Scientology

mereth · Post by **mereth** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 1:43 pm

Nah. I think I'll pass.
I don't think I'm ready for that branch of the "logic tree" yet. (Thanks for that phrase, BTW!)

I have a loooong rebuttal coming - please stand by for transmission...

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 5:40 pm

mereth wrote:I have a loooong rebuttal coming - please stand by for transmission...

If you have to contact your handlers to get approved responses you probably shouldn't bother.

mereth · Post by **mereth** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 5:49 pm

Bullshit. My response is mostly written already and I contacted no one for vetting. I just prefer to write the whole thing in one long stream and go back to edit as my emotions on the subject calm down and I achieve a more objective/amiable frame of mind.
It's called thinking before "speaking".
I might not even post it today. You might have to wait till tomorrow for me to finish my editing.
FYI, the only time I contacted someone in the church in regards to this thread was to find out what the hell Badger was trying to say late on the last page since I didn't have a Scientology dictionary to hand. And even then, I only asked for what the reference was and left it at that.

Edit @ 6:05 pm: Yup, you'll have to wait for tomorrow. Not done yet and signing off for the evening.

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 6:16 pm

Wow.. yer more far gone than I originally thought. From what I have studied it seems that alot of Scientologists that wind up gettin emotional about the cult find themselves commiting suicide clutching just a few dollars that haven't been given away.

Please don't get emotional over it.
Any chance of a taste of the post to come?
Will I be shocked and amazed?
Will I want to rush out and get an audit?

I will be visiting my local Scientologists soon.. with friends. We will likely be passing out flyers. I'll be one of the guys in the Guy Fawkes mask.

edited to add:

CRAP.. I can't wear a mask in Miami.

876.12 Wearing mask, hood, or other device on public way.--No person or persons over 16 years of age shall, while wearing any mask, hood, or device whereby any portion of the face is so hidden, concealed, or covered as to conceal the identity of the wearer, enter upon, or be or appear upon any lane, walk, alley, street, road, highway, or other public way in this state.

Oldguy · Post by **Oldguy** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:28 pm

There goes Mardi Gras and Halloween. Tell Santa not to wear that beard...

erri2000 · Post by **erri2000** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 8:38 pm

Alright, I have had enough of people bagging on Scientology.

I am not a Scientologist, but I am a scientist. I have met many "Church" members and the only problem I have with them is that they call themselves a church. But that is my problem.

The only thing that a Scientologist has ever done to me was try to be my friend. I find it odd that people have a problem with that.

I don't get the bad press? They seem like they have it going on. The biggest problem I have is that I am going to touch their electrodes and set the thing of to the point that they think I am the reincarnate of L. Ron.

We are not really allowed to really speak our minds in public.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 9:15 pm

erri2000 wrote:The only thing that a Scientologist has ever done to me was try to be my friend. I find it odd that people have a problem with that.

Yeah, I bet it was in that creepy, I'm about to proslitize way.

We are not really allowed to really speak our minds in public.

Some people believe that it's not their own minds that scientologists are speaking.

Mr.MaskedDude · Post by **Mr.MaskedDude** » Thu Jan 31, 2008 11:09 pm

lets not be rude to mereth though (Toolmaker) it's got to be a bit (a lot) uncomfortable having all these people speaking ill of her beliefs or of her, yet she keeps responding.

you frikkin rock mereth. if someone were questioning my beliefs as much as everyone here, myself included, is questioning/insulting yours id probably be suiting up in my sweatpants, slap some underoos over those, and give them a super pounding...or get arrested en route as some sort of loon. So noone start questioning Bruce Lee and his KISS army or face the wrath of a white guy in underoos.

oneeyeddick · Post by **oneeyeddick** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:13 am

She is making a list af all of you who have gotten on her shit.
She will be handing this list off to her superiors when it is complete.
She is coming to BRC this year, and she will have support , but you will never see them coming .

Box Burner · Post by **Box Burner** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:32 am

making a list, checking it twice
gonna find out who's naughty and nice....

Sorry I could not resist... the devil made me do it!

Box Burner · Post by **Box Burner** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 12:50 am

Mr.MaskedDude wrote:It's awfully hard to find a non-biased opinion on Scientology.

Impossible I would say. By its very nature an opinion is biased. If you want something that is unbiased then get a definition. Best place for that is the source. then you can hold it up to the light and compare it to whatever you have and form your own opinion about who is telling truth or lies and how much you think they were snorting when they said it. But it will still be an opinion and still be biased. Any opinion on anything is biased by the holder of the opinion. So the question remains who's opinion do you trust? And do you trust their opinion more than your own?

Jew Boy · Post by **Jew Boy** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 1:02 am

[quote="Box Burner"][quote="Mr.MaskedDude"]It's awfully hard to find a non-biased opinion on Scientology. [/quote]

Impossible I would say. By its very nature an opinion is biased. If you want something that is unbiased then get a definition. Best place for that is the source. then you can hold it up to the light and compare it to whatever you have and form your own opinion about who is telling truth or lies and how much you think they were snorting when they said it. But it will still be an opinion and still be biased. Any opinion on anything is biased by the holder of the opinion. So the question remains who's opinion do you trust? And do you trust their opinion more than your own?[/quote]

At first I thought I had no beliefs. Now I believe I have no thoughts.

Kinetik V · Post by **Kinetik V** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 8:47 am

Where's the Kernul when you need him? I'd take living under Apokiliptika rule over being enslaved by Xenu!

I'll admit to admiring Mereth for standing up for her beliefs in the face of heavy criticism and flak. I may not agree with those beliefs but at least she's defending them and offering engaged explanations. </soapbox>

mereth · Post by **mereth** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 10:37 am

Thank you for all your expressions of personal support.

All of this reminds me of a neat true story:
One of my cousins is a Muslim; he scheduled a trip to Vegas with his Christian wife for her 30th birthday (because that's what she wanted) only to find out that the trip landed on Ramadan - but he went anyway and still kept himself within the rules of Ramadan and Islam in general. And even though none of the other 7 guests (myself included) shared his religion, we all made sure he had a good time and didn't "lead him into temptation" or otherwise break any of his own rules. Now THAT's religious tolerance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan
for those unfamiliar with what observance of Ramadan entails

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 4:13 pm

I always wanted to go to a restaurant, get a nice table, and when the waiter comes up say, "Oh, nothing, thanks. I'm fasting."

Post by **AntiM** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 4:57 pm

mereth wrote:Thank you for all your expressions of personal support.

All of this reminds me of a neat true story:
One of my cousins is a Muslim; he scheduled a trip to Vegas with his Christian wife for her 30th birthday (because that's what she wanted) only to find out that the trip landed on Ramadan - but he went anyway and still kept himself within the rules of Ramadan and Islam in general. And even though none of the other 7 guests (myself included) shared his religion, we all made sure he had a good time and didn't "lead him into temptation" or otherwise break any of his own rules. Now THAT's religious tolerance.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ramadan
for those unfamiliar with what observance of Ramadan entails

I lived in Iran, we weren't expected to observe Ramadan, but we didn't eat or drink in public to be respectful. The Western women were told not to wear red, I'm not certain about the precise reason, if it was related to Ramadan or some other observance. And there were a few days when we weren't allowed to go into town, just the women. Again, maybe not related to Ramadan, but I can't think of the exact reason.

erri2000 · Post by **erri2000** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 9:17 pm

Question, if a heaven is a like a "river" then how do you extract one soul from the flow? Or is this more of a Buddhist question?

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Fri Feb 01, 2008 11:28 pm

Heaven is not like a river. Heaven is a meadow in the Rockies, filled with Mammoths (and other paleolithic megafauna), blue parakeets, trannybois and other delights. If you want to get to Valhalla, you take the subway, but the stations are gorgeous, like the ones in Moscow, your train pulls in just after you get there, and your stop is always the next one. Unless you want to spend time riding and seeing all the stations and sitting in clean comfortable cars...

Chief · Post by **Chief** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 2:15 am

The word "If" turns the statement into a metaphor.

The answer is with a container, like dipping a cup into the water. But the container will never hold the same contents that where originally poured in to the stream, because even if the river flows at a constant rate all the contents will eventually blend and is one.

Kind of like getting out of the bathe tub. You can't help but take some of the water that was in the tub with you and leave something that you brought into the tub behind.

erri2000 · Post by **erri2000** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 9:32 am

Chief wrote:The word "If" turns the statement into a metaphor.

Well you are right about everything except the "If". It is the word "like" that turns it into a metaphor.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 11:57 am

If is used in the subjunctive. but english speakers dont' know how to use that.

Box Burner · Post by **Box Burner** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 12:36 pm

Hell, lots of English speakers don't know English.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Sat Feb 02, 2008 7:55 pm

Now that I've had time to think, "like" turns it into a similie, which a subset of metaphor. "Whale Road" is a metaphor, but not a simile.

Jew Boy · Post by **Jew Boy** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 7:47 pm

So what does "unlike" turn a word into? Is Unlike A Whale Road still a metaphor, but not a simile?

Your opinion will not be unwelcome.

theCryptofishist · Post by **theCryptofishist** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 9:49 pm

"unlike" is a different beast. "Unlike a whale road, a herring road is paved in gold." "whale road" is still a metaphor, and I suppose that "herring road" could be too, what for I'm not sure, but "unlike" is an adverb, I believe. Whatever "also" and "therefore" are and has no effect on the metaphoricallness of the language.

BAS · Post by **BAS** » Sun Feb 03, 2008 11:11 pm

I never did get around to seeing "Whale Rider", or whatever that New Zealand movie was called, darn it all.

Oh, wait! This isn't the "Random Thoughts" thread, is it?!??

Ugly Dougly · Post by **Ugly Dougly** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 10:26 am

An "unmetaphor"? The things I learn here!

Toolmaker · Post by **Toolmaker** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 12:21 pm

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http://www.youtube.com/user/xenutv1

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roxxi · Post by **roxxi** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 1:06 pm

I've been following this thread for a few days now.

I just felt I had to say something.

I've been a Scientologist for about 30 years now. I know that it works for me and the Dianetics and Scientology books that I have read have given me workable data that I have applied to my life and others lives for many years.

Its like my Mom and Dad always told me, don't believe everything you hear...read...etc.

I heard a lot of negative stuff about Scientology in 1976. I went and got a book and read it. Then after reading the book, I thought, cool, I can see how I can use this to fix some things I wanted. Like my parents, my school teachers, etc.

Scientology has helped me alot over the past 30 years and I'm glad that I read that first book.

But this is my personal experience. I know that its different for everyone.

Oh yeah, the reason I'm on this forum is my husband wants to go to Burning Man this year, and I registered to get him more data about camps, tips, guides etc.

Mr.MaskedDude · Post by **Mr.MaskedDude** » Mon Feb 04, 2008 1:20 pm

roxxi,

i think most people realize that Scientology has the potential to help people. the whole e-meter auditing thing isnt really that different from standard psychiatric sessions. the problems arise in high level beliefs, paying to learn about said beliefs, murder, and Fair Game policy.

have fun at burning man though