Is Scientology a Religion?

[Seeker]

At the risk of being accused of doing a "Kip" I'll post this bit of commentary;

"IS SCIENTOLOGY A RELIGION?

That’s the question recently pondered over at a recent Hamburg meeting of top German security officials, prompted by the Secretary of the Interior, Udo Nagel. As a result, Germany could be asked to ban the U.S.-based Church of Scientology under a proposal that contends the group violates human rights. After looking into the facts about the Church of Scientology, the German government now considers it a commercial enterprise that takes advantage of vulnerable people. This last summer, it refused to allow the producers of a movie featuring movie star – and Scientology member – Tom Cruise to film at the site where Germany’s most famous anti-Hitler plotter, Colonel Claus Graf Schenk von Stauffenberg, was executed following a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler in 1944. Cruise plays the part of the aristocratic army officer.

The ban was withdrawn after the government received assurance from the producers that the memory and heroism of the colonel would be respected.

Pending agreement of all sixteen German states, the Interior Minister would be asked to initiate proceedings against the Church, asking that it be banned. A spokesperson for Scientology called this proposal "more than incomprehensible" and pointed out that the European Court of Human Rights ruled in favor of Scientology when Russia denied its application to register as a religious community.

Think of it: Scientologists – including intellectual giants like Tom Cruise, Chick Corea, Greta van Susteren, Isaac Hayes, Kirstie Alley, Lisa Marie Presley, and John Travolta – believe that they have the abilities to fly by mental power, to kill people with thoughts, and to move objects with will-power alone, and that science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard is/was the antichrist. They also believe Hubbard’s fantastic version of history – that 75 million years ago, Xenu, the dictator of an extragalactic civilization, was about to be deposed from power, and devised a plot to eliminate the excess population from his dominions. Using souped-up versions of DC8-like aircraft (?) he brought billions of his people to Teegeeack – as Earth was then known, we’re told – cleverly paralyzed them, lowered them into Earth’s volcanoes along with hydrogen bombs, and detonated the whole mess. Only a few of these aliens’ physical bodies, said Hubbard, survived, but the “essences” – souls – of all this vast crowd remained behind after vaporization, and these inhabit people in modern times, causing them spiritual damage. That’s what Scientology saves us from, folks.

Don’t look at me! That was Hubbard’s idea! It’s almost as mad as those ideas of virgin birth, immortality, resurrection, transubstantiation, angels, a 6,000-year-old Earth, and demons…."

What a bunch of Wackos!

[Kip Powick]

Nothing to do with your post but in the same vein....the never ending clash of cultures...how very sad.........

Religion gone wrong ??

[Mitch Cronin]

I don't know much, but I have serious doubts about what was quoted there as being "Hubbard's idea"... I think you get much closer to his "idea" when you read a quote from him to a room of writers sometime well back, where he said "if someone really wanted to get rich, the thing to do would be to invent a religion." (or something to that effect)

I actually liked his sci-fi writing.

[Guest rattler]

Just goes to show, that anyone can invent a religion but only people can make it into one!

[CanadaEH]

Just goes to show, that anyone can invent a religion but only people can make it into one! 

You mean rich people..

There's a hilarious Scientology episode that was done by South Park a few years back (the same year as "Trapped in a closet" which featured Tom Cruise locking himself in the closet refusing to "come out of the closet" ).. funny episode if that's the sort of thing you'd find funny.

[deicer]

There's a hilarious Scientology episode that was done by South Park a few years back (the same year as "Trapped in a closet" which featured Tom Cruise locking himself in the closet refusing to "come out of the closet" ).. funny episode if that's the sort of thing you'd find funny.

Isn't that the issue that Isaac Hayes quit as the voice of Chef over?

Iceman

[CanadaEH]

Yup that's the one.

[Guest rattler]

http://www.etcanada.com/blogs/etc_87304/leah-remini-blasts-scientology-in-explosive-new-interview/celebs/tv/

All because of a Science Fiction author........

Leah Remini Blasts Scientology In Explosive New Interview

By BRENT FURDYK

2/27/2014 at 3:01 PM ET

The Leah Remini vs. Scientology battle has ramped up, and Leah has taken off the gloves in an explosive new interview in which she slams the controversial religion as "a lie."

“I don’t want to be known as this bitter, ex-Scientologist,” Leah told BuzzFeed. “I’m not trying to bash anybody and I’m not trying to be controversial. I just want people to know the truth.”

The truth, according to Leah, is that seeing her young daughter grow up made her realize "she was getting to the age where the acclimation into the Church would have to start." This brought back some not-so-fond memories of being brought up as a Scientologist, where she claims children were brought to the Scientology compound in Clearwater, Florida, and put to work. "We were working from morning until night with barely any schooling," said Leah. "There was no saying no. There was no being tired."

Leah admitted that Scientology also took up a lot of her parents' time, which didn't make for such a happy home life. "I grew up resenting my mother because she was never home," Leah said. "But my mom thought she was doing something good; she thought she was helping the planet. That’s what the Church tells you.”

Wanting to prevent this from happening with her daughter, Leah revealed that she tried to make some changes within the church that would allow her to find a better balance between Scientology and her family life. However, she found that other Scientologists turned their backs on her.

"That showed me they didn’t actually care, which went against everything I thought we stood for," said Leah. "They only cared that their lives would be disrupted if they stood with me. They didn’t care about doing the right thing. That showed me everything the Church taught me was a lie.”

“In the Church, you’re taught that everybody is lost,” she added. “They say they’re loving, caring, non-judgmental people, but secretly, they were judging the world for not believing what they believed. To me, that is not a spiritual person. That’s a judgmental person and that is the person that I was.”

Leah's anti-Scientology stance has already raised the ire of longtime Scientologist Kirstie Alley, who called Leah "a bigot" in an interview with Howard Stern, calling Leah's comments "the most repulsive thing a person can do, attack another person's faith."

[cp fa]

I can't find a link that works, but the CBC aired an episode of The Passionate Eye called Scientologists at War. Leah Remini wasn't exaggerating. It's not a religion, it's a crazy ass cult that has frightening consequences for people who start to assert other opinions or try to leave.