What is exactly is Scientology?

Question

Is it a religon or something else...been thinking about it and just wondering.

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). Their “treatment” of substance abuse includes little more than massive doses of vitamins and extended sessions in a sauna.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dianetics#Scientific_evaluation_and_criticisms
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
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Narconon/detox.htm

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 $200-$750 for introductory sessions to between $8,000 & $9,000 for advanced sessions. Basically, Scientology claims to possess exclusive knowledge of the path to religious redemption & then charges obscene amounts of money for every little baby step towards this end. 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”, stacking them around volcanoes & blowing them up by dropping “h-bombs” into the volcanoes. 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. It doesn’t recognize legitimate conditions like autism, epilepsy, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or ANY neurological disorder / chemical imbalance at all, and the “church” has been known to withhold prescription pharmaceuticals from members (often with harmful & deadly results). The “Church” blames psychiatry for the Holocaust, as well as school shootings and even September 11th. It’s been suggested that Hubbard’s vehement opposition was born of the psychiatric community’s rejection of his “tech” as a valid treatment method, but it’s also possible that Hubbard chose psychiatry as a scapegoat. Organizations like Scientology are notorious for villainizing a specific out-group as it fosters cohesion within said organization.
http://www.anti-scientologie.ch/usa-scientology.htm
http://www.lacitybeat.com/article.php?id=3137&IssueNum=136
http://dir.salon.com/story/news/feature/2005/07/01/sci_psy/index_np.html?pn=1
http://perkinstragedy.org

L. Ron Hubbard, the man behind the creation of Scientology, was & still is a controversial figure. Biographies and lists of personal accomplishments differ greatly between Scientology and non-Scientology publications as the “church” tends to exaggerate and outright lie about his early life, his education, his travels, his achievements etc, preferring to paint a distorted, flattering picture. Several books and articles present facts which flatly contradict these church-published accounts (links to free online copies of these books & articles are provided below), showing conclusively that he was NOT the brilliant, accomplished figure revered by Scientologists. During his autopsy, the sedative 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. It had also been said by many who knew Hubbard personally that at the end of his life he was “a psychopathic insane person screaming about BT's [Body Thetans]….”
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/Bare%20Faced%20Messiah.pdf
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/atack/contents.htm
http://www.clambake.org/archive/books/mom/Messiah_or_Madman.txt
http://skull.piratehaven.org/~atman/factnet/lrhbare.txt

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.xenu.net/archive/personal_story/funkydonny.html

Answer 2

Scientology is the belief that aliens seeded the planet with life, those aliens are supposed to come back to earth at some given year in the late future and they will enslave us or give us miracle technologies. L. Ron Hubbard is named as the messiah and the entry fee is $200
Just like the LaVey branch of Satanism, rather the $200 entry fee not the belief in aliens.

Answer 3

It is a religion about science: Scientology is a body of beliefs and related techniques created by American science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 as an outgrowth of his earlier self-help system, Dianetics.[1] Hubbard later characterized Scientology as an "applied religious philosophy" and the basis for a new religion.

Scientology also refers to the Church of Scientology, founded in 1953[2] and by far the largest organization promoting the practice of Scientology. Today, the Church itself operates under the auspices of the Religious Technology Center, the organization that holds the trademarks and copyrights of Dianetics and Scientology and monitors their use by the Church and its affiliates such as WISE or ABLE.[3]

Answer 4

A belief on L Ron Hubbards book of Dianetic lots of mumbo jumbo sci fi stuff Hubbard was a Sci Fi Junkie Outer Limits kind a person

Answer 5

Steve N's answer is correct. As are all the other responses with the words "L Ron Hubbard" and "CULT."

It is not a religion... Religious organizations may ask for money from their parishioners, but do not make the receipt of "salvation" or any other spiritual "gift" CONTINGENT on paying.

Any "religious" organization that makes you pay FIRST (even those televangelists on tv) in order to "get" something... is NOT a religion, it is a cult, business and probably a hoax.

Answer 6

Dangerous...

http://usminc.org/scientology.html

Answer 7

It is a religion in the sense it has the same tax exempt status as other religions.


In short its a group that can make you happy for a lot and I mean like 3-4 mortgages + all checking and savings worth of $$$ according to them.

Answer 8

Scientology is the study of knowledge.

Here is some truth on it. Please feel free to read and comment further.

Why do some people oppose Scientology?
http://www.scientologytoday.org/common/q...

Did L. Ron Hubbard state that the way to make money was to start a religion?
http://www.scientologytoday.org/common/q...

On the fact that Ron Hubbard got information from other sources, of course he did!! He studied many groups, religions, societies and subjects. He states and names 28 prior philosophers and other great men, in his book 'Scientology 8-8008', that he studies and got direction from.

As you will see more and more in the media psychiatry and psychotropic drug companies are the ones among others offering false help. They have led many campaigns against Scientology simply because we will put them out of business by exposing the truth.
http://www.cchr.org/index.cfm/5166...

The fact is that we are helping many people in many walks of life. I have seen many people doing well in life as Scientologists.

Answer 9

It is a set of beliefs created by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard on a bet that he could actually create a religion out of his own imagination, and people would actually be gullible enough to follow his new religion. He won the bet.

Answer 10

A scientology religious is budhaist.

Answer 11

Scientology is a religion. It's been acknowledged in most countries as a religion (including in the U.S.) It's ministers perform wedding ceremonies and funeral services. It's been acknowledged by religious scholars around the world as a true religion.

Here is the Creed of the Church of Scientology, which I think you may find interesting:

We of the Church believe:

That all men of whatever race, color, or creed were created with equal rights;

That all men have inalienable rights to their own religious practices and their performance;

That all men have inalienable rights to their own lives;

That all men have inalienable rights to their sanity;

That all men have inalienable rights to their own defense;

That all men have inalienable rights to conceive, choose, assist or support their own organizations, churches and governments;

That all men have inalienable rights to think freely, to talk freely, to write freely their own opinions and to counter or utter or write upon the opinions of others;

That all men have inalienable rights to the creation of their own kind;

That the souls of men have the rights of men;

That the study of the mind and the healing of mentally caused ills should not be alienated from religion or condoned in non-religious fields;

And that no agency less than God has the power to suspend or set aside these rights, overtly or covertly.

And we of the Church believe:

That man is basically good;

That he is seeking to survive;

That his survival depends upon himself and upon his fellows and his attainment of brotherhood with the universe.

And we of the Church believe that the laws of God forbid man:

To destroy his own kind;

To destroy the sanity of another;

To destroy or enslave another's soul;

To destroy or reduce the survival of one's companions or one's group.

And we of the Church believe that the spirit can be saved and that the spirit alone may save or heal the body.