Portal:Scientology/Selected article
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Portal:Scientology/Selected article/1
Dianetics is a set of ideas and practices regarding the relationship between the spirit, mind and body that were developed by author L. Ron Hubbard. According to Hubbard, mental and psychosomatic physical problems are caused by traumatic recordings called engrams that are stored in the reactive mind. The goal of Dianetics is to become rid (or "cleared") of this portion of one's mind. Once at this state of "Clear," according to Hubbard, an individual becomes able to function at his or her full potential. Dianetics is still employed and disseminated by the Church of Scientology, as reaching the state of "Clear" is a requirement to access Scientology's upper levels. Hubbard first introduced Dianetics to the public in April 1950, in an article published in the magazine Astounding Science Fiction. In his subsequent book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (1950), Hubbard presented Dianetics as a revolutionary and scientifically developed alternative to conventional psychotherapy and psychiatry, claiming that it could increase intelligence, eliminate unwanted emotions and alleviate a wide range of illnesses he believed to be psychosomatic.
Portal:Scientology/Selected article/2
The Alaska Mental Health Enabling Act of 1956 was an Act of Congress passed to improve mental health care in the United States territory of Alaska. Introduced in the House of Representatives by Alaska Congressional Delegate Bob Bartlett in January 1956, it became the focus of a major political controversy. The legislation was opposed by a variety of far-right, anti-Communist and fringe religious groups, prompting what was said to have been the biggest political controversy seen on Capitol Hill since the early 1940s. Prominent opponents nicknamed it the "Siberia Bill" and asserted that it was part of an international Jewish, Roman Catholic or psychiatric conspiracy intended to establish United Nations-run concentration camps in the United States. Others claimed that it was part of a plan by Russia to reclaim its former Alaskan territories or was a plot by Communist elements in the Eisenhower administration to forcibly hospitalize and brainwash American citizens who were opposed to UNESCO or various state governors. With the sponsorship of the conservative Republican senator Barry Goldwater, a modified version of the Act was approved unanimously by the United States Senate in July 1956 after only ten minutes of debate.
Portal:Scientology/Selected article/3
Xenu (also Xemu), pronounced ['zi.nu:], according to Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, was the dictator of the "Galactic Confederacy" who, 75 million years ago, brought billions of his people to Earth in DC-8-like spacecraft, stacked them around volcanoes and killed them using hydrogen bombs. Scientology holds that their essences remained, and that they form around people in modern times, causing them spiritual harm. These events are known to Scientologists as "Incident II", and the traumatic memories associated with them as The Wall of Fire. The story of Xenu is part of Scientologist teachings on extraterrestrial civilizations and alien interventions in Earthly events, collectively described as space opera by Hubbard. Hubbard detailed the story in Operating Thetan level III (OT III) in 1967, warning that this material was "calculated to kill (by pneumonia etc) anyone who attempts to solve it." Criticism of the Church of Scientology often includes details of the Xenu story, and the Church has taken legal action on copyright and trade secrecy grounds to keep the matter confidential, but material on Xenu has leaked to the public.
Portal:Scientology/Selected article/4
In Scientology, founder L. Ron Hubbard used the science fiction term space opera to describe what he said were actual extraterrestrial civilizations and alien interventions in past lives. Upon Hubbard's death in 1986, it was announced by the Church of Scientology that he had discarded his physical body and was now "on a planet a galaxy away." It is a basic belief of Scientology that a human being is actually an immortal spiritual being, termed a thetan, that is presently trapped on planet Earth in a "meat body". The thetan has had innumerable past lives and it is accepted in Scientology that lives antedating the thetan's arrival on Earth lived in extraterrestrial cultures. Descriptions of space opera incidents are seen as nonfiction in the beliefs of Scientology and fit the description of a UFO religion. Hubbard said that the modern-day science fiction genre of space opera is merely an unconscious recollection of real events that took place millions of years ago. These events include the story of Xenu, the ruler of the Galactic Confederacy who brought billions of frozen people to Earth 75 million years ago, stacked them around volcanoes and blew them up with hydrogen bombs.
Portal:Scientology/Selected article/5
Battlefield Earth: A Saga of the Year 3000 is a 2000 film adaptation of the novel of the same name by L. Ron Hubbard. The film is produced by and stars John Travolta. It was a notorious commercial and critical disaster and has been widely criticized as one of the "worst films ever made". The film depicts a greedy alien security chief, Terl (Travolta), who enslaves human prisoners to mine gold for his people. Barry Pepper plays Jonnie Goodboy Tyler, a human (or "man-animal", as the "Psychlos" named them) who decides to liberate his people by fighting the "Psychlos". The plot follows roughly the same lines as the original book, though with some major omissions and simplifications. L. Ron Hubbard gave an interview in 1983 in which he stated that Hollywood executives had expressed interest in Battlefield Earth. Though film rights were sold by the Church of Scientology's Author Services Inc. to Salem Productions of Los Angeles, California in 1983, final production and filming did not begin until 1999. Travolta originally saw himself in the role of Tyler, but by the time the movie was actually made, Travolta felt he was too old to play the role, and took the role of the main villain instead.
Portal:Scientology/Selected article/6
"Trapped in the Closet", the twelfth episode of the ninth season of the Comedy Central series South Park, originally aired on November 16, 2005. The plot of the episode centers on the South Park character Stan Marsh, as he joins Scientology in an attempt to find something "fun and free". After the discovery of his surprisingly high "thetan levels", he is recognized as the reincarnation of the founder of the church, L. Ron Hubbard. Tom Cruise, who is featured in the episode, reportedly threatened "to back out of his Mission: Impossible III promotional duties if Viacom didn’t pull a repeat of the episode." Though the episode was originally scheduled for rebroadcast in March 2006, the episode "Chef's Chocolate Salty Balls" was shown instead. Comedy Central representatives stated this change was made as a tribute to Isaac Hayes, however South Park creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone thought otherwise. Stone and Parker issued a satirical statement saying they were "servants of the dark lord Xenu". Isaac Hayes, the voice of Chef, quit the show shortly before the start of the tenth season. The reason for his departure, as reported by Matt Stone, was due to his faith in Scientology and this episode, which he claimed to feel was very offensive. "Trapped in the Closet" was nominated for an Primetime Emmy Award in the Outstanding Animated Program (for Programming Less Than One Hour) category in July 2006. The episode was featured among Comedy Central's list of "10 South Parks That Changed The World", spoofed by Conan O'Brien in the opening segment of the 58th Primetime Emmy Awards, and mentioned in the Scientology critique film, The Bridge.
Portal:Scientology/Selected article/7
A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant is a satirical musical about Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard, written by Kyle Jarrow from a concept by Alex Timbers, the show's original director. The musical runs for an hour in duration, and consists of one act. Jarrow based the story of the musical on L. Ron Hubbard's writings and Church of Scientology literature. Early on in the production of the musical, the president of the Church of Scientology in New York sent a letter to the producer pointing out the Church's history of litigation. This led Timbers and Jarrow's attorneys to advise them to insert the word "Unauthorized" into the title of the play. The musical follows the life of L. Ron Hubbard as he develops Dianetics and then Scientology, and explores topics including the E-meter, Thetans, and the story of Xenu. The show was originally presented by Les Freres Corbusier, an experimental theatrical troupe and debuted in November 2003 in New York City, where it had sold-out Off-Off-Broadway and Off-Broadway productions. The musical received an Obie Award for the 2003 New York production, and director Alex Timbers received a Garland Award for the 2004 Los Angeles production.
Portal:Scientology/Selected article/8
"The Joy of Sect" is the thirteenth episode of The Simpsons' ninth season. It originally aired on the FOX network in the United States on February 8, 1998. In the episode, a cult called the "Movementarians" takes over Springfield, and Homer and the rest of the Simpson family become members. Homer and Bart are initially introduced to a pair of young Movementarian recruiters in an airport. Homer becomes brainwashed, and moves his family into the cult compound. David Mirkin had the initial idea for the episode, Steve O'Donnell was the lead writer, and Steven Dean Moore directed. The writers drew on many groups to develop the Movementarians, but were principally influenced by Scientology, Heaven's Gate, the Unification Church and Peoples Temple. The episode was later analyzed from religious, philosophical and psychological perspectives, and books compared the Movementarians to many of the same groups that the writers had drawn influences from. The show contains many references to popular culture, including the title reference to The Joy of Sex and a gag involving Rover from the television program The Prisoner.
Portal:Scientology/Selected article/9
Operation Clambake, also referred to by its Web address, Xenu.net, is a website launched in 1996 that publishes mostly critical information about the Church of Scientology. It is owned and maintained by Andreas Heldal-Lund, who has stated that he supports the rights of all people to practice Scientology or any religion, though Operation Clambake has also referred to Scientology as: "a vicious and dangerous cult that masquerades as a religion." The site includes articles, exposés, and primary source documents. The site has been ranked as high as the third spot in Google searches for the term "Scientology". After the site hosted Scientology documents pertaining to Xenu and OT III, the Church of Scientology attempted to get this material removed through use of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). After receiving a DMCA takedown notice, Google removed many Xenu.net pages from its indexes. This inspired Google to contribute to the Chilling Effects archive, informing others about material missing from Google indexes due to DMCA takedown notices and other legal threats.
Portal:Scientology/Selected article/10
"The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power" is a TIME cover story highly critical of Scientology written by investigative journalist Richard Behar and first published on May 6, 1991. The article was also later published in the Reader's Digest, in October 1991. The article dealt with L. Ron Hubbard and the development of Scientology, its various controversies over the years and history of litigation, conflict with psychiatry and the IRS, the suicide of a Scientologist, its status as a religion, and its business dealings. The Church of Scientology mounted a public relations campaign to inform the public of what it felt were falsehoods in the piece, brought a libel suit against Time Warner and Behar, and sued Reader's Digest in multiple countries in Europe in an attempt to stop the article's publication there. The suit against Time Warner was dismissed in 1996, and the Church of Scientology's petition for a writ of certiorari to the Supreme Court of the United States in the case was denied in 2001. Richard Behar received multiple awards recognizing his work, including the Gerald Loeb Award, the Worth Bingham Prize, and the Conscience-in-Media Award.
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