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Scientology is a body of teachings and related techniques created by American author L. Ron Hubbard. Created in 1952 as an outgrowth of his earlier self-help system, Dianetics, Hubbard later characterized Scientology as an "applied religious philosophy" and the basis for a new religion.

Scientology also refers to the Church of Scientology, founded in 1954 and by far the largest organization promoting the practice of Scientology. Today, the Church itself operates under the auspices of the Religious Technology Center, the organization that holds the trademarks and copyrights of Dianetics and Scientology and monitors their use by the Church and its social service affiliates such as WISE or ABLE.".

Scientology holds that an individual is basically an immortal spiritual being that has a body and a mind. According to Scientology, each individual is adversely affected by forgotten decisions and stored mental energies left over from past trauma and by stored mental energies. Scientology training and counseling aims to eliminate these adverse effects and to allow devotees to regain native spiritual abilities lost over the course of many lifetimes. Scientology claims to be applicable in all facets of life, including programs for organizational management, study skills, and drug-rehabilitation.

Scientology and the organizations that promote it have remained highly controversial since their inception. Journalists, courts, and governing bodies of several countries have alleged that Scientology is an unscrupulous commercial enterprise that harasses its critics and victimizes its members.

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Beliefs and practices

 A BIG FUCKING JOKE!!!

Church ceremonies

Scientology, as practiced by members of the Church of Scientology, includes the social ceremonies for marriage, birth, and death, that are a part of most religions. The ceremonies are performed in front of the congregation by an ordained Scientology minister. Most, if not all, of the actual ceremonies used were written by L. Ron Hubbard and are collected in the book, Ceremonies of the Church of Scientology.

Funeral service

At a Scientology funeral service, the minister speaks directly to the thetan (the individual as a spirit) and grants forgiveness for anything the deceased has done so he can begin life anew.

We do not contest your right to go away. Your debts are paid. This chapter of thy life is shut. Go now, dear , and live once more in happier time and place.

Origins

Scientology's doctrines were established by Hubbard over a period of about 34 years, beginning in 1952 and continuing until his death in January 1986. Most of the basic principles were set out during the 1950s and 1960s. Now described as an "applied religious philosophy," Scientology was at first secular; Hubbard began to characterize Scientology's beliefs and practices as a religion in 1953, and by 1960 he had redefined it as a "religion by its basic tenets."

Hubbard appears to have drawn liberally from a wide variety of pre-existing ideas, though he provided little specific citation of, or commentary on, his sources. The Church of Scientology presents Hubbard's work as completely original, reflected in the fact that Scientologists refer to Hubbard himself as "Source." Scientology recapitulates and builds on ideas Hubbard introduced in Dianetics, an earlier system of self-improvement techniques laid out in his 1950 book, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. In 1945, Hubbard was for several months in contact with Aleister Crowley's Ordo Templi Orientis chapter in Los Angeles, a group headed by John W. Parsons. In a 1952 lecture series, Hubbard recommended a book of Crowley's and referred to him as "Mad Old Boy" and as "my very good friend.". An influence acknowledged by Hubbard is the system of General Semantics developed by Alfred Korzybski in the 1930s, which was influential in the science-fiction subculture of the 1940s. Scientology also reflects the influence of the Hindu concept of karma, as well as the psychological theories of Sigmund Freud, Carl Jung and William Sargant. Sociologist David G. Bromley of Virginia Commonwealth University characterizes Scientology as "a 'quasi-religious therapy' that resembles Freudian 'depth psychology' while also drawing upon Buddhism, Hinduism, and the ancient, heretical offshoot of Christianity known as gnosticism."

Meaning of the word 'Scientology'

Although today associated almost exclusively with Hubbard's work, the word "scientology" predates Hubbard's creation by several decades. Philologist Allen Upward used the word "scientology" in his 1901 book The New Word as a synonym for "pseudoscience," and this is sometimes cited as the first coining of the word. In 1934, the Argentine-German writer Anastasius Nordenholz published a book using the word positively: Scientologie, Wissenschaft von der Beschaffenheit und der Tauglichkeit des Wissens ("Scientology, Science of the Constitution and Usefulness of Knowledge"). Nordenholz's book is a study of consciousness, and its usage of the word is not greatly different from Hubbard's definition, "knowing how to know". However, it is not clear to what extent Hubbard was aware of these earlier uses. The word itself is a pairing of the Latin word scientia ("knowledge", "skill"), which comes from the verb scire ("to know"), and the Greek λογος lógos ("reason" or "inward thought" or "logic" or "an account of").

"Scientology would be a study of knowledge", Hubbard stated in 1952. In 1960 L. Ron Hubbard defined Scientology as: "a religion by its basic tenets, practice, historical background and by the definition of the word 'religion' itself." In 1969 he wrote that "It is fundamentally an applied religious philosophy.".

In a lecture given on July 19 1962 entitled "The E-meter", Hubbard said:

So Suzie and I went down to the library, and we started hauling books out and looking for words. And we finally found 'scio' and we find 'ology'. And there was the founding of that word. Now, that word had been used to some degree before. There had been some thought of this. Actually the earliest studies on these didn't have any name to them until a little bit along the line and then I called it anything you could think of. But we found that this word Scientology, you see—and it could have been any other word that had also been used—was the best-fitted word for exactly what we wanted.

The Church of Scientology defines Scientology as "'the study of truth.' It comes from the Latin word 'scio' meaning 'knowing in the fullest sense of the word' and the Greek word 'logos' meaning 'study of.'"

Membership

The Church of Scientology claims to have 10 million members as of 2006, though actual membership figures it has released indicate a far smaller total. The 10 million figure includes every person that has ever taken a Scientology service. Third party estimates of Scientology's worldwide membership range from less than 100,000 to approximately 500,000. According to a 2001 survey published by the City University of New York, 55,000 people in the United States would, if asked to identify their religion, have said Scientology. The challenge in determining the actual number of Scientology members’ word wide stems from the fact that many Scientologists have cultural and social ties to other religions and when ask what is their religion, they point to their traditional and more socially acceptable religion as being their as primary religion.

Organizations

Scientology is composed of a complex network of corporations, churches and organizations all geared towards promoting the use and dissemination of Scientology and related techniques.

Ownership

The Church of Spiritual Technology is a non-profit organization that owns the copyrights of Scientology. Representing the Church of Spiritual Technology is Religious Technology Center (RTC). RTC is the holder of the trademarks of Dianetics and Scientology. All Scientology organizations must license the right to use Scientology and all related techniques from this organization. Its purpose is to maintain Scientology pure per the writings of L. Ron Hubbard. RTC is headed by David Miscavige a man believed to be the most powerful person in Scientology.

The Mother Church

The Church of Scientology International is the mother church of Scientology and provides management to all Scientology organizations world wide.

The Churches of Scientology

The first Church of Scientology was incorporated in Camden, New Jersey as a non-profit organization in 1953. A Scientology Mission is considered a church when it has reached the size required to administer all courses and auditing required for delivering the state of clear. Overall there are 142 Churches in 28 countries established world wide.

Scientology Missions

Scientology Missions are small churches that deliver basic Dianetics and Scientology services. The Scientology Missions directory reports over 300 missions in 50 countries world wide.

Advance Organizations

Scientology Advance Organizations are churches specialized in the delivering of Scientology's higher levels. Those organization are located on Los Angeles, Clear Water Florida, United Kingdom, Sydney Australia, Copenhagen Denmark and the cruise ship Freewinds.

Other Scientology Related Organizations

World Institute of Scientology Enterprises

World Institute of Scientology Enterprises, or WISE, which licenses Hubbard's management techniques for use in businesses.

Narconon

Narconon is a secular organization, licensed by the Association for Better Living and Education. Narconon promotes and delivers L. Ron Hubbard's drug rehabilitation doctrine and manages a number of drug treatment centers world wide. It was founded by William Benitez in 1966. Benitez was an inmate of Arizona State Prison who found a book by Hubbard in the prison library and used it to get himself and others inmates off drugs.

Criminon

Criminon promotes and delivers L Ron Hubbard's criminal rehabilitation technology and manages drug rehabilitation programs for inmates.

Activities

Scientology and Scientologist take part in a number of social reform and charitable activities:

• Activities to reform the field of mental health (Citizens Commission on Human Rights);
• Projects to implement Hubbard's educational methods in schools (Applied Scholastics);
• A political action committee, (Citizens for Social Reform) to promote social programs with legislators at the US federal and state levels;
• A campaign directed to implement the 1948 United Nations document "The Universal Declaration of Human Rights" (sometimes with particular emphasis on the religious freedom elements).
• Started in 1993, the Drug-Free Marshals is a youth drug-education and prevention program. They provide free literature and information about dangerous drugs. With their cowboy hats they “sworn in” the youth as Drug-Free Marshals, pledging to remain drug-free and to encourage their peers to do the same. The church claims that 3.1 million people have been sworn in as Drug-Free Marshals.
• Another Scientology anti-drug campaign is the No to drugs - yes to life campaign. This campaign is geared toward educating the public at large whereas the Drug-Free Marshals campaign is geared towards educating the youth.
• The Way to Happiness foundation lays out a non-religious moral code written by L. Ron Hubbard.
• Freedom Magazine is Scientology’s investigative news journal that is mailed to politicians and public figures. It addresses issues that concern the Church of Scientology.
• The Scientology Volunteer Ministers is a league of Scientologists that dedicate their time to help in disaster relief efforts and other charitable causes. Over the weekend, Scientology churches set up tents in towns and cities in their area and Volunteer Ministers provide one-on-one attention to people who visit.

Scientology splinter groups

Although "Scientology" is most often used as shorthand for the Church of Scientology, a number of groups practice Scientology and Dianetics outside of the official Church. Such groups are invariably breakaways from the original Church. The Church takes an extremely hard line on breakaway groups, labeling them "apostates" (or "squirrels" in Scientology jargon) and often subjecting them to considerable legal and social pressure. Breakaway groups avoid the name "Scientology" so as to keep from being sued, instead referring to themselves collectively as the Free Zone or Ron's Org.

Scientology and celebrities

The Church of Scientology has consistently attracted artists and entertainers, particularly Hollywood celebrities. L. Ron Hubbard saw to the formation of a special Church of Scientology which would cater to artists, politicians, leaders of industry, sports figures and anyone with the power and vision "to create a better world". There are eight of what are referred to as Celebrity Centers across the world, though Hollywood is the largest and most important.

Publicity has been generated by Scientologists in the entertainment industry. Among the most well-known of these figures are John Travolta, Kirstie Alley, Catherine Bell, Beck, Jason Lee, Isaac Hayes, Tom Cruise, and Katie Holmes.

Former Scientologists say that celebrity practitioners get more attention and care than noncelebrity practitioners. For example, Maureen Bolstad, who said that a couple of dozen Scientologists including herself were put to work on a rainy night through dawn on the planting grass.

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.

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."

Controversy and criticism

Of the many new religious movements to appear during the 20th century, the Church of Scientology has, from its inception, been one of the most controversial. The organization 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.

Reports and allegations have been made, by journalists, courts, and governmental bodies of several countries, that the Church of Scientology is an unscrupulous commercial enterprise that harasses its critics and brutally exploits its members. In some cases of US litigation against the Church, former Scientologists were paid as expert witnesses and have since stated that they submitted false and inflammatory declarations, intended to be carried in the media to incite prejudice against Scientology, and deliberately harassed key Scientology executives, by knowingly advancing unfounded opinions, either to get a case dropped or to obtain a large settlement.

Germany classes Scientology as a business, rather than a religious organization, and Belgium, France, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Spain and the United Kingdom have not recognized Scientology a religion. Scientology has also not been recognized as a religion in Israel or Mexico.

The controversies involving the Church and its critics, some of them ongoing, include:

• Scientology's disconnection policy, in which members are encouraged to cut off all contact with friends or family members considered "antagonistic."
• The death of Scientologist Lisa McPherson while in the care of the Church.
• Criminal activities committed on behalf of the Church or directed by Church officials (Operation Snow White, Operation Freakout)
• Fair Game policy that encouraged the abuse of critics.
• Conflicting claims about L. Ron Hubbard's life, in particular accounts of Hubbard discussing his intent to start a religion for profit, and of his service in the military.
• Scientology's harassment and litigious actions against its critics and enemies.
• Attempts to legally force 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.

Due to these allegations, a considerable amount of investigation has been aimed at the Church, by groups ranging from the media to governmental agencies.

Although Scientologists are usually free to practice their beliefs, the organized church has often encountered opposition due to their strong-arm tactics, directed against critics and members wishing to leave the organization. While a number of governments now view the Church as a religious organization entitled to the protections and tax relief that such status brings, others view it as a pseudoreligion or a cult.

One sociologist, Stephen A. Kent, has expressed the following opinion: "I find it far more helpful to view it as a transnational corporation, only one element of which is religious."

Scientology social programs such as drug and criminal rehabilitation have likewise drawn both support and criticism.

Scientology and other religions

Scientology teaches that it is fully compatible with all existing major world religions and that it does not conflict with other religions or other religious practices; and some ministers from other churches have adopted Scientology practices. However Scientology has been questioned by other religious groups:

The Church of England complained in March 2003 to the Advertising Standards Authority about the Church's advertising poster promoting Narconon—the drug rehabilitation program based on the works of L. Ron Hubbard. The poster claimed "250,000 people salvaged from drugs." The Church of England Diocese of Birmingham challenged the claim. Upholding the complaint, the ASA considered that, "without clarification, readers were likely to interpret the claim '250,000 people salvaged from drugs' to mean that 250,000 people had stopped being dependent on street or prescription drugs because of Scientology. The Authority "accepted that more than 250,000 people had undertaken the Church's Drug Purification and Drug Rundown programs, which were designed to free people from the effects of taking drugs," but "the Authority understood that, within Scientology, the concept of 'drug use' referred to a variety of behaviors that ranged from heavy use of street drugs to occasional ingestion of alcohol or prescription medicines and exposure to chemical toxins."

In May 2001, the Russian Orthodox Church criticized Scientologists, Jehovah's Witnesses, Unificationists and Mormons as being dangerous "totalitarian sects."

The Lutheran Church in Germany has at times criticized Scientology's activities and doctrines, along with those of several other religions. According to the U.S. State Department's 2004 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, "The Lutheran Church also characterizes The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons), the Jehovah's Witnesses, the Church of Christ, Christian Scientists, the New Apostolic Church, and the Johannish Church as 'sects,' but in less negative terms than it does Scientology."

The Roman Catholic Church has not made official doctrinal pronouncements specifically related to Scientology. Certain beliefs that are widely associated with Scientology, such as reincarnation, are specifically rejected by the Catholic Church as being incompatible with Catholic belief and practice. Scientology is also, according to a number of religious scholars, a form of gnosticism, which would make it hard to reconcile with Roman Catholicism and other denominations that regard gnosticism as a heresy.

Scientology's claim of religious compatibility to entry-level Scientologists is soon modified by the additional teaching that the various levels of spiritual prowess which can be reached through Scientology are more advanced than those attainable in other religions. Critics maintain that, within Scientology, "spiritual abilities" tends to be synonymous with "mystical powers" rather than with "inner peace." Hubbard himself cautioned against the unwise or improper use of powers in his book History of Man.

In its application for tax-exempt status in the United States, the Church of Scientology International states:

Although there is no policy or Scriptural mandate expressly requiring Scientologists to renounce other religious beliefs or membership in other churches, as a practical matter Scientologists are expected to and do become fully devoted to Scientology to the exclusion of other faiths. As Scientologists, they are required to look only to Scientology Scriptures for the answers to the fundamental questions of their existence and to seek enlightenment only from Scientology.

Hubbard sometimes identified himself with Maitreya (sometimes spelled Metteya), a prophesied Buddha of the future. This identification is made most strongly in his 1955–1956 poem Hymn of Asia, which begins with the line "Am I Metteyya? [sic]" and emphasizes certain traits of Hubbard that the editors of the publication said matched traits predicted by the "Metteya Legend", such as Metteya appearing in the West, having golden hair or red hair (Hubbard was red-haired), and appearing in a time of world peril, with the earliest of the predicted dates for his return being 2,500 years after Gautama Buddha, or roughly 1950. According to sociologist Stephen A. Kent, however, the traits which the editors say are predicted by the "Metteya Legend" either are not actually present in the Buddhist texts or in some cases are contradicted by the texts: instead of coming at a time of world peril, for instance, the predictions about Maitreya say he will be born to royalty whose domain is "mighty and prosperous, full of people, crowded and well fed", and rather than having hair "like flames", Kent says that the texts predict curly black hair for the Maitreya.

The revealed beliefs in Scientology at higher levels become increasingly contradictory with other religions. The concept of past lives in Scientology is at odds with Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Beliefs concerning the origins and age of the Earth, the root of evil, and the nature of man make it impossible to uphold the beliefs of most other religions while also being a Scientologist. Hubbard claimed that Islam was the result of an extraterrestrial memory implant, called the Emanator, of which the Kaaba is supposedly an artifact. Mainstream religions, in his view, had failed to realize their objectives: "It is all very well to idealize poverty and associate wisdom with begging bowls, or virtue with low estate. However, those who have done this (Buddhists, Christians, Communists and other fanatics) have dead ended or are dead ending."

The Fishman Affidavit put forward that Hubbard said that Jesus was a pederast. The Church as well as ex-Scientologists have consistently held this issue to be a forgery.

Scientology as a state-recognized religion

The Church pursues an extensive public relations campaign for recognition of 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 legitimate religion in the United States of America, Taiwan, Tanzania, Zimbabwe,South Africa, Australia, Sweden, and New Zealand, and thus enjoys and regularly cites the constitutional protections afforded in these nations to religious practice. Some 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.

Canada

In Canada, the Church of Scientology is considered a religious non-profit organization; its application for charity status was rejected in 1999. 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.

Spain

In Spain, the Church of Scientology has been refused registration as a religious entity, however authorities declared that the government would not interfere in any way with the activities of the Church of Scientology.

United Kingdom

The Church's application for charity status in England and Wales was rejected in 1999. On 2001, Scientology got exemption from value added tax on the basis that they are a religious organizations. Also in 2001 employees of the Church who are part of its religious order were declared not subject to the ordinary wage laws and are treated as religious employees. The Royal Navy recognized the Scientology as one of the religions that sailors must be allowed to practice. The UK government has heavily criticized the Church in the past as documented in 1971 in the Foster Report but places no restrictions upon its activities.

United States of America

In the United States, Scientologists claim that the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) tax exemption granted to the Scientology related businesses under IRS Tax Code section 501(c)(3) after extended litigation gives their religion a U.S. government stamp of authenticity.

Scientology's tax-exempt status was lost in a 1967 IRS audit. As part of the effort to regain tax exemption during the late 1970s, Scientologists infiltrated the IRS 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 acts surrounding this operation. This was followed by internal restructuring worldwide to prevent the reccurence of such acts.

In the early 1990s, 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. On August 24, 1992, Scientology's Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) traded to the federal government a vault built at Trementina Base. 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 to the government, vault included, for a similar parcel of land in the same New Mexico county valued at only $28,000.

On October 1, 1993 the IRS formally announced that the Church of Scientology and its corporate entities had been granted tax exemption again. The settlement document was sealed by the IRS, but it was leaked to, and subsequently published by the New York Times. The New York Times also stated 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.

As Scientology courses are tax-deductible, 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."

Australia

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 irresistible." 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.

Germany

In Germany Scientologists are free to practice. The German administrative courts and appeals courts have consistently held that the Scientology is to be afforded protection under the German Constitution. But the church is considered a commercial business association and with no tax exemption. Scientology's attempts to be recognized as a church by courts have been without success. . Scientology is currently being monitored by some German intelligence agencies for perceived anti-constitutional ideology. In the city of Hamburg, the Scientology Task Force for the Hamburg Interior Authority also monitors the group.

The US State Department's has repeatedly reported on Germany for government and societal discrimination against minority religious groups and Scientology. On June 2000, the U.S. House of Representatives held hearings concerning Germany's discrimination against American Products based on religion. Most notable was Germany's boycott of Windows 2000 because a defrag program used by Windows was developed by an American company whose CEO is a Scientologist.

On Nov 1999, a German official was arrested in Switzerland and given a 30 day suspended jail sentence for spying on Scientology. The German government apologized to Switzerland for the incident.

On Dec 2001, Administrative Court in Berlin ruled against the Berlin Office for the Protection of the Constitution and ordered it to stop the recruitment and deployment of staff and members of the Church of Scientology Berlin as paid informants. The court ruled that the use of informants was disproportionate.

Germany's handling of Scientology has also been called into question before open hearings of the United Nations Human Rights Committee. The hearings ended up without any consequences or criticism from the Comittee regarding Germany's handling of Scientology.

In March 2007, it was reported that Scientology had opened a new headquarters in Berlin, and that German authorities were responding by increasing their efforts to monitor Scientology.

Russia

The Church has been subjected to considerable pressure from the state in Russia. On April 2007, the European Court of Human Rights ruled against Russia for repeatedly refusing to recognise Moscow's Church of Scientology as a legally valid religious association. The Court of Human Rights found that the reasons given to deny re-registration of the church by the justice department and endorsed by the Moscow courts had had no legal basis.

Ireland

In Ireland, Scientology maintains a mission in Dublin. The Church of Scientology Mission of Dublin Ltd. is not listed with Ireland's Office of the Revenue Commissioners as an authorised charity for donation tax relief.

Belgium

In Belgium, the minister of justice refused Scientology as a candidate for the status of recognized religion.

South Africa

On 1975, Scientology was recognized as a non-profit organization in South Africa despite formal government Commission of Inquiry that recommended otherwise. On April 2000, Scientology ministers were granted the right to perform marriages thus recognizing Scientology as a religion.

Scientology as a cult

In some instances, former members have claimed the Church used information obtained in auditing sessions against them. While such a claim would be actionable as extortion, blackmail or harassment within most legal jurisdictions, no such claim has to date been legally confirmed against Scientology based solely upon use or revelation of auditing records.

The Anderson Report, an official inquiry conducted for the state of Victoria, Australia, found that the auditing process involved a form of "authoritative" or "command" hypnosis, in which the hypnotist assumes "positive authoritative control" over the patient. "It is the firm conclusion of this Board that most scientology and dianetics techniques are those of authoritative hypnosis and as such are dangerous. … the scientific evidence which the Board heard from several expert witnesses of the highest repute … which was virtually unchallenged—leads to the inescapable conclusion that it is only in name that there is any difference between authoritative hypnosis and most of the techniques of scientology. Many scientology techniques are in fact hypnotic techniques, and Hubbard has not changed their nature by changing their names." Hubbard was an accomplished hypnotist, and close acquaintances such as Forrest Ackerman (Hubbard's literary agent) and A. E. van Vogt (an important early supporter of Dianetics) witnessed repeated demonstrations of his hypnotic skills. (See Scientology and hypnosis). Licensed psychotherapists have alleged that the Church's auditing sessions amount to mental health treatment without a license , but the Church disputes these allegations, and claims to have established in courts of law that its practice leads to spiritual relief. So, according to the Church, the psychotherapist treats mental health and the Church treats the spiritual being. Using the synonym of alternative religions, Barrett (1998:237) and Hunt (2003:195) place Scientology in the sociological grouping of personal development movements together with the Neurolinguistic Programming, Emin, and Insight.

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 in 2000 categorized the church as an "absolute sect" and recommended that all its activities be prohibited.

The federal government of Germany as well as its states, have to a greater or lesser degree and for varying periods placed Scientology and Scientologists under surveillance by the Verfassungsschutz intelligence agencies since 1997, based on alleged anti-democratic tendencies. No criminal or civil charges have been brought as a result of this surveillance. Some 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. On Federal level Scientology lost a complaint against continued surveillance by the Federal Verfassungsschutz because the court held the opinion that there are indicators that Scientology is pursuing anticonstitutional activities. As of April 2007 the case was pending in appeal. In Berlin, the court prohibited the use of paid undercover agents. In Saarland, surveillance was stopped by the court as inappropriate because there is no local branch of Scientology and few members.

Allegations of Scientology's cult status may be attributed to its unconventional creation by a single authoritative and charismatic leader.

On May 12, 2007 Journalist John Sweeney of BBC Panorama made highly critical comments regarding Scientology and its teachings, and further reported that since beginning an extensive investigation he had been harassed, surveilled, and investigated by strangers. Sweeney wrote, "I have been shouted at, spied on, had my hotel invaded at midnight, denounced as a "bigot" by star Scientologists, brain-washed … and chased round the streets of Los Angeles by sinister strangers. Back in Britain strangers have called on my neighbors, my mother-in-law's house and someone spied on my wedding and fled the moment he was challenged." In another passage, "He harangued me for talking to … heretics. I told him that Scientology had been spying on the BBC and that was creepy." And in another passage, "In LA, the moment our hire car left the airport we realized we were being followed by two cars. In our hotel a weird stranger spent every breakfast listening to us." .

The Church of Scientology called John Sweeney's documentary (first aired May 14, 2007) into question and produced its own documentary in which it claimed to have documented 154 violations in the BBC's and OfCom's guidelines.
The Church documentary also claimed that the BBC had organized a demonstration outside a Church building in London in order to film it, following which anonymous Emailed death threats had been made against the Church. The BBC described these allegations as "clearly laughable and utter nonsense" whilst representatives of the picket group stated that the BBC had simply turned up to a scheduled picket date that was part of an ongoing protest since 1996. Sandy Smith, the BBC program's producer, commented that the Church of Scientology has "no way of dealing with any kind of criticism at all."

Scientology as a commercial venture

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. Hubbard was accused in his lifetime of adopting a religious façade for Scientology to allow the organization to maintain tax-exempt status and to avoid prosecution for false medical claims. There have been numerous accounts from Hubbard's fellow science-fiction authors and researchers, notably Harlan Ellison, Neison Himmel, Sam Merwin, Sam Moskowitz, Theodore Sturgeon, Lloyd Arthur Eshbach, and Lyle Stuart, of Hubbard stating on various occasions that the way to get rich was to start a religion. This 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."

The Church says 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 statement does not address any of the other individuals who have stated that they personally heard Hubbard make such a statement, some saying 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.

Scientology pays members commissions on new recruits they bring in, encouraging Scientology members to "sell" Scientology to others. In addition, Scientology franchises, or missions, pay the church roughly 10% of their gross income. On that basis, it is often likened to a Pyramid selling scheme.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 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.

In conjunction with the Church of Scientology's request to be officially recognized as a religion in Germany, around 1996 the German state Baden-Württemberg conducted a thorough investigation regarding the group's activities within Germany. The results of this investigation indicated that, at the time of publication, Scientology's main sources of revenue ("Haupteinnahmequellen der SO") were from course offerings and sales of their various publications. Course offerings—e.g. "The Ups and Downs of Life", "Hubbard's Key to Life", "Intensive Auditing", etc.—ranged from (German Marks) DM 182.50 to about DM 30,000—the equivalent today of approximately $119 to $19,560 US dollars. Revenue from monthly, bi-monthly, and other membership offerings could not be estimated in the report, but was nevertheless placed in the millions.

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.

Scientology and psychiatry

The Church of Scientology is one of a number of groups involved in the anti-psychiatry movement, and one of the few organizations that publicly oppose the study and application of psychology in addition to psychiatry.

The Church says 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 the September 11 attacks. The Church's point of view on these issues is documented mainly by Church groups and magazines such as those published by the Citizens Commission on Human Rights and Freedom Magazine.

Scientology versus the Internet

In the 1990s Scientology representatives began extensive operations to deal with growing allegations against Scientology on the Internet. 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 say that the organisation's true motive is to attempt to suppress the free speech of its critics.

In January 1995, Church lawyer Helena Kobrin attempted to shut down the newsgroup 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 said 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.

Scientific criticism of Scientology's beliefs

A 1971 ruling of the United States District Court, District of Columbia (333 F. Supp. 357), specifically stated, "the E-meter has no proven usefulness in the diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any disease, nor is it medically or scientifically capable of improving any bodily function.". Scientology publishes the following disclaimer in its books and publications: "The e-meter is an electronic instrument that measures mental state and change of state in individuals and assists the precision and speed of auditing. The E-Meter is not intended or effective for any diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any disease" and that it is used specifically for spiritual purposes.

See also

External links

Scientology web links

• Church of Scientology official home page
• Church of Scientology International - News Site
• Scientology Handbook (Training Manual for Scientology Volunteer Ministers
• What is Scientology? A description of Scientology and its activities and answers to FAQs (by the Church of Scientology)
• Official Church site about L. Ron Hubbard
• Theology & Practice of Scientology
• The way to happiness Scientology-related non-denominational moral code group
• CCHR Scientology's anti-psychiatry front group
• Criminon Scientology's criminal rehabilitation front group
• Narconon Scientology's drug rehabilitation front group
• No to drugs-yes to life Scientology's anti-drug campaign front group
• Youth for human rights Scientology's human rights front group
• Religious scholars What Religious Scholars Say About The Scientology Religion
• Scientology Volunteer Ministers

Critical links

• The Secrets of Scientology
• Scientology Lies
• Rick Ross Scientology Information
• Scientology at The Rotten Library
• www.lermanet.com/frontgroups Scientology front groups exposed
• Operation Clambake on Scientology Xenu.net
• Scientology—Through the Door Survey interviews of over 100 former Scientologists.
• Scientology—is this a Religion? Stephen A Kent, 1979.

Free Zone links

• International Freezone Association
• Information on Changes within the Church

Other links

• Beliefnet site on scientology.
• Links about Scientology on dmoz Open Directory Project
• Michel Snoeck on Scientology® and L. Ron Hubbard®—An Introduction or A word about ‘KSW’
• "Inside Scientology", Rolling Stone; 02/23/06—in-depth Rolling Stone article on Scientology
• Center for Studies in New Religions
• Life Positive Scientology: The doctrine of clarity
• Scientology: A Religion in South Africa by David Chidester, University of Cape Town, South Africa

General references

• Scientology: Cult of Greed and power—Time Magazine article on Scientology
• Spirituality through therapy: Scientology, teaching that divinity lies within, appeals to our pop gods
• 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)

• Barrett 1998. Sects, `Cults' & Alternative Religions: A World Survey and Sourcebook (Paperback) Sterling Pub Co Inc; New Ed edition. ISBN-13: 978-0713727562
• Hunt, Stephen J. (2003) Alternative Religions: A Sociological Introduction Ashgate Publishing (ISBN 0-7546-3410-8

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Notes

1. History of Scientology's expansion
2. Scientology at Foundation for Religious Freedom
3. What is Scientology? Scientology
4. the Goal of Scientology
5. LRH Management Technology
6. Effective Education
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. Goodin, Dan (1999-06-03). "Scientology subpoenas Worldnet". CNET News.com. Retrieved 2006-05-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
9. Scientology Official Web Site: Why has Scientology sometimes been considered controversial?
10. http://theology.scientology.org/eng/pdf/scientology-04-religious-practice.pdf
11. http://theology.scientology.org/eng/pdf/scientology-15-true-religion.pdf
12. http://www.scientology.org/wis/wiseng/41/41-books.htm
13. http://theology.scientology.org/eng/pdf/scientology-04-religious-practice.pdf
14. HCOB 18 April 67 (Hubbard Communications Office Bulletin (HCOB) of 21 June 1960 Revised) "Religious Philosophy and Religious Practice"
15. http://www.xenu-directory.net/opinions/jacobsen19940524-6.html#ALEISTER_CROWLEY
16. Philadephia Doctorate Lectures, Lecture #40 titled "Games/Goals", 12 December 1952: About "Limitations on self and others": "Old Aleister Crowley had come interesting things to say about this. He wrote a Book of the Law. He was a mad old boy! I mean, he … You'd be surprised though that Crowley, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche, Aristotle—all the boys practically along the line—they all talked about the same thing. And actually you can find all these ideas we're talking about someplace in the writings of practically any philosopher who ever thought things over. He couldn't fail to fall headlong across the most salient facts in the case. He never organized them or was able to evaluate or use them. But he had them."
17. Lecture #45 titled "Development of Scientology: Characteristics of a Living Science", 13 December 1952: About "Life Science":"I was sitting there tonight trying to pretend that this had been a very brace voyage of adventure because it was—been to dangerous and there's so many men fall on their faces doing this. As a matter of fact, it has not been a very dangerous voyage. But the po0int is that an awful lot of men have fallen on their faces in the last century trying to hit this track. Amongst them were Nietzsche; amongst them were Aleister Crowley. They were all trying to hit this track and they were overshooting, undershooting, round and round. Because they were looking at it as it, and trying to analyze it as itself, and trying to apply to it its own peculiarities of logic and formulation and it had no such evaluation.
18. L. Ron Hubbard, "Conditions of Space/Time/Energy" Philadelphia Doctorate Course cassette tape #18 5212C05
19. "Possible origins for Dianetics and Scientology"
20. Allen Upward: The New Word, pp 139, 149 & 156
21. Atack, Jon (1990). A Piece of Blue Sky. New York, NY: Carol Publishing Group. p. 128. ISBN 0-8184-0499-X.
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26. LRH ED 4 Int, 22 February 69 “Attachment (letter to doctor)”
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29. ^ Breakdown of Worldwide Religions By Adherents
30. Millions of Members?
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32. Religious Technology Center Web Site
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34. The Man Behind Scientology by THOMAS C. TOBIN, St. Petersburg Times, October 25, 1998
35. Official Scientology web site: The Church of Scientology International
36. Official Scientology Website: CHURCHES, MISSIONS AND GROUPS
37. http://www.churchofscientology.com/ List of Scientology organizations world wide]
38. SCIENTOLOGY MISSIONS
39. List of all Scientology Missions world wide
40. SCIENTOLOGY: ADVANCED ORGANIZATIONS
41. Scientology's town, St Petersburg Times, July 18, 2004
42. Church of Scientology Flag Ship Service Organization
43. Description of the Narconon program
44. Youth for Human Rights
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51. CC International in Hollywood
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53. "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."Hoffman, Claire (2005-12-18). "Tom Cruise and Scientology". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2006-11-14. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Unknown parameter |coauthors= ignored (|author= suggested) (help)
54. "A Sea Org staffer … was taken along to do personal cooking for Tom Cruise and [David] Miscavige at the expense of Scientology not for profit religious organizations. This left only 3 cooks at [Gold Base] 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 [Nicole] 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." Affidavit of Andre Tabayoyon, 5 March 1994, in Church of Scientology International vs. Steven Fish and Uwe Geertz.
55. http://rickross.org/reference/scientology/Scien12.html
56. US State department Report 2006: "Several states published pamphlets about Scientology (and other religious groups) that detailed the Church's ideology and practices. States defended the practice by noting their responsibility to respond to citizens' requests for information about Scientology as well as other subjects. While many of the pamphlets were factual and relatively unbiased, some warned of alleged dangers posed by Scientology to the political order, to the free market economic system, and to the mental and financial well being of individuals. Beyond the Government's actions, the Catholic Church and, especially, the Evangelical Church have been public opponents of Scientology. Evangelical "Commissioners for Religious and Ideological Issues" have been particularly active in this regard."
57. Goodin, Dan (1999-06-03). "Scientology subpoenas Worldnet". CNET News.com. Retrieved 2006-05-04.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: year (link)
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59. Stacy Brooks affidavit recanting earlier affidavits and describing legal strategy she helped formulate to put pressure on the Church of Scientology International with false claims
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63. ^ 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)
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66. Scientology is a Bona Fide Religion Serving Exclusively Religious and Charitable Purposes
67. 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)
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69. Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin (September 2003). "Scientology: Religion or racket?" (PDF). Marburg Journal of Religion. Retrieved 2006-06-14. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
70. Gianni, Luke (2007-02-22). "Scientology does detox—David E. Root, M.D". local stories > 15 minutes. Sacramento News & Review. Retrieved 2007-05-06. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
71. Politicians Award Scientology
72. Monserrate Defends Detox Program
73. Program for prisoners draws fire over Scientology
74. What is Scientology? 1992, p.544
75. Scientology awards reach out to black community ROBERT FARLEY, St. Petersburg Times, February 18, 2006
76. Advertising Standards Authority record of successful Church of England complaint about Narconon advertisement
77. "Russian Orthodox Targets 'Totalitarian Sects'" at Zenit
78. "2004 Country Report on Human Rights Practices in Germany" at United States Department of State
79. Derakhshani, Tirdad (2005-07-03). "Spirituality through therapy". The Philadelphia Inquirer. Retrieved 2006-07-01. {{cite news}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
80. Response to Final Series of IRS Questions Prior to Recognition of Exemption Under Section 501(c)(3) As a Church, October 1 1993
81. Kent, Stephen A. (1996). "Scientology's Relationship With Eastern Religious Traditions". Journal of Contemporary Religion. 11 (1): 21. Retrieved 2007-03-31.
82. Hubbard, HCO PL of January 21 1965
83. Church of Scientology Bona Fide Scientology (website accessed 4/13/06)
84. http://www.bonafidescientology.org/bonafide-scientology.htm
85. ^ Resolution of religious Intolerance towards the Church of Scientology
86. Taiwanese Central News Agency, 12 March 2003
87. ^ Scientology Religious Recognition in Tanzania and Zimbabwe
88. ^ South Africa gives Scientology minister the right to perform marriages
89. http://www.germany.info/relaunch/info/archives/background/scientology.html
90. McGregor, Glen: Liberal MP stars in video promoting: Scientology Controversial religion not a cult, Lee insists, The Ottawa Citizen, October 26 2005, p. A1.
91. "International Religious Freedom Report 2006". United States Department of State. 2006-09-14. Retrieved 2007-01-31. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
92. "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)
93. Church of Scientology Bona Fide Scientology, Appendix 9, Official Recognition of Scientology as a Religion (website accessed 04/13/06)
94. Britannica Article
95. Frantz, Douglas The Shadowy Story Behind Scientology's Tax-Exempt Status The New York Times, March 9 1997 (website accessed 4/10/06)
96. Judge Barry Silverman Template:PDFlink format) United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, Argued and Submitted September 7, 2001, Pasadena, California, Filed January 29 2002
97. High Court of Australia CHURCH OF THE NEW FAITH v. COMMISSIONER OF PAY-ROLL TAX (VICT.) 1983 154 CLR 120
98. German legal document collection
99. Federal Labor Court, 26 September 2002, file no. 5 AZB 19/01
100. Superior Administrative Court Mannheim, file nr. 1 s 1972/00, 12 December 2003
101. http://www.verfassungsschutz.de/de/arbeitsfelder/af_scientology/
102. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2005
103. State Department's International Religious Freedom Report 2006
104. Discrimination on the Basis of Religion and Belief in Western Europe
105. CNN:U.S. report backs Scientologists in dispute with Germany
106. MS helps you hack Scientology out of Win2k registry
107. Switzerland: Scientology Spying by a German Official Spurs Jail Term
108. Berlin Administrative Court Rules Against the Use of Undercover Agents Posing a Scientologists
109. http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/(Symbol)/389a698dd0b48ecfc1256433004cd1d1?Opendocument
110. Spiegel Online 27 March 2007
111. Church of Scientology International Presentation on Religious Freedom in Russia
112. IOL, April 5,2007
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122. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/635793.stm
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124. Administrative court of Cologne, finding on 11. November 2004, file number: 20 K 1882/03 http://www.justiz.nrw.de
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139. Cooper, Paulette Scandal of Scientology, Chapter 19, Tower Publications, NYC, 1971
140. "ASHO Foundation Services Price Sheet". 2006. Retrieved 2006-06-21. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
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142. Jeff Elder (June 7 2006). "Scientology is newest NASCAR sponsor". The Charlotte Observer. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |year= (help)CS1 maint: year (link)
143. http://freedom.lronhubbard.org/page104a.htm
144. http://www.freedommag.org/english/vol30I1/page40.htm
145. http://www.cchr.org/educate/e_sr.htm
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148. Grossman, Wendy. "Copyright Terrorists". Net.Wars. New York: New York University Press. pp. 77–78. ISBN 0-8147-3103-1. Retrieved 2006-06-11. {{cite book}}: External link in |chapterurl= (help); Unknown parameter |chapterurl= ignored (|chapter-url= suggested) (help); Unknown parameter |origmonth= ignored (help)
149. http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/cos/rnewman/usenet/rmgroup
150. "The Secret Project to Spam the Internet"
151. "UNITED STATES of America, Libelant, v. An ARTICLE OR DEVICE "HUBBARD ELECTROMETER" or "Hubbard E-Meter", etc., Founding Church of Scientology et al., Claimants". No. D.C. 1–63. July 30 1971. Retrieved 2006-08-10. {{cite journal}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
152. Scientology's official description of the E-meter

• Religious faiths, traditions, and movements
• Pseudoscience
• Scientology
• UFO religions