PushingJelly

Well, I have just watched the BBC Panorama programme on the scientology organisation. The bit when Sweeny does his pieces, well it ‘aint pretty. You have to sympathise with the guy however. The “spokes person”, Tommy Davis is in his face continually for what looks like days, the crew are being followed all the time and blatantly (funny bit when he gets out and taps on the window of the guy in the Sedona, the wally in the car didn’t know where to look).
At the end of the day (whether they like it or not) they are a “brainwashing cult” who use NLP techniques to persuade their followers and bullying tactics to persicute anyone who disagrees with their opinions and methods.
They are a fantastically rich corporation funded by donations not only of money but intellectual property who keep tight control of their copyrighted doctorines, so much so that they were instrumental to the ratification of the DCMA .
The organisation was founded by a known confidence trickster who wrote science fiction stories and who is quoted as saying “the best way to make a million dollars is to start your own religion”, although they now refute this by frightening off the two living members of the audience of the meeting where he said it.
I guess they have as much right to call their organisation a religion as anyone else, arn’t all religions based on the words of men serving their own best interests and not divine deities as most profess.
The rest is just history and timing, unlike most organised religions, scientology was set-up last century instead of thousands of years ago.
As to it not being a cult, well aren’t all religions cults? Christianity was 1900 years ago, just as Judaism was further back.