L. Ron Hubbard founded the Church of Scientology in 1954 to supposedly rid his parishioners of self-doubt. More than half a century later, the religion is under more scrutiny than ever.

The Disappeared, The Dead, And The Damned: Inside The Church Of Scientology

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The Church of Scientology has been a lightning rod of controversy for decades — even well before Hollywood superstar Tom Cruise propelled it into the pop-culture stratosphere.

Founded in 1954 by science-fiction author L. Ron Hubbard, the church experienced groundswells of notoriety in three distinct phases: the initial founding in the 1950s, successor David Miscavige taking the mantle upon Hubbard's death, and Tom Cruise becoming the de facto face of the religion soon after.

What is a soul-saving compendium of self-help philosophies for devout members — based on Hubbard's own Dianetics text — is by many accounts a corrupt business benefitting from its non-profit religious status and run on a system of lies, threats, and punishment.

In order to thoroughly understand the self-described church — what its foundations are based on, how it's run, and what lies ahead for the organization — an informative walkthrough of its history, alongside 44 captivating photos chronicling its existence, is in order.

What Is Scientology?

"Scientology is a religion that offers a precise path leading to a complete and certain understanding of one's true spiritual nature and one's relationship to self, family, groups, Mankind, all life forms, the material universe, the spiritual universe and the Supreme Being." - Official website of the Church of Scientology

Scientology conveniently posits that its tenets are rooted in "all great religions," boasting "a religious heritage as old and as varied as Man himself." The church posits that man is "basically good, and that his spiritual salvation depends upon himself, his fellows and his attainment of brotherhood with the universe."

Modern science, according to the church, leaves people with an "absence of answers" to their deepest troubles. L. Ron Hubbard and his disciples, however, claimed they had found the "workable methods of application that made it possible for Man to reach the ancient goal he has been striving toward for thousands of years: to know himself and, in knowing himself, to know and understand other people and, ultimately, life itself."

It all sounds broadly appealing — who wouldn't want to understand one's "true spiritual nature" with a combination of the best parts of the world's religions? — but Scientology's inclusive marketing masks a extremely rigid set of requirements for church members.

In order to achieve enlightenment and proceed with the tools and mindset to overcome any challenge that comes your way, the church declares, you have to read its books, use its technology, and submit to its stringent set of rules. And none of that comes cheap.

As was recently revealed in the documentary series Leah Remini: Scientology and the Aftermath, presented by the Hollywood actress who was a Scientologist for 35 years before leaving in 2013, Scientology requires its members to spend an enormous amount of time — and money — in order to cross the "Bridge to Total Freedom," the church's way of describing its version of spiritual enlightenment.

Members have to complete both "training" — i.e. study the complete texts and teachings of Scientology — and "auditing" — the church's version of therapy.

To complete the required training, members have to buy all 12 books of Scientology which, according to Remini, cost about $4,000 altogether. Whenever the church updates the books, members have to buy new ones – if they want to be good Scientologists.

Parishioners have to read the books, complete lessons, and listen to hours of Hubbard's lectures "in a precise order set forth on a checksheet," according to Scientology's website. The church estimates that if you spent 40 hours per week studying its doctrine, the full round of coursework would take about a year to complete.

"L. Ron Hubbard has written many times about the fact that 50 percent of one's gains from Scientology come from training and 50 percent are from auditing," proclaims Scientology's website. In auditing sessions, members are taken through challenging, disturbing, or traumatic memories and feelings to try to overcome them — to transition from "preclear," as beginning Scientology members are called, to "clear."

In auditing sessions, members hold the electrodes of an e-meter, a device that Scientologists believe measures one's emotional response to ideas, phrases, and even individual words. Auditors use the e-meters, whose psychological uses have been officially disproven by the U.S. courts, to guide their sessions.

According to Remini, each auditing session lasts a minimum of two and a half hours and costs $800 an hour.

"There is no other religion that I know of that requires two and a half hours of your day, a quarter of a million dollars minimum, and at least 40 years of your life," Remini said.

According to Jeffrey Augustine, author of the blog The Scientology Money Project, the church collects about $200 million every year and has a book value of $1.75 billion, most of which is tied up in real estate in Florida, Hollywood, Seattle, London, New York, and other places.

When a Scientologist has had enough and decides to leave the church, they suffer "disconnection," by which the church pressures Scientologists to sever any and all ties with every ex-member — or anyone deemed hostile to the church. These disconnections have separated children from their parents, spouses from each other, and have devastated countless lives.