How did Scientology become so influential?

It was found by a fiction novelist. There have been plenty of well-formed paranormal ideas written down. How did Scientology become a tax-exemption???

Its not influential at all, there are only a few thousand members.

In 2008, there were 25,000 in the U.S.

I don't consider it to be "influential".

And tax-exempt status is easy to get, and confers no legitimacy to the views of its holder.

Delusion of its followers, manipulation of its leaders, and ignorance of our judicial system.

You need a LOT of money to become a Scientologist - maybe it?s a ?Rich people?s club, now?? Rich people have a lot of influence when it comes to tax exemption issues.

Doctrines of devils.

Through mind control.

You are fortunate to see the beginning of a Nona Fidel religion that starts with a made up story becomes a sort of cult then through the efforts of its followers begins to be legitimate - just like Christianity

Because government is full of morons and California's full of crazy people.

Well if it appears to you that it is "so influential", logically there must be a bit more to it than you are currently aware of.

If the Scientology religion and it's founder were factually what you have described here ...
I'd be asking the same questions myself. LOL !

It isn't a tax exemption. Any church who has been approved as a 501 (c) (3) organization is a charity and a portion of your charitable donations are deductible, depending on your adjusted income base.

I am a Scientologist and I pay taxes. I wish people would do better research and not believe every myth being bounced around the Internet.

There is many data missing in you conclusions...

The found was not only Fiction writer, this is only a small part of his activities... he write any type of books and articles but someone decide to label only as Science Fiction writer ... ha ha ! See references?

Why become so influential?? simple? because Scientology give ?answers? and you don?t need to believe it, if you don?t believe? you are free to believe in what is true for you, and if you find something that is true for you, then this part can be true ? but if you don?t see it? then you don?t need to believe it? this maybe is the fist free religion in the modern word. For my view point give better answers.

Scientology as any other religion (???) has the purpose of make free the individual and help others to be free?

But this is something that needs to be look more carefully: A wise man looks directly and not through what other say or rum ours.

It hasn't become influential in any way. You've been misinformed. By the way, who do you think its influencing ??

Here's the story behind their tax exemption status as exposed by the Wall Street Journal -

What Scientology got in its secret IRS deal

* The IRS agreed to dismiss all tax penalties and liens against Scientology organizations for an undisclosed number of years before 1993.
* The IRS would grant tax-exempt status to 114 Scientology-related entities in the U.S. This stipulation itself gives Scientology an ongoing financial benefit of an estimated $100 million per year.
* The IRS would drop its tax audits of the mother church, the Church of Scientology International (CSI), and 12 other Scientology organizations.
* Scientology would receive a special religious education tax deduction for its members. Scientologists can deduct tens -- sometimes hundreds -- of thousands of dollars per year for their private religious education. This kind of religious education deduction appears not to be available to Catholics, Protestants, or Jews sending their children to private religious schools. The Tax Notes Journal published by the prestigious Tax Analysts' organization, a nonprofit organization which provides information relating to U.S. tax laws, also noticed this most unusual inequity. According to Tax Analysts, The IRS's Revenue Ruling 93-73 may give a tax break to the Church of Scientology which is not shared by other churches.
* The IRS would cancel payroll taxes and penalties it had assessed against church entities and officials.
* The IRS's Exempt Organizations Technical Division was "instructed not to review the exemption applications filed by the Church of Scientology and its affiliates for compliance with non-profit IRC 501(c)(3) tax regulations."
* The IRS agreed not to audit the church for any year before 1993 and dropped its litigation in pursuit of church records.

What the IRS and U.S. taxpayers got in return

* Scientology agreed to drop the 2,200 lawsuits it had brought against the IRS and IRS officials, and to stop helping church members in filing similar lawsuits.
* Cash-rich Scientology paid the IRS a token $12.5 million for all its tax bills, about 1% of the estimated one billion dollar tax bill. Those angered by this secret deal are loudly asking if it is legal. Wouldn't common U.S. taxpayers or corporations have to first prove near-insolvency to get a negotiated tax payment reduction? And wouldn't the reduction normally be a great deal more than 1% of the estimated tax liability deal Scientology got?
* Scientology agreed to set up an internal tax compliance mechanism. This internal tax compliance mechanism has now issued policies barring all Scientologists from religious salvation if they don't comply with IRS tax regulations. This marks an intrusion by government tax enforcement into religious practices that has alarmed groups supporting the separation of church and state.

RESEARCH it. You'll get your answers that way, not by asking here. My suggestion would be to go ogle it. And don't just read Scientology owned web sites. Read 'em all..... It gets very interesting.