 Scientology in the Sixth World |
 Jun 10 2005, 03:44 PM
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#1
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Shooting Target  Group: Members Posts: 1,840 Joined: 24-July 02 From: Lubbock, TX Member No.: 3,024  |
I've never come across any (that I recognized), but are there any SR references to Scientology and the CoS?
EDIT: Er, wrong forum, can a mod move this to the SR forum? |
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Jun 10 2005, 03:45 PM
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#2
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Chicago Survivor Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 5,079 Joined: 28-January 04 From: Canton, GA Member No.: 6,033 |
That's a scary thought
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Jun 10 2005, 03:54 PM
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#3
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,840 Joined: 24-July 02 From: Lubbock, TX Member No.: 3,024 |
I know. Was reading some article about Tom and Katie, and I thought...wow, I've never thought about Scientology and the Sixth World before.
They have the makings of a very scary org in SR. More scary. |
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Jun 10 2005, 03:55 PM
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#4
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Chicago Survivor Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 5,079 Joined: 28-January 04 From: Canton, GA Member No.: 6,033 |
Well, givent eh events in the SR timeline, I would imagine that Scientology is the #1 religion as it seems to have most aptly predicted the events that unfolded.
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Jun 10 2005, 03:58 PM
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#5
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,840 Joined: 24-July 02 From: Lubbock, TX Member No.: 3,024 |
Bug Spirits = aliens invading?
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Jun 10 2005, 04:00 PM
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#6
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,840 Joined: 24-July 02 From: Lubbock, TX Member No.: 3,024 |
Given the "religious" nature of the beliefs, you could have Scientology shamans.
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Jun 10 2005, 04:21 PM
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#7
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Why oh why didn't I take the blue pill. Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,545 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Gloomy Boise Idaho Member No.: 2,006 |
It was pretty clear at the time it came out that the UB was essentially Scientology. For those of us who lived in Seattle when UB came out it was kind of scary. Because the UB's recruiting method was EXACTLY like the Scientologists.
As far as I know though they didn't turn you into bug spirits. As far as I know. As far as Tom goes I like his movies and he seems like a nice guy, but like most people in Hollywood I have to ignore their personal/political beliefs. |
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Jun 10 2005, 04:19 PM
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#8
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Chicago Survivor Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 5,079 Joined: 28-January 04 From: Canton, GA Member No.: 6,033 |
well, they are alien in motives.
I dunno, the idea of a circle of Travolta Shaman's does sounds rather amusing. Each one with a skill-set derived from the various movies. |
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Jun 10 2005, 04:24 PM
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#9
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,840 Joined: 24-July 02 From: Lubbock, TX Member No.: 3,024 |
Hm, never made the connection to UB and CoS before, but I guess you're right.
Did the UB have a Sea Org? Floating hives, ooh. |
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Jun 10 2005, 04:26 PM
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#10
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 296 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Usually under a cat Member No.: 864 |
I always thought the UB was supposed to be a thinly-veiled reference to Scientology.
I have a pretty good guess about why there's no actual Scientology in Shadowrun, though--go take a look at clambake.org for some info. The higher-ups and lawyers associated with the CoS have no sense of humor whatsoever, and have been known to sue the crap out of anybody they perceive as disparaging them. FanPro doesn't need that kind of aggravation--even if the suits are patently false and frivolous, it still costs money to fight them. The CoS has a lot of money. |
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Jun 10 2005, 04:29 PM
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#11
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,840 Joined: 24-July 02 From: Lubbock, TX Member No.: 3,024 |
Good call.
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Jun 10 2005, 04:37 PM
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#12
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Shooting Target Group: Retired Admins Posts: 1,784 Joined: 28-July 04 From: Cleveland, OH Member No.: 6,522 |
I have the hardcopy notes that were submitted proposing the UB adventure. It was based on the author's personal experiences with Scientology.
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Jun 10 2005, 04:48 PM
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#13
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Shooting Target Group: Members Posts: 1,840 Joined: 24-July 02 From: Lubbock, TX Member No.: 3,024 |
Oh man, post em? Or PM or something? That would be interesting to read.
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Jun 10 2005, 04:56 PM
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#14
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Decker on the Threshold Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 2,922 Joined: 14-March 04 Member No.: 6,156 |
Which is really odd, now I think about it. How in the heck did a religion based around a science fiction book manage to draw so many rich stupid people into it? I admit I don't know a thing about the religion itself, but it seems odd that they've managed to sucker, I mean convert, so many rich people so quickly, and turn em into such zealots to boot. |
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Jun 10 2005, 05:04 PM
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#15
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 296 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Usually under a cat Member No.: 864 |
That's a really good question. Before the internet, I'd understand it a little better, but now that you can find their "secret texts" on the 'net and see just how batsh*t nutso they are, it's hard to understand how anybody could fall for it. Of course, apparently you don't get the nutso stuff early on--you have to work for the church for a long time (and spend a lot of money) before you find out about X*nu and humans being descended from cl*ms and all that stuff (asterisks mine, to thwart search engines). One reason that they seem to collect celebrities is that apparently they get a significantly different version of the "religion" than the rank and file Joe Sixpack does. The church maintains "celebrity centers" and treats these folks very well, recognizing what kind of marketing advantages they can get if high-profile people like Tom Cruise and John Travolta are associated with them. If you're interested, I really recommend checking out clambake.org. They've got some pretty amazing info (nutso-wise) plus a lot of stuff about how far the CoS will go to make sure they don't get their feelings hurt. |
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Jun 10 2005, 05:03 PM
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#16
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Why oh why didn't I take the blue pill. Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,545 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Gloomy Boise Idaho Member No.: 2,006 |
I don't think it is based off of Battlefield Earth, it's fron Dyanetics, same author though.
I am no great expert, and I don't want to degrade anyones beliefs just because I don't share them. I think ST is based on self help. The alien thing could just be a rumor started by people who don't like them. |
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Jun 10 2005, 05:08 PM
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#17
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Incertum est quo loco te mors expectet; Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,548 Joined: 24-October 03 From: DeeCee, U.S. Member No.: 5,760 |
No one said it's based off of Battlefield Earth. Dyanetics is one of the books. I actually have it on my reading list (I'm curious). The author is L. Ron Hubbard. Personally, I preferred Stranger in a Strange Land when it comes to religions written by sci-fi authors. |
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Jun 10 2005, 05:20 PM
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#18
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Great Dragon Group: Members Posts: 6,748 Joined: 5-July 02 Member No.: 2,935 |
This is before most of y'all's time, but check, out a book called Inferno by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. In it, L. Ron Hubbard is finally given the proper reward for all of his 'ard work.
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Jun 10 2005, 05:26 PM
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#19
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 384 Joined: 18-August 03 From: North VA Member No.: 5,519 |
It's certainly sexier than Scientology. |
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Jun 10 2005, 07:06 PM
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#20
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 442 Joined: 23-April 04 From: Pennsylvania Member No.: 6,280 |
Stranger in a Strange Land is basically Secular Humanism carried to one of its many logical extremes.
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Jun 10 2005, 07:11 PM
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#21
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Avatar of Mediocrity Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 725 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Seattle, WA (err, UCAS) Member No.: 277 |
So is that the one with the incest? It's been a looooooong time. :P |
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Jun 10 2005, 07:16 PM
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#22
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Why oh why didn't I take the blue pill. Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,545 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Gloomy Boise Idaho Member No.: 2,006 |
Dyanetics is not a Sci-fi book. It may have been written by an author who was made famous for writing Sci-Fi, but the book it self is not Sci-Fi. This is why I assumed he thought it was based on Battlefield Earth (another popular book that is Sci-Fi written by the same author.) |
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Jun 10 2005, 07:21 PM
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#23
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Why oh why didn't I take the blue pill. Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 6,545 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Gloomy Boise Idaho Member No.: 2,006 |
I don't recall there being any. There was pedophilia... which is what caused what happened to Valentine Michael Smith to happen at the end of the book. Lets just say this was one of RAH's more different books. And I highly recommend reading his other books (Starship Troopers, Have Space Suit Will Travel, Friday) before you tackle this one. Bear in mind RAH didn't necessarily belive what his main characters did as they all had a different pov. I would think if anything the "Old Man" or "Boss" found in so many of his books represented him. |
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Jun 10 2005, 07:24 PM
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#24
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Moving Target Group: Members Posts: 442 Joined: 23-April 04 From: Pennsylvania Member No.: 6,280 |
Its shameful what the movie did to Starship Troopers.
Its been a long time since I read it but the big deviant thing I remember from Stranger was canibalism. |
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Jun 10 2005, 07:24 PM
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#25
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Ain Soph Aur Group: Dumpshocked Posts: 3,477 Joined: 26-February 02 From: Montreal, Canada Member No.: 600 |
Admitedly I have not studied Scientology very much since, well, it doesn't merit my attention, but I figure one of 2 things:
1) Actors and other rich types are so spiritually bankrupt that they'll go for anything 2) They fake their "belief" in order to sucker the lesser masses into it so they can take their money and divide according to their determined pyramid scheme. I tend towards the second one. Not I also think the same thing of Kabbala (as presented by Madonna et al., not the actual system which is, of course, not at all the same and does not require a 50$ red bracelet) In any case, they are both cults (in the pejorative sense), and SR has loads of cults so it'd be easy to implement them in SR. However, the idea of researching Scientology to convincingly portray it in SR revolts me too much, I'd just rather invent a new one or something. |
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