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.