Scientology.org, “Through application of Scientology principles and technology in an auditing session, a person is able to remove barriers and unwanted conditions and so become more himself. As a person progresses, he reaches out to help others in the ways he has been helped.” What some religions call this a confession, Scientology calls it an audit. The goal of auditing is: “1. helping individuals rid themselves of any spiritual disabilities. 2. Increasing spiritual abilities…here they are asked a series of questions from an auditor. They are trained to ask some of the more detailed and intimate parts of their lives and everything is written down and recorded and stored.” (Burxton). When the church claims to help individuals is in fact a
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.
There are many groups that hide behind religion in order to get these benefits. Scientology is one group that refers to themselves as a “New Religion.” They protect themselves with this right in order to get away with their actions. There have been many reports accusing Scientology of exploiting members physically and financially. They get away with these illegal activities by lying. Lying is something that the founder of Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard, has presented as acceptable in the religion, which isn’t tolerated in many real religions. However, if the Charter was to address groups like Scientology with more severity, they would not be able to hide anymore. No longer would they get away with their crimes, but these groups, and so-called religions, will actually face the consequences. In addition, freedom of religion is misused when these groups go against their religion. This refers to religious movements that state they are preaching a religion. In reality, they are going against the basic principles of that religion to do what they feel is right. For instance, many cults like the KKK are based off Christianity, but they don’t follow Christian principles. They do this so that they can have the benefits of being a non-profit religious group, like tax exemptions, but then take advantage of this label to perform hate crimes and get away with them. For this reason, it is
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.
According to official Scientology website (www.scientology.org), Scientology is a religion that offers a precise path leading to a complete and certain understanding of one’s true spiritual nature and one’s relationship to self, family, groups, mankind, all life forms, the material universe, the spiritual universe and the supreme being. A cult can be defined as group of people having religious beliefs or practices regarded by others as strange or sinister. Scientology is a cult. My essay will raise points to support my thesis.
The Church of Scientology is a global organization with over 270 churches or missions worldwide. For decades, it has possessed followers with an almost fanatical devotion to their leader, L. Ron Hubbard. Since the advent of the Internet, the Church has begun to resort to various legal actions to maintain the secrecy of their “scriptures.”
The church of Scientology has been the subject of controversy since its inception. Its methods and beliefs have attracted the attention of scholars from around the world. The church has been under government investigation and has endured a countless amount of lawsuits (Reitman 14). It is also a hot topic by the media with several endorsements by some of the most recognized Hollywood celebrities. However, the main topic of debate regarding the Church of Scientology is its status as a religion. Some members claim that the church has helped them overcome their struggles and that they are happier people, while others condemn it as a dangerous cult (Sweeney). The church of Scientology is a religious group whose purpose is to retain their
Scientology is chiefly employed through the processing of an individual (Hubbard. Fundamentals. 91-92). Scientologists refer to this procedure as auditing, while the person who carries out the processing is called an auditor. (Hubbard. Fundamentals. 92). "The auditor makes people, at their own choice, do various exercises,
It’s not unknown that The Church of Scientology has been a contentious subject of conversation for decades. The controversial religion was originally discovered by a gentleman named L. Ron Hubbard in 1954 through the establishment of ideas in which he believed would act as an antidote to mental health concerns called Dianetics. After an unsuccessful attempt resulting in bankruptcy, Hubbard branched his ideas into the basis of a new found religion called Scientology ("The Beliefs and Teachings of Scientology”). To Hubbard’s advantage, Scientology expeditiously accelerated in growth, becoming one of the fastest expanding religions in the 20th century. Scientology pledged a “light at the end of the tunnel” to those wandering through dark times, and created a pathway to a faultless understanding of one’s true spiritual fulfillment through a system of self-knowledge in relation to one’s own life, community, and mankind. Due to the Scientology’s controversial beliefs, abnormal practices, and aberrant church-member relationships, the religion poses as a superlative model of church rebelling against society’s social norms.
The term Thetan is used a lot in Scientology it is was they say instead of spirit. They believe that the spirit is separate from the body, and even the mind for the mind is part of the body. The brain is not intelligent, but rather is like a switch board that just directs signals through it. This leads into life after death, and from what I researched the only thing that they really talked about is that Thetan (spirit) will continue after the body has died. So it seems that the spirit will either continue on just as a spirit or can become part of another body later on (reincarnation). All the research I have found on Scientology has come directly from their website, but I still had some more questions that wanted to learn that I could not find
After spending a quarter of a million dollars on books and spending many hours of her day at auditing sessions, Mrs.Richardson was put into a re-indoctrination camp in order to reintegrate her into the religion. This whole process began when a higher ranking Scientologist found an issue with her paperwork from a few years ago. Mrs.Richardson must now pay even more of her hard earned money to get more books and audio tapes to listen to. She now starts to contemplate whether this is really for the better of her religious experience or if it is just another way to make a profit off unsuspecting people. This is the problem with Scientology; deep down underneath the church facade, it is a business. The Church of Scientology is a disastrous, malevolent,
The church of Scientology is an organization that is dedicated to the rehabilitation or healing of the human spirit. Scientology provides counseling and rehabilitation programs that are aimed at reaching goals that are important to the church. They want the person to be aware of a person’s spiritual existence. The church of Scientology does not support or believe in the idea of a god or that gods exist.
It was just some days back that Tom Cruise hit the headlines as he was nowhere to be seen at the large-scale event of the Scientology Church in San Diego. His absence became a talking point in the media with many saying that the actor is no longer following the religion. However, now it has come out that his absence could have something to do with daughter Suri.
One of the most prominent figures in this documentary was Paul Haggis. Paul is a writer and filmmaker whose former membership with the Church gives him distinct credibility (Science of Persuasion YouTube Video). His experiences grab the audience’s attention, seeing as he was a scientologist for three years. Paul spoke out about his experiences with Scientology, calling it a “cult” and mentioning many disturbing aspects about the church