ANSWER:

L. Ron Hubbard, a fiction writer, started the cult in America in 1952.

There is no such thing as "exorcism of a space alien" in Scientology.

This concept is a distortion of an auditing procedure that is used by some Scientologists at high levels of "Operating Thetan".

The distortion is this -

= It is not exorcism

- It is not about Space Aliens

- You cannot "pay" to get this procedure, as it is part of a larger course of study offered by the Church of Scientology that has many predecessor courses

Operating Thetan is a course of spiritual study that begins after achieving "Clear". It typically takes several years to achieve Clear, though it is possible for some persons to complete this goal within a year.

The costs of these courses and any desired "auditing" are published by the Church of Scientology, as well as by some independent practitioners. At each step, a person makes the individual choice to take the next course, and to decide for themselves how much auditing or other supporting courses they wish to take.

Therefore, there is no "amount" that a person can "pay" to receive this or any other OT service. it must be achieved through study and practice. The only direct monetary costs are "fixed donations" (see below) for the Church's services and any books, audio sets, or videos purchased.

There are many, many auditing procedures in Scientology, all with different procedures and results. The procedures chosen and the results from them vary widely by individual.

If a person were to believe that their body was infested by space aliens and wanted to receive counseling for it, I'm sure they could find appropriate counselling for that.

The Church of Scientology has a policy of "fair exchange", which means that people should pay a fair price for what they get. All churches charge fees or request donations for their services, as that is how they support their operations. As a matter of church policy, and in line with the founder's "Doctrine of Fair Exchange", the Church of Scientology implements the "fixed donation" policy. Part of the cost of the courses may be treated as a religious donation even though it is structured as a course fee.

Alternate Answer

Scientology scripture teaches humans are immortal spiritual beings called "thetans". Thetans were originally god-like entities existing in a non-physical environment. By various means thetans spiritually degraded and became dependent on physical bodies within a material universe.

A long time ago billions of aliens, also thetans, were brought to Earth to solve an overpopulation problem in another galaxy. The aliens were killed and their spirits were gathered and psychologically manipulated to be confused. The confused alien thetans, known as "body thetans" or BTs, cluster around humans causing spiritual degradation of the human thetans. One human may have thousands of BTs.

Scientology sells parishioners training and equipment to telepathically contact BTs and convince them to leave. Pricing depends on how much processing it takes to finish the task, not on how many BTs there are. Scientology does not refer to the expulsion of BTs as exorcism.

Many higher states of existence are available to Man, and these are attainable through Scientology. L. Ron Hubbard provided a precise delineation of these states, and then clarified how they could be attained by arranging them on a chart which graphically showed each step of the route upward.

The chart that shows the gradations to spiritual betterment is called the Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart. Classification refers to training in Scientology and the fact that certain actions are required, or skills attained before an individual is classified as an auditor at any particular level and allowed onto the next class. Gradation refers to the gradual improvement spiritually that occurs in Scientology auditing.

Man, in his religious tradition, has long imagined a bridge across the chasm between where one is now and a higher plateau of existence. Unfortunately, many of those attempting to cross the chasm fell into the abyss.

Employing this metaphor, the Classification, Gradation and Awareness Chart represents, in fact, the bridge which spans the chasm and brings one to the higher plateau. This is the vision Man has cherished for at least ten thousand years, and it is now attainable by following the steps as laid out on the chart.

The chart is a guide for the individual from their first awareness of Scientology to each higher state. Man has never before had such a map. It is the Bridge to Total Freedom. It is the route. It is exact and has a standard progression. One walks it and one becomes free.

Although Dianetics and Scientology were founded by L. Ron Hubbard, and all the scriptures are solely comprised of his writings and recorded lectures, he nonetheless wrote:

"Acknowledgment is made to fifty thousand years of thinking men without whose speculations and observations the creation and construction of Dianetics would not have been possible. Credit in particular is due to: Anaxagoras, Thomas Paine, Aristotle, Thomas Jefferson, Socrates, René Descartes, Plato, James Clerk Maxwell, Euclid, Charcot, Lucretius, Herbert Spencer, Roger Bacon, William James, Francis Bacon, Sigmund Freud, Isaac Newton, van Leeuwenhoek, Cmdr Thompson (MC) USN, Voltaire, William A. White, Will Durant, Count Alfred Korzybski and my instructors in atomic and molecular phenomena, mathematics and the humanities at George Washington University and at Princeton."

Scientology is a religion.

If one wished to compare Scientology to other religions, like; Buddhism, Catholicism, Judaism, and Islam. It would be more like Buddhism.

In Buddhism one can achieve a state called 'Bodhi' where one has achieved 'the understanding possessed by a Buddha regarding the nature of things.' In another context this means a specific freedom; the freedom from the cycle of birth and death. In other words one is free as a spiritual being from the false idea that one has just one lifetime. One is more aware of their immortality as a spiritual being in Buddhism. In Scientology there are many more spiritual states defined that one progressively attains towards an ultimate goal of Total Freedom.

In Scientology one may wish to communicate better. He or she might take a simple course on Communications. The course would present very basic information or knowledge about what communication is. Then one would apply this knowledge to attain certain specific abilities relating to improving ones communications level. So this is the idea of 'an applied religious philosophy.' The basic ideas are not mechanical ideas like talking into a telephone here to somebody talking into a telephone there. It is about one person being there, being aware of another person, and acquiring the ability to get your ideas across to that other person. So you both know. Now on a very simple level this is learning about some knowledge that can improve conditions. On a very high level it is 'knowing about knowing.' One comes to know something with more certainty. And at this high level 'knowledge is certainty'.

The best way to learn about Scientology is to sit down with any Scientology book and find just one new idea. Work out what just that one idea means to you and find many ways you can use that in your life. Many of the ideas are so basic that when you see them and understand them, it appears that it was written just for you. It might appear that you can pick up any book and read any new idea in Scientology and suddenly you know this is exactly what you needed to learn in life. Then read the book from beginning to end. That being said, there are a couple of books that might be good places to start. Dianetics, The Modern Science of Mental Health and The Problems of Work by L. Ron Hubbard are two excellent places to start.

Scientology was developed by L. Ron Hubbard. He first introduced and defined the word on March 3, 1952 in Kansas. At that time he defined its scope, direction, purpose and breadth. Essentially he said it was intended to be a study of knowledge, to understand knowledge. In a later lecture he stated: "Scientology does not teach you. It only reminds you. For the information was yours in the first place."

Here are some ideas from Scientology: 'Increasing one ability increases all abilities.' 'One is alive as he can communicate.' 'Knowledge is Certainty'

FYI Regarding Profit:

In 1994 the Internal Revenue Service in the United States completed an extensive and very thorough review of over a million pages of evidence regarding the for-profit and not-for-profit status of Scientology. It found no evidence of any money being diverted as profit to L. Ron Hubbard, or anyone.

It did find the sources of such false information, made them known and purged all such files from government databases in United States and Internationally.

FYI Regarding 'Cult':

The word 'cult' is a four letter word. More often than not it is used to excite strong emotions in the same way that other four letter words are used by bullies. One definition is: 'a system of religious beliefs and rituals.' In this sense it has no negative connotations. But if one were using it to disparage a new religious group like early Christians or early Mormons, then the idea that it is being used by a bully to make less of another definitely applies.

FYI Regarding 'Opinions':

All religions, or all philosophies, or all movements have people that wish to express their strong opinions on that new subject. It is no different with Scientology. A philosopher writes down his ideas: This is a very simple thing. There are many interesting stories about L. Ron Hubbard. But the basic story is that 'a philosopher wrote down his ideas.'

First, Scientology is not considered a religion in the UK and by many other countries and denominations around the world. It has been recognized as a religion in the US, its country of origin, as a non-profit charitable organization for tax purposes since 1993. There are some significant differences when compared to mainstream religions.

Some differences:

• It has no set dogma concerning God that it imposes on its members.
• It seeks to take individuals to new levels of spiritual awareness where one can reach their own conclusion regarding the nature of God.
• It is pantheistic in nature and the individual is semi-divine.
• It teaches a belief in psychic powers, past lives and the immortality of humans.
• It teaches that humankind is basically good and offers salvation now rather than in a next life.
• Members aren't allowed to engage in psychiatric treatments.

The Scientology religion provides answers to many questions about life and death. It encompasses an exact, precisely mapped-out path. In developing Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard discovered a technology to free the human spirit and thereby allow Man to really know himself. He thoroughly tested all procedures and recorded those that proved most workable in bringing about uniformly predictable results. These comprise standard Scientology technology.

Through application of Scientology principles and technology in an auditing session, a person is able to remove barriers and unwanted conditions and so become more himself. As a person progresses, he reaches out to help others in the ways he has been helped.

That which is real to the person is all one is asked to accept of Scientology. No beliefs are forced upon him. By training and processing, he finds out for himself the answers he is searching for in life.

This question presupposes I approach the issue of God's existence or non-existence without the usual preconceptions that God exists or that God does not exist.

The best way to prove or disprove the existence of God is to start by looking at why some people do believe he exists. Almost all believers do so because they were brought up as Christians, Jews or Muslims, and have never really thought about why their beliefs are rational. Not a good start.

The next step is to look at to supposed proofs for God's existence. There are numerous arguments for his existence, to the point that the very multiplicity of them casts doubt on his existence. You would expect that if at least one proof were unarguable, then the search more yet more and better proofs would have ceased. Indeed, an analysis of each purported proof soon shows its weaknesses.

The final step is to look at the reasons atheists say God probably does not exist. Some of these are compelling, even though it is usually considered hard to prove a negative. God is no more likely to exist than Brahma, Ahura Mazda or the many gods of the Chinese Dao pantheon.

The weight of evidence says that God simply does not exist. Should there be any doubt, then Pascal's Wager, if it is to have any meaning, requires us to worship all gods equally, just in case.