idle banter

Monday, September 04, 2006

Scientology

Have any of you read or delved into Scientology? The recent extravaganza surrounding Tom Cruise and his rumoured placenta-eating exercise with Kate prompted me to check it out.

Some resources:

Wikipedia - Scientology
The Church of Scientology
A site dedicated to Tom (a real goodie)

So, my question is this: as a philosophy, can Scientology be considered morally neutral and defensible?

I've tried to be neutral on this issue, but could not resist including this awesome pic of L. Ron Hubbard (the founder dude).

5 Comments:

  • Ah, what I was looking for: someone who has delved into it. So, I'm interested, why the departure from Scientology? You have a definitive opinion stance on it, but what happened experientially?

    By Blogger Aiden, at 9/05/2006 11:55:00 am  

  • Let's hear from the founder, L. Ron Hubbard: If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion.

    That aside, there appears to be some good : John Travolta attributes the priority his family has in his life to Scientology.

    But by and large it seems to be negative. I haven't ever had a religious discussion with a real live Scientologist (in fact only spoken about the system to one person who has read Dianetics)but what I've read seems pretty strange.

    Not forgetting the rather heavy-handed treatment of the South Park incident...


    dkaqz

    By Blogger Peter le Roux, at 9/05/2006 01:26:00 pm  

  • Come on guys, try helping me out here with my question: can a philosophy, not a religion, be morally neutral or defensible?

    Herc, you're getting ahead of yourself.

    Let me say thsi from my perspective. a philosophy becomes a religion for a number of reasons, but primarly because a belief system translates into ritualised practice. Hence Buddhism, while on its own is a philosphy on life it becomes a religion by virtue fo its practices (but there are also a host of other reasons).

    One defining characteristic fo a religion is is that ti has a theology. All religions have a theology, regardless of whether or not they specify it. Either way, there is a stance on God and by implication good/evil and truth/false and sacred/profane.

    (PS: Herc, I can hear your thinking here = so what is the truth baromteter then for measuring its goodness as a religion?)

    So, Scientology makes no claim, that I'm aware of, of a God or gods. Be it that it may, this is a theology. So, what baromoeter does Scientology have for good and evil if it does not use a deity for that purpose?

    By Blogger Aiden, at 9/05/2006 03:41:00 pm  

  • "as a philosophy, can Scientology be considered morally neutral and defensible?"

    Not much to say about the philosophy, but the organisation seems to be far from morally neutral. The Wikipedia page on Scientology controversy is interesting reading. Wrongful death lawsuits, espionage, the 'fair game' policy stylek referred to, and fraud.

    cwesyip

    By Blogger Peter le Roux, at 9/05/2006 05:02:00 pm  

  • as to whether a person can be a follower of Jesus and a Scientologist...

    what do scientologists believe about this life, and the nature of the relationship between mind and body?

    and how does that compare to what Jesus teaches?

    my sense is that scientology is a neo-gnosticism that neglects that value and importance of the created order, and therefore, our bodies.

    i prefer a theology that is wholistici in the way that Jesus was.

    By Blogger barry, at 9/12/2006 02:16:00 pm  

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