scientology & celebrities

I was wondering if the "church" part of "the church of Scientology" was a post-Hubbard invention that reflects that IRS fight. feel like even if you take their ideology at face value it doesn't really seem like a religion to me

The doc basically said Hubbard veered more towards religion when science and psychiatry rejected Dianetics.

xp - you're welcome :)
now you see the world through my eyes

it's the weird red rotting bottom teeth that scared me the most, but pretty much his whole mouth area is just *NO*

wish there was a way to be audited without actually doing all the scientology stuff, that part seemed kinda interesting lol -- i think I just like personality/psychology tests

scientology checks off an awful lot of 'is it a cult criteria'. but the fact that L Ron never explicitly positioned himself as the God of his religion is I think a lot of the reason why scientology has endured for so long. that and the tax-shelter focus. tbh I think the $$ is the bigger reason, since that brought in followers seemingly of 'good standing'; like they're still preying on a need, but once you move past trolling hippies and runaways and you start bringing in people in spheres of influence out in the world, you can get of shit done.

that's not to say L Ron and scientology isn't scary in and of its own right. but i think the innocuity that they pretend at is what is scariest, because it's so effective.

I took a Scientology test thing in Portland, OR once because I took a wrong turn trying to get to some park and ended up in a boring part of the city with nothing but a chain Mexican restaurant and a Scientology store front. They said I was in pretty good shape, personality-wise, except that I could probably use some Scientology.

lol

L Ron never explicitly positioned himself as the God of his religion

I guess he probably didn't, but I think Scientology generally does treat him that way. He is the most "clear", nobody will ever be as clear as him etc etc.

L Ron is a prophet with superpowers who has defeated death and will return at some point. Sounds like a god to me.

THE. WAR. IS. OVER!!!

really need an animated gif of this part

So happy to see kenneth anger footage on HBO

Scientology - A grand bunch of lads

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=s4dZy7eLsOw

ooh shit jason lee's ex wife speaks out

http://gawker.com/why-i-left-scientology-1703997050

http://blogs.indiewire.com/bent/8-totally-insane-quotes-from-laura-prepons-interview-with-scientology-magazine-celebrity-20150708

Just now saw a headline over supermarket checkout, re: Tom C. leaving Scientology for Suri's sake (something about about a phone call and tearful promise)(also "Scientology agents" looking for him)

There is no way in hell i'd ever believe that would happen.

http://www.thefrisky.com/2015-07-07/sorry-but-tom-cruise-is-not-leaving-scientology-and-he-probably-never-will/

Do Scientology enrollees get sponsors? Can Scientology give me a free personal trainer that's willing to go the extra mile?

Maybe but it'll probably mostly be you holding an e-meter and saying the word "abs" over and over until the needle doesn't move.

re that blog, how are those quotes "totally insane"? They were actually a decent advert for the church!

because they use a bunch of insider jargon that is, as you say, a good recruitment tool if you're thinking "wow, she gets results, I better find out what this word salad means" but if you have any inclination to believe that jargon isn't just the scrawlings of an opportunistic science fiction writer of the 50s then you're already on the boat, so to speak

Surriously. Confident and successful people talking passionately about how they became confident and successful can induce an understandably positive response in people, but that general scenario almost always triggers a skeptical response in me. I always assume that those people are, in one way or another, feeding off of a void felt by their audience.

it is too bad that most frameworks for helping people come to a sense of self-actualization and confidence are profit centers for people marketing motivational and focus-based techniques but capitalism

there are more altruistic frameworks but their marketing budget is bad

Do Scientology enrollees get sponsors? Can Scientology give me a free personal trainer that's willing to go the extra mile?

Might be worth it -- never seen a fat Scientologist.

fat people are subversive by their very nature

be fat, my friends

Plenty of blubbard on the Hubbard

Appetite Suppressive Personalities

When I was doing my Objectives, I was handling some intense stuff—as everyone who has done Objectives can relate

is there a scientology buzzfeed for stuff like this?

it was just sitting there in my bank, affecting me!!!

I remember when I was directing this pilot for a show I co-created called Neighbors.I showed up to our biggest day of shooting, where we had children, student teachers, all the cast, big scenes—I remember thinking when I looked at the schedule, “Once I get through this day the rest of the shoot will be a breeze.” Well, I showed up in the morning and we had lost our locations. I was so shocked. Everybody was scrambling. But instead of getting into the worry or any previous mis-emotion slamming in on me or getting me stressed out, I just turned to my producer and said, “Okay, we need a solution. What are our other options?” And we quickly got to work on Plan B. The fact that I had no irrational counter-emotion or reaction and just went into solution mode, I feel, is definitely a testament to my auditing."

what a life-changing moment

a problem happened and i told someone that we needed a solution

it's scary how precisely like a bad infomercial for medicine that reads. i mean, presumably because the entire interview was scripted.

there was a problem, but thanks to scientology i knew how to enter solution mode. i asked my adviser for three potential options. 2 weeks later i asked my assistant to set up the decision briefing. the adviser described the 3 options. i asked my other adviser which option was the best, and he counseled me to choose option C. i'll never forget those 2 weeks of intense problemsolving and decisionmaking.

Yay you didn't fire somebody on a whim good for you.

mis-emotion slamming me over

tbh much of my life is irrational counter-emotions

She's not the only one with mis-emotions.

giving scientology a lifetime of devotion?
that's just a mis-emotion

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CPdiT27WoAAwDQn.jpg

this came up in my twitter feed yesterday. presume they are targeting all of alex gibney's followers.

actually just realised i don't follow him, so not quite sure how they'd have targeted me. maybe they are just spamming a huge number of people.

I think that "Promoted by" thing on the bottom means it's a paid ad

I get ads from sc1 on twitter pretty often. But I have tweeted stuff about them in the past so it isn't too surprising to me.

yeah i knew it was a paid ad, i just wondered if they'd targeted it at everyone on twitter or more specifically. like presumably that's how you pay for an ad, by hitting everyone who follows x, y, z? i guess not necessarily.

probably also due to keywords in your tweets

makes sense. i think going clear actually aired in the uk for the first time on monday so they're obviously doing their dirty work. it's strange i suppose kinda heartening that a sinister institution like scientology still can't feign normality - like the way they fake things is so juvenile and kind of smug - like your granddad learning how to use the internet but he's on roids and dictating to a pr person. "if you need propaganda, the dr is in!"

ha

yeah, I've totally noticed that vibe when scientology goes after critics -- it's also very anxious. I've seen the same thing when "vax truthers" try to turn the tables on the actual scientific community, e.g. as seen in many memes/macros found here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/VaccineResistanceMovement/

Leah Remini will be on 20/20 on October 30th discussing Tom Cruise and Scientology.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gpmcbkAidvM

http://cdn2.mhpbooks.com/2016/03/ruthless.jpg

Tell-all book by Scientology leader’s father coming in May

I wonder how many different ways you can phrase "my son is a dickhead"

can't wait to find out!

Where's shelly