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gevorgyan
115 Posts |
 Posted - 04/28/2006 : 11:28:57
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I only wanted to check: what the Church of Scientology is, and all I have learnt made me scare.
I am still in shock because all the human health approach more of less go together with dr Sarno theory. The psychotherapy is the main core there and the second bottom is the addiction of "the mind methods".
I wish to be wrong about this, because I have read only a draft about the sect. But it seems me that there is no place for mistake.
Can anybody, whose knowledge is wider in this area, tell something about that? Please
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altherunner
Canada
511 Posts |
Posted - 04/28/2006 : 18:47:23
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| I don't know much about the Church of Scientology, but a friend of mine does, and we recently discussed a few things about their philosophies. He said that their objective in the mind is to become a "clear", free of useless mind chatter. This is also in some religions, and shown to be a benefit in scientific studies. I wouldn't worry about the similarities, as they have benefits, as do other practises like meditation, introspection, etc. I wouldn't join them, as I think they must have hidden motives behind what they do. |
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wrldtrv
666 Posts |
Posted - 04/28/2006 : 21:58:25
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Scientology is a cult, and like typical cults, tries to entice new members by making them feel special, part of something bigger than themselves. Once in, they try to milk them for whatever you they are worth by selling them on the idea of advancing through stages to the ultimate "clear." Of course, each step of the process is going to cost $, lots of it.
L. Ron Hubbard, the founder (now deceased) was a former science fiction writer and his scientology creation was simply another product of his fertile imagination. That anyone could actually be ignorant enough to give it two seconds of consideration is the remarkable thing. But they do.
Scientology loves Hollywood because it's a goldmine--not only lots of $$, but celebrities (like Tom Cruise, John Travolta...) are opinion leaders, reeling in other recruits.
I seem to remember allegations from the past where Scientology has made life miserable for ex-members or those who want to leave, even as far as murdering them in some cases. Years ago Scientology battled the IRS, but the IRS actually backed down and made a deal allowing them their tax-exempt status as a "church." There's a lot more about this cult I don't remember right now, but one place you can learn more about them is the Cult Awareness Network. |
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gevorgyan
115 Posts |
Posted - 04/29/2006 : 13:22:50
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thank you for you posts,
in Europe this is mostly forbiden, except of Germany, where it is more and more popular between the young.
Using there the word of "church" is strongly surpising, because where is the place for God here?
I hope that all the similarities between dr Sarno's thesis are totally innocent. |
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johnnyg
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2006 : 12:20:20
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Beginning note: DO NOT JOIN SCIENTOLOGY--all they want is your money after they "force" you into auditing (therapy) courses. I did some extensive research into Hubbard's theories just before learning about Sarno and this is some of what I learned.
The precourser to scientology was Ron's seminal publication "Dianetics", which was written because his sci fi career was failing. He thought that if he made it look like real science, it would sell. He relentlessly went on the road lecturing and teaching and finally the theory did sell; then he learned that if you can convince the IRS that you have a religion, your income in not taxed. So he turned dianitics into scientology to be tax-exempt so he could make more money. After that he went off the deep end. There are more failures in scientology than successes.
As for the similarities and differences between dianetics and TMS, the following brief description may help:
L Ron Hubbard was an intelligent (if psychotic) individual. He realized that many of the physical problems that are TMS or equivalents were actually psychosomatic. The fact that he realized that is immensely important, but he knew not how to actually "cure" the problems. He said that knowing they were psychosomatic was not enough to cure the problem (such as allergies or arthritis, back pain, etc.). He told his "followers" that in order to be cured, they needed dianetic courses, called audits, which would "clear" people's repressed emotions out of the unconscious, thereby curing the psychosomatic illness.
The scary part is that sometimes it worked, just like psychotherapy can accomplish the same goal. But, the problem is that unqualified and underskilled people were doing the auditing and they were making people even worse. The AMA accused him of practicing medicine or psychiatry without a license and that is why scientologists hate psychiatrists. All this occurred even though Hubbard borrowed heavily from Freud.
Anyway, to make a long story short, Hubbard had only half the picture when it came to curing psychosomatic illness. to this point, only Sarno completes the picture.
John |
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TOSPATIENT
USA
13 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2006 : 13:28:54
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I just discovered this topic, and find the subject interesting.
I've never read Dianetics, nor any other book on Scientology, but after Tom Cruise's most recently ubiquitous media tours promoting his films and Scientology, I became more and more curious about what psychological tools Scientologists actually use. I say this because Cruise himself was (is?) a severely dyslexic person from the time of childhood. He also apparently had an abusive homelife in his youth, with a neglectful and possibly physically/emotionally abusive father. However, Cruise's dyslexia has improved dramatically over the past two decades, and without drugs, as he claims.
I'm not proclaiming dyslexia as "A TMS Equivalent", but it is interesting to note how Scientology claims to "cure" a person of dyslexia, of ADD, of psychosomatic ailments, of depression, anxiety, and other things that converge with Sarno's TMS theory. Their claim of purging repressed negative emotions, just on its own, made me curious, considering that I've also read three of Sarno's books, as well as books on EMDR (psychotherapy for post-traumatic syndrome), medicinal meditation and Freud.
Everyone knows Scientology is a cult, so let's not keep rehashing that. If anyone has any further substantive details of what sort of actual psychotherapeutic treatments or interventions these people use, it may actually assist the credence of TMS theory, sans any allegations of 'Scientology allegiance'.
Lastly, I don't sense that Scientologists are against psychiatry solely because of past AMA actions, as previous poster JohnnyG claims. I sense that they genuinely are anti-SSRIs and other anti-depressant drugs based on other issues, not least of which involve the longterm unbenounced, unproven potential effects said drugs can have on the human mind. Again, I've never read any book on Scientology. I did, however, stumble into a 'museum' in LA two years ago on Sunset Blvd. that claimed to be a Human Rights museum. Instead, it was practically all dedicated to 'the evils of psychiatry', with an elaborate museum-like display. I ran out, sensing strongly that it was a Scientology front.
Any info on the above request would be appreciated. |
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johnnyg
USA
138 Posts |
Posted - 05/13/2006 : 14:21:13
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Go to http://www.factnet.org/Scientology/dianetics.html
There are many online books and testimonials of people who were scentologists. The stories are scary and brutal, and you can read all about what scientology auditing courses are. There are a lot of sensory deprivation techniques in early auditing courses, which can be known to cause either spritual enlightenment or severe mental problems.
And the genesis of why scientoligists hate psychiatrist is because Hubbard was brought up on charges of practicing psychiatry without a license. He then started a crusade against psychiatry because of that. His followers carry on that tradition. Of course they have found other evidence to support their hatred of psychiatry and drugs, and some of that I agree with.
But don't take my word, read the stuff on that websits and the related links and you will see what I mean.
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the Church of Scientology
