straight dope about scientology?

Question

can someone give me an objective opinion about scientology? I see them where I live and it seems like their hiding something mother ship maybe?christian superfreaks like cindy take your prepackaged propaganda and cram it in your cramp hole

Answer 1

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
http://www.nypress.com/20/22/news&columns/feature.cfm

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

Answer 2

I used to work in a company run on Scientology business principles (L. Ron Hubbard wrote a whole bunch of books about this - or, well, he had somebody write them).

Most of the people working for this company were Scientologists, many of them second generation. Me and three other people (out of about 50 total employees) were the only non-Scientologists there.

Objectively, they are in many ways less creepy than other hard-core proseletyzing religions - like some Christians, and even at least one Buddhist sect, the one I was part of for some of my teen years.

That said, only Scientology equates the amount of money you can pay with your progress in spirituality. You must get a certain amount of auditing until you become Clear. Then you must pay even more for OT I, OT II, OT III, and you can only acheive OT VII on a boat which will cost, no kidding, around 75 thousand dollars - and that was about 10 years ago, no doubt it's quite a bit more these days.

It's a scam, man. This "religion" has been around since the 1950's, but it was repeatedly refused as a tax-exempt religion. In fact, L. Ron Hubbard's wife was prosecuted along with several other Scientologists for, I'm not kidding, breaking into an IRS office. This ban lasted until 1992 or 1993, shortly after Clinton took office. I'm not a Republican, but dude, c'mon, Bill. Don't roll over like that just because of a few Hollywood pals. Oh well, too late now.

Most of the second-generation Scientologists I met recognized it as being pretty lame (they would not EVER go to auditing if they could avoid it), but they kept hanging around because deluded wanna-be-starlets kept joining, and these guys wanted to nail them. Maybe they even managed to, I dunno.

You can also find all kinds of awful (and I mean really and truly awful) things about Scientology here:

Answer 3

Apparently they are hiding stuff. There are people here who will dump a load of links to strange internet sites that will explain secret info that only the highest ups in Scientology are supposed to know. And they will admit that they never met one or visited a center.

On the other hand, I tried them out when I was younger. Very non-denominational (we had people of all religions there). Lots of courses on things like good communication, better study habits, shaking peer pressure, getting off drugs, clearing things that were blocking you. All of them seemed very naturally happy and open. I still use what I learned. Great stuff. But I only took the first couple of cheap courses then left.

I had no problem leaving. According to anti-scientology sites thats about 62% of the people who try it. The cost was about the same as a college course (and better taught IMHO). And I never saw any of that strange belief stuff but Im told by people here thats because 99% of the scientologists arent supposed to know it. :-)

I still recommend it to people that I think could benefit from the courses. All in all I had more trouble with the baptists (10% of your earnings?!? pushing their strange beliefs, butting into personal lives, and giving you a hard time when you want to leave)

Answer 4

Scientology means “knowing how to know” and it is the study of the spirit in relationship to the universe. In accordance Scientology existence is divided in two areas: spiritual and physical. Spiritual existence is represented with the Greek letter Theta (that means thought). All life is theta including God. Theta or life creates and controls space, energy and matter but that requires responsibility.
Life or theta is senior to the material universe. So Scientology is about thought over matter.
Scientology asserts “all that all your problems are in you mind” and that you are fully responsible for your existence.
Scientology is a practical religious philosophy, is not a believe system, in Scientology you can believe in anything you want. But the practice of Scientology is an exact and precise practice that requires years of training to master. It is believed that through this practice a better life can be achieved and all the riddles of the universe are solved.
This is a very short answer for a very big subject, I recommend reading a book, like Scientology: The fundaments of thought.

Answer 5

Well to be completely objective is almost impossible; but as a Universal-Catholic-Pagan-Agnostic-Atheist Sympathizer (LOL) I will try.

Scientology, is a cult that is interested in money. This "religion" charges THOUSANDS of dollars for their version of "salvation". This is not a couple bucks in the collection plate or a bake sale to raise money for a new church roof...no, service/salvation to you is denied if you cannot afford it. And the price is high. Auditing sessions can cost anywhere from 250.00 to 3,000.00 dollars.

That aside, let's get into some of their practices...one of them is called "diconnection". (And this is one of the main reasons I refer to Scientology as a cult). This tenet states that anyone who does not believe Scientology or does not fully support YOUR belief of it, is a "Suppressive Person" or "SP" and you should break all contact with them. It does NOT matter if that person happens to be your wife, child, mother, or best friend. You should not speak to or communicate directly with them at all. One of the first things a "cult" does, is to make a person wholly dependent on said cult, by destroying familial and social relationships.

It should also be noted that "Supressive persons" are considered to be no better than criminals and are often referred to as "baby rapers". Sounds outrageous? Check out this article of Jenna Elfman confronting a person wearing a t-shirt that mocked her "religion" of Scientology. http://celebrities.propeller.com/story/2006/06/14/jenna-elfman-harasses-scientology-mocking-pedestrian

You can find that article all over online, so if you don't like the source I have given, just use another.

And we are all aware by now, of how Scientologists abhor and hate the psychological community; remember the Tom Cruise and Brooke Shields fiasco? Now, granted, I myself do not believe doctors are always right, and yes, I do believe many docs are all too eager to prescribe meds. HOWEVER, to completely discount the benefits of couseling, psychotherapy, hypnotism, etc., is plain ignorant. Sceintologists are notorious for taking people off their medications; and this can result in disaster. Here is one of many articles about this. http://www.whyaretheydead.net/room758.html

Now that is only *some* of it.

L. Ron Hubbard, their leader, was a piece of work in his own right. Instead of regaling you with tales of his life, which includes stories of insanity, genius, sexual abnormality, drugs, etc...I will just give you some of his more famous quotes. Feel free to look them up and verify them for yourself.

"Make money. Make more money. Make other people make money."

"Never discuss Scientology with the critic. Just discuss his or her crimes, known and unknown."

And, on silencing critics and ex-Scientologists:
"The purpose of the suit is to harass and discourage rather than to win. The law can be used very easily to harass, and enough harassment on somebody who is simply on the thin edge anyway, well knowing that he is not authorized, will generally be sufficient to cause his professional decease. If possible, of course, ruin him utterly."

Now I am a very open minded person. I don't generally get along well with organized religion (hence my oddly titled belief label in the first part of my answer, lol) however there are a couple religions that I think TRULY are detrimental to people's health and minds and those are radical Islam, Evagelical Christianity, and Scientology.

But do NOT take my word for it. Do as I did, and do your own research. Check out Scientology's official page. Check out www. lermanet.com. And discover what Scoentology is for yourself---because while the stuff I have stated is fact, it is also a fact that I do not like Scientology.

Good luck.

Answer 6

They are even more confused than christians.Another con to try and get u to part with some £££.A celebrity form of pyramid selling.If anyone stops you in the street and asks if you if you've heard of dianetics, immediately beat them to a pulp,steal their wallet and ask them how they like being robbed with sod all to show for it.

Answer 7

i think you'd have to spend a lot of years there to find out, unless someone who has and has left them can tell you, cuz their not that open about some things. i spent a few months doing some of their stuff ,but the money they can charge people scared me off.

Answer 8

these folks are not Christian in any sense and they are a cult.

Answer 9

google: "the unfunny truth"