There's a Scientology church near me and whenever I go near there they always try to make me take a "test" to see if I have an alien mind control chip.
Scientology Convicted of Fraud
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
hey! We have something in common.Caliostro said:
Except donating to the church was never integral to going to heaven. More importantly, it was never integral in discussing religious theory and the ideas behind the religion with the preacher. I'm not saying churches don't use some pretty dirty tactics to get money from you, but most brick and mortar churches only ever get a little money and use it just to operate. Something that seems like it is going to take less of my money seems more preferable to something that blatantly asks me for $10,000 in exchange for the one ultimate truth(installment 1/10,000,000).
I have learned from experience and from addressing them as people instead of lesser beings that that isn't always true and that they are completely open to outside thought and are typically either well set in a metaphorical sense of the bible or just open about their religion. There are more logical religious people than there are illogical(of course, by that I mean religious people open to other views).
I don't think that is entirely the reason you are an ass. What you said above didn't make you an ass and wasn't practice in mincing words. It was actually very direct and made your point well. In fact, I would say your instances of mincing words are the moments that you seem like the biggest ass in the room.
aka. It is completely possible for you to be an anti-theist, direct, and not an ass. You just choose to be an ass, which causes people to disregard whatever you say as trolling. Actually, if you ever intend to make a point, then acting like an ass makes you just about as ignorant and illogical as any religious individual.
I always found this funny, and it was the basis for something I said earlier. Thought you might get a kick out of it.odubya23 said:
In god we trust: because that's our god
My thoughts exactly. Just because the other religions/cults are not as small, doesn't mean that they are any less fraudulent or harmful. Just look at most churches and temples, they are littered with gold even when surrounded by massive poverty - wonder where that all came from, and what false promises and threats of burning in this life or the next one after death (!) made those poor "voluntary donors" give up those resources...Caliostro said:
Haha, awesome humour.PS2MAN said:
man, i hope this starts to happen in Scotland.
I am so sick of walking down Buchanan Street and having to dodge Scientologists disguising their preaching as 'stress tests', trying to con people out of their money by selling them DVDs to 'reduce stress' and convert them to such a fucked-up excuse for a "religion".
its nice to see guys in guy fawkes masks arguing with them though, it's just about the only reason I'd miss scientologists if they were to be eradicated.
I am so sick of walking down Buchanan Street and having to dodge Scientologists disguising their preaching as 'stress tests', trying to con people out of their money by selling them DVDs to 'reduce stress' and convert them to such a fucked-up excuse for a "religion".
its nice to see guys in guy fawkes masks arguing with them though, it's just about the only reason I'd miss scientologists if they were to be eradicated.
Roganzar said:
Caliostro said:
Can see we haven't grown past the Holocaust yet. I have no love for Scientology myself, but raising torches and actually demanding blood makes you worse than what you accuse the people you are after. This article frankly has no place on this website, but the editors will be done. I just have to wonder how many of these forum comments saying, 'Down with scientology!' aren't just being sheep in a herd. I have seen so many ignorant and baseless comments in this it frankly scares me that so many would want to act on so little information that they know.odubya23 said:
For crying out loud, an organization that takes money from its members gets fined $900,000 and you think that's going to hurt them? When all is said and finalized, most likely that number will have shrunk, and it will have been paid by its celebrities as a tax deduction.
Stop and think a moment, and think of how you feel if countries starting going after an organization or group you belong to, Jaycees, Boy Scouts, Skateboarders, Computer Gamers, etc., if people started saying, "Hang them all!" This is nothing but pure hatred, something that does not belong in a community like the Escapist, or anywhere else.
Would think you would know better than to post such an inflammatory article, Andy. If not, I hope you think twice next time. I thought this was a gaming website, not a Anti-religion crusade.Malygris said:
T'would be a wonderful place, a world without religion. Especially Scientology.Caliostro said:
Close. They're against other people's drugs.Casual Shinji said:
OT: This is awesome! You know why? Because a real (yes, atheists, I know that you consider all religions fake, but I'm referring here to people who genuinely hold beliefs; not a collection of con artists running off of writings made by a man who openly called all religion's cons) religion doesn't charge for for its service. It's supposed to be open to everyone.
There's one in Birmingham, where I'm at uni. I live in Leeds and when I saw a tent on the high street offering free e-meter readings, it was the first time I genuinely felt afraid in my home city.Kilaknux said:
This is good. They've penalised Scientology as the malicious organisation without overstepping into banning something from freedom of speech or thought. As ridiculous as the grass roots scientologist's misguided beliefs are, they have the right to believe and say what they want. The organisation behind those beliefs however has no right to continue with its evil and illegal activities.
And I'll just ignore the usual knee-jerk response against general religion from some of the escapists here, as much as it makes me despair...
And I'll just ignore the usual knee-jerk response against general religion from some of the escapists here, as much as it makes me despair...
A real religion doesn't charge people money for salvation - and by extention doesn't limit salvation to rich people.
