The Washington Post ran a article this week asking Is Scientology a Religion?
To address the basics: there is no God in Scientology. There is also no prayer, no concept of Heaven or Hell, no turn-the-other-cheek forgiveness or love, nor any of the other things we typically associate with religion, at least in the Judeo-Christian context. There is also no "faith" - no concept of belief. Instead, there is knowledge, a certainty beyond a shadow of a doubt that Scientology's doctrine, all of which was authored by the church's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, is the absolute truth.
There is no deity in Buddhism either, yet Americans regularly consider it a religion. There is no deity in LaVeyan Satanism. No deity in Raelianism. The supernatural beings of Native American spirituality and the kami of Shinto are quite different from our classic concept of "God." And, of course, the very mention of "God" rather than gods shows a blatant bias here. Taken literally, most religions have no God. They have gods, or at least some other god than God.
They have no concept of Heaven or Hell...again, neither do most religions. They each have their own distinct ideas of where we go, if indeed we go anywhere. Heaven and Hell aren't event Judeo-Christian; Jews have no Hell. They have "no turn-the-other-cheek forgiveness or love, nor any of the other things we typically associate with religion, at least in the Judeo-Christian context." Well, hello, they aren't Judeo-Christians. It might be an interesting exercise to reverse this and try measuring Christianity up according to Scientology standards....or Wiccan standards or Hindu standards or whatever. I don't think you'd get very far.
And the writer attempts to paint Scientology as in some way aberrant because there is "no concept of belief. Instead, there is knowledge, a certainty beyond a shadow of a doubt." I have met many Christians who insist their religion is about knowing, not about belief. They are certain beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Bible is the word of God and salvation is through Jesus Christ. Some people will insult a Christian with such a strong belief, but they are unlikely to say they are part of a cult, and they certainly wouldn't claim that Christianity wasn't a religion because of it.
If you want to deal with a religion, whether to learn about it or criticize it, you have to address it on it's own terms. No religion measures up to another religion. If it did, it wouldn't be a separate religion.
1. Kudos for mentioning LaVeyan Satanism!
2. Um, pretty sure Judaism DOES have a Hell. Pretty sure Christianity got the concept from Judaism, since both religions share the Old Testament.
3. I would most definetely call Christianity a cult. It isn’t as organized as it used to be, but it IS a cult. And so is Scientology. Not sure which is worse. Probably Scientology, since L. Ron Hubbard made Scientology solely to screw people out of money. He was even quoted as saying that religion is where the money is. There’s also a rumor that he had a bet going with another author that people could be made to believe anything, no matter how blatantly ridiculous it was. I’d say Hubbard won that bet.
But really, how could he have lost? If people are willing to believe that a talking snake lured the incestuous first two people on Earth into sin and God had to turn his half-mortal son into a zombie and get people to ritually cannabalize his zombie flesh to “save” them from that sin, I’m pretty sure there’s nothing so ridiculous that you’ll never find anyone to believe it.
Nope, no Jewish Hell. At least, not according to all the Jews I’ve talked to.
There is no OT Hell. In the OT, everyone goes to “sheol,” which is roughly translated as “common grave of mankind.”
The concept of the wicked being judged and burned was introduced by Zoroastrianism. It was something some Jews were talking about at the time of Jesus. That’s how it ended up in Christianity.
No, there’s no Hell in Judaism. There is a concept called Sheol, which was part of the inspiration for the later Christian doctrine of Hell, but it isn’t the same thing at all. There are also some Christians who note that there is actually no doctrine of Hell in the Bible, that is was a later accretion.
The Hubbard bet is probably an urban legend, and probably never occurred as such. That quote from Hubbard is on stronger ground, but is hardly damning evidence. It’s quite possible to start a religion for multiple purposes, for instance: one might think that one has a successful solution to certain human problems that are best solved in a religious manner and one wishes to make money from the idea. In any case, the version I heard regarding a bet was that Hubbard and another author made a bet as to which could found a self-sustaining religion first. Hubbard won, but the other author, if it was who it was said to be, was also successful. However, since there were actually three people involved in the beginnings of Scientology (Hubbard, Joseph Winter, and John W. Campbell), the whole incident seems unlikely.
I heard Jamie DeWolf, the great-grandson of L. Ron Hubbard, on a radio program called “Snap Judgement”. He read a poem/monologue about his Grandfather, and the effect that Scientology has had on his life. He also had some interesting stuff to say about it’s origins.
I think people forget that ‘religio’, in Latin, means ‘to bind’. If that is the meaning of a religion, that which binds a community together, then Scientology qualifies. So does Christianity. So, to limited extent, does bowling.
The importance isn’t whether it’s a religion, but what sort of religion it is. The Aztecs had a religion, and while it bound the community together it also made temples run with blood. The Thuggee cult was a religion, but it focused on the murder of outsiders to provide for the members. Chrisitianity, Islam, Hinduism all have pluses and minuses. So, I’m sure, does Scientology. However, it seems from the outside the pluses are minor, the minuses are huge.
Well said, Scott. I’m not being pro or con in regards to Scientology here. I’m just saying that judging it because it doesn’t look like Christianity is not the right way to go.
Fascinating . . .
And also fascinating that I have sent you information about The Source Family many times and you have – so far – not even responded. We had about 500 original members – in the early ’70’s and that has now grown into the thousands. We have published books and distributed music – all of which shares Father Yod / YaHoWha’s teachings.
His main message was:
Purify the body,
Refine the emotions,
Elevate the mind and
Liberate the Soul . . .
So that we can be of service to humanity.
What’s not to like ?
As I understand it, he is the Father of the Age of Aquarius and that is exactly what WoManKind needs to help shephard us through this next “CrossOver” !
Thank you,
E Aquarian
President, The Source Foundation
YaHoWha.org
E@YaHoWha.org
E. Aquraian, the reason I have never responded is I don’t believe I have ever received anything from you.
Or perhaps you sent me information that did not appear to require a response. As noted on my email page “I regret that I cannot answer every e-mail, but if you have a simple and concise question I will try to respond.”
You are welcome to contact me though my email link: http://altreligion.about.com/contact/Catherine-Beyer-53501.htm
THOUGH I´M BUDDHIST, I THINK SCIENTOLOGY BY THE YEAR 2050 WILL BE THE MOST LOOKED UPON RELIGION BY EVERY MAN AND WOMAN LOOKING FOR ANSWERS PARALLEL TO SCIENCES OF PHYSICS & MATH. THE NEW CONCEPTS OF NOTHINGNESS AND CERO WILL SUPPORT IT EVENTUALLY.