a spiritual and immortal being."1 That Scientology is a religious
philosophy is also implied by Mr. Hubbard when he distinguishes between
religious philosophy and religious practice.* That he does not set great
store by religious practice is evident in the following quotation:
"The euphoria of religion, the ecstasies of worship and debauchery, become
as meaningless as sand when one seeks in them the answer to the riddle of all
existence."2a And again the following definition of Scientology is given:
"A religious philosophy dealing with the study of knowledge in its fullest
sense which, through the application of its technology, can bring about
desirable changes in any condition. Scientology is the road to spiritual
freedom."3
(d) Nevertheless there is also the Church of Scientology in South Africa (Pty.)
Ltd., with a Creed and Book of Ceremonies, chaplains and services and, on
occasion, even a clerical collar. The Chaplain at St. Hill states: "It
is my opinion that by occupying the field of religion, we will gain a stable
position from which to operate, and expand into the lower reality levels."4
That Scientology is indeed a religion is maintained by various witnesses
(inter alia, Mr. Gaiman, the Scientology organization's spokesman world
wide); there were, however, also several pro-scientology witnesses who
did not consider it as such,**a, b and Mr. Hubbard himself at various times
states emphatically: "It is not a psycho-therapy nor a religion. It is a
body of knowledge which, when properly used, gives freedom and truth to the
individual."2b
13.3. In the face of so many different and often contradictory statements it would there-
fore seem necessary to examine the basic ideas underlying Scientology in order to arrive at a
clear understanding of the subject. Dianetics deals with the Dynamics One to Four as formulated
by Mr. Hubbard (Supra pars. 5.18 - 5.35, Chapter 5) whereas Scientology is concerned with
_______
1Hubbard College of Scientology, East Grinstead, Sussex, England. Kangaroo Court. F.E. Bording,
Copenhagen, Denmark. (1967), p. 2.
2Hubbard L. Ron: The Creation of Human Ability, Garden City Press Limited, Letchworth,
Hertfordshire, Great Britain, a) p. 182; b) p. 251.
3Briggs, Catherine; Chalmers, Colin; Chalmers, Margaret; Elton, Doreen; Goodyer, Gladys;
Steel, Catherine; Penberthy, Dorothy: Scientology and the Bible. The Southern Publishing
Co. Ltd., Brighton, England. (Copyright 1967), p. 54.
4Gale, Vern; Chaplain and Hubbard, Mary Sue, The Guardian WW.: HCO Executive Letter of
11 January, 1967 (Issued St. Hill) Hubbard Communications Office, Cape Town, Republic of
South Africa.
*Hubbard L.Ron: The Phoenix Lectures, p. 14.
**Record of Evidence: a) Vol. 21, p. 92 - Mrs. D.A. de Villiers.
b) Vol. 27, p. 26 - Mr. P. van Niekerk.
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