About Scientology . . . Religion or Cult? Will I burn in h**l for exploring it?

Question

I've been going through a tough time in my life and looking for something to perhaps offer some answers or just improve the quality of my life.

I'm a believer in God and Jesus. As far as religion goes, I consider myself to be Spiritual. Recently, I've come across Scientology. I don't know much about it, other than it's a man made religion formed by L. Ron Hubbard in the 20th century.

I mentioned to a friend that I was curious about it and would like to explore it but my friend flipped out, saying Scientologist worship man, and that they're only interested in making money, he went on to say that, it's a brain-washing cult and not only are they (Scientologist) going to burn in h**l but I too could be persecuted for exploring it!

Can anyone give me real, factual information about Scientology? Is it a cult? Are they only concerned with making money and do they worship L. Ron Hubbard? I'd love to hear from anyone but especially the Scientologist out there!

Thanks ; )

Answer 1

Evidently you have been punished for seeking knowledge. That's rough.

If you really, really want to know what it is, read a book from the library.

Best one would be Scientology: A New Slant on Life. Maybe there's something there you can use to make your life happier.

Answer 2

Your friend is correct in insisting that it's a scamming cult.  Here's some factual information for you (and yes, I did compose the follow, it's not lifted from Wiki or some random blog, etc):

Scientology, which questionably calls itself a new "religion", is the brainchild of science fiction writer & occult enthusiast L. Ron Hubbard. The organization, by means of Hubbard’s self created psychotherapy technique called “Dianetics”, claims to be able to help rid members of any & all mental constraints including but not limited to emotional scarring (from this & "past" lives) due to "engrams" (past negative experiences stored in our unconscious mind), psychological disorders & chemical imbalances (the solution is to convince members that these things don't actually exist) & drug dependence (including legally prescribed psychopharmaceuticals which counteract the effects of psychological disorders Scientologists believe to be nonexistent). Their “treatment” of substance abuse includes little more than massive, often dangerous doses of vitamins and unhealthy extended sessions in a sauna.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics#S...

Dianetics review: http://dir.salon.com/story/books/review/...

http://www.time.com/time/magazine/articl...

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/deto...

http://www.nypress.com/20/22/news&column...

Scientology is most certainly NOT a religion. In fact, one of the only reasons they enjoy "tax exempt status" on religious ground in the United States is because they bullied the IRS into a "deal" through extremely aggressive barratry (which is the offense of persistently instigating groundless lawsuits) against said government agency & its officials, & arranged to drop all 2,500 frivolous lawsuits only when an "agreement" was reached. In addition, Scientology's lawyers hired private investigators to dig up any "dirt" on IRS agents which was then used to blackmail or publicly smear all "vulnerable" agents. It was an all-out WAR that Scientology had waged against the IRS, & was even described as such by Scientology's "CEO", David Miscavige, in his 1993 speech to the International Association of Scientologists.

http://legalminds.lp.findlaw.com/list/fe...

http://www.lermanet.com/scientologynews/...

http://www.factnet.org/headlines/give-aw...

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Cowen/essays/...

The official Scientology organization is composed of a number of “levels”. One begins as a “preclear” & works their way up. One must purchase virtually every service crucial to advancement directly from the "church" & at staggering prices. "Auditing", for example, is purchased in 12½ hour blocks, costing anywhere from $200-$750 for introductory sessions to between $8,000 & $9,000 for advanced sessions. Basically, Scientology claims to possess exclusive knowledge of the path to religious redemption & then charges obscene amounts of money for every tiny incremental step towards this end. Visit this link to see how $380,000 is a conservative estimate for the total cost of moving all the way up the Scientology hierarchal ladder:

http://www.xenu.net/archive/prices.html

These are the total costs for auditing alone:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology...

Here’s an explanation of what “auditing” is:

http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?...

At level OT III (Operating Thetan Level 3), some very strange & fiercely guarded secrets are imparted upon worthy members who have paid enough money to advance to such a level (and no, this isn't a joke): The evil alien ruler Xenu killed millions of aliens (Thetans) from around the universe by kidnapping them, bringing them to earth in golden DC-8 “space-planes”, stacking them around volcanoes & blowing them up by dropping “h-bombs” into the volcanoes. Scientologists believe the souls of these aliens (these souls are "Body Thetans") were captured, brainwashed & released; they then attached themselves to our ancestors (and according to Scientology’s belief in Thetan immortality, they also attached to us during “past lives”) & cause many of our mental & physical ills to this day. Auditing is said to “clear” us of these Body Thetans as well as the “mental implants” they supposedly impose on our minds.

http://www.spaink.net/cos/essays/atack_o...

http://sf.irk.ru/www/ot3/spaink-ot3.html

http://xenu.net/archive/leaflet/Xenu-Let...

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/OTIII/

Scientology has taken a very hostile stance towards psychiatry & psychiatric drugs irrespective of the fact that some people require medication to remain adequately functional during everyday life. It doesn’t recognize legitimate conditions like autism, epilepsy, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or ANY neurological disorder / chemical imbalance at all, & the “church” has been known to withhold prescription pharmaceuticals from members (often with harmful & deadly results). The “Church” blames psychiatry for the Holocaust, as well as school shootings & even September 11th. It’s been suggested that Hubbard’s vehement opposition was born of the psychiatric community’s rejection of his “tech” as a valid treatment method, but it’s also possible that Hubbard chose psychiatry as a scapegoat. Organizations like Scientology are notorious for villainizing a specific out-group because their “stand against the enemy” fosters cohesion within said organization, & psychiatry was an effective rallying point considering many people already distrust & oppose the mental health profession.

http://www.anti-scientologie.ch/usa-scie...

http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id...

http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/...

http://perkinstragedy.org

L. Ron Hubbard, the man behind the creation of Scientology, was & still is a controversial figure. Biographies & lists of personal accomplishments differ greatly between Scientology & non-Scientology publications as the “church” tends to exaggerate & outright lie about his early life, his education, his travels, his achievements etc, preferring to paint a distorted, flattering picture. Several books & articles present facts which flatly contradict these church-published accounts (links to free online copies of these books & articles are provided below), showing conclusively that he was NOT the brilliant, accomplished figure revered by Scientologists. During his autopsy, the sedative Vistaril™ was present in his body, which several of his assistants would later attest was only one of many psychiatric & pain medications Hubbard ingested over the years. It had also been said by many who knew Hubbard personally that at the end of his life he was “a psychopathic insane person screaming about BT's [Body Thetans]…”

http://www.apologeticsindex.org/Bare%20F...

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf...

http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/mo...

http://lisatrust.bogie.nl/scientology/es...

To be blunt, Scientology is a cult. It employs semi-legitimate psychotherapy & self-help methods to keep people loyal & convinced of its merit while it simultaneously sucks them dry financially & attempts to keep them far away from ANYONE, even friends & family, who would dissuade them from remaining in such a harmful situation. It bullies all known critics, opponents, “enemies”, etc, often through malicious litigation & character assassination. It’s a particularly greedy as well as manipulative & dangerous cult that takes its anti-psychiatry fanaticism to deadly limits.

http://www.solitarytrees.net/racism/hara...

http://www.factnet.org/Books/SocialContr...

http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecen...

http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/24/Tampab...

http://www.xenu.net/archive/personal_sto...

Answer 3

You just want to know more about another belief system, nothing to worry about... Unless you start wanting to join, then start to worry. That "religion" is crazy...

Answer 4

If you BELIEVE you will burn in h**l for exploring another religion, then I wouldn't be surprised if that did happen to you.  As for me, I have been investigating, exploring, reading, comparing - attending other churches, attending New Thought Churches, and every other religions there is on this planet.  I have NEVER asked anothers opinion, because everyone has a different opinion.   I am now wher I am supposed to be, not a member of an organized religion, but a Spiritual Person who lives her life with love, non-judgement, non-prejudice and goes by the teachings  of great teachers like Jesus, Ghandhi, Mother Teresa, Buddha, etc. etc.

Even Scientologists will p;robably not give you the factual information about the Church.  Why do you not go on your own strengths?   Ask your own questions, attend whatever service you want, without asking questions, just listening, observing and taking note of what goes on around you.   You could ask the "making money questiohn" about any religion on this planet.  Why not find out what path YOU should walk, not what path others are walking.  We are all unique.  If you ask the opinion of others regarding any religion or non-religion you will get many, many different answers.  Which one will you pick.   Go by your gut, your comfort level, your emotional feelings, your, your, your not them, them, them.  I made up my own mind and never asked the opinion of anyone else, knowing that their answer would not necessarily be the right one for me.  I have been  on my path now for 20 years, and I am at peace and know that this is right for me.  THIS being no affiliation with any organized religion and  book cases of hundereds of different books, relating to every belief system I could find.  It makes for a very interesting experience.  Try it, you may like it.

Answer 5

They take your money, and when you have no more to give they kick you to the curb.

If you get high enough up the food chain you'll start believing 75 million years ago, there was an alien galactic ruler named Xenu who was in charge of 76 planets in our part of the galaxy, including our own planet Earth, whose name at that time was Teegeeack.

And Xenu's plan involved setting up electronic traps in Teegeack's atmosphere which were designed to trap the souls or spirits of the dead space aliens.

The spirits of the aliens were then taken to huge multi-plex cinemas that Xenu had previously instructed his forces to build on Teegeack. In these movie theatres the spirits had to spend many days watching special 3D movies, the purpose of which was twofold: 1) to implant into these spirits a false reality, i.e. the reality that WOGS know on Earth today; and, 2) to control these spirits for all eternity so that they could never cause trouble for Xenu in this sector of the Galaxy. During these films, many false pictures were implanted into these spirits, which resulted in the spirits believing in all the things that control mankind on Earth today, including religion. The concept of religion, including God, Christ, Mohammed, Moses etc., were all an implanted false reality that to this very minute is used to control WOGS on earth.

If you plan on getting involved, can you send me some $$$ first?

Answer 6

First off even according to your beliefs you will not burn in h**l for exploring other religions.

All religions are fascinating.

You should always seek the truth. Don't take for granted what any human says whether that comes from someone of your own faith or someone not of your faith. Listen to what they say and consider it but you must investigate and draw your own conclusion.  Your search for the truth is your own journey. You are a thinking, logical, being and you have the right to explore.

This being said, I want you to understand that I was a Christian for 30 years and I am now an atheist.  

Answer 7

Answer: Consider the following information about an organization that has been determined to be fraudulent by at least two European governments (Greece and Germany) after police raids of their offices.

It's an evil cult designed to make money and nothing else . Its effects on believers are destructive - Check out a partial list of victims: http://whatstheharm.net/scientology.html

Also read about:

● Its blatantly illegal and immoral activities, as illustrated by Operation Snow White and Operation Freakout.

● Its fair game" policy of harassing and destroying critics, as illustrated by the stories of Keith Henson, Frank Oliver and Paulette Cooper

● Its fatal abuse of its members, including Lisa McPherson, Heribert Pfaff, Josephus Havenith, and others

● Its brutal, illegal treatment of members who the Church considers in need of rehabilitation or punishment

● Its tax-exempt status in the United States, which was gained by blackmailing the IRS

● Its practice of breaking up families.

Read "the road to xenu" - http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf... - an account of a girl who escaped scientology after 12 years!

The cult's core belief - no, I am not kidding here! - in the words of the founder:

"The head of the Galactic Federation (76 planets around larger stars visible from here) (founded 5,000,000 years ago, very space opera) solved overpopulation (250 billion or so per planet, 178 billion on average) by mass implanting. He caused people to be brought to Teegeeack (Earth) and put an H-Bomb on the principal volcanos (Incident II) and then the Pacific area ones were taken in boxes to Hawaii and the Atlantic area ones to Las Palmas and there "packaged".

His name was Xenu. He used renegades. Various misleading data by means of circuits etc. was placed in the implants.

When through with his crime loyal officers (to the people) captured him after six years of battle and put him in an electronic mountain trap where he still is. "They" are gone. The place (Confederation) has since been a desert. The length and brutality of it all was such that this Confederation never recovered. The implant is calculated to kill (by pneumonia etc) anyone who attempts to solve it. This liability has been dispensed with by my tech development.

One can freewheel through the implant and die unless it is approached as precisely outlined. The "freewheel" (auto-running on and on) lasts too long, denies sleep etc and one dies. So be careful to do only Incidents I and II as given and not plow around and fail to complete one thetan at a time.

In December 1967 I knew someone had to take the plunge. I did and emerged very knocked out, but alive. Probably the only one ever to do so in 75,000,000 years. I have all the data now, but only that given here is needful.

One's body is a mass of individual thetans stuck to oneself or to the body.

One has to clean them off by running incident II and Incident I. It is a long job, requiring care, patience and good auditing. You are running beings. They respond like any preclear. Some large, some small.

Thetans believed they were one. This is the primary error. Good luck."

DO YOUR RESEARCH BEFORE GETTING INVOLVED WITH THEM.

Answer 8

Religion or cult?

Cult.

Will you burn in h**l for exploring it?

No, not for exploring / researching about it.  But if you are attracted and deceived to follow their teachings and gradually leave Jesus, then yes.

Answer 9

You can't just "explore" it. It's a very clever cult with some very twisted and sick ideas. Google Lisa McPherson, read and then weep.

Answer 10

I have been a student of religions/philosophies/belief systems for over 40 years. I looked reasonably deeply into Scientology at one stage. Yes, it is a brainwashing cult. Avoid it, no matter what any members tell you. If you consider yourself spiritual, that will be driven out of you by the cult. Pursue more spiritually based belief systems. If you haven't got an esoteric study group available, look into the Society of Friends (Quakers) or Bah'ais, both of whom are broad-based, peace-loving and open minded.

Answer 11

Religions and cults are the same thing.

Answer 12

Yes, it is a cult group .  Your friend is wrong for scolding you so badly. I feel as a christian that it is very important to know about cult groups and other religouse beliefs. As long as you do not convert to them you are fine. As you study them you will see how in some cases the bible is twisted and distorted to support a cult a group.  

Stay close to Jesus and explore . Carefully. :)

Answer 13

Scientology is science fiction. It costs a lot to be a real member!

Answer 14

I believe it is a cult. I dont believe that if you explore it you will burn in h**l.  God forgives. I think that its ok if you explore it, but also explore christianity more. Try a different churches out. God wont condmen you for learning about scientology, but he will if you follow it and trully believe it. as for your friend he as no right to say that if your curious about learning of it that you will be damned, He isn't got to make that choice

Answer 15

When making any such serious choice I recommend a lot of thought and prayer.  God is completely OK with you considering options, but ultimately He desires that you freely choose Him, even if you wait until all else fails.

Answer 16

Try www.dianetics.org for some real information on it.  

Answer 17

youtube.com/user/forbibletruth

Answer 18

Xenu.net

Enturbulation.org  - i think - you might need to check that one out.

scientology is very dangerous. Sadly they have commited serious crimes - such as murder.

If you believe in Christ and God etc... - This "Cult" will claim to be compatible with any religion untill you start to get more involved.

And you will be more involved.

Why dont you type in - "Fair Game Policy scientology" into google, and browse around that. untill you get the official documents about it And what they have done to mask it.

Its a shame they have made it soo money hungry - but i must say, LRhubbard was a very evil man, and therefore has attracted many, not all, but many evil people within this Cult.

It's best to stay away from Cults - and offer support for those who are effected by them. I know of many families effected and many things that have happened - sadly, they are very powerful and use money and a great legal team to their advantage - but were recently banned in Germany :)

Hope that helped.

P.S: - Jesus saves forever, and will forgive you what ever you do wrong. Don't let other people make you believe one sin will send you to h**l - How would that be possible?

If that were true, then we would need to pray constantly for forgiveness - up untill the microsecond we die.

But we pray once, and are forgiven, and say sorry for anything else bad we do - Jesus is your father, and will always welcome you home.

Answer 19

Since there's no such place as h**l, no, you won't end up there.  

Scientology is a gang of criminals.  Stay away from them.

You're welcome.

Answer 20

Every historical and modern day religion has been and is a cult.  

Answer 21

i have to pick "cult"

Answer 22

We only learn by exploring.  There is nothing wrong in learning what it is all about.  If it's not for you, all you have to do is just say "sorry, no thanks."

Studying other faiths is a fantastic way to learn more about the world and it's cultures.  If you learn about Scientology and don't like it, you at least come away from it a smarter and better informed person.  No harm in that.

Answer 23

Never mind the spiritual perils.  Scientology was invented on a dare by the science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.  It was originally just called Dianetics, but that has become the method by which "spiritual progress" is made.  Essentially they hook up wires and a blackbox and do a "reading" on you as they ask you personal questions.  You will obviously need improvement and that will cost money, mostly for books.

As you "improve", cleaning your psyche of "thetans", you will need to spend more time and money with them, often working to recruit new members.  You will be directed to eliminate contact with non-believers (such as family and friends) who don't understand and will just mess up your training.  Eventually, once your progress is satisfactory, you will advance to "the Bridge", moving to a different city for further "training", becoming involved exclusively with other Scientologists.

People who don't progress or who attempt to leave Scientology often fall ill or suffer freak accidents.  People who criticize Scientology are hit with aggressive lawsuits.  L. Ron Hubbard is greatly admired by Scientologists.  Every Scientology center has a fully stocked and functional office for Hubbard which no one else is allowed to use.  Unfortunately, no one has able to explain what ever happened to Mr. Hubbard for the last ten or twenty years.

Answer 24

It is a cult.

It's called Scientology after Science Fiction (The entertainment genre).

It is definately a cult.