As for the question about how celebrities could have low self-esteem?
C’mon, you don’t need to think about extreme characters like Kurt Cobain to realize how commonplace this is.
Added to that, Cruise and Travolta are both widely rumored to be closeted homosexuals. If they are, the COS almost certainly has on file detailed auditing confessions of their abberant (from COS perspective, and arguably from the action hero marketability perspective) tendencies.
Cruise is also dyslexic, and (to judge from the quality of his articulated statements in defense of COS) possibly otherwise cognitively impaired. Whether this led him to have low self esteem which they preyed upon, and/or whether he thought the “tech” could help him overcome being a potato-head (given that Hubbard promised IQ improvement and extrasensory powers to those who ascended the bridge), there’s plenty of ways you could see COS taking advantage of Cruise’s preexisting problems.
Hubbard has been repeatedly quoted by many reliable sources as having said that the best way to make a million dollars (or “big” money) was to invent a religion. Apparently, he took his own advice.
One possible reason why people get sucked in appears in The Road to Xenu (PDF, worth reading the whole thing, by the way):
I suspect that the real key is that Scientology is presented to mentally-vulnerable people, such as the author of the above, as an alternative to psychology. Preying on the weak, basically.
How could anyone get involved with Scientology when superior religious technology offered by the Church of Oakology is readily available? With each affordable monthly payment of $150, I am more spiritually enlightened, feel inner peace and goodwill towards mankind, lose weight, and my teeth become whiter too! There are over 87 billion practicing Oakologists worldwide. What are you waiting for? Join us today!
Thing is though, if I were to go into a Catholic church, and start asking one of the priests there about Catholicism, about Jesus and God and the Resurrection and such, he’d be more than happy to tell me about it, let me know the teachings of the church, etc. He wouldn’t charge me anything for it, and for the most part, he probably wouldn’t put all that much pressure on me to convert, other than a “Why don’t you come to Mass on Sunday, see what it’s all about, we’re always happy to have you, etc”. (Catholics aren’t big on prothletyzing).
If I were to go to a Scientology Center though, and started asking them about Scientology, about Xenu and Thetans and all that, they’d tell me they’re only rumors, and make me buy a bunch of books and stuff if I want to know anything else.
For Catholicism to be like that, it would be as if they made you PAY for years to read the Bible, and kept parts of it secret, and it was only after you had paid out of the ass, and spent years taking vitamins and using a lie detector test, THEN you found out about Jesus. And where told the only reason it took you so long to know is that if you found out about him earlier, it would destroy you.
While that’s true, you also have to bear in mind that the Catholic church has had 1,800 years or so to make money, so they don’t need the hard sell anymore.
The main point is that Scientology uses mind control. Hubbard was an accomplished hypnotist. So the first thing they do is zap your brain so they can make you suggestible. Here is a video of the sort of thing they do:
Hubbard may have been crazy, and a crappy fiction writer, but he had an interesting life and say what you want about him, he wasn’t stupid. Scientology is designed to ensnare people and use their weaknesses against them.
Absolutely there is. And it is everywhere, all around us, all the time. What the hell do you think advertising is? Just because you may not be aware of it and it’s effect on you does not mean it is not taking place.
Scientology uses particularly potent forms. In fact, in my observation, all religions attempt to induce altered states of consciousness for the purpose of exerting control. From the Catholic Mass to the Buddhist’s chant, the idea is to put you into an altered state of mind where you become suggestible.
Hubbard didn’t even bother to dress it up! Right off the bat he has you just staring at another person for hours on end till you go bonkers and take out your credit card for more “classes”.
Did you even watch the video I linked? Exactly what do YOU think is going on there?
Why would anybody willingly put up with this crap? It sounds like being interrogated by the Nazis!
I cannot imagine anything sillier-you answering inane questions from the “auditor”, whilst holding on to two soup cans!
All the accounts (from people who have left the cult) say that auditing sessions were extremely unpleasant.
People like talking about themselves in general. Yes, many of you will say “I’m shy,” but for every person who says that, just about, I can imagine the circumstances in which you would gladly (or maybe guiltily but with a sense of gratification) spill your guts about your gripes, your problems with other people, your dissatisfaction with work, etc. Hell, I’m one of those people who’d self-identify as reserved and quasi-stoical, but I’m sure I’ve unloaded about personal or work problems even without being asked to.
I’d suspect that different auditors have different styles even though the (bogus) theory and (bogus) structure may be overall the same. Yes, some auditors are no doubt hostile, accusatory, and unrelenting. But I can see many auditors potentially being (by nature or nurture) persistent but sympathetic, caring, etc. in manner. At that point (and this may be what people are getting at when they say it’s hardly surprising that the early, personality test/talking only, parts of COS interaction are benign enough to lure people in) – you’ve got a mild form of psychological talk therapy, and plenty of people pay thousands for that, too.
I remember having the issue of Penthouse magazine that featured an interview with Hubbard’s son. With the wonders of the internet, it’s available online:
A fascinating expose, and the first I ever read about Scientology. Martin Gardner wrote about Dianetics in Fads and Fallacies in the 50s, which was the first I’d heard about that.
Which ones did you read? The late zillion volume series is no doubt crap, tough I’ve never had the guts to start it. However, I have a lot of Unknowns from the early 1940s, and his stuff there was good - at least as good as a rather high average, which included Heinlein and de Camp and Pratt. Old Doc Methusaleh, a bit later, was not so good. Hubbard was a pulp writer for sure, and knew how to make a living out of it, but was hardly the worst. If you read the letter cols of the time (long before even Dianetics) you won’t see lots of “this stuff is bad” letters.