Is Scientology a cult or a genuine religion and is it more credible than Christianity?

Question

There was a programme on BBC (UK) last night which investigated Scientology. The reporter was continuously harassed and followed by people spying on him, to the point where he completely lost his cool.

Some of the things the Scientologists did (Fair Gaming) seemed almost Nazi / Stalinist like in their approach.

Yet they have 100's of 1000's of followers, including many celebrities, they are registered as a religion in the US (not yet in the UK).

So is Scientology a cult?

Can Scientology be considered on an equal footing as Christianity or Islam?

How can Scientologists explain their aggressive tactics of Fair Game, spying and confrontation?

What happened to make them abandon the belief that we all have the souls of displaced aliens inside us - is this a case of a religion (or cult) evolving it's thinking, and if so, why does Christianity refuse to do likewise?

Clusium - I have not said I think Scientology is more credible than Christianity - I have asked other people whether they think it is. The basis for my question is the apparent fact that Scientologists have evolved their belief system away from the alien soul belief as they realised it was not credible. I am wondering whether Christians would do the same with the bible, if they began to doubt its credibility.

Perhaps a full read of the question would have given you the answer to your rather pointless question.

Answer 1

Scientology is a cult. It was started by L Ron Hubbard, a pulp cience fiction writer that said to some friends "The best way to make a million bucks is to start a relgion" (I may have the exact wording wrong- but that is the general idea.

The Chirch of Scientology lies heavily after Hubbards background- he was never a nuclear physicist (he dropped out after second year), he was not wounded and almost killed in the navy (in fact he was found incompetent for command and removed from commanding a vessel after 1) chasing non-exitent submarines and 2) using an island owned by Mexico for target practice and creating an internationrelations incident).

the intial con was "Dianetics: The science of the mind". he did very well of it but was dismissed as a crank by the medical and psychiatric establishment. At this point he stopped trying to get their approval and started attacking them directly (and later via "independent" organisations such as the "Citiczens Commission for Humar Rights (CCHR)" When the government started investigating his medical claims, he changed to a Church to 1) avoid being prosecuted for medical fraud (religions can make any claims they like) and 2) to save on taxes.

The way the cult works has been compared to a bait and switch scam- the intial product looks good and reasonable (Dianetics), and only after you have been sucked in and invested thousands (the last figure I saw was $180,000) do you get to OTIII and the "Xenu, evil ruler of the galaxy blowing souls up in volcanoes and catching them on magnetic flystrips attached to spacecraft that look like DC3s story"

Answer 2

Scientology has been in the UK for almost 30 years, and had some of their early "Training Centers" there. It started as a psychological self-help idea by Hubbard (in the mid-fifties in the U.S.) was cited for practicing without a license, and Hubbard, a well known S.F. writer, changed it into a religion.

It is ALL about Hubbard - therefore, meets at least one of the requirements of a Cult (See Kingdom of the Cults, by Martin and other books dealing with these subjects).

Having celebrities among its members is no guarantee of how "right" or "wrong" a group is. The U.S. Democrat Party has many celebrities among its members, too...

Scientology is a cult, based on the improvement of SELF, before anyone or anything else, at great expense. I did the calculation once, and came to several hundred thousand dollars!

Answer 3

it's a business disguised as a religion. personally, i would call that a cult.

it took more than 1500 years and 40 God-inspired authors to complete the bible. these people were compelled to help others by teaching them what God wants. many of them were impoverished.

scientology was created by a wacked out sci-fi writer named l. ron hubbard less than one generation ago. he was quoted as saying ''i want to start a religion. that's where all the money is.'' he was compelled to make himself rich by teaching others what l. ron hubbard wants.

i can hardly see scientology is more credible than christianity. the bible was canonized with extreme scrutiny. jewish tradition holds the strong belief that scribes must copy every translation of the old testament (and i can't remember the exact hebrew word for it right now, but i think it's the ''t'nah'') word for word, letter for letter, or else the entire universe could be jeopardized. since the early christians who wrote and canonized the new testament WERE jews, they maintained this tradition.

you said yourself that scientologists have already dropped their belief about being aliens.

the lessons taught by the bible include everything from forgiveness to child-rearing to business/money management. and regardless of what some people may say, the bible does not teach us to use agression toward others for any reason; the new testament even teaches against capitol punishment. it has happened many many times in the past that people misused the name of God in order to move people to violence, bigotry, or to justify one's actions, and it is sad that it continues to happen, but the bible teaches the exact opposite. study the WHOLE bible, both old and new testaments, in the way it was intended to be studied, if you doubt anything i have said.

on equal footing? hardly. i have far more respect for both christianity AND islam than i do for this faschist garbage.

as far as scientologists explaining their policy on ''fair game'', i don't know. i'm not a scientologist. what i do know is that they are under the same laws as the rest of us, and should be held just as accountable as the rest of us for the crimes they commit against innocent people for the advancement of their cult.

different interpretations of the bible pop up all the time. not necessarily different translations, but different interpretations. that's why we have different denominations. in that sense, christianity DOES evolve in it's thinking, but the core of christianity cannot and must not ever be changed, nor can the bible be added to or subtracted from. if that ever happens (and it has for at least three ''christian'' denominations that i can think of), a denomination earns cult status. that's why we compare Scripture with Scripture and read everything in context. God's Word doesn't change. christians understand (or at least SHOULD understand) that God's will may or may not have anything to do with ''what i want.''

Answer 4

It could be a quite successful religion, but is run like a short term cult.

Actually, while many seek to put Scientology down because it was written by infamous Science Fiction writer Ron L. Hubbard under questionable circumstances, Ron was extremely well read in all manner of spiritual history and myths.

So in many ways, the combination of psychological indoctrinations combined with ancient historical myths could potentially be very successful over the long term.

Unfortunately, Scientology has focused on establishing what they believe is a credible position amongst celebrities looking for meaning.

Long term success for any religion comes not from converting the elite, but converting the masses in a simplified cosmology. Scientology has a long way to go on this.

Answer 5

Scientology is a whole bunch of things, most of it rather specious looking to me; I'd say fraudulent. It holds itself out as partially a religion. The religious aspect is called CCHR, and that's where it gets non-profit status as a religion. That does not apply to the whole of Scientology which is an algorithim for behavior that defies psychiatry and religions and families and tradition. It thinks it has all the answers to mental health, but especially to material success, which it believes is the answer to everything.

Answer 6

Christianity should never be brought down to Scientology's level. We don't sue for everything, we don't steal our member's money (where those mega-churches got that funding, i'll never know), and we certianly don't kill our members. Scientology's done some pretty bad things to the people it's cleaned out. Their members have jumped off of bulidings with $150 left. They've been boiled in tubs. They can't get help for any mental illness, there was a case a while back where a kid, who had Schizophrenia, his parents were Scientologists and wouldn't ler him get help, if I remember correctly, I think he actually murdered his parents.

You happen to be yet another case where you merely look to whoever's on television at the moment, instead of actually talking to a Christian. I've been Christian all my life, and I've changed my way of thinking a lot. It depends on who you're talking to.

Scientology is a Cult. Christianity is a Religion with a few crazy members.

Answer 7

to respond to the "guy made money making cult' factor... all religions are that... Scientology is a faith via defination. they have a temple to worship, a a techniques better being and 'saints'... What else is mandatory? They moght have self assurance in yet in any different case than you or me, yet we could desire to grasp different religions and study them.

Answer 8

Scientology is not even worthy of cult status, it is a fad, that will probably not survive very long. A lot of celebrities will quickly realize that they have got their publicity and leave, then when their role models no longer practice Scientology they will leave as well.

Answer 9

Sponge Bob Square Pants is more of a religion than Scientology. Sponge Bob teaches better moral homilies than L Ron.

Answer 10

It's a religion.
Here's a factual description followed by some independant bonafides:
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.

Scholastic criteria for a religion :
1. A belief in some Ultimate Reality, such as a supreme or eternal truth that transcends the here and now of the secular world;
2. Religious practices directed towards understanding, attaining or communing with this Ultimate Reality; and
3. A community of believers who join together in pursuing this Ultimate Religion.
Based on these criteria, ever scholar who has examined Scientology has concluded that it has the required elements of a religion.

Here are some of the names of those who have done independant studies of Scientology and made these conclusions:
Dr Bryan Ronald Wilson Oxford University England
Regis dricquebourg, Prof of Sociology of Religion Lille University France.
Prof Lonnie D. Kliever American expert on religion.
Dr J. Melton Founder/Director Institute for the Study of American Religion (Santa Barbara)
Dr Frank K. Flinn Prof in religious studies at Washington University.
Dr M Darroll Bryant Prof of Religion and Culture Universit of Waterloo Ontario Canada.
James A Beckford Prof Warick University England.
Michael A Sivertsev. Chrm for New Religions Russia
Mr Fumio Swanda One of Japans foremost authorities on religion and former director of Sophia University.
There are many more studies available. These are just a few.
It is true that the theology and technology of Scientology was discovered and developed by L.Ron Hubbard. But he was just a man, and never said he was anything else.
He did not make any statements about God or the Supreme Being other than to say acknowledge it's existence as the "Eighth Dynamic".
But he did not attempt to define it or describe it.
In Scientology does not intrude in this area,it is left to the individual