by Tom Brennan

Created on: July 02, 2009

To effectively discuss Scientology we might go back to its author, L. Ron Hubbard. Life Magazine conducted an investigation of Hubbard and Scientology in the early 1960's which uncovered a number of issues which would remove either cult or religion from the terms used to describe what Hubbard himself considered a money-making opportunity. Hubbard was a well-known science fiction writer with somewhat curious credentials, naval officer, intelligence operative, and other public relations gems, to his resume. His own biography has gaps which can be filled in with doubt or credibility, depending on your view of what constitutes the status of his invention. The 1960's was a time of extreme cultural change and questioning of many things that had kept a floor on American society. Events such as the Kennedy assassination (the first full by the moment coverage of such an event by media), the war in SE Asia, which drew into question the motivation behind the political goals and associations, the growth of student activism and Socialism, the sexual "revolution" and questioning of any type of tradition, and perhaps most significant, the distancing of two generations from each other. The breakdown of communication from the older to the younger generation was a mix of all of the previous conditions. A hardening of attitudes led to a search for alternatives of any sort to what had been handed down, revolt for its own sake was popular. The environment was fertile for a pseudo-psychology such as Scientology to flourish. The movement began as a sort of psychological process, using terms that evoked self-help and psychology administered by those with a certification in the process. Hubbard invested the funds gained from his book "Dianetics" to purchase a former ocean liner as an ocean going "campus", also an enhanced lifestyle for him and his family and associates. He made no secret of his enjoyment of the benefits of his invention.

The IRS gives special status to 501 (c) 3 and religious organizations; thus Scientology progressed from a psychological movement to that of a religious one. Its adherents became more deeply convinced of the benefits of the process, which had advanced from holding two tin cans in the C.L.E.A.R. process, to more detailed and technologically advanced methods of achieving a new state of mind. Converts with popular reputations gave credence and publicity to the movement and its appeal to those searching for the latest therapy. In the 1970's the media was filled with pop therapies "primal", gurus, meditation, EST, and others with a promoter (someone with a history of self promotion and previous therapies). The fallout from the 1960's upheaval had moved into what would become the "me generation" and "yuppie" movements.

Today Scientology has been called cult or religion, depending on a contemporary reading of its processes. But history says it began as the invention of a writer of science fiction, with psychological applications in a time of national turmoil and generational conflict. The movement transited into the area of religion by means of its adherents, not its author and today is seen as controversial in its methods, its popular supporters and its curious origins.

Learn more about this author, Tom Brennan.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.