I. Introduction Scientology was founded in 1954 by science-fiction writer, Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, commonly known as L. Ron Hubbard or LRH. Scientology has obtained nearly 11 million followers worldwide. This new religion promotes itself by advocating self-improvement techniques constructed by Hubbard. A Scientologist’s spiritual goal is to reach one’s full potential. This process is carried out through the practice of Dianetics and auditing. Since the 1950’s, Scientology has gained attention for its high celebrity involvement, including A-list stars such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta. Celebrity Scientologists act as beneficiaries of the church. They draw in new members and increase the religion’s status. However, many former celebrity Scientologists have left the group, and have spoken out about its dangers. Numerous individuals who have escaped or left Scientology reported allegations of abuse within the organization including physical violence, involuntary confinement, and violation of child labor laws. Scientology has been accused of separating families and banning familiar contact with non-Scientologists. Those who leave the organization are given the title “S.P.,” which stands for “suppressive person.” Scientologists are forbidden to have contact with any individual who has been labeled an S.P. Scientology has only been recognized as a religion in the U.S. since it received tax exempt status in 1993. However, this was largely due to the 1,200 law
Scientology has claimed itself as a religion where “something one does, not something one believes in.” This newly founded and increasingly growing religion has established itself through its numerous beliefs and extensive practices, but also involves its members in ceremonies and holidays.
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
The beginning of the scientology community began in the year 1953 when they created The Church of Scientology (Hubbard, Ron). This religion today is still considered to be one of the newest religions to this current date because science is constantly changing in our world and we are always making new discovery’s that change are view of the world and help back up the scientology community. Scientology effects humans psychological and spiritual aspect of life (Hubbard, Ron). The practice and belief of Scientology is considered to be very taboo in the United States. The reason it is considered to be so Taboo is because it goes against one of the largest religion’s in the United States which is based off belief while scientology is being based
L. Ron Hubbard developed a new controversial religion called the Church of Scientology. Which is as an extension of his earlier psychological theories of Dianetics. Many people think of Scientology as more of a business instead of a religion. Reader's Digest quoted Hubbard in the 1940s saying, "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion." He did just that. His religion has become a huge money maker. Church of Scientology members are expected to pay fixed donation rates that have brought great wealth to the church. It’s also considered the religion of the twenty first century. Celebrities such as Tom Cruise has made Scientology famous.
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
Behind the scenes of Church of Scientology tried to hide to the public comes to light. The many of physical abuse in the organization was for starters “Medication.” Scientology has a way of doing things that they think is right because David Miscavige or L. Ron Hubbard said so. “The Purification Program” started when Miscavige believe that if you take high dosage called “Niacin” 5000 mg per day, it would remove any drugs and toxins from your body (Scoobe 2013). Scientologists needed to stay at sauna for a few hours or months because they had this negative energy that it needed to get rid of, but it had it’s own side effects. One of the members of Scientology in that time claim gray poses were coming out of her body, but none of the carers did
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 a form of religious beliefs and practices created in 1954 by Ron Hubbard. It was designed as a program called Dianetics. The organization quickly entered bankruptcy and Hubbard lost the rights to Dianetics. He then recharacterized the subject as a religion and renamed it Scientology, retaining almost everything. Within some time, he managed to regain the rights to Dianetics and kept both issues under the Church of Scientology. Scientology is a religious based on the seeking of self-knowledge and spiritual fulfillment through graded courses for which you need to study and train. They believe that people are immortal spiritual beings that are in a physical body. Scientology believes that "Man is good, that he is seeking to survive, (and) that his survival depends on himself and his attainment of brotherhood with the universe," as stated in the Church of Scientology. But the
When discussing scientology there will be talk of the powerful Xenu or how all of the humans are aliens from another planet. The reason why these are the most known topics about scientology are because these topics are the ones most shrouded with mystery. The church of scientology is constantly trying to cover up the top most tier of their religion. They however have many other beliefs that are open to the public. These however aren’t tied to the history of Xenu or the fact that every one of us are aliens but more geared towards the humanitarian effort and teaching people how to deal with relationships. Through this section of the paper, the church of scientology’s beliefs will be brought to light.
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?
“Maybe it’s an insanity test, Haggis thought- if you believe it, you’re automatically kicked out. He considered that possibility, but when he read it again, he decided ‘This is madness’.” Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief by Lawrence Wright (copyright 2013 ) takes an inside look at Scientology, with interviews and accounts from former Scientologists such as Paul Haggis and Mark Rathbun, important church officials such as David Miscavige and Tom Cruise, and the founder: Ron L. Hubbard. Scientology is a religion which claims to lead one’s spirit on a path to eventual enlightenment and understanding of one’s spiritual nature.Going Clear details the horrors and unveils the mysteries surrounding this church. Going Clear is separated into three parts: Part One- which divulges the story of the founder L. Ron Hubbard, and the organization he creates, Part Two- Hollywood- which deals with the important celebrity connections and how important the celebrities are to the church, and Part Three- The Prison of Belief : an exposé on the harsh conditions many members face, the bullying and corruption within the organization, and the sense of helplessness and entrapment one feels when trying to leave the church. The author makes an very effective argument and achieves his goal of exposing the corruption within the church by providing first-hand accounts and legal records, contrasting views and official statements from the church, various rhetorical strategies as
According to Remini, people want to join the Church of Scientology because they think that they are “helping mankind.” However, she said
Scientology is a new religion that was created in 1954 by L. Ron Hubbard. According to Dictionary.com it says Scientology is a nondenominational movement founded in the United States to accent self knowledge and have the chance to come to your full spiritual potential (dictionary.com). Scientology is also kind of like a class you can take. Online they have courses that you can take like the hubbard dianetics, scientology life improvements, purification, and many more. L. Ron Hubbard was born on March thirteenth, nineteen eleven in Nebraska. His first spiralling thought that got him wondering about scientology was when an american naval officer showed him the theories of psychoanalysis (scientology missions of belleair, L. Ron Hubbard). The
Leah acted on a show called “The King of Queens” in the late 90’s and early 00’s and is now very famous for her book that she recently wrote titled “Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology”. She was inspired to write this book because she was a part of Scientology every since she was a kid for 34 years, and had just left the terrible religion in 2013. When asked in a tv interview, “Is Scientology a cult? Did the church brainwash you?”, Leah Remini explains how Scientology got her when she was very young and is very much like a cult when she says, “So when you're indoctrinated when you're very young, as I was, and all the information that you receive is from Scientology, and you're not allowed to look at other things because you're penalized for doing that, yes, that is the way cults work. They cut you off from information from the outside world and they start to sequester you by saying everybody else is your enemy”(Abramovitch). This reverts back to the dystopian trait that is “Citizens have a fear of the outside world”. This not only tells you that people of dystopian societies are scared of the outside world, but more importantly uneducated about the world they live in. She talks about how you are not permitted to talk to other people about these things. Similarly to 1984, how Winston cannot think about what might have been the truth about the past,
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.