Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-8bhkd Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-08T04:53:03.376Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Church of Scientology: Legitimacy through Perception Management

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  14 February 2014

Max Halupka
Max Halupka*
Affiliation:
ANZSOG Institute for Governance, University of Canberra
*
Address correspondence and reprint requests to: Max Halupka, ANZSOG Institute for Governance, University of Canberra, Canberra, ACT. E-mail: [email protected]
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

In 1967 the Church of Scientology's tax-exempt status was revoked on the basis that it failed to meet the criteria outlined in section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Service. Between its loss, and eventual reacquisition in 1993, the Church of Scientology employed a number of political based tactics in an attempt to legitimize itself to the public sector. This article explores these tactics in relation to the religion's use of perception management. The article argues that the processes of both legal recognition and legitimization draw upon each other in a new faith's transition to mainstream theology. In this, the Church employed perception management in attempt to influence both processes. In exploring this, the paper contributes to our understanding of role that public legitimacy plays in a new faith's development.

Type
Articles
Information
Politics and Religion , Volume 7 , Issue 3 , September 2014 , pp. 613 - 630
Copyright
Copyright © Religion and Politics Section of the American Political Science Association 2014 

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

REFERENCES

Alstyne, W.W.V. 1987. What Is “An Establishment of Religion?” Williamsburg, VA: College of William & Mary Law School, 738.Google Scholar
Anderson, K.V. 1965. Report of the Board of Inquiry into Scientology. Melbourne: House of Parliament.Google Scholar
Ankersen, T.T., and Moffat, P.A.. n/d. “Charitable 501(c)(3) Tax-Exempt Status for Environmental Organizations: Issues and Requirements.” Unpublished manuscript. Conservation Clinic, University of Florida.Google Scholar
Caron, W., and Dessingue, D.. 1985. “I.R.C. 501(c)(3): Practical and Constitutional Implications of Political Activity Restrictions.” Journal of Law and Politics 2:169–200.Google Scholar
Collette, W. 2004. “Researching for Organizing.” In Roots to Power: A Manual for Grassroots Organizing, ed. Staples, L. Westport, CT: Praeger Publishers, 222–234.Google Scholar
Davis, D.H. 2004. The Church of Scientology: In Pursuit of Legal Recognition. Censor 2004 International Conference. Baylor University, Waco, Texas.Google Scholar
Dearth, D.H. 2002. “Shaping the ‘Information Space’.” Journal of Information Warfare 1.Google Scholar
Dupree, L. 1979. “Further Notes on Taqiyya: Afghanistan.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 99:680–682.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Flinn, F.K. 2009. “Scientology as Technological Buddhism.” In Scientology, ed. Lewis, J.R. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 209–224.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Friedland, J.A. 1985. “Constitutional Issues in Revoking Religious Tax-exemptions: Church of Scientology of California V. Commissioner.” University of Florida Law Review 37:565–589.Google Scholar
Godlewski, R.J. 2010. “Practical Deception and Perception Management.” http://www.scribd.com/doc/38651167/Practical-Perception-and-Deception-Management (Accessed on January 12, 2014).Google Scholar
Grünschloß, A. 2009. “Scientology, a ‘New Age’ Religion?” In Scientology. Lewis, J.R. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 165–182.Google Scholar
Hopkins, B.R. 2006. The Law of Tax-Exempt Organizations: 2005 Cumulative Supplement. New Jersey, NJ: John Wiley & Sons, 269.Google Scholar
Ibrahim, R. 2010. “How Taqiyya Alters Islam's Rules of War: Defeating Jihadist Terrorism.” Middle East Quarterly 17:3–13.Google Scholar
James, V.E. 2004. “Reaping Where They Have Not Sowed: Have American Churches Failed to Satisfy the Requirements for the Religious Tax-exemption?” Catholic Lawyer 43:29–79.Google Scholar
Kent, S.A. 1996. “Scientology's Relationship with Eastern Religious Traditions.” Journal of Contemporary Religion 11:1.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kent, S.A. 1998. “The Globalization of Scientology: Influence, Control, and Opposition in Transnational Markets.” Religion 29:147–169.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kent, S.A. 1999. “The Creation of ‘Religious’ Scientology.” Religious Studies and Theology 182:97–126.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kohlberg, E. 1975. “Some Imāmī-shīʿī Views on Taqiyya.” Journal of the American Oriental Society 953:395–402.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kopp, C. 2005. “Classical Deception Techniques and Perception Management vs. the Four Strategies of Information Warfare.” Proceedings of the 6th Australian Information Warfare and Security Conference, Monash University.Google Scholar
Kumar, J.P. 1997. “‘Fair Game’: Leveling the Playing Field in Scientology Litigation.” The Review of Litigation 16:747–772.Google Scholar
Melton, J.G. 2009. “Birth of a Religion.” In Scientology, ed. Lewis, J.R. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 14–34.Google Scholar
Passas, N., and Castillo, M.E.. 1992. “Scientology and its ‘Clear’ Business.” Behavioural Science and Law 10:103–116.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pring, G.W. 1989. “SLAPPs: Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation.” Pace Environmental Law Review 7:3–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Richardson, J.T. 2009. “Scientology in Court: A Look at Some Major Cases from Various Nations.” In Scientology, ed. Lewis, J.R. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 283–294.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scientology. 2013. “Is it True That People in the Sea Org Sign a Billion-Year Contract?” http://www.scientology.org/faq/church-management/is-it-true-that-people-in-the-sea-org-sign-a-billion-year-contract.html (Accessed on October 10, 2013).Google Scholar
Scientology.1998. Scientology: Theology and Practice of a Contemporary Religion. Los Angeles, CA: Bridge Publications Inc.Google Scholar
Schuler, D.A., Rehbein, K., Cramer, Roxy D.. 2002. “Pursuing Strategic Advantage through Political Means: A Multivariate Approach.” Academy of Management Journal 454:659–672.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shupe, A. 2009. “The Nature of the New Religious Movements-Anticult ‘Culture War’ in Microcosm: The Church of Scientology versus the Cult Awareness Network.” In Scientology, ed. Lewis, J.R. New York, NY: Oxford University Press, 269–282.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Siegel, P.C. 2005. “Perception Management: IO's Stepchild?” Low Intensity Conflict & Law Enforcement 132:117–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stafford, C., and Swenson, B.. 1980. “Scientology: An In-Depth Profile of a New Force in Clearwater.” St. Petersburg Times.Google Scholar
Tamadonfar, M. 2002. “Islamism in Contemporary Arab Politics: Lessons in Authoritarianism and Democratization.” In Religion and Politics in Comparative Perspective: The One, the Few, and the Many, eds. Jelen, T.G., and Wilcox, C.. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.Google Scholar
Tomlinson, J. 1981. Left-Right: The March of Political Extremism in Britain. London: John Calder Publishers Ltd.Google Scholar
Urban, H.B. 2006. “Fair game: Secrecy, Security, and the Church of Scientology in Cold War America.” Journal of the American Academy of Religion 74:356–389.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wallis, R. 1977. The Road to Total Freedom: A Sociological Analysis of Scientology. New York, NY: Columbia University Press.Google Scholar
Walsh, J. 1995. “Tax Treatment of the Church of Scientology in the United States and the United Kingdom.” Suffolk Transnational Law Review 19:331.Google Scholar
Webber, P. 2009. “Entryism in Theory, in Practice, and in Crisis: The Trotskyist Experience in New Brunswick, 1969-1973.” Left History 14:33–35.Google Scholar