SCIENTOLOGY IN THE COMMUNITY – THE LARGER PURPOSE

Although it may be reiterated that the Church has received thousands of awards and commendations for its work within communities, these are incidental to both the intention and the deed. Scientologists help because help is part of the fabric of their religion, and L. Ron Hubbard has always stressed the importance of taking responsibility for one’s fellows.

It should also be pointed out that, in addition to these listed activities, a legion of unheralded Scientologists in countries all over the world engage in a host of unreported activities. Whether they are organized by the Church, or simply the actions of individual Scientologists who willingly accept responsibility for their fellows and their neighborhoods, it is part and parcel of the broader view that there is no finer satisfaction than that which comes from helping. Thus, wherever one finds a Church of Scientology, one also finds a steady, if unpublicized, effort to help wherever needed.

Reducing criminality and drug abuse, community cleanup and charitable contributions – when one considers the larger purpose of Scientology, it is no accident that members of the Church have chosen to focus their social betterment programs on these areas. For although the primary emphasis of Scientology remains on bettering the individual, on bringing him to greater heights of spiritual awareness, the long-range aim has always been the same – a civilization without insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able can prosper and honest beings can have rights, and where man is free to rise to greater heights. And so, as the numbers of Scientologists continue to grow, so, too, is their presence increasingly felt as a vital force in the community.