In 1993, the tides turned when Scientology regained tax-exempt status as a charitable organization.

So, wouldn’t Scientology, then, fulfill the defining criteria for a religious organization? At the time, the US government disagreed, and rejected the Church’s appeal. What’s more, Scientology attributes extraordinary powers to their founder, such as his visions of a supernatural world, analogous to those of Jesus, Muhammad or Abraham. Their main expert, Frank Flinn, testified that, like other religions, Scientology possesses a system of beliefs spiritual in nature, a set of behavioral norms as well as rites and ceremonies. Unsatisfied with this outcome, in 1977, the Church enlisted experts on religious movements to affirm the religious nature of Scientology.

Only ten years later, however, the IRS ruled that Scientology was, in fact, not a religion, but rather a commercial enterprise that existed to enrich its founder, L. The US government officially granted Scientology religious status in 1957, three years after the organization was founded. This brings us to a bigger question: is Scientology a religion at all? This question, like the one above, will prove difficult to answer: Without baptismal records or other ritual professions of faith, estimations on membership become difficult. In truth, it’s hard to know how many there are. In the United States, however, only about 25,000 people label themselves Scientologists. Unofficially, the organization claims eight million members worldwide.

Going clear book