Does scientology seem relevant to your life?

[MissingPerson]

Any Scientologists I've encountered were not Tom Cruise nutjobs. They were, almost universally, creepy in a faint and undefinable way - but they were taxi drivers, shop owners etc. Maybe that's just because we have fewer dwarf action heroes around here though.

[BlackSwan]

[BlackSwan]

[BlackSwan]

[NightGoat]

I've met Scientologists that were nice as hell, but I always keep these facts in mind when I encounter a member of the church:

1. They believe alien souls live in us and cause all of our problems, from stomach aches to death. This is oversimplified, but if you do a search for Body Thetans you'll probably find some article that'll fill you in on the history

2. They actually infiltrated the file the FBI had on them in attempts to forever erase their criminal actions from history. Look up Operation Snow White.

3. They go to great lengths to separate members from family and friends who disapprove of the church and its actions.

4. To add to #3, they own the Cult Awareness Network. The Network used to be a support hotline that attempted to help people get their friends and family out of cult organizations. Scientology bought it and has done very little to make people aware of this. The prevailing theory is that Scientology uses the hotline to gain information about members who may be influenced by their family to leave and then force them to sever ties with their family. Not sure if this is true, but it wouldn't blow me away

5. Members sign a contract tying them to the church. The contract doesn't expire for billions of years. I'm not kidding. Look up billion year contract + Scientology

6. They attempt to link psychiatry to every genocide, atrocity, and human rights abuse they can think of. Go to the Psychiatry: An Industry of Death museum in Hollywood

7. Additionally, L. Ron Hubbard was prescribed a multitude of psychiatric medication. Go figure.

8. Hubbard also was friends with Jack Parsons, who was an occultist that eventually founded JPL. Before rocket test launches, Parsons would invoke the Greek god Pan. L. Ron Hubbard also stole Parsons' wife, thus proving, yet again, L. Ron Hubbard's a prick

9. Scientologists made a point of viciously slandering the hell out of any opponents to the religion. The idea was that they would ruin the careers of all who stood in their way. Search Fair Game Policy

10. You have to pay retarded amounts of money to be a Scientologist.

11. The highest level of Scientology granted a person with immortality. L. Ron Hubbard died. For some reason people still follow the religion.

12. Scientology is anti-homosexual

[fikus222]

http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/fishman/home.html

This is the famous Fishman Affidavit. To explain why it has become so famous, I'll give you some more information. And please take a look at the Scientology Litigation Kit, where I list the materials used for my defense and the lawsuit materials (lawsuits, plea, defense, rulings) and at postings and news about the Dutch Protest.

The Church of Scientology (or: CoS; or: Co$, as some of their opponents call it) sells its followers expensive courses which, if students study them carefully, are supposed to set them free ('clear' them). A former Scientology member, Steven Fishman, was brought before court because he committed several crimes in order to get the money to pay for these courses. Scientology urged him to get the money any which way he could. According to Fishman, they also assigned him to kill somebody, and failing that, ordered him to commit suicide. In an interview for Time Magazine, Fishman relayed those stories and blamed Scientology for his crimes. Scientology sued him for slander.

When Fishman was then brought to court, he used parts of Scientology-documents to prove he had been brainwashed by the Church. These Scientology documents thereby became public material: anybody could go to the court library and read them. The Church, fearing that its sacred secrets would be revealed, had some of their people going to the library every day to borrow these documents, thereby preventing other people (read: non-Scientologists) from reading them. Nevertheless, the Fishman Affidavit got copied (it was also available through the clerk of the court, for a mere $36.50). Somebody retrieved the affidavit via the clerk, scanned it, and posted it to the net. The Fishman Affidavit has been travelling on the Internet ever since.

[Raptor Clinton]

The horrible irony is that the whole Xenu/Body Thetans business is stuff most Scientologists don't even know about, because it's part of going up the "bridge to total freedom" and you are told that if you find out about it before you're ready (ready as in having bought thousands upon thousands of dollars of Scientology services) you may get pneumonia and/or die. If you bring it up in any way with a Scientologist they will think (or pretend to think) that you are making up lies to make them look stupid.

[BKsaysAction!]

I fully support these guys.

[BKsaysAction!]

Also does anybody else think Temple of Doom when they drive by the celebrity center?

[Raptor Clinton]

For me it's usually the other way around, but hey. Same deal.

[fatbastard]

Pop & Hiss
The L.A. Times music blog

Beck's show tonight will benefit Scientology-affiliated charity
06:48 PM PT, Mar 11 2009

There's been a touch of Internet controversy today about Beck's somewhat-impromptu show at the Echo tonight, first started by blogger Sketchytown, then picked up by the LA Weekly's West Coast Sound blog. Both blogs raised a flag about a charity cited on the show's promotional material, Educating Children International, which, according to the promo poster, will get the "net proceeds" of the show priced at a cool $35.

Nothing was mentioned about any connections with Scientology, and the website for the charity turns up an error message. So what's the official word from the Church of Scientology? Is Educating Children International a charity working with Beck's known (and controversial) path of spirituality?

It turns out it is.

When Pop & Hiss first contacted Scientology representative Karen Pouw, she did not recognize the charity name, but within 40 minutes or so she called back to say she had done some more investigating. She said it was part of Educating Children, a charity run by Indian Scientologist Mohammad Khalil Ullah, who has built at least three schools in South Asia, according to materials posted at the website www.educatingchildren.cc, a URL that Pouw also cited. Note the picture on the homepage of children celebrating in front of a school with a sign clearly stating "West Bengal Scientology Free School."

Pouw said about the charity, "We have volunteers there working in orphanages and getting children to school." She also stated, "I'm not speaking on behalf of Beck, but I believe his concert is in support of this charity."

When asked if Beck had a statement about the charity or tonight's show, his representative in New York declined to comment. A representative at the Echo did not answer our request for a comment.

The real question, of course, is whether Beck should've been more transparent about the show's beneficiary. If you're planning on going to the show tonight, does this change your mind or otherwise color your feelings about L.A.'s indie son?

-- Margaret Wappler