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BBC wrote:Unlike the US, France has always refused to recognise Scientology as a religion, arguing that it is a purely commercial operation designed to make as much money as it can at the expense of often vulnerable victims, the BBC's Emma Jane Kirby reports from Paris.
First of all, this is from the Onion, people. No, I am not serious. Second, this article is about Fictionology, not Scientology. If I am flaming anyone, it is myself for the quote below.
The Onion (edited my tblock1984) wrote:"My personal savior is Batman," said Bay Area Quality Assurance Tester Tim Block. "My wife chooses to follow the teachings of the Grey's Anatomy. Of course, we are still beginners. Some advanced-level Fictionologists have total knowledge of every lifetime they have ever lived for the last 80 trillion years."
I have noticed that when it comes to the newer religions (created within the past 200 years), it is either this, or change your rhetoric to appease the weary masses of curious people that are investigating the religion.
PM me if you want my examples. I have not the will to get into a pissing contest today by openly posting my thoughts...
I am a damaged individual screaming random obscenities into the internet, sorry if I upset you.
"Dig what you dig. Don't take any fool's madness, just dig what you dig."
-Corey Taylor (Not Saying you're a fool )
"You guys are nuttier n fruitbats who just sucked a three week old pineapple." -Frazzled
Most successful religions, have simply taken the clear ideas of similar pre-existing religions, and changed a few things in order to attract followers.
Scientology, no matter how clearly you try to frame it's points, still has a lingering hint of crazy that most people just can't get past.
So, does this mean the crazies have one less refuge? I was perfectly happy having Scientologists to openly mock. It seems I'll have to go back to looking for hippies to unload on. Oh well, at least they're slow-moving targets.
warpcrafter wrote:I was perfectly happy having Scientologists to openly mock.
Here, I fixed it.
warpcrafter wrote:I was perfectly happy having Scientologists to openly discuss the merits of the religion in an intellectual debate.
Same gak...
warpcrafter wrote:It seems I'll have to go back to looking for hippies to unload on. Oh well, at least they're slow-moving targets.
Hurr, have you been to Santa Cruz, CA? If not, and you have the opportunity, check it out. YOU. WILL. LOVE. IT. THERE!!! I love to blast Slayer on the way to the Boardwalk. Because everyone knows...
HIPPIES HATE SLAYER!!! Even 8-bit Slayer...
RAINING BLOOD!!!!!!!!!
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2009/10/29 01:15:14
I am a damaged individual screaming random obscenities into the internet, sorry if I upset you.
"Dig what you dig. Don't take any fool's madness, just dig what you dig."
-Corey Taylor (Not Saying you're a fool )
"You guys are nuttier n fruitbats who just sucked a three week old pineapple." -Frazzled
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2009/10/29 01:16:13
People are like dice, a certain Frenchman said that. You throw yourself in the direction of your own choosing. People are free because they can do that. Everyone's circumstances are different, but no matter how small the choice, at the very least, you can throw yourself. It's not chance or fate. It's the choice you made.
Wrexasaur wrote:Scientology, no matter how clearly you try to frame it's points, still has a lingering hint of crazy that most people just can't get past.
Not to mention it was written by a science fiction writer who created it as a get rich quick scheme.
-to many points to bother to count.
mattyrm wrote:i like the idea of a woman with a lobster claw for a hand touching my nuts. :-)
Hmm I've decided my mate DAVE is of godlike status and should be worshipped as such. Attend his place of worship, the PUBS and worship him by consuming ALCO-HOL. Dying your hair ginger to mimic him is purely optional depending on how much of the ALCO-HOL you consume in worship.
Which the Moderation team would be very happy if we could ALL avoid please.
Mucho gracias.
The poor man really has a stake in the country. The rich man hasn't; he can go away to New Guinea in a yacht. The poor have sometimes objected to being governed badly; the rich have always objected to being governed at all
We love our superheroes because they refuse to give up on us. We can analyze them out of existence, kill them, ban them, mock them, and still they return, patiently reminding us of who we are and what we wish we could be.
"the play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king,
I just find it odd that the guy who created Scientology was quoted in a newspaper like 30yrs ago, saying something like I didn't become a writer to be rich, if I wanted to be rich I'd have created a Religion.
Its probably an urban myth, but it comes up again and again and Scientology wants it clamped down hard, so its more than likely true.
Regardless they definately are in my personal 'defined as cult' bag along with JW. I love telling em when the come to the door I don't talk to cults, winds them up bigstyle.
"That's not an Ork, its a girl.." - Last words of High General Daran Ul'tharem, battle of Ursha VII.
Two White Horses (Ipswich Town and Denver Broncos Supporter)
Anuvver fing - when they do sumfing, they try to make it look like somfink else to confuse everybody. When one of them wants to lord it over the uvvers, 'e says "I'm very speshul so'z you gotta worship me", or "I know summink wot you lot don't know, so yer better lissen good". Da funny fing is, arf of 'em believe it and da over arf don't, so 'e 'as to hit 'em all anyway or run fer it.
France failed here. Scientology is as much of a religion as Mormonism and the other denomination of Christianity that was founded because a king couldn't divorce as he pleased.
I don't want to defend Scientology but you can extend 'religions are money scams, frauds etc' logic to all of 'em.
Scientology is a dubious case as classifying it as a religion requires that we revisit the nature of metaphysical concepts. Structurally, it certainly has all the hallmarks of an actual faith (albeit one with a dubiously moral system of contributions), but its actual belief system isn't conventionally a matter which lacks verifiability.
That said, if the US government were to rescind its classification as a religious organization they would also be forced to take a long hard look at some of the evangelist churches throughout the nation. Not exactly the first thing on the agenda for either party (though obviously many democratic supporters wouldn't bat an eyelash).
Personally, I have no problem with it being considered a religion so long as it can stand up to the legal conventions of 501(c).
Life does not cease to be funny when people die any more than it ceases to be serious when people laugh.
Here I am, not batting an eye-lid. (Am practicing Catholic, btw.)
If "Scientology" is a religion, so is "Boy Scouts." Or, alternatively, "Games Workshop." The mistake Americans and other Westerners make is thinking of religion as something entirely subjective and individual (thank you, Descartes). And frankly governments do not have the cultural power qua legitimate authority to determine what is a religion (thank you, rise of the nation state). France denies Scientology because the French by and large deny it. The US recognizes it because Americans don't want to deal with it (yes, Mormons are an earlier example). Before anyone labels me an utter hypocrite, I'm all for restrictions on Catholic nutters like Opus Dei and the Legionnaires of Christ (surprisingly, not an SM chapter, just a bunch of loony ultraconservatives).
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2009/10/29 18:56:43
Anuvver fing - when they do sumfing, they try to make it look like somfink else to confuse everybody. When one of them wants to lord it over the uvvers, 'e says "I'm very speshul so'z you gotta worship me", or "I know summink wot you lot don't know, so yer better lissen good". Da funny fing is, arf of 'em believe it and da over arf don't, so 'e 'as to hit 'em all anyway or run fer it.
Anuvver fing - when they do sumfing, they try to make it look like somfink else to confuse everybody. When one of them wants to lord it over the uvvers, 'e says "I'm very speshul so'z you gotta worship me", or "I know summink wot you lot don't know, so yer better lissen good". Da funny fing is, arf of 'em believe it and da over arf don't, so 'e 'as to hit 'em all anyway or run fer it.
Cane wrote:I don't want to defend Scientology but you can extend 'religions are money scams, frauds etc' logic to all of 'em.
I'd contend that other religions don't exist to make money like Scientology does. They're much different.
You can attend the services of most mainstream religions for free if you choose. You may get asked for a donation. Meanwhile, Scientology makes you pay at the door. Even the Christian churches that tithe only ask for 10%. Scientology can cost you much, much more than that...sometimes to the point of financial ruin. No mainstream religion asks or expects its members to have to take out second mortgages, etc. and/or toy with bankruptcy the way Scientology does. I've heard some real firsthand horror stories.
Scientology WASN'T recognized as a religion until the Clinton adminstration. Clinton got them tax-exempt status and the IRS under his watch abolished something like a billion dollars of back taxes owned by the "church." It's thought this was because Clinton got so much campaign backing from the Hollywood types (who get catered to in their own special Scientology center). Later, Clinton put pressure on Germany to stop persecuting Scientology, which was legendarily a favor to John Travolta in exchange for a more likeable portrayal in "Primary Colors."
Scientology also operates a huge network of shadow organizations that lobby against psychiatry and psychiatric drugs (they see psychiatry as quackery and Scientology as the one true solution to mankind's problems). And they operate other groups that serve as sneaky gateways to Scientology. Ever heard of Narconon? It's just like AA or Al-Anon or something, right? Wrong...it's a front for Scientology that seeks to convert addicts into Scientologists...and relieve them of their cash, of course.
Trust me, the more you start to educate yourself about Scientology, the more you come to understand they really AREN'T "all the same."
"I suppose the guy who has trouble running another Thetan at that proximity probably not very horse-powered or something of the sort. Well all I ever did as a body Thetan was just think "go to the .. uh .. uh .. think Incident One zoooom! Go through it, get your stop off you know", "Rmmm", he says "Rmmmm. Zooooom! Hrrm. Hey that's mine!" he'd say. "I'm leaving!" I'd say "Good bye!" [laughter]" —L. Ron Hubbard
Anuvver fing - when they do sumfing, they try to make it look like somfink else to confuse everybody. When one of them wants to lord it over the uvvers, 'e says "I'm very speshul so'z you gotta worship me", or "I know summink wot you lot don't know, so yer better lissen good". Da funny fing is, arf of 'em believe it and da over arf don't, so 'e 'as to hit 'em all anyway or run fer it.
"They were imported. They were actually .. the trick was to shoot somebody, disable somebody, very often a needle into a lung and at the same time to hit him with frozen alcohol and glycol which preparation is guaranteed to pick up a Thetan. All they had to do was pick him up and put him in a refrigerator and they had him, boy. If he tried to exteriorize from the body, there he was, frozen. And they threw 'em into collection points, boxed 'em up in boxes, threw 'em into space planes which were the exact copies of DC8's, the DC8 airplane is the exact copy of the space plane of that day. And, no difference, except the DC8 had fans, propellers on it and the space plane didn't." --- Him Again
"And they had elected a fellow by the name of Xemu, ah, could be spelled X-e-m-u, to the supreme ruler, and they were about to un-elect him, and he took the last moments he had in office to really 'goof the floof'......Xemu missed......which Xemu had bought in......and so on, the administrators that had been loyal to Xemu.....Xemu was put with several of his cohorts in the center of a mountain....." --- Still Him
Anuvver fing - when they do sumfing, they try to make it look like somfink else to confuse everybody. When one of them wants to lord it over the uvvers, 'e says "I'm very speshul so'z you gotta worship me", or "I know summink wot you lot don't know, so yer better lissen good". Da funny fing is, arf of 'em believe it and da over arf don't, so 'e 'as to hit 'em all anyway or run fer it.
Cane wrote:France failed here. Scientology is as much of a religion as Mormonism and the other denomination of Christianity that was founded because a king couldn't divorce as he pleased.
I don't want to defend Scientology but you can extend 'religions are money scams, frauds etc' logic to all of 'em.
read up a little cane, you are wrong on so many levels.
gorgon said it best, you dont HAVE to pay to be a christian and a christian denomination will never tell you that you cant worship god on the next level until you pay to take a test.
scientology is so crazy. if christianity were anything like scientology you would see people paying thousands and thousands of dollars to become a level 10 christ worshipper etc...
now dont get me wrong, all denominations have some sort of craziness to them but please dont try and say scientology is just as valid as any other religion.
This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2009/10/29 19:43:16
Anuvver fing - when they do sumfing, they try to make it look like somfink else to confuse everybody. When one of them wants to lord it over the uvvers, 'e says "I'm very speshul so'z you gotta worship me", or "I know summink wot you lot don't know, so yer better lissen good". Da funny fing is, arf of 'em believe it and da over arf don't, so 'e 'as to hit 'em all anyway or run fer it.
dogma wrote:Scientology is a dubious case as classifying it as a religion requires that we revisit the nature of metaphysical concepts. Structurally, it certainly has all the hallmarks of an actual faith (albeit one with a dubiously moral system of contributions), but its actual belief system isn't conventionally a matter which lacks verifiability.
Oh Dogma's usin those big five dollah words again aint he. Gettin mighty uppity with his multisyllabicals there aintcha boy!
-"Wait a minute.....who is that Frazz is talking to in the gallery? Hmmm something is going on here.....Oh.... it seems there is some dispute over video taping of some sort......Frazz is really upset now..........wait a minute......whats he go there.......is it? Can it be?....Frazz has just unleashed his hidden weiner dog from his mini bag, while quoting shakespeares "Let slip the dogs the war!!" GG
-"Don't mind Frazzled. He's just Dakka's crazy old dude locked in the attic. He's harmless. Mostly."
-TBone the Magnificent 1999-2014, Long Live the King!
Frazzled, sometimes I think your style of modding is based solely on flamebaiting de-rails. Some sort of "greater good" calculus? Are you a closeted blu berry?
This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2009/10/29 20:08:42
)
Here, I fixed it.
-to many points to bother to count.
Painting and modelling blog 
Dogma's usin those big five dollah words again aint he. Gettin mighty uppity with his multisyllabicals there aintcha boy! 
Some sort of "greater good" calculus? Are you a closeted blu 
berry?