Tom Cruise Scientology Interview

[no name 1]

I mostly feel sorry for these people JW's. They are all so fired up and enthusiastic but you soon discover they are compensating for a lack of emotional maturity. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike these people, but yes, extraordinarily niiave for the most part.

Interestingly, if one ever bothers to listen to evangelical preachers, you quickly discover that there is nothing of substance in their orations. If you can get past the fervour, it's like the emporer's new clothes, you think there should be something important/of note, but there honestly isn't. It's bizarre, truly.

wow - judgement much?

[Peikko 1,575]

You have something to say beyond that? Yes, that's my opinion, what's yours?

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

I mostly feel sorry for these people JW's. They are all so fired up and enthusiastic but you soon discover they are compensating for a lack of emotional maturity. Don't get me wrong, I don't dislike these people, but yes, extraordinarily niiave for the most part.

Interestingly, if one ever bothers to listen to evangelical preachers, you quickly discover that there is nothing of substance in their orations. If you can get past the fervour, it's like the emporer's new clothes, you think there should be something important/of note, but there honestly isn't. It's bizarre, truly.

That’s the conclusion I reached too. Back in CA we used to get a few of those TV programmes. If you’ve not seen them they’re downright bizarre. They had this one guy (I can’t think of his name – but I think he’s fairly famous) reading scripture and writing weird and complex mathematical equations up on a whiteboard… I also mentioned the Benny Hinn show, which is something else altogether. People rocking and crying (you even see members of the audience in tears too), talking in tongues etc..

There was actually someone on here about a year ago who trotted out all that stuff on O/T threads about mathematical codes in the bible, and (perennial favorite) Creationism. Yet the authors he was quoting from – were really strange people. One I read about, the one who apparently came up with this code stuff – purported to have found evidence of aliens in the Mojave desert, and organized some sort of archaeological dig looking for metal cylinders in the sands. I mean… what can you say to that?

Its like those new age history books on Atlantis or Mu Thulan.

[no name 1]

You have something to say beyond that? Yes, that's my opinion, what's yours?

oh the supreme irony of it all!

[Peikko 1,575]

No, that's what I thought, you don't have one. A cynic might conclude your post was purely provocational. Hey ho.

Edited January 17, 2008 by Purple_Hibiscus

[Ban Hammer 12,857]

people should be allowed to believe in whatever they want. I strongly believe cats are from another planet.

I don't know, I mean, what about the other cults that have results in mass suicides? Obviously you can't stop people from believing in crazy things, but shouldn't their be some legislation against people being taken advantage of (brainwashed, threatened, etc) by organizations?

I agree. Germany, for example, has or is still trying to declare the Church of Scientology illegal. I suppose there's a fine line between a religion and a cult, but any organization that deliberately tries to control it's members is a cult.

it's been banned in germany.

No, that's what I thought, you don't have one. A cynic might conclude your post was purely provocational. Hey ho.

wow this is like watching the clash of the titans

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

Most of the fanatics in the world belong to two major religions, neither of which is scientology.

Also, you don't HAVE to pay to be a Catholic, but they definitely suggest that you put a little money in that collection tray being passed around. Don't even get me started on televangelists.

As far as kidnapping, torturing, and killing people, scientology never burned a witch. Scientology never tried to wipe out every non-scientologist.

If you are going to pass judgement on Scientology, you better be willing do the same for every religion in the world. Otherwise, you are living in blind faith.

[Miranda&James 8]

Most of the fanatics in the world belong to two major religions, neither of which is scientology.

Also, you don't HAVE to pay to be a Catholic, but they definitely suggest that you put a little money in that collection tray being passed around. Don't even get me started on televangelists.

As far as kidnapping, torturing, and killing people, scientology never burned a witch. Scientology never tried to wipe out every non-scientologist.

If you are going to pass judgement on Scientology, you better be willing do the same for every religion in the world. Otherwise, you are living in blind faith.

Well, give it a little time, it has only been around for 50 years or so as opposed to thousands of years for other major religions. Irregardless of your opinions of televangelists, you do NOT have to pay for the knowledge that goes along with Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. Any organization needs money to work, so it is not corrupt or bad to ask for money from your followers to support your faith. The key is that the money is not required, it is merely asked for out of good faith (although that could be debated for Christianity and tithing, but the basic principle that the knowledge of the faith comes for free is the same).

If you believe the info in those videos, Tom Cruise has supposedly converted (or informed them about? I can't remember) over 1 billion people to Scientology. Theres over 1/6th of the world for you right there! Cuckoos....

Edited January 17, 2008 by Miranda&James

[AnewKINDofFEELIN 0]

Most of the fanatics in the world belong to two major religions, neither of which is scientology.

Also, you don't HAVE to pay to be a Catholic, but they definitely suggest that you put a little money in that collection tray being passed around. Don't even get me started on televangelists.

As far as kidnapping, torturing, and killing people, scientology never burned a witch. Scientology never tried to wipe out every non-scientologist.

If you are going to pass judgement on Scientology, you better be willing do the same for every religion in the world. Otherwise, you are living in blind faith.

Well, give it a little time, it has only been around for 50 years or so as opposed to thousands of years for other major religions. Irregardless of your opinions of televangelists, you do NOT have to pay for the knowledge that goes along with Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. Any organization needs money to work, so it is not corrupt or bad to ask for money from your followers to support your faith. The key is that the money is not required, it is merely asked for out of good faith (although that could be debated for Christianity and tithing, but the basic principle that the knowledge of the faith comes for free is the same).

If you believe the info in those videos, Tom Cruise has supposedly converted (or informed them about? I can't remember) over 1 billion people to Scientology. Theres over 1/6th of the world for you right there! Cuckoos....

That said, all you have to do is pick up a copy of Dianetics and you are able to get that knowledge without paying them.

[Miranda&James 8]

Most of the fanatics in the world belong to two major religions, neither of which is scientology.

Also, you don't HAVE to pay to be a Catholic, but they definitely suggest that you put a little money in that collection tray being passed around. Don't even get me started on televangelists.

As far as kidnapping, torturing, and killing people, scientology never burned a witch. Scientology never tried to wipe out every non-scientologist.

If you are going to pass judgement on Scientology, you better be willing do the same for every religion in the world. Otherwise, you are living in blind faith.

Well, give it a little time, it has only been around for 50 years or so as opposed to thousands of years for other major religions. Irregardless of your opinions of televangelists, you do NOT have to pay for the knowledge that goes along with Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. Any organization needs money to work, so it is not corrupt or bad to ask for money from your followers to support your faith. The key is that the money is not required, it is merely asked for out of good faith (although that could be debated for Christianity and tithing, but the basic principle that the knowledge of the faith comes for free is the same).

If you believe the info in those videos, Tom Cruise has supposedly converted (or informed them about? I can't remember) over 1 billion people to Scientology. Theres over 1/6th of the world for you right there! Cuckoos....

That said, all you have to do is pick up a copy of Dianetics and you are able to get that knowledge without paying them.

It is a well known fact that you have to pay for courses in Scientology in order to get the "knowledge", and you pay more money to get higher ranks of knowledge. The entirety of their religion is not contained in Dianetics, that is merely part of Scientology. A lot of the texts have been leaked but they are still charging people to learn it.

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology). I'd recommend anyone reading through this to get a basic overview.

Scientology pays members commissions on new recruits they bring in, encouraging Scientology members to "sell" Scientology to others.[145] In addition, Scientology franchises, or missions, pay the church roughly 10% of their gross income.[201] On that basis, it is often likened to a pyramid selling scheme.[202] Charges for auditing and other Church-related courses run to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.[203][204] Scientology maintains strict control over the use of its symbols, icons, and names. It claims copyright and trademark over its "Scientology cross", and its lawyers have threatened lawsuits against individuals and organizations who have published the image in books and on Web sites. Because of this, it is very difficult for individual groups to attempt to publicly practice Scientology on their own, without any affiliation or connection to the Church of Scientology. Scientology has sued a number of individuals who attempted to set up their own "auditing" practices, using copyright and trademark law to shut these groups down.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Most of the fanatics in the world belong to two major religions, neither of which is scientology.

Also, you don't HAVE to pay to be a Catholic, but they definitely suggest that you put a little money in that collection tray being passed around. Don't even get me started on televangelists.

As far as kidnapping, torturing, and killing people, scientology never burned a witch. Scientology never tried to wipe out every non-scientologist.

If you are going to pass judgement on Scientology, you better be willing do the same for every religion in the world. Otherwise, you are living in blind faith.

Well, give it a little time, it has only been around for 50 years or so as opposed to thousands of years for other major religions. Irregardless of your opinions of televangelists, you do NOT have to pay for the knowledge that goes along with Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. Any organization needs money to work, so it is not corrupt or bad to ask for money from your followers to support your faith. The key is that the money is not required, it is merely asked for out of good faith (although that could be debated for Christianity and tithing, but the basic principle that the knowledge of the faith comes for free is the same).

If you believe the info in those videos, Tom Cruise has supposedly converted (or informed them about? I can't remember) over 1 billion people to Scientology. Theres over 1/6th of the world for you right there! Cuckoos....

That said, all you have to do is pick up a copy of Dianetics and you are able to get that knowledge without paying them.

It is a well known fact that you have to pay for courses in Scientology in order to get the "knowledge", and you pay more money to get higher ranks of knowledge. The entirety of their religion is not contained in Dianetics, that is merely part of Scientology. A lot of the texts have been leaked but they are still charging people to learn it.

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology). I'd recommend anyone reading through this to get a basic overview.

Scientology pays members commissions on new recruits they bring in, encouraging Scientology members to "sell" Scientology to others.[145] In addition, Scientology franchises, or missions, pay the church roughly 10% of their gross income.[201] On that basis, it is often likened to a pyramid selling scheme.[202] Charges for auditing and other Church-related courses run to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.[203][204] Scientology maintains strict control over the use of its symbols, icons, and names. It claims copyright and trademark over its "Scientology cross", and its lawyers have threatened lawsuits against individuals and organizations who have published the image in books and on Web sites. Because of this, it is very difficult for individual groups to attempt to publicly practice Scientology on their own, without any affiliation or connection to the Church of Scientology. Scientology has sued a number of individuals who attempted to set up their own "auditing" practices, using copyright and trademark law to shut these groups down.

Some of the evangelist churches are like that too - wrapped up in an elaborate confidence trick basically to scam money, often used to fund the church leaders extravagant lifestyles.

[Miranda&James 8]

Most of the fanatics in the world belong to two major religions, neither of which is scientology.

Also, you don't HAVE to pay to be a Catholic, but they definitely suggest that you put a little money in that collection tray being passed around. Don't even get me started on televangelists.

As far as kidnapping, torturing, and killing people, scientology never burned a witch. Scientology never tried to wipe out every non-scientologist.

If you are going to pass judgement on Scientology, you better be willing do the same for every religion in the world. Otherwise, you are living in blind faith.

Well, give it a little time, it has only been around for 50 years or so as opposed to thousands of years for other major religions. Irregardless of your opinions of televangelists, you do NOT have to pay for the knowledge that goes along with Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. Any organization needs money to work, so it is not corrupt or bad to ask for money from your followers to support your faith. The key is that the money is not required, it is merely asked for out of good faith (although that could be debated for Christianity and tithing, but the basic principle that the knowledge of the faith comes for free is the same).

If you believe the info in those videos, Tom Cruise has supposedly converted (or informed them about? I can't remember) over 1 billion people to Scientology. Theres over 1/6th of the world for you right there! Cuckoos....

That said, all you have to do is pick up a copy of Dianetics and you are able to get that knowledge without paying them.

It is a well known fact that you have to pay for courses in Scientology in order to get the "knowledge", and you pay more money to get higher ranks of knowledge. The entirety of their religion is not contained in Dianetics, that is merely part of Scientology. A lot of the texts have been leaked but they are still charging people to learn it.

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology). I'd recommend anyone reading through this to get a basic overview.

Scientology pays members commissions on new recruits they bring in, encouraging Scientology members to "sell" Scientology to others.[145] In addition, Scientology franchises, or missions, pay the church roughly 10% of their gross income.[201] On that basis, it is often likened to a pyramid selling scheme.[202] Charges for auditing and other Church-related courses run to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.[203][204] Scientology maintains strict control over the use of its symbols, icons, and names. It claims copyright and trademark over its "Scientology cross", and its lawyers have threatened lawsuits against individuals and organizations who have published the image in books and on Web sites. Because of this, it is very difficult for individual groups to attempt to publicly practice Scientology on their own, without any affiliation or connection to the Church of Scientology. Scientology has sued a number of individuals who attempted to set up their own "auditing" practices, using copyright and trademark law to shut these groups down.

Some of the evangelist churches are like that too - wrapped up in an elaborate confidence trick basically to scam money, often used to fund the church leaders extravagant lifestyles.

Absolutely, but scamming money or charging for knowledge is not a basic tenant of Christianity.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Most of the fanatics in the world belong to two major religions, neither of which is scientology.

Also, you don't HAVE to pay to be a Catholic, but they definitely suggest that you put a little money in that collection tray being passed around. Don't even get me started on televangelists.

As far as kidnapping, torturing, and killing people, scientology never burned a witch. Scientology never tried to wipe out every non-scientologist.

If you are going to pass judgement on Scientology, you better be willing do the same for every religion in the world. Otherwise, you are living in blind faith.

Well, give it a little time, it has only been around for 50 years or so as opposed to thousands of years for other major religions. Irregardless of your opinions of televangelists, you do NOT have to pay for the knowledge that goes along with Christianity, Islam, Buddhism, Hinduism, etc. Any organization needs money to work, so it is not corrupt or bad to ask for money from your followers to support your faith. The key is that the money is not required, it is merely asked for out of good faith (although that could be debated for Christianity and tithing, but the basic principle that the knowledge of the faith comes for free is the same).

If you believe the info in those videos, Tom Cruise has supposedly converted (or informed them about? I can't remember) over 1 billion people to Scientology. Theres over 1/6th of the world for you right there! Cuckoos....

That said, all you have to do is pick up a copy of Dianetics and you are able to get that knowledge without paying them.

It is a well known fact that you have to pay for courses in Scientology in order to get the "knowledge", and you pay more money to get higher ranks of knowledge. The entirety of their religion is not contained in Dianetics, that is merely part of Scientology. A lot of the texts have been leaked but they are still charging people to learn it.

From Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology). I'd recommend anyone reading through this to get a basic overview.

Scientology pays members commissions on new recruits they bring in, encouraging Scientology members to "sell" Scientology to others.[145] In addition, Scientology franchises, or missions, pay the church roughly 10% of their gross income.[201] On that basis, it is often likened to a pyramid selling scheme.[202] Charges for auditing and other Church-related courses run to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.[203][204] Scientology maintains strict control over the use of its symbols, icons, and names. It claims copyright and trademark over its "Scientology cross", and its lawyers have threatened lawsuits against individuals and organizations who have published the image in books and on Web sites. Because of this, it is very difficult for individual groups to attempt to publicly practice Scientology on their own, without any affiliation or connection to the Church of Scientology. Scientology has sued a number of individuals who attempted to set up their own "auditing" practices, using copyright and trademark law to shut these groups down.

Some of the evangelist churches are like that too - wrapped up in an elaborate confidence trick basically to scam money, often used to fund the church leaders extravagant lifestyles.

Absolutely, but scamming money or charging for knowledge is not a basic tenant of Christianity.

Well no it isn't - but then again those organisations are IMO not Christian, regardless of how they brand themselves to the contrary.

[Miranda&James 8]

Some of the evangelist churches are like that too - wrapped up in an elaborate confidence trick basically to scam money, often used to fund the church leaders extravagant lifestyles.

Absolutely, but scamming money or charging for knowledge is not a basic tenant of Christianity.

Well no it isn't - but then again those organisations are IMO not Christian, regardless of how they brand themselves to the contrary.

I personally wouldn't go so far as to say everyone in the organization isn't Christian but 100% agree that the act of scamming someone for money isn't a Christian action. Greed can get anyone which is why I believe only a very select few of people are responsible enough for the burden of excessive wealth and will know how to use it for good. I don't even think that I'd want to be super rich; it would be too tempting to focus only on me and material things. Off topic opinion there

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Some of the evangelist churches are like that too - wrapped up in an elaborate confidence trick basically to scam money, often used to fund the church leaders extravagant lifestyles.

Absolutely, but scamming money or charging for knowledge is not a basic tenant of Christianity.

Well no it isn't - but then again those organisations are IMO not Christian, regardless of how they brand themselves to the contrary.

I personally wouldn't go so far as to say everyone in the organization isn't Christian but 100% agree that the act of scamming someone for money isn't a Christian action. Greed can get anyone which is why I believe only a very select few of people are responsible enough for the burden of excessive wealth and will know how to use it for good. I don't even think that I'd want to be super rich; it would be too tempting to focus only on me and material things. Off topic opinion there

I dunno - some of those churches are so "out there" in terms of their views - especially the ones who do all the crying, "faith-healing", speaking in tongues thing and fire and brimstone rhetoric that I don't think its unreasonable to question whether that can be called Christianity. Its probably a cultural thing (with the whole religion thing being less "full on" in the UK) - but seeing that sort of stuff is like watching some awful caricature in a cartoon. Its completely alien to my understanding.