Hartley Patterson

Several years ago a Newsgroup, alt.religion.scientology (ARS) was being used to discuss the cult and provide help and support for ex-members. When the CoS learnt about ARS they tried various strategems to get rid of it, some legitimate others not. In doing so they attracted the attention of a good few people who had never heard of the CoS before, but did know bullying and harassment when they saw it. And ARS began to grow... [...]

What seems blindingly obvious to a scientist but apparently not so to scientologists is that Scientology at present has no basis in Science. This is not to invalidate it as a religion - the core beliefs of most if not all religions can't be validated by science - but the feeling still seems to exist amongst practitioners that somehow Scientology is scientific. Mr Hubbard tested it all out before he wrote 'Dianetics' didn't he? Auditing always gives big wins if used correctly doesn't it? [...]

This analysis compares CoS demographic data with that provided by other religious movements. Unlike commercial companies, religions are not audited and not legally obliged to be accurate in publishing statistics about themselves. All the data that follows should be treated with caution!

This page is about demography. Inclusion of religions here is not meant to imply that they have anything in common theologically.
The term 'unit' is used here to cover the various terms used for local groups - parish, org, congregation, etc. [...]

If a CoS spokesperson says "millions of members" to you, ask to see his IAS membership card. Membership of the International Association of Scientologists is required for services to be taken in the CoS. It costs $450 a year or $3,000 for Lifetime membership, the card is issued to Lifetime members but it would be surprising if a spokesperson was not one.

The rightmost eight digits are a cumulative member number (see picture below). That number will not be more than 150,000. People who have died or left the CoS since 1984 are still part of that total, so the actual number of Lifetime members must be smaller.

Now rephrase that question. "How many IAS members are there?" [...]

1. What's an FAQ?
2. What is Scientology?
3. What do scientologists believe?
4. I have some questions for scientologists, are there any here?
5. Can someone please Email me a copy of the secret scriptures?
6. What is a newsgroup?
7. So who's in charge?
8. Can I delete or change my posts?
9. Can I post anonymously?
10. What are all these strange words?
11. Wasn't ARS started as a joke by someone using a fake Email address?
12. Didn't a CoS lawyer try to delete ARS?
13. And the CoS is still hostile to ARS?
14. This is a hate group trying to destroy the Scientology religion.
15. I want to spread the bad news. Is there some simple information I can pass on to others?
16. Will posting on ARS cause the CoS to make trouble for me?
17. So what is On Topic for this newsgroup?
18. Are there do's and don'ts for posting?
19. There's a lot of rubbish on ARS, how can I get rid of it?
20. Whatever happened to Bob Minton?
21. What is Anonymous?
22. Is this the only scientology newsgroup?
23. Is this the only Usenet Scientology FAQ?