Celebrities & Scientology

[giamaria]

What I wonder is how many of these celebreties truly believe in Scientology and how many are in too deep and staying with it out of fear now. I read somewhere about "the Guardians" spying on enemies of the church and conducting smear campaigns and coercing them not to speak out against the church.

CTC seems to really believe that he is helping people with his COS beliefs and advice. Is it possible that he, Mr. and Mrs. Travolta, KA, etc. are totally in the dark about what really goes on?

[heyjude]

ginger said:

"Front organization" is the correct term. The Citizen's Commission on Human Rights, Narconon, Criminon, Applied Scholastics, and The Way to Happiness Foundation are all front organizations for spreading Scientology under the guise of helping people get off drugs or helping them learn to read.

Don't forget the ultimate irony , the Cult Awareness Network.
Yes, if you have a loved one who you are trying to get out of the clutches of Scientology, and you call the organization whose purpose is to help families get their kids away from cults - you will end up talking to a Scientologist!

[roxpopuli]

CTC seems to really believe that he is helping people with his COS beliefs and advice. Is it possible that he, Mr. and Mrs. Travolta, KA, etc. are totally in the dark about what really goes on?

No way! Don't know what level Ravolta and his clammy wife are on (for her, I expect just enough to make her spout Clamitudes), but Clambo himself is on OTVII. That's where you know about Xenu and can control time and space. Which means he can go backwards in time and make us all forget what a dick he is. Wonder why he has not done it yet?

!pleh, ydaerla gnineppaH ?tey ti enod ton sah eh yhw rednoW....

[Deleted]

I was just looking at pictures of beautiful Tom Cruise here on this new fangled In-ternet. Wow, is he dreamy! It seems like everyone who meets him talks about what a great guy he is, and how he hlps everyone he meets in some way. So selfless!

Oh, and that religion - Scientology? Those people really seem to have their heads on their shoulders. What a great group!!11!1

[Deleted]

I highly recommend "Piece of Blue Sky." However, for some reason, I found it easier to take Scientology when I thought that somewhere at the top, they all knew that it was giant joke to rake in the money. Unfortunately, "Piece" gives the distinct impression that they really really believe in all this -- even L. Ron started to believe (of course, he was diagnosed as schizophrenic.) Miscavgie is truly scary.

[spinsterliz]

roxpopuli said:

Clambo himself is on OTVII. That's where you know about Xenu and can control time and space.

Sooo...Tom can control time and space! How come he's not taking advantage of this wonderful gift? What does that even mean, that he controls time and space? Does he think he can leap back and forwards in time? Because if so, you'd think that the first time he tried to do that, and it didn't work ("Hey! How come I'm not in the 14th century? I an an OTII and I want to visit the 14th century!") he'd at least have the brains to realize something is wrong.

Seriously, if he thinks he's such a god on earth, how come he doesn't run around curing cancer or whatnot? Is it enough for him just to brag, "I am the highest clam in the church," and leave it at that, so-called powers be damned?

By the way, I'm not trying to pick on anyone on this board supplying this info. I'm trying to pick on Tom Cruise because I don't understand the point of him being so "powerful" and doing nothing with it.

[Deleted]

OTIII is the level where you learn about Xenu. I don't know what the hell they give you after that.

[roxpopuli]

Seriously, if he thinks he's such a god on earth, how come he doesn't run around curing cancer or whatnot? Is it enough for him just to brag, "I am the highest clam in the church," and leave it at that, so-called powers be damned?

Isn't cancer considered a "state of mind," kind of like AIDS? If so, the only cure according to Clambo and Co$ is to spend a lot of money becoming a member, having audits and purges and saunas and vitamin therapy out the wazoo. That's their idea of a cure--and ain't no way they are giving away cures for free.

[MrsOldManBalls]

Scientology gives me a "scary kool-aid" kind of vibe.

Are there any black,asian or latin members? Or is this religion exclusive to crazy white people, hopefully with loads of cash?

[kostgard]

I keep wondering when Dateline, Primetime Live, Sixty-Minutes, 20/20 (heck, even Oprah) is going to do a show on Scientology. Unless I missed it, I find it very odd that with all the publicity caused by Cruise's antics, none of these topical news sources (nor Oprah) have presented some kind of up to date, in depth examination/report on this subject.

I believe the short answer to this is they don't want to be sued by the clams and they don't want them threatening their lives. However, there seems to be a shift in how the media is regarding Scientology. They are being far more open about questioning them. I wouldn't be surprised if we saw one in the future.

I think this goes back to a lawsuit the clams tried to bring against a woman in Florida for leaving the church a few years ago. I don't remember the details of the suit, only that her lawyer was very clever - the woman mentioned that she had been to a clam Christmas party with a whole bunch of celebs, so the lawyer subpoenaed every last one of them. Since the clams didn't want their precious celebs under oath, where they may have to talk about the church, they dropped the case.

What I wonder is how many of these celebrities truly believe in Scientology and how many are in too deep and staying with it out of fear now. I read somewhere about "the Guardians" spying on enemies of the church and conducting smear campaigns and coercing them not to speak out against the church.

I suspect a large number of them are afraid to leave. The "auditing" sessions are just a way to collect blackmail fodder. During those sessions they encourage people to talk about their worst experiences and memories - dealing with things that people are surely ashamed of. Everything they say is carefully recorded by a clam. I'm sure those auditing files have a lot of info someone in the public eye would rather people didn't know about.

Normally, I don't have a problem with religions, despite the often horrible things done in their names. I think humans in general feel a need to look for something bigger than themselves (comes from having a frontal lobe and all that abstract thinking stuff), plus there is some evidence that we may even be biologically programmed to believe in a higher power - that we evolved that way (that should bake the noodles of all those fundies!). I think it is a shame that people twist that around for their own agendas, but if they didn't do it with religion, they'd find some other way to justify their actions.

I probably wouldn't have a problem with Scientology if they just promoted themselves as a self-help clinic. But they don't. They claim to be so much more. And as such try to control the lives of their members and get a little touchy when people try to leave.

As for the thing about how no one really gives any details about Scientology other that "it's great!" and "It helps people!" - this serves two purposes. First, it makes everything a big secret. If you know the secret, it makes you special. You have to work and shell out thousands of dollars before they give you the secret decoder ring. That makes you better than everyone else! No wonder celebs eat it up.

The second purpose is that it keeps from exposing Scientology for what it really is - a load of crap. They talk about it in public and anyone with half a brain can step forward and criticize it. Also, clams aren't even allowed to discuss it with each other. Tom Cruise can't go up to another OT VII and talk about Xenu. I suspect this is because discussion would foster doubts. I mean, if someone becomes an OT VII and finally learns about Xenu, a part of them may be thinking, "You know, I'm not so sure about this..." If they are given the opportunity to have those ideas reinforced by another OT VII who also thinks it's fishy, they may see it all for what it really is and leave.