The Church of Scientology is classified as one of the fastest growing religious groups in the world today.  This comes as no real surprise when you research a little bit and find that much of what the church is doing is to address the rehabilitation and salvation of the human spirit.

L. Ron Hubbard who founded the Church of Scientology did extensive research for more than 50 years of his life.  That research comprises information from a vast body of philosophies and religions.  He studied the Vedic hymns and the writings of Siddhartha Gautama for example.  He talks about the need to bring a philosophy to modern man, but he makes it a point of explaining that the information itself is not new, only the presentation and compartmentation of that information is new.  He believed that much of the errors of the past in trying to help free man came from the fact that so much of the knowledge man needed to improve his spirituality and his life was not a) made available to the average man and b) was not presented in such a way that it could be used by the average man.  

Hubbard lectured quite a bit in the 1950s and 1960s on the importance of helping man to first understand the mind and how it works, and the importance of helping man to understand the spirit and how it works.  He spent much of his research sifting through thousands of volumes to identify workable mental and spiritual knowledge that the modern man could use in his quest to help himself, his family, his group and all of mankind on a daily basis.

One of the main things that Hubbard spoke of was the importance of returning the ability to control oneself to oneself.  He discussed how those things which a person could not control were the things that were controlling the person.  He drew parallels between ones personal freedom and ones ability to control.  In other words, man was enslaved by the things that controlled him.  Hubbard developed the techniques to help return control to the average man.  (Much of this is discussed in his book, Problems of Work).

One of the truly unique things about the Church of Scientology is that as a group, they are working to help an individual achieve his spiritual goals and truly free himself of the traps and prisons that he has created for himself.  They are one of the most non-judgmental groups within the religious sector today.  They hear what a person is suffering from in his every day life based upon what the person himself says and help the person to find the right tools to be able to overcome those sufferings - once and for all. They do not condone the use of mental drugs to give a man his freedom.  For the average individual, it is a true growth experience and a place where solutions can be found.

Because of the workability of their technology, the non-judgmental approach of their staff, and the verifiable results that people have gotten, the church has grown at a rapid rate.  They are now showing more than 6,000 churches, missions, and related organizations, groups or activities in more than 159 countries.  They have touched the lives of more than eight million people.  Their materials are available in more than 66 languages and they support more than a thousand social betterment groups, which are utilizing methods developed by L. Ron Hubbard's methods in the fields of education, drug and criminal rehabilitation and moral rejuvenation.

It has been difficult for the church to estimate the total number of Scientologists in the world for a variety of reasons.  However some estimates are in the millions. 

A final note about this religion is that it is non-denominational and is by many considered a applied religious philosophy.  For this reason it is not uncommon to find people who are Christians, Buddhists, Jewish, Muslim, etc. also classifying themselves as Scientologists.

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