The Concept Of Dianetics And Scientology

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

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

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

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

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.

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

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

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 Satan and the Church of Scientology are both new religious movements that share a fascination with the individual “self” in which they place a lot of attention on this concept. I believe the reasoning for such a focus on the self is because conventional religion never emphasizes it. With that being said, both L. Ron Hubbard and Anton Lavey went on to capitalize on this. They are two charismatic leaders, wanted followers and therefore they tapped into an area that was never discovered before. New religious movements tend to focus more on areas where their previous religion never touch on, or restricted people from thinking that. With that being said, these two leaders are suppose to add to people’s lives and that they did, although one seemed to care more about people’s money. That would be L.Ron Hubbard a former Navy officer who was twice relieved of duty for erratic behavior. This man is just difficult to get an understanding of his personality. While learning about L. Ron Hubbard it was clear that this man is just looking for money. With program after program and books being pushed on to members to buy, it looked like he started this religion because he needed a backup plan. It does not appear that the Church of Scientology really cares about its member's individual “self”. And it is the opposite of that with the Church of Satan with members are not given the runaround, they are told from the beginning to explore “self” for themselves only.

Nevertheless, many people would find Dianetics to be enlightening, feeling that it provided answers to difficult questions and solutions through “scientific techniques” (Reitman 65). Hubbard had opened the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation in Elizabeth, New Jersey before the book was even published (58). After the success of the book, he would soon open up similar organizations on some of the major cities in the United States such as New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Honolulu.

Scientology is a quickly growing religion that has spread worldwide and gathered as many followers as some of the most traditional

Many people have heard of the revolutionary new religious practice called Scientology. However, the majority of people who have heard of it, have little knowledge of the principles and practices behind the religion. In fact, there is a dark side behind Scientology, and much speculation that the religion is a brainwashing cult. Many people are opposed to the religion because of its secretiveness, its extreme methods of teaching and its alleged use of mind control.

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 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).