What is Scientology?

Question

I know its supposed to be a religion, athough some call it a cult, but what do they do exactly? What is it they actually believe in?

Sorry yeah guys, I'm not making you answer this question so if you've nothing good to say other than 'can't you look at the other times people asked this question' then I suggest you don't answer

Answer 1

Scientology, which questionably calls itself a new "religion", is the brainchild of science fiction writer & occult enthusiast L. Ron Hubbard. The organization, by means of Hubbard’s self created psychotherapy technique called “Dianetics”, claims to be able to help rid members of any & all mental constraints including but not limited to emotional scarring (from this & "past" lives) due to "engrams" (past negative experiences stored in our unconscious mind), psychological disorders & chemical imbalances (the solution is to convince members that these things don't actually exist) & drug dependence (including legally prescribed psychopharmaceuticals which counteract the effects of psychological disorders Scientologists believe to be nonexistent).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics#Scientific_evaluations
Dianetics review: http://dir.salon.com/story/books/review/2005/06/28/dianetics/index.html
http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,812852,00.html

The official Scientology organization is composed of a number of “levels”. One begins as a “preclear” & works their way up. One must purchase virtually every service crucial to advancement directly from the "church" & at staggering prices. "Auditing", for example, is purchased in 12½ hour blocks, costing anywhere from $750 for introductory sessions to between $8,000 & $9,000 for advanced sessions. Visit this link to see how $380,000 is a conservative estimate for the total cost of moving all the way up the Scientology hierarchal ladder: http://www.xenu.net/archive/prices.html
These are the total costs for auditing alone: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_as_a_business#Costs
Here’s an explanation of what “auditing” is: http://answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20061224182319AA2nnd6

At level OT III (Operating Thetan 3), some very strange & fiercely guarded secrets are imparted upon worthy members who have paid enough money to advance to such a level (and no, this isn't a joke): the evil alien ruler Xenu killed millions of aliens (Thetans) from around the universe by kidnapping them, bringing them to earth in golden DC-8 “space-planes” & blowing them up inside volcanoes with hydrogen bombs. Scientologists believe the souls of these aliens (these souls are "Body Thetans") were captured, brainwashed & released; they then attached themselves to our ancestors (who passed them all the way down to us) & cause many of our mental & physical ills to this day. Auditing is said to “clear” us of these Body Thetans as well as the “mental implants” they supposedly impose on our minds. http://sf.irk.ru/www/ot3/spaink-ot3.html http://xenu.net/archive/leaflet/Xenu-Letter.pdf

Scientology has taken a very hostile stance towards psychiatry & psychiatric drugs irrespective of the fact that some people require medication to remain adequately functional during everyday life. They don’t recognize legitimate conditions like autism, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, etc, and the “church” has been known to withhold prescription pharmaceuticals from member (often with harmful & deadly results). Suspiciously, it was discovered upon Hubbard’s death that the anti-anxiety drug hydroxyzine (Vistaril™) was present in his body, which several of his assistants would later attest was only one of many psychiatric & pain medications Hubbard ingested over the years. http://www.clambake.org/archive/ronthenut/16.gif
(visit this link to read about the uses of hydroxyzine: http://www.drugs.com/mtm/v/vistaril.html )

To be blunt, Scientology is a cult. It employs semi-legitimate psychotherapy & self-help methods to keep people loyal & convinced of its merit while it simultaneously sucks them dry financially & attempts to keep them far away from ANYONE, even friends & family, who would dissuade them from remaining in such a harmful situation. It’s a particularly greedy as well as manipulative & dangerous cult that takes its anti-psychiatry fanaticism to deadly limits. See these links for more information: http://www.lisamcpherson.org/
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/24/Tampabay/The_unperson.shtml
http://www.factnet.org/Books/SocialControl/scs.html#toc http://www.freedomofmind.com/resourcecenter/groups/s/scientology/pignotti/

Answer 2

stakekawa gave a pretty good summary of Scientology and what the beliefs are, so I suggest also going to http://youtube.com/watch?v=6J8-Zfzd55E to watch a little of how the Church of Scientology treats those who try to find out what it is.

I saw the video yesterday for the first time and it scared the crap out of me. I just post it so you can get an idea of why some people will say Scientologists are crazy, or cult-like etc...

You can draw your own conclusions, but I feel they are a poison on society with the way their higher-ups play the victim and threaten and provoke non-believers who more often than naught are just trying to find out what it is... it's very secretive and the way the Pyramid works, you have to work your way up to find the "Truth" which involves many years of cutting yourself off from society, time, money, etc... cult-like pretty much, regardless of what they claim.

It is Part 1 of 4 parts, you should easily be able to find the others on the same page. About 40 minutes total, you don't have to watch it all.

Answer 3

Here's a factual description 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 gives you some idea.

Answer 4

I wish that people would stop referring to religions that they do not subscribe to as cults or Satanic. Its just very immature - it really is. Satanism is its own religion... cults are like that of Jim Jones... not scientology.

Introduction to Scientology
The word Scientology literally means "the study of truth." It comes from the Latin word "scio" meaning "knowing in the fullest sense of the word" and the Greek word "logos" meaning "study of."

Scientology is the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others and all of life. The religion comprises a body of knowledge extending from certain fundamental truths. Prime among these:

Man is an immortal, spiritual being. His experience extends well beyond a single lifetime. His capabilities are unlimited, even if not presently realized — and those capabilities can be realized. He is able to not only solve his own problems, accomplish his goals and gain lasting happiness, but also achieve new, higher states of awareness and ability.

In Scientology no one is asked to accept anything as belief or on faith. That which is true for you is what you have observed to be true. An individual discovers for himself that Scientology works by personally applying its principles and observing or experiencing results.

Through Scientology, people all over the world are achieving the long-sought goal of true spiritual release and freedom.

Answer 5

L. Ron Hubbard wrote alot of good books besides the sci-fi stuff. Just get the book "Scientology" and read it. If you wannna know about a religion do some research! If your looking for easy answers learn how to use the internet better.

Answer 6

It used to be a cult, however, it has the minds of children. Cult = indoctrination in adulthood, getting people to be as suggestible as children. Religion = indoctrination in childhood, they are already highly gullible.

They believe 75 million years ago, Xenu, a space ruler in a distant galaxy, shipped aliens to this planet to kill and help with his domain's overpopulation. Those spirits now infect our bodies and cause all sorrow and bad in the world.

Silly, huh? Almost like hearing about God sending himself to earth to be killed since this is the only way an all-powerful God could make himself forgive the evils of man; if you don't believe it, you're tortured forever after you stop living.

Answer 7

Scientology means the studying of the full meanings of words - semantics.

They teach mostly that what is true for one may or may not be true for another. Truth is based on personal perspective and experience...they are not all sitting at the same table, and so don't all see truth the same.

They replace faith with observation.

Answer 8

Scientology is a cult that tries to present itself to people as a normal, everyday religion. This could not be farther from the truth.

The belief system of this religion is based around a "Space Opera" that happened millions of years ago. An evil galactic overlord, Xenu, collected all the billions of people from 76 planets and brought them to earth. Xenu then stacked them around volcanoes and blew them up with H bombs. He then implanted their souls with false memories. According to Scientologists, there are a few thousand clusters of these confused souls now in all of our heads. The Church of Scientology has cleverly figured out a way to get rid of these souls. You can pay them a lot of money.

People who do not devote their lives to Scientology are considered to be bad, and Scientology members are told that they should stay far away from them. Thus, Scientologists become isolated from their friends and their families. This is a brainwashing, isolating cult.

Tom Cruise belongs to this cult, which claims to have 8 to 15 million members. Actual current membership is estimated at 40,000 to 80,000 worldwide. According to Scientology, you must give them all of your money, get rid of all your friends and family who are not also in Scientology and you must work to recruit other humans to become Scientology members.
Scientologist use Auditing Sessions to get to higher levels in the cult. Auditing sessions produce a drug like feeling from the equipment, like the E-Meter, that is used. Auditing sessions cost as much as little as $474.32 an hour to as high as $542.00 an hour depending on how many hours you have purchased.


Tom Cruise is an OT level 7. This level gives you the ability to fly and move stuff with your mind. It is rumored that the highest level in Scientology, OT level 8, informs you that L. Ron Hubbard is the antichrist. The most interesting part of OT8 is that it gives you the ability to kill people with your mind. There is an OT level 15, but Scientologists believe that none of us will ever see it in our lifetime. According to them, OT 15 doesn't happen until sometime in the distant future. Scientology is just like Dungeons and Dragons or any other role playing game, except it is a religion. Because of this they don't have to pay taxes either.


This cult / religion that Tom Cruise believes in, was created by L. Ron Hubbard (a science fiction writer) back in the early 1950's. He also created fake businesses that could be used as fronts for The Church of Scientology to gain new members and also avoid taxes. One of these scam companies is called Narconon.

L. Ron believed the way to become a millionaire was to create a religion, so that is exactly what he did.

Answer 9

its just the musings of a washed up old sci-fi writer that people have tried to turn into a belief system whereby they are promised super powers in return for money and obedience.

Answer 10

Google it. Or look at the other 5,000 times this question has been asked.