The Church of Scientology was founded by L. Ron Hubbard in 1953 in Camden, New Jersey. The church has been at the center of numerous controversies for many years. L. Ron Hubbard founded the church as a sequel to his popular self-help book, “Dianetics.” The church has grown exponentially in terms of membership over the years and is very popular among celebrities and wealthy people. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an original essay L. Ron Hubbard founded the church in 1953 after many attempts to become a comic book artist. Hubbard always had a passion for science fiction and wrote many original comic series, many of which were unsuccessful and some gained popularity after Hubbard became famous for the Scientology religion. Hubbard was always looking for success and after being told that the best way to make money was to start a religion, Scientology was founded. While Hubbard would most likely deny the claim that Scientology is all about money, the lack of a spiritual history and money's focus on raising money from its members might suggest otherwise. Scientology has been very vocal and aggressive in response to its critics. Scientology has a principle called "Fair Game," which basically says that any member of Scientology has the authority to silence a person they believe to be a member of the church using any means necessary. (Urban) Hubbard later canceled the “Fair Game” policy due to large public outcry over the use of that policy. However, to this day Scientology continues to be very aggressive and quarrelsome towards those they consider Scientology's enemies. One of the most famous examples of Scientology's extreme response to criticism is Operation Freakout. Operation Freakout was a secret mission that took place in the 1970s. Scientology intended to end the mission by arresting or committing Paulette Cooper, author of The Scientology Scandal and critic of Scientology, to an asylum. The group harassed Cooper over a period of years, but they were unsuccessful in their attempts to discredit or have Cooper arrested. The Scientologists even went so far as to send a threatening letter to an Arab consulate, forging Cooper's signature at the bottom. Eventually the Federal Bureau of Investigation, another enemy of Scientology, found evidence of the conspiracy, and Cooper settled with the church out of court. (Rawitch & Gillette, 1978) Although Operation Freakout seems like a crazy plot that could only happen in the movies, Freakout wasn't the only deranged plot that Scientology attempted to pull off successfully. Operation Snow White was a mission intended to purge unfavorable documents about the church and its founder, L. Ron Hubbard, from a number of government agencies. It was the largest US government infiltration in history, with up to 5,000 Scientologists acting as agents of the mission. (Ortega, 1999) The most valuable target of the infiltration was the Internal Revenue Service, which had long had a vitriolic relationship with Scientology; the IRS had long sought to get rid of the church's tax-exempt status, and these actions had not gone unnoticed by church leaders. Scientology employed tactics such as document theft and wiretaps to obtain the information these government agencies sought. As previously mentioned, the Church of Scientology has long had an adversarial relationship with the Internal Revenue Service. The Church of Scientology has been very protective of theown status as a religious institution, as churches in the United States are not required to pay taxes to the government. However, due to the exorbitant taxes that members are required to pay to the church to advance up the ladder, or even just to remain as a member, the church came under intense scrutiny from the Internal Revenue Service, which wanted to tax Scientology as agency. After many months of investigation and discussion, it is rumored that the Church of Scientology obtained compromising material regarding the IRS commissioner and blackmailed the IRS into granting the Church of Scientology non-profit and tax-exempt status. (Frantz, 1997) It is not conjecture or anti-Scientology rhetoric that the prices for joining Scientology and making a career are ridiculously high. In 2006, a person could have spent at least $365,000 - $380,000 to reach the current highest rank in Scientology, OT8 with preparation for OT9. All data is taken from xenu.net, a site dedicated to denouncing Scientology. One conference (among many conferences) can cost more than two hundred dollars, and once a Scientology member begins taking higher-level courses, he or she may pay more than a thousand dollars for the courses and tests. If a member wants to take courses in order to be audited, they will have to pay more than $33,000. The majority of Scientology's incoming cash flow goes towards "OT Expenses", and the details of these expenses are reserved only for high-ranking officials of the church, so it is impossible to prove Scientology's claims of being a non-profit organization -profit are true or false. (Operation Clambake) It is commonly known that lower-level Scientologists are, for the most part, exposed to aspects of Scientology that do not make it appear to be a cult with purported mystical properties. Low-level Scientologists are mostly limited to auditing sessions and conferences. While most opponents of Scientology would tell you that these auditing sessions are nothing more than an exploited person sitting in a room with a sociopath and exposing all his secrets for potential blackmail later, the auditing aspects are not all that so different from visiting a psychologist or therapist. . However, it is important to note that comparing an auditing session to a therapy session is only accurate in a vacuum. Scientology staff are supposed to help auditees talk about their past problems and overcome them, and some staff may even think they are doing a great thing and not taking advantage of the auditee; but staff are expected to take note of what vetted individuals reveal, and if the member threatens to leave the church, they may be gently reminded that they may not want their dirty laundry exposed to everyone. One of the popular theories Behind the popularity of Scientology among celebrities is the fact that these celebrities have revealed information to Scientology that could ruin their careers which largely happens in the eyes of the public. Tom Cruise and John Travolta are two of the most visible celebrity Scientologists. Many have speculated that these two celebrities may be closeted gay men and that Scientology's threat to out them is what keeps them in the church. There are many celebrities who are devoted members, such as Nancy Cartwright (Bart from "The Simpsons"), Isaac Hayes (former chef from "South Park"), Laura Prepon ("That 70's Show", "Orange is the New Black") and the late Sonny Bono. Not surprisingly, when Paul Haggis, screenwriter and producer of the films “Million Dollar Baby” and “Crash,” left the Church of Scientology in October 2009, the church began a massive smear campaign against him. Haggis says.