Would you vote for a Scientologist?

[brewer]

OP: Short answer........ nope.

[zwanzig]

No, I wouldn't vote for any cult. And if I voted for a cult member, I wouldn't be voting for them but for the Starro that was currently controlling their brain. Whether they were Scientologist, JW, Mormon, etc.

I do not believe for a second that you could have a Scientologist in a position to run for office and they'd simply be a superficial adherent to the ideology. No way. They'd be a puppet even before their name was put out on the campaign trail.

I'd hesitate to vote for someone that was overly religious or seemed to mention God too much. I don't think I can trust the judgement of someone who hasn't examined their belief system critically, or a Christian who puts the God of the Bible on the pedestal of where they get their moral standards from.

[Fake Messiah]

It seems to me that people would not vote for a Scientologist because he (or she) would most likely push his religion and dogma in more prominent positions, as well as funnel money to the church of Scientology, which is something that Christianity has already done/ is doing when they impose their dogma everywhere like in hospitals, schools and even International politics like when they want to fulfill "prophecies" from the Bible and support Israel against the Muslims to be awarded by Jesus when he supposedly returns.
https://youtu.be/dmWL0I3oytw

So perhaps Scientologist's dogma may not be so much worse as it would be devastating use of resources since there is already Christian dogma that is doing the damage, so non-Christian's people attitude is "Better go with those who already stole the money and done the damage than with the new ones who are yet to steal and do the damage."

[Rev. Rye]

I was going to look into whether there was actually any precedent for Scientologists holding public office, and it turns out there was one: Sonny Bono. And it looks like he was never really out as a Scientologist, since he put “Roman Catholic” on all official documents and campaign materials. And he was possibly estranged from the Church if statements from his widow are any indication.

And FWIW, he was a Republican, which made him a nonstarter for me.

As for an out Scientologist, well, maybe if the only other choice is a Republican, but I doubt there’d be much of a chance of them getting that far. It’d probably be much more like a repeat of Trump with all the unscrupulosity (if they’re likely to still use Fair Game on the level of a campaign, which is a distinct possibility) and none of the racism, which, frankly, was probably Trump’s biggest selling point.

[zwanzig]

Hm, that's very true. @Fake Messiah It's a bias I know I have and occasionally become aware of, elevating Christianity and even Judaism and Islam because they're familiar and feel "modernized". But they're no different than pagan religions or childhood beliefs in Bogeyman and Santa Claus. The mindset of a Christian who blindly obeys because "the Bible said it" is not more sophisticated or any more intellectually honest than a Scientologist talking about the benefits of Dianetics. 

So, yes, I do give preference to Abrahamic religions among politicians and acknowledge that this is not consistent or based on anything other than my residual indoctrination.

[GUBU]

Do you think that a Scientologist can be "normal" enough to hold any political position? For example, I remember that Mitt Romney because he is a Mormon was considered too insane for President although he is a Senator.

*shrug* I've been voting for religionists since I was old enough to vote, and society steadfast refuses to crumble.

Romney didn't lose that election because he's an insane Mormon, he lost it because 1) he was stupid enough to say - out loud - that he 'didn't care' about 47% of the electorate and 2) because he had the misfortune to run against Barack Obama.

Boru

And 3) his party didn't bother trying that hard to steal the election for him.

[Foxaèr]

After Trump, a scientologist might be preferable in the absence of a reliable Democratic candidate. And I don't mean the Electoral College pushing its agenda to elect the opposite of the Democrat just because it ignorantly thinks we need to have this nonsensical waffling of parties happening.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

If the Scientologist was running against a deadman, I'd vote for the corpse.

[Anomalocaris]

For a democracy to work the electorate must be disciplined enough to always embrace the lesser of two evils and the necessary means to make sure the path is not toward greater evil.   Given 2016-2020 it has become quite probable that a Scientologist in an election will be the far lesser of the two evils.

[BrianSoddingBoru4]

Wasn’t there a flap in the 1960 election that if Kennedy was elected, he’d take his marching orders from the Pope? I wasn’t around then, but I’m pretty sure that didn’t happen.

Boru