Who would get mixed up in Scientology?

Danny Zuko.

I could tell you a few stories about those guys... I won't though.

lazygal wrote: »

Like, how thick would you have to be? Who doesn't know its a cult designed to extract as much money as possible from you?

I don't know how religion is so popular either.

lazygal wrote: »

Like, how thick would you have to be? Who doesn't know its a cult designed to extract as much money as possible from you?

Also, anyone availed of a free personality test?

why not pay them a visit and see if they cannot convince you. a lot of folks are interested in building their mental strength and Ron L. Hubbard can exploit this.

flutterflye wrote: »

I was on my way through town years ago - at this stage I'd never heard of Scientology.
Anyway, was walking through one of the quieter streets - can't remember which one.
And there was this lady standing in the doorway of some building holding a clipboard.
She asked if I'd be interested in filling out a stress test - who doesn't love those questionnaires?! So I said I would.
But then she started ascending the stairs just inside the door and expected me to follow.
I nearly didn't, but in the end, I did.
There was a large room with people everywhere.
There were banners and book stalls and these giant tvs playing clips for bunches of people on leather couches.
I was led to a desk with 2 guys, and they put these metal cylindrical things on my arms that had wires coming out of them.
They asked me all sorts of random questions and these things on my arms apparently measured my stress responses.
It took maybe 20 mins, then they tried to sell me a book.
I declined, and left.
It's probably not coming across in my post, but it was a completely surreal experience.
For a while afterwards I actually thought I'd dreamed it - until I came across someone else who had also been convinced to go up too.

Same happened to me about 20 years ago. I was at a loose end and some dude came up to me in Abbey St. Same story, stress test, yada yada. I went upstairs and the dude asked me questions (without the metal cylindrical wired jobbies). Then they came to some conclusions about my life and lifestyle and I politely told them to fcuk off.

After that they sent me mail for years till I eventually had to ring them and accuse them of harassment. The mail stopped after that.

Weirdos.

EDIT: They also gave me a free copy of the Dianetics book by that Hubbard bloke. I attempted to read it but after a few pages it was very much WTF? It burnt well though.

flutterflye wrote: »

I was on my way through town years ago - at this stage I'd never heard of Scientology.
Anyway, was walking through one of the quieter streets - can't remember which one.
And there was this lady standing in the doorway of some building holding a clipboard.
She asked if I'd be interested in filling out a stress test - who doesn't love those questionnaires?! So I said I would.
But then she started ascending the stairs just inside the door and expected me to follow.
I nearly didn't, but in the end, I did.
There was a large room with people everywhere.
There were banners and book stalls and these giant tvs playing clips for bunches of people on leather couches.
I was led to a desk with 2 guys, and they put these metal cylindrical things on my arms that had wires coming out of them.
They asked me all sorts of random questions and these things on my arms apparently measured my stress responses.
It took maybe 20 mins, then they tried to sell me a book.
I declined, and left.
It's probably not coming across in my post, but it was a completely surreal experience.
For a while afterwards I actually thought I'd dreamed it - until I came across someone else who had also been convinced to go up too.

Very similar thing happened to myself and a friend in Sydney.
We knew they were scientologists but they never said they were,so we decided to pisstake a bit and ask them direct questions what organisation they belong to etc.
My were they so evasive in their answers,dodging questions and they just told us we got to go and it was not for us.
They seem harmless enough but any cult is dangerous and should be avoided.

lazygal wrote: »

Ah go on.

Joking aside there is a seriously sinister aspect to Scientology. I think in fairness to the media they do as good a job as they can in reporting it - but it's not always easy.

A few months ago I spoke to a colleague of mine, a journalist, about his experiences with Scientologists. He was trying to run a story on some b-list celeb who'd defected. Now, this person did not want ANYTHING to do with Scientology anymore but by the same token did not want to speak to the press about his defection. From what I could understand, he essentially went into hiding. He was genuinely frightened and worried for his safety.

When my colleague got wind of this he tried to get in contact but failed. He just couldn't reach the guy for love nor money but decided nonetheless to the thing as a 3rd person news story.

That's when the phone calls started. Despite him having never called anybody at the church of Scientology they'd got in contact with him and began warning him away from the story. The fact that they called, seemingly out of the blue was concerning enough; somehow, somewhere along the line, they were informed of what he was doing. What was even more concerning, was the fact that they began mentioning his mother and his relatives. He received a late-night phone call and was told that his sister living at ___________ ____________ _________ with phone number xxx xxxx xxxx probably wouldn't approve of his actions. What was scary was that he knew his sister's phone was unlisted. She didn't have any social networking prescence and was pretty much completely off the grid. Yet, despite this, they were able to tell him where she lived, and what her phone number was. They didn't make any explicit threats but made it clear enough that they could locate members of his family with relative ease.

The story wasn't going to pay an awful lot so he pulled it; I'll never forget the look on his face when he told me that. It wasn't an important story by any means - it was essentially showbiz gossip and its only use was as a paycheque. But when he told me, a noticeable wave of disappointment washed briefly across his countenance; I could tell that it still bothered him.

A friend of mine was almost sucked in, and in fairness they're very clever and deceptive about it. The word "Scientology" isn't mentioned until you're very deep in, it's always disguised as something else, almost like a dummy corporation.

He was approached in public and asked if he'd be interested in taking a "personality test", and when he did they told him he was subconsciously very unhappy and miserable, and would he like the opportunity to try and improve his outlook on life and become a happier person. I'd imagine a lot of the people who end up getting involved probably do have some of those very common insecurities, and would love the chance to genuinely be more positive, so the idea of it sounds great. The cracks appear very slowly and it's very difficult to talk your way out once you get to that stage, apparently.

My friend persuaded me to go for a stress test for the laugh. I didn't know what Scientology was at the time (I was 15 I think). They don't tell you all the crazy crap when you go first though. They tell you about their version of counselling (auditing I think it's called) which actually sounds fairly believable & interesting. I think when you get deeper into it they tell you more as they get you more & more hooked.

It was a pretty creepy place though. The guy behind the desk looked like a zombie, the video they had playing looked like it was meant to hypnotise you & the guy doing the stress test would remind you of a salesperson. We eventually told them we were students & they basically told us to come back when we were earning money!

How long before they jump into this thread,usually they have an army of trolls waiting to defend their cyberbridge around the world.