What is Scientology?

What Exactly is Scientology?
By Anastacia Mott Austin

Most people have heard of Scientology. Many of them have opinions about it as well. It has steadily gained a reputation as a strange cult practiced by the likes of Tom Cruise, who seems to keep putting Scientology in an uncomfortable spotlight.

But everyone deserves his (or her) day in court, so let’s take a look at what Scientologists actually believe before passing judgment.

Founded in 1952 by writer L. Ron Hubbard – best known for the 1970s bestseller "Dianetics" - the tenets of Scientology were developed over the next 30 years.

In 1969, Hubbard said that Scientology was "fundamentally an applied religious philosophy." Current practitioners call it "the study of truth."

Hubbard himself claimed many religious and philosophical forbears to Scientology, including Sigmund Freud, the Hindu Vedas, the Tao Te Ching, and Buddhism, among others.

According to the Church of Scientology, its goal is "a civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights."

Other central beliefs include that humans are inherently good but act out of selfish interests born by previous hurts, and that through studying the guidelines provided by Scientology, one can transcend these limited views and become "clear."

A person has achieved all that s/he can after realizing the true spiritual nature of oneself and one’s relationship to "the Supreme Being."

Scientologists believe that the individual spiritual being, or "thetan," lives on after the body, and will continue to be reincarnate into other bodies and lifetimes.

A beginner to the religion is referred to as someone who is "preclear," and must undergo many sessions called auditing (which cost money) that will help clear past traumas and light the way to transcendence. Once one has sufficiently cleared the past and has achieved a higher level, the goal is to become an "operating thetan," which is a state in which one can "control or operate thought, life, matter, energy, space and time."

In actuality, there are also several levels of OT, or Operating Thetan, which must be passed through before becoming a true OT, which is a level VIII. The levels are extremely complex and require advanced levels of auditing and training.

Morals and ethics form an important component of the Scientology belief system. It defines morals as a "code of good conduct" which stems from experience and serves as an example for others. Ethics are explained as a series of "conditions" which must be successfully navigated until one has reached the best possible level of each. The conditions include the following categories: Power, Affluence, Normal, Emergency, Danger, Non-Existence, Liability, Doubt, Enemy, Treason and Confusion.

Most folks might be following to this point and thinking, okay, this sounds alright, a lot like other religions. A little hard to follow with its detailed, specific terms and conditions, all of which must be transcended according to the guidelines set forth by Hubbard, but essentially containing familiar rules and beliefs which are common across many religions.

Until you get to part about outer space and aliens (but remember the "no judgments" we talked about earlier).

Hubbard believed that the earlier life or even past-life traumas one has experienced can cause problems for achieving that "clear" state one so desires. These traumas are processed using audits, which are facilitated sessions involving a more experienced thetan who asks the person a series of questions while monitoring his or her body’s electromagnetic balance. The audits purportedly help to clear the traumas and allow for growth.

But Hubbard also believed that some of the traumas were implanted by alien dictators who used various manipulative means to control the earth’s population over trillions of years (believing that the thetans, the spirit parts of us, were around much longer than human bodies were).

Critics of Scientology are quick to pounce on this belief, and others that sound "wacky" to the mainstream. Aliens controlling our minds? Weird. Also frequently criticized is Scientology’s avid rejection of psychiatry, which the church says is responsible for such diverse events as World War I, the downfall of the public education system, and the 9/11 attacks.

But various religions over the history of humanity have also held deep beliefs that seem a bit hard to believe. Christians believe that a Supreme Being created our planet in seven days, and that His earthly son rose from the dead to deliver us all. Pagans believe there is a living spirit inside each tree, each blade of grass. Native Americans believed that the sun was a God, the moon a Goddess, and the animals are our brothers and sisters.

So…aliens controlling our minds? You decide.

Many would like to deride Scientology as a cult, and say it fits the definition: followers are discouraged from leaving the church, and are urged to "disconnect" from anyone in their lives who is hostile toward the church. As a result, say critics, people become isolated and afraid to leave because they will have nothing to return to.

But followers insist that Scientology has helped them, has clarified their goals in life, and provides excellent tools to live by. Many drug addicts have been able to become sober after following the guidelines of Narconon, a Scientology-based course for getting off of drugs.

Luckily, we are all free to decide for ourselves what and whom to follow. I leave it to the reader to choose whether Scientology fits the definition of legitimate religion or wacky cult. Let me know what you decide.