Scientology was created in 1954 by a man named L. Ron Hubbard, who was an author and a philosopher. The religion claims that it helps to bring “complete and certain understanding of one’s true spiritual nature and one’s relationship to self, family, groups, Mankind, all life forms, the material universe, the spiritual universe and the Supreme Being” to everyone who immerses themselves in the religion. Rather than focusing on the body, Scientology focuses on the spirit and promises to bring healing to each person through their spirit. By following the rules of this religion, members are guaranteed the discovery of themselves. 

Many people, such as Scientologists and others who are open-minded, see no problem with this religion. Leah Remini mentions in her book, “Troublemaker”, that members are drawn to what Scientology has to offer, because promotional videos and websites make the organization or religion more enticing or more attractive. People who are drawn to this religion because Scientology offers them something that they wouldn’t have gotten anywhere else. They are promised a community of people to fellowship with, which comes with great friends, and they are even in some cases promised a job from Scientology-owned businesses.  

Now, I comprehend where Scientologists are coming from. Yes, Scientology creates community. Yes, Scientology creates friendships with people who you wouldn’t have met otherwise. Yes, Scientology helps people feel like they belong. I can see the good in this religion, I can see that in some ways, it does work. Scientology is bringing people together to believe in something, rather than nothing. Scientology is creating jobs for people who may have struggled to get a job before. Scientology is helping out the world in some ways. But, there are many things that we are forgetting, many things that even Scientologists may not see.

 With any religion, there will always be another side, an opposing side, a side that does not agree. The side that opposes this religious organization includes journalists who have done their research on this religion and ex-members who have had terrible experiences. Stories that I have read about these ex-members include women who were forced to get an abortion by the church, or people whose families have been split apart by the rules and regulations of this religion. These ex-Scientologists believe that Scientology rips families apart due to their policy of disconnection. A lot of them believe that the amount of money needed to go through the classes, training, and learning of Scientology is expensive compared to the income that members bring in. They also believe that parts of Scientology can be abusive to its members in different ways. 

I also understand where this side is coming from. Although Scientology works in ways, there are also ways that it doesn’t work for the law or what society believes in. Scientology may be a good religion for a lot, but to our culture, parts of Scientology may need to be revised in order to bring peace throughout the Scientology community and its ex-members. I understand that Scientology has many teachings that are helpful to Scientologists, but those teachings through DVD, books, etc. might be too much money for some members to pay due to their income. I understand that the policy of disconnection shows dedication to the religion, but ex-members believe that the policy is able to rip their families apart due to family members wanting to leave the church. I understand that Scientology has rules within their Sea Organization and requires the Sea Org members to follow those rules, but forcing women to get an abortion may not be the best solution. The good news is, although this side sees many small issues to Scientology, these issues can be tweaked and fixed to help everyone involved. 

Astra Woodcraft was a young girl when she joined Scientology’s Sea Organization. The Sea Organization is a military-style system within the church that helps to keep order. Its members go through tough times trying to serve for their religion, and are required to sign a billion-year contract saying that no matter what life they are in, they will serve in the Sea Organization. Astra was only fifteen years old when she married her husband who was also in the Sea Org. He was twenty-two years old when they got married. When Astra was seventeen, she was told that since she was in the Sea Org, she could not have children because Sea Org members were supposed to dedicate their lives to serving, not to family. Devastated by the news, she decided to take matters into her own hands.

She stopped taking her birth control to become pregnant, and was successful. She finally decided to escape the church and the Sea Org, but later returned. When she returned, the Sea Organization told her that she either had to get an abortion, or she’d be thrown out of the Sea Org. She chose to keep her baby and leave the church all together. Her husband filed for divorce and does not have any contact with his own daughter even years later because of the church of Scientology’s policy of disconnection. 

The policy of disconnection is a policy that is supposed to keep its members ‘safe’ from outside harm. If a Scientologist decides to turn away and leave the church, they become an enemy of the church, better known as a suppressive person. Scientologists that were in relations with this now ‘suppressive person’ are asked to ‘disconnect’, or cut ties, with that person in order to keep themselves pure. It doesn’t matter who the person is. It could be a friend, a spouse, a brother or a sister, a parent, or even a child. It doesn’t matter if you are blood-related, you have to disconnect from them. If a Scientologist is caught being in contact with a suppressive person, they are in trouble with the church.

To Scientologists, this policy of disconnection is normal to them. It makes sense to them. But there is a solution to this, a solution that will keep families together, no matter if they believe in Scientology or not. The government may not be able to do much about this, so what needs to happen is this needs to be taken straight to the leaders of Scientology, and more importantly, David Miscavige, who is the head of Scientology. He has the power to change this policy. The solution that would make everyone happy is to just do away with the policy of disconnection all together, but there is a low chance of that happening. The next best solution would be to tweak the policy a little bit. The policy now says to completely cut off all contact with all ‘enemies’ of the church of Scientology, whether that be ex-Scientologists, or people who are just against the church. Instead of making Scientologists cut off all ties and communication with those people, they should have the right to choose who they are in contact with. 

If they still choose to be in contact with suppressive people, they can be audited, or questioned by the church about what they are talking about with their ex-Scientology or anti-Scientology friends or family. These members are already being audited anyway as part of Scientology’s beliefs, why not just add on a few questions about who they’ve been in contact with? If they are able to choose who they are in contact with, they can still be held accountable through their auditing sessions, thus making this a solution that everyone can agree with.

Today’s society is all about the pro-life and pro-choice debate. Should abortion be legal? Should it be done away with? As I stated before, Astra Woodcraft was told to get an abortion or to leave the Sea Org. Knowing this information could anger both pro-life people and pro-choice people. On one hand, she is forced to get rid of her baby, and pro-life people could see this as killing another innocent human. On the other hand, pro-choice people see this as Astra Woodcraft being forced to do something with her body that she shouldn’t have to, arguing that she should have the right to choose to get an abortion or not. This is not right on any spectrum, and this policy within the Sea Organization should be changed. There is a solution that can help multiple people in this situation.

I bet a lot of women that are currently in the Sea Organization want to have a baby, but are too afraid to express that because they might be forced to get an abortion. Instead of abortion, the solution is for women to have a choice. If they get pregnant, they can choose to have an abortion, or not. If they choose not to have an abortion, the solution is to create more jobs. The pregnant Sea Organization can complete duties while she is pregnant, and have her baby on the ship or in the community they are in. Scientology can create more jobs within their community, like nurses and doctors who work specifically for the Sea Organization to deliver and take care of these babies and moms. When the mother goes back to doing her Sea Org duties, more jobs can be created by hiring young women to run a daycare specifically for babies and children who were born or brought into the Sea Organization by their parents. This solution helps women in the Sea Organization, as well as jobless Scientologists who want to work for a Scientology company. This solution provides more jobs and a choice for women.

In 2012, Scientology built a national office in Washington D.C., due to their claimed, "worldwide spread”. Their goal was to implement their ideas into the rest of the country and even the rest of the world, to make their solutions the best solutions. Scientology believes that they have the solutions to all mental health, and really focus on psychiatry. They have been constantly trying to force what they believe on others not just through their religion, but through the mental health field. What is the agenda of this? To reach more people to become Scientologists? To the outside world, it seems as if Scientology is trying to force their way of life down America’s throat, and that’s not how any religion should be, because we all believe our own thing.

I do not practice Scientology, but I have heard claims before that the practices of Scientology have helped cure mental illnesses. If that’s the case, their practices should be implemented into the mental health field, but should not be the only way of doing things. The solution to this would be to keep the practices of Scientology as an option for psychiatrists and psychologists, but also open up doors to invite other options in, not just from other religions, but from other practices as well. What works for someone might not work for the next person, because we are all individuals. What helps cure a mental illness for one person might not be the best method for the next person. This solution will help promote the ways of Scientology, while also opening new doors for new solutions, and keeping the traditional solutions available.

In Leah Remini’s show, “Leah Remini: Scientology and The Aftermath”, Leah Remini interviews an ex-Scientologist by the name of Marc Headley, who used to be a former executive in the church of Scientology, and was over most of the media in the church. Headley described the promotional videos that he was asked to make for the church while working for the church, saying that the videos contained fake statistics to try to attract more people. He stated that the reason they wanted to make the statistics look better than they actually were because the church wanted to make the people feel like they were really making a difference so that they would donate more money to the church.

Another way that the church tries to attract its members and other people outside the church is by their website. Their website has words on there that attract people, like, “hope,” “fastest growing religion,” and “life”, to draw people in. By drawing people in, they can then get more money. But for what? Where is all of this money coming from? And why are they lying to their members?

Speaking of lies, the church of Scientology had an ongoing battle with the IRS for almost thirty years to be considered a religion just to become tax-exempt. As I mentioned before, L. Ron Hubbard created Scientology, and what was included in his writings before he passed away will shock you. L. Ron Hubbard explained that Scientology was to be related to science, hence the name Scientology. He also stated that people that became Scientologists could also be apart of other religious organizations, meaning that Scientology was never meant to be a religion. Once he passed away, the church started a battle with the IRS to become a religion in hopes of bringing in the cash.

With all of the money that Scientology has brought in over the years, all the way from the most poor member, to the most wealthy celebrity, you’d think they’d have plenty of funds by now. A lot of people in Scientology do not make a lot of money, and therefore struggle when it comes to donating or giving money to the church for lessons, auditing, CDs, or books that they are required to get. A solution would be to lower the cost of theses CDs, books, etc. so that more people will be able to afford these teachings. Another solution would be to stop lying about the statistics, and just ask for donations. There is nothing wrong with the truth and saying that you need help with money. If the church makes it apparent that they need money for outreach, the members will donate because they are dedicated to the religion. By lowering costs and simply asking for help, Scientologists will be more willing to give a little bit of what they have, instead of spending their entire yearly income and struggling to pay their bills. This solution will help everyone in the long run. Scientologists will not have to pay so much to get their teachings, and the church will still bring in a lot of money to keep their religion up and running.

Scientology will always be a controversial organization to some degree, just like it has been since 1954. There will always be people who question their motives, but that comes with any religious organization. I have learned that although there are helpful parts of Scientology, there are also parts of Scientology that should be changed. Those parts include their policy of disconnection, taking unnecessary amounts of money from their members, forcing women to do things with their body that they should have the right to, and pushing their beliefs on others. People who are high up in the church that have the power to change these policies and regulations in the church of Scientology. If that does not happen, the government should step in to make these things happen so that people will stay in Scientology, and people who are not apart of Scientology will have peace with Scientologists. I hope that all people including current Scientologists, ex-Scientologists, journalists, and the general public will start to be compassionate and understanding of these issues so that we can bring religious tolerance to a world that does not tolerate much. 
