Scientology is a set of religious beliefs created by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. Hubbard wrote a self-help book that explored the relationship between the body and the mind called Dianetics: The Power of Thought About the Body in 1950. In 1952, the success of Dianetics was expanded through the creation of Scientology. Hubbard later incorporated the Church of Scientology in 1953.
Hubbard maintained a leading role in the Church of Scientology until his death in 1986, even during periods in which they hid due to the controversy and legal action was taken against the church.
What do members of the Church of Scientology believe in?
Scientologists believe that people are extraterrestrial beings called immortals (thetan) who have forgotten their true nature and are trapped on earth in a human body. Scientologists also believe that each thetan has lived numerous past lives, both on earth in our physical bodies, and on other planets. They also believe that by submitting to a series of classes and teachings called auditing ; people can free themselves from their human form and recover their true identity.
Many of the classes are structured to help people relive painful or traumatic events from their past, in order to free themselves from carrying these burdens. Audit courses and study materials are available to Scientologists in exchange for monetary donations (the most advanced of these courses is not economical).
By adopting all the classes offered by the Church of Scientology, these people believe that one can claim his true Thetan form and be closer to God (or the Supreme Being) and unlock the abilities to control life, matter, energy, space and time that have been repressed by being in human form.
The Church of Scientology is legally recognized as a religion (with tax-exempt status) in eight countries, including the United States and Australia. Many other countries (including Canada, the United Kingdom, France and Germany) refuse to grant Scientology an official religious status.
Scientology is one of the most controversial religious movements of our time. Many people reduce worldview to nothing more than a cult that washes the brain of its members and then wraps them by charging extravagant fees for some audit classes.
Critics insult the church for its rejection of psychiatry, and many people question the "Celebrity Centers" of the church, facilities technically open to the public but primarily serving the most famous Scientologists in the arts, sports and government . ( Tom Cruise, Isaac Hayes, Kirstie Alley, Jenna Elfman, Jason Lee, John Travolta and Nancy Cartwright).
Reports of some who have left the Church of Scientology are even more incriminating and include stories of church members who stand for years against their will in "rehabilitation camps" for violating certain policies, or sending members to pass by church critics and then former members find material to blackmail them in silence.
In 1979, several members of Scientology were convicted of participating in the largest theft of government documents in the history of the United States. Scientologists have also been accused of tampering with witnesses in court proceedings and even murder.
In response to these demands, Scientologists claim that their religion is true and that the movement has been distorted, and that they are being persecuted.
