> The questions are really can you get out of Scientology and stay in the industry.
Yes, you can, at least in the last decade. Lots of celebrities who were once vocal Scientologists have now left the church, though they might not make a big fuss about it. Blogs like Tony Ortega's have written on how Scientology's membership is imploding, though it still has some committed donors that it squeezes for money to keep up appearances.
I could see celebrity participation in Scientology declining, but the actual organization itself has a ton of money and I don't see it going away anytime soon. If anything I see it going underground and pivoting into a full blown crime syndicate if their legal moneymakers aren't sustainable anymore.
Well... I agree that at least Scientology has died down a little (even though Shelly Miscavige is still missing), but televangelists are as strong as ever, and not just that Kenneth Copeland guy.
> Also as a side note, within Scientology you don't actually learn about the Xenu shit until you're way too deep, financially and/or time commitment-wise, to pull out.
It seems they’ve taken a page out of Masonry or mystery religions. Only higher level “initiates” receive the real wisdom.
The question is, are the high level initiates plain psychopaths?
Or are they just addicted to the free pussy (or dick), drugs, and money that comes with forcing others to join the cult?
> And the fervent Hindu/Buddhist/Scientologist/Sikh/Zoroastrian who went through the same process believes the same thing about their religion.
You are just assuming here. Like I said before, I think you would be extremely hard pressed to find a Scientologist who was converted by praying to the Eighth Dynamic, studying it out, and then receiving an answer that they recognized, confirmed Scientology is true. As long as we are throwing out assumptions, I would assume nearly 100% of Scientologists are converted by: birth (tradition of parents), peer pressure/fellowship (esp. in celebrity circles), or confidence tricks ("auditing").
> I imagine you’ll say that such people didn’t do it right... because they didn’t reach the conclusion you did?
Well that's the thing about religion. People can say anything they want. They might even tell a little lie and say "yes" if you asked them if they received an answer from God that their religion is true, hoping it will convince you to join. There's no way of knowing if they are telling the truth or not. More generally, there is no empirical evidence someone else can present to prove their religion is correct. The only evidence to be had is anecdotal, and thus religion is a very personal and individual journey. You have to actually go through the process yourself if you want your own anecdotal evidence that God exists, etc.
I mean, in a way, scientology is like any other affinity group [1]. If many members of a particular affinity group are prominent in an industry, joining it is a way to get connected with those members and that industry. Scientology is also a lot more hands on, and tries to manage staffing for their most prominent members, which means positions may be open only for members (which may be illegal), so it probably is pretty effective at getting your foot in the door in the industry.
The questions are really can you get out of Scientology and stay in the industry, and is getting into the industry worth the strife of getting into and out of Scientology and of association with Scientology in general.
[1] Most affinity groups aren't abusive or dehumanizing, or at least aren't to anywhere near the same degree.
> Other cults are certainly worse (NEVER go to a "private" meeting!)
I’ve had friends joke about going into the scientology temple in Hollywood as a joke. I always warn against it; cult recruiters are practiced and you are not.
> There are also some indications that they're emotionally abusive to their members, and encourage them to cut off all contact to non-Scientologist friends and family. These allegations are difficult to substantiate, in part because the Church is so aggressive about quelling criticism.
curious, why aren't the testimonials of ex-members adequate substantiation ? While it was extremely difficult to get access to information critical to Scientology prior to the late 1990s, there is a tremendous amount of critical information and ex-member testimonials available today.
>She genuinely believes in this nonsense, as do her customers. Is there a practical difference though, whether she believes it or not?
It is legal for scientology to solicit donations from their followers. It's even legal for the Catholic Church to solicit tithes. If the party benefitting believes their own story then quite a lot seems to be legal.
Yes, you can, at least in the last decade. Lots of celebrities who were once vocal Scientologists have now left the church, though they might not make a big fuss about it. Blogs like Tony Ortega's have written on how Scientology's membership is imploding, though it still has some committed donors that it squeezes for money to keep up appearances.
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