• YouKnowIt [he/him]
    ·
    4 years ago

    I don't think there will ever really be a schism, like to the point of Q groups working against each other. If it's not going to be a scientology-esque unification under a single grift leadership it'll just be an evangelical style mass of small groups each centered around a charismatic grifter that all sort of channel to a more or less unified set of goals

    • TheOldRazzleDazzle [he/him]
      ·
      4 years ago

      Protestant scientologists are legit a trip though. I think a lot of them were born into it. They just want to do their e-meter thing outside of the corruption of the Clearwater beauracracy.

      • YouKnowIt [he/him]
        ·
        4 years ago

        That sounds pretty fascinating, I just assumed they would sue or firebomb any offshoots. Is it like the Mormons where like 99% are in the main group still?

        • TheOldRazzleDazzle [he/him]
          ·
          4 years ago

          Pretty much, I can't imagine there is more than 150 of them, tops. They were profiled in Reza Aslan's Believer series on CNN.

          Googling the episode now turns up either scientology sockpuppets attacking the show for making a marginal group seem bigger than it is, or instead anti-scientologists attacking the show for having any sympathies at all for scientology. Kinda funny.

    • Wojackhorseman2 [he/him]
      ·
      edit-2
      4 years ago

      It’s a mass of people with varying degrees of committal to its core tenants, as well as all holding sometimes opposite views about what those tenants are, all United by some level of blind allegiance to the American civic religion and a heroic ability to hold conflicting and contradictory ideology at the same time. It may die down at some point but I don’t know if it’ll schism as much as simply continue to mutate.