Cross
of Scientology
In 1953 popular fiction writer, Lafayette
Ronald Hubbard, characterized Scientology
as a religion, and incorporated the Church of Scientology in Camden, New Jersey
the same year. The new found religion was
based upon Hubbard’s earlier (1952) self-help system, Dianetics.
Hubbard
claimed that Dianetics could do a lot
of marvelous things including increasing ones intelligence, eliminating
unwanted emotions and get rid of a wide range of illnesses he believed were
self-induced. Various disorders are said
to be suitable for treatment via Dianetics,
including: Arthritis, common allergies, asthma, a few coronary problems, poor
eye sight, ulcers, migraine headaches, ‘sexual deviation’ (a classification that
includes homosexuality) and death.
In December of 1993, all Scientology
Churches, missions and organizations obtained the coveted position of being
recognized by the U S Internal Revenue Service as being fully tax exemption
after several years of legal battles.
Occasionally
it’s been suggested that Scientology was established to replace
Dianetics but it is perhaps more
accurate to say that Scientology
extends Dianetics to cover broader
areas; the stated goal of Scientology is to “rehabilitate the individual’s
spiritual nature so that he may reach his full potential”.
According to Scientology, its
beliefs and practices are based on laborious research, and its doctrines are given
a significance equivalent to that of the laws of science. Further
the Church has stated that “Scientology works 100 percent of the time when it
is properly applied to a person who sincerely desires to improve his life”.
The name
Scientology is said to mean “knowing how to know”, and is a durative of two
terms, 1 Latin & 1 Greek. The teachings of Scientology proclaim it’s not
simply a belief system but a ‘mode of action’, and it has its own complicated
vocabulary to prove it.
A basic belief of Scientology is
that the experiences you have in life or in previous lives for that matter are
recorded in the brain as a series of “engrams”.
Each individual’s engrams are re-vived and ultimately re-enforced by
similar life situations that re-occur throughout one’s life and are more often
than not bound to cause unsuitable and self-defeating behavior. The goal of a
practicing Scientologist is to “process” or clear away these engrams which
permits or allows self-defeating actions. By removing these “bumps in the road”
from an individual’s present and past lives, the “thetan” or soul is released.
Just like
most religions, Scientology has ministers who are believed to perform some
religious rites and sacraments, but their main function is thought to be individual
counseling. Scientology is a tightly organized from the top down, with a
close-knit inner circle. The church boasts several high profile members, such
as Tom Cruise, John Travolta, and Kirstie Alley; of recent date (2013) such
high profile members continue to receive increasing amounts of publicity in the
media, therefore bring Scientology to the forefront as well. Examples include Tom
Cruise’s sudden divorce from Katie Holmes that some say was rooted in serious
differences of opinion revolving around Scientology and the alleged sex scandal
surrounding John Travolta. Nonetheless,
for most of us Scientology remains a mystery and very few outside the ‘inner
circle’ know or are fully aware of their beliefs and teachings.
In any event here’s what I gave been
able to dig-up on what Scientologists do believe / teach; initially such beliefs
seem relatively benign, but surprise, surprise, the last belief that’s taught
(as listed here) is rather far-fetched; in fact, you may be astounded, I know I
was:
As
briefly touched upon above, one of the core things that a good Scientologist
believes is that everything experienced in this life, and past lives, are
recorded as “engrams” in our brains. These engrams affect our decision-making
process and may cause persons to conduct themselves in an unsuitable and
self-defeating manner. Painful or stressful experiences are said to be often
imprinted as “engrams” and can have an effect upon future behavior and thoughts
in a negative way, hence making a person act irrationally and in a way that’s outside
their natural behavior.
Scientologists believe in
re-incarnation, a belief that’s held by nearly half the people in the world; so
humans are repeatedly born and destined to die again and again. Quite the repeating cycle you might say but
all the while ‘potentially’ gathering favorable “engrams” or shedding
themselves of these bad ones. There’s only way to break this cycle of rebirths:
Persons must cleanse themselves of all past and present bad “engrams” to advance
to the “thetan” state of being. Upon achieving this status, the sole /
thetan is freed from the cycle of reincarnation and in this way released from
the physical world.
It’s
taught that painful experiences and harmful acts in an individual’s current and
past lives become imprinted in the “re-active mind” or the unconscious mind
which leads to irrational behavior. When an individual breaks away from
rational thought and untrue ideas; events called “aberrations”, wrongdoing
often results.
To some it’s a little surprising
that to learn, unlike Christianity, there is no specific teachings of God or
gods in Scientology, however members are permitted (even welcomed) to be “spiritually enlightened” to a deity as
they progress in the faith if and when they so choose.
In a ‘nut
shell’ you could say that Scientology considers the belief in a God or gods a
personal affair and therefore offers no specific doctrine. The nature of a
Supreme Being is revealed as the individual develops spiritual awareness. Nevertheless, most Scientologists believe there
is a life energy or force called “Theta” (not to be confused with the thetan) that
is available to everyone; you might say Theta is the universal spirit in the
eyes of a good Scientologist.
Salvation is said to be achieved only
through the practices and techniques of Scientology, this ultimate goal can
only be realized when one’s true nature as an immortal spirit is revealed. This
can be achieved with the help of church Practitioners or “Auditors” who are
regarded as ministers. Auditors help
others to identify their current and past-life disturbances, which are said to
be obstacles to happiness and spiritual enlightenment.
It’s
believed that suffering by an individual is caused by the entrapment of the
spirit in the physical universe. When an individual becomes aware of his
spiritual nature he can only then identify his barriers within the universe and
overcome them; hence rising to a higher state of happiness and freedom.
Scientology teaches that an
individual cannot free himself without helping to free others at the same time,
so this belief has resulted in the establishment of, and the churches support
& promotion of, many organizations for social improvement concentrating on areas
such as: Drug abuse, education, human rights, religious freedom, and morality and
several other areas that impact our society.
Perhaps
the most damning of all things taught within the Church of Scientology is the “Xenu”
(pronounced: zi-nu / ZEE-noo) story. Some say this is part of the church’s
secret “Advanced Technology” teaching which is considered both sacred and
mysterious; this tightly held information is rumored to be revealed only to
members who have contributed large amounts of cash to the church. You see, the story of Xenu is a portion of church
doctrine concerning extraterrestrial civilizations and alien interventions in planet
earths distant past.
As the story goes as was originally told
by the church founder L. Ron Hubbard; the ruler of the “Galactic Confederacy” brought
billions of his people (known as “Teegeeack’s”) to earth around 75 million
years ago in a DC-8-like spacecraft; after placing the them all in close
proximity to volcanoes he killed them all with hydrogen bombs. Why? I guess we’ll never know, since Hubbard
departed the living in January of 1986. Reportedly official Scientology scriptures
hold that the spirits of these many Teegeeack people are still hanging out here
on earth, and they hoover (for lack of a better word) around modern day earth folk, causing them
spiritual damage.
In 2005,
the Church of Scientology’s worldwide membership stood at eight million, but
this included an unknown number of people who had only taken the introductory
course and did not continue with the program. As recently as 2007 a Church official claimed
3.5 million members in the United States alone, but an earlier survey conducted
in 2001 by the University of New York City could find only 55,000 people in the
U S who claimed to be Scientologists. Worldwide, some observers believe a
reasonable estimate of practicing members ranges between 100,000 and 200,000,
mostly in the U.S., several European countries, South Africa and Australia.
Most recently in 2008, the American Religious Identification Survey determined
America’s Scientologists count had dropped to a mere 25,000. But still if they all believe the Xenu Story,
it’s nothing short of astounding! But
then that’s just one ol’ man’s opinion.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology http://www.beliefnet.com/Faiths/2001/06/What-Scientologists-Believe.aspx http://www.scientology.org/faq/background-and-basic-principles/what-does-the-word-scientology-mean.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xenu http://www.christianpost.com/news/what-do-scientologists-believe-77976/
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