The following question was posed by a college student doing a research paper on Scientology:
What makes Scientology different than any other religion?
The following are answers, from everyday Scientologists from around the world:
The counseling that is done in Scientology is something that is very different from any other religion and gives you a way to strip off all the mental things that are holding you back from just being you.
“What was it about Scientology I liked? Simple. By definition Scientology is an applied religious technology. The key word for me here is applied. I‘m a martial artist. All the wonderful theories and possibilities of martial arts don‘t mean a thing if you can‘t apply them. I want something as real as a punch in the nose. Well, Scientology is my spiritual punch in the nose, so to speak. You apply it and apply it correctly, it works.
Now this isn‘t me being dogmatic. This is me being tried and true. L. Ron Hubbard wrote in 20 May 1969:
“IF IT ISN‘T WORKING, IT IS BEING MISAPPLIED.” – LRH
I have found that to be uniquely true. That has been the doggonedest thing that I have not found elsewhere. If you apply something in the manner it is supposed to be applied, it works every time. It is fascinating but I have actually found that to be the fact. L. Ron Hubbard wrote this in an article called Personal Integrity in February 1961 and I quote in part:
“WHAT IS TRUE FOR YOU is what you have observed for yourself. Nothing in Dianetics and Scientology is true for you unless you have observed it and it is true according to your observation. That is all.” – LRH
This is what is true for me.
One of the other things I like about Scientology is there are all sorts of secular (outside of religious) applications of it. Some are so common and in your face that they whiz right over the heads of most people. An excellent example is the study technology. One of the barriers to study is the misunderstood word. A phenomenon of going past a misunderstood word in what you are studying is that it will cause the following area to go blank. Utterly simple. You don‘t understand a word in what you are reading and you don‘t fully understand the subject. What‘s the handle? Look up the word in a dictionary and clear it up. One can‘t get much more of a simple handle than that yet how many of you dive to a dictionary when you don‘t understand a particular word in what you are reading? Or go looking for a word you don‘t understand if what you are reading seems incomprehensible to you? There is a whole technology of study in Scientology behind this. This is one such example of simple secular application of an aspect of Scientology.”
Scientology is something I do rather than something I believe in. There is a huge difference in how I approach Scientology than how I had approached other religions and it works for me beautifully.
Rosalyn, Scientology mother & grandmother: One thing that makes Scientology different for me is that it’s inclusive. Anyone can study and practice Scientology, even while remaining and active member of another faith group. Actually, Scientology has more in common with other religions than it has differences.
Rebecca, Alaskan mother of 4: For me, it’s about Dogma. I grew up Christian and I didn’t even know that the religion that I followed when I was younger had certain rules and restrictions regarding behavior or activities. Scientology doesn’t really tell you what to do. It gives you the tools to help you do those things that increase your survival for yourself and others.
It’s hard to describe, but in a nutshell, Scientology is set up to provide you with tools and knowledge in a very neutral way that doesn’t make any assumptions or evaluations of your own truths or experiences. Once the individual has the knowledge, he makes his own decisions and assumptions. The opposite of this would be going to a shrink so he can ask you questions and then more or less tell you what’s wrong.
Tad, Oregon: The part which, to me, makes it different is the focus on techniques for application. Most faiths have a moral code, and this (I think) is one of their most important aspects, and is something that’s no different in Scientology in that we have a moral code and a code of ethics, things that are right and wrong and define really what it’s like to “live as a Scientologist”. The core of that, you can read online as it’s encapsulated in The Way to Happiness.
However, the fact of Scientology’s tenets and techniques being expected to be applied, each of them having exact and repeatable results – this is what I feel sets Scientology apart from more traditional faiths.
And it’s because of the fact that there are repeatable results that can be attained by anyone, that I love being involved in Scientology so much. I know that whatever I have going on in my life, whatever part of it that I feel I’m not excelling at or feel needs to be better, I know has a workable, usable solution in Scientology. Most of my site here is filled with specifics on that, as it pertains to parenting, but obviously there’s so much else to life. Whether it’s personal happiness (or depression), personal honesty (or lack of it), being able to effectively communicate in a business setting, or simply being able to organize life so that one can achieve one’s goals, I know that there are workable ways I can improve these things to my satisfaction in Scientology.
However, I stumbled upon Scientology, and it was different. There was a lot of practicality to it. You had to do something to see some results in your life. You had to change something and improve to see improvements in your business, family or group.
Another difference, a BIG difference, is that there is science connected to it. ACTUAL science. I am very big on the sciences and the fact that Scientology can prove all it’s beliefs using science, completely amazes me.
A simple example would be a woman who met someone who reminded her of someone in her past who treated her really badly. This person she met has brought up old, painful recordings in her reactive mind and she is now not operating very rationally. She is trying to get her child ready to leave the house and the child does something silly like dropping their shoe. Instead of just asking the child to pick up the shoe, the woman gets really mad and yells at the child for dropping the shoe. The woman’s reactive mind is effecting her actions at that point. It doesn’t in any way excuse her behavior, because we all are responsible for our behavior. But if the reactive mind hadn’t been effecting her at that point, she would have handled the situation in a much more rational, logical way. So the goal of Scientology is to help the person handle the reactive mind. For me, that is a really worthwhile goal- to make more analytical choices and reactions rather than reactions that are motivated by something I’m not really even aware of.
I have been in Scientology all of my life though, so I would not be able to make a fair judgment between it and another religion. I feel there many similarities between Scientology and other religions… the main one being that it is meant to uplift and enlighten people to greater states of being.