Is scientology a cult?

Question

i'm just curious, it seems a bit odd

Answer 1

Scientology has a history based in occult connections between its founder and Aleister Crowley (quote from first link below):

"What's more interesting is the well-documented connection between Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and Aleister Crowley, the father of modern Satanism and Hubbard's purported mentor. One could even mount a convincing argument that Scientology is an offshoot of Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis, sharing the Satanist credo "Do as thou wilt, that is the whole of the law.""

Crowley was interested in all sorts of occultist, mystical and heretical traditions besides Satanism, including freemasonry, the so-called 'temple of the golden dawn' (do a google search just on them, and you will find enough conspiracy theories to write a book), kabbalah, and gnosticism. You name it - magic, yoga, eastern meditation, German philosophy, drugs, sexual deviance - Crowley checked it out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aleister_Crowley

Hubbard and Crowley had connections with Jack Parsons, co-founder of America's jet propulsion laboratory who was investigated by the FBI for his occult-scientific pursuits.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Ron_Hubbard
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jack_Parsons

As for Scientology as an organisation, check out the next link about activities around Golden Era Studios, their 'film production' company. (second link below):

"I used to drive past the studio very late at night, before they built their tunnel under the road. (the compound straddles what is currently State Highway 79). They used to march people across the road like cattle, people who were dazed, glassy-eyed, and seemed not to know where they were. I had a breakdown near their compound, and when I asked to use their phone, they took me to the guardhouse at the main gate.

I found it interesting that this small (about the size of an old Fotomat) building contained no less than 4 Remington Model 870 pump action shotguns, and 4 M-16A1 rifles. (NOT civilian- type AR-15 semi-auto, but M16A1s with full-auto selectors, I am a firearms dealer and part-time gun nut, I know what they look like!). Each guard also carried his own high-capacity 9mm pistol. I used to work at San Onofre Nuclear Generating Station, and these guys were better armed than the guards there!

I also witnessed an incident which I related to the police, but about which nothing was done. I was driving past the place late one night, when I saw a young man in one of their blue jump suits (means you've done something wrong, and are on punishment detail). He was running down the street, and I was going to pull over to see if he needed help, when I saw security approaching on their dirt-bikes (they ride Honda off-road motorcycles around the compound). Not wishing to confront guys I knew were armed, I continued on. It was then that I saw the other security officers on foot, with dogs, looking for this poor guy. The cops I told said they would check it out, but I never heard anything again about it."

For more, obviously critical info on them, see Operation Clambake, the best known anti-Scientology site. (third link)

The Rick A. Ross institute also has information about them and their attempts to interfere in and infiltrate American and foreign governments and local authorities -- see the menu on the right side of the page (fourth link).

If you don't believe their critics, by all means check out their website, call them up, pay the entrance fee and have fun.

Answer 2

Here is an accurate description of what Scientology is:

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.
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.

Actually there is really nothing wrong with the word cult either.
It has been "redefined" to communicate a negative concept or idea. If you look the word up in a good dictionary you will see what I mean. It actually comes from the word CULTIVATE.

Answer 3

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.

Answer 4

The creator of Scientology (Hubbard) had a writing staff who worked for him. He told them to create something that would make money. They created Scientology.

It is based on the concept that there was a great space consortium and they had a rebellion. When they captured those responsible they took them to a planet with volcanoes and chained them in the volcano.

They belive that we are all inhabited by the spirits of these rebels who died in the volcano and all our problems stem from repressed memories of our death inside the volcano.

So you take a psych test (which has been found to be unpassable) and they find that you need counceling at something like $10.00 per hour. This goes on for months and they then find out that this cannot help you and you need more intense counceling at something like $80.00 per hour and then they find out that you need more intence counceling and this keeps up untill you are paying thousands of dollars per hour and are completely brainwashed and hooked into the system.

Look into how much some of the actors are paying and how several have tried to get out and keep getting sucked back into it.

This is what makes it a cult.

Answer 5

all religions are cults

5 entries found for cult.
cult Audio pronunciation of "cult" ( P ) Pronunciation Key (klt)
n.

1.
1. A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false, with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.
2. The followers of such a religion or sect.
2. A system or community of religious worship and ritual.
3. The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony and ritual.
4. A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by its originator to have exclusive or exceptional power in curing a particular disease.
5.
1. Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person, principle, or thing.
2. The object of such devotion.
6. An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or intellectual interest.


[Latin cultus, worship, from past participle of colere, to cultivate. See kwel-1 in Indo-European Roots.]cultic or cultish adj.
cultism n.
cultist n.

Answer 6

Yes it is a cult, but many groups can be called a cult while not being dangerous. Scientology comes into the catergory of Destructive Cult. I will concentrate on what makes it a cult, rather than providing evidence of their cult activities - this you can find on the internet at http://www.xenu.net amongst other places.

There are cults, destructive cults & religions.

A cult:
"Benign cult groups are any group of people who have a set of beliefs and rituals that are non-mainstream. As long as people are freely able to choose to join with full disclosure of the group's doctrine and practices and can choose to disaffiliate without fear or harassment, then it doesn't fall under the behavioral/ psychological destructive cult category."
http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/faq/#2

A destructive cult however, does a number of things that religions don't. Here are some:

They lie to members
They use social control techniques
They limit information to its members, and censor any critical information.
They hound and harass critics to silence them
They make grand claims without backing it up
They limit contact with society, friends and familiy

And yes Scientology does all of these and thus is considered a destructive cult by cult experts. This is a great resource of critical information on scientology.
http://www.clambake.org

There are several models to follow, one such is the BITE model, which looks at 4 areas
I. Behavior Control
II. Information Control
III. Thought Control
IV. Emotional Control
http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/articles/BITE.htm

"A destructive cult is a pyramid-shaped authoritarian regime with a person or group of people that have dictatorial control. It uses deception in recruiting new members (e.g. people are NOT told up front what the group is, what the group actually believes and what will be expected of them if they become members). It also uses mind control techniques to keep people dependent and obedient. The BITE mind control model is my way of understanding the phenomenon. Dr. Robert Jay Lifton has his Eight Criteria for Thought Reform. Dr. Margaret Singer has her Six Conditions for understanding Destructive cults typically seek to "clone" recruits in the image of the cult leader, rather than respect and encourage their individuality, creativity and self-will."
http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/faq/#2

You can go to cult expert websites and see what they say:
http://www.freedomofmind.com/
http://www.escapeint.org/
http://www.cultinformation.org.uk/
http://www.cgs.org/
http://www.dci.dk/

Answer 7

The more I have discovered about Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, Judaism, Zoroastrianism, Voodoo, Buddism, Taoism, and most other religions the more interesting, compelling and sensible they seem. The more I discover about Scientology the crazier and more far fetched it gets - man it is a really insane religion. It starts out pretty sensible and leads you into really mad conclusions.

Answer 8

All religions are cults. The word cult simply means "a following of people".

Answer 9

You know... Scientology is a borderline.. It is supposed to be a religion but in reality.. I personally feel that it is an outright cult

Answer 10

Yes. I believe it is. I don't know too much about it, but I do know they have some strange and odd beliefs. Michael Jackson is one, so is Tom Cruise. They both are weird to me and have some weird sayings. Tom Cruise believe if woman take more vitamins while they are pregnant, they won't have post pardon depression. That's one of the oddest I have ever heard.

Answer 11

Since it has been around for less than 100 years, it is considered a cult.