From Wikiquote
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics.[1] Hubbard characterized Scientology as a religion, and it is legally recognized as such in the United States[2] and other countries.[3][4][5] Even so, Scientology has been widely criticized as a cult that financially defrauds and abuses its members.[6][7][8] The Church of Scientology has also been accused of harassing its critics,[9][10][11][12][13][14] and has consistently used litigation against them.[15][16][17]
[edit] Sourced
- They [the Guardian's Office] were L. Ron Hubbard’s intelligence agents. That was their purpose; and indeed an intelligence specialist in the U.S. has said that they were as effective as the CIA.
- But of course their doctrine states that the purpose of a suit is to harass, not to win, so from that perspective they hurt us all. They've had a real chilling effect on journalism, both before and after my piece.
- Scientology promotes not watching the news. It keeps you inside a Truman Show where you're totally unaware of things. It's like your own thinking gets shut down and you get used to not considering anything that might be critical of Scientology.
- Tory Christman — Ortega, Tony, "Sympathy For The Devil: Tory Bezazian was a veteran Scientologist who loved going after church critics. Until she met the darkest detractor of all.", New Times Los Angeles, September 27, 2001.
- The trade secrets that they're trying to protect, all that science fiction space opera stuff at the end of the road, it's already on the hard load--hard drives of millions of people. In other words, the cat's out of the bag. So anybody that cares to investigate this organization are just a few keystrokes away from finding the truth-- and it's out there.
- But we’re friends with Penn Jillette, and Showtime wouldn’t let him do an episode of Bullshit! on Scientology..And hearing other people say, "You can’t do that,"—you can only say "You can’t do that" so many times to Matt and me before we’re gonna do it..So we realized we had to do it, and now that we’ve done it, now it’s like we’ve sort of opened the floodgates. People will be less scared.
- I knew Ron Hubbard before he ever started Scientology. I was in a writing group with him in Greenwich Village and he kept saying, "You know, the only way to make any money, you can't do it with pulp writing, you got to, you start a religion." And nobody took him very seriously.
- Almost all the information in the show is taken from their own literature..We thought that the best way to satirize the Church of Scientology was to let the Church speak for itself.
- This is how they suck you in, they offer these innocuous-seeming self-improvement courses for 40 bucks, then they start to interest you in Dianetic auditing..It's a kind of crack psychotherapy.
- The cutting edge on such battles is often the Church of Scientology..They have very well honed procedures and tactics to remove information that they find objectionable.
[edit] Scientologists
[edit] Scientology officials
- Scientology means 'scio', knowing in the fullest sense of the word and 'logos', study. In itself the word means 'knowing how to know'.Scientology is a 'route', a way, rather than a dissertation or assertive body of knowledge. Through its drills and studies one may find the truth for himself. The technology is therefore not expounded as something to believe, but something to 'do'.
- Why Scientology is a religion? Religion is about the spirit, and Scientology deals with the spirit. We are in the tradition of the much older religions -- Buddhism, Hinduism -- helping the person as a spiritual being improve himself. That is what religion is about. That is why this is a religion. It doesn't fall into any other field.
- What was most incredible about being with him [L. Ron Hubbard] was that he made you feel that you were important..He didn't in any way promote himself or his own self-importance. He was very, very loving and had the widest range of knowledge and experience that you could possibly imagine -- he'd studied everything.
[edit] Celebrity Scientologists
- The one thing that was really cool about L. Ron Hubbard was that he really got the concept that if people united, and not in some airy-fairy way, but if they united and they put their, you know, muscle and brawn together and they worked really hard, you could create a better civilization.
- And this really directly affects my relationship with people, with individuals around me, with my loved ones, and also with audiences.
- You can't drive past an accident, because as a Scientologist you are the only one who can help.
- The Celebrity Centre is just like, you know, the stable datum of like, growth and sanity, and growing as an artist, and, um, it's just like I'm always safe when I come here.
- I got a lot of benefit from auditing. It was the fastest and deepest way to handle situations that I had yet encountered. I immediately wanted to learn to do it. ... With Scientology, I was able to characterize the Mind more accurately, and to cease justifying it. This greatly clarified what I was doing. ... After my experience with Scientology, I saw what it means to see the Mind as a machine. I can now operate my Mind accordingly, with exactitude. I can do the familiar mind over matter experiments - the control of pain and bleeding, telepathy, those things.
- I felt great and I got rid of some stuff that I didn't realize that I was dragging around. And I said, "Whoa, I think I've become a Scientologist."
- I took a couple of courses. One of them was in communication, and I learned some things about communication that really got my act going...They have a lot of very good technology. That’s what really appealed to me about it. It’s not faith-based. It’s all technology. And I’m obsessed with technology.
- I'm part of a, of a frontier in a way, you know, that very few people ever get to be part of. Like a pioneer in many, in many ways, and I've, I've seen my efforts come to fruition.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- ↑ "Remember Venus?", Time Magazine, 1952-12-22. URL accessed on 2007-07-20.
- ↑ Finkelman, Paul (2006). Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties. CRC Press. p. 287. ISBN 9780415943420. "Scientology has achieved full legal recognition as a religious denomination in the United States."
- ↑ Davis, Derek H. (2004). "The Church of Scientology: In Pursuit of Legal Recognition" (PDF). Zeitdiagnosen: Religion and Conformity, Münster, Germany: Lit Verlag. Retrieved on 2008-05-10.
- ↑ Lucy Morgan. "Abroad: Critics public and private keep pressure on Scientology", St. Petersburg Times, 29 March 1999.
- ↑ Toomey, Shamus (2005-06-26). "'TomKat' casts spotlight back on Scientology.", Chicago Sun-Times
- ↑ Marney, Holly (2007-05-20). Cult or cure?. Opinion. Scotsman. Retrieved on 2009-01-04.
- ↑ Mallia, Joseph (1998-03-01). Powerful church targets fortunes, souls of recruits. Inside the Church of Scientology. Boston Herald.
- ↑ Huus, Kari (2005-07-05). Scientology courts the stars. MSNBC. Retrieved on 2009-01-04.
- ↑ Behar, Richard, "Scientology: The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power", Time Magazine, 6 May 1991. URL accessed on 2008-11-03.
- ↑ Palmer, Richard, "Cult Accused of Intimidation", Sunday Times, 1994-04-03.
- ↑ Victims who are "Fair Game" The Evening Argus (Brighton, UK) 12 April 1994
- ↑ Welkos, Robert W.; Sappell, Joel, "On the Offensive Against an Array of Suspected Foes", Los Angeles Times, 1990-06-29. URL accessed on 2008-11-02.
- ↑ Methvin, Eugene H., "Scientology: Anatomy of a Frightening Cult", Reader's Digest, May 1990, pp. 1-6.
- ↑ "Oral Questions to the Minister of State for the Home Office, 17 December 1996" Hansard, vol. 760, cols. 1392-1394 quote: "Baroness Sharples: Is my noble friend further aware that a number of those who have left the cult have been both threatened and harassed and many have been made bankrupt by the church?"
- ↑ Copyright -- or wrong?. Salon Technology.
- ↑ Kennedy, Dan (1996-04-19). Earle Cooley is chairman of BU's board of trustees. He's also made a career out of keeping L. Ron Hubbard's secrets.. BU's Scientology Connection. Boston Phoenix. Retrieved on 2009-01-04.
- ↑ Sumi, Glenn (2006-10-12). Managing Anger: Kenneth Anger speaks out on phones, artistic theft and Scientology. NOW Magazine. Retrieved on 2009-01-04.
[edit] External links
- Official site
- Scholarly web pages on Scientology
