However, none of these things makes me think that Scientology is all that nefarious.
What does, however, is the one main difference between it and other religions: you have to pay for enlightenment. In order to advance in Scientology, you have to go through auditing, which are talk-therapy sessions that help clear you of past traumatic events. (This is sometimes accompanied by a device called the called the electropsychometer, or E-meter, which is similar to a lie-detector. This is what I saw on the tables in BART.) Numerous auditing sessions may be required to reach the highest levels of Scientology and each auditing session can cost between six and seven hundred dollars. For more advanced levels, you may have to shell out thousands.
The financial outlays required by Scientologists have lead to numerous stories of savings lost and lives ruined, and their ties to the powerful entertainment industry has helped them muzzle critics. A 1991 Time cover story described the Church as “a hugely profitable global racket that survives by intimidating members and critics in a Mafia-like manner.” Recently, Comedy Central shelved a rerun of a South Park episode in which they make fun of Scientology and Tom Cruise, supposedly because the star was offended. However, Comedy Central’s parent company is releasing a Cruise movie and it seems more likely it was easier to get rid of one episode than to displease a famous zealot.
Although Mormons also have to contribute a portion of their income to their religion, something about Scientology seems a bit more tactical. According to a recent article in the New Yorker, coveting celebrities and their money was a major part of Scientology’s aims from the start. An internal newsletter, probably from the 1950s, discusses “Project Celebrity.” The aim was to court well-known stars—the “prime communicators”—so they could mention Scientology “now and then.” A 1976 Time article quotes Hubbard, giving a speech to fellow authors, as saying, “Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wanted to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion.”
