The Art of PR War

Scientology, the Media, and Legitimation Strategies for the 21st Century

Bibliographic Data

ID4966903
AuthorsDonald A Westbrook (0000-0002-9768-7720, Faculty for the Comparative Study of Religion and Humanism (FVG), Antwerp, Belgium, corresponding author)
Year2018
Volume47
Issue3
Pages373-395
Publication date2018-09-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueStudies in Religion/Sciences Religieuses (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0008-4298 • E-ISSN: 2042-0587
PublisherSAGE Publications Inc (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1177/0008429818769404
OpenAlexW2886869831
LanguageEN
Citations received5
References cited21

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

Alternative media · Context (archaeology · Media studies · New media · Political science · Public relations · Social media · Sociology · History · Law · Media, Religion, Digital Communication · Religion and Society Interactions · Religious Studies and Spiritual Practices

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