Church of Scientology
Formation | December 1953 |
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Founder | L. Ron Hubbard |
Headquarters | Gold Base |
Location |
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Chairman of the Board RTC | David Miscavige |
Website | scientology |
Part of a series on |
Scientology |
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Controversies |
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The Church of Scientology is a group of interconnected corporate entities and other organizations devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of
The Church of Scientology International (CSI) is officially the "Mother Church", and is responsible for guiding the other Scientology centers.[21][22]: 270 Its international headquarters are located at the Gold Base in Riverside County, California.[23]: 275 The Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) is the organization that owns all the copyrights of the estate of L. Ron Hubbard.[6]
All Scientology management organizations are controlled exclusively by members of the Sea Org, which is a legally nonexistent paramilitary organization for the "elite, innermost dedicated core of Scientologists".[6][24] David Miscavige is described by the Scientology organization as the highest-ranking Sea Org officer, and is referred to by the organization as its captain.
History
The first Church of Scientology organization was incorporated in December 1953 in Camden, New Jersey by L. Ron Hubbard, his wife Mary Sue Hubbard, and John Galusha.[22]: 138 By that time, the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International (HASI) had already been operating since 1952 and Hubbard himself had already been selling Scientology books and technologies.[25][26] In 1953, he wrote to Helen O'Brien, who was managing the organization, asking her to investigate the "religion angle".[27]p. 213 Soon after, despite O'Brien's misgivings and resignation, he announced the religious nature of Scientology in a bulletin to all Scientologists,[28] stressing its relation to the concept of Dharma. The first Church of Scientology opened in 1954 in Los Angeles.[29]
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."[30]: 56 [31] After the formation of the Church of Scientology, Hubbard composed what he called its "creed". The Scientology "creed" emphasizes three key points: being free to enjoy "religious expression", the idea that mental healing is inherently religious, and that healing of the physical body is in the spiritual domain.[15]: 66–67
Hubbard had official control of the organization until 1966 when this function was transferred to a group of executives.[32] Although Hubbard maintained no formal relationship with Scientology's management, he remained firmly in control of the organization and its affiliated organizations.[33]
In May 1986, subsequent to the sudden death of L. Ron Hubbard, David Miscavige, who was at that time the Commanding Officer of the Commodore's Messenger Organisation, 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,[34]: 153 Miscavige is recognized as — and describes himself as — the leader of the Scientology organization.[35]
In 1996, the Church of Scientology implemented the "Golden Age of Tech" (tech pertaining to the entire body of Scientology religious techniques) releasing a training program for Scientology auditors, while precisely following Hubbard's teachings. It was followed by the launch of "The Golden Age of Knowledge" in 2005, where Hubbard's announcements of milestones in the research and development of Dianetics and Scientology were released. Between 2005 and 2010, the organization would complete its 25-year program to restore and verify the Scientology "scriptures". The organization released the second phase of the Golden Age of Tech in November 2013, based on the original work of Hubbard. The
Hierarchy of organizations
The Church of Scientology network operates as a multinational
Today, what we call "Scientology" is in reality a remarkably complex network of ostensibly independent but clearly interconnected corporate entities. ... with a centralized bureaucracy and hierarchical structure. ... [Religious Technology Center] is the most powerful executive organization within the Scientology empire, and its current chairman, David Miscavige, is widely recognized as the effective head of the church.
— Hugh Urban [15]: 131-2
The main types of organizations within the Scientology network are:
- Service organizations are the public-facing organizations
- Management organizations
- Publishing and media organizations
- Dissemination organizations such as marketing and outreach.
Service organizations
Church of Scientology organizations that are public-facing are called "service orgs".[39]: 476 The two main types of services offered to the public are auditing and auditor training. Auditing is the 'counseling', and training teaches how to audit. The levels of auditing and training are charted and described on The Bridge to Total Freedom.[40] All service organizations are separate corporate entities, are licensed as franchises, and pay a percentage of their gross revenues to International Management.[41]: 98 Hubbard's image and writing are ubiquitous in service orgs, and each maintains 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.[42][34]: 200
- Missions of Scientology
- Business-wise, missions operate like franchises. They are independently owned by a "mission holder" and licensed to operate by the Church of Scientology. These offer beginning services to newcomers to Scientology, then push their clients to higher level service orgs.[39]: 334 Missions are managed by Scientology Missions International.
- Scientology Life Improvement Centers and Dianetics Centers
- These centers are operated by a local Church of Scientology and are small "store front" locations with the purpose of selling books and offering very basic services to get people interested in Scientology.
- Central org, Class V org
- This organization is what most people think of as "a Church of Scientology". It offers a full range of auditing and auditor training services up to the level of Clear on The Bridge to Total Freedom. They were called Class V orgs because the auditor training level up to Clear was called the "Class V auditor course".[43][40]
- Ideal org
- An Ideal Org A special class of Class V org where a new large building has been acquired, renovated, and outfitted to David Miscavige's "ideal org" standards.
- Saint Hill org and Advanced org
- A Saint Hill org is a type of service org which trains up through the Class VI course—the Saint Hill Special Briefing Course. Named after Saint Hill Manor. An Advanced org offers the advanced levels above Clear, including the OT levels I through V. Several organizations operate the function of a Saint Hill org coupled with an Advanced org in a single corporation, such as: East Grinstead, United Kingdom; Copenhagen, Denmark; Johannesburg, South Africa; and Sydney, Australia. Los Angeles, California has a separate Saint Hill org and an Advanced org.
- Flag Service Org (FSO)
- Also known as "Flag". Located in the Super Power Rundown and the L's rundowns. It is also the chief training organization for Class V org staff to train for their posts (these students are called "outer org trainees"). FSO also operates an Advanced org which offers the OT levels VI and VII, and trains Sea Orgstaff for the confidential upper levels to audit and supervise others on OT levels V-VIII.
- Flag Ship Service Org (FSSO)
- The name of the service org that operates aboard the Freewinds ship in the Caribbean. It offers the OT level VIII.
Management organizations
All Scientology management organizations are controlled exclusively by members of the
is described by the Scientology organization as the highest-ranking Sea Org officer, and is referred to by the organization as its captain.The Church of Scientology International (CSI) is officially the "Mother Church", and is responsible for guiding the other Scientology centers.[21][22]: 270 [15]: 172 Its international headquarters are located at the Gold Base.[23]: 275
The Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) is the organization that owns all the copyrights of the estate of L. Ron Hubbard.[6]
There are numerous other management organizations, including the
In the 1950s and 1960s, management was operated from the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International (HASI), and from 1966 until the 1980s it was the Church of Scientology of California (CSC).
Sea Org
The Sea Organization (often simply referred to as the "Sea Org") was incorporated under the name Operational Transport Committee in the United Kingdom in 1966 for legal maritime registration purposes. The Sea Org is an unincorporated fraternal religious order founded in 1967 by Hubbard as he embarked on a series of voyages around the Mediterranean Sea in a small fleet of ships staffed by Scientologists and hired professional seamen. 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 Organization. The very first members of 'The Sea Project' (1966–67) were high-level trained staff and OTIII completions personally chosen by L. Ron Hubbard from Saint Hill Manor and overseas Scientology centers. The purpose was to establish an effective base of operations for the OTC research voyages to assist LRH to verify his discoveries and research into past-lives. Hubbard was also keen to see if he could recover any deposits of treasure that he believed that he had hidden in dozens of locations around the Mediterranean region. Teams of divers and metal-detectorists were dispatched to remote locations to dig for these alleged deposits. There is evidence of some success in locating identified targets, but only two probable eye-witness testimonies of any artifacts being recovered. One from under a temple complex on Sicily and another from an underwater temple at Carthage. Witnesses have claimed to have seen small craft unloading gold bullion onto the 'Athena' vessel and later seen in Hubbard's personal hold aboard the Apollo flagship in 1968 by staff members. (Sources: Mission Into Time and Source magazine. (Issue 9).
The Sea Org is described by the Scientology organization as forming an elite group of the most dedicated Scientologists, who are entrusted with the international management of the organization and "upper level" parts such as the Advanced Organization Los Angeles, American Saint Hill Organization,
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
In 1974, Hubbard established the Rehabilitation Project Force (or RPF), a forced labour and re-education program against reputedly delinquent members of the Sea Org,[46] which involves long days of hard labor, restricted food, and substandard living conditions.[47] Ex-members who were subjected to RPF have reported physical abuse and that members are prevented from leaving with threats and coercion.[47][48] It has included teenagers and children as young as twelve years old, and there are reports of child labor for considerably longer than eight hours a day and physical and sexual abuse of minors.[49][50][51] In one case, Jenna Miscavige Hill, niece of David Miscavige and author of Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape, has stated that as a child she often worked 14 hours a day and only got to see her parents once a week, and sometimes more seldom.[52]
Religious Technology Center (RTC)
The highest authority in the Church of Scientology network is Religious Technology Center (RTC). The RTC claims to only be the "holder of Scientology and Dianetics trademarks", but is in fact the main Scientology executive organization.[6] RTC chairman David Miscavige is widely seen as the effective head of Scientology.[6]
Religious Technology Center is the organization at the top of the Scientology hierarchy.[53]: 303 RTC was established in 1982, and controls the Dianetics and Scientology trademarks.[15]: 23 In 1987, David Miscavige took over control of RTC and is the head of RTC; officially Chairman of the Board, or COB.[53]: 122 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 organization, and critics, as well as numerous government and media organizations.[22]: 284 [15]: 182–185
Scientology Missions International
Scientology Missions International is the management organization over the mission network. Missions are small Scientology organizations which recruit new people and deliver basic services and
Publishing and media organizations
Golden Era Productions
Golden Era Productions is a 500+ acre property in California also known as Gold Base, occupied by the Church of Scientology since 1979. It is where they make Scientology films, reproduce audio recordings of Hubbard's lectures, and assemble E-meters.[53]: 80–81
Scientology Media Productions and Scientology Network
In 2011, the Church of Scientology purchased KCET-TV's studio facilities.[57] After five years of renovations and upgrades, the 4.5-acre property was reopened in 2016 as "Scientology Media Productions".[58] The facilities included "three soundstages, postproduction tools, control rooms, music studios, mixing rooms, art departments, scene shops, radio booths, screening rooms, a magazine production space, a live-events hub" and 136,000 square feet of space.[59] In 2018, they launched the Scientology Network.[60]
Bridge Publications and New Era Publications
Bridge Publications, Inc. (incorporated 1981 in California) is the publisher for Scientology books and magazines in the United States, and New Era Publications International, Aps is the publisher in Europe.[61]: 211
Past publications organizations include Distribution Center Inc. (Maryland 1955), Publications Organization United States (California 1971), and Scientology Publications Limited (UK 1991).[62][63]
As of 2023, the Bridge Publications print and distribution center, located at 5600 E Olympic Blvd, Commerce, California, occupies 185,000 square feet and prints the organization's magazines and other Scientology materials. The center's press has the capacity to print 55,000 pages per hour. The warehousing and shipping department is fully automated, with the capability of handling half a million items per week.[64][63]
There are several
Author Services Inc. and Galaxy Press
Dissemination 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 and operate as front groups.[68][69]
Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE)
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 Way to Happiness.
Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR)
The
Volunteer Ministers
The Church of Scientology began its "Volunteer Ministers" program as a way to participate in community outreach projects. Volunteer Ministers travel to the scenes of major disasters to provide assistance with relief efforts. According to critics, these relief efforts consist of passing out copies of a pamphlet authored by 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". Accounts of the Volunteer Ministers' effectiveness have been mixed, and touch assists are not supported by scientific evidence.[74][75][76]
World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE)
Many other Scientologist-run businesses and organizations belong to the
- 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.[77] 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 Scientologists Sky Dayton and Reed Slatkin as a Scientology enterprise. The company now distances itself from the views of its founder, who moved on to become CEO of Helio (wireless carrier), formerly known as SK-EarthLink.
Front groups
Bases and campuses
The church owns a staggering array of properties, from a college on 55 acres in England to a luxury cruise ship. The church often buys historic buildings and refurbishes them in grand fashion. —St. Petersburg Times, 2009 [80]
Saint Hill, England
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, a Georgian manor house near the Sussex town of East Grinstead. During Hubbard's years at Saint Hill, he traveled extensively, providing lectures and training in Australia, South Africa in the United States, and developing materials that would eventually become Scientology's "core systematic theology and praxis".[81] While in Saint Hill, Hubbard worked with a staff of nineteen and urged others to join. On September 14, 1959, he wrote: "Here, on half a hundred acres of lovely grounds in a mansion where we have not yet found all the bedrooms, we are handling the problems of administration and service for the world of Scientology. We are not very many here and as the sun never sets on Scientology we are very busy thetans."[81]
The most important achievement of the Saint Hill period was Hubbard's execution of the Saint Hill Special Briefing Course (SHBC). It was delivered by Hubbard from March 1951 to December 1966 and, within the Church of Scientology, is considered the best training course for budding "auditors" in the organization. Scientology groups called "Saint Hill Organizations" located in Los Angeles, Clearwater (Florida), Copenhagen and Sydney still teach this course.[81]
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 IX and X, will be released and made available to the organization's members when all the major organizations in the world have reached Saint Hill size.[82]
Flag Land Base, Clearwater, Florida
The "worldwide spiritual headquarters" of the Church of Scientology is known as Flag Land Base, located in
The organization was founded in 1975 when a Scientology-founded group called "Southern Land Development and Leasing Corp" purchased the
In the years since its foundation, the Flag Land 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 "
The Church of Scientology's CST chairman of the board, 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.[85][86][87]
PAC Base and Hollywood, California
Los Angeles, California, has the largest concentration of Scientologists and Scientology-related organizations in the world, with the Church of Scientology's most visible presence being in the Hollywood district of the city.[88] The organization owns a former hospital on Fountain Avenue which houses Scientology's West Coast headquarters,[89] 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,[89] 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 their complex "L. Ron Hubbard Way". The street has been paved in brick.[90]
Scientology's
Gold Base, Riverside County, California
The headquarters of the
The Church of Scientology bought the former Gilman Hot Springs resort, which had been popular with Hollywood figures, in 1978; the resort became Gold Base.[96] The facilities are surrounded by floodlights and video observation cameras,[92][97][98][99] and the compound is protected by razor wire.[100]
Trementina Base, New Mexico
The Church of Scientology maintains a large base on the outskirts of Trementina, New Mexico, for the purpose of storing their archiving project: engraving 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 report in The Washington Post, the organization unsuccessfully attempted to coerce the station not to air the story.[101]
Membership statistics
It is difficult to obtain reliable membership statistics. In the US, the 2008
The organization has said that it has eight to fifteen million members worldwide, but this figure is known to be an aggrandizing fabrication.[108][109][110][111][112][113][114][115] Religious scholar J. Gordon Melton has said that the organization'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".[116]
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.[117] A 2008 survey of American religious affiliations by the US Census Bureau estimated there to be 25,000 Americans identifying as Scientologists.[118][119]
- 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.[120]
- In 2011, Statistics Canada, the national census agency, reported a total of 1,745 Scientologists nationwide,[121] up from 1,525 in 2001[120] and 1,220 in 1991.[122]
- 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.[123]
- In the 2006 New Zealand census, 357 people identified themselves as Scientologists, although a spokesperson for the organization said there were between 5,000 and 6,000 Scientologists in the country.[124] Earlier census figures were 207 in the 1991 census, 219 in 1996, and 282 in 2001.[120]
- In 2006, Australia's national census recorded 2,507 Scientologists nationwide, up from 1,488 in 1996, and 2,032 in 2001.[120][125] The 2011 census however found a decrease of 13.7 percent from the 2006 census.[126]
- In 2011, SonntagsZeitung reported that support for Scientology in Switzerland had experienced a steady decline from 3,000 registered members in 1990 to 1,000 members and the organization was said to be facing extinction in the country. A Church of Scientology spokesperson rejected the figures claiming that the organization had 5,000 "passive and active members in Switzerland".[127]
- In 2011, the "Scientology Association of Finland" had approximately 120 members.[128]
Finances
In 2008, the Church of Scientology and its large network of corporations, nonprofits and other legal entities were estimated to bring in around 500 million US dollars in annual revenue.[129]
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 (equivalent to $55,975 in 2022; this cost does not include additional special treatments).[130][clarification needed] Scientologists can choose to be audited by a fellow Scientologist rather than by a staff member.[131]
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
Ideal Orgs
Starting in 2003 Miscavige began pressuring local Churches of Scientology to purchase larger facilities to use as Scientology centers which would be renovated to become "Ideal Orgs".[133] The theory was "If you build it they will come."[23]: 348 This push has included the acquisition of many historic buildings, a plan which professor of religious studies Hugh Urban believes has been pursued to imbue the Church with historical significance and distract from its controversies.[91] For renovations of these buildings, the Church of Scientology has relied heavily on manual labor from Sea Org members in the organization's Rehabilitation Project Force.[91]
As of 2018, the Church of Scientology claims it had purchased 70 buildings and opened 60 Ideal Orgs around the globe.[134][135]
With its membership numbers dwindling, Scientology's ideal org campaign has been called "a real estate scam", a "money-making scam", and "Scientology's principle cash cow".[134][23]: 347 Scientologists were heavily pressured during lengthy fundraising sessions to donate all their money and even open new credit lines to help fund the several million dollar building purchases. This resulted in less money to spend on normal services like training and auditing, so the new orgs became desolate. Staff pay, which is dependent upon weekly org income, was often reduced to a few dollars a week.[133][134] A 2010 survey of former Scientologists by former Church of Scientology executive Mike Rinder found that the most cited reason for leaving the Church was the unrelenting pressure to donate to programs such as the Ideal Org program.[23]: 349
Some of the buildings purchased for Ideal Orgs remained vacant and unrenovated for years. For example, in the UK, delayed Ideal Orgs included Birmingham (purchased in 2007 and finally opened in 2017),[136][137] Gateshead (purchased 2007),[138] Manchester (purchased 2006),[138][139] and Plymouth (purchased 2009).[140] The delays prompted calls from locals for a compulsory purchase of the historically significant buildings, which had remained largely vacant and undeveloped since their purchase.[141]
Celebrities
In order to facilitate the continued expansion of Scientology, the organization has made efforts to win allies in the form of powerful or respected people.[142] Scientology has had a written program governing celebrity recruitment since at least 1955, when L. Ron Hubbard created "Project Celebrity", offering rewards to Scientologists who recruited targeted celebrities, and another church document pointed to the importance of "using Scientology celebrities to mold the opinions of their publics."[15]: 139–141 According to Robert Vaughn Young, "one of my jobs was to get celebrities active, to convince them to hustle and promote Scientology."[143]
The Church of Scientology operates
Government opinions of Scientology
While some governments now give the Church of Scientology protections and tax relief,[145][146] other sources describe the organization as a pseudoreligion or a cult.[147] Sociologist Stephen Kent published at a Lutheran convention in Germany that he likes to call it a transnational corporation.[148]
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.[149][150][3][151]
Controversy
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.[1] Some of the organization'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, by identifying as fair game people it perceives as its enemies.[152][153]
In 1979, several Scientology members were convicted for their involvement in the organization's Operation Snow White, the largest theft of government documents in U.S. history.[154][155] Scientologists were also convicted of fraud, manslaughter and tampering with witnesses in French cases,[156][157] malicious libel against lawyer Casey Hill and espionage in Canada.[158][159]
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".[160]
The film Going Clear, based on the book by the same name,[34] also documents controversies surrounding the organization and its treatment of former members.[161][162]
Criticism has also come from within the Church. Marty Rathbun, the former inspector general of the Religious Technology, has spoken out against church activities. He has called for a "Scientology Reformation" to eliminate corruption and bring back the original teachings of L. Ron Hubbard.[163]
Classification
From 1952 until 1966, Scientology was administered by an organization called the
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.
Unlike many well-established religious organizations, Scientology maintains strict control over its names, symbols, religious works and other writings. The word Scientology (and many
Illegal activities
L. Ron Hubbard appointed Mary Sue Hubbard to take control of certain aspects of legal protection for the organization in 1968, and the Office of The Guardian was created with its head office situated at Saint Hill Manor. Under The Guardian's Office (later renamed the Office of Special Affairs or OSA), organization members and contracted staff from Bureau One: Should be defined here later organized and committed one of the largest penetrations of United States federal agencies ever perpetrated by an organization not affiliated with a foreign government (that is, one such as the KGB). This operation was named Operation Snow White by Hubbard.[155] In the trial which followed the discovery of these activities the prosecution described their actions as such:
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.[155]
The organization has also in the past made use of aggressive tactics in addressing those it sees as trying to suppress them, known as
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.
According to a 1990 Los Angeles Times article, in the 1980s the Los Angeles branch largely switched from using the organization's members in harassment campaigns to using private investigators, including former and current Los Angeles police officers. The reason seemed to be that this gave the organization a layer of protection.[171]
The Scientology organization 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 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.[173] Sweeney 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.[174]
Members' health and safety
Some key activities of the Church of Scientology are dangerous, and the deaths of some Scientologists have brought attention to the organization, both due to the circumstances of their demises and their relationship with Scientology being a factor.
In addition, the organization has been implicated in kidnapping members who have recently left the organization. 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.[178][179]
On Friday March 28, 2008, Kaja Bordevich Ballo, daughter of
Dissemination and recruiting practices
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".[181]
Further recruitment practices — called dissemination in Scientology – include information booths, flyers and advertisement for free seminars and Sunday Services in regular newspapers and magazines, personal contacts, sales of books, and acting classes.[182][183][184][23]: ix, 71
Legal waivers
Recent legal actions involving Scientology's relationship with its members (see
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.
Licensing
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 "
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 of Scientology, and materials and certifications are still required to be purchased from the organization, and are not independently produced.[186][187][188]
See also
- List of Scientology organizations
- Scientology front groups
- Scientology officials
- List of groups referred to as cults in government documents
- The Church of Scientology (Melton)
References
- ^ a b c Behar, Richard (May 6, 1991). "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power". Time. Archived from the original on June 18, 2019. Retrieved June 17, 2019.
- ISBN 9780802081889.
- ^ a b c Anderson, Kevin Victor (1965). Report of the Board of Enquiry into Scientology (Report). State of Victoria, Australia. p. 179. Archived (PDF) from the original on August 29, 2018. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
In reality it is a dangerous medical cult
. Alternative link - ^ ISBN 978-0-7546-3048-7.
- ^ a b Hunt, John; de Puig, Luis; Espersen, Ole (February 5, 1992). European Council, Recommendation 1178: Sects and New Religious Movements (Report). Council of Europe. Retrieved June 30, 2019.
It is a cool, cynical, manipulating business and nothing else.
- ^ ISBN 978-0520281172.
- ^ [1][2][3][4][5][6]
- ^ "Scientology (Written answer)". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Commons. July 25, 1968. col. 189–191W.
- ^ Cottrell, Richard (1999). Recommendation 1412: Concernant les activités illégales des sectes (Report). Conseil d'Europe.
- ^ "Church of Scientology". Parliamentary Debates (Hansard). United Kingdom: House of Lords. December 17, 1996. col. 1392–1394.
- ^ Hubbard and another v. Vosper and another, 1 All ER 1023 (Court of Appeal November 19, 1971).
- ^ RE B & G (Minors: Custody), F.L.R. 493 (Court of Appeal September 19, 1984).
- ^ [1][3][4][5][8][9][10][11][12]
- ^ United States v. Heldt, 668 F.2d 1238 (United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit October 2, 1981).
- ^ ISBN 9780691146089.
- AFP. October 17, 2013. Archivedfrom the original on May 30, 2014. Retrieved July 3, 2020.
- ^ "Hubbard's Church 'Unconstitutional': Germany Prepares to Ban Scientology – SPIEGEL ONLINE". Der Spiegel. December 7, 2007. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
- ^ "National Assembly of France report No. 2468". assemblee-nationale.fr. Archived from the original on December 25, 2018. Retrieved March 13, 2017.
- ^
- "Le point sur l'Eglise de Scientologie" [Update on the Church of Scientology]. L'Obs (in French). May 26, 2009.
(translated) In France, it was classified as a "sect" in a 1995 parliamentary report; never updated since. As a "sect", it has had numerous disputes with the French justice system. The authorities accused it of practicing "mental destabilization", and in 1995 the first French association of the Church of Scientology was liquidated for not paying its taxes to the tax authorities which had refused it the status of a church.
- "Miviludes 2006 report (English translation)" (PDF). MIVILUDES. 2006. Archived from the original (PDF) on August 9, 2007.
- "Rapport annuel 2006 (official French version)" [Annual Report 2006]. MIVILUDES (in French). 2006.
- "Le point sur l'Eglise de Scientologie" [Update on the Church of Scientology]. L'Obs (in French). May 26, 2009.
- ^ Weird, Sure. A Cult, No. Archived November 7, 2017, at the Wayback Machine Washington Post By Mark Oppenheimer, August 5, 2007
- ^ a b "Church of Scientology International". Church of Scientology. Retrieved March 25, 2023.
The Church of Scientology International (CSI) is the mother church of the Scientology religion. It provides ecclesiastical direction, planning and guidance to the network of churches, missions and field auditors which make up the Church of Scientology hierarchy.
- ^ OL 9429654M.
- ^ OL 24881847M.
- ^ ISBN 0918954924.
- ^ "Scientology Chronicle 1952–1955". Lronhubbard.org. November 7, 2011. Archived from the original on May 18, 2010. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
- ^ Remember Venus? Archived August 25, 2010, at the Wayback Machine, Time, December 22, 1952
- ISBN 0-7181-2764-1, OCLC 17481843
- ^ Hubbard, L. Ron (1954) Why Doctor of Divinity? Professional Auditor's Bulletin no. 32, August 7, 1954
- ^ "ABC News Scientology 101". USA: ABC. August 23, 2006. Archived from the original on August 29, 2006. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
- ISBN 978-0190664978.
- ^ ""Aims of Scientology by L. Ron Hubbard" at official site". Scientology.org. Archived from the original on February 3, 2006. Retrieved November 22, 2011.
- ^ "Meddling with Minds". Time. August 23, 1968. Archived from the original on February 28, 2008. Retrieved February 14, 2008.
- .
- ^ OL 25424776M.
- St Petersburg Timeson January 2, 2010.
- "Scientology: The Truth Rundown, Part 1 of 3 in a special report on the Church of Scientology". June 21, 2009. Archived from the original on August 5, 2009.
- "Death in slow motion: Part 2 of 3 in a special report on the Church of Scientology". June 22, 2009. Archived from the original on August 10, 2009.
- "Scientology: Ecclesiastical justice, Part 3 of 3 in a special report on the Church of Scientology". June 23, 2009. Archived from the original on August 9, 2009.
- "Index of Truth Rundown and related articles and videos". Archived from the original
Hubbard was well aware of the value of corporate structures as weapons in the control of both his movement and its environment. A complex corporate structure maximizes the difficulty of surveillance, or investigation of the movement's affairs.
Scientology Publications Limited was incorporated as long ago as 30th January 1954. Mr. Hubbard holds 51 out of 57 £1 shares issued. Both he and his wife were appointed directors on 24th November 1955. He - but not she - resigned on 30th December 1966. No annual returns have been filed since 31st December 1967.UK National Archive piece reference MH 153/606
"A major purpose of Scientology is to destroy psychiatry and replace it with its own pseudo-counselling techniques. And CCHR is one of Scientology's front-group weapons attempting to achieve that goal," says Stephen Kent, a University of Alberta sociologist specializing in new religions and cults. Scientology holds that psychiatrists are "cosmic demons", he says.
The church [of Scientology] kept a low profile, paying professional lobbyists to press its cause or relying on CCHR, which skeptics call a front group designed to recruit Scientologists and replace psychiatry with Dianetics.
Dangerous program / In a letter to Fence Post (Dec. 12), Susan Stozewski of the Chicago Church of Scientology attempts to promote a drug rehab program called Narconon. I wish to warn readers that Narconon is a front group for the Church of Scientology. I found from personal experience that Narconon is a sham and is, in fact, a slick device to lure unsuspecting people into Scientology. An acquaintance of mine recently discovered that she had serious liver damage from Narconon's bogus "purification" program and she now cannot get health insurance coverage. Another Scientology front group to beware of is the CCHR or Citizens Commission on Human Rights. The CCHR is using tax-exempt funds in a covert campaign to discredit psychiatric-psychology treatment. The CCHR has an extensive network of agents that are distributing distortions about psychiatric treatment and medications such as Prozac and Ritalin. This is a very dangerous thing and people should be aware that it is going on. / Jim Beebe / Northbrook
We know many cult movements that maintain client services as front organizations facilitating recruitment to the sponsoring movement. Examples include Scientology...
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.
Melton, who has been criticized by some for being too easy on Scientology, and has been criticized by the church [sic] for being too harsh, says that the church's [sic] 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 [sic] again." If the church [sic] indeed had four 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.
HE IS ALSO renowned as the founder of Scientology and the creator of "Dianetics," with an estimated 15 million adherents around the world.
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.
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.
Works cited
- Corydon, Bent; OCLC 16130709.
- Lamont, Stewart (1986). OCLC 23079677.
- ISBN 978-1-56085-139-4.
- Partridge, Christopher Hugh (2003). UFO Religions. Routledge. OCLC 51342721.
- Savino, John; Jones, Marie D. (2007). Supervolcano: The Catastrophic Event That Changed the Course of Human History. Career Press. OCLC 123539673.