quote:
Originally posted by darksol:
really, can anyone really explain what scientology is about?
Well, I'm glad you asked. It's very simple, really. Scientology is about MONEY .
I should preface with the fact that I don't personally know any Scientologists. The following is what I have gathered from Scientologist works and criticism. I hear that the Church of Scientology is a very humanitarian organization. I wouldn't know. But here's what I do know:
L. Ron Hubbard, the creator of Scientology, is a science fiction author. (Operative word: fiction) He created the religion to promote his book sales. Just as hundreds of cultist Star Trek fans spend the time to learn the Klingon language, people spend the time to learn Hubbard's religion. After WWII, Hubbard's work caught on, mostly amongst sci-fi fans. However, is soon bred a cultish following to the point where it is today - sporting membership by many celebrities (Cruise, Travolta, etc.) Scientology has gotten rather big, no doubt giving Hubbard quite a deity complex.
Anyhow, you may recognize Hubbard as the author of such flops as Battlefield Earth. Yet, he has had many bestsellers. Most notable of these is Dianetics (Greek for "thought"). This is the book with the Volcano on the cover. Dianetics is basically a self-help, personal power book that was written in 3 weeks. Hubbard wrote it so fast he used a continuous roll of paper on his typewriter to avoid stopping and had special keys inserted for common words like "but," "or," and "how." Dianetics is basically all about learning how to make decisions in your daily life that won't affect your desire to be who you truly want to be. So far, so good.
Then it starts to get weird. After you delve deeper into Hubbard's work, you find out why there is a volcano on the cover of Dianetics. According to Scientologists, the galaxy was a very overpopulated place, circa 75 million years ago. It was then that a rather evil alien named Xenu decided to tailor out the undesirable folks to quell the problem. To make a long story short, Xenu placed the scum in a volcano, then detonated a mass of atom bombs, disintegrating everyone.
Learning this on your own is not cheap. The entire works of L. Ron Hubbard cost upwards of a quarter of a million bucks. Perhaps it's more now.
Anyhow, Martin Gardner sums up Scientologist thought pretty well: "The conscious mind is called by Hubbard the "analytical mind." It operates like a gigantic computing machine....however, [it may] direct the body in an aberrated manner if it is fed false data by the unconscious mind....The unconscious mind is termed the "reactive mind." Actually, it is always conscious -- even when a person is sleeping, or "unconscious" from some other cause. The reactive mind is incapable of "thinking" or "remembering." But when the analytical mind becomes unconscious or semiconscious, in a manner associated with bodily pain or painful emotion, the reactive mind starts to make "recordings." These recordings are called "engrams." All neuroses, psychoses, and psychosomatic ailments (including the common cold and possibly diabetes and cancer) are caused by engrams. In most cases, the trouble-making engrams are recorded before one is born."
Hubbard tells you how to avoid this.
I once saw a program (either 60minutes or 20/20) regarding the fact that Scientologists believe disease and illness are all psychosomatic, and can be battled with the mind. Needless to say, one of their followers died while quarantined in an apartment rather than the hospital. The government was doing an investigation.
Much more info is @ http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/index.html
Organized religion is obsolete - its time to "evolve" the idea, so believe in whatever you want to believe. I think the vast majority of us are atheists at heart (i know i am), and there's _nothing_ wrong with that. I hope that everyone with half a brain has come to realize this. But, ya know, in a way I almost admire true christians today. Not the southern baptist morons that hide behind their so-called faith, but the real christians, who actually use their faith to make the world a better place (which is the ONLY POINT OF RELIGION!). But they are practically a dead breed, which is maybe just as well...
