Scientology

With all this Tom Cruise stuff about, I thought I'd look up Scientology - his religion, just out of interest. Religion fascinates me. Anyway, I rocked up at www.scientology.org to find something very annoying. There is jack shit on the site about what scientology really is, or anything about their beliefs and practises. To find out anything at all, you've got to order a book. There are plenty of books to order, but certainly nothing for free. Sure makes their religion look appetising. Maybe that's the way I'll make some cash. I'll start a religion!
Okay, maybe I'm being a tad harsh. I don't know anything about Scientology so I shouldn't judge, however, wouldn't you agree that their system seems just a little bit dodge. If they have the ultimate truth, shouldn't it be free?

Having said that, however, I found some very useful information at http://www.religioustolerance.org/scientol1.htm. Having just read that, Scientology's philosophies sound really interesting. They are based on the Eight Human Dynamics (urges):

The First Dynamic is the urge to survive as oneself.
The second the urge to survive through family and sex.
The third is to survive in various groups such as a company or with a group of friends.
The fourth is to survive as mankind.
The fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth are the urge to survive through other life forms such as animals, the physical universe, the spiritual universe and Infinity or God respectively.

They 'clear' the mind through getting rid of past mind scars, and take you to a higher level of conciousness. Oooh, sounds fun.

On the other hand, there's a lot of opposition to Scientology, dismissing it as a money-making cult (remember .org with the books for sale?). However, they use the term 'war on Scientology', and that just makes them sound like George Bush. But it sounds like they might have a point with the brainwashing and all. Arguments on both sides I'm sure. Hard to know. Funny thing is, the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, a sci-fi writer in the 1940s, said:

"Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion"

Funny, that's what I said at the start of my blog.