Stopping the dangerous Cult Scientology. a global call to action.

by 23 Thu Feb 07, 2008 23:27

But seriously WS Burroughs did write on Scientology several times - his most significant work probably being "Ali's Smile or Naked Scientology" - if you go attempt to research it you'll find lots of websites telling you he was a fan (certainly he played with the primitive lie-detector toy which forms the basis of all intrusive soft-handling interrogation & data-mining sessions) but at end, in my opinion, I very much doubt either the techniques, or science fiction pantheon really interested him - not significantly did he as a cult writer suit the marketing strategy of Hubbard's scam. If any readers are interested in reading or downloading the text of "Ali's smile or Naked Scientology" they may do so here - http://www.holysmoke.org//cos/books/naked-scientology.pdf I think it's also worth remembering that the period in which he produced those texts, he is generally considered to have been on the cusp between Experiment & Subversion (mid 1960s to mid 1970s) & The Red Night Trilogy (mid 1970s to mid 1980s) His choice of title alone would suggest a less than favourable final assessment of Scientology & more a passing interest in the curious combination of modern mythology, self-help, & anti-psichiatry which the cult at that stage seemed unique in presenting. It is a curiously dated scam, that is one of the most striking things about it. At its birth, many on the fringes of psi research, cognitive liberty, pschodelik culture & a plethora of other synchretic belief patterns took brief & invariably disappointed peeks at it.

february 10th.
Abbey Street Dublin.

by oldbill Thu Feb 07, 2008 00:53

that he conducted surveillance on the scientologists and that their building in NYC burned down as he was doing so?

by agent smith Wed Feb 06, 2008 22:51

They don't drink coffee & they keep records of every name they encounter in Salt Lake City to baptise you & your ancestors without consent. Their huge presence in the CIA, FBI & USAF is a demographical anomaly & in modern Europe you are never more than 400 metres from one of their "elders".

But that said - it's scientology first.

Feb 10th. Abbey Street, Dublin.
http://www.indymedia.ie/article/86085

by sKam Wed Feb 06, 2008 18:19

read below and replace germany with ireland and scientology....

The German government considers the Scientology organization a commercial enterprise with a history of taking advantage of vulnerable individuals and an extreme dislike of any criticism. The government is also concerned that the organization's totalitarian structure and methods may pose a risk to Germany's democratic society. Several kinds of evidence have influenced this view of Scientology, including the organization's activities in the United States.

be nice wouldn't it....and accurate

by Don Wed Feb 06, 2008 13:32

I think there is a protest outside stevens green this sunday at 12:30pm then moving down to thier hq on abbey street. I love marches.

by predator of Xenu Wed Feb 06, 2008 00:21

Many readers (&/or) contributors to this site may be familiar with the ideas well articulated by Antonio Negri and Michael Hardt in their book "Empire" (2000) which you can download for free here http://www.angelfire.com/cantina/negri/ But for those who are not, the 2 marxist philosophers argued cogently that the current geopolitical framework is nothing more than an "Empire" with three capital cities or focal points in the dominant & hegomonic conglomeration of states (the USA). Those capitals are being political in Washington DC, economic in New York & cultural in Hollywood. No other cult or body of beliefs which purports to be a religion but is in fact an astoundingly aggressively protected money making scam & commercial enterprise has dominated Hollywood to such an extend as Scientology. The influence of the cult on global popular culture & its agenda far outweigh any cohesive communality which might be ascribed to the preponderence of one ethnic group which since the foundation of the cinematic culture industry was identified with Hollywood. In short, the work of the Scientologists has had more effect on script acceptance & movie plot ideas than any mythical jewish propaganda machine. A quick consideration of the film CV's of Scientology's most famous proponents will chart a development of warped & nonsensical notions of non-human intelligence, contact scenarios with extra-terrestial species & models of self-development or autonomy.

Yes. I concur there are many other cults out there which are & most certainly were much more dangerous on the use of pseudo-cognitive science, high technology, brain washing & disconnection fronts. Even to the point of developing & using WMD. IF you need an example I'd send you to this picture :- http://www.indymedia.ie/article/63543?&condense_comment...63375

But the example in that last link didn't appear on a billion telly or a million silver screens every month subtley honing an agenda & vision which is almost exclusively materialism.

or maybe I just needed a new bandwagon to jump on......................

by Coilín Tue Feb 05, 2008 17:20

This whole thread seems like a huge drama about very little.

I would say that Scientology is no more dangerous than the dozens of dietary fads that haunt the shelves of bookshops in towns and cities all over Ireland. In fact, I would say that some faddy diets are more dangerous than scientology.

Certainly, Scientology is based on pseudoscientific nonsense about engrams. According to one scientology book, if you fall off a ladder and hit your head and somebody yells "Shit!" then that will create what these pseudoscientists call an engram in your brain and this engram will cause disturbance in your life for which you will need to get "cleared" by going for sessions at a church of scientology. As a doctor, I can say that this is mumbo-jumbo. It might make you feel better, but so might therapeutic tattooing by a Nigerian witchdoctor, through a placebo effect. On the other hand, you are unlikely to catch hepatitis B by going to scientology.

Contrary to Mark's experience, the personality tests do not always say the same thing. I went for a personality test in the church of scientology on Tottenham Court Road, in London, about ten years ago. The test apparently showed that I was a bit irresponsible. I thought, "Yeah, actually, it was a bit irresponsible to use an out-of-date condom that time. I should check the date so they don't break." Mind you, I think most people could think of situations where they had acted irresponsibly. So I walked out without paying any money. Big deal.

Another time, I went into one of their places in Copenhagen. They gave me an anxiety test that involved holding two paddles and watching for the movements of an arrow when they mentioned things that might worry me. Nothing happened. "I'm very happy," I laughed. And the arrow swung from side to side when I laughed. "There!" one of the scientologists said. But laughing is not a sign of anxiety, I protested. I noticed that the arrow swung to the right whenever I gripped the paddles more tightly. Suddenly I got the idea: more current would flow if the anxious person got tense and gripped the paddles more tightly. Sweating might also make a difference. "Look," I said, squeezing rhythmically so that the arrow swung right-left-right-left-right-left at will. "This is not an anxiety test. It's an ammeter!"

They offered to sell me the Dianetics book. I pointed out that there is no scientific basis for the engram theory.

I eventually got annoyed that these people were promoting pseudoscience to the ignorant. There is already more than enough ignorance and superstition in the world. But I would not call this a dangerous cult. It's just a particularly worthless kind of business.

As I said, the whole thing is based on pseudoscientific bunkum. - But so are the contents of most of the faddy dieting books on the shelves at your nearest bookshop. And the motivation is much the same: the drive to make money through misinformed and misguided efforts to help people to better health.

So who's up for a picket outside Eason's, Waterstone's or Hodges Figgis this weekend? Suggested slogans for placards:
The only diet I know is: Yum-yum!
Pseudoscientific claptrap!
Food in bellies - books in bins!
No more bullsh*t! We need food!
Meet you all outside Eason's on O'Connell Street at 2pm on Saturday? We can hold speeches there, then march to Dawson Street and do some more ranting and raving outside Waterstone's and Hodges-Figgis? (Handy to have them both on the same street!)

Keep well.
Coilín.

by fair game Tue Feb 05, 2008 10:53

Glad you got away Mark. :-)

At this link you can watch the video which the cult of Scientology pressured Youtube into removing under its copyright protection privileges.

Here's part of what he said :- "When you're a Scientologist, and you drive by an accident, you know you have to do something about it, because you know you're the only one who can really help. We are the authorities on getting people off drugs. We are the authorities on the mind.... We are the way to happiness. We can bring peace and unite cultures. Now is the time. Being a Scientologist. People are turning to you. If you are a Scientologist, you see things the way they are, in all their glory, in all their complexity... It's rough and tumble. It's wild and woolly. It's a blast. It really is. It is fun. Because damn it, there is nothing better than going out there and fighting the fight, and suddenly you see -- boom! -- things are better. I want to know that I've done everything I can do, every day... I do what I can. And I do it the way I do everything."

http://gawker.com/5002269/the-cruise-indoctrination-vid...press
if that gets pulled - you can watch it here
http://defamer.com/344987/the-tom-cruise-indoctrination...o-see
if that gets pulled, it will just end up going on a "dot TK" or brazillan website & you'll find it again.

Today's English "Telegraph" newspaper picking up on the story declares that Cruise is now number 2 in the organisation. http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/20...6.xml

by Mark C Tue Feb 05, 2008 10:16

I had an experience with these people about ten or so years ago, between Leaving Cert. and first year in college.

We had be looking at cults in Religion class and had been told about Scientology and its dangers and also where their office was and where we could usually find a person at Supermacs on O'Connell St./Abbey St. offering free "Personality Tests". Our teacher told us to keep an eye out for these people, and under no circumstances should we allow ourselves to be taken for a "Personality Test".

Of course, at nineteen, I thought I'd certainly go for a test, just to see what the big deal was. Off I went, filled out a form, giving a false name and address and had my personality test. I filled out the test as honestly as possible and was then told that I seemed to be a very intelligent person, a trustworthy person, an informed person and so on ... but ... I was very low in self esteem and personal well-being and so on ... and ... if I was willing to go on a course of Dianetics things could change. Then the hassle began: do you have money for it now? Can your brother give you the money? There's an ATM machine around the corner; I can escort you there for the money? Give me your address and bank account details and we can get it wired to our account. You really need this course. It took about fifteen minutes to convince the man that I was a secondary school student, in Dublin for the day Christmas shopping, and would not be handing over any money for a "free" personality test.

Months later I decided to test the testers. I went back for a personality test, again using a false name and address and presented myself as a very depressed individual on the test questionaire. Result: the exact same: intelligent, trustworthy, informed, low self esteem ... give us your money.

And then a few months later I went back again and presented myself on the questionaire as the most happy-go-lucky individual and, or course, got the exact same results again. And, the same request: give us your money.

There seems to be a standard response to this personality test, no matter what your personality.

I haven't been back since.

by Anonymous - Anonymous - Ireland Tue Feb 05, 2008 09:45

There is a Dublin protest taking place outside of Middle Abbey St. at 12pm (Midday) on Feburary 10th to coencide with the other worldwide protests taking place in over 200 cities. See the Anonymous press release here: http://www.indymedia.ie/article/86085

@ Lisa Simpson
From ex-scientologists there have been many reports of child sex abuse from within the ranks of the Church of Scientology. Members of the Church of Scientology also actively encourages female members of its "Sea Org" organisation who signed a billion year contract to have abortions if they become pregnant. Many female members who have left have talked about having abortions performed against their will or being intimidated into having them done.

Their infultrating and illegal activities copying and deleting documents and history records inside of the US Government under "Operation Snow White" lead to several members including the wife of the founder, L. Ron. Hubbard, to be sent to prison and L. Ron himself to go into hiding for the rest of his life. Their convictions in Greece, Italy, France, Spain, Germany and other countries for homicide, criminal association, kidnapping, defamation, invasion of privacy, interfering with witnesses, fraud, establishing an illegal organization and numerous other criminal acts show that under the premise of a "Church" the Church of Scientology constantly harras and take part in illegal activities around the globe including Ireland.

The protest is against their criminal activities and their tricking and brainwashing of people. Anonymous believes in the freedom of speach and power of knowledge. Anonymous believes that if people wish to have faith and beliefs then they can do so FREELY and not have to pay thousands of euro to the Church of Scientology before they even find out what the beliefs of the 'church' are. They would encourage members of the Church who wish to practice Scientology do so under the Free Zone.

Faith and beliefs are free and you should never be forced to pay for them.
Knowledge is free.

- Anonymous

by Xenuphile Tue Feb 05, 2008 09:11

Which would scare the shite out of you more on a dark night in a cul de sac - Tom Cruise or Mel Gibson? John Travolta or Tony Blair?
Many Irish people by now are possibly waking up to the Ratzinger political inteference thing. VAT on condoms in Ireland & a legal challenge to a governmental inquiry into child sex abuse should be seen in line with last week's shocking declaration by the congress of bishops in Spain demanding RC members to vote against the PSOE party of Zapatero, a blatent abuse of their position which led to diplomatic exchanges with the Vatican. There is no doubt about it, throughout Europe there has been an obvious change of tack in the traditional nice bishop / nasty bishop routine. Ratzinger made his European agenda clear from the start - a return to ultra-traditional values & practise coupled with political use of the pulpit & cathedra was to be focussed on those states of the EU who had left the ironically stalinist fold of Rome to embrace materialism, consumerism, genital sensations between consenting adults & of course Galileo.

Let's do the dangerous cult of Scientology first & see how we get on, then we'll google bomb the "paedophile ring Roman Catholic church".

by Lisa Simpson Tue Feb 05, 2008 06:29

Given its recent actions with regard to sex abuse scandals and VAT cuts for condoms, shouldn't we be more concerned about stopping the dangerous cult Catholicism?

by Trendspotter Tue Feb 05, 2008 01:38

This site gives info on all sorts of cultish things going on around the world, including some dotty catholic outfits. I don't think they've done anything about Achill though.

http://www.esatclear.ie/~dialogueireland/

by Michelle Clarke - Social Justice and Ethics Tue Feb 05, 2008 00:49

I have added the Opus Dei link which has been opened to include the discussion on the Little House of Prayer in Achill.

Michelle

by com truise Tue Feb 05, 2008 00:22

If you want to see how scarily dangerous cult the church of scientology really is, you might want to have a look at www.lisamcpherson.org, which documents the case of a young woman who, her family believe, was tortured and killed by scientologists. The site shows, among other things, gruesome autopsy pictures and the sort of propaganda that the cult spreads about its enemies. Don't have nightmares.