Skip to content or view mobile version

Home | Mobile | Editorial | Mission | Privacy | About | Contact | Help | Security | Support

A network of individuals, independent and alternative media activists and organisations, offering grassroots, non-corporate, non-commercial coverage of important social and political issues.

Scientology as Sci-Fi Fascism

Temple of Xenu | 25.02.2008 17:43 | Analysis | Repression | Social Struggles | London

Today I was reading Ur-Fascism ( http://www.pegc.us/archive/Articles/eco_ur-fascism.pdf) by Umberto Eco. In it he addresses a common political problem: how to define fascism. This problem lies in the incoherence in fascism either as a philosophy or a movement. Anti-capitalist or pro-business, conservative yet revolutionary, contradictory both within and between movements which take the name. Eco identifies a number of characteristics which are common to fascist movements, while acknowledging that not all will be present in any one movement or philosophy, and that a number of perceived contradictions do not prevent movements being categorised together. These characteristics are described as Ur-Fascism, or Eternal Fascism, the base on which specific fascisms may be built.

As a thought experiment I decided to check the Church of Scientology against the list and see how they fared up. If you don't want to read the whole article, the Wikipedia article ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Definitions_of_fascism#Umberto_Eco) on definitions of fascism summarises the points as follows.

* "The Cult of Tradition", combining cultural syncretism with a rejection of modernism (often disguised as a rejection of capitalism).

In Scientology, one of the gravest sins one could commit - and the "justification" for much of the cult's aggression towards the Free Zone - is to become a "squirrel", that is, to alter the practices of Dianetics and Scientology in any way from what Hubbard originally wrote. The documents were perfect when written and any attempt to change them in any way would be to render the Tech ineffective or even deadly. Things must remain as they always were, and history must be rewritten if necessary.

* "The Cult of Action for Action's Sake", which dictates that action is of value in itself, and should be taken without intellectual reflection. This, says Eco, is connected with anti-intellectualism and irrationalism, and often manifests in attacks on modern culture and science.

Scientologists are discouraged from questioning the effectiveness of the Tech or reflecting on how Scientology is working for them. The cult's opposition to some branches of science (specifically Psychiatry and Pharmaceuticals) is well known. This, however, is perhaps the weakest fitting of the traits Eco lists.

* "Disagreement is Treason" - fascism devalues intellectual discourse and critical reasoning as barriers to action.

Pretty much the slightest glance at any criticism of Scientology bears this out.

* "Fear of Difference", which fascism seeks to exploit and exacerbate, often in the form of racism or an appeal against foreigners and immigrants.

Scientology has a very strong "us against the world" component, as demontrated by the numerous groups Hubbard identified as being after him (the FBI, the CIA, the KGB, MI5, the German government, the psychiatric establishment, the pharmaceutical establishment, the IRS, all the world's media, etc.). Where traditional fascism attempts to appeal to a would-be majority and manifests itself with the targetting of minority groups, Scientology in the reverse position identifies numerous authority figures attempting to suppress it.

* "Appeal to a Frustrated Middle Class", fearing economic pressure from the demands and aspirations of lower social groups.

This is a point which I would be fascinated to know more of - the demographics of Scientology and typical economic makeup. A glance at the price list for Scientology auditing ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientology_as_a_business#Costs) tells us that to get very far at all one would have to be at minimum upper middle class - much of their publicity shows executives and other professional types in relatively spacious homes.

* "Obsession With a plot" and the hyping-up of an enemy threat. This often involves an appeal to xenophobia or the identification of an internal security threat. He cites Pat Robertson's book The New World Order as a prominent example of a plot obsession.

I'll let the cult do my talking for me:  http://opposing.scientology.org/31-behnd.htm

** Although the forty-year assault against Scientology assumed large proportions, the source must be remembered-that small but influential circle of psychiatrists and their government stooges. Nor did the means change over the years: false allegations selectively planted in the media, then seeded into even more federal files as background “fact.”

** It is a method, with small adjustments, that also served to cause trouble overseas. The international pipeline left the US, primarily through IRS and FBI links, and discharged among the voluminous dossiers of Interpol.

** Interpol (originally designed to coordinate criminal apprehension between countries) was convenient on three counts: First, as a private organization it is not accountable to the people of any country, as are government agencies, and is free to amass secret dossiers and spread them far and wide; second, files bearing the authoritative Interpol stamp are assumed to be true; and, third, it had a decades-old relationship with the IRS and the FBI, the main repositories of false reports on Scientology in the US. In fact, IRS and FBI files contained virtually every rumor ever disseminated about Scientology, further substantiating Congressional findings that these agencies were often used to launch politically motivated attacks against targets that had committed no crimes at all.

Rumour has it that David Miscavige, head of the cult, has recently declared Anonymous to be the fourth or fifth wave of the invasion fleet of the Marcab Confederacy, bad guys in much of Hubbard's sci-fi-on-LSD scripture.

* "Pacifism is Trafficking With the Enemy" because "Life is Permanent Warfare" - there must always be an enemy to fight.

** "We are not a turn the other cheek religion" - Scientologist Lawyer Earle C Cooley on CNN after the copyright raids of activists homes in 1995

* "Contempt for the Weak" - although a fascist society is elitist, everybody in the society is educated to become a hero.

Scientology teaches that the Tech is perfect and that any human being should be able to advance through the ranks. Failure to do so is thus a failure of the Scientologist rather than the Tech.

* "Selective Populism" - the People have a common will, which is not delegated but interpreted by a leader. This may involve doubt being cast upon a democratic institution, because "it no longer represents the Voice of the People".

Again, borne out by pretty much everyone who ever escaped the cult.

* "Newspeak" - fascism employs and promotes an impoverished vocabulary in order to limit critical reasoning.

Hubbard was obsessed with language. In Dianetics and his other works, words (such as Suppressive, Survival, Ethics, Audit, Clear) are redefined according to a specific Scientology meaning. It is theorised by some that this is a way to force people to internalise the doctrine by changing the way they think about everyday words.

And that's the lot. Does this make the Church of Scientology fascist? Perhaps it does, perhaps it doesn't. Overall it need not effect the fight against the cult, or against fascism, as both are reprehensible on their own qualities. The comparison, however, has been an interesting one.

Temple of Xenu
- Homepage: http://www.enturbulation.org

Upcoming Coverage
View and post events
Upcoming Events UK
24th October, London: 2015 London Anarchist Bookfair
2nd - 8th November: Wrexham, Wales, UK & Everywhere: Week of Action Against the North Wales Prison & the Prison Industrial Complex. Cymraeg: Wythnos o Weithredu yn Erbyn Carchar Gogledd Cymru

Ongoing UK
Every Tuesday 6pm-8pm, Yorkshire: Demo/vigil at NSA/NRO Menwith Hill US Spy Base More info: CAAB.

Every Tuesday, UK & worldwide: Counter Terror Tuesdays. Call the US Embassy nearest to you to protest Obama's Terror Tuesdays. More info here

Every day, London: Vigil for Julian Assange outside Ecuadorian Embassy

Parliament Sq Protest: see topic page
Ongoing Global
Rossport, Ireland: see topic page
Israel-Palestine: Israel Indymedia | Palestine Indymedia
Oaxaca: Chiapas Indymedia
Regions
All Regions
Birmingham
Cambridge
Liverpool
London
Oxford
Sheffield
South Coast
Wales
World
Other Local IMCs
Bristol/South West
Nottingham
Scotland
Social Media
You can follow @ukindymedia on indy.im and Twitter. We are working on a Twitter policy. We do not use Facebook, and advise you not to either.
Support Us
We need help paying the bills for hosting this site, please consider supporting us financially.
Other Media Projects
Schnews
Dissident Island Radio
Corporate Watch
Media Lens
VisionOnTV
Earth First! Action Update
Earth First! Action Reports
Topics
All Topics
Afghanistan
Analysis
Animal Liberation
Anti-Nuclear
Anti-militarism
Anti-racism
Bio-technology
Climate Chaos
Culture
Ecology
Education
Energy Crisis
Fracking
Free Spaces
Gender
Globalisation
Health
History
Indymedia
Iraq
Migration
Ocean Defence
Other Press
Palestine
Policing
Public sector cuts
Repression
Social Struggles
Technology
Terror War
Workers' Movements
Zapatista
Major Reports
NATO 2014
G8 2013
Workfare
2011 Census Resistance
Occupy Everywhere
August Riots
Dale Farm
J30 Strike
Flotilla to Gaza
Mayday 2010
Tar Sands
G20 London Summit
University Occupations for Gaza
Guantanamo
Indymedia Server Seizure
COP15 Climate Summit 2009
Carmel Agrexco
G8 Japan 2008
SHAC
Stop Sequani
Stop RWB
Climate Camp 2008
Oaxaca Uprising
Rossport Solidarity
Smash EDO
SOCPA
Past Major Reports
Encrypted Page
You are viewing this page using an encrypted connection. If you bookmark this page or send its address in an email you might want to use the un-encrypted address of this page.
If you recieved a warning about an untrusted root certificate please install the CAcert root certificate, for more information see the security page.

Global IMC Network


www.indymedia.org

Projects
print
radio
satellite tv
video

Africa

Europe
antwerpen
armenia
athens
austria
barcelona
belarus
belgium
belgrade
brussels
bulgaria
calabria
croatia
cyprus
emilia-romagna
estrecho / madiaq
galiza
germany
grenoble
hungary
ireland
istanbul
italy
la plana
liege
liguria
lille
linksunten
lombardia
madrid
malta
marseille
nantes
napoli
netherlands
northern england
nottingham imc
paris/île-de-france
patras
piemonte
poland
portugal
roma
romania
russia
sardegna
scotland
sverige
switzerland
torun
toscana
ukraine
united kingdom
valencia

Latin America
argentina
bolivia
chiapas
chile
chile sur
cmi brasil
cmi sucre
colombia
ecuador
mexico
peru
puerto rico
qollasuyu
rosario
santiago
tijuana
uruguay
valparaiso
venezuela

Oceania
aotearoa
brisbane
burma
darwin
jakarta
manila
melbourne
perth
qc
sydney

South Asia
india


United States
arizona
arkansas
asheville
atlanta
Austin
binghamton
boston
buffalo
chicago
cleveland
colorado
columbus
dc
hawaii
houston
hudson mohawk
kansas city
la
madison
maine
miami
michigan
milwaukee
minneapolis/st. paul
new hampshire
new jersey
new mexico
new orleans
north carolina
north texas
nyc
oklahoma
philadelphia
pittsburgh
portland
richmond
rochester
rogue valley
saint louis
san diego
san francisco
san francisco bay area
santa barbara
santa cruz, ca
sarasota
seattle
tampa bay
united states
urbana-champaign
vermont
western mass
worcester

West Asia
Armenia
Beirut
Israel
Palestine

Topics
biotech

Process
fbi/legal updates
mailing lists
process & imc docs
tech