Scientology is a body of religious beliefs and practices which was described in 1950, and two years later, it was named as a movement by L. Ron Hubbard (1911-1986), who was an American author. The author had initially developed a program of ideas that he called Dianetics, and it was distributed through the Dianetics Foundation.
The foundation entered into bankruptcy in 1952, and he recharacterized the subject as a religion, and he renamed it Scientology. He gained the rights to Dianetics, and he retained both subjects under the name of the Church of Scientology.
The Church of Scientology has doctrines that say that human is an immortal, spiritual being (thetan) and it resides in the physical body. The doctrines go ahead to say that thetan has had uncountable past lives, and this is observed in some advanced texts on Scientology. Hubbard has tried to define the term Scientology, and he states that it means “knowing about knowing.”
Since its inception, the group has encountered big opposition as well as controversies. The Dianetics Foundation was charged with teaching medicine without a license in New Jersey in 1951. The followers of the group were also engaged in a program of criminal infiltration of the United States government. Scientology was classified by Germany as an anti-constitutional sect. In France, the group has been classified as a dangerous cult.
Inception
Dianetics: The Evolution of a Science was published in May 1950 by pulp magazine called Astounding Science Fiction. Hubbard also published Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, which was a book-length copy. Dianetics uses a unique counseling technique, which is known as auditing. The subjects are assisted to consciously remember traumatic events in their past. This technique is intended to free individuals of the influence they had from the past traumatic events.
The book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health stayed for six weeks on the New York Times bestseller list. After reading the book, many people began using the instructions given in the book and applied these methods to each other, thus becoming practitioners themselves. The teachings started facing criticism, and Scientology was even called a debunker of quack medicine.
Despite the increased criticism, the movement continued to grow, and Hubbard became a very popular lecturer. He also established the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation in New Jersey. In the foundation, he started training Dianetics counselors as well as auditors. Within a short time, there was a global spread of Scientology with churches opening in Paris and Johannesburg, among other places.
Evolution
In 1951 the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation was declared bankrupt, and this prompted Hubbard to register the foundation as a religious philosophy. To keep him out of bankruptcy and also keep him afloat, he incorporated three churches into his movement. The churches were Church of Scientology, Church of American Science, and Church of Spiritual Engineering. The movement set up their first church in February 1954, and it was called the Church of Scientology. The movement spread very fast in Australia, South Africa, Britain, Ireland, the U.S., and other English-speaking countries.
Hubbard stepped down as the executive director of Scientology and said he wanted to devote his time to writing and research in 1966. In 1967 he formed a ship-based sea Organization that operated three ships. These included the flagship Apollo, Athena, and Diana.
After facing criminal charges in France in 1972, Hubbard returned to the United States, where he was residing in New York. He went into hiding in 1979, and he cut contact with everybody, including his wife and family. He disappeared into deep cover in 1980, and in January 1986, he was reported to have passed away. After his death, David Miscavige emerged as the new leader of the organization.
The beliefs and practices of Scientology are said to be based on rigorous research and doctrines, which are equivalent to scientific laws. These include theological doctrines that do not preach or impose ideas of God on its followers. They also use emotional tone scale, and survival .the movement also teaches more on toxins and purification as an introductory service. They also crusade on the rejection of psychology and psychiatry, among other doctrines.
Awards & Achievements
Scientology has been in existence since 1950, and overall those years, there has never been an award or nomination that has been associated with the movement. However, the movement has gained a lot of followers over the years, and they are estimated to be over one million worldwide. The followers are spread from all over the world, and that can be termed as their biggest achievement.
Net Worth of Scientology in 2024
Scientology was initially a movement that later became a religious body under the name of the Church of Scientology. The Church of Scientology is estimated to be worth $2 billion as of December 2024. The revenue of the movement is mainly from their assets, which are distributed worldwide. The movement has continued to get a large number of followers, and this means more revenue for the Church of Scientology.
Scientology started off as a movement and later became a religious belief and practice movement. The movement was developed into ideas called Dianetics and distributed by Dianetics Foundation. The movement was recharacterized after a while into the Church of Scientology. It has more than one million followers all over the world, and their ideologies and practices are gradually gaining a following.