Tom & Katie seem to have gone into a trail separation.....Way to go Katie!Hopefully she can distance herself from the "CULT"founded by pedofile R L Hubbert!
Price of fame!


I always thought Dianetics was more science fiction from L.Ron Hubbard, what trash. I read it as a teenager and scatched my head and said what the f***K. This guy is nuts

I always thought Dianetics was more science fiction from L.Ron Hubbard, what trash. I read it as a teenager and scatched my head and said what the f***K. This guy is nuts

There's a woman at work named Diane.  I wonder if I should give her "Dianetics"
:D

I always thought Dianetics was more science fiction from L.Ron Hubbard, what trash. I read it as a teenager and scatched my head and said what the f***K. This guy is nuts


Pretty much.  The cult's mythos are indistinguishable from his space opera... or his space opera is indistinguishable from his cult's mythos, because they were basically the same.

For example, the cover of "Dianetics" (and the late-night infomercials for it) strongly feature the image of an exploding volcano. You can google around for "OT3" or watch the South Park episode Trapped in the Closet to find out why the disembodied spirits of space aliens are supposed to respond to it.  Or you can join the cult and pay $360,000.  I recommend the South Park episode.  It's not only cheaper, it's funnier.

(Yes, Isaac "Chef" Hayes was a Scilon, which explains his sudden departure from the show after Matt and Trey went through with the airing of the OT3 episode.  The episodes with the robot Chef make a lot more sense if you consider that the cult, upon finding out about the OT3 episode, would have immediately ordered him to "disconnect" from the "suppressive people" with whom he'd worked for more than a decade.  The Body of Chef - the animated character - was there for a couple more episodes, but the Soul of Chef - Hayes' doing the voice acting - was long gone.)

RIP, Chef -- the actor who performed your voice was given a choice between a cult and a community, and he chose... poorly.

And RIP, Isaac -- the fact that you fell into the clutches of a despicable cult doesn't diminish your talent as a singer who still makes me smile, and as a voice actor who still makes me laugh.

I always thought Dianetics was more science fiction from L.Ron Hubbard, what trash. I read it as a teenager and scatched my head and said what the f***K. This guy is nuts


  My sister is a Scientology devotee.  It's a pseudo-religion and deals, as she explained, with the reactive mind and purging engrams (things that block health and harmony).  I still don't understand it, but she's had a rough go of it, so if it helps her deal, what the hell...

  My sister is a Scientology devotee.  It's a pseudo-religion and deals, as she explained, with the reactive mind and purging engrams (things that block health and harmony).  I still don't understand it, but she's had a rough go of it, so if it helps her deal, what the hell...


Anything that can make life's journey easier for someone is okay, just don't ram it down my throat.( not you specifically :) I was speaking generally).

RIP, Chef -- the actor who performed your voice was given a choice between a cult and a community, and he chose... poorly.

And RIP, Isaac -- the fact that you fell into the clutches of a despicable cult doesn't diminish your talent as a singer who still makes me smile, and as a voice actor who still makes me laugh.


I heard talk from somewheres that before he died, he was starting to doubt the whole Scientology thing.

Anything that can make life's journey easier for someone is okay, just don't ram it down my throat.( not you specifically :) I was speaking generally).


Scientology seems to be a lot more fun if you're rich and famous.  Otherwise, people wind up giving the church all their money and get brainwashed into being those Hubbard drones you see out on the street. 

I have no gripe with, say, Paganism because Pagans don't bully you into some rigid conformity.  Scientology is a cult with all the trappings of a cult.
::)

Anything that can make life's journey easier for someone is okay, just don't ram it down my throat.( not you specifically :) I was speaking generally).


  I've not yet had a Scientologist darken my door...

  Watched friends go through it, started to go through it myself.  If you're searching for something, sometimes you find it.  This is especially true of those who have undergone a traumatic experience (in my sister's case it was when she "came out" and our family's utter rejection of her because of it.)  The outrage, here, against Scientology is genuinely suprising to me.  It's not something I was inclined to investigate, thinking it a mere self-betterment (enlightenment?) society.  My big sis was attempting to explain the intricacies of it to me years ago but I wasn't much interested...

  Kinda worries me.  I should probably make a phone call...

   I've not yet had a Scientologist darken my door...

   Watched friends go through it, started to go through it myself.  If you're searching for something, sometimes you find it.  This is especially true of those who have undergone a traumatic experience (in my sister's case it was when she "came out" and our family's utter rejection of her because of it.)  The outrage, here, against Scientology is genuinely suprising to me.  It's not something I was inclined to investigate, thinking it a mere self-betterment (enlightenment?) society.  My big sis was attempting to explain the intricacies of it to me years ago but I wasn't much interested...

   Kinda worries me.  I should probably make a phone call...


I have experienced that searching meself.  There is nothing wrong with finding a religion or a belief that suits you and helps you with healing, but from all that I've read and heard about Scientology, it just strikes me as more of a scam than anything.  So I wouldn't worry about her YET, but I would keep a close eye on stuff.  I've seen some of their monthly newletters/magazines, and they ALWAYS want you to buy something or pay for something or donate or whatever.  One of those e-meter things was like $300, and this was back in the 90s. :o

And that it sad that your family rejected her at such a moment in her life.  She's a brave woman though. :)

Anything that can make life's journey easier for someone is okay, just don't ram it down my throat.( not you specifically :) I was speaking generally).


Agreed.  Religious people dont want to be persecuted for their religion, yet some, such as Jehovah Witnesses and Born-Agains keep trying to persuade us to switch the their views.  I havent met any Scientologists since I am in New Jersey.

Agreed.  Religious people dont want to be persecuted for their religion, yet some, such as Jehovah Witnesses and Born-Agains keep trying to persuade us to switch the their views.   I havent met any Scientologists since I am in New Jersey.



You just haven't looked under the right rocks in Jersey!

I'm a Jeffersonian in these matters:  You do your thing, I do my thing.  I don't persecute you, you don't persecute me.  And that's that.  I don't like how Scientologist treat their adherents, but so long as those involved are adults capable of making their own decisions, you can't really decide one belief or other is not good for somebody else, not in a free society.

Scientology seems to be a lot more fun if you're rich and famous.  Otherwise, people wind up giving the church all their money and get brainwashed into being those Hubbard drones you see out on the street. 

I have no gripe with, say, Paganism because Pagans don't bully you into some rigid conformity.  Scientology is a cult with all the trappings of a cult.
::)


Pagans rock.....

Pagans rock.....


Pagans get accused of being in cults (and the occult) but most of the successful cults are splinters from a mainstream organized religion such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and so forth. 

This is not to confuse Pagans with the Pagans motorcycle gang, which is just organized crime!
::)

There was a big scare in the '80s fostered by the religous right and concerning the prevalance of Satanic cults and witch covens.  Occasionally some kids or some sickos go all sick and ultraviolent with something they picked up in a slasher flick or comic book. 

However, neither Satanism nor Paganism ever really took hold as an intergenerational belief system in the modern era.

Pagans get accused of being in cults (and the occult) but most of the successful cults are splinters from a mainstream organized religion such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and so forth. 

This is not to confuse Pagans with the Pagans motorcycle gang, which is just organized crime!
::)

There was a big scare in the '80s fostered by the religous right and concerning the prevalance of Satanic cults and witch covens.  Occasionally some kids or some sickos go all sick and ultraviolent with something they picked up in a slasher flick or comic book. 

However, neither Satanism nor Paganism ever really took hold as an intergenerational belief system in the modern era.


No I didn't mean the Motorcycle gang...Mainstream religion makes me sick all they want is money money money and tax free to boot!!! Oh and to tell me what I can and cannot do to my own body.. Oh wait thats the government. ;)

Pagans get accused of being in cults (and the occult) but most of the successful cults are splinters from a mainstream organized religion such as Christianity, Islam, Judaism, Hinduism, and so forth. 

This is not to confuse Pagans with the Pagans motorcycle gang, which is just organized crime!
::)

There was a big scare in the '80s fostered by the religous right and concerning the prevalance of Satanic cults and witch covens.  Occasionally some kids or some sickos go all sick and ultraviolent with something they picked up in a slasher flick or comic book. 

However, neither Satanism nor Paganism ever really took hold as an intergenerational belief system in the modern era.


Christianity borrowed much of it's tradition from Pagan religions. Of Course Christians than saw fit to kill them.

Ah yes the infamous 80's "all kids are dabbling in Satanism panic".  I blame it on Crowley and his teaching of no responsibility, no remorse, do whatever the hell you want to.  Taken out of context the reader can and is very dangerous.  Crowley was a druggie with low self and some crackpot ideals.

Neither Satanism or Paganism can really be integrated in a Western Society because it is so firmly based in Christianity and it's history. 

If you're searching for something, sometimes you find it.  This is especially true of those who have undergone a traumatic experience (in my sister's case it was when she "came out" and our family's utter rejection of her because of it.)  The outrage, here, against Scientology is genuinely suprising to me.  It's not something I was inclined to investigate, thinking it a mere self-betterment (enlightenment?) society.  My big sis was attempting to explain the intricacies of it to me years ago but I wasn't much interested...


Jessica's right about the cult being mainly about the money.  Her post covers most of what you need to know for your personal situation -- and she said it better than I could have :) 

So I'm going to take on the "why the outrage" angle.  There are plenty of cults that are all about the money, so why the outrage over this one?

I'll start with "Not a religion, just a self-help group".  Except when it wants to be tax-exempt.  Then it's a religion, and anyone who questions it is a "religious bigot".  They want to have their cake (a lucrative income source from "courses" to "people who want to help themselves") and eat it too ("it's religious instruction and therefore tax exempt"). 

And I'll continue with "if you're searching for something, sometimes you find it".  Although that's true, the problem is that the Scilons are actively targeting the most vulnerable people in an effort to liberate them from their wallets.

The tactic that made me retch was their exploitation of the shock/trauma associated with natural disasters and terrorism.  Google "Scientology volunteer ministers" and a recent natural or man-made disaster of your choice.  Pretty extensive documentation of their recruiting activities during the immediate aftermaths of 9/11 and Katrina.  I think they started this tactic on or about the OKC Bombing (citation needed).  They deliberately seek out the most shell-shocked people they can get their claws into, because any sufficiently traumatic experience renders a person vulnerable to manipulation.  Wherever there are thousands of shell-shocked people wandering the streets in a daze, Scilons will be there.  I find the tactic reprehensible.  (I also find the Grand Canyon to be a ditch.)

For a smaller-scale explanation of how the cult targets the vulnerable, consider the initial "free personality test".  Google "OCA" or "Oxford Capacity Analysis".  The test's been debunked, but the test doesn't have to be valid to work as a sales pitch.  You could roll dice for the personality evaluation, and if the dice roll low numbers, you say "Gee, that's so bad... why so sad?", and if all the dice but one roll up as sixes, you say "Wow, you're pretty awesome.  But that one low roll?  For a price, we can make you perfect!" 

The script they use when discussing the "results" of the personality test is analagous to cold reading performed by charlatan psychics or weaselly salesmen. 

1) Lean on the guy until you find out what he's responding to (A guy with a family that wants a safe car?  A guy who still wants to pick up chicks?). 
2) Then use it to sell him something.  ("Dude, this minivan has a 5-star crash test rating, I bought one for my wife too!", "OK, so it's a minivan, but have you considered that the removable back seat means it's easy to get laid in?"

A personality test is a pretty good way to get that ball rolling.

The funniest stunt I ever read about was way before the current Anon-vs-Scientology battle, back in the Dark Ages of the 90s.  I found out about the cult due to their attacks on USENET, and their compromising of what was, at the time, the Internet's only anonymous remailing service in Finland.  (This was years before hotmai/yahoo/gmail, "your email address" was something you either paid $600/month for, or something that your university or employer paid for and you used your real-world-name for everything.  The anonymous remailer service at penet.fi didn't even use encryption, and it was still a revolutionary development.) 

Anyways, some dude memorized the "correct" answers to their personality test.  Apparently, the cult's sales script relied on having at least some defect.  It didn't have any good script for a perfect score, because nobody was ever supposed to get all 200 true/false answers right.  Hilarity ensued.

I never had the testicular fortitude to try it myself, but I looked over the test and its answers, which is in itself a pretty chilling exercise.  The heuristic, if you forget an answer, is basically "imagine a salesman, who finds an authority, obeys it without question, and everything done (every lie told in a sales call, every atrocity committed in the camps) in the name that authority, constitutes the good."  It's one level weirder than sociopathy; a sociopath sees people as tools to his own ends, just as a salesman has to be friendly, outgoing, and proactive, and a real go-getter, at least until the check clears.  In a cult, the ends justify the means only so long as they're someone else's ends, and never the sort of goals you've made up for yourself.  (After all, any cult whose adherents were permitted to come up with their own ends wouldn't be much of a cult, would it, and a cult full of salesmen just out for their own profit would be called "Amway" :-)

Which gets us all the way back to Tom Cruise.  When he said in the leaked Gawker video that "we are the authorities", he means it.  The cult will never "clear the planet" (google that phrase), but when it does, its own founder says that those who don't get onboard are "to be disposed of quietly and without sorrow" (google that one too).  The whole bit about the personality test rewarding sociable/extroverted/outgoing answers is a great way to target natural salesmen and schmoozers -- who are essential for bringing in more money.  It also explains the cult's success in Hollywood:  movies wouldn't be fun to watch if actors weren't people who loved the spotlight and who were very skilled at pretending they're someone else.

I'm all for free religious expression, wacky as it may be.  But as for clearing the planet and disposing of people quietly and without sorrow, not so much, even if the cult's really more about the money than it is about world domination.  Attacks on USENET and anonymous remailers in the early 90s, I'm gonna have to say "no".  Sonny "Scilon" Bono sponsoring the Copyright Term Extension Act, keeping Mickey Mouse (and by staggering coincidence, the cult's writings) under copyright forever?  Nuh-uh.  First to file a DMCA nastygram against Google demanding that they no longer index critics' sites?  HELL no.  Sending "volunteer ministers" into the smoldering ruins of Manhattan in order to target the most shell-shocked of the shell-shocked?  Enough.  Not on my planet.  Not on my watch.

The Stanford Prison Experiment is proof that everyone in any cult - be it "religious" like Phelps' gay-bashers or Islamofacism, or be it political from the Randroids to the International Socialists - was at one time just a regular joe who got caught up by the wrong people at the wrong time, and when their cult goes away, they'll almost always turn back into a regular joe as soon as they're forced to fall back on their own reason and common sense.

Anonymous talks a lot about not forgiving, but when all is said and done, it's mostly talk.  Everyone gets their 15 minutes of fame (or infamy), but we laugh at Tron Guy or Star Wars Kid because we know it could just as well be us.  Cults, too; as much as we like to believe ourselves immune, the great lesson of history is that nobody is truly immune to groupthink.  But when one particular cult has spent the better part of the past 15 years in non-stop attacks against the Internet, that's the one that's gonna be the target.  Because however ambivalent it may be about forgiveness, Anonymous really does not forget.

And that's why there's so much outrage on the Internet.  Everyone's got their own point at which they say "enough".  The DMCA nastygram when Gawker posted the Cruise video in January was the straw that broke over 9000 camels' backs. 

I just flat don't like Scientology.  Sorry.

And just this past weekend, EFF reports that the cult has had 4000+ videos deleted from YouTube on questionable DMCA claims.  Seems that anyone who said anything remotely critical of the cult had their video DMCA'd off the 'tubes.  (Anyone who didn't like it was free to file a DMCA counterclaim, including their real name, address, phone number, and other details, which would then be forwarded directly to the cult.  Catch-22...)  The Streisand Effect kicked in this morning, resulting in a long thread on Slashdot about the incident, which goes into good detail about how the game is played.  Well worth reading.

If I were a suspicious person, I might suspect that the timing of this latest mass takedown attempt is correlated with the fact that the cult just happens to be going on trial for organized fraud in France on Monday.  But that's obviously just a coincidence.

I just flat don't like Scientology.  Sorry.


Say what you will about the tenets of Scientology, Dude, at least it's an ethos.   ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrTrzsIxcXs

Say what you will about the tenets of Scientology, Dude, at least it's an ethos.   ;)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UrTrzsIxcXs

Ethos?  More like pathos!
::)

Say what you will about the tenets of Scientology, Dude, at least it's an ethos.  ;)


LOL!

The punchline is that the 4000 DMCA nastygrams weren't just questionable, they were fake, and the copyright middleman, "American Rights Counsel, LLC" never existed.  (The choice of "American Rights Counsel" as the name of the ficticious front group, and the fact that the letters "ARC" have special meaning in Scilon jargon, is just another one of them coincidences...)

And that's what happens when you try to frack a-nonymous in the ass.  Pretty lulzy footbulleting by the cult.  They get a few names of people they may have panicked into filing DMCA counterclaims via Google, but they get a boatload more negative press and expose themselves to legal risk (4000+ counts of fraud/perjury) if the real identity of the people behind ARC can be proven in a court of law.

I'm calling this round a draw.  Frack it, dude.  Let's go bowling.

Meanwhile, in France, the lawsuit continues.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3248/2408799102_09bd616617.jpg

Well screw it, I'm buying me an island where everyone can run around naked and all religion is forbidden......
Its safer that way. ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D

Meanwhile, in France, the lawsuit continues.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3248/2408799102_09bd616617.jpg


An Anonymous Rick Roll!!!! :D