Misconceptions (continued)
Did L. Ron Hubbard state that the way to make money was to start a religion?
No.
This is an unfounded rumor. One individual once claimed L. Ron Hubbard made such a comment during a lecture in 1948. The only two people who could be found who attended that very lecture in 1948 denied that Mr. Hubbard ever made this statement. And Mr. Hubbard himself certainly denied it.
Another famous writer from the same era who did make such a statement was George Orwell, who wrote to a friend in 1938 that “there might be a lot of cash in starting a new religion.” His letter was later published as part of a collection of letters which was circulated widely. It seems that Orwell’s comment has been misattributed to Mr. Hubbard. This was recognized by courts in Germany who ordered those who had attributed such a statement to Mr. Hubbard to stop repeating it.
A person who donates for auditing [Scientology counselling] receives one-to-one personal and effective assistance to solve problems in life, to communicate more freely with others and to handle the upsets of life preventing his true spiritual freedom. Having achieved these lower levels a parishioner moves on to more advanced levels on which he is literally seeking immortality, which is priceless.
An entire team of Scientology staff members is required to deliver auditing, which is always individual, and/or training to a parishioner. Compare this to a church with a single priest or minister who delivers a single sermon to a congregation of perhaps 1,000 and the difference starts to become apparent. It would take about 650 ministers just to audit 2,000 Scientologists (one auditor can counsel three parishioners per day with some administrative assistance), and this does not account for all other staff who provide the services necessary for the Church itself to function.
The training delivered by Churches of Scientology could be compared to taking a course in a school or similar facility.
The most thorough study of Scientology available is the Saint Hill Special Briefing Course, which takes more than 50 weeks to complete, at 40 hours per week of study. It provides a student with a full understanding of the mind and life and is the functional equivalent of a complete college education. The requested donation is between a fourth to a tenth of that charged by universities. Yet, the manpower required to deliver such training is very comparable. And Scientology churches provide this service without being supported by any government funding, as many universities are.
Students who are learning to become auditors must audit others as part of their training. In many cases, they coaudit each other and, of course, there is no donation requested for that. A person can receive the majority of his own auditing in this manner.
Furthermore, Scientology’s donation system is fair. Unlike some religions which tithe the incomes of all parishioners, regardless of how much they participate in religious activities, the Church of Scientology receives donations from those parishioners who avail themselves of the services it offers and in proportion to services actually received.
For parishioners who can afford no donation, there is even a center at every Church where they can still receive auditing from ministers in training. And finally, Churches of Scientology conduct services similar to other denominations each week—including Sunday services—and no donation whatsoever is requested.
How does Scientology help family relationships?
Scientology encourages and helps its members to have excellent family relationships, whether their relatives are Scientologists or not. In fact, relationships between a Scientologist and the rest of his family routinely improve after his involvement in Scientology, because through Scientology one acquires the means to increase communication and resolve any problems that might have existed before.
Scientologyh goes to great lengths to reconcile family differences should any such problem arise. Family members of Scientologists are always welcome to visit the organisation, to meet other Scientologists and to have their questions about Scientology answered.
The only occasions when reconciliation is hard to accomplish is when extremist, anti-religious hate groups intervene and make communication difficult or impossible. Such groups have a vested interest in inflaming rather than defusing upsets among family members, and are always closely connected to deprogrammers—hired thugs who prey upon the concerns of families in exchange for payments of thousands.
Scientology Chaplains have assisted on numerous occasions in bringing family members together and enabling them to discover the real cause of their disagreements. Regardless of whether the other family members choose to become Scientologists or not, Scientologists take deep pride in their record of resolving family problems and conflicts.