Exactly what is the scientology religion?

Question

supposidly alot of celebrities are this religion and i want to know what everyone elses views and opinions are on this....

Answer 1

Apologies for the long answer in advance, but there is so much information....

First off here is an answer concerning celebrities and Scientology:
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index;_ylt=AhbT4Yo..oLssQkpquGXRGAgBgx.?qid=20060723135017AAUfSYv

So what is Scientology?

“Scientology is a system of beliefs and practices created by American pulp fiction[1][2] and science fiction [3] author L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 as a self-help philosophy.”
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/scientology

See here for a critic’s view:
http://www.clambake.org/roland-intro.html

See here for scientology’s own view:
http://www.scientology.org/en_US/religion/index.html

Scientology is considered a religion in some countries, a profitable organisation in others, and in some it is considered a cult whose practises have been banned. For example, the US gives Scientology tax exempt status, whereas Germany and Belgium have called it a “totalitarian cult” and a “commercial enterprise”. France in 1995 classified it as a dangerous cult. The UK refused charitable status in 1999. Russia has a pending court trial over their refusal to register scientology as a religion.

I personally believe scientology to be a dangerous cult that lies to and tricks adherents into believing they are improving themselves and the world around them, while they are for the most part doing the exact opposite. It is made up of good people with good intentions that have been unfortunately deceived just because they do want to help others and themselves live better lives. It appeals to a person’s good intentions, and therein lies the trap.

It seems to have been set up to make money, and indeed they have been very successful at it – although the money is all at the top and not with the actual people delivering the services. Indeed Hubbard is quoted as saying "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion"
http://www.skeptictank.org/readdig.htm

What do they believe?

Scientologists’ beliefs differ depending on how long they have been in the church, as the higher levels are considered secret and even dangerous to the initiated or unprepared. This is part of why I believe it to be a cult, it hides its true teachings from new members in order to gain & keep adherents.

Scientologists believe that L Ron Hubbard came up with the only workable technology/practises/teachings to help and unlock mankind’s potential. It is believed that by taking part in scientology auditing and learning all the various ‘tech’ a person will become more capable, becoming firstly a ‘Clear’ and then an ‘OT’. Various spurious claims have been made about the state of a ‘clear’ and ‘OT’ amongst which are immunity to illness, removal of physical ailments, perfect memory, increased IQ, increased health & fitness (and thus longevity), and then moving on to the more strange such as being able to exteriorse at will (out of body experiences) and control of MEST (ability to change matter, energy, space and time at will). Needless to say scientology has never successfully demonstrated any of the claims they make about their ‘tech’.

Scientologists believe:
- Man has an immortal soul called a thetan.
- 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 unconscious.
- A lot of physical illnesses/problems are psychosomatic caused by "Engrams".
- 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.
- Reincarnation and the ability to know these past lives and get to more engrams this way.
- Paying lots of money to scientology for there tech, courses, and auditing.
- Getting more people into scientology so they too can become ‘clear’ and thus save the world…

If they have got to OTIII, then the belief changes slightly.
- The universe is quadrillions years old.
- Xenu the Intergalactic Space Lord ruled a confederation of overpopulated planets.
- Xenu took a load of these aliens from each planet and brought them to earth.
- They were then exploded in volcanoes 75 million yrs ago.
- 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.
- 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...
- You audit these body thetans out by auditing there engrams and taking them back to the Xenu incidents I & II.
- People have jaw aches from when they were a clam in human evolution....hence the name of the main critical site Operation Clambake.
http://www.clambake.org
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/xenu

How are they different to other religions?

The church often claims it is unjustly persecuted, and to show such files normally countless of libels every year and other such court cases to silence criticism; no other religion hounds and harasses its critics. I believe that scientology is different from other religions, the main one being that potential members are lied to when they start. See below, under ‘Why it is often described as a cult’ for all the reasons.

Why are they often described as a cult?

They lie to members to gain and keep them.
Try to find the story of Xenu at the scientology site for example.

They say it has been thoroughly researched using the scientific method when it hasn’t.
http://www.clambake.org/archive/techniques/
http://www.clambake.org/archive/lrhbare/

They hound and harass critics:
http://www.suppressiveperson.org/

They use mind control techniques: http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/documents/scientology/pignotti

They limit outside information via censoring, condemning it the work of criminals, as well as via disconnection with family.
http://www.clambake.org/archive/events/censorship/
http://www.xenu.net/archive/infopack/15.htm

It is Destructive:
http://www.whyaretheydead.net

More on similar stuff here:
http://www.clambake.org/archive/co_pls.html

For some in-depth research I recommend reading some books written by ex-members.
http://www.clambake.org/archive/books

"Scientology is both immoral and socially obnoxious...It is corrupt sinister and dangerous. It is corrupt because it is based on lies and deceit and has its real objective money and power for Mr. Hubbard... It is sinister because it indulges in infamous practices both to its adherents who do not toe the line unquestionably and to those who criticize it or oppose it. It is dangerous because it is out to capture people and to indoctrinate and brainwash them so they become the unquestioning captives and tools of the cult, withdrawn from ordinary thought, living, and relationships with others."
Justice Latey, ruling in the High Court of London:
http://www.clambake.org/archive/judge_quotes.html

Here you can see scientologists in action:
http://www.xenutv.com

- in respect and honour to all victims, and those who dare to stand up for them - http://www.clambake.org


Here is another list of scientologists that needs to be shown. Would you like to be like them too? Be Warned - Not nice reading, but true.

http://www.whyaretheydead.net

Here's a good presentation:
http://theunfunnytruth.ytmnd.com/

Hear Hubbard in his own voice proclaim "there is no christ", let me show you the court documents where the Church itself confirmed OT III is about Xenu, the intergalactic space lord:

http://www.lermanet2.com/cos/nochrist.wav

Here is an extract in Hubbard's own handwriting confirmed by the Church's lawyers in court.
http://www.xenu.net/archive/OTIII-scholar/

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
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/fishman/index2.html

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

Thetans (souls in scientology) are not created by god either, they are self created, it is a gnostic religion.

Also it involves past lives?

Answer 2

Its a self-help religion. They offer courses which are collections in lots of great methods from other sources on communication, study, self-confidence, shaking peer-pressure. SInce the upper levels of it (if you want to go that far) can get into bringing out bad experineces, it had to be either a medicine or a religion when it first came out.
Its also non-denominational (like many good religions are) which means that you can attend without having to accept their beliefs or give up any other religion you are part of.

You can see from any scientologist you know what kind of results it creates. If all you know is the TV people then decide if you would rather be like them or like other TV people you know about.

Answer 3

my guitar teacher's a scientologist. i've learned a bit about it, just in passing and stuff...

basically, the belief all stems from schopenhaur's *will*. if the human mind can will something to happen, it will. a lot of the "religion" is just little things--like, "do it now", and "one thing at a time". like i said--just little things that although we know we "should" be doing, we don't either out of lazieness or something else.

the whole "religion" stems from how we ended up here. (this is a little far fetched, i know, but stay with me) bascially, the universe was over populated, so a lot of the souls of the "low-life" got sent to earth where we were brainwashed, and inhabited the bodies of humans. you know how there's so much unhappieness in the world? scientology claims it's because our souls are confused and that in order to better the world, we need to start helping ourselves through education (regardless to why, that by itself sounds pretty accurate). bascially though, there's a lot of vitamins and education in order to help over come strange fears and other irrasional things we do...

there's a lot more too it, but everything i say is section hand information. i'm sure there's actually a scientologist on here whose answered your question ten times better. good luck with finding your answer!

Answer 4

U can find out by searching on the internet but here are some of the basics:P (1) u use a device they call an "e-meter" which is sort of like a lie detector but smaller, and u attach it to your hand to tell if you are "clear of bad thoughts." Your goal is to work toward being clear. (2) u buy a lot of material from the church and they continuously ask you for more and more money which they say will give you more clarity of thinking. (3) the founder of the church was once a member of the church of satan and wrote a whole lot of science fiction books which sold millions.
Draw your own conclusions about them LOL LOL LOL LOL ;o)

Answer 5

It is no surprise that many "celebrities" enjoy Scientology. It is a religion which focuses on oneself. If you believe the Bible (I do), it says, "no man comes to the Father but by Me." - Jesus Christ; John 14:6. I have never seen Jesus mentioned in Scientology, and since we should want to not only please God, but ultimately unite with Him in heaven we need to choose Jesus, not a religion. Acts 16:31 promises, "Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and you will be saved, you and your household."
If Scientology teaches me to rely on myself - I will fall short every time!

Answer 6

It's not a religion, it's a cult invented by a third-rate hack sci-fi author.
Nothing more.

Answer 7

I think it is a creepy cult - they don't necessarily believe in God I don't think, but they make a practice out of acting totally bizarre!

Answer 8

they say that aliens will come to save us.
by the way nicol married country singer keith urban