Who Is More Insane?
Scientologists ACTUALLY believe the evil alien ruler Xenu killed a lot of aliens (Thetans) from around the universe by bringing them to earth & blowing them up inside volcanoes. They believe the souls of these aliens (these souls are "Body Thetans") have attached themselves to us & cause many of our mental & physical ills. Members who know about Xenu will attempt to deny it or pretend like it doesn’t matter. They are required to sign a contract binding them to silence on the matter. Lower level members don’t know about Xenu & accordingly deny everything because they honestly don’t know.
To rid ourselves of "Body Thetans" & also “engrams” (past negative experiences stored in our unconscious mind) so that we can become “clear”, we have to go through "auditing" with a member of the “church” who uses an "e-meter" to measure our “reactive mind”...... & we have to pay lots & lots of money for “auditing” (purchased in 12.5-hour blocks, costing anywhere from $750 for introductory sessions to between $8,000 & $9,000 for advanced sessions) & to take courses on Scientology to advance to higher “levels” in the “church”. The “church” has also taken a very hostile stance towards psychiatry & psychiatric drugs irrespective of the fact that some people require medication to remain adequately functional in everyday life. They deny the reality of chemical imbalance & profound mental disturbance & accordingly do NOTHING to effectively stabilize the dangerously unstable. The “church” has been known to withhold prescription pharmaceuticals from member (with deadly results).
This may sound completely insane, but how is that more insane than a supernatural being that created the world in 6 days, creates two people who somehow populate the world, then this divine being floods the whole world killing everyone and everything except a man named Noah and his family and of course two of each animal (plus the others for sacrificing)they somehow go years without food or water and then when they finally land somehow Noah can evenly distribute every single animal to its proper location. Then they somehow repopulate the world and somewhere down the road God destroys the city that Lot lives in because there were no moral people there, then he asks Abram to change his name to Abraham, circumcise himself and everyone else (including slaves) then he asks Abraham to sacrifice his only son, but stops him at the last second (to make sure that he fears God) then down the road he leads non-existent Hebrew slaves out of Egypt by casting 10 plagues upon the people of Egypt (which there isn't any evidence of in any Egyptian record), those people then wandered the desert for 40 years and had bread fall from the sky (the mana) and never left a trace of physical evidence of ever being in Egypt or wandering in the desert. Then down the road God "makes" a woman named Mary pregnant with a son. This was supposed to be the son of God, but there are really no first hand accounts of this messiah, but he could heal sick people, make people's arms grow from stumps, walk through walls and buildings, turn water into wine, and rising from the dead.
I am really quite curious as to how any rational person could believe either one of these things, and how someone believing in one can call someone believing in the other insane! Someone please explain this to me.
Tags: Atheism, Belief, Christianity, Discussion, Insanity, Rational, Religion, Scientology, Thinking
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Real Life James Bond on -
In my personal opinion, I think that religion will eventually die out once Atheism will become the more desirable (and rational and proven) belief.
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Permalink Reply by Reg The Fronkey Farmer on -
Atheism is not a belief nor can it be proven. Religion will die out once people get educated and learn to think critically for themselves.
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on -
Once again, I offer Neil Degrasse Tyson:
"God is an ever-receding pocket of scientific ignorance, that gets smaller and smaller as time goes on."
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Permalink Reply by Willson Stoner on -
Scientology was "discovered" by a science fiction author, so it isn't just space malarkey. Its space malarkey from a guy whose job was creating space malarkey! That has to make it the looniest religion ever made.
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Permalink Reply by Reg The Fronkey Farmer on
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You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion.L. Ron Hubbard
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Permalink Reply by SteveInCO on -
Well the title is "Who Is More Insane" not "Which Belief Is More Insane"
Plenty of Christians don't live it very consistently and either don't know what's in the Babble or do, but for whatever reason think that many of the ridiculous parts can be disregarded. (Ridiculous in their own judgement, which is why peoples' religions generally conform to their prejudices--funny how doG invariably agrees with the exact bigotry of one of his followers!)
A scientologist is squandering far more of his money on something he probably was *not* inculcated with from birth; he found that nuttiness and embraced it without youthful brainwashing.
The average scientologist, to me, is nuttier than the average Xian. The hard-core doctrines are probably about the same level of nuttiness; they are certainly both wrong.
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Permalink Reply by Gallup's Mirror on -
L. Ron Hubbard wrote the following letter-- which was discovered by the FBI during its raid on Scientology headquarters-- indicating his motives for making Scientology into a 'religion'. Hubbard, in other words, knew he was a con artist. He had a profit motive and religion was simply an 'angle' to achieve that end.
Let's assume Jesus existed, claimed to be the son of God, and was tortured to death as a result. So he was either a complete loon who actually believed in his own divinity (which seems more probable) or a cynic who used the claim to manipulate his followers into believing in his teachings.
I'd say if Jesus was the former-- a loon who believed he was God-- then Jesus was far more crazy than Hubbard. Hubbard was twisted and crazy as well, but more crazy like a fox.
- - -
10 APRIL 1953
RE CLINIC, HASDEAR HELEN
The arrangements that have been made seem a good temporary measure. On a longer look, however, something more equitable will have to be organized. I am not quite sure what we would call the place - probably not a clinic - but I am sure that it ought to be a company, independent of the HAS [the Hubbard Association of Scientologists] but fed by the HAS. We don't want a clinic. We want one in operation but not in name. Perhaps we could call it a Spiritual Guidance Center. Think up its name, will you. And we could put in nice desks and our boys in neat blue with diplomas on the walls and 1. knock psychotherapy into history and 2. make enough money to shine up my operating scope and 3. keep the HAS solvent. It is a problem of practical business. I await your reaction on the religion angle. In my opinion, we couldn't get worse public opinion than we have had or have less customers with what we've got to sell. A religious charter would be necessary in Pennsylvania or NJ to make it stick. But I sure could make it stick. We're treating the present time beingness, psychotherapy treats the past and the brain. And brother, that's religion, not mental science.
Best Regards,
Ron
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Permalink Reply by Kairan Nierde on -
I didn't understand why they were so hostile to psychotherapy/psychiatry until reading this.
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Permalink Reply by Gallup's Mirror on
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@Kairan
And I'm sure you also know what name they eventually came up with. In case you don't, here is a hint. They did not-- as Hubbard urged-- form their organization in 1954 under the name:
'The Clinic of Scientology'
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Permalink Reply by Strega on -
You know what I'm like - I just had to go Googling to find out more. Gallup, there's a blindingly interesting wiki entry for L.Ron Hubbard, that's just had me riveted for the past half hour. You have to take a look! Absolutely unbelievable.
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Permalink Reply by Gallup's Mirror on
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@Strega
Take a look at the Wikipedia entry for psychopathy and note especially the checklist section. Hubbard didn't have all of the symptoms but the part about telling effortless, grandiose lies-- which often are based on grains of truth-- seem especially applicable.
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Permalink Reply by Strega on
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Bloody hell, I'm a psychopath!
Nah, kidding. But I read your wiki article and I raise you this 18 minute TED talk by Jon Ronson on that very subject and list - it's really entertaining as well, but I am sure you expect no less :)
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