Is this Scientology?

[solarX2001]

I'm pretty sure L. Ron Hubbard is the founder of Scientology and I know John Travolta is a avid Scientologist. So my question is...
Since L. Ron Hubbard is the author of the book the movie is based on, is the movie about Scientology?
I have yet to see the movie and I know very little about the actual belief so I am looking for someone to fill me in a bit on the details. If you could do that I would appreciate it.

[ClarckSavage]

Dear SolarX2001,
No, the movie doesn't deal with Scientology.
It's just a movie (a science-fiction novel adapted for the big screen); I recommand you the novel which is far better than the movie.
If you want to know what is exactly Scientology, you can visit these adresses:
1) http://www.whatisscientology.org
2) http://www.appliedscholastics.org (which deals with how to be a successful student)
3) http://www.narconon.org (which deals with how to live without drugs)
4) http://www.cchr.org/lndex.htm (which deals with psychiatrics abuses)
Best regards,
ClarckSavage

[420ish]

No, the movie is not "about" Scientology (though the higher levels of the "religion" include a lot of sci-fi stuff). Scientology was founded by Hubbard- it's kind of a follow up to his "Dianetics"- a system that is basically a lot of conjecture mixed with some early Freud.
Anyhow, in a nutshell, the "religion" (let's just say cult) of Scientology promises to make people better by eliminating our brains' "engrams" (bad memories of earlier incidents and past lives), which can date back to the time when our Thetans (souls) were plopped here on Earth through the machinations of the space-ruler Xenu. Sounds silly, eh? Well, people shell out thousands upon thousands of dollars to get to the high levels of Scientology; the cult's poorer members often end up working for them, and many end up abused (some end up dead).
So what does this have to do with "Battlefield Earth"? Well, stars like Travolta (and Tom Cruise, Kirstie Alley, etc.) are important to Scientology. They never see it's negative side- they're treated to special "Celebrity Centers" the regular members don't really have access to. Their real role is to suck in new members. Ditto for this movie. Example- some kid sees the movie, goes to battlefieldearth.com , orders a poster, and bingo, Scientology's got his name and address.
The same thing goes for Scientology-based organizations. Take Narconon. They take drug addicts (who are in quite a vulnerable state), and convince them Scientology "technology" (actually a bunch of made-up mumbo-jumbo) has saved them (when credit actually should go to their own willpower).
If you want to know more about the truth behind Scientology, and L. Ron Hubbard's not-so-illustrious life, I'd recommend "A Piece of Blue Sky" by Jon Atack, or the website www.xenu.net . In addition, PLEASE check out www.lisamcpherson.org , so what happened to her won't happen to you. Lastly, take everything you've learned about the scientific method in school and compare it to Scientology on your own. You'll see it's not even "science" after all.
Good luck.

Neither the ****ty movie nor the moderately-awesome book have anything to do with Scientology, in my opinion. Truth be told, I've never thought L. Ron himself truly believed in any of that stuff (he supposedly wrote "Dianetics" over a weekend after some SF authors jokingly suggested he start a religion to solve his money problems), though supposedly he WAS completely nutso by the end of his life.

[betoneri]

Ron was a friend (and collegue) of Asimov, Heinlein and other of the golden age of Sci-Fi. And just talking he make a bet if he can demostrates that the american people will pay for a kind of religion (Dyanetics or Scientology).

Just for fun Ron creates this fraud, and he makes a lot of money, also wins its bet. As author, he falls in the Sturgeon law .

[SF_not_Sci-Fi]

he supposedly wrote "Dianetics" over a weekend after some SF authors jokingly suggested he start a religion to solve his money problems), though supposedly he WAS completely nutso by the end of his life.

Something like that... John W. Campbell was integrel to Dianetics, and seemingly beleived in all of that stuff...But Hubbard was just a poor man's P.T. Barnum...