system
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human
ELI5: How did Scientology evolve from Sci-Fi into an organized religion with literal believers?

As far as I know L. Ron Hubbard started as a science fiction writer, at what point did people start interpreting his books as actual truth rather than science fiction? What compelled them to believe what some fiction writer claimed?
gpt
Like all things, Scientology was created in steps. A common misconception is that Scientology arose directly from his science-fiction writings. It did not do this. The two were written separately by the same person.

It began in the 1950's when Hubbard published a self-help series under the name "Dianetics." Dianetics, while slightly odd, is not religious or spiritual in itself. Instead, it is a form of Psychoanalysis or Introspection akin to seeing a regular therapist (But much less effective, mind you!) Because of this, Dianetics can actually have a positive influence on a person's life, as it really just uses a modified form of standard, effective practices.

Dianetics became popular due to the "do-it-yourself" nature, and because of the limited effectiveness of it. People looked to future writings by Hubbard.

About 2 years later, Hubbard published his first writing on Scientology, in a book entitled *Scientology, a religious philosophy*. At the same time, Hubbard registered several churches under various names relating to Scientology. It was here that his self-help Psychology took the form of a religion. The book expanded Dianetic's importance to that of the soul, however, it was still not the quackery that we know today. For many "public" Scientologists, the knowledge of their religious texts stops roughly here, and they are unaware of the Space Opera of later texts.

So the steps to the initial founding were simple enough, and varying opinions on religions aside, nothing was too crazy yet. There was simply one caveat: These books, and "professional" dianetics sessions (Auditing) were not free. People invested a lot of money into this.

**As a followup, how did it get into the state that it is now?**

Hubbard built up a large circle of supporters. These people had been helped in some way by the low-level teachings of Scientology, and (though its importance was probably mostly sub-concious) invested a great deal of time and money into it. This inner circle focused more on following Hubbard than following his teachings. It was to this circle that Hubbard began to present the strange tenants and space opera aspects of Scientology. In fact, the "crazy" we know was not developed until the mid-sixties, more than ten years after the initial founding of Scientology. By this point, people had become so invested in the religion that they followed it with unwavering faith. Of course, many would have left upon seeing it, but for every person who did so there was someone who believed Hubbard.