Few people do anything without it being of direct apparent benifit to themselves.
Whilst many people find benifit in being a member of a religion, and also many are mambers of a religion because they were brought up within that religion. It seems hard to use these criteria to justify why people become Scientologists.
Few people were raised as Scientologists, and few religions are so expensive to be members of. Also Scientologists are found within fairly normal stratas of society, so they cannot be as unaware of their situation as most other strange ‘cults’.
Scientology also seems to be growing, so what is it about them that is attractive and capable of making people dedicate lots of time and money to them. Also what is it about people that makes them ready to join groups like Scientology.
My guess is there’s a strong placebo effect with religions in general, and it’s going to be even powerful with Scientology. “I spent all that money, it must be effective!”
The clambake.org site does mention an ex-scientologist who says that when in the cult you tend to believe that anything good that happens is due to Scientology, whilst anything bad is due to your own failings in being good enough scientologists.
What is strange (unbelievable) to me is that Scientology seems to be growing in an age when traditional religions seem to be shrinking. And wondering what society could do to provide for people who are fooled into becoming Scientologists, or how it can make better use of such gullable people.
Scientologists tend to be borderline nutcases. The cult is very welcoming to newcomers so they are finding acceptance that sane society can’t give them. They get a structured life with a certain amount of security. They get the answers to all the SEEKRITS. They get to be a part of “The Mission to Save the Planet” ™. They get to play dress up and get awards and certificates while everyone applauds. They get laid with freaky Xenu sex after using pickup lines like “Hey babe, wanna see my body thetan?”
They usually hook people who are very vulnerable and insecure, telling them they have THE solution to all of their problems. And then they keep moving the goal posts. A lot of insecure, unhappy individuals are probably easy prey.
Financial Freedom: Just fork it all over to your class registrar & he’ll see that it’s properly distributed. When you finally run out you can always sign up to work in the org in exchange for auditing. Charles Ponzi eat your heart out.
Lookin’ Sharp: The Sea Org has a spiffy dress uniform, and you get to see the world aboard the Freewinds (at least, as much as your eyes can take in from the chain locker). High seas hijinks arent’ just for the cruiseline set anymore.
(several) Lifetime(s)** of Purpose:** Feeling a little down after spending the better part of a century exiled here on Teegeack? No worries, just drop the body and you’ll come back with a whole new set of thetans to audit away.
I could see how Dianetics auditing could give one some superficial emotional relief
not found in traditional psychotherapies- basically, you repeat traumatic memories over & over till they cease being traumatic & just become boring.
When you’ve invested years of your life and thousands of dollars of your money in something, it can be a huge blow to your ego to have to admit you were wrong.
One benefit of continuing to be a Scientologist is that you don’t have to worry about a dangerous cult taking action on or simply revealing the deep dark secrets you confessed during your early e-meter sessions.
I think this is an excellent line of speculation, and I’ve wondered that myself. Use of the E-Meter and auditing perhaps amounts to a really whacky form of aversion therapy combined with some sloppy biofeedback. Throw in the cosmic spiritual element, and it’s not hard to see how some folks with affinities for those sorts of things get hooked hard.
Oops. “aversion therapy” and/or exposure therapy, the latter being more in line with what you said, and indicated for some things not related to, say, being gay, or a drug addict.
Why do people gravitate toward sCIENTOLOGY? They don’t. sCIENTOLOGY gravitates toward people.
Its a simple scam. if you look at how they recruit their victims (or victimize their recruits) you’ll understand the process. In my area they show up at flea markets in booths that offer some kind of free service like a massage or other human comfort. There is no direct advertisement of the religion. They look for people who need a little TLC and give it to them. It makes the message that follows easier to swallow. It’s a numbers game. You search long enough you’ll find someone desperate for a little attention. It’s like panning for gold. Eventually one of the rocks you pick out will yield a profit. By default, anyone who drops trow at the first sign of religion is a ripe target.
If the recruiters actually came out and said that a science fiction writer had started a religion that required large sums of your money so that you could get rid of the bad aliens in your body in preparation for a trip on the mother ship… it might be a tough sell.
Maybe less controvercial religions could take a lesson from this?
Offering massage and relaxing music at the Church, Mosque or Temple? Tea and sympathy? I’m not a great fan of organised religions, but few are so financially crippling as Scientology, so why aren’t ‘normal’ religions trying to attract the same crowd and saving them?
