Tom cruise puts scientology in the crosshairs

Nerin

just heard about this tonight from a friend, looks like tom cruise has annoyed the people of the internets with his recent comments (as usual).
so what do you all think?

http://gawker.com/345563/tom-cruise-uncut-the-freedom-medal-award-ceremony

http://www.encyclopediadramatica.com/PROJECT_CHANOLOGY

http://theunfunnytruth.ytmnd.com/

Mint Sauce

think it was one of the funniest things i've ever seen, even funnier than the starwars kid

galwayrush

irish-stew wrote: »

think it was one of the funniest things i've ever seen, even funnier than the starwars kid

Yes,you couldn't make it up:D
if it was in the Comedy Thread, i would give it 5 Stars.:D

Rhyme

I suppose after months of saying 'give that boy a medal' they finally buckled.

Good play Maverick.

Anto McC

Funny stuff alright, i don't know how that crowd of scam artists get away with it in the first place anyway but it makes for funny times when they mess up.

GhostInTheRuins

nerin wrote: »

http://theunfunnytruth.ytmnd.com/

That's quite a disturbing page I must say.

Jesus Wept

Scientology/Christianity
Religion/Cult/Cult/Church
Red M'n'M/Blue M'n'M

They all end up the same colour.

CrazyTalk

Unfunny truth is right, I remember watching that years ago, scared me that people like this exist and get away with it

Creature

What does he do toward the end of the fourth video in the first link? Looks like he's saluting someone? He says something too that I can't make out.

But yeah, scientologists, always good for the laugh.

Sinfonia

Creature wrote: »

What does he do toward the end of the fourth video in the first link? Looks like he's saluting someone? He says something too that I can't make out.

Was that the award ceremony one?
If so, I'm pretty sure he salutes a picture of L. Ron Hubbard and says "To L.R.H"

Setun

the music and voiceover on the flash clips is lmao material.

slipss

http://gawker.com/5002269/the-cruise-indoctrination-video-scientology-tried-to-suppress

Theres the full introductory video btw.

orestes

Holy crap! That unfunny truth one is scary as hell!

AngryHippie

Scientology, pretty retarded, but not much less believable than the rest of the mumbo jumno, bit less dogma, bit more crazy, lot more nutters

WhiteWashMan

stange sort of club with some very strange views.

i wont be joining any time soon.

John R

WhiteWashMan wrote: »

stange sort of club with some very strange views.

i wont be joining any time soon.

That is pretty much the same thing I thought the first time I went to a Catholic mass. All the people mumbling "amen" and various other unintelligible phrases in unison with all the emotion of a room full of 10-day old corpses, freaked me out big time. I thought it was all complete nonsense until the collection plates came around, then I understood.

WhiteWashMan

no different to any other religious order
they all think they can save everyone etc etc etc

SimpleSam06

WhiteWashMan wrote: »

no different to any other religious order
they all think they can save everyone etc etc etc

Its fairly significantly different in fact. Their use of borderline criminal psychological techniques, combined with the fact that you have to pay money to rise through the ranks, makes them a fairly transparent pyramid scheme.

The founder, Hubbard, is fairly clear in his original intentions when he said "l'd like to start a religion. That's where the money is" and "Make money. Make more money. Make other people make money." It was founded after a discussion with fellow poor sci-fi authors about how to make money.

Well, he turned out to be a pretty indifferent writer, but a legend among demented cult leaders.

"We are slowly and carefully teaching the unholy a lesson. It is as follows: We are not a law enforcement agency. BUT we will become interested in the crimes of people who seek to stop us. If you oppose scientology we promptly look up - and find and expose - your crimes. If you leave us alone we will leave you alone.

It's very simple. Even a fool can grasp that.

And don't underrate our ability to carry it out."

- L. Ron Hubbard

WhiteWashMan

SimpleSam06 wrote: »

Its fairly significantly different in fact.

SimpleSam06 wrote: »

Their use of borderline criminal psychological techniques,

spanish inquisition?
Besides, how many religious orders have we seen over the years be invovled in this sort of thing?
Although, I havent seen any proof of 'brainwashing'

SimpleSam06 wrote: »

combined with the fact that you have to pay money to rise through the ranks,

true, i cant think of any off hand, but then again, i dont see why it would mean that its not a religion. A lot of religions are based on money.

SimpleSam06 wrote: »

The founder, Hubbard, is fairly clear in his original intentions when he said "l'd like to start a religion. That's where the money is" and "Make money. Make more money. Make other people make money." It was founded after a discussion with fellow poor sci-fi authors about how to make money.

Ever heard of a tithe?
Again though, i fail to see what that has to do with being a religion. or not as you think.

SimpleSam06 wrote: »

We are slowly and carefully teaching the unholy a lesson. It is as follows: We are not a law enforcement agency. BUT we will become interested in the crimes of people who seek to stop us. If you oppose scientology we promptly look up - and find and expose - your crimes. If you leave us alone we will leave you alone.

The Crusades?


I see nothing youve pointed out that isnt in anyway unlike many 'religions' today.
This just seems to be more organised in a freemasons kind of way.

But, I gotta say, i just see no difference, just more out there, and a lot of famous people. hey, a lot of people thought it was bizarre when martin luthar nailed a letter to the roman catholic church door.

spiritcrusher

While I am non-religious, I do see a difference between Scientology and the more "mainstream" ones. Scientology is unquestionably a cult imo and after seeing the BBC Panorama pogramme on it I was a little freaked out and even a bit intimidated by it tbh. It's mental stuff.

Saruman

Surprised no one has brought up that southpark episode yet

Sleepy

SimpleSam06 wrote: »

Their use of borderline criminal psychological techniques

Never watch Derren Brown's 'Messiah' series? He 'converted' a number of devout atheists to Christianity in the space of two hours using techniques he claimed were widespread in the evangelical movement. He also commented on the fact that the use of incense and chanting were well documented brainwashing techniques.

Luckily for the group in question, Brown 'de-programmed' them after the show and most of them found the experience incredibly enlightening as to how others manage to get deluded into converting to such faiths. I can't imagine Jerry Falwell or his ilk giving people that courtesy.

Sure the Scientologists seem to be crazier than many of the 'mainstream' religions but do you not think that Christians would have seemed as crazy to the Romans? Remember, that was a religion of people prepared to 'martyr' themselves in circus games...

Sam Vimes

SimpleSam06 wrote: »

Its fairly significantly different in fact. Their use of borderline criminal psychological techniques, combined with the fact that you have to pay money to rise through the ranks, makes them a fairly transparent pyramid scheme.

paying money to rise through the ranks doesn't make something a pyramid scheme. A pyramid scheme is where your primary role is to recruit others, whose primary role will be to recruit others, etc with money being passed up the levels. With scientology, all the money is just given to the church, so its not a pyramid scheme

ScumLord

I think scientology deserves some credit, they've finally made some use out of that talentless braindead tosser and made a great running joke out of him. Fair play I say, fair play.

Neamhshuntasach

While cult or pyramid scheme may not be the correct terms, one thing that is correct is that it is based on a fraudulent terms.

I went to college with one and he was trying to get me to sign up as a thenan or whatever they call it. I pretended I was interested just to get an insight into the "religion" because I’d heard a lot of crazy stuff about it.

They have people actively recruiting members and members also try to convert people they meet. That is not something you see with a lot of mainstream religions.

They start off with that dianetics stuff telling you that you that they can give you peace of mind and health. So you go to the first meeting and the recruiters are trained in psychology and they make you feel like you need them. So you leave intrigued (or not) and then you come back and pay a couple of hundred for the books and so forth. they do the testing on you and then tell you that you don't have the dianetic touch or whatever they call it and that you can pay another couple hundred per hour at an auditing session (which is a day they actually celebrate on their calendar) to advance to the clear stage. then they tell them that they are at risk and you must move immediately to another stage. All the while handing over another couple of hundred dollars. Then they tell you that for another couple of hundred you can receive a great secret of their religion. Which is something to do with celestial alien beings in pods being planted in volcanoes over 75 million years ago and parts of them are in their souls and they must pay to have them removed.

They even talk about space planes being flown 75 million years ago to bring people to earth and that Hydrogen bombs were dropped on them and then their souls were brainwashed with evil and planted in our bodies. While the Bible may seem nuts to people and the Koran, etc. At least all of the mainstream religions are coming from a source that is being interpreted differently. This scientology nonsense was made up by a science fiction writer in the 50's. He claims it is based on science but yet nobody can examine or dissent his views. He claimed he was the one and only true scientist.

So a person was roped in at the beginning to achieve peace of mind and health for x amount of money. But then they are fooled into handing over thousands more to progress. While it is not a pyramid scheme in the true sense it is a hierarchical scheme where you must pay to advance. I do not know of any other mainstream religions that operate this way. Yes every organization needs money to operate, but other religions receive their money through donations. If you don't put money in the basket at a Catholic church you are not told that you must leave and cannot participate in the religion.

All the above is what I remember being told by that fella. Maybe some of it is bit inaccurate. But it’s the general gist I got from it. It’s a load of bollix and definitely different from other religions

ScumLord

Jaysus Neamhshuntasach, that sounds like just the kind of madness I'm looking for in a religion. In my current one we rub cold spaghetti all over our naked bodies and Chase turkeys around fields until the shrooms kick in. It's great the first few times but it's a bit of a hassle in this weather.

This comment from one of the videos says it all :

BY CAPTAINFANTASTIC AT 01/16/08 01:44 PM
I hope Tom's parents have passed away, for their sake



LMFAO

GhostInTheRuins

Haha, excellent

Gordon

Creature wrote: »

What does he do toward the end of the fourth video in the first link? Looks like he's saluting someone? He says something too that I can't make out.

"To LRH" /salute

He is saluting their dead leader and creator of scientology L Ron Hoover L. Ron Hubbard.

Neamhshuntasach

ScumLord wrote: »

Jaysus Neamhshuntasach, that sounds like just the kind of madness I'm looking for in a religion. In my current one we rub cold spaghetti all over our naked bodies and Chase turkeys around fields until the shrooms kick in. It's great the first few times but it's a bit of a hassle in this weather.

Why would you want to do that? Seems like you have a great aul set up going on there already

ScumLord

Neamhshuntasach wrote: »

Why would you want to do that? Seems like you have a great aul set up going on there already

I forgot to say it's that tinned spaghetti in tomato sauce, I can't get the smell of the stuff off me now. It's making me gawk every time I go indoors, I have to sleep with the windows open at night an all. Great fun but too much hassle in me owld age need something a bit more relaxed.