To the Editor:
The Church of Scientology had been away from the headlines for awhile. This all changed when HBO put out the documentary “Going Clear.”
This documentary brought the Church of Scientology and all of its controversial actions since the 1950s. It showed Scientology’s methods of becoming a tax exempt religion and methods of blackmailing its members into never leaving and donating millions.
Through all this one method of Scientology that really stuck out to me was the auditing. Why this stuck out to me was how many of excommunicated members of scientology said that this process actually helped them and improved their life, so I decided to look into what was so special about auditing and it’s healing process. I ended up watching a Scientology video on how auditing works.
I realized that the process was a form of therapy. It asked people to speak about a traumatic situation or something that negatively influenced their life each session, repeating the memory over and over again until they describe it in full detail. Then at the end of the session, the person who was listening and recording the auditee would tell the person that they’ve been relieved of their problems and essentially that they’re now a purer person.
This all makes sense to me as I’ve made it a hobby of mine to figure out what hooks people to religion. While Scientology may seen more obscure and ridiculous than other religions, their recruiting process is virtually the same.
They find people who are at a weak point in their life, provide them with a community and auditors who are essentially unlicensed therapists and provide them with a sense of worth. To me this shows Scientology is really a religion. All religions have their problems and Scientology is no different. Personally I see auditing as a benefit to someone going through a hard time in their life and it’s something that no other religion offers.
Joesph Romo, 19
Hyde School, post-graduate
McLean