It is common to see, in Scientology publications, websites, and statements, the claim that they are "the only major religion to emerge in this 20th century". This has been echoed by the average man on the street, all the way up to David Miscavige himself.
However, that belief, and the supporting statements, shows a great disdain for some of the other religious movements to appear in the 20th century.
For example:
The Rastafari Movement was officially in 1930, with the first mission founded in 1933. Rastifarians believe in a personal god, Jah, and believe that the holy spirit incarnate lives within the human. They believe in equality among all men, as the spirit is equal in all. Currently, there are approximately 1 Million members worldwide.
Although its roots are rather old, Santaria itself is relatively young, with the first church established in 1974. Santaria is an amalgamation of African Religions (especially the worship of the Orisha) and Roman Catholic beliefs, which African slaves were generally required to adopt upon arrival to America. There are currently an estimated 22,000 adherents in the US.
Unitarian-Universalism was formed in 1961 from the merger of the Universalist Church in America and the American Unitarian Association. Unitarian-Universalists believe strongly in personal freedoms, a strong moral code and personal responsibility. Although divided on personal beliefs on a god, they are defined by a shared desire for personal and spiritual growth. There is an estimated 629,000 adherents in the world.
Eckankar was founded in 1965 and claims to "provide a personal, unique and individual spiritual inner path to understanding of self as soul,and development of higher awareness "consciousness" and God" and that the spirit, which is the true self (and the body is not) is able to leave the body in full awareness and travel.Like scientology, Eckankar does not publish membership statistics, but is estimated to be 50,000 or less.
One of the newest worldwide movements is the World Pantheist Movement, founded as recently as 1999. Is is "is the world’s largest organization of people associated with pantheism, a philosophy which asserts that spirituality should be centered on nature". The exact number of members is not currently known.
Not to be forgotten is Thelma, created by Aleister Crowley in 1904 (as it is known today), using the dictum "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of the Law. … Love is the law, love under will," Often (incorrectly) confused with Theistic Satanism, Thelmaism centers around personal ethics, the concept of "true will", magik and cosmology.They believe that there is no universal moral code, nor any form of eternal punishment.
So the question remains: when scientologists say that they are "the only major religion to emerge in this 20th century", what is the form of slight? Do they not consider these examples to be major? Do they not accept these examples as "religions"? Is there some confusion as to the meaning of the term "20th century"? Regardless, millions of people would disagree with the very common claim.
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