12th July 2005, 3:51 PM
From Wikipedia:
And if that's too much for you it's a quasi-religious cult created by L. Ron Hubbard to make a lot of money by using it as a tax shelter and charging people a lot of money to be a member.
Quote:Scientology is a system of beliefs, teachings and rituals, originally established as a secular philosophy in 1952 by science-fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, then recharacterized by him in 1953 as an "applied religious philosophy."
Scientology is officially represented by the controversial Church of Scientology. The Church presents itself as a non-profit religious organization dedicated to encouraging development of the human spirit. Providing counseling and rehabilitation programs, the Church offers itself as an alternative to psychiatry, which Scientologists believe to be a barbaric and corrupt profession. [1] Church spokespeople attest that Hubbard's teaching (called "technology" or "tech") has freed them from drug and alcohol addictions, depression, learning disabilities, mental disorders and other problems. Scientology, however, has been the object of many allegations that sharply contradict the Church's self-description. Critics—including officials of several governments—have characterized the Church of Scientology as an unscrupulous commercial organization; it has often been described as a cult that harasses its critics and exploits its members. Many of the Church's most controversial actions are, critics argue, a direct reflection of Hubbard's Scientology teachings.
Despite the similarity of names, there is no historical, doctrinal, or organizational connection between Scientology and the Church of Christ, Scientist, better known as "Christian Science".
And if that's too much for you it's a quasi-religious cult created by L. Ron Hubbard to make a lot of money by using it as a tax shelter and charging people a lot of money to be a member.
Sometimes you get the scorpion.