It is hard to practice something that you suspect will do you harm.

My posts on Scientology have been few, far between, and I think generally uninteresting. Yes, I have been lazy and neglectful, but it is also that I am genuinely hesitant of getting too close to this religion.

From what I have experienced, and what I have learned, Scientology puts up a strong, rationale, practical, and inviting front. But that is all that it is. Behind it all there is just something that is not quite right. The majority of its principles and articles of belief are not very well justified. A lot of to do is made about the research and thought L. Ron put into this idea, but none of it is shown. Nothing is cited, most of what he says sounds good and reasonable, but I don’t get the feeling that much effort went into any of it.

And none of this helps my suspicions coming into this month. As I’ve said before, when I came to this my background would have put Scientology strictly into the ‘cult’ category. The majority of my friends as well as the literature I have read in the past have been almost universally hostile towards the group, and this is not without good reason.

After its inception, the Church of Scientology began receiving a lot of international flak. In 1962 Scientology was essentially banned in Australia, a ruling that was eventually overturned. The FDA got interested in the claims Dianetics was making about mental health and the use of the E-meter. They remain dubious about the claims to psychological wellness, but the E-meter has since been dubbed a “legitimate religious artifact.” After all of this unwanted attention, the Guardian Office was established. This section of the church handled public relations issues, information gathering, and propaganda against those who spoke out against Scientology or its founder.

All of this came to the attention of various government agencies with very familiar acronyms on July 8th, 1977. Scientology churches in Washington, DC as well as Los Angeles were raided after a Scientologist and member of the Guardian Office spilled the beans on their operations. The Guardian Office had been stealing confidential information from various government offices regarding investigations into the church, and information about people and groups who were against Scientology. They were caught trying to get information they could use to blackmail or besmirch their enemies.

The Guardian Office was of course disbanded after this little event. Now far be it for me to suggest that no other religion has members that go out and break the law, and have members that slander those that disagree with them. But to have a branch specifically designed to fulfill this purpose seems like a bit much.

Then again this doesn’t seem to be abnormal in the early history organized religion. The early Christian church certainly wasn’t friendly to the local pagans, to those who weren’t keen on jumping on the early Christian bandwagon. Early in its beginnings, Islam had to defend itself numerous times by force. Perhaps I shouldn’t be so quick to judge Scientology, perhaps it is sorting itself out into something a little less extreme.

I’d Like to start a religion. That’s where the money is.

-L. Ron Hubbard to Lloyd A. Eshbach

Then again, perhaps not.