10.17192/mjr.2003.8.3724 Beit-Hallahmi, Benjamin Benjamin Beit-Hallahmi Scientology: Religion or racket? Marburg Journal of Religion : Vol 8 No 1 (2003) Philipps-Universität Marburg 2003 Institute for Comparative Cultural Research - Study of Religions and Anthropology 2015-08-24 2015-08-24 en JournalArticle https://journals.uni-marburg.de/0004/2003/121/3724 urn:nbn:de:hebis:04-0004-2003-121-37241 https://doi.org/10.17192/mjr.2003.8.1 https://journals.uni-marburg.de/0004/2003/121/3724/3724.png 1612-2941 application/pdf The name Scientology (a copyrighted and registered trademark) brings to mind a wide array of claims, observations, impressions, findings, and documents, reflecting a complex and controversial history. The religion/not religion debate over various groups and organizations, prominent in the Western media over the past thirty years, has usually presented the public and politicians with a religion versus "sect" or "cult" dichotomy. The classification issue in this article is framed differently.Hopkins (1969) offered us the terms of the debate in the bluntest and most direct way when he asked in the title of an article in Christianity Today more than thirty years ago "Scientology: Religion or racket?" Read today, the Hopkins article sounds naive and charitable, but this question still stands before us, and yet deserves an answer 1612-2941 Marburg Journal of Religion Vol 8 No 1 (2003)