The Science of Scientology

Scientology (the philosophy), consists of millions of words. 99% of that is available to anyone. It can be viewed in public libraries, purchased on EBay or Amazon, or purchased from the Church of Scientology. A tiny fraction is held confidential by the Church. The Xenu myth didn't come into public awareness because of the Freedom of Information Act, but mainly because a few individuals stole confidential Church information and distributed it. Is the myth significant? Thieves and critics would have you think so.
L. Ron Hubbard presented Dianetics, but not as a religion. Dianetics helps a person understand what they already know by helping a person view their experience, their memory.
Scientology is a study of knowledge, to understand knowledge. As Dianetics helps a person understand what they already know, L. Ron Hubbard applied that element broadly and called it Scientology - studying what you know, to understand what you know. When you understand what you know, you can use it and use it right away. You have a more free use of your knowledge.
Science would have anyone, anywhere, manipulate material in exactly the same way as some previous scientist, toward proving a result. Science experiments minimize the interaction of human beings toward achieving results, so that an experiment can be repeated again and again. Whereas Dianetics and Scientology require good communication, their results depend on good communication.

There's another misunderstood religion out there called .... name escapes me. Anyway, it was also started by this science fiction writer a few decades ago and their most advanced belief, Elena, is this idea that little green martians have visited Earth and are still in hiding in the frozen tundra of Alaska or Canada or something -- ready to do an alien invasion of mankind, and/or were part of human history, or some such. Anyway, this religion has been able to convert some big names and is raking in all kinds of money ... even using public money to gain converts, if you can believe it.

Anyway, no it's not Scientology. I just remembered the religion's name. It's called Cosmology. And Cosmologists all worship this dead scifi writer named Carl Sagan. He authored their bible called "Cosmos".

What a hoot!

(Funny how easy it is to spin something and make it look bizarre. More info at: http://scientologymyths.info )

Anyone can discover for him / herself if Scientology "how-to" methods developed by L Ron Hubbard make it easier to understand and solve problems in life.

There are 19 FREE internet Scientology courses that teach how to make it easier to get through life. Even the study material and online help are also FREE.

Visit: http://www.VolunteerMinisters.org. Select On-Line Cavalcade ("a group traveling together with a common purpose"), which is the online version of what is happening. Teams of Scientologists traveling worldwide teaching NON-Scientologists disaster relief and life improvement methods developed by L Hubbard. Millions of NON-Scientologists are now using Scientology self-help methods.

See / hear what NON-Scientologists (political, religious, social, military and medical professionals) say about the effectiveness of Scientology technologies to solve problems. Their video statements are on that sites “RESULTS” page.

Additional points of clarification:

1. Every major government has a department that carefully studies science fiction novels and short stories to determine if there are potential scientific developments that could assist their own interests. Science Fiction is a fictional story that contains as an important element scientific developments not yet in existence.

2. When Hubbard (who wrote every type of fiction to finance his research in the human mind) wrote Sci-fi, a major readership group was the scientific community, such as those at MITand the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. Hubbard was a respected colleague to a number of leading scientists.

3. Hubbard selected Astounding Science Fiction ("ASF") to publish his introductory book on Dianetics ("what the mind/spirit is doing to the body") BECAUSE ASF was the magazine of scientists and those who could think outside the box. The book is posted at: http://www.dianetics-theevolutionofascie...

RELIGIOUS BONA FIDES

The world’s most respected theologians and religious scholars, including Urbano Alonso Galan, a Vatican advisor on non-Catholic religions and Fumio Sawada, leader of Japan’s oldest religion (Yu-itsu Shinto), did individual in-depths studies. Each concluded that Scientology is a religion in every aspect. Read what these scholars wrote:

http://www.bonafidescientology.org/Appen...

One does NOT have to accept its core religious philosophy (the same as taught by Jesus Christ and Buddha): a person is an immortal spiritual being and the body is only a vessel to learn and use Scientology's self-help methods.

Hubbard's research & development in the field of the mind, body and spirit comprises more than 5,000 publications and 3,274 lectures -- considered the single largest body of knowledge produced by one person. Hubbard is the most translated author on earth.

I was a staffer in Scientology, from 1975 until 2003. I will gladly offer my opinions to anyone contacting me, contact info below.

Scientology is a dualistic belief system. Dualism is the belief that we are a spirit in a body.

The two MAJOR spiritual plateaus Scientologists strive for, are "Clear" which comes about midway in the long climb up the Bridge to Total Freedom, and then the top most goal is to become a "Full Operating Thetan".

Scientology's upper most spiritual levels, called OT 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7, require tens of thousands of dollars in donations to eventually complete, and are shrouded by official Scientology's punitive code of silence, where Scientologists suffer great penalty to divulge, which is why official Scientologists will NOT discuss the details of the genocide that Hubbard wrote occured 75 million years ago here on earth. Hubbard made grave penalties which stifle all plain everyday discussion of the Xenu genocide 75 million years ago.

Hubbard died (1986) before the widespread leaking of the Xenu genocide incident, and doubtless had he lived, he'd have thought up a solution to compromise on discussing this pivotal ancient explanatory event. The Xenu genocide simply is important since it explains the massive surplus of souls that exist on earth today, and these surplus souls infest all human beings, and Scientology's top levels to the Bridge to Total Freedom, the levels called OT 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 deal with unburdending Scientologists of their individual share of these surplus souls which infest all our bodies until we get rid of them using Hubbard's Scientology spiritual techniques.

Scientology inevitably provides comraderie, and lots of well intentioned friends, but the spiritual pot of gold at the end of the rainbow does NOT exist.

There is no demonstration by any Scientologist of their dualistic beliefs, no proof of the surplus souls infesting us all.

No proof of past lives. Dead L. Ron Hubbard (he passed away in 1986) has NOT returned in a new body yet officially.

So in truth, in the final analysis, unfortunately, Scientology falls short of delivering the spiritual goals Hubbard stated.

Professor Dave Touretzky of Carnegie Mellon University hosts, in my opinion, the best site of published writings on Scientology, and I invite people to read the books on Scientology:

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/

In hindsight, in my opinion, Scientology is unprovable spiritual placebo hype about spiritual abilities, just like other dualistic cults of the last century.

In hindsight, I also agree with almost ALL of the harsh criticism against Scientology on the internet, which today one finds everywhere.

Chuck Beatty
ex Scientology staffer (1975-2003)
412-260-1170 Pittsburgh, USA
http://www.freewebs.com/chuckbeatty77/
http://tinyurl.com/295khy
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/05205/542...

Anyone can determine on a personal basis the effectiveness of Scientology "how-to" methods to better understand and solve problems faced in life.

Sign-up for and take one -- or all -- of the 19 FREE courses by selecting "On-Line Cavalcade" at:

http://www.VolunteerMinisters.org

At the "RESULTS" section of the website is a video of non-Scientologists -- leaders representing nearly every aspect of society -- supporting Scientology effective solutions.

1. Scientology has NO scientific basis whatsoever.
2. The E-meter is a feeble effort to give the cult a scientific face.
3. The information provided by the cult is only half the story.
What about Fair Game? Disconnection? Suppressive Person declares? Black PR? Dead Agenting?
What about robbing money from vulnerable people like Maria Pia Gardini, Raul Lopez? What about the attacks on Paulette Cooper? What about the website ReligiousFreedomWatch that spreads flat out lies about former members and critics? What about the cult's prison camps RPF? What about the billion year contract, low wages and freeloader dept?
The writer of the article has done half the job and limited herself by only using information, provided by the cult. In no way objective, just the propaganda handed out to her by the cult.

Anyone can study Scientology life improvement courses. Sign up for 1 or all 19 FREE on-line courses at http://www.VolunteerMinisters.org

See the video of non-Scientologists commending these methods at the site's RESULTS page.

GOOD NEWS! CRIMINAL REHABILITATION

Every prison in Israel now utilizes L Ron Hubbard's criminal rehabilitation program because of its astounding success with as high as a 99% success rate -- meaning 99 out of 100 do NOT return to prison. See: http://www.Criminon.org and http://www.ABLE.org

At the core of the program is Hubbard's non-religious, non-political guide to happier living: The Way to Happiness, ("TWTH") supported by government agencies, religious and social leaders.

TWTH booklets are now being published in newspapers, and reprinted under the banner of Fortune 500 companies, government agencies and even sport teams and hotel chains.

See the PSAs at: http://www.TWTH.org

GOOD NEWS: HUMAN RIGHTS

Scientology's massive international program to make the UN’s Universal Declaration of Human Rights (1948) known throughout the world has made signficiant progress in raising awareness of the world community to the importance of the UN's invaluable document.

This Declaration was agreed by UN member states in 1948 to prevent a repeat of the horrors of World War 2 -- and was supposed to be taught in all schools in the world. It was quickly forgotten -- and the results since 1948 include countries admiting to torture, child slavery and genocide.

As one example of what Scientology is doing to make the Declaration known are its PSAs that received a standing ovation in the UN, and the DVD compilation of these PSAs are sold in the UN's bookstore.

See them at: http://www.YouthforHumanRights.org

For more information regarding the UN's Declaration and its importance to everyone:

http://www.scientology.org/humanrights
.
GOOD NEWS: NY's FINEST HEALTHIER

850+ firemen, police and other emergency responders who became seriously ill because of ingesting toxins during the World Trade Center cleanup are now healthier and having lives worth living (free from severe physical maladies) because of L Ron Hubbard's sauna detox program.

Read the following newspaper articles::

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/health_sc...

http://www.philly.com/inquirer/hot_topic...

http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=1079...

GOOD NEWS: NON-SCIENTOLOGY CHURCHES USING HUBBARD'S METHODS TO HELP THEIR CONGREGATIONS:

Details in the following newspaper articles:

http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/20/Tampab...

Scientology make it into the classroom
http://www.sptimes.com/2007/05/20/Worlda...

http://www.crosswalk.com/news/religionto...

I'm second to no one in my preference for Sarcasm over Scientology as a mode for dealing with the trials and vexations of life, but this embarrassingly juvenile attempt at humor (nearly) accomplishes the impossible feat of making the latter brand of idiocy seem (almost) sympathetic.

Your article was very accurate.

Some members have come in to this forum and tried to divert your statements by commenting on the "good" scientology does. Sometimes I am sure that they believe that what they are saying is true. Other times I believe they are grasping at straws to defend a philosophy that really makes little sense. Scientology has a drill called "TR-L" for "training routine lie". They call lies acceptable truths, gradient truths and shore stories. In Canada Scientology lawyers wanted evidence given by ex-Scientologists to be inadmissable in court because the ex-Scientologists were trained liars. I have stopped wasting my time checking out their claims for social good because so many of them, in the past, have been nonsense. And really, even if they were all true, they are accomplished by taking money from members, who can often not afford it, in exchange for the hope of having superpowers. It is all quite sad.

Those who think for themselves can take 1 or all 19 FREE Scientology life improvement courses and decide whether it provides useful solutions.

Visit: http://www.VolunteerMinisters.org. Select On-Line Cavalcade ("a group traveling together with a common purpose").

See the video of NON-Scientologists (political, religious, social, military and medical professionals) supporting the effectiveness of Scientology technologies to solve real life problems. The video is accessed from that site's “RESULTS” page.

Make your own decision. It's your life.

James, was it something I said?

@pk

Perhaps the Snark and Sarcasm you have so lovingly labeled ‘embarrassingly juvenile attempt at humor’ is too subtle to penetrate the thick cloud of superiority that must inevitably surround your person.

Besides, any sympathies this article may have aroused are quickly extinguished by the behavior of certain posters on this comment board.

The article was ridiculous. Most of the complaints and myths surrounding Scientology have been debunked endlessly over the years (including the ones mentioned here in the comments). Many of the most common ones can be found addressed here:

http://scientologymyths.info

The Church itself has addressed many of the most Common Misconceptions here:

http://faq.scientology.org ("Common Misconceptions" section.)

The anti-Scientology websites mentioned in the above comments are endlessly juvenile and self-contradictory -- written not with an honest attempt to understand and explain Scientology and Hubbard, but clearly with a desire to remain polarized and hateful. As Scientology goes more and more mainstream, their childish approach looks more and more based on the unfounded fear and ignorance that it is.

And finally, for the "ex-staffer" who was apparently not happy with his results in Scientology, fair enough. There are hundreds of thousands (if not millions) who are very satisfied with the benefits that Scientology has given them.

http://liveandgrow.org

PeterShilte wrote "Scientology has NO scientific basis whatsoever."

I disagree. Past lives have been scientifically validated for many years (do some research on the research done by Dr. Ian Stevenson in the 70s, for example).

"Exteriorization" (aka out-of-body-experiences and "remote viewing"), along with other paranormal functioning, have been scientifically validated. Look into the research of Stanford's SRI and SAIC, and the meta-analysis done by UC Davis' Jessica Utts. Not surprisingly, it turns out that the "acknowledged father of remote viewing" is Ingo Swann, an individual who reached a high spiritual level in Scientology in the early 1970s.

And if you want to stay closer to earth, then start doing some of the independent research that has been done on "sauna detox" as first developed by Hubbard. The results of independent research continue to validate the effectiveness of the sauna detox approach.

Search on "sauna detox" at:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez...

Typical: The UN Declaration is worldwide promoted by $cientology, says James. Yeah right. As if the UN needs anything from that cult! James has a very one sided view of his cult: the propaganda of the cult. Doesn't he know the cult only speaks about Human Rights, but doesn't allow them for its own followers? To give ONE example: The Rehabilitation Project Force RPF. And it is even there for children! For those who have no idea of what the RPF is: it are the cult's own prison camps where people do slave labor, are subjected to sleep deprivation and the food they get are literally leftovers! Some people have to stay for years in the cult's prisons! Why? Because many of the cult's management can put them there, and do so. Not for breaking any law, not even after a fair trial. No, sometimes only because a staffer doesn't like the victim! North Korea must be heaven, compared to this cult!

Scientology is knowledge. Anyone can use it. In the privacy of one's residence, an individual can take 19 separate on-line Scientology life improvement courses. All FREE, and all with free course study materials and free on-line help.

http://www.VolunteerMinisters.org

And see a video of government, religious and social leaders commending L Ron Hubbard's problem solving methods and the work of the Church of Scientology. The video is linked from the site's RESULTS page.

Rather a simple thing. Look for yourself. Try it out. Decide if it makes life easier to live. It's your life.

"Xenu, overlord of the Galactic Confederacy. . .(formerly known as Teegeeack)"

Can you imagine, investing all kinds of money, to be told this "secret"?

Scientology is a reinvention of other religions including Judaism, Christianity, Budhism & Hinduism in modern context.
With insight a person will find in Scientology these reinventions of other religions.The controlling techniques of both national socialism & communism can also be found reinvented in Scientology.
Scientology requires volumes of words for its reinvention of other religions & political persuasions.
Scientology is totally according to & on behalf of L Ron Hubbard the deceased founder of the subject.
The true story of the life of Hubbard should be found & read on the internet . Not the story as presented by Scientology about its founder.
The mind & spirit as presented by Hubbard is taken as gospel by converts to Scientology.
To have an own point of view about the mind & spirit can be regarded as heresy after anyone is converted to Scientology.
Scientology cannot tolerate disagreement with it taking the point of view that is is absolute.
Everything within Scientology is according to on behalf of Ron.
Scientology within its own framework is exceedingly undemocratic..
A converted & committed Scientologist to the asylum of the religion only wants to hear that the policies & so called tech. of Ron are absolute.They wear blinkers.
Once in Scientology a convert is implanted to believe that Scientology & its founder are never wrong & are always right.
This is how Hubbard reinvented God as himself.

SCIENTOLOGY RELIGIOUS BONA FIDES

Anyone can find out what the religious philosophy and practice of Scientology are, if not from a Scientology website, then certainly from non-Scientologists who are also the world's most respected theologians and religious scholars.

These scholars include Urbano Alonso Galan, a Vatican advisor on non-Catholic religions and Fumio Sawada, leader of Japan’s oldest religion (Yu-itsu Shinto).

These individuals did exhaustive research and each individually concluded that Scientology is a religion in every aspect. Hubbard was a philosopher and applied scientific methodology to the study of the spirit. His position is founder, nothing more.

God is God. How one seeks a personal relationshp with God or through another (such as Jesus Christ) to God is a personal decision -- independent of one's use of Scientology to increase awareness of one's own spiritual nature.

Details of Scientology -- an applied religious philosophy -- are fully covered in the analyses by these religious scholars. See:

http://www.bonafidescientology.org/Appen......

RELIGIOUS SCHOLARS' ANALYSES OF SCIENTOLOGY

http://www.bonafidescientology.org/Appen...

The research at Stanford on Scientologist Ingo Swann on out-of-body experience was run by none other than Scientologist Harold Puthoff. This is hardly an double blind test. Puthoff also said that Uri Geller was a genuine superhuman. Forgive me if I don't check out the other studies.

Boy longele, are you talking about Scientology and Hubbard, or are you talking about Buddhism and Buddha ... or Christianity and Christ .... or Mormonism and Smith ... or [hated religion here] and [hated religious leader here] ... ad infinitum.

Every one of your arguments, longele, could be made about every religion out there.

equus_posteriori wrote: "Can you imagine, investing all kinds of money, to be told this "secret"?"

And can you imagine learning about and appreciating the world's religions by using South Park as your basis?

Wow, the Rondroids are out in full force. In their little sci-fi world, reincarnation is a "fact" and psychiatry is part of a vast, eeeeevil, intergalactic plot hatched over trillions (yes, trillions with a t) of years. That would be funny if so many people hadn't paid so much money to learn the "truth". For an example of Elron's crackpot "science" at its laugh-inducing best, read "A History of Man", truly a towering achievement in unintended hilarity. If you have to pay vast sums of money to see your god . . . well, you'd better get another god.

RichardRosen wrote: "Forgive me if I don't check out the other studies."

Oh Richard, so predictable. Ever hear of reproducibility in the scientific method? Apparently not.

If we're not happy with the independence of the original work, don't you think looking into followup double- and triple-blind studies is valuable? For example, the later ones done by SRI and SAIC. And of course the analysis done by statistician Jessica Utts.

But it's ok, Richard. Your mind is clearly made up. You don't need to look any further.

To everyone else, please feel free to do the research I suggested. It's very insightful.

Ah Artoo ... our little wind-up Scientology hater.

It must really get your goat to see people jumping on the Scientology bandwagon ... having great success in life and acknowledging Scientology and Hubbard for providing the help and inspiration they needed ... despite all these years of your trying to ward them off.

Interesting.. all of these web-sites with information debunking the critics of Scientology are funded and run by the Church of Scientology.

I'm sure thats just a coincidence.

Money wrote: "all of these web-sites ... are funded and run by the Church of Scientology"

Oh, so the "National Institute of Health" is funded and run by the Church of Scientology? And philly.com (The Philadelphia Inquirer) is also run by the Church of Scientology?

I guess in the world of fantasy and conspiracy theories (which most of the anti-Scientology websites mentioned above tend to resort to), you might just be right.

On the other hand, the websites http://scientologymyths.info and http://liveandgrow.org are funded and run by private Scientologists. The former provides independent and verifiable documents and records which debunk most of the Scientology myths. And for those interested in Scientology's *actual* spiritual roots, I would recommend these websites ... funded and run by a Hindu/Scientologist (and MIT alum):

http://www.geocities.com/Vinaire/Religio...
http://www.geocities.com/Vinaire/Religio...
http://www.geocities.com/Vinaire/Religio...

Thats weird.. NIH has absolutely nothing to say about Scientology.

Otherwise, the following websites, which are presented here as impartial sources of truth, are all run by, or connected to Scientologists.

http://www.bonafidescientology.org
http://www.VolunteerMinisters.org
http://liveandgrow.org

My personal favorite:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez...

A sauna as a way to purify yourself? Really? Discovered by Hubbard you say? Here I thought the Native Americans have been using sweat lodges for a millennium without any help from space aliens.

Money first states "NIH has absolutely nothing to say about Scientology" ... and then later cites nih.gov which provides independent research into Hubbard's "sauna detox" protocol.

Sounds like someone can't make up their mind.

So Money, does independent research at NIH.gov not describe the "sauna detox" protocol as developed by Scientology's founder as "very effective for certain cardiovascular problems and as a means to enhance the mobilization of fat-soluble xenobiotics"?

And shall we dig into Crinnion's paper further (and numerous independent books by doctors and scientists) where this protocol is described as stemming from Hubbard and where Hubbard is acknowledged as the prime developer of "sauna detox" as it is practiced today in untold numbers of non-Scientology-related clinics around the world?

No amount of sophism is going to prove your point, Lake.

The article on sauna detox, hosted on the NIH website you provided a link to, has absolutely nothing to do with Scientology. As I previously stated.

That there are detoxing benefits to saunas has been know to various cultures around the world for longer than Science Fiction.. ahem.. that is Scientology has existed.

Now for the grand finale, you are going to post a link to a completely impartial web site that tells everybody how Hubbard also single handedly invented the sauna.

Money wrote: "The article on sauna detox, hosted on the NIH website you provided a link to, has absolutely nothing to do with Scientology."

Wrong. The "sauna detox" protocol discussed in the research article at the nih.gov website is the same as Scientology's "Purification Program". It is pure Scientology.

Your remaining spin and hand-waving does nothing for your case.

Ok, lets postulate for a minute, that Hubbard DID invent saunas. I wouldn't try to prove it to Alaskan Eskimo ( http://www.cyberbohemia.com/Pages/histor...), who have been using this method of purification for the last five hundred years. Maybe they learned it from space aliens as well.

Regardless, how exactly does this further your goal of validating Scientology? Does a spa treatment somehow erase the money centric worship system, or the cult like miasma that permeates everything scientology related?

For Lake: Lake I know four OT's. Not one of them can create a supernatural phenomenon. Go to the James Randi site, randi.org. He will give you a million dollars for a OT phenomenon. The money is real. No one has tried him because there are no OT phenomenon. You are right. After years of being a Scientologist and many years of not being a Scientologist I have made up my mind. I've been waiting since 1970. Is that long enough for me to make a decision? Put up or shut up.

Great claims take great proofs. Show me some of your control knowing and at will over matter, energy, space and time. I'm waiting. As is me. I'm waiting.

What you have done very well is convinced a small group of people that you can give them these powers for a large sum of money. Go on. As is me. I await your bolt from the blue.

I'm positive the Walter Crinnion is a $cientologist it'll take quite a bit of research to uncover Dr. Crinnion true agenda but I've already discovered that he was one of those advocates that years ago complained that playground equipment was treated with minuscule amounts of arsenic used as a preservative. His paranoid fear of toxins seems to be inline with $cientology's beliefs.

I used to play on such playground equipment and thousands of other children did also. No child ever got sick.

It's also worth noting that on NIH that lake likes to reference there's also a story about a "Infantile scurvy". Apparently there was a $cientologist family that followed L Ron Hubbard's advice for feeding their baby a diet of "boiled mixture of organic whole milk, barley, and corn syrup devoid of fruits and vegetables", and their child contracted Infantile scurvy. Hubbard was a charlatan not a scientist.

Quoted from website ncbi.nlm.nih.gov: "ediatric Dermatology, University of Miami, Miami, Florida 33125, USA. cynthiajburk@yahoo.com

Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is necessary for the formation of collagen, reducing free radicals, and aiding in iron absorption. Scurvy, a disease of dietary ascorbic acid deficiency, is uncommon today. Indeed, implementation of dietary recommendations largely eradicated infantile scurvy in the US in the early 1900s. We present a case of an otherwise healthy 2-year-old Caucasian girl who presented with refusal to walk secondary to pain in her lower extremities, generalized irritability, sleep disturbance, and malaise. The girl's parents described feeding the patient an organic diet recommended by the Church of Scientology that included a boiled mixture of organic whole milk, barley, and corn syrup devoid of fruits and vegetables. Physical examination revealed pale, bloated skin with edematous, violaceous gums and loosening of a few of her teeth. Dermatologic findings included xerosis, multiple scattered ecchymoses of the extremities, and perifollicular hemorrhage. Laboratory and radiographic evaluation confirmed the diagnosis of scurvy. The patient showed dramatic improvement after only 3 days of treatment with oral ascorbic acid and significant dietary modification. In this case report, we revisit the old diagnosis of scurvy with a modern dietary twist secondary to religious practices. This case highlights the importance of taking a detailed dietary history when evaluating diseases involving the skin.

PMID: 17428115 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]"

Richard,

James Randi is an entertainer, not a scientist. In his supposed test, he is the sole judge and jury. His tests are not based on science or the scientific method. The information that I cited, on the other hand, is.

Suggested reading: http://alternativescience.com/james-rand... (and an excellent site, overall)

If you want to learn further about independent, controlled scientific testing done of OTs, I invite you to google Scientology OTs such as Pat Price, Ingo Swann, Hal Puthoff and others.

Searchlight, Re: Crinnion. He's not a Scientologist.

Re: the Barley formula, Hubbard never suggested the formula "devoid of fruits and vegetables". On the contrary, Hubbard was a strong supporter of necessary vitamins and nutrients, at all ages.

Additionally, the Church of Scientology doesn't require Scientologist parents to use any particular method (or baby formula), to raise or feed their kids -- other than a healthy diet lacking in Ritalin.

Alien souls are clouding my mind!

"Alien souls are clouding my mind!"

That, or that South Park DVD you got for your birthday.

Lake . . . sweet, kindly, somewhat deluded Lake,
I don't hate Scientology . . . I love the first amendment that allows us the ability to have this discussion. The amendment that allows me to make fun of all religions or lack thereof, and you the right to take a swipe back at me. This exchange would certainly be suppressed and shut down by the paranoid likes of Li'l Davey and Elron if they had their way. It's Scientology's self-importance and absolute lack of humor and irony that makes it so very tempting as a target for satire. But no satire can touch Hubbard's own writing for sheer hilarity. Hate Scientology? How could I hate something that has made me laugh so hard?

Artoo wrote "I love the first amendment that allows us the ability to have this discussion"

Well then, we're in agreement on something. As apparently is the Church of Scientology, whose Code (authored by Hubbard) includes:

"We of the Church believe ... that all men have inalienable rights to think freely, to talk freely, to write freely their own opinions and to counter or utter or write upon the opinions of others."

http://www.whatisscientology.org/html/pa...

Scientology is a religion because it is a reinvention in modern context of other religions. Obviousy if other religions are reinvented then the outcome is to derive a religion.
Scientology though is also a reinvention of psychology.
In such context it can still be regarded a religion because psychology literally means a study of the psyche or soul.
It took clever marketting to reinvent other religions & psychology to get the religion of Scientology.
The market was ready for a religion in modern context despite not realizing that such religion was a reinvention of established religions.
Something for everyone in a religion reinvented from other religions & from psychology.
Even reinvented science was introduced as being the fundamental basis to the Scientology religion.
A clever marketting person like Hubbard researched & developed the products & services for his own religion based on the reinventions of established religions & on psychology.
It is very true that to establish a successful religion a person doing this can make a fortune.
It requires though a degree of workability from an invented religion otherwise the market for such religion would not stay commited to its asylum as an unsatisfied longing never satisfied for its purpose.
Amen
.

Lake, I still await the OT bolt from the blue. You and/or your homeys have control over matter energy, space, time, life and thought. It's been 18 hours.

Randi is not a trained scientist and he is quite open about that, unlike your cult leader L.Ron Hubbard who was not a scientist but bought a Ph.D. from Sequoia University (a diploma mill), claimed to be an engineer after one year at George Washington University and called himself a nuclear physicist after receiving a "D" on one university level course. But Randi, understanding scientific method and having been a stage magician, does understand how conjurors can try to fool people and make it look like mystical intervention. There are many people who will try to do this to cheat people out of money. Houdini did much the same thing as Randi is doing 80 years ago. He wasn't a scientist either.

Of course you may disagree. If you do be aware that James Randi, at randi.org goes after cult leader L.Ron Hubbard on this week's blog. You guys should get him for that and for being such a fraud. Get an OT to go over there and show him some OT phenomenon. Film it all just like you did with the journalist from the BBC who tried to embarrass you. After Randi doesn't come across with the James Randi prize of one million dollars you WILL OWN HIM. He will be your bitch. He will have to quit the whole supernatural debunking business. Me and everyone else will finally realize what a cheap conman Randi is. Pass that one along.

By the way, when I was involved with the cult, two OT8's, a husband and wife, died in a car crash. The members wondered why two people who had control over matter, energy, space, time, life and thought would have done such a thing. I don't remember their names but then again I am not a clear with perfect memory and it was a long time ago. Ask around. Because of that and many other reasons most of the staff and public cleared out. They just didn't think that that end product was worth all that money. I don't think the local cult office ever recovered the people who left and that was more than 30 years ago. Of course then you claimed 15 million members world wide. Today you claim 8 or 10 million depending on factors I am unaware of, and to be the fastest growing religion in the world.

Well if deadly car accidents show off OT powers, I will stick with being a wog. And Lake, I don't expect to convince you of anything, I just want any impressionable individual, as I once was, to understand that there is more to it than Scientologists may present.

Travolta Hospitalized With Critically Low E-Meter Reading

http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Secrets/E-Met...

Hey Richard Rosen,
Great post above! I too await what will surely be the world-changing event of my life: the day an OT does something measurably supernatural. Maybe the much delayed Soooper Doooper™ Power® Building with those fancy gyroscope thingys will finally let the OTs reach their state of All MEST Up™.

RichardRosen writes "But Randi, understanding scientific method and having been a stage magician...."

Richard, I was a stage magician too, and I'm also a trained scientist. And I understand the scientific method, as well as Scientology.

Your anecdotes and ad hominem are very colorful. They do very little, however, if we're interested in getting to the bottom of whether paranormal phenomena and OT abilities are real or not.

I would suggest you do the research I mentioned above.

Artoo wrote: "I too await what will surely be the world-changing event of my life: the day an OT does something measurably supernatural."

No need to wait then, Artoo. Simply google "Pat-Price".

Or are measurements from scientific experimentation just not good enough for you?

Hey Lake: Flunk, non-confront!

I'm confronting things quite well, Richard.

I don't live in a fairy world where car accidents don't happen and people aren't supposed to die. Or where because Einstein flunked physics, we assume he is stupid. Or because Carl Sagan wrote sci-fi, it means he's incapable of being scientific.

Overall, I don't think PR antics (such as Randi's bloviation), trumps hard, repeatable scientific evidence.

You, however, appear to be caught in this fairy world.

To you I am in a fairy world.

To me and to anyone else who has read your holy scripture, you are living in a world of DC-8 space planes, perfect memories, perfect eyesight for people who once needed glasses, suspended animation, southern negroes who talk to hats, levitating ashtrays, exteriorization after looking at books and bottles, Xenu the Galactic Overlord, gaining up to 30 pounds by thinking because thought has mass, trains on Venus, a hot Van Allen belt, visits to heaven, souls living in doll bodies, and Christianity as a form of mental illness.

In short, you live in a 1940's Science Fiction novel created by a hack pulp writer.

Lake, you fished me in. More time wasted. I checked out Jessica Utts. Here is what I found on first hit:

"In 1995, the American Institutes for Research (AIR) appointed a panel consisting primarily of Utts and Dr. Ray Hyman to evaluate a project investigating remote viewing for espionage applications, which was funded by the Central Intelligence Agency and Defense Intelligence Agency, and carried out initially by Stanford Research Institute and subsequently by SAIC.

The two reports opposed each other, with the Utts' report saying "a small to medium psychic functioning was being exhibited" and that "future research should focus understanding how this phenomena works, and how to make it as useful as possible. For instance, it doesn't appear that a sender is needed. Precognition in which the answer is not known until a future time, appears to work quite well". [1] Hyman's report stated that Utts' conclusion that ESP had been proven to exist, "especially precognition, is premature and that present findings have yet to be independently replicated".[2] Funding for the project was stopped after these reports were issued."

Wulp, that might be good enough for you... I won't waste any more time on it at all. I feel foolish and dirty, just having checked that out.

Elena Gray-Blanc states her intention: "This column will attempt to clear up some of the confusion surrounding Scientology". She then states: "Dianetics is clearly based in fact". And she goes on to say that Astounding Science Fiction must have made a grievous error to have first published Dianetics. A close examination of that history would reveal why Hubbard first published Dianetics there.

But then Elena then presents mis-information as if it were fact: "it’s difficult not to be confused when confronted with a religion supposedly based upon science" -- No, neither L. Ron Hubbard nor the Church of Scientology has ever said that Scientology is based on science. Although it uses modern technology, it is a religion because its subject is the human spirit. Then she goes on, mis-evaluating Hubbard's writing: "it is actually based on the theories of a science fiction writer". Yes -- Hubbard's prolific writing included science-fiction, romances, westerns, mysteries, other fiction and non-fiction. The Guiness Book of World records declares him to be the world's most widely translated author. She says that Scientology says "That all humans are actually spirits known as thetans". Well, that's close but human beings are human beings. Spirits are spirits by whatever name. Does a human being have some relationship with spirit, might the opposite be true? Scientology addresses that area.

'What is Scientology' is a thick book. Study Technology, a Volunteer Minister Program, membership, administration and a host of things are spelled out in it. Elena though, doesn't see confusion in that. Instead, half of her article talks about her mis-evaluation of the importance of a tiny sliver of information in a vast sea of 40 million words, millions of dollars of real estate, litigation, and vast news coverage. This creates confusion, Elena, because you have written half of your article about a tiny portion of the Church's work.

Richard wrote "the Utts report saying 'a small to medium psychic functioning was being exhibited'"

Yes, it was a meta-analysis of all the work that had been done over the previous two decades or so. It included many studies done of your average Joe, as well as those who believed they had stronger paranormal abilities than usual. The average across all groups was a "small to medium psychic functioning".

If you spend some more time looking into Hal Puthoff's and Russell Targ's work, I think you will find that the Scientology OT's results were among the strongest. Pat Price was off the chart, getting p values in the range of 10^35.

One should keep in mind that both users Terryeo and James Lightfield are members of not only Scientology but also the black ops department of Scientology, the group called OSA. It is their JOB to troll the internet and post comments such as they have here.

For more information on both please view:

http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/Ter...