From: mauler@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
Subject: Re: Scientology questions
Message-ID: <1991Jul30.195419.32436@kuhub.cc.ukans.edu>
Date: 30 Jul 91 19:54:19 CDT
References: <1991Jul24.222243.6342@cs.sfu.ca> <1991Jul24.021125.714438@locus.com> <55326@apple.Apple.COM> <1991Jul26.172305.3873@cadence.com>
Distribution: alt.religion.scientology
Organization: University of Kansas Academic Computing Services
Lines: 39

In article <1991Jul26.172305.3873@cadence.com>, deej@cds8613.Cadence.COM (Jim Howard) writes:

> In article <1991Jul24.222243.6342@cs.sfu.ca>, thomson@cs.sfu.ca (Brian

>> Well the fact is that from the Scientologist's viewpoint is does the
>> job (amazingly well considering how rudimentary it is).  The real issue
>> is not whether the thing is any good (within the technology it does well
>> enough what they say it does) but why the "Church" feels obliged to collect
>> a king's ransom for something that is really cheap enough to be given away
>> free with every course.  In 1968 they cost about 40 pounds (in the UK) and
>> even then they were overpriced.  The pricing now is a positive obscenity.
>> Would any (current) Scientologists care to respond to the fact that they
>> are paying extraordinary prices for goods and services that could be
>> delivered at a fraction of the price.
>> -BST.
> 
>     I agree that the E-meter does have a high price-tag.  By the same token,
> I've heard of people paying exhorbitant sums to their clergy for such "simple"
> things as wedding, baptism, funeral, briss, and other such religious
> ceremonies.
> Why is there such a high price on these things?
> 

As I've always understood it, the reason for the high price on weddings,
baptisms, funerals, etc., was because of the MATERIALS involved, not any
special donation to the church.  Decorating the church, catering, clothing,
etc., these are all materials that possess the same costs when applied outside
of the church.  E-meters, on the other hand, cost $1000+ when inside
Scientology, and I suspect that a similar model also based on the Wheatstone
bridge could be created outside Scientology for about $50-$100 *maximum*.

The analogy doesn't work, since E-meters can be made for less than the "church"
of Scientology charges for them, while the trappings of a wedding or funeral
cost the same amounts even when they do not have religious significance.

> Jim Howard -- deej@cadence.com 

Leo