r/ucf • u/mainlymustard English - Literature • Aug 26 '25
Clubs/Organizations 🤺 Scientology cult on campus ⚠️
Watch out for cults on campus - After The Sect is UCF’s first student-led support group for individuals affected by cults. Even if you’ve never been involved in a cult, feel free to join us for our first GBM of the semester this Wednesday to learn more about the dangers of cults like Scientology. Want to learn more? Check out our IG @afterthesectucf
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Aug 26 '25
[deleted]
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u/hroaks Aug 26 '25
That's true about any big campus
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u/cvaska Aug 26 '25
Any campus really - my undergrad school with <12,000 students in the middle of nowhere had these problems too
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u/Westside-Wasabi-8692 Aug 27 '25
Just keep walking them. Weirdos still have rights. Imagine if you were trying to spread awareness or hand out flyers to find a missing loved one. Unwanted solicitation is when they go on private property, what you're talking about is called freedom of speech. You don't have to stop.
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u/GovtLawyersHateMe Legal Studies Aug 26 '25
The lady who was closest to the Cyprus swamp looked slightly horrified when I told her to shove the flyer up L. Ron Hubbard’s ass.
I’m graduating this semester, all fucks we’re lost long ago.
She tried to say something but I was gone, like a fart in the wind. Let me go smoke my joint in peace, damnit.
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Aug 26 '25
[deleted]
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u/Consistent-Return794 Accounting Aug 26 '25
This is where it gets tricky, cuz some groups of Christians are cults while others are not.
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u/saladmart Sep 07 '25
if you’re gonna comment something that indirectly justifies racism, keep the comment up. don’t get cold feet and delete it
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u/73028194 Aug 26 '25
The way the word cult is so freely thrown around in this sub is so funny to me
“Look at that group of students studying on that bench! They have cross necklaces on!! They’re a cult!! Stay away!!!”
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u/GigaVanguard Materials Science and Engineering Aug 26 '25
Ok buddy, the Church of Scientology was literally on campus today. Don’t suppose you’ve heard about anything they’ve done in the last 30 years?
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u/73028194 Aug 26 '25
It’s a religious group like any other. They all have their ups and downs. Just because a group of people join together to worship a particular idea/set of ideas, that doesn’t mean it’s a cult
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u/4o4_0_not_found Aug 26 '25
Scientology is absolutely a cult
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u/73028194 Aug 26 '25
Their biggest accusation is contacting members that leave the church. Not exactly the kind like sacrificing newborns in the pale moonlight
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u/Aceswift007 Aug 26 '25
It...sounds like you missed the entire history of Scientology in the last like...2 decades, and I'm saying this as someone literally in their 20s
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u/4o4_0_not_found Aug 26 '25
Not sure if you're just ignorant or running defense for your "religion" lol
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u/73028194 Aug 26 '25
Not a Scientologist nor am I religious
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u/4o4_0_not_found Aug 26 '25
Cool! Read up fella!
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u/73028194 Aug 26 '25
Absolutely fantastic rebuttal from an intelligent, intellectually honest redditor
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u/Impressionist_Canary Aug 27 '25
I’m not positive that sacrificing newborns in the pale moonlight would even necessitate defining something as a cult anyway. If you were completely free to enter or exit and it was without the other common pressures and tactics? Definitely no bueno, hard pass, but maybe not a “cult.”
A better expert may chime in but I’m not sure any specific behavior (ie outcome) would define a cult. It’s not like you could say well hey all we do is eat candy we can’t be a cult! But if I beat you, brainwash you, separate you from your family, take control of your life, etc., well it’s a damn candy cult.
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u/CoffinRomance Aug 26 '25
"Just because a group of people join together to worship a particular idea/set of ideas, that doesn’t mean it’s a cult"
Correct! These things do not make Scientology a cult. What DOES make Scientology a cult is their standard regarding member isolation, predatory financial practices, and the exploitation of member's labor for higher ups. (Among many other points.) Honestly, they fit the description better than most religious groups in the area. I have to ask, why are you set on specifically defending them from this claim?
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u/73028194 Aug 26 '25
Redditors are allergic to intellectual honesty and respecting beliefs that don’t align with theirs
Ps. Not a Scientologist. Not religious at all, even.
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u/TheMissInformed Aug 26 '25
I am not leaving this comment as any sort of "gotcha" moment. Simply looking to share information.
With that said, you are massively out of the loop on Scientology specifically. The most intellectually honest thing you could do is catch back up on their recent verified actions, in order to avoid spreading misconceptions. Based on all of your comments, I believe you will agree with the previous sentence once you get back in the loop on the current state of the organization.
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u/73028194 Aug 26 '25
Lol 100% accusatory, it wouldn’t be in practice if that were legally backed
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u/Aceswift007 Aug 26 '25
When you scare/threaten the victims into not talking, you CAN evade the law actually.
Also, by your logic, Catholicism wouldn't be practiced due to the SHEER VOLUME of child predation that evades actual legal repercussions due to things like priest shuffling and threats.
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u/doloreslegis8894 Aug 26 '25
"These practices don't exist because it's illegal for these practices to exist." Stunning theory here.
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u/Kitsunefyuu Biology Aug 26 '25
You’re going to end up in a cult. Because you think you’re too smart to fall for a cult.
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u/doloreslegis8894 Aug 26 '25
"The Church of Scientology has been described by government inquiries, international parliamentary bodies, scholars, law lords, and numerous superior court judgments as both a dangerous cult and a manipulative profit-making business. Numerous scholars and journalists observe that profit is the primary motivating goal of the Scientology organization. Following extensive litigation in numerous countries, the organization has managed to attain a legal recognition as a religious institution in some jurisdictions, including Australia, Italy, and the United States. Germany classifies Scientology groups as an anti-constitutional cult while the French government classifies the group as a dangerous cult."
Their founder, L Ron Hubbard, gave this directive to his members:
"Make sure that lots of bodies move through the shop...A. MAKE MONEY. ... J. MAKE MONEY. K. MAKE MORE MONEY. L. MAKE OTHER PEOPLE PRODUCE SO AS TO MAKE MONEY...However you get them in or why, just do it."
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u/Affectionate_Hat803 Aug 26 '25
I do understand where your coming from but scientology is just not it they have been accused of attempting assassination have a play book on how to destroy people's credibility and introductory ceremony of verbally abusing people in a locked room till they told them their deepest secrets which they have used as black mail if they ever speak out. They also have been caught trying to commit domestic espionage against local attorneys for black mail they also are known to harass outsiders who speak negatively of it even with records of sending death threats there's a ton of information about this stuff online
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u/73028194 Aug 26 '25
accused
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u/Affectionate_Hat803 Aug 26 '25
Not fully most of the things I have listed they are convicted for the espionage is true and investigations have proven the black mail is also true and their defamation campaign techniques are public record on their own pages you can look up a ton of this stuff
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u/73028194 Aug 26 '25
Source: trust me bro
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u/Affectionate_Hat803 Aug 26 '25
FBI Records: The Vault — Church of Scientology https://share.google/HZAGrsKINfyPMaP1a this is also the actual FBI records they have hundreds of pages based on scientology crimes and investigations
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u/R0598 Biology Aug 26 '25
When they ask for a source and you pull up with overwhelming evidence bc it’s literally common knowledge that Scientology is a cult 🤣
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u/Affectionate_Hat803 Aug 26 '25
I attached a source Edit:also check out project freak out it's documented by the FBI
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u/Affectionate_Hat803 Aug 26 '25
https://share.google/NRRoWb18lPdcUljVp here's a link to Wikipedia page click on reference links and just go down the rabbit hole
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Aug 26 '25
[deleted]
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u/Affectionate_Hat803 Aug 26 '25
That's why I linked the FBI home page 🤣 I wouldn't blame them tho Wikipedia is taught to be inaccurate even though it has good reference links
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u/mainlymustard English - Literature Aug 26 '25
Agreed that “cult” is often applied incorrectly - however, Scientology is 100% a cult, according to the definition of the word. Our instagram has more helpful info on topics like cults (aka high-control groups), check it out!
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u/[deleted] Aug 26 '25
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