Scientology to develop new media centre

It appears, if the rumours are to be believed, that the Church of Scientology, the American organisation founded by science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard following his attempted development of a school of psychological thought known as Dianetics is the join more mainstream Christian religious groups in having its own TV broadcasting facilities. As most of you will be aware, religion and conspiracy theory are seldom happy bedfellows and I will happily state my own position to be spiritual, non-religious, but what is fascinating is the way in which many people, and particularly the media view what are loosely called New Religions. Whatever the rights and wrongs of religious belief in general, and the belief in new religions in particular it seems that it is almost impossible to establish a new faith without all sorts of accusations flying around that, in large part, make little if any sense. Let us consider the accusations that are levelled at Scientology and how these compare with other, more established groups. It is claimed by many the Scientology is a cult for three clear reasons. The first is that the movement requires that a new initiate removes themselves from their previous life. This includes contact with friends and family outside the movement. The second is that progression within Scientology requires spending money on resource material, books and so on, the best estimate being that to achieve status within the movement costs a minimum of $64,000, many members giving a proportion of their salary to the movement. Thirdly there are reports that Scientology uses techniques such as repetition, hypnosis, subliminal messaging, starving and sleep deprivation to convert people.

These are serious accusations but now let us look at one of the most mainstream religions for comparison. Within the Catholic church there are a number of groups who follow similar, if not more extreme philosophies. Consider Opus Dei, the non monastic group established globally with papal blessing. On joining Opus Dei, new members are required to sever all ties with family and friends outside the group. Opus Dei members live communally in group houses, sexually segregated, and either work for free within the house or take jobs outside the house, donating all of their earning to the house and to Opus Dei. Techiques such as scourging or self flagellation, and the use of the scillis or spiked wire band tied around the thigh could be considered forms of torture, as could the sleep deprivation caused by intense bible study and group prayer sessions. Sounds almost familiar doesn't it? Examples of this type of religious lifestyle can be found in Islam, Protestantism, Judaism and even Buddhism and Hinduism, so why is Scientology singled out for criticism?

I think it comes down to a fear of the unknown, and to an extent Scientology has historically done itself no favours by its insistence on secrecy over its operations, and the constant shifting believes away from Hubbards original concepts in order to try to make Scientology more palatable. Personally I have no more concern over Scientology having access to production facilities than I do to tele-evangelists having those same facilities, and I have no doubt that just as many evangelists were caught out by the penetrating gaze of the TV camera, philandering and committing fraud, this may turn out to be the worst move in Scientology history to date. It will be interesting to see just how this develops, and how it plays in countries were Scientology has had its status as a religion removed.