American Religious Experience - Research Paper Example

Church of Scientology Francisco M. Martinez American Religious Experience Dr. Dugard July 7, Introduction It would not be an exaggeration to suggest that religion plays an important role in the development of the human civilization. Indeed, if one takes a close look at the history of it, one can identify the traces of primitive religions almost at the very dawn of society. However, it is quite obvious that at that time they served a rather simple goal: explain to people the complex world and the natural events in a way so that they could understand and gain at least some control over it. For example, thunder was surely a frightening phenomenon, but when people thought that it was one of their gods performing a certain activity, e.g. Thor hitting his enemies with his hammer, they were no longer afraid of it. It is rather surprising that later in history another type of religion appeared that dealt with much more complex issues, such as Christianity. However, in the previous century, the world witnessed various religions that were different from everything that was known before. This paper will explore the major tenets of Scientology, including some criticism that is aimed at it. Brief Overview of Scientology To begin, one should point out that it is rather difficult to find one specific word that would describe Scientology. In some countries, for example in the United States it is legally recognized as a religion and as such is exempt from paying taxes. This is particularly important since it reflects the full acknowledgement as a spiritual teaching that is equal to such world religions as Christianity and Islam. On another hand, in some countries Scientology is viewed as a commercial organization and is treated accordingly. The justification for such approach comes for the peculiarities of some of its practices when people are able to receive counseling or knowledge for a fixed fee. Finally, some countries, like France, see Scientology as nothing but a cult (Kent,1999). It must be noted that the origins of Scientology is in the works of L. Ron Hubbard. At first, this person developed Dianetics: a teaching according to which people were able to get rid of the past that was supposedly holding them back (Horwitz, 1997, p. 88). Such approach toward personal evolution reflects the widely accepted trends of the 1950s when emotions were rejected and rationality was thought to dominate the world. However, as this practice was developed, some people noted that they were able to get in touch with their previous lives and reincarnation became of the most discussed themes. Unlike other people who would quickly dismiss it, Hubbard saw the potential in this and gradually transformed secular Dianetics into spiritual Scientology that made the concept of reincarnation as one of its milestones. The Major Beliefs of Scientology One should point out that one of the key concepts engaged by Scientology is the thetan. The name comes from a Greek letter and is largely equal to the idea of the soul in the conventional understanding. For Scientologists, thetans are attached to the bodies of the people and are able to guide their actions (Lewis, 2009, p. 91). In other words, it is not the soul that is the true identity or the nervous system that controls our body, but thetans. According to the teaching, thetans were originally neither good nor bad: they were a part of the universe and were seen as vessels of life. However, gradually they became more self absorbed and forgot about their spiritual powers. As a result, they started associating themselves with the physical body too much and were not able to grasp the wider perspective of the being. Nevertheless, one should note that this is not purely the fault of the evolution of thetas: they were corrupted by actions of Xenu who was the tyrant ruler of the Galactic Confederacy. Scientology teaches that 75 million years ago Xenu brought millions of creatures to Earth, placed them around volcanoes and destroyed them with the help of hydrogen bombs. This triggered the release of numerous thetans into Earth’s atmosphere, and that is why the contemporary people are born with the alien thetans attached to them and are not able to comprehend their true powers or true identity. What is more important is that the question for spiritual perfection of every Scientologist lies through removing the traces of these alien thetans from one’s own thetan in order to achieve harmony inside one’s mind and ensure that one’s actions are guided by one’s own will. (Grant, 2013, p. 42). This principle can be better explained by the two concepts of the reactive and analytical mind. As one can easily see from the very name, the first state of mind, namely “reactive” one, basically reacts to the events that happened in the past (Grant, 2013, p. 56). Scientology argues that these engrams that are caused by alien thetans have a destructive influence on one’s own personality. However, the other state of mind, namely “analytical” is able to remove the impact of these engrams. In order to do so, it is particularly important for a person to experience the traumatic events of one’s life once again and make sure that they no longer affect the present. According to the teaching of Scientology, the initial level of engrams can be removed rather easily. Nevertheless, as a person progresses, the complexity of the corruptions of the analytical mind becomes higher and it is rather difficult to remove them. It is interesting that Scientology also has a widely developed ethical system. Thus, it claims that one of the major priorities of life of a person is survival. However, it does not mean that a person should survive at all costs. It is important to keep in mind the ethical framework that guides the actions of each Scientologist. Hence, the world is divided into eight dynamics or spheres (Neusner, 2009, p. 295). They range from the most individual one, such as physical survival of a person, to the most abstract ones such as universal perspective on matters. The ethical system that is being advocated by Scientology argues that every action should be evaluated whether it is able to bring the greatest benefit across the eight dynamics. That is why the major goal of every Scientologist focuses on performing actions that would maximize the benefit. To a certain extent, this approach is similar to Utilitarianism. Speaking of symbols that are actively used in the Church of Scientology, one might mention several, ARC and KRC triangles are some of the most important ones. These triangles represent, the concept maps that are used by this spiritual teaching to explain the peculiarities of the world. The first triangle represents Affinity, Reality and Communication. These are the three significant elements that are thought to be guiding the social environment. As for the connection between them, it is suggested that any qualitative increase in either of them will inevitably influence the others. These concepts shape the interactions between people on a lower plane. Those on the upper plane are guided by Knowledge, Responsibility and Control. As one can easily see, these concepts are connected to each other and the two triangles show the way the world operates, including several levels of complexity (Grant, 2013, p. 56) Scientology is also responsible for the development of the concept of social and antisocial personalities. As it was put by L. Ron Hubbard, the vast majority of the people belong to the first group: they are social individuals and are able to operate within the social network rather easily (Hubbard, 2007, p. 205). However, there are people, the number of whom is somewhere around twenty per cent, that experience difficulties in living among other people. They tend to commit crimes, perform negative actions towards other people; that is why they are generally regarded as antisocial. However, the majority of these people are heavily affected by engrams, as previously discussed above; if these people work on themselves and receive help from others, they will be able to become social individuals as well. Nevertheless, there is a small fraction of the people who are extremely antisocial and no personal evolution will be able to make them better. A good example of a person who belongs to a such group would be Adolf Hitler. Finally, it is necessary to share some words about the process of religious development. The followers of Scientology call it “the Bridge to Total Freedom” since it is thought that the knowledge that is being provided by this spiritual teaching is able to grant people the total freedom and let restore their abilities they lost because of engrams. However, one of the most important points about moving along this bridge is that in order to receive more knowledge people have to pay more for it. In other words, it is not meditation and personal evolution that make a good Scientologist, it is the monetary contribution that one made in order to learn the truth. Many followers justify this by the fact that the sacred knowledge that the chosen ones receive can be destructive when it is given to the people who can hardly understand it properly (Urban, 2011, p. 11). Criticism and the Contemporary State of Scientology There is no doubt that just like any other movement that has a spiritual element to it, Scientology is an object of criticism. While some might note that there are several crimes that were committed by the followers of this tradition, it may not be logical to draw a strong connection between them and the teaching in general. However, there are several points of criticism that can be applied to Scientology directly. For example, the latter often relies on self invented devices called E-meters to determine the change in the mind of the people perform on whom the audits were performed, namely use their analytical mind to clear their reactive mind from engrams. However, the United States Food and Drug Administration made the Church of Scientology put a disclaimer on the device which states that it is a religious artifact and the measurements that are made by it are not scientifically proven (Lebron, 2012, p. 533). As for the latter, one might note that there is a lot of criticism when it comes to justification of the major beliefs of Scientology. It has already been stated that the concept of reincarnation is largely regarded as one of the cornerstones of this teaching; however, it is a well known fact that science rejects the idea of reincarnation. In addition to that, the major teaching of Scientology engages the firm belief in extraterrestrial forms of life, like Xenu mentioned in the previous pages. The existence of other creatures beyond Earth has not been proven by science and, therefore, these claims create a valid justification for dismissing the theory as not scientific (Angelo, 2006, p. 233). There is another kind of criticism that focuses on the practices that are carried out by Scientology. As it has been stated, the process of auditing or removing engrams from one’s mind is a significant part of this spiritual teaching. Nevertheless, this is often performed with the help of hypnosis. The scholars noted that Scientology uses positive authoritative hypnosis that supposedly helps people to release their true potential and get a hold of their lives, removing the alien thetas. It was suggested that the wide practice of this kind of hypnoses is able to suppress the personality of the followers and transforms Scientology into a common sect that is based on authority of a single person. Furthermore, it must be noted that before the death of L. Ron Hubbard, people were more inclined to believe him rather than his written materials which shows the lack of analytical thinking of the followers (Williams, 2013, p. 53). Lastly, one should note that the state of affair for Scientology is quite favorable. Thus, it was able to practically destroy its major opponents, namely the Cult Awareness Network (CAN) organization (Kent, 1999, p. 147). The latter puts emphasis on oppressive practices of Scientology and demanded that it should be recognized as a cult. However, the spiritual tradition in question filed numerous suits against it, with one of which being ruled in favor of the Church of Scientology, resulting in loss of millions for the Cult Awareness Network. Ultimately, the Church of Scientology was able to buy the logo and other elements and gained full control of it. As of now, there are several local churches of Scientology, operating primarily in the English speaking world, but there are many churches in other countries as well. Though the official statistics of the church in question suggest that there are many followers of it, other sources point out that it may be exaggerated. Nevertheless, there are many celebrities, including Tom Cruise and John Travolta, who publicly confessed their devotion to Scientology. Conclusion Having examined all the points that were mentioned in the paragraphs above, one is able to come to the following conclusion: the Church of Scientology is surely an interesting organization. It started as a development of a practice which was created by a person who thought that emotions should be avoided and rationality should govern people’s lives. However, many followers of the prescribed practices were supposedly able to recall their previous lives; hence, Dianetics was transformed into Scientology. The Church of Scientology has a widely developed ethical and cosmological system and is recognized as a religion in the United States. However, there is also a considerable number of criticism that is associated with this spiritual teaching, primarily become of lack of scientific justification, extensive use of positive authoritative control, and the need to make donations in order to gain knowledge. Works Cited Grant, Boyd. What Is Scientology?: History, Beliefs, Rules, Secrets and Facts. London, UK: Speedy LLC, 2013. Print. Horwitz, Paul. "Scientology in Court: A Comparative Analysis and Some Thoughts on Selected Issues in Law and Religion." DePaul Law Review 47.1 (1997): 86-110. Print. Hubbard, L. Ron. Scientology: A New Slant on Life. Los Angeles, CA: Bridge Publications, 2007. Print. Kent, Stephen A. "The Globalization Of Scientology: Influence, Control And Opposition In Transnational Markets." Religion 29.1 (1999): 147-69. Print. Lewis, James R. Scientology. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2009. Print. Neusner, Jacob. World Religions in America: An Introduction. 4th ed. Louisville, KY: Westminster/John Knox, 2009. Print. 1. You may want to add a citation here to indicate where you obtained the information in the passage about the various treatments of the religion, as it is not common knowledge. 2. This is 1950s, and not 1950s. No need for an apostrophe here. 3. You need a cite here for the source of the specific information contained in this paragraph. Each passage with information that is not commonly known must have a reference. 4. Add a cite for the information in this paragraph. 5. Add a cite for the source of info. 6. Source needed. 7. Source? 8. Source? 9. Add a comma and UK here after London to be specific about the country of origin. Instances Annotation Explanation Categories 1 Cut Cut -- this text is not necessary Sense 1 No Capital No need to capitalize this. 1 Thank You Thank you for utilizing the OWL! 1 Welcome Welcome to the Barry University On-Line Writing Lab. Our service is meant to help you improve your writing. Errors are usually marked only on the first one or two instances. It is the students responsibility to study the error and look for it in the rest of the paper. 3 Excellent! Excellent! Well done. Content 4 Good! Good! Content Read More