What about scientology? Sect/cult? What is it all about?

Question

Right punter! Enough is enough! This is rediculous! I scanned the utter rubbish you read and there is a bit about how islam doesn't believe in the water cycle! How bloody daft! Even if Allah did make it rain why wouldn't he use a water cycle to do it! It would save time in the end! Any way, I can recreate a water cycle with a kettle and cling film! You are a plonker

Answer 1

It is without a doubt a cult. Here's an overview that I hope will help you better understand (yes, it's copy/pasted, but this question is asked a lot and it's tough trying to type out all of this every time... but just so you know, I wrote this, didn't steal it from some other website):

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. It doesn’t recognize legitimate conditions like autism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or ANY neurological disorder / chemical imbalance at all, and the “church” has been known to withhold prescription pharmaceuticals from members (often with harmful & deadly results). The “Church” blames the psychiatry for the Holocaust, as well as school shootings and even September 11th. It’s been suggested that Hubbard’s vehement opposition was born of the psychiatric community’s rejection of his “tech” as a valid treatment method, but it’s also possible that Hubbard chose psychiatry as a scapegoat. Organizations like Scientology are notorious for villainizing a specific out-group as it fosters cohesion within the organization.
http://www.anti-scientologie.ch/usa-scientology.htm
http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=3137&IssueNum=136
http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/07/01/sci_psy/index_np.html?pn=1
http://perkinstragedy.org

L. Ron Hubbard, the man behind the creation of Scientology, was & still is a controversial figure. Biographies and lists of personal accomplishments differ greatly between Scientology and non-Scientology publications as the “church” tends to exaggerate and outright lie about his early life, his education, his travels, his achievements etc, preferring to paint a distorted, flattering picture. Several books and articles present facts which flatly contradict these church-published accounts (links to free online copies of these books are provided below), showing conclusively that he was NOT the brilliant, accomplished figure revered by Scientologists. During his autopsy, the sedative 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://www.apologeticsindex.org/Bare%20Faced%20Messiah.pdf
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/atack/contents.htm
http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/mom/Messiah_or_Madman.txt
http://skull.piratehaven.org/~atman/factnet/lrhbare.txt

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

Yup, Punter is a plonker.

As for the other negative guys well they're spouting stuff they might think is true but...

It's a well-known theological fact that anyone who leaves any religion (called an "apostate") always lies. In other words, any apostate will lie about the religion they've left, presumably to justify what they've done. So any testimony from ex-members of any religion is suspect. (This doesn't just apply to Scientology, it's any religion at all.)

Which basically means all this rubbish you see on the Web is just that: rubbish -- because it comes from apostates.

Anyway to answer your question: "What's it all about?" it's about life, the universe and everything. Really. (I should know I've been a Scientologist for 35 years.)

The only way you can really learn what Scientology is about is to read a book written by the founder and see what you think. Only you can decide, no one can tell you.

Answer 3

scientology is a religion based on a science of the mind called dianetics, written by l ron hubbard.
The book dianetics takes you on a journey through your mind, and shows you how the analytical or reasoning mind can be controlled by a sub hypnotic mind, resulting in people doing things they later regret or don't understand. This sub mind can also cause illness and depression and all sorts of mental conditions. It's rather like having hypnotic commands which impose themselves on a persons will. (if you agree that a person can be made well through hypnosis, then surely you must agree that a person can be made unwell in the same way). Dianetics introduces a therapy to this natural form of hypnotism, by re filing these 'engrams' as standard memory.
This process led to some people recalling past lives.
If you agree that you may have had a past life then you must agree that in your past life, you had a past life! What would be the result of recalling all of your past lives right to the beginning? Just a clue as to what scientology is all about.
Such a religion, which enables normal people to regain skills and powers of long ago would be seen as a threat to governments, and indeed scientology has been attacked ever since its beginning. Who do you think pays for the buildings (its churches), the government ? Who pays for its lawsuits? etc etc. Scientology is a service religion, all religions charge for their services. You can however go up the training route, which involves exchanging services for services.

Answer 4

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Answer 5

Its classified as a religion in some countries, but for all intents and purposes, its a cult.
It involved very expensive lessons to rise in the rankings. It was invented by a former hack science fiction author named Hubbard who believed that due to overpopulation of the solar system 75 million years ago, trillions of people were taken to volcanoes and were destroyed with H-bombs. The souls of these people called 'thetans' exist today in our bodies and carry false messages according to Scientology. In fact, just to learn that story takes hundreds of thousands of dollars, so I just saved you a few bucks.
It has many dangerous views about medicine. Specifically, a scientologist isn't allowed to take chemical medicine. Ironically, Hubbard died from a drug overdose.

Answer 6

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Answer 7

Sci-Fientology is as Zero Cool described. It is a great pyramid scheme for making money off "Muggs" I like them though because of their violent nature and how willing they are to kill anyone that doesn't share their views.

They are strong in the darkside.

Answer 8

Super cult. They make you give thousands of dollars to learn new "information" and raise higher in the ranks. They've also been known to keep a few literal skeletons in the closet, if you get what I'm saying.

Answer 9

Scientology is a cult - they believe we`re all aliens inside.
They don`t have a recognized deity figure in the way religions do so they`re a cult.

Answer 10

Scientology is a joke... literally. This guy tried to start a religion based on his sci-fi novel, and it accidentally worked. Now they exist only to get money from their believers.

Answer 11

It is a bunch of pseudoscientific nonsense. You would be well advised to stay clear of it. Pick up a copy of "Dianetics" at the used book store if you want to find out more.