The Church Of Scientology
is a Bad Cult

(More general anti-Scientology links are available on our Leaflet Links page)

• Because their "free personality test" tells everyone they need Scientology

  Scientology uses a rigged multiple-choice personality test as a recruiting tool. They call it the "Oxford Capacity Analysis" test, but it has nothing to do with Oxford University - they picked that name to try to give it credibility. It is not used outside of Scientology and Scientology's front-groups. It is impossible to get a perfect score on the OCA. [Links: 1, 2, 3, Take It Online (unofficial)]
• ... or their "free stress test" will prove you need their help (with the aid of the infamous E-Meter)

  Perhaps more famous are their red-cloth-covered tables offering you a Free Stress Test, with the aid of a very serious and scientific-looking "Hubbard Electro-Psychometer" (or E-Meter for short). They probably won't mention that the E-Meter "is not medically or scientifically capable of improving the health or bodily functions of anyone" - despite the US government ruling that they must put a label saying exactly that on the front of the device. It's also very telling that they usually do these under the "Dianetics" brand (the book they're trying to sell you) - because most people have already heard of Scientology! [Links: About the E-Meter and the FDA, NY Times article, more about the E-Meter, Video "autopsy" of an older E-Meter]
• Because the same people that gave you those tests, make a commission if you buy anything

  The sales-force for Scientology - including the staff in their 'orgs', the people they send out with the stress test tables, and freelance sales agents called FSMs (Field Staff Members) - get at least a 10% commission on books and courses they convince people to take. Once someone joins up, their original salesman continues to get a percentage of all of the books and courses they buy. [Links: 1, 2]
• Because it trains you to be unable to think critically about Scientology

  Scientology's internal vocabulary includes a range of thought-stopping phrases, terms used specifically to try to stop you thinking further about a subject. These generally fall in to two groups: descriptions of something as being bad for your spiritual wellbeing ("Entheta") and various ways of describing a person as being bad for you ("Suppressive"). Scientology's Training Routines (TRs), marketed as ways to help you communicate, are described by experts as being hypnotic drills to plant the seeds of mind control. L Ron Hubbard is held as being utterly infallible and therefore his every word should be followed without question. [Links: Thought-Stopping Phrases, a great little video about Training Routines and more about them, more on "thought control" within Scientology]
• Because they use the notes they take during your "confidential" Auditing sessions against you

  The Auditing that is the core of Scientology often takes the form of a confessional, obtaining deeply personal information from the subject about their personal life. That information is kept in "PC Files" by Scientology (PC = Pre-Clear, the person receiving auditing). These files are supposed to be kept confidential, but the private information from them is often used to bully people in to giving more money to Scientology, to try to stop people from leaving, or to attack people who have left and then speak out against Scientology. [Links: 1, 2, 3, Great Video clip, What Is A PC Folder?]
• Because once you start buying their services, they'll squeeze every last penny out of you

  The hard sell for each new level of "training" stops at nothing. You should sell your shop, or take out huge loans or second mortgages, to finance your Scientology training - according to them. Heavy pressure to spend more cash on courses is applied, to separate members from their money. [Links: 1, 2: Watch Clip A and Clip B, or Watch Full Show, 3]
• Because the books and doctrine are full of utterly false medical claims

  L. Ron Hubbard had no medical background whatsoever, but that didn't stop him claiming that as a result of applying his techniques "... the arthritis vanishes, myopia gets better, heart illness decreases, asthma disappears, stomachs function properly..." (Source: Dianetics MSMH page 46 in that leaked PDF version), as well as many other outlandish promises - including raising the dead. [Links: 1, 2, 3]
• Because it seeks to create a world where only Scientologists have civil rights and citizenship

  L Ron Hubbard invented the phrase "unaberrated person", to mean someone who has swallowed Scientology's nonsense entirely and reached a certain level of indoctrination. Scientology would seek to deny proper citizenship and human rights to anybody else, if they could. "Perhaps at some distant date only the unaberrated person will be granted civil rights under the law. Perhaps the goal will be reached at some future time when only the unaberrated person can attain to and benefit from citizenship." - Dianetics MSMH page 253. [Links: 1, 2]
• Because David Miscavige, global head of Scientology, beats up his own staff

  When L Ron Hubbard died, a bully with a violent temperament and no life experience outside of Scientology took over. David Miscavige grew up in Scientology and his only management technique is intimidation - with regular outbreaks of hitting people [Links: 1, 2, 3, Great Video, Massive Special Report]
• Because even their own members are getting fed up with their obsession with money

  Debbie Cook, a former high-level executive in Scientology's "Sea Org" branch, sent a frankly-worded email out to a large number of Scientologists at the beginning of 2012, attacking the Church's obsession with continuous fundraising. The most useful links for the full story on this are this one to the Village Voice, this one to an annotated copy of Debbie Cook's email, and then this one covering a little of the fall-out. Other coverage from: USA Today (notable for the public denouncement from PR-lackey Karin Pouw; this is a running theme you will find any time someone speaks out!), The Guardian, The Telegraph and The Independent.

(Unless otherwise marked, the links on this page go to sites written and maintained by other people - I don't control their content.)