In the late 1940s, science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard declared:
"Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion"
Hubbard later created the Church of Scientology...
Scientology is a system of beliefs, teachings and rituals, originally established as a secular philosophy in 1952 by author L. Ron Hubbard, then recharacterized by him in 1953 as an "applied religious philosophy". Hubbard defined the word "Scientology" to mean "a study of knowledge."
The science fiction content of Scientology is revealed to followers after they have reached the state they call "Clear", meaning freed from the aberrations of the mind. On the "advanced" levels (called OT levels) above the state of "Clear" they encounter the story of Xenu. Xenu was supposed to have gathered up all the overpopulation in this sector of the galaxy, brought them to Earth and then exterminated them using hydrogen bombs. The souls of these murdered people are then supposed to infest the body of everyone. They are called "body thetans". On the advanced levels of Scientology a person "audits out" these body thetans telepathically by getting them to re-experience their being exterminated by hydrogen bombs. So people on these levels assume all their bad thoughts and faulty memories are due to these body thetans infesting every part of their body and influencing them mentally.
Many celebrities have become followers and even spokespeople for Scientology. Here's a brief list of some of them:
- Tom Curise
- John Travolta
- Priscilla Presley
- Beck
- Jason Lee
- Eduardo Palomo
- Patrick Swayze
Some Links:
An award-winning piece on Scientology from Time Magazine (1991)
A transcript of an interview with L. Ron Hubbard, Jr. on PBS Late Night (1983)
Another interview with L. Ron Hubbard, Jr. on Penthouse Magazine (1983)
What Scientologists believe.
