A Trip Down Scientology Lane

Light article about someone taking the opportunity of an open house to visit a Church of Scientology. My notes:

The Daily Texan - A trip down Scientology lane

Again, the CoS capitalizes on the curiosity generated by protests to invite people to know more about Scientology:

When I saw that the Church of Scientology, a religion started by a best-selling science fiction author, was having an open house, I seized the chance to hear their message.

My partner in crime, Katie, and I were greeted by a pair of Scientologists who asked us if we would like to take a free personality or IQ test. My first test of the semester administered by Scientologists? Why not?[...]

The pair had a good test, so the line is not "Scientology can help you with that", the line is "You are top and Scientology can help you make best use of your potential":

The Scientologist tallied up our scores and told us we fell into the “top 10 percent” — whatever that meant. [...]

She went on to say doctors, executives and other high-paid professionals made up the top 10 percent. [...]

Being in the elite bracket meant we had the potential to do anything we wanted in life — we just had to learn how to fulfill that potential.

Introductory courses are fairly cheap, which allows the CoS to get their line accross better, and of course start their indoctrination in parallel too:

Just our luck, Scientology just happened to offer the answers, and they just happened to come in the form of classes the church offers for a nominal fee, starting at $35.

Again, the CoS capitalizes on the curiosity generated by critics: the e-meter! An opportunity to try it out:

She asked if we wanted to try it, and I eagerly volunteered

Strangely the auditor could not get a needle reaction from the two:

“You’ve got a very stress-free life,” she told me, finally giving up.

Of course, the reaction by the CoS was not what was expected by people who would read all kinds of strange allegations on the net and the media:

There was no talk of Xenu, thetans or soul catchers during our visit.

And this open-minded and bright couple eventually came up with the right conclusion:

In the end, the Church of Scientology was a lot like any other church, and Scientologists were just like everyone else — looking for some meaning in life.

Really, that really is all what it is. Yes, Scientology is cultish, but so are many other religions and philosophies. I would not recommend Scientology because of its cultic aspect, but it just isn't the monster critics make it out to be. Critics in fact do a great service to Scientology by making it a monster. When people get the other side of the story and see that it just is not what was depicted to them, they may start listening...