Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief

[Clueless Morgan]

So are you saying Gold Base is Rivendell?

[Jackalope]

So are you saying Gold Base is Rivendell?

Maybe?

[Minimalist]

[Aractus]

Scientology is not really a religion. And the reason I say that is because psychiatry - that thing they're opposed to - is not a religion.

Have a look at their website Citizens Commission on Human Rights in which they make various claims including that "psychiatry is not a science", that "mental illnesses are not medical diseases", and that "mental illnesses are an invention by psychiatry in order to sell drugs".

Now I've just written, what I thought was a difficult essay to write, in which I had to look at the various causes of major depression and decide whether nature or nurture is more to blame. The answer, in case you're wondering, is that non-modifiable risk factors are mostly to blame and that the modifiable ones account for less cases. But even more importantly, all the literature supported the fact that pharmacotherapy was the most cost effective medical intervention, noting of course that many patients also require professional psychological treatment. And, contrary to what drug companies would want to hear, the older medications generally worked better than the newest ones.

Scientology established the "Citizens Commission on Human Rights" in 1969, one year after DSM-II was released. This is back when the DSM listed homosexuality as a sociopathic personality disturbance. That wasn't changed until 1974. And there were plenty of other problems with psychiatry back then including moral issues, which I don't disagree at all about, but the fact is that it is a science and it's advanced hugely over the past 40 years. Especially when it comes to how mental illnesses are defined - and yes a mental illness is classified as a medical illness that has at least some symptoms which manifest in the brain or mind of the patient. They can be caused by physiological things just like other medical illnesses can, and then can be caused by psychological disturbances as well, such as childhood sexual abuse. In short they are a recognised form of non-communicable disease and Scientology claiming otherwise is complete nonsense.

[Clueless Morgan]

Scientology is not really a religion. And the reason I say that is because psychiatry - that thing they're opposed to - is not a religion.

Please tell this to the IRS.

[Foxaèr]

I live here in Clearwater, Florida only a few miles away from the facility, and seeing them walking around on a daily basis is scary enough to ensure I never join.

[dyresand]

Scientology is not really a religion. And the reason I say that is because psychiatry - that thing they're opposed to - is not a religion.

Please tell this to the IRS.

Yeah they need to be taxed along with other religious "institutions". 

[Aractus]

Well that's a good point. It is recognised as a religion by the Australian authorities, but it's not recognised in a number of other western countries.

[Minimalist]

I'd say that you have to be pretty fucking stupid not to realize that scientology is a pile of made-up shit.  But then, the same is true of jesusism and allahism so that really can't be used as a basis for determining.

[DeistPaladin]

Here's a related topic I thought of when I saw this documentary:

Was Hubbard crazy or a con man?

Personally, I vote "crazy". A con artist would have invented a much better story. The stuff about Xenu was just so batshit, it would make the Book of Revelation and the Quran look like lucid, Pulitzer material.