Quote Originally Posted by BoyFerrari
Does Scientology ring a bell ?
Please... don't even go there... ...I've been an avid hater of Scientology for 20 years. Hubbard is a damn traitor to the Science-Fiction and Speculative-Fiction community, and many of his previous comrades have disowned him for this. The "Church" is well-known for strong-arm tactics and brainwashing (which has, unfortunately, led to quite a few suicides). Many of Hubbard's accomplices have been pursued by the police for tax-fraud and evasion, although it is not known if Hubbard himself profited from this "Church". A sad end to the career of a brilliant writer.

That said, I've personally witnessed a lot of "exorcisms" and "religious trances", "speaking in tounges", etc... I'm not a personal believer (too scientifically-minded for it), as I've done some time at psychiatric wards working with patients, and the symptoms of mass hysteria, schizophrenia and such are plainly visible to the skeptic in me.

But sanity is defined by the society in which one moves. In certain religious circles, such things are defined as "normal" behavior. And to a point, it is... normal for that social-religious group... It's just sad when such behaviour starts to affect their ability to function in the outside world. Have seen quite a few people go off the deep end because of this.