My Initial Assessment of The Church of Scientology.

This is my initial assessment of The Church of Scientology from my visit today to their 11am Sunday service. I do not have any prior affiliation with this church, nor am I active in any other church or religion. So this is my attempt at an unbiased review of a visit to their service. Everything in this post is what was presented to me today at the church, not based upon any outside readings.

What is Scientology? A religion founded by L. Ron Hubbard that is centered on the pursuit of knowledge, more specifically self knowledge. They believe that because we are created in the image of God, then the better we understand ourselves, the better we understand God. Founded in 1953.

There are eight dynamics in Scientology. Self, Sex and Family, Groups (i.e. your book club. Groups you affiliate yourself with), Mankind, All Life Forms (trees, flowers, etc.), The Universe, Spirituality, and Infinity (The One, The Big Cheese, The Supreme Being). 

This is similar to Maslow's hierarchy of needs in the sense that you have to get through the first to get to the second. And self actualization would be compared to the understanding of infinity. Or the push towards existing infinitely. 

The main symbol of Scientology is an 8 pointed cross. The cross that we all know and associate with Christianity also exists in Scientology. If I remember correctly, the horizontal bar on the cross symbolizes the tangible earth and us as people, and the vertical represents spirituality. And they intersect. The extra 4 points they add to their cross, totally 8 points, is just symbolic of the already said eight dynamics of life. 

Scientology is similar to Buddhism is the idea that they believe we have live past lives, and they have a method of pulling memories from those lives. It is called auditing, I think. You have be trained in this practice, and we didn't really discuss this enough that I can offer more on it. I do know that to revisit a past life is a more advanced level of Scientology. 

Scientology is not like other churches in a weekly Sunday service. Although I did attend their service that they offer on Sunday, this is pretty much for people like me that are curious just come to check things out. It was a short sermon and was read from one of Hubbard's books. The topic was "Happiness and Interest." The real "progress" in Scientology is in individual work studies. Hubbard wrote tons and tons of books, workshops, and studies for people practicing Scientology. There are also a lot of seminars that go on. 

In the main floor of the church they have panels set up that have little benches in front of a tv screen that show dvds with testimonies and what not. Similar to a museum. I watched the one over Dianetics, which is Hubbard's most famous book. I also watched one over Purification which is a major point in Scientology. It didn't directly say it, but it seemed like they do not believe in antibiotics? I could be totally wrong in that though. They do believe that we are constantly putting junk into our bodies and this weighs us down physically and spiritually. They do a detoxification to get rid of any toxins (i.e. nicotine). I also watched the panel on the history of L. Ron Hubbard himself, and that guy was fascinating. He actually went to Queen Anne High School, right by where I live. He traveled a ton to see and help the world. He was a published author before ever starting the Church of Scientology. Long story short, he was a very driven man who believed in the power of the mind. He saw devastation in the world wanted to fix it with our most powerful weapon, the mind. 

THINGS I LIKED:

1. An interesting point about Scientology that I did not know is how active they are in the world. They have an organization called Volunteer Ministries which is pretty much an aid group. They helped with the oil spill in the gulf, hurricane relief when Sandy hit, they man I was talking to said people in the church just got back from helping in Haiti. They gave me a dvd on it that once I watch I can expand more on. 

2. It is directly applicable to my life. Nothing in the teachings are metaphorical bushes burning or stories that I don't feel directly apply or relate to me. They are straightforward and not complex. Today we talked about how happiness is all about interest. Lesson: if you aren't happy then it is because you are not interested. Want to be happy? Find something that interests you, or alter what you are doing to meet your interest. I find that pretty damn applicable. 

3. Nothing is altered and we know exactly where everything came from. L. Ron Hubbard. He wrote everything. He does not hide that. Scientologists make it a point to not alter any of his works to keep them in the truest form. Philosophy of language is more important than other religions let on. 

4. What you believe does not rely on faith, everything has an answer. (This is what was presented to me, I am not fully sure that this is true yet)

THINGS I DID NOT LIKE:

1. Individual study. I like the idea of growing in a community and group and most of what you do is on your own. There are a couple of lessons that require what they call a "twin" but most do not. 

2. There are still a lot of things that I do not understand and they were not necessarily cleared up for me. There is a lot of bag stigma about Scientology in the media and this had to develop from something? I would like to talk with a Scientologist and see their opinion on this and maybe not be so mysterious. 

3. The people were mildly strange. They were very friendly but only the gentleman that showed me around seemed to show any real interest in me as a person. He was friendly and welcoming, very much so, but everybody else that was there was definitely not. If they are successfully  practicing, shouldn't they be happy and inspiring and everything that Scientology seems to say it can provide? 

4. It was very much like a museum. Little exhibits set up everywhere with pamphlets to take. It was not really a warm environment. In their defense though, I'm not sure they are really going for that kind of family environment, so I can't be mad at them for failing to provide it!

THINGS I WISH TO UNCOVER:

Where has all of the negative media developed from? Today I did not sense a cult atmosphere, just a very educated and reserved group of people. I have heard the most awful things about The Church of Scientology and I am very curious as to where those comments developed and why. 

I also want to know more about Scientology as a lifestyle. Is it? Is it something that turns into your life or can your already existent life just include these beliefs? 

Closing Note (for mom): I am not joining the Church of Scientology. I am simply exploring things that I do not understand. How can I claim to believe something one day and completely eliminate any other options when I never bothered to attempt to understand them? One can research religions all they want and attempt to grasp them, but I believe that by attempting to practice them myself I can make a valid and fully educated decision to believe or not believe in what I choose.