I. SCIENTOLOGY AS A THEOLOGICAL SYSTEM
Though not all members of Scientology that I communicated with or talked to in numerous interviews considered that there is a special theological system in Scientology, there nevertheless exists at least two fundamental formal attributes which specify the existence of a theological system. First is the role of the charismatic leader in the performance of the church and secondly the availability of a developed religious doctrine and holy knowledge with an esoteric and an exoteric component.
The work of the founder, L. Ron Hubbard, is the basis for the dogma and organization of Scientology. Hubbard's work is the authoritative text which is always addressed and which is constantly studied. Through the internal self-determination of the church, the texts of L. Ron Hubbard have the role of scripture -- the holy text. The charismatic leader is thus the author of the main text. The second reason for seeing in Hubbard the charismatic leader is the belief of members of the church that Hubbard was the first person who found and traveled the path to true spiritual identity. All that remains in the near and distant future is to repeat Hubbard's way and experience, which is accessible to everyone.
It is important to emphasize a basic difference between the charismatic founder of the movement and his followers. For Hubbard, the way was opened as a result of his charisma. For the followers, it requires in-depth study with the help of the details developed in the scriptures.
The purpose of the scriptures is to reach a spiritual identity, and change one's self-consciousness. It should be emphasized that the process of achieving new levels of self-consciousness was graded and authored in detail by L. Ron Hubbard. We find it is important to emphasize that the detailed grading and authoring of the procedure is an important way of preventing any schism. The door for any possibility of new interpretations of the authoritative texts is closed in an extremely simple, but effective way. It is supposed that the full truth was found in Hubbard's personal experience. And this personal experience is connected with the technology of achievement of a true spiritual identity. Hubbard's experiment was initial and unique; this experience contained the technology for changing one's level of self-identification. The contents of Hubbard's experience (in a sense of technology) has in essence a universal and repeatable character. The purpose of the mission of the Church of Scientology is to grant each person who realizes on his own the internal necessity of achieving a spiritual identity an opportunity to pass through the way opened by L. Ron Hubbard.
What are the main features of the charismatic leader of the Scientology movement which provide the basis on which to consider him a religious leader?
First, the founder of the movement has discovered spiritual essences, spiritual knowledge which concern every person.
Second, with the help of this knowledge, the founder has developed a way for personal salvation.
Third, the knowledge given to the leader was complete and any additions are impossible: any additions only deform the knowledge and transform it into harmful knowledge. From this emanates the necessity for special supervision to correct the execution of the instructions of the founder.
Fourth is continuity with personal experience. The presence of the personality of the founder in texts, video recordings of lectures and conversations, transforms the internal world of the follower, transforms the identity of the follower, and results in a stable realization of one's own spiritual and immortal source.
Fifth, the founder of the movement cannot be replaced by anybody. That is why even a very high spiritual achievement of a member of the Church of Scientology cannot result in a status of founder or a new version of doctrine; hence, noone can pretend to assume the authority and power of the founder.
Sixth, on the basis of the spiritual message of which the founder is the author, a religious order is erected, in which the place of the member of the hierarchy depends exclusively on his/her spiritual achievement and on the permanency of spiritual practice in the order.
Seventh, the service in the Church of Scientology is built upon the quotes of the texts of the founder and the testimonials of those members who the church and the works of the founder have helped to change their lives.
Thus, the founder of the movement, the charismatic leader comes as a saviour to the followers; the charismatic leader gives full individual and spiritual self-realization. In other words, the leader, the founder of Scientology is the founder of the religious doctrine and religious movement.
Some fundamental Scientology themes make us consider the technology of Scientology as a religious doctrine. First of all, spiritual and eternal essence is the concept with which a person should identify himself.
The next theme is that history or single events (catastrophe) caused oblivion to the person of his true nature; i.e., the theme of slavery of the true eternal self either by nature or through deliberate evil forces is classical for a religious doctrine.
Matter, energy, space and time are created by the powerful and eternal self who has lost his awareness of the power of creation and has lost his mastership over his own creations.
According to some witnesses, the oblivion of self is the result of the activity and creativity by the eternal self. According to other witnesses (more obscure) it was the result of personal evil will which caused a catastrophe in the majority part of the inhabited universe.
In any case, when there is an absence of evil will or the presence of an evil being we have the classical theme of religious anthology, with the theme of fall and oblivion of one's former spiritual power as well as oblivion of the catastrophe itself.
Knowledge about one's own infinite past, about
events that happened to the individual during his numerous earlier existences
is not simple, but is holy knowledge which returns to the person an understanding
of his true position in space and permits him during the process of becoming
aware of former incidents -- down to the main catastrophe of cosmic importance
--- to revive a true knowledge about himself. Thus, the knowledge, which
is acquired in Scientology through long-term study and awareness of one's
own history, is freedom-giving knowledge, saving knowledge.
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