THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY (2)

From Dianetics to Scientology

Victor M. Eskew

 

          In our previous study we introduced L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology.  Mr. Hubbard was responsible for a field of study called Dianetics.  He defined dianetics as “a spiritual healing technology.”  His research and conclusions were published in a book entitled, Dianetics:  Modern Science of Mental Health, in 1950.  Mr. Hubbard also created the Dianetic Research Foundation that promoted dianetics throughout the United States.

          The concept of dianetics did not last very long.  The organization was poorly run financially with no accountability for the funds that were collected and used.  There was no structure in the organization.  Thus, splinter groups quickly grew within the organization.  The claims of Hubbard were questioned by many professionals and professional organizations.  Hubbard’s research could not be verified with factual data.  Too, there were several times that his claims were proven to be false.  By the summer of 1951, all of the foundations were closed. 

          In addition to the failure of dianetics, Ron Hubbard also suffered a failed marriage with his wife Sarah.  In 1952, Hubbard married an 18-year old woman named Mary Sue Whipp.  They moved to Phoenix, Arizona.  It was there that Hubbard established the Hubbard Association of Scientologists.  This was supposed to have been a new line of research developed by Hubbard.  However, many of the concepts of Dianetics are taught in Scientology.  It was named “Scientology” in order to give the movement prestige and legitimacy in the public arena.  

          Scientology promoted the idea that man is a spiritual being.  It was taught that man’s “true self” was a thetan, an immortal, omniscient, and potentially omnipotent being.  “Hubbard taught that thetans, having created the material universe, had forgotten their god-like powers and become trapped in their physical bodies.  Scientology aimed to ‘rehabilitate’ each person’s self (the thetan) to restore its original capacities and become once again an ‘Opertaing Thetan’” (Wikipedia.com, “Scientology”).       

          Scientology was organized in a highly structured manner.  The Hubbard Association of Scientologists (HAS) was the only official Scientology organization.  Training procedures and doctrines were standardized and promoted through HAS publications.  Administrators and auditors were not permitted to deviate from Hubbard’s approach.  Branches or “orgs” were organized like franchises.   Each franchise paid 10% to the central organization.  The organization remained very small for some time.  It was under constant attack by the medical field.  Hubbard, therefore, decided to make the organization a religion.  On December 18, 1953, he organized The Church of Scientology.”  As a church, the organization grew tremendously.  Hubbard had thousands of followers and became known throughout the world.

          The Creed of the Church of Scientology was written by L. Ron Hubbard shortly after the Church was formed in Los Angeles on February 1, 1954.  After Mr. Hubbard issued this creed from his office in Pheonix, Arizona, the Church of Scientology adopted it as its creed because it succinctly states what Scientologists believe.

 

THE CREED OF THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY (www.scientology.org)

 

We of the Church believe

That all men of whatever race, color or creed were created with equal rights.

That all men have inalienable rights to their own religious practices and their performance.

That all men have inalienable rights to their own lives.

That all men have inalienable rights to their sanity.

That all men have inalienable rights to their own defense.

That all men have inalienable rights to conceive, choose, assist or support their own organizations, churches and governments.

That all men have inalienable rights to think freely, to talk freely, to write freely their own opinions and to counter or utter or write upon the opinions of others.

That all men have inalienable rights to the creation of their own kind.

That the souls of men have the rights of men.

That the study of the Mind and the healing of mentally caused ills should not be alienated from religion or condoned in nonreligious fields.

And that no agency less than God has the power to suspend or set aside these rights, overtly or covertly.

And we of the Church believe

That Man is basically good.

That he is seeking to Survive.

That his survival depends upon himself and upon his fellows and his attainment of brotherhood with the Universe.

And we of the Church believe that the laws of God forbid Man

To destroy his own kind.

To destroy the sanity of another.

To destroy or enslave another’s soul.

To destroy or reduce the survival of one’s companions or one’s group.

And we of the Church believe

That the spirit can be saved.

And that the spirit alone may save or heal the body.

_________________

          In our next article on Scientology, we will look at the views of Scientology regarding God, Jesus Christ, man, sin, and the afterlife.  We will find that although Scientology is a religion, it is like no other religion that exists.  We will see that it bears no resemblance to the church founded by Jesus Christ in the first century and about which we read in the New Testament.