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Sure, all religions are "weird". But most religious organizations -- generally speaking -- genuinely have their members' best interests at heart. Scientology ha

Sure, all religions are "weird". But most religious organizations -- generally speaking -- genuinely have their members' best interests at heart. Scientology has no such concerns. I very much do not believe that is the case at all. I find it fairly absurd to believe it possible to accurately generalize about the members of any large organization in that manner. There are doubtless some very good people and some very bad people who are members of nearly any group, including religions.

lobster_johnson 14y ago
The difference is that the heads of Scientology know that their religion is not only completely made up, but was designed from the ground up to serve as a money-making machine for the organization's leaders. While the history of the Roman Catholic church is rife with corruption, its structure, dogma and so forth are all focused on faith, not wealth. With the Catholic church, corruption is a side effect; with Scientology it is the raison d'être.
- grandalf 14y ago
  are all focused on faith, not wealth How can you assert something like that? It's really quite preposterous. All religious organizations have a strong need to fundraise in order to continue to exist. Many churches I've visited are lined around the entire periphery with money receptacles that have candles on top. You pay a donation and then you may light a candle and access God, etc. The idea that faith motivates anyone (from clergy members to suicide bombers) is absurd. No matter how religious a person is, it's well known that faith is a goal and not a reality. Humans suffer from tremendous doubt. Angels, on the other hand, are faith robots which do not doubt... which is a consequence of their lack of free will. Humans are mostly the same. A sampling of San Francisco residents is likely to be just as prejudiced as a sampling of Alabama residents. Similarly, a sampling of Scientologists are just as likely to be corrupt as Catholics or Buddhists. As an even more general rule, all organizations tend toward corruption. What prevents corruption is not the virtue of individual members but things like transparency, competition, accountability, focus on results, etc. Religious organizations (and to a lesser extent political and corporate ones) have evolved and continue to evolve clever ways to avoid accountability, to avoid transparency, etc. Secular organizations suffer a big comparative disadvantage in that the results they claim to have delivered are typically expected to be observable by humans.

lobster_johnson 14y ago

The difference is that the heads of Scientology know that their religion is not only completely made up, but was designed from the ground up to serve as a money-making machine for the organization's leaders. While the history of the Roman Catholic church is rife with corruption, its structure, dogma and so forth are all focused on faith, not wealth. With the Catholic church, corruption is a side effect; with Scientology it is the raison d'être.

grandalf 14y ago
are all focused on faith, not wealth How can you assert something like that? It's really quite preposterous. All religious organizations have a strong need to fundraise in order to continue to exist. Many churches I've visited are lined around the entire periphery with money receptacles that have candles on top. You pay a donation and then you may light a candle and access God, etc. The idea that faith motivates anyone (from clergy members to suicide bombers) is absurd. No matter how religious a person is, it's well known that faith is a goal and not a reality. Humans suffer from tremendous doubt. Angels, on the other hand, are faith robots which do not doubt... which is a consequence of their lack of free will. Humans are mostly the same. A sampling of San Francisco residents is likely to be just as prejudiced as a sampling of Alabama residents. Similarly, a sampling of Scientologists are just as likely to be corrupt as Catholics or Buddhists. As an even more general rule, all organizations tend toward corruption. What prevents corruption is not the virtue of individual members but things like transparency, competition, accountability, focus on results, etc. Religious organizations (and to a lesser extent political and corporate ones) have evolved and continue to evolve clever ways to avoid accountability, to avoid transparency, etc. Secular organizations suffer a big comparative disadvantage in that the results they claim to have delivered are typically expected to be observable by humans.