cover of a religion or a cult.
as they were caught infiltrating the government? yeah.
also i guess to all those who are too lazy to google something about lisa mcpherson i guess i'll post it. and i wont quote wikipedia on this one because its a huge mess of an article.
(as im not quoting anything this time it'll get a little hazy at points, but you can check my info if you wanna be anal about it.)
she was being kept because they didnt want her to be put under psychiatric care. after finally deciding to take her to a doctor (a scientologist doctor btw) they passed 4 hospitals on the 45 minute drive. she died on the way their. autopsy said she was severely dehydrated, having gone several days without water. and she had a bunch of cockroach bites on her arm.
there was also operation freakout, which im quoting wiki
Operation Freakout, also known as Operation PC Freakout, was a Church of Scientology covert plan intended to have the US author and journalist Paulette Cooper imprisoned or committed to a mental institution. The plan, undertaken in 1976 following years of Church-initiated lawsuits and covert harassment, was meant to eliminate the perceived threat that Cooper posed to the Church and obtain revenge for her publication in 1971 of a highly critical book, The Scandal of Scientology. The Federal Bureau of Investigation discovered documentary evidence of the plot and the preceding campaign of harassment during an investigation into the Church of Scientology in 1977, eventually leading to the Church compensating Cooper in an out-of-court settlement.
I personally believe that religion is a form of cult, just with a nicer name. But if you must, I still maintain that Scientology is very similar to othe "religions", so it's a religion, not a cult.
Is it harmful to the people that follow it?
Certainly no more harmful to people than Mormonism, or Catholicism, or practically any other religion is. Sure, it fleeces its members, but so does pretty much every other religion.
Should they be allowed to advertise themselves to people?
I vastly prefer advertising on the internet as Scientology does, as opposed to the annoying-as-hell door-to-door missionary thing that Jehovah's Witnesses and Mormons have got going on. So, yeah. Every religion advertises, it's just that people make a bigger fuss over some religions than over others.
Do you have any personal views or experiences of Scientology?
I have not read Dianetics, I do not know any Scientologists personally, therefore I have no opinion on it. I would be willing to bet that the very people who dismiss Scientology as ridiculous do not even know the basic doctrines of the religion. It's like communism. People say it's evil, but they have no idea what it actually is.
as previously said, all religions are cults. personally speaking i don't give a fuck about religion and would rather it disappeared tomorrow.
Is it harmful to the people that follow it?
they try to scam you out of all your money, and also the thing i posted earlier about lisa, so yes, yes it is very harmful.
Should they be allowed to advertise themselves to people?
*sigh* technically speaking it is a religion, and therefore has the same rights of "advertising" as any other religion. but once again being kinda anti-religious i would rather not see any of this advertising.
Do you have any personal views or experiences of Scientology?
besides what i've previously stated. im also an anon. no sadly i wasnt there for chanology but it had my full support.
Anyway, if religions and cults are the same then why do we make a distinction? Is it because we associate 'cult' with bad things and 'religion' makes it sounds more legitimate.
second, they are the same by definition, the difference being that people think religions are good and others, while cults are usually joined by crazy people to do... crazy people things...
oh wow i broke the rules!! im going to anonjail. not really but w/e
That post waz amazin Wolf... I did much lolling and am now happy.
second, they are the same by definition, the difference being that people think religions are good and others, while cults are usually joined by crazy people to do... crazy people things...
I agree that Cult sounds bad and religion good (well, sort of) so it instantly makes people form an opinion. If only they knew that their religion has spawned cults that are very much still in practice (going to church, preyong in front of alters etc etc...)
You can be part of a religion and not a cult, because cust are basicly the act of worship, where the religion is a set of beliefs, in a very loose manner of speaking.
That post waz amazin Wolf... I did much lolling and am now happy.
Just spreading the joy.
I agree that Cult sounds bad and religion good (well, sort of) so it instantly makes people form an opinion. If only they knew that their religion has spawned cults that are very much still in practice (going to church, preyong in front of alters etc etc...)
Just a history lesson (it's what I do). There was a time when Christianity was considered a cult back when the Romans were pagans. Furthermore during the Reformation several "cults" sprang up. These cults were refered to as "religious terrorists". Ironically most of those cults are now accepted sects of Christianity today.
There was a time when Christianity was considered a cult back when the Romans were pagans. Furthermore during the Reformation several "cults" sprang up. These cults were refered to as "religious terrorists". Ironically most of those cults are now accepted sects of Christianity today.
Religious terrorists ey! Nothing much changes there then. People seem to forget that in the not too distant past the world was largely pagan.
a set of beliefs concerning the cause, nature, and purpose of the universe, esp. when considered as the creation of a superhuman agency or agencies, usually involving devotional and ritual observances, and often containing a moral code governing the conduct of human affairs.
