What does Scientology have that traditional US religions don't? (Buddhism, prophet, worship)
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They don't. It's just that Scientology uses celebrity endorsements, while religions do not.
Tina Turner and Rod Schneider are both Buddhists, but no Buddhist organization makes a big point that they are believers. Dave Chappelle is a Muslim, but he doesn't make a big deal about it the way Tom Cruz does his belief in aliens and L.Ron Hubbard.
It's just that celebrity $cientologists are a lot louder than celebrities who follow religions.
That's exactly what I was thinking victorianpunk! TY
I'm also curious as to what would make someone believe or join this (MLM) multi level marketing scam. I'm sorry I cannot bring myself to call it a religion or even a cult.
Lots of bad press about these guys is freely available. For a unbiased opinion of Scientology read the book "Going Clear". There are more very negative, more one-sided views out there about this MLM.
Pretty much most of your guys on this thread are SP's supressive persons, or PTS "potential trouble source" and members will be advised to "Disconnect" from you.
Scary, not nice MLM. Unless you have lots of money, and are pretty gullible.
I've just finished Going Clear, and it was fascinating.
I think I understand after reading the book that the attraction for most adherants to Scientology is similar to the attraction to psychology - the intense examination of self, and the working through of emotional problems by desensitization to the sources of those problems.
The subtitle of the book is "Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief". Scientology courts "celebrities" to join, partly for PR reasons and partly for their money. People with strong egos get attached to this belief system because they get to spend so much time on self study. Also, since in Hollywood networking is a main way to get a job, people join Scientology to get work - Scientologists hire other Scientologists in movies and television and even the video game industry.
Scientology maybe wouldn't be generally considered so weird if the internal bureaucracy hadn't developed into such a paranoid, abusive, dictatorship. Or rather, if from the very beginning the organization hadn't been so paranoid and aggressive. L Ron Hubbard was a real scary piece of work.
One the fundamental ideas of Hubbard was to never be on the defensive, always be on the attack. So many people's lives have been seriously harmed by smear campaigns by Scientology. They even have been physically violent not only to people trying to write about Scientology but also to their own members and and church bureaucrats. It is astounding how church members closed their eyes and turned their backs to some extremely bad things.
But the author of Going Clear explains that people who have their whole personal identity tied into the belief that their charismatic leader can do no wrong will do anything not to give up on that self image. Even to the point of torturing others, or submitting to torture themselves.
I found it really shocking how the U.S. government has caved to the Scientologists, forgiving back taxes and giving in on the subject of whether or not Scientology is a religion simply because of the threat of on-going litigation. Bill Clinton doesn't look very well in this book.
I also felt so very sorry for children who grow up in the organization. Hubbard himself was neglected by his parents, neglected his own children, and this became part of the culture of Scientology. High level bureaucrats in the organization are not allowed to have children, and others aren't allowed to raise their own children. General education is neglected and discouraged. Some children are raised in neglectful group nurseries. Abortions are encouraged.
It was surprising how many people are associated with Scientology, although that association may be minimal. Even Bart Simpson's voice actor is a Scientologist who has given millions to the organization. The story of Paul Haggis, who wrote "Million Dollar Baby" and wrote and directed "Crash" among other things is a main thread of the book. He joined when he was young but ended up leaving Scientology.
I highly recommend reading the book!
And if any of you out there are still going to Tom Cruise movies . . . well, don't.
From what I've read and the things that I have seen, American actors are a psychologically vulnerable group of individuals reeking of insecurity, Scientology seems to offer something that builds their self-esteem and self-worth as strange as that may seem.
I was married to an aspiring actress which was also marrying into the world of theater in that all of her friends were show biz types. As a generalization, not all, but most were as ovcatto describes, emotionally a mess. One bad review was sufficient to send then into deep despondency requiring weeks of drinking, talking, empathizing, sympathizing and suicide watches to resolve. Most also seemed highly disposed to embrace whatever neo nonsense was floating about at the time, which in the '70's was quite a bit. It was a constant battle for me to keep my wife from bankrupting us by throwing away money on tarot card readers, Rolfers, astrologers, astral projectionists, mediums etc. Typically these were people recommended to her by other members of her theatrical company who swore that they were on the level and could really help her career.
That these sorts of people would fall for Scientology as well represents no surprise to me.
Scientology also now enjoys an advantage in that having been successful in pulling in some big name Hollywood types, they are now seen as a networking agency for those aspiring to Hollywood fame.
What does $cientolog¥ have that (most) traditional U.S. religions don't? Lots and lots of CA$H!
From spacey1:
"Pretty much most of your guys on this thread are SP's supressive persons, or PTS 'potential trouble source' and members will be advised to 'Disconnect' from you."
-Lol, yeah I think that the vast majority of us here are pretty "1.1" We won't be taking a cruise on Freewinds or be privileged enough to join Sea Org. What a bummer!
When I first heard of L Ron Hubbard in the early 1950s he was touting dianetics, which as a young teenager actually made sense to me. Not much later when it evolved into Scientology, I saw that as a Parody/Satire of Christianity. Later I began think of it as a religion for high profile atheists that were afraid to offend the media by fully coming out of the closet.
Now 50+ years later, I still think I was right. It is basically a religion for Atheists who are afraid to publicly admit they are Atheists.
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