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 (and according to Scientology’s belief in Thetan immortality, they also attached to us during “past lives”) & 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://www.spaink.net/cos/essays/atack_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 members (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://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/07/01/sci_psy/index_np.html?pn=1
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/
2007-06-28 10:28:29
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answer #1
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answered by ZER0 C00L ••AM••VT•• 7
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Here's 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.
It is also not a messianic religion. This means there is no worship of prophets or messiahs in Scientology. It is not faith based. A truth should be true 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 life.And to rehabilitate his native goodness, abilities and potential.
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 give you an idea.
2007-06-28 13:37:34
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answer #2
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answered by thetaalways 6
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This religion was started by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard and it was based on a bet he made with a colleague in 1954 that he could start his own religion.
The basic history and backstory will probably be provided in another answer, but to keep it simple there's a galactic federation that was headed by Lord Xenu millions of years ago, and he decided to basically freeze a lot of people (aliens) and cart them off to earth to drop them in volcanos where they died, he put things in the sky to prevent the souls or thetans from leaving and so they're stuck on this planet and attach themselves to sentient life. So basically these thetans attached to us are the cause for our anger, pain, suffering, emotional problems and psychological issues (they don't like psychology because it obviously disagrees with this belief system). Or that's how I remember it anyway.
Far more simply, the religion goes like this: You have these thetans and bad energy causing your stress and making you unhappy. You give the church of scientology money and it makes you more happy and successful.
It's not only a man-made religion, but it's also a scam.
2007-06-28 08:12:14
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answer #3
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answered by Mike K 5
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Scientology doesn't HAVE any principles... they don't have any ethics, either.
They teach that, once you have paid your way to the top level, you can get onto the spaceship and go back to where ever it is they came from.
Scientology uses children for free labor... they live 10 to 20 to a room in that old hotel in Clearwater, Florida and they are a cult... they are NOT a real religion.
2007-06-28 08:09:09
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answer #4
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answered by Anonymous
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Scientology is a path to find your own personal truth,
Scientology doctrine as a religion holds as its most important axiom “What is true for you is what you your self observe to be true.” This axiom promotes individual thinkingness and independence. In fact it is a high crime in Scientology for anyone to tell anyone what to think or what to believe in. In Scientology it is YOU that do the exploring, YOU that do the observations and YOU come up with your own conclusion.
This link has 28 different religious studies papers on Scientology made by religious scholars: http://www.neuereligion.de/ENG/index.html Also see this link: http://www.bonafidescientology.org/Append/09/index.htm
Scientology means “knowing how to know” and follows a tradition of 10,000 years in the study of life and the spirit. Scientology earliest ancestor is the Veda (the Veda means knowingness or sacred lore) continued with the Tao-The-king (also known as Taoism and it means “the way to solving the mystery which underlines all mysteries”) continued by the Dhyana (that means knowingness or lookingness), continued by the works of Gautama Sakyamuni also know as Gautama Buddha (a Buddha or Bodhi is one that has attained intellectual and ethical perfection by human means).
“The words of Christ of were a lesson of compassion and they set a very fine example” The Phoenix Lectures by LRH
L Ron Hubbard (13 March 1911 – 24 January 1986), was a literary genius that published more than two hundred stories and novels between 1927 and 1941. As a Hollywood screenwriter during this same period he wrote the screen plays for films such as The Mysterious Pilot and The Adventures of Wild Bill Hickok, while his The Secret of Treasure Island stands as one of the most profitable serials of all time. With a regular production of one hundred thousand words a month LRH was the undisputed king of high-speed production writers. In fact he had the ability to produce a whole story in a couple days of work by only using a manual type writer (believe it or not). Amazingly in the 1980ties he did a come back as a writer by producing the best sellers ‘Battlefield Earth’ and the decaology (ten volume series) Mission Earth. LRH had 21 consecutive international bestsellers, a feat unmatched in publishing history.
LRH could have lived a very profitable and idle life as a writer but he chose to use his earnings and industry to research the human spirit and human mind. This research later became Dianetics and Scientology. LRH produced 5,000 writings and 3,000 tape-recorded lectures on the subject of Dianetics and Scientology. Contrary to popular belief L Ron Hubbard never profited from Dianetics and Scientology but it actually cost him many millions. Dianetics and Scientology are LRH’s gift to humanity. LRH also developed drug rehabilitation, educational and management programs. Humanity will always be indebted for the contributions of LRH.
References
http://www.bonafidescientology.org/
http://www.chaplaincare.navy.mil/Scientology.htm
http://www.religioustolerance.org/scientol.htm
http://www.scientology.org/
http://www.beliefnet.com/story/80/story_8057_1.html
2007-06-28 10:30:43
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answer #5
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answered by bravehartbears 2
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Created by L. Ron Hubbard.
2007-06-28 08:09:32
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answer #6
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answered by cireengineering 6
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L. Ron Hubbard, it was a dare...
75,000,000 years ago Lord Xenu (leader of a federation of planets) flew billions of people to Earth (on a DC-9-like planes with rocket propulsion) to solve overpopulation problem. He clustered them around volacanoes and blew them up with H-bombs. fragments of their souls adhered to primitive humans and are the cause of suffering to this day. Officers of Lord Xenu rebelled and imprisoned him on a mountain top on one of the federation planets where he remains alive to this day.
I wish I made this up...
2007-06-28 08:12:32
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answer #7
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answered by Anonymous
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It's got something to do with the book
The machine (that measures your skin saline)
Getting rid of bad stuff
2007-06-28 08:37:45
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answer #8
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answered by Anonymous
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http://www.whatisscientology.org
2014-03-13 15:17:10
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answer #9
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answered by Noah 1
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its a cult
2007-06-28 08:08:40
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answer #10
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answered by ? 2
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