Leading question. ALL religions are open to ridicule, but some are more ridiculous than others.
What makes Scientology more troubling than most religions, and therefore open to more criticism, is how they handle their religious teachings. Scientology, unlike most religions, manipulates modern litigation to keep their religious teachings from being open to the public. Whereas anyone can pick up a copy of the Koran or Bible and dissect it’s religious teachings, this is not possible with Scientology. In fact, attempting to dissect Scientology often leads to litigious actions on the grounds that you are revealing secret documentation of the business. Essentially, they shut down any counter arguments to their beliefs by keeping supporting evidence off the table. We can argue over Scientology all day, but if anyone posts the OT III document, seemingly an important religious teaching, this message board may face legal threats from The Church of Scientology. This type of behavior often leaves Scientology open to more scrutiny from it’s critics, who may feel that, “If I can use excerpts of the Bible in an argument, why can’t I use excerpts of Scientology teachings?”
Also, most in the public associate Scientology with it’s celebrity followers. Celebrities are open to harsher criticism from the public than most, and as such, so are their seemingly wacko beliefs.
Great answer.
You’d think they’d have to choose between having the legal protections of a business or those of a religion.
Of course, since they’re a religion that gives its followers (and its detractors) the business, maybe they shouldn’t have to. 
My personal belief is that all religions are equally ridiculous, but some are more equally ridiculous than others.
While all your other points are valid as well, this is the one that probably damns Scientology the most. Every other proselytizing religion will happily give you all the information you could possibly want for free. I could go to any motel in America and snag a copy of the Bible put there by the Gideons. Heck, last month a group was on campus handing out pocket-sized copies of the New Testament (and Psalms, for some reason.) If I really wanted a copy of the Book of Mormon (I don’t particularly) I could get one easily enough for free, though I haven’t seen the LDS running ads on TV in a long time. I used to work at a place where every couple months like clockwork Jehovah’s Witnesses would drop off copies of Awake! and the Watchtower. I don’t know where I could get an English translation of the Koran for free, but I could always go down to a bookstore and buy a copy.
And of course I can get copies of any of this stuff–either because it’s in the public domain or because the group in question has posted it on the Internet–all over the Internet and not because the information came out in court cases. Not just the basic texts of most religions either. Wikipedia is always a bit suspect, after all, but it’s still pretty good for both the basics and the more advanced stuff on any given religion. And there’s always Google for giving all sorts of hits. Complete text of the Bible (mostly KJV)? No problem. I can get it hyperlinked on any number of websites or even from Project Gutenberg. Same with the Koran or the Book of Mormon. I don’t have to pay a cent to learn all I could want about any number of religions but the only reason any of us knows anything about Scientology is because their propensity to sue got the important stuff out into public for sites like xenu.net.
asterion, casieispretty and Menocchio are both hitting on a fantastic point. I believe that is the crux of what makes Scientology so despicable and destructive, besides all the ridicule they deserve.
Even though I would never condone it, a part of me wants them to succeed, too. I just hope they don’t do anything to seriously hurt anybody, innocent or otherwise. Sometimes these things can quickly get out of control in unexpected ways (cite), before anybody can do anything about it. In the end, I think it’s going to end badly or just putter out, and Scientology will still remain standing, strong and ugly as ever… Perhaps with new resolve?
Cite? Got an example of the church burning cities to the ground?
The Albigensian Crusade. Maybe not literally burning a city to the ground, but pretty close.
The Cathar’s were essentially the Scientologists of their day. Preaching that they should work to make the human race extinct.
Is actually quite funny! It reads like a Superman comic book-and is just about as truthful. We are asked to belive that:
-Somebody named XEBNU came to the earth 75 million years ago, and blew up the frozen bodies of people in volcanos
-that “thetans” stick to your soul, and cause headaches, mental illness, and upset stomaches
-that ‘auditing" sessions can remove thetans
-that auditing wil turn you into a "clear’ supergenius!
Clearly, NONE of this crap is true. Ergo, yes, it is permissable to ridicule scientology
Oh, Anonymous will get bored and move on, sooner or later. But in the meantime, they’re getting some press. And they’ve been pretty careful to pass out good information along with all of their pranks. Googlebombing Scientology to direct to Xenu.net or Dangerous Cult to Scientology’s front page, posting anti-scientology articles and other information that looks bad for the CoS, that sort of thing. All their press mentions that they’re angered by the suppression of the Tom Cruise video. All of this is bad press for Scientology.
It’s bad press for Anonymous too, but I don’t know if there’s been a group on the planet less concerned with bad publicity than Anonymous.
Not like respectable mainstream Christianity, which only asks for 10% of everything you earn. :rolleyes:
Is there an echo in here?
Well, I don’t believe those religions either. So at least I’m consistent.
This kind of view is sort of ahistorical. The Church historically was the provider of most social services. Considering tithing to be some sort of bizarre racket is like thinking that taxes is some sort of bizarre racket. Back in the day the Catholic church was essentially the Federal Government of Europe. To hate on the church historically really is to just hate civilization as a whole. The history of human rule is a history of cruelty in the name of stability. No Monarchy, Religious authority, Imperial Government, Nation-State or Corporation has operated any differently. Yet people act like there is something special about religion that makes people crueler. I maintain that I think Christianity served as a curb to people’s natural cruelty as opposed to encouraging it. The Romans and their conquered tribes that made up Christendom were constantly slaughtering one another before the evolution to the church. We owe a debt to Christianity for inculcating the idea that we need to be nice to people even if they are from a different tribe.
This isn’t true of all Christian denominations, but even so, as others have already mentioned, at least Christianity will give you its doctrines for free and most churches will provide services and teaching without charging you for it.
Scientology is a particularly cynical type of client cult which sells you ostensibly esoteric teachings. Your “progress” depends on how much money you spend and the goal of those who run the racket is only to make money (something which was alledly confessed by Hubbard himself).
Making the doctrine itself into a commercial product, a “pay to pray” system, if you will, makes Scientology a fundamentally different sort of operation than most other churches (thoough there are some other rackets like Eckenkar that have similarities). I will also go out on a limb and venture to say that those at top know its all a fraud and a con game while the clerical hierachy of other religions are at least true believers themselves. The Pope really believes that Jesus was killed and resurrected for our sins. The inner circle in Scientology knows it’s a load of crap.
I think that even someone like Jack Chick, a Christian who has been the subject of much mockery and ridicule on this board (and deservedly so), is at least honestly trying to save people’s souls. The power base behind Scientology lacks that fundamental core of sincere belief. It is a pure scam. Christianity is filled with indivdual scammers but is not at its heart an intentional con the way Scientology is.
Fortunately, I think the internet and the South Park episode have hurt them a little bit and may bring them down in the end. The more the Xenu information gets disseminated, the more difficult it is for the Church to boil the frogs.
Why does God need a starship?
Sorry, I couldn’t resist. For penance, I’ll shoot myself with a type-II phaser set on stun, and then watch three episodes of Voyager.
To make pop music, of course. :rolleyes:
Nearly sixty posts, and only a handful have stepped back from the Scientology shooting range to address the basic flaw in the question. It is OK to ridicule any religion. You can point and laugh at the most mainstream and “sensible” religions, especially the one you were raised in. I entreat you, even, to freely mock ol’ Nott, the tweener twixt Taoist and Presbyterian. Ha! I laugh on your ridicule! And your tie, too.
“Mr. Worf, interface with the control software on that phaser and transpose the setting for stun to Level 16 Explosive Disruption please.”