Scientology: why do we believe in one idea rather than another?

[Part 1]

The question “why do we believe in one idea rather than another?” can seem a rather meaningless one, as the majority of people are born within a religion and never come to face this issue in their lives. Nonetheless, I will try to give an answer by analysing the particular and quite controversial religion of Scientology.

Some may object that Scientology is not the most “typical” religion, but I don’t think this is the case. Scientology has its own credo, rituals and miracles, its word was spread by a god-like man, and, as any other religion, it requires faith from its followers. It also claims to be the only way to salvation for mankind and, throughout the years, it has caused a great deal of suffering, which is also nothing new. The only distinguishing point is that, unlike other popular credos, Scientology is a 20^th Century creation.

What a religion is

First of all, how do we define a religion? Why is an organization a religion and another is not? In the US, the governmental body in charge of assigning the status of religion is the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), whose main duty is to collect taxes. Since religions are tax exempted, the legislators figured out that the IRS would have been the most appropriate judge for these matters. As a consequence, the ultimate decision on an issue that should be strictly spiritual is in the hand of people who are likely to lack any expertise in the field.

Scientology first big war was exactly the one against the IRS, to be recognized as a religion. Tax exemption was initially not recognized since the funds of the Church were benefiting private individuals (aka its funder L. Ron Hubbard and his family). In the late ‘60s, LRH was investigated for tax evasion and had to escape from the US. Later on, Scientology’s next leader, David Miscavige, brought the war against the IRS to a whole new level and ultimately won it. He did it by pushing Scientology’s members to start thousands of lawsuits against the IRS and its individual employees, consequently causing the chaos in the organization.

The Messiah

Every religion has its Messiah, who plays the fundamental role of gathering the first followers. The Messiah is always a charismatic individual, someone common people would want to identify with. Humans naturally look for authority, a leader who can tell them what is the right thing to do in every situation. Often, religions are deeply connected to the figure of the Messiah.

Scientology is no different, as the religion can be seen as a journey into the mind of its creator, L. Ron Hubbard: someone says the further you get into it, the more like LRH you become. Before Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard was the author of unsuccessful science fiction novels. His only accomplishment was the Guinness World Record for the number of books written, around 1,000 in total, which he got because his novels were paid per word.

Things changed in 1950 when he published Dianetics, which became an immediate, although very brief, best seller. Following the success of this book, Hubbard founded the religion of Scientology. Speaking about the inspiration behind the Dianetics, LRH said, “I began to ask this question “What is man?” and I found oddly enough that nobody could tell me what man was. I have studied 21 primitive races, including the white race [laughs], and my conclusions were that man is a spiritual being that was pulled down to the material, to an interplay in life that was, in fact, too great for him to confront. And I concluded, finally, that he needed a hand.” LHR believed mankind to be asleep and created Scientology to wake individuals up. LRH presented Scientology as the cure for any illness, a way to become perfectly aware and capable, at to enhance people’s mental as well as physical performance. He was the real Messiah for the Church, as pointed out by his wife, Sara, who once said, “He began to believe that he was a saviour and a hero, that he really was this god figure.”

In the ’60s, LRH’s star already started to descend as he was investigated in several countries for tax fraud and other issues related to Scientology. As a consequence, he took high seas: he made himself commodore of three ships and funded the Sea Organization in order to attract members of Scientology, with the promise of being part of the inner circle closest to him. These people became his crew, staying for several years at his complete disposal. In the ‘70s, LRH was not anymore welcomed in the Mediterranean ports, so he sailed back to the US, where he lived hidden for the rest of his days. Nevertheless, he continued to work for Scientology throughout his life, which may indicate that, in the end, Scientology wasn’t for him just about the money. He published numerous books and he was the one who first introduced the Church to Hollywood.

LRH was the founder, the absolute leader, and the Saviour of the religion of Scientology, but he was also a deeply disturbed person. His relationship with his wife Sara well exemplifies his condition. One night, he hit Sara while she was asleep, affirming that she was smiling in her sleep and, therefore, she must have been thinking about another man. In another episode, LRH kidnapped their baby and went to Cuba. Then, he called Sara and said that he cut their daughter in little pieces and it was her fault, to phone again later on saying the baby was still alive. When directly asked about his mental state, LRH answered, “Oh yes, the one man in the world who never believes he is mad, is the real madman”.  However, LRH himself once wrote a letter calling for psychiatric help. He was a highly paranoid, moody, and unstable individual and some may argue that Scientology has been a form of self-therapy for him.

The Pope

Close to the figure of the Messiah, religions have often also a Pope, who is the highest human authority of the Church. The Pope has the role of guiding the followers throughout their spiritual journey and to hand down the doctrine once the Messiah is no longer on Earth.

LRH died of a stroke in 1986, or has his successor, David Miscavige said, “He abandoned his body for the next level of OT, which is “exterior” meaning out of the body”. LRH never directly appointed Miscavige as the person in charge of Scientology while he was on his extracorporeal journey. However, on Scientology’s website, it can be read, “Trust and friendship are things forged in fire and pounded out on the anvil of life. We have been through a lot together. I trust you as you trust me.” These words were considered as a clear enough indication of LRH’s preferred heir.

Miscavige joined Scientology at 11, along with his parents, and soon became an extremely dedicated follower of the religion. With LRH, Miscavige had in common the firm belief that Scientologists are the ones in charge of saving humans from themselves as well as a strong tendency towards paranoia. As his predecessor, Miscavige is also known for episodes of extreme violence, both verbal and physical, against other members of Scientology. “He had to continue to believe [in Scientology]. He has abused people on a personal level. This is how he got to the top, and how he stayed at the top”, said Marty Rathbun, ex-member of the Church and Miscavige’s top lieutenant.

The holy scripts

From the Koran to the Bible, these ancient scriptures have become the first source of legitimation for religious beliefs. Their antiquity gives them a sacred halo, and their vagueness makes them suitable to interpretations that fit with the rules established by clerical authorities. Moreover, since doctrines change over time, in spite of all the efforts to keep the status quo, it is also paramount that the interpretation of the holy scriptures can be adapted to the particular moment in history.

Scientology’s holy text is Dianetics, a good example of an application of modern technology and the most recent findings of psychology to spiritual matters. Dianetics became a bestseller in the US in the ‘50s and has now been read by millions of people all around the world. The name of the book comes from dia, meaning “through”, and nous, meaning “mind”, as it deals with the metaphysical relationship between body and mind. The theories exposed in the book never received confirmation from scientists, who consider Dianetics as nothing more than a pseudoscience, not very different from science fiction itself.

LRH described the principles of Dianetics as a “mix of Western technology and Oriental philosophy”. Dianetics divides the mind into three parts, the analytical (conscious), reactive (subconscious), and the somatic minds. The goal of Dianetics is to erase the content of the reactive mind, which is believed to interfere with a person’s ethics, awareness, happiness, and sanity. In fact, humans are thought to be intrinsically good and driven to survival, but aberrations distort their nature. LRH claimed to have found a method to eradicate all aberrations, therefore restoring a person’s mental and physical health.

Even though at a first glimpse, Dianetics may seem very different from the holy scriptures mentioned above, there are some striking analogies too. The main point is that they all aim to indicate a way for individuals to improve as human beings and to enhance the quality of their lives.

The genesis

Religions start as tales. They are stories with embedded keys that should facilitate a person’s interpretation of the reality. They not only contain moral guidelines but they also aim to provide answers to those universal questions that human beings have always asked. Each of these tales begins with the creation of the world, which tries to answer the most basic question, “why are we on Earth?”.

Scientology has its own creation myth, which is communicated to the followers only after they reach a certain level of apprenticeship. The story is contained in in a booklet handwritten by LRH, which members are supposed to keep secret and closed in a locked briefcase because it is believed that it could harm people who read it without being adequately prepared.

The story is more or less the following. Seventy-five million years ago, people were living in a world that looked like America in the ‘50s. Xenu was its supreme ruler: he was the Galactic Overlord of the Galactic Confederacy. But the universe had a problem of overpopulation so Xenu froze some people and put them on space planes that brought them to Earth, which was, at the time, a prison planet. Afterwards, those frozen bodies were dropped into volcanoes or blown up with A-bombs. However, their disembodied spirits floated out and became what are known as the “Thetans”. The Thetans were captured and put in front of screens where they were brainwashed. From that time on, when a child is born hundreds of Thetans would be installed in his/her mind, becoming the soul of the individual. Thetans are believed to be the source of all the anxieties, fears, stress and illnesses that afflict the humankind.

The reactions of the members of Scientology to the Genesis story are mixed. LRH himself had a crisis when he thought that he was infested with a Thetan so powerful that he couldn’t defeat it himself. Many people had mental breakdowns because they felt infested by these creatures, “I was so bad that I couldn’t confront how bad I was, I didn’t know at the time but a depression set in that was with me for years”, said ex-member Hana Whitfield. Other individuals were more sceptical about it. A member commented, “And I read it, and it just didn’t make any sense. I remember for one fleeting second thinking “maybe it’s an insanity test. Maybe if you believe this they kick you out.”

The confession

Religions are enacted through rituals, which have the purpose of rendering the predicaments of the doctrine more concrete and understandable. Confession is often part of these rituals. Individuals assign to religion the role of moral judge of their actions and they rely on it to get the absolution from their sins. Acknowledging one’s own wrongdoings or speaking about fears and doubts is relieving and cathartic in nature, this is why people seek confession.

The ritual of confession for Scientologists is called “auditing”. An auditing session consists of two people, the “auditor” and the “auditee” sitting in front of each other with an instrument called E-meter placed on a table in between them. The auditee would hold in his or her hands the metallic extremes of the E-meter, which would make an imperceptible amount of current pass through the body. Next, the auditor starts asking questions about episodes in the life of the auditee, starting from the present and going backwards. Every time an episode is recalled that foster an emotional reaction in the auditee, the E-meter would signal the change. As a consequence, the auditor starts digging into the event until no reaction is registered anymore: at this point the auditee is thought to have been relieved from that traumatic experience. The process goes on for numerous sessions and covers the whole life of the auditee and also his or her previous ones: in fact, Scientologists believe that a person has lived multiple lifetimes but cannot remember them fully (only fragments that cause trauma).

It appears that auditing sessions do have a positive impact on the auditees, as an ex-member, stated: “That confessional nature makes you feel better”. Also, other ex-members shared the same opinion: “When you come out of an auditing session you feel euphoric”, said Mike Rinder. “I was feeling better only by hearing that I was going to have a session”, confirms Spanky Taylor. However, relieving people from their fears is not the only objective for the auditors. In fact, these people are trained to make notes of what the auditee says during the sessions: as a consequence, Scientology has a huge amount of information about the most private details of its members’ lives. Miscavige even introduced cameras in the auditing rooms that would videotape every auditing session.