Done —> Link.
minty the thread and the lists of celebs who do idiotic things, no matter what the thing may be, are pretty much pointless. They can sometimes be fun in a supermarket tabloid not so smart way but they don’t have any purpose besides fun. The fun of smearing icons of culture. It is the same impulse that lets rumours about stupid quotes and truly insane behavoir circulate. We like hurling feces at marble statues.
minty, much as I agree with you about every other issue I’m going to ask you not to pass judgement on people who criticise the CoS until you have familiarised yourself with the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard. If you’d like to email me, I’ll explain the teachings in detail - most of them are fairly easy to find on the net anyway, but just in case you think that the church is being “wrongly accused” in respect of what happens at the OT levels, as someone who was actually part of the organisation I’m telling you that most of the stuff which is published on Operation Clambake is true.
Bullshit indeed but why do you find it hard to believe? Have you read the Bible or looked into the beliefs of Hindu’s for example 
It’s ironic, since what actors do is convince the public they have thoughts and feelings which they don’t actually have. Why somebody would chose what’s basically a professional liar as a role model seems peculiar, but I have this observation:
In the small amount of theater I’ve done it’s amazing that people will inevitably come up to you after the performance and say “your true self was showing through”. Good guy, bad guy, genius, idiot, gay, straight. It doesn’t matter.
The point that folks just REFUSE to comprehend is that a good actor can’t do their job unless they can deceive people into believing they’re someone they aren’t. I ALWAYS get blank looks when I explain this. Then, I’ll pick something really jarring to make my point: like a Jack Nicholson impression. Scares the shit out of them. “See,” I say. “I told you.”
Ok, I do something else . . . Bugs Bunny. Now they’re convinced I have a split personality. No way to win.
So, to get back to the OP . . . sure, I want someone who’s a professional liar to tell me what religion is best.
Oddly enough, the entry level “tech” which is part of Scientology is almost ideally suited to performers of any kind. The TRs are un believably useful in any profession which requires assuming a “persona”. Scientologists make GREAT sales people for exactly that reason - they’ve been trained to present whatever face the customer would like to see.
I’m aware, reprise. Scientology is a gigantic scam with a large dollop of hugely scummy dealings thrown in for good measure. But it’s not like the people on that list are personally in on the scam or engaging in the hugely scummy dealings. They’re dupes and dummies, exercising their right to believe any damn fool thing they want. Either attack their religion on its merits or leave them alone–the witch hunt is both unseemly and devoid of any intellectual content.
Jason Lee and Greta van Susteren are just a HUGE surprise. They both seem too smart to be dumb.
Kill the witch! Kill the witch!
Actually, I just happened across that link and thought I’d post it as an amusing, mindless-fluff kind of thread. But minty’s association of Scientologists and witches . . . well, a bit unfair to our resident Wiccans.
I must admit I am surprised at my surprise at the list: the Masterson boys are so good at portraying bright, cynical, bitter characters that I am gobsmaked that they could be such gullible fools in real life. And that van Sustren gal? She brings us the news and analzyzes world events: the fact that she believes in (to quote the St. Petersburg Times) “a_ religion that teaches of Xenu, evil head of the Galactic Confederation” who_“flew people to Teegeeack (Earth) 75-million years ago in space ships, chained_ them to volcanos and blew them up with hydrogen bombs, releasing exploded_ 'thetas’™ that are now the source of most human suffering” . . . well, that is worth knowing.
And other religions are, like, way more fact-based and rational, right?
Ya know, it strikes me that I’m in the wrong forum to be making some of these points. Think I’ll mosey along elsewhere, and sorry for hijacking the blacklist.
To hijack for a sec:
I find that webpage to be a bit suspect. Too many vague statements and allegations that don’t seem to be verifiable.
E.g.
That quote sound like your average urban legend: “some unspecified guy” died as a result of “some unspecified weird thing” and it happened “sometime between 1990 and 1992.” Details, please. Or…
This makes my BS-alarm go ding-ding-ding-ding! Somehow I don’t find that credible. I’m sure the CIA could ome up with a much better plan than “Hey, Larry, go join that Scientology group and kill yourself so they look bad. That’ll sink 'em. Haw haw haw.” :rolleyes:
As for the OP: A performer’s religious/philosophical belief in Scientology isn’t relevent to me. While I may think Scientology is for the gullible, it doesn’t affect their abilities to perform a given role. Although it might make them create really stupid projects like Battlefield Earth.
Anyone who doubts the evil of Scientology need only watch The Othe Sister (starring members Juliet Lewis and Giovanni Ribisi).
I don’t see Prepon’s name anywhere on the OP’s link.
I believe, and correct me if I’m wrong,** bdgr**, but I think you meant the redhead from Grounded for Life.
Happy
At least most other religions have the excuse of originating during times when their explanations were no worse than the science of the time.
There’s no excuse for believing that Xenu shit that fell out of a bad s-f writer’s ass in the 20th century.
Well, obviously not, but if we say this sort of stuff about Christianity, we get in a lot of trouble.
I totally agree with that. An actor is a person who is trained to pretend to be interesting, which is entirely different from actually being interesting.
Furtheremore, for the most part, the tenets of others religions are pretty much open to those who wish to know about them. The Bible is not written in Latin anymore. Any Rabbi will tell you passages if you ask about them, or you can read 'em yourself. No parts of the Talmud are hidden, the Koran is readable to all. Fundies in some of these relgions may hate other books, but their own tenets are accessible (just not always interpeted with any sense).
Compare this to $cientology, where the story behind the relgion isn’t revealed until you spend over $100,000 or so. You don’t see Islam doing this AFAIK. Rabbis don’t sue over passages put on websites claiming they are “trade secrets”. $cientology wants it both ways, they want to be a religion when they are looked at under scrutiny, but they want to be a business when it comes to their finances. Some branches of religion are undeniably scams, but none so blatantly as $cientology.
Don’t forget the biggest star of them all, Corin Nemec.
http://www.oursites.org/corinnemec/index.htm
Wow, I’m sorry. Are Christians forbidden here?