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New York, 8:56 PM
Sat Nov 7
20 posts in the last 24 hours
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11/06/09
Aïcha, Aïcha, don't go away... #frenchnaturalization
11/06/09
11/06/09
You might admire them, but I don't think they get a cookie for finally being forced to have a discussion--not real change, just a discussion!--about an issue that's so central to their society. They should have discussed this and put policy in place decades ago. #frenchnaturalization
11/06/09
10/27/09
Laura Prepon
Danny and Chris Masterson
Jason Lee
Elisabeth Moss
Nancy Cartwright #scientology
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Tom Cruise has been interviewed saying that anyone can be a Scientologist: a Christian, a Jew, a Protestant, etc. This adds credence to the idea of Scientology as (at best) an EST-type of self-help philosophy, and for this and a hundred other reasons, is utterly undeserving of the tax-exempt status it receives as a religious organization. #scientology
10/27/09
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10/27/09
Cults like Scientology are a relatively new a phenomenon, like in the past fifty years or so. Cults brainwash and exploit their followers using methods that were perfected in Communist China. So no, Christianity and other religions were not like Scientology when they first started.
10/27/09
This is my own personal belief, but I think the line between church and cult is very grey. #scientology
10/27/09
10/27/09
It can of course be claimed that in the history of any major religion, shit has gone down. This can be said for any large group of people that's been around for awhile. It's unfortunate, but you get some people together, they get a little power, and then they abuse that power. The difference with Scientology, is its intentions, which from what I can see, is greed. #scientology
10/27/09
ps: when I say 'anyone who disagrees with them' I am not exaggerating. Just disagreeing is enough to get the COS outside your house passing fliers to your neighbors saying you are a child molester. #scientology
10/27/09
From WaPo:
Cults are typically defined by five characteristics. First, cults tend to centralize power in the hands of a single individual or small group that is considered beyond questions. Second, they treat all questions about the group and its beliefs as intolerable challenges to the group's authority and authenticity. Third, they demean all those who do not share their beliefs and sow fear and mistrust amongst their believers about all such people. Fourth, they typically cut off all or most opportunities for members to interact freely with those outside the group. And finally, they take revenge upon those who choose to leave the group, in ways which include, cutting them off from all relationships with those who remain inside, confiscation of material goods and even physical harm.
The fact that pretty much every religion has done all of these things at some point in history of the group means the while the line between cults and religions is clear, it is not fixed or static. In fact, most cults have the capacity to move past the kind of ugly behavior which defines them as a cult. And more importantly, most religions can and do slip into cult-like behavior from time to time. When they remain steadfast in such behavior, however old their tradition, or however popular, they become a cult.
[newsweek.washingtonpost.com] #scientology
10/27/09
i feel like what's more disturbing about modern religious formation is how they center around capital gain. scientology is one example, but within the ten years after the mormon church was founded it had something like 6 billion dollars in assets (reported in the London Times, 1865, i think; it's been a while, i can dig it up...), and is still very rich today.
whether or not you believe or partake in organized religions, it seems as though the dominant mode of creating a spiritual community has been through money and capitalism, rather than community. but maybe the capitalist system itself has become our primary community organization. #scientology
10/27/09
[en.wikipedia.org] #scientology
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10/27/09
And my boss thought it was hilarious! I was kinda hoping he might have called them and let them have it, but no such luck. He did go around telling everyone in the office about how they'd tried to bully me for calling their billboard tacky so I guess, at the end of the day, their response was counterproductive - instead of being taken seriously, they came across as a bunch of whiny nutjobs. #scientology
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This site breaks it down:
[faithresource.org] #scientology
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10/27/09
And yeah, lots of religions have cult-like traits. You could even find a lot of cult-like traits in non-religions, like the army.
(Mormonism doesn't make people isolate themselves and cut ties with others, by the way. It is a frequent target of the cult accusation by traditional Christians, though, who think Mormons are going to hell.)
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