Is Scientology a cult???????????

Answer 1

Yes, yes it is. 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.
http://www.sptimes.com/2006/06/24/Tampabay/The_unperson.shtml

(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

(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

In addition, it's doctrinal teachings are structured in typical cult fashion: the more benign, seemingly beneficial teachings are kept on "the outside", meaning they will teach it to anyone who wants to know as a way to lure in victims, a way to show how truly dedicated the cult is to helping and saving mankind. The more bizarre and sinister teachings are kept secret at the cult's inner core, and the victim must be assimilated and indoctrinated before they can be exposed to the REAL fundamental doctrines of the cult. This is EXACTLY what Scientology does.

Scientology talks of creating a world without hate, without war, etc etc. It offers it's "auditing" and "ethics" which on the surface seem a bit outlandish but possibly effective. The victim then begins pumping more and more money into the cult, paying for "a path to salvation" and all the while becoming more and more reprogrammed by the cult. Scientology's higher level of "Operating Thetan 3" is attained only by members who jump through numerous, VERY expensive hoops (the expenses total in the hundreds of thousands).

Once they've FINALLY reached "OT 3", Scientology teaches them this: http://xenu.net/archive/leaflet/Xenu-Letter.pdf