Scientology

	More Articles & Resources
	The Life and Death of a Scientologist (Washington Post; 1998)
	The John Zegel tapes (Real Audio and transcripts)
	Penthouse interview with L. Ron Hubbard Jr. (Penthouse; 1983)

Scientology is a new religious movement, considered by many to be a cult, that was established in 1951 as a pseudoscientific alternative to psychotherapy by science-fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, then recharacterized by him in 1953 as an “applied religious philosophy.”

The term Scientology is a trademark of the Religious Technology Center, which licenses its use and the copyrighted works of Hubbard to the controversial Church of Scientology. The Church presents itself as a religious non-profit organization dedicated to encouraging development of the human spirit, and providing counseling and rehabilitation programs as an alternative to psychiatry, which Scientologists believe to be a barbaric and corrupt profession. Church spokespeople attest that Hubbard’s teachings (called “technology” or “tech” in Scientology terminology) have freed them from addictions, depression, learning disabilities, mental illness and other problems.

However, the Church of Scientology has attracted much controversy and criticism. Critics—including government officials of various countries—have characterized the Church as an unscrupulous commercial organization, and it is often described as a cult that harasses critics and exploits its members. Critics also argue many of the Church's controversial actions are a direct reflection of Hubbard's teachings.

Despite the similarity between their names, there is no connection between Scientology and the Church of Christ, Scientist, better known as “Christian Science.”