A distinctive feature of Scientology is that members are not required to abandon other religious beliefs and affiliations on taking up Scientology. It might be inferred from this feature that Scientology contended itself with being a merely additional or supplementary set of beliefs and practices, but such an inference would be unwarranted. I have spoken with senior Church officials as well as individual Scientologists on this aspect of Scientology and their response was that while exclusivity is not required, it comes about as a matter of practice. According to them, as one becomes more involved with Scientology, one inevitably discards one's prior faith. For example, my experience is that a Jew who becomes a Scientologist might remain affiliated with Judaism for cultural reasons and might celebrate Jewish holidays with family and friends, but he or she would not practise and would not believe in Jewish theology. From my view as a scholar this explanation seems correct. Scientologists regard their faith as a complete religion demanding dedication of its members. Further, while it is a characteristic of the Judaeo-Christian-Muslim tradition that religious commitment be exclusive and that dual or multiple membership is not tolerated, this principle is far from universal among religions. It is not demanded in most branches of Hinduism and Buddhism. The Buddha did not prohibit the worship of local gods. Hinduism is tolerant in respect of plural allegiances. In Japan, large numbers of people count themselves as both Buddhists and Shintoists. The symbiosis of religions is a well-known phenomenon and in certain respects it has occurred in Christianity (for example, in the tolerance of Spiritualism or Pentecostalism by certain Anglican Bishops, even though these belief-systems were not specifically accommodated by official doctrine). The fact that Scientology adopts a different position respecting dual or multiple affiliations from that conventionally assumed in western Christianity is not a valid ground for denying it the status of a religion. >>>>>