Scientology- Genuine religion or sinister cult?

Answer 1

Sinister cult. Definitely. No question about it. Here, I've even got some examples to prove it:

• Operation Snow White – Under this official program, Scientology operatives committed infiltration, wiretapping, & theft of documents in government offices. This program constituted the single largest infiltration of the United States government in history. Among the 11 prominent Scientologists convicted of this conspiracy was Mary Sue Hubbard, the wife of Scientology’s “prophet”.
http://lisatrust.freewinds.cx/scientology/snow-white/index.html
http://en.allexperts.com/e/o/op/operation_snow_white.htm

• Operation Freakout - Their campaign of sabotage & violence against Paulette Cooper, the writer who published her research & findings on several cults, including Scientology. Scientology’s official plan: to frame Paulette, ruin her career & reputation & get her either incarcerated or locked up in psychiatric confinement.
The official plan: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Krasel/cooper/frk1.html
Her book: http://holysmoke.org/cos/books/scandal-of-scientology-cooper.pdf

• Fair Game - the Scientology policy detailing how the organization may confront & handle critics & perceived enemies. Here is a direct quote: "Enemies may be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.”
http://www.xenu.net/archive/disk/fairgame.htm
http://www.planetkc.com/sloth/sci/Fair_game_ord.html

• Physical & psychological punishment: Scientologists who "break the rules" while members of the "Sea Org" must subject themselves to the Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF), which includes regimes of harsh physical punishment, forced self-confessions, social isolation, hard labor and intensive ideological indoctrination.
http://www.xenu-directory.net/practices/rpf.html
http://www.lermanet2.com/scientology/gulags/BrainwashinginScientology'sRehabilitationProjectForce.htm
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/cos/rpf/escape_2.htm

• Brainwashing & mind control: Scientology exerts control over its members by means of typical cult tactics, including but not limited to controlling information about internal doctrine & criticism of the organization, severely restricting social contact outside the cult (including the practice of “disconnecting” with any family who question the credibility & trustworthiness of the cult), creating an “us against them” mentality by villainizing a specific out-group (for Scientology, it’s psychiatrists), & claiming all those outside the cult are unenlightened.
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/
http://www.cultinformation.org.uk/faq.html#cult

• Violent Kidnapping - Lisa McPherson was a Scientologist, was involved in a car accident & resultantly became mentally unstable. She was kidnapped from the hospital by agents of Scientology, held against her will, refused proper psychiatric treatment & allowed to STARVE TO DEATH.
Video: http://theunfunnytruth.ytmnd.com/
News Coverage: http://www.factnet.org/Scientology/Lisa_McPherson_Scientology_Deaths.html
Website: http://www.lisamcpherson.org/

• Tragic Murder - A CBS “48 Hours” special on Jeremy Perkins, the mentally disturbed son of Scientologist parents who, because of the Scientology doctrine of opposing psychiatry, refused to put him on the anti-psychotic drugs that would have stabilized him & prevented him from killing his own mother.
Video: http://www.scientomogy.com/jeremy_perkins.php
CBS article: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2006/10/25/48hours/main2124568.shtml
Website: http://perkinstragedy.org

Answer 2

Scientology has been interior the united kingdom for just about 30 years, and had a number of their early "education centers" there. It all started as a psychological self-help concept via Hubbard (interior the mid-1950s interior the U.S.) develop into referred to for practising without a license, and Hubbard, a properly customary S.F. author, replaced it right into a faith. this is all approximately Hubbard - consequently, meets a minimum of between the standards of a Cult (See Kingdom of the Cults, via Martin and different books dealing with those subjects). Having celebrities between its contributors is not any assure of ways "appropriate" or "incorrect" a collection is. The U.S. Democrat social gathering has many celebrities between its contributors, too... Scientology is a cult, based on the form of SELF, in the previous every physique or something, at great fee. I did the calculation as quickly as, and got here to numerous hundred thousand funds!

Answer 3

I happen to know Scientology for many years now and I can tell you frankly that it is the best thing that has happened to my life.


Scientology began with L Ron Hubbard’s Dianetics in 1949. It is the only book to have become a New York Times best-seller in 2 different decades-1950s and 1980s, in addition to being a perennial best-seller. This book is basically about Auditing, the fundamental Scientology technique for handling incidents of emotional and physical pain in a person’s past (technically called engrams). As L. Ron Hubbard audited more and more people, he noticed that as these incidents of physical and emotional pain in a person’s past are effectively handled and erased through auditing process, the person:

1. Becomes more intelligent
2. Becomes saner
3. Becomes better able to handle his environment.
4. The amnesia on time-track becomes to diminish, i.e., the person is able to recall earlier incidents in his life. The earliest incident you are able to recall in your life is, may be, 1.5-2 years. Few people are able to recall earlier. Yet, you were alive earlier!


As people were thus audited, they were able to recall their pre-natal life. This led LRH to hypothise that memory is a property of the cells, since in intra-uterine life brain is not fully formed.


As the process went ahead, people were eventually able to recall their past lives. That was the birth of Scientology, because it indicated that there must be something that survives death and carries on to next life. This something is called soul in traditional religion and theta body in Scientology.


Scientology brings to humanities the exactitude of science (as LRH put it). By actual demographic studies, it has become the fastest growing religion in the history of mankind. It has come a long way sine its early beginning. Today you can actually go to an advanced Scientology organization and walk on the “bridge” to freedom. The decision is yours. The choice is yours.



“I do not sing what I believe, I only give them fact.

If they believe quite otherwise, it still will have impact.

For truth is truth and if they then decide to live with lies,

It’s their choice not mine, my friend, they are free to fantasize.”

--- L. Ron Hubbard


“Get on the road to freedom,

Help us fee all mankind,

The pain and all the sorrow,

Are only in your mind.”

---L. Ron Hubbard


Good luck and best wishes!

Answer 4

Genuine religion. That's my opinion based on my personal observation and experience with Scientology.
Not sure what you base your second accusative "choice" on, or whether you are just interested general opinions. Just be aware that opinions, positive or negative, may or may not be based on any facts and are definitely not facts in themselves, nor do they change the facts.

Here's some facts about Scientology. Just for the record...

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 in the area of God , the Supreme Being, or the Infinite. This area is left totally up to the indivdual as pasrt of his life. It does not conflict.
It is also not a messianic religion. This means there is no worship of prophets or messiahs in Scientology. It is not faith based. A truth should be true according to ones own observation and experience.
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 life.And to rehabilitate his native goodness, abilities and potential.
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. L. Ron Hubbard researched and made new discoveries about the human spirit. He developed technology from these discoveries to apply to increase spiritual awareness and ability.
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.

Answer 5

I went to check it out once. Basically it's a book selling scheme, which is truely weird. They have these offices and the people who work there make a commission based on book sales and workshop attendance.
They do tell you that they can help to make you happy and there is the bit about the godlike aliens but really it's about money. I guess that makes it a religion ; P

Answer 6

Cult through and through. It is all about money. if your rich you and go far in Scientology