I could go on and on, but basically I think there are other religions and sects of Christianity for sure that will tell people how to live, and will discipline people in various ways for making the ‘wrong’ choices.
Scientology is just an easy target because it’s so elite and most people can see through it because they are on the outside looking in.
I definitely agree with you. Its like Ayan Hirsi Ali saying that christian religious schools are not dangerous only muslim ones.
Congratulations on escaping charismatic christianity. Is your town Assemblies of God, or Pentecostal, or just charismatic?
I’ve been in towns like that.
For reading the bible objectively I really recommend the work of Robert M. Price, he was interviewed on Point of Inquiry.
Congratulations on escaping charismatic christianity. Is your town Assemblies of God, or Pentecostal, or just charismatic?
I’ve been in towns like that. For reading the bible objectively I really recommend the work of Robert M. Price, he was interviewed on Point of Inquiry.
Out town is mostly Mennonite (pentecostal) and has over 20 churches and a population of around 9,000. The church I went to was the only Vineyard in town. Before we were married, my husband went with his family to one of the Mennonite churches where they watched videos describing the Vineyard church as demonic. The Vineyard has only recently been accepted by most of the other churches but there are still some that will not participate in town wide church events because of either the Vineyard, or some other church they don’t agree with and can’t worship with. Otherwise, they all seem to get along. My parents were non-church goers though are ‘saved’, and I was sucked in to the Vineyard in high school through friends and whatnot. I liked the idea of belonging somewhere - and to something everyone else in town said was the ‘devil’ was a bit rebellious. Kind of funny.
Robert Price is great. I own the “Purpose Driven Life”! Love it. That is the first podcast I listened to, an atheist I liked on youtube recommended it in one of his posts. I haven’t read anything else by him. I recently read Sam Harris’ “Letter To a Christian Nation” which crazily enough I found in our town library, and he recommends a book called ‘Misquoting Jesus’ by Bart Ehrman or something like that and I thought that would be a good one to read next.
I just stumbled upon the Steven Fishman deposition earlier this week. He’s the guy who’s lawsuit allowed OT III into the public. I’ve just started listening to the interview and can’t believe the serendipity. BTW, Fishman is a whacko w/ or w/o Scientology but he outlines in great detail the basics of Scientology.
i thought this was a great topic to have on point of inquiry! i was really glad to see it covered, especially in the light of all this “anonymous” news going on.... however, i gotta say i was sorry there weren’t more dirty gory details. for the most part, christman says what most scientologists already know-- that it’s a big group of con artists and that there’s more info online. i can find info online easily, but it woulda been great to hear more from the horse’s mouth, so to speak.
still, kudos for touching on the subject in the first place. i was very happy to hear it.
At the most basic level the gory detail is that their core strategy with the “IQ test” and “personality tests” works with many people. It’s similar to a magic trick. Humans are suckers for attributions. Absolute suckers. If someone whom you’ve never met in your life starts to classify or analyze your behavior, character, or personality, it is very hard not to start asking yourself at some level: maybe he’s on to something, maybe there’s something other people can see about me which I myself can not.
(Just remember Julia Sweeney’s hilarious chapter in “Letting go of God” where she’s told her birthday was not in September but in October, which meant she ‘was a Libra’. So she got the Libra poster and followed that horoscope, and - again - “it was all so ‘me’!”
I had a great prof in intro to psychology who played some games with us students which were very revealing. It taught us to realize how attributions are typically hollow words that look like they mean something but once you try to tie them down with evidence they no longer describe people in a very useful way.
And scientologists have made a science out of disturbing people about who they so that they’ll decide to seek their help to get clear. It’s a money making scheme, not a religion.
Tories continuous statements with each one ending in a “right?” reflected a trait I would commonly associate with members of such indoctrination groups. Though she no longer belongs to Scientology, the endless “right?” after each statement begging the other person to confirm and agree with her statements struck me as a typical tactic reflecting her once association. I’m glad to see she has removed herself from scientology but I felt it left a mark on her personality.
The interview was quite enlightening. I knew very little about Scientology before the interview, but It confirmed my suspicions of it. I have encountered some Scientologist whom I thought were rather peculiar in their beliefs.
I will read Dianetica coming soon ! I find interesting to know more about Scientology. The mind is NOT the brain, the mind is a separate state of conciusness. Schizophrenia is NOT a disease. diseases are in organs, NOT in thoughts !!! The behaviour of the patient should NOT be medicated, NOT labeled, NOT seen as a disease !
I will read Dianetica coming soon ! I find interesting to know more about Scientology. The mind is NOT the brain, the mind is a separate state of conciusness. Schizophrenia is NOT a disease. diseases are in organs, NOT in thoughts !!! The behaviour of the patient should NOT be medicated, NOT labeled, NOT seen as a disease !
Given that you are mentioning Dianetics and are asserting one of the key tenets of Hubbard’s pseudoscientific program (denying the science of psychology), I have to assume you already are a follower of scientology.
Out of curiosity, do you believe mental illnesses are due to problems with our reincarnated souls when they lived on other planets? Do you believe mental illnesses are due to problems that happened in the womb? This stuff is just science fiction fantasy.
I will read Dianetica coming soon ! I find interesting to know more about Scientology. The mind is NOT the brain, the mind is a separate state of conciusness. Schizophrenia is NOT a disease. diseases are in organs, NOT in thoughts !!! The behaviour of the patient should NOT be medicated, NOT labeled, NOT seen as a disease !
Given that you are mentioning Dianetics and are asserting one of the key tenets of Hubbard’s pseudoscientific program (denying the science of psychology), I have to assume you already are a follower of scientology.
Out of curiosity, do you believe mental illnesses are due to problems with our reincarnated souls when they lived on other planets? Do you believe mental illnesses are due to problems that happened in the womb? This stuff is just science fiction fantasy.
No. I am not a follower of Scientology, Doug.
No, other planets, No. Earth planet sounds more feasible.
No. problems are in the mind, NOT in the womb.
I suggest not to bother with Dianetics. Skepticism and curiosity have their place but reading a disproved piece of fiction by a science fiction writer of whom we know that his goal was to defraud and mislead people - because he could, and because it would make him filthy rich - is a waste of your time. Why not read scientific works or, if that is too hard (no offense) then follow the research reading leading Science magazines, from Science, Nature, New Scientist, all the way to Popular Science?
If you were to write a term paper in History of Science, it would be okay to delve deep into Lamarck’s ideas on how species change. At least, that was SCIENCE (at the level of the day).
But L. Ron Hubbard? That’s just hot air. Made up. Words.
I suggest not to bother with Dianetics. Skepticism and curiosity have their place but reading a disproved piece of fiction by a science fiction writer of whom we know that his goal was to defraud and mislead people - because he could, and because it would make him filthy rich - is a waste of your time. Why not read scientific works or, if that is too hard (no offense) then follow the research reading leading Science magazines, from Science, Nature, New Scientist, all the way to Popular Science?
If you were to write a term paper in History of Science, it would be okay to delve deep into Lamarck’s ideas on how species change. At least, that was SCIENCE (at the level of the day).
But L. Ron Hubbard? That’s just hot air. Made up. Words.
That is what I do every day, to read Magazines from Science , Nature and medicine etc.
I do not need to call anyone for advise of what should I do.
Sorry to patronize you but if you declare that you’re going to read certified bullshit by a fraud with hopes of learning something of substance from it I won’t hold back with my advice. What’s the appeal of an avaricious science fiction writer over real science? Probably that it’s easier to find ideas that one likes.
