Is Scientology religion like the SouthPark episode describes?

Question

Are scientologists upset by Trey Parker and Matt Stones cartoon mocking their religion?

Answer 1

Yes it is... And I can actually prove it.

http://www.xenu.net/archive/OTIII-scholar/

There is an extract in his own handwriting confirmed by the Church's lawyers in court.

Here is another court freed document which concerns the whole of OTIII which came up in court during the Fishman Affidavit, you can check out other OT levels here too; see OTVIII for an interesting comment about Jesus.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/fishman/index2.html

Here is a summary from an ex-member:
http://www.xenu.net/archive/OTIII-scholar/atack-ot3-summary.txt

And they are more upset than they will let on here.

So why didn't theta tell us this, she's been in it 35 yrs....

These quotes might help:
"THE ONLY WAY YOU CAN CONTROL PEOPLE IS TO LIE TO THEM. You can write that down in your book in great big letters. The only way you can control anybody is to lie to them."
L. RON HUBBARD "Technique 88"

" I also trained other Scientology PRs on how to handle the media, using material from Hubbard. This included how to respond to a question without answering, how to divert the issue, how to tell "an acceptable truth," how to stall for time, how to assume various emotional states to control another, how to "attack the attacker," how to take control of a conversation, how to introvert a person and how to "get the message across" (especially in an age of sound bites), how to help Scientology attorneys write inflammatory legal papers so the PR could then safely use the abusive phrases, and how to appear to be a religion."
Robert Vaughn Young PR Relations Officer for the Church of Scientology for 20 years.
http://www.clambake.org/archive/media/young-quill.html

Yes some parts of scientology will work because Hubbard plagiarised from a variety of sources, especially the learning and business tech. One good piece of advice they always follow for example is never go past a word that you don't understand, go and look it up. However the bad far outways the good, and you can get better help and information elsewhere. These discusses his sources:
http://www.lermanet2.com/sources.htm
http://www.clambake.org/archive/lrhbare/


The Church of Scientology is a destructive cult as defined by numerous cult experts world wide.

http://www.clambake.org

Answer 2

Obviously not.
South Park is a satire. A cartoon that relies of
making people and things look ridiculous supposedly for entertainment purposes.
It would be like thinking "the Simpsons" is actually a true representation of a typical American family.

As for any Scientologist taking this kind of spoof personally
I can only speak for myself.....yawn.

Trey Parker and Matt Stones seem to specialize in riduculing
religions for some unknown reason. Maybe they have some
"issues" in the area . Who knows, or cares, for that matter ?
It's only TV.....not much to do with reality at the best of times,
and very rarely really good entertainment.

Scientology is doing just fine and expanding like never before.

Just for the record here is a good description of what Scientology is really like:

Scientology is an applied religious philosophy. When I say "applied" I mean you actually use it in your life to change or improve existing conditions. This is different from a religious practice. All religions if you learn about them have a basic philosphy, but they also have certain dogma, rituals and observances, and a certain faith or belief is required. There is nothing wrong with this, but Scientology is not that kind of religion. It does not intrude on anyones faiths of beliefs particularly in the area of God , the Supreme Being, or the Infinite. This area is left totally up to the indivdual, which is why you can be a practicing Jew,for example and still use and apply the priniciples of Scientology in your life. It does not conflict. If anything it will enhance your understanding of your chosen religious practice.
You can have no specific religious beliefs and still benefit from using it.
And it is only true for you according to your own observation and experience with it.
It is a non denominational religion . The dictionary definition that applies:
Religion: The spiritual or emotional attitude of one who recognises the existence of superhuman power or powers.

The most basic principle of Scientology is that YOU are your own immortal soul, that this is not a "thing" you HAVE but what YOU actually are.
The whole purpose of Scientology is to increase an individual's understanding and awareness of himself. And thereby his native abilities .
When you do this the sphere and zone of his positive influence increases and moves outward into his life, his family ,his friends, his groups and mankind which he is part of.

How this result is achieved is the "technology" of Scientology, which was developed by L.Ron Hubbard after his extensive research and the discoveries he made, about the human spirit. The basic religious philosophy and knowledge of Scientology is very old, going back 10,000 years at least to the Veda or Vedic Hymns from the East. The developement of the technology is new.
He completed his research before his death in 1986 and left all of his results and copyrights
to the Church of Scientology along with most of his considerable estate., when he died.

He published a book in 1951 to communicate the basic principles he discovered called: " Scientology The Fundementals of Thought"
There are currently over 8 million Scientologists in more that 150 countries world wide. However we are a new religion, only 53 years old. We just got started.
The true story of Scientology as a religion goes like this:
1. A philosopher developes a philosophy about life and death.
2. People find it interesting.
3. People find it works.
4. People pass it along to others.
5. It grows.

Answer 3

Unfortunately I can answer this question by way of personal experience. Yes, Scientology really is a religion. I want you to know though that Scientology isn't really all bad.

When I was around 10 years old my uncle got involved with Scientology and included me, we went to “Course” Celebrity Center Dallas every weekend for a few years.

There are some phenomenal life skills that can be developed through Scientology that have helped me greatly. In particular, the course on Success Through Communication. Having learned how to truly talk to people and understand meanings is very powerful. This course really changed my life in that I found that Communication was not only something I really liked, but was good at. I am planning on starting a Masters/PhD program in Communication this fall.

Also, and this is only a theory, I took the course “Learning How to Learn”. If you can find this book, you should buy it. It is Great! It also really shaped my life. I have no idea how it happened, but it not only made me a better student, but I have the strangest way of learning ever. When I am in class I have my notebook and take a few cryptic notes; sometimes no more than 10 words for the whole class. But I also sit there and doodle. Years later, I can look back in my notebooks and look at those doodles and I can remember exactly what was being said at the time.

Back to your question about is Scientology a Religion… and the bad side of Scientology.

The thing is that Scientologists really are nuts, in my point of view. While Scientology does have some great things to offer (as mentioned above); the bad part of it is that you can only do a little bit; you can only scratch the surface of what you can learn by way of Scientology before they ask you to renounce God. This is where I parted ways with them. I hope that you don’t ever get involved in Scientology, I would like to suggest you look for the book (on the internet) “Learning How To Learn”.

As for the second part of your question, about would scientologists be upset by mocking their religion, the answer is most defiantly, however they have been picked on so much they have rather thick skin.

By the way: I suggest that you never inquire about Scientology through their website or another Scientologist as they will literally send you mail for the rest of your life. When I moved from one state to another, literally as soon as I arrived at my new house, Scientology was already sending me crap. After 10 years of fighting with them, I finally got off their mailing lists by sending a letter to the "Letter Registrar".

Hope this helps!

Answer 4

Scientology is a form of idolatry. In the ancient world people used to claim that there are many God and made images of them, scientologist believe in big bang or evolution from nothing.

Answer 5

It had extra actuality than I predicted yet thats of route because the writers are ex mormons or the adult adult males gf is, I cant keep in recommendations which. in case you imagine someone being inspired by using god to discover an historic record of golden plates to translate is dazzling then you honestly of route havnt study the bible which have very strung out storys. an ocean departing? plagues repeatedly? a donkey speaking? the record is going on for all those those who declare the lds history is a lot fetched. and for desiree who seems to continuously be zealous about making us seem undesirable you dont actually have his first call superb. Its joseph in the initiating so in case you cant even get his first call superb i ask your self how superb some thing else of your words are?

Answer 6

Yeah. Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef, is a Scientologist. Did you notice how he was not in that episode? Did you notice that he quit thereafter? It is because of this episode. Tom Cruise, too, threatened to sue.

Answer 7

It seems (to ME, anyway) that in this "religion" , the more money you give to the church, the better your chances of getting to heaven are.
And, yes, they're upset at Parker and Stone for exposing their sham of a religion to the rest of the world.

Answer 8

Unfortunately many people believe South Park,and scientology instead of the bible.

Answer 9

Yes. It is like what they show. When they show something so ridiculous but true, they put a box at the bottom that says "this is what _______ actually believes". The blank it that episode was scientolologists.

Answer 10

Yes, sadly they were very correct in their portrayal of Scientology, trust me, YOU DO NOT make fun of Scientology without FIRST running it by YOUR LAWYERS! Or you will pay!