what_christian_should_know_about

What Christians should know about Cults:

SCIENTOLOGY

•	Belief in Deity Scientology considers the belief in a God or gods as something personal and therefore offers no specific dogma. The nature of the Supreme Being is revealed personally through each individual as s/he becomes more conscious and spiritually aware. There exists a life energy or force (Theta) beyond and within all. Does not define God or Supreme Being, but rejects biblical description of God. Everyone is a thetan, an immortal spirit with unlimited powers over its own universe, but not all are aware of this.
•	Incarnations There are no particular human incarnations of God, as the universal life force (Theta) is inherent in all. All humans are immortal spiritual beings (thetans) capable of realizing a nearly godlike state through Scientology practices. Jesus is rarely mentioned in Scientology. Jesus was not the Creator, not was he an operating thetan (in control of supernatural powers, cleared from mental defects). Jesus did not not die for sins.
•	Origin of Universe and Life All is manifestation of the universal spirit, which is all that actually exists. The Holy Spirit is not part of this belief.
•	After Death Rebirths continue until one consciously confronts all pre-birth, current-life, and previous-life traumas and realizes one's true nature as a "thetan," immortal spirit--transcending matter, energy, space, and time. Achieving this state enables the spirit to escape the cycle of birth and death--to operate independently of the physical universe and become one with God. Hell is a myth. People who get clear of engrams become operating thetans.
•	Why Evil? Painful experiences and harmful acts in one's prebirth, current, and past lives become imprinted in the reactive mind and lead to irrational behavior. Departures from rational thought and untrue ideas ("aberrations") can result in wrongdoing.
•	Salvation Salvation is achieved through the practices and techniques of Scientology, the ultimate goal of which is to realize one's true nature as an immortal spirit, a thetan. The path to salvation, or enlightenment, includes achieving states of increasingly greater mental awareness--Pre-Clear, Clear, and ultimately Operating Thetan. An Operating Thetan is a spirit who can control matter, energy, space, time, thought, and life. Practitioners ("Auditors") are regarded as ministers and counselors who assist others to achieve self-enlightenment. Auditors help others to identify their prebirth, current, and past-life disturbances, which are obstacles to happiness and spiritual enlightenment. No sin or need to repent. Salvation is freedom from reincarnation. One must work with an auditor on his engrams (hang-ups) to achieve the state of clear, then progress up to the bridge to total freedom.
•	Undeserved Suffering Suffering occurs as part of the spirit's entrapment here in the physical universe. Only when the individual is aware of his spiritual nature can he identify his barriers within the universe and overcome them, rising out of a lower state and into a higher state of happiness and freedom.
•	Contemporary Issues Based on the belief that you cannot free yourself spiritually without working to free others, Scientology has founded and supports many organizations for social betterment, particularly in the areas of drug abuse, crime, psychiatric abuse, government abuse of law, human rights, religious freedom, education, and morality. Scientology strongly favors the use of their methodology for spiritual/mental healing over the use of conventional treatment.

The definitions below are straight from the horses mouth

http://www.scientologytoday.org/Common/question/index.htm#fact

Does Scientology have Scriptures?

Yes. The writings and recorded spoken words of L. Ron Hubbard on the subject of Scientology collectively constitute the Scripture of the religion. He set forth the Scientology philosophy and technologies in more than 500,000 pages of writings, including dozens of books, and more than 2,000 tape-recorded lectures.

What is Auditing?

Auditing is the term given to the spiritual counseling which is the central practice of Dianetics and Scientology. It is delivered by an auditor (from the Latin word audire, meaning to listen)—a person trained and expert in the exact techniques of Dianetics and Scientology.

The goal of auditing is to restore individual ability. It is a precise, thoroughly codified activity with precise procedures.

An auditor uses exact sets of questions asked to help a person find out things about himself and improve his condition. An unlimited number of questions could, of course, be asked—which might or might not help a person. The accomplishment in Dianetics and Scientology is that L. Ron Hubbard isolated the precise questions and directions to invariably improve a person’s ability and remove the impediments to his or her spiritual growth.

An auditor does not engage in some vague form of mental exploration, nor does an auditor offer solutions, advice or evaluation. One of the fundamental principles of the Scientology religion is that an individual can improve his conditions only if he is allowed to find his own answers to life’s problems. Scientology auditors help individuals to accomplish this goal by guiding them to examine their existence through a carefully structured series of steps that Mr. Hubbard developed. By following this gradient process, individuals can improve their ability to face what they are and where they are.

What is a thetan?

In the Scientology religion, man is held to consist of three parts—thetan, mind and body. The thetan is the spiritual being. The thetan is the individual. One is a thetan who has a mind and who occupies a body. As is explained more fully below, the thetan is that which animates the body and uses the mind.

One of the most basic tenets of Scientology is that man is an immortal spiritual being whose experience extends well beyond a single lifetime and whose capabilities are unlimited, even if not presently realized.

The term is taken from the Greek letter theta for thought or life or the spirit. It is used to avoid confusion with previous concepts of the soul.

What is an engram?

The reactive mind does not store memories as we know them. It stores particular types of mental image pictures called engrams. Engrams are a complete recording, down to the last accurate detail, of every perception present in a moment of partial or full “unconsciousness.”

“Unconsciousness” could be caused by the shock of an accident, anesthetic used for an operation, the pain of an injury or the delirium of illness. During these times, the analytical mind shuts down in full or in part and the reactive mind cuts in, in full or in part. An engram exists below the individual’s awareness level yet it can be activated so as to enforce its content, and can cause unevaluated, unknowing and unwanted fears, emotions, pains and psychosomatic illnesses.

For example, a man playing baseball is hit in the head by a pitcher’s ball and knocked out. Someone yells out to the pitcher, “You are no good.” Although the man is unconscious, these words and everything else going on are recorded in an engram; the smell of the dirt where he lay, the feeling of sweat on his brow and the sensation of heat from the afternoon sun. Months or even years after the incident, while watching a baseball game, many of these factors recorded in the engram are present in his current environment. These can restimulate the engram. The man suddenly and inexplicably gets a headache. He might also feel that he was “no good.” This engram in the reactive mind has been restimulated. The reactive mind is attempting to “prevent” the man from “getting himself into danger.” The reactive mind is not very intelligent.

Such is the power and influence of engrams.

What is Operating Thetan or OT?

Operating Thetan is a spiritual state of being above Clear. Thetan refers to the spiritual being, and operating means here “able to operate without dependency on things.” An Operating Thetan (OT) is able to control matter, energy, space and time rather than being controlled by these things. As a result, an OT is able to be at cause over life.

Basic levels of Scientology help a person deal with his personal relationships and day-to-day problems, to free his attention to address higher aspects of existence. At the level of Operating Thetan, one deals with his own immortality as a spiritual being.

Like any other spiritual level in Scientology, the state of OT is attained by proceeding through a series of gradient steps, each one slightly more advanced than the last. The precise sequence is firmly established and variations from that sequence are unproductive. Thus, it would be fruitless to try to move somebody onto the OT levels before he is ready for them. One may as well demand that a baby run before first learning to crawl and learning to walk. Similarly, in Scientology individuals can only receive the benefits of the counseling that brings one to OT after completion of more basic steps.

At the level of OT, Scientologists study the very advanced materials of L. Ron Hubbard’s researches. According to those who have achieved OT, the spiritual benefits obtained are beyond words.

What is the E-Meter and how does it work?

E-Meter is a shortened term for electropsychometer. It is a religious artifact used as a spiritual guide in auditing. It is for use only by a Scientology minister or a minister-in-training to help an individual locate and confront areas of spiritual upset.

By itself, the E-meter does nothing. It is an electronic instrument that measures mental state and change of state in individuals and assists the precision and speed of auditing. The E-Meter is not intended or effective for any diagnosis, treatment or prevention of any disease.

As stated earlier in this site, the mind is made up of mental image pictures which have mass and energy. When a person thinks a thought, looks at one of these pictures or re-experiences some painful memory, he is moving and changing the mental mass and energy of the mind.

What makes the E-Meter react is the impingement of these mental image pictures against the body. A person receiving auditing holds two plated cans which are hooked up to the electronic components of the meter. The meter sends a miniscule electrical current (approximately half a volt) through the body, about the same amount of current as in the average battery-powered wristwatch.

Changes in the mental masses of the mind affect the tiny flow of electrical energy generated by the E-Meter and this change is registered by movement of a small, sensitive needle on the face of the meter. A reaction which causes the needle to move indicates an area of upset or trauma and this guides the auditor in locating what should be addressed in auditing.

The E-Meter thus measures changes that are caused by the spiritual being in his own mind (i.e., the movement of mental masses around him) and in this capacity it is a religious artifact.

The E-Meter is used to help the individual who is being audited uncover truth. By locating areas of mental or spiritual trauma, the E-Meter helps both the auditor and the preclear locate exactly what to address in auditing.

What is Clear?

The goal and end result of Dianetics is the state of Clear, attained through many hours of Dianetics auditing. One who has achieved the state of Clear no longer has his own reactive mind and therefore suffers none of the ill effects the reactive mind can cause. Clear is a new state for man.

Becoming Clear strengthens a person’s native individuality and creativity and does not in any way diminish these attributes. A Clear is free with his emotions. He can think for himself and is able to experience life unencumbered by inhibitions reactively dictated by past engrams.

Rather than react to it, a Clear is able to deal causatively with life. A Clear is rational in that he forms the best possible solutions he can on the data he has and from his own viewpoint. Artistry, personal force and individual character are all residual in the basic personality of the person, not in his reactive mind. Whatever an individual’s level of ability, it is greatly increased after he goes Clear.

Why is Scientology a religion?

Scientology meets all three criteria generally used by religious scholars when examining religions: (1) a belief in some Ultimate Reality, such as the Supreme Being or eternal truth that transcends the here and now of the secular world; (2) religious practices directed toward understanding, attaining or communicating with this Ultimate Reality; and (3) a community of believers who join together in pursuing the Ultimate Reality.

Scientology’s belief in an Ultimate Reality that transcends the material world include its concepts of the thetan, the spiritual world (the seventh dynamic) and the Supreme Being (the eighth dynamic). The second element can be found in Scientology’s life-rite ceremonies such as naming, marriage and funeral services, but predominantly in the religious services of auditing and training, through which Scientologists increase their spiritual awareness and attain an understanding of the spiritual world and, ultimately, their relationship with the Supreme Being. As to the third element, a very vital community of believers can be found at any church of Scientology at almost any time of the day.

Scientology is thus a religion in the oldest sense of the word. Scientology helps man become more aware of God, more aware of his own spiritual nature and that of those around him. Scientology Scripture recognizes that there is an entire dynamic (urge or motivation in life) devoted to the Supreme Being (the eighth dynamic) and another dynamic that deals solely with one’s urge toward existence as a spirit (the seventh dynamic). Acknowledgment of these aspects of life is a traditional characteristic of religions.

What is Dianetics?

Dianetics spiritual healing technology can help alleviate such ailments as unwanted sensations and emotions, irrational fears and psychosomatic illnesses (illness caused or aggravated by mental stress). The word Dianetics comes from the Greek words dia, meaning through and nous, soul. The full and proper definition of Dianetics is what the soul is doing to the body through the mind.

Before L. Ron Hubbard published the fundamentals of Dianetics in 1950, prevailing scientific thought held that man’s mind was his brain, nothing more than a collection of cells and neurons. IQ was considered unimprovable and personality fixed.

Dianetics technology changed all that. Its effectiveness, astonishing in many cases, has been documented in a multitude of case histories over nearly half a century of application.

Dianetics uncovers the source of unwanted sensations and emotions, accidents, injuries and psychosomatic illnesses, and sets forth effective handlings for these conditions. Further research into the spiritual aspects of Dianetics led to the discovery of Scientology.

Scientology, on the other hand, is the study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, to universes and to other life. Through the practice of Scientology one can increase his spiritual awareness and ability and realize his own immortality.

What are the dynamics?

Every individual has an urge and determination to survive. Pursuit of survival is the common denominator of all life.

For an individual, this drive for survival embraces eight distinct divisions known in Scientology as dynamics. The dynamics are best conceived as concentric circles with (1) self in the middle and extending to (2) family and sex, (3) groups, (4) mankind, (5) all life forms, (6) the physical universe, (7) spirituality and (8) infinity or the Supreme Being.

The first dynamic, self, is the effort to survive as an individual, to be an individual and to fully express one’s individuality.

The second dynamic is creativity. Creativity is making things for the future and the second dynamic includes any creativity. The second dynamic contains the family unit and the rearing of children as well as anything that can be categorized as a family activity. It incidentally includes sex as a mechanism to compel future survival.

References: Rose publishing - Christianity, Cults & Religions.

www.beliefnet.com

http://www.religionfacts.com/big_religion_chart.htm

http://www.scientologytoday.org/Common/question/pg07.htm

http://www.scientologytoday.org/Common/question/pg08.htm

Founded by L. Ron Hubbard 1954 in California.