We often hear jokes about Tom Cruise or John Travolta and the Church of Scientology and Xenu and aliens but chances are that, so far, you have never realized how much truth there is to them. Yes, there is a Church of Scientology (duh!); and yes, it is extremely controlling of its members; yes, both Tom and John are upper-circle members of it; yes, there is a Xenu and he is threatening to destroy Earth in the ultimate 'battle of the universes'; and finally yes, aliens do exist, and we're not talking here the X-Files type of unwanted visitors. And not only that, but we too are alien-based, made from clusters of alien spirits (Thetans) that were destroyed millions of years ago on our planet by the no-gooder Xenu. And our mission in this life is to find out which is the leading or dominant Thetan in us and take all measures to set it free so that peace is reestablished and evil vanquished from this planet. All that, and so much more, are not loads of bull, they are considered undisputed facts that we have neither the knowledge nor the power to challenge. All of the above are Lafayette Ronald Hubbard's theories that led to the creation of Dianetics and, from it, Scientology. You may laugh or, quite on the contrary, become enraged and start pointing fingers at me for not believing, but try to refrain from passing judgment until you're done reading this. Because today would have been Hubbard's birthday and, naturally, we are here to remind you of it...

Hubbard's life and work are today even more disputed and controversial than back when he was still alive and holding the reins of his Scientological empire that he founded in 1953. Mostly because of the millions of Scientology followers and due to the fact that, even at this moment, there is a massive operation of covering up real events in order to make Hubbard look like some sort of prophet, few are the aspects of his life that can be related with the utmost certainty. The rest is all a haze of he said - they said - official records state, at the end of which a person from outside the Church is left with only a clear feeling of having been lied to. But the uncontested fact (and probably also the only one when it comes to Hubbard's life) is that he was a financial genius. Sure, he might also have been a fraud that had nothing do to with the very religion he founded and was promoting, and he might have lied and blackmailed people into paying him millions of dollars - but he was a genius nonetheless, maybe even the biggest entrepreneur on record so far. Just so you get an idea about what kind of money we're talking about here, 'Forbes' magazine estimated that Hubbard's Scientology-related income in 1982 was $200 million (!!!). However, were you to get the exact image of the kind of money this man made off the cult and the Church he founded, you should also consider that he had resigned as executive director of the CoS in 1967 and pretended he had nothing more to do with it, and the fact that, if 'Forbes' made this estimation, then probably the real figures were much higher.

Born in 1911 in Tilden Nebraska, Ron enjoyed, because of his father's rank and position of Lieutenant Commander in the US Navy, a childhood that made it possible for him to travel to places others don't get to see their entire lives. After relocating to San Diego, California and Washington, Ron moved for a time to the Far East to accompany his father who was stationed there. He is said to have come, while there, in contact with 'holy men' from China, India and Tibet, who taught him about the importance of meditation and abandonment of the body in favor of the spirit - at least, that's what most Scientology books are claiming right now. The truth, however, might have been far from that, as Hubbard manifested in his diary entries an obvious hatred towards Chinamen and a sense of complete boredom towards anything even remotely pertaining to temples and another culture/religion, which are only a couple of the many details that Scientology books either fail to mention altogether or, at best, alter beyond recognition.

In 1930, Hubbard was to be found in Virginia, graduating from Woodward School for Boys and then enlisting at the George Washington University, from where he was dismissed after only two semesters, for a 'deficiency in scholarship' (meaning, his grades were too poor). But it wasn't like there wasn't any other alternative for Hubbard: upon leaving school, he began working as an aviator and a writer, thus laying the grounds for both his future career in the US military and his reputation as a science fiction novelist. However, the following years are a bit foggy in terms of what exactly he did and, in order to sum them up, we could say that all that is relatively known is that he got married to his first wife, Margaret Grubb in 1933, he began using his many contacts to publish his first sci-fi novels (and that he was pretty good at that, too) and, at the same time, that he applied for a Master of Steam and Motor Vessels license with the US Department of Commerce, that was granted to him in 1940. This last detail in particular is important, since it was also the thing that made it possible for him to take an active part in WWII. Unfortunately, just like his academic experience, his time in the military also ended on a sour note, even if Hubbard himself never admitted to it, when he was discharged for 'lacking in the essential qualities of judgment, leadership and cooperation [and acting] without forethought as to probable results', as Admiral Braisted wrote in the official report, after several incidents were presumably caused directly by Hubbard.

After the war ended, Hubbard befriended British occultist Aleister Crowley, with whom he allegedly indulged in the practice of ritual magick (which refers to any act meant to cause intentional change by the power of the will alone). Also through his acquaintance with Crowley, Hubbard met his second wife, Sara Northrup, whom he married in 1946, while he was still legally bound to the first one. Sara, as opposed to Margaret, lasted even less time being married to Hubbard, whom she accused of torture, 'beatings, strangulations and scientific torture experiments' and kidnapping her daughter as leverage against any action that she might take against him in the court of law. Other than that, Hubbard continued to write science-fiction books and to lay the grounds for a new science meant to be the ideal alternative to modern medicine.

He would call that science Dianetics in his first book of this type, 'Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health', published in 1950. The new science was, basically, no more than just a self-improvement technique that relied heavily on other theories that had already been approached in psychotherapy and psychiatry. The novelty that Dianetics introduced was that it claimed that all of man's physical problems are caused by traumatized events that are locked into consciousness and hinder all functions. These were called 'engrams' and, by eliminating them, that is, all traumatic experiences throughout one's life, a balance could be established. While both the 'science' and Hubbard's book were not only overlooked by the mainstream culture, but also derided in the medical literature of the time, their existence proved to be essential to the building of Scientology as the highly lucrative and influential religion that it is today.

In 1952, Hubbard perfected the idea of Scientology and, one year later, he founded the first Church of Scientology (CoS) in New Jersey. From that, to becoming an empire that spread not only all over the US but also in foreign countries was only a step. And Hubbard made sure it was taken in almost a blink of an eye. Detailing all the concepts (all the known ones, of course, because most of them are kept secret and are imparted only to upper-level members of CoS) would take at least a week of continuous writing and I still wouldn't be done with it. So, instead of all that, let's focus on what's more important about Scientology and maybe, in this way, we will know what made so many people embrace it as their only religion, while others shuddered in fear and repulsion. Scientology assumes, as it has already been mentioned earlier, that billions of years ago, our galaxy was made up of millions of planets, whose only common factor was overpopulation. At a certain moment, Galactic Confederacy dictator Xenu rounded billions of enemies and resistants, brought them to Earth and killed them but their spirits, clustered together, survived and are now to be found in men and women all over the planet - unfortunately, this traumatic experience (being killed by hydrogen bombs can never be that much fun) and the ones man accumulates in each life he lives (yes, there are more of them than just this present one!), all add up to create spiritual and bodily harm. Each man has to find a way to eliminate these traumas and free the dominant Thetan inside (that is, the spirit of the slain aliens) so that it can function at full capacity.

Once this stage is reached (the upper level), the body is free from physical harm and peace reigns all powerful - not to mention that, in this way, Xenu is prevented from coming back, from raising from the volcano he is trapped in, and unleashing the ultimate War of the Universes that would certainly end in his favor. This spiritual 'cleansing' is done via a procedure called 'auditing' (a one-on-one discussion between the Scientologist minister and the patient in which traumas are revisited, relived and eliminated), with the help of a device known as an E-meter (which is actually a variation on the traditional lie detector, meant to measure the changes in electrical resistance in the patient's body). And the fun part of all this is that it's only done with money: that is, if you want to have an auditing session or attend a conference or something along those lines, you have to cough up anywhere between $50 to $12,000 or more.

But Hubbard soon discovered that he couldn't hide from the IRS and FBI under the cover of running a religious cult for too long and, by mid '60s, the heat around him was getting rather unbearable. So, just like any other regular man would have done (ha!), he packed his suitcases, bought a fleet and sailed the international waters for years, fleeing justice and doing whatever he wanted to (which included having an army of nubile semi-naked girls serving him, making people walk the plank for small 'crimes' against the cult and building a genuine isolated colony on the ships of Sea Org). But, even if the authorities never caught up with Hubbard, his life would never be the same: he officially distanced himself from the CoS in 1967 and lived the rest of his life underground, surrounded only by a few loyal to death allies. His body was found on a ranch in Florida on 24 January 1986: apparently, he had killed himself by taking an overdose of hydroxyzine. And only after that did the Hubbard myth begin to take considerable proportions.

The defectors from Scientology still paint a very disturbing and sad image of the man they once used to serve loyally. Most of them claim that he never envisioned Scientology as a religion per se, but only used it as a means of extorting money from naïve and gullible people, as well as to avoid paying taxes. A cruel man who lied, deceived, blackmailed and manipulated people into believing the loads and loads of crap he was selling them for exorbitant prices. A drug addict who was cruel to the extreme and lacking the most significant trace of human understanding and emotion. A madman whose sole preoccupation was making more and more money, no matter the means used for it. Their words generally come to contradict what is written in all Scientology books about Hubbard, as well as the statements made by his followers. He was a 'charmer', a prophet, a god-like creature, a man with a vision, whose only purpose was the salvation of humanity from total annihilation. Come to think of it, he did not even die of an overdose (that might as well have been non-voluntary, that is, there are some doubts about whether Hubbard's death was a suicide or a murder): he chose to leave this life so that he could find out more about Thetan and the superior circles he couldn't access while trapped in his mortal body. So far, no message came from him as to what he has seen wherever he is now... But you know that, when it will come, Xenu will not be pleased!

All jokes aside now, Hubbard's life and work are still open to interpretations so that you too can decide for yourselves what to believe or not. Nevertheless, do make full use of the opportunity of speaking your mind, made available thanks to the wonderful poll we've come up with below. Vote Lafayette Ronald Hubbard IN or OUT. And, whatever you decide, stay away from Xenu 'cause he's only trouble!

Works:

Fiction:

• 'Buckskin Brigades' (1937)

• 'Final Blackout' (1940)

• 'Fear' (1951)

• 'Typewriter in the Sky' (1951)

• 'Ole Doc Methuselah' (1953)

• 'Battlefield Earth' (1982)

• 'Mission Earth' (1985-87)

Dianetics and Scientology:

• 'Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health', 1950

• 'Child Dianetics. Dianetic Processing for Children', 1951

• 'Scientology 8-80', 1952

• 'Dianetics 55!', 1954

• 'Dianetics: The Evolution of a Science', 1955

• 'Scientology: The Fundamentals of Thought', 1956

• 'The Problems of Work', 1956

• 'Have You Lived Before This Life?', 1960

• 'Scientology: A New Slant on Life', 1965

• 'The Volunteer Minister's Handbook', 1976

• 'The Way to Happiness', 1981

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