Editing Scientology controversies (section)

===L. Ron Hubbard and starting a religion for money===
{{Further|Scientology as a business}}
While the oft-cited rumor Hubbard made a bar bet with [[Robert A. Heinlein]] he could start a cult is unproven, many witnesses have reported that Hubbard said in their presence that starting a religion would be a good way to make money. These statements have led many to believe Hubbard hid his true intentions and was motivated solely by potential financial rewards.

Editor [[Sam Merwin]], for example, recalled a meeting: "I always knew he was exceedingly anxious to hit big money—he used to say he thought the best way to do it would be to start a cult." (December 1946)<ref name="Bare-faced Messiah">{{cite book | last = Miller | first = Russell | author-link = Russell Miller | title = Bare-faced Messiah, The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard | url = https://archive.org/details/barefacedmessiah00mill_0/page/133 | edition = First American | year = 1987 | publisher = Henry Holt & Co | location = New York | isbn = 0-8050-0654-0 | page = [https://archive.org/details/barefacedmessiah00mill_0/page/133 133] }}</ref> Writer and publisher [[Lloyd Arthur Eshbach]] reported Hubbard saying "I'd like to start a religion. That's where the money is." Writer [[Theodore Sturgeon]] reported Hubbard made a similar statement at the [[Los Angeles Science Fantasy Society]]. Likewise, writer [[Sam Moskowitz]] reported in an affidavit during an [[Eastern Science Fiction Association]] meeting on November 11, 1948, Hubbard had said "You don't get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion."<ref>Sam Moskowitz affidavit, 14 April 1993</ref> [[Milton A. Rothman]] also reported to his son [[Tony Rothman]] he heard Hubbard make exactly that claim at a science fiction convention. In 1998, an [[A&E Network|A&E]] documentary titled ''Inside Scientology'' shows [[Lyle Stuart]] reporting Hubbard stated repeatedly to make money, "you start a religion."<ref>{{cite news | title = Inside Scientology | publisher = [[A&E Network]] | date = 1998-12-14 | url = http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5464180198469193501 | access-date = 2007-01-27 | archive-date = June 22, 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110622074528/http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-5464180198469193501 | url-status = live }}</ref>

According to ''[[The Visual Encyclopedia of Science Fiction]]'', ed. Brian Ash, Harmony Books, 1977:<blockquote>...[Hubbard] began making statements to the effect that any writer who really wished to make money should stop writing and develop [a] religion, or devise a new psychiatric method. [[Harlan Ellison]]'s version (''Time Out'', UK, No 332) is that Hubbard is reputed to have told [[John W. Campbell|[John W.] Campbell]], "I'm going to invent a religion that's going to make me a fortune. I'm tired of writing for a penny a word". [[Sam Moskowitz]], a chronicler of science fiction, has reported that he himself heard Hubbard make a similar statement, but there is no first-hand evidence.</blockquote>

An article by Professor [[Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi]] documents the secular aspects of Scientology from Scientology's own writings.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/beit.html |title=Marburg Journal of Religion – Scientology: Religion or Racket? |publisher=Web.uni-marburg.de |access-date=2012-09-05 |archive-date=April 16, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416211648/http://web.uni-marburg.de/religionswissenschaft/journal/mjr/beit.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>