The Church of Scientology is a controversial church, some might call it a cult, something members obviously disagree with. Anyone who studies the Scientology website gets a very vague feeling, many vague statements are made, which could go in any direction. That is why it is good to also look at the other side, the critical side, of Scientology.
Scientology and the Criticism
Within the Church of Scientology, a lot of literature is used, which is not leaked to the outside world. In any case, that is the intention, with the advent of the internet many things have been leaked, especially by apostates. It is therefore clear that Scientology censors its story, one story for the outside world and another story for its members. The Church of Scientology has difficulty with a critical view of its actions and that alone is of course food for thought.
The Mistakes of Scientology
Scientology has been criticized in several areas:
- Scientology opposes freedom of expression. In the book Introduction to Scientology Ethics, anyone who criticizes Scientology is accused of ‘high crimes’. Anyone who does such things cannot have the same rights as ‘ordinary, rational persons’.
- Scientology puts many people in a difficult position by spending more money on expensive courses than they have, by keeping people from necessary medications because they are not necessary.
- A number of key Scientologists, including Hubbard himself, have been charged with serious crimes involving attempts to conceal documents containing information against Scientology, both in the United States and Canada. Hubbard was found guilty of fraud in France.
- On several fronts it is clear that Scientology tells lies, they claim that there is a scientific basis for their religion, but this is only visible to members and therefore believers.
- In addition, Scientology has been accused of holding people against their will and people have died under unclear circumstances.
Scientology and Hubbard
Scientology was founded by Ron Hubbard, who started his working life as a science fiction writer. While writing these stories he said he made a discovery of great philosophical and psychological value. This gave rise to ‘Dianetics’, which could be described as a form of psychotherapy. It is a kind of regression therapy, in which someone returns to their previous mental state. Dianetics was quite popular for a short time, but then disappeared into obscurity. To escape this, Hubbard moved ambitiously and expanded his ideas, turning Dianetics into a religion. He called it ‘Scientology’, he is said to have founded the church mainly for tax-related benefits. With Scientology any problem could be solved, whether it was a physical illness or a mental illness. One had to go through various levels, for which a lot of money had to be paid. From now on, Hubbard was in constant trouble with the government and to avoid that he founded the Sea Org, a navy for Scientologists who had risen in the religion. From this point on, Hubbard traveled continuously around the world. In the 1970s, Hubbard is said to have attempted to penetrate United States government offices to obscure documents containing evidence against Scientology. However, this failed and Hubbard narrowly escaped imprisonment. He disappeared in 1980, now very paranoid, and was never seen in public again. He died in 1986, under suspicious circumstances.
Scientology as a Totalitarian System
Considering all this, Hubbard sounds like a lunatic and the question is why he had and has so many followers. To outsiders, Scientology seems primarily concerned with financial gain. However, members are very slowly absorbed into the Church and are slowly taught truths, truths that seem bizarre and insane to an outsider, but which for a member are the path to sanity and freedom. Scientist Laura Kay Fuller believes that Scientology exhibits totalitarian traits, attempting to control behavior, interaction between people and even thoughts. The intention is to eliminate differences and make variation impossible. Criticism is frowned upon because it could endanger totalitarian goals.
Scientology and History
From the beginning, Hubbard had big plans for Scientology and Dianetics and was concerned with the place each would occupy in history. For Scientologists, Dianetics is a huge breakthrough in history. History is therefore an important part of Scientology, as it often is with totalitarian systems. Scientologists have the idea that Scientology is making history and therefore the individual Scientologist is doing the same. The official version of history is seen as ‘falsified’ and when critics claim, for example, that the version of Hubbard’s life as told by Scientologists is incorrect, the response is as if it were a plot to destroy freedom of religion. to limit. History is used by Scientology as an ideological means to achieve certain goals: a totalitarian system. History is an ideological tool for totalitarian regimes and also for Scientology. Hubbard has been successful to the extent that his followers believe in his history (Hubbard even wrote his own world history: The History of Man). For some followers it may be about stories that interpret the world, but other Scientologists believe in Hubbard’s version of history as established fact.
Science Fiction
Another strange feature of Scientology is the language, which is often completely incomprehensible to an outsider. Most of these strange terms again come from the founder of Scientology: Hubbard. Most of the words come from science fiction and the computer world. One might even go so far as to say that Scientology itself is a kind of science fiction, expanding on the stories Hubbard wrote as a young man, only now they have become true for him and his followers. A good example of this is Xenu, a truth that is only open to the senior members of Scientology. This concerns the fact that 70 million years ago a galactic hero populated the world. To an outsider, this story is so outrageous that it is almost incomprehensible that adults can believe in it.
Language use
Scientologists are also immediately available with ready-made sentences, so you hardly have to think about an answer. Because these things are so deeply ingrained in the brain, it is difficult for a ‘believer’ to think outside the known patterns and paths. This does not mean that a Scientologist is a robot, but that they are very deep in their own world. A good example is the expression ‘Raw Meat’, which refers to all non-Scientologists. It shows an unpleasant view of people outside the religion. People are seen as a whole, a piece of meat, a kind of dehumanization, which makes offending and hurting much easier. Of course, it should be kept in mind that almost all Scientologists were once Raw Meat themselves, because very few people were born into the religion.
Psychiatry
Scientology has a very negative attitude towards the government and towards matters related to psychiatry and psychology. Both of these are seen as enemies. The government because it would try to stop Scientology, there would be some kind of conspiracy going on to stop the religion. Psychiatry and psychology are the most visible parts of this government policy. It was psychiatrists who first opposed Hubbard’s Dianetics and this is probably the reason for his aversion. The psychiatrists who spoke negatively about Dianetics and Scientology are called Supressive Persons, the most negative label Scientology has. An SP does not have to expect mercy from Scientology and its members, this also applies to people within Scientology who are so labeled, an SP can become the victim of lawsuits, lies and defamation, this is all allowed against the person who opposes Scientology . Those who indulge in lesser ‘offenses’ become part of the Rehabilitation Force Project (RFP), where one is only allowed to speak when someone is speaking to him/her, gets less sleep, is given the remains of the other Scientologists as food, etc. The RFP is a kind of Scientology penal colony.