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Dialogues@RU is published
annually
by the
Writing Program at
Rutgers, The State
University of New Jersey
Volume 4
Fall 2005
Scientology and its Potential for Dominance as a World Religion - Page 4
By Stephen Linguito
Scientology has such a relationship with globalization because it maintains popular religious and capitalistic views, while still clinging to a definitive uniqueness that stems from Scientology's ability to keep everything in its proper context, allowing spirituality and capitalism to coexist in a secularized fashion. This is one concept among many that may allow Scientology to prosper even more in the future.
Now that we have established the current status of Scientology as a practice that seems to be able to conform to prevailing attitudes and take advantage of globalization, we can begin to explore more closely whether or not Scientology can have a future. There are many components to this discussion, but for now we will look at an overview of the issue. Stephen A. Kent seems to believe that Scientology will eventually be stopped because it cannot hope to be universally compatible: "Although, in the long run, Scientology's social psychological and medical ineffectiveness hinders its chances of achieving world domination, some of its international activities continue to expand while others are meeting stiff competition"("Globalization" 157). In other words, Scientology may continue to grow due to its perseverance. However, Scientology's ineffectiveness for many people may be the flaw that would, at some point, bring it to an end, and although this is a recurring theme for a broad range of peoples, Hubbard would definitely come to Scientology's defense. In regards to Scientology's medical effectiveness, Hubbard argues that his system can facilitate recovery from injuries. He calls his technique an "assist," a "Scientology process which is done to alleviate a present time discomfort," and he provides testimonials which claim that they are very effective (201). "Many cases." he writes, "have been reported where, because of an assist, the expense of a trip to the doctor or hospital was saved. And doctors have been astonished at the speed of recovery they have witnessed after assists were delivered to patients under their care" (241).
Who, you may wonder, is correct, Kent or Hubbard? The answer depends on your viewpoint. If you believe that in many cases Scientology does, in fact, work as Hubbard suggests, than you would be inclined to believe that Scientology is an effective system. Perhaps many ailments are simply "all in one's head." Perhaps Heelas is correct when he writes, "The 'magic' is quasisecular; what lies within is of very little intrinsic value; and much is couched in terms of manipulating what 'genuine' New Agers would see as mere 'ego-functions'" (64). It is likely that Scientology takes a page out of Heelas' book, advocating that we have control over our minds and therefore can solve many problems mentally, including illnesses. However, if you look at the evidence Kent provides, which often includes allegations of brainwashing and other morally-questionable activities, then you might think otherwise, that perhaps the results Hubbard provides are not widespread and that, in many more cases, unpleasant results are experienced.
A very prominent example of Scientology success stories which shows how a person can improve his or her life through mind manipulation and through a different approach to life is that of actor Tom Cruise. For many years, Cruise suffered from dyslexia and had difficulty reading and learning. In 1986, Cruise was introduced to Scientology, and by applying Study Technology, a system developed by Hubbard, he learned to read. Cruise relates this story in an article co-written by Jess Cagle, entitled "Tom Cruise: My Struggle To Read." Commenting on Study Technology, Cruise explains:
It pinpoints three barriers to learning: Lack of mass (you can't learn to fly a plane by just reading about it - you have to sit in the cockpit or at least have a picture of a plane); skipped gradients (trying to master skills or information without mastering or understanding that which comes before them); and misunderstood words (the most important one and a cause for stupidity). (2)