Research Paper-Scientology

[Marisa]

Okay, so I had to write a research paper for my English 104 class and I chose the topic of Scientology. Apparently some of my structure is wrong? But every time I ask my professor what she means she won't give me a direct answer. At this point, I have no idea what I'm doing so I thought I'd post it here and have you guys take a look at it. I'm somehow supposed to cut down my findings section and make my discussion stronger...I just can't figure out how to do that.

Note: I know that it's a long paper. I DO NOT want posts that say "cbf to read it" or whatever. I also don't want arguments about the topic. I need comments about the writing, structure, typos that are found, etc. I am not debating this in the thread. Thank you.
_________________________________________________________________

I had to post my paper in the next post 'cause it's so long. :/

 

[Marisa]

Marisa
English 104
Draft 3

The “Cult”ure of Scientology​

Introduction
Tom Cruise, Will Smith, and John Travolta are names that we hear constantly in our everyday lives. They are identified as celebrities, but, more than that, they have something else in common other than the lime light. Each of these men is a Scientologist.

The Church of Scientology is identified as a religion, but some argue that it’s actually a cult. According to the Oxford American Dictionary a religion is defined as, “belief in the existence of a superhuman controlling power, usually expressed through worship” (“Religion”). Yet, a cult is defined as “a system of religious worship” (“Cult”). In other words, there are levels, steps, and a certain way of practice. Scientology is not about believing; it’s about following the system. According to Paul Haggis, former Scientologist, film director and screenwriter of movies such as Crash and Million Dollar Baby, Scientology seemed to be “…less a religion than a set of useful principles for living” (Wright).

Scientology claims to have a calling to “transform individual lives and the world.” (Wright). It boasts to be in over 165 countries with over eight million members worldwide. However, a recent survey in the Statistical Abstract of the United States suggests that only twenty-five thousand Americans identify as Scientologists. (Wright.)

Some of the “benefits” of Scientology are the ability to “cure blindness and even improve a person’s intelligence and appearance” (Behar). According to Tom Cruise, Scientology helped him overcome his dyslexia (Strauss). It also helped Kirstie Alley beat a cocaine addiction (Sappell and Welkos). Both Cruise and Alley credit their ability to do this through courses and auditing sessions with a “simplified lie detector” that they call an E-meter (Adler). Yet, this entire religion was created by pulp science fiction author, L. Ron Hubbard.

I became interested in the subject of Scientology in 2004 when my mom told me about a video that she saw of Tom Cruise on YouTube. He was talking about what it was like for him to be a Scientologist. Most users that saw the video had no idea what he was talking about, but it was clear that this “Scientology” wasn’t something to joke about. (Wright). After Scientology took the video down, claiming copyright, my mom began looking up the religion. At the time, I was in high school and so I didn’t have the time to sit and research the subject like my mom was. Through her, I heard terms like Xenu, E-meter, L. Rob Hubbard, Sea Org, thetans, and even more things that seemed too strange to believe. Finally, I realized that I needed to do my own research about this “religion.”

After conducting research I’ve determined that The Church of Scientology founded by Science-Fiction author, L. Ron Hubbard, is a cult.

Research Questions
First, I sought out to find out who L. Ron Hubbard was and how this religion was created. Also, there are many people that are taken to court for speaking out about Scientology so I needed to find out why. Who is Xenu? Why are celebrities so attracted to the religion? What’s an E-meter? Why do Scientologists disregard psychiatry? How much does this cost? Who is Anonymous and why are they against the church? Lastly, what is life like for a Scientologist?

Data Collection and ****ysis
In order to collect my information I used many of the library databases provided by Ball State University. I also referenced articles that had been mentioned in those sources. In order to understand I read them at least twice while highlighting and making notes on things I found important or that stuck out to me. I made a note of things that were common in multiple articles. After I thoroughly went over all of my sources, I made a list of each topic I planned to discuss and wrote down which articles mentioned these topics. Lastly, I created an outline of all of this information and quotes in order to organize my thoughts.

Findings
In Scientology, there are many different topics that come to mind including, but not limited to: fair gaming, Xenu, L. Ron Hubbard, celebrity Scientologists, the E-meter, cost to practice, the anti-Scientology group Anonymous, and the lives of practicing Scientologists. The resources that I used to come to learn about these topics are: “Fair Game”, Operation Clambake, “Passion of the Cruise”, “The Courting of Celebrities”, “L. Ron-devous”, “The A-listers’ Belief System”, “The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power”, “Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology”, The Oxford American Dictionary, and “Message to Scientology.”

Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, also known as L. Ron Hubbard, was born in Tilden, Nebraska on March 10, 1911. He is known for being a pulp science-fiction writer as well as being the founder of Scientology (Heldal-Lund). Hubbard served in the United States Navy during World War II until he was hospitalized for a duodenal ulcer. According to the church, Hubbard was crippled and blinded during this time and used Scientology to cure himself (Behar). The church also claims that Hubbard was a recipient of the Purple Heart with a Palm, which is given to soldiers wounded in action twice. However, John E. Bircher, the spokesman for the Military Order of the Purple Heart, stated that the Navy uses gold and silver stars, not palms. Plus, evidence shows that he was never wounded in battle. The church document also credits Hubbard with medals that hadn’t been created until after he left active service (Wright).
Hubbard has also been advertised as having a degree in civil engineering from George Washington University. Yet, he actually only went to GWU for two years and received no degree while he was there (Wright). Scientology is making claims about Hubbard that can be proven untrue.

 

[Marisa]

n May of 1950, Hubbard published Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Dianetics is a form of psychotherapy created by Hubbard (Hendal-Lundt). Its goal is to drain the body of what Hubbard calls engrams (source of nightmares, insecurities, irrational fears and psychosomatic illnesses) in order to leave a person “clear” of damaging qualities. (Wright). Hubbard introduced his findings to both the American Psychiatric Association and the American Medical Association, but they denied the claims. From that time on Hubbard saw psychiatry and psychology as competitors. (Wright).
According to Lawrence Wright, Hubbard used Dianetics to form Scientology which was founded in 1954.

Not long after that he created an organization of Scientologists called the Sea Org who were at sea because it was a “distraction-free environment.” He sailed around on a boat with the Sea Org, creating more levels of Scientology until 1975. He died January 24, 1986 and then David Miscavige took over as the second-generation leader of Scientology (Wright).

Many people think of celebrities when they think of Scientologists. People like John Travolta and Tom Cruise who are constantly saying things about Scientology and how it’s changed their lives. What some people don’t realize is that converting celebrities was part of Hubbard’s original plan. In 1955, Hubbard started a program called “Project Celebrity” where he encouraged Scientologists to convert celebrities. He told them that “if you bring one of them home you will get a small plaque as a reward.” (Farrow). Some of the celebrities that Hubbard hoped would come to Scientology included Walt Disney, Marlene Dietrich, Ernest Hemingway, Greta Garbo, and Groucho Marx (Farrow). However, none of them did. Hubbard had the idea that “Celebrities are very Special people and have a distinct line of dissemination. They have communication lines that others do not have and many medias to get their dissemination through” (Farrow). If the celebrities say good things about Scientology, that could lead to more followers and the religion to be seen in a good light.

Scientology even has a specific centre for its celebrity followers. The first Celebrity Centre was created in Hollywood at the end of the ‘60s. It has classrooms, auditing areas, social areas and more for these elite members (Strauss). “One of the appeals for celebrities,” according to Wright, “is that Scientology offers actors a method that they could apply to both their lives and their careers” (Wright). Actor Josh Brolin stated that, “Clearly there must be something rewarding if such notable people lend their names to a belief system so widely scorned” (Wright). Maybe Hubbard was onto something when he started Project Celebrity.

Many people that don’t believe in Scientology’s teachings get into a lot of legal trouble due to what Scientology calls “fair gaming.” Fair gaming is a term coined by L. Ron Hubbard himself. It only applies to what the church calls Suppressive People (S.P.s) which is someone who disagrees with Scientology’s teachings (Heldal-Lund). According to Hubbard, these people “have no rights of any kind and actions taken against [S.P.s] are not punishable” (Heldal-Lund). Therefore, people who are speaking out against Scientology are getting attacked by these Scientologists because they’ve been declared as S.P.s and they’re “fair game.” If the church disagrees with what an S.P. is saying, there are no limits to what Scientology will do to stop them. Hubbard gave his followers an order of how to deal with S.P.s. He said, “Enemy S.P. Order. Fair game. May be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed.” (Heldal-Lund). According to research done by Richard Behar in Time, people that speak out or criticize the church get attacked with lawsuits, stalked, accused of committing crimes, beaten up, and sometimes even threatened with death (Behar). Unless you keep silent about Scientology, you’re never safe.

There are 15 levels of Scientology that are named Operating Thetan I-XV. When a Scientologist reaches a stage referred to as Operating Thetan III, they are told of the story of Xenu (Hendal-Lundt). A common misconception among those that know nothing of Scientology is that Xenu is the church’s leader. However, that’s not it at all. Xenu is actually a despotic ruler of a confederation 75 million years ago that consisted of around ninety planets that, at the time, he felt were overpopulated (Wright). In order to solve this issue, Xenu asked the help of psychiatrists to give the people injections of alcohol and glycol which would paralyze them. These bodies were then flown to Earth, called Teegeeack at the time, and placed around volcanoes (Hendal-Lundt). H-bombs “more powerful than any in existence today” were dropped into these volcanoes which caused the people to be destroyed (Wright). Even though their bodies were destroyed, their souls (now called thetans) were released into the universe. Xenu took these spirits and trapped them for days in a cinema where they watched motion pictures telling them what life was like, pictures of God, the Devil, and Jesus Christ. This process is called “implanting.” After this, thetans inhabited the world and attached themselves to the innocent bystanders and began to control them (Hendal-Lundt). In order to be considered “clear” in Scientology, these thetans must be removed from your body through a process called “auditing” which is performed with an E-meter (Adler).

Scientology is well known for being against psychiatry and for using an E-meter to get its followers into clear zones. The E-meter is sometimes referred to as a simplified lie detector (Behar). It is designed to measure electrical resistance changes that occur when a person answers questions. The FDA has investigated the device on multiple occasions and has declared that it has “no curative powers and is ineffective in diagnosing and treating disease” (Wright). In 1971, a federal court ruled that Hubbard’s medical claims were completely bogus and that E-meter auditing couldn’t be considered a scientific treatment (Behar). Some psychiatrists say the auditing session can produce a drugged-like, mind-controlled euphoria that keeps customers coming back for more (Behar). If someone feels good after doing something, then naturally they’d want to do that again. Scientology claims that these sessions can cure blindness and even improve a person’s intelligence and appearance (Behar). Paul Harris, former scientologist, said that “Because the auditing took place over a number of years, it was easy to believe that he might be smarter and wiser because of it, just as that might be true after years of therapy” (Wright).

There is also another program for Scientologists mentioned by Lawrence Wright called the Purification Rundown. The program is designed to eliminate toxins in the body that form a “biochemical barrier to spiritual well-being.” Participants are in this program for about 3 weeks with a daily regimen of sauna visits, exercise, and large doses of vitamins. The vitamins given to them include niacin which in small doses can lower cholesterol, but in high doses it can cause blindness even after cessation. Additionally, some of these sauna sessions can last up to five hours at a time (Wright).

 

[Marisa]

Being a Scientologist isn’t for everyone. It requires a lot of money, or the ability to earn a lot of money. According to Farrow, an estimate of costs for auditing through all the levels of Scientology is $30,000 (Farrow). This adds up pretty quickly when each auditing session can be as much as $1,000 per hour (Behar). One has to complete the courses and the auditing in order to move up in the organization and the church makes sure to pressure them into continuing. Haggis recalled that “They used friends and any kind of pressure they could apply. I gave them money just to keep them from calling and hounding on me” (Wright). David S. Touretzky, a computer-science professor at Carnegie Mellon University who has done research on Scientology (not an ex-Scientologist) estimates that the coursework costs around $300,000 but because of the auditing and other donations the cumulative cost could reach or be more than half a million dollars (Wright). All of that money is spent by Scientologists in order to be free of thetans and in the “clear.”

While all of this is going on, there is a group of internet activists known only as Anonymous (“Fair Game”). Anonymous has targeted the church of Scientology with the intent to inform the general public about the happenings in the church. A YouTube video done by Anonymous states that they’ve been trying to uncover the truths of Scientology and “expel [them] from the Internet and systematically dismantle the Church of Scientology in its present form” (Anonymous). Their hope is that if they can starve the cult of new members, that will cause the entire organization to collapse and then the existing members can return to society (Hendal-Lundt). One of the ways that they do this is by copying Scientology documents and posting them on the internet. They are breaking copyright laws by doing this, but they feel it’s necessary in order to do what they feel is right (Hendal-Lundt). They also use cyberwarfare techniques against Scientology websites. These are called “distributive denial of service”, or DDOS, attacks. They usually involve many computer networks to attack websites and servers with bad data which causes them to crash (“Fair Game”). They didn’t start becoming “hostile” until the church invoked copyright claims to the Tom Cruise video posted on YouTube in 2004-the group largely opposes censorship of any form (Wright).

Lastly, there are the lives of non-celebrity Scientologists. They go through auditing, detoxing, and courses but they also are greatly mistreated by the Church. Even Scientologists within the church have decided that the church isn’t treating people fairly, according to John Brodie, San Francisco 49ers quarterback and Scientologist (Sappell and Welkos). There have been many claims of neglect and abuse by people that have left the organization as well. Dorothy Geary, a former Scientologist, claimed that the church held her hostage for two weeks in a mountain cabin which forced her to go to the hospital after suffering a nervous breakdown (Behar). There is also a lot of talk about the Sea Org. Sea Org initiates-some of whom are children-sign up for a billion years of service. Parents are forced to give up their guardianship when their child joins the Sea Org (Wright). Claire Headley for example, joined the Sea Org at the age of 16, but she wasn’t allowed to tell anyone where she was going. No one had any idea where she would end up except for the church and herself (Wright). The members may work 100 hours in a week and be paid less than $50 (Wright). They are also forced to achieve these extremely high levels of production, but if they don’t they are punished. An example of this is a diet of only beans and rice and forcing him/her to miss sleep. Members are allowed to marry, but they agree not to raise children while they are in the org. This is taken extremely seriously in the organization. Claire Headley met her husband, Mark, while in the Sea Org. After the couple learned that they were pregnant, the church forced her to get an abortion. If questioned, the church will deny that this is the case, but Lucy James, a former Scientologist who had access to Sea Org personnel records, says that she knew many cases where a couple was forced to have an abortion (Wright).

There is also a practice known as “disconnection.” This is similar to Amish and Orthodox Jewish communities in the sense that they are forced to disassociate with people against their faith. When someone close to a Scientologist is declared a Suppressive Person, or someone against Scientology, the Scientologist either breaks away from that person or the religion itself. A woman with the last name Renard had parents that were declared S.P.s. She faced a tough decision because according to the church, “if she failed to handle her parents, she would have to disconnect not only from them but also everyone who spoke to them, including her siblings” (Wright). It’s complete isolation.

The Sea Org is also a form of slave labor and human trafficking. According to federal law, slavery is defined as the “use of coercion, torture, starvation, imprisonment, threats, and psychological abuse.” Tell-tale signs of human trafficking are “signs of trauma or fatigue; being afraid or unable to attack, because of censorship by others or security measures that prevent communication with others; working in one place without the freedom to move about; owing a debt to one’s employer; and not having control over identification documents” (Wright). Members of the Sea Org have been victims of both slavery and trafficking. There are also many instances where Scientologists are prohibited from researching about things that don’t correspond with Scientology teachings (called “entheta” or confused and destructive thinking) (Wright). It has also been stated that Sea Org bases are extremely well guarded and that if a member tried to escape, they would only be tracked down and punished (Wright). There are even instances where the church has prohibited people from even talking about the religion, and if they violate that a law suit is brought against them which is a case we see with Gerry Armstrong (former Scientologist) (Wright). Accusations have been brought against the church for things such as this, for serious, indefensible human and civil-rights violations and yet the church still stands.

 

[Marisa]

Discussion
Based on my findings I have determined that Scientology is not a religion at all but a cult. In fact, I believe that this organization should be thoroughly investigated and outlawed.

Just in the definitions of each word alone one can see that Scientology does not fit as a religion. One could potentially argue that a thetan is Scientology’s way of believing in the “existence of a superhuman controlling power” considering how the church has claimed they control people that aren’t “clear” (“Religion”). However, they don’t worship thetans at all. In fact, they are treated like demons that need to be cast out from their bodies.

As far as fair gaming goes, it’s illogical to think that an organization can tell its members that it’s okay to terrorize people that don’t agree with their beliefs and practices. Especially to think that it’s acceptable to threaten someone with death. Every human being has rights and to say that Scientologists shouldn’t get punished for their actions against Suppressive People is ignorant.

When it comes to Xenu, this is where anyone can tell that L. Ron Hubbard was indeed a fiction writer. Who else could come up with such a wild story? Especially one that suggests that not only was their civilization just like Earth’s now but that they also had better hydrogen bombs than have ever been created on Earth. Logically, this doesn’t make any sense. However, considering that it takes years before anyone gets to Operating Thetan III in order to hear this story, I could understand why they would believe it by then. Yet, the fact that it’s so far-fetched also explains why the church waits so long before they tell that story.

L. Ron Hubbard has been proven to be a fraud. Clearly, he isn’t a decorated war hero or even a college graduate, yet Scientology praises his name. Scientologists claim him to be someone that he wasn’t. It would definitely make someone question how legitimate the organization is if they have to lie about the founder. Plus, the fact that he’s a pulp fiction author is enough. Before Scientology he was known for writing fiction! Why would anyone take what he says literally? There are even quotes of Hubbard saying things such as “The only way you can control people is to lie to them” and “I’d like to start a religion, that’s where the money is” (Hendal-Lundt). He said both of these statements before the religion was founded. He was in it for his own personal gain, always.

I have to admit, Project Celebrity was an extremely clever move on L. Ron Hubbard’s part. He had a point, because if you can get big name celebrities to become Scientologists, you can possibly get their fans to become members too. However, sometimes I do wonder if these elite members know what it’s like for their fellow members. I wonder if they know just how lucky they truly are. Maybe they do know and just don’t care.

The E-meter has clearly been shown multiple times that it has no actual curing properties. In this case, the device is acting like a placebo. The person using it believes that it’ll work so in their mind, it does. The fact that Scientology doesn’t approve of psychiatry is simply because they rejected Hubbard’s Dianetics findings. He held a grudge, so he wrote it into the religion that they were bad. The Purification Rundown program is extremely dangerous for people. If they consistently give patients niacin, they can go blind or cause other permanent damage to their eyesight. Plus, all that sweating through exercise and saunas could dehydrate someone and potentially lead to some harmful medical issues.

The cost of this entire religion is astronomical. It’s very clear that the organization is about the money and not about helping people. If they were about helping people there wouldn’t be a minimum donation of $50 for courses. It’s called donation for a reason. The church just uses this word to make it sound more pleasant and believable.

Anonymous is a wonderful organization for doing what they do. Granted, they go to extreme measures to get the word out but at least they’re trying to do something good. They’re trying to keep people away from this harmful organization and get the people that are in it, out.

Lastly, the treatment of their members is diabolical. Not only are they working over 100 hours in the Sea Org but they’re being paid less than minimum wage in order to do it. Then, on top of that, that entire organization in itself is slavery! What they are doing isn’t legal and should be stopped immediately. People need to be saved from this mistreatment. Unfortunately, due to the lawyers that Scientology has, our own government is afraid to take action against the church.

Conclusion
When I began researching Scientology, I already had an idea that it was destructive and damaging. However, I had no idea just how physically, emotionally, psychologically, and financially damaging it really is. I am surprised to find that this organization isn’t being stopped considering all of the laws being broken by the Church of Scientology. Eventually, I would like to do further research on the court cases that might be pending right now, ones that have already been closed, and even future cases to see why Scientology is able to win them despite breaking so many laws. I would also love to do further research regarding experiences in the Sea Org in order to figure out what kinds of physical labor they did, what the punishments were, and even the living conditions. The evidence all leads to the same conclusion; Scientology is a cult. Paul Haggis even told Wright, “I was in a cult for thirty-four years. Everyone else could see it. I don’t know why I couldn’t” (Wright). The trick now is to help everyone see it.

Works Cited
Adler, Ben. “L. Ron-Devous.” Washington Monthly Jan./Feb. 2009: 11-12. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Feb. 2011.
Anonymous. Message to Scientology. YouTube. 21. Jan. 2008. Web. 20 Mar. 2011.
Behar, Richard. “The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power.” Time. 6 May 1991. Web. 1 Mar. 2011.
“Cult.” Oxford American Dictionary. 1980. Print.
“Fair Game.” Economist. 2 Feb. 2008. Business Source Premier. Web. 1 Mar. 2011.
Farrow, Boyd. “The A-listers’ belief system.” New Statesman. 1 Aug. 2005: 28-30. Business Source Premier. Web. 1 Mar. 2011.
Heldal-Lund, Andreas. Operation Clambake – The Inner Secrets of Scientology. Operation Clambake, 20 Oct. 1997. Web. 13 Feb. 2011. <http://xenu.net>.
“Religion.” Oxford American Dictionary. 1980. Print.
Sappell, Joel, and Robert W. Welkos. "The Courting of Celebrities." Los Angeles Times 25 June 1990. Web. 8 Apr. 2011. <http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-scientology062590b,1,279442.story?coll=la-news-comment>.
Strauss, Neil. “The Passion of the Cruise.” Rolling Stone. 2 Sept. 2004: 90-96. Academic Search Premier. Web. 11 Feb. 2011.
Wright, Lawrence. “Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology.” The New Yorker 14 Feb. 2011. Web. 9 Apr. 2011.

 

[batata]

Needs more cowbell?

 

[Marisa]

Needs more cowbell?

Maybe I didn't make myself clear that if possible I'd like SERIOUS comments. I don't have the time or patience for stuff like that. Please and thanks.

Edit: I know it's extremely difficult for most of you kiddies, but I'm asking you to try.

 

[batata]

Maybe I didn't make myself clear that if possible I'd like SERIOUS comments. I don't have the time or patience for stuff like that. Please and thanks.

Edit: I know it's extremely difficult for most of you kiddies, but I'm asking you to try.

I read it. The information seemed fine.

I don't really understand what is wrong with it. What I meant by "cowbell"(allusion to SNL) is that it needs the pizazz u get from reading a good paper. i really don't know how you can do so.

 

[Marisa]

I read it. The information seemed fine.

I don't really understand what is wrong with it. What I meant by "cowbell"(allusion to SNL) is that it needs the pizazz u get from reading a good paper. i really don't know how you can do so.

Well, at this point, "pizazz" or whatever isn't what I'm concerned with. The information is good but quote from my professor:

"Very interesting, Marisa. I think you have learned a lot. The most important things to do are to cut down some on the Findings, and to make your claim in the Discussion section a bit stronger."

And I have no idea how to go about doing that.