FREE ESSAY ON SCIENTOLOGY: RELIGION OR BIZARRE CULT?

SCIENTOLOGY: RELIGION OR BIZARRE CULT?

English 150
Sean Roberts
Dec. 13/99
Scientology
New Age Religion or Bizarre Cult?
1.
Many people have heard of the revolutionary new religious practice called Scientology.
However, the majority of people who have heard of it, have little knowledge of the
principles and practices behind the religion. In fact, there is a dark side behind
Scientology, and much speculation that the religion is a brainwashing cult. Many people
are opposed to the religion because of its secretiveness, its extreme methods of teaching
and its alleged use of mind control.
Scientology, founded in 1950 (Hubbard. What is. 3), is an applied religious philosophy
(Hubbard. What is. 4), which is a branch of psychology (Fundamentals. 7). Developed by
Lafayette Ron Hubbard, Scientology was created from discoveries resulting from Hubbard's
research into the mind and life (Fundamentals. 11). Hubbard claimed that Scientology is
for the betterment of man (Fundamentals. 117), and that Scientology can be used by an
average person to bring better order to their life (Fundamentals. 8). Hubbard claimed
that Scientology improves the health, intelligence, ability, behavior, skill and
appearance of the average person (Fundamentals. 8). One of the most fundamental ideas in
Scientology is the belief that the individual man is divisible into three parts (Hubbard.
What is. 5-6): The Mind, the Body and the Thetan. Hubbard believed that the Thetan, or
personality of a person, is separable from the rest of the mind at will, and without
causing bodily death or mental derangement (Fundamentals. 5-6).
Hubbard was born in Tilden, Nebraska in 1911 (Malko 29). It is known that Hubbard was
raised on a Montana cattle ranch by his grandfather (Malko 30), however little else is
known about the first thirty years of his life (Malko 29). Hubbard's past is best summed
up by George Malko, Nothing is ever precise, 
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and we are never sure when and under what circumstances he did something or went
someplace (Malko 29). There are highly inflated claims (Mallia. Judge.1) that Hubbard
traveled throughout Asia at age fourteen (Malko 31), and that he left college to lead an
expedition into Central America (Malko 32). However it is known that Hubbard was a
science-fiction writer and was a familiar name to American science-fiction fans before
venturing into religious philosophy (Malko 34). Hubbard was a bright man, and accepted by
many who read his work and who knew him. Hubbard died of a brain hemorrhage on the 24th
of January, 1986 (Corydon 406).
Hubbard's science-fiction writings, described as bold and highly imaginative(Malko 34)
are particularly interesting because they offer insights into Hubbard's sense of fantasy
and imagination (Malko 34). His science-fiction writings also expose certain parallels to
particular Scientology principles and beliefs (Hubbard. Fundamentals. 35). According to
Church of Scientology documents, humans first came to earth from outer space 75 million
years ago, sent into exile here by an evil warlord named Xenu (Mallia. Sacred. 1). 
Scientology is chiefly employed through the processing of an individual (Hubbard.
Fundamentals. 91-92). Scientologists refer to this procedure as auditing, while the
person who carries out the processing is called an auditor. (Hubbard. Fundamentals. 92).
The auditor makes people, at their own choice, do various exercises, and these exercises
bring about changes for the better in intelligence, behavior and general competence
(Hubbard. Fundamentals. 8). An auditor must follow a strict, and somewhat bizarre set of
rules when processing an individual (Hubbard. Fundamentals. 92). These rules, laid out in
the auditor's code, include 
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Do not process an individual after 10 p.m. and Do not process an individual who is
improperly fed or hungry (Hubbard. What is. 191).
The auditing process is assisted by the use of a specially designed tool called an
Electro-psychometer, or E-meter (Mallia. Sacred. 2), which helps the auditor locate areas
of spiritual distress or travail (Baskin 1). Like a lie detector, the E-meter sends a
mild electrical current of 1.5 volts through the body while the patient holds a metallic
cylinder in each hand (Mallia. Sacred. 2). Scientologists believe that the pictures in
the mind contain energy and mass (Baskin 1). When a person holding the E-meter electrodes
thinks a thought, looks at a picture or shifts some part of the reactive mind, he is
changing this mental mass and energy (Baskin 1). It is these changes that influence the
E-meter's flow of energy, causing the needle on its dial to move. Different needle
movements have exact meanings and the skill of an auditor includes a complete
understanding of all meter reactions (Baskin 2). It is then up to the auditor to
discharge the harmful energy connected to the patient's mind (Baskin 2). When this energy
lessens, the person heightens his ability to think clearly in the area being addressed
(Baskin 2). It is believed that as a result of the E-Meter, the patient gains a higher
degree of awareness and greater ability to succeed in life. Hubbard claims that Neither
the auditor nor the E-Meter can cure or heal anything, but with their assistance, an
individual learns how to help himself get back his personal strength (What is. 42).
Potential Scientologists are lured to the religion through a number of different methods.
With books, television and print advertising campaigns, and a 30,000 page Internet site,
Scientology uses a wide range of media to gain influence (Mallia. Church. 1).The most
common technique used by the church is the offering of free 
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personality tests (Mallia. Inside. 3). In the church's vocabulary, the recruiter is
called a body router, and the potential converts are wogs (Mallia. Inside. 3). The
personality test is a gimmick routinely used by Scientology organizations to identify the
emotional sore spots of the targets for recruitment (Mallia. Inside. 3). Once the test
has determined the recruit's weakness, the body router then promises to fix it (Mallia.
Inside. 4). Whatever the problem may be, Scientology is made out to be the answer. One of
the recruiting policies constructed by Hubbard was to encourage his followers to enlist
celebrities (Mallia. Church. 1). With notable Hollywood actors like Tom Cruise, Cruise's
wife Nicole Kidman, Kirstie Alley and longtime Scientologist John Travolta, the policy
has definitely paid off (Mallia. Church. 2). 
Scientology is employed through a series of progressive courses that intertwine with each
other. The first step towards spiritual advancement is the Purification Rundown, which
cleanses the individual. This $1,200 detoxification program requires the patient to drink
vegetable oil, take megadoses of vitamins, and sweat in a sauna for several hours a day
(Mallia. Sacred. 2). A series of courses are then required to reach a spiritual stage
called Clear, which is described as a state of great freedom (Hubbard. What Is. 24). Once
this stage has been reached, the science fiction content of Scientology is revealed to
its members (Devlin 2). It is at this level that the story of Xenu is encountered
(Mallia. Sacred. 2). It is told that Xenu gathered up the overpopulation of a particular
galaxy, brought them to Earth and exterminated them with hydrogen bombs. The souls of
these murdered people, called Body Thetans, are believed to infest the bodies of everyone
(Devlin 2). It is taught the Body Thetans cling to every human body, infecting people
with their 
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warped thoughts (Mallia. Sacred. 2). Only through hundreds of hours of auditing (Mallia.
Sacred. 2) can the harmful Body Thetans be detached (Devlin 3). 
Beliefs that were once kept hidden from the public, are surfacing through the Internet
and courtroom documents (Mallia. Sacred. 1). Unveiled by Joseph Mallia of the Boston
Herald, Scientologist Carlos Covarrubias took a course that required him to talk to
inanimate objects like ashtrays (Mallia. Sacred. 1). He was instructed to tell objects to
Stand up and Sit down, ending each command with a polite Thank you afterwards (Mallia.
Sacred. 2). Scientology officials object when critics highlight some of Hubbard's more
bizarre teachings declaring that It's like mocking the Christian view of Jesus' virgin
birth (Mallia. Inside. 2). However it has been proven that Hubbard incorporated
brainwashing techniques into Scientology. Hubbard even wrote a brainwashing manual which
is still in existence today (Corydon 107). Hubbard claimed that the purpose of the manual
was to discredit psychiatry, which he did by presenting psychiatry as a tool of a
communist conspiracy to take over the West (Corydon 109). 
Once the final stage of Scientology has been completed, The Bridge to Total Freedom has
been achieved (Mallia. Inside. 4). However very few ever make it this far due to the
years of teachings and the $300, 000 price tag (Mallia. Inside. 4). Costing up to $520 an
hour, Scientology auditing creates a feeling of well-being that can even become addictive
(Mallia. Inside. 5). For these ridiculously high prices Scientologists are promised
extraordinary powers like Controlling the weather and flying without their bodies
(Mallia. Judge. 5).
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Many people claim that Scientology isolates and alienates its people from normal society,
and that it is nothing more than a money-grabbing machine (Mallia. Inside. 1). Critics
speculate that Scientology is guilty of everything from illegally prescribing medicine,
to murder (Devlin 8). In 1995, Scientologist Lisa McPherson of Dallas, Texas died during
a church retreat in Florida. (Devlin 6). The county medical examiner found that she died
of a blood clot due to dehydration, and that she had been denied water for the last five
to ten days of her life (Mallia. Inside. 2). The church of Scientology claims that
McPherson died accidentally and denies that its members caused her death (Devlin 6).
McPherson's family filed a wrongful-death suit against the church, saying that she wanted
to leave the church but was held against her will during the seventeen day retreat
(Mallia. Inside. 2).
One of the most outspoken critics of Scientology was no stranger to Hubbard.
L. Ron Hubbard Jr., Hubbard's son, has been voicing his opinions against Scientology for
many years. Although considered lies by the church, Ron Jr. made the public aware of the
truths behind the religion and his well-known father. Ron Jr., claims that his father was
a heavy drug user, and that drugs spawned many ideas for the principles behind
Scientology (Corydon 56). Ron Jr. stated in a sworn affidavit that Dad gave a lot of his
lectures while on cocaine or stimulants of one kind or another. He regularly used
cocaine, peyote, and mescaline. He could really get brilliant on the stuff (Corydon 57).
According to fellow writer Lloyd Eshbach, Hubbard was remembered saying I'd like to start
a religion. That's where the money is (Mallia. Judge. 3). 
Scientology has proven to be a religion that has had an important impact on many peoples'
lives. However Scientology has also had a negative impact on a 
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substantial number of people. In recent years, many of Scientology's extreme methods of
teaching have been disclosed leading some people to believe that the religion is a
destructive cult and that Hubbard is nothing but a fraud. Nevertheless there is still an
great deal of interest in the religion. With an estimated 25 million words in books that
form the core of his controversial religion, people will still be fascinated and
practicing Scientology for many years to come (Malko 175). .As Hubbard boldly states in
the last paragraph of Fundamentals of Thought, The only race that matters at this moment
is the one being run between Scientology and the Atomic bomb. The history of man may well
depend upon which one wins (Fundamentals. 117).
? 8.
Works Cited
Baskin, Henry. The E-Meter. The Church of Scientology. Online. Internet. 
http://www.e-meter.org.uk/page06.htm.1997.
Corydon, Bent. L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?. New York: Barricade Books, 1996.
Devlin, Harold.Interview 1. Scientology-Kills. Online. Internet.
http://www.scientology-kills.org/interview_1.htm.
Hubbard, L. Ron. Scientology: Fundamentals of Thought. Los Angeles: Bridge Publications,
1983.
- - -. What is Scientology? Los Angeles: Bridge Publications, 1978.
Malko, George. Scientology: The Now Religion. New York: Delacorte Press, 1970.
Mallia, Joseph. Church enemies wage war on internet battlefield. Scientology Unmasked.
Online. Internet. http://www.bostonherald.com/scientology/sci32a98.html. March 2, 1998.
- - -. Church wields celebrity clout. Scientology Unmasked. Online. Internet.
http://www.bostonherald.com/scientology/sci35a98.html. March 5, 1998.
- - -. Inside the Church of Scientology. Scientology Unmasked. Online. Internet.
http://www.bostonherald.com/scientology/sci31a98.html. March 1, 1998.
- - -. Judge found Hubbard lied about achievements. Scientology Unmasked. Online.
Internet. http://www.bostonherald.com/scientology/sci3198.html. March 1, 1998.
- - -. Sacred teachings not secret anymore. Scientology Unmasked. Online. Internet.
http://www.bostonherald.com/scientology/sci314a98.html. March 4, 1998.
Wallis, Roy. The Road to Total Freedom. New York: Columbia University Press, 1977.
Bibliography
See Above