Scientological Fundamentalism? Free Zone Scientology and Religion in Modernity

Mark Rathbun, a high- profile Scientologist, has previously accused the Church of Scientology of being “fundamentalist.” The author explores the idea of a “Scientological fundamentalism,” and how Free Zone Scientology might fit the description. Giving an overview of both the Church of Scientology and the Free Zone, the author argues that many Free Zone Scientologists at least resemble the ways in which other fundamentalists— primarily Christian and Muslim ones— in that they are fixated on a return to L. Ron Hubbard’s original “Standard Tech” in response to a change in religious authority in the form of David Miscavige becoming the leader of the Church of Scientology. Although the author does not necessarily argue that the Free Zone constitutes Scientological fundamentalism, they do argue that what has been regularly described as fundamentalist is a persistent quality of religion in modernity.