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). Their “treatment” of substance abuse includes little more than massive doses of vitamins and extended sessions in a sauna.
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
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/detox.htm
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 $200-$750 for introductory sessions to between $8,000 & $9,000 for advanced sessions. Basically, Scientology claims to possess exclusive knowledge of the path to religious redemption & then charges obscene amounts of money for every tiny incremental step towards this end. 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, epilepsy, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or ANY neurological disorder / chemical imbalance at all, & the “church” has been known to withhold prescription pharmaceuticals from members (often with harmful & deadly results). The “Church” blames psychiatry for the Holocaust, as well as school shootings & 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 because their “stand against the enemy” fosters cohesion within said organization, & psychiatry was an effective rallying point considering many people already distrust & oppose the mental health profession.
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 & lists of personal accomplishments differ greatly between Scientology & non-Scientology publications as the “church” tends to exaggerate & outright lie about his early life, his education, his travels, his achievements etc, preferring to paint a distorted, flattering picture. Several books & articles present facts which flatly contradict these church-published accounts (links to free online copies of these books & articles 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 bullies all known critics, opponents, “enemies”, etc, often through malicious litigation & character assassination. It’s a particularly greedy as well as manipulative & dangerous cult that takes its anti-psychiatry fanaticism to deadly limits.
http://www.solitarytrees.net/racism/harass.htm#start
http://www.factnet.org/Books/SocialControl/scs.html#toc
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/24/Tampabay/The_unperson.shtml
http://www.xenu.net/archive/personal_story/funkydonny.html
2007-08-21 23:05:21
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answer #1
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answered by ZER0 C00L ••AM••VT•• 7
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Wow 22 completely wrong answers and two right ones. Amazing what people will make up when they answer Yahoo! Well "Scientology" is not related to Science. Also, it is not the religion Christian Science. There are no space aliens. It is not a cult. It is not based on a scifi novel and not the result of a bet!
Scientologists were on the front lines of helping people at Ground Zero 9/11, Virginia Tech massacre, the Indonesian earthquake/tidal wave disaster and at Hurricane Katrina. Scientologists have stamped out psychiatric abuses in Australia, England, Australia, etc., etc. Scientology study technology has jacked up children's reading ability and grade levels by many percentages. Drug treatment techniques way more effective than any other techniques. If Lindsay Lohan and Brittany Spears took advantage of these programs, then they would not have backslid.
Scientology is action and appreciation for the human spirit. Scientology is exactly that. The answer you've been looking for.
And that's what it's all about, bucko (in my opinion).....
2007-08-21 15:28:00
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answer #2
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answered by , 3
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Scientology is a very difficult religion to summarize in just a few paragraphs, let alone in a few pages. It was founded in 1953 by fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, just four years after he made the statement, "I'd like to start a religion. That's where the money is," to Lloyd Eshbach; quoted by Eshbach in Over My Shoulder. That's where he found wealth, also--Hubbard became a multi-millionaire. An easier question to ask would be, "What are the similarities between Christianity and Scientology?" The answer to that would be, "There are no similarities."
Scientology teaches that mankind is an immortal being (called a Thetan) not originally from this planet that is trapped by matter, energy, space, and time (MEST). Salvation for a Scientologist comes through a process called 'auditing,' whereby 'engrams' (basically, memories of past pain and unconsciousness that create energy blockage) are removed. Auditing is a very lengthy process and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. When all engrams are finally removed, the Thetan can once again control MEST instead of being controlled by it. Until salvation, each Thetan is constantly reincarnated.
2007-08-20 04:15:51
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answer #3
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answered by Freedom 7
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Scientologys doctrine is too complicated to go into deeply here and any attempt I make will not give the proper attention to the detail.
But basically.. (forgive me sciencys) its the believe that aliens are involved in the life of men.
All you see around you is really illusion, and by knowing the right things you can live above the illusion and achieve your proper place.
That is a very general but fairly accurate description.
Christian Scientists are not Christians.
They do not belive that Jesus was GOD.
That is not to condemn them, it is simply a fact.
This idea (not this specific religion) was addressed in the first century.
There was a similar group of persons at the time called Gnostics.
Gnostics (knowledge) were a people who belived that if you had certain knowledge of GOD then you were on a plane above the average christian.
They didnt belive that christ came to earth in the flesh.. ect..
All was an illusion ect.
1st John was written to refute this entire idea.
No offense to scientologists anywhere..
apologies for anything about your religion I got wrong..
2007-08-20 04:17:19
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answer #4
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answered by tiggis2006 3
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Here's a factual description for you:
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 anyone’s faiths of beliefs in the area of God , the Supreme Being, or the Infinite. This area is left totally up to the indivdual as part of his life.
It is also not a messianic religion. This means there is no worship of prophets or messiahs in Scientology. It is not belief or 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 3,000 tape-recorded public lectures. So it's not possible to fully answer your question on this forum., but I hope this gives you some idea.
2007-08-20 14:08:51
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answer #5
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answered by thetaalways 6
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Scientology is a religion that shows a person how to understand who they are and what they can do to help others.
Scientology means:-the study of knowledge
As a Scientologist I use what I learn in Scientology to help myself and those I meet. For me Scientology has brought the ability to help others with more certainly.
My belief is that all men are Spiritual being and that all men also have the right to believe whatever the choose to. Do I disagree with a Pagan, a Christian, a Jew, a Mormon or an Athiest, no I don't. They have their belief and I respect it as that.
Scientology is a broad technology applicable to every single part of life, be it science, religion, family, space, energy, time, motion, animals, business or any other area you choose to apply it to.
I have found Scientology both interesting and highly workable.
2007-08-20 22:55:40
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answer #6
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answered by michaeljripley 3
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A cult created by science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard. The cult believes that all human suffering is due to alien souls attaching themselves to humans. Xenu (sometimes Xemu) is introduced as an alien ruler of the "Galactic Confederacy" who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of people to Earth in spacecraft resembling Douglas DC-8 airliners, stacked them around volcanoes and blew them up with hydrogen bombs. Their souls then clustered together and stuck to the bodies of the living. Scientologists believe the alien souls continue to do this today, causing a variety of physical ill-effects in modern-day humans. Hubbard called these clustered spirits "Body Thetans", and the advanced levels place considerable emphasis on isolating them and neutralizing their ill effects.
2007-08-20 04:15:22
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answer #7
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answered by Kagome 5
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You mean "Scientology." And "exactly."
The very term "Scientology" makes me laugh. What is that, a branch of Religiosity?
It's a modern "religion" founded by a nutcase named L. Ron Hubbard. It's popular in Hollywood circles.
I will say this though - while it's obviously nutty, it's certainly no more so than any other major religion taken at face value, including Christianity. It's ironic that people who believe in a 2,000-years-dead magical carpenter would attack Scientology as "absurd."
2007-08-20 04:16:18
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answer #8
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answered by jonjon418 6
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It is a Multinational Corporation disguised as a religion. They are an Evil destructive totalitatrian Cult. Besides Tom Cruise is a member so you can tell this Scientology is not so good.
2007-08-20 04:17:46
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answer #9
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answered by Rosie the Riviter 3
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Scientology is based on a science fiction book with aliens in the story written a long time ago....
Some cooky people turned it into a religion....
2007-08-20 04:15:25
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answer #10
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answered by gkltdd 4
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A dangerous and manapulative cult. Hopefully Zerro Cool will respond as she has all the web sites you should go to see just what they are. They are exrteme anti psychiarty, this is probably becuase most of them are in need of being sectioned for what they have fallen for.
2007-08-20 04:26:40
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answer #11
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answered by Eye see! 6
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