Scientology Wikipedia pages

Scientology beliefs and practices

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to:  navigation , search

The Church of Scientology says that a human is an immortal, spiritual being (thetan) that is resident in a physical body. The thetan has had innumerable past lives and it is observed in advanced Scientology texts that lives preceding the thetan's arrival on Earth were lived in extraterrestrial cultures. Based on case studies at advanced levels, it is predicted that any Scientologist undergoing auditing will eventually come across and recount a common series of events.
According to the Church, founder L. Ron Hubbard's discovery of the thetan places Scientology at the heart of the human quest for meaning, and proves that "its origins are as ancient as religious thought itself." However, Scientology considers that its understanding of the theta distinguishes it from other religious traditions, especially Judaism and Christianity, in three important ways. First, while many religions fuse the concept of the body and the soul, the thetan (spirit) is separate and independent. Second, unlike the three great world monotheisms, Scientologists believe in past lives and that the thetan has lived through many, perhaps thousands of lifetimes. Third, contrary to Christian concepts of original sin, Scientology holds to the intrinsic goodness of a being and believes that the spiritual essence has lost touch with its nature. "The spirit, then, is not a thing," Hubbard writes. "It is the creator of things."[1]
Scientology describes itself as the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others, and all of life. One purpose of Scientology, as stated by the Church of Scientology, is to become certain of one's spiritual existence and one's relationship to God, or the "Supreme Being."[2] Scientologists also believe that people have innate, yet suppressed, power and ability which can be regained if cleared of enforced and unwanted behaviour patterns and discomforts.[3][4] Scientology is described as "a religion to help people use scientific approaches to self-actualize their full potential."[5] Believers reach their full potential "when they understand themselves in their true relationship to the physical universe and the Supreme Being. "[5] There have been many scholarly studies of Scientology and the books are freely available in bookshops, churches and most libraries.[5]
The Church of Scientology believes that "Man is basically 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 Creed of the Church of Scientology.[6]
Roy Wallis of Columbia University describes Scientology as "a movement that straddles the boundaries between psychology and religion, [offering] a graded hierarchy of 'auditing' and training, which will ultimately release fully all the individual's inner potential."[7]
Scientology does not require that their members must exclusively believe in Scientology, distinguishing it from biblical religions. Scientologists may profess belief in other religions, such as Protestantism and Catholicism, and may participate in their activities and sacred rites. Jacob Neusner emphasizes this in the section on Scientology in his book World Religions in America.[8]
Wilson writes that Scientology "constitutes a religious system set forth in the terms of scientific discourse." Hubbard similarly states that "along with science, Scientology can achieve positive invariable results. Given the same conditions, one always get the same results ... What has happened is the superstition has been subtracted from spiritual studies."[9]


Contents  [hide]
1 Beliefs 1.1 The Bridge to Total Freedom
1.2 Morals and ethics
1.3 ARC and KRC triangles
1.4 The Dynamics
1.5 Afterlife
1.6 God
1.7 Science
2 Scriptures and practices 2.1 Terminology
2.2 Interpretation and context
2.3 Gradual learning
2.4 Auditing
2.5 The body
2.6 Silent birth
2.7 Holidays
3 Controversy 3.1 Squirreling
3.2 Legal waivers
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Beliefs[edit]
The Bridge to Total Freedom[edit]
The Bridge to Total Freedom is the means by which Scientologists undertake personal life development. Processing is the actual practice of "auditing" which directs questions towards areas of travail in a person's life to get rid of unwanted barriers that inhibit, stop or blunt a person's natural abilities. This process is supposed to bring greater happiness, intelligence and success.[10] Training is education in the skill required to deliver the process of "auditing" to another.[11]
Morals and ethics[edit]
Main article: Ethics (Scientology)
Scientology teaches that progress on The Bridge requires and enables the attainment of high moral and ethical standards.[11] The main Scientology text on ethics is the book Introduction to Scientology Ethics[2]
Scientology uses the term "morals" to refer to a collectively agreed code of good conduct and defines ethics as "the actions an individual takes on himself in order to accomplish optimum survival for himself and others on all dynamics (eight drives in life from self to family to groups to mankind, etc.) Scientology stresses the rationality of ethics over morals: "Ethics actually consists of rationality toward the highest level of survival."; "If a moral code were thoroughly reasonable, it could, at the same time, be considered thoroughly ethical. But only at this highest level could the two be called the same".[2]
Scientologists also follow a series of behavior codes, these are: Auditor Code, Supervisor's Code, Code of Honor and the Code of a Scientologist.[2]
Hubbard said that "the purpose of ethics is to remove counter-intentions from the environment. Having accomplished that, the purpose becomes to remove other intentionedness from the environment", meaning to work towards higher levels of survival for oneself and one's family, groups etc. in order to achieve new levels of happiness and success for oneself and others.
ARC and KRC triangles[edit]
The ARC and KRC triangles are concept maps which show a relationship among three concepts to form another concept. These two triangles are present in the Scientology logo.
The KRC triangle is the uppermost triangle. It combines the components of "Knowledge" "Responsibility" and "Control". A Scientologist must gain Knowledge of, take Responsibility for, and effectively exert Control over elements of his or her environment.
The ARC triangle is the lower triangle. It is a summary representation of the knowledge the Scientologist strives for.[8] It combines three components: "Affinity" is the degree of affection, love or liking, i.e. an emotional state.[8] "Reality" reflects consensual reality, that is agreements on what is real.[8] "Communication", believed to be the most important element of the triangle, is the exchange of ideas.[8] Scientologists believe that improving one of the three aspects of the ARC triangle "increases the level" of the other two but the most important aspect of this triangle is "communication" mainly because communication drives the other two aspects: "affinity" and "reality".[12] Scientologists believe that ineffective communication is a chief cause of human survival problems, and this is reflected by efforts at all levels within the movement to ensure clear communication, the presence of unabridged standard dictionaries for example being an established feature of Scientology centers.[8]
The two triangles are connected by a letter "S", standing for SCIO (Latin > "I Know"). Church of Scientology doctrine defines scio as 'knowing in the fullest sense of the word'. It links the two triangles together.
The Dynamics[edit]
1.The first dynamic is the urge toward survival of self.
2.The second dynamic is the urge toward survival through sex, or children. This dynamic actually has two divisions. The second dynamic (a) is the sexual act itself and second dynamic (b) is the family unit, including the rearing of children.
3.The third dynamic is the urge toward survival through a group of individuals or as a group. Any group or part of an entire class could be considered to be a part of the third dynamic. The school, the club, the team, the town, the nation are examples of groups.
4.The fourth dynamic is the urge toward survival through all mankind and as all mankind.
5.The fifth dynamic is the urge toward survival through life forms such as animals, birds, insects, fish and vegetation, and is the urge to survive as these.
6.The sixth dynamic is the urge toward survival as the physical universe and has as its components Matter, Energy, Space and Time, from which we derive the word MEST.
7.The seventh dynamic is the urge toward survival through spirits or as a spirit. Anything spiritual, with or without identity, would come under the seventh dynamic. A sub-heading of this dynamic is ideas and concepts such as beauty and the desire to survive through these.
8.The eighth dynamic is the urge toward survival through the Supreme Being, or more exactly, infinity.
Afterlife[edit]
In Scientology the human body is regarded as similar to that of other religions in that the spirit will then leave the body. "Life and personality go on. The physical part of the organism ceases to function." (Ref: Dianetics and Scientology Technical Dictionary)
Scientology also subscribes to the belief of "past lives", not in the sense of being born in different life forms, but "to be born again into the flesh or into another body".[citation needed] Scientologists refer to this belief as "past lives" and not reincarnation. A person cannot move forward unless "aberrations" from past lives are handled. According to Scientology beliefs, "the individual comes back. He has a responsibility for what goes on today since he will experience it tomorrow."[13][14]
God[edit]
The Church of Scientology states that it has no set dogma on God and allows individuals to come to their own understanding of God.[15] In Scientology, "vastly more emphasis is given to the godlike nature of the person and to the workings of the human mind than to the nature of God."[16] Scientologists believe in an "Infinity" ("the All-ness of All"). They recite a formal prayer for total freedom at meetings, which include the verses "May the author of the universe enable all men to reach an understanding of their spiritual nature. May awareness and understanding of life expand, so that all may come to know the author of the universe. And may others also reach this understanding which brings Total Freedom ... Freedom from war, and poverty, and want; freedom to be; freedom to do and freedom to have. Freedom to use and understand Man's potential -- a potential that is God-given and Godlike." The prayer commences with "May God let it be so."[17] [18]
Science[edit]
The church considers itself scientific, although this belief has no basis in true science.[19] Scientologists believe that "all religious claims can be verified through experimentation", according to religious scholar Mikael Rothstein.[19] Scientologists believe that their religion was derived through scientific methods, that Hubbard found knowledge through studying and thinking, not through revelation. The "science" of Dianetics, however, was never accepted by the scientific community, which caused Hubbard to change its form into a religion.[19] Religious scholar Dorthe Refslund Christensen notes that Scientology differs from the scientific method in that Scientology has become increasingly self-referential, while true science normally compares competing theories and observed facts. Scientology eschews external facts—its frame of reference is its own internal sayings and beliefs.[19]
Scriptures and practices[edit]
See also: L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology bibliography
Hubbard is considered the sole source of Dianetics and Scientology. His work, recorded in 500,000 pages of writings, 6,500 reels of tape and 42 films, is archived for posterity.[20] Scientology studies are achieved by the systematic study and application of its axioms and principles.[2] The Religious Technology Center holds "the ultimate ecclesiastical authority and the pure application of L. Ron Hubbard's religious technologies."[21]
Individuals applying Hubbard's techniques who are not officially connected to the Church of Scientology are considered part of the "Free Zone". Some of these individuals were litigated against for using and modifying the practices for their own use which is illegal according to copyright law and the intended use of materials as Hubbard intended.
Terminology[edit]
On November 12, 1952, Hubbard explained in the lecture "Precision Knowledge: Necessity to know terminology and law" the need to have precise terminology that cannot be confused with other words or definitions. He gave emphasis on avoidance of words that have many definitions and compared the language of Scientology with the language of Math and other precise doctrines.
Scientology and Dianetics place a heavy emphasis on understanding word definitions. Hubbard wrote a book titled How to Use a Dictionary, in which he defined the methods of correcting "misunderstoods" (a Scientology term referring to a "misunderstood word or symbol"). It is believed in Scientology that complete understanding of a subject matter requires first complete understanding of the words of that subject matter. Hubbard also assembled the Technical Dictionary (ISBN 0-686-30803-4, ISBN 0-88404-037-2), a lexicon of hundreds of words, terms, and definitions that are used by Scientologists. Hubbard modified definitions for many existing English words, such as "clear" and "static." "Clear" was borrowed from early computer science during his 1948 research. He likened the human mind to a perfect computer that needed to be "cleared" of erroneous data enforced upon it from engrams or painful memories. Soon after, the word "clear" as a noun meant a person who had attained such a state. He also coined many terms that are variants on standard English words, such as "enturbulate" and "havingness."
Critics of Scientology have accused Hubbard of "loading the language" and using Scientology jargon to keep Scientologists from interacting with information sources outside of Scientology.[22][23]
Interpretation and context[edit]
Scientology discourages secondary interpretation of its writings.[24] Students of Scientology are taught to direct others to those original sources, rather than to convey any interpretation of the concepts in their own words. Emphasis is placed on keeping the writings in context.
Gradual learning[edit]
Scientologists believe that material must be learned in a definite order, never skipping to material which is overly complex before it is called for. A Scientologist must receive the newer and higher levels only upon completion of the previous level. Scientology calls this concept a "gradient". According to scholar of sociology Bryan Wilson, the Church employs a method that has "an elaborate system of instruction, graded, set out, and scored in apparently rational order of increasing complexity."[25] Scholar Giselle Velásquez of University of Nevada, Las Vegas comments on this method: "the promise is that this method can improve diverse areas of human conduct and reduce problematic areas in personality."[26]
Auditing[edit]
Main article: Auditing (Scientology)
One central practice of Scientology is an activity known as auditing (listening) which seeks to elevate an adherent to a State of Clear, one of freedom from the influences of the reactive mind. The practice is one wherein a counselor called an auditor addresses a series of questions to a preclear, observes and records the preclear's responses, and acknowledges them. An important element in all forms of auditing is to not suggest answers to the preclear or invalidate or degrade what the preclear says in response. It is of utmost importance the auditor create a truly safe and distraction free environment for the session.
The term "Clear" is derived from a button on a calculator that deletes previous calculations. According to Scientology beliefs, Clears are "optimal individuals" and "they have been cleared of false information and memories of traumatic experiences that prevent them from adapting to the world around them in a natural and appropriate fashion." Scientologists believe that clears become more successful in their daily lives, "be healthier, experience less stress, and possess better communication skills."[27]
"Auditing" is sometimes seen as controversial, because auditing sessions are permanently recorded and stored within what are called Preclear Folders. Scientologists believe that the practice of auditing helps them overcome the debilitating effects of traumatic experiences, most of which have accumulated over a multitude of lifetimes.[1] The folders are kept in accordance with the Priest/Penitent legal parameters which do not allow these folders to be seen or used for any other purpose or seen by any others who are not directly involved in supervising that person's auditing progress.
"Auditors" are required to become proficient with the use of their E-meters. The device measures the subject's galvanic skin response in a manner similar to a polygraph (lie detector), but with only one electrode per hand rather than multiple sensors.[28] The E-meter is primarily used in auditing, which "aims to remove (engrams) to produce a state of 'clear.'"[29] Auditors do not receive final certification until they have successfully completed an internship, and have demonstrated a proven ability in the skills they have been trained in.[original research?] Auditors often practice their auditing with each other, as well as friends or family. Church members pair up often to get their training, doing the same course at the same time, so that they can audit each other up through the various Scientology levels.
According to scholar Harriet Whitehead, the Church of Scientology "has developed a fine tooled hierarchically organized system of audit (training) sessions where the technology of these sessions, in fact, is the treatment leading to processes of renunciation and eventually reformulation in the individual," which is similar to psychoanalysis.[30]
The body[edit]
See also: Purification Rundown
According to L. Ron Hubbard's book The History of Man, published in 1952, there are two entities housed by the human body, a genetic entity (whose purpose is to carry on the evolutionary line) and a "Thetan" or consciousness "that has the capacity to separate from body and mind." According to Hubbard, "In man's long evolutionary development the Thetan has been trapped by the engrams formed at various stages of embodiment." Scientology training is aimed at clearing the person of all engrams, thus creating an "Operating Thetan." "Among the abilities of the Operating Thetan is the soul's capacity to leave and operate apart from the body."[31]
People are viewed as spiritual beings that have minds and bodies and a person's "spiritual essence" is called the Thetan.[32] Scientology teaches that "a thetan is the person himself, not his body or his name or the physical universe, his mind or anything else." According to the doctrine, "one does not have a thetan, he is a thetan."[33]
Silent birth[edit]
Main article: Silent birth
Advocated by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, silent birth describes "the process of childbirth where labor and delivery is done in a calm and loving environment." To provide quiet surroundings for the delivery of the baby, individuals in his/her immediate vicinity are prompted not to speak. According to Scientology practices, silent birth is "mandatory to provide the best possible environment for the pregnant mother and her new baby." Shouting, laughing or making loud remarks must be avoided while the baby is being pushed out. According to The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World, "its origins are fundamentally rooted in the principle that women, particularly expectant mothers, be given the utmost care and respect."[34]
Holidays[edit]
Main article: Scientology holidays
There are several holidays celebrated by Scientologists, notably L. Ron Hubbard's birthday in March, the Anniversary of the first publication of Dianetics in May, Sea Org Day in August, Auditor's Day in September and the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) Anniversary in October.[35] Most official celebrations are scheduled on weekends as a convenience to members. Scientologists also celebrate holidays such as Christmas, Easter and New Year's Eve, as well as other local celebrations.[36] Scientologists also celebrate religious holidays depending on other religious beliefs, as Scientologists very often retain their original affiliations with faiths in which they were raised.[37]
Controversy[edit]
Squirreling[edit]
The act of using Scientology techniques in a form different from that originally described by Hubbard is referred to within Scientology as "squirreling", and is said by Scientologists to be "high treason".[38]
Legal waivers[edit]
The Church of Scientology requires that all members sign a legal waiver which covers their relationship with the Church of Scientology before engaging in Scientology services.[39][40]
See also[edit]

Portal icon Scientology portal
Criminon
Narconon
Scientology and the occult
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Bromley, David; Cowan, Douglas. Cults and new religions: a brief history.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Black, Alan W. (24 January 1996). "Is Scientology A Religion?". Church of Scientology.
3.Jump up ^ "Road To Total Freedom". Panorama. BBC. 27 April 1987.
4.Jump up ^ Farley, Robert (6 May 2006). "Scientology nearly ready to unveil Super Power". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
5.^ Jump up to: a b c Gutjahr, Paul C. "Reference: The State of the Discipline: Sacred Texts in the United States". Book History 4: 335–370. doi:10.1353/bh.2001.0008. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
6.Jump up ^ Lewis, James R. (Mar 2009). Scientology. Cary, NC: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
7.Jump up ^ Burnham, Kenneth E. (Autumn 1978). "Reference: The Road to Total Freedom, a Sociological Analysis of Scientology". Review of Religious Research 20 (1): 119. doi:10.2307/3509964.
8.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Neusner, Jacob (2003). World Religions in America. Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 221–236. ISBN 0-664-22475-X.
9.Jump up ^ Locke, Simon (March 2004). "Charisma and the iron cage: Rationalization, science and scientology". Social Compass 51 (1): 111–131. doi:10.1177/0037768604040794.
10.Jump up ^ Dianetics and Scientology Technical Dictionary.
11.^ Jump up to: a b Book: World Religions in America by Jacob Neusner | page 228. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-10-09.
12.Jump up ^ Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America by Eugene V. Gallagher, W. Michael Ashcraft | page 176. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-10-09.
13.Jump up ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9370678/What-is-Scientology.html
14.Jump up ^ http://www.scientology.org/faq/scientology-beliefs/reincarnation.html
15.Jump up ^ http://www.scientology.org/faq/scientology-beliefs/what-is-the-concept-of-god-in-scientology.html
16.Jump up ^ Zellner, William W.; Petrowsky, Marc (1998). Sects, Cults & Spiritual Communities : A Sociological Analysis (2 ed.). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
17.Jump up ^ http://www.faithology.com/practices/weekly-worship-in-scientology
18.Jump up ^ Veenker, Jody, and Steve Rabey. "Building Scientopolis : How Scientology Remade Clearwater, Florida--And What Local Christians Learned In The Process." Christianity Today 44.10 (2000): 90-99. ATLASerials, Religion Collection. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
19.^ Jump up to: a b c d Rothstein, Mikael. "Science and Religion in the New Religions." Oxford Handbooks Online. 2009-09-02. Oxford University Press. Date of access .29 Jan. 2014, http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195369649.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195369649-e-5
20.Jump up ^ Welkos, Robert W.; Sappell, Joel (24 June 1990). "Church Scriptures Get High-Tech Protection". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
21.Jump up ^ Urban, Hugh B. (21 Aug 2011). The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion. Princeton University Press. Retrieved 2013-10-29.
22.Jump up ^ Branch, Craig (1997). "Applied Scientology In Public Schools?". The Watchman Expositor (Watchman Fellowship ministry). Retrieved 2007-01-11.
23.Jump up ^ Wakefield, Margery (1991). Understanding Scientology. Coalition of Concerned Citizens.
24.Jump up ^ Book: World Religions in America By Jacob Neusner, page 230. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-10-09.
25.Jump up ^ Wilson, Bryan (1989). Religion in sociological perspective. Oxford University Press.
26.Jump up ^ Velásquez, Giselle (November 2011). "Qualitative Inquiry.". Inside the Church of Scientology: An Ethnographic Performance Script 17 (9): 824–836. doi:10.1177/1077800411423200.
27.Jump up ^ Zellner, William W.; Petrowsky, Marc (1998). Sects, Cults & Spiritual Communities : A Sociological Analysis (2 ed.). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
28.Jump up ^ Abanes, Richard (2009). Religions of the Stars: What Hollywood Believes and How It Affects You. Baker Books. p. 78. ISBN 1-4412-0445-8.
29.Jump up ^ http://www.deseretnews.com/article/595091823/Scientology-Church-now-claims-more-than-8-million-members.html?pg=all
30.Jump up ^ Whitehead, Harriet; Karl Peter (Sep 1988). "Reference: Renunciation and Reformulation: A Study of Conversion in an American Sect: Review by: Karl Peter". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 27 (3): 454–456. doi:10.2307/1387393.
31.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon (2001). "Scientology, Church of.". Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology 2 (5th edition ed.). Detroit: Gale Group. pp. 1362–1364.
32.Jump up ^ Pretorius, SP 2006. 'The concept "salvation" in the Church of Scientology', HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies, vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 313–327
33.Jump up ^ Bromley, David G. James R. Lewis, ed. Making Sense of Scientology: Prophetic, Contractual. Scientology.
34.Jump up ^ Navodita, Pande (2000). "Silent Birth (Scientology)". In Mary Zeiss Stange, Carol K. Oyster, and Jane E. Sloan. The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications. pp. 1778–81.
35.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon. "Scientology, Holidays of the Church of." Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations. Ed. J. Gordon Melton. Vol. 2. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011. 789-791. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 8 Jan. 2014.
36.Jump up ^ "Scientology Beliefs & Practices: What is Scientology?". Scientology.org. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
37.Jump up ^ "Some Christian pastors embrace Scientology - CNN.com". CNN. 1 November 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
38.Jump up ^ Welkos, Robert W.; Sappell, Joel (29 June 1990). "When the Doctrine Leaves the Church". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-08-24.
39.Jump up ^ Friedman, Roger (3 September 2003). "Will Scientology Celebs Sign 'Spiritual' Contract?". FOX News. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
40.Jump up ^ Touretzky, David S. (1 December 2003). "A Church's Lethal Contract". Razor Magazine. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
External links[edit]
 Wikinews has related Scientology news:
October 19: Exclusive: 'The Scientology Reformation' author examines Tom Cruise and David Miscavige
September 10: ABC News yanks 20/20 investigation of Tom Cruise and Scientology
February 2: Scientology guilty of fraud rules French appeal court
December 2: Australian woman claims Church of Scientology imprisoned her for twelve years

Church sitesDescription of Scientology Auditing
What is Scientology
Official E-Meter Site
Scientology Volunteer Ministers Corps
The founder of Scientology auditing
ArticlesAn interview with Catholic Frank K. Flinn, Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies
"Scientology: The Marks of Religion" – Frank K. Flinn, Ph.D.'s opinion of Scientology
Other sitesScientology: Beliefs and Practices links from Yahoo directory
Free zone E-Meters at DMOZ


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Scientology






































































































































































































  


Categories: Scientology beliefs and practices









Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages

Edit links
This page was last modified on 18 May 2015, at 01:31.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
  

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_beliefs_and_practices










Scientology beliefs and practices

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to:  navigation , search

The Church of Scientology says that a human is an immortal, spiritual being (thetan) that is resident in a physical body. The thetan has had innumerable past lives and it is observed in advanced Scientology texts that lives preceding the thetan's arrival on Earth were lived in extraterrestrial cultures. Based on case studies at advanced levels, it is predicted that any Scientologist undergoing auditing will eventually come across and recount a common series of events.
According to the Church, founder L. Ron Hubbard's discovery of the thetan places Scientology at the heart of the human quest for meaning, and proves that "its origins are as ancient as religious thought itself." However, Scientology considers that its understanding of the theta distinguishes it from other religious traditions, especially Judaism and Christianity, in three important ways. First, while many religions fuse the concept of the body and the soul, the thetan (spirit) is separate and independent. Second, unlike the three great world monotheisms, Scientologists believe in past lives and that the thetan has lived through many, perhaps thousands of lifetimes. Third, contrary to Christian concepts of original sin, Scientology holds to the intrinsic goodness of a being and believes that the spiritual essence has lost touch with its nature. "The spirit, then, is not a thing," Hubbard writes. "It is the creator of things."[1]
Scientology describes itself as the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others, and all of life. One purpose of Scientology, as stated by the Church of Scientology, is to become certain of one's spiritual existence and one's relationship to God, or the "Supreme Being."[2] Scientologists also believe that people have innate, yet suppressed, power and ability which can be regained if cleared of enforced and unwanted behaviour patterns and discomforts.[3][4] Scientology is described as "a religion to help people use scientific approaches to self-actualize their full potential."[5] Believers reach their full potential "when they understand themselves in their true relationship to the physical universe and the Supreme Being. "[5] There have been many scholarly studies of Scientology and the books are freely available in bookshops, churches and most libraries.[5]
The Church of Scientology believes that "Man is basically 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 Creed of the Church of Scientology.[6]
Roy Wallis of Columbia University describes Scientology as "a movement that straddles the boundaries between psychology and religion, [offering] a graded hierarchy of 'auditing' and training, which will ultimately release fully all the individual's inner potential."[7]
Scientology does not require that their members must exclusively believe in Scientology, distinguishing it from biblical religions. Scientologists may profess belief in other religions, such as Protestantism and Catholicism, and may participate in their activities and sacred rites. Jacob Neusner emphasizes this in the section on Scientology in his book World Religions in America.[8]
Wilson writes that Scientology "constitutes a religious system set forth in the terms of scientific discourse." Hubbard similarly states that "along with science, Scientology can achieve positive invariable results. Given the same conditions, one always get the same results ... What has happened is the superstition has been subtracted from spiritual studies."[9]


Contents  [hide]
1 Beliefs 1.1 The Bridge to Total Freedom
1.2 Morals and ethics
1.3 ARC and KRC triangles
1.4 The Dynamics
1.5 Afterlife
1.6 God
1.7 Science
2 Scriptures and practices 2.1 Terminology
2.2 Interpretation and context
2.3 Gradual learning
2.4 Auditing
2.5 The body
2.6 Silent birth
2.7 Holidays
3 Controversy 3.1 Squirreling
3.2 Legal waivers
4 See also
5 References
6 External links

Beliefs[edit]
The Bridge to Total Freedom[edit]
The Bridge to Total Freedom is the means by which Scientologists undertake personal life development. Processing is the actual practice of "auditing" which directs questions towards areas of travail in a person's life to get rid of unwanted barriers that inhibit, stop or blunt a person's natural abilities. This process is supposed to bring greater happiness, intelligence and success.[10] Training is education in the skill required to deliver the process of "auditing" to another.[11]
Morals and ethics[edit]
Main article: Ethics (Scientology)
Scientology teaches that progress on The Bridge requires and enables the attainment of high moral and ethical standards.[11] The main Scientology text on ethics is the book Introduction to Scientology Ethics[2]
Scientology uses the term "morals" to refer to a collectively agreed code of good conduct and defines ethics as "the actions an individual takes on himself in order to accomplish optimum survival for himself and others on all dynamics (eight drives in life from self to family to groups to mankind, etc.) Scientology stresses the rationality of ethics over morals: "Ethics actually consists of rationality toward the highest level of survival."; "If a moral code were thoroughly reasonable, it could, at the same time, be considered thoroughly ethical. But only at this highest level could the two be called the same".[2]
Scientologists also follow a series of behavior codes, these are: Auditor Code, Supervisor's Code, Code of Honor and the Code of a Scientologist.[2]
Hubbard said that "the purpose of ethics is to remove counter-intentions from the environment. Having accomplished that, the purpose becomes to remove other intentionedness from the environment", meaning to work towards higher levels of survival for oneself and one's family, groups etc. in order to achieve new levels of happiness and success for oneself and others.
ARC and KRC triangles[edit]
The ARC and KRC triangles are concept maps which show a relationship among three concepts to form another concept. These two triangles are present in the Scientology logo.
The KRC triangle is the uppermost triangle. It combines the components of "Knowledge" "Responsibility" and "Control". A Scientologist must gain Knowledge of, take Responsibility for, and effectively exert Control over elements of his or her environment.
The ARC triangle is the lower triangle. It is a summary representation of the knowledge the Scientologist strives for.[8] It combines three components: "Affinity" is the degree of affection, love or liking, i.e. an emotional state.[8] "Reality" reflects consensual reality, that is agreements on what is real.[8] "Communication", believed to be the most important element of the triangle, is the exchange of ideas.[8] Scientologists believe that improving one of the three aspects of the ARC triangle "increases the level" of the other two but the most important aspect of this triangle is "communication" mainly because communication drives the other two aspects: "affinity" and "reality".[12] Scientologists believe that ineffective communication is a chief cause of human survival problems, and this is reflected by efforts at all levels within the movement to ensure clear communication, the presence of unabridged standard dictionaries for example being an established feature of Scientology centers.[8]
The two triangles are connected by a letter "S", standing for SCIO (Latin > "I Know"). Church of Scientology doctrine defines scio as 'knowing in the fullest sense of the word'. It links the two triangles together.
The Dynamics[edit]
1.The first dynamic is the urge toward survival of self.
2.The second dynamic is the urge toward survival through sex, or children. This dynamic actually has two divisions. The second dynamic (a) is the sexual act itself and second dynamic (b) is the family unit, including the rearing of children.
3.The third dynamic is the urge toward survival through a group of individuals or as a group. Any group or part of an entire class could be considered to be a part of the third dynamic. The school, the club, the team, the town, the nation are examples of groups.
4.The fourth dynamic is the urge toward survival through all mankind and as all mankind.
5.The fifth dynamic is the urge toward survival through life forms such as animals, birds, insects, fish and vegetation, and is the urge to survive as these.
6.The sixth dynamic is the urge toward survival as the physical universe and has as its components Matter, Energy, Space and Time, from which we derive the word MEST.
7.The seventh dynamic is the urge toward survival through spirits or as a spirit. Anything spiritual, with or without identity, would come under the seventh dynamic. A sub-heading of this dynamic is ideas and concepts such as beauty and the desire to survive through these.
8.The eighth dynamic is the urge toward survival through the Supreme Being, or more exactly, infinity.
Afterlife[edit]
In Scientology the human body is regarded as similar to that of other religions in that the spirit will then leave the body. "Life and personality go on. The physical part of the organism ceases to function." (Ref: Dianetics and Scientology Technical Dictionary)
Scientology also subscribes to the belief of "past lives", not in the sense of being born in different life forms, but "to be born again into the flesh or into another body".[citation needed] Scientologists refer to this belief as "past lives" and not reincarnation. A person cannot move forward unless "aberrations" from past lives are handled. According to Scientology beliefs, "the individual comes back. He has a responsibility for what goes on today since he will experience it tomorrow."[13][14]
God[edit]
The Church of Scientology states that it has no set dogma on God and allows individuals to come to their own understanding of God.[15] In Scientology, "vastly more emphasis is given to the godlike nature of the person and to the workings of the human mind than to the nature of God."[16] Scientologists believe in an "Infinity" ("the All-ness of All"). They recite a formal prayer for total freedom at meetings, which include the verses "May the author of the universe enable all men to reach an understanding of their spiritual nature. May awareness and understanding of life expand, so that all may come to know the author of the universe. And may others also reach this understanding which brings Total Freedom ... Freedom from war, and poverty, and want; freedom to be; freedom to do and freedom to have. Freedom to use and understand Man's potential -- a potential that is God-given and Godlike." The prayer commences with "May God let it be so."[17] [18]
Science[edit]
The church considers itself scientific, although this belief has no basis in true science.[19] Scientologists believe that "all religious claims can be verified through experimentation", according to religious scholar Mikael Rothstein.[19] Scientologists believe that their religion was derived through scientific methods, that Hubbard found knowledge through studying and thinking, not through revelation. The "science" of Dianetics, however, was never accepted by the scientific community, which caused Hubbard to change its form into a religion.[19] Religious scholar Dorthe Refslund Christensen notes that Scientology differs from the scientific method in that Scientology has become increasingly self-referential, while true science normally compares competing theories and observed facts. Scientology eschews external facts—its frame of reference is its own internal sayings and beliefs.[19]
Scriptures and practices[edit]
See also: L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology bibliography
Hubbard is considered the sole source of Dianetics and Scientology. His work, recorded in 500,000 pages of writings, 6,500 reels of tape and 42 films, is archived for posterity.[20] Scientology studies are achieved by the systematic study and application of its axioms and principles.[2] The Religious Technology Center holds "the ultimate ecclesiastical authority and the pure application of L. Ron Hubbard's religious technologies."[21]
Individuals applying Hubbard's techniques who are not officially connected to the Church of Scientology are considered part of the "Free Zone". Some of these individuals were litigated against for using and modifying the practices for their own use which is illegal according to copyright law and the intended use of materials as Hubbard intended.
Terminology[edit]
On November 12, 1952, Hubbard explained in the lecture "Precision Knowledge: Necessity to know terminology and law" the need to have precise terminology that cannot be confused with other words or definitions. He gave emphasis on avoidance of words that have many definitions and compared the language of Scientology with the language of Math and other precise doctrines.
Scientology and Dianetics place a heavy emphasis on understanding word definitions. Hubbard wrote a book titled How to Use a Dictionary, in which he defined the methods of correcting "misunderstoods" (a Scientology term referring to a "misunderstood word or symbol"). It is believed in Scientology that complete understanding of a subject matter requires first complete understanding of the words of that subject matter. Hubbard also assembled the Technical Dictionary (ISBN 0-686-30803-4, ISBN 0-88404-037-2), a lexicon of hundreds of words, terms, and definitions that are used by Scientologists. Hubbard modified definitions for many existing English words, such as "clear" and "static." "Clear" was borrowed from early computer science during his 1948 research. He likened the human mind to a perfect computer that needed to be "cleared" of erroneous data enforced upon it from engrams or painful memories. Soon after, the word "clear" as a noun meant a person who had attained such a state. He also coined many terms that are variants on standard English words, such as "enturbulate" and "havingness."
Critics of Scientology have accused Hubbard of "loading the language" and using Scientology jargon to keep Scientologists from interacting with information sources outside of Scientology.[22][23]
Interpretation and context[edit]
Scientology discourages secondary interpretation of its writings.[24] Students of Scientology are taught to direct others to those original sources, rather than to convey any interpretation of the concepts in their own words. Emphasis is placed on keeping the writings in context.
Gradual learning[edit]
Scientologists believe that material must be learned in a definite order, never skipping to material which is overly complex before it is called for. A Scientologist must receive the newer and higher levels only upon completion of the previous level. Scientology calls this concept a "gradient". According to scholar of sociology Bryan Wilson, the Church employs a method that has "an elaborate system of instruction, graded, set out, and scored in apparently rational order of increasing complexity."[25] Scholar Giselle Velásquez of University of Nevada, Las Vegas comments on this method: "the promise is that this method can improve diverse areas of human conduct and reduce problematic areas in personality."[26]
Auditing[edit]
Main article: Auditing (Scientology)
One central practice of Scientology is an activity known as auditing (listening) which seeks to elevate an adherent to a State of Clear, one of freedom from the influences of the reactive mind. The practice is one wherein a counselor called an auditor addresses a series of questions to a preclear, observes and records the preclear's responses, and acknowledges them. An important element in all forms of auditing is to not suggest answers to the preclear or invalidate or degrade what the preclear says in response. It is of utmost importance the auditor create a truly safe and distraction free environment for the session.
The term "Clear" is derived from a button on a calculator that deletes previous calculations. According to Scientology beliefs, Clears are "optimal individuals" and "they have been cleared of false information and memories of traumatic experiences that prevent them from adapting to the world around them in a natural and appropriate fashion." Scientologists believe that clears become more successful in their daily lives, "be healthier, experience less stress, and possess better communication skills."[27]
"Auditing" is sometimes seen as controversial, because auditing sessions are permanently recorded and stored within what are called Preclear Folders. Scientologists believe that the practice of auditing helps them overcome the debilitating effects of traumatic experiences, most of which have accumulated over a multitude of lifetimes.[1] The folders are kept in accordance with the Priest/Penitent legal parameters which do not allow these folders to be seen or used for any other purpose or seen by any others who are not directly involved in supervising that person's auditing progress.
"Auditors" are required to become proficient with the use of their E-meters. The device measures the subject's galvanic skin response in a manner similar to a polygraph (lie detector), but with only one electrode per hand rather than multiple sensors.[28] The E-meter is primarily used in auditing, which "aims to remove (engrams) to produce a state of 'clear.'"[29] Auditors do not receive final certification until they have successfully completed an internship, and have demonstrated a proven ability in the skills they have been trained in.[original research?] Auditors often practice their auditing with each other, as well as friends or family. Church members pair up often to get their training, doing the same course at the same time, so that they can audit each other up through the various Scientology levels.
According to scholar Harriet Whitehead, the Church of Scientology "has developed a fine tooled hierarchically organized system of audit (training) sessions where the technology of these sessions, in fact, is the treatment leading to processes of renunciation and eventually reformulation in the individual," which is similar to psychoanalysis.[30]
The body[edit]
See also: Purification Rundown
According to L. Ron Hubbard's book The History of Man, published in 1952, there are two entities housed by the human body, a genetic entity (whose purpose is to carry on the evolutionary line) and a "Thetan" or consciousness "that has the capacity to separate from body and mind." According to Hubbard, "In man's long evolutionary development the Thetan has been trapped by the engrams formed at various stages of embodiment." Scientology training is aimed at clearing the person of all engrams, thus creating an "Operating Thetan." "Among the abilities of the Operating Thetan is the soul's capacity to leave and operate apart from the body."[31]
People are viewed as spiritual beings that have minds and bodies and a person's "spiritual essence" is called the Thetan.[32] Scientology teaches that "a thetan is the person himself, not his body or his name or the physical universe, his mind or anything else." According to the doctrine, "one does not have a thetan, he is a thetan."[33]
Silent birth[edit]
Main article: Silent birth
Advocated by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, silent birth describes "the process of childbirth where labor and delivery is done in a calm and loving environment." To provide quiet surroundings for the delivery of the baby, individuals in his/her immediate vicinity are prompted not to speak. According to Scientology practices, silent birth is "mandatory to provide the best possible environment for the pregnant mother and her new baby." Shouting, laughing or making loud remarks must be avoided while the baby is being pushed out. According to The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World, "its origins are fundamentally rooted in the principle that women, particularly expectant mothers, be given the utmost care and respect."[34]
Holidays[edit]
Main article: Scientology holidays
There are several holidays celebrated by Scientologists, notably L. Ron Hubbard's birthday in March, the Anniversary of the first publication of Dianetics in May, Sea Org Day in August, Auditor's Day in September and the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) Anniversary in October.[35] Most official celebrations are scheduled on weekends as a convenience to members. Scientologists also celebrate holidays such as Christmas, Easter and New Year's Eve, as well as other local celebrations.[36] Scientologists also celebrate religious holidays depending on other religious beliefs, as Scientologists very often retain their original affiliations with faiths in which they were raised.[37]
Controversy[edit]
Squirreling[edit]
The act of using Scientology techniques in a form different from that originally described by Hubbard is referred to within Scientology as "squirreling", and is said by Scientologists to be "high treason".[38]
Legal waivers[edit]
The Church of Scientology requires that all members sign a legal waiver which covers their relationship with the Church of Scientology before engaging in Scientology services.[39][40]
See also[edit]

Portal icon Scientology portal
Criminon
Narconon
Scientology and the occult
References[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Bromley, David; Cowan, Douglas. Cults and new religions: a brief history.
2.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Black, Alan W. (24 January 1996). "Is Scientology A Religion?". Church of Scientology.
3.Jump up ^ "Road To Total Freedom". Panorama. BBC. 27 April 1987.
4.Jump up ^ Farley, Robert (6 May 2006). "Scientology nearly ready to unveil Super Power". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
5.^ Jump up to: a b c Gutjahr, Paul C. "Reference: The State of the Discipline: Sacred Texts in the United States". Book History 4: 335–370. doi:10.1353/bh.2001.0008. Retrieved 2013-06-03.
6.Jump up ^ Lewis, James R. (Mar 2009). Scientology. Cary, NC: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
7.Jump up ^ Burnham, Kenneth E. (Autumn 1978). "Reference: The Road to Total Freedom, a Sociological Analysis of Scientology". Review of Religious Research 20 (1): 119. doi:10.2307/3509964.
8.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Neusner, Jacob (2003). World Religions in America. Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 221–236. ISBN 0-664-22475-X.
9.Jump up ^ Locke, Simon (March 2004). "Charisma and the iron cage: Rationalization, science and scientology". Social Compass 51 (1): 111–131. doi:10.1177/0037768604040794.
10.Jump up ^ Dianetics and Scientology Technical Dictionary.
11.^ Jump up to: a b Book: World Religions in America by Jacob Neusner | page 228. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-10-09.
12.Jump up ^ Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America by Eugene V. Gallagher, W. Michael Ashcraft | page 176. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-10-09.
13.Jump up ^ http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/religion/9370678/What-is-Scientology.html
14.Jump up ^ http://www.scientology.org/faq/scientology-beliefs/reincarnation.html
15.Jump up ^ http://www.scientology.org/faq/scientology-beliefs/what-is-the-concept-of-god-in-scientology.html
16.Jump up ^ Zellner, William W.; Petrowsky, Marc (1998). Sects, Cults & Spiritual Communities : A Sociological Analysis (2 ed.). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
17.Jump up ^ http://www.faithology.com/practices/weekly-worship-in-scientology
18.Jump up ^ Veenker, Jody, and Steve Rabey. "Building Scientopolis : How Scientology Remade Clearwater, Florida--And What Local Christians Learned In The Process." Christianity Today 44.10 (2000): 90-99. ATLASerials, Religion Collection. Web. 15 Nov. 2013.
19.^ Jump up to: a b c d Rothstein, Mikael. "Science and Religion in the New Religions." Oxford Handbooks Online. 2009-09-02. Oxford University Press. Date of access .29 Jan. 2014, http://www.oxfordhandbooks.com/view/10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195369649.001.0001/oxfordhb-9780195369649-e-5
20.Jump up ^ Welkos, Robert W.; Sappell, Joel (24 June 1990). "Church Scriptures Get High-Tech Protection". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-10-26.
21.Jump up ^ Urban, Hugh B. (21 Aug 2011). The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion. Princeton University Press. Retrieved 2013-10-29.
22.Jump up ^ Branch, Craig (1997). "Applied Scientology In Public Schools?". The Watchman Expositor (Watchman Fellowship ministry). Retrieved 2007-01-11.
23.Jump up ^ Wakefield, Margery (1991). Understanding Scientology. Coalition of Concerned Citizens.
24.Jump up ^ Book: World Religions in America By Jacob Neusner, page 230. Books.google.co.uk. Retrieved 2012-10-09.
25.Jump up ^ Wilson, Bryan (1989). Religion in sociological perspective. Oxford University Press.
26.Jump up ^ Velásquez, Giselle (November 2011). "Qualitative Inquiry.". Inside the Church of Scientology: An Ethnographic Performance Script 17 (9): 824–836. doi:10.1177/1077800411423200.
27.Jump up ^ Zellner, William W.; Petrowsky, Marc (1998). Sects, Cults & Spiritual Communities : A Sociological Analysis (2 ed.). Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
28.Jump up ^ Abanes, Richard (2009). Religions of the Stars: What Hollywood Believes and How It Affects You. Baker Books. p. 78. ISBN 1-4412-0445-8.
29.Jump up ^ http://www.deseretnews.com/article/595091823/Scientology-Church-now-claims-more-than-8-million-members.html?pg=all
30.Jump up ^ Whitehead, Harriet; Karl Peter (Sep 1988). "Reference: Renunciation and Reformulation: A Study of Conversion in an American Sect: Review by: Karl Peter". Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion 27 (3): 454–456. doi:10.2307/1387393.
31.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon (2001). "Scientology, Church of.". Encyclopedia of Occultism and Parapsychology 2 (5th edition ed.). Detroit: Gale Group. pp. 1362–1364.
32.Jump up ^ Pretorius, SP 2006. 'The concept "salvation" in the Church of Scientology', HTS Teologiese Studies/ Theological Studies, vol. 62, no. 1, pp. 313–327
33.Jump up ^ Bromley, David G. James R. Lewis, ed. Making Sense of Scientology: Prophetic, Contractual. Scientology.
34.Jump up ^ Navodita, Pande (2000). "Silent Birth (Scientology)". In Mary Zeiss Stange, Carol K. Oyster, and Jane E. Sloan. The Multimedia Encyclopedia of Women in Today's World (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, California: SAGE Publications. pp. 1778–81.
35.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon. "Scientology, Holidays of the Church of." Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations. Ed. J. Gordon Melton. Vol. 2. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011. 789-791. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 8 Jan. 2014.
36.Jump up ^ "Scientology Beliefs & Practices: What is Scientology?". Scientology.org. Retrieved 2012-08-17.
37.Jump up ^ "Some Christian pastors embrace Scientology - CNN.com". CNN. 1 November 2007. Retrieved 23 May 2010.
38.Jump up ^ Welkos, Robert W.; Sappell, Joel (29 June 1990). "When the Doctrine Leaves the Church". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-08-24.
39.Jump up ^ Friedman, Roger (3 September 2003). "Will Scientology Celebs Sign 'Spiritual' Contract?". FOX News. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
40.Jump up ^ Touretzky, David S. (1 December 2003). "A Church's Lethal Contract". Razor Magazine. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
External links[edit]
 Wikinews has related Scientology news:
October 19: Exclusive: 'The Scientology Reformation' author examines Tom Cruise and David Miscavige
September 10: ABC News yanks 20/20 investigation of Tom Cruise and Scientology
February 2: Scientology guilty of fraud rules French appeal court
December 2: Australian woman claims Church of Scientology imprisoned her for twelve years

Church sitesDescription of Scientology Auditing
What is Scientology
Official E-Meter Site
Scientology Volunteer Ministers Corps
The founder of Scientology auditing
ArticlesAn interview with Catholic Frank K. Flinn, Adjunct Professor of Religious Studies
"Scientology: The Marks of Religion" – Frank K. Flinn, Ph.D.'s opinion of Scientology
Other sitesScientology: Beliefs and Practices links from Yahoo directory
Free zone E-Meters at DMOZ


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Scientology






































































































































































































  


Categories: Scientology beliefs and practices









Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages

Edit links
This page was last modified on 18 May 2015, at 01:31.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
  

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_beliefs_and_practices








Scientology and other religions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to:  navigation , search


Unbalanced scales.svg
 The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (March 2012)
The relationship between Scientology and other religions is very complex. While Scientology claims that it is fully compatible with all existing major world religions and that it does not conflict with them or their religious practices, there are major differences in the beliefs and practices between Scientology and most religions, especially the major monotheistic religions. Members are not allowed to engage in other similar mental therapies or procedures, religious or otherwise.[1] However, some ministers from other churches have adopted some Scientology secular programs.[2][3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Church of England
2 Greek Orthodox Church
3 Russian Orthodox Church
4 Lutheran Church
5 Roman Catholic Church
6 Religious compatibility
7 See also
8 Notes
9 External links

Church of England[edit]
The Church of England complained in March 2003 to the Advertising Standards Authority about the Church's advertising poster promoting Narconon—the drug rehabilitation program based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard. The poster claimed "250,000 people salvaged from drugs." The Church of England Diocese of Birmingham challenged the claim. Upholding the complaint, the ASA considered that, "without clarification, readers were likely to interpret the claim '250,000 people salvaged from drugs' to mean that 250,000 people had stopped being dependent on street or prescription drugs because of Scientology. The Authority "accepted that more than 250,000 people had undertaken the Church's Drug Purification and Drug Rundown programs, which were designed to free people from the effects of taking drugs," but "the Authority understood that, within Scientology, the concept of 'drug use' referred to a variety of behaviors that ranged from heavy use of street drugs to occasional ingestion of alcohol or prescription medicines and exposure to chemical toxins."[4]
The Diocese of Birmingham objected to Scientology using space in the community centre allotted for religious use. The Diocese pointed out that Scientology does not have religious status in the UK: "Scientology has rightly been refused recognition as a religion by the UK Charity Commissioners" in the words of a Diocese spokesman.[5] The Diocese also stated that Scientology is "as much a religion as a dog is a vegetable."[5]
Greek Orthodox Church[edit]
Maximos Aghiorgoussis, the bishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America in Pittsburgh, has stated that Scientology is not in fact a "church", but rather a gnostic/theosophical system of thought. He went on to say that there are at least six serious points of contention between the two groups, including:
the pantheistic nature of Scientology,
Scientology's contention that the individual is a noncorporeal, semi-divine "thetan," which runs contrary to the Greek Orthodox view that the individual is both body and soul and, while created in the image of God, not a god himself,
Scientology's belief that the universe is the "result of a game of the thetans", rather than the account of the Genesis creation narrative,
Scientology's belief that the thetan can be saved through the clearing of its engrams, which differs from the Christian view of salvation being only through Christ, and
Scientology's view that death is "of no consequence and significance because death is repeated innumerable times", which runs contrary to the Christian view of a single physical incarnation.
He also states that "Scientology teaches that psychic powers, (evil) spirits and out-of-body events can be used in order for the thetans to rediscover their true powers. Because of this, there have been parallels drawn between Scientology and Occultism[citation needed]. He goes on to say that, in spite of Scientology's claims to enhance mental health, that many people have already been damaged by Dianetics. Calling upon what he describes as "unclean spirits", the inexperience of those who do auditing cause "hallucination, irrational behavior, severe disorientation, strange bodily sensations, physical and mental illness, unconsciousness, and suicide. Hubbard admitted most of the above hazards, 'although he maintained that they occurred only through misapplication of the technology of Scientology'".[6]
Russian Orthodox Church[edit]
In May 2001, the Russian Orthodox Church criticized Scientologists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Unificationists and Mormons as being dangerous "totalitarian sects."[7]
Lutheran Church[edit]
The Lutheran Church in Germany has criticized Scientology's activities and doctrines, along with those of several other religious movements. According to the U.S. State Department's 2004 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, "The Lutheran Church also characterizes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Church of Christ, Christian Scientists, the New Apostolic Church, and the Johannish Church as 'sects,' but in less negative terms than it does Scientology."[8]
Roman Catholic Church[edit]
The Roman Catholic Church has not made official doctrinal pronouncements specifically related to Scientology, however Cardinal Marc Ouellet stated "Scientology is something else. For me, this community is not a Church".[9] Certain beliefs that are widely associated with Scientology, such as reincarnation, are specifically rejected by the Catholic Church as being incompatible with Catholic belief and practice. Scientology is also, according to a number of religious scholars, a form of gnosticism, which would make it hard to reconcile with Roman Catholicism and other denominations that regard gnosticism as a heresy.[10]
Religious compatibility[edit]
Scientology's claim of religious compatibility to entry-level Scientologists is soon modified by the additional teaching that the various levels of spiritual process which can be reached through Scientology are more advanced than those attainable in other religions. The major monotheistic religions and Scientology share the claim of Universality of their belief system which precludes compatibility in the view of most scholars.[1] Critics point out that, within Scientology, "spiritual abilities" tends to be synonymous with "mystical powers" rather than with "inner peace." Hubbard himself cautioned against the unwise or improper use of powers in his book History of Man.
In its application for tax-exempt status in the United States, the Church of Scientology International states:
“ Although there is no policy or Scriptural mandate expressly requiring Scientologists to renounce other religious beliefs or membership in other churches, as a practical matter Scientologists are expected to and do become fully devoted to Scientology to the exclusion of other faiths. As Scientologists, they are required to look only to Scientology Scriptures for the answers to the fundamental questions of their existence and to seek enlightenment only from Scientology.[11] ”
Hubbard sometimes identified himself with Maitreya (Metteya in Pali), a prophesied Buddha of the future. This identification is made most strongly in his 1955–1956 poem Hymn of Asia, which begins with the line "Am I Metteyya?" and emphasizes certain traits of Hubbard that the editors of the publication said matched traits predicted by the "Metteya Legend," such as Metteya appearing in the West, having golden hair or red hair (Hubbard was red-haired), and appearing in a time of world peril, with the earliest of the predicted dates for his return being 2,500 years after Gautama Buddha, or roughly 1950. According to sociologist Stephen A. Kent, however, the traits which the editors say are predicted by the "Metteya Legend" either are not actually present in the Buddhist texts or in some cases are contradicted by the texts: instead of coming at a time of world peril, for instance, the predictions about Maitreya say he will be born to royalty whose domain is "mighty and prosperous, full of people, crowded and well fed," and rather than having hair "like flames," Kent says that the texts predict curly black hair for the Maitreya.[12]
The revealed beliefs in Scientology at higher levels become increasingly contradictory with the world's major religions. The concept of past lives in Scientology is at odds with Christianity and Islam. Beliefs concerning the origins and age of the Earth, the root of evil, and the nature of man make it impossible to uphold the beliefs of most other religions while also being a Scientologist. Hubbard claimed that Islam was the result of an extraterrestrial memory implant, called the Emanator, of which the Kaaba is supposedly an artifact. Mainstream religions, in his view, had failed to realize their objectives: "It is all very well to idealize poverty and associate wisdom with begging bowls, or virtue with low estate. However, those who have done this (Buddhists, Christians, Communists and other fanatics) have dead ended or are dead ending."[13]
The section of the Fishman Affidavit pertaining to Operating Thetan level VIII put forward that Hubbard said that Jesus was a pederast. The Church of Scientology has consistently held this section of the Fishman Affidavit to be a forgery.[14]
See also[edit]

Portal icon Scientology portal
Jesus in Scientology
Scientology
Scientology as a state-recognized religion
Notes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Steve Bruce: Cathedrals to cults: the evolving forms of the religious life. In: Paul Heelas (Hrsg.): Religion, Modernity, and Postmodernity, Blackwell, Oxford 1998, pp. 19-35, 23.
2.Jump up ^ Scientology awards reach out to black community ROBERT FARLEY, St. Petersburg Times, February 18, 2006
3.Jump up ^ Sedensky, Matt (2007-08-25). "Unlikely allies". AP. Knoxville News Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2007-09-01. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
4.Jump up ^ Advertising Standards Authority record of successful Church of England complaint about Narconon advertisement
5.^ Jump up to: a b Cartledge, James (2004-04-24). "Church anger at 'cult' space". Evening Mail. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
6.Jump up ^ "The challenge of metaphysical experiences outside Orthodoxy and the Orthodox response" at ProQuest
7.Jump up ^ "Russian Orthodox Targets 'Totalitarian Sects'" at Zenit News AgencyArchive copy at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine
8.Jump up ^ "2004 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Germany" at United States Department of State
9.Jump up ^ Bussières, Ian (February 5, 2009). "Scientologie: "Ce n'est pas une Église" - Mgr Ouellet". Le Soleil (Power Corporation of Canada). Retrieved 2009-02-17.
10.Jump up ^ Derakhshani, Tirdad (2005-07-03). "Spirituality through therapy". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2006-07-01.[dead link]
11.Jump up ^ Response to Final Series of IRS Questions Prior to Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) As a Church, October 1, 1993
12.Jump up ^ Kent, Stephen A. (1996). "Scientology's Relationship With Eastern Religious Traditions". Journal of Contemporary Religion 11 (1): 21. doi:10.1080/13537909608580753. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
13.Jump up ^ Hubbard, HCO PL of January 21, 1965
14.Jump up ^ Karin Spaink. The Fishman Affidavit: introduction. Retrieved 2008-02-29. [1]
External links[edit]
www.sweenytod.com Collection of CoS quotations regarding Christianity
www.skeptictank.org Collection of CoS quotations regarding Christianity


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Scientology






































































































































































































  


Categories: Scientology
Interfaith









Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages

Edit links
This page was last modified on 13 April 2015, at 02:32.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
  

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_and_other_religions









Scientology and other religions

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to:  navigation , search


Unbalanced scales.svg
 The neutrality of this article is disputed. Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page. Please do not remove this message until the dispute is resolved. (March 2012)
The relationship between Scientology and other religions is very complex. While Scientology claims that it is fully compatible with all existing major world religions and that it does not conflict with them or their religious practices, there are major differences in the beliefs and practices between Scientology and most religions, especially the major monotheistic religions. Members are not allowed to engage in other similar mental therapies or procedures, religious or otherwise.[1] However, some ministers from other churches have adopted some Scientology secular programs.[2][3]


Contents  [hide]
1 Church of England
2 Greek Orthodox Church
3 Russian Orthodox Church
4 Lutheran Church
5 Roman Catholic Church
6 Religious compatibility
7 See also
8 Notes
9 External links

Church of England[edit]
The Church of England complained in March 2003 to the Advertising Standards Authority about the Church's advertising poster promoting Narconon—the drug rehabilitation program based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard. The poster claimed "250,000 people salvaged from drugs." The Church of England Diocese of Birmingham challenged the claim. Upholding the complaint, the ASA considered that, "without clarification, readers were likely to interpret the claim '250,000 people salvaged from drugs' to mean that 250,000 people had stopped being dependent on street or prescription drugs because of Scientology. The Authority "accepted that more than 250,000 people had undertaken the Church's Drug Purification and Drug Rundown programs, which were designed to free people from the effects of taking drugs," but "the Authority understood that, within Scientology, the concept of 'drug use' referred to a variety of behaviors that ranged from heavy use of street drugs to occasional ingestion of alcohol or prescription medicines and exposure to chemical toxins."[4]
The Diocese of Birmingham objected to Scientology using space in the community centre allotted for religious use. The Diocese pointed out that Scientology does not have religious status in the UK: "Scientology has rightly been refused recognition as a religion by the UK Charity Commissioners" in the words of a Diocese spokesman.[5] The Diocese also stated that Scientology is "as much a religion as a dog is a vegetable."[5]
Greek Orthodox Church[edit]
Maximos Aghiorgoussis, the bishop of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America in Pittsburgh, has stated that Scientology is not in fact a "church", but rather a gnostic/theosophical system of thought. He went on to say that there are at least six serious points of contention between the two groups, including:
the pantheistic nature of Scientology,
Scientology's contention that the individual is a noncorporeal, semi-divine "thetan," which runs contrary to the Greek Orthodox view that the individual is both body and soul and, while created in the image of God, not a god himself,
Scientology's belief that the universe is the "result of a game of the thetans", rather than the account of the Genesis creation narrative,
Scientology's belief that the thetan can be saved through the clearing of its engrams, which differs from the Christian view of salvation being only through Christ, and
Scientology's view that death is "of no consequence and significance because death is repeated innumerable times", which runs contrary to the Christian view of a single physical incarnation.
He also states that "Scientology teaches that psychic powers, (evil) spirits and out-of-body events can be used in order for the thetans to rediscover their true powers. Because of this, there have been parallels drawn between Scientology and Occultism[citation needed]. He goes on to say that, in spite of Scientology's claims to enhance mental health, that many people have already been damaged by Dianetics. Calling upon what he describes as "unclean spirits", the inexperience of those who do auditing cause "hallucination, irrational behavior, severe disorientation, strange bodily sensations, physical and mental illness, unconsciousness, and suicide. Hubbard admitted most of the above hazards, 'although he maintained that they occurred only through misapplication of the technology of Scientology'".[6]
Russian Orthodox Church[edit]
In May 2001, the Russian Orthodox Church criticized Scientologists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Unificationists and Mormons as being dangerous "totalitarian sects."[7]
Lutheran Church[edit]
The Lutheran Church in Germany has criticized Scientology's activities and doctrines, along with those of several other religious movements. According to the U.S. State Department's 2004 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, "The Lutheran Church also characterizes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Church of Christ, Christian Scientists, the New Apostolic Church, and the Johannish Church as 'sects,' but in less negative terms than it does Scientology."[8]
Roman Catholic Church[edit]
The Roman Catholic Church has not made official doctrinal pronouncements specifically related to Scientology, however Cardinal Marc Ouellet stated "Scientology is something else. For me, this community is not a Church".[9] Certain beliefs that are widely associated with Scientology, such as reincarnation, are specifically rejected by the Catholic Church as being incompatible with Catholic belief and practice. Scientology is also, according to a number of religious scholars, a form of gnosticism, which would make it hard to reconcile with Roman Catholicism and other denominations that regard gnosticism as a heresy.[10]
Religious compatibility[edit]
Scientology's claim of religious compatibility to entry-level Scientologists is soon modified by the additional teaching that the various levels of spiritual process which can be reached through Scientology are more advanced than those attainable in other religions. The major monotheistic religions and Scientology share the claim of Universality of their belief system which precludes compatibility in the view of most scholars.[1] Critics point out that, within Scientology, "spiritual abilities" tends to be synonymous with "mystical powers" rather than with "inner peace." Hubbard himself cautioned against the unwise or improper use of powers in his book History of Man.
In its application for tax-exempt status in the United States, the Church of Scientology International states:
“ Although there is no policy or Scriptural mandate expressly requiring Scientologists to renounce other religious beliefs or membership in other churches, as a practical matter Scientologists are expected to and do become fully devoted to Scientology to the exclusion of other faiths. As Scientologists, they are required to look only to Scientology Scriptures for the answers to the fundamental questions of their existence and to seek enlightenment only from Scientology.[11] ”
Hubbard sometimes identified himself with Maitreya (Metteya in Pali), a prophesied Buddha of the future. This identification is made most strongly in his 1955–1956 poem Hymn of Asia, which begins with the line "Am I Metteyya?" and emphasizes certain traits of Hubbard that the editors of the publication said matched traits predicted by the "Metteya Legend," such as Metteya appearing in the West, having golden hair or red hair (Hubbard was red-haired), and appearing in a time of world peril, with the earliest of the predicted dates for his return being 2,500 years after Gautama Buddha, or roughly 1950. According to sociologist Stephen A. Kent, however, the traits which the editors say are predicted by the "Metteya Legend" either are not actually present in the Buddhist texts or in some cases are contradicted by the texts: instead of coming at a time of world peril, for instance, the predictions about Maitreya say he will be born to royalty whose domain is "mighty and prosperous, full of people, crowded and well fed," and rather than having hair "like flames," Kent says that the texts predict curly black hair for the Maitreya.[12]
The revealed beliefs in Scientology at higher levels become increasingly contradictory with the world's major religions. The concept of past lives in Scientology is at odds with Christianity and Islam. Beliefs concerning the origins and age of the Earth, the root of evil, and the nature of man make it impossible to uphold the beliefs of most other religions while also being a Scientologist. Hubbard claimed that Islam was the result of an extraterrestrial memory implant, called the Emanator, of which the Kaaba is supposedly an artifact. Mainstream religions, in his view, had failed to realize their objectives: "It is all very well to idealize poverty and associate wisdom with begging bowls, or virtue with low estate. However, those who have done this (Buddhists, Christians, Communists and other fanatics) have dead ended or are dead ending."[13]
The section of the Fishman Affidavit pertaining to Operating Thetan level VIII put forward that Hubbard said that Jesus was a pederast. The Church of Scientology has consistently held this section of the Fishman Affidavit to be a forgery.[14]
See also[edit]

Portal icon Scientology portal
Jesus in Scientology
Scientology
Scientology as a state-recognized religion
Notes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Steve Bruce: Cathedrals to cults: the evolving forms of the religious life. In: Paul Heelas (Hrsg.): Religion, Modernity, and Postmodernity, Blackwell, Oxford 1998, pp. 19-35, 23.
2.Jump up ^ Scientology awards reach out to black community ROBERT FARLEY, St. Petersburg Times, February 18, 2006
3.Jump up ^ Sedensky, Matt (2007-08-25). "Unlikely allies". AP. Knoxville News Sentinel. Archived from the original on 2007-09-01. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
4.Jump up ^ Advertising Standards Authority record of successful Church of England complaint about Narconon advertisement
5.^ Jump up to: a b Cartledge, James (2004-04-24). "Church anger at 'cult' space". Evening Mail. Retrieved 2007-08-30.
6.Jump up ^ "The challenge of metaphysical experiences outside Orthodoxy and the Orthodox response" at ProQuest
7.Jump up ^ "Russian Orthodox Targets 'Totalitarian Sects'" at Zenit News AgencyArchive copy at the Internet Archive Wayback Machine
8.Jump up ^ "2004 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Germany" at United States Department of State
9.Jump up ^ Bussières, Ian (February 5, 2009). "Scientologie: "Ce n'est pas une Église" - Mgr Ouellet". Le Soleil (Power Corporation of Canada). Retrieved 2009-02-17.
10.Jump up ^ Derakhshani, Tirdad (2005-07-03). "Spirituality through therapy". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2006-07-01.[dead link]
11.Jump up ^ Response to Final Series of IRS Questions Prior to Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) As a Church, October 1, 1993
12.Jump up ^ Kent, Stephen A. (1996). "Scientology's Relationship With Eastern Religious Traditions". Journal of Contemporary Religion 11 (1): 21. doi:10.1080/13537909608580753. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
13.Jump up ^ Hubbard, HCO PL of January 21, 1965
14.Jump up ^ Karin Spaink. The Fishman Affidavit: introduction. Retrieved 2008-02-29. [1]
External links[edit]
www.sweenytod.com Collection of CoS quotations regarding Christianity
www.skeptictank.org Collection of CoS quotations regarding Christianity


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Scientology






































































































































































































  


Categories: Scientology
Interfaith









Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages

Edit links
This page was last modified on 13 April 2015, at 02:32.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
  

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_and_other_religions










Free Zone (Scientology)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Independent scientologists)
Jump to:  navigation , search


Gnome-searchtool.svg
 This article's factual accuracy is disputed. Please help to ensure that disputed statements are reliably sourced. See the relevant discussion on the talk page. (June 2015)
The Free Zone, also called independent Scientologists or Scientology Freezone, comprises a variety of groups and individuals who practice Scientology beliefs and techniques independently of the Church of Scientology (CoS).[1] Such practitioners range from those who closely adhere to the original teachings of Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard, to those who have so far adapted their practices to be almost unrecognizable as Scientology.
The term Free Zone was originally only used by a single organization, but the term is now commonly applied to all non-CoS Scientologists, although many dispute the application of the term to themselves. However, the group whose name became adopted as a generic term for independent Scientology was not the first independent Scientologist group; the California Association of Dianetic Auditors, the oldest breakaway group still in existence,[2] claims a founding date of December 1950, predating the Church of Scientology itself.[3]
A November 2004 press release published by the International Freezone Association cited what it says was a command written by L. Ron Hubbard himself: "... before you go, whisper this to your sons and their sons: 'THE WORK WAS FREE. KEEP IT SO.'"[4]
Skeptic Magazine described the Free Zone as: "a group founded by ex-Scientologists to promote L. Ron Hubbard's ideas independent of the Church of Scientology."[5] A Miami Herald article wrote that ex-Scientologists joined the Free Zone because they felt that Church of Scientology leadership had "strayed from Hubbard's original teachings."[6]


Contents  [hide]
1 Origin of the term Free Zone
2 Germany
3 The Church of Scientology and the Free Zone
4 Alternative auditing practices
5 The word "Scientology"
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

Origin of the term Free Zone[edit]
The first group to use the term Free Zone was the organization founded by "Captain" Bill Robertson in 1982, now known as Ron's Org. The name came from the "space opera" beliefs Robertson expressed in the "Free Zone Decree", which he said was an Official Decree of the "Galactic Grand Council" which was "relayed from Mainship, Sector 9":
1.The planet known as Teegeeack - local dialect "Earth" or Terra - Sun 12, Sector 9, is hereby declared a Free Zone.
2.No political interference in its affairs from any other part of the Sector or Galaxy will be tolerated.
3.No economic interference in its affairs will be tolerated from any non-planetary agency or power.
4.All of its inhabitants are hereby declared Free Zone Citizens and free of external political or economic interference.[7]
The name "Teegeeack" had already been established as a galactic name for Earth by Hubbard in the materials known as OT III, which tell the story of Xenu.[8]
Free Zone - an area not controlled by evil organizations or implanters, but free to expand spiritually (Sector 9 by Astar [3])
Germany[edit]
Scientology Commissioner Ursula Caberta in Hamburg said that the Free Zone is a type of "methadone program for Scientologists," and, in any case, "the lesser evil".[9] The Free Zone group RON's Org says that the Verfassungsschutz Baden-Württemberg (State Office for the Protection of the Constitution) has stated that there is no need to keep RON's Org under observation "as the RON’s Org has no anti-constitutional goals." RON's Org says that some of its members have in fact cooperated in the efforts of state authorities to observe and investigate the Church of Scientology.[10]
The Church of Scientology and the Free Zone[edit]

Rathbun smiling

Mark Rathbun was a high-level official with the Church of Scientology, overseeing its intellectual property. After leaving the Church, he continued to practice the religion independently for several years.
The Church labels all practitioners of and believers in Scientology without its sanction "squirrels"—a term Hubbard coined to describe those who alter Scientology technology or practice it in a nonstandard fashion. Among Scientologists, the term is pejorative, and comparable in meaning to "heretic". In practice, the hierarchy of the Church of Scientology uses it to describe all of those who practice Scientology outside the Church.[2]
The Church of Scientology has used copyright and trademark laws against various Free Zone groups. Accordingly, most of the Free Zone avoids the use of officially trademarked Scientology words, including Scientology itself. In 2000, the Religious Technology Center unsuccessfully attempted to gain the Web domain www.scientologie.org from the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization; one of the 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations), in a legal action against the Free Zone.[11]
Many Free Zone advocates say that everyone has the right to freely practice the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, whether sanctioned by the Church or not.[12] In support of this they cite Hubbard himself:

Dianetics is not in any way covered by legislation anywhere, for no law can prevent one man sitting down and telling another man his troubles, and if anyone wants a monopoly on dianetics, be assured that he wants it for reasons which have to do not with dianetics but with profit.
—L. Ron Hubbard, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (1950)

If I have fought for a quarter of a century, most of it alone, to keep this work from serving to uphold the enslavers of Man, to keep it free from some destructive "pitch" or slant, then you certainly can carry that motif a little further. [...] But before you go, whisper this to your sons, and their sons – "The work was free. Keep it so."
—L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology: Clear Procedure - Issue One (1957)
Other Free Zoners assert basic human rights protections in order to freely follow their chosen religion.
One Free Zone Scientologist identified as "Safe", was quoted in Salon as saying: "The Church of Scientology does not want its control over its members to be found out by the public and it doesn't want its members to know that they can get scientology outside of the Church of Scientology".[12]
A 2006 Channel 4 documentary, The Beginner's Guide to L Ron Hubbard, presented by Sikh comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli explored Scientology with a Free Zone group after the Church of Scientology declined to take part.[13]
Alternative auditing practices[edit]
Several alternatives to Dianetics were developed in the early years of the Free Zone.
Synergetics is a self-help system developed by Art Coulter in 1954.[14] Don Purcell, founder of an early Dianetics organization which had a tentative claim on the Dianetics trademark, joined Synergetics and returned the trademark to Hubbard.[15] In 1976, Coulter published Synergetics: An Adventure in Human Development; he later founded the Synergetic Society, which published a journal through 1996.[16]
Idenics is a personal counseling method not affiliated with any religion that was developed by John Galusha beginning in 1987. Mr. Galusha researched for L. Ron Hubbard during the 1950s, and was one of the founders of the first Church of Scientology in 1953.[17][18][19] Galusha claimed that all personal issues can be addressed by thoroughly looking over the problem at hand, without judgment. The counselor asks a series of questions until the solution is considered found, by the client. The counseling, per Mike Goldstein, owner of Idenics methodology and author of the book, "Idenics, an alternative to therapy", is claimed to be as effective over the telephone as in person.
The word "Scientology"[edit]
Controversy over the origins of the word Scientology has given Free Zone a way to contest Scientology's trademarks. They note a German book, entitled Scientologie, Wissenschaft von der Beschaffenheit und der Tauglichkeit des Wissens (1934),[20] by Dr. Anastasius Nordenholz (as opposed to Hubbard's Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought, 1956), which they use as the basis of their challenge to Scientology's trademark claims. Because Scientologie was not written by Hubbard, they argue, the Church is exerting unfair control over its practice, and attempting to enforce a monopoly.[21]
See also[edit]

Portal icon Scientology portal
Advanced Ability Center
The Secrets of Scientology
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Grossman, Wendy M. (December 1995). "alt.scientology.war". Wired News. Retrieved 2007-04-14.
 "One of the first steps toward open warfare was the emergence, in about 1990, of a group that wanted to separate the church and its scriptures. Calling itself the Free Zone, this group consists of people who have left the church but still want to practice its teachings - use the tech, as Free Zoners say. Ex Scientologist Homer Smith is one of these (ex meaning "former church adherent," not "former" Scientologist, says Smith). Wanting to encourage serious discussion of the tech away from the noisy brawl next door in alt.religion.scientology, Smith set up a second newsgroup, alt.clearing.technology, for this purpose."
2.^ Jump up to: a b Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (1990-06-29). "When the Doctrine Leaves the Church". Los Angeles Times. p. A49:1. Retrieved 2007-04-12. Additional convenience link at [1].
3.Jump up ^ "California Association of Dianetic Auditors -- Who We Are". Retrieved 2007-04-14.
4.Jump up ^ "The Truth Is Out Here! : The Scientology Free Zone could be described as the pioneer of truth in the tradition of the Great Western Pioneers of the US who carved out a place in history." (Press release). International Freezone Association. 2004-11-16. Retrieved 2007-04-14.
5.Jump up ^ Lippard, J.; J. Jacobsen (1995). "Scientology v. the Internet. Free Speech & Copyright Infringement on the Information Super-Highway". Skeptic Magazine. pp. Vol. 3, No. 3., Pg. 35–41.
6.Jump up ^ Staff (2005-07-02). "SCIENTOLOGY: What's Behind the Hollywood Hype?". Miami Herald.
7.Jump up ^ The Free Zone Decree
8.Jump up ^ Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (1990-06-24). "Defining the Theology". Los Angeles Times. p. A36:1. Retrieved 2007-04-16. Additional convenience link at [2].
9.Jump up ^ Kintzinger, Axel (1998-12-11). "The sect is broke". Die Woche.
10.Jump up ^ "Maybe it makes you feel more confident, for example, if you learn that the office for safeguarding the constitution (Verfassungsschutz) of the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg has stated years ago that the RON’s Org is not a part of the Church of Scientology and that there is no need to observe them as the RON’s Org has no anti-constitutional goals. Indeed, there is some cooperation between members of the RON’s Org and state authorities who observe the Church of Scientology and investigate their activities. English FAQ on German Ron's Org site
11.Jump up ^ Meyer-Hauser, Bernard F. (2000-06-23). "Religious Technology Center v. Freie Zone E. V". Case No. D2000-0410.
12.^ Jump up to: a b Brown, Janelle (1999-07-22). "Copyright -- or wrong? : The Church of Scientology takes up a new weapon -- the Digital Millennium Copyright Act -- in its ongoing battle with critics.". Salon.
13.Jump up ^ The Beginner's Guide to L Ron Hubbard
14.Jump up ^ http://www.aberree.com/terms/synergetics.html
15.Jump up ^ A Piece of Blue Sky
16.Jump up ^ http://solutions.synearth.net/2002/02/12
17.Jump up ^ Successor Organization Is Religious Fellowship (continued) | The Compleat Aberree
18.Jump up ^ John Galusha | The Compleat Aberree
19.Jump up ^ John Galusha and the Book One Course
20.Jump up ^ Preface
21.Jump up ^ http://www.scientologie.org/gif/wipo-decision.pdf
External links[edit]
FreeZone Earth
Freezone AO International
Idenics
Ron's Org Committee
Ron's Org Grenchen
International Freezone Association
Scientolipedia
Galactic Patrol
Freezone Auditors
FreeZone San Francisco
Free Scientologists
Friends of LRH
Free Zone Alliance
FreeZone Academy at Elma, WA
DAVID MAYO - What Do We Know?
Independent Scientology Community
Spiritual Freedom Zone
Dror center in Israel


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Scientology






































































































































































































  


Categories: 1950 establishments in the United States
Free Zone (Scientology)
Religious organizations established in 1950
Scientology





Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Deutsch
עברית
Magyar
Русский
Svenska
Edit links
This page was last modified on 14 June 2015, at 08:52.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
  

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Zone_(Scientology)









Free Zone (Scientology)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
  (Redirected from Independent scientologists)
Jump to:  navigation , search


Gnome-searchtool.svg
 This article's factual accuracy is disputed. Please help to ensure that disputed statements are reliably sourced. See the relevant discussion on the talk page. (June 2015)
The Free Zone, also called independent Scientologists or Scientology Freezone, comprises a variety of groups and individuals who practice Scientology beliefs and techniques independently of the Church of Scientology (CoS).[1] Such practitioners range from those who closely adhere to the original teachings of Scientology's founder L. Ron Hubbard, to those who have so far adapted their practices to be almost unrecognizable as Scientology.
The term Free Zone was originally only used by a single organization, but the term is now commonly applied to all non-CoS Scientologists, although many dispute the application of the term to themselves. However, the group whose name became adopted as a generic term for independent Scientology was not the first independent Scientologist group; the California Association of Dianetic Auditors, the oldest breakaway group still in existence,[2] claims a founding date of December 1950, predating the Church of Scientology itself.[3]
A November 2004 press release published by the International Freezone Association cited what it says was a command written by L. Ron Hubbard himself: "... before you go, whisper this to your sons and their sons: 'THE WORK WAS FREE. KEEP IT SO.'"[4]
Skeptic Magazine described the Free Zone as: "a group founded by ex-Scientologists to promote L. Ron Hubbard's ideas independent of the Church of Scientology."[5] A Miami Herald article wrote that ex-Scientologists joined the Free Zone because they felt that Church of Scientology leadership had "strayed from Hubbard's original teachings."[6]


Contents  [hide]
1 Origin of the term Free Zone
2 Germany
3 The Church of Scientology and the Free Zone
4 Alternative auditing practices
5 The word "Scientology"
6 See also
7 References
8 External links

Origin of the term Free Zone[edit]
The first group to use the term Free Zone was the organization founded by "Captain" Bill Robertson in 1982, now known as Ron's Org. The name came from the "space opera" beliefs Robertson expressed in the "Free Zone Decree", which he said was an Official Decree of the "Galactic Grand Council" which was "relayed from Mainship, Sector 9":
1.The planet known as Teegeeack - local dialect "Earth" or Terra - Sun 12, Sector 9, is hereby declared a Free Zone.
2.No political interference in its affairs from any other part of the Sector or Galaxy will be tolerated.
3.No economic interference in its affairs will be tolerated from any non-planetary agency or power.
4.All of its inhabitants are hereby declared Free Zone Citizens and free of external political or economic interference.[7]
The name "Teegeeack" had already been established as a galactic name for Earth by Hubbard in the materials known as OT III, which tell the story of Xenu.[8]
Free Zone - an area not controlled by evil organizations or implanters, but free to expand spiritually (Sector 9 by Astar [3])
Germany[edit]
Scientology Commissioner Ursula Caberta in Hamburg said that the Free Zone is a type of "methadone program for Scientologists," and, in any case, "the lesser evil".[9] The Free Zone group RON's Org says that the Verfassungsschutz Baden-Württemberg (State Office for the Protection of the Constitution) has stated that there is no need to keep RON's Org under observation "as the RON’s Org has no anti-constitutional goals." RON's Org says that some of its members have in fact cooperated in the efforts of state authorities to observe and investigate the Church of Scientology.[10]
The Church of Scientology and the Free Zone[edit]

Rathbun smiling

Mark Rathbun was a high-level official with the Church of Scientology, overseeing its intellectual property. After leaving the Church, he continued to practice the religion independently for several years.
The Church labels all practitioners of and believers in Scientology without its sanction "squirrels"—a term Hubbard coined to describe those who alter Scientology technology or practice it in a nonstandard fashion. Among Scientologists, the term is pejorative, and comparable in meaning to "heretic". In practice, the hierarchy of the Church of Scientology uses it to describe all of those who practice Scientology outside the Church.[2]
The Church of Scientology has used copyright and trademark laws against various Free Zone groups. Accordingly, most of the Free Zone avoids the use of officially trademarked Scientology words, including Scientology itself. In 2000, the Religious Technology Center unsuccessfully attempted to gain the Web domain www.scientologie.org from the WIPO (World Intellectual Property Organization; one of the 16 specialized agencies of the United Nations), in a legal action against the Free Zone.[11]
Many Free Zone advocates say that everyone has the right to freely practice the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard, whether sanctioned by the Church or not.[12] In support of this they cite Hubbard himself:

Dianetics is not in any way covered by legislation anywhere, for no law can prevent one man sitting down and telling another man his troubles, and if anyone wants a monopoly on dianetics, be assured that he wants it for reasons which have to do not with dianetics but with profit.
—L. Ron Hubbard, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (1950)

If I have fought for a quarter of a century, most of it alone, to keep this work from serving to uphold the enslavers of Man, to keep it free from some destructive "pitch" or slant, then you certainly can carry that motif a little further. [...] But before you go, whisper this to your sons, and their sons – "The work was free. Keep it so."
—L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology: Clear Procedure - Issue One (1957)
Other Free Zoners assert basic human rights protections in order to freely follow their chosen religion.
One Free Zone Scientologist identified as "Safe", was quoted in Salon as saying: "The Church of Scientology does not want its control over its members to be found out by the public and it doesn't want its members to know that they can get scientology outside of the Church of Scientology".[12]
A 2006 Channel 4 documentary, The Beginner's Guide to L Ron Hubbard, presented by Sikh comedian Hardeep Singh Kohli explored Scientology with a Free Zone group after the Church of Scientology declined to take part.[13]
Alternative auditing practices[edit]
Several alternatives to Dianetics were developed in the early years of the Free Zone.
Synergetics is a self-help system developed by Art Coulter in 1954.[14] Don Purcell, founder of an early Dianetics organization which had a tentative claim on the Dianetics trademark, joined Synergetics and returned the trademark to Hubbard.[15] In 1976, Coulter published Synergetics: An Adventure in Human Development; he later founded the Synergetic Society, which published a journal through 1996.[16]
Idenics is a personal counseling method not affiliated with any religion that was developed by John Galusha beginning in 1987. Mr. Galusha researched for L. Ron Hubbard during the 1950s, and was one of the founders of the first Church of Scientology in 1953.[17][18][19] Galusha claimed that all personal issues can be addressed by thoroughly looking over the problem at hand, without judgment. The counselor asks a series of questions until the solution is considered found, by the client. The counseling, per Mike Goldstein, owner of Idenics methodology and author of the book, "Idenics, an alternative to therapy", is claimed to be as effective over the telephone as in person.
The word "Scientology"[edit]
Controversy over the origins of the word Scientology has given Free Zone a way to contest Scientology's trademarks. They note a German book, entitled Scientologie, Wissenschaft von der Beschaffenheit und der Tauglichkeit des Wissens (1934),[20] by Dr. Anastasius Nordenholz (as opposed to Hubbard's Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought, 1956), which they use as the basis of their challenge to Scientology's trademark claims. Because Scientologie was not written by Hubbard, they argue, the Church is exerting unfair control over its practice, and attempting to enforce a monopoly.[21]
See also[edit]

Portal icon Scientology portal
Advanced Ability Center
The Secrets of Scientology
References[edit]
1.Jump up ^ Grossman, Wendy M. (December 1995). "alt.scientology.war". Wired News. Retrieved 2007-04-14.
 "One of the first steps toward open warfare was the emergence, in about 1990, of a group that wanted to separate the church and its scriptures. Calling itself the Free Zone, this group consists of people who have left the church but still want to practice its teachings - use the tech, as Free Zoners say. Ex Scientologist Homer Smith is one of these (ex meaning "former church adherent," not "former" Scientologist, says Smith). Wanting to encourage serious discussion of the tech away from the noisy brawl next door in alt.religion.scientology, Smith set up a second newsgroup, alt.clearing.technology, for this purpose."
2.^ Jump up to: a b Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (1990-06-29). "When the Doctrine Leaves the Church". Los Angeles Times. p. A49:1. Retrieved 2007-04-12. Additional convenience link at [1].
3.Jump up ^ "California Association of Dianetic Auditors -- Who We Are". Retrieved 2007-04-14.
4.Jump up ^ "The Truth Is Out Here! : The Scientology Free Zone could be described as the pioneer of truth in the tradition of the Great Western Pioneers of the US who carved out a place in history." (Press release). International Freezone Association. 2004-11-16. Retrieved 2007-04-14.
5.Jump up ^ Lippard, J.; J. Jacobsen (1995). "Scientology v. the Internet. Free Speech & Copyright Infringement on the Information Super-Highway". Skeptic Magazine. pp. Vol. 3, No. 3., Pg. 35–41.
6.Jump up ^ Staff (2005-07-02). "SCIENTOLOGY: What's Behind the Hollywood Hype?". Miami Herald.
7.Jump up ^ The Free Zone Decree
8.Jump up ^ Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (1990-06-24). "Defining the Theology". Los Angeles Times. p. A36:1. Retrieved 2007-04-16. Additional convenience link at [2].
9.Jump up ^ Kintzinger, Axel (1998-12-11). "The sect is broke". Die Woche.
10.Jump up ^ "Maybe it makes you feel more confident, for example, if you learn that the office for safeguarding the constitution (Verfassungsschutz) of the German state of Baden-Wurttemberg has stated years ago that the RON’s Org is not a part of the Church of Scientology and that there is no need to observe them as the RON’s Org has no anti-constitutional goals. Indeed, there is some cooperation between members of the RON’s Org and state authorities who observe the Church of Scientology and investigate their activities. English FAQ on German Ron's Org site
11.Jump up ^ Meyer-Hauser, Bernard F. (2000-06-23). "Religious Technology Center v. Freie Zone E. V". Case No. D2000-0410.
12.^ Jump up to: a b Brown, Janelle (1999-07-22). "Copyright -- or wrong? : The Church of Scientology takes up a new weapon -- the Digital Millennium Copyright Act -- in its ongoing battle with critics.". Salon.
13.Jump up ^ The Beginner's Guide to L Ron Hubbard
14.Jump up ^ http://www.aberree.com/terms/synergetics.html
15.Jump up ^ A Piece of Blue Sky
16.Jump up ^ http://solutions.synearth.net/2002/02/12
17.Jump up ^ Successor Organization Is Religious Fellowship (continued) | The Compleat Aberree
18.Jump up ^ John Galusha | The Compleat Aberree
19.Jump up ^ John Galusha and the Book One Course
20.Jump up ^ Preface
21.Jump up ^ http://www.scientologie.org/gif/wipo-decision.pdf
External links[edit]
FreeZone Earth
Freezone AO International
Idenics
Ron's Org Committee
Ron's Org Grenchen
International Freezone Association
Scientolipedia
Galactic Patrol
Freezone Auditors
FreeZone San Francisco
Free Scientologists
Friends of LRH
Free Zone Alliance
FreeZone Academy at Elma, WA
DAVID MAYO - What Do We Know?
Independent Scientology Community
Spiritual Freedom Zone
Dror center in Israel


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Scientology






































































































































































































  


Categories: 1950 establishments in the United States
Free Zone (Scientology)
Religious organizations established in 1950
Scientology





Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Deutsch
עברית
Magyar
Русский
Svenska
Edit links
This page was last modified on 14 June 2015, at 08:52.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
  

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Free_Zone_(Scientology)








Scientology and sexual orientation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to:  navigation , search


Question book-new.svg
 This article relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (January 2008)
Scientology and its perspectives on sexual orientation are based on the writings of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology. His statements about homosexuality have led critics to assert that Scientology promotes homophobia, though these allegations are disputed by some Scientologists.


Contents  [hide]
1 Classification
2 Attempts to cure homosexuality
3 Current Scientology viewpoints
4 See also
5 Notes
6 Further reading
7 External links

Classification[edit]
In 1950 Hubbard published Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, introducing his "science of the mind," Dianetics. He classified homosexuality as an illness or sexual perversion, citing contemporary psychiatric and psychological textbooks to support his view:

The sexual pervert (and by this term Dianetics, to be brief, includes any and all forms of deviation in Dynamic II [i.e. sexuality] such as homosexuality, lesbianism, sexual sadism, etc., and all down the catalog of Ellis and Krafft-Ebing) is actually quite ill physically...he is very far from culpable for his condition, but he is also far from normal and extremely dangerous to society...[1]
Hubbard further defined perversion in his 1951 book Science of Survival: Prediction of Human Behavior, where he introduced the concept of the "tone scale", a means of classifying individuals and human behavior on a chart running from +40 (the most beneficial) to -40 (the least beneficial). Sexual perversion, a category in which he included homosexuality, was termed "covert hostility" and given a score of 1.1, "the level of the pervert, the hypocrite, the turncoat, ...the subversive." He considered such people to be "skulking coward[s] who yet contain enough perfidious energy to strike back, but not enough courage ever to give warning."[2]
He characterized "promiscuity, perversion, sadism, and irregular practices" as well as "free love, easy marriage and quick divorce" as being undesirable activities, "since it is non-survival not to have a well ordered system for the creation and upbringing of children, by families." Such "sexual perverts" engaged in "irregular practices which do anything but tend toward the creation of children" and "efforts [which] tend not towards enjoyment but toward the pollution and derangement of sex itself so as to make it as repulsive as possible to others and so to inhibit procreation."[3]
Hubbard's 1951 book Handbook for Preclears likewise classified homosexuality as "about 1.1 (covert hostility) on the tone scale", along with "general promiscuity". He set out what he saw as the cause of homosexuality: a mental "aberration", with the result that "an individual aberrated enough about sex will do strange things to be a cause or an effect. He will substitute punishment for sex. He will pervert others. Homosexuality comes from this manifestation and from the manifestation of life continuation for others." The "aberration" was caused by a child trying to "continue the life" of a dominant parent of the opposite sex.[4]
Hubbard's views on homosexuality were further explained in a 1972 book by Scientologist Ruth Minshull, How To Choose Your People, which was published through the Church of Scientology, copyrighted to Hubbard, and given "issue authority" by the Scientology hierarchy. Scientology churches sold the book alongside the works of Hubbard until 1983.[5] Minshull described the "gentle-mannered homosexual" as a classic example of the "subversive" 1.1 personality, commenting that they "may be fearful, sympathetic, propitiative, griefy or apathetic. Occasionally they manage an ineffectual tantrum." Minshull claimed they were social misfits:

Homosexuals don't practice love; 1.1s can't. Their relationships consist of: 1) brief, sordid and impersonal meetings or 2) longer arrangements punctuated by dramatic tirades, discords, jealousies and frequent infidelity. It could hardly be otherwise since the tone is made up of suspicion and hate, producing a darling sweetness interspersed with petty peevishness. Their "love" turns to deep contempt eventually.[6]
Homosexuals had no redeeming "social value," in Minshull's view. She cautioned that "homosexuals should not be abused or ridiculed. But a society bent on survival must recognize any aberration as such and seek to raise people out of the low emotion that produces it."
Jon Atack notes that L. Ron Hubbard's son Quentin Hubbard was homosexual.[7] According to Atack, L. Ron Hubbard had repeatedly announced that his son Quentin would succeed him after his death, but Quentin died of an apparent suicide in 1976.[7]
Attempts to cure homosexuality[edit]
There is some evidence that Hubbard's Dianetics movement sought to use Dianetics to "cure" homosexuality. In January 1951, the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation of Elizabeth, NJ published Dianetic Processing: A Brief Survey of Research Projects and Preliminary Results, a booklet providing the results of psychometric tests conducted on 88 people undergoing Dianetics therapy. It presents case histories and a number of X-ray plates to support claims that Dianetics had cured "aberrations" including bipolar disorder, asthma, arthritis, colitis, and "overt homosexuality," and that after Dianetic processing, test subjects experienced significantly increased scores on a standardized IQ test.[8]
In Hubbard's 1951 book Handbook for Preclears, he set out instructions for Dianeticists to "cure" homosexuality. After claiming that the cause of homosexuality was a fixation on a dominant parent of the opposite sex, he advised, "Break this life continuum concept by running sympathy and grief for the dominant parent and then run off the desires to be an effect and their failures and the homosexual is rehabilitated."[4]
Hubbard urged society to tackle the issue of "sexual perversion" (including homosexuality), calling it "of vital importance, if one wishes to stop immorality, and the abuse of children." In Science of Survival, he called for drastic action to be taken against sexual perverts, whom he rated as "1.1 individuals":

Such people should be taken from the society as rapidly as possible and uniformly institutionalized; for here is the level of the contagion of immorality, and the destruction of ethics; here is the fodder which secret police organizations use for their filthy operations. One of the most effective measures of security that a nation threatened by war could take would be rounding up and placing in a cantonment, away from society, any 1.1 individual who might be connected with government, the military, or essential industry; since here are people who, regardless of any record of their family's loyalty, are potential traitors, the very mode of operation of their insanity being betrayal. In this level is the slime of society, the sex criminals, the political subversives, the people whose apparently rational activities are yet but the devious writhings of secret hate.[2]
In later years, Hubbard sought to distance himself from efforts to regulate the sexual affairs of lay Scientologists. In a 1967 policy letter, he declared: "It has never been any part of my plans to regulate or to attempt to regulate the private lives of individuals. Whenever this has occurred, it has not resulted in any improved condition...Therefore all former rules, regulations and polices relating to the sexual activities of Scientologists are cancelled."[9] Members of the Sea Org remained under strict rules according to a 1978 order.[10]
Current Scientology viewpoints[edit]
Although Hubbard's views on homosexuality remain unamended in modern editions of Scientology books, gay Scientologists have argued that Hubbard and the Church have set aside any anti-homosexual views expressed in the past. In 2002 the American Church of Scientology published a press release on its website quoting gay activist Keith Relkin as saying, "Over the years I have worked with the Church of Scientology for greater inclusion of gay people like me, and today represents a milestone in that progress."[11] Paul Haggis, a Hollywood screenwriter and director, publicly left Scientology in October 2009, claiming that the San Diego branch of the Church of Scientology gave its support to California Proposition 8, which sought to ban same-sex marriage. Haggis wrote to Tommy Davis, the Church's spokesman, and requested that he denounce their support for Prop 8. However, the Church disputes this, with Davis stating, "Church of Scientology San Diego had been put on a list of churches that supported Proposition 8 out in California. It was incorrectly included and named when it should have never been on the list to begin with." Davis also stated that the inclusion of the San Diego branch on the list supporting Prop. 8 was the work of a single employee, who was removed from his post and the Church's name taken off the list.[12][13][14][15]
A 2004 article in the St. Petersburg Times reported that the Church defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman.[16]
Melissa M. Wilcox, notes in Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America that while present-day detractors of Scientology accuse it of homophobia, government suspicion in the early days of Scientology apparently included accusations of homosexuality.[17] In response to a query by her about the Church's current position, the Church of Scientology in 2005 stated:

The Church of Scientology does not dictate sexual preferences. Scientology is a practical method of improving conditions in life and works to increase a person's abilities, give higher IQ and better reaction time, greater ability to solve his problems in life – things of this nature."[17]
An official Scientology website states, "The second dynamic is the urge toward existence as a future generation. It has two compartments: sex; and the family unit, including the rearing of children. A culture will go by the boards if its basic building block, the family, is removed as a valid building block. So one can be fairly sure that he who destroys marriage destroys the civilization."[18]
See also[edit]

Portal icon Scientology portal
Portal icon LGBT portal
Scientology and sex

Notes[edit]
Note: HCOB refers to "Hubbard Communications Office Bulletins", HCOPL refers to "Hubbard Communications Office Policy Letters", and SHSBC refers to "Saint Hill Special Briefing Courses". All have been made publicly available by the Church of Scientology in the past, both as individual documents or in bound volumes.
1.Jump up ^ Hubbard (1978). Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Church of Scientology of California. pp. 122–123. ISBN 0-88404-000-3.
2.^ Jump up to: a b Hubbard (1975). Science of Survival. Church of Scientology of California. pp. 88–90. ISBN 0-88404-001-1.
3.Jump up ^ Hubbard 1975, pp. 114–115, 159
4.^ Jump up to: a b Hubbard, Handbook for Preclears, p. 64. Scientific Press, Wichita, 1951
5.Jump up ^ Eric Townsend, The Sad Tales of Scientology, p. 65. Anima Publishing, 1985. ISBN 0-9510471-0-8
6.Jump up ^ Ruth Minshull, How To Choose Your People, chapter 9. Scientology Ann Arbor, 1972
7.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, Jon (1990). A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed. Lyle Stuart / Carol Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8184-0499-X.
8.Jump up ^ Benton, Peggy; Ibanex, Dalmyra.; Southon, Gordon; Southon, Peggy. Dianetic Processing: A Brief Survey of Research Projects and Preliminary Results, Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation, 1951
9.Jump up ^ L. Ron Hubbard (1967-08-11). ""Second Dynamic Rules", HCOPL of 11 August 1967". Hubbard Communications Office.
10.Jump up ^ L. Ron Hubbard (1978-12-21). ""2-D Rules", Flag Order 3739 21 December 1978". Hubbard Communications Office. "The Sea Org is an elite group and therefore should have very high and optimum ethical standards."
11.Jump up ^ "Human Rights "Multathlon" Running Team Presented with Rainbow Flag in West Hollywood". Church of Scientology. Archived from the original on 2012-02-12.
12.Jump up ^ Hazlett, Courtney (October 28, 2009). "Spokesman Scientologists aren’t anti-gay". NBC News. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
13.Jump up ^ Brooks, Xan (October 26, 2009). "Film-maker Paul Haggis quits Scientology over gay rights stance". The Guardian. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
14.Jump up ^ Ortega, Tony (October 25, 2009). "'Crash' Director Paul Haggis Ditches Scientology". Runnin' Scared (The Village Voice). Retrieved 2009-10-25.
15.Jump up ^ Moore, Matthew (26 October 2009). "Crash director Paul Haggis quits Church of Scientology over gay marriage opposition". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
16.Jump up ^ "About Scientology". St. Petersburg Times. 2004-07-18. Retrieved 2006-09-02.
17.^ Jump up to: a b Gallagher, Eugene V.; Ashcraft, Michael (2006). Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT/London, UK, Vol. 1, pp. 263–264
18.Jump up ^ "The Dynamics". Church of Scientology International. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
Further reading[edit]
Zellner, William W.; Richard T. Schaefer (2007). "Church of Scientology: Social Positions". Extraordinary Groups: An Examination of Unconventional Lifestyles. Worth Publishers. pp. 296–297. ISBN 0-7167-7034-2.
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Scientology and sexual orientation.
The Church of Scientology & homosexuality, article from the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and religion topics

































































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Scientology






































































































































































































  


Categories: Scientology beliefs and practices
LGBT and religion
Scientology-related controversies










Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Italiano
Edit links
This page was last modified on 19 November 2014, at 05:03.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
  

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_and_sexual_orientation









Scientology and sexual orientation

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to:  navigation , search


Question book-new.svg
 This article relies too much on references to primary sources. Please improve this article by adding secondary or tertiary sources. (January 2008)
Scientology and its perspectives on sexual orientation are based on the writings of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology. His statements about homosexuality have led critics to assert that Scientology promotes homophobia, though these allegations are disputed by some Scientologists.


Contents  [hide]
1 Classification
2 Attempts to cure homosexuality
3 Current Scientology viewpoints
4 See also
5 Notes
6 Further reading
7 External links

Classification[edit]
In 1950 Hubbard published Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, introducing his "science of the mind," Dianetics. He classified homosexuality as an illness or sexual perversion, citing contemporary psychiatric and psychological textbooks to support his view:

The sexual pervert (and by this term Dianetics, to be brief, includes any and all forms of deviation in Dynamic II [i.e. sexuality] such as homosexuality, lesbianism, sexual sadism, etc., and all down the catalog of Ellis and Krafft-Ebing) is actually quite ill physically...he is very far from culpable for his condition, but he is also far from normal and extremely dangerous to society...[1]
Hubbard further defined perversion in his 1951 book Science of Survival: Prediction of Human Behavior, where he introduced the concept of the "tone scale", a means of classifying individuals and human behavior on a chart running from +40 (the most beneficial) to -40 (the least beneficial). Sexual perversion, a category in which he included homosexuality, was termed "covert hostility" and given a score of 1.1, "the level of the pervert, the hypocrite, the turncoat, ...the subversive." He considered such people to be "skulking coward[s] who yet contain enough perfidious energy to strike back, but not enough courage ever to give warning."[2]
He characterized "promiscuity, perversion, sadism, and irregular practices" as well as "free love, easy marriage and quick divorce" as being undesirable activities, "since it is non-survival not to have a well ordered system for the creation and upbringing of children, by families." Such "sexual perverts" engaged in "irregular practices which do anything but tend toward the creation of children" and "efforts [which] tend not towards enjoyment but toward the pollution and derangement of sex itself so as to make it as repulsive as possible to others and so to inhibit procreation."[3]
Hubbard's 1951 book Handbook for Preclears likewise classified homosexuality as "about 1.1 (covert hostility) on the tone scale", along with "general promiscuity". He set out what he saw as the cause of homosexuality: a mental "aberration", with the result that "an individual aberrated enough about sex will do strange things to be a cause or an effect. He will substitute punishment for sex. He will pervert others. Homosexuality comes from this manifestation and from the manifestation of life continuation for others." The "aberration" was caused by a child trying to "continue the life" of a dominant parent of the opposite sex.[4]
Hubbard's views on homosexuality were further explained in a 1972 book by Scientologist Ruth Minshull, How To Choose Your People, which was published through the Church of Scientology, copyrighted to Hubbard, and given "issue authority" by the Scientology hierarchy. Scientology churches sold the book alongside the works of Hubbard until 1983.[5] Minshull described the "gentle-mannered homosexual" as a classic example of the "subversive" 1.1 personality, commenting that they "may be fearful, sympathetic, propitiative, griefy or apathetic. Occasionally they manage an ineffectual tantrum." Minshull claimed they were social misfits:

Homosexuals don't practice love; 1.1s can't. Their relationships consist of: 1) brief, sordid and impersonal meetings or 2) longer arrangements punctuated by dramatic tirades, discords, jealousies and frequent infidelity. It could hardly be otherwise since the tone is made up of suspicion and hate, producing a darling sweetness interspersed with petty peevishness. Their "love" turns to deep contempt eventually.[6]
Homosexuals had no redeeming "social value," in Minshull's view. She cautioned that "homosexuals should not be abused or ridiculed. But a society bent on survival must recognize any aberration as such and seek to raise people out of the low emotion that produces it."
Jon Atack notes that L. Ron Hubbard's son Quentin Hubbard was homosexual.[7] According to Atack, L. Ron Hubbard had repeatedly announced that his son Quentin would succeed him after his death, but Quentin died of an apparent suicide in 1976.[7]
Attempts to cure homosexuality[edit]
There is some evidence that Hubbard's Dianetics movement sought to use Dianetics to "cure" homosexuality. In January 1951, the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation of Elizabeth, NJ published Dianetic Processing: A Brief Survey of Research Projects and Preliminary Results, a booklet providing the results of psychometric tests conducted on 88 people undergoing Dianetics therapy. It presents case histories and a number of X-ray plates to support claims that Dianetics had cured "aberrations" including bipolar disorder, asthma, arthritis, colitis, and "overt homosexuality," and that after Dianetic processing, test subjects experienced significantly increased scores on a standardized IQ test.[8]
In Hubbard's 1951 book Handbook for Preclears, he set out instructions for Dianeticists to "cure" homosexuality. After claiming that the cause of homosexuality was a fixation on a dominant parent of the opposite sex, he advised, "Break this life continuum concept by running sympathy and grief for the dominant parent and then run off the desires to be an effect and their failures and the homosexual is rehabilitated."[4]
Hubbard urged society to tackle the issue of "sexual perversion" (including homosexuality), calling it "of vital importance, if one wishes to stop immorality, and the abuse of children." In Science of Survival, he called for drastic action to be taken against sexual perverts, whom he rated as "1.1 individuals":

Such people should be taken from the society as rapidly as possible and uniformly institutionalized; for here is the level of the contagion of immorality, and the destruction of ethics; here is the fodder which secret police organizations use for their filthy operations. One of the most effective measures of security that a nation threatened by war could take would be rounding up and placing in a cantonment, away from society, any 1.1 individual who might be connected with government, the military, or essential industry; since here are people who, regardless of any record of their family's loyalty, are potential traitors, the very mode of operation of their insanity being betrayal. In this level is the slime of society, the sex criminals, the political subversives, the people whose apparently rational activities are yet but the devious writhings of secret hate.[2]
In later years, Hubbard sought to distance himself from efforts to regulate the sexual affairs of lay Scientologists. In a 1967 policy letter, he declared: "It has never been any part of my plans to regulate or to attempt to regulate the private lives of individuals. Whenever this has occurred, it has not resulted in any improved condition...Therefore all former rules, regulations and polices relating to the sexual activities of Scientologists are cancelled."[9] Members of the Sea Org remained under strict rules according to a 1978 order.[10]
Current Scientology viewpoints[edit]
Although Hubbard's views on homosexuality remain unamended in modern editions of Scientology books, gay Scientologists have argued that Hubbard and the Church have set aside any anti-homosexual views expressed in the past. In 2002 the American Church of Scientology published a press release on its website quoting gay activist Keith Relkin as saying, "Over the years I have worked with the Church of Scientology for greater inclusion of gay people like me, and today represents a milestone in that progress."[11] Paul Haggis, a Hollywood screenwriter and director, publicly left Scientology in October 2009, claiming that the San Diego branch of the Church of Scientology gave its support to California Proposition 8, which sought to ban same-sex marriage. Haggis wrote to Tommy Davis, the Church's spokesman, and requested that he denounce their support for Prop 8. However, the Church disputes this, with Davis stating, "Church of Scientology San Diego had been put on a list of churches that supported Proposition 8 out in California. It was incorrectly included and named when it should have never been on the list to begin with." Davis also stated that the inclusion of the San Diego branch on the list supporting Prop. 8 was the work of a single employee, who was removed from his post and the Church's name taken off the list.[12][13][14][15]
A 2004 article in the St. Petersburg Times reported that the Church defines marriage as the union between a man and a woman.[16]
Melissa M. Wilcox, notes in Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America that while present-day detractors of Scientology accuse it of homophobia, government suspicion in the early days of Scientology apparently included accusations of homosexuality.[17] In response to a query by her about the Church's current position, the Church of Scientology in 2005 stated:

The Church of Scientology does not dictate sexual preferences. Scientology is a practical method of improving conditions in life and works to increase a person's abilities, give higher IQ and better reaction time, greater ability to solve his problems in life – things of this nature."[17]
An official Scientology website states, "The second dynamic is the urge toward existence as a future generation. It has two compartments: sex; and the family unit, including the rearing of children. A culture will go by the boards if its basic building block, the family, is removed as a valid building block. So one can be fairly sure that he who destroys marriage destroys the civilization."[18]
See also[edit]

Portal icon Scientology portal
Portal icon LGBT portal
Scientology and sex

Notes[edit]
Note: HCOB refers to "Hubbard Communications Office Bulletins", HCOPL refers to "Hubbard Communications Office Policy Letters", and SHSBC refers to "Saint Hill Special Briefing Courses". All have been made publicly available by the Church of Scientology in the past, both as individual documents or in bound volumes.
1.Jump up ^ Hubbard (1978). Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Church of Scientology of California. pp. 122–123. ISBN 0-88404-000-3.
2.^ Jump up to: a b Hubbard (1975). Science of Survival. Church of Scientology of California. pp. 88–90. ISBN 0-88404-001-1.
3.Jump up ^ Hubbard 1975, pp. 114–115, 159
4.^ Jump up to: a b Hubbard, Handbook for Preclears, p. 64. Scientific Press, Wichita, 1951
5.Jump up ^ Eric Townsend, The Sad Tales of Scientology, p. 65. Anima Publishing, 1985. ISBN 0-9510471-0-8
6.Jump up ^ Ruth Minshull, How To Choose Your People, chapter 9. Scientology Ann Arbor, 1972
7.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, Jon (1990). A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed. Lyle Stuart / Carol Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8184-0499-X.
8.Jump up ^ Benton, Peggy; Ibanex, Dalmyra.; Southon, Gordon; Southon, Peggy. Dianetic Processing: A Brief Survey of Research Projects and Preliminary Results, Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation, 1951
9.Jump up ^ L. Ron Hubbard (1967-08-11). ""Second Dynamic Rules", HCOPL of 11 August 1967". Hubbard Communications Office.
10.Jump up ^ L. Ron Hubbard (1978-12-21). ""2-D Rules", Flag Order 3739 21 December 1978". Hubbard Communications Office. "The Sea Org is an elite group and therefore should have very high and optimum ethical standards."
11.Jump up ^ "Human Rights "Multathlon" Running Team Presented with Rainbow Flag in West Hollywood". Church of Scientology. Archived from the original on 2012-02-12.
12.Jump up ^ Hazlett, Courtney (October 28, 2009). "Spokesman Scientologists aren’t anti-gay". NBC News. Retrieved 2013-03-19.
13.Jump up ^ Brooks, Xan (October 26, 2009). "Film-maker Paul Haggis quits Scientology over gay rights stance". The Guardian. Retrieved October 26, 2009.
14.Jump up ^ Ortega, Tony (October 25, 2009). "'Crash' Director Paul Haggis Ditches Scientology". Runnin' Scared (The Village Voice). Retrieved 2009-10-25.
15.Jump up ^ Moore, Matthew (26 October 2009). "Crash director Paul Haggis quits Church of Scientology over gay marriage opposition". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
16.Jump up ^ "About Scientology". St. Petersburg Times. 2004-07-18. Retrieved 2006-09-02.
17.^ Jump up to: a b Gallagher, Eugene V.; Ashcraft, Michael (2006). Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America, Greenwood Press, Westport, CT/London, UK, Vol. 1, pp. 263–264
18.Jump up ^ "The Dynamics". Church of Scientology International. Retrieved 2012-08-29.
Further reading[edit]
Zellner, William W.; Richard T. Schaefer (2007). "Church of Scientology: Social Positions". Extraordinary Groups: An Examination of Unconventional Lifestyles. Worth Publishers. pp. 296–297. ISBN 0-7167-7034-2.
External links[edit]
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to Scientology and sexual orientation.
The Church of Scientology & homosexuality, article from the Ontario Consultants on Religious Tolerance


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and religion topics

































































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Scientology






































































































































































































  


Categories: Scientology beliefs and practices
LGBT and religion
Scientology-related controversies










Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Italiano
Edit links
This page was last modified on 19 November 2014, at 05:03.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
  

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_and_sexual_orientation








This is a featured article. Click here for more information.

Page semi-protected

L. Ron Hubbard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to:  navigation , search


L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard in 1950.jpg
Hubbard in Los Angeles, 1950

Born
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard
March 13, 1911
Tilden, Nebraska, United States
Died
January 24, 1986 (aged 74)
Creston, California, United States

Cause of death
 Stroke
Education
George Washington University (dropped out in 1932)
Occupation
Author, religious leader
Known for
Founder of Scientology and its church
Notable work
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
Battlefield Earth
Net worth
US$600 million[1]
Religion
Scientology

Criminal charge
 Petty theft (in 1948),
Fraud (in absentia, 1978)

Criminal penalty
 Fine of ₣35,000 and four years in prison (unserved)
Spouse(s)
Margaret "Polly" Grubb (1933–1947)
Sara Northrup Hollister (1946–1951)
Mary Sue Whipp (1952–1986)
Children
7:
With Margaret Grubb:
L. Ron Hubbard Jr.* (d. 1991)
Katherine May Hubbard*
With Sara Hollister
Alexis Hubbard*
WIth Mary Sue Whipp:
Quentin Hubbard (d. 1976)
Diana Hubbard
Suzette Hubbard
Arthur Hubbard*
* Estranged from family.
Relatives
Jamie DeWolf (Great-grandson)
Signature
L. Ron Hubbard Signature.svg
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986), better known as L. Ron Hubbard (/ɛl rɒn ˈhʌˌbərd/, ELL-ron-HUB-ərd[2]) and often referred to by his initials, LRH, was an American author and the founder of the Church of Scientology. After establishing a career as a writer, becoming best known for his science fiction and fantasy stories, he developed a self-help system called Dianetics which was first expounded in book form in May 1950. He subsequently developed his ideas into a wide-ranging set of doctrines and rituals as part of a new religious movement that he called Scientology. His writings became the guiding texts for the Church of Scientology and a number of affiliated organizations that address such diverse topics as business administration, literacy and drug rehabilitation.
Although many aspects of Hubbard's life story are disputed, there is general agreement about its basic outline.[3] Born in Tilden, Nebraska, he spent much of his childhood in Helena, Montana. He traveled in Asia and the South Pacific in the late 1920s after his father, an officer in the United States Navy, was posted to the U.S. naval base on Guam. He attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C. at the start of the 1930s, before dropping out and beginning his career as a prolific writer of pulp fiction stories. He served briefly in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and was an officer in the United States Navy during World War II, briefly commanding two ships, the USS YP-422 and USS PC-815. He was removed both times when his superiors found him incapable of command.[4] The last few months of his active service were spent in a hospital, being treated for a duodenal ulcer.[5]
After the war, Hubbard developed Dianetics, which he called "the modern science of mental health". He founded Scientology in 1952 and oversaw the growth of the Church of Scientology into a worldwide organization. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, he spent much of his time at sea on his personal fleet of ships as "Commodore" of the Sea Organization, an elite inner group of Scientologists. His expedition came to an end when Britain, Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Venezuela all closed their ports to his fleet. At one point, a court in Australia revoked the church's status as a religion. Similarly, a high court in France convicted Hubbard of fraud in absentia. He returned to the United States in 1975 and went into seclusion in the California desert. In 1983 L. Ron Hubbard was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in an international information infiltration and theft project called "Operation Snow White". He spent the remaining years of his life on his ranch near Creston, California, where he died in 1986.
The Church of Scientology describes Hubbard in hagiographic terms,[6] and he portrayed himself as a pioneering explorer, world traveler, and nuclear physicist with expertise in a wide range of disciplines, including photography, art, poetry, and philosophy. His critics, including his own son, have characterized him as a liar, a charlatan, and mentally unstable. Though many of his autobiographical statements have been proven to be fictitious,[7] the Church rejects any suggestion that its account of Hubbard's life is not historical fact.[8][9]


Contents  [hide]
1 Early life
2 University and explorations
3 Early literary career and Alaskan expedition
4 Military career
5 Occult involvement in Pasadena
6 Origins of Dianetics
7 From Dianetics to Scientology
8 Rise of Scientology
9 Controversies and crises
10 Commodore of the Sea Org
11 Life in hiding
12 Death and legacy
13 Biographies
14 In popular culture
15 Bibliography
16 Notes
17 References
18 External links

Early life
Main article: Early life of L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard was born in 1911, in Tilden, Nebraska.[10] He was the only child of Ledora May (née Waterbury), who had trained as a teacher, and Harry Ross Hubbard, a former United States Navy officer.[11][12] After moving to Kalispell, Montana, they settled in Helena in 1913.[12] Hubbard's father rejoined in the Navy in April 1917, during World War I, while his mother May worked as a clerk for the state government.[13]
Biographical accounts published by the Church of Scientology describe Hubbard as "a child prodigy of sorts" who rode a horse before he could walk and was able to read and write by the age of four.[14] A Scientology profile says that he was brought up on his grandfather's "large cattle ranch in Montana"[15] where he spent his days "riding, breaking broncos, hunting coyote and taking his first steps as an explorer".[16] His grandfather is described as a "wealthy Western cattleman" from whom Hubbard "inherited his fortune and family interests in America, Southern Africa, etc."[17] Scientology claims that Hubbard became a "blood brother" of the Native American Blackfeet tribe at the age of six through his friendship with a Blackfeet medicine man.[12][18]

Exterior view of a large building

 Queen Anne High School, Seattle, which L. Ron Hubbard attended in 1926–1927
However, contemporary records show that his grandfather, Lafayette Waterbury, was a veterinarian, not a rancher, and was not wealthy. Hubbard was actually raised in a townhouse in the center of Helena.[19] According to his aunt, his family did not own a ranch but did own one cow and four or five horses on a few acres of land outside the city.[16] Hubbard lived over a hundred miles from the Blackfeet reservation. The tribe did not practice blood brotherhood and no evidence has been found that he had ever been a Blackfeet blood brother.[20]
During the 1920s the Hubbards repeatedly relocated around the United States and overseas. After Hubbard's father Harry rejoined the Navy, his posting aboard the USS Oklahoma in 1921 required the family to relocate to the ship's home ports, first San Diego, then Seattle.[21] During a journey to Washington, D.C. in 1923 Hubbard learned of Freudian psychology from Commander Joseph "Snake" Thompson, a U.S. Navy psychoanalyst and medic.[21][22] Scientology biographies describe this encounter as giving Hubbard training in a particular scientific approach to the mind, which he found unsatisfying.[23] Hubbard was active in the Boy Scouts in Washington, D.C. and earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 1924, two weeks after his 13th birthday. In his diary, Hubbard claimed he was the youngest Eagle Scout in the U.S.[24]
The following year, Harry Ross Hubbard was posted to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Washington.[25] His son was enrolled at Union High School, Bremerton,[25] and later studied at Queen Anne High School in Seattle.[26] In 1927 Hubbard's father was sent to the U.S. Naval Station on Guam in the Mariana Islands of the South Pacific. Although Hubbard's mother also went to Guam, Hubbard himself did not accompany them but was placed in his grandparents' care in Helena, Montana to complete his schooling.[26]
Between 1927 and 1929 Hubbard traveled to Japan, China, the Philippines and Guam. Scientology texts present this period in his life as a time when he was intensely curious for answers to human suffering and explored ancient Eastern philosophies for answers, but found them lacking.[27] He is described as traveling to China "at a time when few Westerners could enter"[28] and according to Scientology, spent his time questioning Buddhist lamas and meeting old Chinese magicians.[27] According to church materials, his travels were funded by his "wealthy grandfather".[29]
Hubbard's unofficial biographers present a very different account of his travels in Asia. Hubbard's diaries recorded two trips to the east coast of China. The first was made in the company of his mother while traveling from the United States to Guam in 1927. It consisted of a brief stop-over in a couple of Chinese ports before traveling on to Guam, where he stayed for six weeks before returning home. He recorded his impressions of the places he visited and disdained the poverty of the inhabitants of Japan and China, whom he described as "gooks" and "lazy [and] ignorant". His second visit was a family holiday which took Hubbard and his parents to China via the Philippines in 1928.[30][31]

View of a coastal city from a high-altitude point at sea

 Aerial view of Qingdao, China, taken in 1930, two years after Hubbard's visit
After his return to the United States in September 1927, Hubbard enrolled at Helena High School but earned only poor grades.[32] He abandoned school the following May and went back west to stay with his aunt and uncle in Seattle. He joined his parents in Guam in June 1928. His mother took over his education in the hope of putting him forward for the entrance examination to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland.
Between October and December 1928 a number of naval families, including Hubbard's, traveled from Guam to China aboard the cargo ship USS Gold Star. The ship stopped at Manila in the Philippines before traveling on to Qingdao (Tsingtao) in China. Hubbard and his parents made a side trip to Beijing before sailing on to Shanghai and Hong Kong, from where they returned to Guam.[33] Scientology accounts present a different version of events, saying that Hubbard "made his way deep into Manchuria's Western Hills and beyond — to break bread with Mongolian bandits, share campfires with Siberian shamans and befriend the last in the line of magicians from the court of Kublai Khan".[34]
However, Hubbard did not record these events in his diary.[35] He remained unimpressed with China and the Chinese, writing: "A Chinaman can not live up to a thing, he always drags it down." He characterized the sights of Beijing as "rubberneck stations" for tourists and described the palaces of the Forbidden City as "very trashy-looking" and "not worth mentioning". He was impressed by the Great Wall of China near Beijing,[36] but concluded of the Chinese: "They smell of all the baths they didn't take. The trouble with China is, there are too many chinks here."[37]
Back on Guam, Hubbard spent much of his time writing dozens of short stories and essays[38] and failed the Naval Academy entrance examination. In September 1929 Hubbard was enrolled at the Swavely Preparatory School in Manassas, Virginia, to prepare him for a second attempt at the examination.[39] However, he was ruled out of consideration due to his near-sightedness.[40] He was instead sent to Woodward School for Boys in Washington, D.C. to qualify for admission to George Washington University. He successfully graduated from the school in June 1930 and entered the university the following September.[41]
University and explorations

Open gateway with the letters G and W and the phrase "Professors Gate" visible on the arch

 Professor's Gate at George Washington University
Hubbard studied civil engineering during his two years at George Washington University at the behest of his father, who "decreed that I should study engineering and mathematics".[42] While he did not graduate from George Washington, his time there subsequently became important because, as George Malko puts it, "many of his researches and published conclusions have been supported by his claims to be not only a graduate engineer, but 'a member of the first United States course in formal education in what is called today nuclear physics.'"[43] However, a Church of Scientology biography describes him as "never noted for being in class" and says that he "thoroughly detest[ed] his subjects".[44] He earned poor grades, was placed on probation in September 1931 and dropped out altogether in the fall of 1932.[43][45]
Scientology accounts say that he "studied nuclear physics at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., before he started his studies about the mind, spirit and life"[46] and Hubbard himself stated that he "set out to find out from nuclear physics a knowledge of the physical universe, something entirely lacking in Asian philosophy".[44] His university records indicate that his exposure to "nuclear physics" consisted of one class in "atomic and molecular phenomena" for which he earned an "F" grade.[47]
Scientologists claim he was more interested in extracurricular activities, particularly writing and flying. According to church materials, "he earned his wings as a pioneering barnstormer at the dawn of American aviation"[18] and was "recognized as one of the country's most outstanding pilots. With virtually no training time, he takes up powered flight and barnstorms throughout the Midwest."[48] His airman certificate, however, records that he qualified to fly only gliders rather than powered aircraft and gave up his certificate when he could not afford the renewal fee.[49]
During Hubbard's final semester he organized an expedition to the Caribbean for "fifty young gentleman rovers" aboard the schooner Doris Hamlin commencing in June 1932. The aims of the "Caribbean Motion Picture Expedition" were stated as being to explore and film the pirate "strongholds and bivouacs of the Spanish Main" and to "collect whatever one collects for exhibits in museums".[50] It ran into trouble even before it left the port of Baltimore: Ten participants quit and storms blew the ship far off course to Bermuda. Eleven more members of the expedition quit there and more left when the ship arrived at Martinique.[51] With the expedition running critically short of money, the ship's owners ordered it to return to Baltimore.[52]
Hubbard blamed the expedition's problems on the captain: "the ship's dour Captain Garfield proved himself far less than a Captain Courageous, requiring Ron Hubbard's hand at both the helm and the charts."[53] Specimens and photographs collected by the expedition are said by Scientology accounts to have been acquired by the University of Michigan, the U.S. Hydrographic Office, an unspecified national museum and the New York Times,[53][54] though none of those institutions have any record of this.[55] Hubbard later wrote that the expedition "was a crazy idea at best, and I knew it, but I went ahead anyway, chartered a four-masted schooner and embarked with some fifty luckless souls who haven't stopped their cursings yet."[56] He called it "a two-bit expedition and financial bust",[57] which resulted in some of its participants making legal claims against him for refunds.[58]

Aerial view of a coastal city from inland

 Luquillo, Puerto Rico, near where scientologists claim Hubbard carried out the "West Indies Mineralogical Survey" in 1932
After leaving university Hubbard traveled to Puerto Rico on what the Church of Scientology calls the "Puerto Rican Mineralogical Expedition".[59] Scientologists claim he "made the first complete mineralogical survey of Puerto Rico"[54] as a means of "augmenting his [father's] pay with a mining venture", during which he "sluiced inland rivers and crisscrossed the island in search of elusive gold" as well as carrying out "much ethnological work amongst the interior villages and native hillsmen".[59] Hubbard's unofficial biographer Russell Miller writes that neither the United States Geological Survey nor the Puerto Rican Department of Natural Resources have any record of any such expedition.[55]
According to Miller, Hubbard traveled to Puerto Rico in November 1932 after his father volunteered him for the Red Cross relief effort following the devastating 1932 San Ciprian hurricane.[55] In a 1957 lecture Hubbard said that he had been "a field executive with the American Red Cross in the Puerto Rico hurricane disaster".[60] According to his own account, Hubbard spent much of his time prospecting unsuccessfully for gold. Towards the end of his stay on Puerto Rico he appears to have done some work for a Washington, D.C. firm called West Indies Minerals Incorporated, accompanying a surveyor in an investigation of a small property near the town of Luquillo, Puerto Rico.[58] The survey was unsuccessful. A few years later, Hubbard wrote:

Harboring the thought that the Conquistadores might have left some gold behind, I determined to find it ... Gold prospecting in the wake of the Conquistadores, on the hunting grounds of the pirates in the islands which still reek of Columbus is romantic, and I do not begrudge the sweat which splashed in muddy rivers, and the bits of khaki which have probably blown away from the thorn bushes long ago ...
 After a half year or more of intensive search, after wearing my palms thin wielding a sample pack, after assaying a few hundred sacks of ore, I came back, a failure.[56]
Early literary career and Alaskan expedition
See also: Golden Age of Science Fiction and Excalibur (L. Ron Hubbard)

Monochrome drawing: a suited man confronts a skeletal supernatural creature, over whose shoulder two giant bats are visible

 Illustration by Edd Cartier for Hubbard's story "Fear"[61]
Hubbard became a well-known and prolific writer for pulp fiction magazines during the 1930s. Scientology texts describe him as becoming "well established as an essayist" even before he had concluded college. Scientology claims he "solved his finances, and his desire to travel by writing anything that came to hand"[44] and to have earned an "astronomical" rate of pay for the times.[62]
His literary career began with contributions to the George Washington University student newspaper, The University Hatchet, as a reporter for a few months in 1931.[41] Six of his pieces were published commercially during 1932 to 1933.[49] The going rate for freelance writers at the time was only a cent a word, so Hubbard's total earnings from these articles would have been less than $100.[63] The pulp magazine Thrilling Adventure became the first to publish one of his short stories, in February 1934.[64] Over the next six years, pulp magazines published around 140 of his short stories[65] under a variety of pen names, including Winchester Remington Colt, Kurt von Rachen, René Lafayette, Joe Blitz and Legionnaire 148.[66]
Although he was best known for his fantasy and science fiction stories, Hubbard wrote in a wide variety of genres, including adventure fiction, aviation, travel, mysteries, westerns and even romance.[67] Hubbard knew and associated with writers such as Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp and A. E. van Vogt.[68] His first full-length novel, Buckskin Brigades, was published in 1937.[69] He became a "highly idiosyncratic" writer of science fiction after being taken under the wing of editor John W. Campbell,[70] who published many of Hubbard's short stories and also serialized a number of well-received novelettes that Hubbard wrote for Campbell's magazines Unknown and Astounding. These included Fear, Final Blackout and Typewriter in the Sky.[71]
According to the Church of Scientology, Hubbard was "called to Hollywood" to work on film scripts in the mid-1930s, although Scientology accounts differ as to exactly when this was (whether 1935,[72] 1936[44] or 1937[48]). He wrote the script for The Secret of Treasure Island, a 1938 Columbia Pictures movie serial.[73] The Church of Scientology claims he also worked on the Columbia serials The Mysterious Pilot (1937), The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1938) and The Spider Returns (1941),[48] though his name does not appear on the credits. Hubbard also claimed to have written Dive Bomber (1941),[74][75] Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman (1936) and John Ford's Stagecoach (1939).[76]
Hubbard's literary earnings helped him to support his new wife, Margaret "Polly" Grubb. She was already pregnant when they married on April 13, 1933, but she had a spontaneous abortion shortly afterwards; a few months later, she became pregnant again.[77] On May 7, 1934, she gave birth prematurely to a son who was named Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, Jr. and the nickname "His Nibs", invariably shortened to "Nibs".[78] Their second child, Katherine May, was born on January 15, 1936.[79] The Hubbards lived for a while in Laytonsville, Maryland, but were chronically short of money.[80]
In the spring of 1936 they moved to Bremerton, Washington. They lived there for a time with Hubbard's aunts and grandmother before finding a place of their own at nearby South Colby. According to one of his friends at the time, Robert MacDonald Ford, the Hubbards were "in fairly dire straits for money" but sustained themselves on the income from Hubbard's writing.[81] Hubbard spent an increasing amount of time in New York City,[82] working out of a hotel room where his wife suspected him of carrying on affairs with other women.[83][84]
Hubbard's authorship in mid-1938 of a still-unpublished manuscript called Excalibur is highlighted by the Church of Scientology as a key step in developing the principles of Scientology and Dianetics. The manuscript is said by Scientologists to have outlined "the basic principles of human existence"[44] and to have been the culmination of twenty years of research into "twenty-one races and cultures including Pacific Northwest Indian tribes, Philippine Tagalogs and, as he was wont to joke, the people of the Bronx".[85]
According to Arthur J. Cox, a contributor to John W. Campbell's Astounding magazine, Hubbard told a 1948 convention of science fiction fans that Excalibur‍‍ '​‍s inspiration came during an operation in which he "died" for eight minutes.[86] (Gerry Armstrong, Hubbard's archivist, explains this as a dental extraction performed under nitrous oxide, a chemical known for its hallucinogenic effects[87]):

Hubbard realized that, while he was dead, he had received a tremendous inspiration, a great Message which he must impart to others. He sat at his typewriter for six days and nights and nothing came out. Then, Excalibur emerged.[88]
Arthur J. Burks, the President of the American Fiction Guild, wrote that an excited Hubbard called him and said: "I want to see you right away. I have written THE book." Hubbard believed that Excalibur would "revolutionize everything" and that "it was somewhat more important, and would have a greater impact upon people, than the Bible."[89] It proposed that all human behavior could be explained in terms of survival and that to understand survival was to understand life.[90] As Hubbard biographer Jon Atack notes, "the notion that everything that exists is trying to survive became the basis of Dianetics and Scientology."[87]
According to Burks, Hubbard "was so sure he had something 'away out and beyond' anything else that he had sent telegrams to several book publishers, telling them that he had written 'THE book' and that they were to meet him at Penn Station, and he would discuss it with them and go with whomever gave him the best offer." However, nobody bought the manuscript.[89] Forrest J Ackerman, later Hubbard's literary agent, recalled that Hubbard told him "whoever read it either went insane or committed suicide. And he said that the last time he had shown it to a publisher in New York, he walked into the office to find out what the reaction was, the publisher called for the reader, the reader came in with the manuscript, threw it on the table and threw himself out of the skyscraper window."[91] Hubbard's failure to sell Excalibur depressed him; he told his wife in an October 1938 letter: "Writing action pulp doesn't have much agreement with what I want to do because it retards my progress by demanding incessant attention and, further, actually weakens my name. So you see I've got to do something about it and at the same time strengthen the old financial position."[92] He went on:

Sooner or later Excalibur will be published and I may have a chance to get some name recognition out of it so as to pave the way to articles and comments which are my ideas of writing heaven ... Foolishly perhaps, but determined none the less, I have high hopes of smashing my name into history so violently that it will take a legendary form even if all books are destroyed. That goal is the real goal as far as I am concerned.[92]
The manuscript later became part of Scientology mythology.[87] An early 1950s Scientology publication offered signed "gold-bound and locked" copies for the sum of $1,500 apiece (equivalent to about $29,000 now). It warned that "four of the first fifteen people who read it went insane" and that it would be "[r]eleased only on sworn statement not to permit other readers to read it. Contains data not to be released during Mr. Hubbard's stay on earth."[93]

Buildings visible at a shoreline with forest above

 Ketchikan, Alaska, where Hubbard and his wife were stranded during the "Alaskan Radio-Experimental Expedition"
Hubbard joined The Explorers Club in February 1940 on the strength of his claimed explorations in the Caribbean and survey flights in the United States.[94] He persuaded the club to let him carry its flag on an "Alaskan Radio-Experimental Expedition" to update the U.S. Coast Pilot guide to the coastlines of Alaska and British Columbia and investigate new methods of radio position-finding.[95] The expedition consisted of Hubbard and his wife—the children were left at South Colby—aboard his ketch Magician.[96]
Scientology accounts of the expedition describe "Hubbard's recharting of an especially treacherous Inside Passage, and his ethnological study of indigenous Aleuts and Haidas" and tell of how "along the way, he not only roped a Kodiak Bear, but braved seventy-mile-an-hour winds and commensurate seas off the Aleutian Islands."[97] They are divided about how far Hubbard's expedition actually traveled, whether 700 miles (1,100 km)[48] or 2,000 miles (3,200 km).[97]
Hubbard told The Seattle Star in a November 1940 letter that the expedition was plagued by problems and did not get any further than Ketchikan near the southern end of the Alaska Panhandle, far from the Aleutian Islands.[98] Magician's engine broke down only two days after setting off in July 1940. The Hubbards reached Ketchikan on August 30, 1940, after many delays following repeated engine breakdowns. The Ketchikan Chronicle reported—making no mention of the expedition—that Hubbard's purpose in coming to Alaska "was two-fold, one to win a bet and another to gather material for a novel of Alaskan salmon fishing".[96] Having underestimated the cost of the trip, he did not have enough money to repair the broken engine. He raised money by writing stories and contributing to the local radio station[99] and eventually earned enough to fix the engine,[94] making it back to Puget Sound on December 27, 1940.[99]
Military career
Main article: Military career of L. Ron Hubbard

Two men in naval uniform

 Lts (jg) L. Ron Hubbard and Thomas S. Moulton in Portland, Oregon in 1943
After returning from Alaska, Hubbard applied to join the United States Navy. His Congressman, Warren G. Magnuson, wrote to President Roosevelt to recommend Hubbard as "a gentleman of reputation" who was "a respected explorer" and had "marine masters papers for more types of vessels than any other man in the United States". Hubbard was described as "a key figure" in writing organizations, "making him politically potent nationally". The Congressman concluded: "Anything you can do for Mr Hubbard will be appreciated." His friend Robert MacDonald Ford, by now a State Representative for Washington, sent a letter of recommendation describing Hubbard as "one of the most brilliant men I have ever known". It called Hubbard "a powerful influence" in the Northwest and said that he was "well known in many parts of the world and has considerable influence in the Caribbean and Alaska". The letter declared that "for courage and ability I cannot too strongly recommend him." Ford later said that Hubbard had written the letter himself: "I don't know why Ron wanted a letter. I just gave him a letter-head and said, 'Hell, you're the writer, you write it!'"[100]
Hubbard was commissioned as a Lieutenant (junior grade) in the U.S. Naval Reserve on July 19, 1941. His military service forms a major element of his public persona as portrayed by Scientologists.[101] The Church of Scientology presents him as a "much-decorated war hero who commanded a corvette and during hostilities was crippled and wounded".[102] Scientology publications say he served as a "Commodore of Corvette squadrons" in "all five theaters of World War II" and was awarded "twenty-one medals and palms" for his service.[103] He was "severely wounded and was taken crippled and blinded" to a military hospital, where he "worked his way back to fitness, strength and full perception in less than two years, using only what he knew and could determine about Man and his relationship to the universe".[72] He said that he had seen combat repeatedly, telling A. E. van Vogt that he had once sailed his ship "right into the harbor of a Japanese occupied island in the Dutch East Indies. His attitude was that if you took your flag down the Japanese would not know one boat from another, so he tied up at the dock, went ashore and wandered around by himself for three days."[104]
The Los Angeles Times Hubbard's official Navy service records indicate that "his military performance was, at times, substandard" and he received only four campaign medals rather than twenty-one. He was never recorded as being injured or wounded in combat and so never received a Purple Heart.[16] Most of his military service was spent ashore in the continental United States on administrative or training duties. He served for a short time in Australia but was sent home after quarreling with his superiors. He briefly commanded two anti-submarine vessels, the USS YP-422 and USS PC-815, in coastal waters off Massachusetts, Oregon and California in 1942 and 1943 respectively.[16]
After Hubbard reported that the PC-815 had attacked and crippled or sunk two Japanese submarines off Oregon in May 1943, his claim was rejected by the commander of the Northwest Sea Frontier.[16] Hubbard and Thomas Moulton, his second in command on the PC-815, later said the Navy wanted to avoid panic on the mainland.[105] A month later Hubbard unwittingly sailed the PC-815 into Mexican territorial waters and conducted gunnery practice off the Coronado Islands, in the belief that they were uninhabited and belonged to the United States. The Mexican government complained and Hubbard was relieved of command. A fitness report written after the incident rated Hubbard as unsuitable for independent duties and "lacking in the essential qualities of judgment, leadership and cooperation".[106] He served for a while as the Navigation and Training Officer for the USS Algol while it was based at Portland. A fitness report from this period recommended promotion, describing him as "a capable and energetic officer, [but] very temperamental", and an "above average navigator".[107] However, he never held another such position and did not serve aboard another ship after the Algol.

Naval ship moving forward in water

 The USS PC-815, Hubbard's second and final command
Hubbard's war service has great significance in the history and mythology of the Church of Scientology, as he is said to have cured himself through techniques that would later underpin Scientology and Dianetics. According to Moulton, Hubbard told him that he had been machine-gunned in the back near the Dutch East Indies. Hubbard asserted that his eyes had been damaged as well, either "by the flash of a large-caliber gun" or when he had "a bomb go off in my face".[16] Scientology texts say that he returned from the war "[b]linded with injured optic nerves, and lame with physical injuries to hip and back" and was twice pronounced dead.[9]
His medical records state that he was hospitalized with an acute duodenal ulcer rather than a war injury.[citation needed] He told his doctors that he was suffering from lameness caused by a hip infection[16] and he told Look magazine in December 1950 that he had suffered from "ulcers, conjunctivitis, deteriorating eyesight, bursitis and something wrong with my feet".[57] He was still complaining in 1951 of eye problems and stomach pains, which had given him "continuous trouble" for eight years, especially when "under nervous stress". This came well after Hubbard had promised that Dianetics would provide "a cure for the very ailments that plagued the author himself then and throughout his life, including allergies, arthritis, ulcers and heart problems".[16]
The Church of Scientology says that Hubbard's key breakthrough in the development of Dianetics was made at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland, California. According to the Church,

In early 1945, while recovering from war injuries at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, Mr. Hubbard conducts a series of tests and experiments dealing with the endocrine system. He discovers that, contrary to long-standing beliefs, function monitors structure. With this revolutionary advance, he begins to apply his theories to the field of the mind and thereby to improve the conditions of others.[108]
An October 1945 Naval Board found that Hubbard was "considered physically qualified to perform duty ashore, preferably within the continental United States".[109] He was discharged from hospital on December 4, 1945, and transferred to inactive duty on February 17, 1946. He resigned his commission with effect from October 30, 1950.[110] The Church of Scientology says he quit because the U.S. Navy "attempted to monopolize all his researches and force him to work on a project 'to make man more suggestible' and when he was unwilling, tried to blackmail him by ordering him back to active duty to perform this function. Having many friends he was able to instantly resign from the Navy and escape this trap."[111] The Navy said in a statement in 1980: "There is no evidence on record of an attempt to recall him to active duty."[110]
The Church disputes the official record of Hubbard's naval career. It asserts that the records are incomplete and perhaps falsified "to conceal Hubbard's secret activities as an intelligence officer".[16] In 1990 the Church provided the Los Angeles Times with a document that was said to be a copy of Hubbard's official record of service. The U.S. Navy told the Times that "its contents are not supported by Hubbard's personnel record."[16] The New Yorker reported in February 2011 that the Scientology document was considered by federal archivists to be a forgery.[9]
Nevertheless, the German Protestant theologian and history of religion scholar Marco Frenschkowski wrote in the Marburg Journal of Religion that he has a personal collection of all Hubbard's military records and has confirmed most of Hubbard's statements about his military career.[67]
Occult involvement in Pasadena
See also: Scientology and the occult
Hubbard's life underwent a turbulent period immediately after the war. According to his own account, he "was abandoned by family and friends as a supposedly hopeless cripple and a probable burden upon them for the rest of my days".[112] His daughter Katherine presented a rather different version: his wife had refused to uproot their children from their home in Bremerton, Washington, to join him in California. Their marriage was by now in terminal difficulties and he chose to stay in California.[113]
In August 1945 Hubbard moved into the Pasadena mansion of John "Jack" Whiteside Parsons. A leading rocket propulsion researcher at the California Institute of Technology and a founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Parsons led a double life as an avid occultist and Thelemite, follower of the English ceremonial magician Aleister Crowley and leader of a lodge of Crowley's magical order, Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO).[9][114] He let rooms in the house only to tenants who he specified should be "atheists and those of a Bohemian disposition".[115]
Hubbard befriended Parsons and soon became sexually involved with Parsons's 21-year-old girlfriend, Sara "Betty" Northrup.[116] Despite this Parsons was very impressed with Hubbard and reported to Crowley:

[Hubbard] is a gentleman; he has red hair, green eyes, is honest and intelligent, and we have become great friends. He moved in with me about two months ago, and although Betty and I are still friendly, she has transferred her sexual affection to Ron. Although he has no formal training in Magick, he has an extraordinary amount of experience and understanding in the field. From some of his experiences I deduced that he is in direct touch with some higher intelligence, possibly his Guardian Angel. He describes his Angel as a beautiful winged woman with red hair whom he calls the Empress and who has guided him through his life and saved him many times. He is the most Thelemic person I have ever met and is in complete accord with our own principles.[117]
Parsons and Hubbard collaborated on the "Babalon Working", a sex magic ritual intended to summon an incarnation of Babalon, the supreme Thelemite Goddess. It was undertaken over several nights in February and March 1946 in order to summon an "elemental" who would participate in further sex magic.[118] As Richard Metzger describes it,

Parsons used his "magical wand" to whip up a vortex of energy so the elemental would be summoned. Translated into plain English, Parsons jerked off in the name of spiritual advancement whilst Hubbard (referred to as "The Scribe" in the diary of the event) scanned the astral plane for signs and visions.[119]
The "elemental" arrived a few days later in the form of Marjorie Cameron, who agreed to participate in Parsons' rites.[118] Soon afterwards, Parsons, Hubbard and Sara agreed to set up a business partnership, "Allied Enterprises", in which they invested nearly their entire savings—the vast majority contributed by Parsons. The plan was for Hubbard and Sara to buy yachts in Miami and sail them to the West Coast to sell for a profit. Hubbard had a different idea; he wrote to the U.S. Navy requesting permission to leave the country "to visit Central & South America & China" for the purposes of "collecting writing material"—in other words, undertaking a world cruise.[120] Aleister Crowley strongly criticized Parsons's actions, writing: "Suspect Ron playing confidence trick—Jack Parsons weak fool—obvious victim prowling swindlers." Parsons attempted to recover his money by obtaining an injunction to prevent Hubbard and Sara leaving the country or disposing of the remnants of his assets.[121] They attempted to sail anyway but were forced back to port by a storm. A week later, Allied Enterprises was dissolved. Parsons received only a $2,900 promissory note from Hubbard and returned home "shattered". He had to sell his mansion to developers soon afterwards to recoup his losses.[122]
Hubbard's fellow writers were well aware of what had happened between him and Parsons. L. Sprague de Camp wrote to Isaac Asimov on August 27, 1946, to tell him:

The more complete story of Hubbard is that he is now in Fla. living on his yacht with a man-eating tigress named Betty-alias-Sarah, another of the same kind ... He will probably soon thereafter arrive in these parts with Betty-Sarah, broke, working the poor-wounded-veteran racket for all its worth, and looking for another easy mark. Don't say you haven't been warned. Bob [Robert Heinlein] thinks Ron went to pieces morally as a result of the war. I think that's fertilizer, that he always was that way, but when he wanted to conciliate or get something from somebody he could put on a good charm act. What the war did was to wear him down to where he no longer bothers with the act.[123]
Scientology accounts do not mention Hubbard's involvement in occultism. He is instead described as "continu[ing] to write to help support his research" during this period into "the development of a means to better the condition of man".[124] The Church of Scientology has nonetheless acknowledged Hubbard's involvement with the OTO; a 1969 statement, written by Hubbard himself,[125] said:

Hubbard broke up black magic in America ... L. Ron Hubbard was still an officer of the U.S. Navy, because he was well known as a writer and a philosopher and had friends amongst the physicists, he was sent in to handle the situation. He went to live at the house and investigated the black magic rites and the general situation and found them very bad ...
Hubbard's mission was successful far beyond anyone's expectations. The house was torn down. Hubbard rescued a girl they were using. The black magic group was dispersed and destroyed and has never recovered.[126]
The Church of Scientology says Hubbard was "sent in" by his fellow science fiction author Robert Heinlein, "who was running off-book intelligence operations for naval intelligence at the time". However, Heinlein's authorized biographer has said that he looked into the matter at the suggestion of Scientologists but found nothing to corroborate claims that Heinlein had been involved, and his biography of Heinlein makes no mention of the matter.[9]
On August 10, 1946, Hubbard bigamously married Sara, while still married to Polly. It was not until 1947 that his first wife learned that he had remarried. Hubbard agreed to divorce Polly in June that year and the marriage was dissolved shortly afterwards, with Polly given custody of the children.[127]
Origins of Dianetics

Illustrated cover of Fantastic Adventures magazine, depicting two figures hiding behind an enormous crystal as a giant leers over them

Masters of Sleep, one of Hubbard's last works of pulp fiction, on the cover of the October 1950 issue of Fantastic Adventures
After Hubbard's wedding to Sara, the couple settled at Laguna Beach, California, where Hubbard took a short-term job looking after a friend's yacht[128] before resuming his fiction writing to supplement the small disability allowance that he was receiving as a war veteran.[129] Working from a trailer in a run-down area of North Hollywood,[127] Hubbard sold a number of science fiction stories that included his Ole Doc Methuselah series and the serialized novels The End Is Not Yet and To the Stars.[70] However, he remained short of money and his son, L. Ron Hubbard Jr, testified later that Hubbard was dependent on his own father and Margaret's parents for money and his writings, which he was paid at a penny per word, never garnered him any more than $10,000 prior to the founding of Scientology.[130] He repeatedly wrote to the Veterans Administration (VA) asking for an increase in his war pension. In October 1947 he wrote:

After trying and failing for two years to regain my equilibrium in civil life, I am utterly unable to approach anything like my own competence. My last physician informed me that it might be very helpful if I were to be examined and perhaps treated psychiatrically or even by a psychoanalyst. Toward the end of my service I avoided out of pride any mental examinations, hoping that time would balance a mind which I had every reason to suppose was seriously affected. I cannot account for nor rise above long periods of moroseness and suicidal inclinations, and have newly come to realize that I must first triumph above this before I can hope to rehabilitate myself at all.[131]
The VA eventually did increase his pension,[132] but his money problems continued. On August 31, 1948, he was arrested in San Luis Obispo, California, and subsequently pled guilty to a charge of petty theft, for which he was ordered to pay a $25 fine.[133] According to the Church of Scientology, around this time he "accept[ed] an appointment as a Special Police Officer with the Los Angeles Police Department and us[ed] the position to study society's criminal elements"[48] and also "worked with neurotics from the Hollywood film community".[134]
Hubbard has been quoted as telling a science fiction convention in 1948: "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."[135]
In late 1948 Hubbard and Sara moved to Savannah, Georgia.[136] Here, Scientology sources say, he "volunteer[ed] his time in hospitals and mental wards, saving the lives of patients with his counseling techniques".[137] Hubbard began to make the first public mentions of what was to become Dianetics. He wrote in January 1949 that he was working on a "book of psychology" about "the cause and cure of nervous tension", which he was going to call The Dark Sword, Excalibur or Science of the Mind.[138] In April 1949, Hubbard wrote to several professional organizations to offer his research.[139] None were interested, so he turned to his editor John W. Campbell, who was more receptive due to a long-standing fascination with fringe psychologies and psychic powers ("psionics") that "permeated both his fiction and non-fiction".[140]
Campbell invited Hubbard and Sara to move into a cottage at Bay Head, New Jersey, not far from his own home at Plainfield. In July 1949, Campbell recruited an acquaintance, Dr. Joseph Winter, to help develop Hubbard's new therapy of "Dianetics". Campbell told Winter:

With cooperation from some institutions, some psychiatrists, [Hubbard] has worked on all types of cases. Institutionalized schizophrenics, apathies, manics, depressives, perverts, stuttering, neuroses—in all, nearly 1000 cases. But just a brief sampling of each type; he doesn't have proper statistics in the usual sense. But he has one statistic. He has cured every patient he worked with. He has cured ulcers, arthritis, asthma.[141]
Hubbard collaborated with Campbell and Winter to refine his techniques,[142] testing them on science fiction fans recruited by Campbell.[143] The basic principle of Dianetics was that the brain recorded every experience and event in a person's life, even when unconscious. Bad or painful experiences were stored as what he called "engrams" in a "reactive mind". These could be triggered later in life, causing emotional and physical problems. By carrying out a process he called "auditing", a person could be regressed through his engrams to re-experiencing past experiences. This enabled engrams to be "cleared". The subject, who would now be in a state of "Clear", would have a perfectly functioning mind with an improved IQ and photographic memory.[144] The "Clear" would be cured of physical ailments ranging from poor eyesight to the common cold,[145] which Hubbard asserted were purely psychosomatic.[146]
Winter submitted a paper on Dianetics to the Journal of the American Medical Association and the American Journal of Psychiatry but both journals rejected it.[147] Hubbard and his collaborators decided to announce Dianetics in Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction instead. In an editorial, Campbell said: "Its power is almost unbelievable; it proves the mind not only can but does rule the body completely; following the sharply defined basic laws set forth, physical ills such as ulcers, asthma and arthritis can be cured, as can all other psychosomatic ills."[148] The birth of Hubbard's second daughter Alexis Valerie, delivered by Winter on March 8, 1950, came in the middle of the preparations to launch Dianetics.[141] A "Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation" was established in April 1950 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, with Hubbard, Sara, Winter and Campbell on the board of directors. Dianetics was duly launched in Astounding's May 1950 issue and on May 9, Hubbard's companion book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health was published.[149]
From Dianetics to Scientology
Main article: History of Dianetics

A mostly seated crowd watches as Hubbard, seated on a chair, speaks to a woman lying prone in front of him.

 Hubbard conducting a Dianetics seminar in Los Angeles, 1950
Hubbard called Dianetics "a milestone for man comparable to his discovery of fire and superior to his invention of the wheel and the arch". It was an immediate commercial success and sparked what Martin Gardner calls "a nation-wide cult of incredible proportions".[150] By August 1950, Hubbard's book had sold 55,000 copies, was selling at the rate of 4,000 a week and was being translated into French, German and Japanese. Five hundred Dianetic auditing groups had been set up across the United States.[151]
Dianetics was poorly received by the press and the scientific and medical professions.[151] The American Psychological Association criticized Hubbard's claims as "not supported by empirical evidence".[57] Scientific American said that Hubbard's book contained "more promises and less evidence per page than any publication since the invention of printing",[152] while The New Republic called it a "bold and immodest mixture of complete nonsense and perfectly reasonable common sense, taken from long acknowledged findings and disguised and distorted by a crazy, newly invented terminology".[153] Some of Hubbard's fellow science fiction writers also criticized it; Isaac Asimov considered it "gibberish"[68] while Jack Williamson called it "a lunatic revision of Freudian psychology".[154]
Several famous individuals became involved with Dianetics. Aldous Huxley received auditing from Hubbard himself;[155] the poet Jean Toomer[156] and the science fiction writers Theodore Sturgeon[157] and A. E. van Vogt became trained Dianetics auditors. Van Vogt temporarily abandoned writing and became the head of the newly established Los Angeles branch of the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation. Other branches were established in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Honolulu.[158][159]
Although Dianetics was not cheap, a great many people were nonetheless willing to pay; van Vogt later recalled "doing little but tear open envelopes and pull out $500 checks from people who wanted to take an auditor's course".[158] Financial controls were lax. Hubbard himself withdrew large sums with no explanation of what he was doing with it. On one occasion, van Vogt saw Hubbard taking a lump sum of $56,000 (equivalent to $0.5 million at 2010 prices) out of the Los Angeles Foundation's proceeds.[158] One of Hubbard's employees, Helen O'Brien, commented that at the Elizabeth, N.J. branch of the Foundation, the books showed that "a month's income of $90,000 is listed, with only $20,000 accounted for".[160]
Hubbard played a very active role in the Dianetics boom, writing, lecturing and training auditors. Many of those who knew him spoke of being impressed by his personal charisma. Jack Horner, who became a Dianetics auditor in 1950, later said, "He was very impressive, dedicated and amusing. The man had tremendous charisma; you just wanted to hear every word he had to say and listen for any pearl of wisdom."[161] Isaac Asimov recalled in his autobiography how, at a dinner party, he, Robert Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp and their wives "all sat as quietly as pussycats and listened to Hubbard. He told tales with perfect aplomb and in complete paragraphs."[68] As Atack comments, he was "a charismatic figure who compelled the devotion of those around him".[162] Christopher Evans described the personal qualities that Hubbard brought to Dianetics and Scientology:

He undoubtedly has charisma, a magnetic lure of an indefinable kind which makes him the centre of attraction in any kind of gathering. He is also a compulsive talker and pontificator ... His restless energy keeps him on the go throughout a long day—he is a poor sleeper and rises very early—and provides part of the drive which has allowed him to found and propagate a major international organization.[163]
Hubbard's supporters soon began to have doubts about Dianetics. Winter became disillusioned and wrote that he had never seen a single convincing Clear: "I have seen some individuals who are supposed to have been 'clear,' but their behavior does not conform to the definition of the state. Moreover, an individual supposed to have been 'clear' has undergone a relapse into conduct which suggests an incipient psychosis."[164] He also deplored the Foundation's omission of any serious scientific research.[165] Dianetics lost public credibility in August 1950 when a presentation by Hubbard before an audience of 6,000 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles failed disastrously.[166] He introduced a Clear named Sonya Bianca and told the audience that as a result of undergoing Dianetic therapy she now possessed perfect recall. However, Gardner writes, "in the demonstration that followed, she failed to remember a single formula in physics (the subject in which she was majoring) or the color of Hubbard's tie when his back was turned. At this point, a large part of the audience got up and left."[167]
Hubbard also faced other practitioners moving into leadership positions within the Dianetics community. It was structured as an open, public practice in which others were free to pursue their own lines of research and claim that their approaches to auditing produced better results than Hubbard's.[168] The community rapidly splintered and its members mingled Hubbard's ideas with a wide variety of esoteric and even occult practices.[169] By late 1950, the Elizabeth, N.J. Foundation was in financial crisis and the Los Angeles Foundation was more than $200,000 in debt.[170] Winter and Art Ceppos, the publisher of Hubbard's book, resigned under acrimonious circumstances.[155] Campbell also resigned, criticizing Hubbard for being impossible to work with, and blamed him for the disorganization and financial ruin of the Foundations.[171] By the summer of 1951, the Elizabeth, N.J. Foundation and all of its branches had closed.[160]
The collapse of Hubbard's marriage to Sara created yet more problems. He had begun an affair with his 20-year-old public relations assistant in late 1950, while Sara started a relationship with Dianetics auditor Miles Hollister.[172] Hubbard secretly denounced the couple to the FBI in March 1951, portraying them in a letter as communist infiltrators. According to Hubbard, Sara was "currently intimate with [communists] but evidently under coercion. Drug addiction set in fall 1950. Nothing of this known to me until a few weeks ago." Hollister was described as having a "sharp chin, broad forehead, rather Slavic". He was said to be the "center of most turbulence in our organization" and "active and dangerous".[173] The FBI did not take Hubbard seriously: an agent annotated his correspondence with the comment, "Appears mental."[135]
Three weeks later, Hubbard and two Foundation staff seized Sara and his year-old daughter Alexis and forcibly took them to San Bernardino, California, where he attempted unsuccessfully to find a doctor to examine Sara and declare her insane.[174] He let Sara go but took Alexis to Havana, Cuba. Sara filed a divorce suit on April 23, 1951, that accused him of marrying her bigamously and subjecting her to sleep deprivation, beatings, strangulation, kidnapping and exhortations to commit suicide.[175] The case led to newspaper headlines such as "Ron Hubbard Insane, Says His Wife."[176] Sara finally secured the return of her daughter in June 1951 by agreeing to a settlement with her husband in which she signed a statement, written by him, declaring:

The things I have said about L. Ron Hubbard in courts and the public prints have been grossly exaggerated or entirely false. I have not at any time believed otherwise than that L. Ron Hubbard is a fine and brilliant man.[177]
Dianetics appeared to be on the edge of total collapse. However, it was saved by Don Purcell, a millionaire businessman and Dianeticist who agreed to support a new Foundation in Wichita, Kansas. Their collaboration ended after less than a year when they fell out over the future direction of Dianetics.[178] The Wichita Foundation became financially nonviable after a court ruled that it was liable for the unpaid debts of its defunct predecessor in Elizabeth, N.J. The ruling prompted Purcell and the other directors of the Wichita Foundation to file for voluntary bankruptcy in February 1952.[172] Hubbard resigned immediately and accused Purcell of having been bribed by the American Medical Association to destroy Dianetics.[178] Hubbard established a "Hubbard College" on the other side of town where he continued to promote Dianetics while fighting Purcell in the courts over the Foundation's intellectual property.[179]
Only six weeks after setting up the Hubbard College and marrying a staff member, 18-year-old Mary Sue Whipp, Hubbard closed it down and moved with his new bride to Phoenix, Arizona. He established a Hubbard Association of Scientologists International to promote his new "Science of Certainty"—Scientology.[180]
Rise of Scientology
Main article: Scientology
See also: Timeline of Scientology

Exterior view of a building from the street

 Hubbard established an "Academy of Scientology" at this Northwest, Washington, D.C. building in 1955. It is now the L. Ron Hubbard House museum.
The Church of Scientology attributes its genesis to Hubbard's discovery of "a new line of research", first set out in his book Science of Survival—"that man is most fundamentally a spiritual being".[181] Non-Scientologist writers have suggested alternative motives: that he aimed "to reassert control over his creation",[169] that he believed "he was about to lose control of Dianetics",[178] or that he wanted to ensure "he would be able to stay in business even if the courts eventually awarded control of Dianetics and its valuable copyrights to ... the hated Don Purcell."[182]
Hubbard expanded upon the basics of Dianetics to construct a spiritually oriented (though at this stage not religious) doctrine based on the concept that the true self of a person was a thetan—an immortal, omniscient and potentially omnipotent entity.[183] Hubbard taught that the thetans, having created the material universe, had forgotten their god-like powers and become trapped in physical bodies.[184] Scientology aimed to "rehabilitate" each person's thetan to restore its original capacities and become once again an "Operating Thetan".[182][183] Hubbard insisted humanity was imperiled by the forces of "aberration", which were the result of engrams carried by the immortal thetans for billions of years.[178]
Hubbard introduced a device called an E-meter that he presented as having, as Miller puts it, "an almost mystical power to reveal an individual's innermost thoughts".[185] He promulgated Scientology through a series of lectures, bulletins and books such as A History of Man ("a cold-blooded and factual account of your last sixty trillion years")[185] and Scientology: 8-8008 ("With this book, the ability to make one's body old or young at will, the ability to heal the ill without physical contact, the ability to cure the insane and the incapacitated, is set forth for the physician, the layman, the mathematician and the physicist.")[186]
Scientology was organized in a very different way from the decentralized Dianetics movement. The Hubbard Association of Scientologists (HAS) was the only official Scientology organization. Training procedures and doctrines were standardized and promoted through HAS publications, and administrators and auditors were not permitted to deviate from Hubbard's approach.[169] Branches or "orgs" were organized as franchises, rather like a fast food restaurant chain. Each franchise holder was required to pay ten percent of income to Hubbard's central organization. They were expected to find new recruits, known as "raw meat", but were restricted to providing only basic services. Costlier higher-level auditing was only provided by Hubbard's central organization.[187]
Although this model would eventually be extremely successful, Scientology was a very small-scale movement at first. Hubbard started off with only a few dozen followers, generally dedicated Dianeticists; a seventy-hour series of lectures in Philadelphia in December 1952 was attended by just 38 people.[188] Hubbard was joined in Phoenix by his 18-year-old son Nibs, who had been unable to settle down in high school.[189] Nibs had decided to become a Scientologist, moved into his father's home and went on to become a Scientology staff member and "professor".[190] Hubbard also traveled to the United Kingdom to establish his control over a Dianetics group in London. It was very much a shoestring operation; as Helen O'Brien later recalled, "there was an atmosphere of extreme poverty and undertones of a grim conspiracy over all. At 163 Holland Park Avenue was an ill-lit lecture room and a bare-boarded and poky office some eight by ten feet—mainly infested by long haired men and short haired and tatty women."[191] On September 24, 1952, only a few weeks after arriving in London, Hubbard's wife Mary Sue gave birth to her first child, a daughter whom they named Diana Meredith de Wolfe Hubbard.[192]
In February 1953, Hubbard acquired a doctorate from the unaccredited Sequoia University. According to a Scientology biography, this was "given in recognition of his outstanding work on Dianetics" and "as an inspiration to the many people ... who had been inspired by him to take up advanced studies in this field ..."[111] The British government concluded in the 1970s that Sequoia University was a "degree mill" operated by Joseph Hough, a Los Angeles chiropractor.[193] Miller cites a telegram sent by Hubbard on February 27, 1953, in which he instructed Scientologist Richard de Mille to procure him a Ph.D. from Hough urgently—"FOR GOSH SAKES EXPEDITE. WORK HERE UTTERLY DEPENDANT ON IT."[194] Hough's "university" was closed down by the Californian authorities in 1971. British government officials noted in a report written in 1977: "It has not and never had any authority whatsoever to issue diplomas or degrees and the dean is sought by the authorities 'for questioning'."[193]
A few weeks after becoming "Dr." Hubbard, he wrote to Helen O'Brien—who had taken over the day-to-day management of Scientology in the United States—proposing that Scientology should be transformed into a religion.[195] As membership declined and finances grew tighter, Hubbard had reversed the hostility to religion he voiced in Dianetics.[196] His letter to O'Brien discussed the legal and financial benefits of religious status.[196] The idea may not have been new; Hubbard has been quoted as telling a science fiction convention in 1948: "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."[135][197][198] Scholar J. Gordon Melton notes, "There is no record of Hubbard having every made this statement, though several of his science fiction colleagues have noted the broaching of the subject on one of their informal conversations."[199] The Church of Scientology has denied that Hubbard said this and insists that it is a misattributed quote that was said instead by George Orwell.[200] Hubbard outlined plans for setting up a chain of "Spiritual Guidance Centers" charging customers $500 for twenty-four hours of auditing ("That is real money ... Charge enough and we'd be swamped."). He wrote:

I await your reaction on the religion angle. In my opinion, we couldn't get worse public opinion than we have had or have less customers with what we've got to sell. A religious charter would be necessary in Pennsylvania or NJ to make it stick. But I sure could make it stick.[201]
O'Brien was not enthusiastic and resigned the following September, worn out by work.[202] She criticized Hubbard for creating "a temperate zone voodoo, in its inelasticity, unexplainable procedures, and mindless group euphoria".[203] He nonetheless pressed ahead and on December 18, 1953, he incorporated the Church of Scientology, Church of American Science and Church of Spiritual Engineering in Camden, New Jersey.[204] Hubbard, his wife Mary Sue and his secretary John Galusha became the trustees of all three corporations.[205] Hubbard later denied founding the Church of Scientology, and to this day, Scientologists maintain that the "founding church" was actually the Church of Scientology of California, established on February 18, 1954, by Scientologist Burton Farber.[206] The reason for Scientology's religious transformation was explained by officials of the HAS:

[T]here is little doubt but what [sic] this stroke will remove Scientology from the target area of overt and covert attacks by the medical profession, who see their pills, scalpels, and appendix-studded incomes threatened ... [Scientologists] can avoid the recent fiasco in which a Pasadena practitioner is reported to have spent 10 days in that city's torture chamber for "practicing medicine without a license."[207]
Scientology franchises became Churches of Scientology and some auditors began dressing as clergymen, complete with clerical collars. If they were arrested in the course of their activities, Hubbard advised, they should sue for massive damages for molesting "a Man of God going about his business".[204] A few years later he told Scientologists: "If attacked on some vulnerable point by anyone or anything or any organization, always find or manufacture enough threat against them to cause them to sue for peace ... Don't ever defend, always attack."[208] Any individual breaking away from Scientology and setting up his own group was to be shut down:

The purpose of the suit is to harass and discourage rather than to win. The law can be used very easily to harass, and enough harassment on somebody who is simply on the thin edge anyway, well knowing that he is not authorized, will generally be sufficient to cause his professional decease. If possible, of course, ruin him utterly.[209]
The 1950s saw Scientology growing steadily. Hubbard finally achieved victory over Don Purcell in 1954 when the latter, worn out by constant litigation, handed the copyrights of Dianetics back to Hubbard.[210] Most of the formerly independent Scientology and Dianetics groups were either driven out of business or were absorbed into Hubbard's organizations.[211] Hubbard marketed Scientology through medical claims, such as attracting polio sufferers by presenting the Church of Scientology as a scientific research foundation investigating polio cases.[212] One advertisement during this period stated:

Plagued by illness? We'll make you able to have good health. Get processed by the finest capable auditors in the world today [...] Personally coached and monitored by L. Ron Hubbard.[213]
Scientology became a highly profitable enterprise for Hubbard.[214] He implemented a scheme under which he was paid a percentage of the Church of Scientology's gross income and by 1957 he was being paid about $250,000 annually—equivalent to $1.9 million at 2010 prices.[215] His family grew, too, with Mary Sue giving birth to three more children—Geoffrey Quentin McCaully on January 6, 1954;[202] Mary Suzette Rochelle on February 13, 1955;[216] and Arthur Ronald Conway on June 6, 1958.[217] In the spring of 1959, he used his new-found wealth to purchase Saint Hill Manor, an 18th-century country house in Sussex, formerly owned by Sawai Man Singh II, the Maharaja of Jaipur. The house became Hubbard's permanent residence and an international training center for Scientologists.[212]
Controversies and crises



 The L. Ron Hubbard House at Camelback in Phoenix, Az. The house is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.


L. Ron Hubbard’s car, a 1947 Buick Super 8 . The car is parked behind the house.
By the start of the 1960s, Hubbard was the leader of a worldwide movement with thousands of followers. A decade later, however, he had left Saint Hill Manor and moved aboard his own private fleet of ships as the Church of Scientology faced worldwide controversy.
The Church of Scientology says that the problems of this period were due to "vicious, covert international attacks" by the United States government, "all of which were proven false and baseless, which were to last 27 years and finally culminated in the Government being sued for 750 million dollars for conspiracy."[111] Behind the attacks, stated Hubbard, lay a vast conspiracy of "psychiatric front groups" secretly controlling governments: "Every single lie, false charge and attack on Scientology has been traced directly to this group's members. They have sought at great expense for nineteen years to crush and eradicate any new development in the field of the mind. They are actively preventing any effectiveness in this field."[218]
Hubbard believed that Scientology was being infiltrated by saboteurs and spies and introduced "security checking"[208] to identify those he termed "potential trouble sources" and "suppressive persons". Members of the Church of Scientology were interrogated with the aid of E-meters and were asked questions such as "Have you ever practiced homosexuality?" and "Have you ever had unkind thoughts about L. Ron Hubbard?"[219] For a time, Scientologists were even interrogated about crimes committed in past lives: "Have you ever destroyed a culture?" "Did you come to Earth for evil purposes?" "Have you ever zapped anyone?"[220]
He also sought to exert political influence, advising Scientologists to vote against Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election and establishing a Department of Government Affairs "to bring government and hostile philosophies or societies into a state of complete compliance with the goals of Scientology". This, he said, "is done by high-level ability to control and in its absence by a low-level ability to overwhelm. Introvert such agencies. Control such agencies."[221]
The U.S. Government was already well aware of Hubbard's activities. The FBI had a lengthy file on him, including a 1951 interview with an agent who considered him a "mental case".[171] Police forces in a number of jurisdictions began exchanging information about Scientology through the auspices of Interpol, which eventually led to prosecutions.[222] In 1958, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service withdrew the Washington, D.C. Church of Scientology's tax exemption after it found that Hubbard and his family were profiting unreasonably from Scientology's ostensibly non-profit income.[214] The Food and Drug Administration took action against Scientology's medical claims, seizing thousands of pills being marketed as "radiation cures"[223] as well as publications and E-meters. The Church of Scientology was required to label them as being "ineffective in the diagnosis or treatment of disease".[224]
Following the FDA's actions, Scientology attracted increasingly unfavorable publicity across the English-speaking world.[225] It faced particularly hostile scrutiny in Victoria, Australia, where it was accused of brainwashing, blackmail, extortion and damaging the mental health of its members.[226] The Victorian state government established a Board of Inquiry into Scientology in November 1963.[227] Its report, published in October 1965, condemned every aspect of Scientology and Hubbard himself. He was described as being of doubtful sanity, having a persecution complex and displaying strong indications of paranoid schizophrenia with delusions of grandeur. His writings were characterized as nonsensical, abounding in "self-glorification and grandiosity, replete with histrionics and hysterical, incontinent outbursts".[228] Sociologist Roy Wallis comments that the report drastically changed public perceptions of Scientology:

The former conception of the movement as a relatively harmless, if cranky, health and self-improvement cult, was transformed into one which portrayed it as evil, dangerous, a form of hypnosis (with all the overtones of Svengali in the layman's mind), and brainwashing.[226]
The report led to Scientology being banned in Victoria,[229] Western Australia and South Australia,[230] and led to more negative publicity around the world. Newspapers and politicians in the UK pressed the British government for action against Scientology. In April 1966, hoping to form a remote "safe haven" for Scientology, Hubbard traveled to the southern African country Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe) and looked into setting up a base there at a hotel on Lake Kariba. Despite his attempts to curry favour with the local government—he personally delivered champagne to Prime Minister Ian Smith's house, but Smith refused to see him—Rhodesia promptly refused to renew Hubbard's visa, compelling him to leave the country.[231] In July 1968, the British Minister of Health, Kenneth Robinson, announced that foreign Scientologists would no longer be permitted to enter the UK and Hubbard himself was excluded from the country as an "undesirable alien".[232] Further inquiries were launched in Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.[230]
Hubbard took three major new initiatives in the face of these challenges. "Ethics Technology" was introduced to tighten internal discipline within Scientology. It required Scientologists to "disconnect" from any organization or individual—including family members—deemed to be disruptive or "suppressive".[233] Scientologists were also required to write "Knowledge Reports" on each other, reporting transgressions or misapplications of Scientology methods. Hubbard promulgated a long list of punishable "Misdemeanors", "Crimes", and "High Crimes".[234] The "Fair Game" policy was introduced, which was applicable to anyone deemed an "enemy" of Scientology: "May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed."[235][236]
At the start of March 1966, Hubbard created the Guardian's Office (GO), a new agency within the Church of Scientology that was headed by his wife Mary Sue.[237] It dealt with Scientology's external affairs, including public relations, legal actions and the gathering of intelligence on perceived threats.[238] As Scientology faced increasingly negative media attention, the GO retaliated with hundreds of writs for libel and slander; it issued more than forty on a single day.[239] Hubbard ordered his staff to find "lurid, blood sex crime actual evidence [sic] on [Scientology's] attackers".[240]
Finally, at the end of 1966, Hubbard acquired his own fleet of ships.[9] He established the "Hubbard Explorational Company Ltd" which purchased three ships—the Enchanter, a forty-ton schooner,[241] the Avon River, an old trawler,[242] and the Royal Scotman [sic], a former Irish Sea cattle ferry that he made his home and flagship.[243] The ships were crewed by the Sea Organization or "Sea Org", a group of Scientologist volunteers, with the support of a couple of professional seamen.[9][244]
Commodore of the Sea Org
Main article: Sea Org

View of a coastal town with a bay visible behind foreground buildings

 Corfu town, where the Sea Org moored in 1968–1969
After Hubbard created the Sea Org "fleet" in early 1967 it began an eight-year voyage, sailing from port to port in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern North Atlantic. The fleet traveled as far as Corfu in the eastern Mediterranean and Dakar and the Azores in the Atlantic, but rarely stayed anywhere for longer than six weeks. Ken Urquhart, Hubbard's personal assistant at the time, later recalled:

[Hubbard] said we had to keep moving because there were so many people after him. If they caught up with him they would cause him so much trouble that he would be unable to continue his work, Scientology would not get into the world and there would be social and economic chaos, if not a nuclear holocaust.[245]
When Hubbard established the Sea Org he publicly declared that he had relinquished his management responsibilities. According to Miller, this was not true. He received daily telex messages from Scientology organizations around the world reporting their statistics and income. The Church of Scientology sent him $15,000 a week and millions of dollars were transferred to his bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.[246] Couriers arrived regularly, conveying luxury food for Hubbard and his family[247] or cash that had been smuggled from England to avoid currency export restrictions.[248]
Along the way, Hubbard sought to establish a safe haven in "a friendly little country where Scientology would be allowed to prosper", as Miller puts it.[249] The fleet stayed at Corfu for several months in 1968–1969. Hubbard renamed the ships after Greek gods—the Royal Scotman was rechristened Apollo—and he praised the recently established military dictatorship.[248] The Sea Org was represented as "Professor Hubbard's Philosophy School" in a telegram to the Greek government.[250] In March 1969, however, Hubbard and his ships were ordered to leave.[251] In mid-1972, Hubbard tried again in Morocco, establishing contacts with the country's secret police and training senior policemen and intelligence agents in techniques for detecting subversives.[252] The program ended in failure when it became caught up in internal Moroccan politics, and Hubbard left the country hastily in December 1972.[253]
At the same time, Hubbard was still developing Scientology's doctrines. A Scientology biography states that "free of organizational duties and aided by the first Sea Org members, L. Ron Hubbard now had the time and facilities to confirm in the physical universe some of the events and places he had encountered in his journeys down the track of time."[54] In 1965, he designated several existing Scientology courses as confidential, repackaging them as the first of the esoteric "OT levels".[254] Two years later he announced the release of OT3, the "Wall of Fire", revealing the secrets of an immense disaster that had occurred "on this planet, and on the other seventy-five planets which form this Confederacy, seventy-five million years ago".[255] Scientologists were required to undertake the first two OT levels before learning how Xenu, the leader of the Galactic Confederacy, had shipped billions of people to Earth and blown them up with hydrogen bombs, following which their traumatized spirits were stuck together at "implant stations", brainwashed with false memories and eventually became contained within human beings.[256] The discovery of OT3 was said to have taken a major physical toll on Hubbard, who announced that he had broken a knee, an arm, and his back during the course of his research.[257] A year later, in 1968, he unveiled OT levels 4 to 6 and began delivering OT training courses to Scientologists aboard the Royal Scotman.[258]
Scientologists around the world were presented with a glamorous picture of life in the Sea Org and many applied to join Hubbard aboard the fleet.[258] What they found was rather different from the image. Most of those joining had no nautical experience at all.[258] Mechanical difficulties and blunders by the crews led to a series of embarrassing incidents and near-disasters. Following one incident in which the rudder of the Royal Scotman was damaged during a storm, Hubbard ordered the ship's entire crew to be reduced to a "condition of liability" and wear gray rags tied to their arms.[259] The ship itself was treated the same way, with dirty tarpaulins tied around its funnel to symbolize its lower status. According to those aboard, conditions were appalling; the crew was worked to the point of exhaustion, given meagre rations and forbidden to wash or change their clothes for several weeks.[260] Hubbard maintained a harsh disciplinary regime aboard the fleet, punishing mistakes by confining people in the Royal Scotman‍‍ '​‍s bilge tanks without toilet facilities and with food provided in buckets.[261] At other times erring crew members were thrown overboard with Hubbard looking on and, occasionally, filming.[262] David Mayo, a Sea Org member at the time, later recalled:

We tried not to think too hard about his behavior. It was not rational much of the time, but to even consider such a thing was a discreditable thought and you couldn't allow yourself to have a discreditable thought. One of the questions in a sec[urity] check was, "Have you ever had any unkind thoughts about LRH?" and you could get into very serious trouble if you had. So you tried hard not to.[263]
From about 1970, Hubbard was attended aboard ship by the children of Sea Org members, organized as the Commodore's Messenger Organization (CMO). They were mainly young girls dressed in hot pants and halter tops, who were responsible for running errands for Hubbard such as lighting his cigarettes, dressing him or relaying his verbal commands to other members of the crew.[264][265] In addition to his wife Mary Sue, he was accompanied by all four of his children by her, though not his first son Nibs, who had defected from Scientology in late 1959.[266] The younger Hubbards were all members of the Sea Org and shared its rigors, though Quentin Hubbard reportedly found it difficult to adjust and attempted suicide in mid-1974.[267]
Life in hiding

Exterior view of a large building, partly obscured by trees

 The Internal Revenue Service building in Washington D.C., one of the targets of Hubbard's "Snow White Program"
During the 1970s, Hubbard faced an increasing number of legal threats. French prosecutors charged him and the French Church of Scientology with fraud and customs violations in 1972. He was advised that he was at risk of being extradited to France.[268] Hubbard left the Sea Org fleet temporarily at the end of 1972, living incognito in Queens, New York,[269] until he returned to his flagship in September 1973 when the threat of extradition had abated.[270] Scientology sources say that he carried out "a sociological study in and around New York City".[271]
Hubbard's health deteriorated significantly during this period. A chain-smoker, he also suffered from bursitis and excessive weight, and had a prominent growth on his forehead.[272] He suffered serious injuries in a motorcycle accident in 1973 and had a heart attack in 1975 that required him to take anticoagulant drugs for the next year.[273] In September 1978, Hubbard had a pulmonary embolism, falling into a coma, but recovered.[274]
He remained active in managing and developing Scientology, establishing the controversial Rehabilitation Project Force in 1974[275] and issuing policy and doctrinal bulletins.[276] However, the Sea Org's voyages were coming to an end. The Apollo was banned from several Spanish ports[276] and was expelled from Curaçao in October 1975.[275] The Sea Org came to be suspected of being a CIA operation, leading to a riot in Funchal, Madeira, when the Apollo docked there. At the time, The Apollo Stars, a musical group founded by Hubbard and made up entirely of shipbound members of the Sea Org, was offering free on-pier concerts in an attempt to promote Scientology, and the riot occurred at one of these events. Hubbard decided to relocate back to the United States to establish a "land base" for the Sea Org in Florida.[277] The Church of Scientology attributes this decision to the activities on the Apollo having "outgrow[n] the ship's capacity".[271]
In October 1975, Hubbard moved into a hotel suite in Daytona Beach. The Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida, was secretly acquired as the location for the "land base".[277] On December 5, 1975, Hubbard and his wife Mary Sue moved into a condominium complex in nearby Dunedin.[278] Their presence was meant to be a closely guarded secret but was accidentally compromised the following month.[279] Hubbard immediately left Dunedin and moved to Georgetown, Washington, D.C., accompanied by a handful of aides and messengers, but not his wife.[280] Six months later, following another security alert in July 1976, Hubbard moved to another safe house in Culver City, California. He lived there for only about three months, relocating in October to the more private confines of the Olive Tree Ranch near La Quinta.[281] His second son Quentin committed suicide a few weeks later in Las Vegas.[282][283]
Throughout this period, Hubbard was heavily involved in directing the activities of the Guardian's Office (GO), the legal bureau/intelligence agency that he had established in 1966. He believed that Scientology was being attacked by an international Nazi conspiracy, which he termed the "Tenyaka Memorial", through a network of drug companies, banks and psychiatrists in a bid to take over the world.[284] In 1973, he instigated the "Snow White Program" and directed the GO to remove negative reports about Scientology from government files and track down their sources.[285] The GO was ordered to "get all false and secret files on Scientology, LRH  ... that cannot be obtained legally, by all possible lines of approach ... i.e., job penetration, janitor penetration, suitable guises utilizing covers." His involvement in the GO's operations was concealed through the use of codenames. The GO carried out covert campaigns on his behalf such as Operation Bulldozer Leak, intended "to effectively spread the rumor that will lead Government, media, and individual [Suppressive Persons] to conclude that LRH has no control of the C of S and no legal liability for Church activity". He was kept informed of GO operations, such as the theft of medical records from a hospital, harassment of psychiatrists and infiltrations of organizations that had been critical of Scientology at various times, such as the Better Business Bureau, the American Medical Association, and American Psychiatric Association.[286]
Members of the GO infiltrated and burglarized numerous government organizations, including the U.S. Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service.[287] After two GO agents were caught in the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the IRS, the FBI carried out simultaneous raids on GO offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. on July 7, 1977. They retrieved wiretap equipment, burglary tools and some 90,000 pages of incriminating documents. Hubbard was not prosecuted, though he was labeled an "unindicted co-conspirator" by government prosecutors. His wife Mary Sue was indicted and subsequently convicted of conspiracy. She was sent to a federal prison along with ten other Scientologists.[288]
Hubbard's troubles increased in February 1978 when a French court convicted him in absentia for obtaining money under false pretenses. He was sentenced to four years in prison and a 35,000FF ($7,000) fine.[289] He went into hiding in April 1979, moving to an apartment in Hemet, California, where his only contact with the outside world was via ten trusted Messengers. He cut contact with everyone else, even his wife, whom he saw for the last time in August 1979.[290] Hubbard faced a possible indictment for his role in Operation Freakout, the GO's campaign against New York journalist Paulette Cooper, and in February 1980 he disappeared into deep cover in the company of two trusted Messengers, Pat and Anne Broeker.[291][292]
For the first few years of the 1980s, Hubbard and the Broekers lived on the move, touring the Pacific Northwest in a recreational vehicle and living for a while in apartments in Newport Beach and Los Angeles.[293] Hubbard used his time in hiding to write his first new works of science fiction for nearly thirty years—Battlefield Earth (1982) and Mission Earth, a ten-volume series published between 1985 and 1987.[294] They received mixed responses; as writer Jeff Walker puts it, they were "treated derisively by most critics but greatly admired by followers".[295] Hubbard also wrote and composed music for three of his albums, which were produced by the Church of Scientology. The book soundtrack Space Jazz was released in 1982.[296] Mission Earth and The Road to Freedom were released posthumously in 1986.[297]
In Hubbard's absence, members of the Sea Org staged a takeover of the Church of Scientology and purged many veteran Scientologists. A young Messenger, David Miscavige, became Scientology's de facto leader. Mary Sue Hubbard was forced to resign her position and her daughter Suzette became Miscavige's personal maid.[298]
Death and legacy

Aerial photograph of an estate with a racetrack visible in the background

 The ranch in San Luis Obispo County, California where Hubbard spent his final years
For the last two years of his life, Hubbard lived in a luxury Blue Bird motorhome on Whispering Winds, a 160-acre ranch near Creston, California. He remained in deep hiding while controversy raged in the outside world about whether he was still alive and if so, where. He spent his time "writing and researching", according to a spokesperson, and pursued photography and music, overseeing construction work and checking on his animals.[299] He repeatedly redesigned the property, spending millions of dollars remodeling the ranch house—which went virtually uninhabited—and building a quarter-mile horse-racing track with an observation tower, which reportedly was never used.[293]
He was still closely involved in managing the Church of Scientology via secretly delivered orders[293] and continued to receive large amounts of money, of which Forbes magazine estimated "at least $200 million [was] gathered in Hubbard's name through 1982." In September 1985, the IRS notified the Church that it was considering indicting Hubbard for tax fraud.[300]
Hubbard suffered further ill-health, including chronic pancreatitis, during his residence at Whispering Winds. He suffered a stroke on January 17, 1986, and died a week later.[288][301] His body was cremated following an autopsy and the ashes were scattered at sea.[302] Scientology leaders announced that his body had become an impediment to his work and that he had decided to "drop his body" to continue his research on another planet,[303] having "learned how to do it without a body".[304]
Hubbard was survived by his wife Mary Sue and all of his children except his second son Quentin. His will provided a trust fund to support Mary Sue; her children Arthur, Diana and Suzette; and Katherine, the daughter of his first wife Polly.[305] He disinherited two of his other children.[306] L. Ron Hubbard, Jr. had become estranged, changed his name to "Ronald DeWolf" and, in 1982, sued unsuccessfully for control of his father's estate.[307] Alexis Valerie, Hubbard's daughter by his second wife Sara, had attempted to contact her father in 1971. She was rebuffed with the implied claim that her real father was Jack Parsons rather than Hubbard, and that her mother had been a Nazi spy during the war.[308] Both later accepted settlements when litigation was threatened.[306] In 2001, Diana and Suzette were reported to still be Church members, while Arthur had left and become an artist. Hubbard's great-grandson, Jamie DeWolf, is a noted slam poet.[309]
The copyrights of his works and much of his estate and wealth were willed to the Church of Scientology.[310] In a bulletin dated May 5, 1980, Hubbard told his followers to preserve his teachings until an eventual reincarnation when he would return "not as a religious leader but as a political one".[7] The Church of Spiritual Technology (CST), a sister organization of the Church of Scientology, has engraved Hubbard's entire corpus of Scientology and Dianetics texts on steel tablets stored in titanium containers. They are buried at the Trementina Base in a vault under a mountain near Trementina, New Mexico, on top of which the CST's logo has been bulldozed on such a gigantic scale that it is visible from space.[311][312]
Hubbard is the Guinness World Record holder for the most published author, with 1,084 works,[313] most translated book (70 languages for The Way to Happiness)[314] and most audiobooks (185 as of April 2009).[315] According to Galaxy Press, Hubbard's Battlefield Earth has sold over 6 million copies and Mission Earth a further 7 million, with each of its ten volumes becoming New York Times bestsellers on their release;[28] however, in 1990 the Los Angeles Times reported in 1990 that Hubbard's followers had been buying large numbers of the books and re-issuing them to stores, so as to boost sales figures.[316] Opinions are divided about his literary legacy. Scientologists have written of their desire to "make Ron the most acclaimed and widely known author of all time".[316] The sociologist William Sims Bainbridge writes that even at his peak in the late 1930s Hubbard was regarded by readers of Astounding Science Fiction as merely "a passable, familiar author but not one of the best", while by the late 1970s "the [science fiction] subculture wishes it could forget him" and fans gave him a worse rating than any other of the "Golden Age" writers.[317]
In 2004, eighteen years after Hubbard's death, the Church claimed eight million followers worldwide. According to religious scholar J. Gordon Melton, this is an overestimate, counting as Scientologists people who had merely bought a book.[318] The City University of New York's American Religious Identification Survey found that by 2009 only 25,000 Americans identified as Scientologists.[319] Hubbard's presence still pervades Scientology. Every Church of Scientology maintains an office reserved for Hubbard, with a desk, chair and writing equipment, ready to be used.[310] Lonnie D. Kliever notes that Hubbard was "the only source of the religion, and he has no successor". Hubbard is referred to simply as "Source" within Scientology and the theological acceptability of any Scientology-related activity is determined by how closely it adheres to Hubbard's doctrines.[320] Hubbard's name and signature are official trademarks of the Religious Technology Center, established in 1982 to control and oversee the use of Hubbard's works and Scientology's trademarks and copyrights. The RTC is the central organization within Scientology's complex corporate hierarchy and has put much effort into re-checking the accuracy of all Scientology publications to "ensur[e] the availability of the pure unadulterated writings of Mr. Hubbard to the coming generations"[320]
The Danish historian of religions Mikael Rothstein describes Scientology as "a movement focused on the figure of Hubbard". He comments: "The fact that [Hubbard's] life is mythologized is as obvious as in the cases of Jesus, Muhammad or Siddartha Gotama. This is how religion works. Scientology, however, rejects this analysis altogether, and goes to great lengths to defend every detail of Hubbard's amazing and fantastic life as plain historical fact." Hubbard is presented as "the master of a multitude of disciplines" who performed extraordinary feats as a photographer, composer, scientist, therapist, explorer, navigator, philosopher, poet, artist, humanitarian, adventurer, soldier, scout, musician and many other fields of endeavor.[8] The Church of Scientology portrays Hubbard's life and work as having proceeded seamlessly, "as if they were a continuous set of predetermined events and discoveries that unfolded through his lifelong research" even up to and beyond his death.[3]
According to Rothstein's assessment of Hubbard's legacy, Scientology consciously aims to transfer the charismatic authority of Hubbard to institutionalize his authority over the organization, even after his death. Hubbard is presented as a virtually superhuman religious ideal just as Scientology itself is presented as the most important development in human history.[321] As Rothstein puts it, "reverence for Scientology's scripture is reverence for Hubbard, the man who in the Scientological perspective single-handedly brought salvation to all human beings."[8] David G. Bromley of the University of Virginia comments that the real Hubbard has been transformed into a "prophetic persona", "LRH", which acts as the basis for his prophetic authority within Scientology and transcends his biographical history.[3]
Biographies

A man wearing a white t-shirt stands with the words "Canadien National" visible behind him.

Gerry Armstrong, formerly Hubbard's official biographical researcher, whose trial disclosed many details of Hubbard's life
Following Hubbard's death, Bridge Publications has published several stand-alone biographical accounts of his life. Marco Frenschkowski notes that "non-Scientologist readers immediately recognize some parts of Hubbard's life are here systematically left out: no information whatsoever is given about his private life (his marriages, divorces, children), his legal affairs and so on."[67] The Church maintains an extensive website presenting the official version of Hubbard's life.[322] It also owns a number of properties dedicated to Hubbard including the Los Angeles-based L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition (a presentation of Hubbard's life), the Author Services Center (a presentation of Hubbard's writings),[323] and the L. Ron Hubbard House in Washington, D.C.
In late 2012, Bridge published a comprehensive official biography of Hubbard, titled The L. Ron Hubbard Series: A Biographical Encyclopedia, written primarily by Dan Sherman, the official Hubbard biographer at the time. This most recent official Church of Scientology biography of Hubbard is a 17 volume series, with each volume focusing on a different aspect of Hubbard's life, including his music, photography, geographic exploration, humanitarian work, and nautical career. It is advertised as a "Biographic Encyclopedia" and is primarily authored by the official biographer, Dan Sherman.[324]
To date, there has not been a single volume comprehensive official biography published[324] [325] During his lifetime, a number of brief biographical sketches were also published in his Scientology books. The Church of Scientology issued "the only authorized LRH Biography" in October 1977 (it has since been followed by the Sherman "Biographic Encyclopedia").[111] His life was illustrated in print in What Is Scientology?, a glossy publication published in 1978 with paintings of Hubbard's life contributed by his son Arthur.[326]
In the late 1970s two men began to assemble a very different picture of Hubbard's life. Michael Linn Shannon, a resident of Portland, Oregon, became interested in Hubbard's life story after an encounter with a Scientology recruiter. Over the next four years he collected previously undisclosed records and documents. He intended to write an exposé of Hubbard and sent a copy of his findings and key records to a number of contacts but was unable to find a publisher.[327]
Shannon's findings were acquired by Gerry Armstrong, a Scientologist who had been appointed Hubbard's official archivist.[327] He had been given the job of assembling documents relating to Hubbard's life for the purpose of helping Omar V. Garrison, a non-Scientologist who had written two books sympathetic to Scientology, to write an official biography. However, the documents that he uncovered convinced both Armstrong and Garrison that Hubbard had systematically misrepresented his life. Garrison refused to write a "puff piece" and declared that he would not "repeat all the falsehoods they [the Church of Scientology] had perpetuated over the years". He wrote a "warts and all" biography while Armstrong quit Scientology, taking five boxes of papers with him. The Church of Scientology and Mary Sue Hubbard sued for the return of the documents while settling out of court with Garrison, requiring him to turn over the nearly completed manuscript of the biography.[328] In October 1984 Judge Paul G. Breckenridge ruled in Armstrong's favor, saying:

The evidence portrays a man who has been virtually a pathological liar when it comes to his history, background and achievements. The writings and documents in evidence additionally reflect his egoism, greed, avarice, lust for power, and vindictiveness and aggressiveness against persons perceived by him to be disloyal or hostile. At the same time it appears that he is charismatic and highly capable of motivating, organizing, controlling, manipulating and inspiring his adherents. He has been referred to during the trial as a "genius," a "revered person," a man who was "viewed by his followers in awe." Obviously, he is and has been a very complex person and that complexity is further reflected in his alter ego, the Church of Scientology.[329]
In November 1987, the British journalist and writer Russell Miller published Bare-faced Messiah, the first full-length biography of L. Ron Hubbard. He drew on Armstrong's papers, official records and interviews with those who had known Hubbard including ex-Scientologists and family members. The book was well-received by reviewers but the Church of Scientology sought unsuccessfully to prohibit its publication on the grounds of copyright infringement.[330] Other critical biographical accounts are found in Bent Corydon's L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman? (1987) and Jon Atack's A Piece of Blue Sky (1990).
In popular culture
Hubbard appears as a major character in Paul Malmont's historical novel The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown (2011).
Bibliography
Main article: L. Ron Hubbard bibliography
See also: Bibliography of Scientology
According to the Church of Scientology, Hubbard produced some 65 million words on Dianetics and Scientology, contained in about 500,000 pages of written material, 3,000 recorded lectures and 100 films. His works of fiction included some 500 novels and short stories.[311]
Notes
1.Jump up ^ Von Dehsen, Christian D. "L. Ron Hubbard," in Philosophers and religious leaders, p. 90. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999. ISBN 978-1-57356-152-5
2.Jump up ^ Church of Scientology International. L. Ron Hubbard: A Profile. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c Bromley, p. 89
4.Jump up ^ Sappel, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (June 24, 1990). "The Mind Behind the Religion, Chapter 2: Creating the Mystique: Hubbard's Image Was Crafted of Truth, Distorted by Myth". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 12, 2008. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
5.Jump up ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20080612145705/http://www.latimes.com/business/la-scientology062490,0,2050131,full.story
6.Jump up ^ Christensen, p. 228
7.^ Jump up to: a b Urban, Hugh B. "Fair Game: Secrecy, Security, and the Church of Scientology in Cold War America." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 74:2 (2006)
8.^ Jump up to: a b c Rothstein, p. 21.
9.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Wright, Lawrence (February 14, 2011)."The Apostate: Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology." The New Yorker, retrieved February 8, 2011.
10.Jump up ^ Hall, Timothy L. American religious leaders, p. 175. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2003. ISBN 978-0-8160-4534-1
11.Jump up ^ Miller, Russell. Bare-faced Messiah: the true story of L. Ron Hubbard, p. 11. London: Joseph, 1987. ISBN 0-7181-2764-1, OCLC 17481843
12.^ Jump up to: a b c Christensen, pp. 236–237
13.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 19
14.Jump up ^ Tucker, p. 300
15.Jump up ^ "About The Author," in Hubbard, L. Ron: Have You Lived Before This Life?: A Scientific Survey: A Study of Death and Evidence of Past Lives, p. 297. Los Angeles: Church of Scientology Publications Organization, 1977. ISBN 978-0-88484-055-8
16.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert (June 24, 1990). "The Making of L. Ron Hubbard: Creating the Mystique." Los Angeles Times, p. A38:1
17.Jump up ^ Quoted in Rolph, p. 17
18.^ Jump up to: a b "L. Ron Hubbard and American Pulp Fiction," in Hubbard, L. Ron: "The Great Secret," p. 107–108. Hollywood, CA: Galaxy Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-59212-371-1
19.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 48
20.Jump up ^ Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert (June 24, 1990). "The Making of L. Ron Hubbard: Staking a Claim to Blood Brotherhood." Los Angeles Times, p. A38:5
21.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 23
22.Jump up ^ Whitehead, p. 46
23.Jump up ^ Christensen, p. 238
24.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 25
25.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 27
26.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 28
27.^ Jump up to: a b Christensen, pp. 239–240
28.^ Jump up to: a b "About the Author," in Hubbard, L. Ron: Battlefield Earth. (No page number given.) Los Angeles: Galaxy Press, 2005. ISBN 978-1-59212-007-9
29.Jump up ^ "Appendix" in Hubbard, L. Ron: Hymn of Asia. (No page number given.) Los Angeles : Church of Scientology of California, Publications Organization, 1974. ISBN 0-88404-035-6
30.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 54
31.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 31
32.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 34
33.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 41
34.Jump up ^ "L. Ron Hubbard Biographical Profile: Asia and the South Pacific." Church of Scientology International, 2010, retrieved February 17, 2011.
35.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 57
36.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 42
37.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 43
38.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 44
39.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 45
40.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 46
41.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 47
42.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 59
43.^ Jump up to: a b Malko, p. 31
44.^ Jump up to: a b c d e "A Brief Biography of L. Ron Hubbard," Ability, Church of Scientology Washington, D.C. Issue 111, January 1959.
45.Jump up ^ Wallis, p. 18
46.Jump up ^ "Foreword," in Hubbard, L. Ron: Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought, p. vii. Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, 2007. ISBN 978-1-4031-4420-1
47.Jump up ^ Streeter, p. 206
48.^ Jump up to: a b c d e L. Ron Hubbard: A Chronicle, 1930–1940." Church of Scientology International, 2007, retrieved February 17, 2011.
49.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, p. 64
50.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 52
51.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 54
52.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 55
53.^ Jump up to: a b L. Ron Hubbard Biographical Profile — Caribbean Motion Picture Expedition." Church of Scientology International, 2010, retrieved February 17, 2011.
54.^ Jump up to: a b c Hubbard, L. Ron. Mission into Time, p. 7. Copenhagen: AOSH DK Publications Department A/S, 1973. ISBN 87-87347-56-3
55.^ Jump up to: a b c Miller, p. 56
56.^ Jump up to: a b Hubbard, L. Ron, "The Camp-Fire," Adventure magazine, vol. 93 no. 5, October 1, 1935. Quoted in Atack, p. 62
57.^ Jump up to: a b c Maisel, Albert (December 5, 1950). "Dianetics — Science or Hoax?" Look magazine, p. 79
58.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, p. 63
59.^ Jump up to: a b "L. Ron Hubbard Biographical Profile — Puerto Rican Mineralogical Expedition." Church of Scientology, 2010, retrieved February 8, 2011.
60.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "Creating a Third Dynamic / United Survival Action Clubs," lecture of December 30, 1957. Ability Congress, 5th lecture.
61.Jump up ^ Nicholls, Peter. Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, 1978, p.108, ISBN 0-586-05380-8
62.Jump up ^ L. Ron Hubbard, the writer. Los Angeles, CA : Bridge Publications, 1989. (No page number in original.)
63.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 63
64.Jump up ^ "About L. Ron Hubbard — Master Storyteller." Galaxy Press, 2010, retrieved February 8, 2011.
65.Jump up ^ "L. Ron Hubbard Biographical Profile — L. Ron Hubbard's Fiction Books." Church of Scientology International, 2010, retrieved February 8, 2011.
66.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 72
67.^ Jump up to: a b c Frenschkowski, Marco (July 1999). "L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology: An annotated bibliographical survey of primary and selected secondary literature" (PDF). Marburg Journal of Religion: 4 (1): 15. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
68.^ Jump up to: a b c Asimov, Isaac. In Memory Yet Green: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1920-1954, p. 413. New York: Doubleday, 1979. ISBN 978-0-385-13679-2
69.Jump up ^ Staff (July 30, 1937). "Books Published Today". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). p. 17.
70.^ Jump up to: a b Stableford, Brian. Historical dictionary of science fiction literature, p. 164. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-8108-4938-9
71.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 86
72.^ Jump up to: a b "About the Author" in Hubbard, L. Ron: Dianetics Today, p. 989. Los Angeles: Church of Scientology of California, 1975. ISBN 0-88404-036-4
73.Jump up ^ Harmon, Jim; Donald F. Glut. The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury, p. 329. London: Routledge, 1973. ISBN 978-0-7130-0097-9
74.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "The Story of Dianetics and Scientology," lecture of October 18, 1958
75.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 65
76.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 69
77.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 61
78.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 64
79.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 70
80.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 62
81.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 74
82.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 71
83.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 75
84.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 84
85.Jump up ^ "L. Ron Hubbard Biographical Profile — Founder." Church of Scientology International, 2010, retrieved February 17, 2011.
86.Jump up ^ Gardner, p. 272
87.^ Jump up to: a b c Atack, p. 66
88.Jump up ^ Malko, p. 40
89.^ Jump up to: a b Burks, Arthur J (December 1961). "Excalibur." The Aberree.
90.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 80
91.Jump up ^ Ackerman, Forrest J (November 19, 1997) Secret Lives: L. Ron Hubbard. Channel 4 Television.
92.^ Jump up to: a b Letter from L. Ron Hubbard, October 1938, quoted in Miller, p. 81
93.Jump up ^ Quoted in Malko, p. 39
94.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 85
95.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 88
96.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 89
97.^ Jump up to: a b "L. Ron Hubbard Biographical Profile — Alaskan Radio-Experimental Expedition" Church of Scientology International, 2010, retrieved February 17, 2011.
98.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 68
99.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 91
100.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 93
101.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 70
102.Jump up ^ Lamont, pp. 19–20
103.Jump up ^ Rolph, p. 16
104.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 141
105.Jump up ^ Streeter, p. 208
106.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 107
107.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 81; Streeter, p. 208
108.Jump up ^ "L. Ron Hubbard: A Chronicle, 1941–1949. Church of Scientology International, 2007, retrieved February 17, 2011.
109.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 84
110.^ Jump up to: a b Stafford, Charles L.; Orsini, Bette (January 9, 1980). "Church moves to defend itself against 'attackers". St. Petersburg Times.
111.^ Jump up to: a b c d Flag Information Letter 67, "L.R.H. Biography." Sea Organization, October 31, 1977.
112.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "My Philosophy," Church of Scientology International, 1965, retrieved February 17, 2011.
113.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 125
114.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 113
115.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 114
116.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 117
117.Jump up ^ Quoted in Symonds, John. The Great Beast: the life and magick of Aleister Crowley, p. 392. London: Macdonald and Co., 1971. ISBN 0-356-03631-6
118.^ Jump up to: a b Urban, Hugh B. Magia sexualis: sex, magic, and liberation in modern Western esotericism, p. 137. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0-520-24776-5
119.Jump up ^ Metzger, Richard. Book of Lies: The Disinformation Guide to Magick and the Occult, p. 200. New York: The Disinformation Company, 2008. ISBN 978-0-9713942-7-8
120.Jump up ^ Pendle, p. 268
121.Jump up ^ Pendle, p. 269
122.Jump up ^ Pendle, p. 270
123.Jump up ^ De Camp, L. Sprague, letter of August 26, 1946. Quoted by Pendle, p. 271
124.Jump up ^ "L. Ron Hubbard: A Chronicle, 1941–1949." Church of Scientology International, retrieved February 8, 2011.
125.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 90
126.Jump up ^ "Scientology: New Light on Crowley." The Sunday Times, December 28, 1969
127.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 134
128.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 132
129.Jump up ^ Streeter, p. 210
130.Jump up ^ Video on YouTube
131.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron, letter to Veterans Administration, October 15, 1947; quoted in Miller, p. 137
132.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 139
133.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 142
134.Jump up ^ "Letters from the Birth of Dianetics." Church of Scientology International, 2004, retrieved February 8, 2011
135.^ Jump up to: a b c Methvin, Eugene H. (May 1990). "Scientology: Anatomy of a Frightening Cult." Reader's Digest. pp. 16.
136.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 143
137.Jump up ^ "L. Ron Hubbard: A Chronicle, 1941–1949" Church of Scientology International, 2007, retrieved February 14, 2011.
138.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 144
139.Jump up ^ One such letter can be found on the Church of Scientology's official L. Ron Hubbard website. See "Letters from the Birth of Dianetics," Church of Scientology International, 2004, retrieved February 8, 2011.
140.Jump up ^ Luckhurst, Roger. Science Fiction, p. 74. Malden, MA: Polity, 2005. ISBN 978-0-7456-2893-6
141.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 149
142.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 106
143.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 150
144.Jump up ^ Streeter, pp. 210–211
145.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 108
146.Jump up ^ Miller, Timothy (1995). America's Alternative Religions. Albany: State University of New York Press. pp. 385–386. ISBN 978-0-7914-2398-1. OCLC 30476551.
147.Jump up ^ Winter, p. 18
148.Jump up ^ Quoted in Miller, p. 145
149.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 107
150.Jump up ^ Gardner, p. 265
151.^ Jump up to: a b Staff (August 21, 1950). "Dianetics book review; Best Seller." Newsweek
152.Jump up ^ Rabi, Isaac Isador. "Book Review." Scientific American, January 1951
153.Jump up ^ Gumpert, Martin. (August 14, 1950) "Dianetics: book review by Martin Gumpert." The New Republic
154.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 153
155.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, p. 113
156.Jump up ^ Kerman, Cynthia Earl; Eldridge, Richard. The lives of Jean Toomer: a hunger for wholeness, pp. 317–318. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8071-1548-0
157.Jump up ^ Sturgeon, Theodore; Williams, Paul. Baby is three, p. 414. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1999. ISBN 978-1-55643-319-1
158.^ Jump up to: a b c Miller, p. 166
159.Jump up ^ Melton, p. 190
160.^ Jump up to: a b O'Brien, p. 27
161.Jump up ^ Miller, pp. 159–160
162.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 377
163.Jump up ^ Evans, p. 26
164.Jump up ^ Winter, p. 34
165.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 169
166.Jump up ^ Whitehead, p. 67
167.Jump up ^ Gardner, p. 270
168.Jump up ^ Stark, Rodney; Bainbridge, William Sims. The future of religion: secularization, revival, and cult formation, pp. 268–269. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986. ISBN 978-0-520-05731-9
169.^ Jump up to: a b c Marshall, Gordon. In praise of sociology, p. 186. London: Routledge, 1990. ISBN 978-0-04-445688-9
170.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 173
171.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 181
172.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 170
173.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 180
174.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 117
175.Jump up ^ Martin, Walter Ralston; Zacharias, Ravi K. (ed.). The Kingdom of the Cults, p. 338. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2003. ISBN 978-0-7642-2821-6
176.Jump up ^ Staff (April 24, 1951). "Ron Hubbard Insane, Says His Wife." San Francisco Chronicle
177.Jump up ^ Quoted in Miller, p. 192
178.^ Jump up to: a b c d Streissguth, p. 71
179.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 200
180.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 129
181.Jump up ^ "L. Ron Hubbard: A Chronicle, 1950–1959. Church of Scientology International, 2007, retrieved February 8, 2011.
182.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 203
183.^ Jump up to: a b DeChant, Dell; Danny L. Jorgensen. "The Church of Scientology: A Very New American Religion" in Neusner, Jacob. World Religions in America: An Introduction, p. 226. Westminster John Knox Press, 2003. ISBN 0-664-22475-X
184.Jump up ^ Bromley, p. 91
185.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 204
186.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 206
187.Jump up ^ Tucker, p. 304
188.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 210
189.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 207
190.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 232
191.Jump up ^ O'Brien, p. 49
192.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 208
193.^ Jump up to: a b Smith, Graham (August 7, 2009). "Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard exposed as a 'fraud' by British diplomats 30 years ago." Daily Mail, retrieved February 8, 2011.
194.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 212
195.Jump up ^ Streeter, p. 215; Miller, p. 213
196.^ Jump up to: a b Kent, Stephen A. "The Creation of 'Religious' Scientology." Religious Studies and Theology 18:2, pp. 97–126. 1999. ISSN 1747-5414
197.Jump up ^ Lawrence, Sara. (April 18, 2006) "The Secrets of Scientology" The Independent. Retrieved February 17, 2011.
198.Jump up ^ Staff. (April 5, 1976). "Religion: A Sci-Fi Faith." Time. Retrieved February 17, 2011.
199.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon (2000). Studies in Contemporary Religion: The Church of Scientology (1 ed.). Torino, Italy: Elle Di Ci, Leumann. pp. 55, 74. ISBN 978-1-56085-139-4. "The actual quote seems to have come from a cynical remark in a letter written by Orwell published in The Collected Essays, Journalism, and Letters of George Orwell."
200.Jump up ^ Did L. Ron Hubbard state that the way to make money was to start a religion? Church of Scientology International, 2003, retrieved February 8, 2011.
201.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. Letter of April 10, 1953. Quoted in Miller, p. 213
202.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 214
203.Jump up ^ O'Brien, p. vii
204.^ Jump up to: a b Williams, Ian. The Alms Trade: Charities, Past, Present and Future, p. 127. New York: Cosimo, 2007. ISBN 978-1-60206-753-0
205.Jump up ^ Voltz, Tom. Scientology und (k)ein Ende, p. 75. Solothurn: Walter, 1995. ISBN 978-3-530-89980-1
206.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 137
207.Jump up ^ Staff (April 1954). "Three Churches Are Given Charters in New Jersey." The Aberree, volume 1, issue 1, p. 4
208.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 239
209.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "The Scientologist: A Manual on the Dissemination of Material," 1955. Quoted in Atack, p. 139
210.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 138
211.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 139
212.^ Jump up to: a b Streissguth, p. 74
213.Jump up ^ Staff (Hubbard?) (November 1957). Ability, Issue 58, p. 5.
214.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, p. 142
215.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 227
216.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 221
217.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 230
218.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "Constitutional Destruction." June 9, 1969, retrieved February 8, 2011.
219.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 150
220.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "Sec Check Whole Track," HCO Bulletin of June 19, 1961; quoted in Atack, p. 152
221.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "Department of Government Affairs," HCO Policy Letter of August 15, 1960; quoted in Miller, p. 241
222.Jump up ^ Fooner, Michael. Interpol: issues in world crime and international criminal justice, p. 13. New York: Plenum Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-306-43135-7
223.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 228
224.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 154
225.Jump up ^ Wallis, p. 192
226.^ Jump up to: a b Wallis, p. 215
227.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 250
228.Jump up ^ Miller, pp. 252–253
229.Jump up ^ Wallis, p. 193
230.^ Jump up to: a b Wallis, p. 196
231.Jump up ^ Reitman (2011), pp. 80–81
232.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 183
233.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 155
234.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 156
235.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "Penalties for Lower Conditions." HCO Policy Letter of October 18, 1967, Issue IV. Quoted in Atack, pp. 175–176
236.Jump up ^ Wallis, pp. 144–145
237.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 161
238.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 165
239.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 189
240.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 160
241.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 264
242.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 265
243.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 269
244.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 272
245.Jump up ^ Quoted in Miller, p. 297
246.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 299
247.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 300
248.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 290
249.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 310
250.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 295
251.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 296
252.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 311
253.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 312
254.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 159
255.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "Ron's Journal '67," quoted in Atack, p. 173.
256.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 32
257.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 173
258.^ Jump up to: a b c Atack, p. 177
259.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 285
260.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 286
261.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 180
262.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 186
263.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 289
264.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 301
265.Jump up ^ Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert (June 24, 1990). "The Mind Behind the Religion : Life With L. Ron Hubbard." Los Angeles Times, retrieved February 20, 2011.
266.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 236
267.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 325
268.Jump up ^ Corydon, Bent. L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?, p. 94. Fort Lee, N.J.: Barricade Books, 1992. ISBN 978-0-942637-57-1
269.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 314
270.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 318
271.^ Jump up to: a b "L. Ron Hubbard: A Chronicle, 1970–1979." Church of Scientology International, 2007, retrieved February 8, 2011.
272.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 316
273.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 255
274.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 256
275.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, p. 206
276.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, p. 204
277.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 334
278.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 336
279.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 338
280.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 340
281.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 343
282.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 344
283.Jump up ^ Sappell, Joel; Robert W. Welkos (June 24, 1990). "The Mind Behind the Religion : Life With L. Ron Hubbard : Aides indulged his eccentricities and egotism". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 19, 2011.
284.Jump up ^ Beresford, David (February 7, 1980). "Snow White's dirty tricks." London: The Guardian
285.Jump up ^ Miller, pp. 317–318
286.Jump up ^ Marshall, John (January 24, 1980). "The Scientology Papers: Hubbard still gave orders, records show." Toronto: Globe and Mail
287.Jump up ^ Streissguth, p. 75
288.^ Jump up to: a b Reitman (2007), p. 323
289.Jump up ^ Marshall, John (January 26, 1980). "The Scientology Papers: The hidden Hubbard." Toronto: Globe and Mail
290.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 258
291.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 259
292.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 364
293.^ Jump up to: a b c Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (June 24, 1990). The Mind Behind the Religion : Chapter Four : The Final Days : Deep in hiding, Hubbard kept tight grip on the church." Los Angeles Times, retrieved February 8, 2011.
294.Jump up ^ Queen, Edward L.; Prothero, Stephen R.; Shattuck, Gardiner H. Encyclopedia of American religious history, Volume 1, p. 493. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-0-8160-6660-5
295.Jump up ^ Walker, Jeff. The Ayn Rand Cult, p. 275. Chicago: Open Court, 1999. ISBN 978-0-8126-9390-4
296.Jump up ^ Garchik, Leah (March 17, 2006). "Leah Garchik (Daily Datebook)". San Francisco Chronicle (The Chronicle Publishing Co.). p. E16.
297.Jump up ^ Goldstein, Patrick (September 21, 1986). "Hubbard Hymns". Los Angeles Times. p. 40.
298.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 366
299.Jump up ^ Brown, Mark (January 30, 1986). "Creston provided quiet retreat for controversial church leader." The County Telegram-Tribune, San Luis Obispo, pp. 1A/5A.
300.Jump up ^ Behar, Richard (October 27, 1986). "The prophet and profits of Scientology." Forbes 400 (Forbes)
301.Jump up ^ Church of Scientology. L. Ron Hubbard's death. Image of Death Certificate. Retrieved on: 2012-06-15.
302.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 375
303.Jump up ^ Petrowsky, Marc. Sects, cults, and spiritual communities: a sociological analysis, p. 144. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1998. ISBN 978-0-275-95860-2
304.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 354
305.Jump up ^ [Staff] (February 7, 1986). "Hubbard Left Most of Estate to Scientology Church; Executor Appointed." The Associated Press
306.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, p. 356
307.Jump up ^ Lamont, p. 154
308.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 306
309.Jump up ^ Lattin, Don (February 12, 2001). "Scientology Founder's Family Life Far From What He Preached." San Francisco Chronicle, retrieved February 12, 2011.
310.^ Jump up to: a b Reitman (2007), p. 324
311.^ Jump up to: a b Gallagher, Eugene V.; Ashcraft, Michael. African Diaspora Traditions and Other American Innovations, p. 172; vol 5 of Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. ISBN 978-0-275-98717-6
312.Jump up ^ "Google Map".
313.Jump up ^ "Most published works by one author". GuinnessWorldRecords.com. Guinness World Records. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
314.Jump up ^ "Most translated author, same book". GuinnessWorldRecords.com. Guinness World Records. Retrieved February 22, 2011.
315.Jump up ^ "Most audio books published for one author". GuinnessWorldRecords.com. Guinness World Records. Retrieved February 22, 2011.
316.^ Jump up to: a b Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (June 28, 1990). "Costly Strategy Continues to Turn Out Bestsellers." Los Angeles Times, retrieved February 15, 2011.
317.Jump up ^ Bainbridge, William Sims. "Science and Religion: The Case of Scientology," in Bromley, David G.; Hammond, Phillip E. (eds). The Future of new religious movements, p. 63. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1987. ISBN 978-0-86554-238-9
318.Jump up ^ Jarvik, Elaine (September 20, 2004). "Scientology: Church now claims more than 8 million members". Deseret Morning News. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
319.Jump up ^ Associated Press. "Defections, court fights test Scientology." MSNBC.com, November 1, 2009, retrieved February 14, 2011
320.^ Jump up to: a b Rothstein, p. 24
321.Jump up ^ Rothstein, p. 20
322.Jump up ^ Available at www.lronhubbard.org
323.Jump up ^ Cowan, Douglas E.; Bromley, David G. Cults and new religions: a brief history, p. 30. Oxford: Blackwell, 2008. ISBN 978-1-4051-6128-2
324.^ Jump up to: a b http://www.lronhubbard.org/books/ron-series/biographical-encyclopedia.html
325.Jump up ^ Gallagher, Eugene V. The new religious movements experience in America, p. 216. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004. ISBN 978-0-313-32807-7
326.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 350
327.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, p. 46
328.Jump up ^ Shelor, George-Wayne. "Writer tells of Hubbard's 'faked past'." Clearwater Sun, May 10, 1984
329.Jump up ^ Breckenridge Jr., Paul G. (October 24, 1984). Memorandum of Intended Decision, Church of Scientology of California vs. Gerald Armstrong. Quoted by Miller, pp. 370-71
330.Jump up ^ Murtagh, Peter (October 10, 1987). "Scientologists fail to suppress book about church's founder." The Guardian.
References
Atack, Jon. A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics, and L. Ron Hubbard exposed. Carol Publishing Group, 1990. ISBN 978-0-8184-0499-3, OCLC 20934706
Behar, Richard Pushing Beyond the U.S.: Scientology makes its presence felt in Europe and Canada
Bromley, David G. "Making Sense of Scientology: Prophetic, Contractual Religion," in Lewis, James R. (ed.), Scientology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3 OCLC 232786014
Christensen, Dorthe Refslund. "Inventing L. Ron Hubbard: On the Construction and Maintenance of the Hagiographic Mythology of Scientology's Founder," pp. 227–258 in Lewis, James R.; Petersen, Jesper Aagaard: Controversial new religions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-19-515683-6, OCLC 53398162, available through Oxford Scholarship Online, doi:10.1093/019515682X.003.0011
Evans, Christopher. Cults of Unreason. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1974. ISBN 0-374-13324-7, OCLC 863421
Gardner, Martin. Fads and fallacies in the name of science. New York: Courier Dover Publications, 1957. ISBN 978-0-486-20394-2, OCLC 18598918
Jacobsen, Jeff Day, Robert RJ. What the Church of Scientology Doesn't Want You To Know
Lamont, Stewart. Religion Inc.: The Church of Scientology. London: Harrap, 1986. ISBN 978-0-245-54334-0, OCLC 23079677
Malko, George. Scientology: The Now Religion. New York: Delacorte Press, 1970. OCLC 115065
Melton, J. Gordon. Encyclopedic handbook of cults in America. Taylor & Francis; 1992. ISBN 978-0-8153-1140-9
Miller, Russell. Bare-faced Messiah: the true story of L. Ron Hubbard. London: Joseph, 1987. ISBN 0-7181-2764-1, OCLC 17481843
O'Brien, Helen. Dianetics in Limbo: A Documentary About Immortality. Philadelphia: Whitmore Publishing, 1966. OCLC 4797460
Pendle, George. Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons. Orlando, FL: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006. ISBN 978-0-15-603179-0, OCLC 55149255
Reitman, Janet. "Inside Scientology," pp. 305–348 of American Society of Magazine Editors (Ed.) The Best American Magazine Writing 2007. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-231-14391-2, OCLC 154711228
Reitman, Janet. Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. ISBN 978-0-618-88302-8, OCLC 651912263
Rolph, Cecil Hewitt Believe What You Like: what happened between the Scientologists and the National Association for Mental Health. London: Deutsch, 1973. ISBN 978-0-233-96375-4, OCLC 815558
Rothstein, Mikael. "Scientology, scripture and sacred traditions," in Lewis, James R.; Hammer, Olav (eds.): The invention of sacred tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-521-86479-4, OCLC 154706390
Streeter, Michael. Behind closed doors: the power and influence of secret societies. London: New Holland Publishers, 2008. ISBN 978-1-84537-937-7, OCLC 231589690
Streissguth, Thomas. Charismatic cult leaders. Minneapolis: The Oliver Press, 1995. ISBN 978-1-881508-18-2, OCLC 30892074
Tucker, Ruth A. Another Gospel: Cults, Alternative Religions, and the New Age Movement. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004. ISBN 978-0-310-25937-4, OCLC 19354219
Wallis, Roy. The road to total freedom: a sociological analysis of Scientology. New York: Columbia University Press, 1977. ISBN 978-0-231-04200-0, OCLC 2373469
Whitehead, Harriet. Renunciation and reformulation: a study of conversion in an American sect. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1987. ISBN 978-0-8014-1849-5, OCLC 14002616
Winter, Joseph A. A Doctor's Report on Dianetics: Theory and Therapy. New York: Julian Press, 1951. OCLC 1572759
External links

Portal icon Scientology portal
Portal icon Biography portal
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: L. Ron Hubbard
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to L. Ron Hubbard.
Sites run by Church of Scientology InternationalOfficial L. Ron Hubbard site
Biographical Profile of L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard: A Chronicle
Publishers' sitesAuthor Services Inc.[1] Publisher of L. Ron Hubbard's fiction
Bridge Publications Inc.[2] Publisher of L. Ron Hubbard's Scientology and Dianetics works
Writers of the Future[3] A contest founded in the early 1980s by L. Ron Hubbard to encourage upcoming fiction and fantasy writers
Unofficial biographies (online)Bare Faced Messiah by Russell Miller
A Biography of L. Ron Hubbard by Michael Linn Shannon
Further mention of HubbardBiographical documentation from The New Yorker
Operation Clambake. Critical material on Hubbard and Scientology
U.S. Government FBI Files for Hubbard via The Smoking Gun
'The Shrinking World of L. Ron Hubbard': Rare interview with Hubbard by an external documentary team on YouTube - World in Action, Granada TV, directed & produced by Charlie Nairn, 1967.
Frenschkowski, Marco, L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology: An annotated bibliographical survey of primary and selected secondary literature, Marburg Journal of Religion, Vol. 1. No. 1. July 1999, ISSN 1612-2941
L. Ron Hubbard at the Internet Movie Database
L. Ron Hubbard at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
L. Ron Hubbard at the Internet Book List


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
L. Ron Hubbard












































































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Scientology








































































































































































































Authority control
WorldCat ·
 VIAF: 95274115 ·
 LCCN: n79045389 ·
 ISNI: 0000 0003 5554 0314 ·
 GND: 11855400X ·
 SELIBR: 190881 ·
 BNF: cb119078718 (data) ·
 MusicBrainz: 8caff84c-ab05-466f-b607-c7d304b7360b ·
 NDL: 00443905 ·
 NKC: jn19990003716
 

  


Categories: L. Ron Hubbard
1911 births
1986 deaths
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American poets
American expatriates in England
American expatriates in Greece
American experimental musicians
American fantasy writers
American naval personnel of World War II
American occultists
American people convicted of fraud
American people convicted of theft
American religious leaders
American religious writers
American science fiction writers
American Scientologists
American self-help writers
American spiritual writers
Anti-psychiatry
Cardiovascular disease deaths in California
Criminals from California
Criminals from Nebraska
Conspiracy theorists
Deaths from stroke
Eagle Scouts
Founders of new religious movements
George Washington University alumni
History of religion in the United States
L. Ron Hubbard family
Musicians from California
Neurological disease deaths in the United States
Ordo Templi Orientis
People banned from entering the United Kingdom
People from Tilden, Nebraska
People from Helena, Montana
Pulp fiction writers
Scientology officials
United States Navy officers
Western (genre) writers
Writers from California
Writers from Nebraska
20th-century American musicians
American male novelists
American male musicians
20th-century American criminals



















Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

View source

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Afrikaans
العربية
Башҡортса
Беларуская
Беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎
Български
Català
Čeština
Cymraeg
Dansk
Deutsch
Eesti
Español
فارسی
Français
한국어
Italiano
עברית
Lietuvių
Magyar
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Piemontèis
Polski
Português
Română
Русский
Simple English
Slovenčina
Slovenščina
Suomi
Svenska
Türkçe
中文
Edit links
This page was last modified on 12 June 2015, at 17:23.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
  

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Ron_Hubbard









This is a featured article. Click here for more information.

Page semi-protected

L. Ron Hubbard

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to:  navigation , search


L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard in 1950.jpg
Hubbard in Los Angeles, 1950

Born
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard
March 13, 1911
Tilden, Nebraska, United States
Died
January 24, 1986 (aged 74)
Creston, California, United States

Cause of death
 Stroke
Education
George Washington University (dropped out in 1932)
Occupation
Author, religious leader
Known for
Founder of Scientology and its church
Notable work
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
Battlefield Earth
Net worth
US$600 million[1]
Religion
Scientology

Criminal charge
 Petty theft (in 1948),
Fraud (in absentia, 1978)

Criminal penalty
 Fine of ₣35,000 and four years in prison (unserved)
Spouse(s)
Margaret "Polly" Grubb (1933–1947)
Sara Northrup Hollister (1946–1951)
Mary Sue Whipp (1952–1986)
Children
7:
With Margaret Grubb:
L. Ron Hubbard Jr.* (d. 1991)
Katherine May Hubbard*
With Sara Hollister
Alexis Hubbard*
WIth Mary Sue Whipp:
Quentin Hubbard (d. 1976)
Diana Hubbard
Suzette Hubbard
Arthur Hubbard*
* Estranged from family.
Relatives
Jamie DeWolf (Great-grandson)
Signature
L. Ron Hubbard Signature.svg
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard (March 13, 1911 – January 24, 1986), better known as L. Ron Hubbard (/ɛl rɒn ˈhʌˌbərd/, ELL-ron-HUB-ərd[2]) and often referred to by his initials, LRH, was an American author and the founder of the Church of Scientology. After establishing a career as a writer, becoming best known for his science fiction and fantasy stories, he developed a self-help system called Dianetics which was first expounded in book form in May 1950. He subsequently developed his ideas into a wide-ranging set of doctrines and rituals as part of a new religious movement that he called Scientology. His writings became the guiding texts for the Church of Scientology and a number of affiliated organizations that address such diverse topics as business administration, literacy and drug rehabilitation.
Although many aspects of Hubbard's life story are disputed, there is general agreement about its basic outline.[3] Born in Tilden, Nebraska, he spent much of his childhood in Helena, Montana. He traveled in Asia and the South Pacific in the late 1920s after his father, an officer in the United States Navy, was posted to the U.S. naval base on Guam. He attended George Washington University in Washington, D.C. at the start of the 1930s, before dropping out and beginning his career as a prolific writer of pulp fiction stories. He served briefly in the United States Marine Corps Reserve and was an officer in the United States Navy during World War II, briefly commanding two ships, the USS YP-422 and USS PC-815. He was removed both times when his superiors found him incapable of command.[4] The last few months of his active service were spent in a hospital, being treated for a duodenal ulcer.[5]
After the war, Hubbard developed Dianetics, which he called "the modern science of mental health". He founded Scientology in 1952 and oversaw the growth of the Church of Scientology into a worldwide organization. During the late 1960s and early 1970s, he spent much of his time at sea on his personal fleet of ships as "Commodore" of the Sea Organization, an elite inner group of Scientologists. His expedition came to an end when Britain, Greece, Spain, Portugal, and Venezuela all closed their ports to his fleet. At one point, a court in Australia revoked the church's status as a religion. Similarly, a high court in France convicted Hubbard of fraud in absentia. He returned to the United States in 1975 and went into seclusion in the California desert. In 1983 L. Ron Hubbard was named as an unindicted co-conspirator in an international information infiltration and theft project called "Operation Snow White". He spent the remaining years of his life on his ranch near Creston, California, where he died in 1986.
The Church of Scientology describes Hubbard in hagiographic terms,[6] and he portrayed himself as a pioneering explorer, world traveler, and nuclear physicist with expertise in a wide range of disciplines, including photography, art, poetry, and philosophy. His critics, including his own son, have characterized him as a liar, a charlatan, and mentally unstable. Though many of his autobiographical statements have been proven to be fictitious,[7] the Church rejects any suggestion that its account of Hubbard's life is not historical fact.[8][9]


Contents  [hide]
1 Early life
2 University and explorations
3 Early literary career and Alaskan expedition
4 Military career
5 Occult involvement in Pasadena
6 Origins of Dianetics
7 From Dianetics to Scientology
8 Rise of Scientology
9 Controversies and crises
10 Commodore of the Sea Org
11 Life in hiding
12 Death and legacy
13 Biographies
14 In popular culture
15 Bibliography
16 Notes
17 References
18 External links

Early life
Main article: Early life of L. Ron Hubbard
Lafayette Ronald Hubbard was born in 1911, in Tilden, Nebraska.[10] He was the only child of Ledora May (née Waterbury), who had trained as a teacher, and Harry Ross Hubbard, a former United States Navy officer.[11][12] After moving to Kalispell, Montana, they settled in Helena in 1913.[12] Hubbard's father rejoined in the Navy in April 1917, during World War I, while his mother May worked as a clerk for the state government.[13]
Biographical accounts published by the Church of Scientology describe Hubbard as "a child prodigy of sorts" who rode a horse before he could walk and was able to read and write by the age of four.[14] A Scientology profile says that he was brought up on his grandfather's "large cattle ranch in Montana"[15] where he spent his days "riding, breaking broncos, hunting coyote and taking his first steps as an explorer".[16] His grandfather is described as a "wealthy Western cattleman" from whom Hubbard "inherited his fortune and family interests in America, Southern Africa, etc."[17] Scientology claims that Hubbard became a "blood brother" of the Native American Blackfeet tribe at the age of six through his friendship with a Blackfeet medicine man.[12][18]

Exterior view of a large building

 Queen Anne High School, Seattle, which L. Ron Hubbard attended in 1926–1927
However, contemporary records show that his grandfather, Lafayette Waterbury, was a veterinarian, not a rancher, and was not wealthy. Hubbard was actually raised in a townhouse in the center of Helena.[19] According to his aunt, his family did not own a ranch but did own one cow and four or five horses on a few acres of land outside the city.[16] Hubbard lived over a hundred miles from the Blackfeet reservation. The tribe did not practice blood brotherhood and no evidence has been found that he had ever been a Blackfeet blood brother.[20]
During the 1920s the Hubbards repeatedly relocated around the United States and overseas. After Hubbard's father Harry rejoined the Navy, his posting aboard the USS Oklahoma in 1921 required the family to relocate to the ship's home ports, first San Diego, then Seattle.[21] During a journey to Washington, D.C. in 1923 Hubbard learned of Freudian psychology from Commander Joseph "Snake" Thompson, a U.S. Navy psychoanalyst and medic.[21][22] Scientology biographies describe this encounter as giving Hubbard training in a particular scientific approach to the mind, which he found unsatisfying.[23] Hubbard was active in the Boy Scouts in Washington, D.C. and earned the rank of Eagle Scout in 1924, two weeks after his 13th birthday. In his diary, Hubbard claimed he was the youngest Eagle Scout in the U.S.[24]
The following year, Harry Ross Hubbard was posted to Puget Sound Naval Shipyard at Bremerton, Washington.[25] His son was enrolled at Union High School, Bremerton,[25] and later studied at Queen Anne High School in Seattle.[26] In 1927 Hubbard's father was sent to the U.S. Naval Station on Guam in the Mariana Islands of the South Pacific. Although Hubbard's mother also went to Guam, Hubbard himself did not accompany them but was placed in his grandparents' care in Helena, Montana to complete his schooling.[26]
Between 1927 and 1929 Hubbard traveled to Japan, China, the Philippines and Guam. Scientology texts present this period in his life as a time when he was intensely curious for answers to human suffering and explored ancient Eastern philosophies for answers, but found them lacking.[27] He is described as traveling to China "at a time when few Westerners could enter"[28] and according to Scientology, spent his time questioning Buddhist lamas and meeting old Chinese magicians.[27] According to church materials, his travels were funded by his "wealthy grandfather".[29]
Hubbard's unofficial biographers present a very different account of his travels in Asia. Hubbard's diaries recorded two trips to the east coast of China. The first was made in the company of his mother while traveling from the United States to Guam in 1927. It consisted of a brief stop-over in a couple of Chinese ports before traveling on to Guam, where he stayed for six weeks before returning home. He recorded his impressions of the places he visited and disdained the poverty of the inhabitants of Japan and China, whom he described as "gooks" and "lazy [and] ignorant". His second visit was a family holiday which took Hubbard and his parents to China via the Philippines in 1928.[30][31]

View of a coastal city from a high-altitude point at sea

 Aerial view of Qingdao, China, taken in 1930, two years after Hubbard's visit
After his return to the United States in September 1927, Hubbard enrolled at Helena High School but earned only poor grades.[32] He abandoned school the following May and went back west to stay with his aunt and uncle in Seattle. He joined his parents in Guam in June 1928. His mother took over his education in the hope of putting him forward for the entrance examination to the United States Naval Academy at Annapolis, Maryland.
Between October and December 1928 a number of naval families, including Hubbard's, traveled from Guam to China aboard the cargo ship USS Gold Star. The ship stopped at Manila in the Philippines before traveling on to Qingdao (Tsingtao) in China. Hubbard and his parents made a side trip to Beijing before sailing on to Shanghai and Hong Kong, from where they returned to Guam.[33] Scientology accounts present a different version of events, saying that Hubbard "made his way deep into Manchuria's Western Hills and beyond — to break bread with Mongolian bandits, share campfires with Siberian shamans and befriend the last in the line of magicians from the court of Kublai Khan".[34]
However, Hubbard did not record these events in his diary.[35] He remained unimpressed with China and the Chinese, writing: "A Chinaman can not live up to a thing, he always drags it down." He characterized the sights of Beijing as "rubberneck stations" for tourists and described the palaces of the Forbidden City as "very trashy-looking" and "not worth mentioning". He was impressed by the Great Wall of China near Beijing,[36] but concluded of the Chinese: "They smell of all the baths they didn't take. The trouble with China is, there are too many chinks here."[37]
Back on Guam, Hubbard spent much of his time writing dozens of short stories and essays[38] and failed the Naval Academy entrance examination. In September 1929 Hubbard was enrolled at the Swavely Preparatory School in Manassas, Virginia, to prepare him for a second attempt at the examination.[39] However, he was ruled out of consideration due to his near-sightedness.[40] He was instead sent to Woodward School for Boys in Washington, D.C. to qualify for admission to George Washington University. He successfully graduated from the school in June 1930 and entered the university the following September.[41]
University and explorations

Open gateway with the letters G and W and the phrase "Professors Gate" visible on the arch

 Professor's Gate at George Washington University
Hubbard studied civil engineering during his two years at George Washington University at the behest of his father, who "decreed that I should study engineering and mathematics".[42] While he did not graduate from George Washington, his time there subsequently became important because, as George Malko puts it, "many of his researches and published conclusions have been supported by his claims to be not only a graduate engineer, but 'a member of the first United States course in formal education in what is called today nuclear physics.'"[43] However, a Church of Scientology biography describes him as "never noted for being in class" and says that he "thoroughly detest[ed] his subjects".[44] He earned poor grades, was placed on probation in September 1931 and dropped out altogether in the fall of 1932.[43][45]
Scientology accounts say that he "studied nuclear physics at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., before he started his studies about the mind, spirit and life"[46] and Hubbard himself stated that he "set out to find out from nuclear physics a knowledge of the physical universe, something entirely lacking in Asian philosophy".[44] His university records indicate that his exposure to "nuclear physics" consisted of one class in "atomic and molecular phenomena" for which he earned an "F" grade.[47]
Scientologists claim he was more interested in extracurricular activities, particularly writing and flying. According to church materials, "he earned his wings as a pioneering barnstormer at the dawn of American aviation"[18] and was "recognized as one of the country's most outstanding pilots. With virtually no training time, he takes up powered flight and barnstorms throughout the Midwest."[48] His airman certificate, however, records that he qualified to fly only gliders rather than powered aircraft and gave up his certificate when he could not afford the renewal fee.[49]
During Hubbard's final semester he organized an expedition to the Caribbean for "fifty young gentleman rovers" aboard the schooner Doris Hamlin commencing in June 1932. The aims of the "Caribbean Motion Picture Expedition" were stated as being to explore and film the pirate "strongholds and bivouacs of the Spanish Main" and to "collect whatever one collects for exhibits in museums".[50] It ran into trouble even before it left the port of Baltimore: Ten participants quit and storms blew the ship far off course to Bermuda. Eleven more members of the expedition quit there and more left when the ship arrived at Martinique.[51] With the expedition running critically short of money, the ship's owners ordered it to return to Baltimore.[52]
Hubbard blamed the expedition's problems on the captain: "the ship's dour Captain Garfield proved himself far less than a Captain Courageous, requiring Ron Hubbard's hand at both the helm and the charts."[53] Specimens and photographs collected by the expedition are said by Scientology accounts to have been acquired by the University of Michigan, the U.S. Hydrographic Office, an unspecified national museum and the New York Times,[53][54] though none of those institutions have any record of this.[55] Hubbard later wrote that the expedition "was a crazy idea at best, and I knew it, but I went ahead anyway, chartered a four-masted schooner and embarked with some fifty luckless souls who haven't stopped their cursings yet."[56] He called it "a two-bit expedition and financial bust",[57] which resulted in some of its participants making legal claims against him for refunds.[58]

Aerial view of a coastal city from inland

 Luquillo, Puerto Rico, near where scientologists claim Hubbard carried out the "West Indies Mineralogical Survey" in 1932
After leaving university Hubbard traveled to Puerto Rico on what the Church of Scientology calls the "Puerto Rican Mineralogical Expedition".[59] Scientologists claim he "made the first complete mineralogical survey of Puerto Rico"[54] as a means of "augmenting his [father's] pay with a mining venture", during which he "sluiced inland rivers and crisscrossed the island in search of elusive gold" as well as carrying out "much ethnological work amongst the interior villages and native hillsmen".[59] Hubbard's unofficial biographer Russell Miller writes that neither the United States Geological Survey nor the Puerto Rican Department of Natural Resources have any record of any such expedition.[55]
According to Miller, Hubbard traveled to Puerto Rico in November 1932 after his father volunteered him for the Red Cross relief effort following the devastating 1932 San Ciprian hurricane.[55] In a 1957 lecture Hubbard said that he had been "a field executive with the American Red Cross in the Puerto Rico hurricane disaster".[60] According to his own account, Hubbard spent much of his time prospecting unsuccessfully for gold. Towards the end of his stay on Puerto Rico he appears to have done some work for a Washington, D.C. firm called West Indies Minerals Incorporated, accompanying a surveyor in an investigation of a small property near the town of Luquillo, Puerto Rico.[58] The survey was unsuccessful. A few years later, Hubbard wrote:

Harboring the thought that the Conquistadores might have left some gold behind, I determined to find it ... Gold prospecting in the wake of the Conquistadores, on the hunting grounds of the pirates in the islands which still reek of Columbus is romantic, and I do not begrudge the sweat which splashed in muddy rivers, and the bits of khaki which have probably blown away from the thorn bushes long ago ...
 After a half year or more of intensive search, after wearing my palms thin wielding a sample pack, after assaying a few hundred sacks of ore, I came back, a failure.[56]
Early literary career and Alaskan expedition
See also: Golden Age of Science Fiction and Excalibur (L. Ron Hubbard)

Monochrome drawing: a suited man confronts a skeletal supernatural creature, over whose shoulder two giant bats are visible

 Illustration by Edd Cartier for Hubbard's story "Fear"[61]
Hubbard became a well-known and prolific writer for pulp fiction magazines during the 1930s. Scientology texts describe him as becoming "well established as an essayist" even before he had concluded college. Scientology claims he "solved his finances, and his desire to travel by writing anything that came to hand"[44] and to have earned an "astronomical" rate of pay for the times.[62]
His literary career began with contributions to the George Washington University student newspaper, The University Hatchet, as a reporter for a few months in 1931.[41] Six of his pieces were published commercially during 1932 to 1933.[49] The going rate for freelance writers at the time was only a cent a word, so Hubbard's total earnings from these articles would have been less than $100.[63] The pulp magazine Thrilling Adventure became the first to publish one of his short stories, in February 1934.[64] Over the next six years, pulp magazines published around 140 of his short stories[65] under a variety of pen names, including Winchester Remington Colt, Kurt von Rachen, René Lafayette, Joe Blitz and Legionnaire 148.[66]
Although he was best known for his fantasy and science fiction stories, Hubbard wrote in a wide variety of genres, including adventure fiction, aviation, travel, mysteries, westerns and even romance.[67] Hubbard knew and associated with writers such as Isaac Asimov, Robert A. Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp and A. E. van Vogt.[68] His first full-length novel, Buckskin Brigades, was published in 1937.[69] He became a "highly idiosyncratic" writer of science fiction after being taken under the wing of editor John W. Campbell,[70] who published many of Hubbard's short stories and also serialized a number of well-received novelettes that Hubbard wrote for Campbell's magazines Unknown and Astounding. These included Fear, Final Blackout and Typewriter in the Sky.[71]
According to the Church of Scientology, Hubbard was "called to Hollywood" to work on film scripts in the mid-1930s, although Scientology accounts differ as to exactly when this was (whether 1935,[72] 1936[44] or 1937[48]). He wrote the script for The Secret of Treasure Island, a 1938 Columbia Pictures movie serial.[73] The Church of Scientology claims he also worked on the Columbia serials The Mysterious Pilot (1937), The Great Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok (1938) and The Spider Returns (1941),[48] though his name does not appear on the credits. Hubbard also claimed to have written Dive Bomber (1941),[74][75] Cecil B. DeMille's The Plainsman (1936) and John Ford's Stagecoach (1939).[76]
Hubbard's literary earnings helped him to support his new wife, Margaret "Polly" Grubb. She was already pregnant when they married on April 13, 1933, but she had a spontaneous abortion shortly afterwards; a few months later, she became pregnant again.[77] On May 7, 1934, she gave birth prematurely to a son who was named Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, Jr. and the nickname "His Nibs", invariably shortened to "Nibs".[78] Their second child, Katherine May, was born on January 15, 1936.[79] The Hubbards lived for a while in Laytonsville, Maryland, but were chronically short of money.[80]
In the spring of 1936 they moved to Bremerton, Washington. They lived there for a time with Hubbard's aunts and grandmother before finding a place of their own at nearby South Colby. According to one of his friends at the time, Robert MacDonald Ford, the Hubbards were "in fairly dire straits for money" but sustained themselves on the income from Hubbard's writing.[81] Hubbard spent an increasing amount of time in New York City,[82] working out of a hotel room where his wife suspected him of carrying on affairs with other women.[83][84]
Hubbard's authorship in mid-1938 of a still-unpublished manuscript called Excalibur is highlighted by the Church of Scientology as a key step in developing the principles of Scientology and Dianetics. The manuscript is said by Scientologists to have outlined "the basic principles of human existence"[44] and to have been the culmination of twenty years of research into "twenty-one races and cultures including Pacific Northwest Indian tribes, Philippine Tagalogs and, as he was wont to joke, the people of the Bronx".[85]
According to Arthur J. Cox, a contributor to John W. Campbell's Astounding magazine, Hubbard told a 1948 convention of science fiction fans that Excalibur‍‍ '​‍s inspiration came during an operation in which he "died" for eight minutes.[86] (Gerry Armstrong, Hubbard's archivist, explains this as a dental extraction performed under nitrous oxide, a chemical known for its hallucinogenic effects[87]):

Hubbard realized that, while he was dead, he had received a tremendous inspiration, a great Message which he must impart to others. He sat at his typewriter for six days and nights and nothing came out. Then, Excalibur emerged.[88]
Arthur J. Burks, the President of the American Fiction Guild, wrote that an excited Hubbard called him and said: "I want to see you right away. I have written THE book." Hubbard believed that Excalibur would "revolutionize everything" and that "it was somewhat more important, and would have a greater impact upon people, than the Bible."[89] It proposed that all human behavior could be explained in terms of survival and that to understand survival was to understand life.[90] As Hubbard biographer Jon Atack notes, "the notion that everything that exists is trying to survive became the basis of Dianetics and Scientology."[87]
According to Burks, Hubbard "was so sure he had something 'away out and beyond' anything else that he had sent telegrams to several book publishers, telling them that he had written 'THE book' and that they were to meet him at Penn Station, and he would discuss it with them and go with whomever gave him the best offer." However, nobody bought the manuscript.[89] Forrest J Ackerman, later Hubbard's literary agent, recalled that Hubbard told him "whoever read it either went insane or committed suicide. And he said that the last time he had shown it to a publisher in New York, he walked into the office to find out what the reaction was, the publisher called for the reader, the reader came in with the manuscript, threw it on the table and threw himself out of the skyscraper window."[91] Hubbard's failure to sell Excalibur depressed him; he told his wife in an October 1938 letter: "Writing action pulp doesn't have much agreement with what I want to do because it retards my progress by demanding incessant attention and, further, actually weakens my name. So you see I've got to do something about it and at the same time strengthen the old financial position."[92] He went on:

Sooner or later Excalibur will be published and I may have a chance to get some name recognition out of it so as to pave the way to articles and comments which are my ideas of writing heaven ... Foolishly perhaps, but determined none the less, I have high hopes of smashing my name into history so violently that it will take a legendary form even if all books are destroyed. That goal is the real goal as far as I am concerned.[92]
The manuscript later became part of Scientology mythology.[87] An early 1950s Scientology publication offered signed "gold-bound and locked" copies for the sum of $1,500 apiece (equivalent to about $29,000 now). It warned that "four of the first fifteen people who read it went insane" and that it would be "[r]eleased only on sworn statement not to permit other readers to read it. Contains data not to be released during Mr. Hubbard's stay on earth."[93]

Buildings visible at a shoreline with forest above

 Ketchikan, Alaska, where Hubbard and his wife were stranded during the "Alaskan Radio-Experimental Expedition"
Hubbard joined The Explorers Club in February 1940 on the strength of his claimed explorations in the Caribbean and survey flights in the United States.[94] He persuaded the club to let him carry its flag on an "Alaskan Radio-Experimental Expedition" to update the U.S. Coast Pilot guide to the coastlines of Alaska and British Columbia and investigate new methods of radio position-finding.[95] The expedition consisted of Hubbard and his wife—the children were left at South Colby—aboard his ketch Magician.[96]
Scientology accounts of the expedition describe "Hubbard's recharting of an especially treacherous Inside Passage, and his ethnological study of indigenous Aleuts and Haidas" and tell of how "along the way, he not only roped a Kodiak Bear, but braved seventy-mile-an-hour winds and commensurate seas off the Aleutian Islands."[97] They are divided about how far Hubbard's expedition actually traveled, whether 700 miles (1,100 km)[48] or 2,000 miles (3,200 km).[97]
Hubbard told The Seattle Star in a November 1940 letter that the expedition was plagued by problems and did not get any further than Ketchikan near the southern end of the Alaska Panhandle, far from the Aleutian Islands.[98] Magician's engine broke down only two days after setting off in July 1940. The Hubbards reached Ketchikan on August 30, 1940, after many delays following repeated engine breakdowns. The Ketchikan Chronicle reported—making no mention of the expedition—that Hubbard's purpose in coming to Alaska "was two-fold, one to win a bet and another to gather material for a novel of Alaskan salmon fishing".[96] Having underestimated the cost of the trip, he did not have enough money to repair the broken engine. He raised money by writing stories and contributing to the local radio station[99] and eventually earned enough to fix the engine,[94] making it back to Puget Sound on December 27, 1940.[99]
Military career
Main article: Military career of L. Ron Hubbard

Two men in naval uniform

 Lts (jg) L. Ron Hubbard and Thomas S. Moulton in Portland, Oregon in 1943
After returning from Alaska, Hubbard applied to join the United States Navy. His Congressman, Warren G. Magnuson, wrote to President Roosevelt to recommend Hubbard as "a gentleman of reputation" who was "a respected explorer" and had "marine masters papers for more types of vessels than any other man in the United States". Hubbard was described as "a key figure" in writing organizations, "making him politically potent nationally". The Congressman concluded: "Anything you can do for Mr Hubbard will be appreciated." His friend Robert MacDonald Ford, by now a State Representative for Washington, sent a letter of recommendation describing Hubbard as "one of the most brilliant men I have ever known". It called Hubbard "a powerful influence" in the Northwest and said that he was "well known in many parts of the world and has considerable influence in the Caribbean and Alaska". The letter declared that "for courage and ability I cannot too strongly recommend him." Ford later said that Hubbard had written the letter himself: "I don't know why Ron wanted a letter. I just gave him a letter-head and said, 'Hell, you're the writer, you write it!'"[100]
Hubbard was commissioned as a Lieutenant (junior grade) in the U.S. Naval Reserve on July 19, 1941. His military service forms a major element of his public persona as portrayed by Scientologists.[101] The Church of Scientology presents him as a "much-decorated war hero who commanded a corvette and during hostilities was crippled and wounded".[102] Scientology publications say he served as a "Commodore of Corvette squadrons" in "all five theaters of World War II" and was awarded "twenty-one medals and palms" for his service.[103] He was "severely wounded and was taken crippled and blinded" to a military hospital, where he "worked his way back to fitness, strength and full perception in less than two years, using only what he knew and could determine about Man and his relationship to the universe".[72] He said that he had seen combat repeatedly, telling A. E. van Vogt that he had once sailed his ship "right into the harbor of a Japanese occupied island in the Dutch East Indies. His attitude was that if you took your flag down the Japanese would not know one boat from another, so he tied up at the dock, went ashore and wandered around by himself for three days."[104]
The Los Angeles Times Hubbard's official Navy service records indicate that "his military performance was, at times, substandard" and he received only four campaign medals rather than twenty-one. He was never recorded as being injured or wounded in combat and so never received a Purple Heart.[16] Most of his military service was spent ashore in the continental United States on administrative or training duties. He served for a short time in Australia but was sent home after quarreling with his superiors. He briefly commanded two anti-submarine vessels, the USS YP-422 and USS PC-815, in coastal waters off Massachusetts, Oregon and California in 1942 and 1943 respectively.[16]
After Hubbard reported that the PC-815 had attacked and crippled or sunk two Japanese submarines off Oregon in May 1943, his claim was rejected by the commander of the Northwest Sea Frontier.[16] Hubbard and Thomas Moulton, his second in command on the PC-815, later said the Navy wanted to avoid panic on the mainland.[105] A month later Hubbard unwittingly sailed the PC-815 into Mexican territorial waters and conducted gunnery practice off the Coronado Islands, in the belief that they were uninhabited and belonged to the United States. The Mexican government complained and Hubbard was relieved of command. A fitness report written after the incident rated Hubbard as unsuitable for independent duties and "lacking in the essential qualities of judgment, leadership and cooperation".[106] He served for a while as the Navigation and Training Officer for the USS Algol while it was based at Portland. A fitness report from this period recommended promotion, describing him as "a capable and energetic officer, [but] very temperamental", and an "above average navigator".[107] However, he never held another such position and did not serve aboard another ship after the Algol.

Naval ship moving forward in water

 The USS PC-815, Hubbard's second and final command
Hubbard's war service has great significance in the history and mythology of the Church of Scientology, as he is said to have cured himself through techniques that would later underpin Scientology and Dianetics. According to Moulton, Hubbard told him that he had been machine-gunned in the back near the Dutch East Indies. Hubbard asserted that his eyes had been damaged as well, either "by the flash of a large-caliber gun" or when he had "a bomb go off in my face".[16] Scientology texts say that he returned from the war "[b]linded with injured optic nerves, and lame with physical injuries to hip and back" and was twice pronounced dead.[9]
His medical records state that he was hospitalized with an acute duodenal ulcer rather than a war injury.[citation needed] He told his doctors that he was suffering from lameness caused by a hip infection[16] and he told Look magazine in December 1950 that he had suffered from "ulcers, conjunctivitis, deteriorating eyesight, bursitis and something wrong with my feet".[57] He was still complaining in 1951 of eye problems and stomach pains, which had given him "continuous trouble" for eight years, especially when "under nervous stress". This came well after Hubbard had promised that Dianetics would provide "a cure for the very ailments that plagued the author himself then and throughout his life, including allergies, arthritis, ulcers and heart problems".[16]
The Church of Scientology says that Hubbard's key breakthrough in the development of Dianetics was made at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital in Oakland, California. According to the Church,

In early 1945, while recovering from war injuries at Oak Knoll Naval Hospital, Mr. Hubbard conducts a series of tests and experiments dealing with the endocrine system. He discovers that, contrary to long-standing beliefs, function monitors structure. With this revolutionary advance, he begins to apply his theories to the field of the mind and thereby to improve the conditions of others.[108]
An October 1945 Naval Board found that Hubbard was "considered physically qualified to perform duty ashore, preferably within the continental United States".[109] He was discharged from hospital on December 4, 1945, and transferred to inactive duty on February 17, 1946. He resigned his commission with effect from October 30, 1950.[110] The Church of Scientology says he quit because the U.S. Navy "attempted to monopolize all his researches and force him to work on a project 'to make man more suggestible' and when he was unwilling, tried to blackmail him by ordering him back to active duty to perform this function. Having many friends he was able to instantly resign from the Navy and escape this trap."[111] The Navy said in a statement in 1980: "There is no evidence on record of an attempt to recall him to active duty."[110]
The Church disputes the official record of Hubbard's naval career. It asserts that the records are incomplete and perhaps falsified "to conceal Hubbard's secret activities as an intelligence officer".[16] In 1990 the Church provided the Los Angeles Times with a document that was said to be a copy of Hubbard's official record of service. The U.S. Navy told the Times that "its contents are not supported by Hubbard's personnel record."[16] The New Yorker reported in February 2011 that the Scientology document was considered by federal archivists to be a forgery.[9]
Nevertheless, the German Protestant theologian and history of religion scholar Marco Frenschkowski wrote in the Marburg Journal of Religion that he has a personal collection of all Hubbard's military records and has confirmed most of Hubbard's statements about his military career.[67]
Occult involvement in Pasadena
See also: Scientology and the occult
Hubbard's life underwent a turbulent period immediately after the war. According to his own account, he "was abandoned by family and friends as a supposedly hopeless cripple and a probable burden upon them for the rest of my days".[112] His daughter Katherine presented a rather different version: his wife had refused to uproot their children from their home in Bremerton, Washington, to join him in California. Their marriage was by now in terminal difficulties and he chose to stay in California.[113]
In August 1945 Hubbard moved into the Pasadena mansion of John "Jack" Whiteside Parsons. A leading rocket propulsion researcher at the California Institute of Technology and a founder of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Parsons led a double life as an avid occultist and Thelemite, follower of the English ceremonial magician Aleister Crowley and leader of a lodge of Crowley's magical order, Ordo Templi Orientis (OTO).[9][114] He let rooms in the house only to tenants who he specified should be "atheists and those of a Bohemian disposition".[115]
Hubbard befriended Parsons and soon became sexually involved with Parsons's 21-year-old girlfriend, Sara "Betty" Northrup.[116] Despite this Parsons was very impressed with Hubbard and reported to Crowley:

[Hubbard] is a gentleman; he has red hair, green eyes, is honest and intelligent, and we have become great friends. He moved in with me about two months ago, and although Betty and I are still friendly, she has transferred her sexual affection to Ron. Although he has no formal training in Magick, he has an extraordinary amount of experience and understanding in the field. From some of his experiences I deduced that he is in direct touch with some higher intelligence, possibly his Guardian Angel. He describes his Angel as a beautiful winged woman with red hair whom he calls the Empress and who has guided him through his life and saved him many times. He is the most Thelemic person I have ever met and is in complete accord with our own principles.[117]
Parsons and Hubbard collaborated on the "Babalon Working", a sex magic ritual intended to summon an incarnation of Babalon, the supreme Thelemite Goddess. It was undertaken over several nights in February and March 1946 in order to summon an "elemental" who would participate in further sex magic.[118] As Richard Metzger describes it,

Parsons used his "magical wand" to whip up a vortex of energy so the elemental would be summoned. Translated into plain English, Parsons jerked off in the name of spiritual advancement whilst Hubbard (referred to as "The Scribe" in the diary of the event) scanned the astral plane for signs and visions.[119]
The "elemental" arrived a few days later in the form of Marjorie Cameron, who agreed to participate in Parsons' rites.[118] Soon afterwards, Parsons, Hubbard and Sara agreed to set up a business partnership, "Allied Enterprises", in which they invested nearly their entire savings—the vast majority contributed by Parsons. The plan was for Hubbard and Sara to buy yachts in Miami and sail them to the West Coast to sell for a profit. Hubbard had a different idea; he wrote to the U.S. Navy requesting permission to leave the country "to visit Central & South America & China" for the purposes of "collecting writing material"—in other words, undertaking a world cruise.[120] Aleister Crowley strongly criticized Parsons's actions, writing: "Suspect Ron playing confidence trick—Jack Parsons weak fool—obvious victim prowling swindlers." Parsons attempted to recover his money by obtaining an injunction to prevent Hubbard and Sara leaving the country or disposing of the remnants of his assets.[121] They attempted to sail anyway but were forced back to port by a storm. A week later, Allied Enterprises was dissolved. Parsons received only a $2,900 promissory note from Hubbard and returned home "shattered". He had to sell his mansion to developers soon afterwards to recoup his losses.[122]
Hubbard's fellow writers were well aware of what had happened between him and Parsons. L. Sprague de Camp wrote to Isaac Asimov on August 27, 1946, to tell him:

The more complete story of Hubbard is that he is now in Fla. living on his yacht with a man-eating tigress named Betty-alias-Sarah, another of the same kind ... He will probably soon thereafter arrive in these parts with Betty-Sarah, broke, working the poor-wounded-veteran racket for all its worth, and looking for another easy mark. Don't say you haven't been warned. Bob [Robert Heinlein] thinks Ron went to pieces morally as a result of the war. I think that's fertilizer, that he always was that way, but when he wanted to conciliate or get something from somebody he could put on a good charm act. What the war did was to wear him down to where he no longer bothers with the act.[123]
Scientology accounts do not mention Hubbard's involvement in occultism. He is instead described as "continu[ing] to write to help support his research" during this period into "the development of a means to better the condition of man".[124] The Church of Scientology has nonetheless acknowledged Hubbard's involvement with the OTO; a 1969 statement, written by Hubbard himself,[125] said:

Hubbard broke up black magic in America ... L. Ron Hubbard was still an officer of the U.S. Navy, because he was well known as a writer and a philosopher and had friends amongst the physicists, he was sent in to handle the situation. He went to live at the house and investigated the black magic rites and the general situation and found them very bad ...
Hubbard's mission was successful far beyond anyone's expectations. The house was torn down. Hubbard rescued a girl they were using. The black magic group was dispersed and destroyed and has never recovered.[126]
The Church of Scientology says Hubbard was "sent in" by his fellow science fiction author Robert Heinlein, "who was running off-book intelligence operations for naval intelligence at the time". However, Heinlein's authorized biographer has said that he looked into the matter at the suggestion of Scientologists but found nothing to corroborate claims that Heinlein had been involved, and his biography of Heinlein makes no mention of the matter.[9]
On August 10, 1946, Hubbard bigamously married Sara, while still married to Polly. It was not until 1947 that his first wife learned that he had remarried. Hubbard agreed to divorce Polly in June that year and the marriage was dissolved shortly afterwards, with Polly given custody of the children.[127]
Origins of Dianetics

Illustrated cover of Fantastic Adventures magazine, depicting two figures hiding behind an enormous crystal as a giant leers over them

Masters of Sleep, one of Hubbard's last works of pulp fiction, on the cover of the October 1950 issue of Fantastic Adventures
After Hubbard's wedding to Sara, the couple settled at Laguna Beach, California, where Hubbard took a short-term job looking after a friend's yacht[128] before resuming his fiction writing to supplement the small disability allowance that he was receiving as a war veteran.[129] Working from a trailer in a run-down area of North Hollywood,[127] Hubbard sold a number of science fiction stories that included his Ole Doc Methuselah series and the serialized novels The End Is Not Yet and To the Stars.[70] However, he remained short of money and his son, L. Ron Hubbard Jr, testified later that Hubbard was dependent on his own father and Margaret's parents for money and his writings, which he was paid at a penny per word, never garnered him any more than $10,000 prior to the founding of Scientology.[130] He repeatedly wrote to the Veterans Administration (VA) asking for an increase in his war pension. In October 1947 he wrote:

After trying and failing for two years to regain my equilibrium in civil life, I am utterly unable to approach anything like my own competence. My last physician informed me that it might be very helpful if I were to be examined and perhaps treated psychiatrically or even by a psychoanalyst. Toward the end of my service I avoided out of pride any mental examinations, hoping that time would balance a mind which I had every reason to suppose was seriously affected. I cannot account for nor rise above long periods of moroseness and suicidal inclinations, and have newly come to realize that I must first triumph above this before I can hope to rehabilitate myself at all.[131]
The VA eventually did increase his pension,[132] but his money problems continued. On August 31, 1948, he was arrested in San Luis Obispo, California, and subsequently pled guilty to a charge of petty theft, for which he was ordered to pay a $25 fine.[133] According to the Church of Scientology, around this time he "accept[ed] an appointment as a Special Police Officer with the Los Angeles Police Department and us[ed] the position to study society's criminal elements"[48] and also "worked with neurotics from the Hollywood film community".[134]
Hubbard has been quoted as telling a science fiction convention in 1948: "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."[135]
In late 1948 Hubbard and Sara moved to Savannah, Georgia.[136] Here, Scientology sources say, he "volunteer[ed] his time in hospitals and mental wards, saving the lives of patients with his counseling techniques".[137] Hubbard began to make the first public mentions of what was to become Dianetics. He wrote in January 1949 that he was working on a "book of psychology" about "the cause and cure of nervous tension", which he was going to call The Dark Sword, Excalibur or Science of the Mind.[138] In April 1949, Hubbard wrote to several professional organizations to offer his research.[139] None were interested, so he turned to his editor John W. Campbell, who was more receptive due to a long-standing fascination with fringe psychologies and psychic powers ("psionics") that "permeated both his fiction and non-fiction".[140]
Campbell invited Hubbard and Sara to move into a cottage at Bay Head, New Jersey, not far from his own home at Plainfield. In July 1949, Campbell recruited an acquaintance, Dr. Joseph Winter, to help develop Hubbard's new therapy of "Dianetics". Campbell told Winter:

With cooperation from some institutions, some psychiatrists, [Hubbard] has worked on all types of cases. Institutionalized schizophrenics, apathies, manics, depressives, perverts, stuttering, neuroses—in all, nearly 1000 cases. But just a brief sampling of each type; he doesn't have proper statistics in the usual sense. But he has one statistic. He has cured every patient he worked with. He has cured ulcers, arthritis, asthma.[141]
Hubbard collaborated with Campbell and Winter to refine his techniques,[142] testing them on science fiction fans recruited by Campbell.[143] The basic principle of Dianetics was that the brain recorded every experience and event in a person's life, even when unconscious. Bad or painful experiences were stored as what he called "engrams" in a "reactive mind". These could be triggered later in life, causing emotional and physical problems. By carrying out a process he called "auditing", a person could be regressed through his engrams to re-experiencing past experiences. This enabled engrams to be "cleared". The subject, who would now be in a state of "Clear", would have a perfectly functioning mind with an improved IQ and photographic memory.[144] The "Clear" would be cured of physical ailments ranging from poor eyesight to the common cold,[145] which Hubbard asserted were purely psychosomatic.[146]
Winter submitted a paper on Dianetics to the Journal of the American Medical Association and the American Journal of Psychiatry but both journals rejected it.[147] Hubbard and his collaborators decided to announce Dianetics in Campbell's Astounding Science Fiction instead. In an editorial, Campbell said: "Its power is almost unbelievable; it proves the mind not only can but does rule the body completely; following the sharply defined basic laws set forth, physical ills such as ulcers, asthma and arthritis can be cured, as can all other psychosomatic ills."[148] The birth of Hubbard's second daughter Alexis Valerie, delivered by Winter on March 8, 1950, came in the middle of the preparations to launch Dianetics.[141] A "Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation" was established in April 1950 in Elizabeth, New Jersey, with Hubbard, Sara, Winter and Campbell on the board of directors. Dianetics was duly launched in Astounding's May 1950 issue and on May 9, Hubbard's companion book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health was published.[149]
From Dianetics to Scientology
Main article: History of Dianetics

A mostly seated crowd watches as Hubbard, seated on a chair, speaks to a woman lying prone in front of him.

 Hubbard conducting a Dianetics seminar in Los Angeles, 1950
Hubbard called Dianetics "a milestone for man comparable to his discovery of fire and superior to his invention of the wheel and the arch". It was an immediate commercial success and sparked what Martin Gardner calls "a nation-wide cult of incredible proportions".[150] By August 1950, Hubbard's book had sold 55,000 copies, was selling at the rate of 4,000 a week and was being translated into French, German and Japanese. Five hundred Dianetic auditing groups had been set up across the United States.[151]
Dianetics was poorly received by the press and the scientific and medical professions.[151] The American Psychological Association criticized Hubbard's claims as "not supported by empirical evidence".[57] Scientific American said that Hubbard's book contained "more promises and less evidence per page than any publication since the invention of printing",[152] while The New Republic called it a "bold and immodest mixture of complete nonsense and perfectly reasonable common sense, taken from long acknowledged findings and disguised and distorted by a crazy, newly invented terminology".[153] Some of Hubbard's fellow science fiction writers also criticized it; Isaac Asimov considered it "gibberish"[68] while Jack Williamson called it "a lunatic revision of Freudian psychology".[154]
Several famous individuals became involved with Dianetics. Aldous Huxley received auditing from Hubbard himself;[155] the poet Jean Toomer[156] and the science fiction writers Theodore Sturgeon[157] and A. E. van Vogt became trained Dianetics auditors. Van Vogt temporarily abandoned writing and became the head of the newly established Los Angeles branch of the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation. Other branches were established in New York, Washington, D.C., Chicago, and Honolulu.[158][159]
Although Dianetics was not cheap, a great many people were nonetheless willing to pay; van Vogt later recalled "doing little but tear open envelopes and pull out $500 checks from people who wanted to take an auditor's course".[158] Financial controls were lax. Hubbard himself withdrew large sums with no explanation of what he was doing with it. On one occasion, van Vogt saw Hubbard taking a lump sum of $56,000 (equivalent to $0.5 million at 2010 prices) out of the Los Angeles Foundation's proceeds.[158] One of Hubbard's employees, Helen O'Brien, commented that at the Elizabeth, N.J. branch of the Foundation, the books showed that "a month's income of $90,000 is listed, with only $20,000 accounted for".[160]
Hubbard played a very active role in the Dianetics boom, writing, lecturing and training auditors. Many of those who knew him spoke of being impressed by his personal charisma. Jack Horner, who became a Dianetics auditor in 1950, later said, "He was very impressive, dedicated and amusing. The man had tremendous charisma; you just wanted to hear every word he had to say and listen for any pearl of wisdom."[161] Isaac Asimov recalled in his autobiography how, at a dinner party, he, Robert Heinlein, L. Sprague de Camp and their wives "all sat as quietly as pussycats and listened to Hubbard. He told tales with perfect aplomb and in complete paragraphs."[68] As Atack comments, he was "a charismatic figure who compelled the devotion of those around him".[162] Christopher Evans described the personal qualities that Hubbard brought to Dianetics and Scientology:

He undoubtedly has charisma, a magnetic lure of an indefinable kind which makes him the centre of attraction in any kind of gathering. He is also a compulsive talker and pontificator ... His restless energy keeps him on the go throughout a long day—he is a poor sleeper and rises very early—and provides part of the drive which has allowed him to found and propagate a major international organization.[163]
Hubbard's supporters soon began to have doubts about Dianetics. Winter became disillusioned and wrote that he had never seen a single convincing Clear: "I have seen some individuals who are supposed to have been 'clear,' but their behavior does not conform to the definition of the state. Moreover, an individual supposed to have been 'clear' has undergone a relapse into conduct which suggests an incipient psychosis."[164] He also deplored the Foundation's omission of any serious scientific research.[165] Dianetics lost public credibility in August 1950 when a presentation by Hubbard before an audience of 6,000 at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles failed disastrously.[166] He introduced a Clear named Sonya Bianca and told the audience that as a result of undergoing Dianetic therapy she now possessed perfect recall. However, Gardner writes, "in the demonstration that followed, she failed to remember a single formula in physics (the subject in which she was majoring) or the color of Hubbard's tie when his back was turned. At this point, a large part of the audience got up and left."[167]
Hubbard also faced other practitioners moving into leadership positions within the Dianetics community. It was structured as an open, public practice in which others were free to pursue their own lines of research and claim that their approaches to auditing produced better results than Hubbard's.[168] The community rapidly splintered and its members mingled Hubbard's ideas with a wide variety of esoteric and even occult practices.[169] By late 1950, the Elizabeth, N.J. Foundation was in financial crisis and the Los Angeles Foundation was more than $200,000 in debt.[170] Winter and Art Ceppos, the publisher of Hubbard's book, resigned under acrimonious circumstances.[155] Campbell also resigned, criticizing Hubbard for being impossible to work with, and blamed him for the disorganization and financial ruin of the Foundations.[171] By the summer of 1951, the Elizabeth, N.J. Foundation and all of its branches had closed.[160]
The collapse of Hubbard's marriage to Sara created yet more problems. He had begun an affair with his 20-year-old public relations assistant in late 1950, while Sara started a relationship with Dianetics auditor Miles Hollister.[172] Hubbard secretly denounced the couple to the FBI in March 1951, portraying them in a letter as communist infiltrators. According to Hubbard, Sara was "currently intimate with [communists] but evidently under coercion. Drug addiction set in fall 1950. Nothing of this known to me until a few weeks ago." Hollister was described as having a "sharp chin, broad forehead, rather Slavic". He was said to be the "center of most turbulence in our organization" and "active and dangerous".[173] The FBI did not take Hubbard seriously: an agent annotated his correspondence with the comment, "Appears mental."[135]
Three weeks later, Hubbard and two Foundation staff seized Sara and his year-old daughter Alexis and forcibly took them to San Bernardino, California, where he attempted unsuccessfully to find a doctor to examine Sara and declare her insane.[174] He let Sara go but took Alexis to Havana, Cuba. Sara filed a divorce suit on April 23, 1951, that accused him of marrying her bigamously and subjecting her to sleep deprivation, beatings, strangulation, kidnapping and exhortations to commit suicide.[175] The case led to newspaper headlines such as "Ron Hubbard Insane, Says His Wife."[176] Sara finally secured the return of her daughter in June 1951 by agreeing to a settlement with her husband in which she signed a statement, written by him, declaring:

The things I have said about L. Ron Hubbard in courts and the public prints have been grossly exaggerated or entirely false. I have not at any time believed otherwise than that L. Ron Hubbard is a fine and brilliant man.[177]
Dianetics appeared to be on the edge of total collapse. However, it was saved by Don Purcell, a millionaire businessman and Dianeticist who agreed to support a new Foundation in Wichita, Kansas. Their collaboration ended after less than a year when they fell out over the future direction of Dianetics.[178] The Wichita Foundation became financially nonviable after a court ruled that it was liable for the unpaid debts of its defunct predecessor in Elizabeth, N.J. The ruling prompted Purcell and the other directors of the Wichita Foundation to file for voluntary bankruptcy in February 1952.[172] Hubbard resigned immediately and accused Purcell of having been bribed by the American Medical Association to destroy Dianetics.[178] Hubbard established a "Hubbard College" on the other side of town where he continued to promote Dianetics while fighting Purcell in the courts over the Foundation's intellectual property.[179]
Only six weeks after setting up the Hubbard College and marrying a staff member, 18-year-old Mary Sue Whipp, Hubbard closed it down and moved with his new bride to Phoenix, Arizona. He established a Hubbard Association of Scientologists International to promote his new "Science of Certainty"—Scientology.[180]
Rise of Scientology
Main article: Scientology
See also: Timeline of Scientology

Exterior view of a building from the street

 Hubbard established an "Academy of Scientology" at this Northwest, Washington, D.C. building in 1955. It is now the L. Ron Hubbard House museum.
The Church of Scientology attributes its genesis to Hubbard's discovery of "a new line of research", first set out in his book Science of Survival—"that man is most fundamentally a spiritual being".[181] Non-Scientologist writers have suggested alternative motives: that he aimed "to reassert control over his creation",[169] that he believed "he was about to lose control of Dianetics",[178] or that he wanted to ensure "he would be able to stay in business even if the courts eventually awarded control of Dianetics and its valuable copyrights to ... the hated Don Purcell."[182]
Hubbard expanded upon the basics of Dianetics to construct a spiritually oriented (though at this stage not religious) doctrine based on the concept that the true self of a person was a thetan—an immortal, omniscient and potentially omnipotent entity.[183] Hubbard taught that the thetans, having created the material universe, had forgotten their god-like powers and become trapped in physical bodies.[184] Scientology aimed to "rehabilitate" each person's thetan to restore its original capacities and become once again an "Operating Thetan".[182][183] Hubbard insisted humanity was imperiled by the forces of "aberration", which were the result of engrams carried by the immortal thetans for billions of years.[178]
Hubbard introduced a device called an E-meter that he presented as having, as Miller puts it, "an almost mystical power to reveal an individual's innermost thoughts".[185] He promulgated Scientology through a series of lectures, bulletins and books such as A History of Man ("a cold-blooded and factual account of your last sixty trillion years")[185] and Scientology: 8-8008 ("With this book, the ability to make one's body old or young at will, the ability to heal the ill without physical contact, the ability to cure the insane and the incapacitated, is set forth for the physician, the layman, the mathematician and the physicist.")[186]
Scientology was organized in a very different way from the decentralized Dianetics movement. The Hubbard Association of Scientologists (HAS) was the only official Scientology organization. Training procedures and doctrines were standardized and promoted through HAS publications, and administrators and auditors were not permitted to deviate from Hubbard's approach.[169] Branches or "orgs" were organized as franchises, rather like a fast food restaurant chain. Each franchise holder was required to pay ten percent of income to Hubbard's central organization. They were expected to find new recruits, known as "raw meat", but were restricted to providing only basic services. Costlier higher-level auditing was only provided by Hubbard's central organization.[187]
Although this model would eventually be extremely successful, Scientology was a very small-scale movement at first. Hubbard started off with only a few dozen followers, generally dedicated Dianeticists; a seventy-hour series of lectures in Philadelphia in December 1952 was attended by just 38 people.[188] Hubbard was joined in Phoenix by his 18-year-old son Nibs, who had been unable to settle down in high school.[189] Nibs had decided to become a Scientologist, moved into his father's home and went on to become a Scientology staff member and "professor".[190] Hubbard also traveled to the United Kingdom to establish his control over a Dianetics group in London. It was very much a shoestring operation; as Helen O'Brien later recalled, "there was an atmosphere of extreme poverty and undertones of a grim conspiracy over all. At 163 Holland Park Avenue was an ill-lit lecture room and a bare-boarded and poky office some eight by ten feet—mainly infested by long haired men and short haired and tatty women."[191] On September 24, 1952, only a few weeks after arriving in London, Hubbard's wife Mary Sue gave birth to her first child, a daughter whom they named Diana Meredith de Wolfe Hubbard.[192]
In February 1953, Hubbard acquired a doctorate from the unaccredited Sequoia University. According to a Scientology biography, this was "given in recognition of his outstanding work on Dianetics" and "as an inspiration to the many people ... who had been inspired by him to take up advanced studies in this field ..."[111] The British government concluded in the 1970s that Sequoia University was a "degree mill" operated by Joseph Hough, a Los Angeles chiropractor.[193] Miller cites a telegram sent by Hubbard on February 27, 1953, in which he instructed Scientologist Richard de Mille to procure him a Ph.D. from Hough urgently—"FOR GOSH SAKES EXPEDITE. WORK HERE UTTERLY DEPENDANT ON IT."[194] Hough's "university" was closed down by the Californian authorities in 1971. British government officials noted in a report written in 1977: "It has not and never had any authority whatsoever to issue diplomas or degrees and the dean is sought by the authorities 'for questioning'."[193]
A few weeks after becoming "Dr." Hubbard, he wrote to Helen O'Brien—who had taken over the day-to-day management of Scientology in the United States—proposing that Scientology should be transformed into a religion.[195] As membership declined and finances grew tighter, Hubbard had reversed the hostility to religion he voiced in Dianetics.[196] His letter to O'Brien discussed the legal and financial benefits of religious status.[196] The idea may not have been new; Hubbard has been quoted as telling a science fiction convention in 1948: "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."[135][197][198] Scholar J. Gordon Melton notes, "There is no record of Hubbard having every made this statement, though several of his science fiction colleagues have noted the broaching of the subject on one of their informal conversations."[199] The Church of Scientology has denied that Hubbard said this and insists that it is a misattributed quote that was said instead by George Orwell.[200] Hubbard outlined plans for setting up a chain of "Spiritual Guidance Centers" charging customers $500 for twenty-four hours of auditing ("That is real money ... Charge enough and we'd be swamped."). He wrote:

I await your reaction on the religion angle. In my opinion, we couldn't get worse public opinion than we have had or have less customers with what we've got to sell. A religious charter would be necessary in Pennsylvania or NJ to make it stick. But I sure could make it stick.[201]
O'Brien was not enthusiastic and resigned the following September, worn out by work.[202] She criticized Hubbard for creating "a temperate zone voodoo, in its inelasticity, unexplainable procedures, and mindless group euphoria".[203] He nonetheless pressed ahead and on December 18, 1953, he incorporated the Church of Scientology, Church of American Science and Church of Spiritual Engineering in Camden, New Jersey.[204] Hubbard, his wife Mary Sue and his secretary John Galusha became the trustees of all three corporations.[205] Hubbard later denied founding the Church of Scientology, and to this day, Scientologists maintain that the "founding church" was actually the Church of Scientology of California, established on February 18, 1954, by Scientologist Burton Farber.[206] The reason for Scientology's religious transformation was explained by officials of the HAS:

[T]here is little doubt but what [sic] this stroke will remove Scientology from the target area of overt and covert attacks by the medical profession, who see their pills, scalpels, and appendix-studded incomes threatened ... [Scientologists] can avoid the recent fiasco in which a Pasadena practitioner is reported to have spent 10 days in that city's torture chamber for "practicing medicine without a license."[207]
Scientology franchises became Churches of Scientology and some auditors began dressing as clergymen, complete with clerical collars. If they were arrested in the course of their activities, Hubbard advised, they should sue for massive damages for molesting "a Man of God going about his business".[204] A few years later he told Scientologists: "If attacked on some vulnerable point by anyone or anything or any organization, always find or manufacture enough threat against them to cause them to sue for peace ... Don't ever defend, always attack."[208] Any individual breaking away from Scientology and setting up his own group was to be shut down:

The purpose of the suit is to harass and discourage rather than to win. The law can be used very easily to harass, and enough harassment on somebody who is simply on the thin edge anyway, well knowing that he is not authorized, will generally be sufficient to cause his professional decease. If possible, of course, ruin him utterly.[209]
The 1950s saw Scientology growing steadily. Hubbard finally achieved victory over Don Purcell in 1954 when the latter, worn out by constant litigation, handed the copyrights of Dianetics back to Hubbard.[210] Most of the formerly independent Scientology and Dianetics groups were either driven out of business or were absorbed into Hubbard's organizations.[211] Hubbard marketed Scientology through medical claims, such as attracting polio sufferers by presenting the Church of Scientology as a scientific research foundation investigating polio cases.[212] One advertisement during this period stated:

Plagued by illness? We'll make you able to have good health. Get processed by the finest capable auditors in the world today [...] Personally coached and monitored by L. Ron Hubbard.[213]
Scientology became a highly profitable enterprise for Hubbard.[214] He implemented a scheme under which he was paid a percentage of the Church of Scientology's gross income and by 1957 he was being paid about $250,000 annually—equivalent to $1.9 million at 2010 prices.[215] His family grew, too, with Mary Sue giving birth to three more children—Geoffrey Quentin McCaully on January 6, 1954;[202] Mary Suzette Rochelle on February 13, 1955;[216] and Arthur Ronald Conway on June 6, 1958.[217] In the spring of 1959, he used his new-found wealth to purchase Saint Hill Manor, an 18th-century country house in Sussex, formerly owned by Sawai Man Singh II, the Maharaja of Jaipur. The house became Hubbard's permanent residence and an international training center for Scientologists.[212]
Controversies and crises



 The L. Ron Hubbard House at Camelback in Phoenix, Az. The house is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.


L. Ron Hubbard’s car, a 1947 Buick Super 8 . The car is parked behind the house.
By the start of the 1960s, Hubbard was the leader of a worldwide movement with thousands of followers. A decade later, however, he had left Saint Hill Manor and moved aboard his own private fleet of ships as the Church of Scientology faced worldwide controversy.
The Church of Scientology says that the problems of this period were due to "vicious, covert international attacks" by the United States government, "all of which were proven false and baseless, which were to last 27 years and finally culminated in the Government being sued for 750 million dollars for conspiracy."[111] Behind the attacks, stated Hubbard, lay a vast conspiracy of "psychiatric front groups" secretly controlling governments: "Every single lie, false charge and attack on Scientology has been traced directly to this group's members. They have sought at great expense for nineteen years to crush and eradicate any new development in the field of the mind. They are actively preventing any effectiveness in this field."[218]
Hubbard believed that Scientology was being infiltrated by saboteurs and spies and introduced "security checking"[208] to identify those he termed "potential trouble sources" and "suppressive persons". Members of the Church of Scientology were interrogated with the aid of E-meters and were asked questions such as "Have you ever practiced homosexuality?" and "Have you ever had unkind thoughts about L. Ron Hubbard?"[219] For a time, Scientologists were even interrogated about crimes committed in past lives: "Have you ever destroyed a culture?" "Did you come to Earth for evil purposes?" "Have you ever zapped anyone?"[220]
He also sought to exert political influence, advising Scientologists to vote against Richard Nixon in the 1960 presidential election and establishing a Department of Government Affairs "to bring government and hostile philosophies or societies into a state of complete compliance with the goals of Scientology". This, he said, "is done by high-level ability to control and in its absence by a low-level ability to overwhelm. Introvert such agencies. Control such agencies."[221]
The U.S. Government was already well aware of Hubbard's activities. The FBI had a lengthy file on him, including a 1951 interview with an agent who considered him a "mental case".[171] Police forces in a number of jurisdictions began exchanging information about Scientology through the auspices of Interpol, which eventually led to prosecutions.[222] In 1958, the U.S. Internal Revenue Service withdrew the Washington, D.C. Church of Scientology's tax exemption after it found that Hubbard and his family were profiting unreasonably from Scientology's ostensibly non-profit income.[214] The Food and Drug Administration took action against Scientology's medical claims, seizing thousands of pills being marketed as "radiation cures"[223] as well as publications and E-meters. The Church of Scientology was required to label them as being "ineffective in the diagnosis or treatment of disease".[224]
Following the FDA's actions, Scientology attracted increasingly unfavorable publicity across the English-speaking world.[225] It faced particularly hostile scrutiny in Victoria, Australia, where it was accused of brainwashing, blackmail, extortion and damaging the mental health of its members.[226] The Victorian state government established a Board of Inquiry into Scientology in November 1963.[227] Its report, published in October 1965, condemned every aspect of Scientology and Hubbard himself. He was described as being of doubtful sanity, having a persecution complex and displaying strong indications of paranoid schizophrenia with delusions of grandeur. His writings were characterized as nonsensical, abounding in "self-glorification and grandiosity, replete with histrionics and hysterical, incontinent outbursts".[228] Sociologist Roy Wallis comments that the report drastically changed public perceptions of Scientology:

The former conception of the movement as a relatively harmless, if cranky, health and self-improvement cult, was transformed into one which portrayed it as evil, dangerous, a form of hypnosis (with all the overtones of Svengali in the layman's mind), and brainwashing.[226]
The report led to Scientology being banned in Victoria,[229] Western Australia and South Australia,[230] and led to more negative publicity around the world. Newspapers and politicians in the UK pressed the British government for action against Scientology. In April 1966, hoping to form a remote "safe haven" for Scientology, Hubbard traveled to the southern African country Rhodesia (today Zimbabwe) and looked into setting up a base there at a hotel on Lake Kariba. Despite his attempts to curry favour with the local government—he personally delivered champagne to Prime Minister Ian Smith's house, but Smith refused to see him—Rhodesia promptly refused to renew Hubbard's visa, compelling him to leave the country.[231] In July 1968, the British Minister of Health, Kenneth Robinson, announced that foreign Scientologists would no longer be permitted to enter the UK and Hubbard himself was excluded from the country as an "undesirable alien".[232] Further inquiries were launched in Canada, New Zealand and South Africa.[230]
Hubbard took three major new initiatives in the face of these challenges. "Ethics Technology" was introduced to tighten internal discipline within Scientology. It required Scientologists to "disconnect" from any organization or individual—including family members—deemed to be disruptive or "suppressive".[233] Scientologists were also required to write "Knowledge Reports" on each other, reporting transgressions or misapplications of Scientology methods. Hubbard promulgated a long list of punishable "Misdemeanors", "Crimes", and "High Crimes".[234] The "Fair Game" policy was introduced, which was applicable to anyone deemed an "enemy" of Scientology: "May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed."[235][236]
At the start of March 1966, Hubbard created the Guardian's Office (GO), a new agency within the Church of Scientology that was headed by his wife Mary Sue.[237] It dealt with Scientology's external affairs, including public relations, legal actions and the gathering of intelligence on perceived threats.[238] As Scientology faced increasingly negative media attention, the GO retaliated with hundreds of writs for libel and slander; it issued more than forty on a single day.[239] Hubbard ordered his staff to find "lurid, blood sex crime actual evidence [sic] on [Scientology's] attackers".[240]
Finally, at the end of 1966, Hubbard acquired his own fleet of ships.[9] He established the "Hubbard Explorational Company Ltd" which purchased three ships—the Enchanter, a forty-ton schooner,[241] the Avon River, an old trawler,[242] and the Royal Scotman [sic], a former Irish Sea cattle ferry that he made his home and flagship.[243] The ships were crewed by the Sea Organization or "Sea Org", a group of Scientologist volunteers, with the support of a couple of professional seamen.[9][244]
Commodore of the Sea Org
Main article: Sea Org

View of a coastal town with a bay visible behind foreground buildings

 Corfu town, where the Sea Org moored in 1968–1969
After Hubbard created the Sea Org "fleet" in early 1967 it began an eight-year voyage, sailing from port to port in the Mediterranean Sea and eastern North Atlantic. The fleet traveled as far as Corfu in the eastern Mediterranean and Dakar and the Azores in the Atlantic, but rarely stayed anywhere for longer than six weeks. Ken Urquhart, Hubbard's personal assistant at the time, later recalled:

[Hubbard] said we had to keep moving because there were so many people after him. If they caught up with him they would cause him so much trouble that he would be unable to continue his work, Scientology would not get into the world and there would be social and economic chaos, if not a nuclear holocaust.[245]
When Hubbard established the Sea Org he publicly declared that he had relinquished his management responsibilities. According to Miller, this was not true. He received daily telex messages from Scientology organizations around the world reporting their statistics and income. The Church of Scientology sent him $15,000 a week and millions of dollars were transferred to his bank accounts in Switzerland and Liechtenstein.[246] Couriers arrived regularly, conveying luxury food for Hubbard and his family[247] or cash that had been smuggled from England to avoid currency export restrictions.[248]
Along the way, Hubbard sought to establish a safe haven in "a friendly little country where Scientology would be allowed to prosper", as Miller puts it.[249] The fleet stayed at Corfu for several months in 1968–1969. Hubbard renamed the ships after Greek gods—the Royal Scotman was rechristened Apollo—and he praised the recently established military dictatorship.[248] The Sea Org was represented as "Professor Hubbard's Philosophy School" in a telegram to the Greek government.[250] In March 1969, however, Hubbard and his ships were ordered to leave.[251] In mid-1972, Hubbard tried again in Morocco, establishing contacts with the country's secret police and training senior policemen and intelligence agents in techniques for detecting subversives.[252] The program ended in failure when it became caught up in internal Moroccan politics, and Hubbard left the country hastily in December 1972.[253]
At the same time, Hubbard was still developing Scientology's doctrines. A Scientology biography states that "free of organizational duties and aided by the first Sea Org members, L. Ron Hubbard now had the time and facilities to confirm in the physical universe some of the events and places he had encountered in his journeys down the track of time."[54] In 1965, he designated several existing Scientology courses as confidential, repackaging them as the first of the esoteric "OT levels".[254] Two years later he announced the release of OT3, the "Wall of Fire", revealing the secrets of an immense disaster that had occurred "on this planet, and on the other seventy-five planets which form this Confederacy, seventy-five million years ago".[255] Scientologists were required to undertake the first two OT levels before learning how Xenu, the leader of the Galactic Confederacy, had shipped billions of people to Earth and blown them up with hydrogen bombs, following which their traumatized spirits were stuck together at "implant stations", brainwashed with false memories and eventually became contained within human beings.[256] The discovery of OT3 was said to have taken a major physical toll on Hubbard, who announced that he had broken a knee, an arm, and his back during the course of his research.[257] A year later, in 1968, he unveiled OT levels 4 to 6 and began delivering OT training courses to Scientologists aboard the Royal Scotman.[258]
Scientologists around the world were presented with a glamorous picture of life in the Sea Org and many applied to join Hubbard aboard the fleet.[258] What they found was rather different from the image. Most of those joining had no nautical experience at all.[258] Mechanical difficulties and blunders by the crews led to a series of embarrassing incidents and near-disasters. Following one incident in which the rudder of the Royal Scotman was damaged during a storm, Hubbard ordered the ship's entire crew to be reduced to a "condition of liability" and wear gray rags tied to their arms.[259] The ship itself was treated the same way, with dirty tarpaulins tied around its funnel to symbolize its lower status. According to those aboard, conditions were appalling; the crew was worked to the point of exhaustion, given meagre rations and forbidden to wash or change their clothes for several weeks.[260] Hubbard maintained a harsh disciplinary regime aboard the fleet, punishing mistakes by confining people in the Royal Scotman‍‍ '​‍s bilge tanks without toilet facilities and with food provided in buckets.[261] At other times erring crew members were thrown overboard with Hubbard looking on and, occasionally, filming.[262] David Mayo, a Sea Org member at the time, later recalled:

We tried not to think too hard about his behavior. It was not rational much of the time, but to even consider such a thing was a discreditable thought and you couldn't allow yourself to have a discreditable thought. One of the questions in a sec[urity] check was, "Have you ever had any unkind thoughts about LRH?" and you could get into very serious trouble if you had. So you tried hard not to.[263]
From about 1970, Hubbard was attended aboard ship by the children of Sea Org members, organized as the Commodore's Messenger Organization (CMO). They were mainly young girls dressed in hot pants and halter tops, who were responsible for running errands for Hubbard such as lighting his cigarettes, dressing him or relaying his verbal commands to other members of the crew.[264][265] In addition to his wife Mary Sue, he was accompanied by all four of his children by her, though not his first son Nibs, who had defected from Scientology in late 1959.[266] The younger Hubbards were all members of the Sea Org and shared its rigors, though Quentin Hubbard reportedly found it difficult to adjust and attempted suicide in mid-1974.[267]
Life in hiding

Exterior view of a large building, partly obscured by trees

 The Internal Revenue Service building in Washington D.C., one of the targets of Hubbard's "Snow White Program"
During the 1970s, Hubbard faced an increasing number of legal threats. French prosecutors charged him and the French Church of Scientology with fraud and customs violations in 1972. He was advised that he was at risk of being extradited to France.[268] Hubbard left the Sea Org fleet temporarily at the end of 1972, living incognito in Queens, New York,[269] until he returned to his flagship in September 1973 when the threat of extradition had abated.[270] Scientology sources say that he carried out "a sociological study in and around New York City".[271]
Hubbard's health deteriorated significantly during this period. A chain-smoker, he also suffered from bursitis and excessive weight, and had a prominent growth on his forehead.[272] He suffered serious injuries in a motorcycle accident in 1973 and had a heart attack in 1975 that required him to take anticoagulant drugs for the next year.[273] In September 1978, Hubbard had a pulmonary embolism, falling into a coma, but recovered.[274]
He remained active in managing and developing Scientology, establishing the controversial Rehabilitation Project Force in 1974[275] and issuing policy and doctrinal bulletins.[276] However, the Sea Org's voyages were coming to an end. The Apollo was banned from several Spanish ports[276] and was expelled from Curaçao in October 1975.[275] The Sea Org came to be suspected of being a CIA operation, leading to a riot in Funchal, Madeira, when the Apollo docked there. At the time, The Apollo Stars, a musical group founded by Hubbard and made up entirely of shipbound members of the Sea Org, was offering free on-pier concerts in an attempt to promote Scientology, and the riot occurred at one of these events. Hubbard decided to relocate back to the United States to establish a "land base" for the Sea Org in Florida.[277] The Church of Scientology attributes this decision to the activities on the Apollo having "outgrow[n] the ship's capacity".[271]
In October 1975, Hubbard moved into a hotel suite in Daytona Beach. The Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater, Florida, was secretly acquired as the location for the "land base".[277] On December 5, 1975, Hubbard and his wife Mary Sue moved into a condominium complex in nearby Dunedin.[278] Their presence was meant to be a closely guarded secret but was accidentally compromised the following month.[279] Hubbard immediately left Dunedin and moved to Georgetown, Washington, D.C., accompanied by a handful of aides and messengers, but not his wife.[280] Six months later, following another security alert in July 1976, Hubbard moved to another safe house in Culver City, California. He lived there for only about three months, relocating in October to the more private confines of the Olive Tree Ranch near La Quinta.[281] His second son Quentin committed suicide a few weeks later in Las Vegas.[282][283]
Throughout this period, Hubbard was heavily involved in directing the activities of the Guardian's Office (GO), the legal bureau/intelligence agency that he had established in 1966. He believed that Scientology was being attacked by an international Nazi conspiracy, which he termed the "Tenyaka Memorial", through a network of drug companies, banks and psychiatrists in a bid to take over the world.[284] In 1973, he instigated the "Snow White Program" and directed the GO to remove negative reports about Scientology from government files and track down their sources.[285] The GO was ordered to "get all false and secret files on Scientology, LRH  ... that cannot be obtained legally, by all possible lines of approach ... i.e., job penetration, janitor penetration, suitable guises utilizing covers." His involvement in the GO's operations was concealed through the use of codenames. The GO carried out covert campaigns on his behalf such as Operation Bulldozer Leak, intended "to effectively spread the rumor that will lead Government, media, and individual [Suppressive Persons] to conclude that LRH has no control of the C of S and no legal liability for Church activity". He was kept informed of GO operations, such as the theft of medical records from a hospital, harassment of psychiatrists and infiltrations of organizations that had been critical of Scientology at various times, such as the Better Business Bureau, the American Medical Association, and American Psychiatric Association.[286]
Members of the GO infiltrated and burglarized numerous government organizations, including the U.S. Department of Justice and the Internal Revenue Service.[287] After two GO agents were caught in the Washington, D.C. headquarters of the IRS, the FBI carried out simultaneous raids on GO offices in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. on July 7, 1977. They retrieved wiretap equipment, burglary tools and some 90,000 pages of incriminating documents. Hubbard was not prosecuted, though he was labeled an "unindicted co-conspirator" by government prosecutors. His wife Mary Sue was indicted and subsequently convicted of conspiracy. She was sent to a federal prison along with ten other Scientologists.[288]
Hubbard's troubles increased in February 1978 when a French court convicted him in absentia for obtaining money under false pretenses. He was sentenced to four years in prison and a 35,000FF ($7,000) fine.[289] He went into hiding in April 1979, moving to an apartment in Hemet, California, where his only contact with the outside world was via ten trusted Messengers. He cut contact with everyone else, even his wife, whom he saw for the last time in August 1979.[290] Hubbard faced a possible indictment for his role in Operation Freakout, the GO's campaign against New York journalist Paulette Cooper, and in February 1980 he disappeared into deep cover in the company of two trusted Messengers, Pat and Anne Broeker.[291][292]
For the first few years of the 1980s, Hubbard and the Broekers lived on the move, touring the Pacific Northwest in a recreational vehicle and living for a while in apartments in Newport Beach and Los Angeles.[293] Hubbard used his time in hiding to write his first new works of science fiction for nearly thirty years—Battlefield Earth (1982) and Mission Earth, a ten-volume series published between 1985 and 1987.[294] They received mixed responses; as writer Jeff Walker puts it, they were "treated derisively by most critics but greatly admired by followers".[295] Hubbard also wrote and composed music for three of his albums, which were produced by the Church of Scientology. The book soundtrack Space Jazz was released in 1982.[296] Mission Earth and The Road to Freedom were released posthumously in 1986.[297]
In Hubbard's absence, members of the Sea Org staged a takeover of the Church of Scientology and purged many veteran Scientologists. A young Messenger, David Miscavige, became Scientology's de facto leader. Mary Sue Hubbard was forced to resign her position and her daughter Suzette became Miscavige's personal maid.[298]
Death and legacy

Aerial photograph of an estate with a racetrack visible in the background

 The ranch in San Luis Obispo County, California where Hubbard spent his final years
For the last two years of his life, Hubbard lived in a luxury Blue Bird motorhome on Whispering Winds, a 160-acre ranch near Creston, California. He remained in deep hiding while controversy raged in the outside world about whether he was still alive and if so, where. He spent his time "writing and researching", according to a spokesperson, and pursued photography and music, overseeing construction work and checking on his animals.[299] He repeatedly redesigned the property, spending millions of dollars remodeling the ranch house—which went virtually uninhabited—and building a quarter-mile horse-racing track with an observation tower, which reportedly was never used.[293]
He was still closely involved in managing the Church of Scientology via secretly delivered orders[293] and continued to receive large amounts of money, of which Forbes magazine estimated "at least $200 million [was] gathered in Hubbard's name through 1982." In September 1985, the IRS notified the Church that it was considering indicting Hubbard for tax fraud.[300]
Hubbard suffered further ill-health, including chronic pancreatitis, during his residence at Whispering Winds. He suffered a stroke on January 17, 1986, and died a week later.[288][301] His body was cremated following an autopsy and the ashes were scattered at sea.[302] Scientology leaders announced that his body had become an impediment to his work and that he had decided to "drop his body" to continue his research on another planet,[303] having "learned how to do it without a body".[304]
Hubbard was survived by his wife Mary Sue and all of his children except his second son Quentin. His will provided a trust fund to support Mary Sue; her children Arthur, Diana and Suzette; and Katherine, the daughter of his first wife Polly.[305] He disinherited two of his other children.[306] L. Ron Hubbard, Jr. had become estranged, changed his name to "Ronald DeWolf" and, in 1982, sued unsuccessfully for control of his father's estate.[307] Alexis Valerie, Hubbard's daughter by his second wife Sara, had attempted to contact her father in 1971. She was rebuffed with the implied claim that her real father was Jack Parsons rather than Hubbard, and that her mother had been a Nazi spy during the war.[308] Both later accepted settlements when litigation was threatened.[306] In 2001, Diana and Suzette were reported to still be Church members, while Arthur had left and become an artist. Hubbard's great-grandson, Jamie DeWolf, is a noted slam poet.[309]
The copyrights of his works and much of his estate and wealth were willed to the Church of Scientology.[310] In a bulletin dated May 5, 1980, Hubbard told his followers to preserve his teachings until an eventual reincarnation when he would return "not as a religious leader but as a political one".[7] The Church of Spiritual Technology (CST), a sister organization of the Church of Scientology, has engraved Hubbard's entire corpus of Scientology and Dianetics texts on steel tablets stored in titanium containers. They are buried at the Trementina Base in a vault under a mountain near Trementina, New Mexico, on top of which the CST's logo has been bulldozed on such a gigantic scale that it is visible from space.[311][312]
Hubbard is the Guinness World Record holder for the most published author, with 1,084 works,[313] most translated book (70 languages for The Way to Happiness)[314] and most audiobooks (185 as of April 2009).[315] According to Galaxy Press, Hubbard's Battlefield Earth has sold over 6 million copies and Mission Earth a further 7 million, with each of its ten volumes becoming New York Times bestsellers on their release;[28] however, in 1990 the Los Angeles Times reported in 1990 that Hubbard's followers had been buying large numbers of the books and re-issuing them to stores, so as to boost sales figures.[316] Opinions are divided about his literary legacy. Scientologists have written of their desire to "make Ron the most acclaimed and widely known author of all time".[316] The sociologist William Sims Bainbridge writes that even at his peak in the late 1930s Hubbard was regarded by readers of Astounding Science Fiction as merely "a passable, familiar author but not one of the best", while by the late 1970s "the [science fiction] subculture wishes it could forget him" and fans gave him a worse rating than any other of the "Golden Age" writers.[317]
In 2004, eighteen years after Hubbard's death, the Church claimed eight million followers worldwide. According to religious scholar J. Gordon Melton, this is an overestimate, counting as Scientologists people who had merely bought a book.[318] The City University of New York's American Religious Identification Survey found that by 2009 only 25,000 Americans identified as Scientologists.[319] Hubbard's presence still pervades Scientology. Every Church of Scientology maintains an office reserved for Hubbard, with a desk, chair and writing equipment, ready to be used.[310] Lonnie D. Kliever notes that Hubbard was "the only source of the religion, and he has no successor". Hubbard is referred to simply as "Source" within Scientology and the theological acceptability of any Scientology-related activity is determined by how closely it adheres to Hubbard's doctrines.[320] Hubbard's name and signature are official trademarks of the Religious Technology Center, established in 1982 to control and oversee the use of Hubbard's works and Scientology's trademarks and copyrights. The RTC is the central organization within Scientology's complex corporate hierarchy and has put much effort into re-checking the accuracy of all Scientology publications to "ensur[e] the availability of the pure unadulterated writings of Mr. Hubbard to the coming generations"[320]
The Danish historian of religions Mikael Rothstein describes Scientology as "a movement focused on the figure of Hubbard". He comments: "The fact that [Hubbard's] life is mythologized is as obvious as in the cases of Jesus, Muhammad or Siddartha Gotama. This is how religion works. Scientology, however, rejects this analysis altogether, and goes to great lengths to defend every detail of Hubbard's amazing and fantastic life as plain historical fact." Hubbard is presented as "the master of a multitude of disciplines" who performed extraordinary feats as a photographer, composer, scientist, therapist, explorer, navigator, philosopher, poet, artist, humanitarian, adventurer, soldier, scout, musician and many other fields of endeavor.[8] The Church of Scientology portrays Hubbard's life and work as having proceeded seamlessly, "as if they were a continuous set of predetermined events and discoveries that unfolded through his lifelong research" even up to and beyond his death.[3]
According to Rothstein's assessment of Hubbard's legacy, Scientology consciously aims to transfer the charismatic authority of Hubbard to institutionalize his authority over the organization, even after his death. Hubbard is presented as a virtually superhuman religious ideal just as Scientology itself is presented as the most important development in human history.[321] As Rothstein puts it, "reverence for Scientology's scripture is reverence for Hubbard, the man who in the Scientological perspective single-handedly brought salvation to all human beings."[8] David G. Bromley of the University of Virginia comments that the real Hubbard has been transformed into a "prophetic persona", "LRH", which acts as the basis for his prophetic authority within Scientology and transcends his biographical history.[3]
Biographies

A man wearing a white t-shirt stands with the words "Canadien National" visible behind him.

Gerry Armstrong, formerly Hubbard's official biographical researcher, whose trial disclosed many details of Hubbard's life
Following Hubbard's death, Bridge Publications has published several stand-alone biographical accounts of his life. Marco Frenschkowski notes that "non-Scientologist readers immediately recognize some parts of Hubbard's life are here systematically left out: no information whatsoever is given about his private life (his marriages, divorces, children), his legal affairs and so on."[67] The Church maintains an extensive website presenting the official version of Hubbard's life.[322] It also owns a number of properties dedicated to Hubbard including the Los Angeles-based L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition (a presentation of Hubbard's life), the Author Services Center (a presentation of Hubbard's writings),[323] and the L. Ron Hubbard House in Washington, D.C.
In late 2012, Bridge published a comprehensive official biography of Hubbard, titled The L. Ron Hubbard Series: A Biographical Encyclopedia, written primarily by Dan Sherman, the official Hubbard biographer at the time. This most recent official Church of Scientology biography of Hubbard is a 17 volume series, with each volume focusing on a different aspect of Hubbard's life, including his music, photography, geographic exploration, humanitarian work, and nautical career. It is advertised as a "Biographic Encyclopedia" and is primarily authored by the official biographer, Dan Sherman.[324]
To date, there has not been a single volume comprehensive official biography published[324] [325] During his lifetime, a number of brief biographical sketches were also published in his Scientology books. The Church of Scientology issued "the only authorized LRH Biography" in October 1977 (it has since been followed by the Sherman "Biographic Encyclopedia").[111] His life was illustrated in print in What Is Scientology?, a glossy publication published in 1978 with paintings of Hubbard's life contributed by his son Arthur.[326]
In the late 1970s two men began to assemble a very different picture of Hubbard's life. Michael Linn Shannon, a resident of Portland, Oregon, became interested in Hubbard's life story after an encounter with a Scientology recruiter. Over the next four years he collected previously undisclosed records and documents. He intended to write an exposé of Hubbard and sent a copy of his findings and key records to a number of contacts but was unable to find a publisher.[327]
Shannon's findings were acquired by Gerry Armstrong, a Scientologist who had been appointed Hubbard's official archivist.[327] He had been given the job of assembling documents relating to Hubbard's life for the purpose of helping Omar V. Garrison, a non-Scientologist who had written two books sympathetic to Scientology, to write an official biography. However, the documents that he uncovered convinced both Armstrong and Garrison that Hubbard had systematically misrepresented his life. Garrison refused to write a "puff piece" and declared that he would not "repeat all the falsehoods they [the Church of Scientology] had perpetuated over the years". He wrote a "warts and all" biography while Armstrong quit Scientology, taking five boxes of papers with him. The Church of Scientology and Mary Sue Hubbard sued for the return of the documents while settling out of court with Garrison, requiring him to turn over the nearly completed manuscript of the biography.[328] In October 1984 Judge Paul G. Breckenridge ruled in Armstrong's favor, saying:

The evidence portrays a man who has been virtually a pathological liar when it comes to his history, background and achievements. The writings and documents in evidence additionally reflect his egoism, greed, avarice, lust for power, and vindictiveness and aggressiveness against persons perceived by him to be disloyal or hostile. At the same time it appears that he is charismatic and highly capable of motivating, organizing, controlling, manipulating and inspiring his adherents. He has been referred to during the trial as a "genius," a "revered person," a man who was "viewed by his followers in awe." Obviously, he is and has been a very complex person and that complexity is further reflected in his alter ego, the Church of Scientology.[329]
In November 1987, the British journalist and writer Russell Miller published Bare-faced Messiah, the first full-length biography of L. Ron Hubbard. He drew on Armstrong's papers, official records and interviews with those who had known Hubbard including ex-Scientologists and family members. The book was well-received by reviewers but the Church of Scientology sought unsuccessfully to prohibit its publication on the grounds of copyright infringement.[330] Other critical biographical accounts are found in Bent Corydon's L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman? (1987) and Jon Atack's A Piece of Blue Sky (1990).
In popular culture
Hubbard appears as a major character in Paul Malmont's historical novel The Astounding, the Amazing, and the Unknown (2011).
Bibliography
Main article: L. Ron Hubbard bibliography
See also: Bibliography of Scientology
According to the Church of Scientology, Hubbard produced some 65 million words on Dianetics and Scientology, contained in about 500,000 pages of written material, 3,000 recorded lectures and 100 films. His works of fiction included some 500 novels and short stories.[311]
Notes
1.Jump up ^ Von Dehsen, Christian D. "L. Ron Hubbard," in Philosophers and religious leaders, p. 90. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999. ISBN 978-1-57356-152-5
2.Jump up ^ Church of Scientology International. L. Ron Hubbard: A Profile. Retrieved November 26, 2012.
3.^ Jump up to: a b c Bromley, p. 89
4.Jump up ^ Sappel, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (June 24, 1990). "The Mind Behind the Religion, Chapter 2: Creating the Mystique: Hubbard's Image Was Crafted of Truth, Distorted by Myth". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on June 12, 2008. Retrieved July 14, 2009.
5.Jump up ^ http://web.archive.org/web/20080612145705/http://www.latimes.com/business/la-scientology062490,0,2050131,full.story
6.Jump up ^ Christensen, p. 228
7.^ Jump up to: a b Urban, Hugh B. "Fair Game: Secrecy, Security, and the Church of Scientology in Cold War America." Journal of the American Academy of Religion 74:2 (2006)
8.^ Jump up to: a b c Rothstein, p. 21.
9.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Wright, Lawrence (February 14, 2011)."The Apostate: Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology." The New Yorker, retrieved February 8, 2011.
10.Jump up ^ Hall, Timothy L. American religious leaders, p. 175. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2003. ISBN 978-0-8160-4534-1
11.Jump up ^ Miller, Russell. Bare-faced Messiah: the true story of L. Ron Hubbard, p. 11. London: Joseph, 1987. ISBN 0-7181-2764-1, OCLC 17481843
12.^ Jump up to: a b c Christensen, pp. 236–237
13.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 19
14.Jump up ^ Tucker, p. 300
15.Jump up ^ "About The Author," in Hubbard, L. Ron: Have You Lived Before This Life?: A Scientific Survey: A Study of Death and Evidence of Past Lives, p. 297. Los Angeles: Church of Scientology Publications Organization, 1977. ISBN 978-0-88484-055-8
16.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert (June 24, 1990). "The Making of L. Ron Hubbard: Creating the Mystique." Los Angeles Times, p. A38:1
17.Jump up ^ Quoted in Rolph, p. 17
18.^ Jump up to: a b "L. Ron Hubbard and American Pulp Fiction," in Hubbard, L. Ron: "The Great Secret," p. 107–108. Hollywood, CA: Galaxy Press, 2008. ISBN 978-1-59212-371-1
19.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 48
20.Jump up ^ Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert (June 24, 1990). "The Making of L. Ron Hubbard: Staking a Claim to Blood Brotherhood." Los Angeles Times, p. A38:5
21.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 23
22.Jump up ^ Whitehead, p. 46
23.Jump up ^ Christensen, p. 238
24.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 25
25.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 27
26.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 28
27.^ Jump up to: a b Christensen, pp. 239–240
28.^ Jump up to: a b "About the Author," in Hubbard, L. Ron: Battlefield Earth. (No page number given.) Los Angeles: Galaxy Press, 2005. ISBN 978-1-59212-007-9
29.Jump up ^ "Appendix" in Hubbard, L. Ron: Hymn of Asia. (No page number given.) Los Angeles : Church of Scientology of California, Publications Organization, 1974. ISBN 0-88404-035-6
30.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 54
31.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 31
32.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 34
33.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 41
34.Jump up ^ "L. Ron Hubbard Biographical Profile: Asia and the South Pacific." Church of Scientology International, 2010, retrieved February 17, 2011.
35.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 57
36.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 42
37.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 43
38.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 44
39.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 45
40.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 46
41.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 47
42.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 59
43.^ Jump up to: a b Malko, p. 31
44.^ Jump up to: a b c d e "A Brief Biography of L. Ron Hubbard," Ability, Church of Scientology Washington, D.C. Issue 111, January 1959.
45.Jump up ^ Wallis, p. 18
46.Jump up ^ "Foreword," in Hubbard, L. Ron: Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought, p. vii. Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, 2007. ISBN 978-1-4031-4420-1
47.Jump up ^ Streeter, p. 206
48.^ Jump up to: a b c d e L. Ron Hubbard: A Chronicle, 1930–1940." Church of Scientology International, 2007, retrieved February 17, 2011.
49.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, p. 64
50.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 52
51.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 54
52.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 55
53.^ Jump up to: a b L. Ron Hubbard Biographical Profile — Caribbean Motion Picture Expedition." Church of Scientology International, 2010, retrieved February 17, 2011.
54.^ Jump up to: a b c Hubbard, L. Ron. Mission into Time, p. 7. Copenhagen: AOSH DK Publications Department A/S, 1973. ISBN 87-87347-56-3
55.^ Jump up to: a b c Miller, p. 56
56.^ Jump up to: a b Hubbard, L. Ron, "The Camp-Fire," Adventure magazine, vol. 93 no. 5, October 1, 1935. Quoted in Atack, p. 62
57.^ Jump up to: a b c Maisel, Albert (December 5, 1950). "Dianetics — Science or Hoax?" Look magazine, p. 79
58.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, p. 63
59.^ Jump up to: a b "L. Ron Hubbard Biographical Profile — Puerto Rican Mineralogical Expedition." Church of Scientology, 2010, retrieved February 8, 2011.
60.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "Creating a Third Dynamic / United Survival Action Clubs," lecture of December 30, 1957. Ability Congress, 5th lecture.
61.Jump up ^ Nicholls, Peter. Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, 1978, p.108, ISBN 0-586-05380-8
62.Jump up ^ L. Ron Hubbard, the writer. Los Angeles, CA : Bridge Publications, 1989. (No page number in original.)
63.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 63
64.Jump up ^ "About L. Ron Hubbard — Master Storyteller." Galaxy Press, 2010, retrieved February 8, 2011.
65.Jump up ^ "L. Ron Hubbard Biographical Profile — L. Ron Hubbard's Fiction Books." Church of Scientology International, 2010, retrieved February 8, 2011.
66.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 72
67.^ Jump up to: a b c Frenschkowski, Marco (July 1999). "L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology: An annotated bibliographical survey of primary and selected secondary literature" (PDF). Marburg Journal of Religion: 4 (1): 15. Retrieved 13 May 2015.
68.^ Jump up to: a b c Asimov, Isaac. In Memory Yet Green: The Autobiography of Isaac Asimov, 1920-1954, p. 413. New York: Doubleday, 1979. ISBN 978-0-385-13679-2
69.Jump up ^ Staff (July 30, 1937). "Books Published Today". The New York Times (The New York Times Company). p. 17.
70.^ Jump up to: a b Stableford, Brian. Historical dictionary of science fiction literature, p. 164. Lanham, MD: Scarecrow Press, 2004. ISBN 978-0-8108-4938-9
71.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 86
72.^ Jump up to: a b "About the Author" in Hubbard, L. Ron: Dianetics Today, p. 989. Los Angeles: Church of Scientology of California, 1975. ISBN 0-88404-036-4
73.Jump up ^ Harmon, Jim; Donald F. Glut. The Great Movie Serials: Their Sound and Fury, p. 329. London: Routledge, 1973. ISBN 978-0-7130-0097-9
74.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "The Story of Dianetics and Scientology," lecture of October 18, 1958
75.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 65
76.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 69
77.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 61
78.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 64
79.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 70
80.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 62
81.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 74
82.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 71
83.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 75
84.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 84
85.Jump up ^ "L. Ron Hubbard Biographical Profile — Founder." Church of Scientology International, 2010, retrieved February 17, 2011.
86.Jump up ^ Gardner, p. 272
87.^ Jump up to: a b c Atack, p. 66
88.Jump up ^ Malko, p. 40
89.^ Jump up to: a b Burks, Arthur J (December 1961). "Excalibur." The Aberree.
90.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 80
91.Jump up ^ Ackerman, Forrest J (November 19, 1997) Secret Lives: L. Ron Hubbard. Channel 4 Television.
92.^ Jump up to: a b Letter from L. Ron Hubbard, October 1938, quoted in Miller, p. 81
93.Jump up ^ Quoted in Malko, p. 39
94.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 85
95.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 88
96.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 89
97.^ Jump up to: a b "L. Ron Hubbard Biographical Profile — Alaskan Radio-Experimental Expedition" Church of Scientology International, 2010, retrieved February 17, 2011.
98.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 68
99.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 91
100.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 93
101.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 70
102.Jump up ^ Lamont, pp. 19–20
103.Jump up ^ Rolph, p. 16
104.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 141
105.Jump up ^ Streeter, p. 208
106.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 107
107.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 81; Streeter, p. 208
108.Jump up ^ "L. Ron Hubbard: A Chronicle, 1941–1949. Church of Scientology International, 2007, retrieved February 17, 2011.
109.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 84
110.^ Jump up to: a b Stafford, Charles L.; Orsini, Bette (January 9, 1980). "Church moves to defend itself against 'attackers". St. Petersburg Times.
111.^ Jump up to: a b c d Flag Information Letter 67, "L.R.H. Biography." Sea Organization, October 31, 1977.
112.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "My Philosophy," Church of Scientology International, 1965, retrieved February 17, 2011.
113.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 125
114.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 113
115.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 114
116.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 117
117.Jump up ^ Quoted in Symonds, John. The Great Beast: the life and magick of Aleister Crowley, p. 392. London: Macdonald and Co., 1971. ISBN 0-356-03631-6
118.^ Jump up to: a b Urban, Hugh B. Magia sexualis: sex, magic, and liberation in modern Western esotericism, p. 137. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press, 2006. ISBN 978-0-520-24776-5
119.Jump up ^ Metzger, Richard. Book of Lies: The Disinformation Guide to Magick and the Occult, p. 200. New York: The Disinformation Company, 2008. ISBN 978-0-9713942-7-8
120.Jump up ^ Pendle, p. 268
121.Jump up ^ Pendle, p. 269
122.Jump up ^ Pendle, p. 270
123.Jump up ^ De Camp, L. Sprague, letter of August 26, 1946. Quoted by Pendle, p. 271
124.Jump up ^ "L. Ron Hubbard: A Chronicle, 1941–1949." Church of Scientology International, retrieved February 8, 2011.
125.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 90
126.Jump up ^ "Scientology: New Light on Crowley." The Sunday Times, December 28, 1969
127.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 134
128.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 132
129.Jump up ^ Streeter, p. 210
130.Jump up ^ Video on YouTube
131.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron, letter to Veterans Administration, October 15, 1947; quoted in Miller, p. 137
132.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 139
133.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 142
134.Jump up ^ "Letters from the Birth of Dianetics." Church of Scientology International, 2004, retrieved February 8, 2011
135.^ Jump up to: a b c Methvin, Eugene H. (May 1990). "Scientology: Anatomy of a Frightening Cult." Reader's Digest. pp. 16.
136.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 143
137.Jump up ^ "L. Ron Hubbard: A Chronicle, 1941–1949" Church of Scientology International, 2007, retrieved February 14, 2011.
138.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 144
139.Jump up ^ One such letter can be found on the Church of Scientology's official L. Ron Hubbard website. See "Letters from the Birth of Dianetics," Church of Scientology International, 2004, retrieved February 8, 2011.
140.Jump up ^ Luckhurst, Roger. Science Fiction, p. 74. Malden, MA: Polity, 2005. ISBN 978-0-7456-2893-6
141.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 149
142.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 106
143.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 150
144.Jump up ^ Streeter, pp. 210–211
145.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 108
146.Jump up ^ Miller, Timothy (1995). America's Alternative Religions. Albany: State University of New York Press. pp. 385–386. ISBN 978-0-7914-2398-1. OCLC 30476551.
147.Jump up ^ Winter, p. 18
148.Jump up ^ Quoted in Miller, p. 145
149.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 107
150.Jump up ^ Gardner, p. 265
151.^ Jump up to: a b Staff (August 21, 1950). "Dianetics book review; Best Seller." Newsweek
152.Jump up ^ Rabi, Isaac Isador. "Book Review." Scientific American, January 1951
153.Jump up ^ Gumpert, Martin. (August 14, 1950) "Dianetics: book review by Martin Gumpert." The New Republic
154.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 153
155.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, p. 113
156.Jump up ^ Kerman, Cynthia Earl; Eldridge, Richard. The lives of Jean Toomer: a hunger for wholeness, pp. 317–318. Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-8071-1548-0
157.Jump up ^ Sturgeon, Theodore; Williams, Paul. Baby is three, p. 414. Berkeley, CA: North Atlantic Books, 1999. ISBN 978-1-55643-319-1
158.^ Jump up to: a b c Miller, p. 166
159.Jump up ^ Melton, p. 190
160.^ Jump up to: a b O'Brien, p. 27
161.Jump up ^ Miller, pp. 159–160
162.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 377
163.Jump up ^ Evans, p. 26
164.Jump up ^ Winter, p. 34
165.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 169
166.Jump up ^ Whitehead, p. 67
167.Jump up ^ Gardner, p. 270
168.Jump up ^ Stark, Rodney; Bainbridge, William Sims. The future of religion: secularization, revival, and cult formation, pp. 268–269. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1986. ISBN 978-0-520-05731-9
169.^ Jump up to: a b c Marshall, Gordon. In praise of sociology, p. 186. London: Routledge, 1990. ISBN 978-0-04-445688-9
170.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 173
171.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 181
172.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 170
173.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 180
174.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 117
175.Jump up ^ Martin, Walter Ralston; Zacharias, Ravi K. (ed.). The Kingdom of the Cults, p. 338. Minneapolis: Bethany House, 2003. ISBN 978-0-7642-2821-6
176.Jump up ^ Staff (April 24, 1951). "Ron Hubbard Insane, Says His Wife." San Francisco Chronicle
177.Jump up ^ Quoted in Miller, p. 192
178.^ Jump up to: a b c d Streissguth, p. 71
179.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 200
180.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 129
181.Jump up ^ "L. Ron Hubbard: A Chronicle, 1950–1959. Church of Scientology International, 2007, retrieved February 8, 2011.
182.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 203
183.^ Jump up to: a b DeChant, Dell; Danny L. Jorgensen. "The Church of Scientology: A Very New American Religion" in Neusner, Jacob. World Religions in America: An Introduction, p. 226. Westminster John Knox Press, 2003. ISBN 0-664-22475-X
184.Jump up ^ Bromley, p. 91
185.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 204
186.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 206
187.Jump up ^ Tucker, p. 304
188.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 210
189.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 207
190.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 232
191.Jump up ^ O'Brien, p. 49
192.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 208
193.^ Jump up to: a b Smith, Graham (August 7, 2009). "Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard exposed as a 'fraud' by British diplomats 30 years ago." Daily Mail, retrieved February 8, 2011.
194.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 212
195.Jump up ^ Streeter, p. 215; Miller, p. 213
196.^ Jump up to: a b Kent, Stephen A. "The Creation of 'Religious' Scientology." Religious Studies and Theology 18:2, pp. 97–126. 1999. ISSN 1747-5414
197.Jump up ^ Lawrence, Sara. (April 18, 2006) "The Secrets of Scientology" The Independent. Retrieved February 17, 2011.
198.Jump up ^ Staff. (April 5, 1976). "Religion: A Sci-Fi Faith." Time. Retrieved February 17, 2011.
199.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon (2000). Studies in Contemporary Religion: The Church of Scientology (1 ed.). Torino, Italy: Elle Di Ci, Leumann. pp. 55, 74. ISBN 978-1-56085-139-4. "The actual quote seems to have come from a cynical remark in a letter written by Orwell published in The Collected Essays, Journalism, and Letters of George Orwell."
200.Jump up ^ Did L. Ron Hubbard state that the way to make money was to start a religion? Church of Scientology International, 2003, retrieved February 8, 2011.
201.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. Letter of April 10, 1953. Quoted in Miller, p. 213
202.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 214
203.Jump up ^ O'Brien, p. vii
204.^ Jump up to: a b Williams, Ian. The Alms Trade: Charities, Past, Present and Future, p. 127. New York: Cosimo, 2007. ISBN 978-1-60206-753-0
205.Jump up ^ Voltz, Tom. Scientology und (k)ein Ende, p. 75. Solothurn: Walter, 1995. ISBN 978-3-530-89980-1
206.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 137
207.Jump up ^ Staff (April 1954). "Three Churches Are Given Charters in New Jersey." The Aberree, volume 1, issue 1, p. 4
208.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 239
209.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "The Scientologist: A Manual on the Dissemination of Material," 1955. Quoted in Atack, p. 139
210.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 138
211.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 139
212.^ Jump up to: a b Streissguth, p. 74
213.Jump up ^ Staff (Hubbard?) (November 1957). Ability, Issue 58, p. 5.
214.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, p. 142
215.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 227
216.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 221
217.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 230
218.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "Constitutional Destruction." June 9, 1969, retrieved February 8, 2011.
219.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 150
220.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "Sec Check Whole Track," HCO Bulletin of June 19, 1961; quoted in Atack, p. 152
221.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "Department of Government Affairs," HCO Policy Letter of August 15, 1960; quoted in Miller, p. 241
222.Jump up ^ Fooner, Michael. Interpol: issues in world crime and international criminal justice, p. 13. New York: Plenum Press, 1989. ISBN 978-0-306-43135-7
223.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 228
224.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 154
225.Jump up ^ Wallis, p. 192
226.^ Jump up to: a b Wallis, p. 215
227.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 250
228.Jump up ^ Miller, pp. 252–253
229.Jump up ^ Wallis, p. 193
230.^ Jump up to: a b Wallis, p. 196
231.Jump up ^ Reitman (2011), pp. 80–81
232.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 183
233.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 155
234.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 156
235.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "Penalties for Lower Conditions." HCO Policy Letter of October 18, 1967, Issue IV. Quoted in Atack, pp. 175–176
236.Jump up ^ Wallis, pp. 144–145
237.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 161
238.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 165
239.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 189
240.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 160
241.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 264
242.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 265
243.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 269
244.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 272
245.Jump up ^ Quoted in Miller, p. 297
246.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 299
247.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 300
248.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 290
249.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 310
250.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 295
251.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 296
252.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 311
253.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 312
254.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 159
255.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. "Ron's Journal '67," quoted in Atack, p. 173.
256.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 32
257.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 173
258.^ Jump up to: a b c Atack, p. 177
259.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 285
260.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 286
261.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 180
262.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 186
263.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 289
264.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 301
265.Jump up ^ Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert (June 24, 1990). "The Mind Behind the Religion : Life With L. Ron Hubbard." Los Angeles Times, retrieved February 20, 2011.
266.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 236
267.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 325
268.Jump up ^ Corydon, Bent. L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?, p. 94. Fort Lee, N.J.: Barricade Books, 1992. ISBN 978-0-942637-57-1
269.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 314
270.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 318
271.^ Jump up to: a b "L. Ron Hubbard: A Chronicle, 1970–1979." Church of Scientology International, 2007, retrieved February 8, 2011.
272.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 316
273.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 255
274.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 256
275.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, p. 206
276.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, p. 204
277.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, p. 334
278.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 336
279.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 338
280.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 340
281.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 343
282.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 344
283.Jump up ^ Sappell, Joel; Robert W. Welkos (June 24, 1990). "The Mind Behind the Religion : Life With L. Ron Hubbard : Aides indulged his eccentricities and egotism". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved February 19, 2011.
284.Jump up ^ Beresford, David (February 7, 1980). "Snow White's dirty tricks." London: The Guardian
285.Jump up ^ Miller, pp. 317–318
286.Jump up ^ Marshall, John (January 24, 1980). "The Scientology Papers: Hubbard still gave orders, records show." Toronto: Globe and Mail
287.Jump up ^ Streissguth, p. 75
288.^ Jump up to: a b Reitman (2007), p. 323
289.Jump up ^ Marshall, John (January 26, 1980). "The Scientology Papers: The hidden Hubbard." Toronto: Globe and Mail
290.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 258
291.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 259
292.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 364
293.^ Jump up to: a b c Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (June 24, 1990). The Mind Behind the Religion : Chapter Four : The Final Days : Deep in hiding, Hubbard kept tight grip on the church." Los Angeles Times, retrieved February 8, 2011.
294.Jump up ^ Queen, Edward L.; Prothero, Stephen R.; Shattuck, Gardiner H. Encyclopedia of American religious history, Volume 1, p. 493. New York: Infobase Publishing, 2009. ISBN 978-0-8160-6660-5
295.Jump up ^ Walker, Jeff. The Ayn Rand Cult, p. 275. Chicago: Open Court, 1999. ISBN 978-0-8126-9390-4
296.Jump up ^ Garchik, Leah (March 17, 2006). "Leah Garchik (Daily Datebook)". San Francisco Chronicle (The Chronicle Publishing Co.). p. E16.
297.Jump up ^ Goldstein, Patrick (September 21, 1986). "Hubbard Hymns". Los Angeles Times. p. 40.
298.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 366
299.Jump up ^ Brown, Mark (January 30, 1986). "Creston provided quiet retreat for controversial church leader." The County Telegram-Tribune, San Luis Obispo, pp. 1A/5A.
300.Jump up ^ Behar, Richard (October 27, 1986). "The prophet and profits of Scientology." Forbes 400 (Forbes)
301.Jump up ^ Church of Scientology. L. Ron Hubbard's death. Image of Death Certificate. Retrieved on: 2012-06-15.
302.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 375
303.Jump up ^ Petrowsky, Marc. Sects, cults, and spiritual communities: a sociological analysis, p. 144. Westport, Conn.: Praeger, 1998. ISBN 978-0-275-95860-2
304.Jump up ^ Atack, p. 354
305.Jump up ^ [Staff] (February 7, 1986). "Hubbard Left Most of Estate to Scientology Church; Executor Appointed." The Associated Press
306.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, p. 356
307.Jump up ^ Lamont, p. 154
308.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 306
309.Jump up ^ Lattin, Don (February 12, 2001). "Scientology Founder's Family Life Far From What He Preached." San Francisco Chronicle, retrieved February 12, 2011.
310.^ Jump up to: a b Reitman (2007), p. 324
311.^ Jump up to: a b Gallagher, Eugene V.; Ashcraft, Michael. African Diaspora Traditions and Other American Innovations, p. 172; vol 5 of Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America. Westport, Conn.: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2006. ISBN 978-0-275-98717-6
312.Jump up ^ "Google Map".
313.Jump up ^ "Most published works by one author". GuinnessWorldRecords.com. Guinness World Records. Retrieved February 12, 2011.
314.Jump up ^ "Most translated author, same book". GuinnessWorldRecords.com. Guinness World Records. Retrieved February 22, 2011.
315.Jump up ^ "Most audio books published for one author". GuinnessWorldRecords.com. Guinness World Records. Retrieved February 22, 2011.
316.^ Jump up to: a b Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (June 28, 1990). "Costly Strategy Continues to Turn Out Bestsellers." Los Angeles Times, retrieved February 15, 2011.
317.Jump up ^ Bainbridge, William Sims. "Science and Religion: The Case of Scientology," in Bromley, David G.; Hammond, Phillip E. (eds). The Future of new religious movements, p. 63. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press, 1987. ISBN 978-0-86554-238-9
318.Jump up ^ Jarvik, Elaine (September 20, 2004). "Scientology: Church now claims more than 8 million members". Deseret Morning News. Retrieved February 13, 2011.
319.Jump up ^ Associated Press. "Defections, court fights test Scientology." MSNBC.com, November 1, 2009, retrieved February 14, 2011
320.^ Jump up to: a b Rothstein, p. 24
321.Jump up ^ Rothstein, p. 20
322.Jump up ^ Available at www.lronhubbard.org
323.Jump up ^ Cowan, Douglas E.; Bromley, David G. Cults and new religions: a brief history, p. 30. Oxford: Blackwell, 2008. ISBN 978-1-4051-6128-2
324.^ Jump up to: a b http://www.lronhubbard.org/books/ron-series/biographical-encyclopedia.html
325.Jump up ^ Gallagher, Eugene V. The new religious movements experience in America, p. 216. Greenwood Publishing Group, 2004. ISBN 978-0-313-32807-7
326.Jump up ^ Miller, p. 350
327.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, p. 46
328.Jump up ^ Shelor, George-Wayne. "Writer tells of Hubbard's 'faked past'." Clearwater Sun, May 10, 1984
329.Jump up ^ Breckenridge Jr., Paul G. (October 24, 1984). Memorandum of Intended Decision, Church of Scientology of California vs. Gerald Armstrong. Quoted by Miller, pp. 370-71
330.Jump up ^ Murtagh, Peter (October 10, 1987). "Scientologists fail to suppress book about church's founder." The Guardian.
References
Atack, Jon. A Piece of Blue Sky: Scientology, Dianetics, and L. Ron Hubbard exposed. Carol Publishing Group, 1990. ISBN 978-0-8184-0499-3, OCLC 20934706
Behar, Richard Pushing Beyond the U.S.: Scientology makes its presence felt in Europe and Canada
Bromley, David G. "Making Sense of Scientology: Prophetic, Contractual Religion," in Lewis, James R. (ed.), Scientology. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2009. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3 OCLC 232786014
Christensen, Dorthe Refslund. "Inventing L. Ron Hubbard: On the Construction and Maintenance of the Hagiographic Mythology of Scientology's Founder," pp. 227–258 in Lewis, James R.; Petersen, Jesper Aagaard: Controversial new religions. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2005. ISBN 978-0-19-515683-6, OCLC 53398162, available through Oxford Scholarship Online, doi:10.1093/019515682X.003.0011
Evans, Christopher. Cults of Unreason. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1974. ISBN 0-374-13324-7, OCLC 863421
Gardner, Martin. Fads and fallacies in the name of science. New York: Courier Dover Publications, 1957. ISBN 978-0-486-20394-2, OCLC 18598918
Jacobsen, Jeff Day, Robert RJ. What the Church of Scientology Doesn't Want You To Know
Lamont, Stewart. Religion Inc.: The Church of Scientology. London: Harrap, 1986. ISBN 978-0-245-54334-0, OCLC 23079677
Malko, George. Scientology: The Now Religion. New York: Delacorte Press, 1970. OCLC 115065
Melton, J. Gordon. Encyclopedic handbook of cults in America. Taylor & Francis; 1992. ISBN 978-0-8153-1140-9
Miller, Russell. Bare-faced Messiah: the true story of L. Ron Hubbard. London: Joseph, 1987. ISBN 0-7181-2764-1, OCLC 17481843
O'Brien, Helen. Dianetics in Limbo: A Documentary About Immortality. Philadelphia: Whitmore Publishing, 1966. OCLC 4797460
Pendle, George. Strange Angel: The Otherworldly Life of Rocket Scientist John Whiteside Parsons. Orlando, FL: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2006. ISBN 978-0-15-603179-0, OCLC 55149255
Reitman, Janet. "Inside Scientology," pp. 305–348 of American Society of Magazine Editors (Ed.) The Best American Magazine Writing 2007. New York: Columbia University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-231-14391-2, OCLC 154711228
Reitman, Janet. Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011. ISBN 978-0-618-88302-8, OCLC 651912263
Rolph, Cecil Hewitt Believe What You Like: what happened between the Scientologists and the National Association for Mental Health. London: Deutsch, 1973. ISBN 978-0-233-96375-4, OCLC 815558
Rothstein, Mikael. "Scientology, scripture and sacred traditions," in Lewis, James R.; Hammer, Olav (eds.): The invention of sacred tradition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2007. ISBN 978-0-521-86479-4, OCLC 154706390
Streeter, Michael. Behind closed doors: the power and influence of secret societies. London: New Holland Publishers, 2008. ISBN 978-1-84537-937-7, OCLC 231589690
Streissguth, Thomas. Charismatic cult leaders. Minneapolis: The Oliver Press, 1995. ISBN 978-1-881508-18-2, OCLC 30892074
Tucker, Ruth A. Another Gospel: Cults, Alternative Religions, and the New Age Movement. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2004. ISBN 978-0-310-25937-4, OCLC 19354219
Wallis, Roy. The road to total freedom: a sociological analysis of Scientology. New York: Columbia University Press, 1977. ISBN 978-0-231-04200-0, OCLC 2373469
Whitehead, Harriet. Renunciation and reformulation: a study of conversion in an American sect. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1987. ISBN 978-0-8014-1849-5, OCLC 14002616
Winter, Joseph A. A Doctor's Report on Dianetics: Theory and Therapy. New York: Julian Press, 1951. OCLC 1572759
External links

Portal icon Scientology portal
Portal icon Biography portal
 Wikiquote has quotations related to: L. Ron Hubbard
 Wikimedia Commons has media related to L. Ron Hubbard.
Sites run by Church of Scientology InternationalOfficial L. Ron Hubbard site
Biographical Profile of L. Ron Hubbard
L. Ron Hubbard: A Chronicle
Publishers' sitesAuthor Services Inc.[1] Publisher of L. Ron Hubbard's fiction
Bridge Publications Inc.[2] Publisher of L. Ron Hubbard's Scientology and Dianetics works
Writers of the Future[3] A contest founded in the early 1980s by L. Ron Hubbard to encourage upcoming fiction and fantasy writers
Unofficial biographies (online)Bare Faced Messiah by Russell Miller
A Biography of L. Ron Hubbard by Michael Linn Shannon
Further mention of HubbardBiographical documentation from The New Yorker
Operation Clambake. Critical material on Hubbard and Scientology
U.S. Government FBI Files for Hubbard via The Smoking Gun
'The Shrinking World of L. Ron Hubbard': Rare interview with Hubbard by an external documentary team on YouTube - World in Action, Granada TV, directed & produced by Charlie Nairn, 1967.
Frenschkowski, Marco, L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology: An annotated bibliographical survey of primary and selected secondary literature, Marburg Journal of Religion, Vol. 1. No. 1. July 1999, ISSN 1612-2941
L. Ron Hubbard at the Internet Movie Database
L. Ron Hubbard at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database
L. Ron Hubbard at the Internet Book List


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
L. Ron Hubbard












































































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Scientology








































































































































































































Authority control
WorldCat ·
 VIAF: 95274115 ·
 LCCN: n79045389 ·
 ISNI: 0000 0003 5554 0314 ·
 GND: 11855400X ·
 SELIBR: 190881 ·
 BNF: cb119078718 (data) ·
 MusicBrainz: 8caff84c-ab05-466f-b607-c7d304b7360b ·
 NDL: 00443905 ·
 NKC: jn19990003716
 

  


Categories: L. Ron Hubbard
1911 births
1986 deaths
20th-century American novelists
20th-century American poets
American expatriates in England
American expatriates in Greece
American experimental musicians
American fantasy writers
American naval personnel of World War II
American occultists
American people convicted of fraud
American people convicted of theft
American religious leaders
American religious writers
American science fiction writers
American Scientologists
American self-help writers
American spiritual writers
Anti-psychiatry
Cardiovascular disease deaths in California
Criminals from California
Criminals from Nebraska
Conspiracy theorists
Deaths from stroke
Eagle Scouts
Founders of new religious movements
George Washington University alumni
History of religion in the United States
L. Ron Hubbard family
Musicians from California
Neurological disease deaths in the United States
Ordo Templi Orientis
People banned from entering the United Kingdom
People from Tilden, Nebraska
People from Helena, Montana
Pulp fiction writers
Scientology officials
United States Navy officers
Western (genre) writers
Writers from California
Writers from Nebraska
20th-century American musicians
American male novelists
American male musicians
20th-century American criminals



















Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

View source

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Afrikaans
العربية
Башҡортса
Беларуская
Беларуская (тарашкевіца)‎
Български
Català
Čeština
Cymraeg
Dansk
Deutsch
Eesti
Español
فارسی
Français
한국어
Italiano
עברית
Lietuvių
Magyar
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Piemontèis
Polski
Português
Română
Русский
Simple English
Slovenčina
Slovenščina
Suomi
Svenska
Türkçe
中文
Edit links
This page was last modified on 12 June 2015, at 17:23.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
  

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/L._Ron_Hubbard







Page semi-protected

Scientology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to:  navigation , search

This article is about the belief system and practices. For the organization, see Church of Scientology. For other uses, see Scientology (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Religious Science or Christian Science.
Scientology
Scientology Symbol Logo.png
The Scientology symbol is composed of the letter S, which stands for Scientology, and the ARC and KRC triangles, two important concepts in Scientology.[1]

Formation
1954[2]
Type
Corporation-owned religion[3][4]
Headquarters
Gold Base
Riverside County, California[5]

Chairman of Religious Technology Center
 David Miscavige
Website
www.scientology.org
Remarks
Flagship facility: Church of Scientology International, Los Angeles, California, USA
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by American author L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986), beginning in 1952 as an expansion of his earlier system, Dianetics.[6] Hubbard characterized Scientology as a religion, and in 1953 he incorporated the Church of Scientology in Camden, New Jersey.[7][8]
Scientology teaches that people are immortal beings who have forgotten their true nature.[9] Its method of spiritual rehabilitation is a type of counselling known as auditing, in which an auditor guides a subject[10] into consciously re-experiencing painful or traumatic events in his past in order to free himself of the limiting effects of those events.[11] Study materials and auditing sessions are made available to members on a fee-for-service basis, which the church describes as a "fixed donation".[12][13] Scientology is legally recognized as a tax-exempt religion in the United States, South Africa,[14] Australia,[15] Sweden,[16] the Netherlands,[17] New Zealand,[18][19] Portugal,[20] and Spain;[21][22][23][24][25] the Church of Scientology emphasizes this as proof that it is a bona fide religion.[26] In contrast, the organization is considered a commercial enterprise in Switzerland, a cult (French secte) in France and Chile, and a non-profit in Norway, and its legal classification is often a point of contention.
A large number of organizations overseeing the application of Scientology have been established,[27] the most notable of these being the Church of Scientology. Scientology sponsors a variety of social-service programs.[27][28] These include the Narconon anti-drug program, the Criminon prison rehabilitation program, the Study Tech education methodology, the Volunteer Ministers, the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises, and a set of moral guidelines expressed in a booklet called The Way to Happiness.[29]
Scientology is one of the most controversial new religious movements to have arisen in the 20th century. The church is often characterized as a cult, and it has faced harsh scrutiny for many of its practices, which, critics contend, include brainwashing and routinely defrauding its members,[30] as well as attacking its critics and perceived enemies with psychological abuse, character assassination, and costly lawsuits.[13][31][32] In response, Scientologists have argued that theirs is a genuine religious movement that has been misrepresented, maligned, and persecuted.[33] The Church of Scientology has consistently used litigation against its critics, and its aggressiveness in pursuing its opponents has been condemned as harassment.[34][35] Further controversy has focused on Scientology's belief that souls ("thetans") reincarnate and have lived on other planets before living on Earth[36] and that some of the related teachings are not revealed to practitioners until they have paid thousands of dollars to the Church of Scientology.[37][38] Another controversial belief held by Scientologists is that the practice of psychiatry is destructive and abusive and must be abolished.[39][40]


Contents  [hide]
1 Etymology and earlier usage
2 History 2.1 Dianetics
2.2 Church of Scientology
3 Membership statistics
4 Beliefs and practices 4.1 Body and Spirit
4.2 Emotions and the mind
4.3 Survival and ethics
4.4 ARC and KRC triangles
4.5 Cross
4.6 Social and antisocial personalities
4.7 Auditing
4.8 "Bridge to Total Freedom"
4.9 Space opera and confidential materials
4.10 Ceremonies
4.11 Influences
5 Organization 5.1 Practice and training organizations
5.2 Technology application organizations
5.3 Social reform organizations
5.4 Other entities
5.5 Free Zone and Independent Scientologists
6 Dispute of religion status 6.1 Scientology status by country
6.2 Scholarly views on Scientology's status as a religion 6.2.1 Scientology as a UFO religion
6.3 Scientology as a commercial venture
7 Controversies 7.1 Scientology and the Internet
7.2 Scientology and hypnosis
7.3 Auditing confidentiality
8 Celebrities
9 See also
10 References
11 Notes
12 External links

Etymology and earlier usage
The word Scientology is a pairing of the Latin word scientia ("knowledge", "skill"), which comes from the verb scīre ("to know"), and the Greek λόγος lógos ("word" or "account [of]").[41][42] Scientology, as coined by L. Ron Hubbard, comes from the Latin scio, which means "knowing, in the fullest meaning of the word" and the Greek word logos, which means "study of". Scientology is further defined as "the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes, and other life."[43]
In 1901, Allen Upward coined Scientology "as a disparaging term, to indicate a blind, unthinking acceptance of scientific doctrine" according to the Internet Sacred Text Archive as quoted in the preface to Forgotten Books' recent edition of Upward's book, The New Word: On the meaning of the word Idealist.[44] Continuing to quote, the publisher writes "I'm not aware of any evidence that Hubbard knew of this fairly obscure book."[45] In 1934, philosopher Anastasius Nordenholz published a book that used the term to mean "science of science".[46] It is also uncertain whether Hubbard was aware of this prior usage of the word.[47]
History
See also: Timeline of Scientology
Dianetics
Main article: Dianetics



 L. Ron Hubbard in 1950
Scientology was developed by L. Ron Hubbard as a successor to his earlier counselling system, Dianetics. Dianetics uses a counseling technique known as auditing, in which an auditor assists a subject in conscious recall of traumatic events in the individual's past.[48] It was originally intended to be a new psychotherapy and was not expected to become the foundation for a new religion.[49][50] Hubbard variously defined Dianetics as a spiritual healing technology and an organized science of thought.[51] The stated intent of Dianetics is to free individuals of the influence of past traumas by systematic exposure and removal of the engrams (painful memories) these events have left behind, in a process called clearing.[51]
Hubbard, an American writer of pulp fiction, especially science fiction,[52] first published his ideas on the human mind in the Explorers Club Journal and the May 1950 issue of Astounding Science Fiction magazine.[53] The publication of Dianetics in May 1950 is considered by Scientologists a seminal event of the century.[54] Two of Hubbard's key supporters at the time were John W. Campbell Jr., the editor of Astounding Science Fiction, and Dr. Joseph A. Winter. Winter, hoping to have Dianetics accepted in the medical community, submitted papers outlining the principles and methodology of Dianetic therapy to the Journal of the American Medical Association and the American Journal of Psychiatry in 1949, but these were rejected.[55][56]
May 1950 saw the publication of Hubbard's Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. His book entered the New York Times best-seller list on June 18 and stayed there until December 24 of that year.[57] Dianetics appealed to a broad range of people who used instructions from the book and applied the method to each other, becoming practitioners themselves.[53][58] Hubbard found himself the leader of a growing Dianetics movement.[53] He became a popular lecturer and established the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he trained his first Dianetics counselors or auditors.[53][58]
Rutgers scholar Beryl Satter says that "there was little that was original in Hubbard's approach" with much of the theory having origins in popular conceptions of psychology.[59] Satter observes that, "keeping with the typical 1950s distrust of emotion, Hubbard promised that Dianetic treatment would tap dangerous emotions in order to release and erase them, thereby leaving individuals with increased powers of rationality."[59] Hubbard's thought was parallel with the trend of humanist psychology at that time, which also came about in the 1950s.[59] Passas and Castillo write that the appeal of Dianetics was based on its consistency with prevailing values.[60]
Dianetics soon met with criticism. Morris Fishbein, the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association and well-known at the time as a debunker of quack medicine, dismissed Hubbard's book.[61] An article in Newsweek stated that "the dianetics concept is unscientific and unworthy of discussion or review".[62] In January 1951, the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners instituted proceedings against the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation for teaching medicine without a license, which eventually led to that foundation's bankruptcy.[63][64][65]
Some practitioners of Dianetics reported experiences which they believed had occurred in past lives, or previous incarnations.[58] In early 1951, reincarnation became a subject of intense debate within Dianetics.[66] Campbell and Winter, who was still hopeful of winning support for Dianetics from the medical community, championed a resolution to ban the topic.[66] But Hubbard decided to take the reports of past life events seriously and postulated the existence of the thetan, a concept similar to the soul.[58] This was an important factor in the transition from secular Dianetics to the more supernaturalistic Scientology, but more to the point, Hubbard saw that Dianetics was about to fail from its inherent individualism which set each person as his own authority. It has been suggested that Hubbard started the more religious mode of Scientology to establish an overarching authority—his own.[67]
Also in 1951, Hubbard introduced the electropsychometer (E-meter for short), a kind of galvanometer, as an auditing aid.[66] Based on a design by Hubbard, the device is held by Scientologists to be a useful tool in detecting changes in a person's state of mind.[66]
Scientologists use a "dating system based on the initial appearance of this book. For example, 'A.D. 25' does not stand for Anno Domini, but 'After Dianetics.'"[68] Publishers Weekly gave a plaque posthumously to L. Ron Hubbard commemorating the appearance of Dianetics on its bestseller list for one hundred consecutive weeks.[citation needed] One scholar has called Dianetics the bestselling non-Christian religious book of the century.[68] Scholarly conjecture discusses the likelihood of the Church of Scientology falsifying the numbers of Dianetics books sold; the Church says more than 90 million. Nevertheless, the book has seen very little attention from scholars.[68]
Church of Scientology
Main article: Church of Scientology



 The Founding Church of Scientology in Washington D.C.
In 1952, Hubbard built on the existing framework set forth in Dianetics, and published a new set of teachings as Scientology, a religious philosophy.[69] In December 1952, the Hubbard Dianetic Foundation filed for bankruptcy, and Hubbard lost control of the Dianetics trademark and copyright to financier Don Purcell.[70] Author Russell Miller argues that Scientology "was a development of undeniable expedience, since it ensured that he would be able to stay in business even if the courts eventually awarded control of Dianetics and its valuable copyrights to ... Purcell".[71][72]
In April 1953, Hubbard wrote a letter proposing that Scientology should be transformed into a religion.[73] As membership declined and finances grew tighter, Hubbard had reversed the hostility to religion he voiced in Dianetics.[74] His letter discussed the legal and financial benefits of religious status.[74] Hubbard outlined plans for setting up a chain of "Spiritual Guidance Centers" charging customers $500 for twenty-four hours of auditing ("That is real money ... Charge enough and we'd be swamped."). He wrote:

I await your reaction on the religion angle. In my opinion, we couldn't get worse public opinion than we have had or have less customers with what we've got to sell. A religious charter would be necessary in Pennsylvania or NJ to make it stick. But I sure could make it stick.[75]
In December 1953, Hubbard incorporated three churches – a "Church of American Science", a "Church of Scientology" and a "Church of Spiritual Engineering" – in Camden, New Jersey.[76] On February 18, 1954, with Hubbard's blessing, some of his followers set up the first local Church of Scientology, the Church of Scientology of California, adopting the "aims, purposes, principles and creed of the Church of American Science, as founded by L. Ron Hubbard."[76][77] The movement spread quickly through the United States and to other English-speaking countries such as Britain, Ireland, South Africa and Australia.[78] The second local Church of Scientology to be set up, after the one in California, was in Auckland, New Zealand.[78] In 1955, Hubbard established the Founding Church of Scientology in Washington, D.C.[58] In 1957, the Church of Scientology of California was granted tax-exempt status by the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and so, for a time, were other local churches.[61][79] In 1958 however, the IRS started a review of the appropriateness of this status.[61] In 1959, Hubbard moved to England, remaining there until the mid-1960s.[58]
The Church experienced further challenges. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began an investigation concerning the claims the Church of Scientology made in connection with its E-meters.[61] On January 4, 1963, they raided offices of the Church of Scientology and seized hundreds of E-meters as illegal medical devices. The devices have since been required to carry a disclaimer saying that they are a purely religious artifact.[80]
In the mid-sixties, the Church of Scientology was banned in several Australian states, starting with Victoria in 1965.[81] The ban was based on the Anderson Report, which found that the auditing process involved "command" hypnosis, in which the hypnotist assumes "positive authoritative control" over the patient. On this point the report stated,

It is the firm conclusion of this Board that most scientology and dianetic techniques are those of authoritative hypnosis and as such are dangerous ... the scientific evidence which the Board heard from several expert witnesses of the highest repute ... leads to the inescapable conclusion that it is only in name that there is any difference between authoritative hypnosis and most of the techniques of scientology. Many scientology techniques are in fact hypnotic techniques, and Hubbard has not changed their nature by changing their names.[82]
The Australian Church was forced to operate under the name of the "Church of the New Faith" as a result, the name and practice of Scientology having become illegal in the relevant states.[81] Several years of court proceedings aimed at overturning the ban followed.[81]
In the course of developing Scientology, Hubbard presented rapidly changing teachings that some have seen as often self-contradictory.[83][84] According to Lindholm, for the inner cadre of Scientologists in that period, involvement depended not so much on belief in a particular doctrine but on unquestioning faith in Hubbard.[83] In 1965, a longtime Church member and "Doctor of Scientology" Jack Horner (b. 1927) left the group, dissatisfied with its ethics program; he later developed a splinter group, Dianology, renamed in 1971 to Eductivsm, "an applied philosophy aimed at evoking the individual's infinite spiritual potentials."[85] In 1966, Hubbard stepped down as executive director of Scientology to devote himself to research and writing.[58][86] The following year, he formed the Sea Organization or Sea Org, which was to develop into an elite group within Scientology.[58][87] The Sea Org was based on three ships, the Diana, the Athena, and the Apollo, which served as the flagship.[87] One month after the establishment of the Sea Org, Hubbard announced that he had made a breakthrough discovery, the result of which were the "OT III" materials purporting to provide a method for overcoming factors inhibiting spiritual progress.[87] These materials were first disseminated on the ships, and then propagated by Sea Org members reassigned to staff Advanced Organizations on land.[87]
In 1967, the IRS removed Scientology's tax-exempt status, asserting that its activities were commercial and operated for the benefit of Hubbard, rather than for charitable or religious purposes.[79] The decision resulted in a process of litigation that would be settled in the Church's favor a quarter of a century later, the longest case of litigation in IRS history.[61]
In 1979, as a result of FBI raids during Operation Snow White, eleven senior people in the church's Guardian's Office were convicted of obstructing justice, burglary of government offices, and theft of documents and government property. In 1981, Scientology took the German government to court for the first time.[88]
On January 1, 1982, Scientology established the Religious Technology Center (RTC) to oversee and ensure the standard application of Scientology technology.[89]
On November 11, 1982, the Free Zone was established by former top Scientologists in disagreement with RTC.[90] The Free Zone Association was founded and registered under the laws of Germany, and believes that the Church of Scientology has departed from its original philosophy.[91]
In 1983, in a unanimous decision, the High Court of Australia recognized Scientology as a religion in Australia, overturning restrictions that had limited activities of the church after the Anderson Report.[92]
On January 24, 1986, L. Ron Hubbard died at his ranch in Creston, California,[93] and David Miscavige became the head of the organization.
Starting in 1991, persons connected with Scientology filed fifty lawsuits against the Cult Awareness Network (CAN), a group that had been critical of Scientology.[94] Although many of the suits were dismissed, one of the suits filed against the Cult Awareness Network resulted in $2 million in losses for the network.[94] Consequently, the organization was forced to go bankrupt.[94] In 1996, Steven L. Hayes, a Scientologist, purchased the bankrupt Cult Awareness Network's logo and appurtenances.[94][95] A new Cult Awareness Network was set up with Scientology backing, which operates as an information and networking center for non-traditional religions, referring callers to academics and other experts.[96][97]
In a 1993 U.S. lawsuit brought by the Church of Scientology against Steven Fishman, a former member of the Church, Fishman made a court declaration which included several dozen pages of formerly secret esoterica detailing aspects of Scientologist cosmogony.[98] As a result of the litigation, this material, normally strictly safeguarded and used only in Scientology's more advanced "OT levels", found its way onto the Internet.[98] This resulted in a battle between the Church of Scientology and its online critics over the right to disclose this material, or safeguard its confidentiality.[98] The Church of Scientology was forced to issue a press release acknowledging the existence of this cosmogony, rather than allow its critics "to distort and misuse this information for their own purposes."[98] Even so, the material, notably the story of Xenu, has since been widely disseminated and used to caricature Scientology, despite the Church's vigorous program of copyright litigation.[98]
Membership statistics



 Scientology center in New York City
In 2005, the Church of Scientology stated its worldwide membership to be eight million, although that number included people who took only the introductory course.[99] In 2007 a church official claimed 3.5 million members in the United States,[100] but a 2001 survey conducted by the City University of New York found only 55,000 people in the United States who claimed to be Scientologists. Worldwide, some observers believe a reasonable estimate of Scientology's core practicing membership ranges between 100,000 and 200,000, mostly in the U.S., Europe, South Africa and Australia.[101] In 2008, the American Religious Identification Survey found that the number of American Scientologists had dropped to 25,000.[102]
Scientologists tend to disparage general religious surveys on the grounds that many members maintaining cultural and social ties to other religious groups will, when asked their religion, answer with their traditional and more socially acceptable affiliation. The Church of Scientology claims to be the fastest growing religious movement on earth.[103] On the other hand, religious scholar J. Gordon Melton has said that the church's estimates of its membership numbers are significantly exaggerated.[104] In the UK, Scientology is declining.[105]
Beliefs and practices
Main article: Scientology beliefs and practices
According to Scientology, its beliefs and practices are based on rigorous research, and its doctrines are accorded a significance equivalent to that of scientific laws.[106] "Scientology works 100 percent of the time when it is properly applied to a person who sincerely desires to improve his life", the Church of Scientology says.[106] Conversion is held to be of lesser significance than the practical application of Scientologist methods.[106] Adherents are encouraged to validate the value of the methods they apply through their personal experience.[106] Hubbard himself put it this way: "For a Scientologist, the final test of any knowledge he has gained is, 'did the data and the use of it in life actually improve conditions or didn't it?'"[106]
Body and Spirit
Scientology beliefs revolve around the thetan, the individualized expression of the cosmic source, or life force, named after the Greek letter theta (θ).[107][108][109] The thetan is the true identity of a person – an intrinsically good, omniscient, non-material core capable of unlimited creativity.[107][108]
In the primordial past, thetans brought the material universe into being largely for their own pleasure.[107] The universe has no independent reality, but derives its apparent reality from the fact that most thetans agree it exists.[108] Thetans fell from grace when they began to identify with their creation, rather than their original state of spiritual purity.[107] Eventually they lost their memory of their true nature, along with the associated spiritual and creative powers. As a result, thetans came to think of themselves as nothing but embodied beings.[108][110]
Thetans are reborn time and time again in new bodies through a process called "assumption" which is analogous to reincarnation.[107] Like Hinduism, Scientology posits a causal relationship between the experiences of earlier incarnations and one's present life, and with each rebirth, the effects of the MEST universe (MEST here stands for matter, energy, space, and time) on the thetan become stronger.[107]
Emotions and the mind
See also: Tone scale
Scientology presents two major divisions of the mind.[111] The reactive mind is thought to absorb all pain and emotional trauma, while the analytical mind is a rational mechanism which is responsible for consciousness.[108][112] The reactive mind stores mental images which are not readily available to the analytical (conscious) mind; these are referred to as engrams.[113] Engrams are painful and debilitating; as they accumulate, people move further away from their true identity.[107] To avoid this fate is Scientology's basic goal.[107] Dianetic auditing is one way by which the Scientologist may progress toward the Clear state, winning gradual freedom from the reactive mind's engrams, and acquiring certainty of his or her reality as a thetan.[110]
Scientology uses an emotional classification system called the tone scale.[114] The tone scale is a tool used in counseling; Scientologists maintain that knowing a person's place on the scale makes it easier to predict his or her actions and assists in bettering his or her condition.[115]
Survival and ethics



 The Scientology symbol is composed of the letter S, which stands for Scientology, and the ARC and KRC triangles, two important concepts in Scientology.
Scientology emphasizes the importance of survival, which it subdivides into eight classifications that are referred to as dynamics.[116][117] An individual's desire to survive is considered to be the first dynamic, while the second dynamic relates to procreation and family.[116][118] The remaining dynamics encompass wider fields of action, involving groups, mankind, all life, the physical universe, the spirit, and the Infinity, often associated with the Supreme Being.[116] The optimum solution to any problem is held to be the one that brings the greatest benefit to the greatest number of dynamics.[116]
Scientology teaches that spiritual progress requires and enables the attainment of high ethical standards.[119] In Scientology, rationality is stressed over morality.[119] Actions are considered ethical if they promote survival across all eight dynamics, thus benefiting the greatest number of people or things possible while harming the fewest.[120]
ARC and KRC triangles
See also: Scientology terminology and Scientology beliefs and practices § ARC and KRC triangle
The ARC and KRC triangles are concept maps which show a relationship between three concepts to form another concept. These two triangles are present in the Scientology symbol. The lower triangle, the ARC triangle, is a summary representation of the knowledge the Scientologist strives for.[107] It encompasses Affinity (affection, love or liking), Reality (consensual reality) and Communication (the exchange of ideas).[107] Scientologists believe that improving one of the three aspects of the triangle "increases the level" of the other two, but Communication is held to be the most important.[121] The upper triangle is the KRC triangle, the letters KRC positing a similar relationship between Knowledge, Responsibility and Control.[122]
Among Scientologists, the letters ARC are used as an affectionate greeting in personal communication, for example at the end of a letter.[123] Social problems are ascribed to breakdowns in ARC – in other words, a lack of agreement on reality, a failure to communicate effectively, or a failure to develop affinity.[124] These can take the form of overts – harmful acts against another, either intentionally or by omission – which are usually followed by withholds – efforts to conceal the wrongdoing, which further increase the level of tension in the relationship.[124]
Cross
Main article: Scientology cross



 Scientology cross
The Church of Scientology says that "the horizontal bar represents the material universe, and the vertical bar represents the spirit. Thus, the spirit is seen to be rising triumphantly, ultimately transcending the turmoil of the physical universe to achieve salvation."[125]
Social and antisocial personalities
While Scientology states that many social problems are the unintentional results of people's imperfections, it asserts that there are also truly malevolent individuals.[124] Hubbard believed that approximately 80 percent of all people are what he called social personalities – people who welcome and contribute to the welfare of others.[124] The remaining 20 percent of the population, Hubbard thought, were suppressive persons.[124] According to Hubbard, only about 2.5 percent of this 20 percent are hopelessly antisocial personalities; these make up the small proportion of truly dangerous individuals in humanity: "the Adolf Hitlers and the Genghis Khans, the unrepentant murderers and the drug lords."[124][126] Scientologists believe that any contact with suppressive or antisocial individuals has an adverse effect on one's spiritual condition, necessitating disconnection.[124][126]
In Scientology, defectors who turn into critics of the movement are declared suppressive persons,[127][128][129][130] and the Church of Scientology has a reputation for moving aggressively against such detractors.[131] A Scientologist who is actively in communication with a suppressive person and as a result shows signs of antisocial behaviour is referred to as a Potential Trouble Source.[132][133]
Auditing
Main article: Auditing (Scientology)



 A Scientologist introduces the E-meter to a potential student
Scientology asserts that people have hidden abilities which have not yet been fully realized.[134] It is believed that increased spiritual awareness and physical benefits are accomplished through counseling sessions referred to as auditing.[135] Through auditing, it is said that people can solve their problems and free themselves of engrams.[101] This restores them to their natural condition as thetans and enables them to be at cause in their daily lives, responding rationally and creatively to life events rather than reacting to them under the direction of stored engrams.[136] Accordingly, those who study Scientology materials and receive auditing sessions advance from a status of Preclear to Clear and Operating Thetan.[137] Scientology's utopian aim is to "clear the planet", a world in which everyone has cleared themselves of their engrams.[138]
Auditing is a one-on-one session with a Scientology counselor or auditor.[139] It bears a superficial similarity to confession or pastoral counseling, but the auditor records and stores all information received and does not dispense forgiveness or advice the way a pastor or priest might do.[139] Instead, the auditor's task is to help a person discover and understand engrams, and their limiting effects, for him- or herself.[139] Most auditing requires an E-meter, a device that measures minute changes in electrical resistance through the body when a person holds electrodes (metal "cans"), and a small current is passed through them.[101][139]
Scientology asserts that watching for changes in the E-meter's display helps locate engrams.[139] Once an area of concern has been identified, the auditor asks the individual specific questions about it, in order to help him or her eliminate the engram, and uses the E-meter to confirm that the engram's "charge" has been dissipated and the engram has in fact been cleared.[139] As the individual progresses, the focus of auditing moves from simple engrams to engrams of increasing complexity.[139] At the more advanced OT auditing levels, Scientologists perform solo auditing sessions, acting as their own auditors.[139]
"Bridge to Total Freedom"
Seeking spiritual development within Scientology is undertaken by studying Scientology materials. Scientology materials (called Technology or Tech in Scientology jargon) are structured in sequential levels (or gradients), so that easier steps are taken first and greater complexities are handled at the appropriate time. This process is sometimes referred to as moving along the "Bridge to Total Freedom", or simply "the Bridge".[121] It has two sides: training and processing.[119] Training means education in the principles and practices of auditing.[119] Processing is personal development through participation in auditing sessions.[119]
The Church of Scientology believes in the principle of reciprocity, involving give-and-take in every human transaction.[13] Accordingly, members are required to make donations for study courses and auditing as they move up the Bridge, the amounts increasing as higher levels are reached.[13] Participation in higher-level courses on the Bridge may cost several thousand dollars, and Scientologists usually move up the Bridge at a rate governed by their income.[13]
Space opera and confidential materials
See also: Operating Thetan and Space opera in Scientology doctrine
The Church of Scientology holds that at the higher levels of initiation ("OT levels"), mystical teachings are imparted that may be harmful to unprepared readers. These teachings are kept secret from members who have not reached these levels. The church says that the secrecy is warranted to keep its materials' use in context and to protect its members from being exposed to materials they are not yet prepared for.[101]



 Scientology cruise ship Freewinds
These are the OT levels, the levels above Clear, whose contents are guarded within Scientology. The OT level teachings include accounts of various cosmic catastrophes that befell the thetans.[140] Hubbard described these early events collectively as "space opera".
In the OT levels, Hubbard explains how to reverse the effects of past-life trauma patterns that supposedly extend millions of years into the past.[141] Among these advanced teachings is the story of Xenu (sometimes Xemu), introduced as the tyrant ruler of the "Galactic Confederacy". According to this story, 75 million years ago Xenu brought billions of people to Earth in spacecraft resembling Douglas DC-8 airliners, stacked them around volcanoes and detonated hydrogen bombs in the volcanoes. The thetans then clustered together, stuck to the bodies of the living, and continue to do this today. Scientologists at advanced levels place considerable emphasis on isolating body thetans and neutralizing their ill effects.[142]
The material contained in the OT levels has been characterized as bad science fiction by critics, while others claim it bears structural similarities to gnostic thought and ancient Hindu beliefs of creation and cosmic struggle.[140][143] Melton suggests that these elements of the OT levels may never have been intended as descriptions of historical events and that, like other religious mythology, they may have their truth in the realities of the body and mind which they symbolize.[140] He adds that on whatever level Scientologists might have received this mythology, they seem to have found it useful in their spiritual quest.[140]
Excerpts and descriptions of OT materials were published online by a former member in 1995 and then circulated in mainstream media. This occurred after the teachings were submitted as evidence in court cases involving Scientology, thus becoming a matter of public record.[141][144] There are eight publicly known OT levels, OT I to VIII.[145] The highest level, OT VIII, is disclosed only at sea on the Scientology cruise ship Freewinds.[145] It has been rumored that additional OT levels, said to be based on material written by Hubbard long ago, will be released at some appropriate point in the future.[146]
A large Church of Spiritual Technology symbol carved into the ground at Scientology's Trementina Base is visible from the air.[147] Washington Post reporter Richard Leiby wrote, "Former Scientologists familiar with Hubbard’s teachings on reincarnation say the symbol marks a 'return point' so loyal staff members know where they can find the founder’s works when they travel here in the future from other places in the universe."[148]
Ceremonies
In Scientology, ceremonies for events such as weddings, child naming, and funerals are observed.[107] Friday services are held to commemorate the completion of a person's religious services during the prior week.[107] Ordained Scientology ministers may perform such rites.[107] However, these services and the clergy who perform them play only a minor role in Scientologists' religious lives.[149]
Influences
The general orientation of Hubbard's philosophy owes much to Will Durant, author of the popular 1926 classic The Story of Philosophy; Dianetics is dedicated to Durant.[150] Hubbard's view of a mechanically functioning mind in particular finds close parallels in Durant's work on Spinoza.[150] According to Hubbard himself, Scientology is "the Western anglicized continuance of many early forms of wisdom." Ankerberg and Weldon mention the sources of Scientology to include "the Vedas, Buddhism, Judaism, Gnosticism, Taoism, early Greek civilization and the teachings of Jesus, Nietzsche and Freud."[151] In Dianetics, Hubbard cites Hegel as an influence, but a negative one due to his being "confusing."[152]
Sigmund Freud's psychology, popularized in the 1930s and 1940s, was a key contributor to the Dianetics therapy model, and was acknowledged unreservedly as such by Hubbard in his early works.[153] Hubbard never forgot, when he was 12 years old, meeting Cmdr. Joseph Cheesman Thompson, a U.S. Navy officer who had studied with Freud[154] and when writing to the American Psychological Association in 1949, he stated that he was conducting research based on the "early work of Freud".[155]
Another major influence was Alfred Korzybski's General Semantics.[153] Hubbard was friends with fellow science fiction writer A. E. van Vogt, who explored the implications of Korzybski's non-Aristotelian logic in works such as The World of Null-A, and Hubbard's view of the reactive mind has clear and acknowledged parallels with Korzybski's thought; in fact, Korzybski's "anthropometer" may have been what inspired Hubbard's invention of the E-meter.[153]
Beyond that, Hubbard himself named a great many other influences in his own writing – in Scientology 8-8008, for example, these include philosophers from Anaxagoras and Aristotle to Herbert Spencer and Voltaire, physicists and mathematicians like Euclid and Isaac Newton, as well as founders of religions such as Buddha, Confucius, Jesus and Mohammed – but there is little evidence in Hubbard's writings that he studied these figures to any great depth.[153]
As noted, there are elements of the Eastern religions evident in Scientology,[155] in particular the concepts of karma, as present in Hinduism and in Jainism.[156][157] In addition to the links to Hindu texts, Hubbard tried to connect Scientology with Taoism and Buddhism.[158] According to the Encyclopedia of Community, Scientology "shows affinities with Buddhism and a remarkable similarity to first-century Gnosticism."[159][160]
In the 1940s, Hubbard was in contact with Jack Parsons, a rocket scientist and member of the Ordo Templi Orientis then led by Aleister Crowley, and there have been suggestions that this connection influenced some of the ideas and symbols of Scientology.[161][162] Religious scholars Gerald Willms and J. Gordon Melton have stated that Crowley's teachings bear little if any resemblance to Scientology doctrine.[161][162]
According to James R. Lewis, Scientology is in the same lineage of supernatural religious movements such as New Thought. Scientology goes beyond this and refers to their religio-therapeutic practices as religious technology. Lewis wrote, "Scientology sees their psycho-spiritual technology as supplying the missing ingredient in existing technologies—namely, the therapeutic engineering of the human psyche."[163]
Organization
Main article: List of Scientology organizations



 The incomplete Super Power Building of the FLAG Scientology complex in Clearwater, Florida
There are a considerable number of Scientology organizations (or orgs) which generally support one of the following three aims: enabling Scientology practice and training, promoting the wider application of Scientology technology, or campaigning for social change.[164] These organizations are supported by a three-tiered hierarchical structure comprising lay practitioners, staff and, at the top of the hierarchy, members of the so-called Sea Organization or Sea Org.[165] The Sea Org, comprising over 5,000 members, has been compared to the monastic orders found in other religions; it is composed of the most dedicated adherents, who work for nominal compensation and symbolically express their religious commitment by signing a billion-year contract.[165][166]
The internal structure of Scientology organizations is strongly bureaucratic, with detailed coordination of activities and collection of stats – or statistics, to measure organizational and individual performance.[165] Organizational operating budgets are performance-related and subject to frequent reviews.[165] Scientology has an internal justice system (the Ethics system) designed to deal with unethical or antisocial behavior.[165][167] Ethics officers are present in every org; they are tasked with ensuring correct application of Scientology technology and deal with violations such as non-compliance with standard procedures or any other behavior adversely affecting an org's performance, ranging from errors and misdemeanors to crimes and suppressive acts, as defined by internal documents.[168]
A controversial part of the Scientology justice system is the Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF).[168] When a Sea Org member is accused of a violation, such as lying, sexual misconduct, dereliction of duty, or failure to comply with Church policy, a Committee of Evidence examines the case.[168] If the charge is substantiated, the individual may accept expulsion from the Sea Org or participate in the RPF to become eligible to rejoin the Sea Org.[168] The RPF involves a daily regimen of five hours of auditing or studying, eight hours of work, often physical labor, such as building renovation, and at least seven hours of sleep.[168] Douglas E. Cowan and David G. Bromley state that scholars and observers have come to radically different conclusions about the RPF and whether it is "voluntary or coercive, therapeutic or punitive".[168]
Practice and training organizations
Many Scientologists' first contact with Scientology is through local informal groups and field auditors practicing Dianetics counseling.[169] In addition to these, Scientology operates hundreds of Churches and Missions around the world.[170] This is where Scientologists receive introductory training, and it is at this local level that most Scientologists participate.[170] Churches and Missions are licensed franchises; they offer services for a fee, and return a proportion of their income to the mother church.[170] They are also required to adhere to the standards established by the Religious Technology Center (RTC), which supervises the application of Scientology tech, owns the trademarks and service marks of Scientology, and collaborates with the Commodore's Messenger Organization to administer and control the various corporate entities within Scientology.[171][172] According to Melton, the Religious Technology Center “preserves, maintains and protects Scientology against misuse or misinterpretation” but is not involved in Scientology daily affairs or management.[173] The RTC's Chairman is David Miscavige, who, while not the titular head of the Church of Scientology, is believed to be the most powerful person in the Scientology movement.[174]
Once an individual has reached Clear and wishes to proceed further, he or she can take OT auditing and coursework with Advanced Organizations located in Los Angeles, Sydney, East Grinstead and Copenhagen.[175] Beyond OT V, the Flag Service Organization in Clearwater, Florida, offers the auditing and course work for OT levels VI and VII, while OT VIII is offered only by the Flag Ship Service Organization aboard the Scientology ship Freewinds.[176] Since 1981, all of these Churches and organizations have been united under the Church of Scientology International umbrella organization, with the Sea Org providing staff for all levels above the local Churches and Missions.[170][176]
In 2012, the Ideal Center of Scientology for the Middle East opened in a refurbished historic building in Jaffa, Israel.[177]
Technology application organizations



 Church of Scientology of Tampa, Florida
A number of Scientology organizations specialize in promoting the use of Scientology technology as a means to solve social problems.
Narconon is a drug education and rehabilitation program. The program is founded on Hubbard's belief that drugs and poisons stored in the body impede spiritual growth, and was originally conceived by William Benitez, a prison inmate who applied Hubbard's ideas to rid himself of his drug habit.[170][178] Narconon is offered in the United States, Canada and a number of European countries; its Purification Program uses a regimen composed of sauna, physical exercise, vitamins and diet management, combined with auditing and study.[170][178]
Criminon is a program designed to rehabilitate criminal offenders by teaching them study and communication methods and helping them reform their lives.[170] The program originally grew out of the Narconon effort and today is available in over 200 prisons.[178] According to Melton, it has experienced steady growth, based on a good success rate, with low recidivism.[178]
Applied Scholastics promotes the use of Hubbard's educational methodology, known as study tech.[179] Originally developed to help Scientologists study course materials, Hubbard's study tech is now used in some private and public schools as well.[180] Applied Scholastics is active across Europe and North America as well as in Australia, Malaysia, China and South Africa.[180] It supports literacy efforts in American cities and Third World countries, and its methodology is sometimes included in management training programs.[181]
The Way to Happiness Foundation promotes a moral code written by Hubbard, to date translated into more than 40 languages.[179]
The Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE) acts as an umbrella organization for these efforts.[182]
The World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE) is a not-for-profit organization which licenses Hubbard's management techniques for use in businesses.[179] The most prominent training supplier to make use of Hubbard's technology is Sterling Management Systems.[179]
The Church of Scientology has also instituted a Volunteer Ministers program to provide disaster relief; for example, Volunteer Ministers were active in the aftermath of 9/11, providing food and water and applying Scientology methods such as "Assists" to people in acute emotional distress.[183][184] The Scientology Volunteer Ministers also used the "assist" to help Haiti quake victims.[185][186] The Volunteer Ministers have also been sent to the site of relief efforts in Southeast Asia in the wake of the December 2004 tsunami and to London Underground stations that were attacked in July 7, 2005 London bombings. Eight hundred were sent to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina.[187][188] In March 2010, twelve Volunteer Ministers sailed from Miami to Haiti to bring medical supplies and join the existing 61 volunteers who were already in Haiti. Since the earthquake, the Volunteer Ministers have been a consistent presence in the area, aiding in disaster relief.[189]
Social reform organizations



 Scientologists on an anti-psychiatry demonstration
Further information: Scientology and psychiatry, Citizens Commission on Human Rights and Psychiatry: An Industry of Death
Some Scientology organizations are focused on bringing about social change.[179] One of these is the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR). Founded in 1969, it has a long history of opposing psychiatric practices such as lobotomy, electric shock treatment and the use of mood-altering drugs.[190][191] The psychiatric establishment rejected Hubbard's theories in the early 1950s.[191] Ever since, Scientology has argued that psychiatry suffers from the fundamental flaw of ignoring humanity's spiritual dimension, and that it fails to take into account Hubbard's insights about the nature of the mind.[190] Scientology holds psychiatry responsible for a great many wrongs in the world, saying it has at various times offered itself as a tool of political suppression and "that psychiatry spawned the ideology which fired Hitler's mania, turned the Nazis into mass murderers, and created the Holocaust."[190][191] In recent years, the CCHR has conducted high-profile campaigns against Ritalin, given to children to control hyperactivity, and Prozac, a commonly used antidepressant.[191] Neither drug was taken off the market as a result of the campaign, but Ritalin sales decreased, and Prozac suffered bad press.[191]
The main other organization in this field is the National Commission on Law Enforcement and Social Justice, devoted to combating what it describes as abusive practices by government and police agencies, especially Interpol.[191][192]
For the "general upgrading of health", Scientologists give support to "the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Cerebral Palsy Association, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, drug-free blood drives, distribution of Toys for Tots to underprivileged children, drives for public television, emergency Food for All programs, Bryan's House for children stricken with AIDS, and Operation Caring to support the elderly." To mitigate crime, "Scientologists foster a volunteer minister program outlined in Hubbard's Scientology Handbook (1976) to save troubled marriages, resolve community conflict, end gang warfare, promote literacy and study skills and improve business prospects."[193]
Other entities
Other prominent Scientology-related organizations include:
International Association of Scientologists, the official Scientology membership organization;
Church of Spiritual Technology, a non-profit organization that owns the copyrights to Scientology books.
Free Zone and Independent Scientologists
Although Scientology is most often used as shorthand for the Church of Scientology, a number of groups practice Scientology and Dianetics outside of the official church. These groups, collectively known as the Free Zone or as Independent Scientologists, consist of both former members of the official Church of Scientology, as well as entirely new members. Capt. Bill Robertson, a former Sea Org member, was a primary instigator of the movement in the early 1980s.[194] The church labels these groups as "squirrels" in Scientology jargon and often subjects them to considerable legal and social pressure.[195][196][197] More recently, high-profile defectors Mark Rathbun and Mike Rinder have championed the cause of Independent Scientologists wishing to practice Scientology outside of the Church.[198][199]
Dispute of religion status



 A Scientology Center on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Scientology status by country
Main article: Scientology status by country
The Church of Scientology has pursued an extensive public relations campaign for the recognition of Scientology as a religion in the various countries in which it exists.[38][200][201] Opinions around the world still differ on whether Scientology is to be recognized as a religion or not,[202] and Scientology has often encountered opposition due to its strong-arm tactics directed against critics and members wishing to leave the organization.[128] A number of governments now view the Church as a religious organization entitled to protections and tax relief, while others continue to view it as a pseudoreligion or cult.[203][204] The differences between these classifications have become a major problem when discussing religions in general and Scientology specifically.[99]
Scientology is officially recognized as a religion in the United States.[22][23][24][25] Recognition came in 1993,[205] when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stated that "[Scientology is] operated exclusively for religious and charitable purposes."[206][207]
The New York Times noted in this connection that the Church of Scientology had funded a campaign which included a whistle-blower organization to publicly attack the IRS, as well as the hiring of private investigators to look into the private lives of IRS officials.[79] In 1991, Miscavige, the highest-ranking Scientology leader, arranged a meeting with Fred T. Goldberg Jr., the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service at the time.[208] The meeting was an "opportunity for the church to offer to end its long dispute with the agency, including the dozens of suits brought against the IRS." The committee met several times with the Scientology legal team and "was persuaded that those involved in the Snow White crimes had been purged, that church money was devoted to tax-exempt purposes and that, with Mr. Hubbard's death, no one was getting rich from Scientology."[79] In August 1993, a settlement was reached; the church would receive its tax-exempt status and end its legal assault on the IRS and its personnel. The church was required only to resubmit new applications for exemption to the IRS exempt organizations division; the division was told "not to consider any substantive matters" because those issues had been resolved by the committee.[79] The secret agreement was announced on October 13, 1993, with the IRS refusing to disclose any of the terms or the reasoning behind its decision.[79] Both the IRS and Scientology rejected any allegations of foul play or undue pressure having been brought to bear upon IRS officials, insisting that the decision had been based on the merits of the case.[209] IRS officials "insisted that Scientology's tactics had not affected the decision" and that "ultimately the decision was made on a legal basis".[79] Miscavige claims that the IRS’s examination of Scientology was the most exhaustive review of any non-profit organization in history.[210]
Elsewhere, Scientology has been able to obtain religious recognition in such countries as Australia,[23][211] Portugal,[212] Spain,[213][214] Slovenia,[215] Sweden,[215][216][217] Croatia,[215] Hungary[215] and Kyrgyzstan.[218] In New Zealand, the Inland Revenue Department classified the Church of Scientology as a charitable organization and stated that its income would be tax exempt.[219] It has gained judicial recognition in Italy,[220][clarification needed] and Scientology officials have won the right to perform marriages in South Africa.[221]
Scientology has so far failed to win religious recognition in Canada.[221] In the UK, the Charity Commission for England and Wales ruled in 1999 that Scientology was not a religion and refused to register the Church as a charity, although a year later, it was recognized as a not-for-profit body in a separate proceeding by the UK Revenue and Customs and exempted from UK value added tax.[221][222] In December 2013, the United Kingdom’s highest court officially recognized Scientology as a religion. The ruling was a response to a five-year legal battle by Scientologist Louisa Hodkin, who legally fought for the right to marry at the Church of Scientology chapel in central London. Five supreme court justices redefined religion in law along with the ruling, rendering the 1970 ruling “out of date” in defining religious worship as involving “reverence or veneration of God or of a Supreme Being.”[223][224][225][226]
Since 1997 Germany has considered Scientology to be in conflict with the principles of the nation's constitution. It is seen as an anticonstitutional sect and a new version of political extremism and because there is "evidence for intentions against the free democratic basic order" it is observed by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.[227][228] In 1997, an open letter to then-German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, published as a newspaper advertisement in the International Herald Tribune, drew parallels between the "organized oppression" of Scientologists in Germany and the treatment of Jews in 1930s' Nazi Germany.[229][230] The letter was signed by Dustin Hoffman, Goldie Hawn and a number of other Hollywood celebrities and executives.[230][231] Commenting on the matter, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State said that Scientologists were discriminated against in Germany, but condemned the comparisons to the Nazis' treatment of Jews as extremely inappropriate, as did a United Nations Special Rapporteur.[231][232] Based on the IRS exemptions, the U.S. State Department formally criticized Germany for discriminating against Scientologists and began to note Scientologists' complaints of harassment in its annual human rights reports,[79] as well as the annual International Religious Freedom Reports it has released from 1999 onwards.[233] Germany will continue to monitor Scientology's activities in the country, despite continued objection from Scientology which cites such monitoring as abuse of freedom of religion.[234] France and Belgium have not recognized Scientology as a religion, and Stephen A. Kent, writing in 2001, noted that no such recognition had been obtained in Ireland, Luxembourg, Israel or Mexico either.[235] The Belgian State Prosecution Service has recommended that various individuals and organizations associated with Scientology should be prosecuted.[236][237] An administrative court is to decide if charges will be pressed.[236][237] In Greece, Scientology is not recognized as a religion by the Greek government, and multiple applications for religious status have been denied, for example in 2000 and 2003.[238]
In recent years, religious recognition has also been obtained in other countries, including Sweden,[23][215] Spain,[215][239] Portugal,[240] Slovenia,[215] Croatia[215] and Hungary,[241] as well as Kyrgyzstan[218] and Taiwan.[23]
Scholarly views on Scientology's status as a religion
Describing the available scholarship on Scientology, David G. Bromley and Douglas E. Cowan stated in 2006 that "most scholars have concluded that Scientology falls within the category of religion for the purposes of academic study, and a number have defended the Church in judicial and political proceedings on this basis."[149] Hugh B. Urban writes that "Scientology's efforts to get itself defined as a religion make it an ideal case study for thinking about how we understand and define religion."[242] According to the Encyclopedia of Religious Controversies in the United States, "even as Scientology raises questions about how and who gets to define religion, most scholars recognize it as a religion, one that emerges from and builds on American individualism and the spiritual marketplace that dominated 1950's America."[243]
Bromley and Cowan noted in 2008 that Scientology's attempts "to gain favor with new religion scholars" had often been problematic.[200] According to Religious Studies professor Mary Farrell Benarowski, Scientology describes itself as drawing on science, religion, psychology and philosophy but "had been claimed by none of them and repudiated, for the most part, by all."[244]
Frank K. Flinn, adjunct professor of religious studies at Washington University in St. Louis wrote, "it is abundantly clear that Scientology has both the typical forms of ceremonial and celebratory worship and its own unique form of spiritual life."[245] Flinn further states that religion requires "beliefs in something transcendental or ultimate, practices (rites and codes of behavior) that re-inforce those beliefs and, a community that is sustained by both the beliefs and practices", all of which are present within Scientology.[99] Similarly, Jacob Neusner, editor of World Religions in America, states that "Scientology contains the same elements of most other religions, including myths, scriptures, doctrines, worship, sacred practices and rituals, moral and ethical expectations, a community of believers, clergy, and ecclesiastic organizations."[246]
While acknowledging that a number of his colleagues accept Scientology as a religion, sociologist Stephen A. Kent writes: "Rather than struggling over whether or not to label Scientology as a religion, I find it far more helpful to view it as a multifaceted transnational corporation, only one element of which is religious" [emphasis in the original].[247][248]
Donna Batten in the Gale Encyclopedia of American Law writes, "A belief does not need to be stated in traditional terms to fall within First Amendment protection. For example, Scientology—a system of beliefs that a human being is essentially a free and immortal spirit who merely inhabits a body—does not propound the existence of a supreme being, but it qualifies as a religion under the broad definition propounded by the Supreme Court." [249]
J. Gordon Melton asserts that while the debate over definitions of religion will continue, “scholars will probably continue in the future to adopt a broad definition, thus including Scientology in a wider religious field.”[250]
Scientology as a UFO religion
Scientology can be seen as a UFO religion in which the existence of extraterrestrial entities operating unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are an element of belief. In this context, it is discussed in UFO Religions by Christopher Partridge,[251] and The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO Religions by James R. Lewis,[4] while Susan Palmer draws several parallels with Raelianism.[252] Gregory Reece, in his book UFO Religion: Inside flying saucer cults and culture, writes:

Scientology is unique within the UFO culture because of this secretiveness, as well as because of the capitalist format under which they operate. Scientology is also difficult to categorize. While it bears strong similarities to the Ashtar Command or the Aetherius Society, its emphasis upon the Xenu event as the central message of the group seems to place them within the ancient astronaut tradition. Either way, Scientology is perhaps most different from other UFO groups in their attempt to keep all of the space opera stuff under wraps. They really would have preferred the rest of us not to know about Xenu and the galactic federation. Alas, such secrets are hard to keep[253]
Regardless of such statements by critics, Hubbard wrote and lectured openly about the material he himself called "space opera." In 1952, Hubbard published a book (What to Audit / A History of Man[254]) on space opera and other material that may be encountered when auditing preclears.[255][256]
Scientology as a commercial venture
Main article: Scientology as a business



 Scientology desk near the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin
While NRM scholars have generally accepted the religious nature of Scientology, media reports have tended to express the opinion that "Scientology is a business, often given to criminal acts, and sometimes masquerading as a religion."[149][257] During his lifetime, Hubbard was accused of using religion as a façade for Scientology to maintain tax-exempt status and avoid prosecution for false medical claims.[257] The IRS cited a statement frequently attributed to Hubbard that the way to get rich was to found a religion.[258][259] According to Melton, the statement is unsubstantiated, although several of Hubbard's science fiction colleagues do recall Hubbard raising the topic in conversation.[259]
Hubbard grew up in a climate that was very critical of organized religion, and frequently quoted anti-religious sentiments in his early lectures.[260] The scholar Marco Frenschkowski (University of Mainz) has stated that it was not easy for Hubbard "to come to terms with the spiritual side of his own movement. Hubbard did not want to found a religion: he discovered that what he was talking about in fact was religion. This mainly happened when he had to deal with apparent memories from former lives. He had to defend himself about this to his friends."[260] Frenschkowski allows that there naturally were practical considerations about "how to present Scientology to the outside world", but dismisses the notion that presentation as a religion was just an expedient pretense, pointing to many passages in Hubbard's works that document his struggle with this issue.[260]
Drawing parallels to similar struggles for identity in other religious movements such as Theosophy and Transcendental Meditation, Frenschkowski sees in Hubbard's lectures "the case of a man whose background was non-religious and who nevertheless discovers that his ideas somehow oscillate between 'science' (in a very popular sense), 'religion' and 'philosophy', and that these ideas somehow fascinate so many people that they start to form a separate movement. As in the case of similar movements, it was quite unclear to Hubbard in the beginning what Scientology would become."[260]
The Church of Scientology denounces the idea of Hubbard starting a religion for personal gain as an unfounded rumor.[261] The Church also suggests that the origin of the rumor was a quote by George Orwell which had been misattributed to Hubbard.[262] Robert Vaughn Young, who left the Church in 1989 after being its spokesman for twenty years, suggested that reports of Hubbard making such a statement could be explained as a misattribution of Orwell, despite having encountered three of Hubbard's associates from his science fiction days who remembered Hubbard making statements of that sort in person.[263] It was Young who by a stroke of luck came up with the "Orwell quote": "but I have always thought there might be a lot of cash in starting a new religion, and we'll talk it over some time" It appears in a letter by George Orwell (signed Eric Blair) to a friend Jack Common, dated 16-February-38 (February 16, 1938), and was published in Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, vol. 1.[264] In 2006, Rolling Stone's Janet Reitman writes Hubbard said the same thing to science fiction writer Lloyd Eshbach, a fact quoted in Eshbach's autobiography.[265]
Scientology maintains strict control over the use of its symbols, icons, and names. It claims copyright and trademark over its "Scientology cross", and its lawyers have threatened lawsuits against individuals and organizations who have published the image in books and on Web sites. Because of this, it is very difficult for individual groups to attempt to publicly practice Scientology on their own, independent of the official Church of Scientology. Scientology has filed suit against a number of individuals who have attempted to set up their own auditing practices, using copyright and trademark law to shut these groups down.[266]
The Church of Scientology and its many related organizations have amassed considerable real estate holdings worldwide, likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars.[34] Scientology encourages existing members to "sell" Scientology to others by paying a commission to those who recruit new members.[34] Scientology franchises, or missions, must pay the Church of Scientology roughly 10% of their gross income.[267] On that basis, it is likened to a pyramid selling scheme.[268] While introductory courses do not cost much, courses at the higher levels may cost several thousand dollars each.[269] As a rule, the great majority of members proceeds up the bridge in a steady rate commensurate with their income. Most recently the Italian Supreme Court agreed with the American IRS that the church's financial system is analogous to the practices of other groups and not out of line with its religious purposes.[270]
In conjunction with the Church of Scientology's request to be officially recognized as a religion in Germany, around 1996 the German state Baden-Württemberg conducted a thorough investigation regarding the group's activities within Germany.[271] The results of this investigation indicated that at the time of publication, Scientology's main sources of revenue ("Haupteinnahmequellen der SO") were from course offerings and sales of their various publications. Course offerings ranged from (German Marks) DM 182.50 to about DM 30,000 – the equivalent today of approximately $119 to $19,560 USD. Revenue from monthly, bi-monthly, and other membership offerings could not be estimated in the report, but was nevertheless placed in the millions. Defending its practices against accusations of profiteering, the Church has countered critics by drawing analogies to other religious groups who have established practices such as tithing, or require members to make donations for specific religious services.[272]
Controversies
Main article: Scientology controversies
See also: Scientology and the legal system



 Official German information leaflets from the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution on (from left to right) Islamic extremism, Scientology, and organized crime.[273][274] "Several states published pamphlets about Scientology (and other religious groups) that detailed the Church's ideology and practices. States defended the practice by noting their responsibility to respond to citizens' requests for information about Scientology as well as other subjects. While many of the pamphlets were factual and relatively unbiased, some warned of alleged dangers posed by Scientology to the political order, to the free market economic system, and to the mental and financial well being of individuals. Beyond the Government's actions, the Catholic Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church have been public opponents of Scientology. Evangelical 'Commissioners for Religious and Ideological Issues' have been particularly active in this regard."
Of the many new religious movements to appear during the 20th century, the Church of Scientology has, from its inception, been one of the most controversial, coming into conflict with the governments and police forces of several countries (including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada,[275] France[276] and Germany).[6][34][263][277][278] It has been one of the most litigious religious movements in history, filing countless lawsuits against governments, organizations and individuals.[279]
Reports and allegations have been made, by journalists, courts, and governmental bodies of several countries, that the Church of Scientology is an unscrupulous commercial enterprise that harasses its critics and brutally exploits its members.[263][277] 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."[34]
The controversies involving the church and its critics, some of them ongoing, include:
Scientology's disconnection policy, in which members are encouraged to cut off all contact with friends or family members who are "antagonistic" to Scientology.,[105][280]
The death of a Scientologist Lisa McPherson while in the care of the church. (Robert Minton sponsored the multi-million dollar lawsuit against Scientology for the death of McPherson. In May 2004, McPherson's estate and the Church of Scientology reached a confidential settlement.)[281]
Criminal activities committed on behalf of the church or directed by church officials (Operation Snow White, Operation Freakout).
Conflicting statements about L. Ron Hubbard's life, in particular accounts of Hubbard discussing his intent to start a religion for profit and of his service in the military.[34]
Scientology's harassment and litigious actions against its critics encouraged by its Fair Game policy.[34]
Attempts to legally force search engines such as Google and Yahoo! to omit any webpages critical of Scientology from their search engines (and in Google's case, AdSense), or at least the first few search pages.[282]
Allegations by a former high-ranking Scientologist that Scientology leader David Miscavige beats and demoralizes staff, and that physical violence by superiors towards staff working for them is a common occurrence in the church.[283][284] Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis denied these claims and provided witnesses to rebut them.[283]
In October 2009, a French court found the Church of Scientology guilty of organized fraud. Four officers of the organization were fined and given suspended prison sentences of up to 2 years. Prosecutors had hoped to achieve a ban of Scientology in France, but due to a temporary change in French law, which "made it impossible to dissolve a legal entity on the grounds of fraud", no ban was pronounced.[285] The sentence was confirmed by appeal court in February 2012.[286]
In November 2009, Australian Senator Nick Xenophon used a speech in Federal Parliament to allege that the Church of Scientology is a criminal organization. Based on letters from former followers of the religion, he said that there were "allegations of forced imprisonment, coerced abortions, and embezzlement of church funds, of physical violence and intimidation, blackmail and the widespread and deliberate abuse of information obtained by the organization"[287]
Due to these allegations, a considerable amount of investigation has been aimed at the church, by groups ranging from the media to governmental agencies.[263][277]
Scientology social programs such as drug and criminal rehabilitation have likewise drawn both support and criticism.[288][289][290][291]
Stephen A. Kent, a professor of sociology, has said that "Scientologists see themselves as possessors of doctrines and skills that can save the world, if not the galaxy."[292] As stated in Scientology doctrine: "The whole agonized future of this planet, every man, woman and child on it, and your own destiny for the next endless trillions of years depend on what you do here and now with and in Scientology."[293] Kent has described Scientology's ethics system as "a peculiar brand of morality that uniquely benefited [the Church of Scientology] ... In plain English, the purpose of Scientology ethics is to eliminate opponents, then eliminate people's interests in things other than Scientology.".[294]
Many former members have come forward to speak out about the Church and the negative effects its teachings have had on them, including celebrities such as Leah Remini. Remini spoke about her split from the Church, saying that she still has friends within the organization that she is no longer able to speak to.[295]
Scientology and the Internet
See also: Scientology and the Internet and Project Chanology
In the 1990s, representatives of Scientology began to take action against increased criticism of Scientology on the Internet. The organization says that the actions taken were to prevent distribution of copyrighted Scientology documents and publications online, fighting what it refers to as "copyright terrorists".[296]
In January 1995, church lawyer Helena Kobrin attempted to shut down the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology by sending a control message instructing Usenet servers to delete the group.[297] In practice, this rmgroup message had little effect, since most Usenet servers are configured to disregard such messages when sent to groups that receive substantial traffic, and newgroup messages were quickly issued to recreate the group on those servers that did not do so. However, the issuance of the message led to a great deal of public criticism by free-speech advocates.[298][299] Among the criticisms raised, one suggestion is that Scientology's true motive is to suppress the free speech of its critics.[300][301]



 An Internet-based group which refers to itself as 'Anonymous' held protests outside Scientology centers in cities around the world in February 2008 as part of Project Chanology. Issues they protested ranged from alleged abuse of followers to the validity of its claims to qualify as a state-sponsored religion.[302]
The Church also began filing lawsuits against those who posted copyrighted texts on the newsgroup and the World Wide Web, and lobbied for tighter restrictions on copyrights in general. The Church supported the controversial Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act as well as the even more controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Some of the DMCA's provisions (notably the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act) were heavily influenced by Church litigation against US Internet service providers over copyrighted Scientology materials that had been posted or uploaded through their servers.
Beginning in the middle of 1996 and ensuing for several years, the newsgroup was attacked by anonymous parties using a tactic dubbed sporgery by some, in the form of hundreds of thousands of forged spam messages posted on the group. Some investigators said that some spam had been traced to church members.[303][304] Former Scientologist Tory Christman later asserted that the Office of Special Affairs had undertaken a concerted effort to destroy alt.religion.scientology through these means; the effort failed.[305]
On January 14, 2008, a video produced by the Church of Scientology featuring an interview with Tom Cruise was leaked to the Internet and uploaded to YouTube.[306][307][308] The Church of Scientology issued a copyright violation claim against YouTube requesting the removal of the video.[309] Subsequently, the group Anonymous voiced its criticism of Scientology and began attacking the Church.[310] Calling the action by the Church of Scientology a form of Internet censorship, participants of Anonymous coordinated Project Chanology, which consisted of a series of denial-of-service attacks against Scientology websites, prank calls, and black faxes to Scientology centers.[311][312][313][314][315] On January 21, 2008, Anonymous announced its intentions via a video posted to YouTube entitled "Message to Scientology", and a press release declaring a "war" against both the Church of Scientology and the Religious Technology Center.[314][316] In the press release, the group stated that the attacks against the Church of Scientology would continue in order to protect the freedom of speech, and end what they saw as the financial exploitation of church members.[317]



 A protester criticizes Scientology
On January 28, 2008, an Anonymous video appeared on YouTube calling for protests outside Church of Scientology centers on February 10, 2008.[318][319] According to a letter Anonymous e-mailed to the press, about 7,000 people protested in more than 90 cities worldwide.[320] Many protesters wore masks based on the character V from V for Vendetta (who was influenced by Guy Fawkes) or otherwise disguised their identities, in part to protect themselves from reprisals from the Church of Scientology.[321][322] Many further protests have followed since then in cities around the world.[323]
The Arbitration Committee of the Wikipedia internet encyclopedia decided in May 2009 to restrict access to its site from Church of Scientology IP addresses, to prevent self-serving edits by Scientologists.[324][325] A "host of anti-Scientologist editors" were topic-banned as well.[324][325] The committee concluded that both sides had "gamed policy" and resorted to "battlefield tactics", with articles on living persons being the "worst casualties".[324]
Scientology and hypnosis
Main article: Scientology and hypnosis
Scientology literature states that L. Ron Hubbard demonstrated his professional expertise in hypnosis by discovering the Dianetic engram.[citation needed] Hubbard was said to be an accomplished hypnotist, and close acquaintances such as Forrest Ackerman (Hubbard's literary agent) and A. E. van Vogt (an early supporter of Dianetics) witnessed repeated demonstrations of his hypnotic skills.[258]
Hubbard wrote that hypnosis is a "wild variable," and compared parlor hypnosis games to an atom bomb.[326] He also wrote:

Hypnotism plants, by positive suggestion, one or another form of insanity. It is usually a temporary planting, but sometimes the hypnotic suggestion will not "lift" or remove in a way desirable to the hypnotist.[327]
Auditing confidentiality



 Scientology E-Meter
During the auditing process, the auditor may collect personal information from the person being audited.[328] Auditing records are referred to within Scientology as preclear folders.[329] The Church of Scientology has strict codes designed to protect the confidentiality of the information contained in these folders.[328] However, people leaving Scientology know that the Church is in possession of very personal information about them, and that the Church has a history of attacking and psychologically abusing those who leave it and become critics.[329] On December 16, 1969, a Guardian's Office order (G. O. 121669) by Mary Sue Hubbard authorized the use of auditing records for purposes of "internal security."[330] Some former members have said that while they were still in the Church, they combed through information obtained in auditing sessions to see if it could be used for smear campaigns against critics.[331][332]
Celebrities
See also: Celebrity Centres, Scientology and celebrities and List of Scientologists
Hubbard envisaged that celebrities would have a key role to play in the dissemination of Scientology, and in 1955 launched Project Celebrity, creating a list of 63 famous people that he asked his followers to target for conversion to Scientology.[333] In a church policy letter in 1973, L. Ron Hubbard wrote, "The purpose of [the] Celebrity Centre is, to forward the expansion and popularization of Scientology through the arts."[334] Former silent-screen star Gloria Swanson and jazz pianist Dave Brubeck were among the earliest celebrities attracted to Hubbard's teachings; in recent decades, prominent actors—including Tom Cruise and John Travolta—have spoken publicly about their commitment to Scientology.[333][335]
Scientology operates eight churches that are designated Celebrity Centres, the largest of these is in Hollywood, California, called Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International.[336] Celebrity Centres are open to the general public, but are primarily designed to minister to celebrity Scientologists [336] “and to provide a haven for artists and others.” The Celebrity Centre International was the first one that was opened in 1969 and its opening is celebrated the first week of August each year in an evening gala.[337]
See also

Portal icon Scientology portal
Scientology and other religions
Scientology and sexual orientation
References
1.Jump up ^ Cusack 2009, p. 400
2.Jump up ^ "ABC News: Scientology 101". USA: ABC. May 9, 1950. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
3.Jump up ^ Scientology is recognized as a religion in countries such as the United States, Spain and Australia, while the German and French governments, along with others, consider it a profit-making enterprise. Lewis lists it in The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO Religions
4.^ Jump up to: a b Lewis, James R. (editor) (November 2003). The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO Religions. Prometheus Books. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-57392-964-6.
5.Jump up ^ Associated Press (August 13, 1991). "Rural studio is Scientology headquarters". San Jose Mercury News. p. 6B.
6.^ Jump up to: a b "Remember Venus?". Time. December 22, 1952. Archived from the original on July 21, 2013. Retrieved July 20, 2007.
7.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon (1992). Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. New York: Garland Pub. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-8153-1140-9.
8.Jump up ^ Guiley, Rosemary (1991). Harper's Encyclopedia of Mystical & Paranormal Experience. [San Francisco]: HarperSanFrancisco. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-06-250365-7.
9.Jump up ^ Neusner 2003, p. 227
10.Jump up ^ "Scientology glossary". Retrieved 7 August 2013.
11.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 28
12.Jump up ^ "A Conversation with David Miscavige". ABC News with Ted Coppel. ABC News. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
13.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Melton 2000, pp. 59–60
14.Jump up ^ "Scientology Marriage Officers Approved in South Africa". CESNUR. April 11, 2000. Retrieved July 21, 2007.
15.Jump up ^ High Court of Australia "CHURCH OF THE NEW FAITH v. COMMISSIONER OF PAY-ROLL TAX (VICT.) 1983 154 CLR 120". Archived from the original on May 13, 2013.
16.Jump up ^ "Decision of March 13, 2000 registering Scientology as a "religious community" in Sweden". CESNUR. March 13, 2000. Retrieved July 21, 2007.
17.Jump up ^ "Scientology tax-exempt in Netherlands". New York Post. Associated Press. October 18, 2013. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
18.Jump up ^ "Scientology gets tax-exempt status". New Zealand Herald. December 27, 2002. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved August 1, 2007. "the IRD said the church met the criteria of a charitable organisation in the category of the advancement of religion"
19.Jump up ^ "Opinion of the New Zealand Inland Revenue Department on the Charitable Status of Scientology". December 4, 2002.
20.Jump up ^ "2007 U.S. Department of State – 2007 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Portugal". State.gov. March 11, 2008. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
21.Jump up ^ "La Audiencia Nacional reconoce a la Cienciología como iglesia". El Pais. November 1, 2007. Archived from the original on May 13, 2011. (Spanish)
22.^ Jump up to: a b Finkelman, Paul (2006). Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties. CRC Press. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-415-94342-0. "Scientology has achieved full legal recognition as a religious denomination in the United States."
23.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Davis, Derek H. (2004). "The Church of Scientology: In Pursuit of Legal Recognition". Zeitdiagnosen: Religion and Conformity. Münster, Germany: Lit Verlag. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 8, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2008. "Many countries, including the United States, now give official recognition to Scientology as a religion [...]"
24.^ Jump up to: a b Lucy Morgan (March 29, 1999). "Abroad: Critics public and private keep pressure on Scientology". St. Petersburg Times. "In the United States, Scientology gained status as a tax-exempt religion in 1993 when the Internal Revenue Service agreed to end a long legal battle over the group's right to the exemption."
25.^ Jump up to: a b Toomey, Shamus (June 26, 2005). "'TomKat' casts spotlight back on Scientology.", Chicago Sun-Times
26.Jump up ^ Willms 2009, p. 245. "Being a religion is one of the most important issues of Scientology's current self-representation."
27.^ Jump up to: a b Koff, Stephen (December 22, 1988). "Dozens of groups operate under auspices of Church of Scientology". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved September 30, 2008.
28.Jump up ^ Neusner 2003, p. 222
29.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 39–52
30.Jump up ^ Sweeney, John (2013). The Church of Fear: Inside the Weird World of Scientology. London: Silvertail Books. ISBN 978-1-909269-03-3.
31.Jump up ^ Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin (2003). "Scientology: Religion or racket?". Marburg Journal of Religion 8 (1): 1–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 4, 2010.
32.Jump up ^ Marney, Holly (May 20, 2007). "Cult or cure?". Opinion (Edinburgh: Scotsman). Retrieved January 4, 2009. "Labelled a cult by its critics, defended as a bona fide religion by devotees [...]"
Mallia, Joseph (March 1, 1998). "Powerful church targets fortunes, souls of recruits". Inside the Church of Scientology. Boston Herald. Archived from the original on December 9, 2013. "It is just such tactics that cause critics to call the church – founded in 1953 – a cult and a money-grabbing machine that separates thousands of ordinary church members like Covarrubias from their free will and their money."
Huus, Kari (July 5, 2005). "Scientology courts the stars". MSNBC. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2009. "[...] Scientology, recognized by the federal government as a religious organization but denounced by critics as a cult that extracts tens of thousands of dollars from its followers."
33.Jump up ^ Urban, Hugh B. The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion. Princeton Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-691-14608-9. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
34.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Behar, Richard (May 6, 1991). "Scientology: The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power". Time. Archived from the original on August 19, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2008.
35.Jump up ^ Palmer, Richard (April 3, 1994). "Cult Accused of Intimidation". Sunday Times.
"Copyright – or wrong?". Salon Technology. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008. "The Church of Scientology has determinedly fought to dismantle the Web sites that have republished its material all across the Net – using legal threats, filtering software and innumerable pro-Scientology posts in Usenet groups."
Kennedy, Dan (April 19, 1996). "Earle Cooley is chairman of BU's board of trustees. He's also made a career out of keeping L. Ron Hubbard's secrets". BU's Scientology Connection. Boston Phoenix. Archived from the original on February 9, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2009. "The modern version of this scorched-earth policy is a virtual war on church critics who, like Lerma, post copyrighted church documents on the Net in an effort to expose it."
Sumi, Glenn (October 12, 2006). "Managing Anger: Kenneth Anger speaks out on phones, artistic theft and Scientology". NOW Magazine. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2009. "The Scientology people are very litigious," he says. "They're bulldogs who bite your ankle and won't give up, harassing people to death with lawsuits that go on and on."
Welkos, Robert W.; Sappell, Joel (June 29, 1990). "On the Offensive Against an Array of Suspected Foes". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 24, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2008.
Methvin, Eugene H. (May 1990). "Scientology: Anatomy of a Frightening Cult". Reader's Digest. pp. 1–6.
 "Oral Questions to the Minister of State for the Home Office, December 17, 1996" Hansard, vol. 760, cols. 1392–1394 quote: "Baroness Sharples: Is my noble friend further aware that a number of those who have left the cult have been both threatened and harassed and many have been made bankrupt by the church?"
36.Jump up ^ Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (June 24, 1990). "Defining the Theology". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 22, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2008.
37.Jump up ^ Ortega, Tony (June 30, 2008). "Scientology's Crushing Defeat". Village Voice. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2009. "Former members say that today the typical Scientologist must spend several years and about $100,000 in auditing before they find out on OT III that they are filled with alien souls that must be removed by further, even more expensive auditing."
38.^ Jump up to: a b Kennedy, Dominic (June 23, 2007). "'Church' that yearns for respectability". The Times (London). Archived from the original on May 23, 2011. Retrieved January 4, 2009. "Scientology is probably unique in that it keeps its sacred texts secret until, typically, devotees have paid enough money to learn what they say."
39.Jump up ^ Kent, Stephen A. (July 1999). "Scientology – Is this a Religion?". Marburg Journal of Religion 4 (1): 1–23. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 3, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
40.Jump up ^ Cohen, David (October 23, 2006). "Tom's aliens target City's 'planetary rulers'". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on June 3, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2013. "As Miscavige begins to crescendo "our next step is eradicating psychiatry from this planet, we will triumph!""
41.Jump up ^ Cusack 2009, p. 394
42.Jump up ^ Benjamin J. Hubbard/John T. Hatfield/James A. Santucci An Educator's Classroom Guide to America's Religious Beliefs and Practices, p. 89, Libraries Unlimited, 2007 ISBN 978-1-59158-409-4
43.Jump up ^ "Beginnings". Patheos.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
44.Jump up ^ The New Word original version available for download.
45.Jump up ^ The New Word, Publisher: Forgotten Books (February 7, 2008), ISBN 978-1-60506-811-4 ISBN 978-1-60506-811-4
46.Jump up ^ Anastasius Nordenholz Scientology: Science of the Constitution and Usefulness of Knowledge, Freie Zone e. V., 1995 ISBN 978-3-9804724-1-8
47.Jump up ^ The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Erwin Fahlbusch, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, page 556
48.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 28
49.Jump up ^ Wilson, Bryan (1970). Religious Sects: A Sociological Study, McGraw-Hill, p. 163
50.Jump up ^ Book: The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements By James R. Lewis, p. 110. Books.google.com. 2004. ISBN 978-0-19-514986-9. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
51.^ Jump up to: a b "Psychiatry and Psychology in the Writings of L. Ron Hubbard". Journal of Religion and Health 46 (3): 437–447. September 2007. doi:10.1007/s10943-006-9079-9. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
52.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 4
53.^ Jump up to: a b c d Melton 2000, pp. 9, 67
54.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 9
55.Jump up ^ Miller, Russell (1987). Bare-faced Messiah, The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard (First American ed.). New York: Henry Holt & Co. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-8050-0654-4.
56.Jump up ^ Wallis, Roy (1977). The Road to Total Freedom: A Sociological Analysis of Scientology, Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0-231-04200-0
57.Jump up ^ "Adult New York Times Best Seller Lists for 1950". Hawes.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
58.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 172
59.^ Jump up to: a b c Satter, Beryl (July 3, 2003). "The Sexual Abuse Paradigm in Historical Perspective: Passivity and Emotion in Mid-Twentieth-Century America". Journal of the History of Sexuality 12 (3): 424–464. doi:10.1353/sex.2004.0014. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
60.Jump up ^ Passas, Nikos, and Manuel Escamilla Castillo. "Scientology And Its 'Clear' Business." Behavioral Sciences & The Law 10.1 (1992): 103-116. Academic Search Premier
61.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Melton 2000, p. 13
62.Jump up ^ "Poor Man's Psychoanalysis?". Newsweek. November 6, 1950.
63.Jump up ^ Flowers 1984, pp. 96–97
64.Jump up ^ Thomas Streissguth Charismatic Cult Leaders, p. 70, The Oliver Press Inc., 1996 ISBN 978-1-881508-18-2
65.Jump up ^ George Malko Scientology: the now religion, p. 58, Delacorte Press, 1970 ASIN B0006CAHJ6
66.^ Jump up to: a b c d Melton 2000, p. 10
67.Jump up ^ Wallis, Roy; Steve Bruce (Spring 1984). "The Stark-Bainbridge Theory of Religion: A Critical Analysis and Counter Proposals". Sociological Analysis 45 (1): 24. doi:10.2307/3711319.
68.^ Jump up to: a b c Gutjahr, Paul C. (2001). "The State of the Discipline. Sacred Texts in the United States". Journal Book History: 351–352. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
69.Jump up ^ Christian D. Von Dehsen-Scott L. Harris Philosophers and Religious Leaders, p. 90, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999 ISBN 978-1-57356-152-5
70.Jump up ^ "Jon Atack: The games L. Ron Hubbard played". tonyortega.org.
71.Jump up ^ Miller, 1987: 202-203
72.Jump up ^ "The Creation of "Religious" Scientology". solitarytrees.net.
73.Jump up ^ Streeter, p. 215; Miller, p. 213
74.^ Jump up to: a b Kent, Stephen A. "The Creation of 'Religious' Scientology." Religious Studies and Theology 18:2, pp. 97–126. 1999. ISSN 1747-5414
75.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. Letter of April 10, 1953. Quoted in Miller, p. 213
76.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, Russell (1987). Bare-faced Messiah, The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard (First American ed.). New York: Henry Holt & Co. pp. 140–142. ISBN 978-0-8050-0654-4.
77.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 11
78.^ Jump up to: a b Melton 2000, p. 12
79.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Frantz, Douglas (March 9, 1997). "Scientology's Puzzling Journey From Tax Rebel to Tax Exempt". New York Times. Archived from the original on March 21, 2008. Retrieved October 26, 2008.
80.Jump up ^ "1963 FDA raid". Cs.cmu.edu. January 4, 1963. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
81.^ Jump up to: a b c Melton 2000, p. 14
82.Jump up ^ Anderson, Kevin Victor, Q.C.; Victoria Board of Enquiry into Scientology (1965). Report of the Board of Enquiry into Scientology. Melbourne: Government Printer. p. 155.
83.^ Jump up to: a b Lindholm, Charles (1992). "Charisma, Crowd Psychology and Altered States of Consciousness". Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry (Kluwer Academic Publishers) 16 (3): 287–310. doi:10.1007/BF00052152.
84.Jump up ^ Wallis, Roy (1977). The Road to Total Freedom. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 153.
85.Jump up ^ Melton, J. G. (Ed.) (2003). "Church of Eductivism". Encyclopedia of American Religions. Detroit: Gale. p. 815.
86.Jump up ^ Neusner 2003, p. 225
87.^ Jump up to: a b c d Melton 2000, p. 17
88.Jump up ^ Elisabeth Amveck Researching New Religious Movements, p. 261, Routledge, 2006 ISBN 978-0-415-27754-9
89.Jump up ^ Lewis & Hammer 2007, p. 24
90.Jump up ^ William W. Zellner Extraordinary Groups, p. 295, Macmillan, 2007 ISBN 978-0-7167-7034-3
91.Jump up ^ "Free Zone". Archived from the original on April 9, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
92.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 14–15
93.Jump up ^ L. Ron Hubbard's last refuge | Cover Story | New Times San Luis Obispo, CA Archived December 17, 2013 at the Wayback Machine
94.^ Jump up to: a b c d Knapp, Dan (December 19, 1996). "Group that once criticized Scientologists now owned by one". CNN (Time Warner). Archived from the original on April 8, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2007.
95.Jump up ^ Russell, Ron (September 9, 1999). "Scientology's Revenge – For years, the Cult Awareness Network was the Church of Scientology's biggest enemy. But the late L. Ron Hubbard's L.A.-based religion cured that–by taking it over". New Times LA.
96.Jump up ^ Book: Cults: A Reference Handbook By James R. Lewis, Published by ABC-CLIO, 2005, ISBN 1-85109-618-3, ISBN 978-1-85109-618-3. Books.google.co.uk. May 3, 2005. ISBN 978-1-85109-618-3. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
97.Jump up ^ Goodman, Leisa, Human Rights Director, Church of Scientology International (2001). "A Letter from the Church of Scientology". Marburg Journal of Religion: Responses From Religions. pp. Volume 6, No. 2, 4 pages. Retrieved October 28, 2007.
98.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Dawson, Lorne L.; Cowan, Douglas E. (2004). Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet. New York, NY/London, UK: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. pp. 262, 264–265. ISBN 978-0-415-97022-8.
99.^ Jump up to: a b c Flinn, Frank K. (July 5, 2005). "Scientology". Live discussion (Washington Post). Retrieved February 4, 2008.
100.Jump up ^ Kevin Collison, Kevin (March 17, 2007). "Scientology center heads downtown", Kansas City Star
101.^ Jump up to: a b c d Reitman, Janet. "Inside Scientology". Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 31, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
102.Jump up ^ Bernstein, Fred (November 9, 2010). "In Pasadena, a Model for Scientology's Growth Plan". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 14, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
103.Jump up ^ Bromley, David; Cowan, Douglas. Cults and new religions: a brief history. Archived from the original on August 1, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
104.Jump up ^ Jarvik, Elaine (September 18, 2004). "Scientology: Church now claims more than 8 million members". Deseret News. Archived from the original on June 16, 2008. Retrieved August 1, 2007. "Melton, who has been criticized by some for being too easy on Scientology, and has been criticized by the church for being too harsh, says that the church's estimates of its membership numbers – 4 million in the United States, 8 to 9 million worldwide – are exaggerated. "You're talking about anyone who ever bought a Scientology book or took a basic course. Ninety-nine percent of them don't ever darken the door of the church again." If the church indeed had 4 million members in the United States, he says, "they would be like the Lutherans and would show up on a national survey" such as the Harris poll."
105.^ Jump up to: a b "Scientology Gateshead building still empty after seven years". BBC News.
106.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Cowan & Bromley 2006, pp. 170–171
107.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m Neusner 2003, pp. 221–236
108.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Chryssides, George D. (1999). Exploring New Religions. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-8264-5959-6.
109.Jump up ^ Carl G. Liungman Symbols, p. 297, Ionfox AB, 2004 ISBN 978-91-972705-0-2
110.^ Jump up to: a b Melton 2000, p. 32
111.Jump up ^ Flowers 1984, p. 98
112.Jump up ^ Bednarowski, Mary Farrell (1995). New Religions and the Theological Imagination in America (Religion in North America). Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-253-20952-8.
113.Jump up ^ Pollock, Robert (2002). The Everything World's Religions Book: Discover the Beliefs, Traditions, and Cultures of Ancient and Modern Religions. Avon, MA: Adams Media Corporation. p. 210. ISBN 978-1-58062-648-4.
114.Jump up ^ Malko, George (1970). Scientology: The Now Religion. New York: Delacorte Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-1-112-96373-5.
115.Jump up ^ John Corrigan (2008). The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Emotion, page 132. ISBN 978-0-19-517021-4.
116.^ Jump up to: a b c d Roy Wallis. "The Road to Total Freedom A Sociological analysis of Scientology, page 1". Archived from the original on October 15, 2013.
117.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 31
118.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 25
119.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Neusner 2003, p. 228
120.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 33–34
121.^ Jump up to: a b Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 176
122.Jump up ^ "Scientology Glossary of Terms - K". Whatisscientology.org. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
123.Jump up ^ Ortega, Tony (January 6, 2012). "Scientology in Turmoil: Debbie Cook's E-Mail, Annotated". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on February 14, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
124.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 177
125.Jump up ^ "Scientology Cross", Church of Scientology International. Accessed November 8, 2007. Archived May 17, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
126.^ Jump up to: a b Zellner & Petrowsky 1998, pp. 146–147
127.Jump up ^ Marshall, Gordon (1990). In praise of sociology. Boston: Unwin Hyman. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-04-445687-2.
128.^ Jump up to: a b Flowers 1984, p. 101
129.Jump up ^ Grossman, Wendy (1997). Net. wars. New York: New York University Press. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-8147-3103-1.
130.Jump up ^ Greenawalt, Kent (2006). Religion and the Constitution. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. p. 298. ISBN 978-0-691-12582-4.
131.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 36
132.Jump up ^ Bednarowski, Mary Farrell (1995). New Religions and the Theological Imagination in America (Religion in North America). Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-253-20952-8.
133.Jump up ^ Miller, Timothy (1995). America's alternative religions. Albany, N.Y: State University of New York Press. p. 388. ISBN 978-0-7914-2397-4.
134.Jump up ^ J. Gordon Melton The Encyclopedia of American Religion, p. 224, McGrath Publishing Co., 1978 ISBN 978-0-7876-9696-2
135.Jump up ^ Paul Finkelman Religion and American Law, p. 509, Taylor & Francis, 2000 ISBN 978-0-8153-0750-1
136.Jump up ^ Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 175
137.Jump up ^ Cowan & Bromley 2006, pp. 176–177
138.Jump up ^ Palmer 2009, p. 316
139.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Neusner 2003, pp. 229–230
140.^ Jump up to: a b c d Melton 2000, p. 33
141.^ Jump up to: a b Ortega, Tony (December 23, 1999). "Double Crossed". Phoenix New Times. Village Voice Media. Archived from the original on June 20, 2009. Retrieved September 16, 2007.
142.Jump up ^ Sappell, Joel; Robert W. Welkos (June 24, 1990). "The Scientology Story". Los Angeles Times: page A36:1. Archived from the original on December 29, 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2006.  Another link: Carnegie-Mellon University
143.Jump up ^ Herrick, James A. (2004). The Making of the New Spirituality. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. p. 199. ISBN 978-0-8308-3279-8.
144.Jump up ^ Hines, Matt (September 8, 2003). "Scientology loss keeps hyperlinks legal". CNET. Archived from the original on November 16, 2006. Retrieved September 16, 2007.
145.^ Jump up to: a b Derek Davis New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America, pp. 45–47, Baylor University Press, 2004 ISBN 978-0-918954-92-3
146.Jump up ^ Lewis & Hammer 2007, p. 36
147.Jump up ^ Coordinates of Trementina Base 35°30′42″N 104°34′48″W
148.Jump up ^ Leiby, Richard (November 27, 2005). "A Place in the Desert for New Mexico's Most Exclusive Circles". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
149.^ Jump up to: a b c Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 170
150.^ Jump up to: a b Willms 2009, pp. 248–249
151.Jump up ^ Pretorius, S.P. (2006). "The concept "salvation" in the Church of Scientology". HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 62 (1): 313–327. doi:10.4102/hts.v62i1.353.
152.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L Ron. 'Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health'. Los Angeles, California: Bridge Publications, 2007: 3. ISBN 978-1-4031-4484-3
153.^ Jump up to: a b c d Willms 2005, pp. 54–60
154.Jump up ^ Lewis & Petersen Controversial New Religions, p. 238, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-515682-9
155.^ Jump up to: a b Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 171
156.Jump up ^ Bryan Wilson (1995): "Religious Toleration & Religious Diversity". Archived from the original on October 31, 2013., The Institute for the Study of American Religion.
157.Jump up ^ James R. Lewis The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, p. 429, Oxford University Press US, 2004 ISBN 978-0-19-514986-9
158.Jump up ^ Kent, Stephen A. "Scientology's Relationship With Eastern Religious Traditions". Archived from the original on September 2, 2012., Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1996, page 21
159.Jump up ^ Karen Christensen, David Levinson (2003): Encyclopedia of Community, SAGE, p. 1210: "Scientology shows affinities with Buddhism and a remarkable similarity to first-century Gnosticism."
160.Jump up ^ John A. Saliba (1996): Signs of the Times, Médiaspaul, p. 51
161.^ Jump up to: a b Willms 2009, p. 259
162.^ Jump up to: a b Melton 2000, pp. 7–8, 67
163.Jump up ^ Lewis, James R. (March 2009). Scientology. Cary, NC: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
164.Jump up ^ Cowan & Bromley 2006, pp. 180–184
165.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 180
166.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 43
167.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 34
168.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 181
169.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 39
170.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 182
171.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 42
172.Jump up ^ Bromley 2009, p. 98
173.Jump up ^ "Other Psychic New Age Groups." Encyclopedia of American Religions. Ed. J. Gordon Melton. 7th ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 811-840. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. December 17, 2013.
174.Jump up ^ Tobin, Thomas C. (October 25, 1998). "The Man Behind Scientology". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on August 27, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2008.
175.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 40
176.^ Jump up to: a b Melton 2000, p. 41
177.Jump up ^ Rosenblum, Keshet (August 30, 2012). "Alhambra Cinema in Jaffa reopens as Scientology center". Haaretz.com. Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
178.^ Jump up to: a b c d Melton 2000, pp. 45–46
179.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 183
180.^ Jump up to: a b Melton 2000, p. 47
181.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 47–48
182.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 44
183.Jump up ^ Cusack & Digance 2009, pp. 436–437
184.Jump up ^ Awosika, Mary; Waldman, Amy (October 11, 2001). "Religious Leader Brings Calling to Ground Zero". Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
185.Jump up ^ "Scientologists 'heal' Haiti quake victims using touch". Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
186.Jump up ^ "Scientology takes lead role in Haiti relief effort". Archived from the original on August 6, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
187.Jump up ^ "Salt Lake volunteer brought healing to Indonesians". Deseret News. February 26, 2005. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
188.Jump up ^ "Scientology missions spring up in hurricane-damaged areas - WorldWide Religious News". Wwrn.org. May 14, 2006. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
189.Jump up ^ Harrington, Rebecca (March 23, 2010). "Scientology Missionaries Set Sail For Haiti, Commandeer Coast Guard Boat". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012.
190.^ Jump up to: a b c Melton 2000, p. 49
191.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 184
192.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 50–51
193.Jump up ^ Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (2000). "Scientology". Religious Sites In America : A Dictionary. ABC-CLIO.
194.Jump up ^ Free Zone Assoc. (January 30, 2002). "Introduction". Freezone.org. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
195.Jump up ^ Meyer-Hauser, Bernard F. (June 23, 2000). "Religious Technology Center v. Freie Zone E. V". Case No. D2000-0410. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013.
196.Jump up ^ Brown, Janelle (July 22, 1999). "Copyright – or wrong? : The Church of Scientology takes up a new weapon – the Digital Millennium Copyright Act – in its ongoing battle with critics". Salon. Archived from the original on June 26, 2009.
197.Jump up ^ Colette, Mark. "Former Scientology film crew member describes surveillance activities in Ingleside on the Bay". Caller-Times, Corpus Christi. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
198.Jump up ^ Sweeney, John (September 26, 2010). "Mr Shouty and Cruise: the rematch". The Sunday Times. "Marty Rathbun, who like Rinder is now an independent scientologist ... Rinder, though a 'heretic' to the church, lives and breathes Independent scientology."
199.Jump up ^ Tobin, Thomas C.; Childs, Joe (January 1, 2012). "In new year's message, Scientology insider blasts 'extreme' fundraising". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on June 25, 2013. Retrieved January 14, 2012. "Rathbun, now a leading figure in a movement for Scientologists to practice independently of the church ..."
200.^ Jump up to: a b Cowan & Bromley 2007, p. 17
201.Jump up ^ Garcia, Wayne (March 31, 1994). "Scientology suit on PR firm heads for trial". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved January 4, 2009. "For 21⁄2 years, Hill & Knowlton worked closely with the controversial religion, coming up with ways to turn around Scientology's maligned image and teaching Scientologists how to handle reporters' questions."
202.Jump up ^ Alan Aldridge Religion in the Contemporary World, p. 20, Polity, 2007 ISBN 978-0-7456-3405-0
203.Jump up ^ Cowan, Douglas E. (July 2004). "Researching Scientology: Academic Premises, Promises, and Problematic". CESNUR 2004 International Conference. Retrieved June 23, 2006.
204.Jump up ^ Hexham, Irving (1997) [1978]. "The Religious Status of Scientology: Is Scientology a Religion?". University of Calgary. Archived from the original on November 19, 2009. Retrieved June 13, 2006.
205.Jump up ^ Phillip Lucas New Religious Movements in the 21st Century, p. 235, Routledge, 2004 ISBN 978-0-415-96577-4
206.Jump up ^ "Recognition was based upon voluminous information provided by the Church regarding its financial and other operations to the Internal Revenue Service." IRS press release December 31, 1997 "Church of Scientology & IRS Confidentiality". Archived from the original on May 18, 2012.. Retrieved August 13, 2007
207.Jump up ^ Dahl, David; Vick, Karl (October 24, 1993). "IRS examined Scientology dollars, not dogma". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2007.
208.Jump up ^ Frantz, Douglas (March 19, 1997). "Scientology Denies an Account Of an Impromptu IRS Meeting". New York Times. Archived from the original on January 15, 2008. Retrieved January 18, 2009.
209.Jump up ^ Richardson 2009, p. 288
210.Jump up ^ "http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Fishman/Declaration/dmdec.txt". Archived from the original on February 6, 2012.
211.Jump up ^ Richardson 2009, p. 286: "After doing a thorough analysis, the [High] Court [of Australia] stated unequivocally that Scientology met the criteria establishing itself as a religion, and therefore should be granted exempt status for tax purposes. The Court went on to state that a religion did not have to be theistic, and that a religion involved both belief and behavior ... This case is still the leading case in Australia defining religion, and is cited in other courts and countries as well."
212.Jump up ^ "2007 U.S. State Department – 2007 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Portugal".: "In November the government officially recognized Scientology as a religion."
213.Jump up ^ "Church of Scientology". "The administrative tribunal of Madrid's High Court ruled that a 2005 justice ministry decision to scrap the church from the register was "against the law."
214.Jump up ^ "Cienciología entre las "entidades religiosas"". Archived from the original on April 11, 2013.: "Un tribunal administrativo de la Audiencia Nacional de Madrid, máxima instancia judicial española, aceptó un recurso interpuesto por ese movimiento fundado en 1954 por el autor de ciencia ficción Lafayette Ron Hubbard (1911–1986), para ser inscripto en el registro de los movimientos religiosos del país."
215.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h "La justice espagnole accorde à la Scientologie le statut de religion"., 2008-01-09, Le Monde
216.Jump up ^ "Decision of 13 March 2000 registering Scientology as a "religious community" in Sweden". CESNUR. March 13, 2000. Retrieved July 21, 2007.
217.Jump up ^ Bogdan 2009, p. 338: "on March 13, 2000, the Church of Scientology was registered as a religious community by the National Judicial Board for Public Lands and Funds following a new law, titled the Act on Religious Communities ..., which took on effect on January 1, 2000, with the separation of the Church of Sweden from the state. On June 10, 2000, the first legal Scientology wedding in Europe was celebrated in Stockholm."
218.^ Jump up to: a b "U.S. State Department – 2005 Report on International Religious Freedom: Kyrgyzstan".: "In the past year the State Commission on Religious Affairs (SCRA) also registered the Church of Scientology"
219.Jump up ^ "Scientology gets tax-exempt status". The New Zealand Herald. December 27, 2002. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
220.Jump up ^ Richardson 2009, p. 291
221.^ Jump up to: a b c Gallagher, Eugene V.; Ashcraft, W. Michael (2006). Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America, ISBN 978-0-275-98712-1, p. 185
222.Jump up ^ Harry Wallop: "Scientology tax victory could cost Revenue millions". The Daily Telegraph (London). Archived from the original on May 1, 2008., Daily Telegraph, August 11, 2006
223.Jump up ^ "UK Supreme Court says Scientology is a religion, allows wedding". Reuters. December 11, 2013.
224.Jump up ^ Bingham, John (December 11, 2013). "Scientology is a religion, rules Supreme Court". The Daily Telegraph (London). Archived from the original on April 1, 2014.
225.Jump up ^ December 11, 2013 - RT News Archived December 11, 2013 at the Wayback Machine
226.Jump up ^ Hafiz, Yasmine (December 12, 2013). "Britain Recognizes Scientology As A Religion". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013.
227.Jump up ^ "Scientology-Organisation". Archived from the original on 10 February 2013.
228.Jump up ^ (German)""Eskalierende Gewaltkultur" bei Scientology - heute-Nachrichten". Heute.de. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
229.Jump up ^ Schmid, John (January 15, 1997). "German Party Replies To Scientology Backers". Archived from the original on February 28, 2009., Herald Tribune
230.^ Jump up to: a b "Germany, America and Scientology". Archived from the original on June 10, 2014., Washington Post, February 1, 1997
231.^ Jump up to: a b Bonfante, Jordan; van Voorst, Bruce (February 10, 1997). ""Does Germany Have Something Against These Guys?". Time. February 10, 1997. Archived from the original on May 20, 2013.", Time
232.Jump up ^ Staff (April 2, 1998). ""U.N. Derides Scientologists' Charges About German 'Persecution'". The New York Times. April 2, 1998.", New York Times
233.Jump up ^ Peter Beyer; Lori G. Beaman (2007). Religion, globalization and culture. BRILL. p. 274. ISBN 978-90-04-15407-0. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
234.Jump up ^ "Germany drops attempt to ban Scientology". msnbc.com. Archived from the original on October 31, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
235.Jump up ^ Kent 2001
236.^ Jump up to: a b "Church of Scientology Faces Criminal Charges in Belgium – International News". FOXNews.com. September 4, 2007. Archived from the original on November 19, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
237.^ Jump up to: a b Planchar, Roland (September 4, 2007). "La Scientologie plus près de son procès" (in French). La Libre Belgique. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
238.Jump up ^ "US Dept of State International Religious Freedom Report 2004". State.gov. January 1, 2004. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
239.Jump up ^ "La Audiencia Nacional reconoce a la Cienciología como iglesia". Archived from the original on May 13, 2011., 2007-11-01, El País
240.Jump up ^ "2007 U.S. Department of State – 2007 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Portugal". State.gov. March 11, 2008. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
241.Jump up ^ "La justice espagnole accorde à la Scientologie le statut de religion"., 2008-01-09, Le Monde: "L'Eglise de scientologie s'installe peu à peu dans le paysage cultuel européen. Après la Suède, le Portugal, la Slovénie, la Croatie ou la Hongrie, la justice espagnole vient à son tour d'inscrire la scientologie au registre légal des religions. Cette inscription, intervenue le 19 décembre, fait suite à une décision de l'Audience nationale, la plus haute juridiction espagnole." ("The Church of Scientology is slowly establishing itself in the European religious landscape. After Sweden, Portugal, Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary, it was now the turn of the Spanish legal system to add Scientology to the official register of religions. The registration, which took place on 19 December, followed a decision by the Audiencia Nacional, the highest court of Spain.")
242.Jump up ^ Urban, Hugh B.: The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion Chapman, Mark. Review of Religious Research. 2013. vol. 55. Issue: 1, pp. 203-204
243.Jump up ^ Neal, Lynn S. (2013). "Scientology". In Bill J. Leonard and Jill Y. Crainshaw. Encyclopedia of Religious Controversies in the United States 2 (2nd edition ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. pp. 697–699.
244.Jump up ^ Bednarowski, Mary Farrell (1995). "The Church of Scientology: Lightning Rod for Cultural Boundary Conflicts". In Timothy Miller. America's Alternative Religions. SUNY Press. p. 388. ISBN 978-0-7914-2397-4.
245.Jump up ^ Flinn, Frank K. (September 22, 1994). "Scientology: The Marks of Religion". Church of Scientology. Archived from the original on September 14, 2012.
246.Jump up ^ Neusner, Jacob. World Religions in America (3 ed.). ISBN 978-0-664-22475-2. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
247.Jump up ^ Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin (September 2003). "Scientology: Religion or racket?" (PDF) 8 (1). Marburg Journal of Religion. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
248.Jump up ^ Kent, Stephen (July 1999). "Scientology – Is this a Religion?" (PDF) 4 (1). Marburg Journal of Religion. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
249.Jump up ^ Jeffrey Lehman, Shirelle Phelps, ed. (2005). "Religion". West's Encyclopedia of American Law 8 (2 ed.). Detroit: Thomson/Gale. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-7876-6375-9.
250.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon (2000). Massimo Introvigne, ed. Studies in Contemporary Religion: The Church of Scientology. Signature Books. ISBN 978-1-56085-139-4. Archived from the original on August 1, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
251.Jump up ^ Partridge, Christopher Hugh (2003), UFO religions, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-26323-8
252.Jump up ^ Palmer, Susan J. Aliens adored : Raël’s UFO religion, Rutgers University Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0-8135-3475-6
253.Jump up ^ Reece, G.l., UFO Religion: Inside Flying Saucer Cults and Culture, I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd, 2007, pp. 182-186.
254.Jump up ^ "Scientology: A History of Man | Bridge Publications, Inc.". www.bridgepub.com. Retrieved 2015-05-08.
255.Jump up ^ Church of Scientology, "Complete List of Scientology and Dianetics Books and Materials of 1952".
256.Jump up ^ Rothstein, Mikael (2009). Lewis, James R., ed. Scientology. New York, New York: Oxford University Press. p. 375. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
257.^ Jump up to: a b Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin (September 2003). "Scientology: Religion or racket?". Marburg Journal of Religion (Philipps-Universität Marburg) 8 (1). Retrieved June 30, 2006.
258.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, Russell (1987). Bare-faced Messiah, The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard (First American ed.). New York: Henry Holt & Co. pp. 140–142. ISBN 978-0-8050-0654-4. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011.
259.^ Jump up to: a b Melton 2000, pp. 55, 74
260.^ Jump up to: a b c d Frenschkowski, Marco (January 1, 2010). "Researching Scientology: Some Observations on Recent Literature, English and German". Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review (Academic Publishing) 1 (1): 38. ISSN 1946-0538. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
261.Jump up ^ Platvoet & Molendijk The Pragmatics of Defining Religion, pp. 63–64, Brill, 1999 ISBN 978-90-04-11544-6
262.Jump up ^ Jentzsch, Heber. "Church of Scientology FAQ: Did L. Ron Hubbard state that the way to make money was to start a religion?". Archived from the original on February 23, 2012. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
263.^ Jump up to: a b c d Leiby, Richard (December 25, 1994). "Scientology Fiction: The Church's War Against Its Critics – and Truth". The Washington Post. p. C1. Retrieved June 21, 2006.
264.Jump up ^ The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell (4 volumes), vol. 1, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1968 ASIN: B000GLJ10S
265.Jump up ^ Janet Reitman Inside Scientology, Rolling Stone, February 23, 2006
266.Jump up ^ Plotkin-Wells & Wimmer E-Commerce Law & Business, Section 8.01[2], Aspen Publishers Online, 2003 ISBN 978-0-7355-4148-1
267.Jump up ^ Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (June 24, 1990). "The Man In Control". Los Angeles Times. p. A41:4. Archived from the original on June 2, 2010. Retrieved June 6, 2006.
268.Jump up ^ West, Louis Jolyon (July 1990). "Psychiatry and Scientology". Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2007.
269.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 59
270.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon (2000). The Church of Scientology. Salt Lake City: Signature Press. ISBN 978-1-56085-139-4
271.Jump up ^ Zur Frage der Beobachtung der Scientology-Organisation durch die Verfassungsschutzbehörden (in German) (PDF format)
272.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 60
273.Jump up ^ "Publications listing on the website of the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution". Lfv.bayern.de. Archived from the original on February 19, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
274.Jump up ^ "US State department Report 2006:".
275.Jump up ^ Morgan, Lucy (March 29, 1999). "Abroad: Critics public and private keep pressure on Scientology". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on May 1, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2007. "Canada's highest court in 1997 upheld the criminal conviction of the Church of Scientology of Toronto and one of its officers for a breach of trust stemming from covert operations in Canadian government offices during the 1970s and 1980s."
276.Jump up ^ Souchard, Pierre-Antoine (February 2, 2012). "Scientology Fraud Conviction Upheld". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved February 3, 2012. "A French appeals court on Thursday upheld the Church of Scientology's 2009 fraud conviction on charges it pressured members into paying large sums for questionable remedies."
277.^ Jump up to: a b c Goodin, Dan (June 3, 1999). "Scientology subpoenas Worldnet". CNET News.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2006.
278.Jump up ^ "Marburg Journal of Religion: Framing Effects in the Coverage of Scientology versus Germany: Some Thoughts on the Role of Press and Scholars" (PDF). Web.uni-marburg.de. May 22, 2009. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
279.Jump up ^ Richardson 2009, p. 283
280.Jump up ^ Farley, Robert (June 24, 2006). "The unperson". St. Petersburg Times. pp. 1A,14A. Archived from the original on July 17, 2007. Retrieved June 24, 2007.
281.Jump up ^ Farley, Robert (May 29, 2004). "Scientologists settle death suit". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2008.
282.Jump up ^ Matt Loney; Evan Hansen (March 21, 2002). "Google pulls anti-Scientology links". CNet. Archived from the original on October 15, 2008. Retrieved May 10, 2007.
283.^ Jump up to: a b Joe Childs, Thomas C. Tobin (June 23, 2009). "The Truth Run Down". St Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
284.Jump up ^ Joe Childs, Thomas C. Tobin (June 23, 2009). "Scientology: Ecclesiastical justice". St Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
285.Jump up ^ "Scientology convicted for fraud in France, escapes ban". Reuters. October 27, 2009. Archived from the original on January 14, 2010., Reuters, October 27, 2009
286.Jump up ^ "French court upholds Scientology fraud conviction"., AFP, February 2, 2012
287.Jump up ^ "Rudd's concerns about Scientology (quoted from embedded video, "Xenophon attacks Scientology – Independent Senator Nick Xenophon attacks Scientology as a 'criminal organisation'").". The Age. November 18, 2009.
288.Jump up ^ Gianni, Luke (February 22, 2007). "Scientology does detox – David E. Root, M.D". local stories > 15 minutes (Sacramento News & Review). Archived from the original on January 30, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2007.
289.Jump up ^ Seifman, David (April 21, 2007). "Local Pols Cruised in Free to Tom Gala". New York Post. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2007.
290.Jump up ^ "Monserrate Defends Detox Program". The Politicker. New York Observer. April 20, 2007. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2007.
291.Jump up ^ Etter, Lauren (January 19, 2007). "Program for prisoners draws fire over Scientology". Wall Street Journal (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2007.
292.Jump up ^ Reitman, Janet (February 8, 2011). "Inside Scientology". Rolling Stone Magazine. Archived from the original on March 31, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
293.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L.R. (1965): Keeping Scientology working (Series 1), page 7. The Hubbard Communication Office Policy Letter, titled Keeping Scientology Working Series 1, was included in the attached documents submitted to the IRS in 1993. Available from Xenu.net: [1]
294.Jump up ^ Stephen A. Kent (September 2003). "Scientology and the European Human Rights Debate: A Reply to Leisa Goodman, J. Gordon Melton, and the European Rehabilitation Project Force Study". Marburg Journal of Religion 8 (1). Retrieved May 21, 2006.; Kent cites Hubbard, L. Ron (1976a). Modern Management Technology Defined. Copenhagen, New Era Publications
295.Jump up ^ Eggenberger, Nicole (September 10, 2013). "Leah Remini Tells Ellen DeGeneres She 'Lost Friends"'After Leaving Scientolog". US Weekly. Archived December 11, 2013 at the Wayback Machine
296.Jump up ^ Grossman, Wendy (October 1997). "Copyright Terrorists". Net.Wars. New York: New York University Press. pp. 77–78. ISBN 978-0-8147-3103-1. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved June 11, 2006.
297.Jump up ^ Wendy Grossman Net.wars, p. 77, NYU Press, 1997 ISBN 978-0-8147-3103-1
298.Jump up ^ Steven Vedro Digital Dharma, p. 190, Quest Books, 2007 ISBN 978-0-8356-0859-6
299.Jump up ^ Mike Godwin Cyber Rights, p. 219, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 2003 ISBN 978-0-262-57168-5
300.Jump up ^ Catharine Cookson Encyclopedia of Religious Freedom, p. 432, Taylor & Francis, 2003 ISBN 978-0-415-94181-5
301.Jump up ^ Wendy Grossman Net.wars, p. 90, New York University Press, 1997 ISBN 978-0-8147-3103-1
302.Jump up ^ Sarno, David (February 11, 2008). "takes part in Scientology protests". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012., Los Angeles Times, February 11, 2008.
303.Jump up ^ Christopher Lueg From Usenet to CoWebs, p. 37, Springer, 2003 ISBN 978-1-85233-532-8
304.Jump up ^ Wendy Grossman Net.wars, pp. 74–76, NYU Press, 1997 ISBN 978-0-8147-3103-1
305.Jump up ^ Nordhausen, Frank. Scientology: Wie der Sektenkonzern die Welt erobern will (in German). Links Christoph Verlag. p. 518. ISBN 978-3-86153-470-9.
306.Jump up ^ John Cook (March 17, 2008). "Scientology – Cult Friction". Radar Online (Radar Magazine). Archived from the original on March 23, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2008.
307.Jump up ^ Vamosi, Robert (January 24, 2008). "Anonymous threatens to "dismantle" Church of Scientology via internet". cnet.com (CNET). Retrieved May 30, 2015.
308.Jump up ^ KNBC Staff (January 24, 2008). "Hacker Group Declares War On Scientology: Group Upset Over Church's Handling Of Tom Cruise Video". KNBC. Archived from the original on August 21, 2008. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
309.Jump up ^ Vamosi, Robert (January 24, 2008). "Anonymous hackers take on the Church of Scientology". CNET News (CNET Networks, Inc.). Retrieved January 25, 2008.
310.Jump up ^ "Anonymous Attacks!". Archived from the original on August 29, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2009.
311.Jump up ^ George-Cosh, David (January 25, 2008). "Online group declares war on Scientology". National Post (Canwest Publishing Inc.). Archived from the original on January 28, 2008. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
312.Jump up ^ Singel, Ryan (January 23, 2008). "War Breaks Out Between Hackers and Scientology – There Can Be Only One". Wired (CondéNet, Inc.). Archived from the original on April 24, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
313.Jump up ^ Feran, Tom (January 24, 2008). "Where to find the Tom Cruise Scientology videos online, if they're still posted". The Plain Dealer (Newhouse Newspapers). Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
314.^ Jump up to: a b Chan Enterprises (January 21, 2008). "Internet Group Declares "War on Scientology": Anonymous are fighting the Church of Scientology and the Religious Technology Center". Press Release (PRLog.Org). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 8, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
315.Jump up ^ Matthew A. Schroettnig, Stefanie Herrington, Lauren E. Trent (February 6, 2008). "Anonymous Versus Scientology: Cyber Criminals or Vigilante Justice?". Archived from the original on June 3, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
316.Jump up ^ Dodd, Gareth (Editor); Agencies (January 25, 2008). "Anonymous hackers vow to "dismantle" Scientology". Xinhua News Agency. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
317.Jump up ^ Brandon, Mikhail (January 28, 2008). "Scientology in the Crosshairs". The Emory Wheel (Emory University). Archived from the original on May 15, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
318.Jump up ^ Feran, Tom (January 31, 2008). "The group Anonymous calls for protests outside Scientology centers – New on the Net". The Plain Dealer (Newhouse Newspapers). Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2008.
319.Jump up ^ Vamosi, Robert (January 28, 2008). "Anonymous names 10 February as its day of action against Scientology". CNET News (CNET Networks, Inc.). Archived from the original on October 15, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
320.Jump up ^ Carlos Moncada (February 12, 2008). "Organizers Tout Scientology Protest, Plan Another". TBO.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2008.
321.Jump up ^ Harrison, James (The State News) (February 12, 2008). "Scientology protestors take action around world". Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2008.
322.Jump up ^ Forrester, John (February 11, 2008). "Dozens of masked protesters blast Scientology church". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on October 27, 2013. Retrieved February 15, 2008.
323.Jump up ^ Andrew Ramadge (March 17, 2008). "Second round of Anonymous v Scientology". News.com.au (News Limited). Archived from the original on October 6, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2008.
324.^ Jump up to: a b c Shea, Danny (May 29, 2009). "Wikipedia Bans Scientology From Site". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on September 20, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
325.^ Jump up to: a b Metz, Cade (May 29, 2009). "Wikipedia bans Church of Scientology". The Register. Archived from the original on March 18, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
326.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron (1968). Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Copenhagen, Denmark: Advanced Organization Saint Hill Denmark. p. 72. ISBN 87-87347-19-9.
327.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron (1968). Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Copenhagen, Denmark: Advanced Organization Saint Hill Denmark. p. 82. ISBN 87-87347-19-9.
328.^ Jump up to: a b Melton 2000, p. 29
329.^ Jump up to: a b Donaghy, James (June 9, 2007). "My name is L Ron Hubbard". The Guardian (London). Archived from the original on March 7, 2013. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
330.Jump up ^ Breckenridge, Memorandum of Intended Decision in Church of Scientology of California vs. Gerald Armstrong, Superior Court, Los Angeles County, case no. C420153. quoted in Atack, Jon (1990). A Piece of Blue Sky. Carol Publishing Group. p. 322. ISBN 978-0-8184-0499-3.
331.Jump up ^ Koff, Stephen (December 22, 1988). "Scientology church faces new claims of harassment". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on May 15, 2009. Retrieved October 26, 2008.
332.Jump up ^ Steven Girardi (May 9, 1982). "Witnesses Tell of Break-ins, Conspiracy". Clearwater Sun: p. 1A.
333.^ Jump up to: a b Shaw, William (February 14, 2008). "What do Tom Cruise and John Travolta know about Scientology that we don't?". The Daily Telegraph (London). Archived from the original on February 15, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
334.Jump up ^ Frantz, Douglas (February 13, 1998). "Scientology's Star Roster Enhances Image". New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast).
335.Jump up ^ Cusack 2009, pp. 394–395
336.^ Jump up to: a b Neusner 2003, p. 233
337.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon. "Celebrity Centre International (First Week of August)." Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations. Ed. J. Gordon Melton. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011. 168. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. January 8, 2014.
Notes
Barrett, David V. (1998). Sects, ‘Cults’ & Alternative Religions: A World Survey and Sourcebook (Paperback) New Ed. Sterling Pub Co Inc. ISBN 978-0-7137-2756-2.
Behar, Richard (1991). Scientology: The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power, Time magazine.
Bogdan, Henrik (2009). "The Church of Scientology in Sweden". In Lewis, James R. (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 335–344. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
Bromley, David G. (2009). "Making Sense of Scientology". In Lewis, James R. (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 83–101. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
Cowan, Douglas E.; Bromley, David G. (2006). "The Church of Scientology". In Gallagher, Eugene V.; Ashcraft, W. Michael (eds.) (2006). Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America 5. Westport CT: Greenwood Press. pp. 169–196. ISBN 978-0-275-98712-1.
Cowan, Douglas E.; Bromley, David G. (2007). Cults and New Religions: A Brief History. Malden, MA / Oxford, UK / Carlton, Victoria, Australia: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4051-6127-5.
Cusack, Carole M. (2009). "Celebrity, the Popular Media, and Scientology: Making Familiar the Unfamiliar". In Lewis, James R. (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 389–409. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
Cusack, Carole M.; Digance, Justine (2009). "Pastoral Care and September 11: Scientology's Nontraditional Religious Contribution". In Lewis, James R. (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 435–437. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
Flowers, Ronald B. (1984). Religion in Strange Times: The 1960s and 1970s. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. ISBN 978-0-86554-127-6.
Frenschkowski, Marco (1999). "L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology: An annotated bibliographical survey of primary and selected secondary literature". Archived from the original on September 2, 2005.
Gallagher, Eugene V.; Ashcraft, W. Michael (eds.) (2006). Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America. Westport CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-275-98712-1.
Garrison, Omar V. (1974). The Hidden Story of Scientology. Citadel Press. ISBN 978-0-8065-0440-7.
Hunt, Stephen J. (2003). Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7546-3410-2.
Kent, Stephen A. (1996). "Scientology's Relationship With Eastern Religious Traditions". Journal of Contemporary Religion 11 (1): 21. doi:10.1080/13537909608580753. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2009.
Kent, Stephen A. (2001). "The French and German versus American Debate over 'New Religions', Scientology, and Human Rights". Marburg Journal of Religion 6 (1). Retrieved March 28, 2009.
Lewis, James R. (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
Lewis, James R.; Hammer, Olav (2007). The Invention of Sacred Tradition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-86479-4.
Melton, J. Gordon (2000). The Church of Scientology. Salt Lake City: Signature Press. ISBN 978-1-56085-139-4.
Neusner, Jacob (2003). World Religions in America. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-22475-2.
Palmer, Susan J. (2009). "The Church of Scientology in France: Legal and Activist Counterattacks in the "War on Sectes"". In Lewis, James R. (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 295–322. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
Reitman, Janet (2011). "Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion". New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing. ISBN 978-0-618-88302-8.
Richardson, James T. (2009). "Scientology in Court: A Look at Some Major Cases from Various Nations". In Lewis, James R. (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 283–294. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
Urban, Hugh B. (2011). The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion. Princeton Press. ISBN 978-0-691-14608-9.
Willms, Gerald (2005). Scientology: Kulturbeobachtungen jenseits der Devianz (in German). Bielefeld, Germany: transcript Verlag. ISBN 978-3-89942-330-3.
Willms, Gerald (2009). "Scientology: "Modern Religion" or "Religion of Modernity"?". In Lewis, James R. (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 245–265. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
Zellner, William W.; Petrowsky, Marc (1998). Sects, Cults, and Spiritual Communities: a Sociological Analysis. Westport CT: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 978-0-275-96335-4.
External links

Find more about
Scientology
 at Wikipedia's sister projects

Search Wiktionary Definitions from Wiktionary
Search Commons Media from Commons
Search Wikinews News stories from Wikinews
Search Wikiquote Quotations from Wikiquote
Search Wikisource Source texts from Wikisource
Search Wikiversity Learning resources from Wikiversity
Official siteScientology website
Scholarly web pages on ScientologyCenter for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR)
Scientology -- Is This a Religion?
J. Gordon Melton
An Annotated Bibliographical Survey of Primary and Secondary Literature on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Scientology








































































































































































































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Religion























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Authority control
GND: 4054027-3 ·
 NDL: 00569980
 

  


Categories: Scientology
New religious movements
UFO religions




















Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

View source

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Afrikaans
العربية
Azərbaycanca
বাংলা
Башҡортса
Български
Boarisch
Bosanski
Brezhoneg
Català
Čeština
Cymraeg
Dansk
Deutsch
Eesti
Español
Esperanto
فارسی
Français
Frysk
Gaeilge
Galego
한국어
Hrvatski
Ido
Bahasa Indonesia
Interlingua
Íslenska
Italiano
עברית
Қазақша
Kiswahili
Kurdî
Latviešu
Lëtzebuergesch
Lietuvių
Magyar
Македонски
مصرى
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Piemontèis
Polski
Português
Română
Русский
Sardu
Scots
Shqip
Simple English
Slovenčina
Slovenščina
Српски / srpski
Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски
Suomi
Svenska
తెలుగు
Türkçe
Українська
Tiếng Việt
中文
Edit links
This page was last modified on 15 June 2015, at 07:48.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
    
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology








Page semi-protected

Scientology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to:  navigation , search

This article is about the belief system and practices. For the organization, see Church of Scientology. For other uses, see Scientology (disambiguation).
Not to be confused with Religious Science or Christian Science.
Scientology
Scientology Symbol Logo.png
The Scientology symbol is composed of the letter S, which stands for Scientology, and the ARC and KRC triangles, two important concepts in Scientology.[1]

Formation
1954[2]
Type
Corporation-owned religion[3][4]
Headquarters
Gold Base
Riverside County, California[5]

Chairman of Religious Technology Center
 David Miscavige
Website
www.scientology.org
Remarks
Flagship facility: Church of Scientology International, Los Angeles, California, USA
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by American author L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986), beginning in 1952 as an expansion of his earlier system, Dianetics.[6] Hubbard characterized Scientology as a religion, and in 1953 he incorporated the Church of Scientology in Camden, New Jersey.[7][8]
Scientology teaches that people are immortal beings who have forgotten their true nature.[9] Its method of spiritual rehabilitation is a type of counselling known as auditing, in which an auditor guides a subject[10] into consciously re-experiencing painful or traumatic events in his past in order to free himself of the limiting effects of those events.[11] Study materials and auditing sessions are made available to members on a fee-for-service basis, which the church describes as a "fixed donation".[12][13] Scientology is legally recognized as a tax-exempt religion in the United States, South Africa,[14] Australia,[15] Sweden,[16] the Netherlands,[17] New Zealand,[18][19] Portugal,[20] and Spain;[21][22][23][24][25] the Church of Scientology emphasizes this as proof that it is a bona fide religion.[26] In contrast, the organization is considered a commercial enterprise in Switzerland, a cult (French secte) in France and Chile, and a non-profit in Norway, and its legal classification is often a point of contention.
A large number of organizations overseeing the application of Scientology have been established,[27] the most notable of these being the Church of Scientology. Scientology sponsors a variety of social-service programs.[27][28] These include the Narconon anti-drug program, the Criminon prison rehabilitation program, the Study Tech education methodology, the Volunteer Ministers, the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises, and a set of moral guidelines expressed in a booklet called The Way to Happiness.[29]
Scientology is one of the most controversial new religious movements to have arisen in the 20th century. The church is often characterized as a cult, and it has faced harsh scrutiny for many of its practices, which, critics contend, include brainwashing and routinely defrauding its members,[30] as well as attacking its critics and perceived enemies with psychological abuse, character assassination, and costly lawsuits.[13][31][32] In response, Scientologists have argued that theirs is a genuine religious movement that has been misrepresented, maligned, and persecuted.[33] The Church of Scientology has consistently used litigation against its critics, and its aggressiveness in pursuing its opponents has been condemned as harassment.[34][35] Further controversy has focused on Scientology's belief that souls ("thetans") reincarnate and have lived on other planets before living on Earth[36] and that some of the related teachings are not revealed to practitioners until they have paid thousands of dollars to the Church of Scientology.[37][38] Another controversial belief held by Scientologists is that the practice of psychiatry is destructive and abusive and must be abolished.[39][40]


Contents  [hide]
1 Etymology and earlier usage
2 History 2.1 Dianetics
2.2 Church of Scientology
3 Membership statistics
4 Beliefs and practices 4.1 Body and Spirit
4.2 Emotions and the mind
4.3 Survival and ethics
4.4 ARC and KRC triangles
4.5 Cross
4.6 Social and antisocial personalities
4.7 Auditing
4.8 "Bridge to Total Freedom"
4.9 Space opera and confidential materials
4.10 Ceremonies
4.11 Influences
5 Organization 5.1 Practice and training organizations
5.2 Technology application organizations
5.3 Social reform organizations
5.4 Other entities
5.5 Free Zone and Independent Scientologists
6 Dispute of religion status 6.1 Scientology status by country
6.2 Scholarly views on Scientology's status as a religion 6.2.1 Scientology as a UFO religion
6.3 Scientology as a commercial venture
7 Controversies 7.1 Scientology and the Internet
7.2 Scientology and hypnosis
7.3 Auditing confidentiality
8 Celebrities
9 See also
10 References
11 Notes
12 External links

Etymology and earlier usage
The word Scientology is a pairing of the Latin word scientia ("knowledge", "skill"), which comes from the verb scīre ("to know"), and the Greek λόγος lógos ("word" or "account [of]").[41][42] Scientology, as coined by L. Ron Hubbard, comes from the Latin scio, which means "knowing, in the fullest meaning of the word" and the Greek word logos, which means "study of". Scientology is further defined as "the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes, and other life."[43]
In 1901, Allen Upward coined Scientology "as a disparaging term, to indicate a blind, unthinking acceptance of scientific doctrine" according to the Internet Sacred Text Archive as quoted in the preface to Forgotten Books' recent edition of Upward's book, The New Word: On the meaning of the word Idealist.[44] Continuing to quote, the publisher writes "I'm not aware of any evidence that Hubbard knew of this fairly obscure book."[45] In 1934, philosopher Anastasius Nordenholz published a book that used the term to mean "science of science".[46] It is also uncertain whether Hubbard was aware of this prior usage of the word.[47]
History
See also: Timeline of Scientology
Dianetics
Main article: Dianetics



 L. Ron Hubbard in 1950
Scientology was developed by L. Ron Hubbard as a successor to his earlier counselling system, Dianetics. Dianetics uses a counseling technique known as auditing, in which an auditor assists a subject in conscious recall of traumatic events in the individual's past.[48] It was originally intended to be a new psychotherapy and was not expected to become the foundation for a new religion.[49][50] Hubbard variously defined Dianetics as a spiritual healing technology and an organized science of thought.[51] The stated intent of Dianetics is to free individuals of the influence of past traumas by systematic exposure and removal of the engrams (painful memories) these events have left behind, in a process called clearing.[51]
Hubbard, an American writer of pulp fiction, especially science fiction,[52] first published his ideas on the human mind in the Explorers Club Journal and the May 1950 issue of Astounding Science Fiction magazine.[53] The publication of Dianetics in May 1950 is considered by Scientologists a seminal event of the century.[54] Two of Hubbard's key supporters at the time were John W. Campbell Jr., the editor of Astounding Science Fiction, and Dr. Joseph A. Winter. Winter, hoping to have Dianetics accepted in the medical community, submitted papers outlining the principles and methodology of Dianetic therapy to the Journal of the American Medical Association and the American Journal of Psychiatry in 1949, but these were rejected.[55][56]
May 1950 saw the publication of Hubbard's Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. His book entered the New York Times best-seller list on June 18 and stayed there until December 24 of that year.[57] Dianetics appealed to a broad range of people who used instructions from the book and applied the method to each other, becoming practitioners themselves.[53][58] Hubbard found himself the leader of a growing Dianetics movement.[53] He became a popular lecturer and established the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation in Elizabeth, New Jersey, where he trained his first Dianetics counselors or auditors.[53][58]
Rutgers scholar Beryl Satter says that "there was little that was original in Hubbard's approach" with much of the theory having origins in popular conceptions of psychology.[59] Satter observes that, "keeping with the typical 1950s distrust of emotion, Hubbard promised that Dianetic treatment would tap dangerous emotions in order to release and erase them, thereby leaving individuals with increased powers of rationality."[59] Hubbard's thought was parallel with the trend of humanist psychology at that time, which also came about in the 1950s.[59] Passas and Castillo write that the appeal of Dianetics was based on its consistency with prevailing values.[60]
Dianetics soon met with criticism. Morris Fishbein, the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association and well-known at the time as a debunker of quack medicine, dismissed Hubbard's book.[61] An article in Newsweek stated that "the dianetics concept is unscientific and unworthy of discussion or review".[62] In January 1951, the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners instituted proceedings against the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation for teaching medicine without a license, which eventually led to that foundation's bankruptcy.[63][64][65]
Some practitioners of Dianetics reported experiences which they believed had occurred in past lives, or previous incarnations.[58] In early 1951, reincarnation became a subject of intense debate within Dianetics.[66] Campbell and Winter, who was still hopeful of winning support for Dianetics from the medical community, championed a resolution to ban the topic.[66] But Hubbard decided to take the reports of past life events seriously and postulated the existence of the thetan, a concept similar to the soul.[58] This was an important factor in the transition from secular Dianetics to the more supernaturalistic Scientology, but more to the point, Hubbard saw that Dianetics was about to fail from its inherent individualism which set each person as his own authority. It has been suggested that Hubbard started the more religious mode of Scientology to establish an overarching authority—his own.[67]
Also in 1951, Hubbard introduced the electropsychometer (E-meter for short), a kind of galvanometer, as an auditing aid.[66] Based on a design by Hubbard, the device is held by Scientologists to be a useful tool in detecting changes in a person's state of mind.[66]
Scientologists use a "dating system based on the initial appearance of this book. For example, 'A.D. 25' does not stand for Anno Domini, but 'After Dianetics.'"[68] Publishers Weekly gave a plaque posthumously to L. Ron Hubbard commemorating the appearance of Dianetics on its bestseller list for one hundred consecutive weeks.[citation needed] One scholar has called Dianetics the bestselling non-Christian religious book of the century.[68] Scholarly conjecture discusses the likelihood of the Church of Scientology falsifying the numbers of Dianetics books sold; the Church says more than 90 million. Nevertheless, the book has seen very little attention from scholars.[68]
Church of Scientology
Main article: Church of Scientology



 The Founding Church of Scientology in Washington D.C.
In 1952, Hubbard built on the existing framework set forth in Dianetics, and published a new set of teachings as Scientology, a religious philosophy.[69] In December 1952, the Hubbard Dianetic Foundation filed for bankruptcy, and Hubbard lost control of the Dianetics trademark and copyright to financier Don Purcell.[70] Author Russell Miller argues that Scientology "was a development of undeniable expedience, since it ensured that he would be able to stay in business even if the courts eventually awarded control of Dianetics and its valuable copyrights to ... Purcell".[71][72]
In April 1953, Hubbard wrote a letter proposing that Scientology should be transformed into a religion.[73] As membership declined and finances grew tighter, Hubbard had reversed the hostility to religion he voiced in Dianetics.[74] His letter discussed the legal and financial benefits of religious status.[74] Hubbard outlined plans for setting up a chain of "Spiritual Guidance Centers" charging customers $500 for twenty-four hours of auditing ("That is real money ... Charge enough and we'd be swamped."). He wrote:

I await your reaction on the religion angle. In my opinion, we couldn't get worse public opinion than we have had or have less customers with what we've got to sell. A religious charter would be necessary in Pennsylvania or NJ to make it stick. But I sure could make it stick.[75]
In December 1953, Hubbard incorporated three churches – a "Church of American Science", a "Church of Scientology" and a "Church of Spiritual Engineering" – in Camden, New Jersey.[76] On February 18, 1954, with Hubbard's blessing, some of his followers set up the first local Church of Scientology, the Church of Scientology of California, adopting the "aims, purposes, principles and creed of the Church of American Science, as founded by L. Ron Hubbard."[76][77] The movement spread quickly through the United States and to other English-speaking countries such as Britain, Ireland, South Africa and Australia.[78] The second local Church of Scientology to be set up, after the one in California, was in Auckland, New Zealand.[78] In 1955, Hubbard established the Founding Church of Scientology in Washington, D.C.[58] In 1957, the Church of Scientology of California was granted tax-exempt status by the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and so, for a time, were other local churches.[61][79] In 1958 however, the IRS started a review of the appropriateness of this status.[61] In 1959, Hubbard moved to England, remaining there until the mid-1960s.[58]
The Church experienced further challenges. The United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) began an investigation concerning the claims the Church of Scientology made in connection with its E-meters.[61] On January 4, 1963, they raided offices of the Church of Scientology and seized hundreds of E-meters as illegal medical devices. The devices have since been required to carry a disclaimer saying that they are a purely religious artifact.[80]
In the mid-sixties, the Church of Scientology was banned in several Australian states, starting with Victoria in 1965.[81] The ban was based on the Anderson Report, which found that the auditing process involved "command" hypnosis, in which the hypnotist assumes "positive authoritative control" over the patient. On this point the report stated,

It is the firm conclusion of this Board that most scientology and dianetic techniques are those of authoritative hypnosis and as such are dangerous ... the scientific evidence which the Board heard from several expert witnesses of the highest repute ... leads to the inescapable conclusion that it is only in name that there is any difference between authoritative hypnosis and most of the techniques of scientology. Many scientology techniques are in fact hypnotic techniques, and Hubbard has not changed their nature by changing their names.[82]
The Australian Church was forced to operate under the name of the "Church of the New Faith" as a result, the name and practice of Scientology having become illegal in the relevant states.[81] Several years of court proceedings aimed at overturning the ban followed.[81]
In the course of developing Scientology, Hubbard presented rapidly changing teachings that some have seen as often self-contradictory.[83][84] According to Lindholm, for the inner cadre of Scientologists in that period, involvement depended not so much on belief in a particular doctrine but on unquestioning faith in Hubbard.[83] In 1965, a longtime Church member and "Doctor of Scientology" Jack Horner (b. 1927) left the group, dissatisfied with its ethics program; he later developed a splinter group, Dianology, renamed in 1971 to Eductivsm, "an applied philosophy aimed at evoking the individual's infinite spiritual potentials."[85] In 1966, Hubbard stepped down as executive director of Scientology to devote himself to research and writing.[58][86] The following year, he formed the Sea Organization or Sea Org, which was to develop into an elite group within Scientology.[58][87] The Sea Org was based on three ships, the Diana, the Athena, and the Apollo, which served as the flagship.[87] One month after the establishment of the Sea Org, Hubbard announced that he had made a breakthrough discovery, the result of which were the "OT III" materials purporting to provide a method for overcoming factors inhibiting spiritual progress.[87] These materials were first disseminated on the ships, and then propagated by Sea Org members reassigned to staff Advanced Organizations on land.[87]
In 1967, the IRS removed Scientology's tax-exempt status, asserting that its activities were commercial and operated for the benefit of Hubbard, rather than for charitable or religious purposes.[79] The decision resulted in a process of litigation that would be settled in the Church's favor a quarter of a century later, the longest case of litigation in IRS history.[61]
In 1979, as a result of FBI raids during Operation Snow White, eleven senior people in the church's Guardian's Office were convicted of obstructing justice, burglary of government offices, and theft of documents and government property. In 1981, Scientology took the German government to court for the first time.[88]
On January 1, 1982, Scientology established the Religious Technology Center (RTC) to oversee and ensure the standard application of Scientology technology.[89]
On November 11, 1982, the Free Zone was established by former top Scientologists in disagreement with RTC.[90] The Free Zone Association was founded and registered under the laws of Germany, and believes that the Church of Scientology has departed from its original philosophy.[91]
In 1983, in a unanimous decision, the High Court of Australia recognized Scientology as a religion in Australia, overturning restrictions that had limited activities of the church after the Anderson Report.[92]
On January 24, 1986, L. Ron Hubbard died at his ranch in Creston, California,[93] and David Miscavige became the head of the organization.
Starting in 1991, persons connected with Scientology filed fifty lawsuits against the Cult Awareness Network (CAN), a group that had been critical of Scientology.[94] Although many of the suits were dismissed, one of the suits filed against the Cult Awareness Network resulted in $2 million in losses for the network.[94] Consequently, the organization was forced to go bankrupt.[94] In 1996, Steven L. Hayes, a Scientologist, purchased the bankrupt Cult Awareness Network's logo and appurtenances.[94][95] A new Cult Awareness Network was set up with Scientology backing, which operates as an information and networking center for non-traditional religions, referring callers to academics and other experts.[96][97]
In a 1993 U.S. lawsuit brought by the Church of Scientology against Steven Fishman, a former member of the Church, Fishman made a court declaration which included several dozen pages of formerly secret esoterica detailing aspects of Scientologist cosmogony.[98] As a result of the litigation, this material, normally strictly safeguarded and used only in Scientology's more advanced "OT levels", found its way onto the Internet.[98] This resulted in a battle between the Church of Scientology and its online critics over the right to disclose this material, or safeguard its confidentiality.[98] The Church of Scientology was forced to issue a press release acknowledging the existence of this cosmogony, rather than allow its critics "to distort and misuse this information for their own purposes."[98] Even so, the material, notably the story of Xenu, has since been widely disseminated and used to caricature Scientology, despite the Church's vigorous program of copyright litigation.[98]
Membership statistics



 Scientology center in New York City
In 2005, the Church of Scientology stated its worldwide membership to be eight million, although that number included people who took only the introductory course.[99] In 2007 a church official claimed 3.5 million members in the United States,[100] but a 2001 survey conducted by the City University of New York found only 55,000 people in the United States who claimed to be Scientologists. Worldwide, some observers believe a reasonable estimate of Scientology's core practicing membership ranges between 100,000 and 200,000, mostly in the U.S., Europe, South Africa and Australia.[101] In 2008, the American Religious Identification Survey found that the number of American Scientologists had dropped to 25,000.[102]
Scientologists tend to disparage general religious surveys on the grounds that many members maintaining cultural and social ties to other religious groups will, when asked their religion, answer with their traditional and more socially acceptable affiliation. The Church of Scientology claims to be the fastest growing religious movement on earth.[103] On the other hand, religious scholar J. Gordon Melton has said that the church's estimates of its membership numbers are significantly exaggerated.[104] In the UK, Scientology is declining.[105]
Beliefs and practices
Main article: Scientology beliefs and practices
According to Scientology, its beliefs and practices are based on rigorous research, and its doctrines are accorded a significance equivalent to that of scientific laws.[106] "Scientology works 100 percent of the time when it is properly applied to a person who sincerely desires to improve his life", the Church of Scientology says.[106] Conversion is held to be of lesser significance than the practical application of Scientologist methods.[106] Adherents are encouraged to validate the value of the methods they apply through their personal experience.[106] Hubbard himself put it this way: "For a Scientologist, the final test of any knowledge he has gained is, 'did the data and the use of it in life actually improve conditions or didn't it?'"[106]
Body and Spirit
Scientology beliefs revolve around the thetan, the individualized expression of the cosmic source, or life force, named after the Greek letter theta (θ).[107][108][109] The thetan is the true identity of a person – an intrinsically good, omniscient, non-material core capable of unlimited creativity.[107][108]
In the primordial past, thetans brought the material universe into being largely for their own pleasure.[107] The universe has no independent reality, but derives its apparent reality from the fact that most thetans agree it exists.[108] Thetans fell from grace when they began to identify with their creation, rather than their original state of spiritual purity.[107] Eventually they lost their memory of their true nature, along with the associated spiritual and creative powers. As a result, thetans came to think of themselves as nothing but embodied beings.[108][110]
Thetans are reborn time and time again in new bodies through a process called "assumption" which is analogous to reincarnation.[107] Like Hinduism, Scientology posits a causal relationship between the experiences of earlier incarnations and one's present life, and with each rebirth, the effects of the MEST universe (MEST here stands for matter, energy, space, and time) on the thetan become stronger.[107]
Emotions and the mind
See also: Tone scale
Scientology presents two major divisions of the mind.[111] The reactive mind is thought to absorb all pain and emotional trauma, while the analytical mind is a rational mechanism which is responsible for consciousness.[108][112] The reactive mind stores mental images which are not readily available to the analytical (conscious) mind; these are referred to as engrams.[113] Engrams are painful and debilitating; as they accumulate, people move further away from their true identity.[107] To avoid this fate is Scientology's basic goal.[107] Dianetic auditing is one way by which the Scientologist may progress toward the Clear state, winning gradual freedom from the reactive mind's engrams, and acquiring certainty of his or her reality as a thetan.[110]
Scientology uses an emotional classification system called the tone scale.[114] The tone scale is a tool used in counseling; Scientologists maintain that knowing a person's place on the scale makes it easier to predict his or her actions and assists in bettering his or her condition.[115]
Survival and ethics



 The Scientology symbol is composed of the letter S, which stands for Scientology, and the ARC and KRC triangles, two important concepts in Scientology.
Scientology emphasizes the importance of survival, which it subdivides into eight classifications that are referred to as dynamics.[116][117] An individual's desire to survive is considered to be the first dynamic, while the second dynamic relates to procreation and family.[116][118] The remaining dynamics encompass wider fields of action, involving groups, mankind, all life, the physical universe, the spirit, and the Infinity, often associated with the Supreme Being.[116] The optimum solution to any problem is held to be the one that brings the greatest benefit to the greatest number of dynamics.[116]
Scientology teaches that spiritual progress requires and enables the attainment of high ethical standards.[119] In Scientology, rationality is stressed over morality.[119] Actions are considered ethical if they promote survival across all eight dynamics, thus benefiting the greatest number of people or things possible while harming the fewest.[120]
ARC and KRC triangles
See also: Scientology terminology and Scientology beliefs and practices § ARC and KRC triangle
The ARC and KRC triangles are concept maps which show a relationship between three concepts to form another concept. These two triangles are present in the Scientology symbol. The lower triangle, the ARC triangle, is a summary representation of the knowledge the Scientologist strives for.[107] It encompasses Affinity (affection, love or liking), Reality (consensual reality) and Communication (the exchange of ideas).[107] Scientologists believe that improving one of the three aspects of the triangle "increases the level" of the other two, but Communication is held to be the most important.[121] The upper triangle is the KRC triangle, the letters KRC positing a similar relationship between Knowledge, Responsibility and Control.[122]
Among Scientologists, the letters ARC are used as an affectionate greeting in personal communication, for example at the end of a letter.[123] Social problems are ascribed to breakdowns in ARC – in other words, a lack of agreement on reality, a failure to communicate effectively, or a failure to develop affinity.[124] These can take the form of overts – harmful acts against another, either intentionally or by omission – which are usually followed by withholds – efforts to conceal the wrongdoing, which further increase the level of tension in the relationship.[124]
Cross
Main article: Scientology cross



 Scientology cross
The Church of Scientology says that "the horizontal bar represents the material universe, and the vertical bar represents the spirit. Thus, the spirit is seen to be rising triumphantly, ultimately transcending the turmoil of the physical universe to achieve salvation."[125]
Social and antisocial personalities
While Scientology states that many social problems are the unintentional results of people's imperfections, it asserts that there are also truly malevolent individuals.[124] Hubbard believed that approximately 80 percent of all people are what he called social personalities – people who welcome and contribute to the welfare of others.[124] The remaining 20 percent of the population, Hubbard thought, were suppressive persons.[124] According to Hubbard, only about 2.5 percent of this 20 percent are hopelessly antisocial personalities; these make up the small proportion of truly dangerous individuals in humanity: "the Adolf Hitlers and the Genghis Khans, the unrepentant murderers and the drug lords."[124][126] Scientologists believe that any contact with suppressive or antisocial individuals has an adverse effect on one's spiritual condition, necessitating disconnection.[124][126]
In Scientology, defectors who turn into critics of the movement are declared suppressive persons,[127][128][129][130] and the Church of Scientology has a reputation for moving aggressively against such detractors.[131] A Scientologist who is actively in communication with a suppressive person and as a result shows signs of antisocial behaviour is referred to as a Potential Trouble Source.[132][133]
Auditing
Main article: Auditing (Scientology)



 A Scientologist introduces the E-meter to a potential student
Scientology asserts that people have hidden abilities which have not yet been fully realized.[134] It is believed that increased spiritual awareness and physical benefits are accomplished through counseling sessions referred to as auditing.[135] Through auditing, it is said that people can solve their problems and free themselves of engrams.[101] This restores them to their natural condition as thetans and enables them to be at cause in their daily lives, responding rationally and creatively to life events rather than reacting to them under the direction of stored engrams.[136] Accordingly, those who study Scientology materials and receive auditing sessions advance from a status of Preclear to Clear and Operating Thetan.[137] Scientology's utopian aim is to "clear the planet", a world in which everyone has cleared themselves of their engrams.[138]
Auditing is a one-on-one session with a Scientology counselor or auditor.[139] It bears a superficial similarity to confession or pastoral counseling, but the auditor records and stores all information received and does not dispense forgiveness or advice the way a pastor or priest might do.[139] Instead, the auditor's task is to help a person discover and understand engrams, and their limiting effects, for him- or herself.[139] Most auditing requires an E-meter, a device that measures minute changes in electrical resistance through the body when a person holds electrodes (metal "cans"), and a small current is passed through them.[101][139]
Scientology asserts that watching for changes in the E-meter's display helps locate engrams.[139] Once an area of concern has been identified, the auditor asks the individual specific questions about it, in order to help him or her eliminate the engram, and uses the E-meter to confirm that the engram's "charge" has been dissipated and the engram has in fact been cleared.[139] As the individual progresses, the focus of auditing moves from simple engrams to engrams of increasing complexity.[139] At the more advanced OT auditing levels, Scientologists perform solo auditing sessions, acting as their own auditors.[139]
"Bridge to Total Freedom"
Seeking spiritual development within Scientology is undertaken by studying Scientology materials. Scientology materials (called Technology or Tech in Scientology jargon) are structured in sequential levels (or gradients), so that easier steps are taken first and greater complexities are handled at the appropriate time. This process is sometimes referred to as moving along the "Bridge to Total Freedom", or simply "the Bridge".[121] It has two sides: training and processing.[119] Training means education in the principles and practices of auditing.[119] Processing is personal development through participation in auditing sessions.[119]
The Church of Scientology believes in the principle of reciprocity, involving give-and-take in every human transaction.[13] Accordingly, members are required to make donations for study courses and auditing as they move up the Bridge, the amounts increasing as higher levels are reached.[13] Participation in higher-level courses on the Bridge may cost several thousand dollars, and Scientologists usually move up the Bridge at a rate governed by their income.[13]
Space opera and confidential materials
See also: Operating Thetan and Space opera in Scientology doctrine
The Church of Scientology holds that at the higher levels of initiation ("OT levels"), mystical teachings are imparted that may be harmful to unprepared readers. These teachings are kept secret from members who have not reached these levels. The church says that the secrecy is warranted to keep its materials' use in context and to protect its members from being exposed to materials they are not yet prepared for.[101]



 Scientology cruise ship Freewinds
These are the OT levels, the levels above Clear, whose contents are guarded within Scientology. The OT level teachings include accounts of various cosmic catastrophes that befell the thetans.[140] Hubbard described these early events collectively as "space opera".
In the OT levels, Hubbard explains how to reverse the effects of past-life trauma patterns that supposedly extend millions of years into the past.[141] Among these advanced teachings is the story of Xenu (sometimes Xemu), introduced as the tyrant ruler of the "Galactic Confederacy". According to this story, 75 million years ago Xenu brought billions of people to Earth in spacecraft resembling Douglas DC-8 airliners, stacked them around volcanoes and detonated hydrogen bombs in the volcanoes. The thetans then clustered together, stuck to the bodies of the living, and continue to do this today. Scientologists at advanced levels place considerable emphasis on isolating body thetans and neutralizing their ill effects.[142]
The material contained in the OT levels has been characterized as bad science fiction by critics, while others claim it bears structural similarities to gnostic thought and ancient Hindu beliefs of creation and cosmic struggle.[140][143] Melton suggests that these elements of the OT levels may never have been intended as descriptions of historical events and that, like other religious mythology, they may have their truth in the realities of the body and mind which they symbolize.[140] He adds that on whatever level Scientologists might have received this mythology, they seem to have found it useful in their spiritual quest.[140]
Excerpts and descriptions of OT materials were published online by a former member in 1995 and then circulated in mainstream media. This occurred after the teachings were submitted as evidence in court cases involving Scientology, thus becoming a matter of public record.[141][144] There are eight publicly known OT levels, OT I to VIII.[145] The highest level, OT VIII, is disclosed only at sea on the Scientology cruise ship Freewinds.[145] It has been rumored that additional OT levels, said to be based on material written by Hubbard long ago, will be released at some appropriate point in the future.[146]
A large Church of Spiritual Technology symbol carved into the ground at Scientology's Trementina Base is visible from the air.[147] Washington Post reporter Richard Leiby wrote, "Former Scientologists familiar with Hubbard’s teachings on reincarnation say the symbol marks a 'return point' so loyal staff members know where they can find the founder’s works when they travel here in the future from other places in the universe."[148]
Ceremonies
In Scientology, ceremonies for events such as weddings, child naming, and funerals are observed.[107] Friday services are held to commemorate the completion of a person's religious services during the prior week.[107] Ordained Scientology ministers may perform such rites.[107] However, these services and the clergy who perform them play only a minor role in Scientologists' religious lives.[149]
Influences
The general orientation of Hubbard's philosophy owes much to Will Durant, author of the popular 1926 classic The Story of Philosophy; Dianetics is dedicated to Durant.[150] Hubbard's view of a mechanically functioning mind in particular finds close parallels in Durant's work on Spinoza.[150] According to Hubbard himself, Scientology is "the Western anglicized continuance of many early forms of wisdom." Ankerberg and Weldon mention the sources of Scientology to include "the Vedas, Buddhism, Judaism, Gnosticism, Taoism, early Greek civilization and the teachings of Jesus, Nietzsche and Freud."[151] In Dianetics, Hubbard cites Hegel as an influence, but a negative one due to his being "confusing."[152]
Sigmund Freud's psychology, popularized in the 1930s and 1940s, was a key contributor to the Dianetics therapy model, and was acknowledged unreservedly as such by Hubbard in his early works.[153] Hubbard never forgot, when he was 12 years old, meeting Cmdr. Joseph Cheesman Thompson, a U.S. Navy officer who had studied with Freud[154] and when writing to the American Psychological Association in 1949, he stated that he was conducting research based on the "early work of Freud".[155]
Another major influence was Alfred Korzybski's General Semantics.[153] Hubbard was friends with fellow science fiction writer A. E. van Vogt, who explored the implications of Korzybski's non-Aristotelian logic in works such as The World of Null-A, and Hubbard's view of the reactive mind has clear and acknowledged parallels with Korzybski's thought; in fact, Korzybski's "anthropometer" may have been what inspired Hubbard's invention of the E-meter.[153]
Beyond that, Hubbard himself named a great many other influences in his own writing – in Scientology 8-8008, for example, these include philosophers from Anaxagoras and Aristotle to Herbert Spencer and Voltaire, physicists and mathematicians like Euclid and Isaac Newton, as well as founders of religions such as Buddha, Confucius, Jesus and Mohammed – but there is little evidence in Hubbard's writings that he studied these figures to any great depth.[153]
As noted, there are elements of the Eastern religions evident in Scientology,[155] in particular the concepts of karma, as present in Hinduism and in Jainism.[156][157] In addition to the links to Hindu texts, Hubbard tried to connect Scientology with Taoism and Buddhism.[158] According to the Encyclopedia of Community, Scientology "shows affinities with Buddhism and a remarkable similarity to first-century Gnosticism."[159][160]
In the 1940s, Hubbard was in contact with Jack Parsons, a rocket scientist and member of the Ordo Templi Orientis then led by Aleister Crowley, and there have been suggestions that this connection influenced some of the ideas and symbols of Scientology.[161][162] Religious scholars Gerald Willms and J. Gordon Melton have stated that Crowley's teachings bear little if any resemblance to Scientology doctrine.[161][162]
According to James R. Lewis, Scientology is in the same lineage of supernatural religious movements such as New Thought. Scientology goes beyond this and refers to their religio-therapeutic practices as religious technology. Lewis wrote, "Scientology sees their psycho-spiritual technology as supplying the missing ingredient in existing technologies—namely, the therapeutic engineering of the human psyche."[163]
Organization
Main article: List of Scientology organizations



 The incomplete Super Power Building of the FLAG Scientology complex in Clearwater, Florida
There are a considerable number of Scientology organizations (or orgs) which generally support one of the following three aims: enabling Scientology practice and training, promoting the wider application of Scientology technology, or campaigning for social change.[164] These organizations are supported by a three-tiered hierarchical structure comprising lay practitioners, staff and, at the top of the hierarchy, members of the so-called Sea Organization or Sea Org.[165] The Sea Org, comprising over 5,000 members, has been compared to the monastic orders found in other religions; it is composed of the most dedicated adherents, who work for nominal compensation and symbolically express their religious commitment by signing a billion-year contract.[165][166]
The internal structure of Scientology organizations is strongly bureaucratic, with detailed coordination of activities and collection of stats – or statistics, to measure organizational and individual performance.[165] Organizational operating budgets are performance-related and subject to frequent reviews.[165] Scientology has an internal justice system (the Ethics system) designed to deal with unethical or antisocial behavior.[165][167] Ethics officers are present in every org; they are tasked with ensuring correct application of Scientology technology and deal with violations such as non-compliance with standard procedures or any other behavior adversely affecting an org's performance, ranging from errors and misdemeanors to crimes and suppressive acts, as defined by internal documents.[168]
A controversial part of the Scientology justice system is the Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF).[168] When a Sea Org member is accused of a violation, such as lying, sexual misconduct, dereliction of duty, or failure to comply with Church policy, a Committee of Evidence examines the case.[168] If the charge is substantiated, the individual may accept expulsion from the Sea Org or participate in the RPF to become eligible to rejoin the Sea Org.[168] The RPF involves a daily regimen of five hours of auditing or studying, eight hours of work, often physical labor, such as building renovation, and at least seven hours of sleep.[168] Douglas E. Cowan and David G. Bromley state that scholars and observers have come to radically different conclusions about the RPF and whether it is "voluntary or coercive, therapeutic or punitive".[168]
Practice and training organizations
Many Scientologists' first contact with Scientology is through local informal groups and field auditors practicing Dianetics counseling.[169] In addition to these, Scientology operates hundreds of Churches and Missions around the world.[170] This is where Scientologists receive introductory training, and it is at this local level that most Scientologists participate.[170] Churches and Missions are licensed franchises; they offer services for a fee, and return a proportion of their income to the mother church.[170] They are also required to adhere to the standards established by the Religious Technology Center (RTC), which supervises the application of Scientology tech, owns the trademarks and service marks of Scientology, and collaborates with the Commodore's Messenger Organization to administer and control the various corporate entities within Scientology.[171][172] According to Melton, the Religious Technology Center “preserves, maintains and protects Scientology against misuse or misinterpretation” but is not involved in Scientology daily affairs or management.[173] The RTC's Chairman is David Miscavige, who, while not the titular head of the Church of Scientology, is believed to be the most powerful person in the Scientology movement.[174]
Once an individual has reached Clear and wishes to proceed further, he or she can take OT auditing and coursework with Advanced Organizations located in Los Angeles, Sydney, East Grinstead and Copenhagen.[175] Beyond OT V, the Flag Service Organization in Clearwater, Florida, offers the auditing and course work for OT levels VI and VII, while OT VIII is offered only by the Flag Ship Service Organization aboard the Scientology ship Freewinds.[176] Since 1981, all of these Churches and organizations have been united under the Church of Scientology International umbrella organization, with the Sea Org providing staff for all levels above the local Churches and Missions.[170][176]
In 2012, the Ideal Center of Scientology for the Middle East opened in a refurbished historic building in Jaffa, Israel.[177]
Technology application organizations



 Church of Scientology of Tampa, Florida
A number of Scientology organizations specialize in promoting the use of Scientology technology as a means to solve social problems.
Narconon is a drug education and rehabilitation program. The program is founded on Hubbard's belief that drugs and poisons stored in the body impede spiritual growth, and was originally conceived by William Benitez, a prison inmate who applied Hubbard's ideas to rid himself of his drug habit.[170][178] Narconon is offered in the United States, Canada and a number of European countries; its Purification Program uses a regimen composed of sauna, physical exercise, vitamins and diet management, combined with auditing and study.[170][178]
Criminon is a program designed to rehabilitate criminal offenders by teaching them study and communication methods and helping them reform their lives.[170] The program originally grew out of the Narconon effort and today is available in over 200 prisons.[178] According to Melton, it has experienced steady growth, based on a good success rate, with low recidivism.[178]
Applied Scholastics promotes the use of Hubbard's educational methodology, known as study tech.[179] Originally developed to help Scientologists study course materials, Hubbard's study tech is now used in some private and public schools as well.[180] Applied Scholastics is active across Europe and North America as well as in Australia, Malaysia, China and South Africa.[180] It supports literacy efforts in American cities and Third World countries, and its methodology is sometimes included in management training programs.[181]
The Way to Happiness Foundation promotes a moral code written by Hubbard, to date translated into more than 40 languages.[179]
The Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE) acts as an umbrella organization for these efforts.[182]
The World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE) is a not-for-profit organization which licenses Hubbard's management techniques for use in businesses.[179] The most prominent training supplier to make use of Hubbard's technology is Sterling Management Systems.[179]
The Church of Scientology has also instituted a Volunteer Ministers program to provide disaster relief; for example, Volunteer Ministers were active in the aftermath of 9/11, providing food and water and applying Scientology methods such as "Assists" to people in acute emotional distress.[183][184] The Scientology Volunteer Ministers also used the "assist" to help Haiti quake victims.[185][186] The Volunteer Ministers have also been sent to the site of relief efforts in Southeast Asia in the wake of the December 2004 tsunami and to London Underground stations that were attacked in July 7, 2005 London bombings. Eight hundred were sent to New Orleans and the Gulf Coast following Hurricane Katrina.[187][188] In March 2010, twelve Volunteer Ministers sailed from Miami to Haiti to bring medical supplies and join the existing 61 volunteers who were already in Haiti. Since the earthquake, the Volunteer Ministers have been a consistent presence in the area, aiding in disaster relief.[189]
Social reform organizations



 Scientologists on an anti-psychiatry demonstration
Further information: Scientology and psychiatry, Citizens Commission on Human Rights and Psychiatry: An Industry of Death
Some Scientology organizations are focused on bringing about social change.[179] One of these is the Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR). Founded in 1969, it has a long history of opposing psychiatric practices such as lobotomy, electric shock treatment and the use of mood-altering drugs.[190][191] The psychiatric establishment rejected Hubbard's theories in the early 1950s.[191] Ever since, Scientology has argued that psychiatry suffers from the fundamental flaw of ignoring humanity's spiritual dimension, and that it fails to take into account Hubbard's insights about the nature of the mind.[190] Scientology holds psychiatry responsible for a great many wrongs in the world, saying it has at various times offered itself as a tool of political suppression and "that psychiatry spawned the ideology which fired Hitler's mania, turned the Nazis into mass murderers, and created the Holocaust."[190][191] In recent years, the CCHR has conducted high-profile campaigns against Ritalin, given to children to control hyperactivity, and Prozac, a commonly used antidepressant.[191] Neither drug was taken off the market as a result of the campaign, but Ritalin sales decreased, and Prozac suffered bad press.[191]
The main other organization in this field is the National Commission on Law Enforcement and Social Justice, devoted to combating what it describes as abusive practices by government and police agencies, especially Interpol.[191][192]
For the "general upgrading of health", Scientologists give support to "the Red Cross, the Salvation Army, the Cerebral Palsy Association, the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation, drug-free blood drives, distribution of Toys for Tots to underprivileged children, drives for public television, emergency Food for All programs, Bryan's House for children stricken with AIDS, and Operation Caring to support the elderly." To mitigate crime, "Scientologists foster a volunteer minister program outlined in Hubbard's Scientology Handbook (1976) to save troubled marriages, resolve community conflict, end gang warfare, promote literacy and study skills and improve business prospects."[193]
Other entities
Other prominent Scientology-related organizations include:
International Association of Scientologists, the official Scientology membership organization;
Church of Spiritual Technology, a non-profit organization that owns the copyrights to Scientology books.
Free Zone and Independent Scientologists
Although Scientology is most often used as shorthand for the Church of Scientology, a number of groups practice Scientology and Dianetics outside of the official church. These groups, collectively known as the Free Zone or as Independent Scientologists, consist of both former members of the official Church of Scientology, as well as entirely new members. Capt. Bill Robertson, a former Sea Org member, was a primary instigator of the movement in the early 1980s.[194] The church labels these groups as "squirrels" in Scientology jargon and often subjects them to considerable legal and social pressure.[195][196][197] More recently, high-profile defectors Mark Rathbun and Mike Rinder have championed the cause of Independent Scientologists wishing to practice Scientology outside of the Church.[198][199]
Dispute of religion status



 A Scientology Center on Hollywood Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California
Scientology status by country
Main article: Scientology status by country
The Church of Scientology has pursued an extensive public relations campaign for the recognition of Scientology as a religion in the various countries in which it exists.[38][200][201] Opinions around the world still differ on whether Scientology is to be recognized as a religion or not,[202] and Scientology has often encountered opposition due to its strong-arm tactics directed against critics and members wishing to leave the organization.[128] A number of governments now view the Church as a religious organization entitled to protections and tax relief, while others continue to view it as a pseudoreligion or cult.[203][204] The differences between these classifications have become a major problem when discussing religions in general and Scientology specifically.[99]
Scientology is officially recognized as a religion in the United States.[22][23][24][25] Recognition came in 1993,[205] when the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) stated that "[Scientology is] operated exclusively for religious and charitable purposes."[206][207]
The New York Times noted in this connection that the Church of Scientology had funded a campaign which included a whistle-blower organization to publicly attack the IRS, as well as the hiring of private investigators to look into the private lives of IRS officials.[79] In 1991, Miscavige, the highest-ranking Scientology leader, arranged a meeting with Fred T. Goldberg Jr., the Commissioner of the Internal Revenue Service at the time.[208] The meeting was an "opportunity for the church to offer to end its long dispute with the agency, including the dozens of suits brought against the IRS." The committee met several times with the Scientology legal team and "was persuaded that those involved in the Snow White crimes had been purged, that church money was devoted to tax-exempt purposes and that, with Mr. Hubbard's death, no one was getting rich from Scientology."[79] In August 1993, a settlement was reached; the church would receive its tax-exempt status and end its legal assault on the IRS and its personnel. The church was required only to resubmit new applications for exemption to the IRS exempt organizations division; the division was told "not to consider any substantive matters" because those issues had been resolved by the committee.[79] The secret agreement was announced on October 13, 1993, with the IRS refusing to disclose any of the terms or the reasoning behind its decision.[79] Both the IRS and Scientology rejected any allegations of foul play or undue pressure having been brought to bear upon IRS officials, insisting that the decision had been based on the merits of the case.[209] IRS officials "insisted that Scientology's tactics had not affected the decision" and that "ultimately the decision was made on a legal basis".[79] Miscavige claims that the IRS’s examination of Scientology was the most exhaustive review of any non-profit organization in history.[210]
Elsewhere, Scientology has been able to obtain religious recognition in such countries as Australia,[23][211] Portugal,[212] Spain,[213][214] Slovenia,[215] Sweden,[215][216][217] Croatia,[215] Hungary[215] and Kyrgyzstan.[218] In New Zealand, the Inland Revenue Department classified the Church of Scientology as a charitable organization and stated that its income would be tax exempt.[219] It has gained judicial recognition in Italy,[220][clarification needed] and Scientology officials have won the right to perform marriages in South Africa.[221]
Scientology has so far failed to win religious recognition in Canada.[221] In the UK, the Charity Commission for England and Wales ruled in 1999 that Scientology was not a religion and refused to register the Church as a charity, although a year later, it was recognized as a not-for-profit body in a separate proceeding by the UK Revenue and Customs and exempted from UK value added tax.[221][222] In December 2013, the United Kingdom’s highest court officially recognized Scientology as a religion. The ruling was a response to a five-year legal battle by Scientologist Louisa Hodkin, who legally fought for the right to marry at the Church of Scientology chapel in central London. Five supreme court justices redefined religion in law along with the ruling, rendering the 1970 ruling “out of date” in defining religious worship as involving “reverence or veneration of God or of a Supreme Being.”[223][224][225][226]
Since 1997 Germany has considered Scientology to be in conflict with the principles of the nation's constitution. It is seen as an anticonstitutional sect and a new version of political extremism and because there is "evidence for intentions against the free democratic basic order" it is observed by the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution.[227][228] In 1997, an open letter to then-German Chancellor, Helmut Kohl, published as a newspaper advertisement in the International Herald Tribune, drew parallels between the "organized oppression" of Scientologists in Germany and the treatment of Jews in 1930s' Nazi Germany.[229][230] The letter was signed by Dustin Hoffman, Goldie Hawn and a number of other Hollywood celebrities and executives.[230][231] Commenting on the matter, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State said that Scientologists were discriminated against in Germany, but condemned the comparisons to the Nazis' treatment of Jews as extremely inappropriate, as did a United Nations Special Rapporteur.[231][232] Based on the IRS exemptions, the U.S. State Department formally criticized Germany for discriminating against Scientologists and began to note Scientologists' complaints of harassment in its annual human rights reports,[79] as well as the annual International Religious Freedom Reports it has released from 1999 onwards.[233] Germany will continue to monitor Scientology's activities in the country, despite continued objection from Scientology which cites such monitoring as abuse of freedom of religion.[234] France and Belgium have not recognized Scientology as a religion, and Stephen A. Kent, writing in 2001, noted that no such recognition had been obtained in Ireland, Luxembourg, Israel or Mexico either.[235] The Belgian State Prosecution Service has recommended that various individuals and organizations associated with Scientology should be prosecuted.[236][237] An administrative court is to decide if charges will be pressed.[236][237] In Greece, Scientology is not recognized as a religion by the Greek government, and multiple applications for religious status have been denied, for example in 2000 and 2003.[238]
In recent years, religious recognition has also been obtained in other countries, including Sweden,[23][215] Spain,[215][239] Portugal,[240] Slovenia,[215] Croatia[215] and Hungary,[241] as well as Kyrgyzstan[218] and Taiwan.[23]
Scholarly views on Scientology's status as a religion
Describing the available scholarship on Scientology, David G. Bromley and Douglas E. Cowan stated in 2006 that "most scholars have concluded that Scientology falls within the category of religion for the purposes of academic study, and a number have defended the Church in judicial and political proceedings on this basis."[149] Hugh B. Urban writes that "Scientology's efforts to get itself defined as a religion make it an ideal case study for thinking about how we understand and define religion."[242] According to the Encyclopedia of Religious Controversies in the United States, "even as Scientology raises questions about how and who gets to define religion, most scholars recognize it as a religion, one that emerges from and builds on American individualism and the spiritual marketplace that dominated 1950's America."[243]
Bromley and Cowan noted in 2008 that Scientology's attempts "to gain favor with new religion scholars" had often been problematic.[200] According to Religious Studies professor Mary Farrell Benarowski, Scientology describes itself as drawing on science, religion, psychology and philosophy but "had been claimed by none of them and repudiated, for the most part, by all."[244]
Frank K. Flinn, adjunct professor of religious studies at Washington University in St. Louis wrote, "it is abundantly clear that Scientology has both the typical forms of ceremonial and celebratory worship and its own unique form of spiritual life."[245] Flinn further states that religion requires "beliefs in something transcendental or ultimate, practices (rites and codes of behavior) that re-inforce those beliefs and, a community that is sustained by both the beliefs and practices", all of which are present within Scientology.[99] Similarly, Jacob Neusner, editor of World Religions in America, states that "Scientology contains the same elements of most other religions, including myths, scriptures, doctrines, worship, sacred practices and rituals, moral and ethical expectations, a community of believers, clergy, and ecclesiastic organizations."[246]
While acknowledging that a number of his colleagues accept Scientology as a religion, sociologist Stephen A. Kent writes: "Rather than struggling over whether or not to label Scientology as a religion, I find it far more helpful to view it as a multifaceted transnational corporation, only one element of which is religious" [emphasis in the original].[247][248]
Donna Batten in the Gale Encyclopedia of American Law writes, "A belief does not need to be stated in traditional terms to fall within First Amendment protection. For example, Scientology—a system of beliefs that a human being is essentially a free and immortal spirit who merely inhabits a body—does not propound the existence of a supreme being, but it qualifies as a religion under the broad definition propounded by the Supreme Court." [249]
J. Gordon Melton asserts that while the debate over definitions of religion will continue, “scholars will probably continue in the future to adopt a broad definition, thus including Scientology in a wider religious field.”[250]
Scientology as a UFO religion
Scientology can be seen as a UFO religion in which the existence of extraterrestrial entities operating unidentified flying objects (UFOs) are an element of belief. In this context, it is discussed in UFO Religions by Christopher Partridge,[251] and The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO Religions by James R. Lewis,[4] while Susan Palmer draws several parallels with Raelianism.[252] Gregory Reece, in his book UFO Religion: Inside flying saucer cults and culture, writes:

Scientology is unique within the UFO culture because of this secretiveness, as well as because of the capitalist format under which they operate. Scientology is also difficult to categorize. While it bears strong similarities to the Ashtar Command or the Aetherius Society, its emphasis upon the Xenu event as the central message of the group seems to place them within the ancient astronaut tradition. Either way, Scientology is perhaps most different from other UFO groups in their attempt to keep all of the space opera stuff under wraps. They really would have preferred the rest of us not to know about Xenu and the galactic federation. Alas, such secrets are hard to keep[253]
Regardless of such statements by critics, Hubbard wrote and lectured openly about the material he himself called "space opera." In 1952, Hubbard published a book (What to Audit / A History of Man[254]) on space opera and other material that may be encountered when auditing preclears.[255][256]
Scientology as a commercial venture
Main article: Scientology as a business



 Scientology desk near the Potsdamer Platz in Berlin
While NRM scholars have generally accepted the religious nature of Scientology, media reports have tended to express the opinion that "Scientology is a business, often given to criminal acts, and sometimes masquerading as a religion."[149][257] During his lifetime, Hubbard was accused of using religion as a façade for Scientology to maintain tax-exempt status and avoid prosecution for false medical claims.[257] The IRS cited a statement frequently attributed to Hubbard that the way to get rich was to found a religion.[258][259] According to Melton, the statement is unsubstantiated, although several of Hubbard's science fiction colleagues do recall Hubbard raising the topic in conversation.[259]
Hubbard grew up in a climate that was very critical of organized religion, and frequently quoted anti-religious sentiments in his early lectures.[260] The scholar Marco Frenschkowski (University of Mainz) has stated that it was not easy for Hubbard "to come to terms with the spiritual side of his own movement. Hubbard did not want to found a religion: he discovered that what he was talking about in fact was religion. This mainly happened when he had to deal with apparent memories from former lives. He had to defend himself about this to his friends."[260] Frenschkowski allows that there naturally were practical considerations about "how to present Scientology to the outside world", but dismisses the notion that presentation as a religion was just an expedient pretense, pointing to many passages in Hubbard's works that document his struggle with this issue.[260]
Drawing parallels to similar struggles for identity in other religious movements such as Theosophy and Transcendental Meditation, Frenschkowski sees in Hubbard's lectures "the case of a man whose background was non-religious and who nevertheless discovers that his ideas somehow oscillate between 'science' (in a very popular sense), 'religion' and 'philosophy', and that these ideas somehow fascinate so many people that they start to form a separate movement. As in the case of similar movements, it was quite unclear to Hubbard in the beginning what Scientology would become."[260]
The Church of Scientology denounces the idea of Hubbard starting a religion for personal gain as an unfounded rumor.[261] The Church also suggests that the origin of the rumor was a quote by George Orwell which had been misattributed to Hubbard.[262] Robert Vaughn Young, who left the Church in 1989 after being its spokesman for twenty years, suggested that reports of Hubbard making such a statement could be explained as a misattribution of Orwell, despite having encountered three of Hubbard's associates from his science fiction days who remembered Hubbard making statements of that sort in person.[263] It was Young who by a stroke of luck came up with the "Orwell quote": "but I have always thought there might be a lot of cash in starting a new religion, and we'll talk it over some time" It appears in a letter by George Orwell (signed Eric Blair) to a friend Jack Common, dated 16-February-38 (February 16, 1938), and was published in Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell, vol. 1.[264] In 2006, Rolling Stone's Janet Reitman writes Hubbard said the same thing to science fiction writer Lloyd Eshbach, a fact quoted in Eshbach's autobiography.[265]
Scientology maintains strict control over the use of its symbols, icons, and names. It claims copyright and trademark over its "Scientology cross", and its lawyers have threatened lawsuits against individuals and organizations who have published the image in books and on Web sites. Because of this, it is very difficult for individual groups to attempt to publicly practice Scientology on their own, independent of the official Church of Scientology. Scientology has filed suit against a number of individuals who have attempted to set up their own auditing practices, using copyright and trademark law to shut these groups down.[266]
The Church of Scientology and its many related organizations have amassed considerable real estate holdings worldwide, likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars.[34] Scientology encourages existing members to "sell" Scientology to others by paying a commission to those who recruit new members.[34] Scientology franchises, or missions, must pay the Church of Scientology roughly 10% of their gross income.[267] On that basis, it is likened to a pyramid selling scheme.[268] While introductory courses do not cost much, courses at the higher levels may cost several thousand dollars each.[269] As a rule, the great majority of members proceeds up the bridge in a steady rate commensurate with their income. Most recently the Italian Supreme Court agreed with the American IRS that the church's financial system is analogous to the practices of other groups and not out of line with its religious purposes.[270]
In conjunction with the Church of Scientology's request to be officially recognized as a religion in Germany, around 1996 the German state Baden-Württemberg conducted a thorough investigation regarding the group's activities within Germany.[271] The results of this investigation indicated that at the time of publication, Scientology's main sources of revenue ("Haupteinnahmequellen der SO") were from course offerings and sales of their various publications. Course offerings ranged from (German Marks) DM 182.50 to about DM 30,000 – the equivalent today of approximately $119 to $19,560 USD. Revenue from monthly, bi-monthly, and other membership offerings could not be estimated in the report, but was nevertheless placed in the millions. Defending its practices against accusations of profiteering, the Church has countered critics by drawing analogies to other religious groups who have established practices such as tithing, or require members to make donations for specific religious services.[272]
Controversies
Main article: Scientology controversies
See also: Scientology and the legal system



 Official German information leaflets from the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution on (from left to right) Islamic extremism, Scientology, and organized crime.[273][274] "Several states published pamphlets about Scientology (and other religious groups) that detailed the Church's ideology and practices. States defended the practice by noting their responsibility to respond to citizens' requests for information about Scientology as well as other subjects. While many of the pamphlets were factual and relatively unbiased, some warned of alleged dangers posed by Scientology to the political order, to the free market economic system, and to the mental and financial well being of individuals. Beyond the Government's actions, the Catholic Church and the Evangelical Lutheran Church have been public opponents of Scientology. Evangelical 'Commissioners for Religious and Ideological Issues' have been particularly active in this regard."
Of the many new religious movements to appear during the 20th century, the Church of Scientology has, from its inception, been one of the most controversial, coming into conflict with the governments and police forces of several countries (including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada,[275] France[276] and Germany).[6][34][263][277][278] It has been one of the most litigious religious movements in history, filing countless lawsuits against governments, organizations and individuals.[279]
Reports and allegations have been made, by journalists, courts, and governmental bodies of several countries, that the Church of Scientology is an unscrupulous commercial enterprise that harasses its critics and brutally exploits its members.[263][277] 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."[34]
The controversies involving the church and its critics, some of them ongoing, include:
Scientology's disconnection policy, in which members are encouraged to cut off all contact with friends or family members who are "antagonistic" to Scientology.,[105][280]
The death of a Scientologist Lisa McPherson while in the care of the church. (Robert Minton sponsored the multi-million dollar lawsuit against Scientology for the death of McPherson. In May 2004, McPherson's estate and the Church of Scientology reached a confidential settlement.)[281]
Criminal activities committed on behalf of the church or directed by church officials (Operation Snow White, Operation Freakout).
Conflicting statements about L. Ron Hubbard's life, in particular accounts of Hubbard discussing his intent to start a religion for profit and of his service in the military.[34]
Scientology's harassment and litigious actions against its critics encouraged by its Fair Game policy.[34]
Attempts to legally force search engines such as Google and Yahoo! to omit any webpages critical of Scientology from their search engines (and in Google's case, AdSense), or at least the first few search pages.[282]
Allegations by a former high-ranking Scientologist that Scientology leader David Miscavige beats and demoralizes staff, and that physical violence by superiors towards staff working for them is a common occurrence in the church.[283][284] Scientology spokesman Tommy Davis denied these claims and provided witnesses to rebut them.[283]
In October 2009, a French court found the Church of Scientology guilty of organized fraud. Four officers of the organization were fined and given suspended prison sentences of up to 2 years. Prosecutors had hoped to achieve a ban of Scientology in France, but due to a temporary change in French law, which "made it impossible to dissolve a legal entity on the grounds of fraud", no ban was pronounced.[285] The sentence was confirmed by appeal court in February 2012.[286]
In November 2009, Australian Senator Nick Xenophon used a speech in Federal Parliament to allege that the Church of Scientology is a criminal organization. Based on letters from former followers of the religion, he said that there were "allegations of forced imprisonment, coerced abortions, and embezzlement of church funds, of physical violence and intimidation, blackmail and the widespread and deliberate abuse of information obtained by the organization"[287]
Due to these allegations, a considerable amount of investigation has been aimed at the church, by groups ranging from the media to governmental agencies.[263][277]
Scientology social programs such as drug and criminal rehabilitation have likewise drawn both support and criticism.[288][289][290][291]
Stephen A. Kent, a professor of sociology, has said that "Scientologists see themselves as possessors of doctrines and skills that can save the world, if not the galaxy."[292] As stated in Scientology doctrine: "The whole agonized future of this planet, every man, woman and child on it, and your own destiny for the next endless trillions of years depend on what you do here and now with and in Scientology."[293] Kent has described Scientology's ethics system as "a peculiar brand of morality that uniquely benefited [the Church of Scientology] ... In plain English, the purpose of Scientology ethics is to eliminate opponents, then eliminate people's interests in things other than Scientology.".[294]
Many former members have come forward to speak out about the Church and the negative effects its teachings have had on them, including celebrities such as Leah Remini. Remini spoke about her split from the Church, saying that she still has friends within the organization that she is no longer able to speak to.[295]
Scientology and the Internet
See also: Scientology and the Internet and Project Chanology
In the 1990s, representatives of Scientology began to take action against increased criticism of Scientology on the Internet. The organization says that the actions taken were to prevent distribution of copyrighted Scientology documents and publications online, fighting what it refers to as "copyright terrorists".[296]
In January 1995, church lawyer Helena Kobrin attempted to shut down the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology by sending a control message instructing Usenet servers to delete the group.[297] In practice, this rmgroup message had little effect, since most Usenet servers are configured to disregard such messages when sent to groups that receive substantial traffic, and newgroup messages were quickly issued to recreate the group on those servers that did not do so. However, the issuance of the message led to a great deal of public criticism by free-speech advocates.[298][299] Among the criticisms raised, one suggestion is that Scientology's true motive is to suppress the free speech of its critics.[300][301]



 An Internet-based group which refers to itself as 'Anonymous' held protests outside Scientology centers in cities around the world in February 2008 as part of Project Chanology. Issues they protested ranged from alleged abuse of followers to the validity of its claims to qualify as a state-sponsored religion.[302]
The Church also began filing lawsuits against those who posted copyrighted texts on the newsgroup and the World Wide Web, and lobbied for tighter restrictions on copyrights in general. The Church supported the controversial Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act as well as the even more controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). Some of the DMCA's provisions (notably the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act) were heavily influenced by Church litigation against US Internet service providers over copyrighted Scientology materials that had been posted or uploaded through their servers.
Beginning in the middle of 1996 and ensuing for several years, the newsgroup was attacked by anonymous parties using a tactic dubbed sporgery by some, in the form of hundreds of thousands of forged spam messages posted on the group. Some investigators said that some spam had been traced to church members.[303][304] Former Scientologist Tory Christman later asserted that the Office of Special Affairs had undertaken a concerted effort to destroy alt.religion.scientology through these means; the effort failed.[305]
On January 14, 2008, a video produced by the Church of Scientology featuring an interview with Tom Cruise was leaked to the Internet and uploaded to YouTube.[306][307][308] The Church of Scientology issued a copyright violation claim against YouTube requesting the removal of the video.[309] Subsequently, the group Anonymous voiced its criticism of Scientology and began attacking the Church.[310] Calling the action by the Church of Scientology a form of Internet censorship, participants of Anonymous coordinated Project Chanology, which consisted of a series of denial-of-service attacks against Scientology websites, prank calls, and black faxes to Scientology centers.[311][312][313][314][315] On January 21, 2008, Anonymous announced its intentions via a video posted to YouTube entitled "Message to Scientology", and a press release declaring a "war" against both the Church of Scientology and the Religious Technology Center.[314][316] In the press release, the group stated that the attacks against the Church of Scientology would continue in order to protect the freedom of speech, and end what they saw as the financial exploitation of church members.[317]



 A protester criticizes Scientology
On January 28, 2008, an Anonymous video appeared on YouTube calling for protests outside Church of Scientology centers on February 10, 2008.[318][319] According to a letter Anonymous e-mailed to the press, about 7,000 people protested in more than 90 cities worldwide.[320] Many protesters wore masks based on the character V from V for Vendetta (who was influenced by Guy Fawkes) or otherwise disguised their identities, in part to protect themselves from reprisals from the Church of Scientology.[321][322] Many further protests have followed since then in cities around the world.[323]
The Arbitration Committee of the Wikipedia internet encyclopedia decided in May 2009 to restrict access to its site from Church of Scientology IP addresses, to prevent self-serving edits by Scientologists.[324][325] A "host of anti-Scientologist editors" were topic-banned as well.[324][325] The committee concluded that both sides had "gamed policy" and resorted to "battlefield tactics", with articles on living persons being the "worst casualties".[324]
Scientology and hypnosis
Main article: Scientology and hypnosis
Scientology literature states that L. Ron Hubbard demonstrated his professional expertise in hypnosis by discovering the Dianetic engram.[citation needed] Hubbard was said to be an accomplished hypnotist, and close acquaintances such as Forrest Ackerman (Hubbard's literary agent) and A. E. van Vogt (an early supporter of Dianetics) witnessed repeated demonstrations of his hypnotic skills.[258]
Hubbard wrote that hypnosis is a "wild variable," and compared parlor hypnosis games to an atom bomb.[326] He also wrote:

Hypnotism plants, by positive suggestion, one or another form of insanity. It is usually a temporary planting, but sometimes the hypnotic suggestion will not "lift" or remove in a way desirable to the hypnotist.[327]
Auditing confidentiality



 Scientology E-Meter
During the auditing process, the auditor may collect personal information from the person being audited.[328] Auditing records are referred to within Scientology as preclear folders.[329] The Church of Scientology has strict codes designed to protect the confidentiality of the information contained in these folders.[328] However, people leaving Scientology know that the Church is in possession of very personal information about them, and that the Church has a history of attacking and psychologically abusing those who leave it and become critics.[329] On December 16, 1969, a Guardian's Office order (G. O. 121669) by Mary Sue Hubbard authorized the use of auditing records for purposes of "internal security."[330] Some former members have said that while they were still in the Church, they combed through information obtained in auditing sessions to see if it could be used for smear campaigns against critics.[331][332]
Celebrities
See also: Celebrity Centres, Scientology and celebrities and List of Scientologists
Hubbard envisaged that celebrities would have a key role to play in the dissemination of Scientology, and in 1955 launched Project Celebrity, creating a list of 63 famous people that he asked his followers to target for conversion to Scientology.[333] In a church policy letter in 1973, L. Ron Hubbard wrote, "The purpose of [the] Celebrity Centre is, to forward the expansion and popularization of Scientology through the arts."[334] Former silent-screen star Gloria Swanson and jazz pianist Dave Brubeck were among the earliest celebrities attracted to Hubbard's teachings; in recent decades, prominent actors—including Tom Cruise and John Travolta—have spoken publicly about their commitment to Scientology.[333][335]
Scientology operates eight churches that are designated Celebrity Centres, the largest of these is in Hollywood, California, called Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre International.[336] Celebrity Centres are open to the general public, but are primarily designed to minister to celebrity Scientologists [336] “and to provide a haven for artists and others.” The Celebrity Centre International was the first one that was opened in 1969 and its opening is celebrated the first week of August each year in an evening gala.[337]
See also

Portal icon Scientology portal
Scientology and other religions
Scientology and sexual orientation
References
1.Jump up ^ Cusack 2009, p. 400
2.Jump up ^ "ABC News: Scientology 101". USA: ABC. May 9, 1950. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved January 12, 2009.
3.Jump up ^ Scientology is recognized as a religion in countries such as the United States, Spain and Australia, while the German and French governments, along with others, consider it a profit-making enterprise. Lewis lists it in The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO Religions
4.^ Jump up to: a b Lewis, James R. (editor) (November 2003). The Encyclopedic Sourcebook of UFO Religions. Prometheus Books. p. 42. ISBN 978-1-57392-964-6.
5.Jump up ^ Associated Press (August 13, 1991). "Rural studio is Scientology headquarters". San Jose Mercury News. p. 6B.
6.^ Jump up to: a b "Remember Venus?". Time. December 22, 1952. Archived from the original on July 21, 2013. Retrieved July 20, 2007.
7.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon (1992). Encyclopedic Handbook of Cults in America. New York: Garland Pub. p. 190. ISBN 978-0-8153-1140-9.
8.Jump up ^ Guiley, Rosemary (1991). Harper's Encyclopedia of Mystical & Paranormal Experience. [San Francisco]: HarperSanFrancisco. p. 107. ISBN 978-0-06-250365-7.
9.Jump up ^ Neusner 2003, p. 227
10.Jump up ^ "Scientology glossary". Retrieved 7 August 2013.
11.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 28
12.Jump up ^ "A Conversation with David Miscavige". ABC News with Ted Coppel. ABC News. Retrieved July 1, 2013.
13.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Melton 2000, pp. 59–60
14.Jump up ^ "Scientology Marriage Officers Approved in South Africa". CESNUR. April 11, 2000. Retrieved July 21, 2007.
15.Jump up ^ High Court of Australia "CHURCH OF THE NEW FAITH v. COMMISSIONER OF PAY-ROLL TAX (VICT.) 1983 154 CLR 120". Archived from the original on May 13, 2013.
16.Jump up ^ "Decision of March 13, 2000 registering Scientology as a "religious community" in Sweden". CESNUR. March 13, 2000. Retrieved July 21, 2007.
17.Jump up ^ "Scientology tax-exempt in Netherlands". New York Post. Associated Press. October 18, 2013. Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved February 19, 2014.
18.Jump up ^ "Scientology gets tax-exempt status". New Zealand Herald. December 27, 2002. Archived from the original on September 29, 2007. Retrieved August 1, 2007. "the IRD said the church met the criteria of a charitable organisation in the category of the advancement of religion"
19.Jump up ^ "Opinion of the New Zealand Inland Revenue Department on the Charitable Status of Scientology". December 4, 2002.
20.Jump up ^ "2007 U.S. Department of State – 2007 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Portugal". State.gov. March 11, 2008. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
21.Jump up ^ "La Audiencia Nacional reconoce a la Cienciología como iglesia". El Pais. November 1, 2007. Archived from the original on May 13, 2011. (Spanish)
22.^ Jump up to: a b Finkelman, Paul (2006). Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties. CRC Press. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-415-94342-0. "Scientology has achieved full legal recognition as a religious denomination in the United States."
23.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Davis, Derek H. (2004). "The Church of Scientology: In Pursuit of Legal Recognition". Zeitdiagnosen: Religion and Conformity. Münster, Germany: Lit Verlag. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 8, 2010. Retrieved May 10, 2008. "Many countries, including the United States, now give official recognition to Scientology as a religion [...]"
24.^ Jump up to: a b Lucy Morgan (March 29, 1999). "Abroad: Critics public and private keep pressure on Scientology". St. Petersburg Times. "In the United States, Scientology gained status as a tax-exempt religion in 1993 when the Internal Revenue Service agreed to end a long legal battle over the group's right to the exemption."
25.^ Jump up to: a b Toomey, Shamus (June 26, 2005). "'TomKat' casts spotlight back on Scientology.", Chicago Sun-Times
26.Jump up ^ Willms 2009, p. 245. "Being a religion is one of the most important issues of Scientology's current self-representation."
27.^ Jump up to: a b Koff, Stephen (December 22, 1988). "Dozens of groups operate under auspices of Church of Scientology". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved September 30, 2008.
28.Jump up ^ Neusner 2003, p. 222
29.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 39–52
30.Jump up ^ Sweeney, John (2013). The Church of Fear: Inside the Weird World of Scientology. London: Silvertail Books. ISBN 978-1-909269-03-3.
31.Jump up ^ Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin (2003). "Scientology: Religion or racket?". Marburg Journal of Religion 8 (1): 1–11. Archived from the original (PDF) on September 4, 2010.
32.Jump up ^ Marney, Holly (May 20, 2007). "Cult or cure?". Opinion (Edinburgh: Scotsman). Retrieved January 4, 2009. "Labelled a cult by its critics, defended as a bona fide religion by devotees [...]"
Mallia, Joseph (March 1, 1998). "Powerful church targets fortunes, souls of recruits". Inside the Church of Scientology. Boston Herald. Archived from the original on December 9, 2013. "It is just such tactics that cause critics to call the church – founded in 1953 – a cult and a money-grabbing machine that separates thousands of ordinary church members like Covarrubias from their free will and their money."
Huus, Kari (July 5, 2005). "Scientology courts the stars". MSNBC. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2009. "[...] Scientology, recognized by the federal government as a religious organization but denounced by critics as a cult that extracts tens of thousands of dollars from its followers."
33.Jump up ^ Urban, Hugh B. The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion. Princeton Press. p. 2. ISBN 978-0-691-14608-9. Archived from the original on July 16, 2012. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
34.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Behar, Richard (May 6, 1991). "Scientology: The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power". Time. Archived from the original on August 19, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2008.
35.Jump up ^ Palmer, Richard (April 3, 1994). "Cult Accused of Intimidation". Sunday Times.
"Copyright – or wrong?". Salon Technology. Archived from the original on March 7, 2008. "The Church of Scientology has determinedly fought to dismantle the Web sites that have republished its material all across the Net – using legal threats, filtering software and innumerable pro-Scientology posts in Usenet groups."
Kennedy, Dan (April 19, 1996). "Earle Cooley is chairman of BU's board of trustees. He's also made a career out of keeping L. Ron Hubbard's secrets". BU's Scientology Connection. Boston Phoenix. Archived from the original on February 9, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2009. "The modern version of this scorched-earth policy is a virtual war on church critics who, like Lerma, post copyrighted church documents on the Net in an effort to expose it."
Sumi, Glenn (October 12, 2006). "Managing Anger: Kenneth Anger speaks out on phones, artistic theft and Scientology". NOW Magazine. Archived from the original on September 26, 2012. Retrieved January 4, 2009. "The Scientology people are very litigious," he says. "They're bulldogs who bite your ankle and won't give up, harassing people to death with lawsuits that go on and on."
Welkos, Robert W.; Sappell, Joel (June 29, 1990). "On the Offensive Against an Array of Suspected Foes". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 24, 2014. Retrieved November 2, 2008.
Methvin, Eugene H. (May 1990). "Scientology: Anatomy of a Frightening Cult". Reader's Digest. pp. 1–6.
 "Oral Questions to the Minister of State for the Home Office, December 17, 1996" Hansard, vol. 760, cols. 1392–1394 quote: "Baroness Sharples: Is my noble friend further aware that a number of those who have left the cult have been both threatened and harassed and many have been made bankrupt by the church?"
36.Jump up ^ Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (June 24, 1990). "Defining the Theology". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on April 22, 2014. Retrieved October 26, 2008.
37.Jump up ^ Ortega, Tony (June 30, 2008). "Scientology's Crushing Defeat". Village Voice. Archived from the original on January 8, 2014. Retrieved January 4, 2009. "Former members say that today the typical Scientologist must spend several years and about $100,000 in auditing before they find out on OT III that they are filled with alien souls that must be removed by further, even more expensive auditing."
38.^ Jump up to: a b Kennedy, Dominic (June 23, 2007). "'Church' that yearns for respectability". The Times (London). Archived from the original on May 23, 2011. Retrieved January 4, 2009. "Scientology is probably unique in that it keeps its sacred texts secret until, typically, devotees have paid enough money to learn what they say."
39.Jump up ^ Kent, Stephen A. (July 1999). "Scientology – Is this a Religion?". Marburg Journal of Religion 4 (1): 1–23. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 3, 2011. Retrieved March 3, 2013.
40.Jump up ^ Cohen, David (October 23, 2006). "Tom's aliens target City's 'planetary rulers'". Evening Standard. Archived from the original on June 3, 2013. Retrieved March 3, 2013. "As Miscavige begins to crescendo "our next step is eradicating psychiatry from this planet, we will triumph!""
41.Jump up ^ Cusack 2009, p. 394
42.Jump up ^ Benjamin J. Hubbard/John T. Hatfield/James A. Santucci An Educator's Classroom Guide to America's Religious Beliefs and Practices, p. 89, Libraries Unlimited, 2007 ISBN 978-1-59158-409-4
43.Jump up ^ "Beginnings". Patheos.com. Archived from the original on April 2, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
44.Jump up ^ The New Word original version available for download.
45.Jump up ^ The New Word, Publisher: Forgotten Books (February 7, 2008), ISBN 978-1-60506-811-4 ISBN 978-1-60506-811-4
46.Jump up ^ Anastasius Nordenholz Scientology: Science of the Constitution and Usefulness of Knowledge, Freie Zone e. V., 1995 ISBN 978-3-9804724-1-8
47.Jump up ^ The Encyclopedia of Christianity, Erwin Fahlbusch, Geoffrey W. Bromiley, page 556
48.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 28
49.Jump up ^ Wilson, Bryan (1970). Religious Sects: A Sociological Study, McGraw-Hill, p. 163
50.Jump up ^ Book: The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements By James R. Lewis, p. 110. Books.google.com. 2004. ISBN 978-0-19-514986-9. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
51.^ Jump up to: a b "Psychiatry and Psychology in the Writings of L. Ron Hubbard". Journal of Religion and Health 46 (3): 437–447. September 2007. doi:10.1007/s10943-006-9079-9. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
52.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 4
53.^ Jump up to: a b c d Melton 2000, pp. 9, 67
54.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 9
55.Jump up ^ Miller, Russell (1987). Bare-faced Messiah, The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard (First American ed.). New York: Henry Holt & Co. p. 151. ISBN 978-0-8050-0654-4.
56.Jump up ^ Wallis, Roy (1977). The Road to Total Freedom: A Sociological Analysis of Scientology, Columbia University Press, ISBN 978-0-231-04200-0
57.Jump up ^ "Adult New York Times Best Seller Lists for 1950". Hawes.com. Archived from the original on July 13, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
58.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 172
59.^ Jump up to: a b c Satter, Beryl (July 3, 2003). "The Sexual Abuse Paradigm in Historical Perspective: Passivity and Emotion in Mid-Twentieth-Century America". Journal of the History of Sexuality 12 (3): 424–464. doi:10.1353/sex.2004.0014. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
60.Jump up ^ Passas, Nikos, and Manuel Escamilla Castillo. "Scientology And Its 'Clear' Business." Behavioral Sciences & The Law 10.1 (1992): 103-116. Academic Search Premier
61.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Melton 2000, p. 13
62.Jump up ^ "Poor Man's Psychoanalysis?". Newsweek. November 6, 1950.
63.Jump up ^ Flowers 1984, pp. 96–97
64.Jump up ^ Thomas Streissguth Charismatic Cult Leaders, p. 70, The Oliver Press Inc., 1996 ISBN 978-1-881508-18-2
65.Jump up ^ George Malko Scientology: the now religion, p. 58, Delacorte Press, 1970 ASIN B0006CAHJ6
66.^ Jump up to: a b c d Melton 2000, p. 10
67.Jump up ^ Wallis, Roy; Steve Bruce (Spring 1984). "The Stark-Bainbridge Theory of Religion: A Critical Analysis and Counter Proposals". Sociological Analysis 45 (1): 24. doi:10.2307/3711319.
68.^ Jump up to: a b c Gutjahr, Paul C. (2001). "The State of the Discipline. Sacred Texts in the United States". Journal Book History: 351–352. Retrieved August 13, 2012.
69.Jump up ^ Christian D. Von Dehsen-Scott L. Harris Philosophers and Religious Leaders, p. 90, Greenwood Publishing Group, 1999 ISBN 978-1-57356-152-5
70.Jump up ^ "Jon Atack: The games L. Ron Hubbard played". tonyortega.org.
71.Jump up ^ Miller, 1987: 202-203
72.Jump up ^ "The Creation of "Religious" Scientology". solitarytrees.net.
73.Jump up ^ Streeter, p. 215; Miller, p. 213
74.^ Jump up to: a b Kent, Stephen A. "The Creation of 'Religious' Scientology." Religious Studies and Theology 18:2, pp. 97–126. 1999. ISSN 1747-5414
75.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron. Letter of April 10, 1953. Quoted in Miller, p. 213
76.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, Russell (1987). Bare-faced Messiah, The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard (First American ed.). New York: Henry Holt & Co. pp. 140–142. ISBN 978-0-8050-0654-4.
77.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 11
78.^ Jump up to: a b Melton 2000, p. 12
79.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Frantz, Douglas (March 9, 1997). "Scientology's Puzzling Journey From Tax Rebel to Tax Exempt". New York Times. Archived from the original on March 21, 2008. Retrieved October 26, 2008.
80.Jump up ^ "1963 FDA raid". Cs.cmu.edu. January 4, 1963. Archived from the original on October 19, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
81.^ Jump up to: a b c Melton 2000, p. 14
82.Jump up ^ Anderson, Kevin Victor, Q.C.; Victoria Board of Enquiry into Scientology (1965). Report of the Board of Enquiry into Scientology. Melbourne: Government Printer. p. 155.
83.^ Jump up to: a b Lindholm, Charles (1992). "Charisma, Crowd Psychology and Altered States of Consciousness". Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry (Kluwer Academic Publishers) 16 (3): 287–310. doi:10.1007/BF00052152.
84.Jump up ^ Wallis, Roy (1977). The Road to Total Freedom. New York: Columbia University Press. p. 153.
85.Jump up ^ Melton, J. G. (Ed.) (2003). "Church of Eductivism". Encyclopedia of American Religions. Detroit: Gale. p. 815.
86.Jump up ^ Neusner 2003, p. 225
87.^ Jump up to: a b c d Melton 2000, p. 17
88.Jump up ^ Elisabeth Amveck Researching New Religious Movements, p. 261, Routledge, 2006 ISBN 978-0-415-27754-9
89.Jump up ^ Lewis & Hammer 2007, p. 24
90.Jump up ^ William W. Zellner Extraordinary Groups, p. 295, Macmillan, 2007 ISBN 978-0-7167-7034-3
91.Jump up ^ "Free Zone". Archived from the original on April 9, 2014. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
92.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 14–15
93.Jump up ^ L. Ron Hubbard's last refuge | Cover Story | New Times San Luis Obispo, CA Archived December 17, 2013 at the Wayback Machine
94.^ Jump up to: a b c d Knapp, Dan (December 19, 1996). "Group that once criticized Scientologists now owned by one". CNN (Time Warner). Archived from the original on April 8, 2014. Retrieved October 29, 2007.
95.Jump up ^ Russell, Ron (September 9, 1999). "Scientology's Revenge – For years, the Cult Awareness Network was the Church of Scientology's biggest enemy. But the late L. Ron Hubbard's L.A.-based religion cured that–by taking it over". New Times LA.
96.Jump up ^ Book: Cults: A Reference Handbook By James R. Lewis, Published by ABC-CLIO, 2005, ISBN 1-85109-618-3, ISBN 978-1-85109-618-3. Books.google.co.uk. May 3, 2005. ISBN 978-1-85109-618-3. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
97.Jump up ^ Goodman, Leisa, Human Rights Director, Church of Scientology International (2001). "A Letter from the Church of Scientology". Marburg Journal of Religion: Responses From Religions. pp. Volume 6, No. 2, 4 pages. Retrieved October 28, 2007.
98.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Dawson, Lorne L.; Cowan, Douglas E. (2004). Religion Online: Finding Faith on the Internet. New York, NY/London, UK: Routledge Taylor & Francis Group. pp. 262, 264–265. ISBN 978-0-415-97022-8.
99.^ Jump up to: a b c Flinn, Frank K. (July 5, 2005). "Scientology". Live discussion (Washington Post). Retrieved February 4, 2008.
100.Jump up ^ Kevin Collison, Kevin (March 17, 2007). "Scientology center heads downtown", Kansas City Star
101.^ Jump up to: a b c d Reitman, Janet. "Inside Scientology". Rolling Stone. Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on March 31, 2014. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
102.Jump up ^ Bernstein, Fred (November 9, 2010). "In Pasadena, a Model for Scientology's Growth Plan". The New York Times. Archived from the original on May 14, 2013. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
103.Jump up ^ Bromley, David; Cowan, Douglas. Cults and new religions: a brief history. Archived from the original on August 1, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
104.Jump up ^ Jarvik, Elaine (September 18, 2004). "Scientology: Church now claims more than 8 million members". Deseret News. Archived from the original on June 16, 2008. Retrieved August 1, 2007. "Melton, who has been criticized by some for being too easy on Scientology, and has been criticized by the church for being too harsh, says that the church's estimates of its membership numbers – 4 million in the United States, 8 to 9 million worldwide – are exaggerated. "You're talking about anyone who ever bought a Scientology book or took a basic course. Ninety-nine percent of them don't ever darken the door of the church again." If the church indeed had 4 million members in the United States, he says, "they would be like the Lutherans and would show up on a national survey" such as the Harris poll."
105.^ Jump up to: a b "Scientology Gateshead building still empty after seven years". BBC News.
106.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Cowan & Bromley 2006, pp. 170–171
107.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j k l m Neusner 2003, pp. 221–236
108.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Chryssides, George D. (1999). Exploring New Religions. Continuum International Publishing Group. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-8264-5959-6.
109.Jump up ^ Carl G. Liungman Symbols, p. 297, Ionfox AB, 2004 ISBN 978-91-972705-0-2
110.^ Jump up to: a b Melton 2000, p. 32
111.Jump up ^ Flowers 1984, p. 98
112.Jump up ^ Bednarowski, Mary Farrell (1995). New Religions and the Theological Imagination in America (Religion in North America). Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 60. ISBN 978-0-253-20952-8.
113.Jump up ^ Pollock, Robert (2002). The Everything World's Religions Book: Discover the Beliefs, Traditions, and Cultures of Ancient and Modern Religions. Avon, MA: Adams Media Corporation. p. 210. ISBN 978-1-58062-648-4.
114.Jump up ^ Malko, George (1970). Scientology: The Now Religion. New York: Delacorte Press. p. 109. ISBN 978-1-112-96373-5.
115.Jump up ^ John Corrigan (2008). The Oxford Handbook of Religion and Emotion, page 132. ISBN 978-0-19-517021-4.
116.^ Jump up to: a b c d Roy Wallis. "The Road to Total Freedom A Sociological analysis of Scientology, page 1". Archived from the original on October 15, 2013.
117.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 31
118.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 25
119.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Neusner 2003, p. 228
120.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 33–34
121.^ Jump up to: a b Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 176
122.Jump up ^ "Scientology Glossary of Terms - K". Whatisscientology.org. Retrieved May 30, 2015.
123.Jump up ^ Ortega, Tony (January 6, 2012). "Scientology in Turmoil: Debbie Cook's E-Mail, Annotated". The Village Voice. Archived from the original on February 14, 2014. Retrieved January 14, 2012.
124.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 177
125.Jump up ^ "Scientology Cross", Church of Scientology International. Accessed November 8, 2007. Archived May 17, 2008 at the Wayback Machine
126.^ Jump up to: a b Zellner & Petrowsky 1998, pp. 146–147
127.Jump up ^ Marshall, Gordon (1990). In praise of sociology. Boston: Unwin Hyman. p. 187. ISBN 978-0-04-445687-2.
128.^ Jump up to: a b Flowers 1984, p. 101
129.Jump up ^ Grossman, Wendy (1997). Net. wars. New York: New York University Press. p. 73. ISBN 978-0-8147-3103-1.
130.Jump up ^ Greenawalt, Kent (2006). Religion and the Constitution. Princeton, N.J: Princeton University Press. p. 298. ISBN 978-0-691-12582-4.
131.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 36
132.Jump up ^ Bednarowski, Mary Farrell (1995). New Religions and the Theological Imagination in America (Religion in North America). Bloomington: Indiana University Press. p. 114. ISBN 978-0-253-20952-8.
133.Jump up ^ Miller, Timothy (1995). America's alternative religions. Albany, N.Y: State University of New York Press. p. 388. ISBN 978-0-7914-2397-4.
134.Jump up ^ J. Gordon Melton The Encyclopedia of American Religion, p. 224, McGrath Publishing Co., 1978 ISBN 978-0-7876-9696-2
135.Jump up ^ Paul Finkelman Religion and American Law, p. 509, Taylor & Francis, 2000 ISBN 978-0-8153-0750-1
136.Jump up ^ Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 175
137.Jump up ^ Cowan & Bromley 2006, pp. 176–177
138.Jump up ^ Palmer 2009, p. 316
139.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h Neusner 2003, pp. 229–230
140.^ Jump up to: a b c d Melton 2000, p. 33
141.^ Jump up to: a b Ortega, Tony (December 23, 1999). "Double Crossed". Phoenix New Times. Village Voice Media. Archived from the original on June 20, 2009. Retrieved September 16, 2007.
142.Jump up ^ Sappell, Joel; Robert W. Welkos (June 24, 1990). "The Scientology Story". Los Angeles Times: page A36:1. Archived from the original on December 29, 2007. Retrieved August 9, 2006.  Another link: Carnegie-Mellon University
143.Jump up ^ Herrick, James A. (2004). The Making of the New Spirituality. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press. p. 199. ISBN 978-0-8308-3279-8.
144.Jump up ^ Hines, Matt (September 8, 2003). "Scientology loss keeps hyperlinks legal". CNET. Archived from the original on November 16, 2006. Retrieved September 16, 2007.
145.^ Jump up to: a b Derek Davis New Religious Movements and Religious Liberty in America, pp. 45–47, Baylor University Press, 2004 ISBN 978-0-918954-92-3
146.Jump up ^ Lewis & Hammer 2007, p. 36
147.Jump up ^ Coordinates of Trementina Base 35°30′42″N 104°34′48″W
148.Jump up ^ Leiby, Richard (November 27, 2005). "A Place in the Desert for New Mexico's Most Exclusive Circles". The Washington Post. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
149.^ Jump up to: a b c Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 170
150.^ Jump up to: a b Willms 2009, pp. 248–249
151.Jump up ^ Pretorius, S.P. (2006). "The concept "salvation" in the Church of Scientology". HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies 62 (1): 313–327. doi:10.4102/hts.v62i1.353.
152.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L Ron. 'Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health'. Los Angeles, California: Bridge Publications, 2007: 3. ISBN 978-1-4031-4484-3
153.^ Jump up to: a b c d Willms 2005, pp. 54–60
154.Jump up ^ Lewis & Petersen Controversial New Religions, p. 238, Oxford University Press, ISBN 978-0-19-515682-9
155.^ Jump up to: a b Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 171
156.Jump up ^ Bryan Wilson (1995): "Religious Toleration & Religious Diversity". Archived from the original on October 31, 2013., The Institute for the Study of American Religion.
157.Jump up ^ James R. Lewis The Oxford Handbook of New Religious Movements, p. 429, Oxford University Press US, 2004 ISBN 978-0-19-514986-9
158.Jump up ^ Kent, Stephen A. "Scientology's Relationship With Eastern Religious Traditions". Archived from the original on September 2, 2012., Journal of Contemporary Religion, Vol. 11, No. 1, 1996, page 21
159.Jump up ^ Karen Christensen, David Levinson (2003): Encyclopedia of Community, SAGE, p. 1210: "Scientology shows affinities with Buddhism and a remarkable similarity to first-century Gnosticism."
160.Jump up ^ John A. Saliba (1996): Signs of the Times, Médiaspaul, p. 51
161.^ Jump up to: a b Willms 2009, p. 259
162.^ Jump up to: a b Melton 2000, pp. 7–8, 67
163.Jump up ^ Lewis, James R. (March 2009). Scientology. Cary, NC: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
164.Jump up ^ Cowan & Bromley 2006, pp. 180–184
165.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 180
166.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 43
167.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 34
168.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 181
169.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 39
170.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 182
171.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 42
172.Jump up ^ Bromley 2009, p. 98
173.Jump up ^ "Other Psychic New Age Groups." Encyclopedia of American Religions. Ed. J. Gordon Melton. 7th ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 811-840. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. December 17, 2013.
174.Jump up ^ Tobin, Thomas C. (October 25, 1998). "The Man Behind Scientology". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on August 27, 2013. Retrieved October 11, 2008.
175.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 40
176.^ Jump up to: a b Melton 2000, p. 41
177.Jump up ^ Rosenblum, Keshet (August 30, 2012). "Alhambra Cinema in Jaffa reopens as Scientology center". Haaretz.com. Archived from the original on April 29, 2014. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
178.^ Jump up to: a b c d Melton 2000, pp. 45–46
179.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 183
180.^ Jump up to: a b Melton 2000, p. 47
181.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 47–48
182.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 44
183.Jump up ^ Cusack & Digance 2009, pp. 436–437
184.Jump up ^ Awosika, Mary; Waldman, Amy (October 11, 2001). "Religious Leader Brings Calling to Ground Zero". Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
185.Jump up ^ "Scientologists 'heal' Haiti quake victims using touch". Archived from the original on July 28, 2011. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
186.Jump up ^ "Scientology takes lead role in Haiti relief effort". Archived from the original on August 6, 2012. Retrieved January 11, 2012.
187.Jump up ^ "Salt Lake volunteer brought healing to Indonesians". Deseret News. February 26, 2005. Archived from the original on October 23, 2012. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
188.Jump up ^ "Scientology missions spring up in hurricane-damaged areas - WorldWide Religious News". Wwrn.org. May 14, 2006. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
189.Jump up ^ Harrington, Rebecca (March 23, 2010). "Scientology Missionaries Set Sail For Haiti, Commandeer Coast Guard Boat". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on November 3, 2012.
190.^ Jump up to: a b c Melton 2000, p. 49
191.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f Cowan & Bromley 2006, p. 184
192.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 50–51
193.Jump up ^ Snodgrass, Mary Ellen (2000). "Scientology". Religious Sites In America : A Dictionary. ABC-CLIO.
194.Jump up ^ Free Zone Assoc. (January 30, 2002). "Introduction". Freezone.org. Archived from the original on November 9, 2013. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
195.Jump up ^ Meyer-Hauser, Bernard F. (June 23, 2000). "Religious Technology Center v. Freie Zone E. V". Case No. D2000-0410. Archived from the original on September 28, 2013.
196.Jump up ^ Brown, Janelle (July 22, 1999). "Copyright – or wrong? : The Church of Scientology takes up a new weapon – the Digital Millennium Copyright Act – in its ongoing battle with critics". Salon. Archived from the original on June 26, 2009.
197.Jump up ^ Colette, Mark. "Former Scientology film crew member describes surveillance activities in Ingleside on the Bay". Caller-Times, Corpus Christi. Archived from the original on November 5, 2013. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
198.Jump up ^ Sweeney, John (September 26, 2010). "Mr Shouty and Cruise: the rematch". The Sunday Times. "Marty Rathbun, who like Rinder is now an independent scientologist ... Rinder, though a 'heretic' to the church, lives and breathes Independent scientology."
199.Jump up ^ Tobin, Thomas C.; Childs, Joe (January 1, 2012). "In new year's message, Scientology insider blasts 'extreme' fundraising". Tampa Bay Times. Archived from the original on June 25, 2013. Retrieved January 14, 2012. "Rathbun, now a leading figure in a movement for Scientologists to practice independently of the church ..."
200.^ Jump up to: a b Cowan & Bromley 2007, p. 17
201.Jump up ^ Garcia, Wayne (March 31, 1994). "Scientology suit on PR firm heads for trial". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved January 4, 2009. "For 21⁄2 years, Hill & Knowlton worked closely with the controversial religion, coming up with ways to turn around Scientology's maligned image and teaching Scientologists how to handle reporters' questions."
202.Jump up ^ Alan Aldridge Religion in the Contemporary World, p. 20, Polity, 2007 ISBN 978-0-7456-3405-0
203.Jump up ^ Cowan, Douglas E. (July 2004). "Researching Scientology: Academic Premises, Promises, and Problematic". CESNUR 2004 International Conference. Retrieved June 23, 2006.
204.Jump up ^ Hexham, Irving (1997) [1978]. "The Religious Status of Scientology: Is Scientology a Religion?". University of Calgary. Archived from the original on November 19, 2009. Retrieved June 13, 2006.
205.Jump up ^ Phillip Lucas New Religious Movements in the 21st Century, p. 235, Routledge, 2004 ISBN 978-0-415-96577-4
206.Jump up ^ "Recognition was based upon voluminous information provided by the Church regarding its financial and other operations to the Internal Revenue Service." IRS press release December 31, 1997 "Church of Scientology & IRS Confidentiality". Archived from the original on May 18, 2012.. Retrieved August 13, 2007
207.Jump up ^ Dahl, David; Vick, Karl (October 24, 1993). "IRS examined Scientology dollars, not dogma". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on October 12, 2008. Retrieved August 31, 2007.
208.Jump up ^ Frantz, Douglas (March 19, 1997). "Scientology Denies an Account Of an Impromptu IRS Meeting". New York Times. Archived from the original on January 15, 2008. Retrieved January 18, 2009.
209.Jump up ^ Richardson 2009, p. 288
210.Jump up ^ "http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Fishman/Declaration/dmdec.txt". Archived from the original on February 6, 2012.
211.Jump up ^ Richardson 2009, p. 286: "After doing a thorough analysis, the [High] Court [of Australia] stated unequivocally that Scientology met the criteria establishing itself as a religion, and therefore should be granted exempt status for tax purposes. The Court went on to state that a religion did not have to be theistic, and that a religion involved both belief and behavior ... This case is still the leading case in Australia defining religion, and is cited in other courts and countries as well."
212.Jump up ^ "2007 U.S. State Department – 2007 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Portugal".: "In November the government officially recognized Scientology as a religion."
213.Jump up ^ "Church of Scientology". "The administrative tribunal of Madrid's High Court ruled that a 2005 justice ministry decision to scrap the church from the register was "against the law."
214.Jump up ^ "Cienciología entre las "entidades religiosas"". Archived from the original on April 11, 2013.: "Un tribunal administrativo de la Audiencia Nacional de Madrid, máxima instancia judicial española, aceptó un recurso interpuesto por ese movimiento fundado en 1954 por el autor de ciencia ficción Lafayette Ron Hubbard (1911–1986), para ser inscripto en el registro de los movimientos religiosos del país."
215.^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h "La justice espagnole accorde à la Scientologie le statut de religion"., 2008-01-09, Le Monde
216.Jump up ^ "Decision of 13 March 2000 registering Scientology as a "religious community" in Sweden". CESNUR. March 13, 2000. Retrieved July 21, 2007.
217.Jump up ^ Bogdan 2009, p. 338: "on March 13, 2000, the Church of Scientology was registered as a religious community by the National Judicial Board for Public Lands and Funds following a new law, titled the Act on Religious Communities ..., which took on effect on January 1, 2000, with the separation of the Church of Sweden from the state. On June 10, 2000, the first legal Scientology wedding in Europe was celebrated in Stockholm."
218.^ Jump up to: a b "U.S. State Department – 2005 Report on International Religious Freedom: Kyrgyzstan".: "In the past year the State Commission on Religious Affairs (SCRA) also registered the Church of Scientology"
219.Jump up ^ "Scientology gets tax-exempt status". The New Zealand Herald. December 27, 2002. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
220.Jump up ^ Richardson 2009, p. 291
221.^ Jump up to: a b c Gallagher, Eugene V.; Ashcraft, W. Michael (2006). Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America, ISBN 978-0-275-98712-1, p. 185
222.Jump up ^ Harry Wallop: "Scientology tax victory could cost Revenue millions". The Daily Telegraph (London). Archived from the original on May 1, 2008., Daily Telegraph, August 11, 2006
223.Jump up ^ "UK Supreme Court says Scientology is a religion, allows wedding". Reuters. December 11, 2013.
224.Jump up ^ Bingham, John (December 11, 2013). "Scientology is a religion, rules Supreme Court". The Daily Telegraph (London). Archived from the original on April 1, 2014.
225.Jump up ^ December 11, 2013 - RT News Archived December 11, 2013 at the Wayback Machine
226.Jump up ^ Hafiz, Yasmine (December 12, 2013). "Britain Recognizes Scientology As A Religion". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on December 16, 2013.
227.Jump up ^ "Scientology-Organisation". Archived from the original on 10 February 2013.
228.Jump up ^ (German)""Eskalierende Gewaltkultur" bei Scientology - heute-Nachrichten". Heute.de. Retrieved September 20, 2012.
229.Jump up ^ Schmid, John (January 15, 1997). "German Party Replies To Scientology Backers". Archived from the original on February 28, 2009., Herald Tribune
230.^ Jump up to: a b "Germany, America and Scientology". Archived from the original on June 10, 2014., Washington Post, February 1, 1997
231.^ Jump up to: a b Bonfante, Jordan; van Voorst, Bruce (February 10, 1997). ""Does Germany Have Something Against These Guys?". Time. February 10, 1997. Archived from the original on May 20, 2013.", Time
232.Jump up ^ Staff (April 2, 1998). ""U.N. Derides Scientologists' Charges About German 'Persecution'". The New York Times. April 2, 1998.", New York Times
233.Jump up ^ Peter Beyer; Lori G. Beaman (2007). Religion, globalization and culture. BRILL. p. 274. ISBN 978-90-04-15407-0. Retrieved October 10, 2010.
234.Jump up ^ "Germany drops attempt to ban Scientology". msnbc.com. Archived from the original on October 31, 2012. Retrieved July 13, 2011.
235.Jump up ^ Kent 2001
236.^ Jump up to: a b "Church of Scientology Faces Criminal Charges in Belgium – International News". FOXNews.com. September 4, 2007. Archived from the original on November 19, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
237.^ Jump up to: a b Planchar, Roland (September 4, 2007). "La Scientologie plus près de son procès" (in French). La Libre Belgique. Archived from the original on October 16, 2007. Retrieved May 13, 2008.
238.Jump up ^ "US Dept of State International Religious Freedom Report 2004". State.gov. January 1, 2004. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
239.Jump up ^ "La Audiencia Nacional reconoce a la Cienciología como iglesia". Archived from the original on May 13, 2011., 2007-11-01, El País
240.Jump up ^ "2007 U.S. Department of State – 2007 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices: Portugal". State.gov. March 11, 2008. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
241.Jump up ^ "La justice espagnole accorde à la Scientologie le statut de religion"., 2008-01-09, Le Monde: "L'Eglise de scientologie s'installe peu à peu dans le paysage cultuel européen. Après la Suède, le Portugal, la Slovénie, la Croatie ou la Hongrie, la justice espagnole vient à son tour d'inscrire la scientologie au registre légal des religions. Cette inscription, intervenue le 19 décembre, fait suite à une décision de l'Audience nationale, la plus haute juridiction espagnole." ("The Church of Scientology is slowly establishing itself in the European religious landscape. After Sweden, Portugal, Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary, it was now the turn of the Spanish legal system to add Scientology to the official register of religions. The registration, which took place on 19 December, followed a decision by the Audiencia Nacional, the highest court of Spain.")
242.Jump up ^ Urban, Hugh B.: The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion Chapman, Mark. Review of Religious Research. 2013. vol. 55. Issue: 1, pp. 203-204
243.Jump up ^ Neal, Lynn S. (2013). "Scientology". In Bill J. Leonard and Jill Y. Crainshaw. Encyclopedia of Religious Controversies in the United States 2 (2nd edition ed.). Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO. pp. 697–699.
244.Jump up ^ Bednarowski, Mary Farrell (1995). "The Church of Scientology: Lightning Rod for Cultural Boundary Conflicts". In Timothy Miller. America's Alternative Religions. SUNY Press. p. 388. ISBN 978-0-7914-2397-4.
245.Jump up ^ Flinn, Frank K. (September 22, 1994). "Scientology: The Marks of Religion". Church of Scientology. Archived from the original on September 14, 2012.
246.Jump up ^ Neusner, Jacob. World Religions in America (3 ed.). ISBN 978-0-664-22475-2. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
247.Jump up ^ Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin (September 2003). "Scientology: Religion or racket?" (PDF) 8 (1). Marburg Journal of Religion. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
248.Jump up ^ Kent, Stephen (July 1999). "Scientology – Is this a Religion?" (PDF) 4 (1). Marburg Journal of Religion. Retrieved July 1, 2014.
249.Jump up ^ Jeffrey Lehman, Shirelle Phelps, ed. (2005). "Religion". West's Encyclopedia of American Law 8 (2 ed.). Detroit: Thomson/Gale. p. 283. ISBN 978-0-7876-6375-9.
250.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon (2000). Massimo Introvigne, ed. Studies in Contemporary Religion: The Church of Scientology. Signature Books. ISBN 978-1-56085-139-4. Archived from the original on August 1, 2013. Retrieved July 29, 2013.
251.Jump up ^ Partridge, Christopher Hugh (2003), UFO religions, Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-26323-8
252.Jump up ^ Palmer, Susan J. Aliens adored : Raël’s UFO religion, Rutgers University Press, 2004, ISBN 978-0-8135-3475-6
253.Jump up ^ Reece, G.l., UFO Religion: Inside Flying Saucer Cults and Culture, I.B.Tauris & Co Ltd, 2007, pp. 182-186.
254.Jump up ^ "Scientology: A History of Man | Bridge Publications, Inc.". www.bridgepub.com. Retrieved 2015-05-08.
255.Jump up ^ Church of Scientology, "Complete List of Scientology and Dianetics Books and Materials of 1952".
256.Jump up ^ Rothstein, Mikael (2009). Lewis, James R., ed. Scientology. New York, New York: Oxford University Press. p. 375. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
257.^ Jump up to: a b Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin (September 2003). "Scientology: Religion or racket?". Marburg Journal of Religion (Philipps-Universität Marburg) 8 (1). Retrieved June 30, 2006.
258.^ Jump up to: a b Miller, Russell (1987). Bare-faced Messiah, The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard (First American ed.). New York: Henry Holt & Co. pp. 140–142. ISBN 978-0-8050-0654-4. Archived from the original on March 12, 2011.
259.^ Jump up to: a b Melton 2000, pp. 55, 74
260.^ Jump up to: a b c d Frenschkowski, Marco (January 1, 2010). "Researching Scientology: Some Observations on Recent Literature, English and German". Alternative Spirituality and Religion Review (Academic Publishing) 1 (1): 38. ISSN 1946-0538. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved January 13, 2011.
261.Jump up ^ Platvoet & Molendijk The Pragmatics of Defining Religion, pp. 63–64, Brill, 1999 ISBN 978-90-04-11544-6
262.Jump up ^ Jentzsch, Heber. "Church of Scientology FAQ: Did L. Ron Hubbard state that the way to make money was to start a religion?". Archived from the original on February 23, 2012. Retrieved June 9, 2010.
263.^ Jump up to: a b c d Leiby, Richard (December 25, 1994). "Scientology Fiction: The Church's War Against Its Critics – and Truth". The Washington Post. p. C1. Retrieved June 21, 2006.
264.Jump up ^ The Collected Essays, Journalism and Letters of George Orwell (4 volumes), vol. 1, Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1968 ASIN: B000GLJ10S
265.Jump up ^ Janet Reitman Inside Scientology, Rolling Stone, February 23, 2006
266.Jump up ^ Plotkin-Wells & Wimmer E-Commerce Law & Business, Section 8.01[2], Aspen Publishers Online, 2003 ISBN 978-0-7355-4148-1
267.Jump up ^ Sappell, Joel; Welkos, Robert W. (June 24, 1990). "The Man In Control". Los Angeles Times. p. A41:4. Archived from the original on June 2, 2010. Retrieved June 6, 2006.
268.Jump up ^ West, Louis Jolyon (July 1990). "Psychiatry and Scientology". Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved May 16, 2007.
269.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 59
270.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon (2000). The Church of Scientology. Salt Lake City: Signature Press. ISBN 978-1-56085-139-4
271.Jump up ^ Zur Frage der Beobachtung der Scientology-Organisation durch die Verfassungsschutzbehörden (in German) (PDF format)
272.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, p. 60
273.Jump up ^ "Publications listing on the website of the Bavarian Office for the Protection of the Constitution". Lfv.bayern.de. Archived from the original on February 19, 2012. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
274.Jump up ^ "US State department Report 2006:".
275.Jump up ^ Morgan, Lucy (March 29, 1999). "Abroad: Critics public and private keep pressure on Scientology". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on May 1, 2011. Retrieved September 7, 2007. "Canada's highest court in 1997 upheld the criminal conviction of the Church of Scientology of Toronto and one of its officers for a breach of trust stemming from covert operations in Canadian government offices during the 1970s and 1980s."
276.Jump up ^ Souchard, Pierre-Antoine (February 2, 2012). "Scientology Fraud Conviction Upheld". Huffington Post. Archived from the original on November 3, 2013. Retrieved February 3, 2012. "A French appeals court on Thursday upheld the Church of Scientology's 2009 fraud conviction on charges it pressured members into paying large sums for questionable remedies."
277.^ Jump up to: a b c Goodin, Dan (June 3, 1999). "Scientology subpoenas Worldnet". CNET News.com. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved May 4, 2006.
278.Jump up ^ "Marburg Journal of Religion: Framing Effects in the Coverage of Scientology versus Germany: Some Thoughts on the Role of Press and Scholars" (PDF). Web.uni-marburg.de. May 22, 2009. Retrieved September 4, 2010.
279.Jump up ^ Richardson 2009, p. 283
280.Jump up ^ Farley, Robert (June 24, 2006). "The unperson". St. Petersburg Times. pp. 1A,14A. Archived from the original on July 17, 2007. Retrieved June 24, 2007.
281.Jump up ^ Farley, Robert (May 29, 2004). "Scientologists settle death suit". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on October 29, 2013. Retrieved November 3, 2008.
282.Jump up ^ Matt Loney; Evan Hansen (March 21, 2002). "Google pulls anti-Scientology links". CNet. Archived from the original on October 15, 2008. Retrieved May 10, 2007.
283.^ Jump up to: a b Joe Childs, Thomas C. Tobin (June 23, 2009). "The Truth Run Down". St Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on February 9, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
284.Jump up ^ Joe Childs, Thomas C. Tobin (June 23, 2009). "Scientology: Ecclesiastical justice". St Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on January 17, 2013. Retrieved June 23, 2009.
285.Jump up ^ "Scientology convicted for fraud in France, escapes ban". Reuters. October 27, 2009. Archived from the original on January 14, 2010., Reuters, October 27, 2009
286.Jump up ^ "French court upholds Scientology fraud conviction"., AFP, February 2, 2012
287.Jump up ^ "Rudd's concerns about Scientology (quoted from embedded video, "Xenophon attacks Scientology – Independent Senator Nick Xenophon attacks Scientology as a 'criminal organisation'").". The Age. November 18, 2009.
288.Jump up ^ Gianni, Luke (February 22, 2007). "Scientology does detox – David E. Root, M.D". local stories > 15 minutes (Sacramento News & Review). Archived from the original on January 30, 2011. Retrieved May 6, 2007.
289.Jump up ^ Seifman, David (April 21, 2007). "Local Pols Cruised in Free to Tom Gala". New York Post. Archived from the original on October 24, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2007.
290.Jump up ^ "Monserrate Defends Detox Program". The Politicker. New York Observer. April 20, 2007. Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2007.
291.Jump up ^ Etter, Lauren (January 19, 2007). "Program for prisoners draws fire over Scientology". Wall Street Journal (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette). Archived from the original on April 1, 2012. Retrieved November 27, 2007.
292.Jump up ^ Reitman, Janet (February 8, 2011). "Inside Scientology". Rolling Stone Magazine. Archived from the original on March 31, 2014. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
293.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L.R. (1965): Keeping Scientology working (Series 1), page 7. The Hubbard Communication Office Policy Letter, titled Keeping Scientology Working Series 1, was included in the attached documents submitted to the IRS in 1993. Available from Xenu.net: [1]
294.Jump up ^ Stephen A. Kent (September 2003). "Scientology and the European Human Rights Debate: A Reply to Leisa Goodman, J. Gordon Melton, and the European Rehabilitation Project Force Study". Marburg Journal of Religion 8 (1). Retrieved May 21, 2006.; Kent cites Hubbard, L. Ron (1976a). Modern Management Technology Defined. Copenhagen, New Era Publications
295.Jump up ^ Eggenberger, Nicole (September 10, 2013). "Leah Remini Tells Ellen DeGeneres She 'Lost Friends"'After Leaving Scientolog". US Weekly. Archived December 11, 2013 at the Wayback Machine
296.Jump up ^ Grossman, Wendy (October 1997). "Copyright Terrorists". Net.Wars. New York: New York University Press. pp. 77–78. ISBN 978-0-8147-3103-1. Archived from the original on February 27, 2014. Retrieved June 11, 2006.
297.Jump up ^ Wendy Grossman Net.wars, p. 77, NYU Press, 1997 ISBN 978-0-8147-3103-1
298.Jump up ^ Steven Vedro Digital Dharma, p. 190, Quest Books, 2007 ISBN 978-0-8356-0859-6
299.Jump up ^ Mike Godwin Cyber Rights, p. 219, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 2003 ISBN 978-0-262-57168-5
300.Jump up ^ Catharine Cookson Encyclopedia of Religious Freedom, p. 432, Taylor & Francis, 2003 ISBN 978-0-415-94181-5
301.Jump up ^ Wendy Grossman Net.wars, p. 90, New York University Press, 1997 ISBN 978-0-8147-3103-1
302.Jump up ^ Sarno, David (February 11, 2008). "takes part in Scientology protests". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on November 7, 2012., Los Angeles Times, February 11, 2008.
303.Jump up ^ Christopher Lueg From Usenet to CoWebs, p. 37, Springer, 2003 ISBN 978-1-85233-532-8
304.Jump up ^ Wendy Grossman Net.wars, pp. 74–76, NYU Press, 1997 ISBN 978-0-8147-3103-1
305.Jump up ^ Nordhausen, Frank. Scientology: Wie der Sektenkonzern die Welt erobern will (in German). Links Christoph Verlag. p. 518. ISBN 978-3-86153-470-9.
306.Jump up ^ John Cook (March 17, 2008). "Scientology – Cult Friction". Radar Online (Radar Magazine). Archived from the original on March 23, 2008. Retrieved March 18, 2008.
307.Jump up ^ Vamosi, Robert (January 24, 2008). "Anonymous threatens to "dismantle" Church of Scientology via internet". cnet.com (CNET). Retrieved May 30, 2015.
308.Jump up ^ KNBC Staff (January 24, 2008). "Hacker Group Declares War On Scientology: Group Upset Over Church's Handling Of Tom Cruise Video". KNBC. Archived from the original on August 21, 2008. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
309.Jump up ^ Vamosi, Robert (January 24, 2008). "Anonymous hackers take on the Church of Scientology". CNET News (CNET Networks, Inc.). Retrieved January 25, 2008.
310.Jump up ^ "Anonymous Attacks!". Archived from the original on August 29, 2012. Retrieved January 30, 2009.
311.Jump up ^ George-Cosh, David (January 25, 2008). "Online group declares war on Scientology". National Post (Canwest Publishing Inc.). Archived from the original on January 28, 2008. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
312.Jump up ^ Singel, Ryan (January 23, 2008). "War Breaks Out Between Hackers and Scientology – There Can Be Only One". Wired (CondéNet, Inc.). Archived from the original on April 24, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
313.Jump up ^ Feran, Tom (January 24, 2008). "Where to find the Tom Cruise Scientology videos online, if they're still posted". The Plain Dealer (Newhouse Newspapers). Archived from the original on December 11, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
314.^ Jump up to: a b Chan Enterprises (January 21, 2008). "Internet Group Declares "War on Scientology": Anonymous are fighting the Church of Scientology and the Religious Technology Center". Press Release (PRLog.Org). Archived from the original (PDF) on May 8, 2011. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
315.Jump up ^ Matthew A. Schroettnig, Stefanie Herrington, Lauren E. Trent (February 6, 2008). "Anonymous Versus Scientology: Cyber Criminals or Vigilante Justice?". Archived from the original on June 3, 2013. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
316.Jump up ^ Dodd, Gareth (Editor); Agencies (January 25, 2008). "Anonymous hackers vow to "dismantle" Scientology". Xinhua News Agency. Archived from the original on October 22, 2012. Retrieved January 25, 2008.
317.Jump up ^ Brandon, Mikhail (January 28, 2008). "Scientology in the Crosshairs". The Emory Wheel (Emory University). Archived from the original on May 15, 2012. Retrieved January 31, 2008.
318.Jump up ^ Feran, Tom (January 31, 2008). "The group Anonymous calls for protests outside Scientology centers – New on the Net". The Plain Dealer (Newhouse Newspapers). Archived from the original on March 4, 2014. Retrieved February 4, 2008.
319.Jump up ^ Vamosi, Robert (January 28, 2008). "Anonymous names 10 February as its day of action against Scientology". CNET News (CNET Networks, Inc.). Archived from the original on October 15, 2008. Retrieved January 28, 2008.
320.Jump up ^ Carlos Moncada (February 12, 2008). "Organizers Tout Scientology Protest, Plan Another". TBO.com. Archived from the original on February 10, 2012. Retrieved February 13, 2008.
321.Jump up ^ Harrison, James (The State News) (February 12, 2008). "Scientology protestors take action around world". Archived from the original on October 21, 2013. Retrieved February 14, 2008.
322.Jump up ^ Forrester, John (February 11, 2008). "Dozens of masked protesters blast Scientology church". The Boston Globe. Archived from the original on October 27, 2013. Retrieved February 15, 2008.
323.Jump up ^ Andrew Ramadge (March 17, 2008). "Second round of Anonymous v Scientology". News.com.au (News Limited). Archived from the original on October 6, 2009. Retrieved March 17, 2008.
324.^ Jump up to: a b c Shea, Danny (May 29, 2009). "Wikipedia Bans Scientology From Site". The Huffington Post. Archived from the original on September 20, 2012. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
325.^ Jump up to: a b Metz, Cade (May 29, 2009). "Wikipedia bans Church of Scientology". The Register. Archived from the original on March 18, 2011. Retrieved May 29, 2009.
326.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron (1968). Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Copenhagen, Denmark: Advanced Organization Saint Hill Denmark. p. 72. ISBN 87-87347-19-9.
327.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron (1968). Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Copenhagen, Denmark: Advanced Organization Saint Hill Denmark. p. 82. ISBN 87-87347-19-9.
328.^ Jump up to: a b Melton 2000, p. 29
329.^ Jump up to: a b Donaghy, James (June 9, 2007). "My name is L Ron Hubbard". The Guardian (London). Archived from the original on March 7, 2013. Retrieved January 14, 2009.
330.Jump up ^ Breckenridge, Memorandum of Intended Decision in Church of Scientology of California vs. Gerald Armstrong, Superior Court, Los Angeles County, case no. C420153. quoted in Atack, Jon (1990). A Piece of Blue Sky. Carol Publishing Group. p. 322. ISBN 978-0-8184-0499-3.
331.Jump up ^ Koff, Stephen (December 22, 1988). "Scientology church faces new claims of harassment". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on May 15, 2009. Retrieved October 26, 2008.
332.Jump up ^ Steven Girardi (May 9, 1982). "Witnesses Tell of Break-ins, Conspiracy". Clearwater Sun: p. 1A.
333.^ Jump up to: a b Shaw, William (February 14, 2008). "What do Tom Cruise and John Travolta know about Scientology that we don't?". The Daily Telegraph (London). Archived from the original on February 15, 2012. Retrieved June 25, 2009.
334.Jump up ^ Frantz, Douglas (February 13, 1998). "Scientology's Star Roster Enhances Image". New York Times, Late Edition (East Coast).
335.Jump up ^ Cusack 2009, pp. 394–395
336.^ Jump up to: a b Neusner 2003, p. 233
337.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon. "Celebrity Centre International (First Week of August)." Religious Celebrations: An Encyclopedia of Holidays, Festivals, Solemn Observances, and Spiritual Commemorations. Ed. J. Gordon Melton. Vol. 1. Santa Barbara, CA: ABC-CLIO, 2011. 168. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. January 8, 2014.
Notes
Barrett, David V. (1998). Sects, ‘Cults’ & Alternative Religions: A World Survey and Sourcebook (Paperback) New Ed. Sterling Pub Co Inc. ISBN 978-0-7137-2756-2.
Behar, Richard (1991). Scientology: The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power, Time magazine.
Bogdan, Henrik (2009). "The Church of Scientology in Sweden". In Lewis, James R. (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 335–344. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
Bromley, David G. (2009). "Making Sense of Scientology". In Lewis, James R. (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 83–101. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
Cowan, Douglas E.; Bromley, David G. (2006). "The Church of Scientology". In Gallagher, Eugene V.; Ashcraft, W. Michael (eds.) (2006). Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America 5. Westport CT: Greenwood Press. pp. 169–196. ISBN 978-0-275-98712-1.
Cowan, Douglas E.; Bromley, David G. (2007). Cults and New Religions: A Brief History. Malden, MA / Oxford, UK / Carlton, Victoria, Australia: Blackwell Publishing. ISBN 978-1-4051-6127-5.
Cusack, Carole M. (2009). "Celebrity, the Popular Media, and Scientology: Making Familiar the Unfamiliar". In Lewis, James R. (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 389–409. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
Cusack, Carole M.; Digance, Justine (2009). "Pastoral Care and September 11: Scientology's Nontraditional Religious Contribution". In Lewis, James R. (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 435–437. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
Flowers, Ronald B. (1984). Religion in Strange Times: The 1960s and 1970s. Macon, GA: Mercer University Press. ISBN 978-0-86554-127-6.
Frenschkowski, Marco (1999). "L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology: An annotated bibliographical survey of primary and selected secondary literature". Archived from the original on September 2, 2005.
Gallagher, Eugene V.; Ashcraft, W. Michael (eds.) (2006). Introduction to New and Alternative Religions in America. Westport CT: Greenwood Press. ISBN 978-0-275-98712-1.
Garrison, Omar V. (1974). The Hidden Story of Scientology. Citadel Press. ISBN 978-0-8065-0440-7.
Hunt, Stephen J. (2003). Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction. Ashgate Publishing. ISBN 978-0-7546-3410-2.
Kent, Stephen A. (1996). "Scientology's Relationship With Eastern Religious Traditions". Journal of Contemporary Religion 11 (1): 21. doi:10.1080/13537909608580753. Archived from the original on September 2, 2012. Retrieved January 13, 2009.
Kent, Stephen A. (2001). "The French and German versus American Debate over 'New Religions', Scientology, and Human Rights". Marburg Journal of Religion 6 (1). Retrieved March 28, 2009.
Lewis, James R. (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
Lewis, James R.; Hammer, Olav (2007). The Invention of Sacred Tradition. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-86479-4.
Melton, J. Gordon (2000). The Church of Scientology. Salt Lake City: Signature Press. ISBN 978-1-56085-139-4.
Neusner, Jacob (2003). World Religions in America. Westminster John Knox Press. ISBN 978-0-664-22475-2.
Palmer, Susan J. (2009). "The Church of Scientology in France: Legal and Activist Counterattacks in the "War on Sectes"". In Lewis, James R. (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 295–322. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
Reitman, Janet (2011). "Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion". New York: Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing. ISBN 978-0-618-88302-8.
Richardson, James T. (2009). "Scientology in Court: A Look at Some Major Cases from Various Nations". In Lewis, James R. (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 283–294. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
Urban, Hugh B. (2011). The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion. Princeton Press. ISBN 978-0-691-14608-9.
Willms, Gerald (2005). Scientology: Kulturbeobachtungen jenseits der Devianz (in German). Bielefeld, Germany: transcript Verlag. ISBN 978-3-89942-330-3.
Willms, Gerald (2009). "Scientology: "Modern Religion" or "Religion of Modernity"?". In Lewis, James R. (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. pp. 245–265. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3.
Zellner, William W.; Petrowsky, Marc (1998). Sects, Cults, and Spiritual Communities: a Sociological Analysis. Westport CT: Praeger Publishers. ISBN 978-0-275-96335-4.
External links

Find more about
Scientology
 at Wikipedia's sister projects

Search Wiktionary Definitions from Wiktionary
Search Commons Media from Commons
Search Wikinews News stories from Wikinews
Search Wikiquote Quotations from Wikiquote
Search Wikisource Source texts from Wikisource
Search Wikiversity Learning resources from Wikiversity
Official siteScientology website
Scholarly web pages on ScientologyCenter for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR)
Scientology -- Is This a Religion?
J. Gordon Melton
An Annotated Bibliographical Survey of Primary and Secondary Literature on L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Scientology








































































































































































































[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Religion























































































































































































































































































































































































































































































Authority control
GND: 4054027-3 ·
 NDL: 00569980
 

  


Categories: Scientology
New religious movements
UFO religions




















Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

View source

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Afrikaans
العربية
Azərbaycanca
বাংলা
Башҡортса
Български
Boarisch
Bosanski
Brezhoneg
Català
Čeština
Cymraeg
Dansk
Deutsch
Eesti
Español
Esperanto
فارسی
Français
Frysk
Gaeilge
Galego
한국어
Hrvatski
Ido
Bahasa Indonesia
Interlingua
Íslenska
Italiano
עברית
Қазақша
Kiswahili
Kurdî
Latviešu
Lëtzebuergesch
Lietuvių
Magyar
Македонски
مصرى
Nederlands
日本語
Norsk bokmål
Piemontèis
Polski
Português
Română
Русский
Sardu
Scots
Shqip
Simple English
Slovenčina
Slovenščina
Српски / srpski
Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски
Suomi
Svenska
తెలుగు
Türkçe
Українська
Tiếng Việt
中文
Edit links
This page was last modified on 15 June 2015, at 07:48.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
    
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology











Ethics (Scientology)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to:  navigation , search

According to the Church of Scientology, "ethics may be defined as the actions an individual takes on himself to ensure his continued survival across the dynamics. It is a personal thing. When one is ethical, it is something he does himself by his own choice." [1]
According to founder L. Ron Hubbard's teachings, Scientology ethics is predicated on the idea that there are degrees of ethical conduct.[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Good and evil
2 Statistics
3 Ethics protection
4 Punishment
5 Critical analysis
6 Notes
7 External links

Good and evil[edit]
The Church's official position declares: "The logic of Scientology ethics is inarguable and based upon two key concepts: good and evil", and goes on to state that "nothing is completely good, and to build anew often requires a degree of destruction" and "to appreciate what Scientology ethics is all about, it must be understood that good can be considered to be a constructive survival action".[1]
Statistics[edit]
In order to make these ethical decisions that affect others around them, Scientologists are expected to use statistical measurement to assess the "measurement of survival potential". Their official website states "with an understanding of how to compile, graph and compare statistics, the Scientologist is amply equipped to determine exactly what condition an activity is in, and thus exactly what steps he must take in order to better that condition." [3]
Hubbard stated that all Scientology organizations need to keep their statistics of production up, and that Ethics action must be brought against the staff member responsible for the particular statistic should it be continually down.

"Example: a typist gets out 500 letters in one week. That's a statistic. If the next week the typist gets out 600 letters that's an UP statistic. If the typist gets out 300 letters that's a DOWN statistic.... the purpose is to keep production (statistics) up."
- L. Ron Hubbard, HCOPL 1 Sep 1965
According to The Scientology Handbook, the Scientology method of statistics can, and should, be applied to individuals, groups, organizations, and any production activities inside and outside Scientology. Hubbard prescribes a very specific method of plotting statistics on graphs, and then for analysis of these graphs in terms of five levels of "Ethics Conditions". The main categories for these conditions are:
Non-existence condition: line on graph steeply or vertically down.
Danger condition: line on graph diagonally down.
Emergency condition: line on graph remains level, or slightly down.
Normal condition: line on graph slightly up.
Affluence condition: line on graph steeply up.
According to the Scientology Handbook, however, the complete set of conditions is as follows (ranged from highest to lowest)[1]:
Power Change
Power
Affluence
Normal Operation
Emergency
Danger
Non-Existence
Liability
Doubt
Enemy
Treason
Confusion
[4]
Ethics protection[edit]
In 1965, Hubbard issued the policy letter HCOPL 1 Sep 1965 (reissued 5 Oct 1985) entitled "Ethics Protection". In it, he states that "Ethics actions are often used to handle down individual statistics. A person who is not doing his job becomes an Ethics target" and goes on to detail how a Scientologist can protect himself from Ethics punishment by being more productive and keeping statistics up:

"In short, a staff member can get away with murder so long as his statistic is up and can't sneeze without a chop if it's down."
If the staff member's production is sufficiently high (as evidenced by an up statistic), the Scientologist gains an immunity to the Ethics process, even if they have openly committed violations:

"When people do start reporting a staff member with a high statistic, what you investigate is the person who turned in the report. In an ancient army a particularly brave deed was recognized by an award of the title of Kha-Khan. It was not a rank. The person remained what he was, BUT he was entitled to be forgiven the death penalty ten times in case in the future he did anything wrong. That was a Kha-Khan. That's what producing, high-statistic staff members are - Kha-Khans. They can get away with murder without a blink from Ethics.... And Ethics must recognize a Kha-Khan when it sees one - and tear up the bad report chits on the person with a yawn." [5]
Punishment[edit]
Main article: Scientology Justice
Researcher Jon Atack has expressed concern that, in the wrong hands, Scientology ethics can be wielded arbitrarily and absurdly, such as in the 1960s when British Saint Hill Scientologists declared a local pie shop "Suppressive" for not carrying apple pie in sufficient quantities to their liking.[6]
Critical analysis[edit]
Professor Stephen A. Kent quotes Hubbard as pronouncing that "the purpose of ethics is to remove counter intentions from the environment. And having accomplished that the purpose becomes to remove other intentionedness from the environment" and "[a]ll ethics is for in actual fact is simply that additional tool necessary to make it possible to get [Scientology] technology in. That's the whole purpose of ethics; to get technology in".
What this translates to, says Kent, is "a peculiar brand of morality that uniquely benefitted [the Church of Scientology] ... In plain English, the purpose of Scientology ethics is to eliminate opponents, then eliminate people's interests in things other than Scientology. In this 'ethical' environment, Scientology would be able to impose its courses, philosophy, and 'justice system' — its so-called technology — onto society."[7]
Notes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Scientology: Bettering Life with Scientology Ethics
2.Jump up ^ Scientology: Bettering Life with Scientology Ethics
3.Jump up ^ Scientology: Bettering Life with Scientology Ethics
4.Jump up ^ Hubbard, The Scientology Handbook, 1994 hardcover edition, pg.367
5.Jump up ^ Hubbard Communications Office, HCOPL 1 Sep 1965, "Ethics Protection".
6.Jump up ^ Atack, Jon, "A Piece of Blue Sky", Chapter 2.
7.Jump up ^ Stephen A. Kent (September 2003). "Scientology and the European Human Rights Debate: A Reply to Leisa Goodman, J. Gordon Melton, and the European Rehabilitation Project Force Study". Marburg Journal of Religion 8 (1). Retrieved 2006-05-21.
External links[edit]
http://www.scientology.org/faq/scientology-attitudes-and-practices/scientology-system-of-ethics.html
Church of Scientology: Ethics and Morals at DMOZ


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Scientology






































































































































































































  


Categories: Scientology beliefs and practices




Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages

Edit links
This page was last modified on 17 May 2014, at 04:33.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
  

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_(Scientology)









Ethics (Scientology)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to:  navigation , search

According to the Church of Scientology, "ethics may be defined as the actions an individual takes on himself to ensure his continued survival across the dynamics. It is a personal thing. When one is ethical, it is something he does himself by his own choice." [1]
According to founder L. Ron Hubbard's teachings, Scientology ethics is predicated on the idea that there are degrees of ethical conduct.[2]


Contents  [hide]
1 Good and evil
2 Statistics
3 Ethics protection
4 Punishment
5 Critical analysis
6 Notes
7 External links

Good and evil[edit]
The Church's official position declares: "The logic of Scientology ethics is inarguable and based upon two key concepts: good and evil", and goes on to state that "nothing is completely good, and to build anew often requires a degree of destruction" and "to appreciate what Scientology ethics is all about, it must be understood that good can be considered to be a constructive survival action".[1]
Statistics[edit]
In order to make these ethical decisions that affect others around them, Scientologists are expected to use statistical measurement to assess the "measurement of survival potential". Their official website states "with an understanding of how to compile, graph and compare statistics, the Scientologist is amply equipped to determine exactly what condition an activity is in, and thus exactly what steps he must take in order to better that condition." [3]
Hubbard stated that all Scientology organizations need to keep their statistics of production up, and that Ethics action must be brought against the staff member responsible for the particular statistic should it be continually down.

"Example: a typist gets out 500 letters in one week. That's a statistic. If the next week the typist gets out 600 letters that's an UP statistic. If the typist gets out 300 letters that's a DOWN statistic.... the purpose is to keep production (statistics) up."
- L. Ron Hubbard, HCOPL 1 Sep 1965
According to The Scientology Handbook, the Scientology method of statistics can, and should, be applied to individuals, groups, organizations, and any production activities inside and outside Scientology. Hubbard prescribes a very specific method of plotting statistics on graphs, and then for analysis of these graphs in terms of five levels of "Ethics Conditions". The main categories for these conditions are:
Non-existence condition: line on graph steeply or vertically down.
Danger condition: line on graph diagonally down.
Emergency condition: line on graph remains level, or slightly down.
Normal condition: line on graph slightly up.
Affluence condition: line on graph steeply up.
According to the Scientology Handbook, however, the complete set of conditions is as follows (ranged from highest to lowest)[1]:
Power Change
Power
Affluence
Normal Operation
Emergency
Danger
Non-Existence
Liability
Doubt
Enemy
Treason
Confusion
[4]
Ethics protection[edit]
In 1965, Hubbard issued the policy letter HCOPL 1 Sep 1965 (reissued 5 Oct 1985) entitled "Ethics Protection". In it, he states that "Ethics actions are often used to handle down individual statistics. A person who is not doing his job becomes an Ethics target" and goes on to detail how a Scientologist can protect himself from Ethics punishment by being more productive and keeping statistics up:

"In short, a staff member can get away with murder so long as his statistic is up and can't sneeze without a chop if it's down."
If the staff member's production is sufficiently high (as evidenced by an up statistic), the Scientologist gains an immunity to the Ethics process, even if they have openly committed violations:

"When people do start reporting a staff member with a high statistic, what you investigate is the person who turned in the report. In an ancient army a particularly brave deed was recognized by an award of the title of Kha-Khan. It was not a rank. The person remained what he was, BUT he was entitled to be forgiven the death penalty ten times in case in the future he did anything wrong. That was a Kha-Khan. That's what producing, high-statistic staff members are - Kha-Khans. They can get away with murder without a blink from Ethics.... And Ethics must recognize a Kha-Khan when it sees one - and tear up the bad report chits on the person with a yawn." [5]
Punishment[edit]
Main article: Scientology Justice
Researcher Jon Atack has expressed concern that, in the wrong hands, Scientology ethics can be wielded arbitrarily and absurdly, such as in the 1960s when British Saint Hill Scientologists declared a local pie shop "Suppressive" for not carrying apple pie in sufficient quantities to their liking.[6]
Critical analysis[edit]
Professor Stephen A. Kent quotes Hubbard as pronouncing that "the purpose of ethics is to remove counter intentions from the environment. And having accomplished that the purpose becomes to remove other intentionedness from the environment" and "[a]ll ethics is for in actual fact is simply that additional tool necessary to make it possible to get [Scientology] technology in. That's the whole purpose of ethics; to get technology in".
What this translates to, says Kent, is "a peculiar brand of morality that uniquely benefitted [the Church of Scientology] ... In plain English, the purpose of Scientology ethics is to eliminate opponents, then eliminate people's interests in things other than Scientology. In this 'ethical' environment, Scientology would be able to impose its courses, philosophy, and 'justice system' — its so-called technology — onto society."[7]
Notes[edit]
1.^ Jump up to: a b Scientology: Bettering Life with Scientology Ethics
2.Jump up ^ Scientology: Bettering Life with Scientology Ethics
3.Jump up ^ Scientology: Bettering Life with Scientology Ethics
4.Jump up ^ Hubbard, The Scientology Handbook, 1994 hardcover edition, pg.367
5.Jump up ^ Hubbard Communications Office, HCOPL 1 Sep 1965, "Ethics Protection".
6.Jump up ^ Atack, Jon, "A Piece of Blue Sky", Chapter 2.
7.Jump up ^ Stephen A. Kent (September 2003). "Scientology and the European Human Rights Debate: A Reply to Leisa Goodman, J. Gordon Melton, and the European Rehabilitation Project Force Study". Marburg Journal of Religion 8 (1). Retrieved 2006-05-21.
External links[edit]
http://www.scientology.org/faq/scientology-attitudes-and-practices/scientology-system-of-ethics.html
Church of Scientology: Ethics and Morals at DMOZ


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Scientology






































































































































































































  


Categories: Scientology beliefs and practices




Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

Edit

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages

Edit links
This page was last modified on 17 May 2014, at 04:33.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
  

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ethics_(Scientology)







Page semi-protected

Church of Scientology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to:  navigation , search

Church of Scientology
Church of Scientology building in Los Angeles, Fountain Avenue.jpg
Scientology building in Los Angeles, California

Formation
1954[1]
Headquarters
Gold Base
Location
Riverside County, California


Chairman of Religious Technology Center
 David Miscavige
Website
www.scientology.org
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, a new religious movement. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall management and dissemination of Scientology at the international level.[2][3][4] Every Church of Scientology is separately incorporated and has its own local board of directors and executives responsible for its own activities and corporate well-being.[5][6][7] The first Scientology church was incorporated in December 1953 in Camden, New Jersey by L. Ron Hubbard.[8][9] Its international headquarters are located at the Gold Base, located in an unincorporated area of Riverside County, California, the location of which is kept secret from most Scientologists.[10]
The highest authority in the Church of Scientology is in The Church of Scientology International (CSI) and the Religious Technology Center (RTC), whose headquarters are in Los Angeles. CSI "is the mother church and has the mission of propagating the Scientology creed around the world." RTC's main function is to "preserve, maintain, and protect the purity of the Scientology technology in accord with Hubbard's original research and to insure its proper and ethical delivery." The Scientology Missions International is under CSI and RTC and functions as "the central church to Scientology missions worldwide."[11]
Although in some countries it has attained legal recognition as a religion,[12] the church has been the subject of a number of controversies, and has been accused by critics of being both a cult and a commercial enterprise.[13]


Contents  [hide]
1 History
2 Beliefs
3 Headquarters, Bases, and Central Orgs 3.1 Saint Hill, Sussex, England
3.2 Flag Land Base, Clearwater, Florida
3.3 Organizations in Hollywood, California
3.4 Gold Base, Riverside County, California
3.5 Trementina Base
3.6 Freewinds
3.7 Scientology Ideal Orgs
4 Production Facilities 4.1 Golden Era Productions
4.2 International Dissemination and Distribution Center
5 Affiliated organizations 5.1 Sea Org
5.2 Volunteer Ministers
5.3 Religious Technology Center (RTC)
5.4 ABLE
5.5 CCHR
5.6 WISE
6 Celebrities
7 Controversy 7.1 Classification as church or business
7.2 Illegal activities
7.3 Members' health and safety
7.4 Missionary activities
7.5 Legal waivers
8 Membership statistics
9 Finances
10 Government opinions of Scientology 10.1 Australia
10.2 Belgium
10.3 France
10.4 Germany
10.5 Ireland
10.6 Israel
10.7 Netherlands
10.8 Russia
10.9 Spain
10.10 United Kingdom
10.11 United States
11 See also
12 References
13 External links

History



L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology
The first Scientology church was incorporated in December 1953 in Camden, New Jersey by[8][9] L. Ron Hubbard, his wife Mary Sue Hubbard, and John Galusha, although the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International (HASI) had already been operating since 1952[14][15] and Hubbard himself had already been selling Scientology books and technologies. Soon after, he explained the religious nature of Scientology in a bulletin to all Scientologists,[16] stressing its relation to the Dharma. The first Church of Scientology opened in 1954 in Los Angeles.[17]
Hubbard stated, "A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights, are the aims of Scientology."[18]
Hubbard had official control of the organization until 1966 when this function was transferred to a group of executives.[19] Although Hubbard maintained no formal relationship with Scientology's management, he remained firmly in control of the organization and its affiliated organizations.[20]
In May 1987, following Hubbard's death, David Miscavige, one of Hubbard’s former personal assistants and video photographer, assumed the position of Chairman of the Board of the Religious Technology Center (RTC), a non-profit corporation that administers the trademarked names and symbols of Dianetics and Scientology. Although RTC is a separate corporation from the Church of Scientology International, whose president and chief spokesperson is Heber Jentzsch, Miscavige is the effective leader of the movement.[21]
Beliefs
Main articles: Scientology and Scientology beliefs and practices
The Church of Scientology promotes Scientology, a body of beliefs and related practices created by L. Ron Hubbard, starting in 1952 as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics.[22]
Scientology teaches that people are immortal spiritual beings who have forgotten their true nature. The story of Xenu is part of Scientologist teachings about extraterrestrial civilizations and alien interventions in Earthly events, collectively described as space opera by Hubbard.[23] Its method of spiritual rehabilitation is a type of counseling known as "auditing", in which practitioners aim to re-experience consciously painful or traumatic events in their past, in order to free themselves of their limiting effects.[24] Study materials and auditing courses are made available to members in return for specified donations.[25] Scientology is legally recognized as a tax-exempt religion in the United States[26] and other countries,[27][28][29] and the Church of Scientology emphasizes this as proof that it is a bona fide religion.
Scientology describes itself as the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others, and all of life. According to the Encyclopedia of American Religions, it is “concerned with the isolation, description, handling and rehabilitation of the human spirit.”[30] One purpose of Scientology, as stated by the Church of Scientology, is to become certain of one's spiritual existence and one's relationship to God, or the "Supreme Being."[31]
One of the major tenets of Scientology is that a human is an immortal alien spiritual being, termed a thetan, that is presently trapped on planet Earth in a physical "meat body." Hubbard described these thetans in "The Space Opera" cosmogony. The thetan has had innumerable past lives and it is accepted in Scientology that lives preceding the thetan's arrival on Earth lived in extraterrestrial cultures. Descriptions of space opera incidents are seen as true events by Scientologists.[32]
Scientology claims that its practices provide methods by which a person can achieve greater spiritual awareness.[33] Within Scientology, progression from level to level is often called The Bridge to Total Freedom. Scientologists progress from "Preclear", to "Clear", and ultimately "Operating Thetan".
Scientologists are taught that a series of events, or incidents, occurred before life on earth.[32] Scientologists also believe that humans have hidden abilities which can be unlocked.[34][35]
All Scientology churches built after Hubbard's death include a corporate-style office set aside for Hubbard's reincarnation, with a plaque on the desk bearing his name, and a pad of paper with a pen for him to continue writing novels.[36][37]
Headquarters, Bases, and Central Orgs



 Locations of major Scientology centers in the United States and the United Kingdom
 1. Saint Hill Manor 2. Flag Land Base 3. PAC Base 4. Gold Base 5. Trementina Base 6. Flag ship, Freewinds
Scientology organizations and missions exist in many communities around the world.[38] Scientologists call their larger centers orgs, short for "organizations." The major Scientology organization of a region is known as a central org. The legal address of the Church of Scientology International is in Los Angeles, California, 6331 Hollywood Blvd, in the Hollywood Guaranty Building. The Church of Scientology also has several major headquarters, including:
Saint Hill, Sussex, England
Main article: Saint Hill Manor
L. Ron Hubbard moved to England shortly after founding Scientology, where he oversaw its worldwide development from an office in London for most of the 1950s. In 1959, he bought Saint Hill Manor near the Sussex town of East Grinstead, a Georgian manor house formerly owned by the Maharajah of Jaipur. This became the worldwide headquarters of Scientology through the 1960s and 1970s. Hubbard declared Saint Hill to be the organization by which all other organizations would be measured, and he issued a general order (still followed today) for all organizations around the world to expand and reach "Saint Hill size". The Church of Scientology has announced that the next two levels of Scientology teaching, OT 9 and OT 10, will be released and made available to church members when all the major organizations in the world have reached Saint Hill size.
Flag Land Base, Clearwater, Florida
Main article: Fort Harrison Hotel
The "worldwide spiritual headquarters" of the Church of Scientology is known as "Flag Land Base," located in Clearwater, Florida. It is operated by the Floridian corporation Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, Inc..
The organization was founded in the late 1970s when a Scientology-founded group called "Southern Land Development and Leasing Corp" purchased the Fort Harrison Hotel for $2.3 million. Because the reported tenant was the "United Churches of Florida" the citizens and City Council of Clearwater did not realize that the building's owners were actually the Church of Scientology until after the building's purchase. Clearwater citizens' groups, headed by Mayor Gabriel Cazares, rallied strongly against Scientology establishing a base in the city (repeatedly referring to the organization as a cult), but Flag Base was established nonetheless.[39]
In the years since its foundation, Flag Base has expanded as the Church of Scientology has gradually purchased large amounts of additional property in the downtown and waterfront Clearwater area. Scientology's largest project in Clearwater has been the construction of a high-rise complex called the "Super Power Building," Scientology's new Flag Building "is the centerpiece of a 160-million construction campaign."[40]
Scientology leader David Miscavige led the opening and dedication of the 377,000-square-foot Flag Building on November 17, 2013. The multi-million cathedral is the new spiritual headquarters of Scientology. The fifth and sixth floor contain the “Super Power Program”, which includes specially designed machines that Scientologists believe allow users to develop new abilities and experience enlightenment. The building also includes a dining facility, course rooms, offices and small rooms for “auditing” purposes.[41][42][43]
Organizations in Hollywood, California


 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2014)
Los Angeles, California, has the largest concentration of Scientologists and Scientology-related organizations in the world, with the church's most visible presence being in the Hollywood district of the city. The organization owns a former hospital on Fountain Avenue which houses Scientology's West Coast headquarters, the Pacific Area Command Base — often referred to as "PAC Base" or "Big Blue", after its blue paint job. Adjacent buildings include headquarters of several internal Scientology divisions, including the American Saint Hill Organization, the Advanced Organization of Los Angeles, and the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles. All these organizations are integrated within the corporation Church of Scientology Western United States.
The Church of Scientology successfully campaigned to have the city of Los Angeles rename one block of a street running through this complex "L. Ron Hubbard Way." The street has been paved in brick.
Scientology's Celebrity Center International is located on Franklin Avenue, while the Association for Better Living and Education, Author Services and the official headquarters of the Church of Scientology International (in the Hollywood Guaranty Building) are all located on Hollywood Boulevard. The ground floor of the Guaranty Building also features the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition, a museum detailing the life of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard that is open to the general public.
Another museum in the area is the Psychiatry: An Industry of Death, located on Sunset Boulevard, which is operated by the church-affiliated Citizens Commission on Human Rights.
Gold Base, Riverside County, California
Main article: Gold Base
The headquarters of the Religious Technology Center, the entity that oversees Scientology operations worldwide, is located in unincorporated Riverside County, California, near Gilman Hot Springs and north of Hemet. The facility, known as Gold Base or "Int", is owned by Golden Era Productions and is the home of Scientology's media production studio, Golden Era Studios. Several Scientology executives, including David Miscavige, live and work at the base.[44] Therefore Gold Base is Scientology's international administrative headquarters.[45][46][47][48]
The Church of Scientology bought a former resort, which had been popular with Hollywood figures, in 1978; the resort became Gold Base.[49] The facilities at Gold Base have been toured by journalists several times. They are surrounded by floodlights and video observation cameras,[44][50][51][52] and the compound is protected by razor wire.[53] Gold Base also has recreational facilities, including basketball, volleyball, and soccer facilities, an exercise building, a waterslide, a small lake with two beaches, and a golf course.[54]
Trementina Base
Main article: Trementina Base
The Church of Scientology maintains a large base on the outskirts of Trementina, New Mexico, for the purpose of storing their archiving project: engraving Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's writings on stainless steel tablets and encasing them in titanium capsules underground. An aerial photograph showing the base's enormous Church of Spiritual Technology symbols on the ground caused media interest and a local TV station broke the story in November 2005. According to a Washington Post report, the organization unsuccessfully attempted to coerce the station not to air the story.[55]
Freewinds
Main article: Freewinds
The cruise ship Freewinds was the only place the highest level of Scientology training (OT VIII) was offered. It cruised the Caribbean Sea, under the auspices of the Flag Ship Service Organization. The Freewinds was also used for other courses and auditing for those willing to spend extra money to get services on the ship. In April 2008, the Freewinds was sealed, and work stopped on refurbishments, due to "extensive contamination" with blue asbestos.[56]
Scientology Ideal Orgs
Since 2003, twenty-nine new churches or "Ideal Orgs" as referred to by the church, have been constructed, which are new or revamped buildings that the church has acquired and converted. The church states that the Ideal Orgs "realize the fulfillment of Founder L. Ron Hubbard's vision for the religion and its churches."[57] The Church of Scientology has continued to buy hotels and church buildings, a total of 62 in all in the past five years,[58] under the leadership of the church’s ecclesiastical leader, David Miscavige.[59] Some of the most notable Ideal Org openings are: Johannesburg, South Africa, which was opened on November 2, 2003 and expanded and rededicated on August 3, 2011;[60] Rome, Italy; Malmo, Sweden; Dallas, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; Washington D.C.[58] Phoenix, Arizona,[61] Inglewood, California,[57] and Santa Ana, California.[62] Other locations where Ideal Orgs have opened are Florence, Kentucky; Clearwater, Florida; Sacramento, California; Melbourne, Australia; Mexico City, London, Quebec, and Seattle, Washington.[63]
Production Facilities
Golden Era Productions
The Golden Era Productions located in the Hollywood Guaranty Building is a Scientology production facility that produces promotional materials for the Church of Scientology, as well as lectures, training films and other materials related to the works of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.[64]
International Dissemination and Distribution Center
Occupying 185,000 square feet, the dissemination center "prints Church magazines in 15 languages."[65] Some of the capabilities of the center is to "address, sort and seal 150,000 pieces in an 8 hour shift that is hard-wired directly into the US Postal Service, with a postal representative on site [and] package ship 500,000 items per week."[66]
Affiliated organizations
There are many independently chartered organizations and groups which are staffed by Scientologists, and pay license fees for the use of Scientology technology and trademarks under the control of Scientology management. In some cases, these organizations do not publicize their affiliation with Scientology.[67][68]
The Church of Scientology denies the legitimacy of any splinter groups and factions outside the official organization, and has tried to prevent independent Scientologists from using officially trademarked Scientology materials. Independent Scientologists, also known collectively as the "Free Zone" are referred to as squirrels within the Church. They are also classified by the Church of Scientology as suppressive persons ("SPs")—opponents or enemies of Scientology.
In 2010, an exception to the rule was made specifically for the Nation of Islam, which is the only officially sanctioned external Dianetics organization and the first official non-Scientology Dianetics org since 1953. Minister Louis Farrakhan publicly announced his embracement of Dianetics, and has been actively promoting Dianetics, while stating he has not become a Scientologist. He has courted a relationship with the Church, and materials and certifications are still required to be purchased from the Church of Scientology, and are not independently produced.[69][70][71]
Sea Org
Main article: Sea Org
The Sea Organization (often simply referred to as the "Sea Org") is an unincorporated fraternal religious order founded in 1967 by L. Ron Hubbard, as he embarked on a series of voyages around the Mediterranean Sea in a small fleet of ships entirely staffed by Scientologists. Hubbard—formerly a lieutenant junior grade in the US Navy—bestowed the rank of "Commodore" of the vessels upon himself. The crew who accompanied him on these voyages became the foundation of the Sea Org.
The Sea Org is described by the church as forming an elite group of the most dedicated Scientologists, who are entrusted with the international management of Scientology and upper level churches such as the Advanced Organization Los Angeles, American Saint Hill Organization, Flag Service Organization and Celebrity Center International.
Scientologists who are qualified to do so are often encouraged to join the Sea Org, which involves a lifetime commitment to Scientology organizations in exchange for room and board, training and auditing, and a small weekly allowance. Members sign an agreement pledging their loyalty and allegiance to Scientology for "the next billion years," committing their future lifetimes to the Sea Org. The Sea Org's motto is "Revenimus" (or "We Come Back").
Critics of Scientology have spoken out against the disciplinary procedures and policies of the Sea Org, which have been a source of controversy since its inception and variously described as abusive and illegal. Former Sea Org members have stated that punishments in the late 1960s and early 1970s included confinement in hazardous conditions such as the ship's chain locker.[72]
In 1974, Hubbard established the Rehabilitation Project Force (or RPF) as a subunit of the Sea Org, in order to provide a "second chance" to members whose offenses were considered severe enough to warrant expulsion. RPF members are paired up and help one another for five hours each day with spiritual counseling to resolve the issues for which they were assigned to the program. They also spend 8 hours per day doing physical labor that will benefit the church facility where they are located. On verification of their having completed the program they are then given a Sea Org job again.[73]
Volunteer Ministers


 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2014)
Main article: Volunteer Ministers
The Church of Scientology began its "Volunteer Ministers" program as a way to participate in community outreach projects. Over the past several years, it has become a common practice for Volunteer Ministers to travel to the scenes of major disasters in order to provide assistance with relief efforts. According to critics, these relief efforts consist of passing out copies of a pamphlet authored by L. Ron Hubbard entitled The Way to Happiness, and engaging in a method said to calm panicked or injured individuals known in Scientology as a "touch assist."
Religious Technology Center (RTC)


 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2014)
Main article: Religious Technology Center
Around 1982 all of the Hubbard's intellectual property was transferred to a newly formed entity called the Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) and then licensed to the Religious Technology Center (RTC) which, according to its own publicity, exists to safeguard and control the use of the Church of Scientology's copyrights and trademarks.
The RTC employs lawyers and has pursued individuals and groups who have legally attacked Scientology or who are deemed to be a legal threat to Scientology. This has included breakaway Scientologists who practice Scientology outside the central church and critics, as well as numerous government and media organizations. This has helped to maintain Scientology's reputation for litigiousness (see Scientology and the legal system).
ABLE
Main article: Association for Better Living and Education
Founded in 1989, the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE) is an umbrella organization that administers six of Scientology's social programs:
Applied Scholastics, educational programs based on Hubbard's "Study Tech."
Criminon prisoner rehabilitation programs.
International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance, which has a particular interest in religious freedom.
Narconon drug rehabilitation centers.
The Way to Happiness Foundation, dedicated to disseminating Hubbard's non-religious moral code.
Youth for Human Rights International, the youth branch of the above.
CCHR
Main article: Citizens Commission on Human Rights
The Citizens' Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), co-founded with Thomas Szasz in 1969, is an activist group dedicated to classifying psychiatric treatments as human rights violations and furthering the Scientology doctrinal opposition to mainstream psychiatric therapies.
WISE
Main article: World Institute of Scientology Enterprises
Many other Scientologist-run businesses and organizations belong to the umbrella organization World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE), which licenses the use of Hubbard's management doctrines, and circulates directories of WISE-affiliated businesses. WISE requires those who wish to become Hubbard management consults to complete training in Hubbard's administrative systems; this training can be undertaken at any Church of Scientology, or at one of the campuses of the Hubbard College of Administration, which offers an Associate of Applied Science Degree.
One of the best-known WISE-affiliated businesses is Sterling Management Systems, which offers Hubbard's management "technology" to professionals such as dentists and chiropractors.
Another well-known WISE-affiliated business is e.Republic, a publishing company based in Folsom, California.[74] e.Republic publications include Government Technology and Converge magazines. The Center for Digital Government is a division of e. Republic that was founded in 1999.
Internet ISP EarthLink was founded by Scientologist Sky Dayton as a Scientology enterprise. The company now distances itself from the views of its founder, who has moved on to become CEO of Helio (wireless carrier), formerly known as SK-EarthLink.
Celebrities
See also: Scientology and celebrities and List of Scientologists
In order to facilitate the continued expansion of Scientology, the Church has made efforts to win allies in the form of powerful or respected people.[75]
Controversy
Main article: Scientology controversies


 The following text needs to be harmonized with text in Scientology controversies.

Though it has attained some credibility as a religion in many countries, Scientology has also been described as both a cult and a commercial enterprise.[13] Some of the Church's actions also brought scrutiny from the press and law enforcement. For example, it has been noted to engage in harassment and abuse of civil courts to silence its critics, using fair game policies and procedures against people it perceives as its enemies.[76][77]
In 1979, several Scientology members were convicted for their involvement in the church's Operation Snow White, the largest theft of government documents in U.S. history.[78][79] Scientologists were also convicted of fraud, manslaughter and tampering with witnesses in French cases,[80][81] malicious libel against lawyer Casey Hill and espionage in Canada.[82][83]
In his book World Religions in America, religious scholar Jacob Neusner states that Scientology's "high level of visibility" may be perceived as "threatening to established social institutions".[84]
Classification as church or business
From 1952 until 1966, Scientology was administered by an organization called the Hubbard Association of Scientologists (HAS), established in Arizona on September 10, 1952. In 1954, the HAS became the HASI (HAS International). The Church of Scientology was incorporated in California on February 18, 1954, changing its name to "The Church of Scientology of California" (CSC) in 1956. In 1966, Hubbard transferred all HASI assets to CSC, thus gathering Scientology under one tax-exempt roof. In 1967, the IRS stripped all US-based Scientology entities of their tax exemption, declaring Scientology's activities were commercial and operated for the benefit of Hubbard. The church sued and lost repeatedly for 26 years trying to regain its tax-exempt status. The case was eventually settled in 1993, at which time the church paid $12.5 million to the IRS—greatly less than IRS had initially demanded—and the IRS recognized the church as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.[85] In addition, Scientology also dropped more than fifty lawsuits against the IRS when this settlement was reached. Scientology cites its tax exemption as proof the United States government accepts it as a religion.[86] In January 2009, removal of the tax exemption was rated as number 9 in items for the incoming Barack Obama administration to investigate, as determined in an internet poll run by the presidential transition team soliciting public input for the incoming administration.[87] The U.S. State Department has criticized Western European nations for discrimination against Scientologists in its published annual International Religious Freedom report, based on the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.[88][89][90]
In some countries Scientology is treated legally as a commercial enterprise, and not as a religion or charitable organization.[citation needed] In early 2003, in Germany, The Church of Scientology was granted a tax-exemption for the 10% license fees sent to the US. This exemption, however, is related to a German-American double-taxation agreement, and is unrelated to tax-exemption in the context of charities law. In several countries, public proselytizing undergoes the same restrictions as commercial advertising,[citation needed] which is interpreted as persecution by Scientology.
Although the religious nature of Scientology has been questioned both in the United States and around the world, Scientology has been acknowledged as a new religion as manifested in the Church's court victories and the gain of religious rights and privileges that are exclusive to legally established religious bodies.[91]
Unlike many well-established religious organizations, Scientology maintains strict control over its names, symbols, religious works and other writings. The word Scientology (and many related terms, including L. Ron Hubbard) is a registered trademark. Religious Technology Center, the owner of the trademarks and copyrights, takes a hard line on people and groups who attempt to use it in ways unaffiliated with the official Church (see Scientology and the legal system).
Illegal activities
Main articles: Operation Snow White, Operation Freakout, Scientology controversies and Fair game (Scientology)
Under the Guardian's Office (now renamed the Office of Special Affairs or OSA), Church members organized and committed the largest penetration of United States federal agencies ever perpetrated by an organization not affiliated with a foreign government (that is, one such as the KGB). This was known as Operation Snow White. In the trial which followed discovery of these activities the prosecution described their actions thus:

The crime committed by these defendants is of a breadth and scope previously unheard of. No building, office, desk, or file was safe from their snooping and prying. No individual or organization was free from their despicable conspiratorial minds. The tools of their trade were miniature transmitters, lock picks, secret codes, forged credentials and any other device they found necessary to carry out their conspiratorial schemes.[92]
The Church has also in the past made use of aggressive tactics in addressing those it sees as trying to suppress them, known as Suppressive Persons (SPs) first outlined by L. Ron Hubbard as part of a policy called fair game. It was under this policy that Paulette Cooper was targeted for having authored The Scandal of Scientology, a 1970 exposé book about the Church and its founder. This action was known as Operation Freakout. Using blank paper known to have been handled by Cooper, Scientologists forged bomb threats in her name.[92] When fingerprints on them matched hers, the Justice Department began prosecution, which could have sent Cooper to prison for a lengthy term. The Church's plan was discovered at the same time as its Operation Snow White actions were revealed. All charges against Cooper were dismissed, though she had spent more than $20,000 on legal fees for her defense.[92]
On January 22, 2013, attorneys for the organization, as well as some of its members, reacted toward the CNN News Group for its airing of a story covering the release of a book published by a former member, entitled 'Going Clear', published earlier the same year. CNN News Group then chose to publish the reactionary correspondence, with confidential information redacted, on its web site.
Of these activities the current Church laments:

...how long a time is the church going to have to continue to pay the price for what the (Guardian Office) did... Unfortunately, the church continues to be confronted with it. And the ironic thing is that the people being confronted with it are the people who wiped it out. And to the church, that's a very frustrating thing.[92]
Yet it has continued to aggressively target people it deems suppressive. In 1998, regarding its announcement that it had hired a private investigator to look into the background of a Boston Herald writer who had written a series on the church, Robert W. Thornburg, dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University, said, "No one I know goes so far as to hire outsiders to harass or try to get intimidating data on critics. Scientology is the only crowd that does that."[93] It has apparently continued as recently as 2010. In 2007 when BBC journalist John Sweeney was making Scientology and Me, an investigative report about the Church and was the subject of harassment:

In LA, the moment our hire car left the airport we realised we were being followed by two cars. In our hotel a weird stranger spent every breakfast listening to us.[94]
Sweeny subsequently made a follow up documentary, The Secrets of Scientology, in 2010 during which he was followed and filmed on multiple occasions and one of his interviewees was followed back to his home.[95]
Members' health and safety
See also: Lisa McPherson and Elli Perkins
Some key activities of the Church of Scientology carry risks for members, and the deaths of some Scientologists have brought attention to the Church both due to the circumstances of their demises and their relationship with Scientology possibly being a factor.[96] In 1995, Lisa McPherson was involved in a minor automobile accident while driving on a Clearwater, Florida street. Following the collision, she exited her vehicle, stripped naked and showed further signs of mental instability, as noted by a nearby ambulance crew that subsequently transported her to a nearby hospital. Hospital staff decided that she had not been injured in the accident, but recommended keeping her overnight for observation. Following intervention by fellow Scientologists, McPherson refused psychiatric observation or admission at the hospital and checked herself out against medical advice after a short evaluation. She was taken to the Fort Harrison Hotel, a Scientology retreat, to receive a Church sanctioned treatment called Introspection Rundown. She had previously received the Introspection Rundown in June of that year. She was locked in a room for 17 days, where she died. Her appearance after death was that of someone who had been denied water and food for quite some time, being both underweight and severely dehydrated. Additionally, her skin was covered with over one hundred insect bites, presumably from cockroaches. The state of Florida pursued criminal charges against the Church. The Church has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and now makes members sign a waiver before Introspection Rundown specifically stating that they (or anyone on their behalf) will not bring any legal action against the organization over injury or death.[97] These charges attracted press coverage and sparked lawsuits. Eight years later, Elli Perkins, another adherent to Scientology's beliefs regarding psychiatry, was stabbed to death by her mentally disturbed son. Though Elli Perkins's son had begun to show symptoms of schizophrenia as early as 2001, the Perkins family chose not to seek psychiatric help for him and opted instead for alternative remedies sanctioned by Scientology. The death of Elli Perkins at the hands of a disturbed family member, one whose disease could have been treated by methods and medications banned by Scientology, again raised questions in the media about the Church's methods.[98]
In addition, the Church has been implicated in kidnapping members who have recently left the church. In 2007, Martine Boublil was kidnapped and held for several weeks against her will in Sardinia by four Scientologists. She was found on January 22, 2008, clothed only in a shirt. The room she was imprisoned in contained refuse and an insect infested mattress.[99][100]
On Friday March 28, 2008, Kaja Bordevich Ballo, daughter of Olav Gunnar Ballo, Norwegian parliament member and vice president of the Norwegian Odelsting, took a Church of Scientology personality test while studying in Nice. Her friends and co-inhabitants claim she was in good spirits and showed no signs of a mental breakdown, but the report from the Church of Scientology said she was "depressed, irresponsible, hyper-critical and lacking in harmony". A few hours later she committed suicide by jumping from her balcony at her dorm room leaving a note telling her family she was sorry for not "being good for anything". The incident has brought forward heavy criticism against the Church of Scientology from friends, family and prominent Norwegian politicians.[101] Inga Marte Thorkildsen, parliament member, went as far as to say "Everything points to the scientology cult having played a direct role in making Kaja choose to take her own life".[101]
Missionary activities



 A Scientologist administers a stress test using an e-meter.
Members of the public entering a Scientology center or mission are offered a "free personality test" called the Oxford Capacity Analysis by Scientology literature. The test, despite its name and the claims of Scientology literature, has no connection to Oxford University or any other research body. Scientific research into three test results came to the conclusion that "we are forced to a position of skepticism about the test's status as a reliable psychometric device" and called its scientific value "negligible".[102]
Further proselytization practices - commonly called "dissemination" of Scientology[103] - include information booths, flyers and advertisement for free seminars, Sunday Services in regular newspapers and magazines, personal contacts[104][105] and sales of books.[106]
Legal waivers
See also: Introspection Rundown
Recent legal actions involving Scientology's relationship with its members (see Scientology controversy) have caused the organization to publish extensive legal documents that cover the rights granted to followers. It has become standard practice within the organization for members to sign lengthy legal contracts and waivers before engaging in Scientology services, a practice that contrasts greatly with almost every mainstream religious organization. In 2003, a series of media reports examined the legal contracts required by Scientology, which state, among other things, that followers deny any psychiatric care their doctors may prescribe to them.[107]

I do not believe in or subscribe to psychiatric labels for individuals. It is my strongly held religious belief that all mental problems are spiritual in nature and that there is no such thing as a mentally incompetent person—only those suffering from spiritual upset of one kind or another dramatized by an individual. I reject all psychiatric labels and intend for this Contract to clearly memorialize my desire to be helped exclusively through religious, spiritual means and not through any form of psychiatric treatment, specifically including involuntary commitment based on so-called lack of competence. Under no circumstances, at any time, do I wish to be denied my right to care from members of my religion to the exclusion of psychiatric care or psychiatric directed care, regardless of what any psychiatrist, medical person, designated member of the state or family member may assert supposedly on my behalf.
Membership statistics
It is difficult to obtain reliable membership statistics. The International Association of Scientologists (IAS), the official Church membership system since 1984, has never released figures. Church spokespersons either give numbers for their countries or a worldwide figure.[108] Some national censuses have recently included questions about religious affiliations, though the United States Census Bureau states that it is not the source for information on religion.[109]
In 2007, the German national magazine Der Spiegel reported about 8 million members worldwide, about 6000 of them in Germany, with only 150-200 members in Berlin.[110] In 1993, a spokesperson of Scientology Frankfurt had mentioned slightly more than 30,000 members nationwide.[111]
The organization has said that it has anywhere from eight million to fifteen million members worldwide.[112][113][114][115][116] Derek Davis[117] stated in 2004 that the Church organization has around 15 million members worldwide.[118] Religious scholar J. Gordon Melton has said that the church's estimates of its membership numbers are exaggerated: "You're talking about anyone who ever bought a Scientology book or took a basic course. Ninety-nine percent of them don't ever darken the door of the church again." Melton has stated that If the claimed figure of 4 million American Scientologists were correct, "they would be like the Lutherans and would show up on a national survey".[119]
The "Scientologists Online" website presents "over 16,000 Scientologists On-Line".[120]
Statistics from other sources:
In 2001, the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) reported that there were 55,000 adults in the United States who consider themselves Scientologists.[121] A 2008 survey of American religious affiliations by the US Census Bureau estimated there to be 25,000 Americans identifying as Scientologists.[122][123]
The 2001 United Kingdom census contained a voluntary question on religion, to which approximately 48,000,000 chose to respond. Of those living in England and Wales who responded, a total of 1,781 said they were Scientologists.[124]
In 2001, Statistics Canada, the national census agency, reported a total of 1,525 Scientologists nationwide,[124] up from 1,220 in 1991.[125] In 2011 census the number of scientologist raised to 1,745.[126]
In 2005, the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution estimated a total of 5,000 – 6,000 Scientologists in that country, and mentioned a count of 12,000 according to Scientology Germany.[127]
In the 2006 New Zealand census, 357 people identified themselves as Scientologists, although a Church spokesperson estimated there were between 5,000 and 6,000 Scientologists in the country.[128] Earlier census figures were 207 in the 1991 census, 219 in 1996, and 282 in 2001.[124]
In 2006, Australia's national census recorded 2,507 Scientologists nationwide, up from 1,488 in 1996, and 2,032 in 2001.[124][129] The 2011 census however found a decrease of 13.7 per cent from the 2006 census.[130]
In 2011 support for Scientology in Switzerland was said to have experience a steady decline from 3,000 registered members in 1990 to 1,000 members and the organisation was said to be facing extinction in the country. A Church of Scientology spokeswoman rejected the figures insisting that the organisation had 5,000 “passive and active members in Switzerland.”[131]
Finances
The Church of Scientology and its large network of corporations, non-profits and other legal entities are estimated to make around 500 million US dollars in annual revenue.[132]
Scientologists can attend classes, exercises or counseling sessions for a set range of "fixed donations"; however, membership without courses or auditing is possible. According to a sociological report entitled "Scientology: To Be Perfectly Clear", progression between levels above "clear" status cost $15,760.03 in 1980 (without including additional special treatments).[133] Scientologists can choose to be audited by a fellow Scientologist rather than by a staff member.[134]
Critics say it is improper to fix a donation for religious service; therefore the activity is non-religious. Scientology points out many classes, exercises and counseling may also be traded for "in kind" or performed cooperatively by students for no cost, and members of its most devoted orders can make use of services without any donations bar that of their time. A central tenet of Scientology is its Doctrine of Exchange, which dictates that each time a person receives something, he or she must give something back. By doing so, a Scientologist maintains "inflow" and "outflow", avoiding spiritual decline.[135]
Government opinions of Scientology
Main article: Scientology as a state-recognized religion
While a number of governments now give the Church of Scientology protections and tax relief as an officially recognized religion,[136][137][138] other sources describe the Church as a pseudoreligion or a cult.[139] Sociologist Stephen Kent published at a Lutheran convention in Germany that he likes to call it a transnational corporation.[140]
Early official reports in countries such as the United Kingdom (1971), South Africa (1972), Australia (1965) and New Zealand (1969) have yielded unfavorable observations and conclusions.[141][142][143][144]
Australia
Main article: Scientology in Australia
There is currently no legal restriction in Australia on the practice of Scientology. In 1983 the High Court of Australia dealt with the question whether the Church of Scientology is a religious institution and as such not subject to payroll tax. The Court unanimously confirmed the Church of Scientology to be a religious institution.[145]
On November 18, 2009 the Church came under fire from an Independent senator in the Commonwealth Parliament, Nick Xenophon. Under parliamentary privilege in the Senate, Xenophon declared that the Church of Scientology is a criminal organisation.[146]
Belgium
Main article: Scientology in Belgium
In September 2007, a Belgian prosecutor announced that they had finished an investigation of Scientology and said they would probably bring charges. The church said the prosecutor's public announcement falsely suggested guilt even before a court could hear any of the charges. In December 2012, Belgian officials completed their file on Scientology and brought charges of extortion, illegal medicine, various breaches of privacy, and fraud.[147][148]
France
Main article: Scientology in France
In France, a parliamentary report classified Scientology as a dangerous cult.[149] On November 22, 1996, the leader of the Lyons Church of Scientology, Jean-Jacques Mazier, was convicted of fraud and involuntary homicide and sentenced to eighteen months in prison for his role in the death of a member who committed suicide after going deeply into debt to pay for Scientology auditing sessions. Fourteen others were convicted of fraud as well.[150] In 2009, members of the church were sued for fraud and practicing pharmacology without a license,[151] and the Church was convicted of fraud in October 2009, being fined €600,000, with additional fines and suspended prison sentences for four officers.[152]
In an interview on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation current affairs radio program The Current with Hana Gartner, former high-ranking Scientology official Mark Rathbun commented that the decision to convict the Church of Scientology of fraud in France would not have a significant impact on the organization.[153] "On the France thing I don't think that's going to have any lasting impact, simply because they got a nine hundred thousand dollar fine I think - which is like chump change to them. They've got literally nearly a billion dollars set aside in a war chest," said Rathbun.[153]
Germany
Main article: Scientology in Germany
In Germany, official views of Scientology are particularly skeptical.[154] In Germany it is seen as a totalitarian anti-democratic organization and is under observation by national security organizations due to, among other reasons, suspicion of violating the human rights of its members granted by the German Constitution,[155] including Hubbard's pessimistic views on democracy vis-à-vis psychiatry and other such features.[156] In December 2007, Germany's interior ministers said that they considered the goals of Church of Scientology to be in conflict with the principles of the nation's constitution and would seek to ban the organization.[157] The plans were quickly criticised as ill-advised.[158] The plans to ban Scientology were finally dropped in November 2008, after German officials found insufficient evidence of illegal activity.[159]
The legal status of the Church of Scientology in Germany is still awaiting resolution; some courts have ruled that it is a business, others have affirmed its religious nature.[160] The German government has affirmed that it does not consider the Church of Scientology to be a religious community.[160]
Ireland
As in most European countries, the Church of Scientology is not officially recognized in Ireland as a charitable organization, but it is free to promote Scientology beliefs.[161] The Irish government has not invited the Church of Scientology to national discussions on secularization by the Religious Council of Ireland. The meetings were attended by Roman Catholic bishops, representatives of the Church of Ireland, Ireland's Chief Rabbi, and Muslim leaders.[162]
Israel
In Israel, according to Israeli professor of psychology Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, "in various organizational forms, Scientology has been active among Israelis for more than thirty years, but those in charge not only never claimed the religion label, but resisted any such suggestion or implication. It has always presented itself as a secular, self-improvement, tax-paying business."[139] Those "organizational forms" include a Scientology Organization in Tel Aviv. Another Israeli Scientology group called "The Way to Happiness" (or "Association for Prosperity and Security in the Middle East") works through local Scientologist members to promote The Way to Happiness.[163] An Israeli CCHR chapter runs campaigns against perceived abuses in psychiatry.[164] Other Scientology campaigns, such as "Youth for Human Rights International" are active as well.[165] There is also an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group that opposes Scientology and other cults or missionary organizations in Israel,[166] Lev L'Achim, whose anti-missionary department in 2001 provided a hotline and other services to warn citizens of Scientology's "many types of front organizations".[167]
Netherlands
On October 17, 2013, a Dutch court ruled that "the Amsterdam arm of Scientology is a charitable organization and exempt from paying taxes."[168] DutchNews.nl reported that the court ruled "The Scientology Church in Amsterdam be treated in the same way as other church and faith-based organisations and allowed to claim tax breaks." The appeal court also ruled that "Scientology's classes don't differ significantly from what other spiritual organizations do, or can do."[168] The court noted "Scientology movement's training programmes are not the same as those offered by commercial companies because people who cannot afford them pay a reduced fee or get them free" and that "the courses are aimed at spiritual and theoretical enlightenment."[169]
Russia
The European Court of Human Rights ruled in April 2007 that Russia's denial to register the Church of Scientology as a religious community was a violation of Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (freedom of assembly and association) read in the light of Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion)".[170] In July 2007, the St. Petersburg City Court closed down that city's Scientology center for violating its charter.[171][172]
Spain
On October 31, 2007, the National Court in Madrid issued a decision recognizing that the National Church of Scientology of Spain should be entered in the Registry of Religious Entities. The administrative tribunal of Madrid's High Court ruled that a 2005 justice ministry decision to scrap the church from the register was "against the law." Responding to a petition filed by the church, the ruling said that no documents had been presented in court to demonstrate it was anything other than a religious entity.[173][174]
United Kingdom
Main article: Scientology in the United Kingdom
The UK government's 1971 official report into Scientology was highly critical,[175] although concluded that it would be unfair to ban the Church outright. The UK government does not classify the Church of Scientology as a religious institution and it is not a registered charity.[124][176] However, in 2000, the Church of Scientology was exempted from UK value added tax on the basis that it is a not-for-profit body.[177]
In December 2013, the UK Supreme Court officially ruled that Scientology is a religion, in response to a 5-year legal battle by Scientologist Louisa Hodkin to marry at the Church of Scientology chapel in central London. With the new ruling, the Registrar General of Births, Marriages and Deaths now recognize weddings performed within Scientology chapels and redefined religion to “not be confined to those with belief in a supreme deity.”[178][179][180][181]
United States
Main article: Scientology in the United States
In 1979 Hubbard's wife, Mary Sue Hubbard, along with ten other highly placed Scientology executives were convicted in United States federal court regarding Operation Snow White, and served time in an American federal prison. Operation Snow White involved infiltration, wiretapping and theft of documents in government offices, most notably those of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
In 1993, however, the United States IRS recognized Scientology as a "non-profit charitable organization," and gave it the same legal protections and favorable tax treatment extended to other non-profit charitable organizations.[182] A New York Times article says that Scientologists paid private investigators to obtain compromising material on the IRS commissioner and blackmailed the IRS into submission.[183]

The following actions will be considered to be a material breach by the Service: ... The issuance of a Regulation, Revenue Ruling or other pronouncement of general applicability providing that fixed donations to a religious organization other than a church of Scientology are fully deductible unless the Service has issued previously or issues contemporaneously a similar pronouncement that provides for consistent and uniform principles for determining the deductibility of fixed donations for all churches including the Church of Scientology.
In a 2001 legal case involving a married couple attempting to obtain the same deduction for charity to a Jewish school, it was stated by Judge Silverman:[184]

An IRS closing agreement cannot overrule Congress and the Supreme Court. If the IRS does, in fact, give preferential treatment to members of the Church of Scientology—allowing them a special right to claim deductions that are contrary to law and rightly disallowed to everybody else—then the proper course of action is a lawsuit to put a stop to that policy.
To date (2008) such a suit is not known to have been filed. In further appeal in 2006, the US Tax Court again rejected couple's deduction, stating:

We conclude that the agreement reached between the Internal Revenue Service and the Church of Scientology in 1993 does not affect the result in this case.[185]
However, this matter is still ongoing. On February 8, 2008, three judges in the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals "expressed deep skepticism" over the IRS's position that treatment of Scientology is "irrelevant to the deductions the Orthodox Jews, Michael and Marla Sklar, took for part of their children's day school tuition and for after-school classes in Jewish law".[186]
See also

Portal icon Scientology portal
alt.religion.scientology
Clearwater Hearings
Exscientologykids.com
Foundation for a Drug-Free World
Fraser Mansion
Hill v. Church of Scientology of Toronto
List of groups referred to as cults in government documents
List of religious organizations
List of Scientologists
List of Scientology organizations
Original Founding Church of Scientology
Project Chanology
Scientology and the legal system
Scientology and the Internet
Scientology beliefs and practices
Scientology controversies
Scientology in popular culture
Timeline of Scientology
References
1.Jump up ^ "ABC News: Scientology 101". USA: ABC. 1950-05-09. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
2.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon (Sep 2000). The Church of Scientology (Studies in Contemporary Religions, 1). Signature Books in cooperation with CESNUR. "Since 1981, all of the churches and organizations of the church have been brought together under the Church of Scientology International. CSI provides a visible point of unity and guides the individual churches, especially in the area of applying Hubbard's teaching and technology in a uniform fashion."
3.Jump up ^ "At the top of the structure is the Church of Scientology International (CSI), the mother church for all Scientology. Located in Los Angeles, CSI provides overall direction, planning and guidance for the network of churches, missions, field auditors and volunteer ministers which comprise the Scientology hierarchy it spans, and ensures these various organizations are all working effectively together." What is Scientology? Published 1998 Bridge Publications ISBN 978-1-57318-122-8 http://www.whatisscientology.org
4.Jump up ^ "description of the Scientology ecclesiastical structure on www.rtc.org". Rtc.org. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
5.Jump up ^ The Church of Scientology (Studies in Contemporary Religions, 1) By J. Gordon Melton Publisher: Signature Books in cooperation with CESNUR published September 2000 ISBN 978-1-56085-139-4 "The various missions, churches, and organizations, all autonomous corporations which fellowship with the larger movement, receive licenses to use the church's trademarks, service marks, and copyrights of Hubbard's published and unpublished works from RTC."
6.Jump up ^ "Each church corporation is organized on a nonprofit basis with its own board of directors and executives responsible for its activities. What is Scientology? Published 1998 Bridge Publications ISBN 978-1-57318-122-8 http://www.whatisscientology.org
7.Jump up ^ "description of the individual Scientology churches on www.rtc.org". Rtc.org. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
8.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, Jon (1990). A Piece of Blue Sky. New York, NY: Carol Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8184-0499-3.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Hubbard, L. Ron. "Pulpateer". Church of Scientology International. Retrieved 2006-06-07.
10.Jump up ^ Janet Reitman Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion, p. 318, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011 ISBN 0547549237, 9780547549231
11.Jump up ^ Flinn, Frank K. (2003). "Scientology". In Karen Christensen, and David Levinson. Encyclopedia of Community: From the Village to the Virtual World. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. pp. 1209–11.
12.Jump up ^ Weird, Sure. A Cult, No. Washington Post By Mark Oppenheimer, August 5, 2007
13.^ Jump up to: a b The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power TIME magazine, May. 06, 1991 by Richard Behar. The investigation paints a picture of a depraved yet thriving enterprise.
14.Jump up ^ "Scientology Chronicle 1952-1955". Lronhubbard.org. 2011-11-07. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
15.Jump up ^ Remember Venus?, Time, December 22, 1952
16.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron (1954) Why Doctor of Divinity? Professional Auditor's Bulletin no. 32, August 7, 1954
17.Jump up ^ "ABC News Scientology 101". USA: ABC. 2006-08-23. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
18.Jump up ^ ""Aims of Scientology by L. Ron Hubbard" at official site". Scientology.org. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
19.Jump up ^ "Meddling with Minds". TIME Magazine. 1968-08-23. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
20.Jump up ^ Marshall, John (1980-01-24). "Hubbard still gave orders, records show". Globe and Mail (Canada).
21.Jump up ^ Tapper, James (2008-01-07). "Diana author names Tom Cruise as 'World Number Two in Scientology'". Daily Mail (London). "Elliot Abelson, general counsel for the Church of Scientology, said ... 'The only person who runs the Church and makes policy decisions is David Miscavige.'"
22.Jump up ^ "Remember Venus?". Time Magazine. 1952-12-22. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
23.Jump up ^ Neusner 2003, p. 227
24.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 28
25.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 59–60
26.Jump up ^ Finkelman, Paul (2006). Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties. CRC Press. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-415-94342-0. "Scientology has achieved full legal recognition as a religious denomination in the United States."
27.Jump up ^ Davis, Derek H. (2004). "The Church of Scientology: In Pursuit of Legal Recognition" (PDF). Zeitdiagnosen: Religion and Conformity. Münster, Germany: Lit Verlag. Retrieved 2008-05-10. "Many countries, including the United States, now give official recognition to Scientology as a religion [...]"
28.Jump up ^ Lucy Morgan (March 29, 1999). "Abroad: Critics public and private keep pressure on Scientology". St. Petersburg Times. "In the United States, Scientology gained status as a tax-exempt religion in 1993 when the Internal Revenue Service agreed to end a long legal battle over the group's right to the exemption."
29.Jump up ^ Toomey, Shamus (June 26, 2005). "'TomKat' casts spotlight back on Scientology.", Chicago Sun-Times
30.Jump up ^ "Other Psychic New Age Groups." Encyclopedia of American Religions. Ed. J. Gordon Melton. 7th ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 811-840. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 17 Dec. 2013.
31.Jump up ^ Black, Alan W. (January 24, 1996). "Is Scientology A Religion?". Church of Scientology.
32.^ Jump up to: a b "Scientology: L. Ron Hubbard's "space opera" material, l ron hubbard, marcab confederacy". En.allexperts.com. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
33.Jump up ^ "Scientology.org - Introduction to Scientology". Church of Scientology.
34.Jump up ^ "Road To Total Freedom". Panorama. BBC. 1987-04-27.
35.Jump up ^ Farley, Robert (2006-05-06). "Scientology nearly ready to unveil Super Power". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
36.Jump up ^ Boyd, Joe (4 January 1997). "A Mind-bending experience". The Guardian.
37.Jump up ^ Wright, Lawrence. Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief. 2013. Print.
38.Jump up ^ "Scientology Missions International Homepage". Smi.org. 2010-11-28. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
39.Jump up ^ Charles L. Stafford; Bette Orsini (1980-01-09). "Scientology: An in-depth profile of a new force in Clearwater" (PDF, 905K). St. Petersburg Times. Original (18M)
40.Jump up ^ Farley, Robert (2004-07-18). "Scientology's town Series: Scientology's town: A two-part special report". St. Petersburg Times (South Pinellas ed.).
41.Jump up ^ "Church of Scientology Dedicates $145 Million ‘Super Power’ Building". Retrieved 2013-11-19.
42.Jump up ^ "Tom Cruise Attends Unveiling of Scientology 'Super Power' Building". The Hollywood Reporter. November 18, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
43.Jump up ^ "Celebrities on hand to open Scientology 'cathedral'". Retrieved 2013-11-19.
44.^ Jump up to: a b "Tom Cruise and Scientology", Los Angeles Times, December 18, 2005: "voter registration records list the Gilman Hot Springs complex as Miscavige's residence since the early 1990s and as recently as the 2004 general election"
45.Jump up ^ "Rural Studio is Scientology Headquarters." San Jose Mercury News. August 13, 1991. 6B California News. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
46.Jump up ^ Kelly, David. "Scientology foes blast new Riverside County law." Los Angeles Times. January 10, 2009. 1. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
47.Jump up ^ Glick, Julia. "County ordinance raises questions about Scientology." The Press-Enterprise. Tuesday January 6, 2009. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
48.Jump up ^ McGavin, Gregor. "Scientologists' presence in Inland area dates back to 1960s." The Press-Enterprise. Tuesday January 15, 2008. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
49.Jump up ^ McGavin, Gregor. "Scientologists' presence in Inland area dates back to 1960s." The Press-Enterprise. Tuesday January 15, 2008. Retrieved on October 9, 2009.
50.Jump up ^ "Inside Scientology" by Janet Reitman. Rolling Stone, Issue 995. March 9, 2006. Pages 55 - 67.
51.Jump up ^ Tobin, Thomas C (1998-10-25). "A place called 'Gold'". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
52.Jump up ^ Perry, Rebecca; Kelsen, Don (2005-12-17). "Scientology's inland empire" (PDF). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
53.Jump up ^ holland, Gale (2001-06-20). "Unfair Game". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
54.Jump up ^ Hoffman, Claire; Christensen, Kim (2005-12-18). "Tom Cruise and Scientology". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-01-24.
55.Jump up ^ View all comments that have been posted about this article. (2005-11-26). "''A Place in the Desert for New Mexico's Most Exclusive Circles,'' By Richard Leiby Washington Post Staff Writer Date: Sunday, November 27, 2005". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
56.Jump up ^ M2 PressWIRE. "Curacao Dry dock Company: Scientology's Cruise Ship Sealed Due To Asbestos Danger". Insurance News Net. insurancenewsnet.com. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
57.^ Jump up to: a b http://la.curbed.com/archives/2011/10/scientology_opening_up_big_ideal_org_in_inglewood.php
58.^ Jump up to: a b http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2011277347_scientology07.html
59.Jump up ^ Miller, Daniel. "Scientology's Hollywood Real Estate Empire". The Hollywood Reporter.
60.Jump up ^ http://www.tampabay.com/news/scientology/church-of-scientology-responds-to-times-series-about-fbi-investigation/1270644
61.Jump up ^ http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2012/06/scientology_opens_phoenix_idea.php
62.Jump up ^ http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2012/05/scientology_set_to_open_orange_county_ideal_org_santa_ana.php
63.Jump up ^ http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/02/scientology_ideal_org_secret.php
64.Jump up ^ http://hollywood.patch.com/listings/golden-era-productions
65.Jump up ^ http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlla/church-of-scientology-los-angeles-printing-facility_b21368
66.Jump up ^ http://www.goddiscussion.com/40139/scientologys-new-international-dissemination-and-distribution-printing-center/
67.Jump up ^ "Unwitting highschoolers lured to forum by Scientologists". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2007-03-27. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
68.Jump up ^ McEwen, Alan (2004-03-18). "Scientology-link group is banned". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
69.Jump up ^ Mohammed, Asahed (February 28, 2013). "Nation of Islam Auditors graduation held for third Saviours’ Day in a row". Final Call. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
70.Jump up ^ Gray, Eliza (October 5, 2012). "The Mothership of All Alliances". The New Republic. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
71.Jump up ^ Rossetter, Shelley; Tobin, Thomas C. (October 18, 2012). "Louis Farrakhan renews call for self-determination among Nation of Islam followers". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
72.Jump up ^ Wakefield, Margery. Understanding Scientology, Chapter 9. Reproduced at David S. Touretzky's Carnegie Mellon site.
73.Jump up ^ moreorless. "The Church of Scientology’s Rehabilitation Project Force A Study by Juha Pentikäinen (Chair of the Department of the Study of Religions, University of Helsinki, Finland), Jurgen F.K. Redhardt, and Michael York (Bath Spa University College)". Cesnur.org. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
74.Jump up ^ "Scientology Inc." at Newsreview.com
75.Jump up ^ Joel Sappell and Robert W. Welkos, Times Staff Writers, Courting the Power Brokers The Los Angeles Times, June 27, 1990
76.Jump up ^ Leiby, Richard (1994-12-25). "Scientology Fiction: The Church's War Against Its Critics—and Truth". The Washington Post. p. C1. Retrieved 2006-06-21.
77.Jump up ^ Goodin, Dan (1999-06-03). "Scientology subpoenas Worldnet". CNET News.com. Retrieved 2006-05-04.
78.Jump up ^ Ortega, Tony (1999-12-23). "Double Crossed". Phoenix New Times. Village Voice Media. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
79.Jump up ^ Welkos, Robert W.; Sappell, Joel (1990-06-24). "Burglaries and Lies Paved a Path to Prison". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
80.Jump up ^ Whitney, Craig R. (1996-11-23). "French Scientologist Sentenced After Church Member's Suicide - New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
81.Jump up ^ Erlanger, Steven (2009-10-27). "French Branch of Scientology Convicted of Fraud". The New York Times (France). Retrieved 2011-11-22.
82.Jump up ^ http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/1995/1995rcs2-1130/1995rcs2-1130.html
83.Jump up ^ [Claridge, Thomas (September 12, 1992). "Church of Scientology fined $250,000 for espionage". Globe and Mail.]
84.Jump up ^ Neusner, Jacob (2003). World Religions in America. Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 221–236. ISBN 0-664-22475-X.
85.Jump up ^ "The Wall Street Journal. December 30, 1997 Reproduced at Dave Touretzky's Carnegie Mellon site
86.Jump up ^ "Official Recognition of Scientology as a Religion". "... the United States Internal Revenue Service in granting full religious recognition and tax exemption to all Churches of Scientology located in the United States ..."
87.Jump up ^ Dan McSwain: The Obama-Biden Transition Team (January 20, 2009). "The Citizen’s Briefing Book". Change.gov. Archived from the original on 2009-01-20.
88.Jump up ^ "2001 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-11-22.
89.Jump up ^ "2002 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom". State.gov. 2007-03-12. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
90.Jump up ^ "2003 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom". State.gov. 2007-03-12. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
91.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon (2003). "Other Psychic New Age Groups". Encyclopedia of American Religions (7th edition ed.). Detroit: Gale.
92.^ Jump up to: a b c d Burglaries and Lies Paved a Path to Prison The LA Times, By Robert W. Welkos and Joel Sappell, June 24, 1990
93.Jump up ^ McLaughlin, Jim; Andrew Gully (1998-02-19). "Church of Scientology probes Herald reporter". Boston Herald. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
94.Jump up ^ Sweeney, John (2007-05-14). "Row over Scientology video". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
95.Jump up ^ "Reporter John Sweeney followed on Scientology story". BBC Panorama (BBC). September 27, 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
96.Jump up ^ The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power TIME magazine, May. 06, 1991 By Richard Behar. By all appearances, Noah Lottick of Kingston, Pa., had been a normal, happy 24-year-old who was looking for his place in the world... his fingers were still clutching $171 in cash, virtually the only money he hadn't yet turned over to the Church of Scientology, the self-help "philosophy" group he had discovered just seven months earlier.
97.Jump up ^ Frantz, Douglas (November 14, 1998). "Florida Charges Scientology In Church Member's Death". New York Times. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
98.Jump up ^ Stasi, Linda (October 27, 2006). "Scientology Schizo: His Mom's Religion Said, No Meds. That Edict May Have Cost Her Life". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2007-02-10. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
99.Jump up ^ "French Scientologists Arrested in Italy". dalje.com.
100.Jump up ^ Juliet, Anne-Cécile. "L’étrange séquestration qui embarrasse la Scientologie". Bellaciao.org. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
101.^ Jump up to: a b ""Ville vært i live i dag hvis hun ikke hadde gått til scientologene" - Innenriks - Dagbladet.no". FR: Dagbladet.no<!. 2008-04-15. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
102.Jump up ^ The Foster Report. Chapter 5, "The Practices of Scientology;" section (a), "Recruitment;" pages 75-76. "... a systematic approach to answering the questions should yield systematic variations in the conclusions derived from an analysis of the test scores ... these two methods [for answering the questions of the test] would be expected to produce different, if not complementary, profiles ... These variations in answering the questions did not seem to affect the Oxford Capacity Analysis as the three methods produced remarkably similar profiles ... when each of two diametrically opposed methods of response produces the same extreme deviant scores as the other and as a third "random" response style, we are forced to a position of scepticism about the test's status as a reliable psychometric device."
103.Jump up ^ "The Seven-Division Org Board". What is Scientology. Archived from the original on 2013-06-21.
104.Jump up ^ Dissemination by Churches of Scientology through "Field Staff Members", "Field Staff Member: a Scientology parishioner who introduces others to Scientology through personal contact."
105.Jump up ^ Official Scientology FAQ: "There are thousands of Scientologists who work full time in churches and missions throughout the world as executives or administrative staff. There are also those who further the dissemination of Scientology on a one-to-one basis or through the dissemination of Scientology materials and books, those who hold jobs in the Church’s social reform groups and those who work in the Office of Special Affairs involved in community betterment or legal work. All of these provide rewarding careers as each forwards the expansion of Scientology and thereby makes it possible for more and more people to benefit from its technology."
106.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon (May 10, 1981). "A Short Study of the Scientology Religion". Church of Scientology. "The Church regularly propagates its beliefs through the traditional channels of liturgy, dissemination of its religious publications and in its community programs."
107.Jump up ^ Reproduced version of Introspection Rundown Release Contract
108.Jump up ^ Ortega, Tony (2008-06-30). "Scientology's Crushing Defeat". Village Voice. Village Voice Media. Retrieved 2008-09-17. "Scientology president Heber Jentszch admitted several years ago that the six million number does not represent current membership but the total amount of people who have ever, since the founding in 1954, taken even a single Scientology course."
109.Jump up ^ "Religion". Census.gov. 2008-10-31. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
110.Jump up ^ "Berlin Concerned about Huge New Scientology Center". Der Spiegel. January 9, 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-11. "The Church of Scientology was founded in 1954 in the US by science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard. It has around 8 million members worldwide, including several celebrities such as actors John Travolta and Tom Cruise. The organization has an estimated 6,000 members in Germany, but experts believe the church has only 150-200 members in Berlin."
111.Jump up ^ Interview with Barbara Lieser, SPIRITA 1/93, Page 22
112.Jump up ^ "Statement of Scientology Media Relations Director Linda Simmons Hight". scientologytoday.org. May 11, 2002.
113.Jump up ^ Statement of Celebrity Centre Vice President Greg LaClaire, August 7, 2004 [1]
114.Jump up ^ Spokesperson Beth Akiyama in: Scientology comes to town, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 24, 2005
115.Jump up ^ L. Ron Hubbard (1970). Final Blackout. Leisure Books. ISBN 978-0-8439-0003-3. "HE IS ALSO renowned as the founder of Scientology and the creator of "Dianetics," with an estimated 15 million adherents around the world."
116.Jump up ^ Jarvik, Elaine (2004-09-18). "Scientology: Church now claims more than 8 million members". Deseret Morning News. Retrieved 2007-02-21.
117.Jump up ^ "Derek H. Davis". Spirit Restoration.org. Archived from the original on 2010-06-20.
118.Jump up ^ Religionsfreiheit und Konformismus. Über Minderheiten und die Macht der Mehrheit, Lit. Verlag, Münster, 2004, ISBN 978-3-8258-7654-8, page 113
119.Jump up ^ Jarvik, Elaine (2004-09-18). "Scientology: Church now claims more than 8 million members". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 2007-12-12. Retrieved 2007-08-01. "If the church indeed had 4 million members in the United States, he says, "they would be like the Lutherans and would show up on a national survey" such as the Harris poll."
120.Jump up ^ on-line.scientology.org homepage, viewed February 2007
121.Jump up ^ Self-Described Religious Identification Among American Adults at Infoplease
122.Jump up ^ Wright, Lawrence (February 2011). "The Apostate". The New Yorker.
123.Jump up ^ "Self-Described Religious Identification of Adult Population". United States Census Bureau.
124.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Lewis, James R. (September 2004). "New Religion Adherents: An Overview of Anglophone Census and Survey Data" (PDF). Marburg Journal of Religion 9 (1). Retrieved 2007-02-15.
125.Jump up ^ Boyle, Kevin; Sheen, Juliet (1997), Freedom of Religion and Belief, London, UK/New York, NY: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-15978-4, p. 102
126.Jump up ^ Statistics Canada
127.Jump up ^ Verfassungsschutzbericht 2005, p. 292
128.Jump up ^ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2008-09-19). "2008 Report on International Religious Freedom - New Zealand". Unhcr.org. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
129.Jump up ^ Religion's rise in the stars, The Herald Sun, July 9, 2007
130.Jump up ^ "Census shows scientology numbers going backwards". ABC News. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
131.Jump up ^ "Scientology losing Swiss support: experts - The Local". Thelocal.ch. 2011-07-04. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
132.Jump up ^ Smith, L. Christopher (December 2008). "Scientology's Money Trail: Celebrities! Tax shelters! Bart Simpson! A glimpse into the finances of the secretive church". Condé Nast Portfolio (2008 Condé Nast Inc). Retrieved 2008-11-19.
133.Jump up ^ Bainbridge, William Sims; Rodney Stark (1980). "Scientology: To Be Perfectly Clear". Sociological Analysis: A Journal in the Sociology of Religion 41 (2): 128–136. doi:10.2307/3709904.
134.Jump up ^ Goodyear, Dana (2011-08-01). ""Château Scientology", The New Yorker, 14 January 2008". Newyorker.com. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
135.Jump up ^ "''Hernandez v. Commissioner'', U.S. Supreme Court". Caselaw.lp.findlaw.com. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
136.Jump up ^ Hexham, Irving (1978). "The Religious Status of Scientology: Is Scientology a Religion?". University of Calgary. Retrieved 2006-06-13.
137.Jump up ^ "Dispatch online - "New SA rights for Scientology"". Dispatch.co.za. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
138.Jump up ^ Davis, Derek H. (July 2004). "The Church of Scientology: In Pursuit of Legal Recognition". CESNUR--Center for Studies on New Religions. Retrieved 2007-06-15.
139.^ Jump up to: a b Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin (September 2003). "Scientology: Religion or racket?" (PDF). Marburg Journal of Religion. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
140.Jump up ^ Kent, Stephen (July 1999). "Scientology -- Is this a Religion?". Marburg Journal of Religion. Retrieved 2006-08-26. Kent, while acknowledging that a number of his colleagues accept Scientology as a religion, argues that "Rather than struggling over whether or not to label Scientology as a religion, I find it far more helpful to view it as a multifaceted transnational corporation, only one element of which is religious." (Italics in original.)
141.Jump up ^ Sir John Foster (December 1971). "Enquiry into the Practice and Effects of Scientology". Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
142.Jump up ^ G. P. C. Kotzé (1972). "Report of the Commission of Enquiry into Scientology for 1972". Republic of South Africa.
143.Jump up ^ Kevin Victor Anderson (1965). "Report of the Board of Enquiry into Scientology". State of Victoria, Australia. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
144.Jump up ^ Sir Guy Richardson Powles (1969). "The Commission of Inquiry into the Hubbard Scientology Organization in New Zealand". New Zealand. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
145.Jump up ^ (The Church of the New Faith v. The Commissioner for Payroll Tax, Australian Law Journal Reports 57 [1983]: p785)[2]
146.Jump up ^ "Senator Nick Xenophon brands Scientology a 'criminal organisation'". Herald Sun (Australia). Retrieved December 2, 2009.
147.Jump up ^ "Belgie vervolgt Scientology". De Tijd. 2012-12-28. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
148.Jump up ^ Dalton, Alastair (2007-09-05). "Scientology branded a 'criminal organisation' and may face charges". The Scotsman (Edinburgh). Retrieved 2008-01-20.
149.Jump up ^ "Miviludes 2006 report (PDF)" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-11-22.
150.Jump up ^ Hendon, David W.; James M. Kennedy (Spring 1997). "Notes on Church-State Affairs: France". Journal of Church and State 39 (2): 382. ISSN 0021-969X.
151.Jump up ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (2008-09-09). "Church of Scientology faces fraud trial in France". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2008-09-11.
152.Jump up ^ "French court fines Scientologists, allows operations", Reuters/Yahoo News, October 27, 2009
153.^ Jump up to: a b Gartner, Hana (October 30, 2009). "Part Two: Scientology - Former Scientologist, Scientology - History". The Current (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Archived from the original on 2009-11-07. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
154.Jump up ^ Lewis, James R. (ed.) (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3., p. 289
155.Jump up ^ "Scientology Crime Syndicate - Is This A Religion? By Stephen A. Kent". Skeptictank.org. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
156.Jump up ^ "Scientology and Germany: Understanding the German View of Scientology". German Embassy in Washington. June 2001. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
157.Jump up ^ "Scientology violates German constitution and could be banned, officials say". International Herald Tribune. Associated Press. 2007-12-07. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
158.Jump up ^ Agencies Warn Scientology Ban Doomed to Fail Spiegel.de
159.Jump up ^ "Germany drops attempt to ban Scientology - World news - Europe". MSNBC. 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
160.^ Jump up to: a b bundestag.de: Legal questions concerning religious and worldview communities, prepared by the Scientific Services staff of the German Parliament (German)
161.Jump up ^ Tom Lyons: Troubled Scientology Church in Ireland is now €1m in red, The Irish Independent, June 28, 2006
162.Jump up ^ Christmas gifts (2008-03-22). "Scientologists protest at Ahern talks 'snub' - National News, Frontpage - Independent.ie". Independent.ie<!. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
163.Jump up ^ Rada, Moran (2007-06-07). "Scientology infiltrates summer camps". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
164.Jump up ^ "CCHR Israel Homepage". Cchr.org.il. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
165.Jump up ^ Heruti-Sover, Tali (2007-01-19). "Youth group supported by Scientology". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
166.Jump up ^ US State Department Report on International Religious Freedom, September 9, 1999 Quote: "Evangelical Christian and other religious groups also have complained that the police have been slow to investigate incidents of harassment, threats, and vandalism directed against their meetings, churches, and other facilities by two ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups, known as Yad L'achim and Lev L'achim."]
167.Jump up ^ April 18, 2001. Lev L'Achim Launches Campaign to Fight Scientology by Moshe Schapiro
168.^ Jump up to: a b "Dutch court rules Scientology tax-exempt". USA Today. October 17, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
169.Jump up ^ "Scientology wins Dutch Scientology wins Dutch tax exemption status as a faith institute". Retrieved 2013-10-22.
170.Jump up ^ Judgment on Application no. 18147/02 by CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF MOSCOW against Russia (April 5, 2007). Court press release here. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
171.Jump up ^ "St. Petersburg court shuts down Scientology Center". Interfax. 2007-07-13. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
172.Jump up ^ "Russian court shuts down Scientology center in St. Petersburg: prosecutors". International Herald Tribune. Associated Press. 2007-07-12. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
173.Jump up ^ "Spanish court rules Scientology can be listed as a religion". AFP. 2007-11-01. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
174.Jump up ^ Lázaro, J. M. (2007-11-01). "La Audiencia Nacional reconoce a la Cienciología como iglesia" (in Spanish). El País. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
175.Jump up ^ Marshall, Gordon (1990). In praise of sociology. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-04-445687-2.
176.Jump up ^ "U.S. Department of State – 2007 Report on International Religious Freedom: United Kingdom". State.gov. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
177.Jump up ^ Wallop, Harry (August 11, 2006). "Scientology tax victory could cost Revenue millions". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 2009-07-11.
178.Jump up ^ "UK Supreme Court says Scientology is a religion, allows wedding". Reuters. December 11, 2013.
179.Jump up ^ Bingham, John (December 11, 2013). "Scientology is a religion, rules Supreme Court". The Daily Telegraph (London).
180.Jump up ^ http://rt.com/news/line/2013-12-11/
181.Jump up ^ Hafiz, Yasmine (December 12, 2013). "Britain Recognizes Scientology As A Religion". Huffington Post.
182.Jump up ^ Dahl, David (1993-10-24). "IRS examined Scientology dollars, not dogma". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-04.
183.Jump up ^ Frantz, Douglas (1997-03-09). "Scientology's Puzzling Journey From Tax Rebel to Tax Exempt". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
184.Jump up ^ Judge Barry Silverman MICHAEL SKLAR; MARLA SKLAR v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL No. 00-70753 (PDF format) United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Argued and Submitted September 7, 2001, Pasadena, California, Filed January 29, 2002.
185.Jump up ^ UNITED STATES TAX COURT, MICHAEL AND MARLA SKLAR, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent. Docket No. 395-01. Filed December 21, 2005.
186.Jump up ^ Gerstein, Josh (February 8, 2008). "Judges Press IRS on Church Tax Break". The New York Sun (The New York Sun, One SL, LLC.). Retrieved 2008-02-08.
External links

Find more about
Scientology
 at Wikipedia's sister projects

Search Wiktionary Definitions from Wiktionary
Search Commons Media from Commons
Search Wikinews News stories from Wikinews
Search Wikiquote Quotations from Wikiquote
Search Wikisource Source texts from Wikisource
Search Wikibooks Textbooks from Wikibooks
Search Wikiversity Learning resources from Wikiversity


 This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (October 2011)
Church of Scientology"Welcome to Scientology". Church of Scientology official home page. Church of Scientology.
"What is Scientology ?". Common questions answered about Scientology and its activities. Church of Scientology.
Favorable sitesIrving Hexham. "The religious status of Scientology". Is Scientology a religion?. University of Calgary.
Critical sitesOperation Clambake, an archive of critical articles on Hubbard and Scientology
Church of Scientology Corporations Research Index
Cult Education Institute
OtherSatellite Image of the Gold Base
Church of Scientology companies grouped at OpenCorporates


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Scientology








































































































































































































Authority control
VIAF: 132090559
 

  


Categories: Scientology
Scientology organizations
Self religions
Religious organizations established in 1953
Religion in Riverside County, California
New religious movements





















Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

View source

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Afrikaans
العربية
Deutsch
Ελληνικά
Español
Esperanto
Euskara
فارسی
Français
Galego
Bahasa Indonesia
Македонски
Русский
Svenska
Türkçe
Edit links
This page was last modified on 14 June 2015, at 09:17.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
  

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology








Page semi-protected

Church of Scientology

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


Jump to:  navigation , search

Church of Scientology
Church of Scientology building in Los Angeles, Fountain Avenue.jpg
Scientology building in Los Angeles, California

Formation
1954[1]
Headquarters
Gold Base
Location
Riverside County, California


Chairman of Religious Technology Center
 David Miscavige
Website
www.scientology.org
The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, a new religious movement. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall management and dissemination of Scientology at the international level.[2][3][4] Every Church of Scientology is separately incorporated and has its own local board of directors and executives responsible for its own activities and corporate well-being.[5][6][7] The first Scientology church was incorporated in December 1953 in Camden, New Jersey by L. Ron Hubbard.[8][9] Its international headquarters are located at the Gold Base, located in an unincorporated area of Riverside County, California, the location of which is kept secret from most Scientologists.[10]
The highest authority in the Church of Scientology is in The Church of Scientology International (CSI) and the Religious Technology Center (RTC), whose headquarters are in Los Angeles. CSI "is the mother church and has the mission of propagating the Scientology creed around the world." RTC's main function is to "preserve, maintain, and protect the purity of the Scientology technology in accord with Hubbard's original research and to insure its proper and ethical delivery." The Scientology Missions International is under CSI and RTC and functions as "the central church to Scientology missions worldwide."[11]
Although in some countries it has attained legal recognition as a religion,[12] the church has been the subject of a number of controversies, and has been accused by critics of being both a cult and a commercial enterprise.[13]


Contents  [hide]
1 History
2 Beliefs
3 Headquarters, Bases, and Central Orgs 3.1 Saint Hill, Sussex, England
3.2 Flag Land Base, Clearwater, Florida
3.3 Organizations in Hollywood, California
3.4 Gold Base, Riverside County, California
3.5 Trementina Base
3.6 Freewinds
3.7 Scientology Ideal Orgs
4 Production Facilities 4.1 Golden Era Productions
4.2 International Dissemination and Distribution Center
5 Affiliated organizations 5.1 Sea Org
5.2 Volunteer Ministers
5.3 Religious Technology Center (RTC)
5.4 ABLE
5.5 CCHR
5.6 WISE
6 Celebrities
7 Controversy 7.1 Classification as church or business
7.2 Illegal activities
7.3 Members' health and safety
7.4 Missionary activities
7.5 Legal waivers
8 Membership statistics
9 Finances
10 Government opinions of Scientology 10.1 Australia
10.2 Belgium
10.3 France
10.4 Germany
10.5 Ireland
10.6 Israel
10.7 Netherlands
10.8 Russia
10.9 Spain
10.10 United Kingdom
10.11 United States
11 See also
12 References
13 External links

History



L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology
The first Scientology church was incorporated in December 1953 in Camden, New Jersey by[8][9] L. Ron Hubbard, his wife Mary Sue Hubbard, and John Galusha, although the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International (HASI) had already been operating since 1952[14][15] and Hubbard himself had already been selling Scientology books and technologies. Soon after, he explained the religious nature of Scientology in a bulletin to all Scientologists,[16] stressing its relation to the Dharma. The first Church of Scientology opened in 1954 in Los Angeles.[17]
Hubbard stated, "A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights, are the aims of Scientology."[18]
Hubbard had official control of the organization until 1966 when this function was transferred to a group of executives.[19] Although Hubbard maintained no formal relationship with Scientology's management, he remained firmly in control of the organization and its affiliated organizations.[20]
In May 1987, following Hubbard's death, David Miscavige, one of Hubbard’s former personal assistants and video photographer, assumed the position of Chairman of the Board of the Religious Technology Center (RTC), a non-profit corporation that administers the trademarked names and symbols of Dianetics and Scientology. Although RTC is a separate corporation from the Church of Scientology International, whose president and chief spokesperson is Heber Jentzsch, Miscavige is the effective leader of the movement.[21]
Beliefs
Main articles: Scientology and Scientology beliefs and practices
The Church of Scientology promotes Scientology, a body of beliefs and related practices created by L. Ron Hubbard, starting in 1952 as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics.[22]
Scientology teaches that people are immortal spiritual beings who have forgotten their true nature. The story of Xenu is part of Scientologist teachings about extraterrestrial civilizations and alien interventions in Earthly events, collectively described as space opera by Hubbard.[23] Its method of spiritual rehabilitation is a type of counseling known as "auditing", in which practitioners aim to re-experience consciously painful or traumatic events in their past, in order to free themselves of their limiting effects.[24] Study materials and auditing courses are made available to members in return for specified donations.[25] Scientology is legally recognized as a tax-exempt religion in the United States[26] and other countries,[27][28][29] and the Church of Scientology emphasizes this as proof that it is a bona fide religion.
Scientology describes itself as the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others, and all of life. According to the Encyclopedia of American Religions, it is “concerned with the isolation, description, handling and rehabilitation of the human spirit.”[30] One purpose of Scientology, as stated by the Church of Scientology, is to become certain of one's spiritual existence and one's relationship to God, or the "Supreme Being."[31]
One of the major tenets of Scientology is that a human is an immortal alien spiritual being, termed a thetan, that is presently trapped on planet Earth in a physical "meat body." Hubbard described these thetans in "The Space Opera" cosmogony. The thetan has had innumerable past lives and it is accepted in Scientology that lives preceding the thetan's arrival on Earth lived in extraterrestrial cultures. Descriptions of space opera incidents are seen as true events by Scientologists.[32]
Scientology claims that its practices provide methods by which a person can achieve greater spiritual awareness.[33] Within Scientology, progression from level to level is often called The Bridge to Total Freedom. Scientologists progress from "Preclear", to "Clear", and ultimately "Operating Thetan".
Scientologists are taught that a series of events, or incidents, occurred before life on earth.[32] Scientologists also believe that humans have hidden abilities which can be unlocked.[34][35]
All Scientology churches built after Hubbard's death include a corporate-style office set aside for Hubbard's reincarnation, with a plaque on the desk bearing his name, and a pad of paper with a pen for him to continue writing novels.[36][37]
Headquarters, Bases, and Central Orgs



 Locations of major Scientology centers in the United States and the United Kingdom
 1. Saint Hill Manor 2. Flag Land Base 3. PAC Base 4. Gold Base 5. Trementina Base 6. Flag ship, Freewinds
Scientology organizations and missions exist in many communities around the world.[38] Scientologists call their larger centers orgs, short for "organizations." The major Scientology organization of a region is known as a central org. The legal address of the Church of Scientology International is in Los Angeles, California, 6331 Hollywood Blvd, in the Hollywood Guaranty Building. The Church of Scientology also has several major headquarters, including:
Saint Hill, Sussex, England
Main article: Saint Hill Manor
L. Ron Hubbard moved to England shortly after founding Scientology, where he oversaw its worldwide development from an office in London for most of the 1950s. In 1959, he bought Saint Hill Manor near the Sussex town of East Grinstead, a Georgian manor house formerly owned by the Maharajah of Jaipur. This became the worldwide headquarters of Scientology through the 1960s and 1970s. Hubbard declared Saint Hill to be the organization by which all other organizations would be measured, and he issued a general order (still followed today) for all organizations around the world to expand and reach "Saint Hill size". The Church of Scientology has announced that the next two levels of Scientology teaching, OT 9 and OT 10, will be released and made available to church members when all the major organizations in the world have reached Saint Hill size.
Flag Land Base, Clearwater, Florida
Main article: Fort Harrison Hotel
The "worldwide spiritual headquarters" of the Church of Scientology is known as "Flag Land Base," located in Clearwater, Florida. It is operated by the Floridian corporation Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, Inc..
The organization was founded in the late 1970s when a Scientology-founded group called "Southern Land Development and Leasing Corp" purchased the Fort Harrison Hotel for $2.3 million. Because the reported tenant was the "United Churches of Florida" the citizens and City Council of Clearwater did not realize that the building's owners were actually the Church of Scientology until after the building's purchase. Clearwater citizens' groups, headed by Mayor Gabriel Cazares, rallied strongly against Scientology establishing a base in the city (repeatedly referring to the organization as a cult), but Flag Base was established nonetheless.[39]
In the years since its foundation, Flag Base has expanded as the Church of Scientology has gradually purchased large amounts of additional property in the downtown and waterfront Clearwater area. Scientology's largest project in Clearwater has been the construction of a high-rise complex called the "Super Power Building," Scientology's new Flag Building "is the centerpiece of a 160-million construction campaign."[40]
Scientology leader David Miscavige led the opening and dedication of the 377,000-square-foot Flag Building on November 17, 2013. The multi-million cathedral is the new spiritual headquarters of Scientology. The fifth and sixth floor contain the “Super Power Program”, which includes specially designed machines that Scientologists believe allow users to develop new abilities and experience enlightenment. The building also includes a dining facility, course rooms, offices and small rooms for “auditing” purposes.[41][42][43]
Organizations in Hollywood, California


 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2014)
Los Angeles, California, has the largest concentration of Scientologists and Scientology-related organizations in the world, with the church's most visible presence being in the Hollywood district of the city. The organization owns a former hospital on Fountain Avenue which houses Scientology's West Coast headquarters, the Pacific Area Command Base — often referred to as "PAC Base" or "Big Blue", after its blue paint job. Adjacent buildings include headquarters of several internal Scientology divisions, including the American Saint Hill Organization, the Advanced Organization of Los Angeles, and the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles. All these organizations are integrated within the corporation Church of Scientology Western United States.
The Church of Scientology successfully campaigned to have the city of Los Angeles rename one block of a street running through this complex "L. Ron Hubbard Way." The street has been paved in brick.
Scientology's Celebrity Center International is located on Franklin Avenue, while the Association for Better Living and Education, Author Services and the official headquarters of the Church of Scientology International (in the Hollywood Guaranty Building) are all located on Hollywood Boulevard. The ground floor of the Guaranty Building also features the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition, a museum detailing the life of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard that is open to the general public.
Another museum in the area is the Psychiatry: An Industry of Death, located on Sunset Boulevard, which is operated by the church-affiliated Citizens Commission on Human Rights.
Gold Base, Riverside County, California
Main article: Gold Base
The headquarters of the Religious Technology Center, the entity that oversees Scientology operations worldwide, is located in unincorporated Riverside County, California, near Gilman Hot Springs and north of Hemet. The facility, known as Gold Base or "Int", is owned by Golden Era Productions and is the home of Scientology's media production studio, Golden Era Studios. Several Scientology executives, including David Miscavige, live and work at the base.[44] Therefore Gold Base is Scientology's international administrative headquarters.[45][46][47][48]
The Church of Scientology bought a former resort, which had been popular with Hollywood figures, in 1978; the resort became Gold Base.[49] The facilities at Gold Base have been toured by journalists several times. They are surrounded by floodlights and video observation cameras,[44][50][51][52] and the compound is protected by razor wire.[53] Gold Base also has recreational facilities, including basketball, volleyball, and soccer facilities, an exercise building, a waterslide, a small lake with two beaches, and a golf course.[54]
Trementina Base
Main article: Trementina Base
The Church of Scientology maintains a large base on the outskirts of Trementina, New Mexico, for the purpose of storing their archiving project: engraving Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's writings on stainless steel tablets and encasing them in titanium capsules underground. An aerial photograph showing the base's enormous Church of Spiritual Technology symbols on the ground caused media interest and a local TV station broke the story in November 2005. According to a Washington Post report, the organization unsuccessfully attempted to coerce the station not to air the story.[55]
Freewinds
Main article: Freewinds
The cruise ship Freewinds was the only place the highest level of Scientology training (OT VIII) was offered. It cruised the Caribbean Sea, under the auspices of the Flag Ship Service Organization. The Freewinds was also used for other courses and auditing for those willing to spend extra money to get services on the ship. In April 2008, the Freewinds was sealed, and work stopped on refurbishments, due to "extensive contamination" with blue asbestos.[56]
Scientology Ideal Orgs
Since 2003, twenty-nine new churches or "Ideal Orgs" as referred to by the church, have been constructed, which are new or revamped buildings that the church has acquired and converted. The church states that the Ideal Orgs "realize the fulfillment of Founder L. Ron Hubbard's vision for the religion and its churches."[57] The Church of Scientology has continued to buy hotels and church buildings, a total of 62 in all in the past five years,[58] under the leadership of the church’s ecclesiastical leader, David Miscavige.[59] Some of the most notable Ideal Org openings are: Johannesburg, South Africa, which was opened on November 2, 2003 and expanded and rededicated on August 3, 2011;[60] Rome, Italy; Malmo, Sweden; Dallas, Texas; Nashville, Tennessee; Washington D.C.[58] Phoenix, Arizona,[61] Inglewood, California,[57] and Santa Ana, California.[62] Other locations where Ideal Orgs have opened are Florence, Kentucky; Clearwater, Florida; Sacramento, California; Melbourne, Australia; Mexico City, London, Quebec, and Seattle, Washington.[63]
Production Facilities
Golden Era Productions
The Golden Era Productions located in the Hollywood Guaranty Building is a Scientology production facility that produces promotional materials for the Church of Scientology, as well as lectures, training films and other materials related to the works of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.[64]
International Dissemination and Distribution Center
Occupying 185,000 square feet, the dissemination center "prints Church magazines in 15 languages."[65] Some of the capabilities of the center is to "address, sort and seal 150,000 pieces in an 8 hour shift that is hard-wired directly into the US Postal Service, with a postal representative on site [and] package ship 500,000 items per week."[66]
Affiliated organizations
There are many independently chartered organizations and groups which are staffed by Scientologists, and pay license fees for the use of Scientology technology and trademarks under the control of Scientology management. In some cases, these organizations do not publicize their affiliation with Scientology.[67][68]
The Church of Scientology denies the legitimacy of any splinter groups and factions outside the official organization, and has tried to prevent independent Scientologists from using officially trademarked Scientology materials. Independent Scientologists, also known collectively as the "Free Zone" are referred to as squirrels within the Church. They are also classified by the Church of Scientology as suppressive persons ("SPs")—opponents or enemies of Scientology.
In 2010, an exception to the rule was made specifically for the Nation of Islam, which is the only officially sanctioned external Dianetics organization and the first official non-Scientology Dianetics org since 1953. Minister Louis Farrakhan publicly announced his embracement of Dianetics, and has been actively promoting Dianetics, while stating he has not become a Scientologist. He has courted a relationship with the Church, and materials and certifications are still required to be purchased from the Church of Scientology, and are not independently produced.[69][70][71]
Sea Org
Main article: Sea Org
The Sea Organization (often simply referred to as the "Sea Org") is an unincorporated fraternal religious order founded in 1967 by L. Ron Hubbard, as he embarked on a series of voyages around the Mediterranean Sea in a small fleet of ships entirely staffed by Scientologists. Hubbard—formerly a lieutenant junior grade in the US Navy—bestowed the rank of "Commodore" of the vessels upon himself. The crew who accompanied him on these voyages became the foundation of the Sea Org.
The Sea Org is described by the church as forming an elite group of the most dedicated Scientologists, who are entrusted with the international management of Scientology and upper level churches such as the Advanced Organization Los Angeles, American Saint Hill Organization, Flag Service Organization and Celebrity Center International.
Scientologists who are qualified to do so are often encouraged to join the Sea Org, which involves a lifetime commitment to Scientology organizations in exchange for room and board, training and auditing, and a small weekly allowance. Members sign an agreement pledging their loyalty and allegiance to Scientology for "the next billion years," committing their future lifetimes to the Sea Org. The Sea Org's motto is "Revenimus" (or "We Come Back").
Critics of Scientology have spoken out against the disciplinary procedures and policies of the Sea Org, which have been a source of controversy since its inception and variously described as abusive and illegal. Former Sea Org members have stated that punishments in the late 1960s and early 1970s included confinement in hazardous conditions such as the ship's chain locker.[72]
In 1974, Hubbard established the Rehabilitation Project Force (or RPF) as a subunit of the Sea Org, in order to provide a "second chance" to members whose offenses were considered severe enough to warrant expulsion. RPF members are paired up and help one another for five hours each day with spiritual counseling to resolve the issues for which they were assigned to the program. They also spend 8 hours per day doing physical labor that will benefit the church facility where they are located. On verification of their having completed the program they are then given a Sea Org job again.[73]
Volunteer Ministers


 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2014)
Main article: Volunteer Ministers
The Church of Scientology began its "Volunteer Ministers" program as a way to participate in community outreach projects. Over the past several years, it has become a common practice for Volunteer Ministers to travel to the scenes of major disasters in order to provide assistance with relief efforts. According to critics, these relief efforts consist of passing out copies of a pamphlet authored by L. Ron Hubbard entitled The Way to Happiness, and engaging in a method said to calm panicked or injured individuals known in Scientology as a "touch assist."
Religious Technology Center (RTC)


 This section needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (May 2014)
Main article: Religious Technology Center
Around 1982 all of the Hubbard's intellectual property was transferred to a newly formed entity called the Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) and then licensed to the Religious Technology Center (RTC) which, according to its own publicity, exists to safeguard and control the use of the Church of Scientology's copyrights and trademarks.
The RTC employs lawyers and has pursued individuals and groups who have legally attacked Scientology or who are deemed to be a legal threat to Scientology. This has included breakaway Scientologists who practice Scientology outside the central church and critics, as well as numerous government and media organizations. This has helped to maintain Scientology's reputation for litigiousness (see Scientology and the legal system).
ABLE
Main article: Association for Better Living and Education
Founded in 1989, the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE) is an umbrella organization that administers six of Scientology's social programs:
Applied Scholastics, educational programs based on Hubbard's "Study Tech."
Criminon prisoner rehabilitation programs.
International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance, which has a particular interest in religious freedom.
Narconon drug rehabilitation centers.
The Way to Happiness Foundation, dedicated to disseminating Hubbard's non-religious moral code.
Youth for Human Rights International, the youth branch of the above.
CCHR
Main article: Citizens Commission on Human Rights
The Citizens' Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), co-founded with Thomas Szasz in 1969, is an activist group dedicated to classifying psychiatric treatments as human rights violations and furthering the Scientology doctrinal opposition to mainstream psychiatric therapies.
WISE
Main article: World Institute of Scientology Enterprises
Many other Scientologist-run businesses and organizations belong to the umbrella organization World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE), which licenses the use of Hubbard's management doctrines, and circulates directories of WISE-affiliated businesses. WISE requires those who wish to become Hubbard management consults to complete training in Hubbard's administrative systems; this training can be undertaken at any Church of Scientology, or at one of the campuses of the Hubbard College of Administration, which offers an Associate of Applied Science Degree.
One of the best-known WISE-affiliated businesses is Sterling Management Systems, which offers Hubbard's management "technology" to professionals such as dentists and chiropractors.
Another well-known WISE-affiliated business is e.Republic, a publishing company based in Folsom, California.[74] e.Republic publications include Government Technology and Converge magazines. The Center for Digital Government is a division of e. Republic that was founded in 1999.
Internet ISP EarthLink was founded by Scientologist Sky Dayton as a Scientology enterprise. The company now distances itself from the views of its founder, who has moved on to become CEO of Helio (wireless carrier), formerly known as SK-EarthLink.
Celebrities
See also: Scientology and celebrities and List of Scientologists
In order to facilitate the continued expansion of Scientology, the Church has made efforts to win allies in the form of powerful or respected people.[75]
Controversy
Main article: Scientology controversies


 The following text needs to be harmonized with text in Scientology controversies.

Though it has attained some credibility as a religion in many countries, Scientology has also been described as both a cult and a commercial enterprise.[13] Some of the Church's actions also brought scrutiny from the press and law enforcement. For example, it has been noted to engage in harassment and abuse of civil courts to silence its critics, using fair game policies and procedures against people it perceives as its enemies.[76][77]
In 1979, several Scientology members were convicted for their involvement in the church's Operation Snow White, the largest theft of government documents in U.S. history.[78][79] Scientologists were also convicted of fraud, manslaughter and tampering with witnesses in French cases,[80][81] malicious libel against lawyer Casey Hill and espionage in Canada.[82][83]
In his book World Religions in America, religious scholar Jacob Neusner states that Scientology's "high level of visibility" may be perceived as "threatening to established social institutions".[84]
Classification as church or business
From 1952 until 1966, Scientology was administered by an organization called the Hubbard Association of Scientologists (HAS), established in Arizona on September 10, 1952. In 1954, the HAS became the HASI (HAS International). The Church of Scientology was incorporated in California on February 18, 1954, changing its name to "The Church of Scientology of California" (CSC) in 1956. In 1966, Hubbard transferred all HASI assets to CSC, thus gathering Scientology under one tax-exempt roof. In 1967, the IRS stripped all US-based Scientology entities of their tax exemption, declaring Scientology's activities were commercial and operated for the benefit of Hubbard. The church sued and lost repeatedly for 26 years trying to regain its tax-exempt status. The case was eventually settled in 1993, at which time the church paid $12.5 million to the IRS—greatly less than IRS had initially demanded—and the IRS recognized the church as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization.[85] In addition, Scientology also dropped more than fifty lawsuits against the IRS when this settlement was reached. Scientology cites its tax exemption as proof the United States government accepts it as a religion.[86] In January 2009, removal of the tax exemption was rated as number 9 in items for the incoming Barack Obama administration to investigate, as determined in an internet poll run by the presidential transition team soliciting public input for the incoming administration.[87] The U.S. State Department has criticized Western European nations for discrimination against Scientologists in its published annual International Religious Freedom report, based on the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.[88][89][90]
In some countries Scientology is treated legally as a commercial enterprise, and not as a religion or charitable organization.[citation needed] In early 2003, in Germany, The Church of Scientology was granted a tax-exemption for the 10% license fees sent to the US. This exemption, however, is related to a German-American double-taxation agreement, and is unrelated to tax-exemption in the context of charities law. In several countries, public proselytizing undergoes the same restrictions as commercial advertising,[citation needed] which is interpreted as persecution by Scientology.
Although the religious nature of Scientology has been questioned both in the United States and around the world, Scientology has been acknowledged as a new religion as manifested in the Church's court victories and the gain of religious rights and privileges that are exclusive to legally established religious bodies.[91]
Unlike many well-established religious organizations, Scientology maintains strict control over its names, symbols, religious works and other writings. The word Scientology (and many related terms, including L. Ron Hubbard) is a registered trademark. Religious Technology Center, the owner of the trademarks and copyrights, takes a hard line on people and groups who attempt to use it in ways unaffiliated with the official Church (see Scientology and the legal system).
Illegal activities
Main articles: Operation Snow White, Operation Freakout, Scientology controversies and Fair game (Scientology)
Under the Guardian's Office (now renamed the Office of Special Affairs or OSA), Church members organized and committed the largest penetration of United States federal agencies ever perpetrated by an organization not affiliated with a foreign government (that is, one such as the KGB). This was known as Operation Snow White. In the trial which followed discovery of these activities the prosecution described their actions thus:

The crime committed by these defendants is of a breadth and scope previously unheard of. No building, office, desk, or file was safe from their snooping and prying. No individual or organization was free from their despicable conspiratorial minds. The tools of their trade were miniature transmitters, lock picks, secret codes, forged credentials and any other device they found necessary to carry out their conspiratorial schemes.[92]
The Church has also in the past made use of aggressive tactics in addressing those it sees as trying to suppress them, known as Suppressive Persons (SPs) first outlined by L. Ron Hubbard as part of a policy called fair game. It was under this policy that Paulette Cooper was targeted for having authored The Scandal of Scientology, a 1970 exposé book about the Church and its founder. This action was known as Operation Freakout. Using blank paper known to have been handled by Cooper, Scientologists forged bomb threats in her name.[92] When fingerprints on them matched hers, the Justice Department began prosecution, which could have sent Cooper to prison for a lengthy term. The Church's plan was discovered at the same time as its Operation Snow White actions were revealed. All charges against Cooper were dismissed, though she had spent more than $20,000 on legal fees for her defense.[92]
On January 22, 2013, attorneys for the organization, as well as some of its members, reacted toward the CNN News Group for its airing of a story covering the release of a book published by a former member, entitled 'Going Clear', published earlier the same year. CNN News Group then chose to publish the reactionary correspondence, with confidential information redacted, on its web site.
Of these activities the current Church laments:

...how long a time is the church going to have to continue to pay the price for what the (Guardian Office) did... Unfortunately, the church continues to be confronted with it. And the ironic thing is that the people being confronted with it are the people who wiped it out. And to the church, that's a very frustrating thing.[92]
Yet it has continued to aggressively target people it deems suppressive. In 1998, regarding its announcement that it had hired a private investigator to look into the background of a Boston Herald writer who had written a series on the church, Robert W. Thornburg, dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University, said, "No one I know goes so far as to hire outsiders to harass or try to get intimidating data on critics. Scientology is the only crowd that does that."[93] It has apparently continued as recently as 2010. In 2007 when BBC journalist John Sweeney was making Scientology and Me, an investigative report about the Church and was the subject of harassment:

In LA, the moment our hire car left the airport we realised we were being followed by two cars. In our hotel a weird stranger spent every breakfast listening to us.[94]
Sweeny subsequently made a follow up documentary, The Secrets of Scientology, in 2010 during which he was followed and filmed on multiple occasions and one of his interviewees was followed back to his home.[95]
Members' health and safety
See also: Lisa McPherson and Elli Perkins
Some key activities of the Church of Scientology carry risks for members, and the deaths of some Scientologists have brought attention to the Church both due to the circumstances of their demises and their relationship with Scientology possibly being a factor.[96] In 1995, Lisa McPherson was involved in a minor automobile accident while driving on a Clearwater, Florida street. Following the collision, she exited her vehicle, stripped naked and showed further signs of mental instability, as noted by a nearby ambulance crew that subsequently transported her to a nearby hospital. Hospital staff decided that she had not been injured in the accident, but recommended keeping her overnight for observation. Following intervention by fellow Scientologists, McPherson refused psychiatric observation or admission at the hospital and checked herself out against medical advice after a short evaluation. She was taken to the Fort Harrison Hotel, a Scientology retreat, to receive a Church sanctioned treatment called Introspection Rundown. She had previously received the Introspection Rundown in June of that year. She was locked in a room for 17 days, where she died. Her appearance after death was that of someone who had been denied water and food for quite some time, being both underweight and severely dehydrated. Additionally, her skin was covered with over one hundred insect bites, presumably from cockroaches. The state of Florida pursued criminal charges against the Church. The Church has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and now makes members sign a waiver before Introspection Rundown specifically stating that they (or anyone on their behalf) will not bring any legal action against the organization over injury or death.[97] These charges attracted press coverage and sparked lawsuits. Eight years later, Elli Perkins, another adherent to Scientology's beliefs regarding psychiatry, was stabbed to death by her mentally disturbed son. Though Elli Perkins's son had begun to show symptoms of schizophrenia as early as 2001, the Perkins family chose not to seek psychiatric help for him and opted instead for alternative remedies sanctioned by Scientology. The death of Elli Perkins at the hands of a disturbed family member, one whose disease could have been treated by methods and medications banned by Scientology, again raised questions in the media about the Church's methods.[98]
In addition, the Church has been implicated in kidnapping members who have recently left the church. In 2007, Martine Boublil was kidnapped and held for several weeks against her will in Sardinia by four Scientologists. She was found on January 22, 2008, clothed only in a shirt. The room she was imprisoned in contained refuse and an insect infested mattress.[99][100]
On Friday March 28, 2008, Kaja Bordevich Ballo, daughter of Olav Gunnar Ballo, Norwegian parliament member and vice president of the Norwegian Odelsting, took a Church of Scientology personality test while studying in Nice. Her friends and co-inhabitants claim she was in good spirits and showed no signs of a mental breakdown, but the report from the Church of Scientology said she was "depressed, irresponsible, hyper-critical and lacking in harmony". A few hours later she committed suicide by jumping from her balcony at her dorm room leaving a note telling her family she was sorry for not "being good for anything". The incident has brought forward heavy criticism against the Church of Scientology from friends, family and prominent Norwegian politicians.[101] Inga Marte Thorkildsen, parliament member, went as far as to say "Everything points to the scientology cult having played a direct role in making Kaja choose to take her own life".[101]
Missionary activities



 A Scientologist administers a stress test using an e-meter.
Members of the public entering a Scientology center or mission are offered a "free personality test" called the Oxford Capacity Analysis by Scientology literature. The test, despite its name and the claims of Scientology literature, has no connection to Oxford University or any other research body. Scientific research into three test results came to the conclusion that "we are forced to a position of skepticism about the test's status as a reliable psychometric device" and called its scientific value "negligible".[102]
Further proselytization practices - commonly called "dissemination" of Scientology[103] - include information booths, flyers and advertisement for free seminars, Sunday Services in regular newspapers and magazines, personal contacts[104][105] and sales of books.[106]
Legal waivers
See also: Introspection Rundown
Recent legal actions involving Scientology's relationship with its members (see Scientology controversy) have caused the organization to publish extensive legal documents that cover the rights granted to followers. It has become standard practice within the organization for members to sign lengthy legal contracts and waivers before engaging in Scientology services, a practice that contrasts greatly with almost every mainstream religious organization. In 2003, a series of media reports examined the legal contracts required by Scientology, which state, among other things, that followers deny any psychiatric care their doctors may prescribe to them.[107]

I do not believe in or subscribe to psychiatric labels for individuals. It is my strongly held religious belief that all mental problems are spiritual in nature and that there is no such thing as a mentally incompetent person—only those suffering from spiritual upset of one kind or another dramatized by an individual. I reject all psychiatric labels and intend for this Contract to clearly memorialize my desire to be helped exclusively through religious, spiritual means and not through any form of psychiatric treatment, specifically including involuntary commitment based on so-called lack of competence. Under no circumstances, at any time, do I wish to be denied my right to care from members of my religion to the exclusion of psychiatric care or psychiatric directed care, regardless of what any psychiatrist, medical person, designated member of the state or family member may assert supposedly on my behalf.
Membership statistics
It is difficult to obtain reliable membership statistics. The International Association of Scientologists (IAS), the official Church membership system since 1984, has never released figures. Church spokespersons either give numbers for their countries or a worldwide figure.[108] Some national censuses have recently included questions about religious affiliations, though the United States Census Bureau states that it is not the source for information on religion.[109]
In 2007, the German national magazine Der Spiegel reported about 8 million members worldwide, about 6000 of them in Germany, with only 150-200 members in Berlin.[110] In 1993, a spokesperson of Scientology Frankfurt had mentioned slightly more than 30,000 members nationwide.[111]
The organization has said that it has anywhere from eight million to fifteen million members worldwide.[112][113][114][115][116] Derek Davis[117] stated in 2004 that the Church organization has around 15 million members worldwide.[118] Religious scholar J. Gordon Melton has said that the church's estimates of its membership numbers are exaggerated: "You're talking about anyone who ever bought a Scientology book or took a basic course. Ninety-nine percent of them don't ever darken the door of the church again." Melton has stated that If the claimed figure of 4 million American Scientologists were correct, "they would be like the Lutherans and would show up on a national survey".[119]
The "Scientologists Online" website presents "over 16,000 Scientologists On-Line".[120]
Statistics from other sources:
In 2001, the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) reported that there were 55,000 adults in the United States who consider themselves Scientologists.[121] A 2008 survey of American religious affiliations by the US Census Bureau estimated there to be 25,000 Americans identifying as Scientologists.[122][123]
The 2001 United Kingdom census contained a voluntary question on religion, to which approximately 48,000,000 chose to respond. Of those living in England and Wales who responded, a total of 1,781 said they were Scientologists.[124]
In 2001, Statistics Canada, the national census agency, reported a total of 1,525 Scientologists nationwide,[124] up from 1,220 in 1991.[125] In 2011 census the number of scientologist raised to 1,745.[126]
In 2005, the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution estimated a total of 5,000 – 6,000 Scientologists in that country, and mentioned a count of 12,000 according to Scientology Germany.[127]
In the 2006 New Zealand census, 357 people identified themselves as Scientologists, although a Church spokesperson estimated there were between 5,000 and 6,000 Scientologists in the country.[128] Earlier census figures were 207 in the 1991 census, 219 in 1996, and 282 in 2001.[124]
In 2006, Australia's national census recorded 2,507 Scientologists nationwide, up from 1,488 in 1996, and 2,032 in 2001.[124][129] The 2011 census however found a decrease of 13.7 per cent from the 2006 census.[130]
In 2011 support for Scientology in Switzerland was said to have experience a steady decline from 3,000 registered members in 1990 to 1,000 members and the organisation was said to be facing extinction in the country. A Church of Scientology spokeswoman rejected the figures insisting that the organisation had 5,000 “passive and active members in Switzerland.”[131]
Finances
The Church of Scientology and its large network of corporations, non-profits and other legal entities are estimated to make around 500 million US dollars in annual revenue.[132]
Scientologists can attend classes, exercises or counseling sessions for a set range of "fixed donations"; however, membership without courses or auditing is possible. According to a sociological report entitled "Scientology: To Be Perfectly Clear", progression between levels above "clear" status cost $15,760.03 in 1980 (without including additional special treatments).[133] Scientologists can choose to be audited by a fellow Scientologist rather than by a staff member.[134]
Critics say it is improper to fix a donation for religious service; therefore the activity is non-religious. Scientology points out many classes, exercises and counseling may also be traded for "in kind" or performed cooperatively by students for no cost, and members of its most devoted orders can make use of services without any donations bar that of their time. A central tenet of Scientology is its Doctrine of Exchange, which dictates that each time a person receives something, he or she must give something back. By doing so, a Scientologist maintains "inflow" and "outflow", avoiding spiritual decline.[135]
Government opinions of Scientology
Main article: Scientology as a state-recognized religion
While a number of governments now give the Church of Scientology protections and tax relief as an officially recognized religion,[136][137][138] other sources describe the Church as a pseudoreligion or a cult.[139] Sociologist Stephen Kent published at a Lutheran convention in Germany that he likes to call it a transnational corporation.[140]
Early official reports in countries such as the United Kingdom (1971), South Africa (1972), Australia (1965) and New Zealand (1969) have yielded unfavorable observations and conclusions.[141][142][143][144]
Australia
Main article: Scientology in Australia
There is currently no legal restriction in Australia on the practice of Scientology. In 1983 the High Court of Australia dealt with the question whether the Church of Scientology is a religious institution and as such not subject to payroll tax. The Court unanimously confirmed the Church of Scientology to be a religious institution.[145]
On November 18, 2009 the Church came under fire from an Independent senator in the Commonwealth Parliament, Nick Xenophon. Under parliamentary privilege in the Senate, Xenophon declared that the Church of Scientology is a criminal organisation.[146]
Belgium
Main article: Scientology in Belgium
In September 2007, a Belgian prosecutor announced that they had finished an investigation of Scientology and said they would probably bring charges. The church said the prosecutor's public announcement falsely suggested guilt even before a court could hear any of the charges. In December 2012, Belgian officials completed their file on Scientology and brought charges of extortion, illegal medicine, various breaches of privacy, and fraud.[147][148]
France
Main article: Scientology in France
In France, a parliamentary report classified Scientology as a dangerous cult.[149] On November 22, 1996, the leader of the Lyons Church of Scientology, Jean-Jacques Mazier, was convicted of fraud and involuntary homicide and sentenced to eighteen months in prison for his role in the death of a member who committed suicide after going deeply into debt to pay for Scientology auditing sessions. Fourteen others were convicted of fraud as well.[150] In 2009, members of the church were sued for fraud and practicing pharmacology without a license,[151] and the Church was convicted of fraud in October 2009, being fined €600,000, with additional fines and suspended prison sentences for four officers.[152]
In an interview on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation current affairs radio program The Current with Hana Gartner, former high-ranking Scientology official Mark Rathbun commented that the decision to convict the Church of Scientology of fraud in France would not have a significant impact on the organization.[153] "On the France thing I don't think that's going to have any lasting impact, simply because they got a nine hundred thousand dollar fine I think - which is like chump change to them. They've got literally nearly a billion dollars set aside in a war chest," said Rathbun.[153]
Germany
Main article: Scientology in Germany
In Germany, official views of Scientology are particularly skeptical.[154] In Germany it is seen as a totalitarian anti-democratic organization and is under observation by national security organizations due to, among other reasons, suspicion of violating the human rights of its members granted by the German Constitution,[155] including Hubbard's pessimistic views on democracy vis-à-vis psychiatry and other such features.[156] In December 2007, Germany's interior ministers said that they considered the goals of Church of Scientology to be in conflict with the principles of the nation's constitution and would seek to ban the organization.[157] The plans were quickly criticised as ill-advised.[158] The plans to ban Scientology were finally dropped in November 2008, after German officials found insufficient evidence of illegal activity.[159]
The legal status of the Church of Scientology in Germany is still awaiting resolution; some courts have ruled that it is a business, others have affirmed its religious nature.[160] The German government has affirmed that it does not consider the Church of Scientology to be a religious community.[160]
Ireland
As in most European countries, the Church of Scientology is not officially recognized in Ireland as a charitable organization, but it is free to promote Scientology beliefs.[161] The Irish government has not invited the Church of Scientology to national discussions on secularization by the Religious Council of Ireland. The meetings were attended by Roman Catholic bishops, representatives of the Church of Ireland, Ireland's Chief Rabbi, and Muslim leaders.[162]
Israel
In Israel, according to Israeli professor of psychology Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, "in various organizational forms, Scientology has been active among Israelis for more than thirty years, but those in charge not only never claimed the religion label, but resisted any such suggestion or implication. It has always presented itself as a secular, self-improvement, tax-paying business."[139] Those "organizational forms" include a Scientology Organization in Tel Aviv. Another Israeli Scientology group called "The Way to Happiness" (or "Association for Prosperity and Security in the Middle East") works through local Scientologist members to promote The Way to Happiness.[163] An Israeli CCHR chapter runs campaigns against perceived abuses in psychiatry.[164] Other Scientology campaigns, such as "Youth for Human Rights International" are active as well.[165] There is also an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group that opposes Scientology and other cults or missionary organizations in Israel,[166] Lev L'Achim, whose anti-missionary department in 2001 provided a hotline and other services to warn citizens of Scientology's "many types of front organizations".[167]
Netherlands
On October 17, 2013, a Dutch court ruled that "the Amsterdam arm of Scientology is a charitable organization and exempt from paying taxes."[168] DutchNews.nl reported that the court ruled "The Scientology Church in Amsterdam be treated in the same way as other church and faith-based organisations and allowed to claim tax breaks." The appeal court also ruled that "Scientology's classes don't differ significantly from what other spiritual organizations do, or can do."[168] The court noted "Scientology movement's training programmes are not the same as those offered by commercial companies because people who cannot afford them pay a reduced fee or get them free" and that "the courses are aimed at spiritual and theoretical enlightenment."[169]
Russia
The European Court of Human Rights ruled in April 2007 that Russia's denial to register the Church of Scientology as a religious community was a violation of Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (freedom of assembly and association) read in the light of Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion)".[170] In July 2007, the St. Petersburg City Court closed down that city's Scientology center for violating its charter.[171][172]
Spain
On October 31, 2007, the National Court in Madrid issued a decision recognizing that the National Church of Scientology of Spain should be entered in the Registry of Religious Entities. The administrative tribunal of Madrid's High Court ruled that a 2005 justice ministry decision to scrap the church from the register was "against the law." Responding to a petition filed by the church, the ruling said that no documents had been presented in court to demonstrate it was anything other than a religious entity.[173][174]
United Kingdom
Main article: Scientology in the United Kingdom
The UK government's 1971 official report into Scientology was highly critical,[175] although concluded that it would be unfair to ban the Church outright. The UK government does not classify the Church of Scientology as a religious institution and it is not a registered charity.[124][176] However, in 2000, the Church of Scientology was exempted from UK value added tax on the basis that it is a not-for-profit body.[177]
In December 2013, the UK Supreme Court officially ruled that Scientology is a religion, in response to a 5-year legal battle by Scientologist Louisa Hodkin to marry at the Church of Scientology chapel in central London. With the new ruling, the Registrar General of Births, Marriages and Deaths now recognize weddings performed within Scientology chapels and redefined religion to “not be confined to those with belief in a supreme deity.”[178][179][180][181]
United States
Main article: Scientology in the United States
In 1979 Hubbard's wife, Mary Sue Hubbard, along with ten other highly placed Scientology executives were convicted in United States federal court regarding Operation Snow White, and served time in an American federal prison. Operation Snow White involved infiltration, wiretapping and theft of documents in government offices, most notably those of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
In 1993, however, the United States IRS recognized Scientology as a "non-profit charitable organization," and gave it the same legal protections and favorable tax treatment extended to other non-profit charitable organizations.[182] A New York Times article says that Scientologists paid private investigators to obtain compromising material on the IRS commissioner and blackmailed the IRS into submission.[183]

The following actions will be considered to be a material breach by the Service: ... The issuance of a Regulation, Revenue Ruling or other pronouncement of general applicability providing that fixed donations to a religious organization other than a church of Scientology are fully deductible unless the Service has issued previously or issues contemporaneously a similar pronouncement that provides for consistent and uniform principles for determining the deductibility of fixed donations for all churches including the Church of Scientology.
In a 2001 legal case involving a married couple attempting to obtain the same deduction for charity to a Jewish school, it was stated by Judge Silverman:[184]

An IRS closing agreement cannot overrule Congress and the Supreme Court. If the IRS does, in fact, give preferential treatment to members of the Church of Scientology—allowing them a special right to claim deductions that are contrary to law and rightly disallowed to everybody else—then the proper course of action is a lawsuit to put a stop to that policy.
To date (2008) such a suit is not known to have been filed. In further appeal in 2006, the US Tax Court again rejected couple's deduction, stating:

We conclude that the agreement reached between the Internal Revenue Service and the Church of Scientology in 1993 does not affect the result in this case.[185]
However, this matter is still ongoing. On February 8, 2008, three judges in the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals "expressed deep skepticism" over the IRS's position that treatment of Scientology is "irrelevant to the deductions the Orthodox Jews, Michael and Marla Sklar, took for part of their children's day school tuition and for after-school classes in Jewish law".[186]
See also

Portal icon Scientology portal
alt.religion.scientology
Clearwater Hearings
Exscientologykids.com
Foundation for a Drug-Free World
Fraser Mansion
Hill v. Church of Scientology of Toronto
List of groups referred to as cults in government documents
List of religious organizations
List of Scientologists
List of Scientology organizations
Original Founding Church of Scientology
Project Chanology
Scientology and the legal system
Scientology and the Internet
Scientology beliefs and practices
Scientology controversies
Scientology in popular culture
Timeline of Scientology
References
1.Jump up ^ "ABC News: Scientology 101". USA: ABC. 1950-05-09. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
2.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon (Sep 2000). The Church of Scientology (Studies in Contemporary Religions, 1). Signature Books in cooperation with CESNUR. "Since 1981, all of the churches and organizations of the church have been brought together under the Church of Scientology International. CSI provides a visible point of unity and guides the individual churches, especially in the area of applying Hubbard's teaching and technology in a uniform fashion."
3.Jump up ^ "At the top of the structure is the Church of Scientology International (CSI), the mother church for all Scientology. Located in Los Angeles, CSI provides overall direction, planning and guidance for the network of churches, missions, field auditors and volunteer ministers which comprise the Scientology hierarchy it spans, and ensures these various organizations are all working effectively together." What is Scientology? Published 1998 Bridge Publications ISBN 978-1-57318-122-8 http://www.whatisscientology.org
4.Jump up ^ "description of the Scientology ecclesiastical structure on www.rtc.org". Rtc.org. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
5.Jump up ^ The Church of Scientology (Studies in Contemporary Religions, 1) By J. Gordon Melton Publisher: Signature Books in cooperation with CESNUR published September 2000 ISBN 978-1-56085-139-4 "The various missions, churches, and organizations, all autonomous corporations which fellowship with the larger movement, receive licenses to use the church's trademarks, service marks, and copyrights of Hubbard's published and unpublished works from RTC."
6.Jump up ^ "Each church corporation is organized on a nonprofit basis with its own board of directors and executives responsible for its activities. What is Scientology? Published 1998 Bridge Publications ISBN 978-1-57318-122-8 http://www.whatisscientology.org
7.Jump up ^ "description of the individual Scientology churches on www.rtc.org". Rtc.org. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
8.^ Jump up to: a b Atack, Jon (1990). A Piece of Blue Sky. New York, NY: Carol Publishing Group. ISBN 978-0-8184-0499-3.
9.^ Jump up to: a b Hubbard, L. Ron. "Pulpateer". Church of Scientology International. Retrieved 2006-06-07.
10.Jump up ^ Janet Reitman Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion, p. 318, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011 ISBN 0547549237, 9780547549231
11.Jump up ^ Flinn, Frank K. (2003). "Scientology". In Karen Christensen, and David Levinson. Encyclopedia of Community: From the Village to the Virtual World. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications. pp. 1209–11.
12.Jump up ^ Weird, Sure. A Cult, No. Washington Post By Mark Oppenheimer, August 5, 2007
13.^ Jump up to: a b The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power TIME magazine, May. 06, 1991 by Richard Behar. The investigation paints a picture of a depraved yet thriving enterprise.
14.Jump up ^ "Scientology Chronicle 1952-1955". Lronhubbard.org. 2011-11-07. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
15.Jump up ^ Remember Venus?, Time, December 22, 1952
16.Jump up ^ Hubbard, L. Ron (1954) Why Doctor of Divinity? Professional Auditor's Bulletin no. 32, August 7, 1954
17.Jump up ^ "ABC News Scientology 101". USA: ABC. 2006-08-23. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
18.Jump up ^ ""Aims of Scientology by L. Ron Hubbard" at official site". Scientology.org. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
19.Jump up ^ "Meddling with Minds". TIME Magazine. 1968-08-23. Retrieved 2008-02-14.
20.Jump up ^ Marshall, John (1980-01-24). "Hubbard still gave orders, records show". Globe and Mail (Canada).
21.Jump up ^ Tapper, James (2008-01-07). "Diana author names Tom Cruise as 'World Number Two in Scientology'". Daily Mail (London). "Elliot Abelson, general counsel for the Church of Scientology, said ... 'The only person who runs the Church and makes policy decisions is David Miscavige.'"
22.Jump up ^ "Remember Venus?". Time Magazine. 1952-12-22. Retrieved 2007-07-20.
23.Jump up ^ Neusner 2003, p. 227
24.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 28
25.Jump up ^ Melton 2000, pp. 59–60
26.Jump up ^ Finkelman, Paul (2006). Encyclopedia of American Civil Liberties. CRC Press. p. 287. ISBN 978-0-415-94342-0. "Scientology has achieved full legal recognition as a religious denomination in the United States."
27.Jump up ^ Davis, Derek H. (2004). "The Church of Scientology: In Pursuit of Legal Recognition" (PDF). Zeitdiagnosen: Religion and Conformity. Münster, Germany: Lit Verlag. Retrieved 2008-05-10. "Many countries, including the United States, now give official recognition to Scientology as a religion [...]"
28.Jump up ^ Lucy Morgan (March 29, 1999). "Abroad: Critics public and private keep pressure on Scientology". St. Petersburg Times. "In the United States, Scientology gained status as a tax-exempt religion in 1993 when the Internal Revenue Service agreed to end a long legal battle over the group's right to the exemption."
29.Jump up ^ Toomey, Shamus (June 26, 2005). "'TomKat' casts spotlight back on Scientology.", Chicago Sun-Times
30.Jump up ^ "Other Psychic New Age Groups." Encyclopedia of American Religions. Ed. J. Gordon Melton. 7th ed. Detroit: Gale, 2003. 811-840. Gale Virtual Reference Library. Web. 17 Dec. 2013.
31.Jump up ^ Black, Alan W. (January 24, 1996). "Is Scientology A Religion?". Church of Scientology.
32.^ Jump up to: a b "Scientology: L. Ron Hubbard's "space opera" material, l ron hubbard, marcab confederacy". En.allexperts.com. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
33.Jump up ^ "Scientology.org - Introduction to Scientology". Church of Scientology.
34.Jump up ^ "Road To Total Freedom". Panorama. BBC. 1987-04-27.
35.Jump up ^ Farley, Robert (2006-05-06). "Scientology nearly ready to unveil Super Power". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2008-12-07.
36.Jump up ^ Boyd, Joe (4 January 1997). "A Mind-bending experience". The Guardian.
37.Jump up ^ Wright, Lawrence. Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief. 2013. Print.
38.Jump up ^ "Scientology Missions International Homepage". Smi.org. 2010-11-28. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
39.Jump up ^ Charles L. Stafford; Bette Orsini (1980-01-09). "Scientology: An in-depth profile of a new force in Clearwater" (PDF, 905K). St. Petersburg Times. Original (18M)
40.Jump up ^ Farley, Robert (2004-07-18). "Scientology's town Series: Scientology's town: A two-part special report". St. Petersburg Times (South Pinellas ed.).
41.Jump up ^ "Church of Scientology Dedicates $145 Million ‘Super Power’ Building". Retrieved 2013-11-19.
42.Jump up ^ "Tom Cruise Attends Unveiling of Scientology 'Super Power' Building". The Hollywood Reporter. November 18, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-19.
43.Jump up ^ "Celebrities on hand to open Scientology 'cathedral'". Retrieved 2013-11-19.
44.^ Jump up to: a b "Tom Cruise and Scientology", Los Angeles Times, December 18, 2005: "voter registration records list the Gilman Hot Springs complex as Miscavige's residence since the early 1990s and as recently as the 2004 general election"
45.Jump up ^ "Rural Studio is Scientology Headquarters." San Jose Mercury News. August 13, 1991. 6B California News. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
46.Jump up ^ Kelly, David. "Scientology foes blast new Riverside County law." Los Angeles Times. January 10, 2009. 1. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
47.Jump up ^ Glick, Julia. "County ordinance raises questions about Scientology." The Press-Enterprise. Tuesday January 6, 2009. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
48.Jump up ^ McGavin, Gregor. "Scientologists' presence in Inland area dates back to 1960s." The Press-Enterprise. Tuesday January 15, 2008. Retrieved October 21, 2009.
49.Jump up ^ McGavin, Gregor. "Scientologists' presence in Inland area dates back to 1960s." The Press-Enterprise. Tuesday January 15, 2008. Retrieved on October 9, 2009.
50.Jump up ^ "Inside Scientology" by Janet Reitman. Rolling Stone, Issue 995. March 9, 2006. Pages 55 - 67.
51.Jump up ^ Tobin, Thomas C (1998-10-25). "A place called 'Gold'". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2007-03-18.
52.Jump up ^ Perry, Rebecca; Kelsen, Don (2005-12-17). "Scientology's inland empire" (PDF). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2007-08-25.
53.Jump up ^ holland, Gale (2001-06-20). "Unfair Game". LA Weekly. Retrieved 2008-02-24.
54.Jump up ^ Hoffman, Claire; Christensen, Kim (2005-12-18). "Tom Cruise and Scientology". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-01-24.
55.Jump up ^ View all comments that have been posted about this article. (2005-11-26). "''A Place in the Desert for New Mexico's Most Exclusive Circles,'' By Richard Leiby Washington Post Staff Writer Date: Sunday, November 27, 2005". The Washington Post. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
56.Jump up ^ M2 PressWIRE. "Curacao Dry dock Company: Scientology's Cruise Ship Sealed Due To Asbestos Danger". Insurance News Net. insurancenewsnet.com. Retrieved 2008-05-02.
57.^ Jump up to: a b http://la.curbed.com/archives/2011/10/scientology_opening_up_big_ideal_org_in_inglewood.php
58.^ Jump up to: a b http://seattletimes.com/html/nationworld/2011277347_scientology07.html
59.Jump up ^ Miller, Daniel. "Scientology's Hollywood Real Estate Empire". The Hollywood Reporter.
60.Jump up ^ http://www.tampabay.com/news/scientology/church-of-scientology-responds-to-times-series-about-fbi-investigation/1270644
61.Jump up ^ http://blogs.phoenixnewtimes.com/valleyfever/2012/06/scientology_opens_phoenix_idea.php
62.Jump up ^ http://blogs.ocweekly.com/navelgazing/2012/05/scientology_set_to_open_orange_county_ideal_org_santa_ana.php
63.Jump up ^ http://blogs.villagevoice.com/runninscared/2012/02/scientology_ideal_org_secret.php
64.Jump up ^ http://hollywood.patch.com/listings/golden-era-productions
65.Jump up ^ http://www.mediabistro.com/fishbowlla/church-of-scientology-los-angeles-printing-facility_b21368
66.Jump up ^ http://www.goddiscussion.com/40139/scientologys-new-international-dissemination-and-distribution-printing-center/
67.Jump up ^ "Unwitting highschoolers lured to forum by Scientologists". The Sydney Morning Herald. 2007-03-27. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
68.Jump up ^ McEwen, Alan (2004-03-18). "Scientology-link group is banned". Edinburgh Evening News. Retrieved 2007-07-17.
69.Jump up ^ Mohammed, Asahed (February 28, 2013). "Nation of Islam Auditors graduation held for third Saviours’ Day in a row". Final Call. Retrieved April 22, 2013.
70.Jump up ^ Gray, Eliza (October 5, 2012). "The Mothership of All Alliances". The New Republic. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
71.Jump up ^ Rossetter, Shelley; Tobin, Thomas C. (October 18, 2012). "Louis Farrakhan renews call for self-determination among Nation of Islam followers". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
72.Jump up ^ Wakefield, Margery. Understanding Scientology, Chapter 9. Reproduced at David S. Touretzky's Carnegie Mellon site.
73.Jump up ^ moreorless. "The Church of Scientology’s Rehabilitation Project Force A Study by Juha Pentikäinen (Chair of the Department of the Study of Religions, University of Helsinki, Finland), Jurgen F.K. Redhardt, and Michael York (Bath Spa University College)". Cesnur.org. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
74.Jump up ^ "Scientology Inc." at Newsreview.com
75.Jump up ^ Joel Sappell and Robert W. Welkos, Times Staff Writers, Courting the Power Brokers The Los Angeles Times, June 27, 1990
76.Jump up ^ Leiby, Richard (1994-12-25). "Scientology Fiction: The Church's War Against Its Critics—and Truth". The Washington Post. p. C1. Retrieved 2006-06-21.
77.Jump up ^ Goodin, Dan (1999-06-03). "Scientology subpoenas Worldnet". CNET News.com. Retrieved 2006-05-04.
78.Jump up ^ Ortega, Tony (1999-12-23). "Double Crossed". Phoenix New Times. Village Voice Media. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
79.Jump up ^ Welkos, Robert W.; Sappell, Joel (1990-06-24). "Burglaries and Lies Paved a Path to Prison". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
80.Jump up ^ Whitney, Craig R. (1996-11-23). "French Scientologist Sentenced After Church Member's Suicide - New York Times". The New York Times. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
81.Jump up ^ Erlanger, Steven (2009-10-27). "French Branch of Scientology Convicted of Fraud". The New York Times (France). Retrieved 2011-11-22.
82.Jump up ^ http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/1995/1995rcs2-1130/1995rcs2-1130.html
83.Jump up ^ [Claridge, Thomas (September 12, 1992). "Church of Scientology fined $250,000 for espionage". Globe and Mail.]
84.Jump up ^ Neusner, Jacob (2003). World Religions in America. Westminster John Knox Press. pp. 221–236. ISBN 0-664-22475-X.
85.Jump up ^ "The Wall Street Journal. December 30, 1997 Reproduced at Dave Touretzky's Carnegie Mellon site
86.Jump up ^ "Official Recognition of Scientology as a Religion". "... the United States Internal Revenue Service in granting full religious recognition and tax exemption to all Churches of Scientology located in the United States ..."
87.Jump up ^ Dan McSwain: The Obama-Biden Transition Team (January 20, 2009). "The Citizen’s Briefing Book". Change.gov. Archived from the original on 2009-01-20.
88.Jump up ^ "2001 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-11-22.
89.Jump up ^ "2002 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom". State.gov. 2007-03-12. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
90.Jump up ^ "2003 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom". State.gov. 2007-03-12. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
91.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon (2003). "Other Psychic New Age Groups". Encyclopedia of American Religions (7th edition ed.). Detroit: Gale.
92.^ Jump up to: a b c d Burglaries and Lies Paved a Path to Prison The LA Times, By Robert W. Welkos and Joel Sappell, June 24, 1990
93.Jump up ^ McLaughlin, Jim; Andrew Gully (1998-02-19). "Church of Scientology probes Herald reporter". Boston Herald. Retrieved 2009-02-08.
94.Jump up ^ Sweeney, John (2007-05-14). "Row over Scientology video". BBC News. Retrieved 2007-11-14.
95.Jump up ^ "Reporter John Sweeney followed on Scientology story". BBC Panorama (BBC). September 27, 2010. Retrieved 18 December 2012.
96.Jump up ^ The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power TIME magazine, May. 06, 1991 By Richard Behar. By all appearances, Noah Lottick of Kingston, Pa., had been a normal, happy 24-year-old who was looking for his place in the world... his fingers were still clutching $171 in cash, virtually the only money he hadn't yet turned over to the Church of Scientology, the self-help "philosophy" group he had discovered just seven months earlier.
97.Jump up ^ Frantz, Douglas (November 14, 1998). "Florida Charges Scientology In Church Member's Death". New York Times. Retrieved 6 November 2012.
98.Jump up ^ Stasi, Linda (October 27, 2006). "Scientology Schizo: His Mom's Religion Said, No Meds. That Edict May Have Cost Her Life". New York Post. Archived from the original on 2007-02-10. Retrieved 2007-03-23.
99.Jump up ^ "French Scientologists Arrested in Italy". dalje.com.
100.Jump up ^ Juliet, Anne-Cécile. "L’étrange séquestration qui embarrasse la Scientologie". Bellaciao.org. Retrieved September 6, 2011.
101.^ Jump up to: a b ""Ville vært i live i dag hvis hun ikke hadde gått til scientologene" - Innenriks - Dagbladet.no". FR: Dagbladet.no<!. 2008-04-15. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
102.Jump up ^ The Foster Report. Chapter 5, "The Practices of Scientology;" section (a), "Recruitment;" pages 75-76. "... a systematic approach to answering the questions should yield systematic variations in the conclusions derived from an analysis of the test scores ... these two methods [for answering the questions of the test] would be expected to produce different, if not complementary, profiles ... These variations in answering the questions did not seem to affect the Oxford Capacity Analysis as the three methods produced remarkably similar profiles ... when each of two diametrically opposed methods of response produces the same extreme deviant scores as the other and as a third "random" response style, we are forced to a position of scepticism about the test's status as a reliable psychometric device."
103.Jump up ^ "The Seven-Division Org Board". What is Scientology. Archived from the original on 2013-06-21.
104.Jump up ^ Dissemination by Churches of Scientology through "Field Staff Members", "Field Staff Member: a Scientology parishioner who introduces others to Scientology through personal contact."
105.Jump up ^ Official Scientology FAQ: "There are thousands of Scientologists who work full time in churches and missions throughout the world as executives or administrative staff. There are also those who further the dissemination of Scientology on a one-to-one basis or through the dissemination of Scientology materials and books, those who hold jobs in the Church’s social reform groups and those who work in the Office of Special Affairs involved in community betterment or legal work. All of these provide rewarding careers as each forwards the expansion of Scientology and thereby makes it possible for more and more people to benefit from its technology."
106.Jump up ^ Melton, J. Gordon (May 10, 1981). "A Short Study of the Scientology Religion". Church of Scientology. "The Church regularly propagates its beliefs through the traditional channels of liturgy, dissemination of its religious publications and in its community programs."
107.Jump up ^ Reproduced version of Introspection Rundown Release Contract
108.Jump up ^ Ortega, Tony (2008-06-30). "Scientology's Crushing Defeat". Village Voice. Village Voice Media. Retrieved 2008-09-17. "Scientology president Heber Jentszch admitted several years ago that the six million number does not represent current membership but the total amount of people who have ever, since the founding in 1954, taken even a single Scientology course."
109.Jump up ^ "Religion". Census.gov. 2008-10-31. Retrieved 2009-01-12.
110.Jump up ^ "Berlin Concerned about Huge New Scientology Center". Der Spiegel. January 9, 2007. Retrieved 2008-10-11. "The Church of Scientology was founded in 1954 in the US by science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard. It has around 8 million members worldwide, including several celebrities such as actors John Travolta and Tom Cruise. The organization has an estimated 6,000 members in Germany, but experts believe the church has only 150-200 members in Berlin."
111.Jump up ^ Interview with Barbara Lieser, SPIRITA 1/93, Page 22
112.Jump up ^ "Statement of Scientology Media Relations Director Linda Simmons Hight". scientologytoday.org. May 11, 2002.
113.Jump up ^ Statement of Celebrity Centre Vice President Greg LaClaire, August 7, 2004 [1]
114.Jump up ^ Spokesperson Beth Akiyama in: Scientology comes to town, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 24, 2005
115.Jump up ^ L. Ron Hubbard (1970). Final Blackout. Leisure Books. ISBN 978-0-8439-0003-3. "HE IS ALSO renowned as the founder of Scientology and the creator of "Dianetics," with an estimated 15 million adherents around the world."
116.Jump up ^ Jarvik, Elaine (2004-09-18). "Scientology: Church now claims more than 8 million members". Deseret Morning News. Retrieved 2007-02-21.
117.Jump up ^ "Derek H. Davis". Spirit Restoration.org. Archived from the original on 2010-06-20.
118.Jump up ^ Religionsfreiheit und Konformismus. Über Minderheiten und die Macht der Mehrheit, Lit. Verlag, Münster, 2004, ISBN 978-3-8258-7654-8, page 113
119.Jump up ^ Jarvik, Elaine (2004-09-18). "Scientology: Church now claims more than 8 million members". Deseret News. Archived from the original on 2007-12-12. Retrieved 2007-08-01. "If the church indeed had 4 million members in the United States, he says, "they would be like the Lutherans and would show up on a national survey" such as the Harris poll."
120.Jump up ^ on-line.scientology.org homepage, viewed February 2007
121.Jump up ^ Self-Described Religious Identification Among American Adults at Infoplease
122.Jump up ^ Wright, Lawrence (February 2011). "The Apostate". The New Yorker.
123.Jump up ^ "Self-Described Religious Identification of Adult Population". United States Census Bureau.
124.^ Jump up to: a b c d e Lewis, James R. (September 2004). "New Religion Adherents: An Overview of Anglophone Census and Survey Data" (PDF). Marburg Journal of Religion 9 (1). Retrieved 2007-02-15.
125.Jump up ^ Boyle, Kevin; Sheen, Juliet (1997), Freedom of Religion and Belief, London, UK/New York, NY: Routledge, ISBN 978-0-415-15978-4, p. 102
126.Jump up ^ Statistics Canada
127.Jump up ^ Verfassungsschutzbericht 2005, p. 292
128.Jump up ^ United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (2008-09-19). "2008 Report on International Religious Freedom - New Zealand". Unhcr.org. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
129.Jump up ^ Religion's rise in the stars, The Herald Sun, July 9, 2007
130.Jump up ^ "Census shows scientology numbers going backwards". ABC News. Retrieved 30 June 2012.
131.Jump up ^ "Scientology losing Swiss support: experts - The Local". Thelocal.ch. 2011-07-04. Retrieved 2012-08-15.
132.Jump up ^ Smith, L. Christopher (December 2008). "Scientology's Money Trail: Celebrities! Tax shelters! Bart Simpson! A glimpse into the finances of the secretive church". Condé Nast Portfolio (2008 Condé Nast Inc). Retrieved 2008-11-19.
133.Jump up ^ Bainbridge, William Sims; Rodney Stark (1980). "Scientology: To Be Perfectly Clear". Sociological Analysis: A Journal in the Sociology of Religion 41 (2): 128–136. doi:10.2307/3709904.
134.Jump up ^ Goodyear, Dana (2011-08-01). ""Château Scientology", The New Yorker, 14 January 2008". Newyorker.com. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
135.Jump up ^ "''Hernandez v. Commissioner'', U.S. Supreme Court". Caselaw.lp.findlaw.com. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
136.Jump up ^ Hexham, Irving (1978). "The Religious Status of Scientology: Is Scientology a Religion?". University of Calgary. Retrieved 2006-06-13.
137.Jump up ^ "Dispatch online - "New SA rights for Scientology"". Dispatch.co.za. 2010-11-12. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
138.Jump up ^ Davis, Derek H. (July 2004). "The Church of Scientology: In Pursuit of Legal Recognition". CESNUR--Center for Studies on New Religions. Retrieved 2007-06-15.
139.^ Jump up to: a b Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin (September 2003). "Scientology: Religion or racket?" (PDF). Marburg Journal of Religion. Retrieved 2007-02-13.
140.Jump up ^ Kent, Stephen (July 1999). "Scientology -- Is this a Religion?". Marburg Journal of Religion. Retrieved 2006-08-26. Kent, while acknowledging that a number of his colleagues accept Scientology as a religion, argues that "Rather than struggling over whether or not to label Scientology as a religion, I find it far more helpful to view it as a multifaceted transnational corporation, only one element of which is religious." (Italics in original.)
141.Jump up ^ Sir John Foster (December 1971). "Enquiry into the Practice and Effects of Scientology". Her Majesty's Stationery Office, London. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
142.Jump up ^ G. P. C. Kotzé (1972). "Report of the Commission of Enquiry into Scientology for 1972". Republic of South Africa.
143.Jump up ^ Kevin Victor Anderson (1965). "Report of the Board of Enquiry into Scientology". State of Victoria, Australia. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
144.Jump up ^ Sir Guy Richardson Powles (1969). "The Commission of Inquiry into the Hubbard Scientology Organization in New Zealand". New Zealand. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
145.Jump up ^ (The Church of the New Faith v. The Commissioner for Payroll Tax, Australian Law Journal Reports 57 [1983]: p785)[2]
146.Jump up ^ "Senator Nick Xenophon brands Scientology a 'criminal organisation'". Herald Sun (Australia). Retrieved December 2, 2009.
147.Jump up ^ "Belgie vervolgt Scientology". De Tijd. 2012-12-28. Retrieved 2012-12-28.
148.Jump up ^ Dalton, Alastair (2007-09-05). "Scientology branded a 'criminal organisation' and may face charges". The Scotsman (Edinburgh). Retrieved 2008-01-20.
149.Jump up ^ "Miviludes 2006 report (PDF)" (PDF). Retrieved 2011-11-22.
150.Jump up ^ Hendon, David W.; James M. Kennedy (Spring 1997). "Notes on Church-State Affairs: France". Journal of Church and State 39 (2): 382. ISSN 0021-969X.
151.Jump up ^ Chrisafis, Angelique (2008-09-09). "Church of Scientology faces fraud trial in France". The Guardian (London). Retrieved 2008-09-11.
152.Jump up ^ "French court fines Scientologists, allows operations", Reuters/Yahoo News, October 27, 2009
153.^ Jump up to: a b Gartner, Hana (October 30, 2009). "Part Two: Scientology - Former Scientologist, Scientology - History". The Current (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation). Archived from the original on 2009-11-07. Retrieved 2009-11-04.
154.Jump up ^ Lewis, James R. (ed.) (2009). Scientology. New York, NY: Oxford University Press. ISBN 978-0-19-533149-3., p. 289
155.Jump up ^ "Scientology Crime Syndicate - Is This A Religion? By Stephen A. Kent". Skeptictank.org. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
156.Jump up ^ "Scientology and Germany: Understanding the German View of Scientology". German Embassy in Washington. June 2001. Retrieved 2007-03-05.
157.Jump up ^ "Scientology violates German constitution and could be banned, officials say". International Herald Tribune. Associated Press. 2007-12-07. Retrieved 2009-03-01.
158.Jump up ^ Agencies Warn Scientology Ban Doomed to Fail Spiegel.de
159.Jump up ^ "Germany drops attempt to ban Scientology - World news - Europe". MSNBC. 2008-11-21. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
160.^ Jump up to: a b bundestag.de: Legal questions concerning religious and worldview communities, prepared by the Scientific Services staff of the German Parliament (German)
161.Jump up ^ Tom Lyons: Troubled Scientology Church in Ireland is now €1m in red, The Irish Independent, June 28, 2006
162.Jump up ^ Christmas gifts (2008-03-22). "Scientologists protest at Ahern talks 'snub' - National News, Frontpage - Independent.ie". Independent.ie<!. Retrieved 2009-12-02.
163.Jump up ^ Rada, Moran (2007-06-07). "Scientology infiltrates summer camps". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
164.Jump up ^ "CCHR Israel Homepage". Cchr.org.il. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
165.Jump up ^ Heruti-Sover, Tali (2007-01-19). "Youth group supported by Scientology". Ynetnews. Retrieved 2007-10-08.
166.Jump up ^ US State Department Report on International Religious Freedom, September 9, 1999 Quote: "Evangelical Christian and other religious groups also have complained that the police have been slow to investigate incidents of harassment, threats, and vandalism directed against their meetings, churches, and other facilities by two ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups, known as Yad L'achim and Lev L'achim."]
167.Jump up ^ April 18, 2001. Lev L'Achim Launches Campaign to Fight Scientology by Moshe Schapiro
168.^ Jump up to: a b "Dutch court rules Scientology tax-exempt". USA Today. October 17, 2013. Retrieved 2013-10-22.
169.Jump up ^ "Scientology wins Dutch Scientology wins Dutch tax exemption status as a faith institute". Retrieved 2013-10-22.
170.Jump up ^ Judgment on Application no. 18147/02 by CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF MOSCOW against Russia (April 5, 2007). Court press release here. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
171.Jump up ^ "St. Petersburg court shuts down Scientology Center". Interfax. 2007-07-13. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
172.Jump up ^ "Russian court shuts down Scientology center in St. Petersburg: prosecutors". International Herald Tribune. Associated Press. 2007-07-12. Retrieved 2008-05-25.
173.Jump up ^ "Spanish court rules Scientology can be listed as a religion". AFP. 2007-11-01. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
174.Jump up ^ Lázaro, J. M. (2007-11-01). "La Audiencia Nacional reconoce a la Cienciología como iglesia" (in Spanish). El País. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
175.Jump up ^ Marshall, Gordon (1990). In praise of sociology. Routledge. ISBN 978-0-04-445687-2.
176.Jump up ^ "U.S. Department of State – 2007 Report on International Religious Freedom: United Kingdom". State.gov. Retrieved 2011-11-22.
177.Jump up ^ Wallop, Harry (August 11, 2006). "Scientology tax victory could cost Revenue millions". The Daily Telegraph (London). Retrieved 2009-07-11.
178.Jump up ^ "UK Supreme Court says Scientology is a religion, allows wedding". Reuters. December 11, 2013.
179.Jump up ^ Bingham, John (December 11, 2013). "Scientology is a religion, rules Supreme Court". The Daily Telegraph (London).
180.Jump up ^ http://rt.com/news/line/2013-12-11/
181.Jump up ^ Hafiz, Yasmine (December 12, 2013). "Britain Recognizes Scientology As A Religion". Huffington Post.
182.Jump up ^ Dahl, David (1993-10-24). "IRS examined Scientology dollars, not dogma". St. Petersburg Times. Archived from the original on October 1, 2007. Retrieved 2007-08-04.
183.Jump up ^ Frantz, Douglas (1997-03-09). "Scientology's Puzzling Journey From Tax Rebel to Tax Exempt". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-20.
184.Jump up ^ Judge Barry Silverman MICHAEL SKLAR; MARLA SKLAR v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL No. 00-70753 (PDF format) United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Argued and Submitted September 7, 2001, Pasadena, California, Filed January 29, 2002.
185.Jump up ^ UNITED STATES TAX COURT, MICHAEL AND MARLA SKLAR, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent. Docket No. 395-01. Filed December 21, 2005.
186.Jump up ^ Gerstein, Josh (February 8, 2008). "Judges Press IRS on Church Tax Break". The New York Sun (The New York Sun, One SL, LLC.). Retrieved 2008-02-08.
External links

Find more about
Scientology
 at Wikipedia's sister projects

Search Wiktionary Definitions from Wiktionary
Search Commons Media from Commons
Search Wikinews News stories from Wikinews
Search Wikiquote Quotations from Wikiquote
Search Wikisource Source texts from Wikisource
Search Wikibooks Textbooks from Wikibooks
Search Wikiversity Learning resources from Wikiversity


 This article's use of external links may not follow Wikipedia's policies or guidelines. Please improve this article by removing excessive or inappropriate external links, and converting useful links where appropriate into footnote references. (October 2011)
Church of Scientology"Welcome to Scientology". Church of Scientology official home page. Church of Scientology.
"What is Scientology ?". Common questions answered about Scientology and its activities. Church of Scientology.
Favorable sitesIrving Hexham. "The religious status of Scientology". Is Scientology a religion?. University of Calgary.
Critical sitesOperation Clambake, an archive of critical articles on Hubbard and Scientology
Church of Scientology Corporations Research Index
Cult Education Institute
OtherSatellite Image of the Gold Base
Church of Scientology companies grouped at OpenCorporates


[show]
v ·
 t ·
 e
 
Scientology








































































































































































































Authority control
VIAF: 132090559
 

  


Categories: Scientology
Scientology organizations
Self religions
Religious organizations established in 1953
Religion in Riverside County, California
New religious movements





















Navigation menu



Create account
Log in



Article

Talk









Read

View source

View history

















Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store

Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page

Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page

Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version

Languages
Afrikaans
العربية
Deutsch
Ελληνικά
Español
Esperanto
Euskara
فارسی
Français
Galego
Bahasa Indonesia
Македонски
Русский
Svenska
Türkçe
Edit links
This page was last modified on 14 June 2015, at 09:17.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Mobile view
Wikimedia Foundation
Powered by MediaWiki
  

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_Scientology