You Can Stop Wondering Now...

Today's entry is bound to get me into trouble, but what's the point of discussing the obvious and safe topics that you can read about on any front page across the world. Pushing forward in an effort to familiarize everyone with a few lightly treaded ideas, but at the same time acknowledging that I am not an "expert".

Among the many celebrity fads that we have seen come and go and come again, the one we hear about a lot but know very little about is the star-studded Scientology. Adopting children from Africa or Ethiopia may be something not hard to understand, but when ask about their "new found" religion, many celebrities have responded vaguely about what exactly Scientology is.

"Were it not for Scientology, I would either be completely insane or dead by now." - Lisa Marie Presley

First, before we explore the topic, take a look at who is currently following... Celebrity Scientologists

Now that you know the who, let's dive into the what.

Scientology was founded, well incorporated rather, in 1953 by the late science fiction novelist and publicist L. Ron Hubbard and it teaches that people are immortal spiritual beings. It offers a method of  "spiritual rehabilitation" by re-living traumatic events from the past in order to "free themselves". Scientology believes that souls, "thetans", reincarnate and have lived on other planets before living on Earth. Hubbard's writing, healing, and membership are offerred to followers after they have paid a fee (in most cases thousands of dollars) to the Church, which explains why it is not a well published topic, the reading material is normally strictly safeguarded from the public. In 2007 a Church official claimed a staggering 3.5 million people were members in the United States, but according to a 2008 survey published by the City University of New York, only 25,000 people in the United States would, if asked to, identify themselves as Scientologists.

So why the recent celebrity following? As far back as 1955, Hubbard began "Project Celebrity," acknowledging the value of famous people to recruit the masses, to endorse the teachings, and to give Scientology greater acceptability in mainstream America. In a society that often equates celebrity with credibility, using highly recognized celebrities would certainly help overcome Scientology's skepticism. Recently Hubbard's successor, David Miscavige, began aggressively recruiting and pampering them by forming "Celebrity Centers," a chain of country club like places that offer expensive counseling and career guidance. Heber Jentzsch, president of the Church of Scientology International, was quoted in the newspaper Scientology Today, "We need to find out how to reach key people in the media, in government, in the control points of society, the people who rule things."

The late Yvonne Jentzsch, the originator of the first Celebrity Center, said the way to hook celebrities is to "admiration-bomb" them, basically emotionally flood them with attention and admiration. The Scientology staff quickly learned to give celebrities the excessive God-like admiration they are vulnerable to and the reason they got into show business. In return the celebrities receive guidance, comissions, and many "country club" like perks.

If you feel the need to research this topic further, beware, there are some VERY strong followers For and Against it. Specifically, those skeptical of Scientology have claimed it is a corrupt scheme falsely portrayed as religion with a goal of obtaining money and power through publicly accepted celebrities.

Interesting story on this topic in Time Magazine, The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power. Take a look if you are interested. Pretty deep accusations and a little beyond my expertise (wink wink), but goes to show how isolated these celebrities may be from the reality of Scientology.