<a href="https://skeptiko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/please-share-skeptiko3.jpg"></a> 
 
 
 
Chris Shelton was born into Scientology and can’t understand scholars who don’t see it for the cult it is. 
 
 
 
 
photo by: <a href="https://flic.kr/p/zXGAP1">Skeptiko</a> 
 
 
Alex Tsakiris: [00:00:00] Welcome to Skeptiko where we explore controversial science and spirituality with leading researchers, thinkers, and their critics. I’m your host, Alex Tsakiris and as you may recall a couple of episodes back, I had an interview with Ohio State Comparative Religions Professor, Dr Hugh Urban, and what I found particularly interesting in that interview is the rather strange way, in my opinion, that many academics deal with cults like Scientology, or as they sometimes like to refer to them, new religions like Scientology. And as I explained in that episode, and as we’ll talk about today, I found that particularly strange in the case of Scientology because as we explored in that interview, we have direct provable links between Scientology and occult practices, number one. But also with CIA dabbling with extended consciousness, with programs like MKULTRA, MKOFTEN, and even Stargate, which we’ve talked about a lot on this show. So after the interview, one of the things I wanted to do was unpack both parts of that with someone who’s actually experienced the reality of Scientology and that led me to today’s guest, Chris Shelton. Someone who, at a very young age was indoctrinated into Scientology through his parents. Sometimes I think we forget how long Scientology has been around, it’s kind of multigenerational. So imagine as a very young kid, instead of going to Sunday School, you’re going to Scientology. It’s not like somebody corralled you in off the streets of LA and took you into some hokey experiment, like we always see, this is your parents going there and saying, “Hey, maybe this is the way to go.” So, Chris has gone on to create a very successful YouTube channel and a podcast called Sensibly Speaking, where he regularly interviews experts on cults, mind control and other related topics that are important to people who found themselves in this rather unfortunate situation. So Chris, welcome, thank you very much for joining me. Welcome to Skeptiko.   
 
 
 <a href="http://www.skeptiko-forum.com/threads/chis-shelton-social-science-blind-spot-regarding-cults-444.4497/">Click here for Fo</a><a href="http://www.skeptiko-forum.com/threads/riz-virk-the-simulation-hypothesis-beyond-materialism-442.4470/">rum Discussion </a> <a href="https://mncriticalthinking.com/">Click here for Chris Shelton’s Website</a> 
 
Alex Tsakiris: [00:02:35] So, as I was pulling together that intro, I had in the back of my mind that there might be some places where you don’t exactly agree with me and that’s totally fine. You do kind of come from this critical thinker, it’s a codeword for atheist skeptic kind of thing. 
Chris Shelton: [00:02:53] Yeah, critical thinker, yeah. I kind of have <a href="http://www.skeptiko-forum.com/threads/chis-shelton-social-science-blind-spot-regarding-cults-444.4497/"></a>a little thing about that. 
Alex Tsakiris: [00:02:59] Well, I just say that because I’ve dealt with so many blockaded, closed minded atheists who kind of wave this flag of critic 
  
al thinking. Oh gee, like everyone else is uncritical and you’re critical. I mean, doesn’t everyone claim to be a critical thinker? I think they do. I think there are people 
 in Scientology, they’ll give you a real scientific explanation for what they did. 
But I don’t want to get too kind of far afield here because I do want to serve that first purpose of, you were nice enough to look at the Hugh Urban interview and you shared,

Chris Shelton was born into Scientology and can’t understand scholars who don’t see it for the cult it is. photo by: Skeptiko Alex Tsakiris: [00:00:00] Welcome to Skeptiko where we explore controversial science and spirituality with leading researchers, thinkers, and their critics. I’m your host, Alex Tsakiris and as you may recall a couple of episodes back, I had an interview with Ohio State Comparative Religions Professor, Dr Hugh Urban, and what I found particularly interesting in that interview is the rather strange way, in my opinion, that many academics deal with cults like Scientology, or as they sometimes like to refer to them, new religions like Scientology. And as I explained in that episode, and as we’ll talk about today, I found that particularly strange in the case of Scientology because as we explored in that interview, we have direct provable links between Scientology and occult practices, number one. But also with CIA dabbling with extended consciousness, with programs like MKULTRA, MKOFTEN, and even Stargate, which we’ve talked about a lot on this show. So after the interview, one of the things I wanted to do was unpack both parts of that with someone who’s actually experienced the reality of Scientology and that led me to today’s guest, Chris Shelton. Someone who, at a very young age was indoctrinated into Scientology through his parents. Sometimes I think we forget how long Scientology has been around, it’s kind of multigenerational. So imagine as a very young kid, instead of going to Sunday School, you’re going to Scientology. It’s not like somebody corralled you in off the streets of LA and took you into some hokey experiment, like we always see, this is your parents going there and saying, “Hey, maybe this is the way to go.” So, Chris has gone on to create a very successful YouTube channel and a podcast called Sensibly Speaking, where he regularly interviews experts on cults, mind control and other related topics that are important to people who found themselves in this rather unfortunate situation. So Chris, welcome, thank you very much for joining me. Welcome to Skeptiko. Click here for Forum Discussion Click here for Chris Shelton’s Website Alex Tsakiris: [00:02:35] So, as I was pulling together that intro, I had in the back of my mind that there might be some places where you don’t exactly agree with me and that’s totally fine. You do kind of come from this critical thinker, it’s a codeword for atheist skeptic kind of thing. Chris Shelton: [00:02:53] Yeah, critical thinker, yeah. I kind of have a little thing about that. Alex Tsakiris: [00:02:59] Well, I just say that because I’ve dealt with so many blockaded, closed minded atheists who kind of wave this flag of critic al thinking. Oh gee, like everyone else is uncritical and you’re critical. I mean, doesn’t everyone claim to be a critical thinker? I think they do. I think there are people in Scientology, they’ll give you a real scientific explanation for what they did. But I don’t want to get too kind of far afield here because I do want to serve that first purpose of, you were nice enough to look at the Hugh Urban interview and you shared,

<a href="https://skeptiko.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/10/please-share-skeptiko3.jpg" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a> 
 
 
 
Chris Shelton was born into Scientology and can’t understand scholars who don’t see it for the cult it is. 
 
 
 
 
photo by: <a href="https://flic.kr/p/zXGAP1" rel="noopener noreferrer">Skeptiko</a> 
 
 
Alex Tsakiris: [00:00:00] Welcome to Skeptiko where we explore controversial science and spirituality with leading researchers, thinkers, and their critics. I’m your host, Alex Tsakiris and as you may recall a couple of episodes back, I had an interview with Ohio State Comparative Religions Professor, Dr Hugh Urban, and what I found particularly interesting in that interview is the rather strange way, in my opinion, that many academics deal with cults like Scientology, or as they sometimes like to refer to them, new religions like Scientology. And as I explained in that episode, and as we’ll talk about today, I found that particularly strange in the case of Scientology because as we explored in that interview, we have direct provable links between Scientology and occult practices, number one. But also with CIA dabbling with extended consciousness, with programs like MKULTRA, MKOFTEN, and even Stargate, which we’ve talked about a lot on this show. So after the interview, one of the things I wanted to do was unpack both parts of that with someone who’s actually experienced the reality of Scientology and that led me to today’s guest, Chris Shelton. Someone who, at a very young age was indoctrinated into Scientology through his parents. Sometimes I think we forget how long Scientology has been around, it’s kind of multigenerational. So imagine as a very young kid, instead of going to Sunday School, you’re going to Scientology. It’s not like somebody corralled you in off the streets of LA and took you into some hokey experiment, like we always see, this is your parents going there and saying, “Hey, maybe this is the way to go.” So, Chris has gone on to create a very successful YouTube channel and a podcast called Sensibly Speaking, where he regularly interviews experts on cults, mind control and other related topics that are important to people who found themselves in this rather unfortunate situation. So Chris, welcome, thank you very much for joining me. Welcome to Skeptiko. &nbsp; 
 
 
 <a href="http://www.skeptiko-forum.com/threads/chis-shelton-social-science-blind-spot-regarding-cults-444.4497/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click here for Fo</a><a href="http://www.skeptiko-forum.com/threads/riz-virk-the-simulation-hypothesis-beyond-materialism-442.4470/" rel="noopener noreferrer">rum Discussion&nbsp;</a> <a href="https://mncriticalthinking.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer">Click here for Chris Shelton’s Website</a> 
 
Alex Tsakiris: [00:02:35] So, as I was pulling together that intro, I had in the back of my mind that there might be some places where you don’t exactly agree with me and that’s totally fine. You do kind of come from this critical thinker, it’s a codeword for atheist skeptic kind of thing. 
Chris Shelton: [00:02:53] Yeah, critical thinker, yeah. I kind of have <a href="http://www.skeptiko-forum.com/threads/chis-shelton-social-science-blind-spot-regarding-cults-444.4497/" rel="noopener noreferrer"></a>a little thing about that. 
Alex Tsakiris: [00:02:59] Well, I just say that because I’ve dealt with so many blockaded, closed minded atheists who kind of wave this flag of critic 
&nbsp; 
al thinking. Oh gee, like everyone else is uncritical and you’re critical. I mean, doesn’t everyone claim to be a critical thinker? I think they do. I think there are people 
&nbsp;in Scientology, they’ll give you a real scientific explanation for what they did. 
But I don’t want to get too kind of far afield here because I do want to serve that first purpose of, you were nice enough to look at the Hugh Urban interview and you shared,

Chris Shelton, Social Science’s Blind Spot Regarding Cults |444|

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Dr. Janis Whitlock seeks a deeper understanding of consciousness realms. In Skeptiko episode 648, from..

Consciousness, Contact, and the Limits of Measurability |648|

Exoacademian Darren King on the converging consciousness realms. In Skeptiko episode 647… multiple lines of..

Consciousness Converging: NDEs, Alien Contact, and Fake Transhumanism |647|

Painstaking analysis of algorithms designed to manage and obscure elections. In Skeptiko episode 646 Dr...

Andrew Paquette: Rigged! Mathematical Patterns Reveal Election Database Manipulation |646|

The tension between AI safety and truth-seeking isn’t what you think it is. In Skeptiko..

Toby Walsh: AI Ethics and the Quest for Unbiased Truth |645|

Consciousness, precognition, near-death experience, and the future of science Dr. Alex Gomez-Marin is a world-class..

Alex Gomez-Marin: Science Has Died, Can We Resurrect it? |644|

Consciousness, AI, and the future of science: A spirited debate If we really are on..

Bernardo Kastrup on AI Consciousness |643|

Insights from Howard Storm In the realm of near-death experiences (NDEs) and Christianity, few voices..

The Spiritual Journey of Compromise and Doubt |642|

Craig Smith from the Eye on AI Podcast Human bias and illogical thinking allows AI to..

Craig Smith from the Eye on AI Podcast Human bias and illogical thinking allows AI to..

Craig Smith from the Eye on AI Podcast Human bias and illogical&nbsp;thinking allows AI to..

Why Humans Suck at AI? |641|

Long-form conversations on consciousness, science, spirituality, skepticism, AI, and contested evidence.

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