you said:
Funny question. I have learned more about religions and cults than I ever thought I would. I'm a little jaded about the whole topic of religion though. I never got what I wanted out of $cientology, but I was wise enough to realize I was never going to get it. More importantly, I now know how to get what I want, and I'm getting it.congratulations on escaping. sorry you had such a bad experience. did it turn you off to all organized religion or just ones that don't let you think for yourself?
I still think I'm 'waking up' to evils of $cientology. In other words, I learn something new all the time--last month, I learned about the 'Brainwashing Manual' Elron wrote in 1955. It's just baffling--the extent of one man's evil. It seems to have no end.
A year ago I would have told you I'm going to be a $cientologist for the rest of my life. I had this viewpoint--the man did some bad things, but the good outweighed the bad. It really wasn't until I came to this Message Board and started to express my true feelings that I was finally able to break the spell.
There are things wrong with $cientology that are inexcusable. Elron did things that are unforgivable--Fancy buildings don't constitute a genuine religion. In fact, I view the whole subject of $cientology and Elron Hubbard as sort of a mental-cancer that people need to cure themselves of, and it's not easy. You have to build up your confidence and disabuse yourself of a lot of fucked up ideologies that 'seem' to make sense.
The sad thing is--I turned to $cientology because I found that everything else out there was just incredibly lacking--I wasn't looking hard enough.
So, to finally answer your question, I'm turned off to religions to a large degree. I have my own religious philosophy, and it kind of goes along with Buddhism and the 'Golden Rule'. I also believe that violations of the 'Golden Rule' result in consequences.
Eventually, I'm going to write a book about this. It will be short and sweet. Literally, there won't be any indoctrination because I've just told you the extent of my religious beliefs, and I'm not about brainwashing and enslaving people.
And, if you've read some of my other posts you should know I have my own beliefs about therapy and therapy's role in helping people lead happier and fuller lives, so I'll probably include some of that. But whatever, I probably gave you more of answer than you bargained for.
Thanks for the question,
mb