Okay - something is bothering me. Has anyone else noticed the Scientology adds plastered all over DA?? Do you all know what Scientology is?? Scientology is a 'religion' (which many feel is a scam) started by a (some would say, including his children, crazy) science fiction writer (go figure) who is known to have said "If you want to make a lot of money, don't make art - make a religion" (I am paraphrasing, but that's the gist).

Now, I am as open minded as the next person, but Scientology is known for splitting people from their families once they join and promoting total separatism from non-Scientologists, particularly those that do not agree with Scientologist teachings - called 'suppressives'. In Scientology you pass through various levels of development, each one costing more and more money than the last (ever notice how many Hollywood stars are Scientologists? perhaps that's cause they have the money to buy their way to the top). And getting out of Scientology is damn near impossible. For these reasons I would classify it as a 'cult', not a religion, even though it is given tax-free religious status in some countries. Although, in the US for instance, it was denied this status for 25 years. The New York Times, for instance, "expressed serious suspicion about the way it won its tax-exempt status, in a surprising and total surrender by the IRS, under circumstances that can only be described as highly mysterious." (Beit-Hallahmi, Scientology: Religion or Racket) As well as this Scientology has a long history with the law concerning the way it makes money - often through illegal means.

Not only this, Tom Cruise (a major spokesman for Scientology) said that Scientology could "cure homosexuality" (among other things) which is just plain ignorant. Anyone who defines homosexuality as "deviant" rather than a "sexual preference" is totally fucked in my opinion (look at the Greeks for crying out loud - viewing homosexuality as deviant is an extremely recent idea).

Some of the controversy:

In the mid-sixties, the Church of Scientology was banned in several Australian states, starting with Victoria in 1965. The ban was based on the Anderson Report, which found that the auditing process involved "command" hypnosis, in which the hypnotist assumes "positive authoritative control" over the patient. The report concluded that "most scientology and dianetics techniques are those of authoritative hypnosis and as such are dangerous... The scientific evidence which the Board heard from several expert witnesses of the highest repute [...] leads to the inescapable conclusion that it is only in name that there is any difference between authoritative hypnosis and most of the techniques of scientology. Many scientology techniques are in fact hypnotic techniques, and Hubbard has not changed their nature by changing their names."

Another interesting case:

In 2001 on Fox News while the terrorist attacks were screened an advertisement ran in the scrolling bar along the bottom of the screen. The advertisement read: "National Mental Health Assistance: 800-FOR-TRUTH." Although it sounded like an official number for the Mental Health Association, it was a phone-number for Scientologists who were waiting for potential distressed callers. As Michael Faenza, president of the National Mental Health Association said, "Scientology is the last organization emotionally vulnerable people should call" presumably because their methods are similar to hypnosis.

Anyway - I don't want to go on about it. There is enough impartial information on the net for anyone who wants to know about all of this. I recommend this article: [link] for anyone who is interested. But my question is: are you all as disturbed as I am to see DA advertising for Scientology? It makes me very uncomfortable.

Any thoughts?