9. Summarization
1. One prominent, though indifferent, acceptance of democratic content and procedure and the self-stylization as a vehicle of reform in the changing social system, (e.g., in the question of drugs) appears as a strategic procedure which is used in regard to the marketing position of SC. The reproduction of the organization succeeds in the market of "life aid", and business and personal consultation, whose economic laws also apply to SC. As a commercial entrepreneur and competitor, SC must pay attention to the rules of this market; public appearance, marketing and public work must be harmonized with this. This foundation could be shaken if SC openly took part in the political market of parties, associations and philosophical communities. The application of the social perimeter and the assertion of the market position are assigned on the whereabouts in the outwardly rather unpolitical "psycho-market." This positioning in the area of intermediate instances demands a strategically applied, non-open circuit with political objectives. As to the second reason for the political objectives, which are rather hidden and strewn through the texts, and which are open for discussion within but not without, it can be regarded as the totalitarian establishment of the ideology and the organization. On review of this background several discoveries may be culled about the political objectives of the SC.
2. SC is a political organization, if one does away with a not overly narrow political understanding, i.e., oriented on the party system and the holding of elections, without regard for organization form and marketing position. It pursues long-term political objectives. At the center is a creation of a society according to scientological principles. SC and its founder Hubbard criticize existing democratic, pluralistic, constitutional states in a fundamentally repelling manner which leads to the conclusion that these existing systems are not compatible with the social structure for which Scientology strives. A society, in which scientological principles were in effect, would develop into a new form of totalitarian dictatorship in which the fundamental principles of a democratic constitutional system would have no place. A scientological society operates on a capitalism bound by no sort of legal or social limitations in a form of totalitarian dictatorship. As Potthoff stated, the continuing strategy of "Hubbardism" since 1980 indicates the politicizing of the organization on one side and the claim to world domination on the other.
SC increasingly expresses itself in the politics of the day and takes part in political debate. This is shown rather clearly in the advertisement campaign of 1994/95 in the USA and Germany. SC presents itself as a persecuted religious minority in a country - the Federal Republic of Germany - which is made out to be comparable in hindsight to the practice of persecution of the National Socialist dictator. Here it has less to do with the quality of this strategy of defamation and self-aggrandizement than it does with the making of an example in which SC seeks to have a direct effect upon the political opinion-building process. Therefore it is an error to limit the designation of SC to a "sect" or a "church"; SC is - as becomes clearer with time - an organization with long-term political goals.
3. The theory and practice of SC fulfills all characteristics of a totalitarian organization and philosophical community. It makes an ideological claim of sole-advocacy; it is hermetically sealed, it falls into the same group as a Fuehrer ideology, follows a rigid polarized world picture which blandly divides the world into good and evil, and is covered up with a barely understandable, self-contrived technical vocabulary. SC also hosts collective mindsets which are typical for totalitarian and extremist ideology. The self-aggrandizement of "clears" and the battle line against all who do not obey the SC supports a common context which is stamped with the elite conceptions of "Ubermenschen" [super-humans]. An important characteristic of SC is its picture of humanity and of society - such as the contriving of the "antisocial personality" - and the diverged potential for violence. Particularly notable is the fact that use of force is an integral component of the SC ideology. The practice described by many former members of the humiliation and persecution of reformers and opponents is to be regarded as the systematic and practical consequence of this ideological position. The totalitarian collective structure as well as the components of force transgress important principles of the liberal democratic foundation.
4. Organizations which are found to offend the principles of liberal democratic fundamentals fall into the constitutional understanding of a pro-active democracy in the area of political extremism. With this as a background, it needs to be explained to what extent SC is to be seen as a form either of political extremism or something close to it. Such an explanation would have to be carefully undertaken, because categorization in the area of political extremism touches upon, at least indirectly, the democratic rights of citizenry and freedom. For this reason it will pay to first test the argument that speaks against the topic of whether or not SC behaves as a new form of political extremism. There are several grounds which speak against an extremist quality of SC. SC differentiates itself from the organizations which have been conventionally admitted by the Constitutional Protection authorities throughout the years in the nation and of the states in several important points: as far as the type of organization, SC is a profit-oriented, commercial enterprise of the service sector which is subject to the market laws of the "psycho" divisions, and not exclusively an organization which is tied to overwhelmingly political-philosophical goals. Dubious and doubtful practices change nothing in this fundamental structure. Correspondingly is the membership - beginning with the people who take the courses - not primarily politically motivated; they are much more concerned with improving their personal life situation.
While the sympathizers of extremist organizations are interested above all else in the radical change of society in regards to their survival, the SC membership concentrates first of all for the most part on themselves as individuals and on the modification of their own life's perspective. It has to be concluded from that, that interested persons and people who are taking courses are not led by political intentions and motives, therefore also not extremist, rather from the assumption that they will be better able to solve their personal problems by taking courses. Such intentions are also not to be excluded from the conventional organizations of political extremists, but the political motivations for them are much more central.
SC does not appear openly as a political organization according to the model of parties, political associations, or circles. The SC magazine "Freedom" has political characteristics, but the type of public advertisement to be expected from an extremist organization with constitutionally adverse objectives is not in the foreground of SC publications. A third argument could suggest the negation of extremist qualities of SC: SC is not categorized historically/politically or conceptually in the tradition of either left or right extremism. The above-mentioned differences back up the idea that SC is not to be understood as one of the conventional manifestations of extremist organizations.
On the other side, however, let us recall the known quantities of totalitarianism and extremism as well as the behavior of profit-oriented commercial enterprises and the connected perspectives of an alteration of society in the scientological sense. The totalitarian characteristics discussed in section 4 correspond to an extremist structure as long as they are stamped with the inter-connected theory and practice of an organization. This is uniquely the case in SC. The writings of Hubbard have served as the predominant lines of leadership before as well as after his death in 1986. In those writings are found numerous arguments which refer to political and society-altering objectives as well as a fundamental rejection of democracy. "The collective strategy of L. Ron Hubbard aims," according to a report of the Hamburg Senate, "to change the leading order in every land of the world in favor of a 'new scientological society'." The profit-oriented commercial practice of SC is not self-serving, it serves much more to gradually bring about the world-wide program of a "cleared planet" through infiltration of commercial areas, in particular of communications-intensive tertiary sectors. In review, the strategic advantage of SC lies in that it finds, by reason of its marketing positioning, a much better access than an organization that single-mindedly approaches the political market.
If one weighs both lines of development (1) against (2) - (1) the function as a commercial enterprise and the individualist-oriented membership and that which results from it - under the psycho-analytic point of view not too significant - the practice of "life aid", against (2) , the hybrid of totalitarianism and extremism - so an assessment of SC could be proposed in the theoretically extremist context of a pro-active democracy be as follows: all told, SC can be regarded as neither a left extremist group which directly follows the goals of the Marxist-Leninist traditions, nor as a right extreme group in the sense of an ethnically homogenous state based on nationalism, and the concepts of realm and leadership. Therefore SC does not fit in the contemporary traditional context of political extremism. Therefore organizations, such as SC, seem to branch off into a unique form of political extremism, oriented on ideas of an absolute, heroic super-human, who shakes off the heavy chains of liberalism and democracy on the way to world domination which is based on totalitarian fundamentals which are incompatible with a democratic constitution. The existence of the Hubbard-based "pure teachings" and the multiple campaigns against anyone who is not able or does not want to follow these teachings - such as in the theoretical construction of the "antisocial personality", i.e., the "suppressive personality" - is not consistent with democratic principles.
SC is to be conceived as a political organization in a culturally pro-activez sense, which has significant points of contact with the doctrines of political extremism. The political claims of SC arise out of the Hubbard-originated code of Scientology, whose responsibility it is to see to it "that Scientology has a perceptible impact upon the world" and "to increase the size and strength of Scientology everywhere in the entire world" (Hubbard, 1983, p. 689). A gradual modification of society in the scientological sense in the direction of a "cleared planet" and in the direction of a "creation of a new civilization" is geared for the disempowerment of existing portions of a liberal, legal constitutional order based on democratic fundamentals.
If one follows the concept of the scientological "clear planet" to its conclusion, no direct contact points in the traditions and organizational networks of political extremism can be traced, but it appears to headed in the same direction in which such a society could develop. Fantasies of a heroic super-human, connected with ideologies of inequality and unequal dignity of people and friend-enemy group-think which has militant overtones, based on anti-democratic resentments, do not indicate a "left", but a "right" direction, all the more so since anti-capitalistic currents are completely alien to the SC way of thinking. Potthoff's fear that "a 'right' stockpile could arise, which would far overshadow the original development" (Potthoff, 1993, p. 42), is not fact in evidence.
5. In particular the following aspects could be named which suggest constitutionally hostile objectives of SC:
The SC personal image which is built on a vision of a heroic super-human goes against democratic, constitutional principles, because it disregards the offer of equality. The division of people into "clear" and "preclear," "aberrated" and "non-aberrated," SC members and "antisocial personalities," the talk of the jungle tribes as being mostly aberrated goes against the democratic grain of the principles of equal dignity and equal justice. If only "honest beings", in the scientological sense, "may have rights" (What is Scientology, p. 380. p. 673), if, as Hubbard has designated to be goal-worthy, only the non-aberrated have their granted civil rights at their disposal, perhaps this goal could be reached in the future, if only the non-aberrated gain right of citizenship and could profit from it (Hubbard, 1984, p. 487), then this is incompatible with the equality principle as a fundamental of a democratic constitutional order.
Hubbard's conception of democracy as "a collective group of reactive banks" - by "banks" are meant the subconscious mind - and a democracy as "a collective group of reactive minds", aims for the removal of democracy, because it is the goal of SC to overcome the "reactive mind" in order to achieve the state of "clear." In the same regard, a "cleared planet" could not have any connection with democratic principles, because this belongs to the harmful elements of the "reactive mind."
The totalitarian character of SC, which is based upon its sole-advocacy claim, excludes the multiple party principle and the principle of equal opportunity for all political parties. The acknowledgment of equal entitlement to other opinions are excluded thorough the axiomatic division of people into good (clears, Scientologists) and evil, or "aberrated" (preclears, antisocial personalities, suppressive personalities).
Hubbard speaks of one being able "to determine with certainty, that primal tribes are very much more aberrated than civilized peoples (Hubbard, 1984, p. 175). The contrast of scientologically formed "clears" on one side and of the "aberrated," or deluded, on the other, directs itself against the thought of understanding of people, if inside of the group a difference is made which disparages the supposedly "aberrated" group of people - in the above case: the primal tribes.
The basic right of free development of the personality and of freedom of thought is disregarded in the dealings of the SC with critics in their own ranks and out. The concept of the "suppressive personality" legitimizes repressive up through forceful proceedings against critics and transgresses fundamental principles of a liberal democratic foundation. Numerous reports from former members prove the practices of persecution by SC. Indirectly the right to constitutional formation and education of an opponent is voided. As confirmed by Hubbard, the purpose of scientological ethics to "remove 'counter-intentions' and 'other intentions' from the world" (Hubbard, 1983, p. 355) proves the active denial of freedom of opinion as well as the constitutionally hostile militarism against critics.
The comprehensive goal of a "cleared planet," of an attitude, which may be tolerant, according to scientological fundamentals, but which is also decidedly intolerant as found in Hubbard's writings, against democracy and the constitution, of an internal organizational justice with self-declared norms and sanctions as well as the public and proved attempt to enter politics, society and commerce through infiltration, indicates that SC wants to undermine, combat, and/or put out of commission the course of the constitution. A written advertisement in which the International Association of Scientologists (IAS) document supporting actions, "which offer themselves for the suppression of Scientology and Scientologists, in which one works to destroy groups and organizations which dedicate themselves to the harm, suppression or domination of humanity - such as Interpol" gives evidence of a directly battle-ready strategy which can also be used against national institutions.
In summary: an entire set of indices indicate that SC represents long-term constitutionally hostile objectives and shows points of contact as a totalitarian organization with political extremism. This assessment must be made provisionally, because a quantity of empirical questions have not been sufficiently answered with current research and discussion methods. Progressive information and analysis of the membership and organizational structure, evidence of the intensity of the constitutionally hostile intention of SC and to what extent it exists in the membership could bring truer conclusions and statements.
NOT an official translation:
Direct
questions to cisar.org