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Chanology?
David_Dovey:
I really don't get this "young religion" stuff people are talking about.
I guess, if I'm understanding it correctly, people are objecting to the singling out of Scientology simply because it hasn't had the years other religions have had to become entrenched in mainstream consciousness and thus seem less outright crazy than say, the story of a man rising from the dead, walking on water, and suggesting that his followers pretend they are eating his flesh and drinking his blood.
Yet, instead of using it to suggest that all religions are pretty implausible and deserve to be criticised, just like every other topic of discourse in our society, it is being argued that despite it's youth, Scientology deserves to join all the other religions of the world in being completely immune to analysis and criticism.
I'm with people in the sense that Scientology shouldn't be special because it is young, or because it was started by a science fiction author, but I completely disagree with them that we should refrain from pointing out irrationalities in any religion because we're afraid of wounding someone's delicate sensibilities. Sure, the idea of an evil alien warlord and malicious spirits inhabiting our bodies is pretty out there, but what about a prophet ascending bodily to heaven on a winged horse?
EDIT: I get the feeling that I may get chewed out here because I've completely misread people's arguments. If that's true, kindly disregard!
blindeye:
Here is how CoS deals with the BBC.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-126281853779690652
All they tried to do was interview people peacefully.
KharBevNor:
Also, Tommy bought up the idea of comparing this to the persecution of certain religious minorities in history. I hardly think that is at all accurate. Scientology is a global organisation controlling hundreds of millions of dollars of money, assets and shares, with ties to big business, archives full of blackmail information, batteries of lawyers and private investigators and even its own merchant navy. Comparisons to groups like the Spanish Jews, the Heugenots, the Falun Gong or the Japanese Christians are ill deserved to say the least.
Boro_Bandito:
Well, remember that the Catholic Church isn't exactly a poor operation either Khar, they've got billions to their name.
This is my only post in this thread since all views have been covered ad nauseum I feel. Guys, you should really just let it die. I'm not gonna be posting in here again or even so much as reading it anymore. Whether you like it or not religious discussion has taken place in here and plenty of views that don't truly belong to a forum where politics and religion are supposed to stay outside, or at least restricted to Gabbly. I'm not taking sides and I'm not claiming that Scientology is or isn't a religion, or even what my own religion is (to those that don't already know). But I feel that plenty of anti-religious sentiment has gone on in here long enough towards other religions that are established by the opinions of most people on here of being "actual religions" or whatever the fuck that means. Seriously, let it die, there's plenty of things on 4chan to offend people enough as it is.
ruyi:
err, sorry to not let it die, but i just wanted to clarify something i said.
--- Quote from: David_Dovey on 11 Feb 2008, 19:55 ---I really don't get this "young religion" stuff people are talking about.
I guess, if I'm understanding it correctly, people are objecting to the singling out of Scientology simply because it hasn't had the years other religions have had to become entrenched in mainstream consciousness and thus seem less outright crazy than say, the story of a man rising from the dead, walking on water, and suggesting that his followers pretend they are eating his flesh and drinking his blood.
Yet, instead of using it to suggest that all religions are pretty implausible and deserve to be criticised, just like every other topic of discourse in our society, it is being argued that despite it's youth, Scientology deserves to join all the other religions of the world in being completely immune to analysis and criticism.
I'm with people in the sense that Scientology shouldn't be special because it is young, or because it was started by a science fiction author, but I completely disagree with them that we should refrain from pointing out irrationalities in any religion because we're afraid of wounding someone's delicate sensibilities. Sure, the idea of an evil alien warlord and malicious spirits inhabiting our bodies is pretty out there, but what about a prophet ascending bodily to heaven on a winged horse?
EDIT: I get the feeling that I may get chewed out here because I've completely misread people's arguments. If that's true, kindly disregard!
--- End quote ---
i actually did not mean that it was because of its youth that it's more deserving of criticism, though that is what other posters interpreted.
what i meant was simply that it hasn't had the time to grow to the point where believers can exist apart from the institution. thus, for example, one can criticize the vatican without criticizing all self-identified christians. christianity has been around for a couple thousand years, so there's been a lot of splits and whatnot, and it's not uncommon to find people who would call themselves believers yet don't regularly go to church or identify with the prominent church members. a lot of these people are not harmful.
by pointing out the youth of the CoS, i'm simply allowing for the possibility that some time in the distant future, if the believers are indeed genuinely convinced, there may exist believers outside of the institution. at the moment, however, that's simply not the case, due to what khar pointed out. but whatever, if its claims are genuinely compelling, people will start to believe it (or perhaps a modified version of it) in the future. it might die out too, but i'm just saying.
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