Scientology and Christianity Examined

With hard work and a fair bit of cash, all Scientologists can learn to do this

L. Ron Hubbard
"Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion"

Reader's Digest reprint, May 1980, p.1

Later he created the Church of Scientology.

Legal Threats against this web page!

Introduction

Introduction to L Ron Hubbard

Introduction to Scientology

Scientology is a religion invented by L. Ron Hubbard, a science fiction writer who died in 1986. It is a mixture of the 'science of mental health' and religious philosophy. They believe that through their technologies and practises they can, through their own effort, achieve immortality and spiritual fulfilment.

The official numbers put the church as "ministering to some 8 million people in more than 100 countries", although how many of those 8 million are active Scientologists is not mentioned.

The upper teachings of Scientology are similar to those of a UFO based religion. They teach that Earth is a prison planet, home to the souls of millions of murdered intergalactic beings. They teach that an evil galactic overload named Xenu had them all killed in order to solve a massive overcrowding problem. This is known as Incident 2. This is not a joke. These are the actual teachings of Scientology. Ex-members have confirmed it. For a complete analysis of Incident 2, please see http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/fishman/ot3.html.

Scientology claims to be compatible with all religions. This section looks at that claim, with a special focus on how it relates to orthodox Christianity.

Hear L. Ron Hubbard, the creator of Scientology, speak for himself . In these sound files, you will find Mr Hubbard

	Claim the the reason for the Islamic faith was because the trade in Mohammed's town wasn't very good, so he invented the faith to "boost" it a little
	Claim that man invented God
	Claim that there was no Christ
	The Christian faith is part of an implant, a false memory planted by an evil space alien
	Say that because Scientology and Christianity disagree, the Christian religion cannot be true
	Claim to have been nearly run down by a train on Venus. (yes, the planet Venus - i kid you not).
	A number of other things, that you'll just have to listen to yourself!

These pages are provided courtesy of Mike Gormez .  Visit his series of pages here.

Christianity

A Scientology book titled "Theology & Practice of a Contemporary Religion Scientology", (Bridge Publications, 1998. ISBN 1-57318-145-5) includes Bryan R. Wilson's essay "Scientology - An Analysis and Comparison of its Religion Systems and Doctrines". In this he says "Scientology differs radically from traditional Christian churches [ ... ] in matters of ideology, practice and organisation."

On the subject of dual membership with Scientology and other faiths, Dr Wilson says

"I have spoken with senior Church officials as well as individual Scientologists on the this aspect of Scientology and their response was that while exclusivity is not required, it comes about as a matter of practice. According to them, as one becomes more involved with Scientology, one inevitably discards one's prior faith. For example, my experience is that a Jew who becomes a Scientologist might remain affiliated with Judaism for cultural reasons and might celebrate Jewish holidays with family and friends, but he or she would not practise and would not believe in Jewish theology. From my view as a scholar this explanation seems correct. Scientologists regard their faith as a complete religion demanding dedication of its members."

As a Christian, you look to the bible for the word of God.  It's in there you find God's revelation to mankind.  You don't look else where for it.

New recruits to the Church of Scientology are told that they can practice their religion of choice and Scientology at the same time. The official introductory handbook "What is Scientology?" (1992) states (p 544):

"In Scientology there is no attempt to change a person's beliefs or to persuade him away from any religion to which he already belongs."

"Scientology is all-denominational in that it opens its membership to people of all faiths."

"Membership in Scientology does not mean that there is any necessity to leave your current church, synagogue, temple or mosque."

"Scientology respects all religions. Scientology does not conflict with other religions or other religious practices"

In 1993, the Church faced an inquiry by the American IRS, regarding their tax exempt status.  This quote shows that as a member of their Church, you are "expected" to be a Scientologist first and foremost.  The bible insists that a Christian put no other before God.  Since when does a Christian look to an organisation of men for enlightenment?

The Church of Spiritual Technology's Explanation to the IRS As To Why It Qualifies As a "Church" Described in Section 170(b)(1)(A)(i)."  It was reprinted in the December 1993 (Vol. 8, No. 6) issue of The Exempt Organization Tax Review, a publication of Tax Analysts, Inc.

The magazine gives as its source "Response to Final Series of IRS Questions Prior to Recognition of Exemption of CST Under Section 501(c)(3) As a Church on October 1, 1993.

Footnote 6: Although there is no policy or Scriptural mandate expressly requiring Scientologists to renounce other religious beliefs or membership in other churches, as a practical matter Scientologists are expected to and do become fully devoted to Scientology to the exclusion of other faiths.  As Scientologists, they are required to look only to Scientology Scriptures for the answers to the fundamental questions of their existence and to seek enlightenment only from Scientology. Thus, a Scientologist who grew up in the Jewish faith who continues formal membership in his synagogue and attends services with  his family violates no Scientology policy or tenet. On the other hand, such a person is not permitted to mix the practice of his former faith into his practice and understanding of Scientology so as to alter orthodox Scientology in any way.

You can read the full details of the final IRS agreement online here.  These documents were not released to the public for quite some time, but are now freely available on the Web.  It is a long read though.

About the Passion of Jesus Christ, the very basis for the Christian faith - The crucifixion, L Ron Hubbard says:

"Man is basically good but he could not attain expression of this until now. Nobody but the individual could die for his own sins -- to arrange things otherwise was to keep man in chains." ["What is Scientology?" (1992)] 

This quote is in direct opposition to the bible's claim that Jesus died for the sins of all.

Scientology on prayer

HCO PL 15 December 1965R Issue 1 Revised 25.7.87 STUDENT'S GUIDE TO ACCEPTABLE BEHAVIOR

"14. Do not engage in any rite, ceremony, practice, exercise,meditation, diet, food therapy or any similar occult, mystical, religious, naturopathic, homeopathic, chiropractic treatment or any other healing or mental therapy while on course without the express permission of the D of T, Case Supervisor and Ethics Officer."

What??  I'm not allowed to pray, take communion or join in worship without permission of three people?

Side by side comparison of Christianity and Scientology's teaching
Examine some of the teachings of Scientology, and compare them to basic Christian teachings.  This is a must read for anyone interested in if it's possible to be a faithful member of both faiths.  To quote something I read, "It is very possible to be a faithful Scientologist and a Christian.  It is not possible to be a faithful Christian and a Scientologist ".

Islam

Regarding Mohammed and Islam, Scientology says " By the way, the only reason he mocked that thing up, is the trade wasn't good in his hometown. That's right. You read the life of Mohammed ".  Mocked that thing up?  What sort of way is that to talk about the Islamic faith?

The Satanic and occult influence in Scientology

Aleister Crowley was a Satanist, and described himself as The Beast. You can read a brief outline of Crowley here. Crowley said this about Satan, the devil:

"I was not content to believe in a personal devil and serve him, in the ordinary sense of the word. I wanted to get hold of him personally and become his chief of staff." Aleister Crowley, _The_Confessions_of_Aleister_Crowley_, chapter 5 (1929; revised 1970).

To the best of my knowledge, Mr Hubbard was not a disciple of Crowley, but he was a fan. Crowley on the other hand is reported to have been in despair over Hubbard and his followers, calling them idiots. LRH made reference to him in several of his lectures, and even called Crowley "my good friend" at least once. You can listen to Hubbard say exactly that in this sound file.

Another interesting thing to look at is the Scientology cross. This is their symbol. You can see the huge similarity between Crowley's cross and the one Mr Hubbard adopted for his new religion.



This clearly shows that the founder of Scientology was so impressed by A. Crowley's work, that he adopted his symbol. An interesting source of information exploring the idea of Hubbard and a connection with the occult is found at this web page.

The fact that L. Ron Hubbard was fascinated by/interested in the occult needs to be kept in mind when evaluating what they teach. The techniques and processes used by Scientologists all over the world come from LRH, a man influenced by the occult and Aleister Crowley, a Satanist.

For a much more exhaustive study on the subject, please refer to this report written by Jon Atack. These are a long read, but worth the effort if you're interested in the subject.

	LRH and the Occult, Part 1
	LRH and the Occult, Part 2
	LRH and the Occult, Part 3
	LRH and the Occult, Part 4

A fuller examination of religion and Scientology can be found here. I strongly recommend everybody who is serious about studying Scientology, L. Ron Hubbard and his relationship with other world religions to read this rather long page. It is heavy going, but worth the effort. I don't know of a better examination of the subject.

My thanks go to Perry Scott for allowing me to make a local mirror of his wonderful page.

Scientology and Others

Lisa McPherson

Here is the tragic story of Lisa McPherson.   On November 18 1995 Lisa was taken to hospital for treatment and physiological assessment, following a car accident. Lisa was a member of the Church of Scientology.  Members of that organisation took her from the hospital to their facilities.  On December 5, she was rushed to hospital, and wad dead on arrival. On November 13, 1998, Scientology was indicted on 2 felony charges in Lisa's death. These criminal charges against Scientology for criminal neglect of a disabled person and practicing medicine without a license were dropped in June 2000, although they are being sued by Lisa's family in a civil suit. Scientology says various areas of the case have been falsified. It seems the criminal side of this story is over, so you'll have to read all the details and make up your own mind as to what really happened. I can't find any official Scientology response to the criticism surrounding Lisa's death, although there is a web page describing the civil suit as a Money-Grab Plot. You can follow the civil suit here..

For more information regarding deaths of people associated with Scientology please check out the Deaths in Scientology Home Page.

Enemies

If you're unlucky enough to make their "enemy" list, then you can expect trouble and harassment.  Especially interesting is the practice of Dead Agenting In this document, LRH says

If there will be a long-term threat, you are to immediately evaluate and originate a black PR campaign to destroy the person's repute and to discredit them so thoroughly that they will be ostracized. (LRH)

So much for discussion of the issues. But it gets better. There is also the church doctrine of Fair Game. In this, LRH says that anybody declared a Suppressive Person can be injured in any way, have their property stolen or seized, lied to, sued or destroyed. Lovely. Remember, this is official church doctrine.

Now then, it must be said that Scientologists say that Mr Hubbard latter issued a cancellation of this Fair Game policy, due to wide spread misunderstanding and abuse of it. Please email me if you can explain how I can misinterpret "sued or lied to or destroyed". And anyway, it's untrue - Fair Game wasn't cancelled at all. Only the practise of publicly declaring people fair game was cancelled. In fact, the policy letter that Scientologists hold up as proof as cancellation says

"This P/L does not cancel any policy on the treatment or handling of an SP."

So there you have it. Fair Gaming exists, they just don't publicly tell you about it. Even worse is the reason LRH cancelled Fair Game. It wasn't because of a moral disgust, such as the rest of the world might have, it was because It caused bad PR.

Jon Atack writes in "The cancellation of Fair Game":

77. In Wollersheim v. Church of Scientology of California (the "mother church" of the Churches of Scientology at the time the suit was filed), the California Appeal Court ruled, in a decision upheld by the US Supreme Court: "Wollersheim was compelled to abandon his wife and his family through the policy of disconnect. When his mental illness reached such a level he actively planned his suicide, he was forbidden to seek professional help. Finally, when Wollersheim was able to leave the Church, it subjected him to financial ruin through its policy of 'fair game'." (JCA-147, pp.A-7, 15 & 16). At appeal, Scientology asserted that "fair game" was a "core practice of Scientology", and therefore protected as "religious expression". This position was also made on behalf of Scientology in the case against Gerald Armstrong, in 1984, by religious expert Dr. Frank Flinn (JCA-45).

JCA-45. Frank K. Flinn testimony in Church of Scientology of California, 1984, vol.23, pp.4032-4160. JCA-147. Wollersheim v. Church of Scientology of California, Court of Appeal of the State of California, civ.no.B023193, 18 July 1989 (upheld by the U,S. Supreme Court, 7 March 1994).

Do you still think this is over exaggerated?  Read the story of Paulette Cooper.  In 1970 she published a book criticizing Scientology called "The Scandal of Scientology".  The reaction of the church was "Operation Freakout".  One action they took was to forge bomb threats, even planning on a threat against Henry Kissinger in Paulette's name.  Because of this she was arrested and charged.  Read the whole story and see Scientology's reaction to this woman.

L. Ron Hubbard on lying to people

It seems to me LRH is saying that lying to people is A Good Thing, because of the power it gives you. Here he encourages Scientologists around the world to consider everybody who is trying to have power over them as a liar. He also says organised religion are all liars too. Does this include judges and police as well? How about school teachers? This is fascinating. It clearly shows, in my opinion, how Mr Hubbard views the world around him. It shows a degree of paranoia and distrust for humanity which is interesting for a man who claims to have developed mental health techniques and wants to help everybody. This page comes from Karin Spaink, a critic and believer in free speech. Her homepage has the first legal copy of a remarkable document, known as the Fishman Affidavit. Scientology desperately wants this information off the internet, and have sued a number of people to try and stop the spread of this information. Some of their most valuable ($$$$ wise) secrets are in this affidavit. The "OT" documents mentioned are significant, because it is here the church member learns of Xenu, the intergalactic space overlord, and his crimes against the galaxy.

The price of Scientology

Just what does it cost to go through the ranks ("going up the Bridge")? Well, now you know. This document also is curtsy of Karin Spaink.

A Scientology classic quote: How to justify beating your wife

According to L Ron Hubbard himself, it's because she started the fight, so it's her fault. This quote is a direct link to a Scientology run web site, so they're obviously proud of this point of view.

Margery Wakefield

Margery has written a number of books for the internet, based on her 12 years experience in Scientology.  Her testimony is a very tragic story, and needs to be read to see how she was treated in her time of need.  When she needed the help and support of her church, they cast her out.  You can read the following stories online here.

	The Road to Xenu (1991)
	Understanding Scientology (1991)
	What Christians Should Know about Scientology (1991)
	Testimony (1996)

Web Links about Scientology
Xenu.net

Prominent among the critics of Scientology is Andreas Heldal-Lund.  His site has information regarding almost every aspect of the Church.  Read what the FBI think of L. Ron Hubbard! These documents were seized by the FBI following a raid on Scientology property. Kind of makes you wonder what the FBI are so worried about, doesn't it.

Secrets
Learn how to build Scientology's Lie Detector!

Front Groups
See what organisations are owned and controlled by Scientology.

Information

This site is maintained by Bradley Woodward.  You can contact me at my email address here.  I have a PGP key here for the cautious. For people in Western Australia, please contact Steve Zadarnowski.

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