[video=youtube;YnKXrohsOpA]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnKXrohsOpA[/video]
I have to agree with Lerma on this one.
Bunker should have just flat-out said "Yes, it's a cult" right from the start and he then could have spent the rest of the time making a strong case as to why, rather than hemming and hawing around about why he initially said it wasn't a cult.
"Cult is a strong word." Huh? Since when have any of us been backed off on using the word "cult" to describe Cof$? That's absolutely what it is! And the reporter here sounded prepared to take Cof$ to the mat and just needed Bunker's confirmation of it right from the get-go. Instead, they are debating whether it's a cult or not.
This was a disappointing missed opportunity for greatness.
Co$ suxxxxxxx...
scientology is an applied religious philosophy. when those who address it are all about auditing and auditor training and maintain their actions in the context of the wisdom of scripture, the bill of rights and the hippocratic oath it can produce some desirable results
numerous posters on esmb write here without using the word cult though i don't think anyone is backing off of the word
deropp in the master game points out that men are liable to use that portion of the mind which is but a labeling device to think with. and those who just label it a cult and stand round yelling "IT'S A CULT! IT'S A CULT" seem to me to be pretty much just spinning their wheels in cow shit
Scientology has been a cult for a long time.
Excerpt from HCOPL 27 December 1963.
"Treat a bust or a personal office of mine with disrespect and the public falls away."
1961: Security Checking included the question, "Have you ever had any unkind thoughts about L. Ron Hubbard?"
In a lecture from 1961, Hubbard explained that the reason for the question was that if a person has overts and withholds against the source of Scientology, the person will not get gains.
From the late 1960s onward, all Orgs and most of the larger missions had this (approximately 5 feet by 4 and a half feet) photo of Hubbard on display, which was applauded many times daily:
Scientology was and is a cult.
that's the original
since ron's death this photo has been brilliantly retouched to make ron look beatific
No, it was not retouched. It was replaced with other Hubbard photos, mostly from the same batch of a rum soused Hubbard, self-photographed, at 5 a.m., pictures.
Hubbard had enough sense not to use these other photos.
From what I understand, after Hubbard was gone, a box, where the other photos were stored, was located.
Supposedly, a "wog" PR firm told Scientology that the pie-faced "fixed glare" Hubbard portrait would drive people away, but that a photo of Hubbard, with head slightly turned, would be more inviting. So these other self-photographed soused Hubbard at 5 a.m. photos started appearing.
Images of a Lifetime (1996) said:
Aleister Crowley said:As to my study of Islam, I got a sheikh to teach me Arabic and the practices of ablution, prayer and so on, so that at some future time I might pass for a Moslem among themselves. I had it in my mind to repeat Burton's journey to Mecca sooner or later. I learnt a number of chapters of the Koran by heart. I never went to Mecca, it seemed rather vieux jeu, but my ability to fraternize fully with Mohammedans has proved of infinite use in many ways.
My sheikh was profoundly versed in the mysticism and magic of Islam, and discovering that I was an initiate, had no hesitation in providing me with books and manuscripts on the Arabic Cabbala. These formed the basis of my comparative studies. I was able to fit them in with similar doctrines and other religions; the correlation is given in my 777.
From this man I learnt also many of the secrets of the Sidi Aissawa; how to run a stiletto through one's cheek without drawing blood, lick redhot swords, eat live scorpions, etc. (Some of these feats are common conjurers' tricks, some depend on scientific curiosities, but some are genuine Magick; that is, the scientific explanation is not generally known. More of this later.)
Symonds, J., Grant, K. (Ed.). (1969). the confessions of Aleister Crowley (1989 ed. p. 388). London: Arkana Penguin Books.
Mark Bunker has been trying to be politically correct with the indies ever since helping Marty Rathbun with his ( then ) terrible website. I don't agree with his veering to the left of the path in this manner but I understand it. He's got a documentary to make and needs the support of everyone in order to make it.
Wise Beard Man, as Anonymous once called heralded him as, is not so wise in my eyes anymore...
Mark Bunker has been trying to be politically correct with the indies ever since helping Marty Rathbun with his ( then ) terrible website. I don't agree with his veering to the left of the path in this manner but I understand it. He's got a documentary to make and needs the support of everyone in order to make it.
Wise Beard Man, as Anonymous once called heralded him as, is not so wise in my eyes anymore...
I do not understand why we are so tempted to turn on our allies? Mark Bunker's many years of action speak for themselves. He's still WBM to me. Petty criticism like this is a very insidious way to undermine him and thereby do the work of the cult for them.
Mark Bunker (aka "Wise Beard Man", but affectionately called "Beardfag" by some) is a fat guy who recently came to the attention of Anonymous as something of an ally and reliable adviser in the war on Scientology. He rejoined YouTube in early 2008 after his original account was, not surprisingly, removed due to a copyright infringement claim by the Church of Scientology and he spent a week uploading his XenuTV videos; some were of him being assaulted by Scientologists and others were of him putting the Scifags in intellectual checkmate. He works in television which sources tell us was some sort of primitive communication device used before Al Gore invented the internet. He sells DVDs of his exposés about Scientology to raise money for a full length documentary to expose the cult. Also, he has cats that live off the mysterious holy sustenance provided by his beard.
Subsequent to the initial raids on Scifag.com, Wise Beard Man gained E-fame in a JewTube video he made directly addressing Anonymous. In the now famous video he stated he was glad to have so many people willing to take up the Anti-CoS cause, but at the same time he was critical of some of Anon's methods, and he suggested Anon only utilize legal means, as he does, to fight the Scifags. For example, in his video he suggested a movement to revoke the church's tax-exempt status and thus deplete their deep coffers. At first, WBM distanced himself from Anon, and was wary to directly help, out of fear that the Scilons would sic their extensive team of legal professionals on his ass again. Nonetheless, Anonymous took the advice he offered about peaceful protesting seriously, and helped ensure the subsequent successes on 2/10 and 3/15. By successfully convincing Anon to change its strategy, Beardfag, in essence, managed to do the impossible: control the essence of chaos on the Intarwebs.
On 2/10 Wise Beard Man attended the protests in downtown LA and spoke to numerous Anons. He then disappeared for 3 days, causing fears that he had been abducted by Tom Cruise and locked in the actor's infamous closet. However, WBM reappeared on the tubes - explaining his absence by claiming that he suffered a "Temporary Beard Malfunction".
“
I think wise beard man is a pretty cool guy. eh aids Anonymous in the fight against Scientology and doesn't afraid of anything.
„
—Anonymous
Scientology has been a cult for a long time.
Excerpt from HCOPL 27 December 1963.
"Treat a bust or a personal office of mine with disrespect and the public falls away."
1961: Security Checking included the question, "Have you ever had any unkind thoughts about L. Ron Hubbard?"
In a lecture from 1961, Hubbard explained that the reason for the question was that if a person has overts and withholds against the source of Scientology, the person will not get gains.
From the late 1960s onward, through the 1970s, all Orgs and most of the larger missions had this (approximately 5 feet by 4 and a half feet) photo of Hubbard on display, which was applauded many times daily:
Scientology was and is a cult.
I do not understand why we are so tempted to turn on our allies? Mark Bunker's many years of action speak for themselves. He's still WBM to me. Petty criticism like this is a very insidious way to undermine him and thereby do the work of the cult for them.