Of all the trending cults that were happening in the late 60's and 70's , did any survive as this on has? There were quite a few. I remember EST. There was another one that housed it's members in an Apartment Building on the corner of 86th and Central Park West. I just don't know how lost and alone someone must feel to become part of something like this .Is Tom Cruise's mother a member? I think I've seen them together.
shareShe would only be kept from him if she spoke out about the cults behaviour. She knows where her bread is buttered.
shareI used to work for a Scientologist in Clearwater and 99.9% of my clients were Scienos; always amazed me because they were all very bright, intelligent people. Successful, too. But, their personalities were that of mainly two kinds: the women were not necessarily the independent type who I'm going to generalize right now - the type of women who would be in relationships with abusive men, and the men were overbearing, probably losers in their early life then became successful, then became bullies because they were bullied. I know these are sweeping generalizations, but that's the experience I had with the people I came into contact with. I think that's the type of people that a cult attracts, anyway. As for how it's thrived and survived, that's beyond me, but there was plenty of people where I lived who were way into it who were much smarter than myself, I just dont get the WHY.
sharealways amazed me because they were all very bright, intelligent people. Successful, too. But, their personalities were that of mainly two kinds: the women were not necessarily the independent type who I'm going to generalize right now - the type of women who would be in relationships with abusive men, and the men were overbearing, probably losers in their early life then became successful, then became bullies because they were bullied.
There was (is) way weirder things going on the the Church than just disconnection, revenge and corporal punishment. For example, my employer (whom I became close to and still consider a friend) told stories of people being locked in a cage and screamed at and not let out until the recipient of the threats or insults showed no reaction. This is just one example of the Church's attempt to control, and a way for members to have some kind of "one up" on general population.
If that's one of the examples my employer chose to share with me, I can't imagine what else is happening inside those beautiful buildings the Church has built in downtown Clearwater, and every other location around the world...
If they would drop all the disconnection, revenge and corporal punishment, Scientology would probably be more palatable to religious minded people and more widely accepted.
Buddha isn't considered a supernatural being but an enlightened man who started the religion, although Buddhism has a supernatural element to it. Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are all Abrahamic religions worshipping a single God with varying interpretations.
shareIt thrived solely because of celebrity. Once they penetrated that group it took off.
shareI wonder if it survived in part because initially it can be helpful to people. Leah's mentioned a few times that she learned useful skills as a part of her training in the church.
A lot of it seems to be like therapy--you talk through your issues with someone trained (not as a psychologist or therapist) to help you sort out those issues.
Even est had that appeal--it was teaching people to work through mental distress.
It can give you interpersonal skills, it can teach you skills to work through problems.
I like that they treat children as equals rather than talking down to them or not considering them capable of understanding difficult ideas. I don't like the separation from parents or the rejection of parenting.
Even with small cults, there are things that people find good or beneficial and a lot of times, at the start of things, it is about the mission statement of improving lives and improving the world. Once there are a certain amount of people and things need to become organized or more structured, individuals tend to take control and more often than not manipulate the system to serve themselves or the people in charge who started with good intentions start to care more about power than people.
It's amazing how quickly cults seem to go from peace and love and a better world to some dictator f_cking a dozen wives or a bunch of kids and then murder-suicide.
Not that I know of. They are an EVIL cult, and should have their tax exempt status revoked.
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