Hubbard totally made up everything in Dianetics and the only thing he believed about it was the adulation, power, and (most importantly of all) money he made from it. The man was a pathalogical liar from childhood, who craved the lifestyle money brought.
Read
Bare-Faced Messiah
by Russell Miller for an excellent (and true) biography of Hubbard.
I want to point out that it's not actually Scientology's metaphysics I'm contemptuous of, as Thetans and alien conquerers don't strike me as terribly further divorced from reality than angels and demonically possessed herds of swine. However, the pyramid schemechurch's organization and the behaviors that it encourages toward nonbelievers are another matter entirely.
I'm with you Matt. My main beef with Scientology is that salvation should not cost a quarter to a half a million dollars.
I do hold their cosmology in contempt, but no moreso than any other cosmology I hold in contempt.
Blasphemer! Xenu the Space Clam died for your sins!!
I'm more partial to cosmologies with a little more seasoning. A 2000 year old tale of thetans works better for me.
Speaking of Tom Cruise, someone had this as part of their signature on a message board. Made me go WTF and laugh at the same time.
Xenu the Space Clam died for your sins!!
Pfft. Xenu died for no one! Xenu exploded several million other beings for your sins!
Now I want to be Xenu.
Can I change my user name again?
Only if you can prove that you're really a 75 million year-old space clam.
Really, the most amusing part of the whole Xenu story is that L. Ron's wife at the time he was writing it was named Mary Sue.
It's just so...appropriate.
Jess, Jess, Jess...
You do not ask Xenu to prove it is Xenu. You believe Xenu when it says it is Xenu. You have faith in the words of Xenu.
What? It worked for Jesus.