hahah, i don't want them to find me and kill me. :P you probably have seen them very often in your neighborhood, shopping a "free personality test" or "free stress test." they come to college campuses, and do it there. they hold events under the guise of one thing, and it's another.
i hesitantly queried, and they literally came and picked me up from my college dorm room at 8:30 pm at night even though I made it very clear I was uncertain, had no car of my own, needed space, and would prefer to make my way to them if and when i felt like finding out more. they called me multiple times to set up the time, and despite all of my polite (teenaged) excuses, they forced my hand.
thus i found myself headed to their nearest location in the car of one of their people, i don't know her title. i warned my roommate that if i didn't come back in a few hours to seriously call the police. i proceeded inside, was taken into a room that was set up as a theater, watched a surreal film that included john travolta and some other stars, and on the other end, was swiftly sat down to discuss my future, goals, and the purchase of very necessary workbooks and the dedication of my time to scientology.
despite repeated protestations and warnings that i was broke, on scholarship, and incapable of investing, let alone investing regularly, in workshops, "auditing," or the purchase of materials (workbooks), they continued to push and prod me as if they hadn't heard. It's a very basic statement - I HAVE NO MONEY. That should stand for "she may have a little, but she doesn't want to give it to you. drop it." or, "she really has none, give her a break, let her alone."
They continued to respond - YOU NEED TO PURCHASE THIS TO CONTINUE. Don't you want to continue? It's beneficial to your emotional and mental health to continue. So, perhaps you'd like to buy X.
i was deeply offended by this, by everything. a standard human respect should be afforded when someone says "no" in any way. they disrespected that "no" repeatedly in the guise of my own benefit. no "religion" has a general doctrine of forcing into belief, or disregarding what you say to make you function as though you believe. social laws, yes. religion? no. what a religious "creator" establishes generally asks that you pursuade, invite, argue, encourage. never force, or emotionally/psychologically badger someone.
I was offended by everything, everything, everything. no matter how pushy jehova's witnesses are, they will knock on your door, and after delivering you with pamphlets and a request to enter, if you say no, they will drop it and encourage you to pursue things on your own time. earnestly, yes, pushily (with a plastic smile) no. they will not sell you anything. their belief is in a higher good - the understanding, across the world, is that no matter what that higher good is, it does not involve money if it's a "religion." even catholicism, which houses relics and idols (and my birth certificate began with me as a catholic), requires no money. it encourages it, but it does not require it.
I purchased Dianetics and tried to read it and didn't get far. The whole thing so disgusted me I could not pursue. Ever since that night, where they got my address, no matter where I have lived or for how long, and how many times I've moved, they get my new address, although I have not given it to them. I've returned letters to them with "DO NOT SEND FURTHER MAILINGS" enclosed, and continue to receive them.
I began the internet research when I caught a whisp of the tom cruise gossip thing. i'm not going to get into sites and stuff, but you can literally see police reports, autopsy reports, autopsy photos, testimonies, core documents of the "religion," witness statements, etc., regarding how far this group has gone in the pursuit of their "ideals." i am not going to get into those ideals or what I personally think of them, but suffice it to say that you may find the South Park show ringing very true. If you really get into it you will be unbelievably horrified. You will tell everyone you know to avoid the group and anything they touch with a ten-foot pole.
But I was so deeply disturbed by their method of obtaining new followers that in my research I tried to understand what happened to those who became followers and left, or who became followers and found their lives utterly devoid of anything but furthering a cause that literally consumed their income, their relationships, their homes, their careers. I tried to find out what happened when you were in the group, what good people got out of it, or not. Why people would leave, and write and write about what drove them to leave. The meaning of "religion" versus "group" versus "philosophy" versus "psychiatry/psychology" versus taking physical and mental health medicine into your own hands in the name of a cause.
If you have a problem with Christian Science, your head will explode if you examine Scientology.
You'll find many statements and photos and counter arguments by the "church" as well as attacks, accusations on both sides (people who claim to be victims of the group, and people who claim the "church" has nothing but clean hands).
If you'd like to know more, I suggest you get cracking on the search engines. You won't find a shortage of information. Thank God for the net. Of course, you can't believe EVERYthing. You've got to ferret through the crap. As I said, look for documentation backed by government review and procedure, etc.
Last edited by thmilin; 03-15-06 at 03:47 AM.
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