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What is scientology?

Chocolate

Chocolate

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I keep hearing about it on the news how it's this evil religious group. but they I hear many actors and rich people are active members. and it's all so confusing.... do they believe in science as a means of learning about god? are they athiests that believe only in science? nothing on the wiki makes sense to me
 
A cult that believes in a book written by a crazy sci-fi author where everyone is descendants of some sort of alien spices dropped into volcanoes on Earth.
 
Yea, seems like a tax dodge to me too, but they take it very seriously.
Carjosse said:
A cult that believes in a book written by a crazy sci-fi author where everyone is descendants of some sort of alien spices dropped into volcanoes on Earth.
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Carjosse said:
Well that is why France lists them as a cult.
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Isn't that a bit of a semantic designation though? What is the difference in a religion and a cult other than the majority in a society views it?
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
Isn't that a bit of a semantic designation though? What is the difference in a religion and a cult other than the majority in a society views it?
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Well considering Scientology is more like a corporate entity and is essentially a for profit corporation than a religious society it might be the reason.
 
Carjosse said:
Well considering Scientology is more like a corporate entity and is essentially a for profit corporation than a religious society it might be the reason.
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How would that make it any different than countless mega-churches across the United States? Most churches devote less than 5% of their income to actual charitable efforts like relief for the poor.
 
SouthernDemocrat said:
Isn't that a bit of a semantic designation though? What is the difference in a religion and a cult other than the majority in a society views it?
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Well, in my experience, it seems that cult members tend to isolate themselves from society at large, in a pretty significant way. I don't have first hand knowledge of Scientology, but a friend of mine's ex-wife got involved in it pretty heavily, and the church (or whatever they call it) wanted to essentially take their daughter (my friend's and his ex-wife's) in, and cut her off from most of the outside world, in order to teach her and mold her in the organization. It sounds like they have some pretty odd beliefs as far as rituals go.
 
Chocolate said:
I keep hearing about it on the news how it's this evil religious group. but they I hear many actors and rich people are active members. and it's all so confusing.... do they believe in science as a means of learning about god? are they athiests that believe only in science? nothing on the wiki makes sense to me
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Let me google that for you
 
lizzie said:
Well, in my experience, it seems that cult members tend to isolate themselves from society at large, in a pretty significant way. I don't have first hand knowledge of Scientology, but a friend of mine's ex-wife got involved in it pretty heavily, and the church (or whatever they call it) wanted to essentially take their daughter (my friend's and his ex-wife's) in, and cut her off from most of the outside world, in order to teach her and mold her in the organization. It sounds like they have some pretty odd beliefs as far as rituals go.
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There was a documentary about Scientology on CBC. I don't know if this is the same one.....scroll down for the video.

[video]http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/scientology-inside-cult/[/video]
 
Chocolate said:
I keep hearing about it on the news how it's this evil religious group. but they I hear many actors and rich people are active members. and it's all so confusing.... do they believe in science as a means of learning about god? are they athiests that believe only in science? nothing on the wiki makes sense to me
Click to expand...

Carjosse said:
Well that is why France lists them as a cult.
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It's funny you mention that, Carjosse. When I wanted to get a student job at my college in Germany I had to sign a form stating that I have never and will never have anything to do with Scientology, because it's a public school so I was technically working for the government and they consider it a cult.

I think scientology is ridiculous and a scam, but I also believe in religious freedom, so I think requiring people to sign something like that is wrong.

SouthernDemocrat said:
Isn't that a bit of a semantic designation though? What is the difference in a religion and a cult other than the majority in a society views it?
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Carjosse said:
Well considering Scientology is more like a corporate entity and is essentially a for profit corporation than a religious society it might be the reason.
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Yes, it is like a corporate entity, but so are all churches. The catholic church, for example, is a massive, for-profit corporation where the CEO lives in a fancy palace surrounded by gold. Whether something is a cult or not is entirely subjective. Personally I consider most religions cults.

Here's the dictionary.com definition:
Dictionary.com said:
cult [kuhlt] Show IPA
noun
1.
a particular system of religious worship, especially with reference to its rites and ceremonies.
2.
an instance of great veneration of a person, ideal, or thing, especially as manifested by a body of admirers: the physical fitness cult.
3.
the object of such devotion.
4.
a group or sect bound together by veneration of the same thing, person, ideal, etc.
5.
Sociology . a group having a sacred ideology and a set of rites centering around their sacred symbols.
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Every single one of those definitions could be used to describe the christian church.
 
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RabidAlpaca said:
It's funny you mention that, Carjosse. When I wanted to get a student job at my college in Germany I had to sign a form stating that I have never and will never have anything to do with Scientology, because it's a public school so I was technically working for the government and they consider it a cult.

I think scientology is ridiculous and a scam, but I also believe in religious freedom, so I think requiring people to sign something like that is wrong.





Yes, it is like a corporate entity, but so are all churches. The catholic church, for example, is a massive, for-profit corporation where the CEO lives in a fancy palace surrounded by gold. Whether something is a cult or not is entirely subjective. Personally I consider most religions cults.

Here's the dictionary.com definition:


Every single one of those definitions could be used to describe the christian church.
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I think the difference is that it it truly is a scam to cheat people out of their money. Generally legitimate religions don't do that or at least they disguise it as charitable giving.
 
Carjosse said:
I think the difference is that it it truly is a scam to cheat people out of their money. Generally legitimate religions don't do that or at least they disguise it as charitable giving.
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Like I said, what's a religion to one person is a cult/scam to another, and vice versa. Sadly, what scientology does is only a little more ridiculous than what the other mainstream religions have been doing forever.

circumcision.jpg
 
Chocolate said:
I keep hearing about it on the news how it's this evil religious group. but they I hear many actors and rich people are active members. and it's all so confusing.... do they believe in science as a means of learning about god? are they athiests that believe only in science? nothing on the wiki makes sense to me
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An artificially manufactured religion basically ripped wholesale off of Mormonism and the plots of bad mid-20th Century pulp science fiction novels with the express intention of making its founder disgustingly wealthy and powerful.
 
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RabidAlpaca said:
Yes, it is like a corporate entity, but so are all churches. The catholic church, for example, is a massive, for-profit corporation where the CEO lives in a fancy palace surrounded by gold. Whether something is a cult or not is entirely subjective. Personally I consider most religions cults.
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Umm, who is making the profit?
 
RabidAlpaca said:
Are you claiming there aren't people who make their living off religion? What do you think these priests, bishops, and popes are paid in? Hugs?
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You think that they're extravagantly wealthy? Should we expect them to not get paid? Do not the people who work for non-profits get paid?
 
RabidAlpaca said:
Are you claiming there aren't people who make their living off religion? What do you think these priests, bishops, and popes are paid in? Hugs?
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Priests aren't "paid" so much as given a stipend to live off of. Frankly, most of the ones I've known have been just short of flat broke and had to rely upon charity to make up the difference.
 
Chocolate said:
I keep hearing about it on the news how it's this evil religious group. but they I hear many actors and rich people are active members. and it's all so confusing.... do they believe in science as a means of learning about god? are they athiests that believe only in science? nothing on the wiki makes sense to me
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It's a cult, only prominent because weak minded Hollywood types belong to it.
 
phattonez said:
You think that they're extravagantly wealthy? Should we expect them to not get paid? Do not the people who work for non-profits get paid?
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Gathomas88 said:
Priests aren't "paid" so much as given a stipend to live off of. Frankly, most of the ones I've known have been just short of flat broke and had to rely upon charity to make up the difference.
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pope.jpg


Here's a picture of their CEO in silk robes and a gold throne. I'm not saying everyone makes off like a bandit, but it is a for profit organization, just like scientology.
 
RabidAlpaca said:
pope.jpg


Here's a picture of their CEO in silk robes and a gold throne. I'm not saying everyone makes off like a bandit, but it is a for profit organization, just like scientology.
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How much is Vatican stock worth? How many clergymen have they laid off in the wake of the post 2008 global economic downturn? How much does the Pope make each year?

The fact of the matter here is that the Catholic Church is one of the single largest charitable organizations on the planet. It really is not a "for profit" institution. Most of it's wealth exists in the form of 2000 years of accumulated assets, not capitalistic expansion.

Pretty much exactly the opposite is true of Scientology. Profits are basically the end all and be all of its existence.
 
RabidAlpaca said:
pope.jpg


Here's a picture of their CEO in silk robes and a gold throne. I'm not saying everyone makes off like a bandit, but it is a for profit organization, just like scientology.
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Who exactly is making off like a bandit? It's not like those belong to Pope Benedict.
 
phattonez said:
Who exactly is making off like a bandit? It's not like those belong to Pope Benedict.
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If you live in a palace with silk robes and a golden throne, you're making off like a bandit.

The poor scientology clergy are also just living on a "stipend", it just happens to be very high. The point is, if scientology is a cult or a corporation instead of another wacky religion, then so is christianity.
 
It's amazing to me how many people refuse to see some reality. (sorry for the brief thread jack here)

Catholic Church and Pope Francis: Religious institutions are exempted from nonprofit disclosure rules, so nobody knows how rich they really are.

Pope Francis is not just the spiritual leader of one of the world’s major religions: He’s also the head of what’s probably the wealthiest institution in the entire world. The Catholic Church’s global spending matches the annual revenues of the planet’s largest firms, and its assets—huge amounts of real estate, St. Patrick's Cathedral, Vatican City, some of the world’s greatest art—surely exceed those of any corporation by an order of magnitude.
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