RSOC 51 De Anza College Aspects of Religion Research Paper

PAPER FORMAT:

I. Introduction

Overview of section: Summarize the topic of your study: name the organization and introduce the topics you found most interesting and your primary concern (e.g., identity, community, religious organizations, religious experience, social justice, community, identity, ritual, transformation of the person, etc.). Briefly state what you found most interesting and why it is important within the context of understanding religion, religion in America, or America. This is the “so what?” factor – this should serve as a frame for the rest of your paper. Provide some brief background information for the reader about the group you researched. Keep in mind this is just an introduction. Save the details for the body of the paper (i.e., “Observations” and “Analysis”).

Detailed description of introductory section (added Nov. 29, 22)

Introductory paragraph(s):

This paragraph should provide a “road map” for the paper. In this paragraph, you should briefly explain the topic, argument, or what you intend to explore in the paper (i.e., your primary concern)and then provide the reader with a brief overview of how you will go about discussing this in the paper. This will serve as a framework for the rest of your paper.

If you would like, you can always address your expectations described in your research proposal and briefly address whether your expectations were confirmed or not confirmed.

Make sure to include the name of the place of worship (or group) and their location (this could be as general as the city or could be more focused in terms of an address).

Advice: after you’ve completed writing your paper, you will want to go back and revise your introduction to make sure that it correctly “maps out” what you actually did in the paper itself.

Introduction section:

If necessary, provide a description of the place of worship and any pertinent background information that will help to support your primary concern. This gives you an opportunity to begin citing work regarding your primary concern.

Provide some introduction or background information about the concepts you will use in this paper (e.g., values, community, religious activism, race and religion, contradictions, leadership positions and gender, culture and religion, immigration and religion, racial and ethnic inequalities, social media, practices and rituals, etc.) and address why these are important and/or what others have written about them.

Then address how your observations (or additional research that can include what you’ve learned in this class) add or help confirm what is already known (i.e., what you’ve written about above) or provide new insight or something new. This should be the “so what?” factor (i.e., why other students and scholars should care about your work/what’s in this paper).

Advice: Keep in mind this is just an introduction. Save the details for the body of the paper (i.e., “Observations” and “Analysis”).

II. Observations

Describe the most pertinent aspects of the organization you observed.

What did you learn about the organization?

How did the people in the organization act?

Who were the people in the organization?

Remember: use the observations that are applicable to your primary concern. You should not be describing things you observed that are not central to your primary concern.

III. Analysis and Discussion

The following are possible prompts. This section is meant to be an opportunity for you to analyze and critically think about the information or data presented in the “Observations” section.

Reflecting on your central observations, what do these observations have to do with your primary concern (e.g., identity, community, religious organizations, religious experience, social justice, contradictions, leadership positions, and gender, etc.)?

How do the people, artifacts, or organization of the group reflect the ideals of the group itself? Or do they?

What contradictions or questions come up from your observations?

Use concepts learned in class to analyze what you have observed. How have some of the lessons learned in this class helped you to understand this group? Important lesson: be explicit. Don’t be afraid to use concepts that we’ve learned or reference material that we have read (make sure to cite it).

You can also bring in examples or aspects from your previous history or media papers if appropriate.

IV. Larger Interpretation – Conclusions

Prompts for the conclusion:

What does your analysis say about other religious organizations in the American context?

What does your analysis of the group say about the context or culture of Northern California, Santa Clara County, or Silicon Valley?

What does your analysis say about America?

What does your analysis say about religion in general?

V: Reflection

A separate section that you use to personally reflect on what you learned

Beili Dong
RSOC 51
Fall 2022
Ethnographic Field Notes
This report will provide a religious observation of the Church of Scientology. The observation
will be presented using the following aspects: Location and setting, physical setting and artifacts,
demographics, meeting style, engagement of bodies, and narratives. These aspects will help
understand the religious aspect of the Church of Scientology.
Location and Setting
The building is not on the side of the road but in the parking lot, very close to the location.
Facing the entrance of the parking lot is the giant logo of Scientology and the golden cross; the
church of Scientology of Steve’s Greek building gives people a very modern and new feeling. I
went there at 4 pm on a weekday, so there were only 3-4 cars in the parking lot. What surprised
me was that the Church of Scientology had set up a reception desk, which needed to take a
temperature and ask if there were any recent symptoms of illness, followed by a questionnaire
that needed to be filled out, including name, age, phone number, and identification. I was
stunned that the church of Scientology had a receptionist.
Physical Setting and Artifacts
The building of the Church of Scientology is divided into two floors, and on the left-hand side of
the first floor is the vast exhibition hall, which houses the Testing and evaluation centre. I was
greeted by Mr Robin, dressed in a white shirt, black pants, and black tie. On the left side of the
showroom, there were a lot of bookshelves, some of which were for sale; on the right side, there
were several giant TVs. Each TV had a different advertisement about Scientology, there were
two posters next to each TV, and in the center of the first floor, there was a “library” where there
were a lot of visitors. There is a “library” in the center of the first floor where many books for
“classes” and Scientology badges are for sale. Next to the library, there is a chapel, which is more
like a minimized room for meetings with a capacity of about 30 people. The second floor
consists of only two functional areas, one is the purification center, and the other is the auditing
room. The purification center has four treadmills at the entrance, two saunas, a shower room, and
a kitchenette with different vitamins. Every time you go to the purification center, you can run on
the treadmill for 20 minutes, then go to the sauna, and after that, you can go to the kitchen to take
vitamins.
Demographics
The church of Scientology has diverse people from different ethnic groups and ages. When I
went there, there were a few people, two teenagers and one senior leader. However, from
research, it is clear that the church of Scientology is not just for whites but for the entire
community as long as the person has true faith and belief (Orlando, 2018). The church does not
have specific consideration for a person’s financial status. Therefore, most people seem to be
middle-class people.
Meeting Style
Some of the meetings conducted in the church of Scientology are official, while others are not
official meetings. In this case, the church has a small room with a limit of thirty people, where
random meetings occur between leaders and officials. General meetings with the congregation
sometimes happen inside the church, while others happen outside the church (Cowan &
Bromley, 2015). Most church meetings are usually prayers, worship sessions, and sermons.
Some interactions happen inside the church before and after the service and sometimes during
community service programs the church is involved with. All church members sometimes
engage with each other in meetings to help the entire community look out for one another.
Narratives
According to the receptionist, many Scientology members can alter or even create their futures
by following class patterns and undergoing auditing. This aspect of the ideology is, in my
opinion, derived from Mahayana Buddhism’s belief that anybody can become a Buddha, in
contrast to the assumption that conventional religion, i.e., the concept of God and the fear of
God, is the important factor and center of the religion.The propaganda, in my opinion, would
appeal to the non-religious, and the receptionist’s message to me from the moment I came in the
door was that I could be my own “god.” As a layperson who has never heard of Scientology, the
receptionist’s message was pretty exciting to me, thinking about the mental health and happiness
you will experience after joining Scientology to study. The receptionist stressed their auditing
techniques and scientology’s global service, telling me that I could find scientology anyplace the
Red Cross goes. To be honest, after viewing the movie on the first floor and studying
Scientology theory, I had a positive first impression of Scientology until I went on the second
floor tour. Auditing is a major “ritual” of Socientology, and according to its ideology, auditing is
“a process whereby the ‘auditor’ guides an individual through times in their current or prior
incarnations with the objective of” L. Ron Hubbard (Dr.)On the second floor, the auditing rooms
are separated into a series of narrow corridors; each corridor has about 12–16 rooms, each of
which can only fit a small table and two stools. The dim lighting and crowded surroundings
instantly made me feel nervous ,much like the interrogation room in the movie would do.
Another reason for the Scientology rapid rise, in my opinion, is that it has a complete process
and system, from the receptionist’s “icebreaker” to the seemingly reasonable theories and
self-justification of their own theories, from doctrine receipt to ultimate “treatment,” auditing all
of the procedures is like a closed loop. “Beware of being mind-controlled by them,” is my initial
impression of scientology.
References
Cowan, D. E., & Bromley, D. (2015). Cults and New Religions: A Brief History.
Blackwell Publishing.
Orlando, F. (2018, May 12). A Star Bursts in “The City Beautiful” as a Ribbon Falls on
The New Church of Scientology. Scientology.org. Retrieved October 28, 2022, from
http://www.scientology.org/scientology-today/church-openings/grand-opening-orlando.ht
ml#slide6
Yahr, E. (2016, December 21). Ex-Scientologists tell disturbing stories about David
Miscavige, the ‘pope of Scientology,’ on A&E series. The Washington Post. Retrieved
October 28, 2022, from
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/arts-and-entertainment/wp/2016/12/21/ex-sciento
logists-tell-disturbing-stories-about-david-miscavige-the-pope-of-scientology-on-ae-serie
s/