1052: Get Smart

[Keith]

"Don't do acid or mushrooms in an artist's house."


Myq Kaplan

[naberdy]

I completely agree with Keith about Scientology. Just look at the wiki entry for their Operation Snow White. "This project included a series of infiltrations and thefts from 136 government agencies, foreign embassies and consulates, as well as private organizations critical of Scientology, carried out by Church members, in more than 30 countries; the single largest infiltration of the United States government in history with up to 5,000 covert agents."

How many other religions have done something like that?

[Astigos]

The acid and mushroom stories in this episode is ripe for cartooning.

Also, the story of Lisa McPherson is horrible and tragic. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lisa_mc...ort_and_review
Long story short: Lisa was a scientologist. Lisa was mentally ill. Scientologists would not let her go to a hospital because that would result in her being admitted into a Psych ward, so scientologists tried to help her in their own facilities and essentially left her to die in a room where she died of starvation and thirst and insects began to feast upon her flesh.

[Callan]

Will you buy Sarah Palin's book?
Yes - 1 (me)
No - 48

I am also one of the twelve retards that voted to leave Polanski alone.

I would like to state that the way I vote in these poles in no way reflects my opinions (usually the opposite - such as in the Polanski pole). I am retarded, I'm sorry, help me.

[DudeEMETIB]

I think this video will help Keith prove his point to
Chemda, Scientology really is a fucked up cult.

[PoorGradStudent]

I have the sinking feeling that Palins book will come with crayons.

[DudeEMETIB]

I found that kind of interesting, though it's pretty long.

[DudeEMETIB]

What can I say? I got into doing some Scientology research...

[whatotherway]

Keith said to name another religion that keeps things secret until you have learnt more...

Are Masons considered a religion? According to some it is, and they do it.

Mormons (Latter Day Saints) as well as many of the other sects of Mormons do the same.

According to some religious experts, Catholicism has secrets that you can only learn when you advance in the religion, first you become a Priest, a Bishop, a Cardinal... and you learn secrets you are not supposed to share with your congregation at each stage... I hasten to add I don't know if that is true, I'm not Catholic, I just read it.

Some of the organised Wiccan's often have secrets you can only as you advance.

Jehovah Witnesses are supposed to have secrets you can only learn as you go up the church.

I'm sure there are more.

[Junkenstein]

Originally Posted by whatotherway

Are Masons considered a religion? According to some it is, and they do it.

According to Lawrence Gardner, the most renowned historian of the masonic movement and his book "Shadow of solomon", the mason had absolutely nothing to do with religion, occultism or most of the cult-ish aspects that are attributed to them. They were born and mainly develop as a group of intellectuals who used rituals as a form of identification.

The secrets that supposedly you learnt by going up in their "levels" were originally nothing more than degrees of knowledge of the Main Arts (chemistry, physics and architecture).

Right now they're nothing more than some sort of social club, and most of the spocalyptic conspiracies attributed to them are a myth.

I'm going by memory, but Gardner's book is a very interesting and very lucid analysis of the subject.