TSP: Yes, that is their real belief. They are required to have minimize (but not entirely avoid) non-believers (except for the celebrity spokespeople; they try to make the religion look good), and they may not speak to anyone classified as a suppressive person by the church, even if it is family. Having contact with an SP is grounds for debarment from the CoS.

I have used my magnetic powers to steer this thread marginally in the right direction, and thwack CrotchKnocker over the head a few times.

What's their reasoning on this? I sense loose signs of a moral-code somewhere in there, but with what foundational reasoning?

As far as I'm aware, the "moral code" used to justify the isolationist aspect of Scientology is a vaguely Nazi-esque desire to preserve the "purity" of the doctrine and its adherents by not exposing them to the "suppressive" beliefs and nasty Thetans of opponents of the church. It is also connected to the Scientologist doctrine of "fair game", in which Suppressive Persons (SPs) who publicly denounce Scientology are considered acceptable targets for harassment, intimidation, slander, libel, all forms of public ridicule and character assassination, frivolous lawsuits: anything that will make the life of the "SP" miserable to the point that they back down and leave the Church alone. The doctrine of Fair Game in its original form even allowed for physical assault of SPs by Scientologists, although this has since been amended. For more information on Fair Game and Suppressive Persons, go to www.xenu.net , which has lots of information on the darker side of Scientology. If some of it seems like an overblown fantasy about a ludicrously corrupt totalitarian sect, that's only because the Church of Scientology is REALLY THAT BAD.

Write your local intergalactic senator, folks. IMPEACH XENU!

Yeah, you are right, Solid Snake. I sometimes react quickly without thinking about it thoroughly.

Anyway, Scientology is sounding more and more bizaar the more I hear and read about it. Does anyone know if Asimov created a religion? At least he was a good Sci-Fi writer.;)

I dunno about Asimov, but right now I'm a 42nd-Day Douglas Adamsist :p .

I used to be a Scientologist-ist, and worshipped Tom Cruise. I thought if I took all their courses, I'd exhibit all sorts of superpowers, like being able to land major movie roles despite a lack of acting talent, appearing taller than I really am, and being able to insta-sue everyone who ever even thought I was gay; but the Church threw me out after I suggested that our god really shouldn't be jumping around on couches on national television. (Officially, see, that didn't happen. And the video of it happening didn't happen either.) Now, if I can just get all my money back from them...