A Brief Look at Scientology

His capabilities are unlimited, even if not presently realized.” (Church of Scientology International) In addition to this, there are 8 dynamics within Scientology that embrace every aspect of life. These dynamics are: self, creativity, group survival, species, life forms, physical universe, spiritual dynamic, and infinity. By achieving each dynamic, Scientologists believe they are able to achieve ultimate completion and enlightenment. Also, an important aspect of Scientology is freedom, and is expressed as one’s ultimate attainable goal. Likewise within the Wicca religion, freedom is expressed by individuals through their seeking of truth, and in the Wiccan Rede, which basically states that Wiccan are free to act as they please as long as it doesn’t harm another.

“Science without religion is lame, religion without science is blind.” ― Albert Einstein. According to the Merriam Webster Online Dictionary, religion could be defined as, “an interest, a belief, or an activity that is very important to a person or group”. In other word a religion could mean a belief in a supernatural controlling power. In todays society there are many well renowned religions such as Christianity, Judaism and Islam. The main thing that all of these above mentioned religions have in common is that they serve as guides on how one should live their life. On the other hand many people started to question religions and their stories. Which in turn led to many individuals becoming atheist. According to the Merriam Webster

I had watched the South Park episode and thought the idea of the religion was absurd. Through my research I have realized Scientology is even more ridiculous than I thought. Not only does the religion contradict itself multiple times on whether or not it is a religion or not, but it also makes speaking out against it nearly impossible. I had to leave out over half of my research because I did not even want to explain some of the crazy procedures Scientology has used. I focused on the shunning of legitimate science because it made the religion sound a little less weird, still really weird just not so much. While spending hours watching their indoctrination materials I was constantly harassed to take a “free personality test, to discover my real self.” This was very annoying. Not only am I afraid that the Church of Scientology website gave my computer a virus, but I am also mildly concerned that somehow this religion will be spying on me. In conclusion Scientology is even more bizarre than I originally

Given that, over the past fifty years the Church of Scientology has endured many government investigations, scandals, street protest and lawsuits pertaining to the controversial doctrine and practices of Scientology. There has also been allegations against the church for human trafficking, holding people against their will and blackmailing members once they have left the church. In many countries, Scientology has been accused of being a dangerous cult that brainwashes its followers and confiscates their assets. Furthermore, “Greece has banned the religion of Scientology in their country, and France and Germany are calling it a totalitarian organization and a money making scheme” (Reitman 2011). All things considered, the United States has endorsed Scientology as a religion and granted it a tax exempt status. Actually, since than the Church of Scientology has not released any public information about its membership or finances. That being the case no wonder people have their suspicion regarding this

The Church Of Scientology claims to offer a path of self-betterment and spiritual enlightenment through a precise protocol that heals the body and spirit. In reality, Scientology is an opportunistic organization that methodically targets, recruits, and exploits people, particularly highly vulnerable individuals. The Church of Scientology reaches out to these potential members through a robust collection of programs designed to help the general population. Though these programs have been defended as social programs that have little to no religious content, they are “front” programs for things such as drug abuse, self-help programs, psychiatry and mental health initiatives, and educational outreach. These front programs are touted as “salves for people’s emotional wounds,” but these same persons are recruited for the churches financial gain (Spohrer pg. 108). WikiLeaks has reported dozens of front companies attached to Scientology with topics ranging anywhere from office management to homeschool training programs. Three of the more well-known organizations are Narconon, Citizens Commission on Human Rights, and Practice Manage Consulting. Each one of these has its own way of preying on weakness and gaining both money and membership.

A cult is a group of people with similar interests, and lead usually by a trusted leader. This leader will have to convince others into believing or provide a place where they can worship

Scientologists also view life much differently than the average, traditional religions do. Life, from a Scientologist perspective, is a game in which everyone has the ability to win and there is no need for anyone to loose (Scientology 2014). Unlike other religions, where faith is all one has to go on for un answered questions, Scientology prides itself on not just having questions, but answers and practical solutions to real life problems. Though Scientology has its main differences from main stream, traditional religions, there are some similarities. Ceremonies and services within the Scientology church are conducted by ministers and are very similar to the types of ceremonies and services that ministers, rabbis and priests of other religions perform (Scientology 2014).

The Church of Scientology began in the year 1953 and is one of the world's newest religions. In this essay I will address three questions: Who was L Ron Hubbard? What is the doctrine of Scientology? How does Scientology qualify as a religion?

Not all cults fit into the previously aforementioned definition but become more of the nuanced dysfunctional definition. The media thrives off of featured stories such as a cult in which a man was married to dozens of women and yielded hundreds of children. Others are more menacing with groups breaking into homes and murdering families while others seemingly feel so dedicated to their cause that they kill themselves for the cult. This is the extremism that certain cults establish, however, these dangerous groups often have warning signs or what Hume (1996) described as significant danger markers.

This article is about the belief system and practices. For the organization, see Church of Scientology. For other uses, see Scientology (disambiguation).

Historically, cult refers to a system of worship and more specifically to an innovative religious system, as opposed to a sect, which is a breakaway group from an established religion. During the past 30 years, however, cult has taken on a pejorative connotation arising from disasters such as Jonestown and Waco, and hundreds of media reports of individuals and families devastated by involvement in cults.

“Did you know there are roughly five to seven million people who are in a cult or cult like group in America? As of July 31, 2013 there were an estimated 316,330,350 people in America alone." One way cults attract there members is by using psychological techniques to make young people in America want to join them in their holy journey. But are the leaders really insane? Some would argue yes others not so much, but how could someone who thought they knew everything there is to know about a book, written thousands of years ago, not be questioned on their sanity. Cults can affect many people as a society or individually, the effects cults have on certain people can be a great one due to they take away all your rights and give you certain rules to follow. The reason cults are shameful to society is because they control individuals and manipulate them into what they see as beneficial for a whole group not individually.

Cults are here to stay because it is very difficult to identify modern cults because of their changing nature of operations. Modern cults are different from traditional cults that were characterized by weird dressing and practices because they are very organized and exclusive. It is therefore important for governments and the society in general to deal with some of the issues that make people to be vulnerable to cults instead of using force to fight the existing groups. More efforts should be directed towards rehabilitating former cultists because of the psychological trauma they go through in the hands of cult

A cult is defined as a social group or a social movement under one charismatic leader. It maintains a belief system, which includes a transformation of a group member. Members of the group have a high level of commitment to the leader, members, and beliefs (Lalich). An additional definition to consider is from the American Journal of Psychotherapy:

Most of our thoughts about cults today are often a misconception of ideas that derive from our imagination. Practices that resemble a strange ritual or ceremony would certainly be fitting. Most of our culture could potentially spot a religious cult if the anomalies, or strange behaviors were evident. This simply is not a good way to identify cults today though. These groups are no longer apparent to the naked eye. Their systems of religious veneration and highly devoted groups blend in with our everyday living. These members live in communities. Some shop at the same designer stores we shop in, and rally for the same home sports team. These members are relatable. They are intelligent. They have great careers and enjoy some of the same hobbies as you and I. They teach our children in public schools, sit on the board for our local and National governments, prescribe us medications when we are ill. They blend right in. We need to guard our hearts and minds from these groups and gracefully proclaim the solid foundations of God’s word. The only way to do this is to understand how these cults work and how to defend God’s word effectively.