Clearly

I watched the HBO documentary on Scientology, Going Clear.  It told the story of the movement's mysterious founder, L. Ron Hubbard, as well as what's been going on since his death.  The picture it paints, as you may have heard, is not a pretty one.  As far as I could tell, the doc was well-researched.  Of course, it was almost all stuff from people who broke with Scientology since no one still associated with it wanted to talk.

If there was one part I had trouble with, it was the portion on the IRS.  Hubbard declared Scientology a religion, and thus exempt from taxes, but the IRS pursued him for the rest of his life.  The amount owed when Hubbard died in the 1980s, in fact, was considerably more than everything Scientology had.  The new leaders kept fighting until, in the 90s, the IRS declared it was indeed a religion.

The documentary treats this as a mistake or worse.  They claim Scientology harassed the agency with thousands of lawsuits until it relented just to make it all go away.  They also claim Scientology is not a regular religion, since so much of it is about fundraising, its own members don't really understand it, and it abuses its adherents while attacking anyone who questions it.

The real trouble, I think, is the IRS is in this situation where it has to determine what's a real religion and what isn't.  Generally, it's a tricky thing to question the authenticity of someone's religious convictions. I suppose the government can take action if they can show it's just a front, something made up to get out of paying taxes, but isn't it obvious Scientology is more than that?  This was and is a movement made up of thousands upon thousands of true believers--it's not a scam (or merely a scam), people take it seriously.

Some have accused Hubbard of making it all up out of the many science fiction ideas he had as a pulp writer, but, as is noted in Going Clear, if he were only in it for the money, he could have cashed out early and not gone through such hassles.  And even if it was started as a joke, it doesn't matter--all that matters is the adherents take it seriously. (Some might claim Joseph Smith was just a con man, but is there any doubt what he left behind is a religion under the First Amendment?) And it certainly doesn't matter if followers don't fully understand what it stands for--many religions have (or have had in the days before widespread literacy) leaders who know the sacred texts and followers who only understand the basics.

Is Scientology unconventional compared to mainstream religions?  Certainly, but that's no standard.  You can't even say it doesn't appeal to the supernatural, since some of its beliefs would be considered pretty out there by the average person.  Besides, some would say other religions, such as certain versions of Buddhism, do not rely on the supernatural.

Is there a lot of fundraising?  Yes.  Does Scientology own a lot of expensive properties?  Yes.  Does Scientology abuse its members?  The documentary certainly suggests it does.  But so what?  I could name other religious leaders who spend more time raising money than any other activity, and plenty of cults that appear to be abusive.  This is not to say that calling yourself a religion allows you to get away with anything, but, by American legal standards, even if we don't like it, Scientology should be considered a religion, and deserved tax exempt status all along.