History of Scientology, and My Understanding of It
Scientology Scientology by many people is viewed as a cult and has no religious backing but according to Faith, Religion & Theology (FRT) a religion constitutes as "people (being able) to recognize that 'what matters most in life' is or includes a level of reality that transcends, or goes beyond, what normally understands as human or finite" meaning an ultimate mystery or Divine (Knitter 166). FRT also states that religion deals with ethical reasons how to behave and beliefs along with a creed, code, and ceremonies (Knitter 163). So according to FRT scientology would be a religion because it does believe in the higher being that is talked about in the first quote. Scientology also has a set ethical code that determines how people should behave inside their religion. The question that comes from this is where does Scientology get their creed, code, and ceremonies? Scientology began in the 1950's based on the findings of L. Ron Hubbard. Hubbard is known as the "father of Scientology" (Church). A formed the religion of Scientology after studying the human mind and life known as Dianectics (Church). So as Hubbard's research expanded, so did the ideas of Scientology until it incorporated all the ideas from all of Hubbard's publications. All this being said their creed, also written by Hubbard, is like most creeds a basis of what everyone in the religion believes in. Hubbard also wrote the 4 codes that Scientology is based around; The Auditor's code, The Code of Scientology, The Code of Honor, and a code called The Way of Happiness. All of these codes play a key role in the scientologist's life and what they believe in (Church). They believe in a "God" but they leave the image of "God" to the individuals. That leaves the ceremonies performed in Scientology. They perform a lot of ceremonies common to Christianity such as weddings, Sunday services, naming services, counseling, and funeral services Although they have the same ceremonies they are viewed in