Scientology: The Church Of Scientology

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.

An example of one of these core beliefs would be Dianetics and having what they call a reactive mind and analytical mind. These divisions of the mind can be thought of as the subconscious and conscious thinking. Scientologists believe that subconscious reactive mental images have a great impact on the spirit of the individual causing them to stray from their true identity. Getting rid of these negative mental images is a way for them to progress towards what they call the Clear State. This is a state where an individual is freed from being controlled by their subconscious thought processes and can be their own person in a sense. In order for a Scientologist to transition to the Clear State, they undergo a process known as auditing. Auditing is something similar to the confession that Catholics practice. It is a one on one session where the individual speaks with an auditor about difficulties in an effort to alleviate negative reactive thoughts. A device called an electropsychometer is used on the auditee which is believed by Scientologists to locate spiritual difficulties from reactive images and confirm if they have been eliminated from the mind or not. Neither the E-meter nor the beliefs behind the reactive and analytical mind hold any scientific evidence. Moreover, the idea of the Clear State fails the scientific method simply because it cannot be measured or tested. However, this does not take away from

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.

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

Unlike Christian Science, “in Scientology there is no belief in the Holy Bible, God, or Jesus Christ.” (“The Differences Between Scientology and Christian Science”). Christian Science and Scientology are not the same in anyway yet people still confuse the two.

Scientologists believe that a “thetan,” or spirit, will never die and thus they will be able to fulfill their commitment. The Sea Organization is a large project created to “Clear the Planet.” Scientologists who join believe that after this planet is “cleared” there will be other planets in the universe in need of “clearing” (the term clearing meaning to convert to Scientology). Sea Organizations were given the nickname “Orgs” and they can be considered the churches of Scientology. Every single one of these Orgs must have a beautifully decorated, furnished and unused private office. These offices would be for the use of L. Ron Hubbard only. They must be present in all Orgs, even ones in need for space. The purpose of these Offices would be to accommodate Hubbard on the chance that he might visit. Hubbard was not expected to visit, but the offices would still need to be there for the chance that it still could happen. Thus, Scientologists cater to Hubbard’s needs so much that it is unnatural in any religion that claims to worship One God, as Scientology does. Furthermore, the beliefs of Scientologists may be questioned due to their ranking system. Scientology redefined the term “ethics” as a condition in the religion. This means that when one becomes a Scientologist, they are given their “ethics condition” and those assigned a low condition (which is anything below normal) need to work their way to the top. The conditions are as follows from highest

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

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.

Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Juliette Lewis, Jenna Elfman, and many more have one thing in common, these celebrities are all affiliated with the religion of Scientology. Scientology is a unique and controversial 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. The Church of Scientology is a non denominational religion that was established in 1954. The founder of Scientology Lafayette Ronald Hubbard did not intrude on anyone faiths or beliefs, but based his religion on his thoughts and teachings that all human beings are immortal spiritual

The documentary ‘Going Clear’ is focused on the Church of Scientology. Some of the important figures in the documentary included Paul Haggis, Lawrence Wright, Sara Goldberg, Spanky Taylor, and Marthy Rathbun (Going Clear). In this documentary, these former scientologists were interviewed about their personal experiences, where they revealed information about what actually happened behind the doors of the Church. The documentary was based on Lawrence Wright’s book, ‘Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood and the Prison of Belief’ and was a compilation of the opinions of several former scientologists about the true colors of Scientology and Hubbard’s history (Going Clear).

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,

In the 2000s Scientology has exploded into a more widely known; and widely made fun of religion. Scientology is still a contested religion. Scientology as a religion has not changed their view on psychology; if anything Scientology has become more extreme in their view on medicine of the mind. Celebrities such as Tom Cruise (Scientology’s biggest star) have recently spoken out about psychology and psychiatry saying, “I’ve never agreed with psychiatry, ever,” evidencing the religion’s view on psychology and psychiatry has not changed (qtd. in Wright 363). The more extreme practices of convincing its members that the cure to physical ailments is Scientology has changed; since the religion no longer claims to be the cure for the common cold. The

destructive cult is a rigidly structured absolutist group usually under an authoritarian, charismatic leader which isolates itself from established societal

While individual cultic groups may vary in discipline (political, religious, social/philosophical), they often operate with a similar premise: the world is bad, we are good, become a part of us (Salande & Perkins, 2011). Viewing the world in this way is not, in and of itself, destructive; and many mainstream religious and political movements embrace similar philosophies (2011). However, cult leaders often reinforce these ideas in frightening ways. By making their members use hallucinogens, sleep deprivation, group sex, strict prayer rituals, and deprogramming. Deprogrammers usually used “facts” about their religious group to shake up the person’s faith, this confrontation would often transpire in intense, emotionally charged situations (Donald & Robbins, 1982). The point of this was to rid the cult member of their ego, and past beliefs. The goal was for the member to have a blank slate, they could then me made to believe whatever the cult leader wanted them to.

In 1950, L. Ron Hubbard wrote a book that would spur the launch of a rather unorthodox religion. This book was called Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. It contains the basic rules that would later become Scientology. Since the founding of the religion in 1954, Scientology has grown to church numbers of 5000 in as many as 160 countries. They believe that man is inherently good, and man's spiritual enlightenment and salvation is solely dependant on himself. While they do believe in a higher power, man cannot rely on this higher power to save him, or his eternal. Scientologist believe that they are a spiritual being called a “thetan”. The thetan has lived many past lives, and the memories of one’s past lives can become problematic