South Park show on Scientology

[CaptainChewbacca]

Is there a level past clear level?

[The Kernel]

Fucking hillarious and one has to wonder if the Church of Scientology won't try another IP suit against Comedy Central.

How exactly would that be legal? Wouldn't it be seen as, I don't know, obstructing freedom of speech without just cause?

They use intellectual property law to try and protect what they call trade secrets.

Is there a level past clear level?

Yes, the OT levels (1-9) are all past Clear.

[Utsanomiko]

"Dad, Tom Cruise is in the closet and now he won't come out!"
"Tom Cruise, come out of the closet; you can't stay in the closet forever, Tom!"

First episode I've seen since probably 2001. Not bad, considering the span of time. I liked how at the very end, the scientologists threaten to sue Stan for mocking their 'religion', so in the very last shot he shouts "Fine, sue me! I'm not afraid of you! Go ahead and try to sue me!"

And then the credits roll, with every single name as John/Jane Smith.

[Balrog]

Fucking Funny as Hell

I haven't seen SP in awhile either, what did they do with Kenny?

[Utsanomiko]

He was dead for a whole reason, I recall hearing (Parker and Stone have said they've grown bored with the chracter), but they brought him back recently. He doesn't die anymore and he was hardly in this episode.

[Cej4096]

He doesn't die anymore and he was hardly in this episode.

I think he dies once a season now, usually in the season finale.

[CaptJodan]

If I hadn't heard it from SDN first a while back, I wouldn't have believed that it was real, though the words on the screen really helped for those who thought otherwise. I love how they exposed the whole thing out like that.

A great episode.

[Darth Raptor]

If I hadn't heard it from SDN first a while back, I wouldn't have believed that it was real, though the words on the screen really helped for those who thought otherwise. I love how they exposed the whole thing out like that.

After that thing with Catholicism and the spider queen, that caption was pretty much necessary for those not already familiar with Scientology.

My brother was laughing histarically once they started explaining the faith. He stopped abruptly when I told him that's what they really believe. And then the caption came up and he was like "...Oh."

[wolveraptor]

...surely the part with the souls physically watching brainwashing material was an exaggeration...

[Molyneux]

Fucking hillarious and one has to wonder if the Church of Scientology won't try another IP suit against Comedy Central.

How exactly would that be legal? Wouldn't it be seen as, I don't know, obstructing freedom of speech without just cause?

They use intellectual property law to try and protect what they call trade secrets.

Is there a level past clear level?

Yes, the OT levels (1-9) are all past Clear.

1) How can you have trade secrets if you're a fucking religion?
2) If they think that it's really the underlying nature of all reality, why the fuck would they want to hide it?

[Molyneux]

...surely the part with the souls physically watching brainwashing material was an exaggeration...

Not really. The 3D glasses were artistic license, but I don't think Scientology actually explicitly states *how* the souls were brainwashed.

[Darth Raptor]

Scientology isn't any more absurd than any other religion, it's just easier for the conditioned layperson to realize how absurd it is because it has a sci-fi flavor instead of a mystical one. Also, they don't make much of an effort to hide how much of a moneymaking scam it is. That and it's relatively young. For some reason, the older the religion, the less absurd it is.

[Spanky The Dolphin]

...surely the part with the souls physically watching brainwashing material was an exaggeration...

Not really. The 3D glasses were artistic license, but I don't think Scientology actually explicitly states *how* the souls were brainwashed.

Actually, yes they do. The Thetans were literally exposed to brain-washing films for something like a solid month, in theatres that look like modern day motion picture cinemas.

[The Kernel]

1) How can you have trade secrets if you're a fucking religion?

I don't know of any law that states that IP law doesn't apply to a religion.

2) If they think that it's really the underlying nature of all reality, why the fuck would they want to hide it?

Because that's the hook to get people to advance in Scientology. And according to Operation Clambake, it costs hundreds of thousands of dollars to reach this level.

[Darth Wong]

1) How can you have trade secrets if you're a fucking religion?

I don't know of any law that states that IP law doesn't apply to a religion.

But it requires commercialization, and how can Scientology call itself a religion if it also considers itself a commercial enterprise?

[HemlockGrey]

But it requires commercialization, and how can Scientology call itself a religion if it also considers itself a commercial enterprise?

Honesty?

[The Kernel]

But it requires commercialization, and how can Scientology call itself a religion if it also considers itself a commercial enterprise?

Easy, the Church of Scientology uses two seperate dummy corporations ("Religious Technology Center" and "Bridge Publications") to manage its copyrights which ARE commercial organizations.

[Nephtys]

...surely the part with the souls physically watching brainwashing material was an exaggeration...

That was pretty much entirely 'accurate'. Xenu, galactic overlord. Soul collecting machines. DC-8 planes with hyperspace rockets...

[Admiral Valdemar]

Why does America have the more imaginative and hilarious schemes for separating idiots from their hard earned cash?

[wolveraptor]

That was pretty much entirely 'accurate'. Xenu, galactic overlord. Soul collecting machines. DC-8 planes with hyperspace rockets...

I was referring more to the fact that as souls, they had no eyes, and shouldn't really be subjected to brain-washing films so much as brain-washing...therapy. But Spanky addressed that.

[Kuroneko]

Why does America have the more imaginative and hilarious schemes for separating idiots from their hard earned cash?

Our facilities produce materials of much higher purity and quality, enabling us to make superior products. A large fraction of our idiots are remarkably free of contaminants such as the will to think.

[Darth Wong]

It is interesting that so many people (particularly in predominantly rural areas) seem almost aggressively hostile to activities which require serious thought or worse yet, the comprehension of abstract principles such as the concept of logical consistency. And it's not just an American problem; we in Canada have similar problems in our more rural districts, although to a lesser degree. But the same mentality crops up: the hostility to intellectualism, the tendency to use intimidation and outrage in lieu of logic, etc.

I suspect it has something to do with the culture of small towns, which are extremely conformist. In a small town, you are punished much more severely for social non-conformism than you are in a large city. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone also knows everyone else's history. In that kind of environment, everyone looks over your shoulder, and the normal fear of social ostracization is greatly magnified (to what I would argue are crippling levels, particularly during the emotionally vulnerable period of adolescence).

In that kind of environment, there is simply no need to justify anything logically, because virtually anything can be justified by simply stating that "it's the way we do things here". No one dares question this unspoken social covenant, so people who grew up in it are usually shocked as adults when they run into someone who does question the conventions of their upbringing. That's why the first thing that a fundie will usually sputter when you try to argue with him is "how can you say ..." as if they can't believe that you actually just said whatever you said.

Of course, small towns exist in every country, but the wide-open spaces of North America and the big flat part in the middle produce a degree of geographical and cultural isolation that is unlikely in many other parts of the civilized world.

[The Kernel]

BTW, in case anyone is interested in learning more about the secrets behind Scientology, there is a website with a great deal of information on the subject:

Operation Clambake

[Molyneux]

It is interesting that so many people (particularly in predominantly rural areas) seem almost aggressively hostile to activities which require serious thought or worse yet, the comprehension of abstract principles such as the concept of logical consistency. And it's not just an American problem; we in Canada have similar problems in our more rural districts, although to a lesser degree. But the same mentality crops up: the hostility to intellectualism, the tendency to use intimidation and outrage in lieu of logic, etc.

I suspect it has something to do with the culture of small towns, which are extremely conformist. In a small town, you are punished much more severely for social non-conformism than you are in a large city. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone also knows everyone else's history. In that kind of environment, everyone looks over your shoulder, and the normal fear of social ostracization is greatly magnified (to what I would argue are crippling levels, particularly during the emotionally vulnerable period of adolescence).

In that kind of environment, there is simply no need to justify anything logically, because virtually anything can be justified by simply stating that "it's the way we do things here". No one dares question this unspoken social covenant, so people who grew up in it are usually shocked as adults when they run into someone who does question the conventions of their upbringing. That's why the first thing that a fundie will usually sputter when you try to argue with him is "how can you say ..." as if they can't believe that you actually just said whatever you said.

Of course, small towns exist in every country, but the wide-open spaces of North America and the big flat part in the middle produce a degree of geographical and cultural isolation that is unlikely in many other parts of the civilized world.

I love the picture in your signature. Mind if I print it out and put it on my door? (I'm living in a college dorm)

The isolation of small towns is being broken (slowly), I think, by the increasing amount of technological sophistication - it's harder to keep your mind closed to outside views when you're running into them daily on the Internet. And anyone in a small-town setting who dares to question the way things are (most of whom are probably teenagers) will find emotional support on the Internet; I know that the friends I made online helped keep me sane in high school.

[Invictus ChiKen]

It is interesting that so many people (particularly in predominantly rural areas) seem almost aggressively hostile to activities which require serious thought or worse yet, the comprehension of abstract principles such as the concept of logical consistency. And it's not just an American problem; we in Canada have similar problems in our more rural districts, although to a lesser degree. But the same mentality crops up: the hostility to intellectualism, the tendency to use intimidation and outrage in lieu of logic, etc.

I suspect it has something to do with the culture of small towns, which are extremely conformist. In a small town, you are punished much more severely for social non-conformism than you are in a large city. Everyone knows everyone else, and everyone also knows everyone else's history. In that kind of environment, everyone looks over your shoulder, and the normal fear of social ostracization is greatly magnified (to what I would argue are crippling levels, particularly during the emotionally vulnerable period of adolescence).

In that kind of environment, there is simply no need to justify anything logically, because virtually anything can be justified by simply stating that "it's the way we do things here". No one dares question this unspoken social covenant, so people who grew up in it are usually shocked as adults when they run into someone who does question the conventions of their upbringing. That's why the first thing that a fundie will usually sputter when you try to argue with him is "how can you say ..." as if they can't believe that you actually just said whatever you said.

Of course, small towns exist in every country, but the wide-open spaces of North America and the big flat part in the middle produce a degree of geographical and cultural isolation that is unlikely in many other parts of the civilized world.

As always you hit the nail on the head. Have you read "Redneck Nation: How the South Really Won the War" by Michael Graham?

Despite having lost the Civil War, the South has somehow managed to win the "battle of ideas" across our nation, contends radio talk-show host Graham in this hilarious collection of essays covering such topics as Enron, the public school system, free speech, multiculturalism, racism and the "supreme triumph of the Redneck nation." Using quotes from H.L. Mencken, Gallup poll statistics and plenty of firsthand experience, the author examines this peculiar phenomenon with a cynical wit that spares no one, including himself. He begins by explaining the difference between the North and South, specifically between South Carolina, where he grew up, and New York, where he often traveled ("New Yorkers pretend they've read books they haven't. Southerners deny reading the ones they have"). Drawing from his own childhood in Dixie ("a land of few ideas, nearly all of them bad"), his college years at Oral Roberts University (which combined "the intellectual rigor of a Sunday school picnic with the sound theological theories of a slumber party sance") and the 27 years he's spent running away from the South, Graham wittily illustrates "Redneck" infiltration into mainstream politics through conspiracy theories, victim mentality (as witnessed by the popularity of such national programs as the Jerry Springer show) and segregation, in a book readers won't be able to put down.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc.

I believe this book will be one you'd find interesting. I wanna get it for myself.