Scientology

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Within the past twenty years scientology has dominated celebrity culture. The religion has increased its celebrity following, and as a consequence has been put in the spotlight. Scientology is a fairly new religion that was founded in the 1950s by L. Ron Hubbard. Hubbard started his career as a science fiction writer, but one day when he was under anesthesia at the dentist he had an epiphany that inspired Scientology. He believed he knew all the answers to the universe, and he wrote Dianetics, which has become a guide book for the religion (Christian Century). Scientology focuses on the soul and clarity of the mind. In scientology the soul is called a thetan, and followers are required to “undertake the path of mental liberation with the help of another person, a spiritual counselor called an auditor” (Molloy). Auditing how scientologists free and overcome problems from past lives that their thetan inhabited. Molloy says, that scientology has roots in Buddhism and Hinduism because of the connection to past lives and liberation of the soul. L. Ron Hubbard set out to make a thriving religion that would grow and prosper.
L. Ron Hubbard always had a fascination with recruiting celebrities to elevate the status of scientology. Early on when the religion was in its infancy, Hubbard created project celebrity, which was a plan to get the stars of the day to practice scientology (Sappell, Welkos). In essence it is a smart plan, especially for a religion that was and still is controversial. The difference between back then and now is that, in the past celebrities glamorized the religion, but now celebrities who follow scientology are mocked. The celebrity that gets ridiculed the most for being a scientologist is Tom Cruise. Today, his name...

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...n it created a Scientology episode titled, “Trapped in the Closet.” The episode revolved around the Church thinking one of the main characters was the reincarnation of L. Ron Hubbard. The episode was controversial in the Scientology community because it poked fun of celebrities, which the Church took legal action against. An ex Scientologist worker revealed, "In ’06 the creators of South Park, Trey Parker and Matt Stone, became targets of Corporate Scientology’s OSA. Operations were run in an attempt to silence Parker and Stone” (Church of Scientology Investigated). Reactions like this alienate the public because there is a stereotype that the Church sues and investigates dissenters of the religion, which creates a negative image. The public is weary of Scientology because it has a history of not fostering an inclusive environment that is tolerant of other opinions.

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