The Art of PR War

Abstract

This article explores the relationship between the Church of Scientology and various forms of media, in particular the Internet. Building on insights in the academic literature, this piece attempts to fill a lacuna by giving more attention to some of Scientology’s own media programs and efforts. With these in mind, the Church of Scientology is a case study in the challenges that a new religion faces in legitimating itself to an increasingly globalized audience in the digital age. On a popular level, Scientology parishioners seem increasingly open to discussing, defending, and disseminating Scientology on social media platforms. These efforts may encourage others accustomed to a Scientological theology of evil in which “entheta” should be avoided and “suppressive persons” (SPs) shunned. As such, socially engaged Scientologists, in particular second- and third-generation members, may become witting and unwitting foot soldiers on behalf of the church in waging an ongoing public relations war, and thus poised to legitimate Scientology to outsiders disinterested in or suspicious of “institutional religion.” This hypothesis is all the more intriguing and plausible in the American context, given the market share created by the heterogeneous “rise of the nones” (religiously unaffiliated/disaffiliated populations).