The Church of Scientology
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TL;DR
- What it is: a religion founded in 1953-54 by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, built on his 1950 self-help book Dianetics.
- Paid ladder: members pay for "auditing" with an E-meter, climbing toward "Clear" and secret "OT" levels.
- Fair Game: Hubbard's 1967 order said enemies "may be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed."
- Biggest spy job on the US government: Operation Snow White. Eleven church officials, including Hubbard's wife, were convicted.
- Today: actor Danny Masterson is serving 30 years to life for two rapes; his accusers say the church harassed them for years.
- Why watch: a tax-exempt church with a written policy of destroying critics and cutting families apart.
Real founder
L. Ron Hubbard, 1911 to 1986.
Real policies
Fair Game and Disconnection, in his own policy letters.
Real crimes
Federal convictions, a fraud conviction in France, a death in its care.
Real pushback
Ex-members going public, and suing.
This page is about the Church of Scientology as an organization and its leaders' policies and acts. Many individual members joined for help and have been hurt by it.
What it is
A self-help system that became a church, then a tightly run organization with its own clergy, police and courts.
L. Ron Hubbard
Pulp science-fiction writer. Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (1950) claimed painful memories ("engrams") cause illness and can be cleared. The first Church of Scientology followed in 1953-54.
Hubbard in 1950. Image: Wikipedia.
🧪 Auditing
Counselling sessions with an E-meter, paid for in packages.
🔒 OT levels
Secret upper teachings, including the story of the galactic ruler Xenu, revealed through court records.
⚓ Sea Org
The full-time clergy. Members sign a billion-year contract and work for very low pay.
David Miscavige
Leader since Hubbard's death in 1986. His wife Shelly has not been seen in public since 2007; the church and police have said she is fine.
David Miscavige. Image: Wikipedia.
In their own words
From Hubbard's own policy letters, still part of church scripture.
In 1968 Hubbard cancelled the use of the words "Fair Game" because they caused bad publicity. Courts later found the practice continued; in U.S. v. Kember, church officials admitted it was policy in the Guardian's Office.
✂️ Disconnection
Members are told to cut off family and friends who oppose the church.
🚫 Suppressive Person
The label for critics and ex-members. Declared SPs become targets of Fair Game.
⛓️ RPF
The Rehabilitation Project Force: hard labour and confession for Sea Org members out of line.
What they have done
Court records, convictions and documented cases.
1970s: Snow White
Church agents broke into and bugged US government offices, including the IRS and Justice Department, to steal files on Scientology.
1979: convictions
Eleven church officials, including Mary Sue Hubbard, convicted. Hubbard was named an unindicted co-conspirator.
1995: Lisa McPherson
Died after 17 days in church care at the Fort Harrison Hotel, Clearwater. Criminal charges against the church were later dropped.
1993
The IRS grants tax exemption after years of church lawsuits against the agency.
2009
A French court convicts the church of organized fraud.
Ongoing
Germany's domestic intelligence service monitors it as hostile to the constitution.
2023
Leah Remini sues the church and Miscavige for harassment and defamation.
Danny Masterson
Sentenced in September 2023 to 30 years to life for raping two women; he lost his appeal in October 2026. The women, former Scientologists, say the church told them not to go to police and then harassed them for coming forward; they are suing.
Danny Masterson. Image: Wikipedia.
Now, and myths online
What is true, what is exaggerated, what is disputed.
✖ "Fair Game ended in 1968"
Only the name did. Courts and ex-officials document the practice long after.
✖ "Millions of members"
The church claims millions. Independent surveys find tens of thousands in the US at most.
✖ "It's just another church"
Few churches have federal break-in convictions and a written policy for destroying critics.
⚠ "Start a religion to get rich"
Hubbard is quoted saying it by several people who knew him. There is no recording; treat it as reported, not proven.
⚠ "Shelly was disappeared"
Unproven. She has not appeared in public since 2007; police reported her safe in 2013.
✔ What holds up
Fair Game in writing, criminal convictions, Disconnection, and harassment of critics in court records.
Why watch
A church with its own intelligence history, a policy of destroying enemies, and tax-free money.
🕵️ Spying record
It once ran the largest infiltration of the US government by a private group.
👨👩👧 Broken families
Disconnection splits parents from children by policy.
📢 Critics targeted
Journalists, ex-members and accusers report private investigators, smear sites and lawsuits.
💸 Tax-free money
Exempt since 1993, with large property holdings.
⭐ Celebrity shield
Famous members give it a friendly public face.
Red flags to watch for
🚩 Front groups in schools, drug rehab or anti-psychiatry campaigns without the church name.
🚩 Officials taking church money or awards.
🚩 Harassment of journalists or witnesses after a story.
🚩 Pressure on victims not to go to police.
🚩 A relative suddenly cut off and calling you "suppressive."
🚩 Debt from buying course packages.
Bottom line
A small but rich organization whose founder wrote down how to destroy enemies, whose officials went to prison for spying on the government, and whose critics still report being hunted.
Church of Scientology, Los Angeles. Image: Wikipedia.