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

[Part 2]

Nirvana

Nirvana is a term used in Buddhism to indicate a state of perfect quietude, freedom, highest happiness and liberation from the repeating cycle of birth, life and death. Although this concept seems very specific, all religions refer to it. This fact should not be surprising, as the ultimate goal for the soul is to be liberated from the Evil in order to embrace the Good at its fullest. Religion, in line with its mission to overlook an individual’s spirituality, stood up as the perfect guide for humans on their way towards beatitude.

In Scientology, the process to reach the Nirvana is called the Bridge towards Freedom. Individuals’ anxieties, fears, worries, negativity, illness and any other mental or physical impairments are caused by the fact that people could not get rid of past traumatizing events, which are, therefore, still in their memory. As explained before, through the auditing sessions people can get rid of those memories, until they become “clear”.

The process to become clear is indicated as “to go up the bridge” and it is divided into multiple levels, which you have to complete to pass to the next. “The bridge is a metaphor for an awareness scale”, said Sara Goldberg, who was a Scientologist for 27 years and all the way up in the “Awareness Chart”.  The final few levels are called the OT (Operating Thetan): after reading the Genesis’ manuscript, members are enabled to audit themselves, with the objective of eliminating the thousands of aliens present in their bodies.  “I was always told that the people who were OT could read your mind, and they could move objects at will […] so it sounded damn good to me”, commented Spanky Taylor.

Crusades

Every religion sooner or later in its history has to face external enemies in order to establish itself and to maintain its supremacy. This enemy is sometimes represented by another religion, while in other cases by secular forms of power. Nevertheless, the antagonist is always defined as “evil” and its annihilation is morally justified by the necessity of defending the doctrine in the name of the only “true god”.

Scientology is no different from more ancient religions also in this respect,  as it takes its enemies very seriously. In addition to the one against the IRS, depicted above, Scientology also conducted a war against the hacktivist group Anonymous, in 2008. The fight began when a video of Tom Cruise, VIP member of the Church, speaking about his faith was made available to the public. In the video, a seemingly high Cruise embarrassed himself and the Church and, as a consequence, Scientology began a legal procedure to coerce the websites that hosted the video to remove it. Members of Anonymous, who have always stood up for the freedom of the internet, didn’t accept Scientology’s bully behaviour and started a series of action to boycott the Church’s internet presence, known as Project Chanology.

Scientology is also continuously engaging in legal and physical struggles against individuals who criticize the Church. Any opponent of Scientology is defined as “fair game”: the members of the Church are then encouraged in reducing him or her to silence with any mean at their disposal. Mike Rinder, Scientology former spokesperson, told in a documentary that when asked about the extreme actions Scientology is believed to have taken against its opponents “My position was to evade the question or give what was an acceptable answer.”

Scientology strategy is always to attack first, using the fact that it is almost untouchable thanks to the wealth of its followers. For example, Scientology is known for sending “squirrel busters” to stalk ex-members of the Church, who denounced the brutality perpetrated against them. Marty Rathbun, a former lieutenant of Miscavige, had squirrel busters standing in front of his house and verbally assaulting him and his family for years after he spoke out against Scientology. The Church also has a so-called “Office of Special Affairs”, in charge of reviewing all auditing notes and collect as much as possible sensitive information about all members of Scientology.

The sinner man

The external enemy can be challenging for a religion but it is seldom as tricky as the internal one. Human beings are far from perfection and keeping them on track is among the duties of a Church. However, one could argue that the real objective behind the punishments inflicted on the “sinner men” is to control individuals. Religions cannot admit disobedience nor liberal interpretations of the doctrine: historically, Churches have been the embodiment of conservativism and obsolescence.

Within Scientology, members who refuse part of the doctrine or oppose the Church’s practices are identified as “suppressive people”. Numerous steps are taken against those individuals. The “rehabilitation project force” is the softer punishment, a sort of community service program. Spanky Taylor, who was sent there after objecting against the Church’s refusal to provide medical treatment to her boss, told in a documentary, “That was the prison camp, where you’d go for re-indoctrination. We were working 30 hours on 3 hours off, doing hard labour”. However, Mike Rinder, spokesperson of Scientology, defined the project in very different terms, “It is a programme that is exclusively for the benefit of Sea Organization members if they are stressed out. It’s a fabulous programme.”

The second level of punishment for a suppressive person is being sent to the “hole”. It was conceived as a voluntary prison camp, where people would willingly enclose themselves in order to understand their wrong-doing and earn their readmission into the Scientology community. However, it is known that Miscavige used to beat the people in the Hole. Nevertheless, when asked about it, many members refused to admit that they were unwillingly imprisoned, starved, and mentally and physically tortured.

If a member refuses to recognize his or her wrongdoing the policy of disconnection applies. The rules establish that if an individual is labelled as an SP, his or her entire family must cut any contact with this person forever. This is one of the few reasons why former members have left Scientology.

The Militia

Churches, like any other organization, have a corporate governance and a system of subunits, among which its members are distributed. There is a hierarchy, with the Head of the Church (the Dalai Lama or the British sovereign, for example)  at the top followed by descending levels of priests and priestesses, and there are also followers’ organizations.

The vertex of Scientology is constituted by the members of the Sea Organization, which was initially funded by LRH when he needed a crew to sail away from the US. “It’s people who really believe in the cause”, said Spanky Taylor. Hana Whitfield, ex-member of the Sea Org, remembers, “You thought you were doing something good. To have a positive effect on all mankind”. When enrolling into the Sea Org, individuals have to sign a billion year contract to commit to the organization’s objectives and abide by its rules.

The Cadet Organization is meant for the children of the members. Children are separated from their parents at an early age because they are seen as an unpractical burden, who hinder their mission to save the world. Abortion is encouraged for women, to avoid the problem altogether. “I went over to the Cadet Org, there were so many sick children in there, and my daughter was very ill… Burning up with fever, completely neglected, in a urine-soaked crib. Her eyes were so filled with mucus, they were welded shut. She had fruit flies on her body. And I just… I couldn’t bear it”, said Spanky Taylor when asked about the reason why she left Scientology.

Finally, another unique organization within Scientology is the celebrity centre. The centre was opened by LRH to attract famous entertainers to advertise Scientology. The most notable member of Scientology is, of course, Tom Cruise, but also John Travolta is among the VIPs. Cruise and Miscavige have a close relationship. The latter makes Scientologists do everything to please Cruise (including finding him a “girlfriend” and organizing his birthday parties). Everything has to be perfect when Cruise arrives in Los Angeles, any of his desires has to be satisfied immediately, no matter how expensive. On the other side, Cruise is the main spokesperson, a “living advertisement” for Scientology and he openly supports the absolute power of Miscavige.

Why would a person become a Scientologist?

Considering only people who were not born within the Church but who made a conscious choice when joining and assuming that these people documented themselves before embracing the religion at least to the level of depth I reached for writing this article, why they joined remains for me the greatest mystery. However, my assumptions may be wrong and, nevertheless, I do understand, even if I disagree to, some of the reasons why a person would become a member of Scientology. Again, I think these reasons look very alike to those that would lead an individual to become Buddhist, Christian or Muslim.

I think, a first group of people have become Scientologists because they wanted to give their contribution to the human society or they were in search of a higher purpose, which they found in Scientology. During an interview, Spanky Taylor said, “This really looked like it was a solution to the handling of the world’s problems”. John Travolta himself believed in the higher purpose of the religion, which is to create a world without criminality, without war, and without insanity. A second group joined Scientology because they were looking for a solution to the problems in their lives. It is very common, even among atheist, to look up when in troubles, hoping there is something who will find a solution for them and Scientology presented itself as the Solution, no matter the problem. Many were lured in by the promise of putting an end to their suffering and loneliness. Others were instead attracted by the possibility to acquire new capabilities, to enhance their intelligence and to become generally more successful.

These reasons are all justifiable and everybody can say to have felt that way. The point is that, when we are faced with hard times in our lives, or when we feel we deserve more, or that we can do more for others, we can always choose how to satisfy these needs. Religions as Scientology can be a solution, but they are one in which we give up on our free will and we put all the responsibility in the hands of a higher authority. In my opinion, this is an easy way out, we are not enacting our change and we are depriving ourselves of the possibility to be the one improving our own lives.

Once we start believing in a religion, it is difficult to go back because it takes the courage to admit that the good, but also the bad and the ugly, were entirely our responsibility as individuals and human beings. Again Spanky Taylor said, “When you are in the organization all the good that happens to you is because of Scientology and everything that isn’t good is your fault”. So how brave has someone to be to give up on that and open his or her eyes? Hana Whitfield, who has been in Scientology for 19 years, said, “There is no explanation of why but faith. You just don’t see it happening to you, you justify it so much. And when you wake up you think your own life has been all a lie.”

In the title of this piece, I quoted Lawrence Wright, a journalist for the New Yorker and the author of the book Going Clear: Scientology, Hollywood, and the Prison of Belief, from which the documentary used for the quotes in this article, was derived. Therefore, I would simply like to conclude with another quote from Wright:

If we believe something we don’t really have to think by ourselves, do we?