It’s a big part of Buddhism as actually practiced.
I just finished the articles and I must say that the scientologists often sounded like they were from 50s era pulp fiction.
The turns of phrase they used and the over the top responses to to things seemed out of synch with the the way most people talk today.
Rev. Moon is a religion. My father knew someone in one of the buildings he owned in Brooklyn. I bet the Branch Davidians would have qualified also. As far as I can tell, the US has a policy of not asking too many questions, which I suppose is an inevitable outcome of the fact that neither new or old religions can offer much in the way of support for their beliefs. I think it is valid to not consider a religion that has been around for 1,000 years somehow more valid than one around for 10.
One of the things that shocked me was the cult of violence – the head beating up underlings (hitting, kicking, etc) and them doing the same to their subordinates. That really sounds like an abusive family to me. With wacky beliefs, but I knew about them from clambake.
And, of course the paid ad is for scientology.org. Good ole google
It’s a big part of practice among certain groups, but again, it’s not part of the basic dogma.