FREE ESSAY ON SCIENTOLOGY: THE CULT THAT HAS BEEN CALLED A RELIGION

SCIENTOLOGY: THE CULT THAT HAS BEEN CALLED A RELIGION

Scientology:
The Cult That Has Been Called a Religion
The Church of Scientology has many deceitful practices that it portrays. It is a vicious
and dangerous cult that masquerades as a religion. It practices a variety of mind-control
techniques on people lured into its midst to gain control over their lives. The people
that have believed the lies of the scientologists have given up family relations, time
and large amounts of money to make their lives better. Its views are against scripture
and the truth. 
What is Scientology? 
The word Scientology comes from comes from is derived from the Latin word scio, meaning
know and the Greek word logos the word or outward form by which the inward thought is
expressed and made known. Therefore, Scientology means knowing about knowing.
The religious philosophy applied is that man is basically good. This is one of the first
major scriptural contradictions I have found. Matthew 19:17 says And he said unto him,
Why callest thou me good? There is none good but one, that is, God: but if thou wilt
enter into life, keep the commandments. and Romans 3:23 says For all have sinned and come
short of the glory of God. Man was born with a sinful nature and therefore is in need of
repentance and submittance to God. 
No one is asked to believe anything on faith. People involved discover for themselves
that Scientology works by seeing the works it can do. I think that with the amount of
money that people put into it they have to have some faith in the man. That faith is
false. Man will always let people down. Also, another belief is that spiritual salvation
depends on self. They believe that you can do works and decide for yourself when you are
spiritually saved. A scripture that tells the truth of all of this is Ephesians 2:8-9. It
says,  For by grace you are saved through faith, and this is not your own doing; it is
the gift of God--not the result of works, so that no one may boast.
Why is Scientology thought of as a Religion? 
The definition for religion is Any specific system of belief and worship, often involving
a code of ethics and a philosophy Scientology does fall into that category. As stated
before, it does have many beliefs. The religious philosophy includes the study of
spiritual manifestations, research on the nature of the spirit, study of the relationship
of the spirit to the body, and practices devoted to the rehabilitation of the spiritual
abilities
There are two dreams that it claims to have in common with all great religions.
One is the dream of peace on Earth and the other is the dream of salvation for man. These
are nice dreams to have but, in a way, Scientology doesn't support those dreams. In their
claim that man creates his own salvation, a Christian person would know that salvation is
only received when you ask Jesus to become your Lord and Savior. 
Within the church basic church ceremonies do take place. At church meeting there is a
sermon. When a child is born, soon after there is a naming ceremony that is similar to a
baptism. Also there are weddings and funerals that are also performed as the time arises.

Does Scientology Have Scripture?
Yes, Scientology does have scripture. It is the writings and spoken words of founder L.
Ron Hubbard. The scripture is not like Bible scripture. It does not have prophecies that
have come to pass, it has not been recorded for thousands of years, and it is not
inspired by God. It is just whatever this guy said to put down. In that sense Hubbard
tries to act like God. 
In Scientology scripture there is 500,000 pages of writings and 3,000 tape recorded
lectures. February 18, 1954, L.Ron Hubbard wrote the Creed of Scientology shortly after
the first Church was formed in Los Angles. It is stated as so:
The Creed of the Church of Scientology
We of the Church believe: 
That all men of whatever race, color or creed were created with equal rights; 
That all men have inalienable rights to their own religious practices and their
performance; 
That all men have inalienable rights to their own lives; 
That all men have inalienable rights to their sanity; 
That all men have inalienable rights to their own defense; 
That all men have inalienable rights to conceive, choose, assist
or support their own organizations, churches and governments; 
That all men have inalienable rights to think freely, to talk freely, to write
freely their own opinions and to counter or utter or write upon the opinions
of others; 
That all men have inalienable rights to the creation of their own kind; 
That the souls of men have the rights of men; 
That the study of the mind and the healing of mentally caused ills should not
be alienated from religion or condoned in nonreligious fields; 
And that no agency less than God has the power to suspend or set aside these
rights, overtly or covertly. 
And we of the Church believe: 
That man is basically good; 
That he is seeking to survive; 
That his survival depends upon himself and upon his fellows and his attainment
of brotherhood with the universe. 
And we of the Church believe that the laws of God forbid man: 
To destroy his own kind; 
To destroy the sanity of another; 
To destroy or enslave another's soul; 
To destroy or reduce the survival of one's companions or one's group. 
And we of the Church believe that the spirit can be saved and that the spirit
alone may save or heal the body.
This creed has many parts that aren't agreed with in scripture. The creed does not
believe in God's laws that were set up to protect his creation. They are very humanistic,
and will appeal to any lost person in some way. They are set up to draw people in, and
set them up to trust in the leaders of the church. 
The Cross and Symbol of Scientology
The cross represents the eight parts or dynamics of Scientology. It basically describes
or symbolizes living happily across all eight parts. 
The symbol of Scientology first appeared in 1952. The S in the middle stands for
Scientology. The lower triangle is the A.R.C. Triangle. The A stands for affinity, the R
stands for reality, and the C stands for communication. The upper triangle is the K.R.C.
Triangle. The K stands for knowledge, the R stands for responsibility, and the C stands
for control. 
What Are Dynamics?
The dynamics in Scientology are the eight distinct divisions that the drive for survival
embraces. 
The eight dynamics are very important in Scientology. The whole idea of their cross is
based on these parts. The eight dynamics are: 
First: Self (effort to survive as an individual)
Second: Family and Sex (existence as a future generation)
Third: Groups (urge to survive as the member of a group)
Forth: Mankind (survival of man as a species)
Fifth: All Life forms (anything directly motivated by life)
Sixth: The Physical Universe (reflects the drive of the individual to enhance the
survival of all matter , energy, space, and time)
Seventh: Spirituality (urge toward existence as a spiritual being)
Eighth: Infinity or the Supreme Being (existence of infinity or God)
Scientology's Concept of God
In the dynamic's aspect of Scientology, God is represented as the eighth dynamic. Though
they do not worship God, they do believe that there is a Supreme Being. Through the
processes that a person must participate in to be spiritually stable, a person involved
in Scientology becomes his own God. Through spiritual enlightenment a person's salvation
is obtained. In L. Ron Hubbard's book Science of Survival, he wrote on the concept of
God, No culture in the history of the world, save the thoroughly depraved and expiring
ones, has failed to affirm the existence of a Supreme Being. It is an empirical
observation that men without a strong and lasting faith in a Supreme Being are less
capable, less ethical and less valuable to themselves and society .... A man without an
abiding faith is, by observation alone, more of a thing than a man. This is a comment
that is very degrading of God. Hubbard takes the importance of God down to the bottom
level of his dynamics and does not give Him any credit for creating the universe and
sending His only Son to come and save the people of the world (His creation, made in His
image.)
Scientology is a very demanding religion. It requires people to give up large amounts of
money to purify the spirit, and time they could be spending with their family and
friends. The people involved have had their brains washed by this man, Hubbard, into
believing that he can lead them to salvation. There is only one that can save a person
and that is Jesus Christ.