Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology
From: jimcat@operators.its.rpi.edu (Jim Kasprzak)
Subject: Some views on Scientology
Message-ID: <cf7l=3Dwb@rpi.edu>
Nntp-Posting-Host: operators.its.rpi.edu
Organization: The Big Wedge 
Date: 20 Jul 91 16:16:54 GMT
Lines: 84

 For some reason I notice that L. Ron Hubbard and Scientology have 
been getting a fair bit more press coverage lately than they have
since Hubbard's death. There was the Time magazine article, the 
re-release of a couple of his books, the color suplement that found
its way into a lot of Sunday papers, and now the creation of this
newsgroup... could it be a conspiracy? (-:
 
 Nah. Seriously, though, I just recently read Russell Miller's 
_Bare-Faced Messiah_, a well-researched biography of Hubbard with
very little bias. It traces the development of the Dianetics 
movement and the Church of Scientology, and I'm left with several
impressions of Scientology, some positive and some negative. 
 
 To wit:
 
 - As far as L. Ron Hubbard was concerned, the primary purpose of
   Scientology and Dianetics was to make money for Hubbard. Whether
   or not he actualy made the infamous bet with another author about
   founding a new religion (no mention of this is made in the book, 
   which seemed quite thorough in its research, so I'm more inclined
   to think that the bet story was apocryphal), there is no doubt 
   that the whole thing was a money-making scheme.
 
 - Hubbard was no dummy, though. If he wanted to make money off the
   public and _keep_ making it, not just a take-the-money-and-run
   con, he had to give them something for it. And ideally, the 
   people had to be so satisfied with what he gave them that they'd
   want to convince other people to buy it as well.
 
 - Scientology and Dianetics did give people something. Hubbard picked
   up on a trend which was just starting in the 1950's but has kept
   gaining steam to this day: the dissatisfaction of many people with
   "traditional" religion as a means of spiritual fulfillment. But 
   people haven't stopped needing spiritual fulfillment, and Scientology
   gave them an alternative.
 
 - Scientology seems to be one of the more expensive religions to join.
   Unless my impressions are mistaken (and there are a few Scientologists
   here, I'd like to hear what they say about it), almost all of the 
   things that the Church of Scientology does to help people are given as
   "treatments" which require a fee. Not that this is inherently bad; no
   one is being forced to pay for something they don't want, as far as I
   can see. But most other religious groups I know of provide some 
   counseling and support to their members without charging them for it.
 
 - Hubbard was a good storyteller who wrote in a manner aimed at the 
   "common people". He could spin a yarn out of half-truths and outright
   fiction and make it believable - his accounts of his own life before
   the founding of Scientology as opposed to what he really did are a 
   good example. When he started his religion, he applied this talent to
   making up such things as thetans, engrams, and the effects of past 
   lives. A little science fiction, a little common sense and the impression
   that "this is a smart but basically ordinary guy whom you can trust"
   go a long way towards convincing the average late 20th-century person.
 
 - The upper ranks of the Church of Scientology seem more concerned with
   gaining personal power than anything else. While Hubbard was alive, the
   key thing was to be in his favor; now the struggle is to take the top
   spot that Hubbard occupied or get as close to it as possible. But this
   is something common to almost all large organizations, and certainly
   to many religions.
 
 - Hubbard was quite likely insane by the last decades of his life. His 
   actions in the 1970's with the "Sea Org" and his paranoid retreat to
   California in the 80's hardly seem like rational actions. Many of the
   more wacko beliefs of Scientology seem to have been written during 
   this time. By late in his life, Hubbard was even believing some of the
   more fantastic tales he'd told about himself - for example, he sent a
   letter to the US Navy requesting that they send him the medals he 
   claimed to have earned during the Second World War, almost all of which
   he'd never actually been given. (The Navy was not fooled.)
 
 That's one person's impression of Scientology based on Hubbard's biography.
By all means I reccomend reading _Bare-Faced Messiah_ if you're interested
in learning about Hubbard - good or bad, he certainly was a fascinating 
person. The book may be difficult to find due to the Scientologists' lawsuit
against the author (or maybe it was the publisher), but there are still some
copies available. 
------------------------------------------------------------------
     __  Live from Capitaland, heart of the Empire State...
 ___/  | Jim Kasprzak, computer operator @ RPI, Troy, NY, USA
/____ *| Disclaimer: RPI pays me to work, not to think.
     \_| "A spirit with a vision is a dream with a mission" -Rush
      =3D=3D=3D=3D  e-mail: jimcat@rpi.edu or kasprzak@mts.rpi.edu