Xenu
Dragon Slayer/World Dictator
Joined: Dec 27, 2008
Age: 19
Posts: 1438
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 Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 4:00 pm Post subject: |
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| KaiG wrote: | | They're both equally unbelievable, except Christianity has the benefit of its principle miracles having supposedly occured a long time ago, meaning it's harder to be sure of the accuracy or inaccuracy of the evidence. |
Scientology occurred even longer ago. |
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Sand
Phoenix
Joined: Sep 16, 2007
Posts: 11852
Location: Finland
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| Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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| Xenu wrote: | | KaiG wrote: | | They're both equally unbelievable, except Christianity has the benefit of its principle miracles having supposedly occured a long time ago, meaning it's harder to be sure of the accuracy or inaccuracy of the evidence. |
Scientology occurred even longer ago. |
Even before Dianetics? |
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DeaconBlues
They call Alabama the Crimson Tide - call me...
Joined: Apr 22, 2007
Posts: 3911
Location: Earth, mostly
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| Posted: Sun Jul 18, 2010 9:34 pm Post subject: |
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Scientology fails on at least one of its basic articles of faith - that when Xenu brought the convicts to this world to be blown up by volcanoes, he moved several trillion human-sized creatures on starships the size and shape of a DC-8 (the design was supposed to be a racial memory). These trillions were then packed around volcanoes that are known and active (or at least dormant, not extinct) today. This would have required billions of flights, which, assuming zero-time FTL transit from origin to destination, would still require a nontrivial number of years just for loading and unloading, followed by stacking the captives several miles deep around each volcano. One would think such a mass would have left physical traces of all those thetans in the geological record...
Hubbard was a lousy writer, who stole his basic concepts from stories that Silverberg and Asimov had abandoned as irreparable, then screwed them up further, and sold it as a religion because that was the only way he could make anyone read his crap.
At least the Bible has some poetic passages, and some good moral and ethical lessons in there (really, no matter how atheistic you are, isn't the message that people should be nice to each other a good one?).
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Sodium is a metal that reacts explosively when exposed to water. Chlorine is a gas that'll kill you dead in moments. Together they make my fries taste good. |
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Macbeth
Voluntary Thane
Joined: May 28, 2007
Posts: 3481
Location: UK Doncaster
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| Posted: Mon Jul 19, 2010 4:59 am Post subject: |
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| DeaconBlues wrote: | Scientology fails on at least one of its basic articles of faith - that when Xenu brought the convicts to this world to be blown up by volcanoes, he moved several trillion human-sized creatures on starships the size and shape of a DC-8 (the design was supposed to be a racial memory). These trillions were then packed around volcanoes that are known and active (or at least dormant, not extinct) today. This would have required billions of flights, which, assuming zero-time FTL transit from origin to destination, would still require a nontrivial number of years just for loading and unloading, followed by stacking the captives several miles deep around each volcano. One would think such a mass would have left physical traces of all those thetans in the geological record...
Hubbard was a lousy writer, who stole his basic concepts from stories that Silverberg and Asimov had abandoned as irreparable, then screwed them up further, and sold it as a religion because that was the only way he could make anyone read his crap.
At least the Bible has some poetic passages, and some good moral and ethical lessons in there (really, no matter how atheistic you are, isn't the message that people should be nice to each other a good one?). |
DC-8 doesn't look particularly space-worthy. Doesn't look terribly flight-worthy either. 
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"There is a time when the operation of the machine becomes so odious, makes you so sick at heart,
that you can't take part" [Mario Savo, 1964] |
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Dennis
Deinonychus
Joined: Nov 03, 2005
Age: 26
Posts: 332
Location: Ohio
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| Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 12:38 am Post subject: |
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| Christianity pretty easily, considering L. Ron Hubbard was a science fiction writer who IIRC said that religion was a good way to make money and then created a religion thats backstory sounded like a bad science fiction novel. |
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skafather84
Platypus God
Joined: Mar 21, 2006
Age: 28
Posts: 11156
Location: New Orleans, LA
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| Posted: Mon Jul 26, 2010 12:50 am Post subject: |
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| Sand wrote: | | Xenu wrote: | | KaiG wrote: | | They're both equally unbelievable, except Christianity has the benefit of its principle miracles having supposedly occured a long time ago, meaning it's harder to be sure of the accuracy or inaccuracy of the evidence. |
Scientology occurred even longer ago. |
Even before Dianetics? |
The time an event is documented is not the same as the time the event occurs.
/ |_-0-|_
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Wherever they burn books they will also, in the end, burn human beings. ~Heinrich Heine, Almansor, 1823
“I wouldn't recommend sex, drugs or insanity for everyone, but they've always worked for me.” - Hunter S. Thompson |
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SillyEnigma
Blue Jay
Joined: May 14, 2012
Posts: 91
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| Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 10:55 am Post subject: |
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| It's possible that they're both true. But I think Scientology is literally true; while Christianity is metaphocally true. |
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Rocky
This dude is one hoopy frood!
Joined: May 02, 2008
Posts: 2096
Location: Uhhh...Not Remulak
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| Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 12:48 pm Post subject: |
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Christianity is, by far, more popular. As everyone knows, the nature of reality has already been decided by majority rules. That is why atheists are wrong.  
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"Reality is not made of if. Reality is made of is."
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ruveyn
Phoenix
Joined: Sep 22, 2008
Age: 76
Posts: 29309
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Sun May 20, 2012 3:23 pm Post subject: Re: What's more believable, Scientology or Christianity? |
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| Asp-Z wrote: | Here's an interesting one.
Did God send his son down to perform miracles, get crucified and come back to life, or did Xenu blow aliens up in volcanoes then send their souls into us?
I dunno about you, but to me they both sound as believable as each other  |
Both are nonsense.
ruveyn |
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Aelfwine
Pileated woodpecker
Joined: May 04, 2012
Posts: 184
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 3:55 pm Post subject: |
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Scientology wants to make money. (So it is in my opinion more a company than a religion)
Christianity is not only written by one science fiktion writer.
But also in the Bible are some strange stories. Also in the past many christian leaders made moral mistakes.
In general I dislike it when a religion is connected with a big and authoritarian organization.
(In Christianity you had the choice between different churches more or less organized but there is only one scientology organization)
I would prefer Christianity, but I don't know the truth. (Maybe both is wrong, or scientology is right) |
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shrox
Phoenix
Joined: Aug 12, 2011
Posts: 3254
Location: OK let's go.
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 4:02 pm Post subject: |
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| SillyEnigma wrote: | | It's possible that they're both true. But I think Scientology is literally true; while Christianity is metaphocally true. |
Alrighty then... |
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Vigilans
Orgasm Donor
Joined: Jun 20, 2008
Age: 24
Posts: 12091
Location: La belle province
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 6:00 pm Post subject: |
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Scientology is basically a business that is tax exempt in a few countries, as a religious institution. They will sue you if you practice their "beliefs" outside of the "Church"
Neither are particularly believable to me. When it comes down to it though, the events described in the Bible could just be exaggerations of things that actually happened, as there is a level of historicity in it. With Scientology, well, we will never know the truth about Lord Xenu and his empire billions or trillions of years ago
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Opportunities multiply as they are seized. -Sun Tzu
Nature creates few men brave, industry and training makes many -Machiavelli
You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do |
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Thom_Fuleri
Phoenix
Joined: Mar 08, 2010
Posts: 801
Location: Leicestershire, UK
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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| Vigilans wrote: | | Scientology is basically a business that is tax exempt in a few countries, as a religious institution. They will sue you if you practice their "beliefs" outside of the "Church" |
Much the same is true of many branches of Christianity, especially the pentecostal movement (others, such as CofE, struggle to even maintain their own buildings). It's all about the marketing. Neither religion is particularly believable, though Christianity is more widely accepted thanks to sheer age.
It's interesting to note that the biggest and most outlandish of Christianity's concepts - the resurrection/son of god thing - is the major selling point, being the far more important message than anything else; this is a "top down" approach. In Scientology, the outlandish stuff is ignored and even downright denied until you've moved up. The initial ideas are much more palatable (pseudopsychiatry, if you will) and members of the religion are introduced to the wackier concepts slowly, from a firmer foundation (a "bottom up" approach). |
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ruveyn
Phoenix
Joined: Sep 22, 2008
Age: 76
Posts: 29309
Location: New Jersey
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 6:37 pm Post subject: |
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| Asmodeus wrote: | Neither!
الله أكبر! الإسلام هو الطريق الصحيح! الإسلام هو دين السلام! |
If God is great why are there any Muslims alive in the world?
ruveyn |
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Vigilans
Orgasm Donor
Joined: Jun 20, 2008
Age: 24
Posts: 12091
Location: La belle province
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| Posted: Mon May 21, 2012 6:40 pm Post subject: |
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| Thom_Fuleri wrote: | | Vigilans wrote: | | Scientology is basically a business that is tax exempt in a few countries, as a religious institution. They will sue you if you practice their "beliefs" outside of the "Church" |
Much the same is true of many branches of Christianity, especially the pentecostal movement (others, such as CofE, struggle to even maintain their own buildings). It's all about the marketing. Neither religion is particularly believable, though Christianity is more widely accepted thanks to sheer age.
It's interesting to note that the biggest and most outlandish of Christianity's concepts - the resurrection/son of god thing - is the major selling point, being the far more important message than anything else; this is a "top down" approach. In Scientology, the outlandish stuff is ignored and even downright denied until you've moved up. The initial ideas are much more palatable (pseudopsychiatry, if you will) and members of the religion are introduced to the wackier concepts slowly, from a firmer foundation (a "bottom up" approach). |
I think with any radical idea that is the key. With any cult. Once they have their hooks in, and they know you will believe whatever they say, they will enlighten you with their "truth"
| ruveyn wrote: | | Asmodeus wrote: | Neither!
الله أكبر! الإسلام هو الطريق الصحيح! الإسلام هو دين السلام! |
If God is great why are there any Muslims alive in the world?
ruveyn |
*snort* cannot suppress laughter... 
_________________
Opportunities multiply as they are seized. -Sun Tzu
Nature creates few men brave, industry and training makes many -Machiavelli
You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do |
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