News-Record.com

Nancy,

The closest Church of Scientology is in Winston-Salem:

Carolina Dianetics
2896 Shiloh Church Road
Winston Salem NC 27107
Tel: (336) 767-4903

I tried to go to their web page for a list of locations, but it seems interest in the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes story has clogged the server hosting their web page. I know they tend to have churches and "Celebrity Centers" in the larger cities.
Scientology is definitely a cult. Their celebrity members do not get the same treatment as rank-and-file members. Almost every "fact" in the biography of L. Ron Hubbard (Scientology's founder) on the church webpage is a exaggeration or a complete lie.
You might want to refer to the excellent series of articles the Los Angeles Times did on the church for more details (http://www-2.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/la90/la90.html). Factnet also has some extensive files on Scientology and teir operations, how they treat members, those that speak out against them, etc. (http://www.factnet.org/)

Chester... the Los Angeles Times article is really interesting....
Is there anyone out there who can take a shot at explaining what this is all about:

"The organization uses sophisticated sales tactics to sell a seemingly endless progression of expensive courses, each serving as a prerequisite for the next. Known collectively as "The Bridge," the courses promise salvation, higher intelligence, superhuman powers and even possible survival from nuclear fallout -- for those who can pay."

Aren't John Travolta and his wife scientologists? It does seem a bit odd duck doesn't it? But then someone who had never heard of the Catholic Church might wonder at all the kneeling and the rituals there and think that was strange....

Here is a link to most anything you would want to know about the secretive cult.
http://www.xenu.net/

Scientology states that Xenu was supposed to have gathered up all the overpopulation in this sector of the galaxy, brought them to Earth and then exterminated them using hydrogen bombs. The souls of these murdered people are then supposed to infest the body of everyone. They are called "body thetans". On the advanced levels of Scientology a person "audits out" these body thetans telepathically by getting them to re-experience their being exterminated by hydrogen bombs. So people on these levels assume all their bad thoughts and faulty memories are due to these body thetans infesting every part of their body and influencing them mentally.

Yeah, L. Ron Hubbard was a hack science fiction writer who had only a little talent and not much future, going up against the giants of the genre in the 50's. So he made up his own religion that was geared toward fleecing his marks at the fastest rate possible.

Now, these guys claim that instead of dying of old age, he voluntarily put aside his physical form and is exploring the universe's spiritual realm, reporting back to the church's leaders. What really amazes me is how many Hollywood types they've brought on board to promote this religion. If I thought that Cruise, Travolta and the rest knew what was going on with the average folks, I'd be far more upset at them.

Without context...a lot of this sounds like a science fiction novel. Can a follower out there put some of this into context for the rest of us?

Nancy,

I am surprised at this point that a follower hasn't responded to the discusssion in this blog. Scientologist are renowned for adamantly and violently denying anything could possibly be wrong with their "church" or it's "methods."
The only context I can offer is this: it's a legal scheme to hooverize as much money as possible out of the follower's wallets. Prospective members are "audited" with a "e-meter" that is supposed to reveal mental conflicts holding you back from your full potential. Then, of course, you can pay for a Scientology course to clear up these mental blocks. The courses continue to go up in price ... every time the member thinks issues are resolved, the latest audit reveals the need for additional coursework ... and the price of the courses continues to climb .... we're talking about thousands of dollars a year .... so the money keeps pouring in the church coffers.
Wanna know why Hubbard's books sell so well? Church members are instructed to go out to bookstores and buy boxes of the new printings. All of that money coming in helps pay for a ongoing public relations campaign to snow the public.
What legitimate church do you know that keeps it's "holy documents" secret, and spends millions on lawyers who have gone public with some of these documents?
Here's a discussion of a story that Time did in 1991 on the "church" (it would be better if you could read the actual article, the link includes that citation): http://www.watchman.org/sci/sci-time.htm

A brief discussion of the "auditing" with the e-meter by the church:http://www.watchman.org/sci/scigrow.htm

Read about how the church took over and co-opted the Cult Awareness Network: http://www.xenutv.com/us/60min-can.htm

A disclaimer about the Watchman Fellowship:http://www.watchman.org/about.htm

Here's some information on Scientology that you might find interesting.

http://www.apologeticsindex.org/s04aa.html

It is nice to see the truth displayed before too many North Carolinians are "snowed." This" e-meter" uses polygraph principles to discover what issues, insecurities, etc. a person has, and as described above, milk them for all the cash they can get. Check out this video : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPol_m8wm8Y&feature=related

You can tell a lot by looking in to someones eyes. These people have pentrated our government, and everywhere else you can imagine. Stay "frosty" NC!!! Sorry, my e-mail is fake.

S Adams