Church of Scientology

 

philosophical religion founded by L(afayette) Ron(ald) Hubbard, 1911–86, b. Tilden, Nebr. Hubbard's book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (1950) first set forth the basis of his philosophy, offering an alternative path to overcoming physical and mental stress. The church believes that a person's spirit can be cleared of past painful experiences through a process called “auditing,” freeing the person of the burdens that interfere with happiness and self-realization. The first church was established in Los Angeles in 1954. A prolific author, Hubbard wrote many works on Scientology and is also noted for his science-fiction novels and short stories.

The church has confronted suspicions from many sides during its history. The American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association questioned the tenets of Scientology during the 1950s, and in the 1960s, the governments of England, Australia, and the United States opened investigations into church activities, particularly for suspected practices of tax evasion. The church's status as a religion was, however, ultimately established in those and many other countries. The church has continued to face governmental challenges, perhaps most notably in Germany, where it has been accused of being antidemocratic and its members have experienced personal discrimination. Some, including some former members, view the church as an elaborate cult, a charge the church and many religious scholars deny. In 1996 there were more than 3,000 churches, missions, and groups worldwide, with headquarters in Los Angeles.

This article forms part of a series on Scientology

Dianetics Engram · Dianetics: MSMH · Clear Doctrine Space opera · Thetan · Variant texts Doctrine of Exchange · Past lives · Medical claims · Supernatural abilities Practices Holidays · Marriage · Silent birth Rundowns · Sex · Comm Evs · E-meter Study Tech · Auditing · Disconnection Concepts MEST · ARC · KRC · Tone scale · Reactive mind People L. Ron Hubbard · Mary Sue Hubbard Heber Jentzsch · David Miscavige Tom Cruise · John Travolta Isaac Hayes Public outreach Missions · Parishioners League · Personality Tests · Volunteer Ministers Celebrities · Human Rights · ABLE · CBAA WISE · Narconon · Downtown Medical Criminon · The Way to Happiness Organization The Church · Sea Org · Celebrity Centre · Trementina Base Church of Spiritual Technology Office of Special Affairs · Gold Base · Int'l Association of Scientologists Religious Technology Center Controversy Elli Perkins · Fair Game Free Zone · Keith Henson Lawrence Wollersheim · Lisa McPherson Legal cases · Operation Clambake Operations Snow White & Freakout Patter drill · Psychiatry Scientology as a business · Suppressive Person South Park · The Fishman Affidavit The Internet · Xenu

The Church of Scientology is the largest religious organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system.

History

The first Scientology church was established in December 1953 in New Jersey by American author^[1][2] L. Ron Hubbard, his wife Mary Sue Hubbard, John Galusha and a few others early Dianeticists,^[3] although the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International (HASI) had been operating already since 1952^[4][5] and Hubbard had been selling Scientology books and technology. Soon after, he explained the religious nature of Scientology in a bulletin to all Scientologists^[6], stressing its relation to the Dharma.

Hubbard's stated the "Aims of Scientology" to be "A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights, are the aims of Scientology."^[7]

Over the last 50 years the Church organization has faced allegations of being a commercial enterprise that harasses its critics and exploits its members^[8][9] and harsh criticism has come from the media.

Hubbard had official control of the organization only until 1966 when this function was transferred to a group of executives.^[10] Though Hubbard maintained no formal relationship to Scientology's management he remained firmly in control of the organization and its affiliated organizations.^[11]

In May 1987 David Miscavige, one of Hubbard’s former personal assistants, assumed the position of Chairman of the Religious Technology Center (RTC), a non-profit corporation that administers the trademarked names and symbols of Dianetics and Scientology. Although RTC is a separate corporation from the Church of Scientology International, whose president and chief spokesperson is Heber Jentzsch, Miscavige is the effective leader of the movement.

Churches, missions and major Scientology centers

Scientology organizations and missions exist in many communities around the world^[12]. Scientologists call their larger centers orgs, short for "organizations." The major Scientology organization of a region is known as a central org. The legal address of the Church of Scientology International is in Los Angeles, California, 6331 Hollywood Blvd, in the Hollywood Guaranty Building. The Church of Scientology also has several major headquarters, including:

Saint Hill, Sussex, England

Main article: Saint Hill Manor

L. Ron Hubbard moved to England shortly after founding Scientology, where he oversaw the worldwide development of Scientology from an office in London for most of the 1950s. In 1959, he bought Saint Hill Manor near the Sussex town of East Grinstead, a Georgian manor house formerly owned by the Maharajah of Jaipur. This became the worldwide headquarters of Scientology through the 1960s and 1970s. Hubbard declared Saint Hill to be the organization by which all other organizations would be measured, and he issued a general order (still followed today) for all organizations around the world to expand and reach "Saint Hill size". The Church of Scientology has announced that the next two levels of Scientology teaching, OT 9 and OT 10, will be released and made available to church members when all the major orgs in the world have reached Saint Hill size.

Flag Land Base, Fort Harrison Hotel, Clearwater, Florida

Main article: Fort Harrison Hotel

The "worldwide spiritual headquarters" of the Church of Scientology is known as "Flag Land Base," located in Clearwater, Florida. It was founded in the late 1970s when an anonymous Scientology-founded group called "Southern Land Development and Leasing Corp" purchased the Fort Harrison Hotel for $2.3 million. Because the reported tenant was the "United Churches of Florida" the citizens and City Council of Clearwater did not realize that the building's owners were actually the Church of Scientology until after the building's purchase.^[13] Clearwater citizens' groups, headed by Mayor Gabriel Cazares, rallied strongly against Scientology establishing a base in the city (repeatedly referring to the organization as a cult), but Flag Base was established nonetheless.^[14]

In the years since its foundation, Flag Base has expanded as the Church of Scientology has gradually purchased large amounts of additional property in the downtown and waterfront Clearwater area. Scientology's relationship with the city government has repeatedly moved between friendly and hostile, but the organization has worked with the city in attempts to establish better relations.^{[citation needed]} At the same time, it opposed the local St. Petersburg Times and protested actions of the Clearwater police department. Scientology's largest project in Clearwater has been the construction of a high-rise complex called the "Super Power Building", an enormous structure whose highest point, when completed, will be a Scientology cross that will tower over the city.

PAC Base, Hollywood, California

Los Angeles, California has the largest concentration of Scientologists and Scientology-related enterprises in the world. Scientology has established a highly visible presence in the Hollywood district of the city. The organization owns a large complex on Fountain Avenue which was formerly Cedars of Lebanon hospital. It contains Scientology's West Coast headquarters, "Pacific Area Command Base," often referred to as "PAC Base". Adjacent buildings include headquarters of many of Scientology's internal divisions, including the American Saint Hill Organization; the Advanced Organization of Los Angeles; Los Angeles Organization, founded February 18, 1954; and the offices of Bridge Publications, Scientology's publishing arm. The Church of Scientology successfully campaigned to have the city of Los Angeles rename one block of a street running through this complex "L. Ron Hubbard Way." The street has been paved in brick.

Also in Hollywood is Scientology's main Celebrity Centre, which caters to arts professionals. On Hollywood Boulevard a multi-story building houses the executive offices of the Church of Scientology International and an open-to-the-public exhibition devoted to the life of L. Ron Hubbard. Also in the area are the headquarters of Author Services, Inc. (Hubbard's Literary agency), the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE), which administers social programs based on Hubbard's writings, (including Narconon and Applied Scholastics), the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE), which promotes Hubbard's business management techniques and facilitates a network of Scientology-related businesses, and the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a Scientology-affiliated group that focuses on alleged abuses of psychiatry, and includes a "Psychiatry: An Industry of Death" museum.

Today, the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles is one of the largest Scientology facilities of its kind in the world. Executives-in-training from every international Scientology organization now apprentice at the LA church before assuming their executive positions.

Gold Base, Gilman Hot Springs, California

Main article: Gold Base

Another headquarters for Scientology is Gold Base, located near Hemet, California, about 80 miles (130 km) southeast of Los Angeles. It is also known as "INT Base". The facility is owned by Golden Era Productions and is the home of Scientology's media production studio, Golden Era Studios

According to many accounts by journalists and former scientologists, Gold Base is the central headquarters for the entire network of Scientology-related enterprises. Gold Base reportedly contains the headquarters of the Religious Technology Center (RTC),^[15] which owns the trademarks and copyrights connected with Scientology and Dianetics.

The existence of Gold Base is not broadly publicized as is the case of the other headquarters mentioned here: the RTC lists a Los Angeles address on their publications and web site. The existence of Gold Base was kept secret, even within Scientology, in the pre-Internet era. The facilities at Gold Base are surrounded by razor wire, floodlights and video observation cameras.

Trementina Base

Main article: Trementina Base

The Church of Scientology maintains a large base on the outskirts of Trementina, New Mexico whose stated purpose is storage for an archiving project: engraving Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's writings on stainless steel tablets and encasing them in titanium capsules underground.^[16] An aerial photograph showing the base's enormous Church of Spiritual Technology symbols on the ground caused media interest and a local TV station broke the story in November 2005. According to a Washington Post report, the organization unsuccessfully attempted to coerce the station not to air the story.^[17]

Flag ship, Freewinds

Main article: Freewinds

The cruise ship Freewinds is the only place the current highest level of Scientology training (OT VIII) is offered. It cruises the Caribbean Sea, under the auspices of the Flag Ship Service Organization. The Freewinds is also used for other courses and auditing for those willing to spend extra money to get services on the ship.

Plant City, Florida

Located in "The Winter Strawberry Capital of the World", this church opened recently.^[18]

Harlem, New York

In 2007 the church purchased the former site of the Saint Samuel Church of God in Harlem, New York for $10,200,000. [4]

Sea Org

Main article: Sea Org

The Sea Organization (often shortened to "Sea Org") was founded in 1967 by L. Ron Hubbard, as he embarked on a series of voyages around the Mediterranean Sea in a small fleet of Scientology-crewed cruise ships. Hubbard—formerly a lieutenant junior grade in the US Navy—bestowed the rank of "Commodore" of the vessels upon himself. The crew who accompanied him on these voyages became the foundation of the Sea Org.

"Orgs", such as "Los Angeles Org", are semi-autonomous organizations which staff themselves as they see fit. The Sea Org is a more dedicated, more elite group within Scientology which exclusively staffs the higher Orgs. The Advanced Organization of Los Angeles, for example, is staffed by Sea Org members. While every Org enforces rules and administers disciplinary procedures within its own portion of the larger organization which is the CoS, Sea Org members hold the highest jobs. The Sea Org is frequently characterized as the "elite" of Scientology, both in terms of power within the organization and dedication to the cause. Scientologists seeking to advance within the organization are encouraged to join the Sea Org, which involves devoting their full time to Scientology projects in exchange for meals, berthing and a nominal honorarium. Members sign a contract pledging their loyalty to Scientology for "the next billion years," committing their future lifetimes to the Sea Org. The Sea Org's motto is "Revenimus" (or "We Come Back").

Disciplinary procedures and policies within the Sea Org have been a focus of critics who argue that Scientology is an abusive cult. During the original Sea Org's Mediterranean tour, Hubbard applied a variety of physical punishments, including the practice of "overboarding", or throwing offenders over the side of the ship. Former Sea Org members have stated that punishments in the late 1960's and early 1970's included confinement in hazardous conditions such as the ship's chain locker.^[19] The Rehabilitation Project Force or RPF was established in 1974 to provide a "second chance" to Sea Org members whose offensive against the Church were such that they would otherwise have been fired. In laymen’s terms, they could be said to be experiencing burnout, or to have severely violated the rules of the Sea Organization. RPF members are paired up and help one another for five hours each day with spiritual counseling to resolve the issues for which they were assigned to the program. The also spend 8 per day doing physical labor that will benefit the Church facility where they are located. On verification of their having completed the program they are then given a Sea Org job again. ^[20]

Volunteer Ministers

Main article: Volunteer Ministers

The Church of Scientology began its "Volunteer Ministers" program as a way to participate in community outreach projects. Over the past several years, it has become a common practice for Volunteer Ministers to travel to the scenes of major disasters in order to provide assistance with relief efforts. According to critics, these relief efforts consist of passing out copies of a pamphlet authored by L. Ron Hubbard entitled The Way to Happiness, and engaging in a method said to calm panicked or injured individuals known in Scientology as a "touch assist." Over the past few years Volunteer Ministers have provided help in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia after the 2004 tsunamis, in Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake, throughout the Gulf Coast, Florida and the Caribbean after during the 2005 hurricane season (including over 900 VMs who traveled to Louisiana and Mississippi to help with the Hurrican Katrina and Rita relief effort). Volunteer Minister teams also helped after the 2006 Yogyakarta Earthquake, Typhoon Durian in the Philippines, bush fires in Australia and South Africa, the 2007 Solomon Islands tsunami, and Indonesia floods.^[21]

Religious Technology Center (RTC)

Main article: Religious Technology Center

Around 1982 all of the Hubbard's intellectual property was transferred to a newly formed entity called the Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) and then licensed to the Religious Technology Center (RTC) which, according to its own publicity, exists to safeguard and control the use of the Church of Scientology's copyrights and trademarks.

The RTC employs lawyers and has pursued individuals and groups who have legally attacked Scientology or who are deemed to be a legal threat to Scientology. This has included breakaway Scientologists who practice Scientology outside the central church and critics, as well as numerous government and media organizations. This has helped to maintain Scientology's reputation for litigiousness (see Scientology and the legal system).

Missionary activities

Members of the public entering a Scientology center or mission are offered a "free personality test" called the Oxford Capacity Analysis by Scientology literature. The test, despite its name and the claims of Scientology literature, has no connection to Oxford University or any other research body. Scientific research into three test results came to the conclusion that "we are forced to a position of scepticism about the test's status as a reliable psychometric device" and called its "scientific value", "negligible".^[22]

Further proselytization practices - commonly called "dissemination" of Scientology^[23] - include information booths, fliers and advertisement for free seminars, Sunday Services in regular newspapers and magazines, personal contacts^[24][25] and sales of books^[26]

Legal waivers

Recent legal actions involving Scientology's relationship with its members (see Scientology controversy) have caused the organization to publish extensive legal documents that cover the rights granted to followers. It has become standard practice within the organization for members to sign lengthy legal contracts and waivers before engaging in Scientology services, a practice that contrasts greatly with many mainstream religious organizations. In 2003, a series of media reports examined the legal contracts required by Scientology, which state, among other things, that followers deny any psychiatric care their doctors may prescribe to them.^[27]

I do not believe in or subscribe to psychiatric labels for individuals. It is my strongly held religious belief that all mental problems are spiritual in nature and that there is no such thing as a mentally incompetent person — only those suffering from spiritual upset of one kind or another dramatized by an individual. I reject all psychiatric labels and intend for this Contract to clearly memorialize my desire to be helped exclusively through religious, spiritual means and not through any form of psychiatric treatment, specifically including involuntary commitment based on so-called lack of competence. Under no circumstances, at any time, do I wish to be denied my right to care from members of my religion to the exclusion of psychiatric care or psychiatric directed care, regardless of what any psychiatrist, medical person, designated member of the state or family member may assert supposedly on my behalf.

See also: Introspection Rundown

Government opinion of Scientology

Early official reports in countries such as Britain (1971), South Africa (1972), Australia (1965) and New Zealand (1969) have yielded unfavorable observations and conclusions.^{[28][29][30][31]}

United States

In 1979 Hubbard's wife, Mary Sue Hubbard, along with ten other highly placed Scientology executives were convicted in United States federal court regarding Operation Snow White, and served time in an American federal prison. Operation Snow White involved infiltration, wiretapping and theft of documents in government offices, most notably those of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

In 1993, however, the United States IRS recognized Scientology as a "non-profit charitable organization," and gave it the same legal protections and favorable tax treatment extended to other non-profit charitable organizations.^[32] A New York Times article says that Scientologists paid private investigators to obtain compromising material on the IRS commissioner and blackmailed the IRS into submission.^[33] Six levels of indents down in the eventually leaked "closing agreement," the IRS is contractually required to discriminate in their treatment of Scientology to the exclusion of all other groups.^[34]

"The following actions will be considered to be a material breach by the Service: ... The issuance of a Regulation, Revenue Ruling or other pronouncement of general applicability providing that fixed donations to a religious organization other than a church of Scientology are fully deductible unless the Service has issued previously or issues contemporaneously a similar pronouncement that provides for consistent and uniform principles for determining the deductibility of fixed donations for all churches including the Church of Scientology".

In a 2001 legal case involving a married couple attempting to obtain the same deduction for charity to a Jewish school, it was stated by Judge Silverman:^[35]

"An IRS closing agreement cannot overrule Congress and the Supreme Court. If the IRS does, in fact, give preferential treatment to members of the Church of Scientology—allowing them a special right to claim deductions that are contrary to law and rightly disallowed to everybody else—then the proper course of action is a lawsuit to put a stop to that policy."

To date (2007) such a suit is not known to have been filed. In further appeal in 2006, the US Tax Court again rejected couple's deduction, stating "We conclude that the agreement reached between the Internal Revenue Service and the Church of Scientology in 1993 does not affect the result in this case."^[36]

Australia

Main article: Scientology In Australia

Scientology was banned in three states in Australia, as a result of the Anderson Report, published in 1965. Specific legislation was made to counter it in South Australia. Scientology has threatened and taken legal action against it critics. It has a relatively small membership, 2000, and there are a number of active critics with websites.

Europe

Foreign Scientologists were banned from entering the United Kingdom between 1968 – 1980 but were allowed later on. In 1999 an application by Scientology for charitable status was rejected after the authorities decided its activities were not of general public benefit.^[37] In the United Kingdom the Charity Commission does not class Scientology as a religion on financial grounds.^[38]

In Germany and Russia, official views of Scientology are particularly skeptical. In Germany it is seen as a totalitarian organization and is, or has been, under observation by police and national security organizations due, among other reasons, to Hubbard's pessimistic view on democracy vis-à-vis psychiatry and other such features.^[39]

The nature and legal status of Scientology continues to arouse controversy around the world. In a March 22, 1995 decision about whether it is the right court for the case of a former Church staff or not, the Federal Labor Court of Germany commented that Scientology uses "inhuman and totalitarian practices"^[40][41]. In 2002 the same court however found that Scientology organizations do not work for profit^[42].

In France a parliamentary report classified Scientology as a dangerous cult.^[43] In the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada the organization is not regarded as meeting the legal standards for being considered a bona fide religion or charity.^[44]

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2007 that Russia's denial to register the Church of Scientology as a religious community was a violation of Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (freedom of assembly and association) read in the light of Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion)".^[45]

In September 2007 a Belgian prosecutor said that the Church of Scientology should stand trial for fraud and extortion, following a 10-year investigation that concluded the group should be labelled a criminal organization. Prosecutor Jean-Claude Van Espen's probe also concluded that Scientology's Brussels-based Europe office and its Belgian missions conducted unlawful practices in medicine, violated privacy laws and used illegal business contracts. They may also face charges of being a criminal organization. An administrative court has yet to decide whether to press charges against the Scientologists.

Israel

In Israel, according to Israeli professor of psychology Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, "in various organizational forms, Scientology has been active among Israelis for more than thirty years, but those in charge not only never claimed the religion label, but resisted any such suggestion or implication. It has always presented itself as a secular, self-improvement, tax-paying business."^[46] Those "organizational forms" include a Scientology Organization in Tel Aviv. Another Israeli Scientology group called "The Way to Happiness" (or "Association for Prosperity and Security in the Middle East") works through local Scientologist members to promote The Way to Happiness.^[47] An Israeli CCHR chapter runs campaigns against abuses in psychiatry^[48]. Other Scientology campaigns, such as "Youth for Human Rights International" are active as well.^[49] There is also an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group that opposes Scientology and other religions in Israel^[50], Lev L'Achim, whose anti-missionary department in 2001 provided a hotline and other services to warn citizens of Scientology's "many types of front organizations".^[51]

Finances

Scientologists are expected to attend classes, exercises or counseling sessions, for a set range of fees (or "fixed donations"). Charges for auditing and other church-related courses run from hundreds to thousands of dollars. A wide variety of entry-level courses, representing 8 to 16 hours study, cost under $100 (US). More advanced courses require membership in the International Association of Scientologists (IAS), have to be taken at higher level Orgs, and have higher fees.^[52] Membership without courses or auditing is possible, but the higher levels cannot be reached this way. In 1995, Operation Clambake, a website critical of scientology, estimated the cost of reaching "OT 9 readiness", one of the highest levels, is US $365,000 – $380,000.^[53][54]

Scientologists are frequently encouraged to become Professional Auditors as a way of earning their way up the Bridge. As a Field Auditor, auditors can receive commissions on people referred to Orgs and a 15% FSM commission on completed services.^[55]

Critics say it is improper to fix a donation for religious service; therefore the activity is non-religious. Scientology points out many classes, exercises and counseling may also be traded for "in kind" or performed cooperatively by students for no cost, and members of its most devoted orders can make use of services without any donations bar that of their time. A central tenet of Scientology is its Doctrine of Exchange, which dictates that each time a person receives something, he or she must pay something back. By doing so, a Scientologist maintains "inflow" and "outflow", avoiding spiritual decline.^[56]

Membership statistics

The International Association of Scientologists (IAS) maintains a list of Scientologists world-wide. However, not every active Scientologist is a member of the International Association of Scientologists. It is difficult to obtain reliable membership statistics for Scientology. The organization itself issues only vague figures (without breaking them down by region or country), and public censuses have only recently included questions about religious affiliations though the United States Census Bureau states that it is not the source for information on religion[5].

Most recently, the German national magazine Der Spiegel reported about 8 million members worldwide, about 6000 of them in Germany.^[57] In 1993, a spokesperson of Scientology Frankfurt had mentioned slightly more than 30,000 members nationwide.^[58]

The organization has said that it has anywhere from eight million to fifteen million members world-wide,^{[59][60][61][62][63]} and has stated that Scientology is "the fastest growing religion in the world."^[64]. Derek Davis [6] stated in 2004 that the Church organization has around 15 million members worldwide ^[65]. Religious scholar J. Gordon Melton has said that the church's estimates of its membership numbers are exaggerated.^[66]

The "Scientologists Online" website presents "over 16,000 Scientologists On-Line".^[67]

Statistics from other sources:

• In 1991, the National Survey of Religious Identification reported 45,000 Scientology followers in the United States. This survey was submitted as evidence in the case "Raul Lopez v. Church of Scientology Mission of Buenaventura" by the Church of Scientology's attorney, Gerald L. Chaleff.
• In 2001, the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) reported that there were 55,000 adults in the United States who consider themselves Scientologists.^[68]
• The 2001 United Kingdom census contained a voluntary question on religion, to which 48,000,000 (92% of the population) chose to respond. Of those living in England and Wales who responded, a total of 1,781 said they were Scientologists.^[69]
• In 2001, Australia's national census recorded 2,032 Scientologists nationwide.^[69] In 2006, it recorded 2,507. ^[70]
• In 2001, the Canadian national census reported a total of 1,525 Scientologists nationwide.^[69]
• In 2001, the New Zealand national census found 282 Scientologists nationwide.^[69]
• In 2005, the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution estimated a total of 5,000 – 6,000 Scientologists in that country, and mentioned a count of 12,000 according to Scientology Germany.^[71]

Scientology splinter groups

Main article: Free Zone (Scientology)

The Church denies the legitimacy of any splinter groups and factions outside the official organization, and has actively sought out these "rogue" Scientologists and tried to prevent them from using officially trademarked Scientology materials. These independent Scientologists are known as squirrels within the Church, and are classified as suppressive persons ("SPs") — in other words, opponents and enemies of Scientology. Many groups refer to themselves under the umbrella term of "Free Zone".

Church or business?

From 1952 until 1966, the Scientology was administered by a secular organization called the Hubbard Association of Scientologists (HAS), established in Arizona on 10 September 1952. In 1954, the HAS became the HASI (HAS International). The first Church of Scientology was incorporated on 18 December, 1953 in Camden, New Jersey. This, along with two other groups incorporated by Hubbard at the same time—the Church of American Science and the Church of Spiritual Engineering—were soon abandoned by Hubbard. The Church of Scientology was incorporated on 18 February 1954 in California, changing its name to "The Church of Scientology of California" (CSC) in 1956. In 1966, Hubbard transferred all HASI assets to CSC, thus gathering Scientology under one tax-exempt roof. In 1967, the IRS stripped all US-based Scientology entities of their tax exemption, declaring Scientology's activities were commercial and operated for the benefit of Hubbard. The church sued and lost repeatedly for 26 years trying to regain its tax-exempt status. The case was eventually settled in 1993, after the church paid over $12 million to the IRS and the IRS once again recognized the church as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization, ^[72] and the church paid $12.5 million, a fraction what the IRS had been claiming to cover more than 30 years of church operation including interest. In addition, Scientology also dropped more than fifty lawsuits against the IRS when this settlement was reached. Scientology cites its tax exemption as proof the United States government accepts it as a religion.^[73] Additionally, the U.S. State Department has taken a vocal stand on its religious status by its criticism of Western European nations and others for discrimination against Scientologists in its published annual International Religious Freedom report, based on the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.^{[74] [75] [76] [77] [78] [79] [80]}

In other countries, though, Scientology is not acknowledged as a bona fide religion or charitable organization, but is regarded as a commercial enterprise. In early 2003, in Germany, The Church of Scientology was granted a tax-exemption for 10% license fees sent to the US. This exemption, however, is related to a German-American double-taxation agreement, and is unrelated to tax-exemption in the context of charities law. In several countries, public proselytizing undergoes the same restrictions as commercial advertising, which is interpreted as persecution by Scientology.

In Israel, Scientology does not use "Church" as part of its name, possibly because of the Christian connotation of the term in Jewish culture.

Like many other cults and unlike many well-established religious organizations, Scientology maintains strict control over its names, symbols, religious works and other writings. The word Scientology (and many related terms, including L. Ron Hubbard) is a registered trademark. Religious Technology Center, the owner of the trademarks and copyrights, takes a hard line on people and groups who attempt to use it in organizations unaffiliated with the official Church (see Scientology and the legal system).

Affiliated organizations

There are many independently-chartered organizations and groups which are staffed by Scientologists, and pay license fees for the use of Scientology technology and trademarks under the control of Scientology management. In some cases, these organizations do not publicize their affiliation with Scientology.^[81][82]

ABLE

Main article: Association for Better Living and Education

Founded in 1989, the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE) is an umbrella organization that administers six of Scientology's social programs:

• Narconon drug rehabilitation centers.
• Criminon prisoner rehabilitation programs.
• The Way to Happiness Foundation, dedicated to disseminating Hubbard's non-religious moral code.
• Applied Scholastics, educational programs based on Hubbard's "Study Tech."
• International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance, which has a particular interest in religious freedom.
• Youth for Human Rights International, the youth branch of the above.

CCHR

Main article: Citizens Commission on Human Rights

The Citizens' Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), co-founded with Thomas Szasz in 1969, is an activist group dedicated to exposing "psychiatric abuse," furthering Scientology doctrinal opposition to mainstream psychiatric therapies.

WISE

Main article: World Institute of Scientology Enterprises

Many other Scientologist-run businesses and organizations belong to the umbrella organization World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE), which licenses the use of Hubbard's management doctrines, and circulates directories of WISE-affiliated businesses. WISE requires those who wish to become Hubbard management consults to complete training in Hubbard's administrative systems; this training can be undertaken at any Church of Scientology, or at one of the campuses of the Hubbard College of Administration, which offers an Associate of Applied Science Degree.

• One of the best-known WISE-affiliated businesses is Sterling Management Systems, which offers Hubbard's management "technology" to professionals such as dentists and chiropractors.
• Another well-known WISE-affiliated business is e-Republic, a publishing company based in Folsom, California.^[83] e-Republic publications include Government Technology and Converge magazines. The Center for Digital Government is a division of e. Republic that was founded in 1999.
• Internet ISP EarthLink was founded by Scientologist Sky Dayton as a Scientology enterprise. The company now distances itself from the views of its founder, who has moved on to become CEO of SK-EarthLink.

State recognition

Main article: Scientology as a state-recognized religion

While a number of governments now give the Church of Scientology protections and tax relief as an officially recognized religion,^[84][85][86] other sources describe the Church as a pseudoreligion or a cult.^[46] Sociologist Stephen Kent published at a Lutheran convention in Germany that he likes to call it a transnational corporation^[87]. Sociology Professor James A. Beckford^[88], Professor for Religion Per-Arne Berglie ^[89], Sociology Professor Alan W. Black ^[90], Professor for Religion Juha Pentikainen^[91] and several others^[92] generally found it to be a religious organization. In April 2007, the European Court of Human Rights acknowledged in Church of Scientology Moscow versus Russia that the Church of Scientology Moscow lawfully existed and operated in Moscow as an independent religious community,^[93].

Free Zone

Other organizations exist which say they practice the techniques developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard; these groups are sometimes collectively called the "Free Zone." The Church of Scientology asserts that such groups are not practicing true Scientology, but unauthorized variants, and regards itself as the only true source of Scientology.

See also

• List of groups referred to as cults
• List of religious organizations
• List of Scientologists
• Scientology beliefs and practices
• Scientology controversy
• Timeline of Scientology
• Scientology In Australia

References