Maria Marcano

April 11, 2011

Religion Analysis

Professor Botello

Term Paper – Scientology

Thousands of people argue that there is no such thing as a religion, others

argue that there is a “high power” and nothing else, while most strongly believe in

their own different religions. It is nearly impossible to come to a definite conclusion

on which religion is correct about God and their beliefs. Therefore there have been

many modern religions arising from the major faiths and/or diverse beliefs. One of

the most controversial “Modern Religions” is Scientology. Dictionary.com defines

scientology as “a religious system based on the seeking of self-knowledge and

spiritual fulfillment through graded courses of study and training.” Some argue that

this is a phenomenon and not a real religious movement. However, scientology.org

states that there are around 8 million Scientology followers today. In order to figure

out whether Scientology can really be called a religion we must learn about its basic

beliefs, practices, and history.

In the 1950s a science fiction author by the name of L. Ron Hubbard started a

self-help system by the name of Dianetics. Dianetics was supposed to be a

counseling self-help to recall traumatic events that might have occurred in an

individual’s past. This soon became a sensation within the United States and his

book became one of the best-selling books for around six months. Doctors soon
started complaining that this was allowing Hubbard and his followers to “teach”

medicine without a license, which was illegal. The books were taken off the shelf

and soon the sensation of Dianetics died down. Little did the public and the doctors

who criticized him know that Hubbard would not give up. Hubbard strongly believed

in his Dianetics and from it developed the new religion of Scientology.

WhatisScientology.org states “The word Scientology is taken from the Latin

scio, which means, “Knowing in the fullest sense of the word,” and the Greek word

logos, meaning, “study of.” It literally means “knowing how to know.” Scientology

itself is defined as “The study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself,

universes and other life.” In 1954, the first official church of scientology was

established “The Church of Scientology of California.” Hubbard and his followers

quickly spread the word and soon Scientology was spread all over the United States,

Britain, Australia, Ireland and South Africa. By 1955, L. Ron Hubbard founded the

“Founding Church of Scientology” in Washington D.C. A couple years after,

Hubbard decided to move to England for personal reasons and soon after he did,

problems started arising within these churches and Scientology as a whole.

Before Hubbard left America, he had designed a “medical device” named the

E-meter that could “detect changes in a person’s state of mind.”[CITATION LRo92 \l

1033 ] These devices turned out to have a lot controversy because they were not real

medical devices and were confiscated from hundreds of offices by the Food and Drug

Administration. Scientology then became banned in a couple of countries and in

some Australian states. Hubbard then decided to step down at Executive Director of

Scientology to dedicate his time to researching more for this religion. It wasn’t until
December 1993 that Scientology became an official religion in the United States due

to the IRS giving the church of Scientology full tax-exemption after proving that it

wasn’t operating for Hubbard’s profit but rather for a religious purpose. However, it

wasn’t the case for many other European countries, including Germany and Italy. It

wasn’t until the early 2000s that countries such as Italy, Portugal and Spain claimed

Scientology as a religion for “legal purposes.” Soon after, many organizations started

endorsing Scientology and its beliefs because of its basic principles.

Scientology wants to “set men spiritually free — to replace ignorance with

knowledge, doubts with certainty and misery with happiness.” [CITATION LRo92 \l

1033 ] This religion is supposed to impact each person differently and is there to

answer his or her own personal life questions. In Scientology, our bodies are just

something we have; our minds and spirit is what makes us people. People/individuals

are regarded as thetans in Scientology. Thetans are what created the universe because

of their creative and spiritual powers. They are reborn from time to time in a new

body in a process called “assumption,” this parallels reincarnation in other major

religions. Depending on how many times a certain thetan goes through assumption,

the effects of MEST (matter, energy, space and time) become stronger on that thetan.

[ CITATION LRo96 \l 1033 ]

The concept of thetan is the most basic principle of this religion. After we

grasp that concept, there are 8 dynamics that are the foundation of Scientology.

These eight dynamics are described as the eight principles that thetans need in order

to survive. And in this religion, survival is the number one goal of every living thing

in the universe. The first dynamic is self, which is the urge to be an individual. The
second is creativity; this is anything that can be categorized as a family activity.

Group survival is the third dynamic, which is the urge to survival through a group of

individuals. The fourth dynamic is species, which is the urge to survival through all

species and as all species. The fifth is life forms, meaning the urge to survive with

through all life forms and with the help of life forms. The sixth dynamic is the

physical universe, otherwise known as MEST (matter, energy, space, and time.) The

seventh is the spiritual dynamic and the eighth and final dynamic is the urge toward

existence through infinity. However, the eighth dynamic is only reached once the

spiritual dynamic is fully reached. According to scientology, the basic characteristics

of an individual are his or her ability to expand through the dynamics. [ CITATION

LRo96 \l 1033 ]

After knowing and mastering the concepts of the eight dynamics, a

scientologist must learn the emotional tone scale. This is known as one of the most

important factors in achieving success in life because it teaches you how to deal with

people. The emotional tone scale is known as one of the hardest parts of Scientology

because of the unpredictable behavior of people. The tone scale is there to show all

the emotions of people and how to deal with them in an effective way. Scientology

does this by teaching you the predictable patterns of all emotions. In this section of

scientology, you learn how to deal with people’s different emotions, whether they are

sad, angry or excited. By knowing this, scientology teaches you how to communicate

with anyone in any situation making you more prepared for survival and success.

[ CITATION LRo92 \l 1033 ]

 There are three factors in Scientology that are the most effective in helping

you answer questions dealing with life such as how do I handle my work better? And

how do I improve relationships? These three factors are known as the ARC triangle;

ARC stands for Affinity, Reality and Communication. Scientologists believe that

these three factors are interdependent of one another meaning that if one goes down

so do the other two and vice versa. “This is considered as the common foundation of

all life activities; its use is the greater understanding of all life itself.” [ CITATION

LRo96 \l 1033 ]

The last fundamental principle of Scientology is that a person can improve his

condition only if he is allowed to find his own truth within himself; this is done

through auditing. “Auditing is the process of asking specifically worded questions to

designed to find and handle areas of distress.” To help this process, auditors do not

give you advice or answer questions; they are simply there to ask questions so you

reflect on your own thoughts and opinions to answer your own troubles. When some

events are buried in the conscious and cannot easily be recalled, the auditor uses the

help of the e-meter. In this process, the auditor asks questions and the e-meter

measures your signs of stress to help you recall memories and details. Auditing is

supposed to help bring past memories to move forward with the present. “This is

supposed to bring an individual from spiritual blinding to the joy of spiritual

enlightenment and freedom.” [ CITATION LRo92 \l 1033 ]

After scientologists know all of the aforementioned beliefs and fundamentals,

they put it all to practice in their every day lives. “One of the greatest benefits of

scientology is that it used every day all day long.” [ CITATION Dav00 \l 1033 ]
Although this religion is in practice everyday, they gather on Sundays to further

expand on their learning. They chose a topic or principle they would like to expand

on that week and they speak and discuss about it. “The Sunday sermon often

encourages conduct constructive on all dynamics. This message is represented within

the framework of Scientology Scripture, and its relevance to everyday life is

explained. Thus, the sermon may also be comforting and spiritually uplifting for non-

Scientologists, who are always welcomed to attend.” Scientology ministers perform

almost the same ceremonies and services as other religious ministers do. One major

difference between scientology and other major religions is that in Scientology, if a

person or a couple or a family ever has a problem where they cannot move forward

with their own progress a minister does not help. They have special people by the

name of Chaplain who helps in counseling and advising. Chaplains are different than

ministers yet they can still perform wedding rituals, church services, etc. “The

Chaplain also helps Scientologists who are involved in a dispute, personal

disagreement or misunderstanding by assisting them to resolve the problem through

the application of Scientology religious principles in the Church’s ecclesiastical

justice procedures.” [ CITATION LRo96 \l 1033 ]

Even though Scientology offers a lot of help and guidance through their

Church, many people still doubt whether it is effective. There are many famous

celebrities who have shared their success stories through Scientology. The famous

actor John Travolta stated “I began Scientology training and auditing [and] my career

immediately took off and I landed a leading role on the TV show “Welcome Back

Kotter” and had a string of successful films. I have been a successful actor for more
than twenty years and Scientology has played a major role in that success.”

[ CITATION LRo96 \l 1033 ] Other famous celebrities include Lisa Marie Presley,

Kelly Preston, Katie Holmes, Tom Cruise and many more. However, out of the

billions of people in the world there are only around 7 million active Scientologists.

With so few in the population, there is bound to be controversies on whether it is a

religion, whether it is successful, and whether it should be permitted.

The University of Alberta has had an on going battle with Scientology

because it does not consider it a full religion. Stephen A. Kent from the department

of Sociology at the university states, “Although some social scientists insist that

Scientology is a religion, the more appropriate position to take is that the

organization is a multi-faceted transnational that has religion as only one of its many

components. Other components include political aspirations, business ventures,

cultural productions, pseudo-medical practices, pseudo-psychiatric claims, and an

alternative family structure.” Many agree with Kent’s stand because they believe that

it is a “money making business/belief.” They argue that even in its name it says that

it is a science and a study, not a religion. One of their major arguments is that many

organizations hire these scientologists to “help/train business executives often on

medically related areas, where they get monetary compensation for their work.”

Opponents do agree that it might be beneficial and successful for some people,

however their issue is that it should not be named a religion but rather a practical set

of beliefs. If they do want to name it a religion, monetary compensation is not the

way to prove to the non-followers that they are doing it with religious meaning

behind it. In most religions churches, temples, synagogues, etc do charity work
and/or volunteer work without having monetary compensation because it is a trait

most religions have. Time magazine published an article in 1991, which described

Scientology as "a hugely profitable global racket that survives by intimidating

members and critics in a Mafia-like manner.” [ CITATION Ste97 \l 1033 ]

Other scholars however argue that although they themselves don’t follow

Scientology they agree with why they see it as a religion. Professor Bryan Ronald

Wilson at the University of Oxford argues against the opposition that “critics of the

economic arrangements of the Church of Scientology ignore the fundamental

functional similarity of the economic procedures of traditional religions simply

because the form differs and in virtue of the antiquity and sanctity in which they are

usually clothed.” Meaning that just because the Church of Scientology collects its

revenues in a more business-like manner, it does not mean that it is not the same as

the other major religions collect their revenue. He and other similar scholars argue

that Scientology has more similarities with the other major religions than it does

differences. [ CITATION Bry95 \l 1033 ]

Even though there are many controversies with Scientology, it has been

accepted as a religion in many countries including the United States. Because of its

eight basic principles, its belief of a man reaching spiritual freedom and reaching

enlightenment thousands if not millions follow the Church of Scientology worldwide

today. This Church has many admirable traits that can be used every day all year

round. There are many celebrities and others who have success stories following

Scientology. This belief/religion should be embraced and practiced by those who

please just like everyone else is allowed to practice their own religion or not practice

one at all. Scientology is meant to set men spiritually free.

Works Cited
"Scientology." Dictionary.com's 21st Century Lexicon. Dictionary.com, LLC. 10

Apr. 2011. <Dictionary.com http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/scientology>.

Wilson, Bryan Ronald. Social Change and New Religious Movements . 1995. 11

April 2011 <http://www.humanrights-germany.org/experts/eng/wilson03.pdf>.

Hubbard, L. Ron. What Is Scientology? Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, 1992.

—. Scientology . 1 January 1996. 10 April 2011 <www.scientology.org>.

Kent, Stephen A. "Scientology - Is This A Religion?" Department of Sociology 30

June 1997.

Miscavige, David. Theology and Practice of Scientology . 2000. 11 April 2011

<http://www.bonafidescientology.org/bonafide-scientology.htm>.