Paper short abstract:

This presentation explores the relationship between Scientology and science by examining L. Ron Hubbard’s writings, views from Scientologists, and the ways in which the Church of Scientology has marketed itself in terms of “spiritual technology," human potential, and techno-spiritual progress.

Paper long abstract:

The Church of Scientology is one of the most recognizable American-born new religious movements (NRMs) but perhaps the least understood. What do practicing Scientologists themselves have to say about Scientology and in particular about its relationship to religion, science, and technology? What is the E-Meter, for example--how does it operate, and how does it function within the religious culture of the Church of Scientology? In what ways is Scientology both religious and scientific? Or is it simply the case that Scientology amounts to pseudoscience in a secular age? This presentation explores these questions by examining some of Hubbard’s own writings, views from everyday Scientologists, and especially the ways in which the Church of Scientology has marketed itself (for example, in Super Bowl commercials in the United States) in terms of “spiritual technology," human potential, and techno-spiritual progress. See here for one example: https://youtu.be/QavEOfgeOi4