Blog: Deconstructing Scientology: Introduction - 2016-07-28

Deconstructing Scientology: Introduction July 28, 2016, Chris Shelton, Critical Thinker at Large

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Hey everyone. So this is a new video series I'm doing, focusing on this book, compiled and edited by James R. Lewis, a PhD on Religious Studies from England. It's simply called Scientology and was published by the Oxford University Press in 2009. I got it on amazon for about 10 cents.

This is not a book published or produced by the Church of Scientology, but is a work of apologetics by academic scholars and university religious professionals who feel as non-Scientologists that they have something to contribute to the understanding of cults (or as they like to refer to them, new religious movements) and to Scientology in particular. Lewis has gone on record as stating that this book is not a work of apologetics and that it would not please anyone one in the pro- or anti-Scientology circles and that the Church actually stopped all communications with him because of the "blasphemy" contained in the chapter on Xenu. He says he has re-evaluated his former postive stance on Scientology due to more recent events exposed in the media and all I can say is, "it's about time dude." All of the information he needed to form that conclusion was there right in front of him the entire time, he just chose not to look at it and he has gone on record as still supporting the statements he makes in this book. So, I'll be holding his feet to the fire here as much as everyone else who contributed chapters to this book.

But this video series is not about my views versus James Lewis's views. In the time since I have left Scientology, I have found few allies in the academic world and enough "objective scholars" who forward utter nonsense about Scientology that I felt I should say something about it. The purpose of this series is to analyze Scientology apologetics from the viewpoint of someone who was actually deeply involved in the Church, became disaffected with it and is now speaking out against it. This book brings together a number of different authors and scholars and is a sort of compendium of articles written by non-Scientologists which are in the main favorable towards Scientology, so I think this is going to be a very interesting read.