Religion
Related: About this forumpwhtckll
(72 posts)2ndAmForComputers
(3,527 posts)(The answer is no.)
pnwmom
(108,980 posts)Then it was sold as a "scientific" method of personal growth.
Eventually, they fought the IRS for the right to have it designated a religion, although they worship no god, and charge adherents for their "sessions."
You decide.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)rug
(82,333 posts)Warren Stupidity
(48,181 posts)And reincarnation and immortal souls or thetans. It most certainly is a religion, complete with all sorts of goofy assertions.
rug
(82,333 posts)It has about as much to do with the concept of a god as advanced physics does.
lindysalsagal
(20,692 posts)Is it what you get when you go to the beach?
TeamPooka
(24,229 posts)cbayer
(146,218 posts)TeamPooka
(24,229 posts)cbayer
(146,218 posts)unless you want to use a very broad definition. If so, then unions, professional organizations, political parties and this website are all businesses.
And in that case, what's wrong with being a business?
TeamPooka
(24,229 posts)I believe religious faith and religious institutions are two different things.
An institution uses a faith
but you and I can disagree about why they use it.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)They most likely needed food, shelter, clothing, transportation - just like most mainstream ministers.
Warpy
(111,277 posts)that started off as a bad sci fi story and has now evolved into a scam.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)Warpy
(111,277 posts)and should have been put out of business as it was getting started in the 1950s as the quackery it is.
That's one of the reasons they sued and sued and sued until the IRS gave in and let themselves call themselves a religion.
Of course they hate psychiatry. It's their competition and it actually works.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)They sell something they can't really provide to some of the most vulnerable members of society, then refuse to *treat* them.
It's despicable.
lindysalsagal
(20,692 posts)But, hey! Without that, it wouldn't be half as much fun!
longship
(40,416 posts)I say NO! He is promoting a scam.
Is Scientology a religion? NO! For the same reason.
Both promote something that is manifestly false, solely for the purpose of enriching themselves.
Are all religions similarly money scams? Possibly not. But many which are easy to detect. The Crouch's at Trinity Broadcast Network? Definitely! Many mega-churches? Most likely. Mainstream religions? A mixed bag, depends on how they act.
The definition of a cult is not what they believe, but how they act.
For more information, Rick Ross, rickross.com, has gathered more info on the subject than probably anybody.
cbayer
(146,218 posts)While the distinction is not always clear, sometimes it is very, very clear.
longship
(40,416 posts)We can throw chairs at one another forever, never resolving anything, when we discuss things in that fuzzy middle. But both believers and non-believers can come together about the edges, where the demarcations are the most apparent.
That's where the common ground is firm. We can throw chairs about the fuzzy middle some other time.
mr blur
(7,753 posts)though I understand that it is over there.
I think it's a cross between new-age Woo and moneymaking scam. With a bit of fourth-rate sci-fi thrown in.
lindysalsagal
(20,692 posts)rrneck
(17,671 posts)Odin2005
(53,521 posts)Both are about parting fools from their money.
AlbertCat
(17,505 posts)Indeed.
Just because Christianity is a 2000 year old scam that's still raking it in doesn't make it any less of a scam than a 50 year old money making scam.
Gore1FL
(21,132 posts)Siwsan
(26,268 posts)I've never actually seen anything about Scientology that's even close to what one would call a traditional, spiritual based' religion. Seems to be way more about controlling the minds and bank accounts of their membership.
MineralMan
(146,317 posts)Not so in some other countries:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology'
What does that mean? It means that it's a religion in the US. It's also a scam, but there's no official government recognition of that status.