Why is Scientology a religion and not a cult?

Answer 1

Scientology IS a cult.

. Every cult can be defined as a group having all of the following five characteristics:

(1) It uses psychological coercion to recruit, indoctrinate & retain its members.

Read here about the use of mind control and brainwashing in Scientology: http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/s/scientology/pignotti/
This article was written by Monica Pignotti, Cult Intervention Specialist and former Scientologist.
Here is more information about Scientology "TR's", or Training Routines (which are billed as a way to improve communication skills, but whose real purpose is to plant the seeds for thought control): http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Secrets/TR/

(2) It forms an elitist totalitarian society.

It is official Scientology policy to label anyone who disagrees with the practices of or questions the validity and/or benignity of Scientology as a “Suppressive Person”. The policy also requires members to “disconnect” from them.

(3) Its founder leader is self-appointed, dogmatic, messianic, not accountable & has charisma.

Meet L. Ron Hubbard:
http://www.xenu.net/entheta/entheta/media/tv/secret/secret.html
http://www.xenutv.com/int/secretlives.htm
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/Bare%20Faced%20Messiah.pdf
http://slate.msn.com/id/2122835/?nav=ais
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/atack/contents.htm

(4) It believes 'the end justifies the means' in order to solicit funds & recruit people.

Absolutely. After all, Hubbard DID create his own religion on order to scam people out of their money: http://lisatrust.freewinds.cx/scientology/hubbard.htm
Scientology is, in fact, seen as nothing more than a business in many countries (which is why, in those countries, it is appropriately NOT regarded as a religion). Here's the Wikipedia article on "Scientology as a business": http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_as_a_business
And nothing is too low for them: if people leave the church under unfavorable conditions, the church then charges them a "free-loader debt" which is basically retroactive billing for any auditing received or any Scientology training received while in the Sea Org, which can run into tens of thousands of dollars.
http://www.rickross.com/reference/scientology/history/history15.html#European

(5) Its wealth does not benefit its members or society.

The only "benefit" to society that Scientology claims is it's drug rehabilitation program (which is utterly ineffective and whose "success" statistics have been manipulated or outright doctored by Scientology) and it's "stand" against psychiatry.
This is a site that takes a critical look at their drug rehabilitation program which goes by the name of "Narconon": http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/index.html
And here's an article entitled "Scientology's War On Psychiatry": http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/07/01/sci_psy/index_np.html?pn=1

Answer 2

In religion and sociology, a cult is a term designating a cohesive group of people (generally, but not exclusively a relatively small and recently founded religious movement[citation needed]) devoted to beliefs or practices that the surrounding culture or society considers to be outside the mainstream or reaching the point of a taboo. Its status may come about either due to its novel belief system, its idiosyncratic practices, its perceived harmful effects on members, or because it perceived opposition to the interests of the mainstream culture. Non-religious groups may also display cult-like characteristics.

I don't know enough about Scientology to say it is a cult, but I do know that I don't agree with what I have learned about them.

Answer 3

Scientology is a cult.
Scientology is a very difficult religion to summarize in just a few paragraphs, let alone in a few pages. It was founded in 1953 by fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, just four years after he made the statement, "I'd like to start a religion. That's where the money is," to Lloyd Eshbach; quoted by Eshbach in Over My Shoulder. That's where he found wealth, also--Hubbard became a multi-millionaire. An easier question to ask would be, "What are the similarities between Christianity and Scientology?" The answer to that would be, "There are no similarities."
Scientology teaches that mankind is an immortal being (called a Thetan) not originally from this planet that is trapped by matter, energy, space, and time (MEST). Salvation for a Scientologist comes through a process called 'auditing,' whereby 'engrams' (basically, memories of past pain and unconsciousness that create energy blockage) are removed. Auditing is a very lengthy process and can cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. When all engrams are finally removed, the Thetan can once again control MEST instead of being controlled by it. Until salvation, each Thetan is constantly reincarnated.

Answer 4

Cult: a religion or sect that is generally considered to be unorthodox, extremist, or false.

Religion: a specific fundamental set of beliefs and practices generally agreed upon by a number of persons or sects.

Since Scientology is considered as legitimate as Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism etc, it qualifies as a religion. Quite honestly, I think the difference between a cult and a religion is the number of celebrities that join.

Answer 5

Same reason why Christianity, Islam, Judaism, etc are considered religions as opposed to cults, because everyone wants to so badly be PC and not offend religious people, even though they are all cults.

Answer 6

cult or con I honestly does no longer classify it as a valid faith or concept, extra an section for unhappy stupid morons with additional funds then brains i imagine its a need to haven't got any free will or experience of common sense before you'd be admitted EDIT: outsiders you're an entire moron how can someone be a scientolgist with out turning out to be a member of the actaul church of scientology , how can you're saying you realize each little thing about it once you aren't from now on even a member , do you imagine any relgious team ought to placed their maximum useful secrets and techniques in books for the overall public , you're making me snicker the in elementary words valid ideology scientology has replaced into stolen from THELEMIC recommendations perpetuated by technique of Crowley , which i ought to assert that even nevertheless Hubbard had a quite pathetic understanding of and to characteristic to that hes adultarted lots of the recommendations consisting of his pathetic babble , the quicker this concept of susceptible minded fools dies out the added acceptable for everybody

Answer 7

Here's a factual answer for you :
Scientology is an applied religious philosophy. When I say "applied" I mean you actually use it in your life to change or improve existing conditions. It is a very practical religion.
All religions if you learn about them have a basic philosphy, but they also have certain dogma, rituals and observances, and a certain faith or belief is required. There is nothing wrong with this, but Scientology is not that kind of religion. It does not intrude on anyones faiths of beliefs in the area of God , the Supreme Being, or the Infinite. This area is left totally up to the indivdual as pasrt of his life. It does not conflict.
You can have no specific religious beliefs and still benefit from it.
And it is only true for you according to your own observation and experience with it.
It is also not a messianic religion. This means there is no worship of messiahs in Scientology. There are no “beliefs” as such because a truth should be according to ones own observation and experience.
The dictionary definition that applies:
Religion: The spiritual or emotional attitude of one who recognises the existence of superhuman power or powers.

The most basic principle of Scientology is that YOU are your own immortal soul, that this is not a "thing" you HAVE but what YOU actually are.
The whole purpose of Scientology is to increase an individual's understanding and awareness of himself. and lifeAnd thereby his native abilities .
When you do this the sphere and zone of his positive influence increases and moves outward into his life, his family ,his friends, his groups and mankind which he is part of.

How this result is achieved is the "technology" of Scientology, which was developed by L.Ron Hubbard after his extensive research and the discoveries he made, about the human spirit. The basic religious philosophy and knowledge of Scientology is very old, going back 10,000 years at least to the Veda or Vedic Hymns from the East. L. Ron Hubbard researched and made new discoveries about the human spirit. He developed technology from these discoveries to apply to increase spiritual awareness and ability.
He completed his research before his death in 1986 and left all of his results and copyrights
to the Church of Scientology along with most of his considerable personal estate, when he died.

He published a book in 1951 to communicate the basic principles he discovered called: " Scientology The Fundementals of Thought"
There are currently over 10 million Scientologists in more than 163 countries world wide. However we are a new religion, only 53 years old.
The true story of Scientology as a religion goes like this:
1. A philosopher developes a philosophy about life and death.
2. People find it interesting.
3. People find it works.
4. People pass it along to others.
5. It grows.

This is just an overview.
L. Ron Hubbard explained fully the theology and technologies of Scientology in more than 500,000 pages of writings, including dozens of books and over 2,000 tape-recorded public lectures. So it's not possible to fully answer your question on this forum, but I hope this helps.

Answer 8

The only religion that isn't a cult is Buddhism.

Answer 9

Religions all started out as cults, therefore they still are cults.

Answer 10

It IS a cult - don't be fooled by their claims to religion. By insisting that they are indeed a religious organization, they effectively remove any hints as to it's real teachings and real agenda - the real teaching? We're all contaminated by aliens who were killed on earth by a master alien named Xenu. The real agenda? To separate desperate people from their money and insulate them from the real world.