Portal:Scientology
Religion- Adventism
- Ahmadiyya
- Anabaptism
Anglicanism- Arminianism
- Atheism
- Ayyavazhi
- Bahá'í Faith
- Baptist
- Bible
- Book of Mormon
Buddhism- Calvinism
- Christadelphians
Christianity
- Confucianism
- Creationism
- Eastern Christianity
- Falun Gong
- Greek mythology
- Heathenism
- Hellenismos
Hinduism
Islam- Jainism
- Judaism
- Kabbalah
- Latter‑day Saints
- Lutheranism
- Mahayana Buddhism
- Methodism
- Mythology
- Nontheism
- Occult
- Oriental Orthodoxy
- Pope
- Roman Catholicism
- Saints
Scientology- Shinto
- Sikhism
- Spirituality
- Sufism
- Syriac Christianity
- Taoism
- Tibetan Buddhism
- Vajrayana Buddhism
- Wicca
- Zoroastrianism
The Scientology Portal
Scientology is a body of beliefs and related practices created by Speculative Fiction author L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986), starting in 1952, as a successor to his earlier self-help system, Dianetics. Hubbard characterized Scientology as a religion, and in 1953 incorporated the Church of Scientology in Camden, New Jersey.
Scientology teaches that people are immortal beings who have forgotten their true nature. Its method of spiritual rehabilitation is a type of counselling known as auditing, in which practitioners aim to consciously re-experience painful or traumatic events in their past in order to free themselves of their limiting effects. Study materials and auditing courses are made available to members in return for specified donations. Scientology is legally recognized as a tax-exempt organization in the United States and some other countries, and the Church of Scientology emphasizes this as proof that it is a bona fide religion. In other countries, notably France, Germany and the United Kingdom, Scientology does not have comparable religious status.
A large number of organizations overseeing the application of Scientology have been established, the most notable of these being the Church of Scientology. Scientology sponsors a variety of social service programs. These include the Narconon anti-drug program, the Criminon prison rehabilitation program, the Study Tech education methodology, a volunteer organization, a business management method, and a set of moral guidelines expressed in a booklet called The Way to Happiness.
The Church of Scientology is one of the most controversial new religious movements to have arisen in the 20th century. It has often been described as a cult that financially defrauds and abuses its members, charging exorbitant fees for its spiritual services. The Church of Scientology has consistently used litigation against such critics, and its aggressiveness in pursuing its foes has been condemned as harassment. Further controversy has focused on Scientology's belief that souls ("thetans") reincarnate and have lived on other planets before living on Earth. Former members say that some of Hubbard's writings on this remote extraterrestrial past, included in confidential Upper Levels, are not revealed to practitioners until they have paid thousands of dollars to the Church of Scientology. Another controversial belief held by Scientologists is that the practice of psychiatry is destructive and abusive and must be abolished.
Selected article
Selected picture
The M/V Freewinds is a cruise ship operated by the Church of Scientology. Its home port is Curaçao, and it frequents the Netherlands Antilles and the Caribbean. The vessel was built in 1968 by Wärtsilä in Turku, Finland, at the former Crichton-Vulcan shipyard to Ice Class 1A, as one of a series of four RORO car ferries. It was purchased by Majestic Cruise Lines, a Church of Scientology corporation, in 1986 and subsequently was renamed the Freewinds in its home port of Curaçao.
In the news
- December 2: Australian woman claims Church of Scientology imprisoned her for twelve years
- October 21: British Government warns against tax breaks for Scientology
- October 11: Author Amy Scobee recounts abuse as Scientology executive
- October 10: US federal judge and Florida judge clash over Scientology wrongful death case
Selected biography
Did you know...
- ...that the Scientology Task Force of Hamburg, Germany reported on what it called brainwashing in Scientology's Rehabilitation Project Force (pictured)?
- ...that TIME magazine's Gerald Loeb Award-winning article "The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power" highlights the suicide of Noah Lottick?
- ...that the 1937 Western fiction book Buckskin Brigades was Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard's first published novel?
Categories
WikiProjects
Main project: WikiProject Scientology
Related WikiProjects: Religion • Mythology • Philosophy • Spirituality • Atheism • Holidays • Alternative views Rational skepticism • Countering systemic bias
Selected quote
Featured content
Featured articles
Good articles
Main topics
Things you can do
- Place the {{WikiProject Scientology}} project banner on the talk pages of all articles within the scope of the project.
- Place all articles, by alphabetical order, at the list Wikipedia:WikiProject Scientology/publicwatchlist.
- Check the recent changes list to note improvements, other changes or vandalism of articles within the scope of this project.
- Article alerts subpage - Monitor article alerts, for more information see Wikipedia:Article alerts
- Attention: See Category:Scientology articles needing attention for any articles which may require attention.
- Cleanup: A cleanup listing for this project is available. See also the list by category, the tool's wiki page and the index of WikiProjects.
- Notability: Articles with notability concerns, listed at WikiProject Notability
- Rate the Unassessed Scientology articles in the Scientology WikiProject.
- Stubs: See Category:Scientology stubs and Category:Stub-Class Scientology articles