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Regarding Scientology...

cwhatever said:
i totally agree with that!!!!
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Looking at those pictures and thinking about the millions and millions of dollars they obviously spent on that compound is mind boggling. I can't help wondering how in the hell they entice all these rich celebrities into pouring their money into this. I mean, their beliefs are pretty out there.
 
I can't claim to be an expert on Scientology. I confess that a lot of their beliefs seem wacky and strange to me, but I worship a Jewish carpenter who I firmly believe rose from the dead. That's kind of weird in it's own right. I've no doubt there are abuses in the organization. There are abuses in any organization that size regardless of it's goals. I'm not sure where the evil is in Scientology. At least I can't see it.
 
Gmash said:
Well the Catholic church has had slightly more time to amass their fortune lol.
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It appears another religious organization is pondering if money is the root of all evil.:(

Prosecutors investigate Vatican Bank mafia link - Telegraph

"Investigators want to know more about vast sums of money that are said to have passed through his account to establish if they were money laundering operations by on the run Mafia Godfather, Matteo Messina Denaro."
 
A.Nonymous said:
Money is not the root of all evil. Not sure where anyone gets that idea without mis-reading stuff.
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Some Christian sects have it as one of their tenets, but I'm no expert in this belief system.

1 Timothy 6:10 King James Version (Cambridge Ed)
"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
 
OutofDate1980 said:
Some Christian sects have it as one of their tenets, but I'm no expert in this belief system.

1 Timothy 6:10 King James Version (Cambridge Ed)
"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows."
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Bolded the important part. Any Christian sect (and I know there are some) that thinks money is evil has failed to actually read their Bible or even think things out to their logical conclusion. If money is the root of evil, then the Apostle Paul is telling us that we must accept a root of evil in our lives just to survive. Try to live without money at all. It's difficult. In the US at least you basically have to eat out of dumpsters and live in caves. Plus, Paul also teaches that if you don't provide for your own, you're worse than infidel. How do you provide for your own with no money at all? Either you have money (and thus are introducing a root of evil into your lives) or you are allowing others to do so for you and encouraging them to accept evil. Plus, Jesus carried money (which he put Judas in charge of). So the very Savior the sect worships has a root of evil in his life that he tolerates and accepts. WTF is up with that?

If you read the scripture, it says the love of money is the problem. Then this verse is just an admonition against greed. That makes a whole lot more sense. Pretty much every religion in existence (Eastern and Western alike) admonish their adherents against greed.
 
Gmash said:
Scientology beliefs and practices - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I don't think anybody is saying money itself is inherently evil. The "root" of all evil implies the temptation and greed that are part of human nature that goes along with money are causes of evil (if one believes in such things). But maybe its just that all of these alien spirits possessing our bodies are greedy bastards.
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Again, if you argue that money is the root of all evil, then you have to accept that just to survive in this world we have to harbor a root of evil. To me it's a really crappy religion if it tells it's adherents to embrace at least a little bit of evil.
 
A.Nonymous said:
... If you read the scripture, it says the love of money is the problem. ...
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Concede that your interest in myths, legends, folktales, and fairy tales exceeds mine.

The OP referred to Scientology as a cult, which can also refer to any creed.

Creeds are composed of people sharing common beliefs, but some people in any organization may take to the extreme Al Davis's motto, "Just win, baby."

My statement "It appears another religious organization is pondering if money is the root of all evil.", is not a quote or misreading of anything, just a comment, notice the use of the conjunction "if", on the latest scandal involving a creed.

In this alleged evil, money was involved and is being criminally investigated. At least this time underage boys do not appear to be involved.:eviltongue:
 
OutofDate1980 said:
Believe there's an outpatient procedure to cure the heart break of possession. Visit your local exorcist to learn more.:D

The Exorcism of Emily Rose (2005) - IMDb
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Love that movie!
So, when does a cult become a "legitimate" religion? Is it just the number of believers or some other measure? It seems like Mormonism is getting close to crossing the line. I'm curious to see if people will really feel comfortable voting for Romney when they inevitably start learning more about the Mormon beliefs.

Just for the record, I'm agnostic. I'm not trying to pick on anyones religion, I don't support any organized religion.
 
It seems to me that one man's religion is another man's cult. IME the dividing line seems to be whether the person making the statement is a fan of said religion or not. There's no doubt that Scientology is a highly structure, perhaps highly controlling organization. The thing is that some people thrive and prosper in such organizations and some people don't. If it works for them, I have no problems with it. I wouldn't last two seconds. But then I wouldn't last two seconds in the military either for the same reason.
 
There should be no tax exemptions for religious organizations. By definition they are a creed and provide no benefit to the general public, only to the subset that comprise the members of said creeds.

Why should non members property taxes be higher to subsidize exclusive creeds that pay no property taxes?
 
OutofDate1980 said:
There should be no tax exemptions for religious organizations. By definition they are a creed and provide no benefit to the general public, only to the subset that comprise the members of said creeds.

Why should non members property taxes be higher to subsidize exclusive creeds that pay no property taxes?
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Should there be tax exemptions for organizations like a local animal rescue then? They also provide no benefit to the general public. The dog catcher catches stray and nuisance animals and the public pays for it as they should as they all benefit from this service. What happens with the animal after that the public doesn't care about. An animal rescue (or a zoo for that matter) provide benefits to only those who patronize them the same way churches do.
 
Gmash said:
...you just can't make this stuff up...:confused:

please read>>>Tom Cruise and Katie Holmes divorce: Inside Scientology's Sea Org which Suri faced joining | Mail Online

In my OPINION, Scientology is a dangerous cult. Anybody who disagrees, feel free to share. I'm open to hearing the other side. Sorry if this offends anybody here.
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Here's an old Rolling Stone article. Hubbard was a prophet.:rolleyes:

Inside Scientology | Culture News | Rolling Stone

In his 1983 autobiography, Over My Shoulder: Reflections on a Science Fiction Era, the sci-fi writer Lloyd Eshbach describes meeting Hubbard in the late 1940s. "I'd like to start a religion," Eshbach recalls Hubbard saying. "That's where the money is."
 
A.Nonymous said:
Should there be tax exemptions for organizations like a local animal rescue then? They also provide no benefit to the general public. The dog catcher catches stray and nuisance animals and the public pays for it as they should as they all benefit from this service. What happens with the animal after that the public doesn't care about. An animal rescue (or a zoo for that matter) provide benefits to only those who patronize them the same way churches do.
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They don't discriminate based on the religious faith of the animals.
 
OutofDate1980 said:
They don't discriminate based on the religious faith of the animals.
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Most churches don't either. Many churches are active in their communities. Our church works with a women's shelter as well as with newly released prisoners to try to get them acclimated with life on the outside. We used to run a community food bank for a few years. Many churches of many different faiths and creeds do the same thing. I'm not aware of any churches that would flat out turn people away based on faith but I'm sure there are some. In general the services a church offers to the community are given freely and without charge. Certainly if you called a church and asked them to send someone to pray for your loved one in the hospital they're probably not going to charge you for that.
 
There is no legal requirement that religious creeds do anything you mentioned or not to discriminate based on creed, race, gender, etc... to be tax exempt.

Most creeds also proselytize in conjunction with community services.

Religions practice religious discrimination by definition. Only creed members are permitted to make decisions in regards to activity or expenditures, regardless of the ability of those that do not share some or all sectarian beliefs.

I see no reason why my taxes should be higher so that religious organizations don't have to pay taxes.

There are many organizations that do not practice religious discrimination, such as Rotary Clubs that have a better claim for tax exemption.
 
There's no requirement that the local Humane Society provide any services either. I could argue it's worse because they do charge you for their services. You want to surrender a dog and they charge you. You want to adopt a dog and they charge you. They charge everyone for every service they provide and take tax-exempt donations on top of that.

I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that you are either an agnostic or atheist.
 
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