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[McDoomhammer]

I love how Anonymous have been upgraded from "pathetic loser geeks" to "ZOMG cyber terrorists!!1" perpetrating RELIGIOUS HATE CRIMES OH THE HORROR.  Good grief.  One day of peaceful protests and some website inconvenience and they're ready to compare it to lynchings, burnings and ethnic cleansing.

[Balynevil]

I wonder if the Church of Scientology is little more than some huge scam created by their members to hide their health from the government.

I start a church.

I make most of my income a charitable donation to said church (charitable donations are tax deductable).

All of my property actually is "church" property and cannot be considered for Tax purposes (property taxes).

Either that or the aliens are really coming.... Science Fiction FTW...

[Thingy Master]

Ron L. Hubbard is the scum of the earth, but dammit he can write a good book.
Battlefield: Earth is one of my favorite books.

[Earthquake Damage]

quote:Originally posted by McDoomhammer:
<STRONG>I love how Anonymous have been upgraded from "pathetic loser geeks" to "ZOMG cyber terrorists!!1" perpetrating RELIGIOUS HATE CRIMES OH THE HORROR.  Good grief.  One day of peaceful protests and some website inconvenience and they're ready to compare it to lynchings, burnings and ethnic cleansing.</STRONG>

Hyperbole FTW?

quote:Originally posted by Thingy Master:
<STRONG>Ron L. Hubbard is the scum of the earth, but dammit he can write a good book.
Battlefield: Earth is one of my favorite books.</STRONG>

If you cherish the book, avoid the movie like the plague.  I've not read the book, but that movie is among the most atrocious I've ever seen (the most atrocious for its budget).

[ February 14, 2008: Message edited by: Earthquake Damage ]

[Cajoes]

"He who keeps silent, consents."

[Chaos]

quote:Originally posted by Cajoes:
<STRONG>"He who keeps silent, consents."</STRONG>

Good point. Actually, how does the "church" see itself as a religion anyway? Isn't that just a cover to protect themselves from criticicm? And who the hell has ever heard of a religion with a legal department?

[Cajoes]

Tax evation, mostly.

There's quite a lot of information on the subject here.

Intereresting group. Kinda like watching cancer grow.

[Chaos]

Good analogy.

[Cthulhu]

quote:Originally posted by Grue:
<STRONG>

The fact is, The Bible and Quran contain far more sillier things. Scientology is basically an earlier and deeper version of pastafarianism. It's a parody. It makes you think. If you hate Scientology, are other religions any different?

I believe this is the actual goal of Scientology, to destroy all other religions by the satire. Only the higher levels of their hierarchy know the truth. Xenu is actually a red herring.</STRONG>

Oh please, Scientology is not some crusade to purge religion from the world, it's a business, and Pastafarianism is the result of some guy's tantrum when they wanted him to teach creationism.  Why is it such a problem to teach something other than evolution?  Scientists created artificial life in a lab, who's to say we didn't come about the same way?

I am surprised though.  A religion-based discussion on the internet and no one has blamed religion for all the world's problems.  Not even Yog-Sothoth.com could pull that off.  This really is the most intelligent forum.

Also, other religions, at least most of them, are different.  They create moral standards to uphold.  If you took all the religion out of the Bible, it would still contain great teachings to follow.  What benefit does society derive from Scientology, besides something to joke about?

[Grue]

quote:Originally posted by Muffles:
<STRONG>
I am surprised though.  A religion-based discussion on the internet and no one has blamed religion for all the world's problems.  Not even Yog-Sothoth.com could pull that off.  This really is the most intelligent forum.
</STRONG>

Well, I was pretty close. I'd attribute about 3/4 of world's problems to religion and another 3/4 to stupidity. Yeah, they largely intersect.

 

quote:<STRONG>
Also, other religions, at least most of them, are different.  They create moral standards to uphold.  If you took all the religion out of the Bible, it would still contain great teachings to follow.  What benefit does society derive from Scientology, besides something to joke about?</STRONG>

There is a clear benefit to Scientology, which I mentioned already. It shows that all religions are ridiculous and tend to censorship. Compare CoS lawsuits to Muslim petition to remove all images of Mohammed from Wikipedia. It's all the same thing, except CoS does it in a deliberately (IMO) more annoying way. If you look at what CoS does, all other religions do the same, but in more subtle way. Christianity for example has it's own Auditions, it's own Xenu, and so on.

[ February 16, 2008: Message edited by: Grue ]

[Cthulhu]

First of all, you're mistaking religion for the people who claim to follow it.  Just because a person claims to be a Christian doesn't mean you should take what they do and apply it to the religion.  (And the Bible appears to agree with this, it states that 140,000[Or 110,000; I can't remember offhand] of the Tribes of Judah will go to heaven, and we have millions of Christians).  The oppressive things Christians do(Banning gay marriage, things like that) are wrong.  I believe God gave man the choice to follow Him or not, and going in after Him and attempting to force people to be Godlike is a major overstepping of boundaries.  (Even Hell is an example of God's love, it's not a punishment, if you go there you've shown you don't want a relationship with God, and God allows you to go to the only place outside of God's jurisdiction, where you will never have to worry about Him again).  The trick is to listen to God, not those who say they're speaking for Him, because they will lead you astray.  I don't even go to Church anymore, and I won't unless I find a church that suits my beliefs.  Once I realized how violently stupid the Christians I saw everywhere were, I realized I'd have to pursue salvation on my own, and my relationship with God has never been better.  Before when I prayed, I didn't feel any better about myself afterward, now there's a tangible sensation(I can't describe it, it's like I'm losing ten pounds in an instant) when I ask forgiveness.  I still have problems, but I've come closer than ever to solving them.

What I'm basically saying is, religion is not responsible for 3/4 of the world's problems, people who say they follow those religions are.

Also, what's wrong with Muslims' wanting to remove pictures of Mohammad from Wikipedia?  Atheists have done the same thing with prayer in school, seeking the removal of something that was against their beliefs, and they got what they wanted.

[Chaos]

quote:Originally posted by Muffles:
<STRONG>Also, what's wrong with Muslims' wanting to remove pictures of Mohammad from Wikipedia?  Atheists have done the same thing with prayer in school, seeking the removal of something that was against their beliefs, and they got what they wanted.</STRONG>

It ain't the same thing. I can't speak for all atheists, naturally, but most of us are reasonable people. In fact, the reason why most atheists are atheists is because they are reasoners. The reason why atheists would want to remove prayer in school is because we don't want children to be affected by religion in places where we have limited controll. We want people to think for themselves instead of thinking what they are taught.

The muslims on the other hand (note that I don't mean ALL muslims, just as I didn't mean ALL atheists) want to remove their pictures out of their belief that depicting the profet is blasphemy. Can you see the difference? Don't confuse reason with faith.

Other than that I like your view. One should always follow ones own reason, whatever one believes. Even though I don't agree with your view I still feel we have something in common.

[ February 16, 2008: Message edited by: Chaos ]

[Squeegy]

Anybody that PAYS to go to church is an outright idiot in my book. I'm an athiest so I don't really believe in any of that, but I'd much rather believe in a god that doesn't require me to pay to attend prayer. Honestly. Do I have to leave a $20 under my pillow when I pray at night?

[Cthulhu]

quote:Originally posted by Chaos:
<STRONG>

We want people to think for themselves instead of thinking what they are taught.
</STRONG>

But making them think what they're taught is exactly what's happening.  They're only teaching one side of the argument, and hindering the thing you say you want, freedom.

[Red Jackard]

quote:Originally posted by Muffles:
<STRONG>
I am surprised though.  A religion-based discussion on the internet and no one has blamed religion for all the world's problems.  Not even Yog-Sothoth.com could pull that off.  This really is the most intelligent forum.</STRONG>

Thanks for letting the cat out of the bag.