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Church of scientology cult beliefs
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L ron hubbard teachings
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Developed by L. Ron Hubbard in December of 1953, Scientology addresses the spirit and believes man is far more than a product of his environment (Scientology website…). L. Ron Hubbard coined the term Scientology and defined as “the study and handling of spirit in relationship to itself, universes, and other life” (Scientology website). L. Ron Hubbard started this idea as he studied the human mind following his stent in the Navy. Driven by two tests of life: “Did one do as one intended? And were people glad one lived?,” (Ron Hubbard Website) L. Ron Hubbard can not simply be categorized as the Founder of Dianetics and Scientology, but more as an educator to all. His work across the globe is a testament to the impact Hubbard made on others.
Excalibur, one of L. Ron Hubbard’s first works in 1938, first introduces the idea of Scientology. While the work was not published, the central belief that man is far more than a product of his environment is first introduced here (Rontthephilospher). Following Excalibur in 1948, L. Ron Hubbard published his first of
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Just two years later, the first Church of Scientology is founded in Los Angeles, California. In 1956, the Church of Scientology is granted United States federal tax-exempt status. In 1959, L. Ron Hubbard moved to England and bought Saint Hill Mansion in Sussex, England. Here L. Ron Hubbard would direct international operations and expansion until 1967. Just twelve years after receiving tax-exempt status, the IRS strips Scientology of this status. In 1967, the first organization offering the advanced levels of scientology to the public is established abroad in Royal Scotman. The Church of Scientology Celebrity Centre in Los Angeles is founded in 1970. Sixteen years later, tradegy struck the Scientology community as L. Ron Hubbard dies after suffering a stroke at his ranch near San Luis Obispo,
During a visit to Mexico, Gordon Wasson, a mycologist, discovered the use of psilocybin mushroom in spiritual ceremonies by Indian tribes. Upon experiencing the spiritual and hallucinatory effects of the mushroom, Wasson returned to the area accompanied by an experienced mycologist, Roger Heim, who managed to cultivate the mushroom once in France and send samples of it to the scientist who had discovered lysergic acid, Albert Hoffman. From the mushrooms, Hoffman successfully isolated two compounds which he further named psilocybin and psilocin. Analogs of these compounds were further synthesized and were employed mainly for psychotherapeutic uses. Many tests on psilocybin were made at Harvard University in the early 1960’s. However, along with LSD, psilocybin became a scheduled substance in 1970, making it illegal. During this time, psilocybin mushrooms became a part of the psychedelic and hippy movement and were used for recreational and spiritual purposes. Research on psilocybin ended in the late 1980’s because of strict rules imposed by the government but recently scientist have started researching on this chemical once more.
Boyer, B., Boyer, R., & Basehart, H. 1973. Hallucinogens and Shamanism M. Hamer, Ed.. England: Oxford University Press.
Going Clear: Scientology and the Prison of Belief, a documentary directed by Alex Gibney in 2015, is a remarkable film which succeeds in deconstructing the church's claim by presenting how it is excessively authoritarian, financially exploitative, and brainwashing their adherents.
According to dictionaries a cult is 1) a system of religious worship or ritual. 2) A religion or sect considered extremist of false. 3) Obsessive devotion to a person or principle. It is believed that every cult ties into some kind of religion, and religions all have a common basis of “a leap of faith”. Whether this so-called leap of faith is going to heaven or being reincarnated, or moving on to some other planet, depends on the beliefs of the cult itself.
The Heaven’s Gate Cult was founded in the early 1970’s by Marshall Applewhite and Bonnie Nettles. Applewhite was recovering, under the care of his nurse Ms. Nettles, when he claimed to have has a near death experience. Applewhite claimed that he and Nettles were the two witnesses spoken of in the Book of Revelation. And they were to prepare the worlds inhabitants for recycling.
When dystopias are mentioned, books like Aldous Huxley's A Brave New World come to mind, but no one ever thinks of modern, popular religions. The goal of these books are to warn the modern society of what could go wrong if it keeps behaving like it is by exaggerating the flaws of the modern society. Scientology is a fairly new religion that has gained many followers over the past decade because of its illusion of a utopia, but it is also exactly what Huxley and Orwell are warning about in their books. Like A Brave New World, The church of scientology started off with good intentions, but over time all the rules and beliefs have turned out to be corrupt and unfair. Utopias like in A Brave New World and Scientology often become dystopias because
The history of Scientology shows its persistence to keep their members with the promise of spiritual enlightenment. Scientology was founded in the mid-twentieth century by renowned science-fiction author L Ron Hubbard. (Sweeney) The basic foundation of the church stems from the ideas of his best-selling book, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. (Anderson) Dianetics was published on May 9, 1950, and the date would become recognized among Scientologists as a religious holiday. Hubbard claimed that the discovery of the science of dianetics is “a milestone for Man comparable to his discovery of fire and superior to his inventions of the wheel and the arch” (Reitman 58). The book’s ideas encourage humanity to rid the individual of any of their mental weaknesses (18). It went on to make its way up the bestseller list by the summer o...
Opinions vary as to why people are drawn to cults. “Martin Marty, professor of religious history at the University of Chicago, attributes the growth of cults to the frustrations of seemingly rootless people”(U.S. News and World Report 23). Marty’s classification of a rootless person is a person who is overly frustrated by modern life and is at a loss for direction. Often the rootless individual will “short-circuit and try to hook their lives to any guiding spirit” (U.S. News and World Report 23).
There are different cults all across the world. All different cults have distinctly different beliefs and devotions. For instance, there are some cults that are formed to follow a particular real life figure, and some cults that are formed to follow (or worship) a spiritual being,that might be part of a certain organized religion.
In an attempt to synthesize my own personal academic area of interest, that is: the history of the psychedelic movement in twentieth century America, with the content of the Asian Religions course, I have elected to study the relationship between the influx of Buddhist philosophy and the psychedelic counter-culture movement of the 1960’s and 1970’s. The subject, although highly specific, has nonetheless generated intellectual interest substantial enough to warrant a sub-field of study, in terms of Buddhist/American History examination. This paper will focus on the thought of the main harbingers of this movement, specifically Aldous Huxley, Alan Watts, and Dr. Timothy Leary. This study will also examine the corruptions of classical Buddhist philosophy wrought by these intellectuals concerned with integrating the psychedelic experience in an Eastern context. The connection between Buddhism and psychedelics in the American experience is a subject of contention because of the controversial associations of chemically altered perception as compared to traditional Bodhicitta, or the mind of enlightenment. The author Emma Layman, in her book Buddhism in America, asserts:
Jenna Miscavige Hill, Beyond Belief: My Secret Life Inside Scientology and My Harrowing Escape, (William Morrow, 2013).
Psychodynamic psychotherapy was first started by Freud who worked to make this therapy better from 1885 when he began until he passed away in 1939. When Freud first began his first approach to psychoanalytic theory was primarily biological. As years past Freud changed his thoughts and views and it eventually evolved into the therapy it is today. (Borstein,2016)
While Europeans are far more skeptical of Scientology, and “Germany has been trying to ban it for decades”, there are countless Americans who have allowed themselves to be seduced by this church (Sperling 15). A great deal of the population, has specifically been acquired through the church’s “most famous advocate” Tom Cruise (Farrow 28). Cruise has essentially become a cheerleader for the organization, even going as far as to set up Scientology tents on the sets of movies he is in. In fact, after Cruise spoke out about the faith, the Scientology website saw an increase in site visits by 263% (Farrow 30). It is safe to say, that this religion would not have grown to it’s current status without celebrity endorsements, especially Cruise’s and this is why Cruise will find him new place of residence in the sixth circle of Hell. Cruise is the antithesis of everything Roman Catholic and therefore is the epitome of a heretic, as defined earlier. In order to nullify his dedication to The Church of Scientology, Cruise’s Hell will consist of him being forced to endure a never ending Catholic mass, delivered in Latin.
“Free Personality Testing – Come this way!” read the sign out front of Scientology’s Castlereagh Street headquarters.
The Church of Scientology was founded in 1954 by a popular science-fiction writer named L. Ron Hubbard, most notably attached to Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. Hubbard was born March 13th,1911 in Tilden, Nebraska. At the age of 16, Hubbard enrolled as a junior at Helena High School and moved in with his grandparents. That same year, “He begins his interest in black magic by reading Aleister Crowley’s The Book of the Law and begins to use drugs to improve his magical powers.” In 1930, Hubbard joins a Marine Corps Reserve Training Unit and is placed inactive for almost the 18