Over the past couple of years, many of us have noticed the self-righteous and sometimes completely erratic behavior of one of the world’s most mediocre movie stars: Tom Cruise. It’s been known for a long time that Tom is a Scientologist, but what exactly does that mean? Is Scientology another name for Christian Scientists? Are Scientologist’s even Christians? What do they believe? Is it a cult? Who the hell is Xenu?
These are all questions I had and I found that when I went online to research the basic principles of Scientology, it was quite difficult. (It has since gotten much easier to find information perhaps due to generated interested by Tom’s recent tirades, plus the development of resources such as Wikipedia.) Every attempt to get to their core beliefs was thwarted by an attempt to sell me Dianetics by L. Ron Hubbard, Scientology’s founder. This is the book that started it all and lays the groundwork for what would become Scientology. Originally, published in 1950, it was basically a self-improvement book that described the human mind as being tainted with what Hubbard calls “engrams,” a term for traumatic experiences that have accumulated within the psyche that inhibit a person from reaching his or her full potential. These engrams can be “cleared” with the help of an auditor. The auditor basically asks questions and listens to the “pre-clear” (the patient) while hooked up to an e-meter. This device works much like a polygraph, measuring electrical currents through the body. It is said that when an auditor asks the pre-clear a question, the machine can read mental disturbances. From there, the auditor can assess specific memories and problems the pre-clear is having and, supposedly, “clear” them.
It kind of sounds like basic principals of modern psychiatry…only with a science fiction twist: new age terminology and a futuristic device. Well, the possible explanation for this is all too convenient, which leads us to Scientology founder, L. Ron Hubbard. In the 1930’s, Hubbard made his living as a science fiction writer. But his career as a writer was poised to make a decisive turn. It is reported that around 1940, Hubbard stated, “Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion.” This controversial statement and others similar have been attributed to Hubbard but no physical evidence has ever surfaced. However, he was quoted in a 1953 letter saying that calling Scientology a religion solves “a problem of practical business”, and status as a religion achieves something “more equitable…with what we’ve got to sell.
And what does Scientology sell besides copies of Dianetics? Well, the aforementioned auditor sessions are on the menu. These sessions — which claim to help the patient reach higher states of awareness called OT levels or Operating Thetan Levels — can cost thousands of dollars. These OT levels refer to the “thetan,” which is equitable to the idea of a soul. It is uncertain exactly how many levels there are, but it is said that Tom Cruise is at level VII, which is apparently extremely high. One of the more important levels is OT III, called “The Wall of Fire.” It is at this level that the patient learns the Scientology creation myth. This is also, consequently, where things get a little weird. You see, the “thetan” that Scientology refers to, is actually a disembodied soul of alien beings that existed 75 million years ago. An intergalactic ruler named Xenu was poised to be removed from power. He decided to dispose of the population that wanted him out. He assembled and paralyzed them and took them to Earth (called Teegeeack at that time) where he loaded them into volcanoes and destroyed them with hydrogen bombs. With their bodies gone, Xenu gathered the thetans and implanted misleading data (engrams) into their memories, which includes all world religions. These tainted thetans clustered together and began to inhabit the bodies of the aliens that survived the blast. These are known as “body thetans” and are the predecessors to modern humans. These thetans move from body to body as the cycle of life turns accumulating more engrams along the way. Only with auditing can you remove these engrams and, ultimately, set your thetan free.
To be fair, it is unlikely that all Scientologists believe this, much like the fact that a lot of Christians don’t necessarily believe the story of Adam & Eve as literal truth. Also, I can’t really say that Scientology’s creation myth is really that much more ridiculous than other religions’ creation stories. In fact, theirs might be, at the very least, more entertaining. It would make a great science fiction story!
