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I have watched 4 of the episods of http://www.aetv.com/shows/leah-remini-scientology-and-the-aftermath ” class=”bbcode_url”> http://www.aetv.com/shows/leah-remini-scientology-and-the-aftermath It is painful to watch just how much this “church” tears people up – especially families. I know that within Mormonism that being shunned by your family is a case of “your mileage may vary” in that some families will be, “Bummer, you don’t believe anymore? Oh well” to the other side of what would have to be categorized as disavowing a family member.
But wow – Scientology seem to beat out even Jehovah’s Witnesses in this area by a landslide. It seems they consider your life here on this earth as only one of many, so your father/mother/siblings/children are relationships that don’t mean anything when compared to the importance of the religion.
If anybody things the LDS church is “terrible”, I think watching this will make you realize it could be much worse. But I might not recommend this to someone who is in the “angry at the church” stage as it can be triggering.
But this does make me think about what Patrick Mason expressed at
http://www.fairmormon.org/fair-conferences/2016-fairmormon-conference/courage-convictions ” class=”bbcode_url”> http://www.fairmormon.org/fair-conferences/2016-fairmormon-conference/courage-convictions
Quote:My second fear is for the fundamentalist takeover of Mormonism. I’m not referring to fundamentalism in terms of polygamy—I’m pretty confident we’re totally past that phase of our history. Instead, this is a reference to what I think is the rather remote possibility of a process similar to what happened in the Southern Baptist Convention in the early 1990s, when theological fundamentalists took over the churches, seminaries, and governing bodies of the denomination
With lots of people leaving at least the TBM mentality (some staying with the church, such as NOM’s, and some that leave) the church will either open up a bit or will close down and could move towards the direction of even more “fundamentalist”. That scares me for the family I have in the church.
I have watched a couple episodes and my first impression is “What if a disgruntled ex-Mormon did the same type of expose on the LDS church? Wouldn’t we also only see the worst of the worst from that individual’s point of view or that individual’s ‘proof’ that the LDS church is false?” I am no fan of Scientology and I actually believe the root of their issue is greed. I do believe they have truth and good, but their organization (or perhaps their leaders) is not necessarily about that. I bet I could find some people in my community who would say the same about us. I think we’re past the stage of a “fundamentalist” (or perhaps a better term would be hardline) takeover. I think that attempt was already made in the 60s, 70s, and 80s with the likes of Joseph Fielding Smith, Bruce R. McConkie, etc. The calling of people like Dieter Uchtdorf, Todd Christofferson and Dale Renlund to the Q15 brings balance to the Force and I don’t see the pendulum moving the other way in my lifetime. However, clouded the future is, difficult to see.
LookingHard wrote:With lots of people leaving at least the TBM mentality (some staying with the church, such as NOM’s, and some that leave) the church will either open up a bit or will close down and could move towards the direction of even more “fundamentalist”. That scares me for the family I have in the church.
Like DJ I see enough movement away from a fundamentalist retrenchment to ease my mind. Hearing CES people say they are instructed to teach from the gospel topics essays is one sign – but the movement is slow. We hear mention of the essays in a church class, immediately followed by a lesson on the first vision that exclusively quotes the 1838 version.
🙄 Jehovah’s Witnesses are a church but refuse to use the term, whereas Scientologh calls itself a church and is no.such thing IMHO (it is a religion). I had something on New Order Mormon about my visit to a Scientology center, but the post is lost so I can’t cut and paste.
Scientology has some interesting practices – some of which actually DO help people. My problem is how they don’t let people leave. Any problems in the LDS are child’s play compared to Scientology.
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