Church of Scientology

The Church of Scientology is the largest organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology belief system. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall ecclesiastical management, dissemination and propagation of Scientology."At the top of the ecclesiastical structure is the Church of Scientology International (CSI), the mother church for all Scientology. Located in Los Angeles, CSI provides overall direction, planning and guidance for the network of churches, missions, field auditors and volunteer ministers which comprise the Scientology hierarchy it spans, and ensures these various organizations are all working effectively together." What is Scientology? Published 1998 Bridge Publications ISBN 1573181226 http://www.whatisscientology.orgdescription of the Scientology ecclesiastical structure on www.rtc.org Every Church of Scientology is separately incorporated and has its own local board of directors and executives responsible for its own activities and well-being, both corporate and ecclesiastical.The Church of Scientology (Studies in Contemporary Religions, 1) By J. Gordon Melton Publisher: Signature Books in cooperation with CESNUR published September 2000 ISBN 1560851392 "The various missions, churches, and organizations, all autonomous corporations which fellowship with the larger movement, receive licenses to use the church's trademarks, service marks, and copyrights of Hubbard's published and unpublished works from RTC.""Each church corporation is organized on a nonprofit basis with its own board of directors and executives responsible for its activities. What is Scientology? Published 1998 Bridge Publications ISBN 1573181226 http://www.whatisscientology.orgdescription of the individual Scientology churches on www.rtc.org The first Scientology church was incorporated in December 1953 in Camden, New Jersey by American science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard. The church has been the subject of much controversy. The church's world headquarters are located in the Gold Base, unincorporated Riverside County, California.
==History==
The first Scientology church was incorporated in December 1953 in Camden, New Jersey by L. Ron Hubbard, his wife Mary Sue Hubbard, and John Galusha, although the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International (HASI) had already been operating since 1952Scientology Chronicle 1952-1955Remember Venus?, Time, 22 December 1952 and Hubbard had been selling Scientology books and other items. Soon after, he explained the religious nature of Scientology in a bulletin to all Scientologists,Hubbard, L. Ron (1954) Why Doctor of Divinity? Professional Auditor's Bulletin no. 32, 7 August 1954 stressing its relation to the Dharma. The first Church of Scientology opened in 1954 in Los Angeles.ABC News Scientology 101
Hubbard stated, "A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights, are the aims of Scientology.""Aims of Scientology by L. Ron Hubbard" at official site
Hubbard had official control of the organization until 1966 when this function was transferred to a group of executives. Though Hubbard maintained no formal relationship with Scientology's management, he remained firmly in control of the organization and its affiliated organizations. (archived at rickross.com)
In May 1987 David Miscavige, one of Hubbard's former personal assistants, assumed the position of Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center (RTC), a non-profit corporation that administers the trademarked names and symbols of Dianetics and Scientology. Although RTC is a separate corporation from the Church of Scientology International, whose president and chief spokesperson is Heber Jentzsch, Miscavige is the effective leader of the movement.
==Beliefs==
The Church of Scientology promotes Scientology, a body of beliefs and related practices created by L. Ron Hubbard, starting in 1952 as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics.
Scientology teaches that people are immortal spiritual beings who have forgotten their true nature.The story of Xenu is part of Scientologist teachings about extraterrestrial civilizations and alien interventions in Earthly events, collectively described as space opera by Hubbard. Its method of spiritual rehabilitation is a type of counseling known as "auditing", in which practitioners aim to re-experience consciously painful or traumatic events in their past, in order to free themselves of their limiting effects. Study materials and auditing courses are made available to members in return for specified donations. Scientology is legally recognized as a tax-exempt religion in the United States "Scientology has achieved full legal recognition as a religious denomination in the United States." and other countries,Toomey, Shamus (2005-06-26). "'TomKat' casts spotlight back on Scientology.", Chicago Sun-Times and the Church of Scientology emphasizes this as proof that it is a bona fide religion.
Scientology describes itself as the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, others, and all of life. One purpose of Scientology, as stated by the Church of Scientology, is to become certain of one's spiritual existence and one's relationship to God, or the "Supreme Being."
One of the major tenets of Scientology is that a human is an immortal alien spiritual being, termed a thetan, that is presently trapped on planet Earth in a physical "meat body." Hubbard described these thetans in "The Space Opera" cosmogony. The thetan has had innumerable past lives and it is accepted in Scientology that lives preceding the thetan's arrival on Earth lived in extraterrestrial cultures. Descriptions of space opera incidents are seen as true events by Scientologists.
Scientology claims that its practices provide methods by which a person can achieve greater spiritual awareness. Within Scientology, progression from level to level is often called The Bridge to Total Freedom. Scientologists progress from "Preclear", to "Clear", and ultimately "Operating Thetan".
Scientologists are taught that a series of events, or incidents, occurred before life on earth. Scientologists also believe that humans have hidden abilities which can be unlocked.
==Controversy==
Though it has attained some credibility as a religion,Weird, Sure. A Cult, No. Washington Post By Mark Oppenheimer, August 5, 2007 Scientology has also been described by some as both a cult and a commercial enterprise.The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power TIME magazine, May. 06, 1991 by Richard Behar. The investigation paints a picture of a depraved yet thriving enterprise. Some of the Church's actions also brought scrutiny from the press and law enforcement. For example, it has been noted to engage in harassment and abuse of civil courts to silence its critics.
In 1979, several Scientology members were convicted for illegal activities, including the largest theft of government documents in U.S. history.
===Church or business===
From 1952 until 1966, Scientology was administered by an organization called the Hubbard Association of Scientologists (HAS), established in Arizona on 10 September 1952. In 1954, the HAS became the HASI (HAS International). The Church of Scientology was incorporated in California on 18 February 1954, changing its name to "The Church of Scientology of California" (CSC) in 1956. In 1966, Hubbard transferred all HASI assets to CSC, thus gathering Scientology under one tax-exempt roof. In 1967, the IRS stripped all US-based Scientology entities of their tax exemption, declaring Scientology's activities were commercial and operated for the benefit of Hubbard. The church sued and lost repeatedly for 26 years trying to regain its tax-exempt status. The case was eventually settled in 1993, at which time the church paid $12.5 million to the IRS—greatly less than IRS had initially demanded—and the IRS recognized the church as a tax-exempt nonprofit organization."The Wall Street Journal. December 30, 1997 Reproduced at Dave Touretzky's Carnegie Mellon site In addition, Scientology also dropped more than fifty lawsuits against the IRS when this settlement was reached. Scientology cites its tax exemption as proof the United States government accepts it as a religion."Official Recognition of Scientology as a Religion". "... the United States Internal Revenue Service in granting full religious recognition and tax exemption to all Churches of Scientology located in the United States ..." In January 2009, removal of the tax exemption was rated as number 9 in items for the incoming Barack Obama administration to investigate, as polled by the presidential transition team.Wrapping up the Citizen’s Briefing Book(January 16, 2009) Posted by Dan McSwain - The Obama-Biden Transition Team:Change.gov- Retrieved 20 January 2009 The U.S. State Department has criticized Western European nations for discrimination against Scientologists in its published annual International Religious Freedom report, based on the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998.2001 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom2002 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom2003 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom2004 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom2005 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom2006 Annual Report on International Religious Freedom
In some countries Scientology is treated legally as a commercial enterprise, and not as a religion or charitable organization. In early 2003, in Germany, The Church of Scientology was granted a tax-exemption for the 10% license fees sent to the US. This exemption, however, is related to a German-American double-taxation agreement, and is unrelated to tax-exemption in the context of charities law. In several countries, public proselytizing undergoes the same restrictions as commercial advertising, which is interpreted as persecution by Scientology.
In Israel, Scientology does not use "Church" as part of its name.
Unlike many well-established religious organizations, Scientology maintains strict control over its names, symbols, religious works and other writings. The word Scientology (and many related terms, including L. Ron Hubbard) is a registered trademark. Religious Technology Center, the owner of the trademarks and copyrights, takes a hard line on people and groups who attempt to use it in ways unaffiliated with the official Church (see Scientology and the legal system).
===Illegal activities===
Under the Guardian's Office (now renamed the Office of Special Affairs or OSA), Church members organized and committed the largest penetration of United States federal agencies ever perpetrated by an organization not affiliated with a foreign government (that is, one such as the KGB). This was known as Operation Snow White. In the trial which followed discovery of these activities the prosecution described their actions thus:
The Church has also in the past made use of aggressive tactics in addressing those it sees as trying to suppress them, known as Suppressive Persons (SPs) first outlined by L. Ron Hubbard as part of a policy called fair game. It was under this policy that Paulette Cooper was targeted for having authored The Scandal of Scientology, a 1970 exposé book about the Church and its founder. This action was known as Operation Freakout. Using blank paper known to have been handled by Cooper, Scientologists forged bomb threats in her name. When fingerprints on them matched hers, the Justice Department began prosecution, which could have sent Cooper to prison for a lengthy term. The Church's plan was discovered at the same time as its Operation Snow White actions were revealed. All charges against Cooper were dismissed, though she had spent more than $20,000 on legal fees for her defense.
Of these activities the current Church laments:
Yet it has continued to aggressively target people it deems suppressive. In 1998, regarding its announcement that it had hired a private investigator to look into the background of a Boston Herald writer who had written a series on the church, Robert W. Thornburg, dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University, said, "No one I know goes so far as to hire outsiders to harass or try to get intimidating data on critics. Scientology is the only crowd that does that."
 It has apparently continued as recently as 2006 when BBC journalist John Sweeney was making Scientology and Me, an investigative report about the Church and was the subject of harassment:
===Members' health and safety===
The death of some Scientologists has brought attention to the Church both due to the circumstances of their demise and their relationship with Scientology possibly being a factor.The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power TIME magazine, May. 06, 1991 By Richard Behar. By all appearances, Noah Lottick of Kingston, Pa., had been a normal, happy 24-year-old who was looking for his place in the world... his fingers were still clutching $171 in cash, virtually the only money he hadn't yet turned over to the Church of Scientology, the self-help "philosophy" group he had discovered just seven months earlier. In 1995, Lisa McPherson was involved in a minor automobile accident while driving on a Clearwater, Florida street. Following the collision, she exited her vehicle, stripped naked and showed further signs of mental instability. Hospital staff agreed that she was unharmed, but recommended keeping her overnight for observation. Following intervention by fellow Scientologists, McPherson refused psychiatric observation or admission at the hospital and checked herself out after a short evaluation. She was taken to the Fort Harrison Hotel, a Scientology retreat, to receive a Church sanctioned treatment called Introspection Rundown. It was her second time on the rundown, her first time having been in June. Her appearance after death was that of someone who had been denied water and food for quite some time, being both underweight and severely dehydrated. Additionally, her skin was covered with over a hundred insect bites, presumably from cockroaches. She was locked in a room for 17 days. When she later died, the state of Florida pursued criminal charges against the Church. The Church has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, and now makes members sign a waiver before Introspection Rundown specifically stating that they (or anyone on their behalf) will not bring any legal action against the organization over injury or death. Florida Charges Scientology In Church Member's Death The New York Times, By Douglas Frantz Published: November 14, 1998 These charges attracted press coverage and sparked lawsuits. Eight years later Elli Perkins, another adherent to Scientology's beliefs regarding psychiatry, was stabbed to death by her mentally disturbed son. Though Elli Perkins's son had begun to show symptoms of schizophrenia as early as 2001, the Perkins family chose not to seek psychiatric help for him and opted instead for remedies sanctioned by Scientology. The death of Elli Perkins at the hands of a disturbed family member, one whose disease could have been treated by methods and medications banned by Scientology, again raised questions in the media about the Church's methods.
===Missionary activities===
Members of the public entering a Scientology center or mission are offered a "free personality test" called the Oxford Capacity Analysis by Scientology literature. The test, despite its name and the claims of Scientology literature, has no connection to Oxford University or any other research body. Scientific research into three test results came to the conclusion that "we are forced to a position of skepticism about the test's status as a reliable psychometric device" and called its "scientific value," "negligible".The Foster Report. Chapter 5, "The Practices of Scientology;" section (a), "Recruitment;" pages 75-76. "... a systematic approach to answering the questions should yield systematic variations in the conclusions derived from an analysis of the test scores ... these two methods would be expected to produce different, if not complementary, profiles ... These variations in answering the questions did not seem to affect the Oxford Capacity Analysis as the three methods produced remarkably similar profiles ... when each of two diametrically opposed methods of response produces the same extreme deviant scores as the other and as a third "random" response style, we are forced to a position of scepticism about the test's status as a reliable psychometric device."
Further proselytization practices - commonly called "dissemination" of ScientologyDissemination Division in Churches of Scientology - include information booths, flyers and advertisement for free seminars, Sunday Services in regular newspapers and magazines, personal contactsDissemination by Churches of Scientology through "Field Staff Members", "Field Staff Member: a Scientology parishioner who introduces others to Scientology through personal contact."]Official Scientology FAQ: "There are thousands of Scientologists who work full time in churches and missions throughout the world as executives or administrative staff. There are also those who further the dissemination of Scientology on a one-to-one basis or through the dissemination of Scientology materials and books, those who hold jobs in the Church’s social reform groups and those who work in the Office of Special Affairs involved in community betterment or legal work. All of these provide rewarding careers as each forwards the expansion of Scientology and thereby makes it possible for more and more people to benefit from its technology." and sales of books.
===Legal waivers===
Recent legal actions involving Scientology's relationship with its members (see Scientology controversy) have caused the organization to publish extensive legal documents that cover the rights granted to followers. It has become standard practice within the organization for members to sign lengthy legal contracts and waivers before engaging in Scientology services, a practice that contrasts greatly with almost every mainstream religious organization. In 2003, a series of media reports examined the legal contracts required by Scientology, which state, among other things, that followers deny any psychiatric care their doctors may prescribe to them.Reproduced version of Introspection Rundown Release Contract
I do not believe in or subscribe to psychiatric labels for individuals. It is my strongly held religious belief that all mental problems are spiritual in nature and that there is no such thing as a mentally incompetent person — only those suffering from spiritual upset of one kind or another dramatized by an individual. I reject all psychiatric labels and intend for this Contract to clearly memorialize my desire to be helped exclusively through religious, spiritual means and not through any form of psychiatric treatment, specifically including involuntary commitment based on so-called lack of competence. Under no circumstances, at any time, do I wish to be denied my right to care from members of my religion to the exclusion of psychiatric care or psychiatric directed care, regardless of what any psychiatrist, medical person, designated member of the state or family member may assert supposedly on my behalf.
In addition, the Church has been implicated in kidnapping members who have recently left the church. In 2007, Martine Boublil was kidnapped and held for several weeks against her will in Sardinia by four Scientologists. She was found on 22 January 2008, clothed only in a shirt. The room she was imprisoned in contained refuse and an insect infested mattress.L'étrange séquestration qui embarrasse la Scientologie - Faits Divers - leParisien.fr
On Friday 28 March 2008, Kaja Bordevich Ballo, daughter of Olav Gunnar Ballo, Norwegian parliament member and vice president of the Norwegian Odelsting, took a Church of Scientology personality test while studying in Nice. Her friends and co-inhabitants claim she was in good spirits and showed no signs of a mental breakdown, but the report from the Church of Scientology said she was "depressed, irresponsible, hyper-critical and lacking in harmony". A few hours later she committed suicide by jumping from her balcony at her dorm room leaving a note telling her family she was sorry for not "being good for anything". The incident has brought forward heavy criticism against the Church of Scientology from friends, family and prominent Norwegian politicians. Inga Marte Thorkildsen, parliament member, went as far as to say "Everything points to the scientology cult having played a direct role in making Kaja choose to take her own life".
==Membership statistics==
It is difficult to obtain reliable membership statistics. The International Association of Scientologists (IAS), the official Church membership system since 1984, has never released figures. Church spokespersons either give numbers for their countries or a worldwide figure. Some national censuses have recently included questions about religious affiliations, though the United States Census Bureau states that it is not the source for information on religion.
In 2007, the German national magazine Der Spiegel reported about 8 million members worldwide, about 6000 of them in Germany, with only 150-200 members in Berlin. "The Church of Scientology was founded in 1954 in the US by science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard. It has around 8 million members worldwide, including several celebrities such as actors John Travolta and Tom Cruise. The organization has an estimated 6,000 members in Germany, but experts believe the church has only 150-200 members in Berlin." In 1993, a spokesperson of Scientology Frankfurt had mentioned slightly more than 30,000 members nationwide.Interview with Barbara Lieser, SPIRITA 1/93, Page 22
The organization has said that it has anywhere from eight million to fifteen million members worldwide.Statement of Scientology Media Relations Director Linda Simmons Hight, May 11, 2002 Statement of Celebrity Centre Vice President Greg LaClaire, 7 August 2004 Spokesperson Beth Akiyama in: Scientology comes to town, Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, July 24, 2005 Derek Davis stated in 2004 that the Church organization has around 15 million members worldwide.Religionsfreiheit und Konformismus. Über Minderheiten und die Macht der Mehrheit, Lit. Verlag, Münster, 2004, ISBN 3825876543, page 113 Religious scholar J. Gordon Melton has said that the church's estimates of its membership numbers are exaggerated.
The "Scientologists Online" website presents "over 16,000 Scientologists On-Line".on-line.scientology.org homepage, viewed February 2007
Statistics from other sources:
* In 2001, the American Religious Identification Survey (ARIS) reported that there were 55,000 adults in the United States who consider themselves Scientologists.Self-Described Religious Identification Among American Adults at Infoplease In 2008, the same survey team estimated there to be 25,000 Americans identifying as Scientologists.Eric Gorski Defections, court fights test Scientology Associated Press. Retrieved 2009-11-02.
* The 2001 United Kingdom census contained a voluntary question on religion, to which approximately 48,000,000 chose to respond. Of those living in England and Wales who responded, a total of 1,781 said they were Scientologists.
* In 2001, Statistics Canada, the national census agency, reported a total of 1,525 Scientologists nationwide, up from 1,220 in 1991.Boyle, Kevin; Sheen, Juliet (1997), Freedom of Religion and Belief, London, UK/New York, NY: Routledge, ISBN 0415159784, p. 102
* In 2005, the German Office for the Protection of the Constitution estimated a total of 5,000 – 6,000 Scientologists in that country, and mentioned a count of 12,000 according to Scientology Germany.Verfassungsschutzbericht 2005, p. 292
* In the 2006 New Zealand census, 357 people identified themselves as Scientologists, although a Church spokesperson estimated there were between 5,000 and 6,000 Scientologists in the country.2008 Report on International Religious Freedom - New Zealand Earlier census figures were 207 in the 1991 census, 219 in 1996, and 282 in 2001.
* In 2006, Australia's national census recorded 2,507 Scientologists nationwide, up from 1,488 in 1996, and 2,032 in 2001.Religion's rise in the stars, The Herald Sun, July 09, 2007
==Finances==
The Church of Scientology and its large network of corporations, non-profits and other legal entities are estimated to make around half a billion dollars in annual revenue. This money is raised in a variety of ways.
Scientologists are expected to attend classes, exercises or counseling sessions, for a set range of fees (or "fixed donations"). Charges for auditing and other church-related courses run from hundreds to thousands of dollars. A wide variety of entry-level courses, representing 8 to 16 hours study, cost under $100 (US). More advanced courses require membership in the International Association of Scientologists (IAS), have to be taken at higher level Orgs, and have higher fees.ASHO - Registration Donation Rates, American Saint Hill Organization. Membership without courses or auditing is possible, but the higher levels cannot be reached this way. According to a sociological report entitled "Scientology: To Be Perfectly Clear", progression between levels above "clear" status cost $15,760.03 in 1980 (without including additional special treatments). Scientologists can choose to be audited by a fellow Scientologist rather than by a staff member."Château Scientology", The New Yorker, 14 January 2008
Scientologists are frequently encouraged to become Professional Auditors as a way of earning their way up the Bridge. As a Field Auditor, auditors can receive commissions on people referred to Organizations and a 15% commission on completed services.Auditing as a Career, American Saint Hill Organization.
Critics say it is improper to fix a donation for religious service; therefore the activity is non-religious. Scientology points out many classes, exercises and counseling may also be traded for "in kind" or performed cooperatively by students for no cost, and members of its most devoted orders can make use of services without any donations bar that of their time. A central tenet of Scientology is its Doctrine of Exchange, which dictates that each time a person receives something, he or she must give something back. By doing so, a Scientologist maintains "inflow" and "outflow", avoiding spiritual decline.Hernandez v. Commissioner, U.S. Supreme Court
==Government opinions of Scientology==
While a number of governments now give the Church of Scientology protections and tax relief as an officially recognized religion,]Dispatch online - "New SA rights for Scientology" other sources describe the Church as a pseudoreligion or a cult. Sociologist Stephen Kent published at a Lutheran convention in Germany that he likes to call it a transnational corporation. Kent, while acknowledging that a number of his colleagues accept Scientology as a religion, argues that "Rather than struggling over whether or not to label Scientology as a religion, I find it far more helpful to view it as a multifaceted transnational corporation, only one element of which is religious." (Italics in original.) 
Early official reports in countries such as the United Kingdom (1971), South Africa (1972), Australia (1965) and New Zealand (1969) have yielded unfavorable observations and conclusions.
===Australia===
In the 1960s Scientology was banned in three states in Australia as a result of the Anderson Report published in 1965. Specific legislation was made to counter it in South Australia. However, legislated bans in all three States were either repealed Microsoft Word - 87-60a.011The Statutes of Western Australia or amended to remove references to Scientology during the 1970s and there is currently no legal restriction in Australia on the practice of Scientology.
In 1983 the High Court of Australia dealt with the question whether the Church of Scientology is a religious institution and as such not subject to payroll tax. The Court unanimously confirmed the Church of Scientology to be a religious institution.(The Church of the New Faith v. The Commissioner for Payroll Tax, Australian Law Journal Reports 57 [1983]: p785)
On 18 November 2009 the Church came under fire from an Independent senator in the Commonwealth Parliament, Nick Xenophon. Xenophon declared that the Church of Scientology is a criminal organisation.
===Belgium===
In September 2007, a Belgian prosecutor announced that they had finished an investigation of Scientology and said they would probably bring charges. The church said the prosecutor's public announcement falsely suggested guilt even before a court could hear any of the charges. An administrative court has yet to decide whether to press charges against the Scientologists.
===France===
In France, a parliamentary report classified Scientology as a dangerous cult.Miviludes 2006 report (PDF) On November 22, 1996, the leader of the Lyons Church of Scientology, Jean-Jacques Mazier, was convicted of fraud and involuntary homicide and sentenced to eighteen months in prison for his role in the death of a member who committed suicide after going deeply into debt to pay for Scientology auditing sessions. Fourteen others were convicted of fraud as well. In 2009, members of the church were sued for fraud and practicing pharmacology without a license, and the Church was convicted of fraud in October 2009, being fined €600,000, with additional fines and suspended prison sentences for four officers."French court fines Scientologists, allows operations", Reuters/Yahoo News, 27 October 2009
In an interview on the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation current affairs radio program The Current with Hana Gartner, former high-ranking Scientology official Mark Rathbun commented that the decision to convict the Church of Scientology of fraud in France would not have a significant impact on the organization. "On the France thing I don't think that's going to have any lasting impact, simply because they got a nine hundred thousand dollar fine I think - which is like chump change to them. They've got literally nearly a billion dollars set aside in a war chest," said Rathbun.
===Germany===
In Germany, official views of Scientology are particularly skeptical., p. 289
 In Germany it is seen as a totalitarian anti-democratic organization and is under observation by national security organizations due, among other reasons, to suspicion of violating the human rights of its members granted by the German Constitution,Scientology Crime Syndicate -- Is This A Religion? By Stephen A. Kent including Hubbard's pessimistic views on democracy vis-à-vis psychiatry and other such features. In December 2007, Germany's interior ministers said that they considered the goals of Church of Scientology to be in conflict with the principles of the nation's constitution and would seek to ban the organization. The plans were quickly criticised as ill-advised.Agencies Warn Scientology Ban Doomed to Fail Spiegel.de The plans to ban Scientology were finally dropped in November 2008, after preliminary investigations failed to unearth evidence of illegal or unconstitutional activity.Germany drops attempt to ban Scientology (AP)
The legal status of the Church of Scientology in Germany is still awaiting resolution; some courts have ruled that it is a business, others have affirmed its religious nature.bundestag.de: Legal questions concerning religious and worldview communities, prepared by the Scientific Services staff of the German Parliament The German government has affirmed that it does not consider the Church of Scientology to be a religious community.
===Republic of Ireland===
As in most European countries, the Church of Scientology is not officially recognized in Ireland as a charitable organization, but it is free to promote Scientology beliefs.Tom Lyons: Troubled Scientology Church in Ireland is now €1m in red, The Irish Independent, 28 June 2006 The Irish government has not invited the Church of Scientology to national discussions on secularization by the Religious Council of Ireland. The meetings were attended by Catholic bishops, representatives of the Church of Ireland, Ireland's Chief Rabbi, and Muslim leaders.
===Israel===
In Israel, according to Israeli professor of psychology Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi, "in various organizational forms, Scientology has been active among Israelis for more than thirty years, but those in charge not only never claimed the religion label, but resisted any such suggestion or implication. It has always presented itself as a secular, self-improvement, tax-paying business." Those "organizational forms" include a Scientology Organization in Tel Aviv. Another Israeli Scientology group called "The Way to Happiness" (or "Association for Prosperity and Security in the Middle East") works through local Scientologist members to promote The Way to Happiness. An Israeli CCHR chapter runs campaigns against perceived abuses in psychiatry.CCHR Israel Homepage Other Scientology campaigns, such as "Youth for Human Rights International" are active as well. There is also an ultra-Orthodox Jewish group that opposes Scientology and other cults or missionary organizations in Israel,US State Department Report on International Religious Freedom, September 9, 1999 Quote: "Evangelical Christian and other religious groups also have complained that the police have been slow to investigate incidents of harassment, threats, and vandalism directed against their meetings, churches, and other facilities by two ultra-Orthodox Jewish groups, known as Yad L'achim and Lev L'achim."] Lev L'Achim, whose anti-missionary department in 2001 provided a hotline and other services to warn citizens of Scientology's "many types of front organizations".April 18, 2001. Lev L'Achim Launches Campaign to Fight Scientology by Moshe Schapiro
===Russia===
The European Court of Human Rights ruled in April 2007 that Russia's denial to register the Church of Scientology as a religious community was a violation of Article 11 of the European Convention on Human Rights (freedom of assembly and association) read in the light of Article 9 (freedom of thought, conscience and religion)".Judgment on Application no. 18147/02 by CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY OF MOSCOW against Russia (2007-04-05). Court press release here. Retrieved on 2007-05-15. In July 2007, the St. Petersburg City Court closed down that city's Scientology center for violating its charter.
===Spain===
On 31 October 2007, the National Court in Madrid issued a decision recognizing that the National Church of Scientology of Spain should be entered in the Registry of Religious Entities.
The administrative tribunal of Madrid's High Court ruled that a 2005 justice ministry decision to scrap the church from the register was "against the law." Responding to a petition filed by the church, the ruling said that no documents had been presented in court to demonstrate it was anything other than a religious entity.
===United Kingdom===
Foreign Scientologists were banned from entering the United Kingdom between 1968–1980 but were allowed later on. In 1999, an application by Scientology for charitable status was rejected after the authorities decided its activities were not of general public benefit.Decisions of the UK Charity Commission Summary The Charity Commission for England and Wales does not class Scientology as a religion on financial grounds.
===United States===
In 1979 Hubbard's wife, Mary Sue Hubbard, along with ten other highly placed Scientology executives were convicted in United States federal court regarding Operation Snow White, and served time in an American federal prison. Operation Snow White involved infiltration, wiretapping and theft of documents in government offices, most notably those of the United States Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
In 1993, however, the United States IRS recognized Scientology as a "non-profit charitable organization," and gave it the same legal protections and favorable tax treatment extended to other non-profit charitable organizations. A New York Times article says that Scientologists paid private investigators to obtain compromising material on the IRS commissioner and blackmailed the IRS into submission.
"The following actions will be considered to be a material breach by the Service: ... The issuance of a Regulation, Revenue Ruling or other pronouncement of general applicability providing that fixed donations to a religious organization other than a church of Scientology are fully deductible unless the Service has issued previously or issues contemporaneously a similar pronouncement that provides for consistent and uniform principles for determining the deductibility of fixed donations for all churches including the Church of Scientology".
In a 2001 legal case involving a married couple attempting to obtain the same deduction for charity to a Jewish school, it was stated by Judge Silverman: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.
"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."
To date (2008) such a suit is not known to have been filed. In further appeal in 2006, the US Tax Court again rejected couple's deduction, stating "We conclude that the agreement reached between the Internal Revenue Service and the Church of Scientology in 1993 does not affect the result in this case."UNITED STATES TAX COURT, MICHAEL AND MARLA SKLAR, Petitioners v. COMMISSIONER OF INTERNAL REVENUE, Respondent. Docket No. 395-01. Filed December 21, 2005.
However, this matter is still ongoing. On February 8, 2008, three judges in the US 9th Circuit Court of Appeals "expressed deep skepticism" over the IRS's position that treatment of Scientology is "irrelevant to the deductions the Orthodox Jews, Michael and Marla Sklar, took for part of their children's day school tuition and for after-school classes in Jewish law".
==Churches, missions, and major Scientology centers==
Scientology organizations and missions exist in many communities around the world.Scientology Missions International Homepage Scientologists call their larger centers orgs, short for "organizations." The major Scientology organization of a region is known as a central org. The legal address of the Church of Scientology International is in Los Angeles, California, 6331 Hollywood Blvd, in the Hollywood Guaranty Building. The Church of Scientology also has several major headquarters, including:
===Saint Hill, Sussex, England===
L. Ron Hubbard moved to England shortly after founding Scientology, where he oversaw the worldwide development of Scientology from an office in London for most of the 1950s. In 1959, he bought Saint Hill Manor near the Sussex town of East Grinstead, a Georgian manor house formerly owned by the Maharajah of Jaipur. This became the worldwide headquarters of Scientology through the 1960s and 1970s. Hubbard declared Saint Hill to be the organization by which all other organizations would be measured, and he issued a general order (still followed today) for all organizations around the world to expand and reach "Saint Hill size". The Church of Scientology has announced that the next two levels of Scientology teaching, OT 9 and OT 10, will be released and made available to church members when all the major orgs in the world have reached Saint Hill size.
===Flag Land Base, Clearwater, Florida===
The "worldwide spiritual headquarters" of the Church of Scientology is known as "Flag Land Base," located in Clearwater, Florida. It is operated by the Floridian corporation Church of Scientology Flag Service Organization, Inc..
The organization was founded in the late 1970s when a Scientology-founded group called "Southern Land Development and Leasing Corp" purchased the Fort Harrison Hotel for $2.3 million. Because the reported tenant was the "United Churches of Florida" the citizens and City Council of Clearwater did not realize that the building's owners were actually the Church of Scientology until after the building's purchase.CoS/Clearwater timeline, 1975-78 Clearwater citizens' groups, headed by Mayor Gabriel Cazares, rallied strongly against Scientology establishing a base in the city (repeatedly referring to the organization as a cult), but Flag Base was established nonetheless. Original (18M)
In the years since its foundation, Flag Base has expanded as the Church of Scientology has gradually purchased large amounts of additional property in the downtown and waterfront Clearwater area. Scientology's relationship with the city government has repeatedly moved between friendly and hostile. At the same time, it opposed the local St. Petersburg Times and protested actions of the Clearwater police department. Scientology's largest project in Clearwater has been the construction of a high-rise complex called the "Super Power Building," an enormous structure whose highest point, when completed, will be a Scientology cross that will tower over the city.
===PAC Base, Hollywood, California===
Los Angeles, California has the largest concentration of Scientologists and Scientology-related enterprises in the world. Scientology has established a highly visible presence in the Hollywood district of the city. The organization owns a large complex on Fountain Avenue which was formerly Cedars of Lebanon hospital. It contains Scientology's West Coast headquarters, "Pacific Area Command Base," often referred to as "PAC Base". Adjacent buildings include headquarters of many of Scientology's internal divisions, including the "American Saint Hill Organization", the "Advanced Organization of Los Angeles" and the "Church of Scientology of Los Angeles", founded February 18, 1954. All these organizations are integrated within the corporation Church of Scientology Western United States. Also in this area are the offices of Bridge Publications, Scientology's publishing arm for the United States and Canada.
The Church of Scientology successfully campaigned to have the city of Los Angeles rename one block of a street running through this complex "L. Ron Hubbard Way." The street has been paved in brick.
Also in Hollywood is Scientology's main Celebrity Centre, which caters to arts professionals. On Hollywood Boulevard a multi-story building houses the executive offices of the Church of Scientology International and an open-to-the-public exhibition devoted to the life of L. Ron Hubbard. Also in the area are the headquarters of Author Services, Inc. (Hubbard's Literary agency), the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE), which administers social programs based on Hubbard's writings, (including Narconon and Applied Scholastics), the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE), which promotes Hubbard's business management techniques and facilitates a network of Scientology-related businesses, and the Citizens Commission on Human Rights, a Scientology-affiliated group that focuses on alleged abuses of psychiatry, and includes a "Psychiatry: An Industry of Death" museum.
Today, the Church of Scientology of Los Angeles is one of the largest Scientology facilities of its kind in the world. Executives-in-training from every international Scientology organization now apprentice at the LA church before assuming their executive positions.
===Gold Base, Riverside County, California===
The headquarters of the Religious Technology Center, the entity that oversees Scientology operations worldwide, is located in unincorporated Riverside County, California, near Gilman Hot Springs and north of Hemet.Jesse Prince Affidavit at Operation Clambake The facility, known as Gold Base or "Int", is owned by Golden Era Productions and is the home of Scientology's media production studio, Golden Era Studios. Several Scientology executives, including David Miscavige, live and work at the base."Tom Cruise and Scientology", Los Angeles Times, December 18, 2005: "voter registration records list the Gilman Hot Springs complex as Miscavige's residence since the early 1990s and as recently as the 2004 general election" Therefore, Gold Base is Scientology's international administrative headquarters."Rural Studio is Scientology Headquarters." San Jose Mercury News. August 13, 1991. 6B California News. Retrieved on October 21, 2009.Kelly, David. "Scientology foes blast new Riverside County law." Los Angeles Times. January 10, 2009. 1. Retrieved on October 21, 2009.Glick, Julia. "County ordinance raises questions about Scientology." The Press-Enterprise. Tuesday January 6, 2009. Retrieved on October 21, 2009.McGavin, Gregor. "Scientologists' presence in Inland area dates back to 1960s." The Press-Enterprise. Tuesday January 15, 2008. Retrieved on October 21, 2009.
The Church of Scientology bought a former resort, which had been popular with Hollywood figures, in 1978; the resort became Gold Base.McGavin, Gregor. "Scientologists' presence in Inland area dates back to 1960s." The Press-Enterprise. Tuesday January 15, 2008. Retrieved on October 9, 2009. The facilities at Gold Base have been toured by journalists several times. They are surrounded by floodlights and video observation cameras,"Inside Scientology" by Janet Reitman. Rolling Stone, Issue 995. March 9, 2006. Pages 55 - 67. and the compound is protected by razor wire.
Gold Base also has recreational facilities, including basketball, volleyball, and soccer facilities, an exercise building, a waterslide, a small lake with two beaches, and a golf course.
===Trementina Base===
The Church of Scientology maintains a large base on the outskirts of Trementina, New Mexico for the purpose of storing their archiving project: engraving Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's writings on stainless steel tablets and encasing them in titanium capsules underground.1994 article on N Mexico vault An aerial photograph showing the base's enormous Church of Spiritual Technology symbols on the ground caused media interest and a local TV station broke the story in November 2005. According to a Washington Post report, the organization unsuccessfully attempted to coerce the station not to air the story.A Place in the Desert for New Mexico's Most Exclusive Circles, By Richard Leiby Washington Post Staff Writer Date: Sunday, November 27, 2005
===Flag ship, Freewinds===
The cruise ship Freewinds is the only place the current highest level of Scientology training (OT VIII) is offered. It cruises the Caribbean Sea, under the auspices of the Flag Ship Service Organization. The Freewinds is also used for other courses and auditing for those willing to spend extra money to get services on the ship.
==Affiliated organizations==
There are many independently-chartered organizations and groups which are staffed by Scientologists, and pay license fees for the use of Scientology technology and trademarks under the control of Scientology management. In some cases, these organizations do not publicize their affiliation with Scientology.
The Church of Scientology denies the legitimacy of any splinter groups and factions outside the official organization, and has tried to prevent independent Scientologists from using officially trademarked Scientology materials. Independent Scientologists, also known collectively as the "Free Zone" are referred to as squirrels within the Church. They are also classified by the Church of Scientology as suppressive persons ("SPs") — opponents or enemies of Scientology.
===Sea Org===
The Sea Organization (often shortened to "Sea Org") was founded in 1967 by L. Ron Hubbard, as he embarked on a series of voyages around the Mediterranean Sea in a small fleet of Scientology-crewed cruise ships. Hubbard—formerly a lieutenant junior grade in the US Navy—bestowed the rank of "Commodore" of the vessels upon himself. The crew who accompanied him on these voyages became the foundation of the Sea Org.
"Orgs", such as "Los Angeles Org", are semi-autonomous organizations which staff themselves as they see fit. The Sea Org is a more dedicated, more elite group within Scientology which exclusively staffs the higher Orgs. The Advanced Organization of Los Angeles, for example, is staffed by Sea Org members. While every Org enforces rules and administers disciplinary procedures within its own portion of the larger organization which is the CoS, Sea Org members hold the highest jobs. The Sea Org is frequently characterized as the "elite" of Scientology, both in terms of power within the organization and dedication to the cause. Scientologists seeking to advance within the organization are encouraged to join the Sea Org, which involves devoting their full-time to Scientology projects in exchange for meals, berthing and a nominal honorarium. Members sign a contract pledging their loyalty to Scientology for "the next billion years," committing their future lifetimes to the Sea Org. The Sea Org's motto is "Revenimus" (or "We Come Back").
Disciplinary procedures and policies within the Sea Org have been a focus of critics who argue that Scientology is an abusive cult. During the original Sea Org's Mediterranean tour, Hubbard applied a variety of physical punishments, including the practice of "overboarding," or throwing offenders over the side of the ship. Former Sea Org members have stated that punishments in the late 1960s and early 1970s included confinement in hazardous conditions such as the ship's chain locker.Wakefield, Margery. Understanding Scientology, Chapter 9. Reproduced at David S. Touretzky's Carnegie Mellon site. The Rehabilitation Project Force or RPF was established in 1974 to provide a "second chance" to Sea Org members whose offenses against Church rules were such that they would otherwise have been expelled from membership. RPF members are paired up and help one another for five hours each day with spiritual counseling to resolve the issues for which they were assigned to the program. The also spend 8 hours per day doing physical labor that will benefit the Church facility where they are located. On verification of their having completed the program they are then given a Sea Org job again.The Church of Scientology’s Rehabilitation Project Force A Study by Juha Pentikäinen (Chair of the Department of the Study of Religions, University of Helsinki, Finland), Jurgen F.K. Redhardt, and Michael York (Bath Spa University College)
===Volunteer Ministers===
The Church of Scientology began its "Volunteer Ministers" program as a way to participate in community outreach projects. Over the past several years, it has become a common practice for Volunteer Ministers to travel to the scenes of major disasters in order to provide assistance with relief efforts. According to critics, these relief efforts consist of passing out copies of a pamphlet authored by L. Ron Hubbard entitled The Way to Happiness, and engaging in a method said to calm panicked or injured individuals known in Scientology as a "touch assist."
===Religious Technology Center (RTC)===
Around 1982 all of the Hubbard's intellectual property was transferred to a newly formed entity called the Church of Spiritual Technology (CST) and then licensed to the Religious Technology Center (RTC) which, according to its own publicity, exists to safeguard and control the use of the Church of Scientology's copyrights and trademarks.
The RTC employs lawyers and has pursued individuals and groups who have legally attacked Scientology or who are deemed to be a legal threat to Scientology. This has included breakaway Scientologists who practice Scientology outside the central church and critics, as well as numerous government and media organizations. This has helped to maintain Scientology's reputation for litigiousness (see Scientology and the legal system).
===ABLE===
Founded in 1989, the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE) is an umbrella organization that administers six of Scientology's social programs:
* Applied Scholastics, educational programs based on Hubbard's "Study Tech."
* Criminon prisoner rehabilitation programs.
* International Foundation for Human Rights and Tolerance, which has a particular interest in religious freedom.
* Narconon drug rehabilitation centers.
* The Way to Happiness Foundation, dedicated to disseminating Hubbard's non-religious moral code.
* Youth for Human Rights International, the youth branch of the above.
===CCHR===
The Citizens' Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), co-founded with Thomas Szasz in 1969, is an activist group dedicated to classifying psychiatric treatments as human rights violations and furthering the Scientology doctrinal opposition to mainstream psychiatric therapies.
===WISE===
Many other Scientologist-run businesses and organizations belong to the umbrella organization World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE), which licenses the use of Hubbard's management doctrines, and circulates directories of WISE-affiliated businesses. WISE requires those who wish to become Hubbard management consults to complete training in Hubbard's administrative systems; this training can be undertaken at any Church of Scientology, or at one of the campuses of the Hubbard College of Administration, which offers an Associate of Applied Science Degree.
* One of the best-known WISE-affiliated businesses is Sterling Management Systems, which offers Hubbard's management "technology" to professionals such as dentists and chiropractors.
* Another well-known WISE-affiliated business is e-Republic, a publishing company based in Folsom, California."Scientology Inc." at Newsreview.com e-Republic publications include Government Technology and Converge magazines. The Center for Digital Government is a division of e. Republic that was founded in 1999.
* Internet ISP EarthLink was founded by Scientologist Sky Dayton as a Scientology enterprise. The company now distances itself from the views of its founder, who has moved on to become CEO of Helio (wireless carrier), formerly known as SK-EarthLink.
==Celebrities==
In order to facilitate the continued expansion of Scientology, the Church has made efforts to win allies in the form of powerful or respected people.Joel Sappell and Robert W. Welkos, Times Staff Writers, Courting the Power Brokers The Los Angeles Times, June 27, 1990
==See also==
* alt.religion.scientology
* List of groups referred to as cults in government documents
* List of religious organizations
* List of Scientologists
* List of Scientology organizations
* Original Founding Church of Scientology
* Project Chanology
* Scientology and the legal system
* Scientology and the Internet
* Scientology beliefs and practices
* Scientology controversies
* Scientology in popular culture
* Timeline of Scientology
* Foundation for a Drug-Free World
==References==
==External links==
;Church of Scientology
* 
* 
* 
;Favorable sites
* 
;Critical sites
* An Introduction to Scientology from a critical perspective
* Operation Clambake, an archive of critical articles on Hubbard and Scientology
* Xenu TV (video footage library of various topics related to Scientology)
* Critical comparison between the church and the independent Scientology Freezone.
* Comparison of past and current church statistics and philosophy and technology used and promoted
;Independent Scientology sites
* Independent scientologists
;Other
* 
* Satellite Image of the Gold Base
*Wikipedia Bans Church of Scientology from Site by The Huffington Post, May 29, 2009
Category:Scientology