scientology???

Question

I am really confused, the first time I heard of this so called "religon" was on E news talking about Tom Cruise. Then I go to the website and everthing is great, they talk about improving yourself, your marriage, making your children brighter. Then you strart researching and people are saying its a cult, or that it was a get rich quik scheme by Ron Hubbard (the founder). There is so much mixed info I just dont know what to think. And how is it a religeon? The only was I determined that they consider themselves a religeon was because it was mentioned on the same story about cruise. The scientology website seems to point more at the fact like they a self help organization. very odd. any info or thoughts would be helpful!

Answer 1

Hi ya,

Yeah it can be really confusing. There website doesn't match with what the critics say, and seems genuine. Their literature appeals to a person's good nature, and they seem to have good goals in mind. This, im afraid to say is a clever marketing scam and what you actually find in scientology is not what is printed on the glossy leaflets.

I have studied scientology for many years, and have changed opinion ranging from harmless physcobabble to dangerous vicious cult. The more you research the worse it gets. I find the books from ex-scientologists, and the documents surrounding Ron Hubbard the most telling of the organisation. http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/

Scientologists hold different beliefs depending on how long they have been inside the Church.

Scientologists believe:
o Man has a immortal soul called a thetan.
o You have a primitive reactive mind which is the source of much of man's problems, which collects "engrams" from traumatic times or when you are unconscience.
o A lot of physical illnesses/problems are physcosomatic caused by "Engrams".
o You can 'audit' engrams out and this will solve your issues and clear up your health. They also believe it makes you a more intelligent, aware and reasoned individual.
o Reincarnation and the ability to know these past lives and get to more engrams this way.
o Paying lots of money to scientology for there tech, courses, and auditing.
o Getting more people into scientology.

If they have got to OTIII, then the belief changes slightly.
o The universe is quadrillions years old.
o Xenu the Interglatic Space Lord ruled a confederation of overpopulated planets.
o Xenu took a load of these aliens from each planet and brought them to earth.
o They were then exploded in volcanoes 75 million yrs ago.
o Their souls were then caught on ribbons and taken to implant stations, where Xenu brainwashed & confused them so they wouldn't leave the planet. This includes implanting all the world religions.
o These Alien souls called Body Thetans have attached to humans, and are infact the real cause of your problems and why you get and retain engrams...
o You audit these body thetans out by auditing there engrams and taking them back to the Xenu incidents I & II.
o People have jaw aches from when they were a clam in human evolution....hence the name of the main critical site http://www.clambake.org

You can read about this in a neutral site. wikipedia
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/scientology
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/xenu

Scientology may be a religion, as you cannot trounce on people's beliefs, there are entitled to it no matter how strange, even Xenu.
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/xenu

Originally it was set up as therapy, not religion. Ron changed it to religion as a means to escape the law, escape taxes, and so as to appeal more to the masses. It worked...dianetics was failing at the time scientology was created.

However, the Church of Scientology, the organisation is most definitely a money making scam, and a dangerous cult.

If they told you about Xenu upfront, how many people would join? This is where it crosses over to a cult:
They lie to people to gain adherents, they lie to keep them.
They lie to the media, they lie to governments.
They use hard sell techniques, and create social dependancy through social control aka mind control.
They prevent scientologists from looking at the facts about scientology
They charge through the roof for what they sell.
They aren't credited by the scientific community
They hound and harass critics.

And much much more, this is what makes it a cult, not their beliefs.

This is what one critic thinks of scientology:
" The Church of Scientology is a vicious and dangerous cult that masquerades as a religion. Its purpose is to make money. It practices a variety of mind-control techniques on people lured into its midst to gain control over their money and their lives. Its aim is to take from them every penny that they have and can ever borrow and to also enslave them to further its wicked ends.

It was started in the 1950s by a science fiction writer named L. Ron Hubbard in fulfilment to his declared aim to start a religion to make money. It is an offshoot to a method of psychotherapy he concocted from various sources which he named "Dianetics". Dianetics is a form of regression therapy. It was then further expanded to appear more like a religion in order to enjoy tax benefits. He called it "Scientology".

Scientology is a confused concoction of crackpot, dangerously applied psychotherapy, oversimplified, idiotic and inapplicable rules and ideas and science-fiction drivel that is presented to its members (at the "advanced" levels) as profound spiritual truth. "
http://www.clambake.org/roland-intro.html
http://www.clambake.org

Go here to see some video clips of scientologists in action:
http://www.xenutv.com

It can cost someone upto and beyond $380,000 to get to the top in scientology, and this may take decades.
http://www.clambake.org/archive/CoS_prices.html

They also hound critics trying to discredit and ruin them in any way (even if illegally), pressuring with lawyers, etc in order to stop any criticism rather than tackling the points raised by the critic. The campaign against critics is a well documented one.
http://www.suppressiveperson.org/

You can find much information out on the web, including even whole books written by ex-members:
http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/
(free to read, just click on 'em)

Ron Hubbard may have died rich, but he also died in a terrible state of health, taking physciatric drugs - despite telling everyone else that scientology fixes all your ills, and that physciatry is evil and wrong.
http://www.clambake.org/archive/hubbardcoroner/

Here is a site that looks at cults in general:
http://www.cultinformation.org.uk/

And others
http://www.freedomofmind.com/
http://www.csj.org/

This is a description of what a cult is and does, I think scientology hits practically every single one.
http://www.cultinformation.org.uk/faq.html#cult

There is much documented evidence that has come from court trials, government investigations and the accounts of ex-members. It all points to scientology being a cult. So if you find critics maybe not a trustworthy source of info for any reason, then just look at all the stuff below.

http://www.xenu.net/archive/CourtFiles/
http://www.xenu.net/archive/judge_quotes.html
http://www.whyaretheydead.net/krasel/
http://www.xenu.net/archive/audit/
http://www.daisy.freeserve.co.uk/bonniewoods.htm
http://www.scientology-lies.com/investigation.html

This is a formal study of dianetics, the only one. It concludes dianetics doesn't do what it says it does.
http://www.xenu.net/archive/fischer/

Now as if I hadn't given enough links, and probably bored the pants of you, here is a list of all websites relating to scientology
http://www.altreligionscientology.org/

It is actually a great shame, all these people got into scientology wanting to improve themselves and others. What they got was the total opposite.

Answer 2

started by L. Ron Hubbard as 'self help strategy' called Dianetics (he started out writing SiFi books and then wrote self help books) ...it into a turned "religion".....many people (Christians, atheist, agnostics, former members, ect) say it is the perfect 'text-book' example of a non-violent Cult (thought some members have reported physical and emotional abuse) the basic idea is: during your and past lives you've had negative experiences that you can't recall, these repressed experiences 'hold you back'.... through special counseling called "Dianetics" (provided by the CoS. for a nominal fee) you can 'process/deal with' these bad experiences....once there all taken care of, you can transcend to a "high plain of existence" ....THE END....

Answer 3

read up on Ron Hubbard's history. he purposely created scientology cuz he was searching of ways to get rich, so he decided to focus on the celebrities cuz they will believe anything quickly and they will spread it quickly thru the media. he was right, very quickly the scientology method became very popular among the celebrities but it's all about money and not a religion. same about madonna's kaballa.

Answer 4

it is indeed a religion founded by a sci fi writer. They belive in aliens, and are happy to take your money on your way to enlightenment.

I am sure they make some people feel very fulfilled like any organization, but were it me, I would stay far away. Once they get someone, esp someone with money, they are not keen on letting you get away.

Answer 5

all religions, in a way, are self-help. Those that charge you to become a member, shouldn't be considered a religion. I'm not talking about asking for donations, I'm talking about charging you a mandatory set price to join. Scientologists charge you to become a member. ANd, if you read diunetics, by L. Ron Hubbard, it reveals how they believe god works, and it involves spaceships, and aliens, etc...craziness

Answer 6

It's a cult. L. Ron Hubbard was a hack sci-fi writer who wanted to make more money--lots more. He came up with this idea to incorporate aliens, powers, dead souls etc. into a new "religion."

You can find tons of info about the cult here: http://www.rickross.com/groups/scientology.html

It's one of the fairly dangerous ones. Stay away.

Yes, Scientology attracts celebrities, but these people have enormous egos and get special pampering. They don't do the grunt-work of the rank & file newbies. They just shell out their bucks, and move straight to the top. And Scientology is happy to do that for them in exchange for the exposure these celebs give their cult...er..."religion."

PS: Hubbard's own son renounced his father's teachings.

Answer 7

Scientology if you notice only helps the rich and celebrities. Never have I met a person who works at a 711 or Wal Mart cashier blog or rave about how it worked for them.

I myself have experienced an audit. It is psychology, it is using EMDR techniques used to treat veterans with PTSD, it is using philosophy from many cultures bundled into one lump sum.

The program is about money and how much they can leach from you. And as soon as you run out, you are simply told to find a friend to do the audits.

They also have a chart in which they want you to follow. In my estimate, with the cost of a 12 hour audit (on average $250), you'd have to spend 250k to reach "enlightenment".

Also, they say it isn't psychology. Bull! It is, it's a scam. But most importantly, the majority of these people don't even have college degrees in psychology. So my question is, would you want a guy who calls himself a surgeon, do surgery on you with only a high school education or someone who calls themselves "self-taught"?

They use Scientology at drug rehab centers. However, from my experience with knowing several people from San Berny in Cali, all of them have returned to their drug habits within days to weeks. So you tell me if this is really a great thing or a hoax.

I don't think Scientology is a cult, unless the group of people in it idolize it's ideals and believes. To me, as a Christian, this is a blatant disregard to my beliefs and it's teachings. Even non-Christian atheiest archeologist have proved things (such as events) true that are mentioned in the Bible.

So point blank, Scientology can be balled up in one swift motto: Money = Happiness/Enlightment.

It's no different than these jerks who go town to town, telling you how you can get rich quick or buy real estate quick, but first you must buy their $999 kit. They get their money, you get crap service, and the true way of getting their money is by convincing people that you are really out there to "help" them.

However, the bottom line judgement call is yours. At least you were intelligent enough to research Scientology. I would suggest just putting your faith and life in the hands of Jesus and don't worry about not being able to feel or sense His presence to make your life better.

Ron L. Hubbard died a rich man. I doubt he ever pondered if he made a difference in anyone's life. The man was about making a buck and finding new angles to do it. So don't get sucked into this trap.

Answer 8

I got the book Dianetics. On the 3rd page it states something about how it'll explain everything in easy to understand language, but the next couple of words you practically needed a dictionary to understand. So I quit reading since it was already contradictory.

It seems that celebrities who are in this group seem to go a little off their rocker when you say anything negative about it. Jenna Elman really lost it - she is padded room material now, if you ask me.

It just seems weird to me.

Answer 9

Don't get mixed up with them! You will find it very hard to break ties with them if you ever want to leave! And check the following website!

Liam, your answer rocks!

Answer 10

Scientology is no religion. It is just a scheme to pilfer money from unsuspecting victims. They almost caught me in their trap too. Once I went to an information session to find out what it's all about, and all I can remember about that meeting is them trying to get me to buy at least 10 books. They advertise themselves so much, and what's more is that you have to pay to go to their "church". You might want to compare this to tithing in a Christian church, for example, but the difference is that if you don't pay to go their church, you will not be admitted to the church. I don't want to tell you what's right for you, but if you're looking for religion, you will not find it in scientology.