Cruise is Second Most Powerful Scientologist

I don't think most rational people think of Scientology as a legitimate church. What I've seen is a re-packaged version of Freudian psychology bound up in a cultish form.
L. Ron Hubbard was a science fiction writer and I class Dianetics in the same genre.

Those are pretty outrageous claims. Sounds like the stuff out of a science fiction novel. True, scientologists have unusual practices, but somehow, those practices lead to great success with many scientologist. It seems that scientologists and buddhists are the most successful of them all, I wonder why?

I have gone to the Scientology Church...if you want to call it that. I took my kids and my daug. and grand kids went. They actually have a very good reading program for children. I went thru a few of their classes and it really isn't all that "spooky" stuff ppl think it is!! More on the lines of making you "think" with logic! In fact I didn't hear about GOD at all while there. It's really just another way of life to use "logic and common sense" to be more sucessful! I didn't get into the "so -called" churchy side, if there is one? Chelly PS: I agree Cruise is a bit on the ego side tho!

what is scientology

I always find these articles and responses to scientology, and peoples comments interesting. I have gone to the Scientology Church a few years, Mormon Indoctrination, and Jehova Wittness Dercices a few month, Studied Catholicism for about a year went to mass a few times, and even to Temple (Jewish) twice, a few other denominations a couple times, I went to a Pentocostal church and was usher for years, and caught a lot of people slain in the Holy Spirit. I also attented the Mennonite church a few times and for the first 20 years of my life I was Amish driving a horse and buggy. ..... they all have Ideas and beilifs that others find rather strange ....

I have Bungee Jumped, I have Fire walked, I have dropped Acid etc I have done all kinds of new age stuff, and listented to hunderds of audios abd videos and seminars to find real ansewrs to the human experience .... although it has been over three years since I was last in A Scientology Org ... I have availed myself to their Services off and on over 20 years .... they are not remotly the scary people they are made out to be, some of the best brightest most decent and honest people I have met have been scientologists.

The entire Premise behind scientology is to help people to think for themselves. It is an entirely uncult aspect.

In scientology, the one course that everyone gets free is Student Hat, which teaches people how to learn. How to study. Most of their courses are very pricy, but this was Hubbards gift to everyone, he believed so strongly in the need for people to be able to figure out how to know that this is free to everyone. (you do have to pay a small fee for the book / workbooks/ manual $25?? to cover material costs. But all the time in the course room and the instructor is free.

I havent been to Scientology for a long time and they do put a lot of pressure on people (but you should have seen a few of the other churches I tried to leave, oh the Amish church which is highly romanticized, when my cousins left one of them got beat with a ball bat because God to her father to do that, I could write a book of stories like that, never experienced anything like that from the Scientologists. Also they have a high ethics standard, you wont find any scientologist, that uses drugs, yet Crusie who jumps up and down professing his love (bad move) is demonized, and all the Hollywood druggies who do nothing but party and screw around with everyone and glorified. Its strange.

I dont consider myself a Scientologist, I have seen a lot of reliigon good and bad, but the over the board attacks against scientology just seem so totally out of whack with reality. I suspect the problem to an extend is that we are all afraid of that which we dont know or understand, and havent taken the time to lookn at the , other side of the attacks, there are always two sides and only listenting or becoming familiar with one. I have read all the Anti-Scientology Bare Faced Messiah, I have spend hours literally days reading the anti scientology stuuff on the net to make sure I have a decent perspoective, its hard to find the reality, becaause things get so dramatized in the press, I read all the stuff to make sure I had the crux of both sides. And my conclusion. There are some strange "believes" espoused in Hubbards early writings, but the practical application of what they teach is some of the best stuff I have ever run across. Similar with their "counseling" one of their counselers I got to know I asked him why he joined up with them, he laughed and said well its not for the pay, (staff gets paid very low wages) he was in social services for 20 years before, he said after a couple "auditing" sessions) which is what they call their consuling sessions, he saw people get results radidly , in hours or days for cases that normal counsling had not resolved effectively in years of treatment, he said the repidity of it ability in getting people "undepressed" and become responsible was just amazing and it was impossible to go back working in the social services environment he was in before.

Got a little carried away ... sorry