Paul Haggis Vs. the Church of Scientology, The Apostate, The New Yorker

by donuthole 6 Replies latest jw friends

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  donuthole

  http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2011/02/14/110214fa_fact_wright?currentPage=1

  This is a very long article (26 pages!). I'm only part way through but it never fails to impress me, how similar some of these religions are to Jehovah's Witnesses. For instance, how publicly Scientology downplays their "disconnection" practice in the same way Jehovah's Witnesses do with disfellowshipping. Also noteworthy was the attitude towards those who had left the religion:

  "It was also easy to dismiss people who quit the church. As [Haggis] put it, “There’s always disgruntled folks who say all sorts of things.”"

  Edit -- here's another quote that echos the JW experience -

  “The process of induction is so long and slow that you really do convince yourself of the truth of some of these things that don’t make sense,” Haggis told me. Although he refused to specify the contents of O.T. materials, on the ground that it offended Scientologists, he said, “If they’d sprung this stuff on me when I first walked in the door, I just would have laughed and left right away.
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  tenyearsafter

  Hi donuthole...we must have posted simultaneously!

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/watchtower/beliefs/205872/1/Paralells
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  donuthole

  Another interesting bit -

  For one course, she decided to write a paper about discrimination against various religions, including Scientology. “I wanted to see what the opposition was saying, so I went online,” she says. Another student turned her in to the school’s ethics committee. Information that doesn’t correspond to Scientology teachings is termed “entheta”—meaning confused or destructive thinking. Lauren agreed to stop doing research. “It was really easy not to look,” she says.
• 

  donuthole

  Doesn't this just ring bells -

  I asked them how the controversy surrounding Scientology had affected them. “It hasn’t touched me,” Archer said. “It’s not that I’m not aware of it.” She went on, “Scientology is growing. It’s in a hundred and sixty-five countries.”

  “Translated into fifty languages!” Jastrow added. “It’s the fastest-growing religion.” He added, “Scientologists do more good things for more people in more places around the world than any other organization ever.”
• 

  donuthole

  One more :-)

  Davis, early in his presentation, attacked the credibility of Scientology defectors, whom he calls “bitter apostates.” He said, “They make up stories.” He cited Bryan Wilson, an Oxford sociologist, who has argued that testimony from the disaffected should be treated skeptically, noting, “The apostate is generally in need of self-justification. He seeks to reconstruct his own past to excuse his former affiliations and to blame those who were formerly his closest associates.”
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  leavingwt

  http://www.jehovahs-witness.net/jw/friends/205780/1/Paul-Haggis-vs-the-Church-of-Scientology
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  donuthole

  Sorry for the repost of this article! I missed your original.