Was L Ron Hubbard Lds?

[Robert F. Smith]

I'm sure there are many levels in which Scientologists understand this.

I don't think that with our Kolob and talking about God's father, and us becoming Gods, and that Jesus of Nazareth who died 2000 years ago will end up coming back to be the king of the world for a thousand years, and baptizing dead people, we are in such a good position to be critical of what sound like absurd beliefs at first blush.

That goes along with eating flesh and drinking Christ's blood and the idea that God had to torture himself to death to forgive himself for our sins, and all we have to do is say we believe in Jesus and we will live forever.

As a former atheist myself, it really all does sound a little weird you know. I suppose we should be sensitive to what religious models work for others if we want them to be respectful of ours.

As soon as Tom Cruise runs for President, Bukowski, I'll go along with all that.

[The Nehor]

I used to follow Sci Fi writer- and fan-dom a bit, and the fact is, L. Ron Hubbard was at one time a professional science fiction author. The word in the community was that he one time commented to a few of his colleagues in some conference or other, that a science fiction writer was the most highly qualified kind of person to come up with a religion. And apparently Scientology was the result of a bet between him and another prominent writer to this effect.

Of course, this sounds like the kind of thing that was thrown at Joseph Smith, sooooo ... I present it only as speculation I picked up. But as a follower of science fiction, The Nehor's description above sounds very much like something the genre would produce.

I admit the genre might produce something like that but it sounds like it would be a bad example of the genre.

[longview]

I admit the genre might produce something like that but it sounds like it would be a bad example of the genre.

It might be the case where Hubbard gave (unknowingly) an inch to Lucifer. And Lucifer gladly took him a mile.

[Stargazer]

I admit the genre might produce something like that but it sounds like it would be a bad example of the genre.

Yes. In fact, Hubbard's work is considered by some sf aficionados to be among the more "hackish" examples of the genre. Oddly enough, I've never read anything by Hubbard, so I am no authority from a personal level. Much-revered SF editor John W. Campbell was among Hubbard's admirers, though, and at least at one time a supporter of Hubbard's "Dianetics", a founding document of Scientology, so there may be some amount of professional rivalry evident in calling Hubbard a "hack".

Edited to add:

This topic prompted me to check Hubbard's biographical article on Wikipedia, and I discovered this:

He has been quoted as telling a science fiction convention in 1948: "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion."

The citation was a 1990 Reader's Digest article with the title "Scientology: Anatomy of a Frightening Cult".

A full read of Hubbard's biography is quite enlightening. He was an "amazing" man, for sure. Not one indication he might have been LDS, though.

Edited August 5, 2012 by Stargazer

[Vance]

But the world isn't round =0... or at least perfectly round XD.

Forgive my miserable attempt at some humor here =).

The Earth is an oblate spheroid.

Edited August 6, 2012 by Vance

[ERayR]

Yes. In fact, Hubbard's work is considered by some sf aficionados to be among the more "hackish" examples of the genre. Oddly enough, I've never read anything by Hubbard, so I am no authority from a personal level. Much-revered SF editor John W. Campbell was among Hubbard's admirers, though, and at least at one time a supporter of Hubbard's "Dianetics", a founding document of Scientology, so there may be some amount of professional rivalry evident in calling Hubbard a "hack".

Edited to add:

This topic prompted me to check Hubbard's biographical article on Wikipedia, and I discovered this:

The citation was a 1990 Reader's Digest article with the title "Scientology: Anatomy of a Frightening Cult".

A full read of Hubbard's biography is quite enlightening. He was an "amazing" man, for sure. Not one indication he might have been LDS, though.

He was indeed a thinker and some of his sci fi story lines were quite good. I didn't think his writing was as good as say a Heinlein or a Frank Herbert.

[Nathair/|\]

I used to follow Sci Fi writer- and fan-dom a bit, and the fact is, L. Ron Hubbard was at one time a professional science fiction author. The word in the community was that he one time commented to a few of his colleagues in some conference or other, that a science fiction writer was the most highly qualified kind of person to come up with a religion. And apparently Scientology was the result of a bet between him and another prominent writer to this effect.

The version of the rumor I heard was that the bet was with Heinlein to see who's religion could get the most followers. Heinlein's entry was the Church of All Worlds as described in Stranger in a Strange Land.

Of course, this sounds like the kind of thing that was thrown at Joseph Smith, sooooo ... I present it only as speculation I picked up. But as a follower of science fiction, The Nehor's description above sounds very much like something the genre would produce.