Why Scientology Wasn't For Me - Part 2/3

Why Scientology Wasn't For Me

Part 2: Scientology's Absurd And Extreme Concepts

"When I was in Scientology, I never heard anyone say anything about Xenu, and all of the other science fiction-like nonsense. In the beginning, Scientology borders on what most people consider to be "common sense". The introductory courses are all about improving communication between people, which can indeed be a very good thing.
But there were also some peculiar ideas I could never really incorporate. The blind devotion with which some of these absurd concepts were embraced contributed strongly to my doubt, and my decision to leave.
My first understanding of Scientology was that it was a practical system to improve your life and that of others. To call it a philosophy or even a religion seemed a little bombastic, a little exaggerated. Scientology's meaning of life can be summed up with the word "survival". The goal in life is to keep living. That's all. Without much argumentation, but with a lot of hype about how revolutionary this discovery was, it was just a disappointing excuse for an answer, mirroring perhaps a bit of Darwin's idea of survival of the fittest. The spiritual content of Scientology's ideas is equally vague. L. Ron Hubbard had found out that human beings are basically spirits with a physical body, a notion that can be found in many religions, but left it at that. With cheap rhetoric, Scientologists tried to convince me of the validity of this idea. I had to close my eyes and picture a cat. Did I see the cat clearly? Well, the fact that I said that I was looking at it proved for them that there was such a thing as a spirit, or thetan, at work. I could, however, still argue that it was just some part of my brain calling up the image of a cat, to which they didn't have a reply.
Scientology presented a concept of the human mind that didn't seem to ring true. According to Hubbard, there was an analytical and a reactive mind. The reactive mind should be cleared of trauma through auditing sessions so that the analytical mind could shine through. The image of this analytical mind can be considered simplistic, naive and outdated. Hubbard saw this mind as some sort of databank that stores all impressions correctly without bias. Going back in memory should be as easy as playing back a tape from the moment it was recorded. Modern science has indicated, though, that the brain works way more complex than this. It has been found that memories can change over time, that memories are constantly regrouping with ever-growing new associations.
Scientology doesn't only have a view on the mind, but also on psychology and psychiatry. These sciences are viewed through a lens distorted not just by time, as it was originally conceived in the 1950s, but also by prejudice and paranoia. Who were the men behind Hitler, staff members asked me. Who was responsible for all war and insanity in the world? The answer: psychiatrists. The claims they had against psychiatry were so grotesque I just couldn't believe it. They tried to convince me of this conspiracy with such fervor that they seemed creepy. Even though I had my personal doubts about the effectiveness of psychiatry, it just didn't gel in my brain that it was this horrible mafia-like scheme to destroy humanity. The alternatives Scientology offered weren't that great either. Sweating in a sauna for hours at a time and taking irresponsibly large amounts of niacin didn't seem healthy to me at all.
Every time I started or finished a course, I felt euphoric like the other Scientologists, on my way to a higher level. In the meantime I stumbled somehow. I noticed that the books were written in quite a messy style, with lots of repetition, lots of anticipation and contradiction. Even dictionaries and more advanced Scientologists couldn't help. Was there such a thing as a "One Shot Clear"? In the book "Dianetics 55", a process is described to reach the state of Clear all at once. What? Wasn't it all about auditing? The process was ridiculously simple. Take a book and a bottle, and have a coach get you from one to the other, asking you to describe a couple sensations (what you see, feel, etc.) over and over again, for hours and hours. Book, bottle, book, bottle, book, bottle, etc. If this wasn't a joke, it was very disappointing. Could I see myself being extremely enthusiastic about such silliness? No. Could I imagine paying large amounts of money to undergo such numbing and trance-inducing exercises? Well, almost. When I realized the euphoria I felt wasn't euphoria but relief, like the feeling you get from taking off shoes that have bothered you for a while, I had to get out before it was too late."

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[MrFyde]

This is a GREAT vid. I am having a hard time writting how great I think it was. I can not tell you how impressed I am with it.

[dutchfagadam]

This series is SO good.

It's the same thing I've seen at the NCRM (dutch CCHR).

Your video's are wonderful..

[DoctorKandosii]

This sums it up for most people. Great video.

[bigman3xl]

Great vid! I met some Scientologists yesterday. And they tried with the same crap as you described in your video. They even did the thing with the cat.

[arby22207]

The whole point of brainwashing is to control people's perspective which includes common sense.

They make sense out of something that does't make sense for normal people like us.

The only way to get people out of that state of mind is to make them realize the non-sense that they believed in through therapy.

[bigrobnz]

Do you really believe that? I would of thought comon sense was a antidote for brainwashing and fanaticiism

[Sombomombo]

holy shit, and to think I almost fell for their bullshit belie--

Wait up a sec... Quick! Someone send this idea to Penn & Teller (Bullshit). Its gunna be great!

[jdtrickster4]

Very good video & analogies. What u felt was RELIEF, NOT euphoria. Although, when u add the e-meter to the equation (which u probably didn't in the beginning auditing steps) u can also experience a sort of euphoria or "good feeling" from the small dose of electricity the e-meter passes thru you, inducing the system to release endorphins into the body which has been proven to alleviate pain & make one "feel good." This, accompanied by a thought like, "I feel better" = a WIN to a $cientologist.

[Livkenbash]

I read Dianetics and visited my local Scientology Church to check it out for myself. I am not gay, but the experience I had is almost identical to what this video series describes. It just felt off. The people were nice enough, but most of them seemed kind of coaxed or unaware. The rest of them just wanted to sell me something. It was disappointing, but also a very good lesson about not following  anything just because it has "Church" in it's name.

[arby22207]

Any religion that rejects Psychology is almost always a cult. That's because psychiatrist can bring people back to their senses.(bad for cult business)

Psychology is the "antidote" for brainwashing and fanaticism.

[RadioPaul1]

Good stuff, thank you

[jvilla21]

Scientologist hate psychiatrist, because if you put one of each in a room for an hour the psychiatrist would come out and say "yup, this mofo is nuts."