[ailideex]

> I was still struck by the brazenness of advertising something whose ethical dubiousness has been so thoroughly publicized.

I actually don't entirely see the problem here. I mean taking money from Scientologists to fund services I use (I don't use facebook, but hypothetically if I did ...) is a good thing in my view.

I guess you are worried that people will convert to Scientology, but really if the only thing that is keeping people from being Scientologists is not knowing about it then I think the problem is in no way related to Scientology.

The real issue then is that large swathes of society have been advocating for completely abandoning any sense of objective values while they loudly shout value judgements at the top of their lungs like petulant children with no sense of propriety having temper tantrums.

Blocking Scientology ads won't change that. You can't fix a problem not caused by the visibility of Scientology adds by changing the visibility of Scientology ads.

[anoncake]

Ads don't just inform people that Scientology exists, that's widely known. They try to manipulate them into joining. The "real" problem here is that people can be manipulated like that. But until we find a way to remove that vulnerability we must stop Scientology from exploiting it.

[ailideex]

But is Scientology's view not that we are essentially manipulated into our current value and belief systems?

Why does your goal of trying to limit their "manipulation" have more validity than their goal of limiting yours?

[nemo]

"Why does your goal of trying to limit their "manipulation" have more validity than their goal of limiting yours?"

Because Scientology's views aren't held in good faith and claims about society should be assumed to be pretexts used to justify the quoted excuse for predatory behavior. Scientology has a history of fraud, kidnapping, extortion, and other extreme exploitation and don't deserve any benefit of the doubt. Their views do have less validity since they're known bad actors.

[stronglikedan]

I personally think they are kooks, and their views are less valid to me, but I also realize that it's just my subjective opinion. They also have the subjective opinion that their views are valid to them, and our views have less validity. No way to say who's "right", so they should be allowed to advertise until we agree on laws (still subjective) to possibly invalidate their views.

[anoncake]

Of course Scientology should be allowed to advertise until there is a law that forbids that. That's how laws work.

[nemo]

They are not mere kooks. They are an organized criminal enterprise. They've engaged in arson, kidnapping, extortion, attempted assassinations, money laundering, and other criminal acts. They are actively malicious and that's as realistic a line for dividing who is and isn't right there is.