Church of Scientology tries to stop KRQE report about compound

KREQ TV 13 (CBS, Albuquerque) ^ | 11-21-2005 | KREQ

[dynachrome]

The whole episode was classic. Still crazy after all those years.

[Michael.SF.]

Weird!!!

I am reminded of the John Prine song:

Crazy as a Loon

I'm headin' out to Hollywood
Just to have my feelings hurt
That town will make you crazy
Just give it a little time
You'll be walking 'round in circles
Down at Hollywood and Vine
You'll be waitin' on a phone call
At the wrong end of a broom
Yes, that town'll make you crazy
Crazy as a loon

[Ostlandr]

They are SO funny. L. Ron Hubbard (the founder of Scientology) despised organized religion. His writings are full of references to people being duped by inherently corrupt priests, politicians and psychologists.
I have the sneaking suspicion that he decided to start his own made-up religion just to see if he could fool people.
Of course, he succeeded beyond his wildest dreams, and his followers continue to practice Scientology to this day.
As they say, no one ever went broke underestimating the intelligence of the american consumer.

[meanie monster]

Thx for link...

[Ostlandr]

Yeah, he has. Too bad that Robert A. Heinlein (a Goldwater Republican) didn't turn to religion.
He could easily have done so, as after the publication of "Stranger in a strange land" a bunch of folks started following the Martian philosophy and ritual depicted in the story.
As I recall, Heinlein's (2nd?) most famous character, Lazarus Long, tried religion as a career for awhile, because he needed a rest and some easy money.
You grok?

[dynachrome]

Damn. You are cheap.

[xcamel]

Lookie here:

funny symbol, large compound

[meanie monster]

So, you USED to be one huh,lol...It is ok we forgive you lol

[null and void]

Decent of you...

[meanie monster]

We ll I am a FReeper first. http://65.7.66.149:8080/ lol hellllloooo!

[razorback-bert]

New to me, will look for it next time I flying over NM.

[Cicero]

I read Rocketship Galileo when it first came out, and almost all of Heinlein after that. His last couple of works were disappointing, but he earned the right to do a couple of bad books.

When I taught a Science Fiction class I usually picked The Moon is a Harsh Mistress for Heinlein.

[WanderingOisin]

$cientology.... Good grief.

[gitmo]

What is the deal about "auditing"? I get the feeling you're not talking about checking out your financial statements.

[andysandmikesmom]

Naw, hes 31, quite old enough for South Park...I am probably more shocked at South Park than he is...he said hes been watching South Park from the beginning, and hes just surprised that I had never caught it before...he would tell me how hilarious it was and figured I just never watched it because he told me it was 'obscene', as you say...now, hes been telling me to keep eye out for certain really hilarious old episodes...

I am lucky..I have the Dish Satellite, so I can watch both new episodes and reruns on the Comedy Channel...but I am also lucky in that one of our local channels runs two older South Park episodes every week nite, from 11pm to midnight...so on a good day, ,I can get three, even four episodes of South Park, all in one day...

I have to catch up with everyone else...

[afnamvet]

So you have questions about Scientology...?

No thanks, I just had a bar of soap.

[getmeouttaPalmBeachCounty_FL]

[null and void]

Another good book would have been Issac Asimov's Soviet Science Fiction

[NRA2BFree]

I'm going to watch it tonight. I wonder who the "powerful NM legislator" is?

[Turbopilot]

In $cientology, "auditing" is the process in which you hold onto a primitive skin galvanometer Hubbard adopted, called an "E-meter", and discuss your "repressed memories" of trauma in your life (and, at higher levels, your thousands of past lives) with a Scientology employee, ostensibly in order to "clear" these memories by discussing them until the galvanometer reads a certain response or "tone" and free your "thetan" (soul-like concept) from the unconscious pain they cause you.

Of course, in reality, the "E-meter" measures nothing that can be related usefully to mental health, and in any case it's adjustable by the operator in such a way that it can read anything the operator wants it to read. The questioning amounts to dangerous pseudo-psychiatry practiced by untrained amateurs, and is designed to create a false bond to the organization through sharing of painful and private memories (real or imagined) in a manner similar to fraternity/military hazing, or Stockholm syndrome. It has the added benefit of collecting any personally humiliating information from the victim (and auditing sessions are taped and saved in "Church" archives), so that if the person gets to the higher levels where the real lunatic sci-fi stories come out without having been completely brainwashed and wants to get out, the "Church" can threaten its victim with the public release of their secrets if they leave and/or stop paying.

And it's all just $240/hour, and takes only a few thousand hours (you do the math) to get to the highest levels!