Thoughts on Scientology and California
A few Fridays ago I was up in the city with my girlfriend. We had a little time to kill before dinner, and noticed a branch of the Church of Scientology across the street from the restaurant. Out in front was a well-dressed twenty-something man trying to get passers-by to come in for an open house that night. We gazed at each other and both had the same devilish look on our faces, "Why not?"
I know very little about Scientology, so this post isn't going to be some major criticism of the organization; you can find plenty of that here and as (almost) always a good overview is at Wikipedia.
Inside the building were at least a dozen men and women dressed in matching clean black suits and white shirts. The main floor looked like a nicely designed corporate office; I wouldn't consider it spiritually evocative by any means. We were greeted and then encouraged to read a museum-quality display about the life and times of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology.
After a good ten minutes of reading quietly about Hubbard, we ventured over to areas which described the main programs of Scientology: Dianetics, Auditing, Purification, etc. None of the descriptions told us how these programs actually worked; vague platitudes reigned. There was a video running that had testimonials of New York police officers and firefighters describing how a Scientology seminar had helped them recover from emotional trauma after 9/11.
Eventually a middle-aged woman began talk to me after I started investigating a tabletop device covered in dials and numbers. She explained that this was an E-Meter, and asked if I would like a demonstration. Always up for interesting experiences, I jumped at the opportunity. Holding two hollow metal cylinders in my hands, the woman prompted me to start thinking about people in my life while she played with the dials. When the needle on the E-Meter jumped wildly every so often, she explained that I must be thinking about people who were causing stress in my life. I nodded, and chose not to explain back to her that I was thinking about nothing of the sort, and was mostly wondering whether this machine was going to shock me and how I'd get out of there before they forced me to buy something. Upon further investigation, the needle on the E-Meter seemed to jump whenever I squeezed it hard; perhaps the theory is that you squeeze harder when you're thinking about something stressful? The machine looked liked it cost about $3.72 to have a small child build in some dark electronics factory in China; the fact that they sell it for almost $5000 blows my mind.
After my encounter with the E-Meter I filled out a survey about my time at the open house. I wrote with all earnestness that I was impressed with how professional and nice everyone seemed. Later, my girlfriend admonished me for including our real address on the form. I have heard nothing from them yet; perhaps the fact that I simply left mid-conservation while they were trying to sell me a copy of Dianetics indicated to them I wasn't serious? I left by myself however, puzzled to find that I was not followed out by said girlfriend. Calling her on her cellphone a minute later apparently interrupted the attempt to sell her a $100 book/CD/DVD set for a special $50 value, and we whisked away to a pleasant dinner across the street.
Reflecting later upon the experience, I was really quite saddened by the whole thing. All the people we met were very kind (albeit a few were a little off), and probably became involved in the organization looking for answers to their questions or help with their problems. Scientology takes advantage of this neediness by selling them products and offering dubious spiritual services. Yes, some criticize all religions for being cults, but if you've every actually talked to a priest, minister, rabbi, or whoever of a mainstream religion or been involved in their services it's not hard to distinguish regular religion from a cult.
Back to the title of this post, is California a hotbed of Scientology and other cult-like organizations? I haven't done extensive research, but California stereotypes (e.g. needy and rich Hollywood people, see Scientology's Celebrity Centers) and a few examples (Heaven's Gate in Rancho Santa Fe, the People's Temple in SF and LA, Charles Manson in the Haight) may give some credence to the claim. The mayor of San Francisco has even been cavorting recently with a celebrity Scientology practitioner.
So I don't think I'll be converting to Scientology anytime soon, but if anyone ever sees me offerring "Free Stress Tests" or selling copies of Dianetics at the local mall, feel free to throw a cold bucket of water on me. I'll need it.
UPDATE: Watch the controversial South Park Scientology episode here.
I know very little about Scientology, so this post isn't going to be some major criticism of the organization; you can find plenty of that here and as (almost) always a good overview is at Wikipedia.
Inside the building were at least a dozen men and women dressed in matching clean black suits and white shirts. The main floor looked like a nicely designed corporate office; I wouldn't consider it spiritually evocative by any means. We were greeted and then encouraged to read a museum-quality display about the life and times of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology.
After a good ten minutes of reading quietly about Hubbard, we ventured over to areas which described the main programs of Scientology: Dianetics, Auditing, Purification, etc. None of the descriptions told us how these programs actually worked; vague platitudes reigned. There was a video running that had testimonials of New York police officers and firefighters describing how a Scientology seminar had helped them recover from emotional trauma after 9/11.
Eventually a middle-aged woman began talk to me after I started investigating a tabletop device covered in dials and numbers. She explained that this was an E-Meter, and asked if I would like a demonstration. Always up for interesting experiences, I jumped at the opportunity. Holding two hollow metal cylinders in my hands, the woman prompted me to start thinking about people in my life while she played with the dials. When the needle on the E-Meter jumped wildly every so often, she explained that I must be thinking about people who were causing stress in my life. I nodded, and chose not to explain back to her that I was thinking about nothing of the sort, and was mostly wondering whether this machine was going to shock me and how I'd get out of there before they forced me to buy something. Upon further investigation, the needle on the E-Meter seemed to jump whenever I squeezed it hard; perhaps the theory is that you squeeze harder when you're thinking about something stressful? The machine looked liked it cost about $3.72 to have a small child build in some dark electronics factory in China; the fact that they sell it for almost $5000 blows my mind.
After my encounter with the E-Meter I filled out a survey about my time at the open house. I wrote with all earnestness that I was impressed with how professional and nice everyone seemed. Later, my girlfriend admonished me for including our real address on the form. I have heard nothing from them yet; perhaps the fact that I simply left mid-conservation while they were trying to sell me a copy of Dianetics indicated to them I wasn't serious? I left by myself however, puzzled to find that I was not followed out by said girlfriend. Calling her on her cellphone a minute later apparently interrupted the attempt to sell her a $100 book/CD/DVD set for a special $50 value, and we whisked away to a pleasant dinner across the street.
Reflecting later upon the experience, I was really quite saddened by the whole thing. All the people we met were very kind (albeit a few were a little off), and probably became involved in the organization looking for answers to their questions or help with their problems. Scientology takes advantage of this neediness by selling them products and offering dubious spiritual services. Yes, some criticize all religions for being cults, but if you've every actually talked to a priest, minister, rabbi, or whoever of a mainstream religion or been involved in their services it's not hard to distinguish regular religion from a cult.
Back to the title of this post, is California a hotbed of Scientology and other cult-like organizations? I haven't done extensive research, but California stereotypes (e.g. needy and rich Hollywood people, see Scientology's Celebrity Centers) and a few examples (Heaven's Gate in Rancho Santa Fe, the People's Temple in SF and LA, Charles Manson in the Haight) may give some credence to the claim. The mayor of San Francisco has even been cavorting recently with a celebrity Scientology practitioner.
So I don't think I'll be converting to Scientology anytime soon, but if anyone ever sees me offerring "Free Stress Tests" or selling copies of Dianetics at the local mall, feel free to throw a cold bucket of water on me. I'll need it.
UPDATE: Watch the controversial South Park Scientology episode here.
posted by John V at 2:33 PM
2 Comments:
The only question is: where does Tom Cruise fit into this motley crew?
As said girlfriend, I should mention that the whole event saddened me as well. I see how people are easily drawn to Scientology because it offers a sense of personal control. Scientology suggests that you have the power to change your life. The dogma promotes meditation, self-awarness, and a type of spiritualism. Unfortunately it comes with a large price tag. People desperate for a change in their unhappy lives can make hasty and unwise decisions in the search for improvement. It pains me to see people throwing their money at "science" in this search for answers when a cheap self-help book or a session with a trained professional might solve their problems more efficiently.
Additionally, the more traditional faiths teach us that control is not something we should crave. While perhaps a tempting desire, little is gained spritually when we are unwilling to admit that we cannot control every aspect of our lives. It makes sense to me that Scientology attracts celebrities, who I generally sterotype as self-centered and who might need the security of personal control to justify their often bizarre lifestyles. I feel bad for the regular people who found scientology in what was a genuine and well-intensioned personal inventory and are now beholden to a pseudo-scientific money pit.
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