Scientology

Part of a series on
Scientology
PAC Base, Los Angeles
  • General
Controversies
More

Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. It is variously defined as a cult, a business, a religion, or a scam.[11] Hubbard initially developed a set of ideas that he called Dianetics, which he represented as a form of therapy. An organization that he established in 1950 to promote it went bankrupt, and Hubbard lost the rights to his book Dianetics in 1952. He then recharacterized his ideas as a religion, likely for tax purposes, and renamed them Scientology.[7][12][13] By 1954, he had regained the rights to Dianetics and founded the Church of Scientology, which remains the largest organization promoting Scientology. There are practitioners independent of the Church, in what is referred to as the Free Zone. Estimates put the number of Scientologists at under 40,000 worldwide.

Key Scientology beliefs include reincarnation, and that traumatic events cause subconscious command-like recordings in the mind (termed "engrams") that can be removed only through an activity called "auditing". A fee is charged for each session of "auditing". Once an "auditor" deems an individual free of "engrams" they are given the status of "clear". Scholarship differs on the interpretation of these beliefs: some academics regard them as religious in nature; other scholars regard them as merely a means of extracting money from Scientology recruits. After attaining "clear" status, adherents can take part in the Operating Thetan levels, which require further payments. The Operating Thetan texts are kept secret from most followers; they are revealed only after adherents have typically given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Scientology organization.[14] Despite its efforts to maintain the secrecy of the texts, they are freely available on various websites, including at the media organization WikiLeaks.[15][16] These texts say past lives took place in extraterrestrial cultures.[17] They involve an alien called Xenu, described as a planetary ruler 70 million years ago who brought billions of aliens to Earth and killed them with thermonuclear weapons. Despite being kept secret from most followers, this forms the central mythological framework of Scientology's ostensible soteriology.[18] These aspects have become the subject of popular ridicule.

Since its formation, Scientology groups have generated considerable opposition and controversy. This includes deaths of practitioners while under Church of Scientology care, several instances of extensive criminal activities, and allegations by former adherents of exploitation and forced abortions. In the 1970s, Hubbard's followers engaged in a program of criminal infiltration of the U.S. government, resulting in several executives of the organization being convicted and imprisoned for multiple offenses by a U.S. federal court. Hubbard himself was convicted of fraud in absentia by a French court in 1978 and sentenced to four years in prison.[19] In 1992, a court in Canada convicted the Scientology organization in Toronto of spying on law enforcement and government agencies and criminal breach of trust, later upheld by the Ontario Court of Appeal.[20][21] The Church of Scientology was convicted of fraud by a French court in 2009, a judgment upheld by the supreme Court of Cassation in 2013.[22]

The Church of Scientology has been described by government inquiries, international parliamentary bodies, scholars, law lords, and numerous superior court judgments as both a dangerous cult and a manipulative profit-making business.[29] Numerous scholars and journalists have observed that profit is the primary motivating goal of the Scientology organization.[30] Following extensive litigation in numerous countries,[31][32] the organization has managed to attain a legal recognition as a religious institution in some jurisdictions, including Australia,[33][34] Italy,[32] and the United States.[35] Germany classifies Scientology groups as an anti-constitutional sect,[36][37] while the French government classifies the group as a dangerous cult.[38][39]

  1. ^ a b Behar 1991.
  2. ^ Kent, Stephen A. (2001). "Brainwashing Programs in The Family/Children of God and Scientology". In Zablocki, Benjamin; Robbins, Thomas (eds.). Misunderstanding Cults: Searching for Objectivity in a Controversial Field. University of Toronto Press. pp. 349–358. ISBN 978-0-8020-8188-9.
  3. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference andersonreport was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ a b Edge, Peter W. (2006). Religion and law: an introduction. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7546-3048-7. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  5. ^ a b Hunt, de Puig & Espersen 1992, p. 668.
  6. ^ Beit-Hallahmi 2003.
  7. ^ a b Urban 2011.
  8. ^ Halupka 2014.
  9. ^ Westbrook, Donald A. (August 10, 2018). "The Art of PR War: Scientology, the Media, and Legitimation Strategies for the 21st Century". Studies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses. 47 (3). SAGE Publishing: 373–395. doi:10.1177/0008429818769404. ISSN 0008-4298. S2CID 149581057.
  10. ^ Urban, Hugh B. (2015). New Age, Neopagan, and New Religious Movements: Alternative Spirituality in Contemporary America. Berkeley: University of California Press. p. 144. ISBN 978-0-520-28117-2. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  11. ^ [1][2][3]: 179 [4][5][6][7][8][9][10]
  12. ^ Miller 2016, p. 220.
  13. ^ Aviv, Rachel (January 26, 2012). "Religion, grrrr". London Review of Books. 34 (2). Archived from the original on May 6, 2015. Retrieved September 27, 2019.
  14. ^ Cowan & Bromley 2015, p. 27; Tobin 2016; Shermer 2020.
  15. ^ Urban 2011, pp. 186–188.
  16. ^ Urban 2021, p. 174.
  17. ^ Christensen 2016.
  18. ^ Rothstein 2009, p. 371.
  19. ^ Cite error: The named reference criticsabroad was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  20. ^ Brown, Barry; Cooper, David Y. (August 19, 1992). "Toronto Church Faces Heavy Fine: Scientology Branch is Convicted of Spying on Police, Others". The Buffalo News. Buffalo, NY. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
  21. ^ Regina v. Church of Scientology of Toronto, 33 O.R. (3d) 65 (Court of Appeal for Ontario April 18, 1997).
  22. ^ Cite error: The named reference TorygrFraud13 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  23. ^ "Scientology (Written answer)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Commons. July 25, 1968. col. 189–191W.
  24. ^ Cottrell, Richard (1984). The Activity of Certain New Religions within the European Community (Report). Strasbourg: European Parliament.
  25. ^ Conseil d'Europe (1999). European Council, Recommendation 1412: Concernant les activités illégales des sectes (Report). Strasbourg: Conseil d'Europe.
  26. ^ "Church of Scientology". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Lords. December 17, 1996. col. 1392–1394.
  27. ^ Hubbard and another v. Vosper and another, 1 All ER 1023 (Court of Appeal (England and Wales) November 19, 1971).
  28. ^ RE B & G (Minors: Custody), F.L.R. 493 (Court of Appeal (England and Wales) September 19, 1984).
  29. ^ [1][3]: 179 [4][5][23][24][25][26][27][28]
  30. ^ Beit-Hallahmi 2003; Passas & Castillo 1992; Sappell & Welkos 1990a; Tobin 2016.
  31. ^ Richardson 2009
  32. ^ a b Cite error: The named reference Carobene14 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  33. ^ Church of the New Faith v Commissioner of Pay-roll Tax (Vict) [1983] HCA 40, (1983) 154 CLR 120, High Court (Australia) "the evidence, in our view, establishes that Scientology must, for relevant purposes, be accepted as "a religion" in Victoria"
  34. ^ Melton 2009, p. 24.
  35. ^ Frantz, Douglas (March 9, 1997). "Scientology's Puzzling Journey From Tax Rebel to Tax Exempt". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 10, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2008.
  36. ^ "Hubbard's Church 'Unconstitutional': Germany Prepares to Ban Scientology". Spiegel Online. December 7, 2007. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  37. ^ "National Assembly of France report No. 2468". assemblee-nationale.fr. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
  38. ^ A 1995 parliamentary report lists Scientology groups as cults, and in its 2006 report MIVILUDES similarly classified Scientology organizations as a dangerous cult. Rapport au Premier ministre 2006 by MIVILUDES (in French)
  39. ^ "Le point sur l'Eglise de Scientologie". L'Obs (in French). May 26, 2009. Retrieved January 28, 2023.