Scientology and the history of quackery

[Major Nikon]

Back in the 50's L. Ron Hubbard was hawking various forms of quackery as a cure for everything from radiation sickness to clinical depression. Not surprisingly the FDA took enforcement action against his quackery. Then something interesting happened. Hubbard starting calling his therapy a religion, eventually even securing federal recognition as such. Now the FDA is powerless to go after their quackery as it is protected activity under the First Amendment.

So why is it any different for other religions? If people are perfectly willing to accept begging favor from a poltergeist has healing properties for their supernatural essence, why is it so difficult to accept dianazene pills and ohm meter therapy would have the same effect?

Follow up question:

To what point are we supposed to accept or reject the sincerely held beliefs of Scientologists? Is calling their methods the work of charlatans and hucksters really any different than saying the same thing about anyone else who uses "faith" to efficiently separate believers from their money?

[TruckFump]

1. OMG!!!!

I had my one brush with Scientology waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay back in the 1980s when I went to their " blue" building in L.A. with a friend of mine to visit his daughter who was totally swallowed up by this bullshit.

My friend was a judge and I was a practicing attorney. We were "invited" for a tour and we could not get out of that " blue" building fast enough. As we ran to my car, I threw my keys to my friend since he was an L.A. native and knew the area far better than I did and we beat the hell out of that place.

Totally frightening and my thought was that they were going to abduct both of us!!!!!

It was scary because as we went from place to place inside, the fire doors clanged shut behind us...and it was really dark inside that place. I will never forget the feeling of fresh air when we ran outside!!!

These people are sick and evil. I got a hold of some of their "private" books that my friend's daughter left behind, and they they a full of "alien" sex stories of women being raped on other planets.

Sick, really, really sick!!!!!!

[Major Nikon]

4. There's several stories of rape in the bible

Sometimes by normal people and at other times by the supernatural.

Even Mary wasn't given the option of refusing the holy poltergeist's sex act. The best you can say is it was an act of the ultimate coercion.

[rurallib]

5. do you know if your friend's daughter ever escaped?

[TruckFump]

6. My friend passed away 10 years ago.

At that time, the daughter was still in Scientology. For the obvious reasons, I lost touch with her after her Dad passed away.

Edit for typo

[rurallib]

8. thanks

[Funtatlaguy]

2. Ask anybody in Los Angeles or Clearwater Fla about them.

Your answers will be the same.
Crazy whacked out thieves.

[Major Nikon]

3. I think many people outside of those places share the same assessment

My question is why is this not equally true for other religions, most of which are employing the same con under a different banner.

The only thing I can come up with is most other religions aren't as contemporary, but if they were I suspect they would be met with the same level of skepticism.

[MineralMan]

7. All religions are fictional in nature.

They are created, based on implausible stories that never actually happened and that have zero evidence of having happened.

So Scientology = Christianity = Islam = Hinduism, etc., in terms of validity.

Why should any of them be treated any differently from any other? Societies lend authority to their dominant religions.

So, priests can sexually molest children for centuries and go unpunished by society. Do those priests fear punishment in the hereafter? Apparently not. Why that is leads to some interesting conclusions, it seems to me.

What lacks evidence lacks credibility, in my opinion, so I will have none of any of it. I do not discriminate between "valid" and "invalid" religions. They are all the same, as far as I am concerned, and do not deserve to be treated with any seriousness at all, aside from their influence on a society. I don't mind tolerating them, as long as they do not interfere in the lives of anyone who does not follow them. When they do, however tolerance should disappear.

I can tolerate their adherents, as well, under the same circumstances as I tolerate the religions.

[edhopper]

9. We also know for a fact

Last edited Sun Sep 22, 2019, 08:47 AM - Edit history (1)

Mormonism was started by a charlatan. Yet it is accepted as a full religion today,
We also know the beliefs of Christianity are used daily for scams and cons, yet we (as a society) refuse to address those beliefs.

So I say I accept no ones beliefs. They are all based on false narratives.

[Major Nikon]

10. For whatever reason bad behavior that falls under the umbrella of religion is different

Any organization that fosters a culture of child rape would never survive outside of that umbrella. We routinely pass laws that put swindlers out of business, except for those who do so with religion. On and on it goes. All you have to to is pretend you are doing what an imaginary entity wants and you gain instant credibility.

[edhopper]

11. So true

how would the government react to all the faith healers and scam artist around if they weren't Christians. Instead they are allowed to be on TV and sell their scams to the innocent.