Scientology: The Rise And Fall Of Scientology

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.

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.

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

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.

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

There was been reports of abuse within the church, this abuse ranges from sexual abuse, physical abuse, and mental abuse. Due to multiple documentaries against the Church of Scientology, the public is more aware of this newer religion and very worrisome of them. Leah Remini in her documentary, Scientology and the Aftermath refers to Scientology as a cult. Remini, a member of the church for many years, has spent most of her time outside of the church trying to prevent people from staying in the church or joining it. Another documentary that also refers to Scientology as a Cult is Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief.

Scientology is different from the normal view of a religion. As with most churches, money will be collected or donated by the parishioners. To illustrate the illusion Scientology possesses, Margery Wakefield states, “Scientology is an unusual and dangerous kind of money-making machine. That is why this money-making enterprise was setup as a “religion”.” The Catholic church collects donations from parishioners, but the religion has existed for far longer than Scientology. Scientology charges their members for audits to be considered “clear”, but once complete the person must work their way up the pyramid in

One of the most prominent figures in this documentary was Paul Haggis. Paul is a writer and filmmaker whose former membership with the Church gives him distinct credibility (Science of Persuasion YouTube Video). His experiences grab the audience’s attention, seeing as he was a scientologist for three years. Paul spoke out about his experiences with Scientology, calling it a “cult” and mentioning many disturbing aspects about the church

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.

The truth about Scientology needs to be common knowledge to everyone in order to spread awareness to those desperate enough to join the group. Originally it started as a scam started by L.Ron Hubbard in order to create a consistent influx of cash. But, now it has led to problems of abuse and blackmail. Because the leaders of this group have been able to get away with crimes for so long, more people have been getting hurt. The wife of the current Scientology leader has not been seen by outsiders

Scientology is a religious system based on the seeking of self-knowledge and spiritual fulfillment through graded courses of study and training (“Scientology”). Scientology was founded in 1954, by Lafayette Ronald Hubbard. A man who wrote and published Dianetics, which is the equivalent of the Bible in Christianity. The church’s beliefs and practices are based off of Dianetics, and the teachings of Hubbard. Scientologists say they believe that through religious training such as auditing and spending time at the church they will reach a state of clear, as well as recall past lives (Wright 2013). Auditing is when church members specifically know as auditors, to first listen and give counsel to members of the church, second help the members

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.

The world can be a dangerous place. It can be even more dangerous if someone proves to be different, or seen as unusual in any way. Scientology may be one of the strangest religions in the world. Due to this, Scientology has experienced intolerance since it was first founded in 1954. Religious intolerance is a social issue, consequently affecting every level of the religious community, from the followers to the conductors of Scientology. Even though numerous people view Scientology as a cult or fraudulent religion, or believe that the religion is so small and the beliefs so strange it can simply be written off, hence the intolerance ignored, Religious intolerance is a problem for Scientology because Only one side of the argument is broadcasted, so Scientology receives immense amounts of hate, simply due to the fact they believe differently than many other people. Scientology has responded to biased as well as intolerant media as a result, their replies have been covered up, or scarcely brought up at all, Scientologists have also been threatened with violence as well as even received hate mail and death threats

By most, if not all, of today's standards, death is not an appropriate crime for thinking poorly of someone. George Orwell's 1984 is a fictional novel that shows how a totalitarian government can control every aspect of life including thoughts, punishable by death. Most members of the society see it as a utopia for the fact that all are equal and no crimes and laws exist. However, a utopia is a rarity in the real world and fictional novels. They always seem to fall apart and develop into a dystopian society where all members are constantly controlled and under surveillance. The difference between these two is that a utopia is generally seen as good, even by the Webster dictionary, “a place of ideal perfection, especially in laws, government, and social conditions.” On the contrary, a dystopia is portrayed as a failure and, “an imaginary place where people lead dehumanized and often fearful lives” (“Dystopia”). Now in the current world, Scientology is a tricky topic. Almost all of the members call it a great religion, a utopia, while outsiders view it as a controlling dystopia. The ideas of 1984 and how the society functions can be closely related to Scientology in the world today. In both the novel and Scientology, members have views greatly different from the outsiders who see them as dehumanized, brainwashed, animals.