What are their beliefs and practices?

Scientologist do not necessarily have a God that they believe in, but instead they believe in bettering themselves by using the scientology technologies such as auditing. Auditing, is a form of practice to do this they use things called e meters. There was a book written By Lawrence Wright called Going Clear and it exposed some of the of the abnormal practices within the church. In fact, the author of the “A peek Inside the Scientology Fortress” says, “Lawrence Wright borrows the title of his new book directly from the terminology of Scientology. "Going clear" means to achieve a state of mental purity and clarity as a result of ‘auditing’” Scientologists believe that they can have a better life when they use different techniques and auditing. Scientologists also believe that they have been reincarnated from being aliens from other planets. Says, Bill Hutchinson, a writer for the Daily News. These practices can some times cause controversies, and the abuses also can cause other troubles.

What are the abuses of Scientology?

There have been many accounts of abuses that go on within the church, and most of them have to do with the leader and the church officials. In fact Mike Gornez, a writer for Sott, says that a member of the cadet program was molesting teenage girls also apart of the program in exchange for money, and this ended up being covered up by the church. This one of many cases that have happened inside of the church, and have been covered up. Also, the Church leader, David Miscavige, is involved in the physical abuses. “Miscavige beat and incessantly criticized top executives to subjugate them. Those executives in turn used that style of intimidation on other church employees, creating a management culture of physical violence and humiliation.” Says, a writer for the St. Petersburg Times. One thing that some of the abuse comes from is disconnection.

What is disconnection and the affects of it?

In the church of scientology, if a follower questions the church or its teachings, then they are declared a suppressive person. A ‘suppressive person’ is seen as a hater of scientology, and the church makes them disconnect from them, which is basically disowning them. For example, Stephen A. Kent, a scientologist, says “Family members and friends of Scientologists -- including parents, spouses and children -- who are critical of the church can be declared "suppressive." That means the church sees them as intent on harming or destroying Scientology.” Being a suppressive makes them seem like they are out to destroy scientology even if sometimes that is not their intent to do that. According to Mike Rinder, a former scientologist says, that there is a policy that the church has where if anyone is declared a suppressive person their family has to disconnect from them, it is not a person choice like the church says. All of the different things that they do can start to cost a lot of money.

What is the cost of scientology?

When it comes to the cost of scientology, members pay a lot to keep up with courses that they take and other ways of practicing their religion. The religion is based around levels and trying to clear those levels to work up to being in the top levels. According to the article, “Prices Up to OT8 and Beyond” says, the minimum cost to clear a level is 50,000. Since they’re many levels in scientology that can start to add up to a lot in the pocket book. Actress and former Scientologist Leah Remini says, “There is no other religion that I know of that requires two and a half hours of your day, a quarter of a million dollars minimum, and at least 40 years of your life” (Nededog). Scientology will essentially take over someone’s life by making them do all of the necessary things for it. Another part of scientology that can be costly is to be apart of the sea organization.

What is the sea organization?

The Sea Organization is an organization of scientology and they are thought to be the highest members kind of the the clergy. The Sea Organization first started off on three different cruise ships, where all the did was study scientology from the time they woke up to the time they went to sleep. According to Hana Whitfield, a an original member of the sea organization says “Hubbard created Ethics, or punishments for his auditors who made mistakes during sessions. They were then pushed overboard on his ships into the water, which was ‘30 feet, 35 feet’” (whitney).Members were being pushed being pushed over board for not complaining for the religion that they have followed. Also If a women gets pregnant while in the organization they are encouraged to get an abortion or leave scientology since children are a distraction to their mission to better the world, says Danielle Tarasiuk, a writer for All Day.