L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology once said, “Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion” (Hubbard). Scientology is a relatively new religion compared to other religions that date back thousands of years.
“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.” (Scientology Beliefs & Practices: What is Scientology?)
Ever since Scientology’s beginning only sixty-two years ago it has been the source of a slew of controversy and
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He then merged the two concepts into something he called dianetics, which is the Greek word for thought. As he continued to study this he wrote a book called Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Dianetics states that the human mind has blocks called “engrams” and by going through a process, which is later to be called auditing that is very similar to psychoanalysis, a person can be cured of these mental blocks. Martin Gardner a respected author once stated “a treated patient is then called a “clear” and that person should then have a higher IQ, should heal faster, have better eyesight and never get a cold. The clear is, literally a superman—an evolutionary step toward a new species” (Martin). Many have speculated that Hubbard’s beliefs are undecidedly similar to some of Hubbard’s science fiction short stories about space and astronauts. In his stories many of the characters were invincible and their minds had no limits, and according to Hubbard’s new religion one’s mind can actually become limitless through the process of auditing. This brought on many skeptics of the new religion and created a lot of controversy (L. Ron Hubbard). One of the main parts about being a part of the Church of Scientology is the auditing process. An auditor audits a “preclear” to restore “beingness and ability”. There are two steps in the auditing process, the first is to help the preclear rid themselves of spiritual disabilities and the second is to increase
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
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
Kessler explains that there are five components that create and maintain a social group and the first one is recruitment and reproduction. In relation to Scientology, the Church recruits their people by allowing for celebrities to join and feature them. Some of the famous Scientologist include actors Tom Cruise, John Travolta. Perhaps people feel that if celebrities are joining, they should to. The second component of groups within Kessler’s text is socialization. This relates to Scientology since their Churches and “headquarters” throughout the world are loaded with expensive landscaping such as pools and golf-courses. This allows for people within the Scientology group to interact and socialize on not just a religious level. The third essential component is production of satisfactory level goods and services in which includes economical goods and intellectual/emotional goods. This component also relates to the Church of Scientology just as mentioned before, it provides it’s followers with a path to reach one’s highest potentials and goals which could therefore be on an economical and intellectual/emotional level. The fourth component involves the preservation of order. This involves the rules and structure within a group. Scientology was created by
Even with the fact that it is a modern religion, Scientology takes many of its beliefs from older religious ideologies. "Mixing ideas from Buddhist and Hindu religious philosophy, science fiction, and 20th-century Western concepts in psychology and science" (Scientology), the religion's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, devised a whole new religion. This religion promotes the belief that all human beings are actually immortal spirits who are unable to find their personal identity because they are misled by their struggle to escape the universe's tendency to exploit their need for feeling joy.
Though most organized religions have been traditionally founded on a belief system, Scientology seemingly was founded on a reaction to one. In 1950, L. Ron Hubbard wrote a book titled Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. The
Scientology is a quickly growing religion that has spread worldwide and gathered as many followers as some of the most traditional
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 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
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?
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
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.
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).
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.
Scientology, founded in 1950 (Hubbard. What is. 3), "is an applied religious philosophy" (Hubbard. What is. 4), which is a branch of psychology (Fundamentals. 7). Developed by Lafayette Ron Hubbard, Scientology was created "from discoveries resulting from