Authors:David G. Robertson, Carole M. Cusack, Stephen Gregg, Aled Thomas Abstract: Recorded 19 November 2018. Transcribed by Helen Bradstock. PubDate: 2021-03-04 Issue No:Vol. 23 (2021)
Authors:Stephen E. Gregg Abstract: The academic study of Scientology (most often meant to mean the Church of Scientology) is complicated by a problematical inherited discourse between media, academics (and their students) and the Church of Scientology. In this short reflection piece, it is argued that this discourse should be understood within a wider context of attitudes to the study of New Religions within the academy, and the impact of CoS engagement with mainstream media. Additionally, it is argued that the preconceptions of both students and CoS representatives reflect these discourses, which in-turn impact not only upon research and teaching about Scientology, but also upon public projections of religious identity by the CoS. Referencing recent frameworks of Lived/Represented/Reported Religion, the article suggests that the study of diverse and everyday Scientology may offer a fruitful approach to future scholarship. PubDate: 2021-03-04 Issue No:Vol. 23 (2021)
Authors:Carole M. Cusack Abstract: The Church of Scientology (CoS) under L. Ron Hubbard (1911- 1986) pursued an aggressive strategy of shutting down critics and protecting its reputation. This policy, known as ‘Fair Game’, resulted in limited scholarly engagement with Scientology, in part due to difficulties in accessing reliable sources. From 2008 onward highprofile defectors published memoirs of their lives in CoS, multiplying source materials available to scholars. This article argues that these texts, which have been sidelined because of the hostility that the authors express towards CoS, are valid when carefully integrated into the fabric of available material on Scientology, which includes scholarly assessments, journalistic accounts, and a range of primary sources, of varying provenances. PubDate: 2021-03-04 Issue No:Vol. 23 (2021)
Authors:Stephen A. Kent Abstract: Addressing future researchers who may undertake research on Scientology, this commentary offers a number of cautions related to issues that they likely will encounter. Most of these issues stem from the organization’s anti-democratic, authoritarian nature and resultant policies, which include attempts to curtail any and all activities and research that its leaders conclude are out of alignment with members’ obligation to ‘keep Scientology working.’ Ethically and morally questionable activities within the cult (which is a term that I define) include its own judicial and penal systems, its systematic harassment of perceived critics, its data storage and protection issues, and its extensive but highly questionable manipulation of members – any study of which likely will elicit censoring reactions from leadership. So too will studies about probable membership shrinkage; its sizable body of financial constituents; and its lobbying efforts and network of lawyers, supportive academics, and expert witnesses. Although I encourage newer scholars to undertake Scientology studies, I urge them to prepare for interference attempts that almost certainly will come. PubDate: 2021-03-04 Issue No:Vol. 23 (2021)
Authors:Bernadette Rigal-Cellard Abstract: In this article I contrast the ease with which I have always been able to study Scientology with the near impossibility to speak about my research in France unless it is to attack the Church, considered as the epitome of the dangerous tentacular cult. Any factual presentation of its origins and workings will be interpreted as a biased promotion of this dangerous ‘secte.’ I narrate a year-long attack by anti-cultists against my work and against CESNUR. PubDate: 2021-03-04 Issue No:Vol. 23 (2021)
Authors:Bernard Doherty Abstract: The late 2018 publication of Donald Westbrook’s Among the Scientologists marks the culmination of a decade of increased scholarship on the Church of Scientology from a variety of scholarly perspectives. In conversation with the Religious Studies Project (RSP) panel on ‘New Directions in the Study of Scientology’ held at the British Association for the Study of Religion (BASR) in November 2018, this academic comment seeks to highlight some of the internal and external factors which work to make the study of Scientology a potential minefield for scholars of New Religions. In addition to this I offer four modest proposals for how those within the academy might work toward overcoming some of these challenges, in particular the polarization between different camps within the study of New Religions. PubDate: 2021-01-28 Issue No:Vol. 23 (2021)
Authors:Aled J. Ll. Thomas Abstract: Scientology, the New Religious Movement founded by L. Ron Hubbard in the 1950s, is currently experiencing growing levels of interest from the academic community. Recent scholarly publications point to an array of academic approaches to Scientology, in addition to potential avenues for future research. In this reflective article, the author proposes that studies of contemporary Scientology would be enriched by a greater emphasis on the notion of ‘Scientologies’ (different types of Scientology across both Church of Scientology and Free Zone spaces). This approach, which addresses a wider scope of the Scientologist landscape, can benefit from the increasing number of researchers studying Scientology, and raises the potential for cross-collaboration across a network of interdisciplinary scholars. To this end, the author considers recent developments in the academic study of Scientology, and how a focus on ‘Scientologies’ can enable scholars to explore the complexities of increasingly diverse Scientologist communities. PubDate: 2021-01-28 Issue No:Vol. 23 (2021)
Authors:Massimo Introvigne Abstract: To explain why my experience of studying Scientology both parallels, and differs from, what other scholars reported in this discussion, I first offer some autobiographical notes on my career as a scholar of new religious movements. Second, I elaborate on the notion of ‘Scientology Studies 2.0;’ i.e., an approach discussing L. Ron Hubbard’s writings on their own merits, rather than focusing on his controversial biography only, and how they inspire the daily life of ordinary Scientologists, quite apart from court cases and sensational media coverage. Third, I mention how a possible dialogue between scholars of different opinions about Scientology is torpedoed by a gatekeeping activity by professional anti-cultists who strive to make this dialogue impossible. In conclusion, I integrate the suggestions offered in this issue by Bernard Doherty with some of my own. PubDate: 2021-01-28 Issue No:Vol. 23 (2021)
Authors:Eric Roux Abstract: The discussion that was conducted at the British Association for the Study of Religion (BASR) conference by the Religion Studies Project (RSP) in 2018, with David Robertson, Carole Cusack, Stephen Gregg, and Aled Thomas have raised some of the challenges that are sometimes perceived as impediments to the study of Scientology by scholars. This paper tries to approach these challenges from the point of view of the study target: The Scientologist and the Church of Scientology itself. It develops several points that could open the door to a better cooperation between scholars and Scientologists, in a time where academic interest toward this new religion is steadily increasing. PubDate: 2021-01-28 Issue No:Vol. 23 (2021)
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