Church of Scientology and the First Amendment

    If you have ever been to Hollywood, California, then you have probably come across a building with word SCIENTOLOGY written across it. The Church of Scientology has been involved in several legal cases throughout the years. Many people almost think of the church as a cult. Scientology was founded by L. Ron Hubbard in the 1950s. Scientologists main belief is that human being has a reactive mind. What this does is shape the way they react to life’s traumas. Scientologists do this by figuring out a way to cloud a person’s analytic mind in order to keep people from experiencing reality. Scientology has many notable members. Some of its members include, Tom Cruise, John Travolta, Elizabeth Moss, Nicole Kidman, and Katie Holmes. These are just a few of their many celebrity members. 
    For years Scientology has been under a microscope battling many lawsuits along the way. There have been several attempts to get the church to be shut down, but so far, they have been unsuccessful. Scientology is a fairly new religion. Now I am not saying it is brand new, but it has only been around since the 1950s. New religions such as Scientology have been known to pose some “special problems” for the legal system and the First Amendment. This is because Scientology began a psychological and philosophical theory instead of a religion. That all changed, when in 1953 different branches of the Church of Scientology began to appear.
    The First Amendment states that citizens should have freedom of religion. This is not happening when scientologists are having their rights away. An appeal court once ruled that any Scientology fraud claims could not be examined because of the first amendment. Overall, just like the black lives matter movement even though these people were under a microscope and people tried to get their rights taken away, the first amendment saved them at the end of the day. 






Sources:

Scientology: What exactly is it? (CNN)

https://www.mtsu.edu/first-amendment/article/1376/scientology

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