Scientology is a Bad Cult

(Other people are now running a permanent replacement for Why Are They Dead)

Worth Reading : St. Petersburg Times is running a three-part series on Scientology and David Miscavige

• Because their "free personality test" tells everyone they need Scientology

  Scientology uses a rigged multiple-choice personality test as a recruiting tool. They call it the "Oxford Capacity Analysis" test, but it has nothing to do with Oxford University - they picked that name to try to give it credibility. It is not used outside of Scientology and Scientology's front-groups. It is impossible to get a perfect score on the OCA. [Links: 1, 2, 3, Take It Online (unofficial)]
• Because the same people that gave you that test, make a commission if you buy anything

  The sales-force for Scientology, known as the FSMs (Field Staff Members), get at least a 10% commission on books and courses they convince people to take. Once someone joins up, their original salesman continues to get a percentage of all of the books and courses they buy. [Links: 1, 2]
• Because they use the notes they take during your "confidential" Auditing sessions against you

  The Auditing that is the core of Scientology often takes the form of a confessional, obtaining deeply personal information from the subject about their personal life. That information is kept in "PC Files" by Scientology (PC = Pre-Clear, the person receiving auditing). These files are supposed to be kept confidential, but the private information from them is often used to bully people in to giving more money to Scientology, to try to stop people from leaving, or to attack people who have left and then speak out against Scientology. [Links: 1, 2, 3, Great Video clip, What Is A PC Folder?]
• Because once you start buying their services, they'll squeeze every last penny out of you

  The hard sell for each new level of "training" stops at nothing. You should sell your shop, or take out huge loans or second mortgages, to finance your Scientology training - according to them. Heavy pressure to spend more cash on courses is applied, to separate members from their money. [Links: 1, 2: Watch Clip A and Clip B, or Watch Full Show, or Read Transcript, 3]
• Because the books and doctrine are full of utterly false medical claims

  L. Ron Hubbard had no medical background whatsoever, but that didn't stop him claiming that as a result of applying his techniques "... the arthritis vanishes, myopia gets better, heart illness decreases, asthma disappears, stomachs function properly..." (Source: Dianetics MSMH page 46 in that leaked PDF version), as well as many other outlandish promises - including raising the dead. [Links: 1, 2, 3]
• Because it seeks to create a world where only Scientologists have civil rights and citizenship

  L Ron Hubbard invented the phrase "unaberrated person", to mean someone who has swallowed Scientology's nonsense entirely and reached a certain level of indoctrination. Scientology would seek to deny proper citizenship and human rights to anybody else, if they could. "Perhaps at some distant date only the unaberrated person will be granted civil rights under the law. Perhaps the goal will be reached at some future time when only the unaberrated person can attain to and benefit from citizenship." - Dianetics MSMH page 253. [Links: 1, 2]
• Because David Miscavige, global head of Scientology, beats up his own staff

  When L Ron Hubbard died, a bully with a violent temperament and no life experience outside of Scientology took over. David Miscavige grew up in Scientology and his only management technique is intimidation - with regular outbreaks of hitting people [Links: 1, 2, 3, Great Video, Massive Special Report]