https://www.smh.com.au/world/french-court-convicts-scientologists-of-fraud-20091028-hj82.html
Next step, take them DOWN!
FUCK YEAH! Give the morons what they deserve.
Finally!
I almost can’t bring myself to say this, but…good on the French.
Joking aside, this is very good news. The Germans sensibly view Scientology as ‘anti-constitutional’ (and since the Nazi’s they take that shit pretty seriously) and dangerous, so I just wish the UK took a stronger stance on them.
fix’d :3
I just can’t believe there are people out there that actually believe it. They just deserve this. I mean: What idiot believes in alien spirits that are trapped in our body and has to pay to be part of their religion.
bscly this means the french hate Tom Cruise about as much as most Americans.
No-one deserves to be taken advantage of to the extent of brainwashing, fraudulent taking of all their money, and massive detriment of their mental health. As an organisation they target the vulnerable and those with mental, emotional and psychological problems then convince them that psychiatry and medical treatment for their problems are a bad and harmful thing (remember Tom Cruise on Oprah claiming there is no such thing as depression or other psychiatric problems that can be linked to a chemical imbalance in the brain?), preventing them getting better help, and then they indoctrinate them. The celebrities they court and groom and use as a pleasant public face are nothing like the vulnerable or weak-minded individuals they actually prey on and fund themselves with (by convincing them to take stupidly expensive ‘auditing’ courses to become better Scientologists, which amount to sessions of hypnosis and brainwashing).
My cousin is a mental health nurse and he once had to get the police to help him rescue one of his patients from Scientologists determined to take advantage of the poor confused guy.
As for the ‘beliefs’ of the religious side of the organisation (it also presents itself like a business organisation and as a scientific method of treatment for mental health problems when it is more to its advantage to do so), they’re only marginally more bizarre than big bearded men in the sky creating people out of his rib bones or whatever you find in the mainstream religions. I don’t see why anyone with half a brain believes any of it tbh, but I try not to judge.
The difference between mainstream religion and Scientology, though, is that mainstream religion has generally existed for thousands of years. Scientology, on the other hand, is a religion created very recently, and began as a cult following of a science fiction novel. While the origins of of mainstream religion are somewhat noble and “pure,” creating a religion from such a trivial source is really retarded.
I’m not a religious man myself. I get it partly from my father. However, I disagree with your statement, Bean, of “how can anyone believe any of this shit.” If the religion has survived the test of time and has good qualities and unquestionable origins, then everyone has every right to place their faith in said religion. Who are we to pass judgment on people who hold faith? Who are we to question beliefs held for thousands of years? Sure, science may disprove certain aspects of religion, but that does not mean at least one religion isn’t correct. Who knows? Maybe there is some divine being up there. That’s why I keep an open mind; I’m agnostic, not an atheist.
I said part of the reason for my decision was my father. However, the other reason is that I don’t believe I have the right to join any religion that casts judgment on others and tells them they’re wrong and fucked.
So, tl;dr, religion is good, we don’t have the right to pass judgment on others, and Scientology is a gross exception.
You seem not to be responding to what I said. For one thing you were the one to use the label ‘shit’ not me, and for another, you said ‘who are we to pass judgement?’ when I expressly said I was trying not to pass judgement. So for one thing, you’re not even replying to what I said, but to some whacked out idea of what you think I meant.
For another thing, you seem to be suggesting that a ludicrous idea becomes less ludicrous over time, so I guess if Scientology isn’t eradicated over the next few hundred years it will somehow have suddenly become sensible and acceptable in your opinion? People believed the Earth was flat for thousands of years, but if someone tries to tell me that now I’m going to give them a pitying look at best. If someone tries to explain ‘intelligent design’ or ‘original sin’ or something similar then I’ll react the same way and not give it a free pass just because Jesus was around a couple of thousand years before L Ron Hubbard. Out of respect to others, I try and hide that reaction because it’s not my wish to give offence, but I reserve the right to find irrational superstitious beliefs to be, well, irrational and superstitious.
Sorry, I pressed the respond button a bit quickly and didn’t actually finish your last sentence, so just disregard that part.
I’m not quite sure how to put it in words. It’s like Scientology was created based on a science fiction book that created beliefs that got stupider. Mainstream religion was based on ancient beliefs, which over time become refined. Something about mainstream religion gives it a certain level of culture, which I respect. Without religion, the cultures of the world would be very similar, so religion is still important.
And also, I’m not saying all beliefs should be, well, believed. A lot of Christians, for example, take the Bible to be a collection of parables and stories meant to teach a lesson. And old beliefs hold no precedent in this debate. Sure, Christians use to think the world was flat and we were located in a geocentric universe, but science proved this wrong, so they tweaked their beliefs accordingly. So, in a way, it does become less ludicrous.
As I said before, I am agnostic because I hold such respect for religion. I can’t simply belong to one and decide that everyone else is wrong and destined to burn in hell. So I believe in a sort of conglomerate of all the religions I know.
I don’t know. Maybe I’m just afraid to call my mother and grandmother stupid.
Fair enough. It’s just for me, the very fundamental beliefs of religions like the existence of God or the afterlife seem quite arbitrary, unlikely and frankly ludicrous, so no matter how ‘refined’ they may become and how much good use or emotional solace someone may derive from them, they’ll never be anything I can respect in and of themselves, though I respect people’s right to believe what they want as long as they act ethically and respect my right to disagree.
Again, to be clear, calling people who believe something ludicrous ‘stupid’ was something that came from your post, not mine.
That’s what I got stupid from. Maybe I just understood wrong.
I don’t really believe in a true “heaven,” either. It’s where I incorporate a sort of Buddhist belief. I believe in a sort of “spirit hub” where all spirits are drawn to after death. It is within this hub that the spirits are pure and may remember all of its past lives. However, they must be recycled at some point to mortal shells to keep the wheel turning.
Cue someone saying that’s retarded.
Wall of text war, not reading.
I think this is great and wish America would follow the example. And don’t tell me not to judge, judging is a very good thing, it holds our society together and weeds out the foolish and weak. If more people judged there would be less stoners, less pregnant teenagers, less drunks, less crackheads and so on. If you judge somebody for doing something and socially alienate them, most likely they will stop doing it. So as a member of society, it IS your place to judge.
BTW, the most common reasons people believe in religion are
A) They were brainwashed by their parents into believing religion and they’re parents were brainwashed by their parents and so on
B) They’re just plain stupid
C) They are too insecure to live a life where they don’t know everything and they don’t have a purpose and somebody isn’t watching over them
There I go making my own wall of text. XD
Okay, now it’s my turn to call someone else ignorant. First time for everything, eh?
I hate it when somebody says I’m wrong and doesn’t give a reason,. If you disagree with me, then say so with logic and reason or STFU.
I did. You just didn’t read it.
If you just move your screen up a teeny bit, you’ll see my rebuttal, already written.
Plus, I’m done writing walls of text today.
I assume this is the post you are talking about.
A) This is no way addresses my belief that judging betters society.
B) No matter how widely accepted and no matter how long a belief is held it doesn’t make it any more true. What makes a belief true is not acceptance by the masses, but logical and reasonable proof and evidence and acceptance by distinguished and highly educated members of society who use their education to tackle the concept of religion and science, something religion entirely lacks.
C) How is deriving your religion from a science fiction book any more retarded than pulling your religious beliefs out of your ass? Not to insult your beliefs, but by what logic reason and evidence do you come up with your set of beliefs?
I to am done with posts today, cya tomorrow maybe.
Your grammar is terrible. It’s “fewer” stoners, pregnant teenagers, drunks, etc. You also need a semicolon, not a comma, at “And don’t tell me not … judging is a very good thing, it holds our society…”
[COLOR=‘DarkSlateGray’]I hope you appreciate the comedic intention of this post.
I have to say, I wish the courts here in the US would do the same. Sadly, any institution with money can get away with most anything here.
I myself have no “spiritual” religion, although I’m not against others practicing their own… as long as they’re not forcing their beliefs on others, or scamming someone.