I need a fairly large cult for some stuff I'm thinking of, and the CotD doesn't fill my needs.

How do you think Sciencetology™(SM) would change? Would it even survive? It would probably get a boost from the Insect Spirit angle. (Look, they did not purify themselves enough!)

EDIT: Avoiding suage.

From the look of things, Scientology would get corporate backing. :spin:

Maybe I should just run it as a small corporation.

Now, if they were battling for a AA rating...

No, too silly.

Dr. WHo fans qualify as a cult in and of themselves.

Church of the SubGenius

I wonder what the SCA is like in 2064. Also look at Christian Science. If you are looking for a more sinister cult look at the Church of Set and Golden Dawn. Hell even the Macons and Knights of Columbus would qualify.

-The Eggman

the Amish. Think about that gender-swapping X-FIles episode.

What is Scientology, anyway? Worship of science?

Are those the same loons who are into pyramid power and orgone and all that?

Another good site.

It's really just a rather spooky overgrown cult from a hack sci-fi writer.

But I really would like some discussion about how you think it might change. I have a group to screw over, ya know.

I think they would stay pretty much the same. Their tactics are pretty solid. They would some Matrix presence, they would likely still have a few celebrity spokes persons who will say that Scientology changed their lives and turned their careers around (not unlike John Travolta). One advantage they would likely find a way to exploit would be extraterritorial for their worship centers.

Universal Brotherhood, and the advertisements they put out, reminded me a lot of the Church of Scientology.

Ohh, nasty brain-flash.

Sciencetology™(SM) was competing with the UB right...

Dammit, my players read this board.

EDIT: Avoiding Suage

How dare you besmirch the name of the religion of such luminaries as Tom Cruise and John Travolta! You just haven't reach OT 7 yet, heathens....

Seriously, I give it even odds that DS gets a c&d by the end of the week.

The question is, would that be good or bad for shadowrun?

"The Church of Sciencetology™(SM)q has declared that the Dumpshock Forums, a site indirectly affiliated with the Shadowrun roleplaying game is (insert legalese)"

How many people do you think would buy Shadowrun just to piss them off?

Yes! Make Scientology evil!


Meanwhile, I would definitely join the Church of All Worlds, if it actually existed.

Oh, I don't have to make Sciencetology™(SM) evil. They got that angle covered.

indeed. after making scientology evil, your next project will to make the sun hot, and the skies blue!

Actually, in 2063 Seattle, I have trouble with Blue Skies.

i formally withdraw that particular task.

Stop picking on me. *Sobs*

Don't worry, k1tsune. We love you and your stupid 1 for an i

I grok!

May you never thirst.

I grok goodness. Fullness comes in time. Thou art God.

*sigh* I am an egg.

Dammit.

Man, threads are getting hijacked more than usual lately.

I blame it on Siege.

What, you think he said that in air?

I was thinking "err"

Say it out loud -- "air or" sounds suspiciously like "error"

-Siege

The church of Scientology became something we all know and love already in Shadowrun...

Picture if you will, a blue covered book. In the background is that Dianetics-looking volcano on a billboard, with a good-looking poster chick urging you to join...

And in the foreground, lurking in an alley, a BEE SPIRIT!!!

Yes, indeed, your friendly neighborhood Universal Brotherhood!

it was on the cover of Missing Blood.

It was actually intended as a piece of absurd humor. I just sort of got a laugh picturing it, but now you've gotten me thinking how the Church of the SubGenius could become an evil cult in the 2060s

At some point in the early 21st century, the Pinks (or their handlers, I'm not quite up on my Church doctrine) will have discovered the Church and realized what a wonderful marketing opportunity it represents. If asked about X-Day and why it never came about, the new doctrine from the Church will be that the Xists have come to realize that all humanity equally deserving of their benevolence, so X-Day was postponed until such a day that all of mankind can share in the Xist bounty, or something equally as Pinkish. Eventually the Church will have been sucked dry of its slack and cast a side, and the Pinks will have moved onto other things, such as NERPS. But it still exists, the dupes suckered into the cult still carrying on, and a special physical adept initiatory group in the Church, calling itself the Stark Fist of Removal, hunts down any of those who betray the Church's secrets.

Hey guys, just a little actual info to counter the rumors.

1. Hubbard, IMHO was a decent author. I really liked Battlefield: Earth (not the movie, but the book). His best new sci-fi anthologies helped get several other authors careers off the ground as well.

2. Hubbard knew more about psychology than just about any one on earth. As Carl Jung was Freud's protagee, Hubbard was Jungs. He studied under Jung for 10 years. He makes fun of Frued a lot in his VERY long and over done last series. I can't remember the name now.

3. No, I don't follow the silly religion. And yes, they employ large packs of rabid lawyers to attack anyone who in any way "threatens" then.

4. I thought the whole UB thing was about them.

Hey now, I'm AHS-4, and I don't think it's all a joke. I'm *optimized*!

That, and I carry enough plasma grenades to make you think twice about making fun of my hokey religion.

Ah, the Hub.

For more insight to old Elron and Scientology see:

Xenu.net

Great minds think a like.