Scientology, Open for Business

When thinking of religion, money is usually not an aspect one focuses on. However, on the Scientology website, there is an opportunity to buy a book or pamphlet written by its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, on almost every page. This makes Scientology appear more like a product that a spiritual doctrine to an unknowing guest viewer. After looking more into the matter, I discovered that the money issue delves deeper than I had originally thought. For example, scientology.org does not tell patrons that “charges for auditing and other Church-related courses run to tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars” (Wikipedia). These two practices are main elements in the religion—Dianetics is based upon them both, and Dianetics is the basis for Scientology. According to Scientology, one cannot hope to achieve happiness without auditing, the counseling sessions that cleanse individuals of their scarring memories Additionally, without studying Hubbard’s texts, one cannot truly hope to be a Scientologist. To be such a participant would mean to pay upwards of $27,000 for certain training courses within Scientology (Wikipedia). To top it off, a study shows that “Hubbard had personally received over $108,000 from the Church and affiliates over a four-year period, over and above the percentage of gross income (usually 10%) he received from Church-affiliated organizations” (Wikipedia).

While in theory it appears that Hubbard created a religion in order to better the lives of others, it appears that he may have simply been after wealth. In fact, after many Scientologists had been sued, one court “accused Scientologists of exploiting beliefs for commercial gain. ‘Amassing money is one of the essential concerns, if not the only concern, of the Church of Scientology’” (Kent). While other religious organizations, most notably the Roman Catholic Church, also have amassed great wealth, it is not in the same way that one man, Hubbard, has benefited from Scientology.


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_as_a_business

Kent, Stephen A., The Globalization of Scientology: Influence, Control and Opposition in Transnational Markets. Religion (1999) 29, p. 147–169 Article No. reli.1998.0154, available online at http://www.idealibrary.com