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Template:ScientologySeries Scientology is a system of beliefs and practices created by American Science-Fiction author L. Ron Hubbard in 1952 as a self-help philosophy. By 1960 Hubbard had redefined it as a "religion by its basic tenets". The name "Scientology" is also sometimes used to refer to the Church of Scientology, which is the largest organization promoting the belief system of Scientology. There are other organizations and individuals who are not affiliated with the Church of Scientology who regard themselves as practitioners of and believers in Scientology, sometimes collectively called the Free Zone. The Church regards such independents, almost without exception, as not practicing the "true" Scientology set out by Hubbard, while many of those independents make the very same criticism about the Church.

The Church of Scientology presents itself as a religious non-profit organization dedicated to the rehabilitation of the human spirit and providing counseling and rehabilitation programs. Church spokespeople claim that Hubbard's teachings (called "Technology" or "tech" in Scientology terminology) have saved them from addictions, arthritis, depression, learning disabilities, mental illness, cancer, homosexuality and other perceived problems.

The controversial organization has attracted much criticism and distrust throughout the world because of its closed nature and strong-arm tactics in handling critics and ex-members. Lawmakers, including national governing bodies of several countries, have characterized the Church as an unscrupulous commercial organization, citing harassment of critics and exploitation of its members. Scientology's principles have been characterized as pseudoscientific by scientists, medical doctors and psychotherapeutic practitioners. Although some religious scholars consider Scientology a religion, it has frequently been perceived as a cult and a pseudoreligion.

Allegations of Scientology's cult status may be attributed to its unconventional creation by a single authoritative and charismatic leader. Within the church, members are arranged in a hierarchically pyramid ranked structure , with higher level members holding authority over lower ranked subordinates, especially as evidenced by the Sea Org. The Church indoctrinates its members providing very little initial knowledge of the inner secrets of the organization. In order to reach this knowledge parishioners are required to advance forward in rank through study and payments to the Church, the incentive of which is the stepped acquisition of promised powerful secrets and gaining of supernatural abilities.

According to a 2001 survey published by the City University of New York 55,000 people in the United States would, if asked what their religion was, have said Scientology. The worldwide number of Scientologists is disputed: the Church of Scientology claims around 10 million members as of 2006, but claimed national membership figures it has released when totalled indicate a figure of around 500,000. Adherents.com suggests there may be 500,000 Scientologists worldwide while critics say Church membership is likely to be less than 100,000.

Controversy and criticism

Of the many new religious movements to appear during the 20th century, Scientology has from its inception been one of the most controversial. The Church has come into conflict with the governments and police forces of several countries (including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Germany) numerous times over the years, though supporters note that many major world religions have found themselves in conflict with civil government in their early years.

The Church pursues an extensive public relations campaign supporting Scientology as a bona fide religion. The organization cites numerous scholarly sources supporting its position, many of which can be found on a website the Church has established for this purpose.

Different countries have taken markedly different approaches to Scientology. Scientology is considered a religion in the United States, Thailand, Taiwan, Spain, and Australia, and thus enjoys and regularly cites the constitutional protections afforded in two of these nations to religious practice (First Amendment to the United States Constitution; Australian Constitution, s 116). In Canada, the Church of Scientology is considered a religious non-profit organization. In 1992, Scientology became the only religious organization convicted in criminal court on two counts of breach of the public trust (for an organized conspiracy to infiltrate government offices) following a trial by jury. In the United States, the church obtained "public charity" status (IRS Code 501(c)(3)) and the associated preferential tax treatment after extended litigation. Applications for charity status in the UK and Canada were rejected in 1999. Some European governments (including notably, Germany, Belgium, France, and Austria) do not consider the Church to be a bona fide religious organization, but instead a commercial enterprise and/or a cult.

Other countries, mostly in Europe, have regarded Scientology as a potentially dangerous cult, or at least have not considered local branches of the Church of Scientology to meet the legal criteria for being considered religion-supporting organizations. In Germany, for instance, Scientology is not considered a religion by the government, but a commercial business. Fifteen of the sixteen German states, positing that Scientology had potentially anti-democratic tendencies, have to a greater or lesser degree and for varying periods subjected Scientology and Scientologists to state surveillance since the early 1970's. No criminal or civil charges have been brought as a result of this surveillance. Two German states and the ruling political party, the CDU (Christian Democratic Union), have passed rules or regulations limiting the participation of Scientologists in politics, business and public life. In several court cases Scientology lost filed complaints against continued surveillance because the courts held the opinion that Scientology still pursues anticonstitutional activities. In Berlin surveillance ceased because the court prohibited the use of paid undercover agents. In Saarland surveillance was stopped by the court because there was/is no current danger recognizable. The United Kingdom government does not recognize Scientology as a bona fide religion. The Church has been subjected to considerable pressure from the state in Russia. In Belgium, the minister of justice refused Scientology as a candidate for the status of recognized religion. Also in Belgium, a trial against Scientology is due to begin in 2006.
In France, the church of scientology was categorized as a sect (or cult) in the 2468 report of the Assemblée Nationale (the legislative body), in 1995. A more recent government report (1999) categorized the church as an "absolute sect" and recommended that all its activities be prohibited.

Scientology has also been the focus of criticism by anti-cult campaigners and has aroused controversy for its high-profile campaigns against psychiatry and psychiatric medication. The religious bona fides of Scientology have been repeatedly questioned. Hubbard was accused of adopting a religious façade for Scientology to allow the organization to maintain tax-exempt status and to avoid prosecution for false medical claims.

These accusations continue to the present day, bolstered by numerous accounts from Hubbard's fellow science-fiction authors and researchers, the most notable being Harlan Ellison, Neison Himmel, Sam Merwin, Sam Moskowitz, Theodore Sturgeon, Lloyd Arthur Eshbach, and Lyle Stuart, who reported to have witnessed Hubbard stating on various occasions that the way to get rich was to start a religion. . The Church claims that "One individual once claimed L. Ron Hubbard made such a comment during a lecture in 1948. The only two people who could be found who attended that very lecture in 1948 denied that Mr. Hubbard ever made this statement" and that therefore it is an "unfounded rumor." The Church's claim does not address any of the other individuals who have stated that they personally heard Hubbard make such a statement, some claiming that he said it on multiple occasions. The Church also suggests that the origin of the "rumor" was a quote by George Orwell which had been "misattributed" to Hubbard. However, Robert Vaughn Young, who left the Church in 1989 after twenty years, said that he had discovered the Orwell quote, and suggested that reports of Hubbard making such a statement could be explained as a misattribution of Orwell, despite having encountered three of Hubbard's associates from his science fiction days who remembered Hubbard making statements of that sort in person.

The many legal battles fought by the Church of Scientology since its inception have given it a reputation as an extremely litigious organization, characterized by forcing litigants to enter into a lengthy and costly legal process using a number of highly trained lawyers, expert at prolonging cases.

The ongoing controversies involving the Church and its critics include:

• Scientology's harassment and litigious actions against its critics and enemies.
• Some critics charge Scientology with being a cult of personality, with much emphasis placed on the alleged accomplishments of its founder.
• Scientologists claim that government files, such as those from the FBI, are loaded with forgeries and other false documents detrimental to Scientology , but have never substantiated this accusation.
• Unexplained deaths of Scientologists, most notably Lisa McPherson, allegedly due to mistreatment by other members.
• Scientology's disconnection policy, in which members are encouraged to cut off all contact with friends or family members critical of the Church.
• Criminal activities by Scientologists, both those committed for personal benefit (Reed Slatkin, Gabriel Williams, and others) and those committed on behalf of the Church and directed by Church officials (Operation Snow White, Operation Freakout, Fair Game, and others).
• Claims of brainwashing and mind control.
• Use of high-pressure sales tactics to obtain money from members.
• Lobbying search engines such as Google and Yahoo to omit any webpages that are critical of Scientology from their search engines (and in Google's case, AdSense), or at least the first few search pages (now however, a search for Scientology on Google and Yahoo brings up the Misplaced Pages page, with both critical and official Scientology websites).
• Differing accounts of L. Ron Hubbard's life, in particular accounts of Hubbard discussing his intent to start a religion for profit.

This last criticism is referenced, among other places, in a May 1980 Reader's Digest article, which quotes Hubbard, "If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion."

Tax-exempt status and status as a religion

Scientologists claim that Scientology is a bona fide religion. They cite many sources to support their position, many of which can be found on a website established for this purpose. Scientologists claim that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax exemption granted to the Scientology related businesses gives their religion a U.S. government stamp of authenticity. However, the tax-exempt status the IRS gives to charitable organizations is not necessarily the stamp of a "bona fide religion", nor does the US Government make that claim, because the IRS also grants this same tax-exempt status to non-religious entities, such as the Red Cross, the United Way, and tens of thousands of other groups, including kids soccer clubs and local neighborhood theatre groups. All are granted tax-exempt status because of IRS Tax Code, section 501(c)(3), while none are necessarily considered "bona fide religions". In any case, it is not possible for any branch of the United States government to declare an organization a "bona fide religion" since this would be in violation of the First Amendment to the United States Constitution which forbids "an establishment of religion".

Scientologists spent a lot of time and effort to get their IRS tax exemption back after they lost it in a 1967 IRS audit. As part of those efforts during the late 1970's, Scientologists infiltrated the United States Internal Revenue Service and stole confidential documents in what was termed "Operation Snow White". Eleven high-ranking Scientologists, including Hubbard's wife Mary Sue Hubbard, served time in federal prison for their criminal acts during this infiltration of the IRS.

In the early 1990's church leaders, David Miscavige and Mark Rathbun, visited with the IRS in Washington, DC to negotiate a settlement in an effort to gain tax-exempt status. It wasn't until October 1, 1993, that the U.S. Internal Revenue Service formally announced that the Church of Scientology and its myriad corporate entities had been granted tax exemption again. A year before the exemption, though, on August 24, 1992, Scientology's Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) had traded to the federal government one of three known vaults it had built for millions of dollars, the one at the Trementina Base. Even though CST had paid over $250,000 for the property in 1986 and had invested millions in development of the property, according to the Federal Register record, CST traded it all to the government, vault included, for a similar parcel of land in the same New Mexico county valued at only $28,000.

The settlement document was sealed by the IRS, but it was leaked to the New York Times and they subsequently published it. The New York Times also asserted in a March 9, 1997 article that, in its efforts to obtain tax-exempt status, Scientologists paid private investigators to obtain compromising material on the IRS commissioner.

Because Scientology courses are allowed to be deducted from income taxes, some people have wondered why religious courses for other religions are not allowed the same deduction. In the case of MICHAEL SKLAR; MARLA SKLAR v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL No. 00-70753, the Sklars argued they should be allowed a tax-deduction for their payments for courses their son took at a Jewish school. On January 29, 2002 the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit upheld the IRS's opposition. Judge Silverman concurred, saying:

"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."

In 1982, there was a similar ruling by the High Court of Australia, in Church of the New Faith v. Commissioner Of Pay-roll Tax. The court ruled that the government of Victoria could not deny the Church the right to operate in Victoria under the legal status of "religion", even though the state found that the Church practiced charlatanism. All three judges in the case found that the Church of the New Faith (Church of Scientology) was a religion. One judge said "It follows that, whatever be the intentions of Mr. Hubbard and whatever be the motivation of the , the state of the evidence in this case requires a finding that the general group of adherents have a religion. The question whether their beliefs, practices and observances are a religion must, in the state of that evidence, be answered affirmatively. That answer, according to the conventional basis adopted by the parties in fighting the case, must lead to a judgment for the ." A second judge said, "Conclusion. The applicant has easily discharged the onus of showing that it is religious. The conclusion that it is a religious institution entitled to the tax exemption is irrestible." The third of the three judges concluded, "The conclusion to which we have ultimately come is that Scientology is, for relevant purposes, a religion. With due respect to Crockett J. and the members of the Full Supreme Court who reached a contrary conclusion, it seems to us that there are elements and characteristics of Scientology in Australia, as disclosed by the evidence, which cannot be denied."

Scientology as a commercial venture

Scientology pays members commissions on new recruits they bring in, so Scientology members routinely try to "sell" Scientology to others. In addition, Scientology franchises, or missions, pay the church roughly 10% of their gross income. Charges for auditing and other Church-related courses run to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars. Scientology maintains strict control over the use of its symbols, icons, and names. It claims copyright and trademark over its "Scientology cross," and its lawyers have threatened lawsuits against individuals and organizations who have published the image in books and on Web sites. Because of this, it is very difficult for individual groups to attempt to publicly practice Scientology on their own, without any affiliation or connection to the "official" Church of Scientology. Scientology has sued a number of individuals who attempted to set up their own "auditing" practices, using copyright and trademark law to shut these groups down.

The Church of Scientology and its many related organizations have amassed considerable real estate holdings worldwide, likely in the hundreds of millions of dollars, as well as a large amount of other funds from the practice of auditing.

In June of 2006, it was announced that Scientology would be sponsoring a NASCAR race car. The Number 27 Ford Taurus driven by Kenton Gray displays a large Dianetics logo with volcano.

Scientology and psychiatry

Scientology is publicly and vehemently opposed to psychiatry and psychology.

This theme appears in some of Hubbard's literary works. In Hubbard's Mission Earth series, various characters praise and criticize these methods, and the antagonists in his novel Battlefield Earth are called Psychlos, a similar allusion.

From the Church of Scientology FAQ on Psychiatry:

What the Church opposes are brutal, inhumane psychiatric treatments. It does so for three principal reasons: 1) procedures such as electro-shock, drugs and lobotomy injure, maim and destroy people in the guise of help; 2) psychiatry is not a science and has no proven methods to justify the billions of dollars of government funds that are poured into it; and 3) psychiatric theories that man is a mere animal have been used to rationalize, for example, the wholesale slaughter of human beings in World Wars I and II.

L. Ron Hubbard was bitterly critical of psychiatry's citation of physical causes for mental disorders, such as chemical imbalances in the brain. Although there are many questions remaining, the statements by Hubbard deny that psychiatry, through the scientific method, has shown some psychiatric disorders are related to anatomical and chemical cerebral anomalies. Furthermore, it is evident much of his criticism is based upon old and flawed information regarding psychiatry . (electro-shock therapy, for example, is now only used under anaesthesia and muscle relaxants, and lobotomy is a defunct procedure). He regarded psychiatrists as denying human spirituality and peddling fake cures. He was also convinced psychiatrists were themselves deeply unethical individuals, committing "extortion, mayhem and murder. Our files are full of evidence on them." The Church claims that psychiatry was responsible for World War I , the rise of Hitler and Stalin , the decline in education standards in the United States , the wars in Bosnia and Kosovo , and even the September 11 attacks . However, for all these statements, the Church has failed to present any evidence supporting this view of psychiatry. Scientology's opposition to psychiatry has also undoubtedly been influenced by the opposition of numerous psychiatrists to the Church, resulting in pressure from the media and governments. Additionally, after the publication of Dianetics in which Hubbard tried to present a new form of psychotherapy, the American Psychological Association advised its members against using Hubbard's techniques with their patients until their effectiveness could be proven. Because of this critique Hubbard came to believe psychiatrists were behind a worldwide conspiracy to attack Scientology and create a "world government" run by psychiatrists on behalf of Soviet Russia:

Our enemies are less than twelve men. They are members of the Bank of England and other higher financial circles. They own and control newspaper chains and they, oddly enough, run all the mental health groups in the world that had sprung up ...

Their apparent programme was to use mental health, which is to say psychiatric electric shock and pre-frontal lobotomy, to remove from their path any political dissenters ... These fellows have gotten nearly every government in the world to owe them considerable quantities of money through various chicaneries and they control, of course, income tax, government finance — (Harold) Wilson, for instance, the current Premier of England, is totally involved with these fellows and talks about nothing else actually. (Hubbard, Ron's Journal 67 )

In 1966, Hubbard declared war on psychiatry, telling Scientologists "We want at least one bad mark on every psychiatrist in England, a murder, an assault, or a rape or more than one." He committed the Church to eradicating psychiatry in 1969, announcing "Our war has been forced to become 'To take over absolutely the field of mental healing on this planet in all forms.'" Not coincidentally, the Church founded the Citizens Commission on Human Rights that same year as its primary vehicle for attacking psychiatry.

Around the same time, Hubbard claimed that psychiatrists were an ancient evil that had been a problem for billions of years. He cast them in the role of assisting Xenu's genocide of 75 million years ago. In a 1982 bulletin entitled "Pain and Sex", Hubbard declares that "pain and sex were the INVENTED TOOLS of degradation", having been devised eons ago by psychiatrists "who have been on the track a long time and are the sole cause of decline in this universe." (Hubbard, HCO Bulletin of August 26, 1982)

Celebrity Scientologists, notably Tom Cruise, have been extremely vocal in attacking the use of psychiatric medication. Their position has attracted considerable criticism from psychiatrists, physicians, and mental health patients and advocates who cite numerous scientific studies showing benefit from psychiatry. In addition, there is evidence Scientology adherents destroyed scientific data in a lengthy campaign to discredit research. Nevertheless, this position is still defended and promoted by Scientologists.

It should be noted that the CoS is just one of a small minority of groups that are involved in the Anti-psychiatry movement. CoS is one of the few organizations that oppose the study and application of psychology (a non-drug based form of therapy).

Scientology versus the Internet

Scientology leaders have undertaken extensive operations on the Internet to deal with growing allegations of fraud and exposure of unscrupulousness within Scientology. The organization states that it is taking actions to prevent distribution of copyrighted Scientology documents and publications online by people whom it has called "copyright terrorists". Critics claim the organization's true motive is an attempt to suppress free speech and criticism.

In January 1995, Church lawyer Helena Kobrin attempted to shut down the Usenet discussion group alt.religion.scientology by sending a control message instructing Usenet servers to delete the group on the grounds that

(1) It was started with a forged message; (2) not discussed on alt.config; (3) it has the name "scientology" in its title which is a trademark and is misleading, as a.r.s. is mainly used for flamers to attack the Scientology religion; (4) it has been and continues to be heavily abused with copyright and trade secret violations and serves no purpose other than condoning these illegal practices.

In practice, this rmgroup message had little effect, since most Usenet servers are configured to disregard such messages when applied to groups that receive substantial traffic, and newgroup messages were quickly issued to recreate the group on those servers that did not do so. However, the issuance of the message led to a great deal of public criticism by free-speech advocates.

The Church also began filing lawsuits against those who posted copyrighted texts on the newsgroup and the World Wide Web, and pressed for tighter restrictions on copyrights in general. The Church supported the controversial Sonny Bono Copyright Term Extension Act. The even more controversial Digital Millennium Copyright Act was also strongly promoted by the Church and some of its provisions (notably the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act) were heavily influenced by Church litigation against US Internet service providers over copyrighted Scientology materials that had been posted or uploaded through their servers.

Beginning in the middle of 1996 and for several years after, the newsgroup was attacked by anonymous parties using a tactic dubbed "sporgery" by some, in the form of hundreds of thousands of forged spam messages posted on the group. Although the Church neither confirmed nor denied its involvement with the spam, some investigators claimed that some spam had been traced to Church members. Former Scientologist Tory Christman, after she left the Church, confessed to having been part of the sporgery project, taking money supplied by the Office of Special Affairs to open up Internet accounts at various ISPs under false names, accounts from which she later saw forged and garbled communications going out.

In June 2006, Max Goldberg of YTMND.com was sent a cease and desist letter regarding the alleged infringment of trademarks and copyrighted Scientology material used in some YTMND web pages. In response, Goldberg added a Scientology section and a slightly satirical disclaimer on the site's front page; that section has since been removed. The humor site's rating system has facilitated the appearance of several Scientology spoof pages on the front page; most notably those Scientology pages containing researched, cited accounts of some of the mysteries surrounding the Church.

Scientology and celebrities

The Church of Scientology has consistently sought to recruit artists and entertainers, particularly Hollywood celebrities. The Church runs special recruitment facilities for public figures designated Celebrity Centres. They can be found in Hollywood, New York City, Nashville, Las Vegas, London, Paris, Dallas, and Vienna, though Hollywood is the largest and most important. Scientologists give this description:

L. Ron Hubbard recognized the importance of the artist to society. Thus he created Celebrity Centre International — a Church of Scientology that specializes in delivering Dianetics and Scientology services to celebrities, professionals, leaders and promising new-comers in the fields of the arts, sports, management and government.

These sites are not celebrity-exclusive. They offer Scientology courses to non-celebrities, and courses start at the most basic beginner levels. At the Celebrity Centre, or simply CC as most Scientologists refer to it, it is possible to run into one of the few Scientology celebrities, but it is mostly full of non-famous people.

Publicity has been generated by Scientologists in the entertainment industry such as John Travolta, Kelly Preston, Jenna Elfman, Kirstie Alley, Catherine Bell, Leah Remini, Beck Hansen, Chick Corea, Isaac Hayes, Juliette Lewis, James Packer, Doug E. Fresh, Greta Van Susteren, Judy Norton Taylor, Tom Cruise, and Cruise's converted fiancée Katie Holmes.

Critics say the attention and care given to celebrity practitioners is vastly different from that of noncelebrity practitioners. Andre Tabayoyon, a former Scientologist and Sea Org staffer, testified in a 1994 affidavit that money from not-for-profit Scientology organizations and labor from those organizations (including the Rehabilitation Project Force) had gone to provide special facilities for Scientology celebrities, which were not available to other Scientologists:

"A Sea Org staffer ... was taken along to do personal cooking for Tom Cruise and Miscavige at the expense of Scientology not for profit religious organizations. This left only 3 cooks at to cook for 800 people three times a day ... apartment cottages were built for the use of John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, Edgar Winter, Priscilla Presley and other Scientology celebrities who are carefully prevented from finding out the real truth about the Scientology organization ... Miscavige decided to redo the meadow in beautiful flowers; Tens of thousands of dollars were spent on the project so that Cruise and Kidman could romp there. However, Miscavige inspected the project and didn't like it. So the whole meadow was plowed up, destroyed, replowed and sown with plain grass."

Tabayoyon's account of the planting of the meadow was supported by another former Scientologist, Maureen Bolstad, who said that a couple of dozen Scientologists including herself were put to work on a rainy night through dawn on the project. "We were told that we needed to plant a field and that it was to help Tom impress Nicole ... but for some mysterious reason it wasn't considered acceptable by Mr. Miscavige. So the project was rejected and they redid it."

Diana Canova, who experienced Scientology both before and during her period of TV stardom, expressed it in a September 1993 interview: "When I started, I wasn't in television yet. I was a nobody - I'd done some TV, but I was not one of the elite, not by a long shot - until I did Soap. Then it became…I mean, you really are treated like royalty."

See also

• All articles Category:Scientology
• Timeline of Scientology
• Pseudoscience
• List of Scientologists
• List of Scientology references in popular culture
• Symbols of Scientology
• Free Zone
• Scientology and psychiatry
• Space opera in Scientology doctrine
• Scientology controversy
• Homosexuality and Scientology
• Scientology versus the Internet
• Alt.religion.scientology
• Cult checklist
• List of groups referred to as cults
• List of religious organizations
• Scientomogy
• Subgenius
• Pseudoreligion
• Category:Cults

References

• Atack, Jon (1990). A Piece of Blue Sky. Lyle Stuart. ISBN 081840499X. A critical history of Scientology, by a Scientology archivist and former Scientologist
• Frenschkowski, Marco (1999). "L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology: An annotated bibliographical survey of primary and selected secondary literature". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Kent, Stephen A. (1996). "Scientology's Relationship With Eastern Religious Traditions". {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
• Miller, Russell (1987). [[Bare-faced Messiah]], The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard. Henry Holt & Co. ISBN 0-8050-0654-0. {{cite book}}: URL–wikilink conflict (help)
• Spaink, Karin. "[[Fishman Affidavit]]". I write therefore I am. Retrieved August 12. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help); URL–wikilink conflict (help); Unknown parameter |accessyear= ignored (|access-date= suggested) (help) Includes details of some of Scientology's high-level "Operating Thetan" teachings.

Footnotes

1. HCOB 18 Apr 67 (Hubbard Communications Office Bulletin (HCOB) of 21 June 1960 Revised) "Religious Philosophy and Religious Practice"
2. "Religious Technology Center The Guarantor of Scientology's Future". Religious Technology Center. Retrieved 2006-07-11.
3. John Partridge (July 14, 2000). "Scientology loses domain battle". The Globe and Mail: B.4. {{cite journal}}: External link in |title= (help)
4. STUDENT HAT AND COMMUNICATIONS COURSE "Auditing cures neuroses, criminality, insanity, psychosomatic ills, homosexuality and drug dependence"
5. Julie CHRISTOFFERSON v. CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF PORTLAND
6. Goodin, Dan (1999-06-03). "Scientology subpoenas Worldnet". CNET News.com. Retrieved 2006-05-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
7. ^ Leiby, Richard (1994-12-25). "Scientology Fiction: The Church's War Against Its Critics —- and Truth". The Washington Post. p. C1. Retrieved 2006-06-21. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); More than one of |author= and |last= specified (help).
8. Hexham, Irving (1978, rev. 1997). "The Religious Status of Scientology: Is Scientology a Religion?". University of Calgary. Retrieved 2006-06-13. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
9. Scientology: Cult of Greed and power
10. Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi (September 2003). "Scientology: Religion or racket?" (PDF). Marburg Journal of Religion. Retrieved 2006-06-14. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
11. Douglas E. Cowan, University of Missouri-Kansas City (July 2004). "Researching Scientology: Academic Premises, Promises, and Problematic". CESNUR 2004 International Conference. Retrieved 2006-06-23. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
12. American Heritage Dictionary cult defenition (accessed 6/23/06)
13. L. J. West, M.D. (July 1990). "Psychiatry and Scientology". The Southern California Psychiatrist. Retrieved 2006-06-23. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
14. Church of Scientology Public Affairs Department (1005, rev. 2004). "Copyright and Trade Secret Issues". Church of Scientology International. Retrieved 2006-06-60. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= and |date= (help)
15. Kosmin, Barry A. et al American Religious Identification Survey.
16. Breakdown of Worldwide Religions By Adherents
17. Millions of Members?
18. McGregor, Glen: Liberal MP stars in video promoting: Scientology Controversial religion not a cult, Lee insists, The Ottawa Citizen, October 26, 2005, p.A1.
19. "Decision of the Charity Commissoners for England and Wales" (PDF). Charity Commission. 1999-11-17. Retrieved 2006-07-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help) (PDF)
20. Planchar, Roland (July 2005). "Un impôt et deux religions de plus?". La Libre Belgique. Retrieved 2006-07-23.
21. "Nog dit jaar Belgisch proces tegen Scientology". De Morgen. 2006. Retrieved 2006-07-23.
22. Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin (September 2003). "Scientology: Religion or racket?". Marburg Journal of Religion. 8 (1). Philipps-Universität Marburg. Retrieved 2006-06-30.
23. Scientology's official statement on ending all contact with any family/friend critical of Scientology
24. Reader's Digest, May, 1980
25. Church of Scientology Bona Fide Scientology (website accessed 4/13/06)
26. Church of Scientology Bona Fide Scientology, Appendix 9, Official Recognition of Scientology as a Religion (website accessed 04/13/06)
27. Internal Revenue Service IRS tax-exempt religious and charitable organizations (website access 04/13/06)
28. Frantz, Douglas The Shadowy Story Behind Scientology's Tax-Exempt Status The New York Times, March 9, 1997 (website accessed 4/10/06)
29. 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
30. High Court of Australia CHURCH OF THE NEW FAITH v. COMMISSIONER OF PAY-ROLL TAX (VICT.) 1983 154 CLR 120
31. ^ Behar, Richard SCIENTOLOGY: The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power, Ruined lives. Lost fortunes. Federal crimes. Scientology poses as a religion but really is a ruthless global scam -- and aiming for the mainstream Time Magazine, May 6, 1991 courtesy link, (accessed 04/20/06)
32. Sappell, Joel (1990-06-24). "The Man In Control". Los Angeles Times. p. A41:4. Retrieved 2006-06-06. {{cite news}}: Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help) Additional convenience link at .
33. Cooper, Paulette Scandal of Scientology, Chapter 19, Tower Publications, NYC, 1971
34. "ASHO Foundation Services Price Sheet". 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-21. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
35. Jeff Elder (June 7, 2006). "Scientology is newest NASCAR sponsor". The Charlotte Observer.{{cite journal}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
36. Grossman, Wendy. "Copyright Terrorists". Net.Wars. New York: New York University Press. pp. 77–78. ISBN 0814731031. Retrieved 2006-06-11. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |origmonth= ignored (help)
37. "The Secret Project to Spam the Internet"
38. Goldberg, Max "Church of Scientology sends a cease and desist", YTMND.com
39. Affidavit of Andre Tabayoyon, 5 March 1994, in Church of Scientology International vs. Steven Fish and Uwe Geertz.
40. Hoffman, Claire and Christensen, Kim (Dec. 18, 2005). "Tom Cruise and Scientology". Los Angeles Times.

External links

Church of Scientology owned sites

• Scientology.org
• What is Scientology?

Critical sites

• Operation Clambake (see also Operation Clambake)
• Xenu TV - "Exposing Scientology Through Streaming Video"
• The Secrets of Scientology
• A list of Scientology-related deaths
• Scientology Lies
• Rick Ross Scientology Information

Other sites

• Scientology at The Rotten Library
• InternationalFreeZone - Association dedicated to the promotion of the original philosophy of Lafayette Ron Hubbard not affiliated with the COS.
• Ron's Organisation and Network for Standard Tech - Delivers auditing and training outside the Church of Scientology.
• "He Said, They Said", Bay News: Tampa Bay's #1 Local News Website; 07/10/06 (Article on the assault of a man filming a documentary on Scientology by a Scientologist]
• "The Unperson", St. Petersburg Times, 06/24/06 (A description of one being declared a "Suppressive Person")
• "Inside Scientology", Rolling Stone; 02/23/06 - in-depth Rolling Stone article on Scientology
• BBC Documentary on Scientology from 1987
• Scientology - Through the Door Survey interviews of over 100 Scientologists and former Scientologists.
• Related Groups - List of groups related to the Scientology organization.
• Please Explain: Scientology from TheLeonard Lopate Show on 2005-07-15

• Pseudoscience
• Scientology
• Cults