You may be a bit confused as to why the word "Dianetics" comes up so much when it's really Scientology. What's going on?
Dianetics was developed first. When Scientology was developed, L. Ron Hubbard considered it an improvement and a replacement of Dianetics. He said that Dianetics wasn't workable enough, wasn't fast enough and that Scientology was the answer. He even declared that the goal of Dianetics, the "Clear", was now attainable through Scientology.
And so, with the development of Scientology, Dianetics faded away.
Originally, Hubbard declared that Scientology was not a religion, but he soon learned of the value of calling it a religion. Being a religion was a way to avoid those pesky laws about "practicing medicine without a license", those annoying requirements about "truth in advertising", and other legal liabilities. Plus, there were nice tax benefits. So, he decided that he would cloak Scientology as a religion.
At first, most Scientologists thought it was pretty much a joke, but to pull off the religion gimmick, they had to take it seriously and make Scientology look more "religious", and they did -- as much as a business can.
But, despite the legal and tax benefits, the religious cloaking wasn't all to the good. As time went on, it became obvious that there were serious drawbacks to this religion gimmick. While it was working to shield Scientology from a lot of legal problems, the religion angle also closed many doors to aggressive business expansion.
Religion really isn't a good way to get the maximum number of paying public in the door. A lot of people are turned off by religious proselytizing.
Not only that, but most of the countries in the world are very strongly controlled or influenced by one or the other of the major religions. In some, any religious activity outside of the official religion is illegal.
What to do? A business wouldn't have any trouble at all expanding into these areas. What to do, what to do?
Sure, the Church of Scientology created all their little front groups: Narconon, Applied Scholastics, Criminon, A.B.L.E. and the rest, but those were pretty narrowly targeted to the type of person they could pull in. The church needed something that was "non-religious" and could be used to pull in a more general type of person.
And so Hubbard brought back Dianetics as a "non-religious, self-help" technology -- separate from the 'religion' of Scientology.
Of course that's a lie. It isn't separate. Dianetics is thoroughly and completely part of the Scientology belief system. You cannot do Scientology without doing Dianetics. And, of course, the intention with Dianetics is that people will automatically progress through the cheap Dianetics processes onto the more expensive Scientology services.
So, Dianetics was brought back from obscurity as the ultimate front-group for Scientology. That's why you don't see Scientology in the malls. That's why you don't see Scientology on the streets, at the "stress test" tables. You only see Dianetics. It's a trick.
And that's why you see "Dianetics Centers", as a business, in countries and cultures where the religion of Scientology would be unwelcome. But, even with that name it is and will always be Scientology.
In this way, the Church of Scientology attempts to have its cake and eat it too. It tries, with Dianetics, to get all the benefits of being a money-making non-religious business, while still, under the Scientology name, attempting to get all the benefits and protections of being a religion. It's the same organization, trying to play the game both ways.
But it's just another lie. It's just another trick. It's just another way to try to get around the "wog" (non-Scientology) laws and "wog" cultures, to expand their business and, they hope, take over the world.
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You're right. As an ex-staff member, I can confirm that we knew this and knew it well. Dianetics is one of the "Intro Routes" into the orgs. It is a distinct and known route for getting new people into the Church. It is even listed as a specific introductory route on their "Bridge to Total Freedom" which is posted on the org walls. And as you said, the Dianetics name is cleverly used in other countries which do not take kindly to other religions. To give a specific example, during the earthquakes in Pakistan a few years ago the "Scientology Volunteer Ministers" were sent in there as Dianetics Volunteers. Same yellow t-shirts, same people, just a different non-religious label. It opened a lot of doors at the time, whereas going in there as "Volunteer Ministers" would have gotten them turned right back out of the country. Your important observation is very astute and can be easily understood by lay people outside of Scientology. I hope it helps many avoid being tricked.
ReplyDeleteThanks for your comment and further information. I appreciate it!
ReplyDeletePeople have to be asking:
What other religion simply discards the whole concept of "religion" when it interferes with business?
What other religion has so many "introductory channels" that hide its religious nature?
What other religion denies that it is a religion in most countries?
Only Scientology.
Once again, Bill, a phenomenal commentary on the ways scientology tries to weasel its way into every facet of society.
ReplyDeleteYour blog is a great spot to refer people who have a real desire to know how the cult ticks. Thanks for all your insight.
I should add that I've also really been enjoying your comments... quite entertaining of late. ;)
Key piece of info, Bill. Good Job!
ReplyDeleteThanks! I appreciate the feedback, as always.
ReplyDeleteThere have been some nice discussions recently. In case anyone missed it, Ask a Question has been active of late.
Are the dianetics exercises hypnotic in your opinion?
ReplyDeleteRe: Are Dianetic techniques hypnotic?
ReplyDeleteI am not an expert on hypnosis, but a common description of hypnosis as "a wakeful state of focused attention and heightened suggestibility" certainly could easily apply to a Dianetics session. Certainly both focused attention and heightened suggestibility are both present in a Dianetics session.
Hubbard was well trained in hypnosis, and used self-hypnosis on himself extensively. He was not above utilizing aspects of hypnosis to "make Dianetics work".
Early Dianetics techniques included some hypnotic phrasing and instructions for "cancelling" any hypnotic effect.
Of course, not everyone is easily hypnotized, and I would imagine that different people's experiences with Dianetics would have to be different.
It may be noted that both Dianetics and Scientology techniques could be described as "a wakeful state of focused attention and heightened suggestibility" -- for what it's worth.
Good job, Bill. Dianetics and Scientology have one important common denominator: both subjects are science fiction works written by a lying, fanciful, sci fi writer who figured the best way to make millions of dollars and get millions of people sucking up to him was to start his own religion. When you cut through all the BS, it's a simple story, really. Thank you for the great blog!
ReplyDeleteI was under the impression that Dianetics was abandoned for Scientology in the early 50s.
ReplyDeleteExtremely brief summary, as I understand it: Hubbard and a rich supporter started the Wichita Foundation, which was assigned the copyrights for Dianetics. Hubbard had a falling out with the money man, the foundation was losing money, so he bailed. He got the copyrights back later on and began using both.
I don't disagree that in current times, Scn doesn't attempt to use both separately. There is more to the history, though.
In fact, the longer history shows more weasel behavior demonstrated from a man with a long history of such.
My main source here is "A Piece of Blue Sky," but I've read similar in other sources.
Thanks omnom,
ReplyDeleteThe history of Hubbard, Dianetics and Scientology is indeed convoluted and strange.
According to several sources, the copyrights of much of Dianetics and Scientology materials have been permanently lost due to carelessness. Much of the material, including many of the books, could be legally published in their original form by anyone.
For more strangeness, check out the California Association of Dianetics Auditors, a very legal group that the Church of Scientology hates. They existed before the church and have never been affiliated with it.
I guess you could say that technically they are more legal than the Church of Scientology.