Scientology? What's with that?

Question

Anyone know why Tom, Mel, and other celebrities put so much money on building churches for Scientology?
I always wondered if it was open only to the wealthy?
It seems to be a "religion" off limits to vast majority of people...
Any enlightenment on the subject, please

Answer 1

Yes, sure...

Celebrities are no different from normal people and are just as susceptible to clever marketing scams and destructive cults like the Church of Scientology. In fact Scientology purposely went after celebrities because of the good PR & free marketing they bring, not to mention the millions of dollars... Hubbard called celebrites "quarry" to be "hunted".
http://www.clambake.org/archive/celebrities/

So they are got like others to this cult, here is an article which looks at why people might join the Cof$.
http://www.clambake.org/archive/personal_story/funkydonny.html

Here's an article which looks at the techniques:
http://www.clambake.org/archive/techniques/

It is only off-limits to those who have real issues and problems because scientology knows it can't help and so these people just become a burdon to them... If you can't pay, or make money then scientology don't want you. In a famous quote that many scientologists band about Hubbard said he wants a world where only "the able may prosper" and have rights, so for those that are not able it's tough luck.

It is not open just to the wealthy, they get you to pay what you have in your bank and any loans you can get, then you can join there staff and make money for scientology and get more hapless recruits. So if your willing and able, they will take you, and exploit you beyond your means, so don't worry about that.

The Church of Scientology is a destructive cult, I suggest if you want to do some research to look at information from both pro & critical sites... Scientology has lots of sites around but you won't find any of the interesting stuff like court trials, government investigations, ex-member affidavits and testimonies, video clips of questionable behaviour, etc.... To find this you just need to do a search on scientology or look at these websites, amongst others.

http://www.clambake.org
http://www.xenutv.com
http://www.lermanet.com

You may have heard of the story of Xenu, the intergalactic space lord, through the South Park episode or somewhere else, if not read here:
http://www.xenu.net/archive/OTIII-scholar/atack-ot3-summary.txt
or indeed at wikipedia
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/xenu

Or see the south park episode here:
http://www.xenutv.com/cruise/sp-closet.htm

Think I'm making this up, and the church can't possible teach this stuff (and charge thousands for it)?

Well it's a good thing I have undeniable proof as laid out in Court and agreed upon by the Church of Scientology.
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/fishman/index2.html

Answer 2

Only the wealthy? I think you are listening to the wrong people. They tend to quote a grand total for getting to the top of the whole thing. Im guessing its not much different than what it takes to get to the top of any other training program (or any other religion for that matter).

But the lower level courses are incredibly useful and accessable. Communications, how to study efficiently, self confidence, shaking peer pressure, getting off drugs, getting past things that block your goals. Going in for a full rehab of a totally messed up person is probably too expensive for the Joe Average.

As far as the why of Hollywood getting so interested.. look at those subjects again. Doenst it seem like a good idea for hollywood folks to do? :) I took the communications course and about half of the study course back when I was a minimum wage worker.

Answer 3

Unlike other religions, you have to spend more and more money to get the teachings of the church. It's like paying your pastor more and more tithes for ever scripture he reads to you from the bible.

That's one of the many reasons why people believe this is not a true religion and more like a cult.

Answer 4

First of all, Mel Gibson isn't a Scientologist ... he's a traditionalist Catholic. But you're right to notice that a lot of celebrities are Scientologists. Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Kirstie Alley, Jenna Elfman and Leah Rehmini are all Scientologists as are many more.

Scientologists have a deep respect for the artists in our society. L Ron Hubbard stated, "The artist has an enormous role in the enhancement of today’s and the creation of tomorrow’s reality. He operates in a rank in advance of science as to the necessities and requirements of man. The elevation of a culture can be measured directly by the numbers of its people working in the field of aesthetics.”

Scientology provides artists with practical technology to increase their happiness and creativity.

Next, Scientology is not open only to the wealthy. People from all walks of life can and do use Scientology to improve their lives. In Scientology, people use auditing to better understand and handle their lives. Auditing is Scientology counseling, taken from the Latin word audire which means “to hear or listen.” Auditing is a very unique form of personal counseling which helps an individual look at his own existence and improves his ability to confront what he is and where he is.

The cost varies depending on which path one takes.

One way is to donate for auditing and participate in auditing services all the way up to Clear. The preferred route, however, is to become trained as an auditor and co-audit with another Scientologist. The co-auditing route to Clear requires far less in donations than to only have auditing ministered to oneself, plus one helps another to progress spiritually. As auditing costs much more for the church to supply (requiring several staff for each parishioner) donations necessarily must be higher. Training is much more economical and an incentive for persons to receive training and then co-audit, without cost, to the state of Clear.

Finally, here are some things you might find interesting about Scientology: Scientology is about the individual man or woman. Its goal is to bring an individual to a sufficient understanding of himself and his life and free him to improve conditions in the way that he sees fit.

The Scientology religious philosophy contains a precise system of axioms, laws and techniques, exhaustively researched and documented as workable. As such, it provides the individual with the ability to dramatically improve conditions, not only in his own life but in the world around him.

In a word, Scientology works.

And this is why millions of people the world over use its principles in their daily lives, why a growing number of people find such relevance in Scientology for themselves, their families, their organizations, their nations and this entire civilization.

All Scientologists are drug-free, and spearhead effective actions in countries around the world to get others off drugs. Scientologists have helped millions of underprivileged children to dramatically improve their reading level, vocabulary and comprehension, and the record of Scientology’s fight for human rights is unparalleled.

Scientology is not authoritarian. There is no enforced belief. Rather, a maxim in Scientology is that only those things which one finds true for himself are true. In Scientology one learns to think for himself – it is a voyage of self-discovery.