REL 1.02: Contemporary Religion

Scientology, an ideology that can be represented as a science, therapy, and religion, was developed in the 1950s (Kent 97). It grew to operate missions in approximately twenty-five countries and encompass a followership of at least 75,000 in the early 1990s, addressing mental health and community organization along with religious theology and cosmology (Kent 97). Its success can be attributed to an organized structure of belief and believers and mixing of the ordinary and extraordinary. Overarchingly, Scientology should be presented as a story—one that develops over time, and begins with one man: L. Ron Hubbard.

Although Hubbard (1911-1986) was raised and studied in America, he was exposed to a variety of Eastern religions during travels throughout his early life. He was writing science fiction by the mid-1930s; his work in science fiction was a precursor to the cosmology and practices of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (1950), which he published after serving in World War II (Hall 175, Kent 98). His research in these “dianetics” sought to solve questions and problems of cognition independently of mysticism or metaphysics (Kent 98). It focused on a subconscious “sub-mind” that records “engrams” of “physical pain and painful emotion” onto the conscious or (“analytical”) mind as a sort of mental nervous system. (Kent 99). Dianetic therapy thereby involved processing (“auditing”) these engrams to “clear” trauma and repressed memories, of which all other mental afflictions—fear, distress, psychosomatic illness—would follow (Hall 175, Kent 99). But most interesting to practitioners were the “prenatal engrams” that led them to discover past lives, a traditionally religious field of study (Kent 100). These drew increasing focus in Hubbard’s future works, and were the foundation for the practices of Scientology (Kent 100).

This cosmology grounded and unified Hubbard’s theories, giving his movement “explanations about the meaning of human life”.

In the introduction to America: Religions and Religion, Catherine L. Albanese presents a classification of a religion as possessing four Cs: creed, code, cultus, and community (Albanese 7). “First, religion is expressed in creeds, or explanations about the meaning of human life,” she begins (Albanese 7). What Hubbard had initially created as a theory of mental suffering became a belief system regarding the human soul, or “thetan” (Kent 102). According to Scientologist scripture, thetans were born from universal energy “theta”, formed their own universes as they develop, and eventually came to inhabit “theta bodies” that “adhere” to humans in this universe following alien intervention on the planet (Kent 102). This cosmology grounded and unified Hubbard’s theories, giving his movement the “explanations about the meaning of human life” Albanese describes as a religious creed (Albanese 7). Followers were to reclaim “inalienable rights” of their own minds, lives, and world, as set out by “The Creed of the Church of Scientology” (“What is Scientology?”).

Kent reasons that Hubbard had not initially intended for his religion to take on a religious nature “until after he experienced financial strain and membership decline”, or after he realized it would circumvent medical oversight (Kent 111-114). However, regardless of his (likely opportunistic) motives, the creed of Scientology was quickly adaptable to Albanese’s points of code and cultus when Hubbard began to merge it with Dianetics in 1953 (Kent 111). Scientologists were to disseminate (“train”) Scientology and audit using Dianetic practices. “Auditing is precise, thoroughly codified and has exact procedures”, explains the “What is Scientology?” website. Its exacting practices, under the pretense of a scientific discipline, resulted in the formation of cultuses—ritual practices designed to provide meaning to patients’ minds and lives. Hubbard’s ideology addressed contemporary issues “salient both to the science fiction community of its day as well as to the wider society”, which would serve as an advantage in creating a religious community (Kent 98). His (allegedly) empirical approach to a cosmological model made it appealing to scientific and religious thinkers alike.

Much of contemporary American religion can be traced back to the period following World War II. Post-war social insecurity resulted in the public turning to religion as a way to find order in a society coming to terms with its weaknesses. Scientology, as with Protestant faiths of the time, offered a strict set of beliefs (and, depending on one’s involvement, lifestyle) to conform to (Lewis 36). However, “other maxims in Scientology… [define] reality in terms of social agreement, a perspective entirely in tune with the sociological concept of social construction (Berger and Luckman, 1966)” (Lewis 36). Scientology set the ground for the formation of communities at different scales (local, national, international) unified under a common goal and direction.

However, one critical distinction between Scientology and popular counterculture movements of the time was its social hierarchy (separating leaders from clears from preclears) (Lewis 43). Evangelist groups such as the Jesus People of the ‘60s were movements of identity. Adopting these faiths was in large part an internal process, embracing Jesus, speaking to God, or letting the Holy Spirit move through you; the community acted as a vehicle to share those experiences. In contrast, Scientology could be seen as an external process, in which advancing upwards in its community and practicing its rituals resulted in personal change. Classifying levels of faith by a member’s level of involvement in the community was also a profitable venture. While the Jesus People created a “wide range of popular merchandise… that demonstrated one’s Christian commitment and willingness to self-identity as a Jesus Person”, Eskridge puts it, “[m]ore important… was the proliferation of Jesus People coffeehouses that sprang up all over the country” (Eskridge 145). Decentralized groups allowed the movement to spread and adapt quickly. Meanwhile, Scientology’s centrality beckoned members and their collective wealth to it, allowing organizations including the Sea Organization (“Sea Org”) to amass thousands of followers out of mere ships’ crews (Lewis 27). This approach was highly effective in growing, but it came at the cost of inevitable decline in the long-run as younger generations aligned less with its principles and a higher potential for corruption at the top.

Scientology doesn’t advertise adoration of a higher power as the key to success; rather, it is the lack of it that guarantees superhuman ability.

It should not be ignored that Hubbard’s cosmology abandons the standard monotheistic structure of prevailing Christian, Jewish, and Islamic faiths in America. Basic Scientology doesn’t directly address theism; the closest figure to a supreme being in its recent cosmological history, the alien Xenu, is portrayed as an evil dictator unworthy of worship (Kent 104). “To know God, and to render him a reasonable service, arc the two principal objects of religion, … Man appears to be formed to adore, but not to comprehend, the Supreme Being”, Smith quotes the first edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica in the context of Western faith (Smith 271). Scientology doesn’t advertise adoration of a higher power as the key to success; rather, it is the lack of it that guarantees superhuman ability (“What is Scientology?”). Perhaps it is within the strict order of Scientologist organizations that a disorganized, science-fiction-esque worldview may survive. Smith calls back to the careful observance of ritual texts as the etymology of “religious” (Smith 269). In this sense, between auditing and Hubbard’s texts, Scientology may absolutely be considered a religion.

Scientology combines classical science and religion, mental health and magic healing. To some degree, it breaks down the border Albanese identifies between “ordinary” and “extraordinary” religion (Albanese 5). Her view of religion centers around borders, whether those of geography or the human body. Scientology seems to fit the latter category—a separation between the conscious- and sub-mind, or between auditor and patient. Albanese claims that ordinary religion “shows people how to live within boundaries” (Albanese 5). Scientology’s addressing of mental health through Dianetics and communities promoting it can be presented entirely separately from Hubbard’s later revelations; they are primarily social issues that pertain to daily wellbeing. However, in those writings and courses, Hubbard goes beyond the “ordinary circle of society”. Scientology does not so much blur the line between ordinary and extraordinary so much as it transcends it, and this has been critical in broadening its horizons.

Following Hubbard’s death, the loss of public attention, and various organizational scandals, Scientology has faced significant decline. Nevertheless, it presents an instance of a non-Judeo-Christian faith thriving, if at least fleetingly, in the American religious sphere. Despite its many unique facets, Scientology is grounded in American culture, from its science fiction roots to major celebrity endorsements.

Works Cited

Albanese, Catherine L. America, Religions, and Religion. 4th ed., Wadsworth Publishing Company, 1999.

Eskridge, Larry. God’s Forever Family: The Jesus People Movement in America. OUP USA, 2013.

Hall, Timothy L. American Religious Leaders. Facts on File, 2003.

Kent, Stephen. “The Creation of ‘Religious’ Scientology.” Religious Studies and Theology, vol. 18, no. 2, 2007, pp. 97-126.

Lewis, James R., editor. Scientology. Oxford UP, 2009.

Taylor, Mark C., et al. Critical Terms for Religious Studies. U of Chicago P, 1998.

“What is Scientology?” Official Church of Scientology, 2012, www.scientology.org/what-is-scientology/.