Scientology

[Daz]

Now, I should start by saying that before I saw this video I pretty much didn't give a monkeys about Scientology. I heard a few comedians tear into them a couple of times and had a giggle but that was about it. A guy I work with emailed me this along with simply 'nut job' in text.

http://www.wwtdd.com/post.phtml?pk=3383

Now, firstly, Tom Cruise can be as banana's as he likes, I dont really care, and to be fair, this may all be him being a bit fruit loopy. He goes on about driving past an accident and knowing you have to stop because you're the only one who can help them (the guy who posted the article notes that), and goes onto say they have the definitive methods of rehabilitation for criminals and drug addicts. Well, says who? And if they are definitive, why aren't you guys sharing them with everyone else? Hmm.

A quick look around wikipedia links to the below articles:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Freakout
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Snow_White

More dodgyness.

What do you know about Scientology? I'd never really given them much attention but am curious now.

[Del Lardo]

There was a fantastic episode of South Park a couple of years back which outlined the core beliefs of Scientologists and it had me laughing the whole way through as it was so stupid. The thing is that when you take the core beliefs of any religion and expose them to logic and science they end up looking daft.

The only reason that people get so pent up about Scientology is that it is a relatively new religion. IMO it's a big pile of bollox but I think that about all organised religion

[Mark]

Scientology is a dangerous, nasty 'religion'. It's all very well for the likes of Tom Cruise to go around extolling its 'virtues', but it's the normal people who get into trouble if the countless media stories are to be believed. There have been numerous reports of scientologists emptying the bank accounts of 'believers', forcing them apart from the rest of their families, and so forth. Laughing at them is fine, laughing at what they do isn't.

Now, the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. That's one really worth laughing at.

[Dr. Z]

Scientology is pretty much the most ironic religion possible. Its laughable really.

[Del Lardo]

Originally Posted by Mark

Scientology is a dangerous, nasty 'religion'. It's all very well for the likes of Tom Cruise to go around extolling its 'virtues', but it's the normal people who get into trouble if the countless media stories are to be believed. There have been numerous reports of scientologists emptying the bank accounts of 'believers', forcing them apart from the rest of their families, and so forth. Laughing at them is fine, laughing at what they do isn't.

How many Muslim women are forced to leave their family to go into an arranged marriage each year?

Have you ever seen the Christian preachers on US TV who tell their viewers.... "God has told me that unless you donate $2m in the next 30 minutes something terrible will happen" and as if by some kind of miracle they hit their targets every time.

OK these are extreme examples but **** like this happens in all religions it just so happens that the media report every little thing about Scientology because it isn't an accepted religion.

[Mark]

Yeah, I know. No religion is perfect and I don't like some of the so-called 'christian' stuff that goes on either. I think the trouble with Scientology is that its biggest advocates are well-known and do all they can to make it look 'whiter than white' and deny all knowledge of the darker side. That just doesn't wash.

[Del Lardo]

Originally Posted by Mark

I think the trouble with Scientology is that its biggest advocates are well-known and do all they can to make it look 'whiter than white' and deny all knowledge of the darker side. That just doesn't wash.

Whenever there has been a serious charge against a religion or church the first thing they do is deny everything and try and claim to be "whiter than white". Look at how the Catholic church handled years of child abuse accusations. Just because the person denying the claims is famous doesn't make the religion any worse IMO.

It's obviously not just religions that do this (look at the number of large corporations that have been caught out) but the impression I have (and I freely admit it may be wrong) is that when they do it they use their religion to justify what they are doing as morally right.

[semi-pro waster]

Originally Posted by Daz

What do you know about Scientology? I'd never really given them much attention but am curious now.

When the big yin of the religion has already gone on record as saying words to the effect of "if you want to make money, found a religion" then I struggle to take it overly seriously. However I'm not sure it is that 'bad' either or to put it another way, most organised groupings of people (particularly religions but it doesn't stop there) have had some shady things done in their name so I wouldn't hold up Scientology as being amongst the worst necessarily albeit I do acknowledge some of their stated policies towards 'heretics' as highlighted above leave a lot to be desired. Though they did manage to throw up a very interesting/important case in the canon of EU law with the problem of Miss Van Duyn v The Home Office.

[Goose]

I'm sure in 400 years time, they will have changed to be much like religions of today (according to the patterns of religion over time anyway!).

[Dymetrie]

"A woman must not make a sound when giving birth as it unduly affects the child"...

I rest my case in disliking Scientology as much as other religions.

It's slightly more supid.