Scientology
Scientology
Scientology
BSIT 207
WHAT IS SCIENTOLOGY?
Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author
L. Ron Hubbard, and an associated movement. Adherents are called
Scientologists. It has been variously defined as a cult, a business, or a
new religious movement.[11] The primary exponent of Scientology is the
Church of Scientology, a centralized and hierarchical organization based in
Florida, although many practitioners exist independently of the Church, in
what is called the Free Zone. Estimates put the number of Scientologists at
under 40,000 worldwide.
Scientology texts say that a human possesses an immortal inner self, termed a
thetan, that resides in the physical body and has experienced many past lives.
Scientologists believe that traumatic events experienced by the thetan over its
lifetimes have resulted in negative "engrams" forming in the mind, causing neuroses
and mental problems. They claim that the practice of auditing can remove these
engrams; most Scientology groups charge fees for clients undergoing auditing.
Once these engrams have been removed, an individual is given the status of "clear".
They can take part in a further series of activities that are termed "Operating Thetan"
(OT) levels, which require further payments.
The Operating Thetan texts are kept secret from most followers, and are only
revealed after adherents have typically given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the
organization in order to complete what Scientology refers to as
The Bridge to Total Freedom.[12] The Scientology organization has gone to
considerable lengths to try to maintain the secrecy of the texts but they are freely
available on the internet.[13] These texts say that lives preceding a thetan's arrival on
Earth were lived in extraterrestrial cultures. Scientology doctrine states that any
Scientologist undergoing "auditing" will eventually come across and recount what is
called the "Incident".[14] The secret texts refer to an alien being called Xenu. They
say Xenu was a ruler of a confederation of planets 70 million years ago who
brought billions of aliens to Earth and then killed them with thermonuclear weapons
SHORT BACKGROUND OF SCIENTOLOGY
Scientology is a relatively new religion that has
managed to draw interest from people around the
world and grow faster than any other modern
religion. Founded in 1954 on Hubbard's teachings, and
now led by David Miscavige, Scientology has
spread from its origins in Southern California
throughout the United States and the world,
generating a lot of debate along the way
THE MAIN AIM OF SCIENTOLOGY
"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, are the aims of
Scientology."
MAIN PRICIPLES OF
SCIENTOLOGY
Among the basic tenets of Scientology are the beliefs that human
beings are immortal, that a person's life experience transcends a
single lifetime, and that human beings possess infinite
capabilities.
The Church of Scientology maintains a wide variety of beliefs
and practices. The core belief holds that a human is an immortal,
spiritual being (thetan) that is resident in a physical body. The
thetan has had innumerable past lives, some of which, preceding
the thetan's arrival on Earth, were lived in extraterrestrial cultures
. Based on case studies at advanced levels, it is predicted that any
Scientologist undergoing auditing will eventually come across
and recount a common series of events.
HOW SCIENTOLOGY AFFECTS THE SOCIETY?
“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.”