Scientology, a cult, a religion, or money-makers ?
Hello, i met some people from scientology, and they have a lot of media-coverage, like Tom Cruise and others as media-idols for scientology. In Germany scientolgy is in 1 line with al-qaida and are officially labeled Terror-elements, so in Germany Scientology is forbidden. What is scientology, a cult, a true religion, or are they just making money , for asking enourmous amounts of money for their lessons ? PS: no offence to scientology, just wondering...
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Random Answers, Critics, Comments, Opinions :
1 :
You need to do research on it, but I saw a documentary on the History channel once and it said that these people actually believe alien beings will come and take them to heaven. So go figure why so many people believe in it.
2 :
It's a cult.
3 :
I would say cult and money making. It was created by L Ron Hubbard. who was an author. It is just a way of life not a religion.
4 :
It's a screwy system. My wife's family has a few cousins caught up in it and when we had Christmas dinner 2 years back, they didn't say a word to us, wouldn't look up from their plate and would walk around the house in a big group. And considering that when they were in their teens, they were very outgoing and sociable people, Scientology is a cult. I'll go as far as to say it's a disease of the modern world.
5 :
Personal opinion here but I think it is all of the above....I believe it is a religion of what exactly I couldn't tell you, but I do believe money plays a big factor in it, and it is a bit cult like, although they do have people who represent the Scientology movement ie Tom Cruise and others it is very secretive...I mean really what do you know about their fundamental beliefs.....It is hard to classify Scientology, that why I believe it's all of the above....but that's just my opinion....
6 :
I'm surprised no scientologists have responded to this question. The religion was founded by a science fiction writer named L. Ron Hubbard. I think John Travolta was in a movie made from one of his novels a couple of years ago. The only other thing I know about scientology is this: L. Ron Hubbard said the best way to get rich is to start a religion. And then he did.
7 :
c. all of the above.
8 :
Definitely a cult. Scientology, which questionably calls itself a new "religion", is the brainchild of science fiction writer and occult enthusiast L. Ron Hubbard. The organization claims to be able to help rid members of any and all mental constraints including but not limited to emotional scarring (from this and "past" lives) due to "engrams" (past negative experiences stored in our unconscious mind), psychological disorders and 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). The official Scientology organization is composed of a number of “levelsâ€. One begins as a “preclear†and works their way up. One must purchase virtually every service crucial to advancement directly from the "church" and at staggering prices. "Auditing", for example, is purchased in 12.5-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 At level OT III (Operating Thetan 3), some very strange and 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 a lot of aliens (Thetans) from around the universe by kidnapping them, bringing them to earth in golden DC-8 “space-planes†& blowing them up inside volcanoes with hydrogen bombs. Scientologists believe the souls of these aliens (these souls are "Body Thetans") were captured, brainwashed and released; they then attached themselves to our ancestors (who passed them all the way down to us) & 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://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 in everyday life. The “church†has been known to withhold prescription pharmaceuticals from member (with 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. http://www.clambake.org/archive/ronthenut/16.gif (visit this link to read about the uses of hydroxyzine: http://www.drugs.com/mtm/v/vistaril.html ) To be blunt, Scientology is a cult. It employs semi-legitimate psychotherapy and self-help methods to keep people loyal & convinced of its merit while it simultaneously sucks them dry financially and attempts to keep them far away from ANYONE, even friends and 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 this link for more information: http://www.lisamcpherson.org/
9 :
It's a cult. South Park did a good job spoofing them in the episode "Trapped in the Closet". The movie Bowfinger, made fun of them with their parody cult, Mindhead.
10 :
Night hawk, Provocative questions today, thank you! Scientology has a pamphlet out that hacks the 10 commandments! "You should not steal..." "You should be honest..." ... I have read it and laughed! They make a fool of people and mimick the goodness of the Holy Bible's wisdom, all while taking God out of the equation. * It is a sad fraud.* RELIGION is to serve God, not man. ***** Scientolgy is about self empowerment and self improvement so they should NOT call it a religion. ***** They are an empty and vain, damned vessel with out the indwelling Holy Spirit and that is exactly what the devil wants. The devil seeks to destroy, confuse and sedduce the masses. Sadly, he has succeeded for some. Why not make a pawn out of the rich, powerful and famous to spread his blasphemy! Honestly, God deserves SO MUCH better! I can only earnestly thank God, that he lets me have the honor, of loving him. There is hope for everyone including scientologists, it is never to late to get on the right track! God is excellently forgiving, patient, powerful and understanding. Just pray in Jesus Christ's name it is that simple and they are on there way! YEA!
11 :
It's a cult masquerading as a religion in order to make money.
12 :
1st Scientology is an official church in gemany (in acordance with court rullings), Scientology even just opened a brand new church 4,000-square-meter, 6-story glass and steel structure in Germany. http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2003524390_scientology14.html?syndication=rss http://www.scientologytoday.org/press/701131337591_scn-int.html Any persecution that Scientologist have recieved in Germany is just that "persecution" and is no more diferent than the persecution Jews and many other groups have recieved in Germany (remember the holocaust). Yes, Germany has some serious issues in the religious freedom department and attacks anything that is new. Even the U.S. state deparment and the U.N. have complained about Germany's religious intolerance. It is not just Scientologist that are discriminated against. http://www.religioustolerance.org/rt_germa.htm THIS IS SCIENTOLOGY 1. What is true for you is what you yourself observe to be true. 2. Man is his spirit not his mind or his body. 3. The spirit creates his own mind. Please, do not confuse the mind with the brain that is a physical thing. The mind is composed of mental image pictures as explained in Dianetics. These pictures serve the spirit to give him knowledge and experience. These pictures are composed of energy. The energy in the picture can affect the spirit. You can feel better by remembering something that you like or angry by remembering something else. These emotions are actually energy waves emanated by the picture. You can actually feel pain by remembering a pain memory. Sometimes these pictures are accompanied by ideas or considerations. Lets suppose that you father beat you mom up in front of you. Your father was the dominating figure so you might conclude that you have to act like your father in some situations. This is what we call on Scientology an aberration (a conclusion that is imposed to you by a mental picture). This picture is what we call a engram (a pain memory that affects your judgment and free will). 4. You can discharge the energy in these pictures through communication. This is Dianetics Auditing and is the oldest of hundreds of Scientology techniques used to improve the individual. 5. The Spirit creates his own emotions. Are you happy? Are you sad? Are you depress? Maybe you think that something external of you is creating your emotions. Maybe you believe that you are sad because you had a bad day or maybe you believe that you are happy because you had a great day. And this might be true. But who made the decision that you had a good or bad day? You did. You decided if life was good or bad, and adjusted your emotions to respond to your own consideration. You created your own emotion. Some people are born with everything they want and are still unhappy. And others are born into humble means and are happy. What's the difference? The only real difference is each person's ideas and considerations. Scientology uses hundreds of processes in order to help a person get a better understanding and a better outlook in life by using his own observations. 6. Scientology Ethics. Ethical people take full responsibility for their actions. Un-ethical people blame others for their actions. "Wrong doings" diminish and deteriorate the freedom of the spirit because the need to justify the "wrong doing". So the spirit is enslaved into repeating the "wrong doing" in order to justify the original "wrong doing". The road to freedom lies within taking full responsibility for your personal condition and actions, past, present and future. Scientology provides the tools to help the person able to be fully responsible over his life thus rehabilitating his ability to be good and self determined. Also Scientologist base their conduct on a non-denominational code of conduct. http://twth.org/eb/?id=16664j 7. Scientology and God. Scientology acknowledges the supreme being and promotes the individual search for closeness to God trough religion. 8. Scientology vs Psychiatry. Psychiatry believes that self awareness, feelings, love and faith is merely cellular activity. Basically they think that you are your brain and you are not in charge of your behavior but your cells are.This is a totally materialistic point of view that denies the spirit and God. Psychiatrist is a pseudo science because it is based in principles that are false. Psychiatry have never proven that any "mental illnesses" (like they call it) has any connection with a physical illness. Any Neurologist will tell you there are no medical test to identify a "mental illness". All Psychiatrists base their diagnosis on opinion and opinion alone. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=3895596783332855545&q=Psychiatry+is+fraude&hl=enhttp://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=8443414209115892468&q=scientology&hl=en http://video.yahoo.com/video/play?p=cchr&toggle=1&cop=mss&ei=UTF-8&b=1&oid=12085d1e6c58d04e&rurl=video.yahoo.com&vdone=http%3A%2F%2Fvideo.yahoo.com%2Fsearch%2Fvideo%3Fp%3Dcchr%26toggle%3D1%26cop%3Dmss%26ei%3DUTF-8 Happiness, exhilaration, depression and psychosis are states of mind, not diseases. All what you have to do to stop being depress is change your state of mind. How you do that? By changing your ideas and considerations. Scientology provides the tools to achieve a better state of mind in accordance with your own point of view. Also Psychiatrist excuse the most horrendous crimes as mental illnesses. This is actually creates a sense of irresponsibility in society because it tells people that they are not responsible for their actions. Second they promote that drugs are the answer for your problems. This message promotes the use of drugs to find release from life and creates the current drug addiction problem in society. Drugs will only give you temporary false release but will never solve the source of your problems.And actually drugs will keep you away from finding a true spiritual release. http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-4437051883726295326&q=psychiatry&hl=en Note: Scientology doesn't have anything against Psychology or Neurology. Also the mere awareness that you are a spiritual being and not a body makes you better person. 9. Scientology is a force for good in society. Scientologist fights Psychiatric abuses, http://www.cchr.org/ dangerous and harmful drugs, criminality, http://www.criminon.org and drug addiction. http://www.narconon.org Also Scientology fought and won against the FDA and the IRS. And Scientologist initiated the social reform group "Youth for Human Rights" http://www.youthforhumanrights.org and the movement "Say no to drugs and yes to life". http://www.notodrugs-yestolife.org Scientologist are some of the more intelligent, able and successful people in this planet. Including Jenna Elfman, Kelly Preston, John Travolta, Priscilla Presley, Sofia Milos and Leah Remini. Even Danny Masterson from the that's That '70s Show is a Scientologist. 10. Scientology is the only church that doesn't ask for donations from their parishioners during their Sunday Services. All chapel services are 100% free (marriages, naming ceremonies, ect). Scientology earns it's money by delivering courses and auditing. Courses and auditing are optional. You do not need to take courses and auditing to be in Scientology. All you need to do to be a Scientologist is to read the books and apply Scientology to your life (like I do). But if you want auditing there are many alternative and economical ways to achieve this. a. You can do volunteer work in your local church and get your services for free. b. You can study to be an auditor and perform all your auditing with a fellow student. This way you can also provide free services to your friends and family. This is actually the preferred way to become clear because you learn how to help others. Scientology isn't about you going clear but taking responsibility across all your dynamics (self, family, group, humanity, life, ect). 11. Scientology and aliens. The story of Xenu is just a fable like the story of "Jonah in the Whale" in the bible. Fables are not intended to be taken seriously. The story of Xenu doesn't have any significance on Scientology beliefs. 12. Anti-Scientology propaganda is just that, propaganda. If you wanna know about this propaganda see my blog: http://www.myspace.com/129727315 References http://www.neuereligion.de/ENG/index.html http://www.bonafidescientology.org/ http://www.chaplaincare.navy.mil/Scientology.htm http://www.religioustolerance.org/scientol.htm http://www.scientology.org/ http://www.beliefnet.com/sem/scientology-religion.asp?source=YAHSCT&campaign=096&medium=PPC&nopop=1&WT.mc_id=YAHSCT&WT.srch=1
13 :
cult, they claim they have the new messiah in tom hanks.
14 :
It's a money-grubbing cult that operates like the mob, only there is no witness protection program to protect those who speak out against Scientology.
15 :
I know Scientology since 1981, and what i received from Scientology was the answers that i have been search. As spiritual religion For me is the mother of all the religions, as give the spiritual answers. And the evidence is that the life become more simple as one progress in Scientology. If you want the real answers, please see the answers that give you in official Scientology sites. because other wise will be only interpretations.
