Kabbalah vs. Scientology: Kabbalah wins round one

[buttmunch]

Score one for Kabbalah
In the alleged competition between Kabbalah and Scientology — it looks like Kabbalah has won a round.

The two religions — which are all the rage among the celeb set — have reportedly been vying for high-profile celebrity followers, and few are as coveted as former Spice Girl Victoria Beckham and her hubby, soccer superstar David Beckham. The twosome is considered England’s hottest couple, and celeb-watchers there follow them obsessively.

“It appears that there has been an almost frantic competition between the two most popular purported ‘cults’ in Hollywood, to get the Beckhams onboard,” says Rick Ross of Cultnews.com. “Each group’s top recruiter has come knocking on the door, Tom Cruise from Scientology and Madonna for her beloved Kabbalah Centre.”

Victoria Beckham is friendly with Cruise’s bride-to-be, Katie Holmes, and Cruise recently “approached” her about Scientology, according to Ross. Not long afterwards, she was spotted reading a copy of “Dianetics” by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

But recently, Victoria Beckham was photographed wearing the Kabbalah Centre’s trademark red-string bracelet.

“Perhaps Madonna and her husband Guy Ritchie have the edge,” notes Ross, “since Ritchie after all is a Brit and his wife keeps a house in the English countryside.

thescoop.com

And celebs wonder why they are increasingly mocked? Stop joining idiotic 'religions' and hire a decent pr person to keep your idiotic ramblings out of the press.

[moomies]

I'd go with Madge's Kaballah, at least their ppl seem more sane...

[A*O]

I've said it before, I'll say it again - the Beckhams are prime meat for the $cientologists. They comply with all the criteria - famous, rich and dumb.

[buttmunch]

When you think about it, Kaballah is remarkably similar to Scientology in that it exhorts large amounts of money from its followers, has special celeb centers for the famous (I wonder if you get kicked out should you stop being famous or the right kind of famous?), it involves silly talismans like red string and holy water. Sure, it's missing the aliens and such but still...pretty much a cult.

[calendargurl]

all religions are cults. at least that's what i think. just some of them seem crazier than others.

[buttmunch]

Fair enough, Calendargurl. Religion is a great way to keep people in line, hence the craziness that occurs over various religious beliefs and the constant jockeying for being the 'right and true' religion.

[Lobelia]

I suppose that some of the below definitions of the word "cult" could apply to religion in general, but if you go with the main #1 definition, you would have to say that all religions are generally considered extreme & false, etc. which I don't believe is the case.

http://dictionary.reference.com/search?q=cult

cult ( P ) Pronunciation Key (klt)
n.

1.
a. A religion or religious sect generally considered to be extremist or false,
with its followers often living in an unconventional manner under the
guidance of an authoritarian, charismatic leader.
b. The followers of such a religion or sect.
2. A system or community of religious worship and ritual.
3. The formal means of expressing religious reverence; religious ceremony
and ritual.
4. A usually nonscientific method or regimen claimed by its originator to
have exclusive or exceptional power in curing a particular disease.
5.
a. Obsessive, especially faddish, devotion to or veneration for a person,
principle, or thing.
b. The object of such devotion.
6. An exclusive group of persons sharing an esoteric, usually artistic or
intellectual interest.

Personally, I think of a cult as an organization that aggressively works to seclude its members from non-members, like an abusive spouse. Isolation helps control. Granted, members of mainstream religions probably tend to marry within their own religion, but they're not isolating members. I don't know what Kabbalah's stance on this is, but Scientology's stance seems pretty clear, what with Katie constantly being chaperoned by a Scientologist & their policy of severing ties with family who aren't members.