Anonymous asked this question on 4/24/2000:
I got into Dianetics for a while in the 1970s and got a lot out of it, but I never understood what it had to do with Religion.
Don't get me wrong, Dianetics was awesome, it totally empowered me - but I think of Religion in terms of my upbringing (I was raised Catholic).
desertphile gave this response on 4/24/2000:
Hi Larry. I suspect you're going to tell us all "why Scientology is a religion," which I'm sure every one is looking forward to. Why you would ask and answer your own begging- the-question "question" is perhaps a question a psychotherapist can answer.
My answer to you is: what does it matter if non-Scientologists believe Scientology is or is not a religion? Could it be because you and your Church have a POLITICAL agenda that requires people to believe the Church of Scientology is a religion? When people criticize Scientology's actions, religion does not apply.
There are several reasons why some people believe Scientology is a religion. The most common reason is because they are told it is. However, the person who was put in charge of making people believe it is a religion, Robert Vaughn Young, insists that the reason for doing so was political and financial. See http://holysmoke.org/rvy/rvy.htm (and thank you to whoever pointed me to this site! It's excellent.).
See HCOPL 29 Oct. 1962. Plus read the letter to Hellen O'Brien by Hubbard, dated in 1953, quoted here in part:
"I await your reaction on the religion angle. In my opinion, we couldn't get worse public opinion than we have had or have less customers with what we've got to sell. A religious charter would be necessary in Pennsylvania or NJ to make it stick. But I sure could make it stick. We're treating the present time beingness, psychotherapy treats the past and the brain. And brother, that's religion, not mental science. / Best Regards, / Ron."
When all is said and done, it does not matter if Scientologists believe Scientology is a religion. It is a non-issue.
If you wish to know more about the question of "is Scientology a religion" Larry, do an internet search for the following title:
"Scientology: Religion or Intelligence Agency? The view from the lion's den. A paper by Jon Atack, delivered at the Dialog Centre International conference in Berlin, October 1995."
And here is a very small extract of the text:
"I was a member of the Scientology cult for nine years. During that time I undertook many courses and by the time I left was in the middle of the 24th of the 27 available 'levels' of Scientology - the fifth section of the Operating Thetan course. I left when I began to find out about the hidden agenda and activities of Scientology which I describe in this paper. Along with most scientologists, I had no idea of these disgraceful, immoral and criminal activities. I believed that I was a member of a vital, world-saving group which would lead to a world without 'criminals, insanity or war', as Scientology leader Ron Hubbard claimed. (1) I resigned from the Church of Scientology in 1983, and began to interview other former members and collect court documents and testimony relating to Scientology. Seven years later, my book A Piece of Blue Sky was published, after a court battle in New York. Former Hubbard aide, Robert Vaughn Young whose excellent article was published in a recent Spiegel magazine has called my book the definitive work on Scientology. I have spoken with literally hundreds of former members, and read tens of thousands of pages of records and court documents, ranging from Hubbard's college and navy records through to the revelations of high-ranking defectors as recorded in sworn testimony. I have endeavoured to make this information a matter for urgent public debate.
"My quest to understand and to help the many people damaged by Scientology has led me to public humiliation and bankruptcy. I have been the target of a massive campaign of harassment and vilification. Because I would not give up my right to free speech and open public debate, Scientologists have set out to destroy me. I have been a tiny David oppressed by a Goliath of dreadful proportions. Scientology has tens of thousands of followers and hundreds of millions of dollars. I have only my desire for the truth and my belief in humanity.
"[....]"
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