Scientologist Musicians: C or D?

"Although he still publicly denies he is a Scientologist, Beck's closeness to the church has cost him a few band members. Two band members,Joey Waronker and Smokey Hormel, quit just before his summer tour, because friends say, 'They were alienated after Beck became a Scientologist.' Beck was drawn into the religion by his father, David Campbell - a Scientologist for the past 10 years - and his bass player, Justin Meldal-Johnson."

Well, I guess it's debatable.

basically, scientology is a corny philosophy system that makes a bunch of money from the people who 'donate' to it. a lot of the beliefs are somewhat frightening, some are just common sense, and a few are actually helpful. there's a lot of wacky sci-fi aspects that aren't very believable and some really dumb methods of practice, and the heads of the church are occasionally sinister in their actions, but are mostly happy to just sit back and take money from dumb people. so pretty much, it's like every other religion in the world, only easier to critique because people have only believed in it for a few decades and there's not billions of followers.

In addition to any accurate Sci. info, people should post what their perceptions of it are, accurate or not. Rumors you've heard, that sort of thing. I was told that it's a religion that says the more materially successful you are, the more spiritually successful you are, hence all the celebs who've embraced it.

i thought i was the only one! funniest $2 i ever spent. terrifying. horrible. laughable. synthesized.

incredible string band went scientologistic at some point in their career. probably, "coincidentally," coincided with them becoming terrible.

am i the only one who thinks that maybe beck joining the l-rons shouldn't be taken seriously? in absence of evidence to the contrary, i'd guess he's about as into it as he really is the james brown/heino crossbreed lounge singer image he's cultivated.

Also, when I was about 12 or so I bought a copy of one of Hubbard's straight sci-fi novels, a 600 page or so epic that was one part of a *10 part series.* (Because when yer young, thick books = smart, right?) I remember my dad being a bit concerned with the author; I think Dianetics had just exploded in the self-help world and he was worried about any "ill influence" it might have on me. He didn't have to worry; even in grade school, the thing was so atrociously written, so laden with rhetoric that I barely got 50 pages into it. Of course he was probably dead by this time anyway, right?, so the book was more than likely ghost written by one of his lackeys.

Frankly I'd become a Zoraster(sp?) before I'd become a Scientologist.

I heard the rumor that Scientology was invented on a bet. L Ron bet Asimov (or someone like that in the SciFi field) that he could invent a new religion and have it flourish.
For the record, L. Ron Asshole bragged to Robert Heinlein: "Sure, writing is a good way to make some dough. But if you really want to be rich...start a religion."
And to think people worship this prick and refuse to accept that he's dead.

But despite not actually having seen Beck perform, we went to the Metropolitan Art Institute the day after his gig. Guess who we ran into there? Beck himself, checking out the art with his girlfriend Marissa. My friends talked to him for a couple minutes and got a picture with him, and we even got a few seconds of Beck on camcorder talking to my friend Benji and then waving goodbye to the camera. Interestingly enough, during that chance meeting we told Beck about homestarrunner.com (a hilarious website) and shortly thereafter the website made its appearance on Beck.com as one of Bek's favorites. Go figure, and go Beck! *(Sidenote... the link to homestar was up for about a year, but recently all of Bek's favorites were removed so it's gone, at least for now.)

Anyway, to make a long story short, while I was surfing the website I found that some of the pictures of Beck on the new pictures part of the page were attributed to Marissa Ribisi, who just so happens to be the same Marissa Beck is dating, and who we met in Chicago. And she is a hardcore scientologist. She even has her own Scientology page to show the world what it's done for her and tell what a great religion/philosophy it is. Just search the web for Marissa Ribisi's Scientology webpage... haven't been there for awhile, but I don't know why it wouldn't still be up.

So not only is Beck's bass player a Scientologist, not only are his parents Scientologists, but his girlfriend Marissa Ribisi is too. Just like her brother Giovanni Ribisi (who did the voiceovers in the Virgin Suicides and is a fairly well-known mid-level actor), and her mom Gay Ribisi. All Scientologists. And as for another side-note: in the liner notes to Sea Change, Beck consecutively thanks Marissa, Giovanni and Gay although without mentioning last names (not necessarily in that order).

To make a long story short... I know this is all a lot of circumstantial evidence, but based on the circles he travels in and on his girlfriend and her family (as well as his own) he is most likely a Scientologist. If I were a betting man, I'd bet a small fortune that he was.

DWE

Gay Ribisi is a major casting agent in addition to being a high-ranking member of the church... she has had a major hand in getting lots of work for young Scientologist actors like Jason Lee, Marisol Nichols, the kid that plays Hyde on "That 70's Show," and on and on and on...

That said ---

Has anyone heard Juliette Lewis and the Licks? They would be a scientology band, right? And they're on the Warped Tour this year!

www.xenu.net

At the same time this is occurring, the music industry is going downhill on a toboggan slide. It reportedly is really in the doldrums. A review of the charts of bestsellers at this time reveals a few groups and a review of their cassettes does not, hold your hat, reflect very much adherence to the genre. It is an oddity about these top of the chart groups that these days they seem to appear and disappear, the bulk of them, with considerable speed. One could rationalize this by saying that public taste is fickle but this is countered, on analysis, by the fact that the records of old rock stars continue to sell, and heavily. In other words one could assume that these very modern groups have begun to depend upon freak impact or appearance rather than on music or adherence to the genre. Of course this is open to a great deal of analysis and other opinion but the survey quoted above would seem to agree as 30% of the music buyers in question 2, demonstrated dissatisfaction. And the number of bankruptcies in the music business seem to agree with it also.

Spot the Tool fan. ;-)

http://www.twth.org/Happiness_community_national_international.asp

(I'm not linking directly to these people, sorry.

"Immoral and crime-ridden societies have, at times, managed to restore moral values to create increased social security and prosperity.

"Although [our] problems are particularly severe now, they are not entirely new," says William Kilpatrick, Professor of Education at Boston University and author of Why Johnny Can't Tell Right From Wrong. "The late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries provide a case in point. By the turn of the century, Puritanism existed only as a memory, and private virtue, which Adams and Jefferson saw as crucial to the republic, was at a low ebb. Church attendance was not high, but rates of premarital pregnancy and illegitimacy were; gambling was a major leisure occupation, and, to quote one historian, 'In the early 1800s the United States was an alcohol-soaked culture.' Average alcohol consumption was twice what it is today. Husbands and fathers spent their wages in taverns. Drunken, rowdy, and rude behavior was common in cities.

"In the 1830s and 1840s a reaction set in. Citizens in major cities responded with voluntary associations and church-related societies that sought to instill character and self-control in young men. And apparently with great success. Rates of alcohol consumption, drunkenness, and crime fell sharply over the next two decades. Most of this improvement came about as a result not of policed force but of consent. For example, thousands of young men signed temperance pledges, church attendance increased, and a new idea of the gentleman arose; not someone born into wealth and title but any man who acted with decency, self-control, and courtesy."

Boo-hoo, puritanism a distant memory.

The weird thing to me is how every celebrity scientologist, when asked, claims the religion is not creepy or weird, talks about how helpful it is, then promplty demures when asked to elaborate on what the beliefs actually are. They just say the same thing as the old dianetics commercials: "read the book!"
Religious types that won't actually tell you what they believe: DUD