Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986), starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics.
Scientology teaches that people are immortal beings who have forgotten their true nature. Its method of spiritual rehabilitation is a type of counselling known as auditing, in which practitioners aim to consciously re-experience painful or traumatic events in their past in order to free themselves of their limiting effects. Study materials and auditing courses are made available to members in return for specified donations. Scientology is legally recognized as a tax-exempt religion in the United States and some other countries, and the Church of Scientology emphasizes this as proof that it is a bona fide religion. In other countries, notably France, Germany and the United Kingdom, Scientology does not have comparable religious status.
A large number of organizations overseeing the application of Scientology have been established, the most notable of these being the Church of Scientology. Scientology sponsors a variety of social service programs. These include the Narconon anti-drug program, the Criminon prison rehabilitation program, the Study Tech education methodology, a volunteer organization, a business management method, and a set of moral guidelines expressed in a booklet called The Way to Happiness.
The Church of Scientology is one of the most controversial new religious movements to have arisen in the 20th century. It has often been described as a cult that financially defrauds and abuses its members, charging exorbitant fees for its spiritual services. The Church of Scientology has consistently used litigation against such critics, and its aggressiveness in pursuing its foes has been condemned as harassment. Further controversy has focused on Scientology's belief that souls ("thetans") reincarnate and have lived on other planets before living on Earth. Former members say that some of Hubbard's writings on this remote extraterrestrial past, included in confidential Upper Levels, are not revealed to practitioners until they have paid thousands of dollars to the Church of Scientology. Another controversial belief held by Scientologists is that the practice of psychiatry is destructive and abusive and must be abolished.
Etymology and earlier usage
The word
Scientology is a pairing of the
Latin word
scientia ("knowledge", "skill"), which comes from the verb
scīre ("to know"), and the
Greek λόγος
lógos ("word" or "account [of]").
In 1901, Allen Upward coined Scientology "as a disparaging term, to indicate a blind, unthinking acceptance of scientific doctrine" according to the Internet Sacred Text Archive as quoted in the preface to Forgotten Books' recent edition of Upward's book, The New Word: On the meaning of the word Idealist. Continuing to quote, the publisher writes "I'm not aware of any evidence that Hubbard knew of this fairly obscure book."
In 1934, philosopher Anastasius Nordenholz published a book that used the term to mean "science of science". It is also uncertain whether Hubbard was aware of this prior usage of the word.
History
Dianetics
Scientology was developed by
L. Ron Hubbard as a successor to his earlier
self-help system,
Dianetics. Dianetics uses a counseling technique known as
auditing, developed by Hubbard to enable conscious recall of traumatic events in an individual's past. It was originally intended to be a new
psychotherapy and was not expected to become the foundation for a new religion.
Hubbard, an American writer of pulp fiction, especially science fiction, first published his ideas on the human mind in the Explorers Club Journal and the May 1950 issue of Astounding Science Fiction magazine. Two of Hubbard's key supporters at the time were John W. Campbell Jr., the editor of Astounding Science Fiction, and Dr. Joseph A. Winter. Winter, hoping to have Dianetics accepted in the medical community, submitted papers outlining the principles and methodology of Dianetic therapy to the Journal of the American Medical Association and the American Journal of Psychiatry in 1949, but these were rejected.
May 1950 saw the publication of Hubbard's . His book entered the New York Times best-seller list on June 18 and stayed there until December 24 of that year. Dianetics appealed to a broad range of people who used instructions from the book and applied the method to each other, becoming practitioners themselves.
Dianetics soon met with criticism. Morris Fishbein, the editor of the Journal of the American Medical Association and well-known at the time as a debunker of quack medicine, dismissed Hubbard's book. An article in Newsweek stated that "the dianetics concept is unscientific and unworthy of discussion or review". In January 1951, the New Jersey Board of Medical Examiners instituted proceedings against the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation for teaching medicine without a license, which eventually led to that foundation's bankruptcy.
Some practitioners of Dianetics reported experiences which they believed had occurred in past lives, or previous incarnations. Campbell and Winter, who was still hopeful of winning support for Dianetics from the medical community, championed a resolution to ban the topic. In December 1953, Hubbard incorporated three churches – a "Church of American Science", a "Church of Scientology" and a "Church of Spiritual Engineering" – in Camden, New Jersey. On 18 February 1954, with Hubbard's blessing, some of his followers set up the first local Church of Scientology, the Church of Scientology of California, adopting the "aims, purposes, principles and creed of the Church of American Science, as founded by L. Ron Hubbard." The movement spread quickly through the United States and to other English-speaking countries such as Britain, Ireland, South Africa and Australia. In 1955, Hubbard established the Founding Church of Scientology in Washington, D.C. In 1958 however, the IRS started a review of the appropriateness of this status.
In the mid-sixties, the Church of Scientology was banned in several Australian states, starting with Victoria in 1965. The ban was based on the Anderson Report, which found that the auditing process involved "command" hypnosis, in which the hypnotist assumes "positive authoritative control" over the patient. On this point the report stated,
It is the firm conclusion of this Board that most scientology and dianetic techniques are those of authoritative hypnosis and as such are dangerous ... the scientific evidence which the Board heard from several expert witnesses of the highest repute ... leads to the inescapable conclusion that it is only in name that there is any difference between authoritative hypnosis and most of the techniques of scientology. Many scientology techniques are in fact hypnotic techniques, and Hubbard has not changed their nature by changing their names.
The Australian Church was forced to operate under the name of the "Church of the New Faith" as a result, the name and practice of Scientology having become illegal in the relevant states. For the inner cadre of Scientologists in that period, involvement depended not so much on belief in a particular doctrine but on absolute, unquestioning faith in Hubbard. In 1966, Hubbard stepped down as executive director of Scientology to devote himself to research and writing. The following year, he formed the Sea Organization or
Sea Org, which was to develop into an elite group within Scientology. One month after the establishment of the Sea Org, Hubbard announced that he had made a breakthrough discovery, the result of which were the "OT III" materials purporting to provide a method for overcoming factors inhibiting spiritual progress.
On January 1, 1982 Scientology established the Religious Technology Center (RTC) to oversee and ensure the standard application of Scientology technology.
On November 11, 1982, the Free Zone was established by former top Scientologists in disagreement with RTC. The Free Zone later became known as "Ron's Org" and was headed by former Hubbard Scientology Flagship Apollo Sea Org Captain "Bill" Robertson. The Free Zone Association was founded and registered under the laws of Germany.
In 1983, in a unanimous decision, the High Court of Australia recognized Scientology as a religion in Australia, overturning restrictions that had limited activities of the church after the Anderson Report.
On January 24, 1986, L. Ron Hubbard died at his ranch near San Luis Obispo, California and David Miscavige became the head of the organization.
Starting in 1991, persons connected with Scientology filed fifty lawsuits against the Cult Awareness Network (CAN), a group that had been critical of Scientology. A new Cult Awareness Network was set up with Scientology backing, which operates as an information and networking center for non-traditional religions, referring callers to academics and other experts.
In a 1993 U.S. lawsuit brought by the Church of Scientology against Steven Fishman, a former member of the Church, Fishman made a court declaration which included several dozen pages of formerly secret esoterica detailing aspects of Scientologist cosmogony. As a result of the litigation, this material, normally strictly safeguarded and only used in Scientology's more advanced "OT levels", found its way onto the Internet. Based on the IRS exemptions, the U.S. State Department formally criticized Germany for discriminating against Scientologists and began to note Scientologists' complaints of harassment in its annual human rights reports,
In 1997, an open letter to then-German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, published as a newspaper advertisement in the International Herald Tribune, drew parallels between the "organized oppression" of Scientologists in Germany, and the treatment of Jews in 1930s' Nazi Germany. Commenting on the matter, a spokesman for the U.S. Department of State said that Scientologists were discriminated against in Germany, but condemned the comparisons to the Nazis' treatment of Jews as extremely inappropriate, as did a United Nations Special Rapporteur.
In 2000, the Italian Supreme Court ruled that Scientology is a religion for legal purposes. In recent years, religious recognition has also been obtained in other countries, including Sweden, Portugal, Slovenia, as well as Kyrgyzstan In 2007 a Church official claimed 3.5 million members in the United States, but according to a 2001 survey published by the City University of New York, 55,000 people in the United States would, if asked to identify their religion, have stated Scientology. In 2008, the same survey team estimated that only 25,000 Americans identify as Scientologists.
Scientologists tend to disparage general religious surveys on the grounds that many members maintaining cultural and social ties to other religious groups will, when asked their religion, answer with their traditional and more socially acceptable affiliation. On the other hand, religious scholar J. Gordon Melton has said that the church's estimates of its membership numbers are significantly exaggerated.
Beliefs and practices
Scientology claims that its beliefs and practices are based on rigorous research, and its doctrines are accorded a significance equivalent to that of scientific laws. "Scientology works 100 percent of the time when it is properly applied to a person who sincerely desires to improve his life", the Church of Scientology says. The thetan is the true identity of a person – an intrinsically good, omniscient, non-material core capable of unlimited creativity.
Thetans are reborn time and time again in new bodies through a process called "assumption" which is analogous to reincarnation. The reactive mind is thought to absorb all pain and emotional trauma, while the analytical mind is a rational mechanism which is responsible for consciousness. The reactive mind stores mental images which are not readily available to the analytical (conscious) mind; these are referred to as engrams. Engrams are painful and debilitating; as they accumulate, people move further away from their true identity. The tone scale is a tool used in counseling; Scientologists maintain that knowing a person's place on the scale makes it easier to predict their actions and assists in bettering their condition.
Survival and ethics
Scientology emphasizes the importance of survival, which it subdivides into eight classifications that are referred to as dynamics. An individual's desire to survive is considered to be the first dynamic, while the second dynamic relates to procreation and family. The remaining dynamics encompass wider fields of action, involving groups, mankind, all life, the physical universe, the spirit, and the Supreme Being.
ARC and KRC triangles
The ARC and KRC triangles are
concept maps which show a relationship between three concepts to form another concept. These two triangles are present in the Scientology symbol. The lower triangle, the ARC triangle, is a summary representation of the knowledge the Scientologist strives for. The upper triangle is the KRC triangle, the letters KRC positing a similar relationship between
Knowledge,
Responsibility and
Control.
In Scientology, social problems are ascribed to breakdowns in ARC – in other words, a lack of agreement on reality, a failure to communicate effectively, or a failure to develop affinity. These can take the form of overts – harmful acts against another, either intentionally or by omission – which are usually followed by withholds – efforts to conceal the wrongdoing, which further increase the level of tension in the relationship. Scientologists believe that any contact with suppressive or antisocial individuals has an adverse effect on one's spiritual condition, necessitating disconnection. and the Church of Scientology has a reputation for moving aggressively against such detractors. A Scientologist who is actively in communication with a suppressive person and as a result shows signs of antisocial behaviour is referred to as a Potential Trouble Source.
Auditing
to a potential student.]]
Scientology asserts that people have hidden abilities which have not yet been fully realized. It is believed that increased spiritual awareness and physical benefits are accomplished through counseling sessions referred to as auditing. Through auditing, it is said that people can solve their problems and free themselves of engrams. Accordingly, those who study Scientology materials and receive auditing sessions advance from a status of Preclear to Clear and Operating Thetan. Scientology's utopian aim is to "clear the planet", a world in which everyone has cleared themselves of their engrams.
Auditing is a one-on-one session with a Scientology counselor or auditor. It bears a superficial similarity to confession or pastoral counseling, but the auditor records and stores all information received and does not dispense forgiveness or advice the way a pastor or priest might do.
The Church of Scientology believes in the principle of reciprocity, involving give-and-take in every human transaction.
.]]
These are the OT levels, the levels above Clear, whose contents are guarded within Scientology. The OT level teachings include accounts of various cosmic catastrophes that befell the thetans.
The material contained in the OT levels has been characterized as bad science fiction by critics, while others claim it bears structural similarities to gnostic thought and ancient Hindu myths of creation and cosmic struggle. J. Gordon Melton suggests that these elements of the OT levels may never have been intended as descriptions of historical events, and that, like other religious mythology, they may have their truth in the realities of the body and mind which they symbolize.
The high-ranking OT levels are made available to Scientologists only by invitation, after a review of the candidate's character and contribution to the aims of Scientology. Individuals who have read these materials may not disclose what they contain without jeopardizing their standing in the Church. There are eight publicly known OT levels, OT I to VIII. The highest level, OT VIII, is only disclosed at sea, on the Scientology cruise ship Freewinds.
There is a large Church of Spiritual Technology symbol carved into the ground at Scientology's Trementina Base that is visible from the air. Washington Post reporter Richard Leiby wrote, "Former Scientologists familiar with Hubbard’s teachings on reincarnation say the symbol marks a 'return point' so loyal staff members know where they can find the founder’s works when they travel here in the future from other places in the universe."
Ceremonies
In Scientology, ceremonies for events such as weddings, child naming, and funerals are observed.
Influences
The general orientation of Hubbard's philosophy owes much to
Will Durant, author of the popular 1926 classic
The Story of Philosophy;
Dianetics is dedicated to Durant.
Sigmund Freud's psychology, popularized in the 1930s and 1940s, was a key contributor to the Dianetics therapy model, and was acknowledged unreservedly as such by Hubbard. and when he wrote to the American Psychological Association in 1949, he stated that he was conducting research based on the "early work of Freud".
Another major influence was Alfred Korzybski's General Semantics.
As noted, there are elements of Eastern religions evident in Scientology, In addition to the links to Hindu texts, Hubbard tried to connect Scientology with Taoism and Buddhism. Scientology has been said to share features with Gnosticism as well.
In the 1940s, Hubbard was in contact with Jack Parsons, a rocket scientist and member of the Ordo Templi Orientis then led by Aleister Crowley, and there have been suggestions that this connection influenced some of the ideas and symbols of Scientology.
Organization
of the FLAG Scientology complex in Clearwater, Florida.]]
There are a considerable number of Scientology organizations (or orgs) which generally support one of the following three aims: enabling Scientology practice and training, promoting the wider application of Scientology technology, or campaigning for social change. These organizations are supported by a three-tiered hierarchical structure comprising lay practitioners, staff and, at the top of the hierarchy, members of the so-called Sea Organization or Sea Org. The Sea Org, comprising over 5,000 members, has been compared to the monastic orders found in other religions; it is composed of the most dedicated adherents, who work for nominal compensation and symbolically express their religious commitment by signing a billion-year contract.
The internal structure of Scientology organizations is strongly bureaucratic, with detailed coordination of activities and collection of stats to measure organizational and individual performance. Ethics officers are present in every org; they are tasked with ensuring correct application of Scientology technology and deal with violations such as non-compliance with standard procedures or any other behavior adversely affecting an org's performance, ranging from errors and misdemeanors to crimes and suppressive acts, as defined by internal documents.
A controversial part of the Scientology justice system is the Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF). In addition to these, Scientology operates hundreds of Churches and Missions around the world. This is where Scientologists receive introductory training, and it is at this local level that most Scientologists participate. The RTC's Chairman is David Miscavige, who, while not the titular head of the Church of Scientology, is believed to be the most powerful person in the Scientology movement.
Once an individual has reached Clear and wishes to proceed further, they can take OT auditing and coursework with Advanced Organizations located in Los Angeles, Sydney, East Grinstead and Copenhagen. Beyond OT V, the Flag Service Organization in Clearwater, Florida offers the auditing and course work for OT levels VI and VII, while OT VIII is offered only by the Flag Ship Service Organization aboard the Scientology ship Freewinds. Since 1981, all of these Churches and organizations have been united under the Church of Scientology International umbrella organization, with the Sea Org providing staff for all levels above the local Churches and Missions. Narconon is offered in the United States, Canada and a number of European countries; its Purification Program uses a regimen composed of sauna, physical exercise, vitamins and diet management, combined with auditing and study. Applied Scholastics is active across Europe and North America as well as in Australia, Malaysia, China and South Africa.
The Way to Happiness Foundation promotes a moral code written by Hubbard, to date translated into more than 40 languages.
The World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE) is a not-for-profit organization which licenses Hubbard's management techniques for use in businesses.
Social reform organizations
demonstration.]]
Some Scientology organizations are focused on bringing about social change. One of these is the
Citizens Commission on Human Rights (CCHR). Founded in 1969, it has a long history of opposing
psychiatric practices such as
lobotomy,
electric shock treatment and the use of
mood-altering drugs. The psychiatric establishment rejected Hubbard's theories in the early 1950s.
Other entities
Other prominent Scientology-related organizations include:
International Association of Scientologists, the official Scientology membership organization.
Church of Spiritual Technology, a non-profit organization that owns the copyrights to Scientology books.
Free Zone
Although
Scientology is most often used as shorthand for the
Church of Scientology, a number of groups practice Scientology and Dianetics outside of the official Church. These groups consist of both former members of the official Church of Scientology, as well as entirely new members. These groups are collectively known as the
Free Zone. Capt. Bill Robertson, a former Sea Org member, was a primary instigator in the movement. The Church labels these groups as
squirrels in
Scientology jargon, and often subjects them to considerable legal and social pressure.
Dispute of religion status
Scientology status by country
The Church of Scientology has pursued an extensive public relations campaign for the recognition of Scientology as a religion in the various countries in which it exists. Opinions around the world still differ on whether Scientology is to be recognized as a religion or not, and Scientology has often encountered opposition due to its strong-arm tactics directed against critics and members wishing to leave the organization. The differences between these classifications have become a major problem when discussing religions in general and Scientology specifically.
The New York Times noted in this connection that the Church of Scientology had funded a campaign which included a whistle-blower organization to publicly attack the IRS, as well as the hiring of private investigators to look into the private lives of IRS officials.
The meeting was an "opportunity for the church to offer to end its long dispute with the agency, including the dozens of suits brought against the IRS." The committee met several times with the Scientology legal team and "was persuaded that those involved in the Snow White crimes had been purged, that church money was devoted to tax-exempt purposes and that, with Mr. Hubbard's death, no one was getting rich from Scientology." IRS officials "insisted that Scientology's tactics had not affected the decision" and that "ultimately the decision was made on a legal basis". Portugal, Spain, Slovenia, Croatia, and Kyrgyzstan. In New Zealand Scientology is recognized as a religious charity, it has gained judicial recognition in Italy, and its officials have won the right to perform marriages in South Africa. The German government takes the view that Scientology is a commercial, rather than religious organization, and has even gone so far as to consider a ban on Scientology, saying that the political goals of Scientology are incompatible with the German Constitution. France and Belgium have not recognized Scientology as a religion, and Stephen A. Kent, writing in 2001, noted that no such recognition had been obtained in Ireland, Luxembourg, Israel or Mexico either. The Belgian State Prosecution Service has recommended that various individuals and organizations associated with Scientology should be prosecuted. An administrative court is to decide if charges will be pressed.
Scholarly views on Scientology's status as a religion
While acknowledging that a number of his colleagues accept Scientology as a religion, sociologist and professor
Stephen A. Kent wrote: "Rather than struggling over whether or not to label Scientology as a religion, I find it far more helpful to view it as a multifaceted
transnational corporation, only
one element of which is religious" [emphasis in the original]. Kent also holds that the US government sees Scientology not as a religion, but as a charitable organization due to their religious claims.
David G. Bromley of Virginia Commonwealth University characterizes Scientology as "a 'quasi-religious therapy' that resembles Freudian 'depth psychology' while also drawing upon Buddhism, Hinduism and Gnosticism."
Dr. Frank K. Flinn, adjunct professor of religious studies at Washington University in St. Louis wrote, "it is abundantly clear that Scientology has both the typical forms of ceremonial and celebratory worship and its own unique form of spiritual life." Flinn further states that religion requires "beliefs in something transcendental or ultimate, practices (rites and codes of behavior) that re-inforce those beliefs and, a community that is sustained by both the beliefs and practices," all of which are present within Scientology.
Describing the variety of scholarly opinions in existence, David G. Bromley and Douglas E. Cowan stated in 2006 that "Overall, however, most scholars have concluded that Scientology falls within the category of religion for the purposes of academic study, and a number have defended the Church in judicial and political proceedings on this basis." According to several of his fellow science fiction writers, Hubbard had on several occasions stated that the way to get rich was to start a religion.
Hubbard grew up in a climate that was very critical of organized religion, and frequently quoted anti-religious sentiments in his early lectures. The scholar Marco Frenschkowski (University of Mainz) has stated that it was not easy for Hubbard "to come to terms with the spiritual side of his own movement. Hubbard did not want to found a religion: he discovered that what he was talking about in fact was religion. This mainly happened when he had to deal with apparent memories from former lives. He had to defend himself about this to his friends." The Church also suggests that the origin of the "rumor" was a quote by George Orwell which had been "misattributed" to Hubbard. Robert Vaughn Young, who left the Church in 1989 after being its spokesman for twenty years, suggested that reports of Hubbard making such a statement could be explained as a misattribution of Orwell, despite having encountered three of Hubbard's associates from his science fiction days who remembered Hubbard making statements of that sort in person. In 2006, Rolling Stone's Janet Reitman writes Hubbard said the same thing to science fiction writer Lloyd Eshbach, a fact quoted in Eshbach's autobiography.
Scientology maintains strict control over the use of its symbols, icons, and names. It claims copyright and trademark over its "Scientology cross", and its lawyers have threatened lawsuits against individuals and organizations who have published the image in books and on Web sites. Because of this, it is very difficult for individual groups to attempt to publicly practice Scientology on their own, independent of the official Church of Scientology. Scientology has filed suit against a number of individuals who have attempted to set up their own auditing practices, using copyright and trademark law to shut these groups down.
The Church of Scientology and its many related organizations have amassed considerable real estate holdings worldwide, likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars. On that basis, it is likened to a pyramid selling scheme. While introductory courses do not cost much, courses at the higher levels may cost several thousand dollars each.
In conjunction with the Church of Scientology's request to be officially recognized as a religion in Germany, around 1996 the German state Baden-Württemberg conducted a thorough investigation regarding the group's activities within Germany. The results of this investigation indicated that at the time of publication, Scientology's main sources of revenue ("Haupteinnahmequellen der SO") were from course offerings and sales of their various publications. Course offerings ranged from (German Marks) DM 182.50 to about DM 30,000 – the equivalent today of approximately $119 to $19,560 USD. Revenue from monthly, bi-monthly, and other membership offerings could not be estimated in the report, but was nevertheless placed in the millions. Defending its practices against accusations of profiteering, the Church has countered critics by drawing analogies to other religious groups who have established practices such as tithing, or require members to make donations for specific religious services.
Controversies
on (from left to right)
Islamic extremism, Scientology, and
organized crime.]]
Of the many new religious movements to appear during the 20th century, the Church of Scientology has, from its inception, been one of the most controversial, coming into conflict with the governments and police forces of several countries (including the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Germany). It has been one of the most litigious religious movements in history, filing countless lawsuits against governments, organizations and individuals.
Reports and allegations have been made, by journalists, courts, and governmental bodies of several countries, that the Church of Scientology is an unscrupulous commercial enterprise that harasses its critics and brutally exploits its members.
The death of a Scientologist Lisa McPherson while in the care of the Church. (Robert Minton sponsored the multi-million dollar law suit against Scientology for the death of McPherson. In May 2004, McPherson's estate and the Church of Scientology reached a confidential settlement.)
Criminal activities committed on behalf of the Church or directed by Church officials (Operation Snow White, Operation Freakout).
Conflicting statements about L. Ron Hubbard's life, in particular accounts of Hubbard discussing his intent to start a religion for profit and of his service in the military.
Allegations by former high-ranking Scientologists that
David Miscavige beats and demoralizes staff and that physical violence by superiors towards staff working for them is a common occurrence in the church. Scientology spokesman
Tommy Davis denied these claims and provided witnesses to rebut them.
In November 2009, Australian
Senator Nick Xenophon used a speech in Federal Parliament to allege that the Church of Scientology is a criminal organization. Based on letters from former followers of the religion, he said that there were "allegations of forced imprisonment, coerced abortions, and
embezzlement of church funds, of physical violence and
intimidation, blackmail and the widespread and deliberate
abuse of information obtained by the organization ..."
Due to these allegations, a considerable amount of investigation has been aimed at the Church, by groups ranging from the media to governmental agencies.
Professor of sociology Stephen A. Kent says "Scientologists see themselves as possessors of doctrines and skills that can save the world, if not the galaxy." On the other hand, the sociologist David G. Bromley has noted that "a number of religious groups had radical and confrontational styles early in their history" and that "Scientology is now becoming less controversial."
Scientology and the Internet
In the 1990s, Scientology representatives began to take action against increased criticism against Scientology on the Internet. The organization says that the actions taken were to prevent distribution of
copyrighted Scientology documents and publications online, fighting what it refers to as "copyright terrorists".
In January 1995, Church lawyer Helena Kobrin attempted to shut down the newsgroup alt.religion.scientology by sending a control message instructing Usenet servers to delete the group. In practice, this rmgroup message had little effect, since most Usenet servers are configured to disregard such messages when sent to groups that receive substantial traffic, and newgroup messages were quickly issued to recreate the group on those servers that did not do so. However, the issuance of the message led to a great deal of public criticism by free-speech advocates. Among the criticism raised, one suggestion is that Scientology's true motive is to suppress the free speech of its critics.
' held protests outside Scientology centers in cities around the world in February 2008 as part of Project Chanology. Issues they protested ranged from alleged abuse of followers to the validity of its claims to qualify as a state-sponsored religion.]]
The Church also began filing lawsuits against those who posted copyrighted texts on the newsgroup and the World Wide Web, and lobbied for tighter restrictions on copyrights in general. The Church supported the controversial Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act as well as the even more controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Some of the DMCA's provisions (notably the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act) were heavily influenced by Church litigation against US Internet service providers over copyrighted Scientology materials that had been posted or uploaded through their servers.
Beginning in the middle of 1996 and ensuing for several years, the newsgroup was attacked by anonymous parties using a tactic dubbed sporgery by some, in the form of hundreds of thousands of forged spam messages posted on the group. Some investigators said that some spam had been traced to Church members. Former Scientologist Tory Christman later asserted that the Office of Special Affairs had undertaken a concerted effort to destroy alt.religion.scientology through these means; the effort failed.
On January 14, 2008, a video produced by the Church of Scientology featuring an interview with Tom Cruise was leaked to the Internet and uploaded to YouTube.
The Church of Scientology issued a copyright violation claim against YouTube requesting the removal of the video. Subsequently, the "Anonymous" group of internet users voiced its criticism of Scientology and began attacking the Church. Calling the action by the Church of Scientology a form of Internet censorship, participants of Anonymous coordinated Project Chanology, which consisted of a series of denial-of-service attacks against Scientology websites, prank calls, and black faxes to Scientology centers. On January 21, 2008, Anonymous announced its intentions via a video posted to YouTube entitled "Message to Scientology", and a press release declaring a "war" against both the Church of Scientology and the Religious Technology Center.
In the press release, the group stated that the attacks against the Church of Scientology would continue in order to protect the freedom of speech, and end what they saw as the financial exploitation of church members.
On January 28, 2008, an Anonymous video appeared on YouTube calling for protests outside Church of Scientology centers on February 10, 2008. According to a letter Anonymous e-mailed to the press, about 7,000 people protested in more than 90 cities worldwide.
Many protesters wore masks based on the character V from V for Vendetta (who was influenced by Guy Fawkes) or otherwise disguised their identities, in part to protect themselves from reprisals from the Church of Scientology.
Many further protests have followed since then in cities around the world.
The Arbitration Committee of the Wikipedia internet encyclopedia decided in May 2009 to restrict access to its site from Church of Scientology IP addresses, to prevent self-serving edits by Scientologists. A "host of anti-Scientologist editors" were topic-banned as well.
Auditing confidentiality
During the auditing process, the auditor may collect personal information from the person being audited. Auditing records are referred to within Scientology as
preclear folders. The Church of Scientology has strict codes designed to protect the confidentiality of the information contained in these folders. Some former members have said that while they were still in the Church, they combed through information obtained in auditing sessions to see if it could be used for smear campaigns against critics. The Church of Scientology of California responded by stating that the letter which gave Mary Sue Hubbard authority to cull confessional files was not official policy and had been previously canceled. Charges that private information from auditing files has actually been used against individuals have not been upheld in court. Former silent-screen star
Gloria Swanson and jazz pianist
Dave Brubeck were among the earliest celebrities attracted to Hubbard's teachings.
Today, Scientology operates eight churches that are designated Celebrity Centers, the largest of these being the one in Hollywood. Celebrity Centers are open to the general public, but are primarily designed to minister to celebrity Scientologists.
See also
Scientology and other religions
Notes
References
Behar, Richard (1991). Scientology: The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power, Time Magazine.
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External links
;Official site
Scientology website
;Scholarly web pages on Scientology
Center for Studies on New Religions (CESNUR)
Stephen A. Kent
Category:UFO religions
Category:Western culture
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