Blackwell Reference Online

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[xxviii] Founded in 1954, the Church of Scientology is based on the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard (1911–86), a successful science fiction writer who invented ‘Dianetics’ [30]. Although having a mind and body, the individual is considered to be essentially a ‘Thetan’ – a soul or spirit of an immortal nature which goes from life to life. Scientologists say that their principal sacrament is ‘auditing’, the purpose of which is to ‘clear’ the Thetan of past painful experiences [66: xii]. A device called an E-meter is used by auditors to help them locate the ‘engrams’ or blockages that are causing problems. The movement, which claimed over 10,000 staff members worldwide by 1990 [17: 458], offers a wide range of courses, is associated with a drug rehabilitation programme called Narconon [17: 470] and actively lobbies against what it perceives as social ills, particularly in the field of mental health. There is a long history of criticism from certain ex-members and the Cult-watching movement [41: 196–9]. In 1968 the British government imposed restrictions on foreigners entering the UK to study or work for Scientology; these were lifted in 1980 after a government inquiry (the Foster Report). [5: 173–4; 6: 51–60; 11: v; 41: iv/b; 42: 744–7; 74; 75: vi] ... log in or subscribe to read full text