L. Ron Hubbard (1911–1986), the founder of the Church of Scientology, was born in Tilden, Nebraska, and raised in several different cities in the western United States. After dropping out of George Washington University in the 1930s, he began his career as a moderately successful science fiction novelist and pulp fiction writer.
After serving in the US Navy during World War II, in 1950 Hubbard published Dianetics, a purported self-help guide for better mental health. Although dismissed as quackery by psychiatrists, Hubbard’s book, full of scientific-sounding terms and recommendations, sold well.
Capitalizing on the success of Dianetics, Hubbard founded Scientology in 1954. Initially, the group operated as a counseling service that charged, in some cases, hundreds of dollars an hour to “audit” the mental health of patients; Hubbard would eventually earn millions of dollars from these revenues and sales of his books.
Widely condemned by psychiatrists, however, and under investigation for tax violations, Hubbard declared Scientology a religion (religions are exempt from taxation). In 1967, hoping to avoid numerous investigations into the group in several countries, Hubbard moved to a yacht called the Apollo that had been converted from a cattle ferry, and announced his intention to live in international waters.
In 1975, after several years on the high seas, Hubbard returned to the United States. Three years later, Hubbard’s offices were raided, and his third wife, Mary Sue Hubbard (1931–2002), was imprisoned for her role in a plot to wiretap law enforcement agencies. Hubbard spent the last years of his life in seclusion at an isolated ranch near San Luis Obispo, California.
Hubbard remains a polarizing figure. To his many critics, Hubbard was a charlatan who profited from the gullibility of his followers. But to the upwards of 700,000 Scientologists—including many Hollywood celebrities—he is a spiritual guide whose writings have changed their lives.
ADDITIONAL FACTS
- There is no god or afterlife in Scientology’s theology. Instead, Hubbard taught that every individual contains an undying soul, or thetan, that is reincarnated after death. But the thetans were damaged by an evil intergalactic tyrant named Xenu who set off hydrogen bombs on the earth about 75 million years ago, Hubbard said, which is why Dianetics is needed to repair damaged souls.
- In much of Europe, Scientology is regarded as a cult. In Germany, especially, the group is seen as a threat to the state so serious that it is analogous to Islamic extremism.
- Hubbard also wrote under a variety of pseudonyms, including Winchester Remington Colt and Rene LaFayette.
