I work for a consulting firm that deals with a lot of clients who support scientology. My knowledge is practically nil on this subject and I would like to learn where these folks are coming from. A quick search of the database couldn’t give me the down and dirty I need, and actual scientology resources (mostly websites) don’t tell me much or muddy the waters too much for me to make much sense of it. This is what I know, or at least assume, to this point:
*they seem to be in it for the money;
*they have a huge management and business element (incidentlally, I’ve heard they pretty much “stole” these elements and made them their own);
*my Baptist upbringing makes me think of it as a cult, but I’m not sure why (are they a religion?)
As you can see, my impressions so far are pretty negative, but I have no actual knowledge of the subject. So I ask you, what is scientology?
Head for the nearest library and look up Martin Gardner’s Fads and Fallacis in the Name of Science. The chapter on Dianetics (the “science” that forms the basis of Scientology) is excellent and the entire book is well worth reading.
A simplified version of Dianetic theory:
[ul] [li]The human mind consists of two sections, the “analytic bank” (which operates with flawless computer-like logic) and the “reactive bank” (which governs emotional responses).[/li][li]Emotional traumas create “engrams”, or patterns on the reactive bank. In a theory vaguely similar to post-traumatic stress disorder, these “engrams” cause the reactive bank to behave irrationally and cause it to give bad input to and/or override the analytic bank, causing mental and physical illness.[/li][li]Through dianetic therapy, you can remove your negative engrams and eventually become a “Clear,” or a person free of negative engrams.[/li][li]A Clear has better mental and physical health than a “pre-Clear”.[/li][/ul]
It’s the therapy stage in which the Church of Scientology gets most of its revenue, since the they charge a hefty sum. There are levels and procedures and whatnot, and its similarity to a cult is inescapable.
Cecil took a shot at explaining it, too. He was less than enthused.
Does anyone know much about the management and business model they push? They appear to have quite a bit of material available on how to run businesses.
Personally, I’m planning on going into Scientology.
No, silly, not as a follower, but as a practicioner in the LA area, where I hope to swindle Hollywood morons out of a fortune.
(After this post, I’m glad that I don’t publish my address, as I feel that, if it were known, some Scientologist would throw a brick (if not a bomb) through my window.)
No intentions of becoming a follower, friend. As I mentioned, in my job I deal with some people who are into it–just trying to understand where they’re coming from.
Franticmad: I have this strange feeling the OP is in show business… except that Charlotte, NC isn’t a hotbed of shobiz, despite some action going on in Wilmington, NC.
Nope, not in show business, but I can see why you might think so. I deal with a lot of MDs and Chiropractors and there seems to be a significant amount of them who follow scientology. You would think these people would be smarter than that, don’t you?
While $cientology does seek out to recruit big-name celebrities to publicize their cult, and there are a handful or two of weak-minded celebs in their grasp, I certainly hope you don’t have the impression that show business is full of Scientologists. That’s just not even close to being true.
Funny how you can say “MDs” & “Chiropractors” in the same sentence…and I don’t find it surprising at all that many chiropractors would believe in Scientology, as they’re into pseudoscience big time.
On the other hand, it is true that various quacks and Ponzi-schemers (and yes, I include at least some chiropractors in this, but not all of them; this is a matter for a different thread) have used Scientology as a recuiting pool -most famously Reed Slatkin. Think about it - you already know that your targets are weak-willed and willing to go along with anything to belong, so you saved the effort of going out looking.
I’m proud of you guys. Really, I am. I’m not even going to have to hype Operation Clambake.
Anyway, if you need any more evidence of how evil Scientology is, and how Scientology works in the real world, they killed Lisa McPherson. It is nothing more than a criminal cult, no matter what anyone else says.
People have already listed the sites I’d want to. (I’d like to note, though, that the stuff from Martin Gardner’s book is way out of date – the book’s over half a century old. Scientology and Dianetics have changed a lot since then. All for the worse.)But I have to share this:
Building 19 is a Boston-area seller of misplaced and damaged flotsam and jetsam. They write and illustrate their own advertising circulars. The one from yesterday’s paper contains an ad for a lot of L. Ron’s used books, at bargain prices. But the copy is a killed:
**DISILLUSIONED?
CONFUSED?
RICH?
…You might need a New Religion
Not only has L. Ron Hubbard written and published over 260 works of Science Fiction, Fantasy, Mystery, Western, and Adventure stories; 116 million copies, in more than 30 languages; including 35 best sellers, he is recognized as the founder of Scientology, the new religion so popular with the beautiful and wealthy stars of movies, CDs, and workout videos.
MASTERPIECES from the MODERN MESSIAH in two easy-tp-swallow versions =
Hard Cover (their $16.95 to $25.95) our $3.95
Soft Cover (their $6.99) our 98 cents.**
The ad features pix of only three LRH books – Ole Doc Methuselah, Battlefield Earth, and Typewriter in the Sky, along with several volumes of the Writers of the Future series (not LRH at all) and a couple of the Kevin J. Anderson “collaborations”. There’s also a picture of L. Ron as a young man I’ve never seen before. I suspect the impressive statistics given are copied off the dust jackets of the LRH books. They sound like typical Scieno spin. (And I’ve always wondered, if LRH was such a prolific writer, why do we not see more of those 260 works – most of them short stories, I’ll bet – in print?)
I dunno about the actual numbers, but I understand that the reason you don’t see much of it in print anymore, even with the CoS hijacking of his copyrights, is that most of it, other than Typewriter in the Sky, is utter crap. No doubt even CoS realizes that putting lousy stuff in print would hurt their presentation of him as a genius.
