Editing Free Zone (Scientology) (section)

== Beliefs and practices ==

The term "Free Zone" or "Freezone" is used for the loose grouping of Scientologists who are not members of the Church of Scientology.{{r|lewis2012|p=141}}{{r|lewis2013|p=262}} Often called "freezoners",{{r|grossman}}{{r|lewis2013|p=267}} some prefer to describe their practices as "Independent Scientology" because of the associations that the term "Free Zone" has with [[#Ron's Org|Ron's Org]] and other breakaway groups.{{r|lewis2013|p=265}}

''[[Skeptic (U.S. magazine)|Skeptic Magazine]]'' described the Free Zone as: "a group founded by ex-Scientologists to promote L. Ron Hubbard's ideas independent of the Church of Scientology".<ref>{{cite magazine |last1=Lippard |first1=Jim |author1-link=Jim Lippard |last2=Jacobsen |first2=Jeff |title=Scientology v. the Internet. Free Speech & Copyright Infringement on the Information Super-Highway |magazine=[[Skeptic (U.S. magazine)|Skeptic Magazine]] |volume=3 |issue=3 |pages=35–41 |year=1995 |url=http://www.discord.org/~lippard/skeptic/03.3.jl-jj-scientology.html}}</ref> A ''[[Miami Herald]]'' article wrote that ex-Scientologists joined the Free Zone because they felt that Church of Scientology leadership had "strayed from Hubbard's original teachings".<ref>{{cite news |last=Alter |first=Alexandra |title=Scientology: What's behind the Hollywood hype? |work=[[Miami Herald]] |date=2005-07-02 |pages=8E |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/652246733/?terms=free%20zone&match=1 |via=newspapers.com |quote=Some followers of Scientology say the church leadership has strayed from Hubbard's original teachings. Many belong to the Free Zone, a group of Scientologists who believe in the religion's practices but not the organization.}}</ref>

Key to the Free Zone is what scholar of religion Aled Thomas called its "largely unregulated and non-hierarchical environment".{{r|thomas|p=2}} Within the Free Zone there are many different interpretations of Scientology;{{r|thomas|p=ix}} Thomas suggested Free Zone Scientologists were divided between "purists" who emphasize loyalty to Hubbard's teachings and those more open to innovation.{{r|thomas|p=165}} Free Zoners typically stress that Scientology as a religion is different from the Church of Scientology as an organization, criticizing the latter's actions rather than their beliefs.{{r|thomas|p=29}} They often claim to be the true inheritors of Hubbard's teachings,{{r|willms|p=248}} maintaining that Scientology's primary focus is on individual development and that that does not require a leader or membership of an organization.{{r|thomas|p=29}} Some Free Zoners argue that auditing should be more affordable than it is as performed by the Church,{{r|thomas|p=29}} and criticise the Church's lavish expenditure on buildings.{{r|thomas|p=144}}

After interviewing sixteen Free Zoners in Denmark who had left the Church of Scientology, Elizabeth Tuxen Rubin noted that they had not renounced the belief system of Scientology.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Lewis |first=J. R. |year=2015 |title=Scientology: Sect, Science, or Scam? |journal=Numen |volume=62 |issue=2/3 |pages=226–242 |doi=10.1163/15685276-12341364 |jstor=24644760 |url=http://www.jstor.org/stable/24644760|url-access=subscription }}</ref>{{Rp|238}}