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It has been more than 40 years since Granada Television of England broadcast a show titled "The Shrinking World of L. Ron Hubbard". Back then Scientology was still a hot new things among the hippy culture and those looking for something new outside of mainstream religion. L. Ron Hubbard, a science fiction author, created Scientology in the 1950's claiming it as an alternative to medical science. When pressed by the FDA in the US, he changed it into a religion and began pulling in followers by the thousands.
In 1968, after several controversies, such as media backlash against the policy of "Fair Game", the new movement began to falter. During the late 1970's Scientology was rocked by allegations they had infiltrated both the IRS and the FBI and burglarized several government offices. The code name for the project was Operation Snow White and several top ranking Scientologists, including L. Ron Hubbard's current wife, Mary Sue Hubbard were convicted of a number of crimes and sentanced to prison sentances. L. Ron Hubbard and his top lawyer Ken Moxon were both named as co-conspirators but were not indicted in the case.
In the 1980's, things were starting to look better as they launched new campaigns to bring in new members and a new generation of kids began growing up inside. However in 1986, L. Ron Hubbard died while in hiding in California, leaving the future of Scientology a question. Shortly after his death, David Miscaivage, one of L. Ron Hubbard's right hand men took charge of the organization and launched it into a new prosperity going into the 1990's. Scientology become a force in Hollywood, buying up buildings along the star studded Hollywood strip and launched a takeover of the city of Clearwater, Florida, which remains a major hub of Scientology to this day.
It looked like Scientology would finally reach the heights of power that L. Ron Hubbard had dreamed of until the internet came along. With the internet came the power for anyone in the world to publish information anonymously and to broadcast it to millions of people at once. Before Scientology had controlled their reputation with an iron fist, going after Time Magazine in 1991 for an unfavorable article and sending the rest of the mainstream media into a cowering silence. However now individuals who had been victimized inside or concerned citizens who were worried about the misuse of Scientology's raw power and money could be found with just a single search. As more and more stories came out about abuse, manipulation and exploitation inside more people began to balk at joining. Today, when nearly everyone who wants to learn more about something will simply type it into a search engine and hit enter, the full story about Scientology is available to anyone who wants to read it. Both the Scientology website as well as critical sites are freely open for the curious reader or potential new member. With this new knowledge available, many have began to turn down offers to join and membership has fallen drastically. In 2000 the number of Scientologists in the US census was around 55,000. Today some estimates place their membership at fewer than 20,000 members. In 2008, a wave of internet driven protests began and continue to this day against Scientology presences around the world. The media and internet activists have turned the word Scientology into both a word whispered in scandalized tones as well as a punchline. Several of their "orgs" have now closed, including the one in Las Vegas and ex members have been begged to return. It would seem that the 1968 predictions of the demise of Scientology are finally starting to come true. Scientology saw the dawn of the 21st century, but will they even be remembered by the time the first quarter of it is over? Right now it would seem that the answer is probably a negative.