What do they believe Scientology that is ?

It's hard to describe all they believe because they are very secretive and even what is known would take pages and pages. They are also a very controlling cult. They have tax exemption as a religion but try to say you can be a Scientologist no matter what you believe, which is not true.

The CoS was started by sci fi writer L. Ron Hubbard, who based it on his teachings about the mind. There is a reactive mind and an analytic mind. The reactive mind is full of visual images from many lives before called engrams and needs to be "cleared." So they have these little cans they call e-meters that are supposed to measure your reactions so you can get cleared. But all the e-meter can really do is measure moisture on the skin. Due to their teachings on the mind, they hate psychiatry and psychology, because it conflicts with their views of how the mind should work.

They have their own terminology that is used by people inside the cult.

You go through different levels to reach "Clear" and then there's more levels after that. The longer you are in, the more money is required.

They recruit people by offering personality tests or stress tests (they've been doing that in this area lately) to draw you in and get you interested, or offer to show a video. They harass anyone who leaves and sue critics (TIME magazine did an expose on them back in the early 90's and the magazine and writer was sued).

Go here for more info:
Site with numerous links and detailed info:
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/s04.html

There are many sites run by ex-Scientologist groups that give some interesting info:
http://www.scientology-kills.org/index.html

People have committed suicide and died mysteriously in Scientology
http://www.scientology-kills.org/dead/dead.htm

Another link
http://www.scientology-lies.com/liesindex.html

Scientology has several front groups such as Narconon, a drug program used in some prisons, and a literacy program they try to get into schools. This link exposes some of the front groups:
http://studytech.org/home.php

Yet another link with an excerpt
http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Secrets/index.html

 

West, there are tons of articles on Scientology. I just read 2 of them today. Tom Cruise was on the Today show and lamblasted Matt Lauer on the Today Show for believing that drugs could sometimes help psychiatric conditions. This story is all over the place. Tom Cruise has been really pushing the CoS lately, partly because his movie is coming out, "War of the Worlds," and it supposedly has parallels to the CoS religion.

Here's another article about how CoS cultivates the rich and famous as a PR strategy. The excerpt is on p. 2 of the article

 

Saw John Travolta talking about it today. He pushes it all the time, supose to be their biggest hollywood supporter.

 

But I thought diversity was a GOOD thing!

 

A Philosophy

 

I saw some of that interview of Tom Cruise. YIKES! It's so sad him and Travolta are so into that trash. Great actors though.

 

Sounds complicated and superstitious even. No wonder people are weary of religion, if they think that is religion. I guess you could classify it as one, but faith is so much easier that that. What a pity.

 

The celebrities are the ones who give it a lot of PR, but most people who belong to the CoS are not celebrities but regular joes and janes. I have some good friends who got caught up in this when their marriage was in trouble and they went for "free" counseling. Kept getting in deeper and deeper (they have been out of it since the 80's).

Once you invest yourself in something, you don't want to admit you might be wrong or that what you are believing is false. That is way too threatening and disturbing. So you keep on and rationalize it and come to believe it.

It is hard to get a handle on it because, like most esoteric teachings, it is complicated and intricate. It has no basic or essential belief. I've been at countercult conferences for years and know many who deal with these topics, and I've attended workshops, heard lectures on it, read articles, visited websites, and I feel like I only have the barest basic idea of it. So don't expect to figure it out but you can get more familiar with it if you read some of what I posted.

Here's a page with several links to some very readable articles on CoS:
http://tinyurl.com/dcldp

It is a like a web that draws people in deeper and deeper, and all we see from the outside are a few of the teachings and the celebrities who are hawking it.

 

I noticed that that link didn't work. Just go here:
www.watchman.org

and then type in Scientology in the search box. The page I tried to post will come up. It has lots of articles.

 

Just a second rate Cult!

 

Tom Cruise made the news again today for critisizing another actress who takes anti depressants. Apparantly Taking Anti Depressants and seeing a Psychiatrist are not permitted in Scientology.

 

So, are you saying the Watchman Org os scientology (this is the first I've heard this term, but I've heard of the watchtower)?

The reason I ask is because if you go to the link www.watchman.org that Marcia posted, scroll all the way down to the schedule, under the picture of a stadium, it says, "Watchman Fellowship Counterfeit Christianity Conference at Liberty University".

My daughter has brochures from that University, but if they allow promotions of stuff like this, she's not going (I don't care HOW old she is when she makes her decision).

 

This is on their first page, look around a little more....

Watchman Fellowship is an independent Christian research and apologetics ministry focusing on new religious movements, cults, the occult and New Age spirituality. We equip evangelical Christians to understand alternative religions and to reach out with the true Gospel of Jesus Christ by “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15).
We accomplish these tasks through our church presentations, our FREE Profiles, biblical counseling, this website, and other activities.
Click here to learn more about our organization. If you would like to support this vital ministry, click here to make a donation.

 

Is it my imagination, or does it seem that the people who promote scientology doesn't show facial expression? Is that just a fluke, or is it something scientologists are prohibited from doing?

For example, on the video of the squirt in the face, Tom Cruise seemed to yell at the interviewer who squirted him throgh a fake mike. But if you turn down the sound, it looks like he's calmly answering a question.

If you watch the movie "Ladder (Some Number)" John Travolta seems the same way. He used to show a lot of movement and facial expressions as a sweathog, but as a fireman, he seems to be half-missing, like his emotions are partially paralized or something.

I'm just curious. Is this just actors growing up and acting differently, or are they prohibbitted from showing real emotion?

On Fox News, they called Tom Cruise's reaction to the interviewer as a "meltdown". Yet, all I saw was a man who sternly, yet calmly expected his question to be answered and not ignored (as well as in the squirt episode). I'm not promoting him at all, but unless something's wrong with me, I don't see the "meltdown". Am I missing something?

 

This is on their first page, look around a little more....

Watchman Fellowship is an independent Christian research and apologetics ministry focusing on new religious movements, cults, the occult and New Age spirituality. We equip evangelical Christians to understand alternative religions and to reach out with the true Gospel of Jesus Christ by “speaking the truth in love” (Eph. 4:15).
We accomplish these tasks through our church presentations, our FREE Profiles, biblical counseling, this website, and other activities.
Click here to learn more about our organization. If you would like to support this vital ministry, click here to make a donation. </font>[/QUOTE]So, are you saying that Watchman does not promote scientology, but instead tells people about them (your links didn't work)? Is Watchman for or against scientology?