I choose to spend my entertainmnet dollar along political lines. I will NOT see a Mel Gibson or Arnold movie, and I put Tommy boy off my list a long time ago (right after "Eyes Wide Shut", which was dreadful). I will continue to do so-and I have just added a new name to my list of movies and/or performers to avoid. I will not finance "fruit cakes".

As crazy as Scientology may or may not be, I don't see them waging any crusades or trying to convert the whole world with missionaries, and I don't see them trying to take over the government and make it into a theocracy. They are also not the ones thwarting stem-cell research and stopping gays from getting married--in short, they don't get hung up on stupid social "norms" or some retreat into "the way it was when our country was founded on 'godly' principles." As fringe as they may be, I don't see them panicking like a fundamentalist who is becoming irrelevant. Therefore, I'm suspending judgement about Scientology, and if it works for you then use it.

Scientology seems ripe for some mockery. Has anybody written Scientology's "Vatican Rag," song? I would do it myself, but then I would have to learn more about Scientology and I am busy right now searching for a great salami and swiss cheese sandwich with grainy deli mustard.

Tom Cruise is a Bush supporter, and being a nut case seems to be a requirement for it. So a rethuglican believing in Scientology or pretending to be a Christian is not surprising.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/2282774.stm

There are few wise, sensible unconfused people writing about religion and spirtituality.

One you can trust is Ken Wilber, to sort out the confusion.

http://www.kenwilber.com

Is Tom Cruise shrinking even MORE as he ages???

He is so little and tiny! Will Smith is not exactly a big man, and he makes Tom Cruise look like a wee little munchkin!

Anyone steal my lucky charms? Aye! Arggh!

Poor Tom Cruise, he is shrinking like a little old lady, becoming bitchier as well. Take your calcium Tom!

IS WILL SMITH GAY NOW TOO?

Sad sad sad sad sad.

Where are their Pyramid hats? Mindhead to the rescue for lost souls.

He's right. They're both bogus, though to be more precise, Scientology is one more like Mormonism and Islam in that their founders convinced its followers that the omnipotent force of the universe actually commanded the prophet,themselves, to lead the physical universe and to deny any other attempt ever to countermand the delivered wisdom that this ominpotent being just revealed to these puzzled humans. Wouldn't you love to put those guys under an MRI and see just where the sturctural elements of their imagination are in relation to each other. What's hard to believe is that people, people who should know better, actually believe these raving deranged wanna-be demigods.

When Scientology has over a billion followers and lasts a couple of thousand years then it might have something in common with Christianity.
Unlike Scientology most of the people and places in the Bible have been proven real. I'm not talking about the miracles but of the archeology. Biblical cities have been found and events have a historical record. You don't have to believe in Christianity to realize much of the Bible is based on many real people, places and events. Personally I believe the Bible but it's easier to have faith when something is rooted in reality.
On the other hand I have yet to see any proof of Thetans or evil space aliens. Then again I don't work in Hollywood. The cult member you piss off today maybe the cult member you work for tomorrow.

What happens when you cross a Scientologist with a Mormon?

Planet Kolob gets real carzy

Will Smith: Scientology Is Like The Bible

Except it costs much more to join and is mostly for the rich/stupid money.

Lakeman and a few other cult shills and apologists have feebly tried to defend $cientology, but Lakeman's attack on journalist Richard Behar is typical of how the cult tries to "handle" PR nightmares like the excellent Time magazine expose. Lakeman - I have a challenge for you.. I wrote "Do You Want To Buy a Bridge?" for Spy magazine a dozen years ago, after the Time story came out. Tell me what is wrong with my account of your cult told largely through my own experience. And before you attack me, I caution you to remember Hubbard's own doctrine: "What's true for you, is true."

What you are about to read is true:

I am an ex-drug addict who has solicited prostitutes in my day. I've also masturbated and inhaled at the same time, and I have been arrested more than once in my life. I dropped out of high school, and I've been under psychiatric care. Oh yeah, and I owe the IRS roughly six thousand dollars that they are well aware of.

In the language of Scientologists, the above information reflects what they include in their "Dead Agent Packs"-dossiers of all the dirt they dig up on people critical of their "religion." Often they disseminate damaging information like this to the friends, family, landlords, and employers of anyone who dares speak of--or worse, publish anything derogatory about the "church." So what I'm doing here is Dead Agenting myself before we begin, beating them to the punch.

Recently I spent two weeks undergoing an initiation to Scientology for this magazine...

READ MORE HERE:

http://www.hollywoodinterrupted.com/archives/ebner_undercover_scientology_spy_magazine_1996.phtml

Did you enjoy that Lakeman?

Now find the "Trapped In The Closet" South Park episode I consulted on, and comment away.

You cannot win because, as Hubbard's former top PR man (the late Robert Vaughn Young) prophesized, "The Internet will be Scientology's Waterloo."

Best,

Mark Ebner

I'm not a Scientologist but like Seinfeld
I took a course and there is nothing going
on to be afraid of except maybe a 350lb
guy holding a can with strings and that
was just funny. The course was good. But
if you go in with little or no
identity and start talking the group talk
you can also wake up one day and say...
"OMG I've been brainwashed".
Brainwashed my ass.

I think Neal Finn was into it at one time.

Seems like a lot of angry, smart, ambitious,
people who don't want to be average.

First, I've enjoyed reading all of these comments in this section. I've been a Scientologist for quite a few years, and most of the myths and rumors that one can find out there have been pretty thoroughly debunked by Scientologists and the Church over the years.

A great website where most of these myths are addressed is:

http://scientologymyths.info

Another website run by a pretty bright Hindu/Scientologist can be found at the links below. These links (and his website) provide an excellent overview of Scientology's religious roots and fundamentals:

http://www.geocities.com/vinaire/Religion/Hubbard/Background1.htm
http://www.geocities.com/vinaire/Religion/Hubbard/Background2.htm
http://www.geocities.com/vinaire/Religion/Hubbard/Background3.htm

Finally, I agree that Scientology has a lot in common with most other religions. But it is different and unique in many ways as well. And being new, this shouldn't come as a surprise. For one thing, one can be an atheist, agnostic, Christian, etc. ... and still be a Scientologist. So Scientology is a system that runs in parallel to the beliefs of those who use it. It is an "applied philosophy" in much the same way that the scientific method is an applied philosophy. However, the scientific method helps us find truths in the physical, observable world that we all see or at least can agree on. And Scientology helps us find out truths in our own personal world, which only each one of us can see. And so it is uniquely organized around the individual.