![]() Hubbard himself was convicted in absentia of fraud by a French court in 1978 and sentenced to four years in prison. government, resulting in several executives of the organization being convicted and imprisoned for multiple offenses by a U.S. In the 1970s Hubbard's followers engaged in a program of criminal infiltration of the U.S. These aspects have become the subject of popular ridicule.įrom soon after their formation, Hubbard's groups have generated considerable opposition and controversy, in several instances because of their illegal activities. Despite being kept secret from most followers, this forms the central mythological framework of Scientology's ostensible soteriology. They involve an alien called Xenu, described as a planetary ruler 70 million years ago who brought billions of aliens to Earth and killed them with thermonuclear weapons. These texts say past lives took place in extraterrestrial cultures. Despite its efforts to maintain the secrecy of the texts, they are freely available online on sites such as the publisher WikiLeaks. ![]() The Operating Thetan texts are kept secret from most followers they are revealed only after adherents have typically given hundreds of thousands of dollars to the Scientology organization. After attaining "clear" status, adherents can take part in the Operating Thetan levels, which require further payments. Scholarship differs on the interpretation of these beliefs: some academics regard them as religious in nature other scholars regard them as merely a means of extracting money from Scientology recruits. Once an "auditor" deems an individual free of "engrams", typically after several years, they are given the status of " clear". A fee is charged for each session of "auditing". They claim that an activity called " auditing" can remove the "engrams". Scientology beliefs include reincarnation, and that traumatic events cause problematic " engrams" in the mind. Estimates put the number of Scientologists at under 40,000 worldwide. There are practitioners independent of the Church, in what is called the Free Zone. By 1954 he had regained the rights to Dianetics and founded the Church of Scientology, which remains the largest organization promoting Scientology. ![]() He then recharacterized his ideas as a religion, likely for tax purposes, and renamed them Scientology. ![]() An organization that he established in 1950 to promote it went bankrupt, and Hubbard lost the rights to his book Dianetics in 1952. Hubbard initially developed a set of ideas that he called Dianetics, which he represented as a form of therapy. It is variously defined as a cult, a business, or a new religious movement. Scientology is a set of beliefs and practices invented by the American author L. ![]()
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