Scientology: Religion of the Stars – A Christian Perspective (original) (raw)
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Scientology: Up Stat, Down Stat
From Olav Hammer and Mikael Rothstein, eds. The Cambridge Companion to New Religious Movements. Cambridge University Press 2012, pp. 133-149
Scientology, from controversy to global expansion and recognition - Eric Roux
The story of Scientology, a religion relatively young at sixty years old, is quite a rich tale. This chapter focuses on the past twenty-five years, but with a prologue from the early 1980s, just before the death of Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, giving a broad overview. It covers the "struggling for survival times" of Scientology, the stressing of the religious mission of the Church, the work to deliver Scientology to parishioners in its purest form, the "Ideal Churches" program, the humanitarian programs and the passage from being a struggling controversial new religion to being a recognized religion steadily expanding.
The following paper will explore Scientology starting from its early beginnings with Dianetics. Over time, the changes in logistical practices shows, not just a structural change, but also the evolution of a philosophy into a religious hierarchy similar in structure to traditional religions. Once on the journey to self-betterment within Scientology, new members find that there are many more steps to reaching a higher standard of living that is sought after in the beginning. Born in Tilden Nebraska into a military family, during Lafayette Ron Hubbard's earliest years and young adulthood he grew up in Helena Montana. Because his father was in the Navy and relocated often, L. Ron Hubbard traveled relatively frequently for someone of his young age. Some of the places he traveled included Japan, China,
Scientology: A True Religion by Prof Urbano Alonso Galan
n this article originally published in 1999, Dr. Urbano Alonso Galan outlines—“in an objective and scientific view of the matter”—four aspects that demonstrate Scientology’s rich and inherent religious nature: philosophy and doctrine, ritual, ecumenical orientation, and a final purpose or objective in terms of salvation. Dr. Galan’s analysis is all the more powerful due to its theological comparisons of Scientology with other religious traditions, such as Buddhism, Hinduism, Christianity, Islam, and Judaism. In the final analysis, he concludes that “From my viewpoint as a theologian and philosopher, and having studied the religion of Scientology in its writings and practices, I can strongly affirm that Scientology is a religion, in the very fullest sense. … The roots of Scientology (Buddhism and the Vedas) already point out that one can only through a complete knowledge of oneself commence to know and love God.” This is made possible by Scientology auditing and training, which allows the individual to gain greater knowledge and certainty about the place of one’s self in relation to other features of life known to Scientologists as the Eight Dynamics. These dynamics encompass impulses toward survival in terms of (1) self, (2) family, (3) groups, (4) species, (5) life forms, (6) the physical universe, (7) spiritual universe, and (8) infinity, commonly referred to as God or the Supreme Being.
2011
Is Scientology a religion? In order to answer the question, I use the substantial definitions that today many scholars (among them Aldo Natale Terrin, in his recent volume on Scientology) call “polythetic,” in that they put together several specific, common characteristics in a set of dimensions. We find in Scientology, firstly (especially in the Dianetics volume), a complex set of doctrines, beliefs and behaviors, which the faithful must observe in order to reach the state of clear. Secondly, we find a community organized around certain beliefs and practices, common to all Scientology members. The third characteristic defining religion is the presence of a recognized authority, in this case L. Ron Hubbard, the sole master of the truth, understood as a doctrine with a practical, effective side that can be verified. The fourth characteristic is the community dimension around the “Sunday service,” comparable with the liturgical services of Protestant churches. The fifth characteristic...
„Scientology – A New Age Religion?“
Jim Lewis (ed.), Scientology. Oxford University Press. Oxford 2009, 225–243, 2009
In the German context, the term "New Age" has almost vanished completely from the discourses in society as well as in academics. 1 This is due to the fact that the New Age label has been replaced by a broader use of the term "esotericism" (Esoterik), and even in academia the term is used only in a narrow sense nowadays, with reference to the "historical" and formative phase of a relatively distinct movement or "discourse" in the seventies and eighties of the last century. 2 Accordingly, and different from the usage of the term in Anglophone contexts, contemporary people with alternative or esoteric religious orientations would not refer to themselves as "New Agers" in Germany at all, as it would still be possible in, for example, Great Britain. Accordingly, the title of this essay is referring to the wider and unspecific notion of "New Age" as it is still established in the Anglophone context. Scientology has often been put into question with regard to its "religious" nature, and several scholars in the new religious movements area have even refrained from a closer study of Scientology. If Scientology is viewed as a religion at all-an issue which is again and again debated both in academic religious studies as well as in the quarrels about the legal status of this organization in various countries-it is mainly perceived as a candidate which might fit into this 'alternative' realm of modern religiosity denoted by such labels like "New Age" or "Esotericism". Following its formal beginning in the 1950ies, the "Church of Scientology" has gradually surfaced as the most hotly debated movement during the second half of the twentieth century, and it is stimulating ongoing discussions until today. For a differentiated and unbiased answer to the question concerning the religious "nature" or "function" of Scientology, it is therefore necessary to recapitulate the historical formation of Scientology, its basic anthropological, soteriological and cosmological convictions, as well as its rituals and institutions, and to relate these findings to the wider realm of contemporary, or older, religious movements-a task, which obviously exceeds the scope of this essay. Certainly, several aspects of Scientology don't fit easily into "traditional" concepts of religion, whereas others appear definitely "religious" again.-The question of this essay therefore is, whether Scientology could be perceived as a typical esoteric or "New Age"-version of religion and "Weltanschauung" within the context of our postmodern industrial society.
Book Review: Hugh Urban's Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion
Money, secrecy, and lawsuits. The Church of Scientology has made headlines throughout the globe often with reporters and critics asking whether such an organization should rightfully be classified as a religion at all. In the past ten years, the church has been the target of popular protests and cyber-attacks, as well as numerous parodies in popular culture, including most infamously, an episode of South Park. Oddly, academics have largely avoided the subject of the Church of Scientology. Until the present volume, the sixty-year-old movement had been the subject of only two monographs and one edited collection. The Church of Scientology: A History of a New Religion will hopefully serve to break this tradition. As Urban demonstrates there is an avalanche of provocative material to be analyzed.