Define Scientology - The Facts

The Ultimate Guide To Church Of Scientology Perth Address

Regrettably, the church continues to be challenged with it - Scientology beliefs. And the ironic thing is that the individuals being faced with it are the people who wiped it out. And to the church, that's a very frustrating thing. According to a 1990 Los Angeles Times article, in the 1980s the Los Angeles branch mainly switched from using church members in harassment projects to using personal investigators, consisting of former and existing Los Angeles policeman.


The Scientology company has continued to strongly target people it considers suppressive. In 1998, regarding its statement that it had worked with a private detective to look into the background of an author who had written a series on the church, Robert W. Thornburg, dean of Marsh Chapel at Boston University, stated, "No one I understand goes so far regarding hire outsiders to pester or try to get challenging information on critics.


In 2007 when BBC journalist John Sweeney was making, an investigative report about the Church and was the topic of harassment: In LA, the moment our hire cars and truck left the airport we realised we were being followed by 2 vehicles. In our hotel an unusual stranger invested every breakfast listening to us.


Some crucial activities of the Church of Scientology carry threats for members, and the deaths of some Scientologists have accentuated the Church both due to the circumstances of their demises and their relationship with Scientology perhaps being a factor (is scientology a religion). In 1995, Lisa McPherson was associated with a minor auto accident while driving on a Clearwater, Florida street.

Getting The Is Scientology A Religion To Work

Hospital staff chose that she had actually not been hurt in the accident, but advised keeping her overnight for observation. Following intervention by fellow Scientologists, McPherson refused psychiatric observation or admission at the medical facility and checked herself out against medical suggestions after a short examination. She was required to the Fort Harrison Hotel, a Scientology retreat, to receive a Church sanctioned treatment called Introspection Rundown.




She was secured a space for 17 days, where she died. Her look after death was that of someone who had actually been rejected water and food for quite some time, being both underweight and seriously dehydrated. Additionally, her skin was covered with over one hundred insect bites, presumably from cockroaches.




The Church has repeatedly rejected any misbehavior, and now makes members sign a waiver before Introspection Rundown specifically stating that they (or anyone on their behalf) will not bring any legal action versus the company over injury or death. These charges drew in press coverage and sparked claims. 8 years later, Elli Perkins, another adherent to Scientology's beliefs relating to psychiatry, was stabbed to death by her mentally disrupted boy.


The death of Elli Perkins at the hands of a disrupted family member, one whose disease might have been treated by techniques and medications banned by Scientology, again raised concerns in the media about the Church's methods. In addition, the Church has actually been implicated in kidnapping members who have just recently left the church.

9 Simple Techniques For Scientology Beliefs

She was discovered on January 22, 2008, outfitted only in a shirt. The her comment is here space she was locked up in consisted of refuse and an insect infested bed mattress. On Friday March 28, 2008, Kaja Bordevich Ballo, daughter of Olav Gunnar Ballo, Norwegian parliament member and vice president of the Norwegian Odelsting, took a Church of Scientology character test while studying in Nice.


A few hours later she devoted suicide by jumping from her balcony at her dormitory leaving a note telling her family she was sorry for not "benefiting anything". The incident has actually advanced heavy criticism against the Church of Scientology from pals, household and prominent Norwegian political leaders.


Members of the general public entering a Scientology center or mission are used a "free character test" called the Oxford Capability Analysis by Scientology literature. The test, despite its name and the claims of Scientology literature, has no connection to Oxford University or any other research body. Scientific research study into 3 test results came to the conclusion that "we are forced to a position of suspicion about the test's status as a dependable psychometric gadget" and called its clinical worth "negligible".


Current legal actions involving Scientology's relationship with its members (see Scientology controversy) have caused the organization to publish extensive legal files that cover the rights approved to fans. It has become standard practice within the company for members to sign prolonged legal contracts and waivers before engaging in Scientology services, a practice that contrasts greatly with nearly every mainstream religious organization.

The Best Strategy To Use For Is Scientology A Religion

I do click for info not believe in or sign up for psychiatric labels for individuals. It is my highly held spiritual belief that all psychological problems are why not look here spiritual in nature and that there is no such thing as a mentally incompetent persononly those suffering from spiritual upset of one kind or another dramatized by a person.


Under no situations, at any time, do I wish to be denied my right to care from members of my religion to the exemption of psychiatric care or psychiatric directed care, despite what any psychiatrist, medical person, designated member of the state or member of the family might assert allegedly on my behalf.




The International Association of Scientologists (IAS), the official Church membership system given that 1984, has never ever launched figures. Church spokespersons either give numbers for their nations or a worldwide figure. Some nationwide censuses have actually recently included questions about spiritual associations, though the United States Census Bureau states that it is not the source for details on religious beliefs.


In 1993, a spokesperson of Scientology Frankfurt had actually mentioned a little more than 30,000 members nationwide. The company has stated that it has anywhere from eight million to fifteen million members worldwide. Derek Davis mentioned in 2004 that the Church organization has around 15 million members worldwide. Spiritual scholar J. Gordon Melton has said that the church's price quotes of its membership numbers are overemphasized: "You're talking about anybody who ever bought a Scientology book or took a standard course.