Any Scientologists here?

[SAVINGRACE]

What exactly do you guys believe in? Just curious, I have heard all sorts of wacky things i.e. that you believe in aliens and then that you believe we are descended from aliens etc.

 

[ltwin]

What exactly do you guys believe in? Just curious, I have heard all sorts of wacky things i.e. that you believe in aliens and then that you believe we are descended from aliens etc.

Wasn’t their founder a science fiction writer before he started his own religion?

 

[Rete]

Wasn’t their founder a science fiction writer before he started his own religion?

Not a very good one. The story of his cult is way more interesting than his novels. They have a lot of strange, but interesting, little scandals and secretive programs.

One thing I do happen to like is their hostility towards the pseudoscience aspects of psychiatry and its dangers to society and individuals. But unfortunately they just replaced it with their own nonsense.

The way we approach and treat mental illnesses has quite a lot to do with spirituality. There is the group of people who just want to drug people to alter their brain chemistry in some way. You have people with weird new age counseling. You have people like the scientologists with their adaptation of auditing from the process church.

I think Catholicism offers people a good balance of common sense medical treatment with spirituality to allow God to transform your life. If you look at what people put first when it comes to such things, you can see quite a lot about who they are.

 

[RPRPsych]

Wasn’t their founder a science fiction writer before he started his own religion?

Yes, L. Ron Hubbard was a fairly well-known science-fiction writer of the “Golden Age” period, before he devoted his energies to $cientology. Which is a pity, because according to some of his contemporaries, he was a good writer, and ought to have stuck to it instead of manufacturing a cynical “religion” of his own.

 

[LivingWaters7]

What exactly do you guys believe in? Just curious, I have heard all sorts of wacky things i.e. that you believe in aliens and then that you believe we are descended from aliens etc.

I was a Scientologist for a few months. I’m writing a long reply, hopefully you’ll find it interesting and helpful!

 

[BrethrenBoy]

The way we approach and treat mental illnesses has quite a lot to do with spirituality. There is the group of people who just want to drug people to alter their brain chemistry in some way. You have people with weird new age counseling. You have people like the scientologists with their adaptation of auditing from the process church.

I think Catholicism offers people a good balance of common sense medical treatment with spirituality to allow God to transform your life. If you look at what people put first when it comes to such things, you can see quite a lot about who they are.

This is sorta off topic, but I know an atheist who was raised Christian who says he started to question Christianity when he saw no difference between the methods (not including prayer or teaching about Jesus) and results of Christian an Non-Christian organizations that help people who had addictions.

 

[Rete]

This is sorta off topic, but I know an atheist who was raised Christian who says he started to question Christianity when he saw no difference between the methods (not including prayer or teaching about Jesus) and results of Christian an Non-Christian organizations that help people who had addictions.

Did he look at AA, which is quite a lot like Ignatian spirituality?

 

[Sooner87]

I was a Scientologist for a few months. I’m writing a long reply, hopefully you’ll find it interesting and helpful!

Be prepared for a lawsuit…

 

[LivingWaters7]

What exactly do you guys believe in? Just curious, I have heard all sorts of wacky things i.e. that you believe in aliens and then that you believe we are descended from aliens etc.

I was a Scientologist for a few months before I came to my senses. I didn’t get that far up the “Bridge to Total Freedom”, however I did more than enough to see that what the ex-Scientologists and critics say about it is all true. I did the Personal Efficiency Seminar, the Basic Study Manual Course, the Success Through Communication Course, Life Repair (this involved some “auditing” and use of the “E-meter”), and part of the Hubbard Qualified Scientologist course.

At it’s best, Scientology could be considered more of a philosophy than a religion. Indeed, they sometimes refer to themselves as an applied religious philosophy. In Scientology, there is no worship of a deity. There is no prayer. Scientology does have reference to an ambiguous, generic “infinity”/divine, however there is no worship of this…concept.

Scientology purports to be a set of tools and knowledge that helps people become better people, and to realize their spiritual, immortal nature, finding out who they really are. Scientologists believe that you are not your body, but you are an immortal spiritual being that has existed forever, and will continue to exist. They generally believe in reincarnation and past lives. It is quite common for Scientologists to claim that they have gone back to these past lives in “auditing” sessions, discovering who they used to be, and how traumatic events in those lives still affect them today. Scientology essentially is about discovering all the areas of pain and trauma in your life, and your past lives, handling them, and becoming empowered to be better. It’s also about discovering various abilities that help you be better able to handle life.

So all that sounds nice, right? So what’s the problem? Well, I think it’s safe to say that Scientology is a money-making cult. Now, I don’t throw around the word “cult” lightly. I’ve been LDS (Mormon) for the past few years, and while some would claim that it’s a cult, that certainly has not been my experience, and after being in Scientology, that has given me a clear view of what a cult can be like.

Scientology is all about money and getting as much of it out of people as possible. As soon as you walk into a Scientology center, or “org” (short for organization), you will be a target (that was my mistake, as I was curious about what it was all about, and wanted to see for myself). They’ll ask you to watch an inspiring video, then, how about buying a book (usually the Dianetics: Modern Science of Mental Health book) and/or signing up for a short seminar that’ll give you tools to be better. You think, ok sure, it’s not that much money, why not? So you do that, and just prior to the seminar, you do a personality test. After the seminar, the results are in. Oh boy, you clearly have a lot of problems. How have these problems held you back in life? Well don’t worry, Scientology has exactly what you need to help! So, you pay for another course. After that, you do the Communication Course, because, well, everyone could be better at communicating, and they said this is the best way to learn how to communicate in any situation! And it just keeps going and going like that.

Then, you’ll have to buy materials. The founder, L Ron Hubbard, was a science fiction author. He wrote a lot of books. In Scientology, there are also a ton of books, all written by him or adapted from his words. So, to help you on your journey, you’ve got to buy the “Basics Books”, a set of I dunno, 10 or so books that are the “scriptures” of Scientology, and will help you understand what you’re doing. Oh, but you’ll also need the “Lectures”, CDs with recordings of LRH (as he is referred to) as he made his discoveries.

Now, this sounds like it’s adding up, right? So, you should join the International Association of Scientologists (IAS), since you get discounts on books and services for being a member. $500 for annual membership, $5000 for lifetime. But don’t think that just because you paid the membership dues you’re done. You can also “up your status” and keep donating to get to various status levels of membership. You will be constantly asked to donate to the IAS. Anytime you’re invited to a Scientology event, whether it’s LRH’s birthday, the anniversary of Dianetics, New Years Eve, etc, you’ll be hit up for money.

Okay, so you’re poor, maybe a student, can’t afford the rapidly increasing prices of Scientology services the higher you go up the Bridge? Well, don’t worry, you can join Staff and work at the center. In exchange for this full-time-only work, you get free Scientology services. The problem with this is that you’ll be working constantly (upwards of 50+ hours) at less than minimum wage. So, you’ll need another, real job to live. There won’t be any time to go up the Bridge, hence why many staff are stuck at the bottom.

 

[LivingWaters7]

Well, you’ve realized that Scientology is just taking up ALL of your time and money (I quickly realized this. When I’d say that I couldn’t afford the books and lectures package, I was repeatedly hounded by the guy trying to get me to pay for them. He would read quote after quote of LRH on how money is really nothing, it’s just a thing, how we should easily part with it, etc. What I thought was just a 10 min meeting turned into an hour of that. I finally gave in and just got the books. And as far as time, they wanted me to join staff. One time I sucked it up and told the recruiters that I just couldn’t do it since I have school and work. They still wanted me to keep thinking about it. They said that Scientology was more important than a grad school admissions exam I was taking. They wanted me to put it all on hold to do staff, and wanted to know if I wanted to go into healthcare because the money is good). So, you think you’ll just walk out the door and never see them again, right? Think again.

When I woke up, I started posting on an ex-Scientologist forum to get advice on how to leave. They told me it’s best to just walk out and not communicate with them at all. So, that’s what I did. I never went back in. They called and texted me constantly. Multiple times a day. I’d also get emails, Facebook messages, and regular mail asking what happened. This is what solidified in my mind that they are a cult. Now, many of them are nice people, some of which I still miss (most were around my age, mid-20s). But they grew up in this, many if not most never went to college, and have no experience outside of Scientology. They work for it, and that’s their life. They tried to recover me for months. They’d leave a voicemail saying they just wanted to make sure that I was still alive and wasn’t in a coma or something (meanwhile, they knew full well that I was alive, since I was Facebook friends with some of them ). But I knew that even if I replied and said, yes, I’m okay, that would start them trying to get me back in. It was hard (I did enjoy the beginning level services, as those tend to make sense and are helpful, a classic cult tactic designed to draw you in. I also thought the center/org was kinda cool in a nerdy way), but I knew I couldn’t go back, since I valued my money, and my education.

Now, they still periodically contact me, usually when it’s close to an event, to try to invite me to come back and see what AWESOME things they are doing in the world to make it a better place. I know better now.

So, with all that said, I’d never advise anyone to go into a Scientology org. If you are really that curious, then go with someone else, and ensure that you’ll both leave without signing up for anything. Sure, walk around, look at the displays, the videos, the books, but don’t sign up for any seminars or courses. Their website has many of the same videos they show in the center, so you don’t even need to go in. They also have an Inside a Church of Scientology video if you’re curious what it’s like inside (it’s not like a typical Christian church setup). Then, you can Youtube the many documentaries made about it to hear the other side. BBC did a few that are interesting.

As far as aliens: Remember, Scientology is a graded system. You go up various levels on the Bridge to Total Freedom. Midway up the Bridge, you attain the State of Clear. At this point, you are freed of your “reactive mind”, essentially all the negative painful experiences that have held you back in life, things from this life and past ones. You’ve also regained various abilities, maybe even “exteriorized” (essentially an out of body experience). After Clear, you go on to the “Operating Thetan” levels, of which there are currently 8 (there are more, but they haven’t been released yet, aka, a dangling carrot). A “thetan” is Scientology-speak for “spirit”, or who you are. These levels are secret (and they can only be done at specific locations known as “Advanced Organizations”), and you discover the specifics of them as you do them. Presumably you learn how to operate as a spiritual being, various super powers, etc etc.

At the 3rd OT level, OT III, those that have done this level have stated that you learn about Xenu, an intergalactic warlord dictator who, 75 million years ago, killed billions of people, blowing them up in volcanoes, and now their spirits attached themselves to our own, causing us problems. Now, you have to get rid of these spirits. Scientologists deny this information, either because they don’t know about it (those that haven’t gotten to the level wouldn’t know), or because they believe that the info is only to be received by those spiritually prepared to receive it. That’s where the aliens come in.

Anyway, I know that was really long, and I was probably just rambling at points. But I hope that was helpful. Feel free to ask me any questions about it.

 

[LivingWaters7]

Be prepared for a lawsuit…

Meh, I’ve written my story elsewhere on the internet (ex-Scientology forum), with more identifying info, along with other exes, and they STILL contact me/us. Seems like their operatives have been slacking lately, as they haven’t “disconnected” from me yet (disconnection is where you cut off all communication with a “suppressive person”, someone holding you back in life, especially someone damaging to Scientology and your progression in it). I’d definitely be amused if they tried to sue me for something ridiculous.

 

[Sooner87]

Meh, I’ve written my story elsewhere on the internet (ex-Scientology forum), with more identifying info, along with other exes, and they STILL contact me/us. Seems like their operatives have been slacking lately, as they haven’t “disconnected” from me yet (disconnection is where you cut off all communication with a “suppressive person”, someone holding you back in life, especially someone damaging to Scientology and your progression in it). I’d definitely be amused if they tried to sue me for something ridiculous.

If you don’t mind my asking, how long ago were you part of this? Where are you currently spiritually? And where were you prior to getting involved with Scientology ie childhood?

 

[BrethrenBoy]

Did he look at AA, which is quite a lot like Ignatian spirituality?

IDK. He was raised Evangelical.

 

[SAVINGRACE]

Thank you all and especially LivingWaters for your very interesting and informative post.

 

[LivingWaters7]

If you don’t mind my asking, how long ago were you part of this? Where are you currently spiritually? And where were you prior to getting involved with Scientology ie childhood?

To answer some of your questions (I prefer not to get into some of them, or in too much detail), as mentioned in my rambling, I’m currently LDS, and have been for a few years. This all happened fairly recently, within a 5 month period. I wasn’t really looking for something, as much as I was curious about what Scientology was all about. I had my fill, and left.

 

[LivingWaters7]

Thank you all and especially LivingWaters for your very interesting and informative post.

No problem

 

[Sooner87]

To answer some of your questions (I prefer not to get into some of them, or in too much detail), as mentioned in my rambling, I’m currently LDS, and have been for a few years. This all happened fairly recently, within a 5 month period. I wasn’t really looking for something, as much as I was curious about what Scientology was all about. I had my fill, and left.

Glad you got out! I’ve read and done quite a bit of research (Snow White, Lisa McPherson). Sounds like it can be a dangerous, potentially deadly organization.

 

[BrethrenBoy]

I keep having disturbing thoughts when I look at this, and I keep wondering if Christianity is kinda like this. I mean, your supposed to give some money to the church, you are told something is seriously wrin with you (sin) and you need their help to deal with it, and if you leave some people are going to keep trying to get you to come back. Any help?

 

[LivingWaters7]

Glad you got out! I’ve read and done quite a bit of research (Snow White, Lisa McPherson). Sounds like it can be a dangerous, potentially deadly organization.

Thanks! And yes, it can definitely be very dangerous, even deadly. What I noticed is that many of the people on staff were raised in Scientology, and had other family members on staff. It’s all they know, and they’re all friends with each other. While luckily most will not become Lisa McPhersons, the most damaging part of the organization for the average person is the money aspect (you will quite literally be squeezed for all the money you have), as well as trying to make Scientology your entire life (and not just how any faith can and should be a way of life, but they want you to work day in and day out for them), where you even are instructed to handle and, if necessary, disconnect from family members that are not supportive.

 

[Sooner87]

I keep having disturbing thoughts when I look at this, and I keep wondering if Christianity is kinda like this. I mean, your supposed to give some money to the church, you are told something is seriously wrin with you (sin) and you need their help to deal with it, and if you leave some people are going to keep trying to get you to come back. Any help?

Of course we are supposed to tithe our 10%, but this is something many people do not do or do a poor job of. I’ve recently got back into the habit and am starting at a lower amount and working my way up.

I think the difference is that tithing is not required for salvation. A priest isn’t going to keep contacting you at your home, work, school, etc asking for you 10%. People won’t run you out of a church for not tithing.