Scientology. Whats your thoughts on the religion.?

Question

I'm not a believer in any real fate. I do believe in an entitiy almost like the 'force' in star wars. Im born a christian but I dont accept their version mainly because it's so fundametally flawed it's laughable. I have heard that L. Ron Hubbard was quoted as saying 'If you want to become rich. Start a religion!'. I think scientology is actually quite dangerous and much like other religions it preys on peoples weaknesses and need to belong to something! What do you guys think???

Answer 1

It is a CULT. Despite what a few fanatical members may say, it IS a cult. The church harasses & bullies anyone who they deem an "enemy" (basically anyone who has anything negative to say about the "church"). They will RUIN YOUR LIFE if you speak out against them long enough.

The founder is L. Ron Hubbard, the science FICTION writer who once told a friend that the best way to make lots of money is to start your own religion. Though being a very outspoken critic of psychiatric drugs, it was discovered upon Hubbards death that the anti-anxiety drug hydroxyzine (Vistaril) was present in his body, which several of his assistants would later attest was only one of many psychiatric & pain medications Hubbard ingested over the years.

Scientologists believe the evil alien ruler Xenu killed a lot of aliens (Thetans) from around the universe by bringing them to earth & blowing them up inside volcanoes. They believe the souls of these aliens (these souls are "Body Thetans") have attached themselves to us & cause many of our mental & physical ills. Even members of the Church of Scientology who know of Xenu will publicly deny the existence of Xenu & Body Thetans, or attempt to minimize their importance. Scientology has many graduated levels through which one can progress. Many who remain at lower levels in the church are unaware of much of the these doctrines, which mostly begin at Operating Thetan level three, or "OT III". Because the information imparted to members is to be kept secret from others who have not attained that level, the member must publicly deny its existence when asked. OT III recipients must sign a waiver promising never to reveal its secrets before they are given the manila envelope containing the Xenu knowledge.

To rid ourselves of "Body Thetans" & also “engrams” (past negative experiences stored in our unconscious mind) so that we can become “clear”, we have to go through "auditing" with a member of the “church” who uses an "e-meter" to measure our “reactive mind”...... & we have to pay lots & lots of money for “auditing” (purchased in 12.5-hour blocks, costing anywhere from $750 for introductory sessions to between $8,000 & $9,000 for advanced sessions) & to take courses on Scientology to advance to higher “levels” in the “church”. The “church” has also taken a very hostile stance towards psychiatry & psychiatric drugs irrespective of the fact that some people require medication to remain adequately functional in everyday life. They deny the reality of chemical imbalance & profound mental disturbance & accordingly do NOTHING to effectively stabilize the dangerously unstable. The “church” has been known to withhold prescription pharmaceuticals from member (with deadly results).

Scientology is undeniably a cult. For more information on what a cult is & what their damaging effects are, please visit the link provided at the bottom of the sources. Just know that Scientology DOES qualify by meeting these 5 criteria:

(1) It uses psychological coercion to recruit, indoctrinate & retain its members. (2) It forms an elitist totalitarian society. (3) Its founder leader is self-appointed, dogmatic, messianic, not accountable & has charisma. (4) It believes 'the end justifies the means' in order to solicit funds & recruit people. (5) Its wealth does not benefit its members or society.

Answer 2

Scientology is a philosophy that some people accord the force of a religion. If the pseudo-mystical trappings are removed, Scientology boils down to a theory of psychological operation for the human mind. With these trappings, it seems more like a cult. In most liberal western societies any group of like-minded individuals can form a "religion" so the Scientologists have done so (likely as a way of consolidating and controlling the persons acting under their name, or for financial reasons).

Answer 3

I don't know how many people actually know this but L.Ron Hubbard actually stole many of the concepts of scientology from other religions and was actually a student of the Great Beast , Crowley , there are many recorded documents that express that even Crowley thought Hubbard was a soft minded fool and had no grasp of the pupose of religious development with in human nature ,Hubbard also made many claims about being a prophet and the herald of a new aeon , concepts directly stolen fom the Book of the Law for which Hubbard had no true understanding

Answer 4

I don't know enough about Scientology to make a comment about it as a religion. I think most people usually know a wee bit about each religion and this is when mistakes are made, people from a faith spend their whole lives learning about it and a lot of people take a few rules from it and think they know everything about it. The four main religions in the world all say we should respect each others religions and I think people in general should be more accepting of other peoples views. Everyone has the right to an opinion, whether or not you agree with it. People should not be killed just because one person thinks their religion is true and another person is wrong.

Answer 5

My viewpoints come from ex-Scientologist friends of mine, just to let you know. I am not (and have never been) a member of their church.

Scientology relies on brain-washing techniques during with their members are mentally abused and all sense of reality is shaken and in this state, they are fed the scientologists beliefs on what is right or wrong, completely contradictory to everything that they've understood previously.

When an individual decides to leave the religion, they are put on a list of, basically, enemies of the church who need to be brought down. I want to say that they are labled something like "opressive thetans" but I could be wrong about that one. At one point, the religion condoned murder. They still do, just not as blatantly as they once did.

Google "Operation Clambake" and you will be able to find some fascinating (albeit disturbing) information about the workings of the Church of Scientology written by a former Scientologist. There are a ton of unbelievable things on there, but I've been assured by my friends that it's all very true.

So personally, I can't say I'm at all in favor of the religion, nor do I consider them a religion at all. L. Ron Hubbard was doing drugs big time during the years when he created Scientology and he was a sci-fi writer. That says it all as far as I'm concerned.

Answer 6

Well I am a Scientologist (female ) and have been one for over 34 years. I understand that you prrobably aren't interested in my thoughts on this religion but I'm going to express them anyway.
I do not know what you base your own thoughts on specifically as they seem to be lumped in with your thoughts about religion in general. But just for the record this so called famous "quote" by L. Ron Hubbard that keeps coming up was actually published once in book called "The Book of Quotes" about 30 years ago and subsequently removed from all future editions as it was proven to be false. He never said it.
But this is not an uncommon kind of "rumour" that circulates in a society and results in what they now conveniently lable "urban legends".
Scientology actually makes able people more able. It's not about people's "weaknesses" at all.

For me personally the discoveries Hubbard made about the human spirit completely align with my own observations and experiences of life . The technologies he developed to rehabilitate the individual as a spiritual being deliver exactly what is promised and a lot more in fact.

There are a few who consider that freeing an individual in this way is dangerous. But these few have a vested interest in a slave society. Hence the original attacks on Scientology.
Fortunately these attacks are pretty old now and have failed
in their intentions. It has been quite a battle, I was there for most of it.

Regardless it is apparent that religion in general get's attacked.
Scientology is no different and in fact has had a lot less to deal with than many other religions in this regard.

Here is an actual quote from an article written by L Ron Hubbard about religion and one of the many good things he did actually say rather than was "quoted" as saying.

" A society is capable of surviving for thousands of years unless it is attacked from within or without by hostile forces. Where such an attack occurs, the primary targets are it's religious and national gods and heroes,it's potential of leadership and the self respect and integrity of it's members.
If you look around you , you will find countless examples of these points. They scream at us every day from the newspapers and TV.
Probably the most critical point of attack on a culture is it's religious experience. Where one can destroy or undermine religious institutions then the entire fabiric of the society can be quickly subverted or brought to ruin.
For the last hundred years or so religion has been beset with relentless attack. You have been told it’s the “opiate of the masses “, that it’s unscientific, that it is primitive, in short , that it is a delusion.
The source of this kind of attack is always covert and hidden. It is promoted by a few who have a vested interest in a slave society.
Unfortunately these few rely on creating fear and insecurity in others to forward and promote their enemy propaganda. These others feel correctly they have to defend themselves from an attack, but because the real enemy is hidden, they can be manipulated to attack what they really should be defending as they cannot see the real enemy.

The key here is that underneath all these attacks on organized religion there is one fundemental target:
The spirituality of man, your own basic spiritual nature, self respect and peace of mind. "

Answer 7

The religion is a situation whereby man plea his kindness.It s a bridge which link man's spiritual with his creator.The spiritual environments should have a place to avail, that is a religion.It prepare the man's ability of thinking the God's creation and the disciplinary action which awaiting man after his life cycles.And this mobilising of man benefiting them on the realising that there is a God and one day the man shall liave the earth and go somewhere forever with his deserves.

Answer 8

Don't know alot about it.. I have read a few things because of the weird things we have been told on TV. (tom cruise Etc).

From what i have read only on web sites.. which are not always the most informative of places. I would say i wouldn't be interested in it as a religion. It is very male dominated.

And I'm quiet happy with my own religion.

Thanks

To Don J
That was a very informative post.. Thanks.

Answer 9

They seem to just put a new spin on what is out there. You can use some mad alien for the devil or AC and aliens as demons etc.

Also whatever level it is called it seems to copy mystic texts similar to the kabbalah. I have read the secret bit once a while ago, only given to top scientolgists. I guess Tom Cruz hence is super powers.

Answer 10

I kind of agree with you. I think it is as flawed as most other religions although I have a friend who had something to do with scientology for a while(not specifically believing in it, it just happened that he was doing something at a "Church of Scientology", and some of the things he learnt from it were very useful to him but as soon as he felt like people were getting all "this is what we think and we expect you to be the same", he left.