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The Church of Scientology is the largest organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. Church of Scientology International is the mother church of the Scientology religion, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and propagation of Scientology. Every Church of Scientology is separately incorporated and has its own local board of directors and executives responsible for its own activities and well-being, both corporate and ecclesiastical. The church has been the subject of much controversy.

History

The first Scientology church was established in December 1953 in Camden, New Jersey by American Science Fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, his wife Mary Sue Hubbard, John Galusha and a few other early Dianeticists, although the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International (HASI) had been operating already since 1952 and Hubbard had been selling Scientology books and other items. Soon after, he explained the religious nature of Scientology in a bulletin to all Scientologists, stressing its relation to the Dharma.

Hubbard's stated the "Aims of Scientology" to be "A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights, are the aims of Scientology."

Hubbard had official control of the organization only until 1966 when this function was transferred to a group of executives. Though Hubbard maintained no formal relationship to Scientology's management he remained firmly in control of the organization and its affiliated organizations.

In May 1987 David Miscavige, one of Hubbard’s former personal assistants, assumed the position of Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center (RTC), a non-profit corporation that administers the trademarked names and symbols of Dianetics and Scientology. Although RTC is a separate corporation from the Church of Scientology International, whose president and chief spokesperson is Heber Jentzsch, Miscavige is the effective leader of the movement.

Controversy

Though it has attained some credibility as a religion, the church has also been described as both a cult and a commercial enterprise. Some of the Church's actions also brought scrutiny from the press and law enforcement. For example, it has been noted to engage in harassment and abuse of civil courts to silence its critics.

Illegal activities

SCIENTOLOGY IS A LIE

Member's health and safety

The death of some Scientologists has brought attention to the Church both due to the circumstances of their demise and relationship with Scientology possibly being a factor. In 1995, Lisa McPherson was involved in a minor automobile accident while driving on a Clearwater, Florida street. Following the collision, she exited her vehicle, stripped naked and showed further signs of mental instability for which the state of Florida wanted to evaluate possible treatment of. Representatives from the Church acting as her guardian had her removed from the state's facility against advice. They returned McPherson for what the Church calls an Introspection Rundown, which they believed would treat her symptoms. When she later died questions about whether she should have been released to the Church and its methods of treatment spurred Florida to pursue criminal charges against the Church which also gained press coverage and sparked lawsuits. Eight years later, Elli Perkins, another adherent to Scientology's beliefs regarding psychiatry was stabbed to death by her mentally disturbed son. Though he had begun to show symptoms of schizophrenia as early as 2001, the Perkins family chose not to seek psychiatric help and opted instead for remedies sanctioned by Scientology.

Churches, missions and major Scientology centers

SCIENTOLOGY IS A LIE

Sea Org

The Sea Organization (often shortened to "Sea Org") was founded in 1967 by L. Ron Hubbard, as he embarked on a series of voyages around the Mediterranean Sea in a small fleet of Scientology-crewed cruise ships. Hubbard—formerly a lieutenant junior grade in the US Navy—bestowed the rank of "Commodore" of the vessels upon himself. The crew who accompanied him on these voyages became the foundation of the Sea Org.

"Orgs", such as "Los Angeles Org", are semi-autonomous organizations which staff themselves as they see fit. The Sea Org is a more dedicated, more elite group within Scientology which exclusively staffs the higher Orgs. The Advanced Organization of Los Angeles, for example, is staffed by Sea Org members. While every Org enforces rules and administers disciplinary procedures within its own portion of the larger organization which is the CoS, Sea Org members hold the highest jobs. The Sea Org is frequently characterized as the "elite" of Scientology, both in terms of power within the organization and dedication to the cause. Scientologists seeking to advance within the organization are encouraged to join the Sea Org, which involves devoting their full time to Scientology projects in exchange for meals, berthing and a nominal honorarium. Members sign a contract pledging their loyalty to Scientology for "the next billion years," committing their future lifetimes to the Sea Org. The Sea Org's motto is "Revenimus" (or "We Come Back").

Disciplinary procedures and policies within the Sea Org have been a focus of critics who argue that Scientology is an abusive cult. During the original Sea Org's Mediterranean tour, Hubbard applied a variety of physical punishments, including the practice of "overboarding," or throwing offenders over the side of the ship. Former Sea Org members have stated that punishments in the late 1960's and early 1970's included confinement in hazardous conditions such as the ship's chain locker. The Rehabilitation Project Force or RPF was established in 1974 to provide a "second chance" to Sea Org members whose offensive against the Church were such that they would otherwise have been fired. In laymen’s terms, they could be said to be experiencing burnout, or to have severely violated the rules of the Sea Organization. RPF members are paired up and help one another for five hours each day with spiritual counseling to resolve the issues for which they were assigned to the program. The also spend 8 per day doing physical labor that will benefit the Church facility where they are located. On verification of their having completed the program they are then given a Sea Org job again.

Volunteer Ministers

The Church of Scientology began its "Volunteer Ministers" program as a way to participate in community outreach projects. Over the past several years, it has become a common practice for Volunteer Ministers to travel to the scenes of major disasters in order to provide assistance with relief efforts. According to critics, these relief efforts consist of passing out copies of a pamphlet authored by L. Ron Hubbard entitled The Way to Happiness, and engaging in a method said to calm panicked or injured individuals known in Scientology as a "touch assist." Over the past few years Volunteer Ministers have provided help in India, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Indonesia after the 2004 tsunamis, in Pakistan after the 2005 earthquake, throughout the Gulf Coast, Florida and the Caribbean after during the 2005 hurricane season (including over 900 VMs who traveled to Louisiana and Mississippi to help with the Hurricane Katrina and Rita relief effort). Volunteer Minister teams also helped after the 2006 Yogyakarta Earthquake, Typhoon Durian in the Philippines, bush fires in Australia and South Africa, the 2007 Solomon Islands tsunami, and Indonesia floods.

Religious Technology Center (RTC)

Around 1982 all of the Hubbard's intellectual property was transferred to a newly formed entity called the Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) and then licensed to the Religious Technology Center (RTC) which, according to its own publicity, exists to safeguard and control the use of the Church of Scientology's copyrights and trademarks.

The RTC employs lawyers and has pursued individuals and groups who have legally attacked Scientology or who are deemed to be a legal threat to Scientology. This has included breakaway Scientologists who practice Scientology outside the central church and critics, as well as numerous government and media organizations. This has helped to maintain Scientology's reputation for litigiousness (see Scientology and the legal system).

Missionary activities

Members of the public entering a Scientology center or mission are offered a "free personality test" called the Oxford Capacity Analysis by Scientology literature. The test, despite its name and the claims of Scientology literature, has no connection to Oxford University or any other research body. Scientific research into three test results came to the conclusion that "we are forced to a position of skepticism about the test's status as a reliable psychometric device" and called its "scientific value," "negligible".

Further proselytization practices - commonly called "dissemination" of Scientology - include information booths, fliers and advertisement for free seminars, Sunday Services in regular newspapers and magazines, personal contacts and sales of books

Legal waivers

Recent legal actions involving Scientology's relationship with its members (see Scientology controversy) have caused the organization to publish extensive legal documents that cover the rights granted to followers. It has become standard practice within the organization for members to sign lengthy legal contracts and waivers before engaging in Scientology services, a practice that contrasts greatly with almost every mainstream religious organization. In 2003, a series of media reports examined the legal contracts required by Scientology, which state, among other things, that followers deny any psychiatric care their doctors may prescribe to them.

I do not believe in or subscribe to psychiatric labels for individuals. It is my strongly held religious belief that all mental problems are spiritual in nature and that there is no such thing as a mentally incompetent person — only those suffering from spiritual upset of one kind or another dramatized by an individual. I reject all psychiatric labels and intend for this Contract to clearly memorialize my desire to be helped exclusively through religious, spiritual means and not through any form of psychiatric treatment, specifically including involuntary commitment based on so-called lack of competence. Under no circumstances, at any time, do I wish to be denied my right to care from members of my religion to the exclusion of psychiatric care or psychiatric directed care, regardless of what any psychiatrist, medical person, designated member of the state or family member may assert supposedly on my behalf.

Government opinion of Scientology

United States

In 1979 Hubbard's wife, Mary Sue Hubbard, along with ten other highly placed Scientology executives were convicted in United States federal court regarding Operation Snow White, and served time in an American federal prison. Operation Snow White involved infiltration, wiretapping and theft of documents in government offices, most notably those of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS).

In 1993, however, the United States IRS recognized Scientology as a "non-profit charitable organization," and gave it the same legal protections and favorable tax treatment extended to other non-profit charitable organizations. A New York Times article says that Scientologists paid private investigators to obtain compromising material on the IRS commissioner and blackmailed the IRS into submission. Six levels of indents down in the eventually leaked "closing agreement," the IRS is contractually required to discriminate in their treatment of Scientology to the exclusion of all other groups.

"The following actions will be considered to be a material breach by the Service: ... The issuance of a Regulation, Revenue Ruling or other pronouncement of general applicability providing that fixed donations to a religious organization other than a church of Scientology are fully deductible unless the Service has issued previously or issues contemporaneously a similar pronouncement that provides for consistent and uniform principles for determining the deductibility of fixed donations for all churches including the Church of Scientology".

In a 2001 legal case involving a married couple attempting to obtain the same deduction for charity to a Jewish school, it was stated by Judge Silverman:

"An IRS closing agreement cannot overrule Congress and the Supreme Court. If the IRS does, in fact, give preferential treatment to members of the Church of Scientology—allowing them a special right to claim deductions that are contrary to law and rightly disallowed to everybody else—then the proper course of action is a lawsuit to put a stop to that policy."

To date (2008) such a suit is not known to have been filed. In further appeal in 2006, the US Tax Court again rejected couple's deduction, stating "We conclude that the agreement reached between the Internal Revenue Service and the Church of Scientology in 1993 does not affect the result in this case."

However, this matter is still ongoing. On February 8, 2008, three judges in the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals "expressed deep skepticism" over the IRS's preferential treatment of Scientology.

Australia

In the 1960s Scientology was banned in three states in Australia, as a result of the Anderson Report, published in 1965. Specific legislation was made to counter it in South Australia. The High Court of Australia dealt with the question whether Scientology is a religion. The unanimous opinion of that Court was that Scientology is a religion.

Europe

Foreign Scientologists were banned from entering the United Kingdom between 1968 – 1980 but were allowed later on. In 1999 an application by Scientology for charitable status was rejected after the authorities decided its activities were not of general public benefit. In the United Kingdom the Charity Commission does not class Scientology as a religion on financial grounds.

In Germany and Russia, official views of Scientology are particularly skeptical. In Germany it is seen as a totalitarian organization and is under observation by national security organizations due, among other reasons, to suspicion of violating the human rights of his members granted by the German Constitution including Hubbard's pessimistic view on democracy vis-à-vis psychiatry and other such features. In December 2007, Germany's top security officials said that they considered the goals of Church of Scientology to be in conflict with the principles of the nation's constitution and would seek to ban the organization..

The Federal Labor Court of Germany ruled in 2002 that Scientology staff were not employees per se but association members that do not work for profit but for idealistic goals and spiritual improvement. This reversed a 1995 ruling by the same court that stated an employer-employee relationship existed.

In France a parliamentary report classified Scientology as a dangerous cult. In the United Kingdom, Germany and Canada the organization is not regarded as meeting the legal standards for being considered a bona fide religion or charity.

The European Court of Human Rights ruled in 2007 that Russia's denial to register the Church of Scientology as a religious community was a violation of Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (freedom of assembly and association) read in the light of Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion)".

In September 2007 a Belgian prosecutor announced that they had finished an investigation of Scientology and said they would probably bring charges. The church said the prosecutor's public announcement falsely suggested guilt even before a court could hear any of the charges. An administrative court has yet to decide whether to press charges against the Scientologists.

On 31 October 2007 the National Court in Madrid issued a decision recognizing that the National Church of Scientology of Spain should be entered in the Registry of Religious Entities. The administrative tribunal of Madrid's High Court ruled that a 2005 justice ministry decision to scrap the church from the register was "against the law." Responding to a petition filed by the church, the ruling said that no documents had been presented in court to demonstrate it was anything other than a religious entity..

Israel

In Israel, according to Israeli professor of psychology Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, "in various organizational forms, Scientology has been active among Israelis for more than thirty years, but those in charge not only never claimed the religion label, but resisted any such suggestion or implication. It has always presented itself as a secular, self-improvement, tax-paying business." Those "organizational forms" include a Scientology Organization in Tel Aviv. Another Israeli Scientology group called "The Way to Happiness" (or "Association for Prosperity and Security in the Middle East") works through local Scientologist members to promote The Way to Happiness. An Israeli CCHR chapter runs campaigns against abuses in psychiatry. Other Scientology campaigns, such as "Youth for Human Rights International" are active as well. There is also an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group that opposes Scientology and other religions in Israel, Lev L'Achim, whose anti-missionary department in 2001 provided a hotline and other services to warn citizens of Scientology's "many types of front organizations".

Summary

Early official reports in countries such as the United Kingdom (1971), South Africa (1972), Australia (1965) and New Zealand (1969) have yielded unfavorable observations and conclusions.

While a number of governments now give the Church of Scientology protections and tax relief as an officially recognized religion, other sources describe the Church as a pseudoreligion or a cult. Sociologist Stephen Kent published at a Lutheran convention in Germany that he likes to call it a transnational corporation. Sociology Professor James A. Beckford, Professor for Religion Per-Arne Berglie , Sociology Professor Alan W. Black , Professor for Religion Juha Pentikainen and several others generally found it to be a religious organization.

Finances

Scientologists are expected to attend classes, exercises or counseling sessions, for a set range of fees (or "fixed donations"). Charges for auditing and other church-related courses run from hundreds to thousands of dollars. A wide variety of entry-level courses, representing 8 to 16 hours study, cost under $100 (US). More advanced courses require membership in the International Association of Scientologists (IAS), have to be taken at higher level Orgs, and have higher fees. Membership without courses or auditing is possible, but the higher levels cannot be reached this way. In 1995, Operation Clambake, a website critical of scientology, estimated the cost of reaching "OT 9 readiness", one of the highest levels, is US $365,000 – $380,000., assuming the most expensive route. Scientologists can choose to be audited by a fellow Scientologists rather than by a staff member.

Scientologists are frequently encouraged to become Professional Auditors as a way of earning their way up the Bridge. As a Field Auditor, auditors can receive commissions on people referred to Organizations and a 15% commission on completed services.

Critics say it is improper to fix a donation for religious service; therefore the activity is non-religious. Scientology points out many classes, exercises and counseling may also be traded for "in kind" or performed cooperatively by students for no cost, and members of its most devoted orders can make use of services without any donations bar that of their time. A central tenet of Scientology is its Doctrine of Exchange, which dictates that each time a person receives something, he or she must give something back. By doing so, a Scientologist maintains "inflow" and "outflow", avoiding spiritual decline.

Membership statistics

SCIENTOLOGY IS A LIE

Scientology splinter groups

The Church denies the legitimacy of any splinter groups and factions outside the official organization, and has actively sought out these "rogue" Scientologists and tried to prevent them from using officially trademarked Scientology materials. These independent Scientologists are known as squirrels within the Church, and are classified as suppressive persons ("SPs") — opponents or enemies of Scientology. Many groups refer to themselves under the umbrella term of "Free Zone".

Church or Business

From 1952 until 1966, the Scientology was administered by an organization called the Hubbard Association of Scientologists (HAS), established in Arizona on 10 September 1952. In 1954, the HAS became the HASI (HAS International). The first Church of Scientology was incorporated on 18 December, 1953 in Camden, New Jersey. This, along with two other groups incorporated by Hubbard at the same time—the Church of American Science and the Church of Spiritual Engineering—were soon abandoned by Hubbard. The Church of Scientology was incorporated on 18 February 1954 in California, changing its name to "The Church of Scientology of California" (CSC) in 1956. In 1966, Hubbard transferred all HASI assets to CSC, thus gathering Scientology under one tax-exempt roof. In 1967, the IRS stripped all US-based Scientology entities of their tax exemption, declaring Scientology's activities were commercial and operated for the benefit of Hubbard. The church sued and lost repeatedly for 26 years trying to regain its tax-exempt status. The case was eventually settled in 1993, after the church paid over $12 million to the IRS and the IRS once again recognized the church as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization, and the church paid $12.5 million, a fraction what the IRS had been claiming to cover more than 30 years of church operation including interest. In addition, Scientology also dropped more than fifty lawsuits against the IRS when this settlement was reached. Scientology cites its tax exemption as proof the United States government accepts it as a religion. Additionally, the U.S. State Department has taken a vocal stand on its religious status by its criticism of Western European nations and others for discrimination against Scientologists in its published annual International Religious Freedom report, based on the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.

In other countries, though, Scientology is not acknowledged as a bona fide religion or charitable organization, but is regarded as a commercial enterprise. In early 2003, in Germany, The Church of Scientology was granted a tax-exemption for 10% license fees sent to the US. This exemption, however, is related to a German-American double-taxation agreement, and is unrelated to tax-exemption in the context of charities law. In several countries, public proselytizing undergoes the same restrictions as commercial advertising, which is interpreted as persecution by Scientology.

In Israel, Scientology does not use "Church" as part of its name, possibly because of the Christian connotation of the term in Jewish culture.

Like many other cults and unlike many well-established religious organizations, Scientology maintains strict control over its names, symbols, religious works and other writings. The word Scientology (and many related terms, including L. Ron Hubbard) is a registered trademark. Religious Technology Center, the owner of the trademarks and copyrights, takes a hard line on people and groups who attempt to use it in organizations unaffiliated with the official Church (see Scientology and the legal system).

Affiliated organizations

SCIENTOLOGY IS A LIE

See also

• List of groups referred to as cults
• List of religious organizations
• List of Scientologists
• Scientology beliefs and practices
• Scientology controversy
• Timeline of Scientology
• Scientology In Australia

References

1. The Church of Scientology (Studies in Contemporary Religions, 1) By J. Gordon Melton Publisher: Signature Books in cooperation with CESNUR published September 2000 ISBN 1560851392 "Since 1981, all of the churches and organizations of the church have been brought together under the Church of Scientology International. CSI provides a visible point of unity and guides the individual churches, especially in the area of applying Hubbard's teaching and technology in a uniform fashion."
2. "At the top of the ecclesiastical structure is the Church of Scientology International (CSI), the mother church for all Scientology. Located in Los Angeles, CSI provides overall direction, planning and guidance for the network of churches, missions, field auditors and volunteer ministers which comprise the Scientology hierarchy it spans, and ensures these various organizations are all working effectively together." What is Scientology? Published 1998 Bridge Publications ISBN 1573181226 http://www.whatisscientology.org
3. description of the Scientology ecclesiastical structure on www.rtc.org
4. The Church of Scientology (Studies in Contemporary Religions, 1) By J. Gordon Melton Publisher: Signature Books in cooperation with CESNUR published September 2000 ISBN 1560851392 "The various missions, churches, and organizations, all autonomous corporations which fellowship with the larger movement, receive licenses to use the church's trademarks, service marks, and copyrights of Hubbard's published and unpublished works from RTC."
5. "Each church corporation is organized on a nonprofit basis with its own board of directors and executives responsible for its activities. What is Scientology? Published 1998 Bridge Publications ISBN 1573181226 http://www.whatisscientology.org
6. description of the individual Scientology churches on www.rtc.org
7. Atack, Jon (1990). A Piece of Blue Sky. New York, NY: Carol Publishing Group. ISBN 0-8184-0499-X. {{cite book}}: External link in |title= (help)
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11. Remember Venus?, Time, 22 December, 1952
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16. Weird, Sure. A Cult, No. Washington Post By Mark Oppenheimer, August 5, 2007
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20. The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power TIME magazine, May. 06, 1991 By RICHARD BEHAR. By all appearances, Noah Lottick of Kingston, Pa., had been a normal, happy 24-year-old who was looking for his place in the world... his fingers were still clutching $171 in cash, virtually the only money he hadn't yet turned over to the Church of Scientology, the self-help "philosophy" group he had discovered just seven months earlier.
21. http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C02E7D81231F937A25752C1A96E958260 Florida Charges Scientology In Church Member's Death] The New York Times, By DOUGLAS FRANTZ Published: November 14, 1998
22. Wakefield, Margery. Understanding Scientology, Chapter 9. Reproduced at David S. Touretzky's Carnegie Mellon site.
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24. Scientology Media Information - Church of Scientology International
25. The Foster Report. Chapter 5, "The Practices of Scientology;" section (a), "Recruitment;" pages 75-76. "... a systematic approach to answering the questions should yield systematic variations in the conclusions derived from an analysis of the test scores ... these two methods [for answering the questions of the test] would be expected to produce different, if not complementary, profiles ... These variations in answering the questions did not seem to affect the Oxford Capacity Analysis as the three methods produced remarkably similar profiles ... when each of two diametrically opposed methods of response produces the same extreme deviant scores as the other and as a third "random" response style, we are forced to a position of scepticism about the test's status as a reliable psychometric device."
26. Dissemination Division in Churches of Scientology
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28. Official Scientology FAQ: "There are thousands of Scientologists who work full time in churches and missions throughout the world as executives or administrative staff. There are also those who further the dissemination of Scientology on a one-to-one basis or through the dissemination of Scientology materials and books, those who hold jobs in the Church’s social reform groups and those who work in the Office of Special Affairs involved in community betterment or legal work. All of these provide rewarding careers as each forwards the expansion of Scientology and thereby makes it possible for more and more people to benefit from its technology."
29. "A Short Study of the Scientology Religion," by J. Gordon Melton: " The Church regularly propagates its beliefs through the traditional channels of liturgy, dissemination of its religious publications and in its community programs."
30. Reproduced version of Introspection Rundown Release Contract
31. Dahl, David (1993-10-24). "IRS examined Scientology dollars, not dogma". St. Petersburg Times. Retrieved 2007-08-04. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
32. Frantz, Douglas (1997-03-09). "Scientology's Puzzling Journey From Tax Rebel to Tax Exempt". New York Times. Retrieved 2008-01-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
33. Closing agreement between Scientology and IRS as reproduced at Operation Clambake
34. Judge Barry Silverman MICHAEL SKLAR; MARLA SKLAR v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL No. 00-70753 (PDF format) United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Argued and Submitted September 7, 2001, Pasadena, California, Filed January 29, 2002.
35. UNITED STATES TAX COURT, MICHAEL AND MARLA SKLAR, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent. Docket No. 395-01. Filed December 21, 2005.
36. Gerstein, Josh (February 8, 2008). "Judges Press IRS on Church Tax Break". The New York Sun. The New York Sun, One SL, LLC. Retrieved 2008-02-08. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
37. (The Church of the New Faith v. The Commissioner for Payroll Tax, Australian Law Journal Reports 57 : p785)
38. Decisions of the UK Charity Commission
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40. Scientology Crime Syndicate -- Is This A Religion? By Stephen A. Kent
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43. Religious Information Service REMID, Marburg/Germany, Issue of 11 December 2002
44. MIVILUDES 2006 report (PDF)
45. Decision of the Charity Commissioners (PDF)
46. Judgment on Application no. 18147/02 by CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF MOSCOW against Russia (2007-04-05). Court press release here. Retrieved on 2007-05-15.
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49. Lázaro, J. M. (2007-11-01). "La Audiencia Nacional reconoce a la Cienciología como iglesia" (in Spanish). El País. Retrieved 2008-01-20. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
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52. CCHR Israel Homepage
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54. US State Department Report on International Religious Freedom, September 9, 1999 Quote: "Evangelical Christian and other religious groups also have complained that the police have been slow to investigate incidents of harassment, threats, and vandalism directed against their meetings, churches, and other facilities by two ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups, known as Yad L'achim and Lev L'achim."]
55. April 18, 2001. Lev L'Achim Launches Campaign to Fight Scientology by Moshe Schapiro
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61. Dispatch online - "New SA rights for Scientology"
62. Davis, Derek H. (July 2004). "The Church of Scientology: In Pursuit of Legal Recognition". CESNUR--Center for Studies on New Religions. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help); Text "accessdate 2007-06-15" ignored (help)
63. Kent, Stephen (July 1999). "Scientology -- Is this a Religion?". Marburg Journal of Religion. Retrieved 2006-08-26. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help) Kent, while acknowledging that a number of his colleagues accept Scientology as a religion, argues that "Rather than struggling over whether or not to label Scientology as a religion, I find it far more helpful to view it as a multifaceted transnational corporation, only one element of which is religious." (Italics in original.)
64. Expertise
65. Expertise
66. Expertise
67. Expertise
68. Collection of Expertises on Scientology
69. ASHO - Registration Donation Rates, American Saint Hill Organization.
70. Estimate of Scientology costs at Operation Clambake
71. Updated prices for 2006 at Operation Clambake
72. "Château Scientology", The New Yorker, 14 January 2008
73. Auditing as a Career, American Saint Hill Organization.
74. Hernandez v. Commissioner, U.S. Supreme Court
75. " The Wall Street Journal. December 30 1997. Reproduced at Dave Touretzky's Carnegie Mellon site
76. "Official Recognition of Scientology as a Religion". "... the United States Internal Revenue Service in granting full religious recognition and tax exemption to all Churches of Scientology located in the United States ..."
77. 2001 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom
78. 2001 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom
79. 2002 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom
80. 2003 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom
81. 2004 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom
82. 2005 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom
83. 2006 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom

External links

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Church of Scientology

• "Welcome to Scientology". Church of Scientology official home page. Church of Scientology.
• "What is Scientology ?". Common questions answered about Scientology and its activities. Church of Scientology.
• "The ecclesiastical hierarchy". The ecclesiastical hierarchy of the religion. Church of Scientology.
• "Scientology Volunteer Ministers". News and activities of the Volunteer Ministers. Church of Scientology.
• "The Church of Scientology Master Index Page". Master Index Page. Church of Scientology.
• Scientology is News ; "Scientology Today". News about the Church of Scientology and Photographs ; media information on the Scientology religion. Church of Scientology.
• Related Scientology ; "ExactScientology.net". Scn. Web directories of links to information on the religion, its technology, people, and community projects, etc.. Church of Scientology.
• Theology & Practice of a Contemporary Religion. Church of Scientology.

Favorable sites

• "Beliefnet: Scientology". Description of Scientology. Beliefnet. Retrieved 2006-10-14.
• J. Gordon Melton. "Extract from the book "The Church of Scientology"". The Organization of Scientology; The Structure of the Church. ISAR: Institute for the Study of American Religion.
• Irving Hexham. "The religious status of Scientology". Is Scientology a religion?. University of Calgary.
• Juha Pentikainen, Ph.D.; Marja Pentikainen, MSC (Helsinki, Finland). "The Church of Scientology" (Personal site). Articles discussing how Scientology is a religion. Neuereligion.de.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

Critical sites

• Operation Clambake, an archive of critical articles on Hubbard and Scientology
• The Secrets of Scientology (this web site is dedicated to exposing the various technical tricks behind Scientology)
• Exposing the Con (Website created by ex-member Arnie Lerma)
• An Introduction to Scientology from a critical perspective
• The Forbidden Side of Scientology (by Murray Luther, unauthorized correspondent for the Church of Scientology)
• Xenu TV (video footage library of various topics related to Scientology)
• BBC Panorama Programme May 2007 - 'Scientology and Me' John Sweeney

Other

• Satellite Image of the Gold Base
• Remote Viewing Timeline
• "Inside Scientology" by Janet Reitman. Rolling Stone, Issue 995. March 9, 2006. Pages 55 - 67.
• Church of American Science, incorporation papers, 18 December, 1953.
• Church of Scientology (New Jersey), incorporation papers, 18 December, 1953.
• Church of Spiritual Engineering, incorporation papers, 18 December, 1953.
• Church of Scientology (LA, California), incorporation papers, 18 February, 1954.
• About the Founding of the Church of Scientology
• '48 Hours' to examine WNY murder case from 2003 - Ellie Perkins news story.

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• 1953 establishments
• Religion and society
• Scientology
• Scientology organizations