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What makes a religion legit?

Amadeus

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Science Ficton writer L. Ron Hubbard openly brags that he can start a religion to bilk people out of their money. Soon after, he founds Scientology and comes up with the mother of all B.S. mythologies to support it. Something about alien warlords from a million gazallion years ago dropping bombs in volcanos and disembodied spirits. And people bought it.

Today, Scientology boasts a following of 10 million members (which may or may not be true, but the number is certainty greater than zero).

Is Scientology a legit religion? Why or why not?
 
Science Ficton writer L. Ron Hubbard openly brags that he can start a religion to bilk people out of their money. Soon after, he founds Scientology and comes up with the mother of all B.S. mythologies to support it. Something about alien warlords from a million gazallion years ago dropping bombs in volcanos and disembodied spirits. And people bought it.

Today, Scientology boasts a following of 10 million members (which may or may not be true, but the number is certainty greater than zero).

Is Scientology a legit religion? Why or why not?

Do I believe it to be true? Not much. Do I feel I know better than the other guy who does think it true? Not much. So let them believe, what they want, I guess.
 
Science Ficton writer L. Ron Hubbard openly brags that he can start a religion to bilk people out of their money. Soon after, he founds Scientology and comes up with the mother of all B.S. mythologies to support it. Something about alien warlords from a million gazallion years ago dropping bombs in volcanos and disembodied spirits. And people bought it.

Today, Scientology boasts a following of 10 million members (which may or may not be true, but the number is certainty greater than zero).

Is Scientology a legit religion? Why or why not?

What makes religion legit?

Giving the churches free money on sundays and then not taxing them
 
As long as belief in "facts" without evidence is involved, the religion isn't legit, but that is why we call them religions. They are all equally bogus, although some are more aggressive than others about taking people's money and/or time.
 
Science Ficton writer L. Ron Hubbard openly brags that he can start a religion to bilk people out of their money. Soon after, he founds Scientology and comes up with the mother of all B.S. mythologies to support it. Something about alien warlords from a million gazallion years ago dropping bombs in volcanos and disembodied spirits. And people bought it.

Today, Scientology boasts a following of 10 million members (which may or may not be true, but the number is certainty greater than zero).

Is Scientology a legit religion? Why or why not?

People / followers make it a legit religion. The Moonies are legit religion too. All they have to do is follow the rules. As for what they believe? who are we to judge?
 
Science Ficton writer L. Ron Hubbard openly brags that he can start a religion to bilk people out of their money. Soon after, he founds Scientology and comes up with the mother of all B.S. mythologies to support it. Something about alien warlords from a million gazallion years ago dropping bombs in volcanos and disembodied spirits. And people bought it.

Today, Scientology boasts a following of 10 million members (which may or may not be true, but the number is certainty greater than zero).

Is Scientology a legit religion? Why or why not?
I totally reject those who claim that we are not to judge or that we can not judge or whatever as I see it as our rightful duty to judge everything and to the best of our ability we are to judge them rightfully.

As such Scientology does have elements of TRUTH in it and it is the Truth that makes or breaks every religion.

It does not have to be all-or-nothing as it only needs to have enough truth just to hook the person(s).

Those pieces of truth (no matter how small) are what makes any religion into a religion.

The ones that die off are those which are not true and have no truth.

And it is not just religion, as in governments or in individual people or in any group or philosophy - if they have some truth then that truth is what makes them legit.
 
Science Ficton writer L. Ron Hubbard openly brags that he can start a religion to bilk people out of their money. Soon after, he founds Scientology and comes up with the mother of all B.S. mythologies to support it. Something about alien warlords from a million gazallion years ago dropping bombs in volcanos and disembodied spirits. And people bought it.

Today, Scientology boasts a following of 10 million members (which may or may not be true, but the number is certainty greater than zero).

Is Scientology a legit religion? Why or why not?



I'll grant that religious beliefs can be considered rather subjective.... however, I'd say Scientology is a rather blatant example of a scam and a cult, given its origins and structure.
 
Science Ficton writer L. Ron Hubbard openly brags that he can start a religion to bilk people out of their money. Soon after, he founds Scientology and comes up with the mother of all B.S. mythologies to support it. Something about alien warlords from a million gazallion years ago dropping bombs in volcanos and disembodied spirits. And people bought it.

Today, Scientology boasts a following of 10 million members (which may or may not be true, but the number is certainty greater than zero).

Is Scientology a legit religion? Why or why not?

The psychologists tell us that a delusion is a belief strongly adhered to in disregard to a lack of evidence or evidence to the contrary. But an exception has to be made for delusions that are widely held, e.g. religion.

Polemics aside, although I am an atheist I reject the argument that some make that all religions are to be equally respected, or, conversely, that all religions are equally bogus. I think we can differentiate between claims and credos in terms of degrees of absurdity. To wit, Sam Harris: "Mormonism is objectively less likely to be true than Christianity, because Mormonism is simply Christianity, plus a series of stupid ideas." The same can be applied to Scientology.
 
Absolutely legit, although I very much believe that legally it probably shouldn't be. Look at the Mormons and the Unification Church (Moonies). All of them are organized worldviews pertaining to a supernatural explanation of human existence; regardless if they were created more recently than the monotheistic and Eastern religions.

Or pick apart our Holy texts. If you subscribe to the believe that texts can be 'Holy' and that there's such as thing as the supernatural guidance of writing: Mark 16:9–20 is a forgery, Deuteronomy is a forgery, a pile of the Letters to the Epistle are dubious pseudepigraphies, the Book of Mormon ... no comment ..., several of the Surahs (chapters of the Quarn) like Wilaya and Nurayn are forgeries, and there's a pile of Confucian texts that are forgeries. None of these are different than L. Ron Hubbard's writings.

I only make that *legally* stipulation because Scientology is a cult that victimizes many of its followers. Countries should definitely not grant Scientology organizations the rights that are given to other religions (even though I believe all special rights should be rescinded for religions ... i.e. tax exemptions).
 
I'll grant that religious beliefs can be considered rather subjective.... however, I'd say Scientology is a rather blatant example of a scam and a cult, given its origins and structure.

It's more like the Illuminati. secretive and elitist.
 
What makes a religion legit? About 500 years. In other words, the test of time.
 
Is ... a legit religion? Why or why not?

No religions are legit. We know why people want to believe on various things, to gratify their healthy or most of the time, unhealthy ego.

So, no religions are legit, therefore this crap is not legit either.
 
Science Ficton writer L. Ron Hubbard openly brags that he can start a religion to bilk people out of their money. Soon after, he founds Scientology and comes up with the mother of all B.S. mythologies to support it. Something about alien warlords from a million gazallion years ago dropping bombs in volcanos and disembodied spirits. And people bought it.

Today, Scientology boasts a following of 10 million members (which may or may not be true, but the number is certainty greater than zero).

Is Scientology a legit religion? Why or why not?

The government must declare it to be legitimate. Otherwise it won't get those lucrative tax exemptions.

Amazing how churches don't want any interference from government but are willing to sell their 'souls' not to pay taxes.
 
Science Ficton writer L. Ron Hubbard openly brags that he can start a religion to bilk people out of their money. Soon after, he founds Scientology and comes up with the mother of all B.S. mythologies to support it. Something about alien warlords from a million gazallion years ago dropping bombs in volcanos and disembodied spirits. And people bought it.

Today, Scientology boasts a following of 10 million members (which may or may not be true, but the number is certainty greater than zero).

Is Scientology a legit religion? Why or why not?

Far far from 10 million....they have about 50,000 left.
 
Science Ficton writer L. Ron Hubbard openly brags that he can start a religion to bilk people out of their money. Soon after, he founds Scientology and comes up with the mother of all B.S. mythologies to support it. Something about alien warlords from a million gazallion years ago dropping bombs in volcanos and disembodied spirits. And people bought it.

Today, Scientology boasts a following of 10 million members (which may or may not be true, but the number is certainty greater than zero).

Is Scientology a legit religion? Why or why not?

It is interesting that you answered the question and then asked the question.

Obviously it isn't.
 
100% of all religions are man made insanity born out of fear of living and the end of living.
 
It is interesting that you answered the question and then asked the question.

Obviously it isn't.

No, I didn't answer the question. If Scientology isn't a legit religion based on its shady background, why are any religions legit? Why is Mormonism legit?
 
No, I didn't answer the question. If Scientology isn't a legit religion based on its shady background, why are any religions legit? Why is Mormonism legit?

Well you certainly didn't set up the pro side of things.
 
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