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The Church of Scientology also opens some of its facilities, including the historic Fort Harrison Hotel's ballroom, to Clearwater residents and organizations.

"One of the concepts of Scientology is that you can't just survive and achieve happiness and spiritual understanding for yourself," Mike Rinder, director of the Church of Scientology International, told CT in an lengthy interview in Clearwater. "You also have a responsibility for the groups that you're a part of, the community you live in, the people you deal with, your neighbors, and a general responsibility for all mankind."

Rinder's statement hints at what Scientology holds out to spiritual seekers. Scientology:

• Aims to unleash the godlike potential of each person's immortal soul.
• Values both science and spirituality. Religion schol ar Frank K. Flinn has called Scientology technological Buddhism.
• Supports environmental causes and healthy living.
• Entrusts women, minorities, and young people with key leadership roles.
• Promises that members will accumulate power and position as they advance in training.
• Retains a hip aura. Film stars John Travolta and Tom Cruise are in the small but influential group of celebrities who publicly embrace Scientology.

In Scientology's early years, religion scholars considered it either a cult or a false religion. Contemporary scholars, who are less likely to use judgmental terms, call it a "new religious movement."

Beneath the pop appeal and carefully constructed image lies a central conviction of Scientology: individuals are to be loyal to Scientology first and foremost. Scientologists determine what is ethical based on whether the action in question contributes to Scientology's survival.

Sociologist author Regis Dericquebourg, who studies Scientologist in France, describes this ethical yardstick in Scientology, a reference work distributed by the Church of Scientology International: "The morality of an individual is judged with regard to the actions he accomplishes for survival. In such a perspective, goodness is what is constructive, badness what is against survival.

"Scientology ethics are not a set of recommendations. They are the result of an understanding and interiorization of the meaning of life, which acts as a personal compass. It would be an open moral system."

When Scientology arrived in Clearwater, it tried to participate in the community. But several congregations, determined to avoid Scientologists, stopped interacting with anyone outside of their immediate church community.

At the Upper Pinellas County Ministerial Alliance, Bill Anderson and many other pastors grew weary of bickering about whether Scientologists could join the council. Anderson says he left the association because the repeated Scientology debates prevented members from accomplishing the alliance's goals. Many Christian congregations followed this same pattern; they retreated to their safe sanctuaries and grew extremely wary of ecumenical activities.

"As a pastor, I'm regularly asked to accept them as local clergy," says Rick Foster of Clearwater Community Church. "I get lots of invitations to Scientology's charitable outreach events. I don't attend because I don't want to legitimize them as spiritual leaders in the community."

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September 4 2000, Vol. 44, No. 10