Editing Scientology (section)

=== Secrecy and deception ===
Scientology has been called "America’s most secretive religion".{{r|reitman}}

Some information about the Scientology belief system is kept hidden from most Scientologists, with layers of secrecy and [[obfuscation]].{{sfnm|1a1=Hammer|1a2=Rothstein|1y=2012|1p=123|2a1=Urban|2y=2021|2p=166}}

Hubbard and his followers have been accused of organized deception, and Hubbard taught insiders that "The only way you can control people is to lie to them."<ref>{{cite book | last1=Lewis | first1=James R. | title=Handbook of Scientology | date=January 5, 2017 | publisher=BRILL | isbn=978-90-04-33054-2 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=_dfzDQAAQBAJ&pg=PA309 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book | last1=Alexis | first1=Jonas E. | title=Christianity's Dangerous Idea: How the Christian Principle and Spirit Offer the Best Explanation for Life and Why Other Alternatives Fail: Volume One | date=2010 | publisher=AuthorHouse | isbn=978-1-4520-0611-6 | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=WZEXJm4JIbEC&pg=PA424 }}</ref> In 1983, Hubbard's estranged son [[Ronald DeWolf]] argued that "99% of what my father ever wrote or said about himself is totally untrue".<ref>{{cite AV media |url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mi6aTe6T5LE |title=Morning Break |work=[[WUSA (TV)|WDVM]] |date=1983 |time=01:03}}</ref> <!-- Former Scientology leader Bill Franks recalled that in August 1974, Hubbard sent a secret dispatch telling him and David Mayo that "Overts and Witholders" didn't actually exist, but if that secret were widely known, he would lose control over the organization.<ref>youtube.com/watch?v=_mO_HPwmCV0&t=2707s</ref>-->