There Are So Many Cults In America Religion Essay

There are so many cults in America that there is no room to advert all of them. It is merely plenty to advert that America has more cults than echt churches that preach the truth. The state has really been inundated with so many false faiths that majorly concentrated on domestic church planting. Harmonizing to Zuckerman ( 2003 ) , the states population has increased by a 3rd within a short period of clip and the greatest figure of the increased population comes from immigrants if non their dead persons. These people have come along with so many faiths such of which can non be truly described on what they are truly after. One such faith is scientologist faith. This paper gives a treatment on the scientologist faith as a cult in America.

Historical background

Scientologist faith was founded in 1953 by an writer by the name L.Ron Hubbard who claimed to hold the power to clear people of unhappiness, injury, and ethical evildoing and do them make a province of complete control or ‘Operating Thetan ‘ . Hibbard, was born in 1911 in Nebraska and took portion in the World War II as a member of the US Navy. He nevertheless subsequently made ailments of the disposal of the Veterans about what he claimed to be a earnestly affected head and some self-destructive dispositions ( Zuckerman, 2003 ) . Nevertheless he was besides a reasonably successful author, portion film maker, and portion narrative Teller. After some clip outside the Navy, some of the church brochures falsely described him to be an extensively decorated hero of World War II who was unluckily blinded and crippled piece at work merely to do people attracted to the cult. Hubbard was in fact pronounced dead on two different occasions after which he was said to hold been miraculously resurrected by the power of Scientologist faith. The doctor’s degree that he claimed to hold received from Sequoia University was merely but some fake male order grade. In one instance where the cult sued one research worker looking into the Hubbard ‘s life, the justice made a opinion that Hubbard was merely but a pathological prevaricator.

In world this faith is really a immense planetary racket which survives by rupturing its followings in a Mafia-like behaviour. In the past decennary, there was a clip when its prosecution seemed to be cutting down on its threat. Zuckerman ( 2003 ) argues that there were eleven top leaders of the faith including even the laminitis ‘s married woman who were really sent to prison some times back in the early 1980s. They were charged for burglarising, infiltrating and wiretapping several authorities and private bureaus to tray and forestall their probes from traveling on.

In the recent yesteryear, 100s of long term followings of Scientology faith, most of who claimed to hold been physically or mentally abused made up their heads and decided to discontinue the church and even went in front and criticized the sort of work the church was involved in. Some even sued the church on several occasions and won: the church has compensated some of them to a value of $ 500,000. In a figure of times, Judgess have labeled the faith as paranoid person and unsafe because you could ne’er state what he might be believing of. West & A ; Maclean ( 1999 ) province that despite all these indignation and judicial proceeding, Scientology has non been stopped. It boasts of about 700 centres in a sum of 65 states and even threatens to go permeant and insidious than of all time.

Scientologist faith has been said to be working on traveling mainstream but this scheme has drawn so much unfavorable judgment and even pull a renewed jurisprudence that enforces run against it. Most of its followings have been accused of perpetrating a figure of fiscal offenses as the church is busy on the other side seeking to pull the unwary utilizing a figure of front groups in ways like publication, health care, remedial instruction and even audience. One of the group sacred texts was written by this same laminitis in 1950. In the first portion of the book, he uses a rough psychotherapeutic accomplishment which he refers to as scrutinizing ( West & A ; Maclean, 1999 ) . He besides made up a simplified prevarication sensor which he referred to as an E metre. This technique was seemingly supposed to mensurate electronic alterations within the tegument of a human being while topics made treatments about confidant inside informations about their yesteryear. It is the same E-meter technique that he used to keep guidance Sessionss where he claimed to be in apposition to bring around sightlessness, and rinse away their sorrows in add-on to bettering their visual aspect and intelligence.

As West & A ; Maclean ( 1999 ) put it, n Hollywood, the faith has attracted so many stars as their followings by enrolling most of them sharply and regally pumping most of them at its Celebrity centers. This is really a aggregation of clubhouses which offer really expensive guidance together with calling counsel. Some of the famous person followings include people like John Travolta, Tom Cruise, actresses like Mimi Rogers, Kirstie Alley and Anne Archer. Others include Palm Spring city manager Sonny Bono, Nancy Cartwright, Bat Simpson among many more.

Harmonizing to Dawson ( 2006 ) the Cult Awareness Network revels that there is no other group that prompts a great figure of telephone supplications like Scientology. Cynthia Kisser, the web ‘s executive manager, Chicago branch even describes Scientology to be the most pitiless and terroristic cult in America. She adds that there is no cult that extracts more money the same manner Scientology does. A former six cardinal leader of the church, Vicki Aznaran besides agrees with this fact and claims that its one of the ground he left it. He even goes in front to name it a condemnable group in all its domains.

There was a clip when TIME conducted a research to happen out the range of Scientology by questioning over 150 people and reexamining several tribunal records related to it. It was really apparent that the church functionaries did non desire to be interviewed and they wholly stood their land. This probe gives an feeling that the faith is a perverse but still booming endeavor doing so much money than most of the most profitable concern organisations. While most cults do non win to outlive their laminitis, Scientology has prospered by a great border since the decease of Hubbard ‘s that occurred in 1986 ( West & A ; Maclean, 1999 ) .

One of the tribunal filings describes the church as being a church of religious engineering. Record has it that it made an income of $ 503 million within the first twelvemonth of his decease. Most of the deserters explain that the original organisation has stashed 1000000s of dollars amounting to $ 400 in foreign histories in topographic points such as Cyprus, Switzerland, and Liechtenstein ( Dawson, 2006 ) . The faith is estimated to hold approximately 50,000 active members which is less that the 8 million that it claims to hold. However, this figure might peal true because so many people have been affected by the group either straight or straight.

At present, the group ‘s leader is David Miscavige, who is merely approximately 31 old ages of age. To do affairs worse, he is even said to be a high school bead out. Some of the deserters describe him as a ruthless craft and paranoid person that he even covered his glass of H2O with a plastic wrap because he is scared of his enemies. His chief compulsion is to obtain credibleness for the group within the 21 century. Dawson ( 2006 ) besides adds that the group besides has other tactics that helps it in its operations with illustrations being the public relation human dynamo Hill that is aimed at assisting the church to acquire rid of the negativeness that it has been associated with. It besides joined the group of family names like Pepsi and Sony in patronizing Ted Turner ‘s Goodwill Games besides in an effort to shadow the negative image that it has been associated with.

You can ne’er lose, full page advertizements of the group in some of the common publications like Business Week and Newsweek. Such ads usually refer to the faith as a “ doctrine ” . It besides supplements these ads with a twosome of Television adverts which tout assorted books published by the group. One scheme that has decidedly kept the group in the line visible radiation is its enlisting of respectable and wealth professionals through a figure of confer withing groups that usually hind their ties to the group but in existent sense they carry the docket of Scientology. These groups usually come in the name of charitable groups or calling consultative groups and pull the respectable professionals as support people. In the long tally, these people find themselves recommending for the values and dockets of Scientologist faith ( Dawson, 2006 ) .

Presently the faith makes dearly-won investings in new services with the passion of its laminitis. Its philosophies besides warn that even followings who have been cleared of any memory traces still face immense religious dangers if they are non pushed to a greater and more expensive degree. Psychiatrists claims that these Sessionss have the potency of bring forthing a drugged-like euphory controlled by the head that can maintain its clients coming back each and every clip to acquire more of the Sessionss and its instructions ( Zuckerman, 2003 ) . New comers can besides gain committees for every new member they recruit so that they could utilize this committee to pay for their fees. All this is done with the purpose of either fall ining the church staff or going hearers themselves. Such promises would therefore keep people coming back as they bring in new members.

Harmonizing to Becker ( 2008 ) , one victim of such a concern of selling faith was one Harriet Baker. This is an old lady whose hubby died of malignant neoplastic disease while she was at 73 old ages old. A member of the Scientologist faith turned up at he place in Lost Angeles with a $ 1,300 scrutinizing bundle that he claimed would bring around her heartache. After $ 15,000, the Scientologists realized that Baker ‘s house was debt free. It is after this that they came up with a program for a $ 45,000 mortgage. They lured her and gave her so much force per unit area to tap more of their auditing to a point where she was to be assisted by her kids to acquire out of the daze. When she came to demand for $ 27,000 refund for the services she did non utilize, she ne’er received even a individual cent of what she wanted. She had no option other than sell her house.

Another victim was Noah Lottick who even decided to take his life because of the influence he got from this group. He had paid over $ 5000 towards church guidance. Close relations and friends say that his behaviour had besides changed to the worse. He even told mentioned to his parents the thought that wise mans of Scientologist faith had the powers to read heads. It is because of the sort of encephalon lavation he had received from the group that he did non hold to the fact that his male parent had been affected by a major bosom onslaught. Harmonizing to him, this was strictly psychosomatic. Some five yearss before he took his life, he burst into their place as demanded an account from the parents on why they were distributing some false rumours refering him ( Becker, 2008 ) . This even made his male parent to name for a head-shrinker because he was certain that something was incorrect with his boy. It was nevertheless excessively tardily because he had committed suicide shortly after. One fanny thing is that no member of the cult bothered to demo up. They did non even return the money that he had paid for services he did non have. In fact the narrative changed and stated that he had given the $ 3,000 as a contribution which is hence non supposed to be returned. A echt church can non make such as thing.

Becker ( 2008 ) is besides of the position that there are several goods and services that the church has invented in to entice its members to do more contributions. For case, they charge reexamining of instances of members who have failed to travel up the ‘the Bridge ” for what they term as merely $ 1,250 in signifier of contribution. To entice the richer people and derive more influence, Scientologist faith has besides developed a assortment of schemes and groups to do money and derive more members. Some of these groups include:

Consulting

The group ‘s Sterling Management Systems that was created in 1983 has been said to be one of the fastest turning private companies in America. It on a regular basis mails one free newspaper at a clip to over 300,000 professionals in wellness attention, most of them being tooth doctors. These newssheets promise the professionals of the fact that they will be able to do increased incomes in their occupations. There are besides a figure of seminars offered by the house which cost about $ 10,000. The chief scheme here is to pull more clients to Scientologist faith ( Becker, 2008 ) .

Public influence

Harmonizing to Slack ( 2008 ) the Way to Public foundation is one forepart which has distributed over 3.5 million transcripts of a brochure that was written by Hubbard to kids in assorted national schools. This strategy is a airing undertaking that is even trying to come up with tutorial plans largely in primary schools that have more kids from the minority groups in America. There is besides programs to put up 1,000 estates of land on which it will contract a campus to educate the populace on assorted methods approved by Hubbard. One group known as the “ Citizens Commission on Human Rights ” is an affiliate group to the Scientologist faith and it ‘s at war with psychopathology which is its major rival.

Health attention

HealthMed is a concatenation of clinics that belongs to Scientology faith and promotes a demanding system of exercising, sweat room, and vitamins which were really designed by the laminitis of the motion in the name of sublimating the human organic structure. Most experts nevertheless denounce this government as potentially harmful and yet HealthMed has gone a caput and solicited assorted bureaus for contracts. The group besides argues that common nutrients are unsafe to the organic structure ( Slack, 2008 ) .

Drug intervention

Narconon is a concatenation of rehabilitation centres for drug and intoxicant nuts. Some of the centres have besides been set up in different prisons in different states. Facilities located in prisons go by the name Criminon. This is a really classical method that is used by Scientologist faith to pull drug and intoxicant nuts into fall ining the group ( Slack, 2008 ) . It even has a program to put up what it refers to as one of the largest intervention centres in the universe with a capacity of 1,400 beds. This is merely but an avenue to enroll more members.

Fiscal cozenages

In a instance impeaching at that place Florida Scientologist, of utilizing the celebrated rare coin franchise against the jurisprudence as a money wash, they all pleaded guilty of the discourtesy. As Slack ( 2008 ) puts it, there are some other fiscal cozenages that the group has been involved include presenting works secret agents in universe fiscal organic structures such as the IMF and the World Bank including even the Export-Import Bank. These are really high degree trades that are bound to do high returns. What makes it even worse is that they are conducted at the top degree or international degrees.

Drumhead

From its web site, the faith defines Scientology as the survey of truth. This thought is even supported by one of their famous person members, Tom Cruise in his picture that claims that being a Scientologist makes one to see things the in the right mode. Scientology besides teaches its members that human existences are immortal and they did non arise from the Earth as other faiths might state. Its through their procedure of scrutinizing that redemption is achieved. By and large, this is a really expensive faith to take portion in sing that offerings and contributions are so expensive. New members have to besides maintain pulling more people for them to gain committees. No church should coerce people to do offerings and this is one of the many grounds that Scientologist is a cult. Its chief intent seems to be doing net incomes judging from assorted fiscal cozenage it ‘s involved in.