I just ran to my puter to post this. There is a new Infomercial for said bullshit and the tagline is…
“know yourself, know future”.
I read this as “no yourself, no future”
WTF?
Any love for L Ron Hubbard here?
There is definitely NO love for L. Ron Hubbard here.
Thank you. I guess I should have posted this in GQ.
I’d love to invite some of the cultists over for a clambake sometime…
Most of the promotions you see for Scientology are window dressing to make the cultists feel like they are getting somewhere. The cult isn’t growing, it hasn’t been growing, and it won’t be growing. This is all a way for Miscavage to shake down the existing members for more money, to support his extravagant beyond the dreams of avarice lifestyle. Pay no mind.
I just happen to be living in Clearwater, FL.
:eek: My condolences, then. That’s Ground Zero for Scientology.
[moderating]
Great Debates, actually, since there isn’t really a question in the OP, and Scientology discussions generally turn into debates anyway.
I’ve moved it for you.
[/moderating]
When people tell me Scientology is a religion, this is the first thought that comes into my mind.
People,
It’s Dianetics!
Using the term Scientology implies that it:
Has some scientific basis
And
Is an actual study of something.
The"S" term is a lame attempt to have some credibility and I (for one) refuse to use that term and Whackadoodle just seems to set the L. Ron Hoover fans off.
Unclviny
I have associations with a (very) considerably wealthy person whose wife is off-again on-again into Scientology. They’ve got like a whole multi-volume set of all the DVDs and books (I looked it up once, the set costs over $2,000) and they occasionally get postcards and stuff about Scientology events, but they don’t seem too into it. I don’t know them well enough to ask either of them if they actually “practice” or believe any of the BS. They are both somewhat observant Jews (no ham, oysters, etc) so I don’t know how that all mingles together.
If the Scientology people ever found out how much money these people have, though, a lotlotlot, they’d probably put them on a VIP “to-harass” list and work extra hard to get their money.
I think the whole outfit is both a scam, a cult, and a criminal organization. I’m 100% in favor of removing tax-exempt status for all religions just to mildly inconvenience their den of lies.
It is possible for someone to love Hubbard’s SF books while loathing the Co$. I never got into his stuff myself (E.E. “Doc” Smith was my pulp indulgence) but I was talking ab out this with a friend with a very large SF collection and she was surprised to discover that Hubbard the SF writer was also the founder of the cult. The connection has become much more clear as the “secrets” of the “OT Levels” have become public knowledge.
Harlan Ellison had a particularly passionate defense of his old friend Ron’s SF writing, and how he didn’t think Ron took any of that “religion stuff” seriously - it was just a way to fleece the rubes.
I’ve seen the informercial, and even more annoying regular commercials for Co$ front web sites. These don’t have any reference to the Co$ on the main page. It’s only by knowing about their front groups and their publishing arm that I was able to confirm the connection. One, played on the Rachel Maddow Show really galled - much slicker production values than the usual, cheesy volcano crap.
I want to read some of L. Ron’s stuff, to be honest, but I won’t, because I know where the money goes.
Try the public library. If you read it there without checking it out, it won’t create a demand to order more books.
I don’t think it matters all that much - anyone likely to be wowed by the sound of the name ‘Scientology’ is probably going to react similarly to ‘Dianetics’, which sounds like some technical discipline.
And besides, Dianetics is the actual “science” while Scientology is the name of the organization. You have to refer to Scientology as Scientology when you’re talking about it.
Though, to make yourself feel better, you can refer to them as Scilons.
Love for Hubbard? You mean, for his science fiction writings? or for the earlier stuff?
If the infomercial is easier to switch off than a pimply guy in a cheap necktie on the sidewalk, then it’s definitely a step in the right direction.
Scilons, seriously? I mean, I preferred the more mechanical looking ones myself…
Insteresting journalism found at St. Petersburg Times.
It includes a number of interviews with former high ranking Scientologists. Most of the interviews seem to focus on David Miscavige, with Jeff Hawkins identifying him as a sociopath and recognizing the cult-like control strategies.
They all seem to agree on the membership declining since 1990 when Miscavige took control. They also agree that the Head Office just keeps charging their own people for the same products over and over again.
I’d be interested to see the infomercial…