Church of Scientology

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See also; Scientology controversy, written from a more critical point of view.

The Church of Scientology is the organization devoted to the practice and the promotion of the Scientology philosophy. It was founded in the early 1950s. [1]

L. Ron Hubbard's stated goals for Scientology and the Church's goals are:
"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." [2]

In 1993 the U.S. Internal Revenue Service recognised the Church as a non-profit charitable organization, and gave it the same legal protections and favorable tax treatment extended to other non-profit charitable organizations. Recognition did not come easily to the Church but was a legal struggle. The Church appeared before the United States Supreme Court and similar high courts in other countries. [3]

Hubbard had direct control of the Church only until 1966, when this function was transferred to a group of executives. [4]

In May 1987, David Miscavige, one of Hubbard's former personal assistants, became the Chairman of the Religious Technology Center, which is the non-profit corporation that oversees the trademarked names and symbols of Dianetics and Scientology. The Reverend Heber Jentzsch is the president and chief spokesperson of the Church of Scientology International.

Contents

Scientology Churches and Missions

Thousands of scientology churches and missions exist in many communities around the world. [5] The Chuch calls its larger churches, organizations, while several Missions in an organization's area offer its basic education and services. People entering a Scientology Church or Mission are greeted by a receptionist. Audio and visual displays are present in the larger ones that present what Scientology is and does. Interested people are usually offered an Oxford Capacity Analysis test followed by a suggestion of which Scientology course, book or counseling would benefit them most directly. Courses and counseling are available for a fixed donation. The Church of Scientology is organized into several major headquarters which include:

Spiritual Headquarters

Today, the worldwide spiritual headquarters of the Church of Scientology is located in the city of Clearwater, Florida. Flag Land Base is an international headquarters, founded in the late 1970s when the Church purchased and renovated the Fort Harrison Hotel. The Hotel's historical style was retained, but refurbished. In the years since its foundation, Flag Land Base has expanded as the church has purchased additional property in the downtown and waterfront areas of Clearwater. The Church's mecca, its largest building project in Clearwater has been the construction of a city block square building called the Super Power Building. At its highest point the Church intends to construct a large Scientology cross that will shine over the city. [6]

Organizational Headquarters

The Pacific Base in 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 Church purchased and renovated the Cedars of Lebonon Hospital and nearby buildings and parking lot. A street running through the complex was paved in brick by hand by volunteer labor and renamed "L. Ron Hubbard Way". By city law there is no parking on the street. Adjacent buildings include headquarters of some of Scientology's organizations, including the American Saint Hill Organization; the Advanced Organization of Los Angeles and the Los Angeles Organization (a medium level Scientology organization). The Church maintains two publications houses, one of which, Bridge Publications, is located in the complex of buildings.

Also in Hollywood is Scientology's main Celebrity Centre, which caters to arts professionals and other successful leaders. 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 abuses of psychiatry, and includes a "Psychiatry: An Industry of Death" museum.

Saint Hill Manor in England

L. Ron Hubbard moved to England shortly after founding Scientology, where he oversaw the worldwide development of the organization from an office in London for most of the 1950s. In 1959, he personally purchased Saint Hill Manor near the town of Sussex in East Grinstead. It is 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 org by which all other orgs would be measured, and he issued a general order (still followed by the Church today) for all orgs around the world to expand and reach "Saint Hill size." This step has mostly been accomplished today.

Flag ship, Freewinds

The cruise ship Freewinds is the only location where the current highest level of Scientology training 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, though their rates are a little higher.

Sea Organization

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. The crew who accompanied him on these voyages became the foundation of the Sea Org. It is a fraternal order of dedicated scientologists who devote their full time to Scientology projects in exchange for meals, berthing, and a nominal honorarium.

"Orgs," such as Los Angeles Org, and Missions of Scientology are semi-autonomous organizations which staff themselves. While the Sea Org is a dedicated, fraternal group who exclusively staff the higher Orgs. Likewise, the management of the Church is done by Sea Org and it oversees the management of lower orgs and missions. Advanced Organization of Los Angeles, and Bridge Publications, for example, are staffed by Sea Org members. The Sea Org's motto is "Revenimus", meaning "We Come Back").

Volunteer Ministers

The Church of Scientology has a Volunteer Ministers program. Over the past several years, it has become a common practice for the organization to send teams of Volunteer Ministers to the scenes of major, natural disasters in order to provide assistance with relief efforts.

One Volunteer Minister program took place in the immediate aftermath of the September 11, 2001 attacks, when approximately one thousand Volunteer Ministers were sent to New York City to participate in the relief efforts there. Scientologists wearing bright yellow T-shirts emblazoned with the logo "Scientology Volunteer Minister" became a common sight at the World Trade Center site during the cleanup efforts.

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers were commended by the New York Fire Department for the assistance given at Ground Zero.Transcript of address by Stephan Hittman

The Scientology Volunteer Ministers helped with disaster efforts in Southeast Asia following the tsunami there. In the immediate aftermath of the July 7, 2005 London bombings, the Volunteer Ministers were present at a London hospital, offering their services to those affected by the events.

A team of Volunteer Ministers from Clearwater worked New Orleans, helping with the disaster that followed Hurricane Katrina.

The Volunteer Ministers trained for and belong to the State of Florida's Certified Emergency Response Team (CERT).

Religious Technology Center

Around 1982, all of the Church's intellectual property was transferred to a newly formed entity called the Church of Spiritual Technology. Certain of the property was then licenced to the Religious Technology Center. Its purpose is to protect from misapplication of the technology and to see that the religious technologies of Dianetics and Scientology remain in proper hands and are properly ministered. [7]

World view of Scientology

In Israel, Scientology is restricted by Israeli anti-missionary laws. The Israeli Scientology group is called "The Way to Happiness" (HaDerekh LeOsher) or "The Organization for Security and Thriving in the Middle East" (HaAmuta leSigsug veBitachon beMizrakh haTikhon).

In 1994, a joint council of Shinto Buddhist (Yu-itsu Shinto) sects in Japan not only extended official recognition of Scientology, but also undertook to train a number of their monks in its beliefs and practices as an adjunct to their own meditations and worship.

Finances

Scientology's Volunteer Minster's program is just that, volunteer and free to the public. But most of the Church's activities are pay-as-you-go affairs. You pay cash for a book purchase, you donate a fixed fee before taking a course, you donate a set fee to receive auditing, and so on. Lower Missions and Orgs pay a fee to the Church for the use of the trademarks and copyrighted materials.

But fixed donations are not the only way to proceed in Scientology. There is a smaller donation procedure, widely used, where you find a twin. Both of you study the materials and use what you learn with each other. This procedure is called co-auditing and is much less expensive. Another low cost alternative is to become part of the organization, whereby your services are paid for by the organization.

Some scientologists have become professional Auditors. As a professional Field Auditor, auditors can receive commissions under some conditions. The income can be considerable. Some of that arrangement is spelled out at the American Saint Hill Organization's website. [8]

Membership statistics

Anyone can purchase a book from the Church or take a course in a church, it is not necessary to be a member. While membership can be obtained by anyone, "I am a Scientologist" is a self-proclaimation and not a purchased membership. There is no babtism or other church ritual that decrees a person is a Scientologist. A person simply says, "I am a Scientologist". Therefore, while the Church publishes membership statistics, it is not terribly easy to determine how many people are active scientologists. The Church has claimed about twelve million members world-wide and has stated that Scientology is "the fastest growing religion in the world." [9]

Church or business?

From 1952 until 1966, Scientology was administered by a secular organization called the Hubbard Association of Scientologists (HAS), established in Arizona on 10 September 10, 1952. In 1954, the HAS became the HASI (HAS International). The Church of Scientology of California (CSC) was incorporated on February 18 1954 in California, in 1956. In 1966, Hubbard transferred all HASI assets to CSC, thus gathering Scientology under one roof. In 1967, the IRS stripped all US-based Scientology entities of their previously granted 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 legal status was eventually settled in 1993. The IRS declared the Church a tax-exempt nonprofit organization. [10] In addition, Scientology also dropped more than fifty lawsuits against the IRS when this settlement was reached.

In some countries, the Church is not acknowledged as a bona fide religion or charitable organization. But the Church eventually hopes to earn such recognition in every country. Recently the European Court of Human Rights found for Scientology in a case where Russia had denied it becoming a registered religion. The judgement's statements would appear to require all European Union member countries to give the Church the status of a religion.

In Israel, Scientology does not use "Church" as part of its name, possibly because of the Christian connotation of the term in Jewish culture. When asked, most Israeli Scientologists would be suprised to learn that Scientology is a religion in other parts of the world. Something similar happens in Scotland, where Scientology operates as the "Hubbard Academy of Personal Independence."

The Church maintains legal control over its names, symbols, religious works and other writings. The term Scientology and related terms, including L. Ron Hubbard are registered trademarks.

Affiliated organizations

There are a number of independently-chartered organizations and groups which are staffed by Scientologists, and pay licence fees for the use of Scientology technology and trademarks under the control of Scientology management. These include:

ABLE

Founded in 1989, the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE) is an organization that administers four of Scientology's social programs:

  • Narconon drug rehabilitation centers.
  • Criminon prisoner rehabilitation programs.
  • The Way to Happiness Foundation, dedicated to disseminating Hubbard's "non-religious moral code."
  • Applied Scholastics, educational programs based on Hubbard's "Study Tech." [11]

CCHR

The Citizens' Commission on Human Rights (CCHR), co-founded with Thomas Szasz in 1969, is an activist group dedicated to exposing psychiatric abuse. [12]

WISE

The World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE), uses Hubbard's copyrighted management technology, and applies it into business. It disseminates Hubbard's management technology, and provides a means for businesses to meet each other. [13]

references

  1. ^ What is Scientology
  2. ^ The Aims of Scientology
  3. ^ Past Victories of Scientology
  4. ^ Official FAQ
  5. ^ Google Maps
  6. ^ Google Maps
  7. ^ RTC website
  8. ^ Auditing as a Career at ASHO
  9. ^ "Scientology Works"
  10. ^ From "Scientologists and IRS settled for $12.5 million", The Wall Street Journal. December 30 1997.
  11. ^ ABLE
  12. ^ CCHR
  13. ^ WISE

See also

External links

Official Scientology websites

Other websites

References

<protect>* Adapted from the Wikipedia article, Church of Scientology and used under the GNU Free Documentation License</protect>

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