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Scientologists believe that there are three parts of a person. There is the mind, the body, and the individual, which is called the Thetan. They also believe in reincarnation, and that when you are reincarnated the part that lives on is the Thetan. The Thetan is separate from the mind. The mind is what records information, but the Thetan is what takes that information and uses it. The goal of Scientologists is to recognize the Thetan and separate it from the body, which allows them to become more mentally and physically able.

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The Creed of the Church of Scientology is a document written by L. Ron Hubbard that states the core principles of Scientology, and all Scientologists strive to live by this code:

We of the Church believe

That all men of whatever race, color or creed were created with equal rights.

That all men have inalienable rights to their own religious practices and their performance.

That all men have inalienable rights to their own lives.

That all men have inalienable rights to their sanity.

That all men have inalienable rights to their own defense.

That all men have inalienable rights to conceive, choose, assist or support their own organizations, churches and governments.

That all men have inalienable rights to think freely, to talk freely, to write freely their own opinions and to counter or utter or write upon the opinions of others.

That all men have inalienable rights to the creation of their own kind.

That the souls of men have the rights of men.

That the study of the Mind and the healing of mentally caused ills should not be alienated from religion or condoned in nonreligious fields.

And that no agency less than God has the power to suspend or set aside these rights, overtly or covertly.

And we of the Church believe

That Man is basically good.

That he is seeking to Survive.

That his survival depends upon himself and upon his fellows and his attainment of brotherhood with the Universe.

And we of the Church believe that the laws of God forbid Man

To destroy his own kind.

To destroy the sanity of another.

To destroy or enslave another’s soul.

To destroy or reduce the survival of one’s companions or one’s group.

And we of the Church believe

That the spirit can be saved.

And that the spirit alone may save or heal the body.

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Scientology is based upon Dianetics, a method of treating mental health issues created by Scientology's founder, L. Ron Hubbard. Dianetics introduced the concept of the two parts of the mind. The first part of the mind is called the active mind. The active mind is responsible for analysis, decision making, and otherwise rational thought. The second part of the mind is called the reactive mind. According to L. Ron Hubbard, it is constantly active and is the cause of fears, insecurity, and otherwise irrational thoughts. In order to overcome this, Scientologists believe that in order to overcome the reactive mind, and as a consequence be free of irrational thought, they must go through the processes of auditing and training in order to become clear. Scientologists believe that some people are able to go even farther and become and Operating Thetan, which means that the Thetan is able to function without assistance from the body. This is the ideal state for a Scientologists and is what they strive to achieve.

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Scientology started off as a humble belief but quickly became one of the most controversial religions. Their logo, which contains the letter S for Scientology and two triangles, the ARC and KRC which symbolize the two most important concepts of Scientology. They believes that the ARC triangle provides a way to live life, “The ARC Triangle has many uses in improving conditions in life. It answers the question of how to talk to someone—if one uses the triangle and chooses a subject on which the person being talked to can agree, affinity will rise and communication will be better.”The ARC triangle stands for affinity, reality and communications which add up to understanding, by improving one corner of the triangle, you will lift the other two up. The KRC triangle stands for knowledge, responsibility and control which are important skills that everyone should attain.

Scientology was originally called the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International and was advertised as Dianetics. It was founded in the 1950 by Ronald (L.Ron) Hubbard. After gaining a following for 4 years, the first Scientology Church was opened in 1954 in Los Angeles. After this church opened, is when the controversies started over the religion. In 1958, the IRS revoked its tax-exempt status and was sued by former members. As a consequence, scientologists started to act violently on those who spoke out against them which caused the FDA to seize materials used by Scientologists. Scientology started to spread internationally but many countries tried countering it. In 1965, Austria banned the church activities and they were forced to change their name to, "The Church of the New Faith." Only 20 years later, was the ban reversed and they received tax-exempt status. France put many rules into effect in order to prevent Scientology from prospering in their nation. First, Hubbard and his two partners were heavily fined and received 4 years in prison in Paris. Then, 7 years later in 1985, France believed that the purpose of the church was to make profit which resulted in its tax-exempt status to be removed. It wasn't just the head of the church who was getting punished. In Denmark, 1985, 40 scientologists who were running the European and African headquarters were deported from Denmark. In 1988, the Canadian Scientology branch was accused of stealing government documents and offered to donate one million dollars to charity if the charges on them were dropped. Recently, Hubbard's followers participated in a covert mission to overthrow the government. The high costs of this mission, lead to bankruptcy and Hubbard lost his rights to seminal publications. Currently, scientology is still growing in size however the amount of issues surrounding it, from lawsuits to accusations, will require it to change its public image in order for it to flourish.

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Church

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Scientologists believe that there are eight dynamics that represent all of the different aspects of life. They believe that the drive to survive defines humanity, and that the eight dynamics embody different parts of that. Scientologists use these dynamics to define good and evil. Good actions are defined as actions that help fulfill the eight dynamics, while evil is anything that threatens their survival.

The First Dynamic - The Self
Scientologists believe that the urge to survive as the self is the first level of survival. Other people are not involved in this dynamic, and it embodies the survival of the body and mind.

The Second Dynamic - Creativity
This dynamic is the desire to provide for the next generation. It includes any actions related to creativity or family.

The Third Dynamic - Group Survival
This describes the desire to survive with a community of other people. This community can be as small as two friends and as large as an entire nation. What matters is that there is a group that seeks to survive together.

The Fourth Dynamic - Species
This dynamic is the urge for all of humankind to survive together. It functions similarly to the third dynamic, but the size of the group is smaller in the third dynamic than in the fourth.

The Fifth Dynamic - Life Forms
This describes survival not only with other humans, but with the rest of the natural world. This includes birds, bugs, trees, and all other living things who we seek to survive in harmony with.

The Sixth Dynamic - The Physical Universe
Scientologists believe that our world has four parts - matter, space, energy, and time. This dynamic describes the drive for all four of them to survive together.

The Seventh Dynamic - Spiritual Dynamic
This dynamic covers everything spiritual as well as the drive for life itself to survive. It is considered to be separate from all of the previous dynamics because it is not part of the physical universe.

The Eighth Dynamic - Infinity
Scientologists believe that once a person fully understands the seventh dynamic they will then figure out what the eighth dynamic truly is. In addition to the eighth dynamic, it is often referred to as "The Supreme Being" or "God."

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Logo

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Scientologists believe that there are two practices that people must perform in order to become Clear, auditing and training. Auditing is what brings a person the state of Clear, while training is what shows them how. All Scientology churches have a room for training. Inside, there are the works of L. Ron Hubbard that are studied by Scientologists. There is a strict order set in place of which works should be studied when, and Scientologists can move as quickly or as slowly as they want when they study them. There's also always a Course Supervisor in the room to answer any questions and make sure everybody understands the material.

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Auditing is one of the two practices that Scientologists believe will bring people to the state of Clear. Auditing is a one-on-one session between a Scientologist who hasn't become Clear  yet, referred to as a preclear, and an auditor, who is highly trained in auditing procedures. During a session, the preclear is asked a series of questions that are designed to help them unlock and overcome areas of stress, fear, and negativity that would otherwise be stuck inside of their mind. In addition to getting rid of negative experiences and emotions, it also shows people how to deal with anything that might challenge them in life. In addition to the questions, the auditor uses a device called an E-Meter that indicates when a preclear is thinking about something upsetting. The auditor then uses those readings to best assist the preclear. This practice, along with training, is believed by Scientologists to help a person unlock their full spiritual self and become Clear.

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Over the past 10 years, Scientology has grown exponentially and reached almost 8 million members since its foundation in 60 years ago. A common stereotype about Scientology is that it is only for the geeks or people who are "disconnected from society,"however, a post about modern Scientology says, “It's something not often mentioned about Scientologists, they're people persons… Elaine gave me a frank and detailed look inside the world of her faith, she never once offered me a personality test.” Regular people are getting attracted to this religion due to its unorthodox viewpoints that differ from the major religions, which not everyone agrees with. Scientology is an alternate way of thinking for many who are not satisfied with the current religions and belief systems.

The future of scientology has the potential to grow into a mid-size religion, however due to the high cost of audits, about 2 thousand dollars, the number of people who are going to be able to afford it will only decrease until they are able to make changes to the auditing process. Also, with all the controversies surrounding the religion and the treatment of those who speak out against it, the path to clear their name of these actions will be long and tedious, yet important for their growth.

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The biggest issue yet the largest source of publicity for Scientology right now is the media. The media is criticizing it for its wild beliefs but also giving it coverage for people to join. One of the ways the media is negatively affecting Scientology is by ridiculing their beliefs, is when they criticize their thoughts on how we ended up on Earth. “Though aliens are apparently part of Scientology's theology, the church claims that media reports on the topic are ‘misstatements, distortions, and outright lies" created on the Internet ‘to ridicule Scientologists and denigrate their actual religious beliefs.’” This is giving the religion a bad name and those who are looking into it will feel like they will be part of a religion that is being mocked and oppressed, which will deter them from joining.

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Having famous people endorse your brand is one of the fastest and easiest ways to grow a company, or even a religion. One of the largest contributors to the growth of scientology are  celebrities. Many big name celebrities such as Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Will Smith and Christopher Reeve openly support Scientology. It is unknown whether many celebrities actually believe in it or whether they join it so that they can be part of an elite club, that naturally leads itself to the wealth due to the high costs. When Tom Cruise revealed to the public after 30 years that he was a Scientologist he said, “I think it’s a privilege to call yourself a Scientologist, and it’s something you have to earn, because a Scientologist does.” When someone with as big of a following as Cruise said that, the amount of applicants quadrupled in the 3 months following.

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Every Sunday, Churches of Scientology hold services that impart the teachings of Scientology and help address a person's spirit. They are considered to be an integral part of the community and an incredibly valuable time for Scientologists to reconnect with their spirit. The service has six parts. The first of these parts is the reading of the Creed of Scientology. The goal of this is to remind Scientologists of their values and allow them to recommit to upholding them. Next, a minister delivers a sermon that aims to emphasize a particular value or principle of Scientology and explain its relevance to their lives. After that, they listen to either a work of writing or a lecture by L. Ron Hubbard, which is usually connected to the sermon. Then, there is a group auditing session that, like the work by L. Ron Hubbard, relates to the sermon. After that, announcements are made about community events, typically charitable activities. Finally, the service concludes with a prayer.

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An Auditing Session

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E-Meter

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Miller, Kelsey, Modern Scientology Beliefs Practices History, Living, and Photo: Rex USA. "Go Inside Scientology With One Anonymous Member." Modern Scientology Beliefs, Practices, History. Refinery29, 20 Nov. 2015. Web. 01 June 2017.

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Scientologists believe that the use of drugs and other chemicals that alter the mind or body are extremely harmful for a person's spiritual development. The goal of the Purification Rundown, which was created by L. Ron Hubbard, is to remove those effects from a person. This is achieved through a combination of the use of saunas, exercise, and proper nutrition. Additionally, Scientologists cannot attend an auditing session until they have been clean for six weeks.

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“Official Church of Scientology: What Is Scientology?” Scientology, www.scientology.org/. Accessed 1 June 2017.

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Illustration of the Thetan in relation to the body

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The Eight Dynamics

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People exercising as part of the Purification Rundown

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Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin. The Illustrated Encyclopedia of Active New Religions, Sects, and Cults. New York, Rosen Pub. Group, 1998.