Stat check: Number of Scientologists?

[DCAnon]

It's always difficult to figure out the number of current Scientologists still in. They claim numbers in the millions, but I'd heard census reports and ex's saying the number is between 50,000-80,000 world wide. Well, here's a post I found from another Anonymous person in DC trying to crunch the numbers by making comparisons to religious organizations we know of in our area and facts we know about the CoS.


Scientology claims to have 8 to 15 million members worldwide

Mormon membership worldwide is 12.8 million

number of LDS wards within a 30 mile radius of DC: 40-50
average ward size: 100-200 members (average)
members within radius: 4,000-10,000

number of orgs within radius: 1
missions: 1

Scientology lacks any noticeable presence in south america, russia, China, japan, India, most of Africa and the south pacific. So its population density in the rest of the world would need to be higher.

To prove equivalency, the founding org and Alexandria mission would need a combined membership of
4,000 or more Scientologists

Event space they have rented out twice this year: maximum capacity of 300 people

Number of Orgs/Mission worldwide: 150?
Reported number of Scientologists worldwide: 8 to 15 million

Number of Scientologists that would be needed per Org/Mission: 50,000 to 100,000

number of Scientologist purportedly in US in 2001: 50,000
England & Wales: 1,700
Australia: 2,500
Canada: 1,500
New Zeland: 280
Germany: 6,000

2001 Total: 61,980

Number of unaccounted for Scientologists in 2001: 7.938 to 14.938 million.


So...where are all the Scientologists?

 

[scooter]

I personally think they're in the libraries around the world reading all those books that have been donated

Nice research DCAnon - Co$ just doesn't get that it can keep lying like this without being caught out yet again.

 

[Sir Facer]

Truth yet again.........

I personally think they're in the libraries around the world reading all those books that have been donated

Nice research DCAnon - Co$ just doesn't get that it can keep lying like this without being caught out yet again.

LOL, Keep telling it as it is peoples, this just keeps getting better & better

 

[Amadeus Einstein]

Perhaps they're basing this figure on the size of CF of all the orgs?

 

[Good twin]

Perhaps they're basing this figure on the size of CF of all the orgs?

Well that's possible. But why bother? If they're gonna falsify the numbers, and over a longish period of time, eventually they might as well just start making numbers up.

 

[uniquemand]

The Church includes all the Body Thetans they've freed from Pre-OTs as Scientologists, too.

 

[Good twin]

The Church includes all the Body Thetans they've freed from Pre-OTs as Scientologists, too.

That's valid. The BT's have had more auditing than most of the staff!

 

[Anne Ominous]

General estimates placed numbers of Scientologists at about 50,000 at the beginning of Chanology; US Scientologists number at 20,000 according to some poll somewhere, possibly Gallup.

It has gone down since then, and combine that with stats crashing around the world anyway, I'd predict 45,000 at most. And that's a generous estimate.

 

[Iknowtoomuch]

There are Scientologists then there are Scientologists that can afford to do Scientology....

So I figure if there are 50,000 Scientologists (I think it's actually less) then there are only about 3-4000 (if that) that can afford to do Scientology on a regular basis.
The rest are in a struggle trying to pay for Scientology while trying to pay for food, family and housing.

 

[Terril park]

The figures quoted here are probably quite accurate and one assumes census data would be unless a lot of people don't like to identify themselves as
scientologists..........

Here is a website devoted to this issue. The section by Mark Plummer is quite important as he approved the postage for mailing to all members worldwide. It was for 225,000. However that just means those on the mailing list. It didn't usually include those dead, or those no longer involved. For some who don't know its notoriously difficult to get taken off the mailing list as that area is never properly manned. Mark says that the max no was 100,000 in
1979, the peak of membership.

Thus 50,000 or even less seems very probable.

http://www.newsfrombree.co.uk/stolgy_4.htm

 

[thetanic]

That's valid. The BT's have had more auditing than most of the staff!

Ouch!

 

[Kathy (ImOut)]

So...where are all the Scientologists?

Here or some other message board. LOL!!! Being Ex-Scientologists.

 

[MarkWI]

How many scientologists?

Anybody paid the IAS membership in recent years for the first time?

The membership number on the recipt is a cumulative number of people who paid anything to the IAS for their membership since its creation in 1984, and includes those who left since. The number of scientologists is smaller than that.

 

[uniquemand]

Do all people considering themselves scientologists have memberships or pay money towards IAS?

 

[Good twin]

Do all people considering themselves scientologists have memberships or pay money towards IAS?

No and many who HAVE paid for a membership don't consider themselves Scientologists.

 

[Axiom142]

Do all people considering themselves scientologists have memberships or pay money towards IAS?

They are supposed to. There used to be a 'free 6 month membership' for new public, after which they were pushed to buy at least an annual membership.

Then, some time ago the 6 month membership was abolished and everyone is supposed to get a lifetime membership as the minimum now. But, I expect there are still a few public and staff who cannot afford that.

Axiom142

 

[Good twin]

I just got a message about a new membership that was purchased in 1999. The membership number was approx 133000. Anyone wanta speculate on how to do this math?

 

[MarkWI]

Do all people considering themselves scientologists have memberships or pay money towards IAS?

They have to pay the IAS either yearly or lifetime, if they want to receive services at an org and keep their certs. The above number does not include the initial 6 month free membership of new people. So, that number may be considered the cumulative number of "active" Co$ scientologists since 1984.

No and many who HAVE paid for a membership don't consider themselves Scientologists.

True.

 

[Smitty]

They have to pay the IAS either yearly or lifetime, if they want to receive services at an org and keep their certs. The above number does not include the initial 6 month free membership of new people. So, that number may be considered the cumulative number of "active" Co$ scientologists since 1984.
True.

the cofs and the freezone both are not forthcoming about their true numbers. the cofs is concerned about "psychs" finding out who their members are and the fz is concerned about "osa" finding out who their members are.
Seems like a great deal of "Us versus Them" thinking is at work there. Cult anyone?

 

[Dulloldfart]

I just got a message about a new membership that was purchased in 1999. The receipt number was approx 133000. Anyone wanta speculate on how to do this math?

Sure. It's really hard to do, though, because of all the assumptions. The IAS started in, um, 1984 or so, say 20 years. If we bumped the current receipt number up to date, it would now be er, ho hum, 200,000. It is not unreal that there have been some tens of thousands of one-offs, with more IASers havng an average of a few invoices each. Like a couple of annual memberships, a screw-this-it's-stupid-let's-get-a-lifetime-membership, and a donation or two towards upping one's status.

Which would give about 31,246 unique IAS members having paid in the past 1000 days.

Paul

P.S. I misunderstood the numbers: I didn't get that it was cumulative. So you can all ignore my post entirely.