Local Scientology Church draws student curiousity

Though Scientology is widely known for attracting Hollywood stars, in Boston it’s reaching out to a decidedly more humble crowd: college students.

Located just east of the Boston University campus and paradoxically next to a Massachusetts Institute of Technology fraternity is the Boston Church of Scientology at 448 Beacon St., operating seven days a week with racks of introductory DVDs warmly placed next to its open doors.

In recent years, many students walking down Commonwealth Avenue have received flyers from the Church of Scientology as the church attempts to expand and bring in more members, raising questions about whether it’s reaching out to students specifically.

These flyers advertise a self-confidence course that the church offers based on the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

After paying a fee of $30, the course boasts to teach students “the true source of security in life” and “the exact steps to become more competent in whatever you do,” according to a pamphlet describing the course.

The church printed 10,000 of these flyers to be distributed across Boston.

But Chris Garrison, a minister of Scientology, insists that the church is not targeting students.

“We are reaching out to people from all over,” he said. “Boston is just full of college students.”

Nonetheless, college students may be particularly susceptible to the teachings of Scientology, said Patrice Oppliger, an assistant professor of mass communication in the College of Communication.

College students may find Scientology’s self-branding as a self-help religion especially appealing, Oppliger said.

Students are “a population that might have trouble adjusting to life away from their hometown, family or old friends,” she said.

They are also attractive to organizations that wish to have an effect on the wider community, said Nancy Ammerman, a professor of the sociology of religion in the School of Theology.

“You are at a stage where lots of life decisions are being made, and when you leave here, the decisions you make are likely to influence both your own lives and the communities you will lead in the future,” Ammerman said.

James Harrison, a public executive of the Boston Church of Scientology, said that the church would love to welcome college students, whom he described as “idealistic” and “full of energy.”

“College students are seekers of knowledge,” Harrison said. “And we are a school of thought regarding mind, life and spirit.”

Harrison said that he has personally worked with many students from BU and other Boston universities, some for class papers for religion courses.

“My father was a Scientologist and he went to BU,” Harrison said. “I’m what you would call a second-generation Scientologist.”

Scientology historically has received negative attention from the media and the public.

It became controversial at BU in 1995 when BU Board of Trustees Chairman Earle C. Cooley represented the church as a lawyer in cases regarding intellectual property.

Since then, much of the attention has died down, but many BU students interviewed still believe that Scientology is “crazy” or “creepy.”

Much of this negative attention, however, may stem from the fact that Scientology is a relatively new religion, Ammerman said.

“New movements are often controversial,” Ammerman said. “Its beliefs are quite different from the beliefs of other, more established, religious groups.”

“When groups offer beliefs that are so significantly different, that tends to magnify the negative response to them. It often means that they are dubbed “cults’ by the rest of society,” she added.

Unlike some other new movements, Scientology has managed to continue to rise in popularity.

“Scientology. . . has had sufficient financial and legal resources to fight back against the critics and survive,” Ammerman said. “One of the reasons it has resources is that participation often involves paying large fees for courses and counseling.”

These courses and counseling services stand at the heart of Scientology.

Focusing on self-fulfillment through an intensive study of the “mind, life, and spirit,” the Church of Scientology is above all a kind of school, a building with classrooms, students and teachers.

“Scientology is an applied religious philosophy to improve conditions in life,” Harrison said.

“The important word here is “applied,'” Garrison added. “All of our teachings are applied, and it works.”

The Church of Scientology offers many free introductory services, including personality tests and a weekly Sunday service at 11 a.m.

These services are open to everyone.

“I heard a lot of things about Scientology, many of which are bad,” said one recent attendee of a Sunday Scientology service, a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences who wished to remain anonymous. “I went so I can experience for myself and form my own opinions.”

Although these services are free, most other Scientology services are not.

“A free introductory session does not mean that subsequent participation will be without cost,” Ammerman said.