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I was under the impression that Will Smith was in that weird Scientology cult that John Travolta and Tom Cruise are members of but I see that he has denied this. But according to a journalist who has spent a long time investigating Scientology, Smith's wife was a dedicated member and Smith himself was a dabbler but they have since left the organisation (source).
Jo wrote: I was under the impression that Will Smith was in that weird Scientology cult that John Travolta and Tom Cruise are members of but I see that he has denied this. But according to a journalist who has spent a long time investigating Scientology, Smith's wife was a dedicated member and Smith himself was a dabbler but they have since left the organisation (source).
I have dabbled in various churches in my youth and even thought about Scientology but then they wanted money from me. Nancy Cartwright is a Scientologist and she seems okay with it. I think it depends on the individual.
We love to focus on the bad of things it's human nature.
Jehovah Witnesses are equally insane also, they focus on selective passages but not reading the following verses.
When they take children to do the door knocking it's blatant brainwashing.
Green Man wrote: I have dabbled in various churches in my youth and even thought about Scientology but then they wanted money from me. Nancy Cartwright is a Scientologist and she seems okay with it. I think it depends on the individual.
From what I gather, they describe themselves as a church because it has enabled them to get tax-exempt status. They essentially seem to be a money-extracting scheme. I understand that celebs, in particular high-ranking ones like Tom Cruise, are feather-bedded with a special "Celebrity Centre" in Hollywood and have Scientology members at their beck and call (servants, essentially) and are not subjected to the harsh treatment the ordinary members can suffer if they step out of line. According to the journalist Tony Ortega, who has been investigating Scientology for years, Tom Cruise thinks he's the second most important person on the planet after David Miscavige, the equally diminutive Scientology leader, whom critics describe as a tyrant given to physically assaulting people but whom Cruise apparently worships like a god (says Ortega in the YouTube video "Tony Ortega - Scientology Secrets + Tactics, David Miscavige, Tom Cruise - Jim Norton & Sam Roberts"). There's a video on YouTube ("Tom Cruise accepting Scientology Award") of the pair of them at a mass Scientology rally with Cruise receiving a medal from Miscavige and praising him to the rooftops. Lots of military saluting, firm handshakes and hugs. All very weird!
Gary, there seem to be quite a few people who were once members but are now harsh critics, designated "suppressive persons" by Scientology, so I think it would be safe to assume that some people are able to extricate themselves.
To me Scientology is no worse and no better than other organised religion; be it Christianity, the Moonies, Islam, Buddhism or worshipping a footballer.
I'd have to disagree with you there. From what I gather, Scientology is a money-making scam or cult that excessively controls/abuses its members, rather than a religion which allows its members to come and go freely and whose views others might consider strange but essentially doesn't do its members any harm. Mainstream Christianity, for instance, doesn't require members to pay hundreds of thousands or even millions of dollars on courses that supposedly lead to enlightenment, call people who have left and/or are critical of the organisation "suppressive persons" and require their relatives who are still members to "disconnect" from them, i.e. cut off all contact (I'd say this was a key element of a cult), or send members perceived to have committed misdemeanours to harsh re-education camps or use child labour.
Germany takes a particularly hard line on Scientology and I suspect it's because they have learned from their Nazi/Communist past how to recognise harmful forces.
Green Man, you obviously have first-hand experience anyway, but you might be interested in this report about Scientology in Ireland.
I've actually been wondering whether Scientology specifically targets Catholics. I understand that Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes came from a Catholic background and assume that Leah Remini (who has left and become a vociferous critic) and John Travolta did too. Another person who was a member for a long time but left and became a prominent critic and started out as a Catholic (says her Wikipedia page) is Tory Christman. But perhaps it's a coincidence.
Jo wrote: Green Man, you obviously have first-hand experience anyway, but you might be interested in this report about Scientology in Ireland.
I've actually been wondering whether Scientology specifically targets Catholics. I understand that Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Katie Holmes came from a Catholic background and assume that Leah Remini (who has left and become a vociferous critic) and John Travolta did too. Another person who was a member for a long time but left and became a prominent critic and started out as a Catholic (says her Wikipedia page) is Tory Christman. But perhaps it's a coincidence.
It targets anyone with money. The auditing (which I didn't do) can repeat itself, some people stay on the same level for many months until they paid for more or they are happy to move you up.
When I went there was I shown a video but Dianetics, Hubbard and more Hubbard.
I did do the free personality test but I can't remember what they said about it (it was a long time)
They mentioned money on the sly and directed us what books to buy from the church, which some I read in the past but they still went on that these are revised editions (Hubbard is dead - even then )
I know auditing is mandatory to 'climb the ranks' but it comes out of your pocket,if you can't afford they might get you to work for the church or do odd jobs for a in exchange for an auditing course (Sea Org).
Some people who I have met got quite far up the ladder left because they felt disgruntled or they think it helped achieved their goal. A few I have met turned okay, confident and very well spoken.
The horror stories could be true but I don't know, again I don't know if the church is organized different in UK and USA.
There's no harm Jo, enquiring free information or reading Dianetics by Hubbard; I see it cheap on eBay. If you go to the church building in Birmingham or Tottenham Court Road, go in with an open mind, be polite, ask questions.
If the anti-Scientology are outside, listen to them also and take leaflets (They will tell you other point of view)
I always say be open minded in life, just because it worked for some don't mean it work for you and vice versa.
You may believe it's all bullshit like I do but the books are entertaining.
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