Scientology mission is offering up detox
MID-CITY — The Church of Scientology has seen its name increasingly appear in celebrity tabloids and magazines over the past two years, specifically when the topic involves Tom Cruise and his latest antics.
But the religion of choice for much of Hollywood’s elite — such as actors Cruise and John Travolta, and rock star Beck — is still relatively unknown in comparison to more established religions like Christianity, Judaism and Islam.
The Church of Scientology Mission of Santa Monica hopes to change all that. The church opened the local mission at 2716 Wilshire Blvd. in February in efforts to reach the curious residents of the Westside communities, where several hundred have already joined the local chapter.
“The majority of people in Santa Monica are very busy and want more happiness and joy and understanding of why they can’t get along,” said Vikki Walker, executive director and minister of the mission.
The religion is renowned for its celebrity following. Walker said there are celebrities that do visit the Santa Monica mission, but not as many as one would think.
One such celebrity is actress Anne Archer (“Fatal Attraction,” “Short Cuts”), who in a pamphlet available at the mission, says “It has been a dream of mine to establish a Dianetics and Scientology mission in our area, where anyone can go and find personal, private, professional environment in which to address life’s problems.”
Scientology actually dates back to the 1950s, when founder and science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard wrote “Dianetics,” a Scientology bible that addresses how the body affects the mind. Hubbard, a Nebraska native who died in 1986, has authored all of the literature used in the religion.
The religion of Scientology, which means “the study of truth” in both Latin and Greek, deals with how man is a spiritual being, and teaches man to “know how to know,” Walker said. It’s an applied religion that has tools that can be used throughout life, Walker said.
There are 10 million Scientologists worldwide and about 40,000 of them reside in the Los Angeles area, with the headquarters situated in Hollywood.
The Santa Monica mission offers services such as counseling or “auditing,”as it is called in the religion;classes on Scientology and Dianetics; de-toxification, which involves removing toxins from the fatty tissue through several sessions of exercising and use of an on-site sauna; and Sunday service.The center also offers personality tests and sells Scientology literature.
Belen Cainbec, 42, of Santa Monica, says the religion changed her life forever.
Her work life was tumultuous. The company where she worked was bought-out, and as a result, there was shifting of personnel among different departments.
“I felt like I was drowning,” Cainbec said. Curious after hearing about Scientology, and desperate for help because of problems in her home and work life, Cainbec decided to visit the mission in Santa Monica last month.
“It felt like the right timing,” she said. Cainbec began taking courses on improving communication and understanding and met with Walker for a few auditing sessions. A few weeks later, Cainbec has a whole new outlook on life and plans to bring her teenage daughter to sit in on a few relationship classes.
The religion does not deserve its bad reputation, said Cainbec, who is also Catholic.
Scientology is not the sole religion to any one practitioner, according to Walker. Scientologists around the world are also Protestant, Catholic and Jewish. But approximately 24 percent say they do not follow another religion.
“Scientology is a religion because we believe in man as a spiritual being,”Walker said.
Like most religions — such as Christianity and its stated opposition to abortion and gay marriage — Scientology also has taken issue with an area for which they have concern — psychiatry.
The issue with psychiatry is its involvement in prescribing what Scientologists believe to be mind-altering drugs like Prozac, an anti-depressant, and Ritalin for children with attention deficit hyperactivity disorder.
The increased publicity surrounding the church in recent years has not hurt the church, Walker said, in fact, it probably made more people curious about the religion.
“I think people realize that’s the news,” Walker said. “It’s not necessarily the truth.”
Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on November 13, 2006. Read the original PDF.