Editing Scientology (section)

=== Debates over classification ===

Debate as to whether Scientology should be regarded as a religion, a cult, a business, or a scam has continued over many years.{{sfnm|1a1=Barrett|1y=2001|1p=447|2a1=Grünschloß|2y=2009|2p=225|3a1=Beit-Hallahmi|3y=2003|4a1=Cowan|4a2=Bromley|4y=2015|5a1=Shermer|5y=2020}}<ref name="Lewis">{{Cite journal |first=James |last=Lewis |title=Scientology: Sect, Science, or Scam? |journal=Numen |doi=10.1163/15685276-12341364 |date=16 Mar 2015|volume=62 |issue=2–3 |pages=226–242 }}</ref>

Many Scientologists consider it to be their religion.{{sfnm|1a1=Bainbridge|1y=2009|1p=42|2a1=Cowan|2y=2009|2p=57|3a1=Dericquebourg|3y=2009|3p=165|4a1=Willms|4y=2009|4p=245|5a1=Westbrook|5y=2019|5p=2}} Its founder, [[L. Ron Hubbard]], presented it as a religion,{{sfn|Bigliardi|2016|p=663}} but the early history of the Scientology organization, and Hubbard's policy directives, letters, and instructions to subordinates, indicate that his motivation for doing so was as a legally pragmatic move to minimize his tax burden and escape the possibility of prosecution.{{sfn|Beit-Hallahmi|2003}}{{sfn|Kent|1996|pp=30–32}} In many countries, the Church of Scientology has engaged in extensive litigation to secure recognition as a tax-exempt religious organization,{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=468}} and it has managed to obtain such a status in a few jurisdictions, including the United States, Italy, and Australia.{{sfn|Melton|2009|p=17}}{{sfn|Willms|2009|p=245}} The organization has not received recognition as a religious institution in the majority of countries in which it operates.{{sfn|Bigliardi|2016|p=666}} 

Government inquiries, international parliamentary bodies, scholars, law lords, and numerous superior court judgments describe Scientology both as a dangerous [[cult]] and as a [[Scientology as a business|manipulative profit-making business]]. These institutions and scholars state that Scientology is not a religion.{{refn|{{sfn|Behar|1991}}{{r|andersonreport|p=179|quote=In reality it is a dangerous medical cult}}<ref name=Edge2006/><ref name="auto2"/><ref name="auto4"/><ref name="auto"/>}} An article in ''[[Time (magazine)|Time]]'' magazine, "[[The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power]]", describes Scientology as a ruthless global [[scam]].{{sfn|Behar|1991}} The Church of Scientology's attempts to sue the publishers for libel and to prevent republication abroad were dismissed.{{sfn|Lewis|Hellesøy|2017|p=xvii}} 

[[psychology|Psychologists]] and [[Scientific skepticism|skeptics]] support this view of Scientology as a confidence trick to obtain money from its targets.{{sfn|Beit-Hallahmi|2003}}{{sfn|Shermer|2020}} The academic [[Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi]] observes that "the majority of activities conducted by Scientology and its many fronts and subsidiaries involve the marketing of secular products."{{sfn|Beit-Hallahmi|2003}} Scholars and journalists note that profit is the primary motivating goal of Hubbard's Scientology groups.{{sfnm|1a1=Beit-Hallahmi|1y=2003|2a1=Passas|2a2=Castillo|2y=1992|3a1=Sappell|3a2=Welkos|3y=1990a|4a1=Tobin|4y=2016}} Those making this observation have often referred to a governing financial policy issued by Hubbard that is to be obeyed by all Scientology organization staff members,{{sfn|Helton|Münker|1999}} which includes the following [uppercase in original]:{{sfnm|1a1=Senn|1y=1990|2a1=Passas|2a2=Castillo|2y=1992|3a1=Beit-Hallahmi|3y=2003|4a1=Behar|4y=1991|5a1=Harman|5y=2012|6a1=Gartner|6y=1985}}{{blockquote |text=Make sure that lots of bodies move through the shop...A. MAKE MONEY. ... J. MAKE MONEY. K. MAKE MORE MONEY. L. MAKE OTHER PEOPLE PRODUCE SO AS TO MAKE MONEY...However you get them in or why, just do it.}}

Some [[Religious studies|scholars of religion]] have referred to Scientology as a religion.{{sfnm|1a1=Bainbridge|1a2=Stark|1y=1980|1p=128|2a1=Rothstein|2y=2004|2p=110|3a1=Lewis|3y=2009c|3pp=35, 103, 196|6a1=Halupka|6y=2014|6p=616|7a1=Westbrook|7y=2019|7p=2}}{{sfn|Willms|2009|pp=245, 257}} The sociologist [[Bryan R. Wilson]] compares Scientology with 20 criteria that he associated with religion and concludes that the movement could be characterized as such.{{Sfnm|1a1=Kent|1y=1999a|1p=3|2a1=Barrett|2y=2001|2p=447}} Wilson's criteria include a cosmology that describes a human reality beyond terrestrial existence; ethics and behavior teachings that are based on this cosmology; prescribed ways for followers to connect with spiritual beings; and a congregation that believes in and helps spread its teachings.<ref>{{Cite journal | last=Dericquebourg | first=Régis | title=Scientology | journal=Nova Religio | volume=20 | issue=4 | date=2017-05-01 | issn=1092-6690 | doi=10.1525/nr.2017.20.4.5 | pages=5–12}}</ref> Alan W. Black analyzed Scientology through the seven "dimensions of religion" set forward by the scholar [[Ninian Smart]] and also decided that Scientology met those criteria for being a religion.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=447}} The sociologist [[David V. Barrett]] noted that there was a "strong body of evidence to suggest that it makes sense to regard Scientology as a religion",{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=474}} while scholar of religion [[James R. Lewis (scholar)|James R. Lewis]] comments that "it is obvious that Scientology is a religion".{{sfn|Lewis|2012|p=146}} The scholar [[Mikael Rothstein]] observes that the Scientology "is best understood as a devotional cult aimed at revering the mythologized founder of the organization".{{sfn|Rothstein|2016}} Opinion polling in 2012 shows that in its home market, the US, 70% of Americans do not think Scientology is a real religion; 13% think it is.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Jeanie |first1=Groh |title=Poll: Most Americans Don't Think Scientology is a Religion |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/on-faith/poll-most-americans-dont-think-scientology-is-a-religion/2012/10/02/30381626-0cd4-11e2-ba6c-07bd866eb71a_story.html |newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|location=Washington, DC|publisher=WP Company |date=October 2, 2012}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Most Americans doubt Scientology is true religion: poll |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/lifestyle/most-americans-doubt-scientology-is-true-religion-poll-idUSBRE8901BC/ |work=[[Reuters]] |publisher=[[Thomson Reuters]]|location=London |date=October 1, 2012}}</ref> A 2015 poll in the UK shows 61% of British people do not think Scientology is a real religion; 8% think it is.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Dahlgreen |first1=Will|location=London|title=Scientology Not a Real Religion – Public |url=https://yougov.co.uk/society/articles/12007-scientology-not-real-religion-public|date=April 8, 2015|website=[[YouGov]]}}</ref>

The characterisation as a religion by such religious studies academics is disputed by the psychology professor Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi. He writes that: "Scientology cannot be classified as a religion. Because Scientology is a profit-oriented organization, sometimes, not always, masquerading as a religion, it has faced serious legitimation problems...The extreme measures Scientology has taken to defend itself reflect the truly precarious position of an organization with clearly illegitimate goals and a fraudulent operational style."{{sfn|Beit-Hallahmi|2025}} Beit-Hallahmi notes that the degree of collaboration with Scientology in the [[new religious movement]] (NRM) research network is in a class by itself. He observes that "Scholars collaborating with Scientology have tried to provide an umbrella of legitimacy. Moreover, they have knowingly collaborated in some of its deceptive schemes and front organizations."{{sfn|Beit-Hallahmi|2025}}

Numerous religious studies scholars have described Scientology as a [[new religious movement]].{{sfnm |1a1=Barrett|1y=2001|1p=471 |2a1=Lewis|2y=2009c|2pp=53, 84, 184, ''et passim'' |3a1=Urban|3y=2012|3p=335}} Various scholars have also considered it within the category of [[Western esotericism]],{{sfn|Westbrook|2019|p=18}} while the scholar of religion [[Andreas Grünschloß]] noted that it was "closely linked" to [[UFO religion]]s,{{sfn|Grünschloß|2009|p=238}} as science-fiction themes are evident in its theology.{{sfn|Westbrook|2022|p=15}} Scholars have also varyingly described it as a "psychotherapeutically oriented religion",{{sfn|Lewis|2012|p=133}} a "secularized religion",{{sfn|Grünschloß|2009|p=237}} a "postmodern religion",{{sfnm|1a1=Grünschloß|1y=2009|1p=238 |2a1=Rothstein|2y=2009|2p=365}} a "privatized religion",{{sfn|Andersen|Wellendorf|2009|p=143}} and a "progressive-knowledge" religion.{{sfn|Barrett|2001|p=452}} According to scholar of religion Mary Farrell Bednarowski, Scientology describes itself as drawing on science, religion, psychology and philosophy but "has been claimed by none of them and repudiated, for the most part, by all".<ref name="Bednarowski">{{Cite book|first=Mary Farrell |last=Bednarowski |chapter=The Church of Scientology: Lightning Rod for Cultural Boundary Conflicts |editor=Timothy Miller |title=America's Alternative Religions |year=1995 |isbn=978-0-7914-2397-4 |publisher=SUNY Press |ol=1092279M |page=388}}</ref>

Some government bodies and other institutions maintain that the Scientology is a secular, profit-making organization,{{sfn|Beit-Hallahmi|2003}} and many commentators claim that is a form of therapy masquerading as religion.{{sfn|Flinn|2009}} The French government characterizes the movement as a dangerous cult, and the German government monitors it as an anti-democratic cult.<ref name="spiegel.de"/><ref name="assemblee-nationale.fr"/><ref name="auto6"/><ref name="NouvelObs"/>

The notion of Scientology as a religion is strongly opposed by the [[anti-cult movement]].{{sfn|Westbrook|2019|p=3}} Its claims to a religious identity have been particularly rejected in continental Europe.{{sfn|Willms|2009|p=245}} Grünschloß writes that labeling Scientology a religion does not mean that it is "automatically promoted as harmless, nice, good, and humane".{{sfn|Grünschloß|2009|p=228}} The multi-faceted nature of the Church of Scientology that includes pedagogy, communication theories, management principles and methods for a healthy living discombobulated many observers when it first started. Dericquebourg comments that the same things can be found in established churches.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Dericquebourg |first=Régis |date=2017 |title=Scientology: From the Edges to the Core |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/26417718 |journal=Nova Religio: The Journal of Alternative and Emergent Religions |volume=20 |issue=4 |pages=5–12 |doi=10.1525/nr.2017.20.4.5 |jstor=26417718 |issn=1092-6690}}</ref>