Two weeks ago, in English class, we were having a discussion about The Catcher in the Rye and religion came up in the class discussion. At some point, our conversation somehow made its way to Scientology. Which is always fun especially if you believe it's acceptable to mistreat people on the basis of their religious briefs. Anyway, like most conversations about Scientology, it went downhill fast. Even faster than normal. An uniformed classmate noted that Scientology was not a religion, citing that it was stupid. They then added that "Church" of Scientology was a misnomer because Scientology is a cult. Oh man, there was a lot of ignorance in that room let me tell you.To be fair, many people are ignorant about Scientology. So recently, the Church of Scientology pulled a Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and started making, "And I'm a Scientologist" videos. But the public seems to have ignored both campaigns because they'd rather talk about magic underwear and Tom Cruise.
So what is Scientology?Well, it is a RELIGION. Scientology is a tax exempt religion in the United States, Italy, South Africa, Australia, Sweden, New Zealand, Portugal and Spain. So, at least legally, Scientology is a religion. Deal with it. The Church of Scientology can find its roots in L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics. Dianetics was Hubbard's self held system and it was established as a religion in 1953.
Core Beliefs:
So, now that we've established what Scientology is, what do its adherents believe?
The core belief of Scientology is, "Man is an immortal spiritual being. His experience extends well beyond a single lifetime. His capabilities are unlimited, even if not presently realized." (Church of Scientology).
Thetans and the Nature of Man
A thetan is you essentially, kind of like a soul. A man is different from his body and mind, he is a soul or thetan. A thetan is the subject of reincarnation and it has lost memory of its true nature.
The Eight Dynamics: Surviving
The first dynamic is self, "This is the effort to survive as an individual, to be an individual."
The Second dynamic is creativity, "Creativity is making things for the future and the Second Dynamic includes any creativity. The Second Dynamic contains the family unit and raising children as well as anything that can be categorized as a family activity. It also, incidentally, includes sex as a mechanism to compel future survival."
The third dynamic is group survival,"This is the urge to survive through a group of individuals or as a group. It is group survival with the group tending to take on a life and existence of its own." This can be any sort of group coworkers, family or friends.
The fourth dynamics is species, "Man’s Fourth Dynamic is the species of Mankind. This is the urge toward survival through all Mankind and as all Mankind." This is everyone not just a group, this is all human beings.
The fifth dynamic is life forms, "This is the urge to survive as life forms and with the help of life forms such as animals, birds, insects, fish and vegetation."
The sixth dynamic is physical universe, "The physical universe has four components. These are matter, energy, space and time. The Sixth Dynamic is the urge of the physical universe to survive, by the physical universe itself and with the help of the physical universe and each one of its component parts."
The seventh dynamic is spiritual dynamic and it is, "...the urge to survive as spiritual beings or the urge for life itself to survive...The Seventh Dynamic is life source."
The eighth dynamic is infinity which is, "The Eighth Dynamic also is commonly called God, the Supreme Being or Creator, but it is correctly defined as infinity. It actually embraces the allness of all. That is why, according to L. Ron Hubbard, “when the Seventh Dynamic is reached in its entirety, one will only then discover the true Eighth Dynamic.” This is discovering the divine.
Auditing is spiritual counseling practiced within the Church of Scientology.
Inside a Church of Scientology
The Church of Scientology is called a cult, well, all of time. Below, I've linked a video that exhibits the main activities within a Church of Scientology studying and learning.
I could go on and on, but like most belief systems, it would take hours to cover it all. It is a complex belief, one that is based primarily on the individual. Scientology is a religion, whether or not you believe in it doesn't matter. Because, at the end of the day, who are you tell someone they're beliefs are wrong? Frankly, you're no one and you're words aren't intelligent. They just make you look like an idiot.
I want to end this post by talking about South Park, Matt Stone, Trey Parker, and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Parker and Stone have made countless jokes about Mormon culture (its kind of a bubble) and theology. But at the end of the day, Stone and Parker are fascinated by LDS theology and are in some respects, Mormon apologists. Mormons have deemed the South Park episode, "All About Mormons," to be, ""unexpectedly, our best treatment." Why? Because the LDS/Mormon characters in this episode were nothing but compassionate and respectful, and at the end of the episode when they are judged for their religion, "Gary" gives the children an ultimatum. When you can't see past someone's religion, you have a lot of growing up to do. And we do have of growing up to do, after all we're only high schoolers. But its about now that we need to learn that our love and tolerance shouldn't be exclusive. If our love is exclusive, then we are not really open minded. So love one another, that's all I ask. Dont't knock people down because they're different.
Sexuality
Religion
Race
Wealth-
It doesn't matter. Love and look beyond the things you don't a agree with because compromise is just a part of this life.
L. Ron Hubbard said at least one thing right, "To love is the road to strength. To love in spite of all is the secret of greatness. And may very well be the greatest secret in this universe.”
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