Systems of Belief

I watched the HBO documentary Going Clear, about the Church of Scientology, because as I told my wife, "I like to look in on the competition."  Scientology is rather more widely known than it's actual size warrants. By some estimates they only have about 50,000 adherents world wide, which may seem like a lot until you realize that there are approximately 600,000 Rastafarians, and they're sort of on the low end of the list (Judaism: 14 million, Islam 1.6 billion, Christianity: 2.2 billion, according to Wikipedia, but those numbers seem pretty on target).  Scientology is a fairly new religion founded by L.Ron Hubbard, a man who was a failure as a Science Fiction writer but whom you would have to say, started a fairly successful religion, at least if you judge by dollar signs.
And that seems to be the thing about Scientology, they are a religion that is all about success and straight cash money.  They attract a handful of super-wealthy, super-famous people: notably Tom Cruise and John Travolta, and they put on a show, about how they can help everyone succeed like those two have succeeded.  Of course, there's a bit of dark side to the whole thing as you can imagine, but if you want to know about that, watch Going Clear.
What I want to think out loud about here is the spectrum of religious practice, where Scientology occupies a clear (pun intended) end point.  This end point is the type of religion that starts with methods and only reveals it's "secrets" to the initiated.  One of the points that a former Scientologist made in the documentary was that if you ask your average Christian or Jew or Muslim what they believe, they will be able to tell you, roughly, in a couple of minutes.  Christians will say something that can be as simple as: Jesus is Lord, or get a little more complicated.  Muslims actually have a slogan: There is no God but Allah, and Mohammed is his prophet.  Atheists (yes they're a religious group) basically require their adherents to say there is no god, if you start talking about a god or gods or even the possibility of a god or gods,  you're technically an agnostic and out of the club.
Scientology however, starts with a whole bunch of practical instructions for living and succeeding, and never tells you anything about overlord Xenu until you're an Operating Thetan level III (or something like that).  Want to know what that means?  Actually you probably don't, particularly if Scientology has been working out pretty well for you so far, and by that I mean, it's methods and it's system of expensive audits has been helping you acquire wealth and live the "good life," which is actually their major selling point.
Scientology is a creation of the modern/postmodern mindset, it's mythos is founded in the writings of science fiction writer, its evangelists are celebrities, its practice, if we are to believe the growing number of ex-scientologists, are dystopian on an Orwellian scale.  But none of that is really getting to the core of the matter, which is the method.  Scientology does something for people, from the very beginning: it teaches them how to organize, how to communicate, how to focus, basically how to become successful in the world.  Once it establishes its value, and once it earns the acceptance and loyalty of its adherents, then it springs the ideas, the audits, the engrams, becoming clear, thetans, Xenu,,, all that stuff that sounds just absolutely crazy to outsiders.  To those inside though, it doesn't seem crazy because they have accepted that it all works, and often would rather not challenge the crazy for fear of upsetting a system that has real benefits for them.
In modern Protestant Christianity we tell you our "secret" on day one.  We tell you it's about a relationship with God, which is mediated by Jesus Christ, who is our savior and our example.  We have varied ways of expressing this truth, but it essentially comes back to the triune God, who is the same God that made covenant with the people of Israel, and thus connects us to Judaism.  It comes back to Jesus of Nazareth who was a Jewish teacher, healer and miracle worker, who was crucified by the Romans at the urging of the Sanhedrin (Jewish religious establishment/ruling class).  And we will tell you, most of us anyway, that Jesus was resurrected on the third day after his crucifixion and then ascended into heaven.
Some people will find that last part implausible, perhaps even impossible, and I will have to admit, given a scientific understanding of the world, it is, in fact, unlikely.  But that's what makes it an article of faith.  It cannot be proven or dis-proven, it can only be believed or not believed.  The thing about it is, you don't have to learn any secret handshakes or subscribe to any secret pact to be able to hear about our faith.  You don't have to follow our rules or worship in our community, you don't have to go on a mission or join a special group, you just have to hear and accept the love of God in Jesus.
There are some within the church who think we're giving away our truth a little too easily.  There are some who look at the commitment evoked by more strenuous disciplines in say Buddhism or even within Roman Catholicism (after all I'm going on a pilgrimage next week, you don't get much more Catholic or committed than trying to walk 500 miles to a cathedral where they supposedly have the bones of a Saint), and say that perhaps we've just made it too easy.
Maybe we have.
I realize, at about this point, that I have opened a large can of worms, this is going to have to be continued.