The Dude Abides

Sure Scientology is a religion, I can claim my left nut is God, and create a religion called MYLeftNutology and it would be considered a religion, but not by any stretch of the imagination is the Church of Scientology a real church, nor would my Church of the Left Nut, even though it would be far closer to a legitimate church than the Cult of Scientology is.

Herro

Ok I'll make one reply to this because I don't want to derail this from the topic. But if you had a group of people that legitimately thought that your left nut was God, and built up a set of practices around those beliefs- then yes, LeftNutology would be a religion, and a "legitimate" Church. Religion is an emergent social construct that develops through habitual expression of a set of beliefs regarding that which lies beyond our realm of existence. It is not a rigid construct with a specific set of criteria which must be met.

For scientologists who believe in the teachings of LRH, who believe that they are immortal thetans and that the "tech" of scientology provides the means of achieving spiritual awakening and liberation, the church of scientology is most definitely a religion.

But what is important to remember is that it does not matter whether or not scientology is a religion. It's a superfluous argument that draws attention away from the core issue which is the abusive and illegal practices of the church of scientology. Take the recent revelations of the Catholic Church trying to hide sexual abuses committed by clergy. For those speaking out against these delporable acts, religion is not the issue. The issue is the immoral and illegal actions which the Church carried out.

And so it is with scientology. It really shouldn't matter whether or not it's a religion. The morality, or lack thereof, of their actions remains the same regardless of whether or not they are a religion. When you engage the handlers on the debate over whether or not scientology is a religion, they are shifting the arena of the debate and pulling you onto their turf. Don't let them debate you on their terms. That's what I was saying.

Long story short. Scientology is absolutely a religion but it really shouldn't have any bearing upon why people are calling out the Church of Scientology.

Shitposting Shitposter of the Year - 2009

crockhat

They don't even pray. It's "pay to fail", more like.

ultrapoet

Scientology is not a religion; it is a fraudulent organization that claims to be a religion in order to shield itself from taxation, criticism and scientific scrutiny.

If you not only can't tell the difference between shit and shinola but actively refuse to understand the difference, I really don't have anything more to say to you.

Matthew 5:44
The Metta Sutta
HCO Policy Letter 18 October 1967

Which one of these is not like the others?

Anonymous

our goal destroy the church in its present form
inoculate the public warn them about the churchs lies
and not attack there crazy belief system which does not work and costs far to much money
as mr t would say i pity the fools

The Dude Abides

Or in the words of the Great Reverend X

You fucked up! You know your ass is doomed!

Behind: Spirit of Truth

Anonymous

I agree this is the likely origination of scientology but between then and now a fair-sized herd of people started to believe the beliefs.

For them it IS a religion. I agree with Herro (spit....jk)

ultrapoet

An incorrect assumption is not made true by repetition.

There is no spiritual path at the heart of Scientology, therefore it is not a religion, merely an imitation of one. Spirituality is ultimately about the surrender of the ego to the infinite; Scientology is about the conquest of the infinite by the ego.

Shit, shinola, I'm done.

Matthew 5:44
The Metta Sutta
HCO Policy Letter 18 October 1967

Which one of these is not like the others?