People think scientologists are crazy not for their beliefs, but for their practices - which is to say taking a shitload of money and virtually forcing people to live the way they want them to. Like a cult, see. There's this Christian cult nearby campus which students are warned away from not because Christianity is dangerous, but because this cult actually blackmails people and coerces them to do things like marry only somebody that the cult approves of, take on jobs that the cult wants them to, stop talking to certain family members, give them more money than the people can really afford, and so on. Some situations call for religious tolerance, others call for being aware that folks are being treated like shit by other folks kinda sorta against their will. It's not in the same realm as religious warfare but it's still an abuse of basic human rights.
That said, people are quick to believe hyperbole about scientology in an almost ironically cultlike way.
p.s. Your entry made me curious, so I went on religioustolerance.org, which seems to side with you on the notion that all the anti-Scientology stuff is religious intolerance. I know some people who went to some Anonymous protests, and while they're not bad people, it kind of grinds my gears that they got involved politically about something that, well, might not be real, as opposed to stuff that most definitely is real (the war, domestic violence, stuff
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That's ok. And you have valid points, I wasn't aware of the cluty-er side to scientology. The point that makes me more angry is that everyone says it is such a weird set of beliefs, but in reality, it is just as weird as any other set of beliefs. Christianity is based on a woman spontaneously becoming pregnant, having a child who is crucified, rises from the dead, then goes up to heaven ( a place in the clouds that you go after you die) to live with an all knowing being that suppossedly created the earth. And some of the stories in the bible are even less believable. Some beliefs are just as weird, they just lie within the social norms and are accepted and respected. As for the religious tolerance of scientology itself, I don't really know much about it. I guess I am saying the basis of the religion is as valid as the basis of any other religion.
Haha, I've definitely pondered the absurdity of beliefs thing. Because here I am practicing this nature religion where symbols are understood to be just that, symbols, and no beliefs are expected of the followers, but you can benefit from the beliefs you do have, and the whole idea is just that you can shape your own actions by building up willpower... and then these Christian folks are like, "What a crackpot! You think you can do magic! Ha ha ha!" And I'm like, "Yeah, well... nevermind. Enjoy Heaven."
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That said, people are quick to believe hyperbole about scientology in an almost ironically cultlike way.
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As for the religious tolerance of scientology itself, I don't really know much about it. I guess I am saying the basis of the religion is as valid as the basis of any other religion.
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