They have been ridiculed on South Park and are widely known for the public testimonies Tom Cruise openly shares. It is the most rapidly growing religion in the 21st century with a membership of millions, in more than 50 languages and is established in 160 nations including every major city in the world. It is known as a cult to Evangelicals and to others as a life-changing religion. This new age religion called Scientology seems to be revolutionizing the world today.
After going to a chapel last year on Scientology, the subject interested me enough to go and visit the nearest Scientology church in Irvine. My roommate and I went and when we arrived,
“If anything freaky happens, tug on your ear as a signal to go,” I told her.
I was prepared to enter into a dangerous, brainwashing, cultic atmosphere. I experienced something very different.
L. Ron Hubbard founded scientology in 1950 when he released his first book, “Dianetics: a science of modern mental health.” The book took Hubbard 60 days to write and sold 100,000 copies in 3 months. It aimed to help the lonely, weak, confused and emotionally or mentally ill who are looking for solutions.
Scientology itself is in fact a religion that contains workable answers to the problems people face in their lives. It views man as a spiritual being, or better yet, a soul. Some people question why or how Scientology can be a religion; it has been considered one because “The Religious Factor, a Sociologist’s Inquiry” defines a religion as “a system of beliefs about the nature of force(s), ultimately shaping man’s destiny, and the practices associated therewith, shared by members of a group.”
“Scientology is popular among the world because it is a self-helping religion,” said Bible professor Dr. Walter Martin, an expert on cults and writer of “The Kingdom of the Cult.”
Martin explained in one of his sermons that people spend $15,000,000 to get a “clear.” This aspect of Scientology is one of the bases of the entire religion. Being “clear” is to be freed from active or potential psychosomatic illnesses or aberrations, to be unrepressed, or to have a stable mentality. They are “cleared” by their auditors to whom they pay thousands of dollars. These auditors are meant to sit and listen to a person as they express their deepest pains, desires, fears or regrets. Often times, they will use the “E-meter,” which is a machine that measures your stress or emotion level whenever something comes into your mind. They use these to entice people on their first visit or on the streets.
A pamphlet I received on my visit to the church expressed that “Scientology can be used by followers of any faith to achieve the goals man has cherished for so long.”
But would it be okay for Christians to use the teaching of L. Ron Hubbard? It would completely contradict our beliefs because it teaches that “only the spirit can save oneself” and says “you, as you are now, can do more good for yourself and for those around you than you ever imagined, and gain enormous personal satisfaction doing it.”
Their brochures, pamphlets, books, flyers and DVD’s are all about empowering oneself and doing it all on our own. Also, Scientology’s creed says, “man is basically good” which goes against everything the Bible tells us. We are born into sin and fall short from the glory of God.
Scientology’s Code of Honor rule #12 says to “never fear to hurt another in a just cause.” But Jesus always told us to turn the other cheek when we would get slapped. The view Scientology has on Christ is easily understood in Hubbard’s “What is Scientology?”
“Though crucified, the hope that Christ brought to man did not die. Instead, his death became symbolic of the triumph of the spirit over the material body and so brought a new awareness of man’s true nature.”
Dr. Martin describes Scientology as “a good mix between Hindu, Dharma, Old Testament wisdom, Greek philosophers, whole philosophy of religions put together and sprinkled it with psychology — and Hubbard was not even educated in psychology at all!”
When Dr. Martin was asked if Scientology was a cult, he answered, “Yes, it is because Biblically, the only way we receive spiritual freedom is through a redemptive heart with Christ.”
“They are at the height of egocentricity,” he continued. “We don’t need to be audited — we need to be born again. It won’t be found with an E-meter — it will be found at the foot of the cross.”
