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 archaeopteryx on -
I haven't the words, and I'm quite loquacious, to express my gratitude for being excluded from your company --
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Permalink Reply by Judith van der Roos on -
All religions not matter how insane essentially have the human awareness and fear of death to fuel them, i think the anthropologist Ernest Becker in his book The Denial of Death bound it up nicely. I really must read that book again.
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Permalink Reply by Unseen on -
I think you mean Western religions. When it comes to Eastern religions where the goal is the ultimate extinction of the soul as it is absorbed into a spiritual singularity (The One) it is not so much fear of death as fear of having to live another life.
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Permalink Reply by Dale Headley on -
Children are not regarded as insane for believing in Santa Claus. But if, as adults, they transfer that belief to a delusion such as Christianity...
All religions are equally preposterous and, while believing in one doesn't necessarily mean you're legally or clinically insane, it is prima facie evidence that you are mentally deficient.
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on
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Particularly, Dale, when those officials in charge of defining the terms, "legally or clinically insane," may well themselves, be similarly legally or clinically insane.
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Permalink Reply by Jenny W.T. on -
This is sorta like asking which pile of poo smells worse. ;-)
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Permalink Reply by Jorita on -
Have you seen The Russian guy that thinks he is Jesus has a cult going in Russia even dress like pictures of Jesus. He is on youtube Jesus of Siberia .And people follow him !
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Permalink Reply by Real Life James Bond on -
Wow, I have no idea. I did watch the Dawkins video about the "cargo" cult. It was good.
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Permalink Reply by matt.clerke on -
Past a certain point, degree of insanity becomes meaningless.
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Permalink Reply by Gallup's Mirror on -
For instance, Exidor and the Church of O.J. Simpson...
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Permalink Reply by archaeopteryx on
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Beats the hell out of me --
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Permalink Reply by steven price on -
what is insane is that we only know 9% of the known universe as the other 91% is made of dark matter/energy and no`one has a clue what all this dark stuff is,also every bang or explosion(u know the big bang that came from nowhere)should start slowimg down ,but lately we have found that the cosmos is speeding away from the so called big bang from nowhere,and u think walking through a wall is irrational.Not as mad as flying through space on rock that just happened to be in the perfect place for us to have this conversation
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