As objectively as you can...as if you'd never heard of the concepts behind Christianity before... (see more)

Question

which religion would sound crazier to you? Scientology or Christianity?

And why did you make that choice?

Answer 1

Scientology. Assuming that I have no idea what Christianity is and assuming that I CAN (and do) know what Scientology is, then obviously Scientology.

Why?? Uh.... this is why:

Scientology, which questionably calls itself a new "religion", is the brainchild of science fiction writer & occult enthusiast L. Ron Hubbard. The organization, by means of Hubbard’s self created psychotherapy technique called “Dianetics”, claims to be able to help rid members of any & all mental constraints including but not limited to emotional scarring (from this & "past" lives) due to "engrams" (past negative experiences stored in our unconscious mind), psychological disorders & chemical imbalances (the solution is to convince members that these things don't actually exist) & drug dependence (including legally prescribed psychopharmaceuticals which counteract the effects of psychological disorders Scientologists believe to be nonexistent).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics#Scientific_evaluations
Dianetics review: http://dir.salon.com/story/books/review/2005/06/28/dianetics/index.html
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,812852,00.html

The official Scientology organization is composed of a number of “levels”. One begins as a “preclear” & works their way up. One must purchase virtually every service crucial to advancement directly from the "church" & at staggering prices. "Auditing", for example, is purchased in 12½ hour blocks, costing anywhere from $750 for introductory sessions to between $8,000 & $9,000 for advanced sessions. Visit this link to see how $380,000 is a conservative estimate for the total cost of moving all the way up the Scientology hierarchal ladder: http://www.xenu.net/archive/prices.html
These are the total costs for auditing alone: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_as_a_business#Costs
Here’s an explanation of what “auditing” is: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061224182319AA2nnd6

At level OT III (Operating Thetan 3), some very strange & fiercely guarded secrets are imparted upon worthy members who have paid enough money to advance to such a level (and no, this isn't a joke): the evil alien ruler Xenu killed millions of aliens (Thetans) from around the universe by kidnapping them, bringing them to earth in golden DC-8 “space-planes” & blowing them up inside volcanoes with hydrogen bombs. Scientologists believe the souls of these aliens (these souls are "Body Thetans") were captured, brainwashed & released; they then attached themselves to our ancestors (and according to Scientology’s belief in Thetan immortality, they also attached to us during “past lives”) & cause many of our mental & physical ills to this day. Auditing is said to “clear” us of these Body Thetans as well as the “mental implants” they supposedly impose on our minds. http://sf.irk.ru/www/ot3/spaink-ot3.html
http://www.spaink.net/cos/essays/atack_ot3.html
http://xenu.net/archive/leaflet/Xenu-Letter.pdf

Scientology has taken a very hostile stance towards psychiatry & psychiatric drugs irrespective of the fact that some people require medication to remain adequately functional during everyday life. They don’t recognize legitimate conditions like autism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc, and the “church” has been known to withhold prescription pharmaceuticals from members (often with harmful & deadly results). Suspiciously, it was discovered upon Hubbard’s 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. http://www.clambake.org/archive/ronthenut/16.gif
(visit this link to read about the uses of hydroxyzine: http://www.drugs.com/mtm/v/vistaril.html )

To be blunt, Scientology is a cult. It employs semi-legitimate psychotherapy & self-help methods to keep people loyal & convinced of its merit while it simultaneously sucks them dry financially & attempts to keep them far away from ANYONE, even friends & family, who would dissuade them from remaining in such a harmful situation. It’s a particularly greedy as well as manipulative & dangerous cult that takes its anti-psychiatry fanaticism to deadly limits. See these links for more information: http://www.lisamcpherson.org/
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/24/Tampabay/The_unperson.shtml
http://www.factnet.org/Books/SocialControl/scs.html#toc http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/s/scientology/pignotti/

Answer 2

Whose authors could not be authenticated? Would writing a book about gang behaviors of Death IN Death out be any less chilling? You take the Bible as a book of books that portray a story of the coming of Christ. The jewish people even say Jesus was a holy man but; he did not take them from Israel and their for no promised land and thus he was not the true Messiah. I like you wonder why the church has only published what books it wants us to believe in. When I grew up in the Catholic Religion, 1947 to present, God was a vengeful person, the wrath of whom you should fear, GOD FEARING. Today God is ever knowing, omnipresent and a kind person we are taught that he is forgiving etc and so on. If you study the different religions of the world, you will find a common thread to them all, life after death in the here after.

Answer 3

Probably Scientology. We still have recordings of L. Ron Hubbard so you can actually see how much of a whackjob he is if you want to. We don't have any direct recordings (or interviews or anything for that matter) of Jesus so it's still a possibility that Christians are at least still following someone that was sane during his lifetime.

Answer 4

I'd still go Scientology, if for no other reason than that aliens are involved, and that it costs so much money to get their "holy books". There's not a single book in the world, unless I were a collector, that I would spend over $100k to purchase.

Answer 5

i'm trying to think objectively, but i WAS raised christian, so it's hard to to... but i'd still have to conclude scientology STILL sounds crazier (though not by much)

Answer 6

Hard to pick. Both are false. Both suck up your money. Both worship alien sky gods. Both are a sort of mind control. I'll pick Scientology because they don't even meet the definition of a religion, yet get all the benefits.

Answer 7

I know nothing of Scientology.

Answer 8

Scientology hands down... they hook people up to little meters for auditing, aliens and reincarnation... just a whole bundle of abstract bizarre stuff..

Answer 9

Scientology.

Look what it did to Tom.

Answer 10

Scientology for sure. They believe aliens woooowww

Answer 11

Scientology by far... And I LOVE space sci-fi reading.. I tell you, that stuff is even beyond remotely being rational. I have no idea how they trap people into joining their little cult. I mean I know how, but really... Christianity is wacky too with huge contradictions throughout