It's very hard to find specific information on the beliefs of the Church of Scientology. Anyone here care to enlighten me? What's this talk about aliens?
Lafayette Ron Hubbard was a science fiction writer originally, before he decided to start his own cult. A lot of scientology's ideas are found in his sci-fi novels. Of course, <b>now</b> he says that his science fiction was influenced by his scientology, rather than the other way around.
odin - I'm not going to become a convert, it's just that I've heard some stuff about an alien mad scientist, and I'm intrigued. If you do web searches you find very general information, but nothing specific. I believe L. Ron Hubbard is dead now. I know the rumors that he founded the religion on a bet with Arthur C. Clarke, but I want to know specific details of their beliefs. Anybody?
I'm sure I once read a copy of a letter from Hubbard to some other author, talking about starting a religion as a joke, to see how many morons he could get to but into it.
which was the one that Glen A Larson was into? I thnk it was Scientology but can't be certain. I'm sure some of it got filtered down into Battlestar Gallactica and Knight Rider. All that "lost tribe" and "one man can make a difference stuff".
L. Ron Hubbard quote ... "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion" -Reader's Digest reprint, May 1980, p.1 Hubbard later created the Church of Scientology... Operation Clambake
Scientology... It was a pseoudo science created by a man wanting to be real wealthy, his name L.Ron Hubbard, well the F*cker is dead now so should scientology should be. But the problems is that other sob's want to be rich with this crap as well.
Whatever you do, DON'T investigate them in person. If you do give them a false name and address or else they'll hound you mercilessly. I read an article (real paper, so I can't link it) in which the reporter investigated her local Church of Scientology outlet. First, she had an hour-long interview with a lackey, then was made to sit in a small cubicle in order to watch an hour-long interview of L. Ron Hubbard. Then she was give a 'psychological exam' and was told by the stern-faced lackey that she was insane, prone to violence and incapable of rational thought. Naturally, Scientology was the only thing that could help her. After that, he apparantly became very over-bearing and it was all she could do to make her goodbyes and leave without having to physically force her way out. So yes, it's a cult. I'm rusty on their beliefs, but I think it involves a malevolent alien named Xenu who's trapped inside a volcano, and disembodied alien entities called Thetans that are resposible for all of humanities woes.
I investigated them in person in early 2000. Their primary income is from selling courses, except that the courses are primarily you telling someone else all your deep dark secrets, over and over and over again. A short course will start at around $5000, and gradually increase in duration and price as you become free of your inner worries. I did an introduction course and then booked and paid for a first level course. I changed my mind before taking the course and requested a refund. It took two months for the refund but that process involved daily phone calls, interviews, and lie detector tests (to ensure I wasn’t working for the FBI or CIA). Oh and enormous patience. After they reluctantly gave me the refund I was promptly expelled from taking part in their organization again. That was nearly 3 years ago and I have been receiving about 3 pieces of mail from them every week ever since, despite my calling them and pointing out that they expelled me so their literature isn’t applicable to me. It seems one doesn’t pay for courses, you make donations instead, and donations to registered charities are not normally refundable. Subtle, but their course booking forms didn’t state that and I hadn’t signed any contract that stated that, hence I had a way out. Also, if they had had any suspicion that I worked for a newspaper, a police agency, or government agency then they would have refused to talk with me. Overall a nice bunch of people who are incredibly paranoid about their bad reputation, especially in the UK and Germany where I think they have been outlawed. There is an alleged sinister side to their activities where some of the auditing sessions are recorded and there are accusations that senior staff use the ‘confessions’ against their victims. There are many reports about victims who have had nervous breakdowns and have felt incredibly vulnerable after having confessed many deep secrets to effectively strangers, and have paid for the privilege. The sums of money involved are grotesque. I found myself feeling quite disturbed after having spent some time with this organization. This is definitely something to avoid at any cost. Their up front salespeople use hard sell tactics that are difficult to fight. Once you are hooked then you will spend a great deal of money, often to be humiliated. Oh yes, at one of my final exit interviews I was asked if I was open-minded. But I was shown one of their dictionaries that defined open-minded. I thought this was fabulous – effectively their definition says that if you can’t accept Scientology then you can’t be open–minded. Sounds to me that as soon as you limit what can and can’t be considered open-minded then the effect is to define narrow minded. They didn’t see my point, of course. Stay away – a potential and probable sinister and dangerous organization.
I randomly went into one of their "churches" with my CA buddies. IT was hilarious, we could all tell that the lady behind the desk was a lesbian. My friend (a girl) starting asking random questions about Scientology and we all barely controlled ourselves. We picked up a busload of pamphlets, thanked her, and left. We walked in the STREETS reading them!! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Lol the looks we got. And we didn't even notice the reason for it till someone pointed it out. Scientologists are good for teasing, but that's about it. __________________________________________ There is no god, afterlife or divine love. There is only Entropy, the mother from which we were all born. She tugs our souls with the beautiful, maternal love of chaos. Why do you keep Her waiting?
I heard a quote from him saying something along the lines of "If I wanted to make ALOT of money, screw writing, I'd start my own religion!", before he started scientology, lol
"Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion" -Reader's Digest reprint, May 1980, p.1 Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Truth, fiction and L. Ron Hubbard "What is true is what is true for you." -L. Ron Hubbard "There are two wildly conflicting versions of the life story of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology, The first, promoted by the Church, is that he was an unfailingly honest, generous humanitarian whose profound insights have transformed the world. The second, propounded in its fullest form in Bare-Faced Messiah by Russell Miller, is that he was a pathological liar, a fraud consumed by greed and paranoia who sucked literally millions of people into an extraordinary fantasy world. The quotation above is one was one of Hubbard's favourite aphorisms, highlighting his claim that subjective truth is all that matters. If that's correct, then either account is equally plausible. But if objective truth is at all important, relying on evidence and reason rather than pure belief, then Bare-Faced Messiah is considerably more convincing. I have provided links between Miller's account of Hubbard's life and that of the Church of Scientology (on their Web site, www.lronhubbard.org ). Compare and contrast the two biographies, look at the supporting evidence and then decide for yourself." Source: Bare-Faced Messiah: Foreword
