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The Church of Scientology is an organization devoted to the practice, administration and dissemination of Scientology, a new religious movement. The Church of Scientology International is the Church of Scientology's parent organization, and is responsible for the overall management and dissemination of Scientology at the international level.〔"At the top of the structure is the Church of Scientology International (CSI), the mother church for all Scientology. Located in Los Angeles, CSI provides overall direction, planning and guidance for the network of churches, missions, field auditors and volunteer ministers which comprise the Scientology hierarchy it spans, and ensures these various organizations are all working effectively together." What is Scientology? Published 1998 Bridge Publications ISBN 978-1-57318-122-8 http://www.whatisscientology.org〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=description of the Scientology ecclesiastical structure on www.rtc.org )〕 Every Church of Scientology is separately incorporated and has its own local board of directors and executives responsible for its own activities and corporate well-being.〔The Church of Scientology (Studies in Contemporary Religions, 1) By J. Gordon Melton Publisher: Signature Books in cooperation with CESNUR published September 2000 ISBN 978-1-56085-139-4 "The various missions, churches, and organizations, all autonomous corporations which fellowship with the larger movement, receive licenses to use the church's trademarks, service marks, and copyrights of Hubbard's published and unpublished works from RTC."〕〔"Each church corporation is organized on a nonprofit basis with its own board of directors and executives responsible for its activities. What is Scientology? Published 1998 Bridge Publications ISBN 978-1-57318-122-8 http://www.whatisscientology.org〕〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=description of the individual Scientology churches on www.rtc.org )〕 The first Scientology church was incorporated in December 1953 in Camden, New Jersey by L. Ron Hubbard. Its international headquarters are located at the Gold Base, located in an unincorporated area of Riverside County, California, the location of which is kept secret from most Scientologists.〔Janet Reitman ''Inside Scientology: The Story of America's Most Secretive Religion'', p. 318, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2011 ISBN 0547549237, 9780547549231〕 The highest authority in the Church of Scientology is in The Church of Scientology International (CSI) and the Religious Technology Center (RTC), whose headquarters are in Los Angeles. CSI "is the mother church and has the mission of propagating the Scientology creed around the world." RTC's main function is to "preserve, maintain, and protect the purity of the Scientology technology in accord with Hubbard's original research and to insure its proper and ethical delivery." The Scientology Missions International is under CSI and RTC and functions as "the central church to Scientology missions worldwide." Although in some countries it has attained legal recognition as a religion,〔(Weird, Sure. A Cult, No. ) Washington Post By Mark Oppenheimer, August 5, 2007〕 the church has been the subject of a number of controversies, and has been accused by critics of being both a cult and a commercial enterprise.〔(The Thriving Cult of Greed and Power ) TIME magazine, May. 06, 1991 by Richard Behar. The investigation paints a picture of a depraved yet thriving enterprise.〕 == History == The first Scientology church was incorporated in December 1953 in Camden, New Jersey〔〔 by L. Ron Hubbard, his wife Mary Sue Hubbard, and John Galusha, although the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International (HASI) had already been operating since 1952〔(''Remember Venus?'' ), Time, December 22, 1952〕 and Hubbard himself had already been selling Scientology books and technologies. Soon after, he explained the religious nature of Scientology in a bulletin to all Scientologists,〔Hubbard, L. Ron (1954) Why Doctor of Divinity? ''Professional Auditor's Bulletin'' no. 32, August 7, 1954〕 stressing its relation to the Dharma. The first Church of Scientology opened in 1954 in Los Angeles. Hubbard stated, "A civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights, are the aims of Scientology."〔(【引用サイトリンク】title="Aims of Scientology by L. Ron Hubbard" at official site )〕 Hubbard had official control of the organization until 1966 when this function was transferred to a group of executives. Although Hubbard maintained no formal relationship with Scientology's management, he remained firmly in control of the organization and its affiliated organizations. In May 1987, following Hubbard's death, David Miscavige, one of Hubbard’s former personal assistants and video photographer, assumed the position of Chairman of the Board of the Religious Technology Center (RTC), a non-profit corporation that administers the trademarked names and symbols of Dianetics and Scientology. Although RTC is a separate corporation from the Church of Scientology International, whose president and chief spokesperson is Heber Jentzsch, Miscavige is the effective leader of the movement. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Church of Scientology」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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