The more I read about Scientology, the more my mind boggles... I just can't understand how people can believe this....
Because people are crazy?
But to give everyone who ever became a Scientologist ever the benefit of the doubt ... I think the random weird alien shit must sound better and make more sense in context. I've also seen Scientologists say that part of the religion is that you believe what is true for you, so some of them may interpret thetans as being a useful metaphor, as some Christians see Genesis as one.
This still seems like a flimsy justification for giving all your money to a religion started by a hack SF writer, but I think all organized religion is a little weird.
a religion started by a hack SF writer
Didn't he go on record, pre-Dianetics, about the financial benefits of starting your own religion?
Didn't he go on record, pre-Dianetics, about the financial benefits of starting your own religion?
Other Sci-Fi writers have gone on the record of hearing Hubbard say that.
I think the random weird alien shit must sound better and make more sense in context.
Well, officially, the specifics of the random weird alien shit isn't even revealed until you've invested WAY too much time and money to back out, so your average Scientologist-on-the-street isn't supposed to know about it at all. (In practice, it's been leaked over the internet for years, but it's supposed to be an OT III-level secret.)
Jess said what I was going to say. Also, I think I may have to change my tag to compliment hers now.
Hey, aren't you supposed to be paying me large sums of money to rid you of troublesome alien souls?
a religion started by a hack SF writer
See, you know Whitley Streiber's kicking himself. He writes
Wolfen,
and then
The Hunger,
and then he writes
Communion
and people BELIEVE it. He's gotta be thinking "Why did I get people to believe in aliens, rather than in my whacked-out religion? Where's the percentage?"
(and when Sean and Jessica post in sequence, their tags crack me up)
Lots of articles are bemoaning the drop in cinema ticket purchases, and blaming DVDs is at the top of the list of reasons. But I also see that DVD sales are dropping to single digit growth for the first time in forever -- I wonder -- are
movies
doing worse overall? I mean, if the main ways to see movies break down thusly:
- Theatre (first run and cheapie)
- DVD (own or rent)
- Pay cable (HBO, Cinemax, whatever)
- TV
Is the total of viewers down, or is the distributions shifting to transmitted movies, pretty long after the release date?
Is the total of viewers down, or is the distributions shifting to transmitted movies, pretty long after the release date?
I think the latter is true. But most articles just focus on the decline of folks seeing movies in the theatre.
But I also see that DVD sales are dropping to single digit growth for the first time in forever
Is that all types of DVDs, or just DVDs of movies? The only reason I ask is because I could see if people were buying full season or series runs of DVDs, then they might be investing more time in less product, so to speak. I also wonder how big a phenom Netflix (and its imitators) has become in terms of impacting sales.
