This last weekend I watched the documentary Going Clear. I have heard and read some about Scientology before the documentary, and so I knew to expect there to be some strong similarities between Scientology and Mormonism. I recommend everyone, faithful or not, see the documentary. It does a great job of walking through from the beginning to the present day practices. As I watched the documentary, I noted several items that parallel some of the troubling aspects of Mormonism (as well as other religions). Here are the ones that seemed the most relevant, and that I may not have expected from a supposedly “science,” or at least faux-science based religion.
Eternal consequences
“… your own destiny for the next endless trillions of years depend on what you do here and now with and in Scientology.” (KSW policy letter)
This is of course a key part of Mormonism, for example:
“Now is the time for us to choose between good and evil, for our actions bring consequences in this life and in the eternities. ” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Wilford Woodruff), and
“… for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.” (Alma 34:33)
This is of course not something unique to Mormonism — most religions have this forever-ness of consequences. It is a huge problem for all religions, just see Wikipedia’s Problem of Hell.
Give the Glory to God/Religion
“When you’re in the organization, all the good that happens to you is because of Scientology. And everything that isn’t good is your fault.” — Spanky Taylor
As humans, we error on the side of caution in identifying patterns — we make many type I errors, or “false positives.” This attribution of anything good to God is reinforced every testimony meeting, if not every week. It is also in the Book of Mormon, for example:
“12 Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil;” — Moroni 7:12
Consequences of leaving
“… [Travolta] got injected with a lot of confidence. And then you get this phobia inducement: If I leave, it’s all going to go down the tubes” — Spanky Taylor
This is a huge fear of many Mormons. One of the principal themes of the Book of Mormon is that of a “prosperity gospel,” known as the “pride cycle” or “cycle of righteousness and wickedness” in which obedience brings blessings and prosperity. The link between righteousness and prosperity is not implied, it is explicitly stated repeatedly in the manuals and talks (see image).
Brigham Young said several things on the topic as well, for example:
“Let a man or woman who has received much of the power of God, visions and revelations, turn away from the holy commandments of the Lord, and it seems that their senses are taken from them, their understanding and judgment in righteousness are taken away, they go into darkness, and become like a blind person who gropes by the wall” — Teachings of Brigham Young, Chapter 12
Hidden Truths
There are hidden ‘truths’ that are revealed once you obtain higher levels. These truths are Scientology’s “creation story.”
“You need to be in Scientology for 7–8 years and several hundred thousand dollars before you get the actual story.”
The Mormon temple also presents “sacred” truths by telling the creation story. You only need to be LDS and pay tithing for a year to go to the temple, but it is still a huge commitment by that point.
Persecution complex
“They would say ‘Don’t go on the internet, don’t go to these sites. None of it can be believed.’ ”
“Hubbard believed that the only reason his ideas weren’t promulgated more widely was that the medical institution was conspiring against him to keep the business.” — Sara
This is alive and well in the LDS culture as well. The leaders counsel to avoid “anti-mormon” books and websites, and profess that the world is out to destroy the church. For example, this quote:
“Since the spring of 1820, Lucifer has led a relentless attack against the Latter-day Saints and their leaders. A parade of anti-Christs, anti-Mormons, and apostate groups have appeared on the scene. Many are still among us and have released new floods of lies and false accusations. These faith-killers and testimony-thieves use personal contacts, the printed word, electronic media, and other means of communication to sow doubts and to disturb the peace of true believers.” — Carlos E. Asay
Lying for the cause
“Because Scientology is perceived and conceived by Scientologists as being the salvation for mankind, you can have people that lie with a very straight face if they believe that what they are doing is protecting the Church of Scientology.”
See the MormonThink article explaining the history about this practice by LDS leaders, which is extensive. The same idea expressed in the quote above is explained in Boyd Packer’s statement:
“Some things that are true are not very useful.” (Boyd K. Packer, “The Mantle is Far, Far Greater Than the Intellect,” 1981, BYU Studies, Vol. 21, No. 3, pp. 259–271)
Thinking for you
“They tell you that you should be able to think for yourself, then they tell you everything you should think.”
“If we can just believe something, then we don’t have to think for ourselves.” — Paul Haggis
This is such a damaging approach to life, yet there are so many LDS leader statements that are similar:
“When the Prophet speaks the debate is over”. — N. Eldon Tanner, August Ensign 1979, pages 2–3
“Always keep your eye on the President of the church, and if he ever tells you to do anything, even if it is wrong, and you do it, the lord will bless you for it but you don’t need to worry. The lord will never let his mouthpiece lead the people astray.” — LDS President Marion G. Romney (of the first presidency), quoting LDS President (and prophet) Heber J. Grant “Conference Report” Oct. 1960 p. 78
“Any Latter-day Saint who denounces or opposes whether actively or otherwise, any plan or doctrine advocated by the prophets, seers, revelators’ of the church, is cultivating the spirit of apostacy. One cannot speak evil of the lord’s annointed… and retain the holy spirit in his heart. This sort of game is Satan’s favorite pastime, and he has practiced it to believing souls since Adam. He {Satan} wins a great victory when he can get members of the church to speak against their leaders and to do their own thinking.” — Ward Teachers Message, Deseret News, Church Section p. 5, May 26, 1945
Interesting statements about Hubbard (LRH)
LRH said many times something to the effect that “You don’t get rich writing science fiction. If you want to get rich, you start a religion.” LRH was a compulsive liar and a con-man. While he was in the navy, he lied on his activity reports, and after he invented heroic war stories and used those plus threats of suicide to convince Sara to marry him. He was involved heavily in magic for a time. He would tell stories as if they were facts about far off space civilizations when with company. He was highly charismatic and able to convince others to follow him. Hubbard also believed his tales, so much that even in old age he spent much of his time using his the auditing device. Scientology was him trying to understand his own mind.
JSJ was obviously a very different type of person in many ways, but they both were drawn to magic. JSJ was known in his earlier years as a money digger/treasure hunter, but it didn’t make him much money. He used ‘seer stones’ and other objects like divining rods to help channel this folk magic, similar to LRH used his E‑meter. JSJ told stories about the ancient inhabitants of the American continent to his family prior to him receiving the golden plates, similar to LRH’s verbally recounting stories with ease.
Conclusion
None of these items are unique to only Scientology or Mormonism, but they are strongly tied to cult-like groups. If anything, I hope these thoughts make others watch Going Clear. It is definitely worth the time.