A "religion" invented by a Science Fiction writer, that works by brainwashing techniques and gets vast amounts of money from you in the process. By the time you find out the story that is at the heart of it, you are so brainwashed you will believe it.
75 million years ago, aliens from space were sent to earth by an intergalactic ruler named Xenu, who then blew up the aliens with hydrogen bombs inside a volcano (apparently molten lava isn't enough to kill pesky aliens). The resulting explosion caused millions of alien souls to be released into the air. The aliens were then trapped and brainwashed into believing in things like God and religion, Christ, moses, Muhammad, Willy Wonka, etc. Today on earth these brainwashed alien spirits have attached themselves to our bodies and are the root cause of all our problems. In order to become clear, and get rid of these alien spirits (called Body Thetans), you have to be audited with a machine that has two metal rods attached to it. This machine is called an E-Meter and you have to pay hundreds of dollars to use it.
It's an evil cult created with one purpose - making money . Its effects on believers are destructive - Check out a partial list of victims: http://whatstheharm.net/scientology.html
Please read about:
* Its blatantly illegal and immoral activities, as illustrated by Operation Snow White and Operation Freakout.
* Its "fair game" policy of harassing and destroying critics, as illustrated by the stories of Keith Henson, Frank Oliver and Paulette Cooper
* Its fatal abuse of its members, including Lisa McPherson, Heribert Pfaff, Josephus Havenith, and others
* Its brutal, illegal treatment of members who the Church considers in need of rehabilitation or punishment using private prisons
* Its tax-exempt status in the United States, which was gained by blackmailing the IRS
* Its practice of breaking up families
Read "the road to Xena" for an account of a girl who escaped Scientology after 12 years! http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/xenu/
The cult's core belief is that we are all reincarnated aliens, and all of our problems are because of other alien souls haunting our bodies. That's the big secret - but it's only revealed to cytologistsStaster many years and over $300,000 - so most of them have no knowledge of it. Read the alien story yourself - in Hubbard's own handwriting: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/OTIII/
Everything about Scientology is dishonest, from recruiting gullible folk using fake "personality tests", through collecting dirt on individuals using "auditing" in case they ever want to leave, to claiming everybody who criticizes them is a criminal, probably a child molester. See it in action: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es166Q3yNKo
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by science-fiction author L. Ron Hubbard (1911?1986), 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. Its method of spiritual rehabilitation is a type of counseling known as auditing, in which practitioners aim to consciously re-experience painful or traumatic events in their past in order to free themselves of their limiting effects.
Scientology's belief that souls ("the tans") reincarnate and have lived on other planets before living on Earth. Former members say that some of Hubbard's writings on this remote extraterrestrial past, included in confidential Upper Levels, are not revealed to practitioners until they have paid thousands of dollars to the Church of Scientology. Another controversial belief held by Scientologists is that the practice of psychiatry is destructive and abusive and must be abolished.
So... pretty much it's a religion that's based on the creations of SCI-FI writer.
Also:
During the auditing process, the auditor may collect personal information from the person being audited. Auditing records are referred to within Scientology as Periclean folders. The Church of Scientology has strict codes designed to protect the confidentiality of the information contained in these folders. However, people leaving Scientology know that the Church is in possession of very personal information about them, and that the Church has a history of attacking and psychologically abusing those who leave it and become critics.
Scientology is about neutralizing the reactive mind, which you become "clear". That is done through Dianetics. So lets say you have some kind of phobia, mental disorder, etc, Dianetics is suppose to help you lose those problems and clear is when they never bother you again.
After that(If you choose to go further, some do, some don't) you work to find your soul(Operation Thetan or OT). Scientologists believe humans are spiritual beings, so our bodies are not truly us. So you are suppose to find the true you. leading to spiritual growth and understanding of yourself and the world.
Scientology is hotly debated, but is currently classified as a religion (here in America anyway).
They are founded by a man named L Ron Hubbard.
Every other ounce of information you will get on it here on Y! Answers is going to very slanted based on who answers the question for you.
The full story is a LONG and complicated one that sounds very different depending on those who tell it.
Members would tell you that it is a religion that beliefs that you are an immortal spirit transcending.
Informed skeptics would tell you that it is a silly space odyssey based on evil overloads on plane/ships dropping their convicts into volcanoes.
But the true answer would require a bit of legwork to transcend the opinionated views.
Instead of writing you a 20 page paper about LRon and Dienetics and Operation Snow White and the new, modern day Hitler David Miscavich, here are some links for you to form your own opinion.
The neutral, and most informative link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology
Video: The Unfunny TRUTH about Scientology:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCGP-0545EU
Here is a link to an ancientlyto logyte:
http://www.xenu.net/
Here is a link to a pro scientology website:
http://www.scientology.org
whats is scientology?
