Opinions

May 200

 

 

Kali Thurber | opinions @otherpress.ca

What is Scientology?

Kali Thurber
Opinions Editor

All cults, churches, and self-help
forums have a certain mystique about
them, some arcane aspect that sug-
gests it is truly just a bogus fabrication
to mold the crowds. Scientology,
however, is a self-proclaimed “applied
religious philosophy” that strangely
fits into all three of these categories—
blinding its followers with false prom-
ises and going far beyond the usual
farfetched. stories that are the basis of
the main religions of our time. The
few known facts about the Church of
Scientology are mainly based on
hearsay from  ex-Scientologists—
understandably reluctant to uncover
the behind-the-scenes scandals for
fear of the life-threatening conse-
quences—and from the Church itself.
Neither of which are entirely credible.
But the elusive Church continues
recruiting more eager Scientologists,
not to mention wealthy celebrities,
despite its suspect behavior. So what
is Scientology, what kind of person
founded it, and what are the Church's
beliefs? .

L. Ron Hubbard, a renowned sci-
ence fiction writer, published the
book Dianetics: The Modern Science
of Mental Health in 1950, and in
realizing the booming success it
made, he founded Scientology in the
several years following. Hubbard
claims that he spent thirty previous
years researching material for his
apparently groundbreaking work in
the field of mental health, but there is
absolutely no evidence to support this
claim. In fact, there is quite a bit of
evidence to the contrary. Hubbard’s
book preceded the self-help fad of the
80s, and for this was considered revo-
lutionary by many. These same fol-
lowers deemed him the prophet of
this new revolution.

L. Ron Hubbard looks like a sci-
ence fiction writer. In the pictures I
have seen he has that crazed glint in
his eye (present in most pulp writers)
that implies he may actually believe in
the hugely far out stories he sells to
people just like him. It may seem
strange that a science fiction writer

6 | OtherPress

would form a new religion, but the
beliefs behind the Church of
Scientology are actually much like a
science fiction novel, or perhaps, a
novella.

Scientology’s basic principle is that
of survival. According to the Church,
our survival depends on the clarity of
our minds. Apparently our minds are
constantly plagued by the “reactive
mind,” so Scientology uses a process
called “auditing”
to clear the “reac-
tive mind.” The

It’s very difficult

dangerous to the uninitiated. If you
feel it may be dangerous to you or
your fellow man, please stop reading
now.

The story begins 75 million years
ago with an alien galactic ruler named
Xenu (sometimes referred to as
Xemu). Xenu was the overlord of a
federation of about 90 planets,
including what we now call Earth
(then called Teegeeach). All of the
planets in the federation were over-
populated, so Xenu came up with a
plan. He gathered some of the aliens
from all of the planets and sent them
to Teegeeach (Earth), where he
attempted _—to
exterminate
them with an H-

process involves an h d bomb. The
“E meter,” used by LO CO mp rernen hydrogen bomb
the auditor to killed most of the
pas the h OW an LYO ne aliens, ae his
client’s reaction to overpopulation
re-experiencin ’ roblem, but
previous sii could bel eve iis souls didn’t
rassing and z die. So Xenu
uncomfortable sit- SUC. I a terri b ly showed the souls
uations. Auditing (also called

sounds suspicious-
ly like Freud’s psy-
choanalysis, and
the E meter sounds
very much like a
lie detector, how-
ever, it is this
machine, invented
by Hubbard him-
self, which claims
to clear the clients
“reactive mind.”
And one more
thing, auditing
costs at least $300
an hour. So what is
the reactive mind,
and why is it so cluttered? This ques-
tion brings us to the root of
Scientology, the story that brings
human beings into existence and
explains virtually all of our inadequa-
cies as a species. This story isn’t on the
Scientology website, and the Church
will not tell it to you until you have
gone through extensive (and enor-
mously expensive) training. The
Church has denied many subgroups
of Scientology the right to circulate
this story, insisting that it could be

incredible story,
especially coming
from a man who

wrote science

fiction before
he founded the

religion

“thetans”) some
movies that told
them what life
should be like.
The movies con-
veyed false
images of God,
Jesus Christ, and
Satan to the
thetans, effective-
implanting
these images into
their minds (or
whatever equiva-
lent souls have).
There were still a
couple aliens
who somehow lived through the H-
bomb, and the thetans then clustered
into these bodies, and when they died
they clustered into the next beings
that were born on Teegeeach (Earth).
Now all human beings are full of
these clustered thetans who make us
do and think bad things. The movies
featuring images of Christ, God, and
the Devil that the thetans watched are
the only reason that people today
believe in these deities. And that is the
story of the beginning of humanity

that Scientologists believe. Eventual]
when you reach the highest levels |
training that the Church provides-
which are suspiciously only offered c
board the Church's cruise ship th
sits over international waters with fe
set laws—you are meant to telepath
cally communicate with the theta
that are housed inside of you to mal
them go away. Auditing is the begi
ning of this process.

Its very difficult to compreher
how anyone could believe such a te
ribly incredible story, especially con
ing from a man who wrote scien:
fiction before he founded the religio
but then, unbelievable is the on
word I can think to describe most
Scientology and its formation. T]
organization is very much _ bas¢
around the financial gain of tl
Church. L. Ron Hubbard was quot
in saying, shortly before writir
Dianetics, “Writing for a penny
word is ridiculous. If a man real
wants to make a million dollars, tl
best way would be to start his ov
religion.” Considering that cleari:
ones mind of these thetans costs an
where from $5000 to $40,000,
would say that he was correc
Perhaps this explains why the Chur
makes an effort to recruit such his
paid celebrities as John Travolt
Kirstie Alley, Tom Cruise, and Kel
Preston. These celebrities also ler
Scientology their own fame |
appearing in movies about Dianetic
Kirstie Alley is featured in one su
movie, in which she states empha
cally, “If it wasn’t for Dianetics, I'd |
dead.”

Many ex-Scientologists mig
claim the same, however, the implic
tion would be quite the opposite.
Ron Hubbard Jr., for one, has spe
many years fearing for his life and t
lives of his family. Throughout t
upbringing of the Church
Scientology Ron Jr. (L. R
Hubbard’s son) was not only a dis:
ple, but also a willing organizer of t
movement. He claims that by 19!
he had witnessed enough questio
able activity, including drug deali
and the transfer of large sums
money abroad, that Ron Jr. and |
family fled the Church

Scientology. In an interview wi