For Science

"HammerheadFistpunch" (hammerheadfistpunch) 03/30/2015 at 14:39 • Filed to: questions, for Science

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Whats the deal with Gawker's sudden obsession with Scientology? EDIT: not intended to be political or religious but in the sake of fair warnings, this thread may end up there.

I have no stake in the game but it feels like middle schoolers all jumping on that one weird kid just because someone did once and it got a lot of laughs.

lone_liberal > HammerheadFistpunch 03/30/2015 at 14:42

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There was a big documentary about it on HBO last night that got a lot of attention. It also combines celebrity gossip with religious weirdness.

HammerheadFistpunch > lone_liberal 03/30/2015 at 14:43

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So...just the regular low hanging fruit angle then?

lone_liberal > HammerheadFistpunch 03/30/2015 at 14:46

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macanamera > HammerheadFistpunch 03/30/2015 at 14:48

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Gotta be honest, Scientology is pretty disgusting.

ACESandEIGHTS > HammerheadFistpunch 03/30/2015 at 14:49

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Easy punching bag.

I was thinking about it this morning on the way to work. This Beck song was on and it was really good and he's from a Scientologist background. And I thought:

I don't care. This is a nice song.

Because don't politicize everything.

But yeah, here in America the Establishment Clause equates to Beat Up on Anything Religious Whenever You Want and That's Supposed to Be OK.

Beck, among others (more outspoken critics include John Travolta, Isaac Hayes, Tom Cruise), calls it simple religion bashing.

Our society loves to call out "religious bigotry" loudly and often, when it is clearly the most guilty of it (i.e. our society picks on most religious groups with alarming frequency, for a society that's supposed to allow free expression of religion).

HammerheadFistpunch > macanamera 03/30/2015 at 14:50

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maybe, it certainly seems weird to me. I guess as a lifelong Mormon I am a touch sensitive to the media being crazy and sensationalist with regards to religion. Its like I tell my wife when we run into weird family/friend/stranger issues: we're all weird, just different brands.

HammerheadFistpunch > ACESandEIGHTS 03/30/2015 at 14:53

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Its amazing how quickly it changed too, I'm old enough to remember when, even though there were still plenty of jokes, it was generally still considered uncouth to crap on a religion whenever and however you wanted, now its the "in" thing to do....and I'm not even that old.

macanamera > HammerheadFistpunch 03/30/2015 at 14:53

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I understand, and that's def a great perspective. LDS does catch a lot of heat, but I mean Scientology is in a class of its own.

HammerheadFistpunch > macanamera 03/30/2015 at 14:55

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oh there is some out there stuff for sure, but like ACES said, easy punching bag is easy.

WiscoProud > HammerheadFistpunch 03/30/2015 at 14:58

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People are focused on Scientology due to their less savory practices like harassing or trying to frame ex-members and journalists, turning low ranking members into slave labor, and extorting their members for money (way beyond what normal religions do).

I don't really care about Scientology one way or another, but from everything I've read over the years, they seem to be much more of an exploitative cult than a religion.

macanamera > HammerheadFistpunch 03/30/2015 at 14:58

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true dat

HammerheadFistpunch > WiscoProud 03/30/2015 at 15:01

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possibly true, I'm just curious why all the stories out of the blue. Some of them seem to be super fabricated just to meet the sites needs:

Kitchenette - The weird things Scientology eat.

*not a real thing...yet

Tapas > HammerheadFistpunch 03/30/2015 at 15:02

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Not related: The picture you added in the post needs to be on a t-shirt :D

HammerheadFistpunch > Tapas 03/30/2015 at 15:02

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probably is, I googled it, felt the kreiger and posted it.

Sam > HammerheadFistpunch 03/30/2015 at 15:09

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Well it's a cult that destroys people's lives, so....

WiscoProud > HammerheadFistpunch 03/30/2015 at 15:09

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I'm sure that's going to be posted this afternoon.

They're just jumping on the bandwagon with the HBO special, although they have had periodic scientology articles the last few years.

Anima > HammerheadFistpunch 03/30/2015 at 15:18

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The picture you posted really reminded me of this:

Start at 0.27 if kinja happens to kinja kinja.

jariten1781 > HammerheadFistpunch 03/30/2015 at 15:20

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Yeah, it was just like the Robert Durst articles after 'The Jinx' aired. Easy eyes on pages for little work piggybacking off someone else's buzz.

HammerheadFistpunch > Anima 03/30/2015 at 15:23

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I have all these books on tape read by the author. This is a good series but Dirk Gently is where its at for me.

HammerheadFistpunch > Sam 03/30/2015 at 15:24

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so....why all the sudden?

Sounds like cheap and easy piggybacking on an HBO piece.

Sam > HammerheadFistpunch 03/30/2015 at 15:28

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Yeah, basically. But still, I feel no solace for them. It's as sane as a religion based on the lore of Star Wars.

HammerheadFistpunch > Sam 03/30/2015 at 15:30

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I'm not feeling sympathetic for anyone except maybe generally at anyone under the close and itchy microscope of Gawker media.

Anima > HammerheadFistpunch 03/30/2015 at 15:36

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Hitchhikers guide is where I met Adams. (You should really get the Stephen Fry audiobook, it's possible even better.) But yes, Dirk Gently is just as amazing. There is this wonderful sentence only a few pages into the first book:

The scream screamed on and on till it became a blinding noise and the light a deafening redness.

Sir_Stig: and toxic masculinity ruins the party again. > HammerheadFistpunch 03/30/2015 at 16:00

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Wife? Singular?

I kid, I kid :P

BaconSandwich is tasty. > HammerheadFistpunch 03/30/2015 at 17:24

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I didn't know you are LDS. That makes two of us! Cool.

HammerheadFistpunch > BaconSandwich is tasty. 03/30/2015 at 17:26

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Well, you are in Utah so you had a good chance. Also, isn't this the story you would tell in Elders Quorum about being an example...except in this case I wasn't enough of an example to be obvious. I suck at this.

BaconSandwich is tasty. > HammerheadFistpunch 03/30/2015 at 17:32

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Hah, it's all good. Your username is probably one of the dozen or so that I associate with being fairly active on Oppo.