Can anyone explain Scientology?

Question

What's it all about?

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. (visit this link to read about the uses of hydoxyzine: http://www.drugs.com/mtm/v/vistaril.html )

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. Members who know about Xenu will attempt to deny it or pretend like it doesn’t matter. They are required to sign a contract binding them to silence on the matter. Lower level members don’t know about Xenu & accordingly deny everything because they honestly don’t know.

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

I went to a computer swap meet.

There were a couple of scientologists at a table there.
They were trying to sell a book called Dianetics.

They had a device they called an "e-meter" which they said would measure my stress. It had two cans attached by wires to a meter. I was supposed to hold a can in each hand, and then the needle on the meter would move. Great. Then the guy running the machine pinched me so that I would feel stress. Not so good. Like, isn't this stupid thing measuring electrical resistance or capacitance or something?

Anyway, Scientology is a cult. If you want to join a cult, go for it. It costs money for the "training" they give you. If you want to spend money to get training from a cult, go for it. But if I were you, I'd stay away from Scientology and Scientologists. L. Ron Hubbard is dead, and DC-8 airplanes have no special significance.

Answer 3

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. It is a very practical religion.
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 lifeAnd 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 personal 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 10 million Scientologists in more than 163 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.

This is just an overview.
L. Ron Hubbard explained fully the theology and technologies of Scientology in more than 500,000 pages of writings, including dozens of books and over 2,000 tape-recorded public lectures. So it's not possible to fully answer your question on this forum, but hopefully this helps.

Answer 4

The Outsiders said, "The story of Xenu doesn't have any significance on Scientology beliefs."

That's a FREAKING LIE.

Without Xenu there wouldn't be those alien spirits inhabiting our mind.... that's the freaking CORE of their "religion".


The Outsiders said, "The story of Xenu is just a fable like the story of "Jonah in the Whale" in the bible. Fables are not intended to be taken seriously."

Right, unlike the Bible written a few hundred years or so ago, the "fable" of Xenu was written by the FOUNDER L. Ron Hubbard IN HIS OWN HANDWRITING about 56 years ago.

http://www.xenu.net/archive/leaflet/xenuleaf.htm

More, "The Outsider" BS:

>Scientology is the only church that doesn't ask for donations from their parishioners during their Sunday Services.

More BS, $CIENTOLOGY COSTS OVER $400,000!

http://www.scientology-lies.com/fliers/mint.html

http://www.xenu.net/archive/CoS_prices.html

>Scientology Ethics. Ethical people take full responsibility for their actions

Scientology killed Lisa McPherson and they did everything in their power to hide it.

http://www.lisamcpherson.org/

Answer 5

First of all you have to realize this religion was made up by a science fiction writer, L. Ron Hubbard.

Scientologists believe that alien souls are haunting the people of the world and that you have to rid yourself of them by a process called "clearing" The more clearing you do the higher up in the organization you go. Each successive step costs a lot of money for courses and monitoring.

They have these real swank places called "celebrity centers" where they pull in the next group of dupes. They make you feel wanted and very comfortable. A friend of mine who has been many times denies ever hearing all the stuff about aliens. That is because the keep it wrapped up and only tell the initiated.

One of the devices they use in monitoring/clearing sessions is a cheap hunk of junk called the E meter. This is a biofeedback meter. There is such a thing as biofeedback but their approach to it is quite lame.

Answer 6

The Church of Scientology is a vicious and dangerous cult that masquerades as a religion. Its purpose is to make money. It practices a variety of mind-control techniques on people lured into its midst to gain control over their money and their lives. Its aim is to take from them every penny that they have and can ever borrow and to also enslave them to further its wicked ends.
It was started in the 1950s by a science fiction writer named L. Ron Hubbard in fulfilment to his declared aim to start a religion to make money. It is an offshoot to a method of psychotherapy he concocted from various sources which he named "Dianetics". Dianetics is a form of regression therapy. It was then further expanded to appear more like a religion in order to enjoy tax benefits. He called it "Scientology".

Scientology is a confused concoction of crackpot, dangerously applied psychotherapy, oversimplified, idiotic and inapplicable rules and ideas and science-fiction drivel that is presented to its members (at the "advanced" levels) as profound spiritual truth.

Answer 7

The Church says that Scientology is concerned with "the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others and all of life."[9] By contrast, Dianetics is more narrowly focused on getting rid of the reactive mind, the "bank" of traumatic memories known as engrams which are said to inhibit one's success and happiness.[10] Scientology also covers topics such as ethics and morality (The Way to Happiness), drug and chemical residues as they relate to spiritual wellbeing (the Purification Rundown), communication, marriage, raising children, work-related problems, education (Study Technology), and the very nature of life (The Dynamics).

Scientology practices are structured in sequential series or levels, reflecting Hubbard's belief that rehabilitation takes place on a step-by-step "gradient"; for example, that the negative effects of drugs must be addressed before other issues can be "handled". Scientologists follow a sequence of courses that culminate in the esoteric advanced strata of Scientology's teachings. This is described as a passage along "the Bridge to Total Freedom", or simply "the Bridge," in which each step of the Bridge promises a little more personal freedom in some particular area of life.

Some central tenets of Scientology:

A person is an immortal spiritual being (termed a thetan) who possesses a mind and a body.
The thetan has lived through many past lives and will continue to live beyond the death of the body.
Through the Scientology process of "auditing", one can free oneself of "engrams" and "implants" to reach the state of "Clear", and after that, the state of "Operating Thetan". Each state is said to represent recovering the native spiritual abilities of the individual, and to confer dramatic mental and physical benefits.
A person is basically good, but becomes "aberrated" by moments of pain and unconsciousness in his or her life.
What is true for you is what you have observed yourself. No beliefs should be forced as "true" on anyone. Thus, the tenets of Scientology are expected to be tested and seen to either be true or not by Scientology practitioners.
Psychiatry and psychology are evil and abusive practices.[11]
Scientology claims to offer "exact" methods of spiritual counseling to help people achieve awareness of their spiritual existence, while enhancing their effectiveness in the physical world. The exact nature of all of existence is said to be stated in Hubbard's Scientology and Dianetics Axioms.

According to the Church, the ultimate goal is to get the soul (thetan) back to its native state of total freedom, thus gaining control over matter, energy, space, time, thoughts, form, and life. This freed state is called Operating Thetan, or OT for short.

Answer 8

They believe that an alien name Xeno has made life miserable for man by releasing a bunch of alien spirits and they can fix it by driving out those alien spirits from our minds.

That's pretty much it.

It was covered in a South Park episode.

Answer 9

Its a joke L ron hubbard wrote the book Dianetics as part of a bet on weather or not he could start his own religeon

Answer 10

L. Ron Hubbard invented it to go along with his Dianetics book so he could make a lot of money (his words, not mine).