Scientology???

Question

Well, I know it is an extremely odd religion IMO. But what exactly are the details, I know they believe in like aliens and some other stuff, but I am confused. People like Tom Cruise and John Trevolta actually believe some of this stuff?

Answer 1

Yes, people like Cruise and Travolta ACTUALLY believe this stuff. So does Jason Lee and Beck. They're all Scientologists.

Here are the details (this is an overview in my own words):

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_evaluation_and_criticisms
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”, stacking them around volcanoes & blowing them up by dropping “h-bombs” into the volcanoes. 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. It had also been said by many who knew Hubbard personally that at the end of his life he was “a psychopathic insane person screaming about BT's [Body Thetans]….”
http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/07/01/sci_psy/index_np.html?pn=1
http://www.anti-scientologie.ch/usa-scientology.htm
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/Bare%20Faced%20Messiah.pdf
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/atack/contents.htm

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.xenu.net/archive/personal_story/funkydonny.html

Answer 2

Scientology is very different than other religions. In it they believe that they can read their spiritual levels with e-meters and they believe that their science fiction writer prophet just "dreamed it up one day and created scientology." They also believe that aliens created us and crazy ridiculous stuff anyone with a brain can figure out that its a scam. Just look it up on wikipedia for more information.

Answer 3

There's really no difference in what scientolgists believe and what other religions believe in. The 'stuff' of each & every religion is foreign & unbelievable to everyone not of the that same religion. In the end, it doesn't matter, cuz it's all a bunch of bull anyway. Religion is an antiquated concept.

Answer 4

began by way of L. Ron Hubbard as 'self aid process' referred to as Dianetics (he began out writing SiFi books after which wrote self aid books) ...it right into a grew to become "faith".....many humans (Christians, atheist, agnostics, former individuals, ect) say it's the best 'textual content-ebook' illustration of a non-violent Cult (proposal a few individuals have said bodily and emotional abuse) the elemental thought is: in the course of your and beyond lives you may have had poor studies that you simply are not able to recollect, those repressed studies 'keep you again'.... via unique counseling referred to as "Dianetics" (offered by way of the CoS. for a nominal cost) you'll 'approach/manage' those unhealthy studies....as soon as there all looked after, you'll go beyond to a "top simple of lifestyles" ....THE END....