Scientology and sex

The second dynamic

In Hubbard's eight dynamics, "sex" is the second dynamic, representing both the sexual act and the family unit. According to Reuters: "The second dynamic includes all creative activity, including sex, procreating and the raising of children."

Pain and sex

On August 26, 1982 Hubbard authored a Hubbard Communications Office Bulletin (HCOB) entitled "Pain and Sex", in which he accuses psychiatrists (abbreviated "psychs"), of orchestrating a global conspiracy to undermine society and spread chaos:

In the same bulletin, Hubbard states that pain and sex are both "invented tools of degradation" by "destructive creatures" (referring to psychiatrists) with the intention "to shrink people and cut their alertness, knowingness, power and reach".

Homosexuality

Main article: Scientology and homosexuality

Scientology opposes same-sex marriage, and its founder called homosexuality a dangerous perversion.{{refn| According to a 2018 source, currently used, updated editions of Hubbard's canonical book, Dianetics, continue to use heteronormative and anti-gay language and list gay people as perverts who are physically ill and extremely dangerous to society. Some critics have stated that the church tried to change their sexual orientation through forms of conversion therapy.

Sex during pregnancy

Hubbard warned against sexual activity (including masturbation) during pregnancy, on the premise that sexual activity during pregnancy could damage fetal development, by producing engrams detrimental to future activity. This view is disputed by doctors, as Paulette Cooper commented in her book The Scandal of Scientology:

These same beliefs form the basis for Hubbard's "Silent birth" doctrine, which dictates that no words are spoken during the childbirth process. According to a Scientology manual on raising children, a couple should be silent before and after coition.

Promiscuity

In the 1967 book The Dynamics of Life (originally written circa 1948), Hubbard states that "promiscuity inevitably and invariably indicates a sexual engram of great magnitude. Once that engram is removed, promiscuity can be expected to cease". A footnote then defines promiscuity as "having sexual relations with many people". Hubbard writes in his book The Way to Happiness that sex, if "misused or abused, carries with it heavy penalties and punishments: nature seems to have intended it that way also".

In later years, Hubbard sought to distance himself from efforts to regulate the sexual affairs of Scientologists. In a 1967 policy letter, he declared: "It has never been any part of my plans to regulate or to attempt to regulate the private lives of individuals. Whenever this has occurred, it has not resulted in any improved condition... Therefore all former rules, regulations and policies relating to the sexual activities of Scientologists are cancelled."

Scientology auditing

In an interview with Playboy magazine, Hubbard's estranged son Ronald DeWolf asserted that auditing focused on sex and the individual's sex life, and could later be used as a form of control: "Auditing would address a guy's entire sex life. It was an incredible preoccupation.[...] You have complete control over someone if you have every detail of his sex life and fantasy life on record. In Scientology the focus is on sex. Sex, sex, sex. The first thing we wanted to know about someone we were auditing was his sexual deviations. All you've got to do is find a person's kinks, whatever they might be. Their dreams and fantasies. Then you can fit a ring through their noses and take them anywhere. You promise to fulfill their fantasies or you threaten to expose them[...] very simple."

Scientology's views on the body

Hubbard called the physical world MEST (an acronym of "Matter, Energy, Space and Time"), which thetans (souls) temporarily operating "meat bodies" are meant to transcend and conquer. New recruits to the church are often classified as "raw meat" or "raw public". Scientologists refer to their bodies as "meat bodies".

Scientology emphasizes attaining "cause over MEST", and attaining the ability to abandon one's body via "exteriorization" and ultimately by becoming an Operating Thetan Clear and a Cleared Theta Clear.

References

References

1. (November 18, 2006). "What is a Scientology wedding?: TomKat nuptials bring renewed focus to controversial religious sect". [[Reuters]].
2. (July 18, 2004). "Scientology's Footprint in Downtown Clearwater". [[Tampa Bay Times]].
3. (26 August 1982). "HCO Bulletin of 26 August 1982 Pain and Sex".
4. Kent, Stephen A.. (April 1999). "The Globalization of Scientology: Influence, Control and Opposition in Transnational Markets". [[Routledge]].
5. Hubbard, Ron. (August 26, 1982). "HCO Bulletin of 26 August 1982: Pain and Sex". Hubbard Communications Office.
6. (July 18, 2004). "About Scientology". [[St. Petersburg Times]].
7. Thomas, Aled. (2021). "Free Zone Scientology: Contesting the Boundaries of a New Religion". [[Bloomsbury Publishing]].
8. Hubbard, Ron. (1975). "Science of Survival". Church of Scientology of California.
9. (2018-09-25). "When I Came Out as Gay, the Church of Scientology Humiliated Me".
10. Ross, Martha. (2022-09-22). "Those John Travolta rumors? How Scientology shut them down". [[Mercury News]].
11. Rothstein, Mikael. (2007). "The Invention of Sacred Tradition". [[Cambridge University Press]].
12. Hubbard, Ron. (2007). "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health". [[Church of Scientology]].
13. Power, Shannon. (2023-09-26). "Ex-Scientologist reveals what happened when Church found out she was gay".
14. (2016-03-25). "A grim glimpse into The Church of Scientology's jail for gay people".
15. Cox, Jennifer. (January 29, 2006). "Tom Cruise, Katie Holmes Sex Life on Hold?". The National Ledger, LLC.
16. Cooper, Paulette. (1971). "The Scandal of Scientology". Tower Publications.
17. (April 13, 2006). "Tom Cruise Confronts Rumors About Silent Birth". [[The Walt Disney Company]].
18. Staff. (March 23, 2001). "A church for celebrities, but what about me?". [[The Daily Telegraph]].
19. Hubbard, Ron. (1988). "The Dynamics of Life: An Introduction to Dianetics Discoveries".
20. Vega, Cecilia M.. (October 13, 2007). "Group censured for using Newsom's image in pro-Scientology booklet". www.sfgate.com.
21. Siker, Jeffrey S.. (2006). "Homosexuality and Religion: An Encyclopedia". [[Greenwood Publishing Group]].
22. L. Ron Hubbard. (1967-08-11). ""Second Dynamic Rules", HCOPL of 11 August 1967". Hubbard Communications Office.
23. Morton, Andrew. (2008). "[[Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography]]". Macmillan.
24. Broderick, Damien. (2007). "Outside the Gates of Science: Why It's Time for the Paranormal to Come in from the Cold". Thunder's Mouth Press.
25. Herrick, James A.. (2004). "The Making of the New Spirituality: The Eclipse of the Western Religious Tradition". [[InterVarsity Press]].
26. Kaufman, Robert. (1972). "[[Inside Scientology: How I Joined Scientology and Became Superhuman]]". Olympia Press.
27. Andrew Morton. (15 January 2008). "Tom Cruise: An Unauthorized Biography". Macmillan.
28. Gerald Wheeler. (1 January 2010). "Beyond Death's Door: The Hope of Reunion". Review and Herald Pub Assoc.
29. Janet Reitman. (5 July 2011). "Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion". Houghton Mifflin Harcourt.
30. Robyn E. Lebron. (9 January 2012). "Searching for Spiritual Unity...Can There Be Common Ground?". CrossBooks.
31. Vosper, Cyril. (1971). "[[The Mind Benders (Vosper book)". Spearman.