I watched this video today- after a Guardian article revealing how hard the Church of Scientology had tried to suppress it’s general release–

I knew next to nothing about Scientology, apart from its association with some Hollywood stars and the controversy about the allegedly abusive way that its leaders behaved towards one another.

Then there was the way that BBC heavy weight correspondent John Sweeney got into conflict with the Scientologists– the famous panorama programme where faced with wierd wind up tactics, he lost it during an interview and shouted and bawled.

Read his account of how he was treated by Scientology thugs during the course of his investigation- it is difficult to imagine any other church being able to justify such behaviour, no matter how much pressure it feels itself to be under. They call it their ‘attack the attacker’ or ‘fair game’ policy, and involves using tactics that would make Peter Mandelson blush.

I do not like knocking other faiths. It is an easy hit- poking fun and finding fault with things you do not believe. The question is whether Scientology is a faith, or a manipulative cult, surviving through the misuse of power, money and legal process.

L Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology was a science fiction writer who decided to start a religion- allegedly boasting that it was the best way to make a million.

He started with a self help book, where he pans psychiatry, and suggested an alternative way of dealing with life via a process of ‘auditing’.  This from Wikipedia-

In the mid-sixties, the Church of Scientology was banned in several Australian states, starting with Victoria in 1965. The ban was based on the Anderson Report, which found that the auditing process involved “command” hypnosis, in which the hypnotist assumes “positive authoritative control” over the patient. On this point the report stated,

It is the firm conclusion of this Board that most scientology and dianetic techniques are those of authoritative hypnosis and as such are dangerous … the scientific evidence which the Board heard from several expert witnesses of the highest repute … leads to the inescapable conclusion that it is only in name that there is any difference between authoritative hypnosis and most of the techniques of scientology. Many scientology techniques are in fact hypnotic techniques, and Hubbard has not changed their nature by changing their names.

What do Scientologists believe? I spent some time trying to understand the basics, but I am afraid, in the end, I just did not care. Feel free to check it out yourself though.

Power, wealth, psychological pressure, manipulation and the American dream of success- all mixed up into a religion.