Product Description
Scientology is arguably the most persistently controversial of all contemporary New Religious Movements. The Church of Scientology has been involved in battles over tax issues, a ten-year conflict with the Food and Drug Administration, extended turmoil with a number of European governments, and has even been subjected to FBI raids in Washington, D.C. and Los Angeles.
Negative publicity, however, has not prevented the Church from experiencing remarkably stea… More >>
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#1 by Charles E. Beatty on January 26, 2010 - 8:25 am
I speak from at least some familiarity with the subject, “Scientology”, having been a Sea Organization staffer of the movement, from 1975 until 2003. I’ve written extensively on the “anti” Scientology chat sites. But I consider myself a moderate critic, since I believe Scientology is here to stay, it’s a sociological phenomenon that is thus a valid subject to be studied. Thus I wholeheartedly appreciate ANY books on it, and I greatly appreciate this book.
As an ex member I reached out to 3 of the scholars who did chapters of this book, and I routinely send briefings and comments to about 6 academics.
I hope younger academics will go further than these gentlemen in this “Scientology” have though.
The milestone achievement of this anthology is unquestionably the fact that scholars finally have broached the confidential (no longer, since today on Wikileaks and on Youtube, Hubbard’s own voice recordings of his confidential ideas) theory of humankind’s spirituality, is taken up, namely the “Xenu” mythology. Sadly the writers of the “Xenu” chapter do not describe in simple layman’s terms what are “body thetans”, which are the bodiless spirits which Hubbard placed huge importance with Scientologists to deal with.
Besides the trauma of our current and past lives, once that trauma is destimulated or “cleared”, then the Hubbard Scientology “Bridge to Total Freedom” consists of a huge substantial period of training and addressing “body thetans.”
Scientology’s been in written form from Hubbard for only 59 years (if one includes Dianetics).
Scholars have yet to develop from amongst them, a complete “expert” who can simplify.
Ex members, who are free to speak their minds without punishment from the Scientology movement, have yet to become sufficiently educated in what new religious movement scholars take into consideration when dealing with a group like Scientology.
We have ex members who know Hubbard’s cannon of works, some know extensive chunks of the Hubbard cannon, which has taken these ex members sometimes decades of study.
Scholars, none of them, have done that type of study of Hubbard’s cannon, (despite almost childish claims by a scholar like Bainbridge who in his chapter in this Lewis anthology states he spent 6 months inside the movement, which is complete beginner level, something, but NOT even close).
Today we have on Wikileaks about 2 years worth of studying, 5 hours a day, of readings and lectures by Hubbard.
No scholar has spent that type of time studying Scientology.
Scholars I hope someday actually digest the voluminous Hubbard “no-longer-secret” scriptures on Wikileaks and on YouTube, and I hope scholars further interview the dozens of ex senior leaders (Lewis’ anthology scholars none of whom detail the “Vatican” upper level hierarchies of the Scientology movement), of which there are dozens of former “Executive Strata” and “Watchdog Committee” echelon former senior leaders NONE OF WHOM were interviewed nor described, nor discussed.
The whole upper ranks structures are not discussed.
The final years of Hubbard’s writings are not discussed.
The all important Class 6 training film, titled “Why TRs” is not discussed. This film gives Hubbard prophetic views for the future.
All of the Saint Hill Special Briefing Course 400 Hubbard lectures are in the public domain. All not even vaguely discussed.
That is what I mean about the upper training levels of Scientology, NOT EVER brought up.
As a intimate participant of the upper staff ranks, while I greatly appreciate the efforts of these men and women, the public is due to a great deal MORE educational simple research to quench the public’s curiosity about what Scientology is really all about.
A simple spoon feeding of Hubbard’s real ideas, as the “Bridge to Total Freedom” is summarized, COULD BE DONE.
This anthology, no chapter, has done this.
What I found particularly annoying was the lack of quoting of Hubbard himself. But that would take a wide grasp of what is really significant to the Scientologists, after a LONG study of that Hubbard cannon.
And, the public today, I find, in my daily contact with people I meet in life, the public wish a simple explanation of the whole “upper levels” of Scientology.
The “upper levels” of Scientology can be explained in non ridiculing language. I’ll gladly help scholars achieve that. The raw materials to do that type of layman’s explanation is available on Wikileaks. Hubbard’s own words, his own writings, are available, and scholars wishing to do a short course in understanding those materials, I’ll gladly direct them to the further Hubbard materials to explain whatever they need to understand.
The top “training” levels of Scientology are now available at WikiLeaks, specifically the Class 8 course and lectures (transcripts) are all available on WikiLeaks.
J. Gordon Melton has been an observer of the Scientology movement, and the leading chapter is a reprint of Melton’s 2000 short book/pamphlet on Scientology. I have just finished Melton’s more recent “US News & World Report” article on Scientology which I find way more close to capturing Scientology and placing it in correct context. Melton’s chapter in this Lewis anthology is 75% facts drawn from Scientology’s PR wordsmiths, namely the Church of Scientology’s “What Is Scientology” compilation. As pointed out by another scholar in this Lewis anthology, all religions always try to rewrite their history in a favorable way, so Gordon’s introductory chapter does do that for Scientology, which I imagine will partially satisfy current Scientology leadership.
But books on Scientology, I rate them, as a layman.
But I am inevitably, as an ex member (my most productive and best years of my life), I devoted myself as a trainer of the church’s administrators, I thus am an expert on judging what scholars say is correct. There are dozens of misplaced inaccurate conclusions and wrong emphasis in this Lewis anthology. It is very frustrating to see statements made that are entirely false.
It is also heartening to read most of what I’ve read so far, is accurate though.
My zone of familiarity is the administrative structures, the bureaucracies and administrative echelons and personnel of the movement, are what I know.
Today I seek to assist scholars who are truly interested in getting into the real nuts and bolts of the administrative setups of the movement, I have been sadly disappointed that I find myself reaching out to assist scholars, rather than them seek out someone like me.
We have such a wealth of leaked Scientology materials, and we have a HUGE network of ex members who have detailed on the ground historical experiences, all willing to speak privately and publicly.
There are ex senior leaders (men and women) of the movement, who have spent years of face time with Hubbard himself, and all these men and women are aging, and are NOT being interviewed, NOT having their brains picked. We will lose their history, what they saw Hubbard do, what they heard Hubbard say, they can give a feel for what life was like on a typical day living up-close to Hubbard.
There is a HUGE opportunity to pick the brains of dozens of 20 year and 30year ex staff veterans of the movement.
I would gladly be interested in doing seminars to even educate budding scholars so they can even get UP to the point of being able to sensibly interview the wealth of ex staff veterans willing to detail the ins and outs of the upper “Vatican” administrative life in the Scienotlogy movement.
Scholars are not even up to grasping the fads and trends that occur within the top ranks of the movement, and the trickle down effects.
The whole nature of the administrative setup of Scientology has a huge effect on the people and fads that occur in the movement. And Hubbard’s own personal behind the scenes past behavior has had an intense effect on the fads and trends the last 30 years in the movement.
All of this NOT included in this anthology. All of real on the ground details of life in the leadership ranks of the movement is wholly omitted from this book.
Additionally Hubbard’s full cannon of writings, unfortunately, the chapter in Lewis’ anthology about the Hubbard cannon, the writer of that chapter had no clue of what all they omitted in the Hubbard cannon.
It is like these scholars aren’t’ even up to understanding what the Hubbard full cannon of operative Hubbard writings are, and which writings, which lectures ARE the ones that guide actively where the movement is going today.
Scholars writing articles for Lewis’ anthology, not a single man nor woman contacted me or someone like me, to even define for them, what the full Hubbard cannon consists of. I had to originate to THEM, the few I am in contact with, and they welcomed me writing a paper. I’m no scholar though, and I’d have to go to university to become one!
We have a gap of realities.
We have ex members like me, who are experts on areas of the Hubbard cannon, and NO scholar is even close to “us” (ex members who were seriously involved for decades in the movement).
And then we have scholars, NONE of whom have had the months/years of reading studying and applying of Hubbard’s cannon of works, to grasp the operative Hubbard ideas on the members.
This book gets a huge amount correct.
But there is so much missing, and we have such a huge opportunity and wealth of Hubbard’s writings, and ex members who will speak unguardedly about the movement and Hubbard’s cannon.
There are ex members who will dispassionately give the information, if only the scholars were to settle themselves, one or more of them, to the larger task of the HUGE amount of reading and study that it will take to become a full fledged “expert” on the Hubbard cannon.
I will help any future scholars who wish to hunt and peck through the
Hubbard cannon, and I will help any future scholar who wants to be networked to the dozens of ex senior leaders of the movement, all of whom will speak and allow themselves to be interviewed.
This book is just a start! I hope before the 20 and 30 year staff veterans of the Scientology movement pass away, I hope some scholars can bother themselves to do some interviewing. And I hope some scholars have the humility to sit down with someone like me, and give them a briefing so they can see how much they DON’T know about Scientology.
The most striking omission in the Lewis’ anthology, is a lack of humility by the authors, and amongst us ex members, us who put in 20 and 30 years in the movement, the private thoughts about scholars (with a few exceptions) is very negative.
It’s all a matter of how much time the scholars have to devote, and how humble they are.
As an ex staffer, I did over 27 years on staff in the lifetime staffer category, called the Sea Organization, and as a training supervisor, and as someone who has about 20 thousand dollars worth of Hubbard’s training materials donated to me, with the express purpose for me to then in turn assist scholars, my door is open to scholars wishing to pick my brains and mentor and guide them into the Hubbard administrative writings part of the Hubbard cannon, and in general into any other part of the Hubbard cannon of writings/lectures.
Chuck Beatty, 412-260-1170, [..], Pittsburgh, USA
Rating: 4 / 5
#2 by Bamber Gascoigne on January 26, 2010 - 9:23 am
It is depressing how completely the NRM sociologists have been captured by the NRMs. This volume, especially the pieces by the most distinguished scholars, reads like a PR write-up. The most prominent scholar is J. Gordon Melton, who wrote a 2000 book about the church. His lengthy overview of the Church’s history in this volume (”The Birth of a Religion”), exemplifies the book’s failures, omitting or soft-pedaling aspects of the church’s history which might cast it in a poor light: 1. the high payments the Church extracts from members; 2. its policy of harrassing critics by litigation; 3. the existence of dissident groups within the Dianetics / Scientology movement.
First, Melton’s reference to the Church’s payment policy for auditing are brief and offhand and don’t contextualize it comparatively, i.e. they do not note that few if any other churches charge so much money for their essential religious rituals. The Church of Latter-Day Saints, for instance, expects a significant financial commitment from members, but they can still participate in all aspects of the Church (including, if I’m not mistaken, Temple rituals) while declining to contribute money.
Second, neither Melton’s chapter nor those of others in the book refer to the Church of Scientology’s aggressive and explicit policy of suing critics (stemming from L. Ron Hubbard’s “Fair Game” policy). The book includes a well-researched article by James Richardson on “Scientology in Court,” but it ignores this kind of litigation to concentrate exclusively on the Church’s struggles for religion status in various countries. And Anson Shupe’s chapter on “The Church of Scientology versus the Cult Awareness Network” seems to take clear sides in favor of the Church.
Third, Melton does not say anything about the “Free Zone” body of Scientology organizations outside the official Church; these would seem to be a legitimate part of the “Birth of a Religion.” No overview of Mormonism, for instance, would ignore the existence of independent Mormon churches outside the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints.
Finally, the biographical sketch of L. Ron Hubbard which makes up a large part of the chapter is unrelentingly eulogistic. It is full of charming anecdotes (”Befriended by the local Blackfoot Indians, he was made a blood brother at the age of six”) and unconditional rebuttals of criticism. Melton ends the chapter with a moving description of the desk and writing materials kept in each Scientology center “as if one day [Hubbard] might walk into the building and need a place to continue his work.” Honestly, the whole chapter would be an effective pamphlet for distribution at Scientology centers.
I do not for an instant question Dr. Melton’s or other NRM scholars’ good faith or scholarly expertise, but I suspect that the nature of the research, beginning from an explicit (and appropriate, for scholarly research) posture of non-judgment, can slide towards apologetics — especially since the Church makes an effort to win scholars’ good will, as it does with celebrities. I wish that Melton and other researchers would interrogate the Church’s point of view as skeptically as those of the Church’s critics. Also, while I know nothing about the financial support of Dr. Melton’s research, I hope that all NRM researchers will be scrupulous about declaring any financial support for their research from the Church (including paying travel costs and subsidizing conferences). The situation, I suspect, is similar to that of medical researchers who overtime become more or more compromised by the support for their research provided by pharmaceutical companies.
Rating: 1 / 5
#3 by C. Ellis on January 26, 2010 - 10:21 am
I am not a proponent or an opponent of Scientology; I simply wanted to learn about its history from a relatively unbiased viewpoint. This book provided that (to the extent that anything can be unbiased). I would say it was 50/50 for and against Scientology with a lot of neutral “this is just how it is” analysis. I found it to be captivating, well organized and a very enthralling read.
I think too often book reviews are riddled with our own emotional responses to religions like Scientology, and they lack objective analysis of the book itself. Opinions of the religion aside, this is the best foundational and historical studies of Scientology I’ve ever read and respected.
Rating: 5 / 5
#4 by cautious on January 26, 2010 - 12:28 pm
Oxford University Press has done a disservice to the academic community by publishing this work which claims to be an academic study of Scientology. It is virtually a promotion by Scientology which, no doubt, gave the various authors much of the material they used in their evaluation. In the introduction, written by the editor of the project, we see a list of a great number of high level Scientologists who are thanked for their help in the production of the work. A passing note states that some un-named critics did not wish to respond. There are scores of academically solid researchers who would have been able to give their criticial evaluation of organization.
The first article which was written by J.Gordon Melton, is the first chapter of his book called Scientology. Not only does his work contain factual errors but clearly is sympathetic to Scientology. For instance, Melton claims that L.Ron Hubbard never claimed to have an academic degree. I have a copy of a publication called “The Problem of Work” by L. Ron Hubbard, CE, PhD. It has been confirmed that the PhD was given by Sequoia College, a degree mill shut down by the State of California. Melton minimized the legal difficulties of Scientology by calling the arrest and conviction of ten Scientologists for breaking and entering government offices to steal information about the group a minor event. I hardly call sentencing ten members of the group to four years in jail a minor event.
Throughout the work he neglects to mention or minimizes many of the reports given by literally hundreds of former members who have recently had the courage to post reports of what has happened to them while in the organization. And nothing is said of over 23,000 persons who have been named Supressive Persons, persons who in the words of Hubbard can be “destroyed”. And Scientology hails him as great humanitarian.
For a more complete list of works which give a different picture of Scientology, to Xenu.net, or google alt.religion.scientology. You will be amazed at what you find.
Rating: 1 / 5
#5 by Reader on January 26, 2010 - 1:19 pm
I would welcome an unbiased survey of the Church of Scientology, and might expect one from such a venerable publisher , but alas this book is not it. The editor, James R. Lewis, is a long-time apologist for organisations others might describe as cults, including The Children of God – in his book of 1994, “Sex, Slander and Salvation” – and Japan’s Aum Supreme Truth. Among the eyebrow-raising assertions in “Scientology” are that “the basic outline of L. Ron Hubbard’s life is not contested” – certainly not the view of Hubbard’s most reliable biographer, Russell Miller – and (in an essay written by a lecturer in tourism management at Griffith University, Queensland Australia, that firefighters at Ground Zero were spared injuries thanks to mental “assists” given by Scientology ministers volunteering at the site. Much else here – including the blind eye given to criticism leveled against the Church by courts around the world – give rise to worries about the scholarly disinterestedness of this volume.
Rating: 1 / 5