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Scientology and the Cold War
Scientology's involvement in the Cold War is another source of controversy. Despite the FBI's numerous interventions in the dealings of the church, "it is a strange mirror of the FBI during these years."

The Cold War inspired a rise in church membership, as Communism was believed to be "godless and atheistic", but the FBI still carried out secret anti-communist investigations into religions. The Cold War also inspired a rise in Scientology's followers, as the fear of communism quickly permeated American culture. Scientology portrayed an image of security from probing by the government, therefore causing its followers to feel a sense of safety from the government. As Hugh Urban writes, Scientology was "not just a reflection, but perhaps the very epitome of American religion during the cold war." The church's "obsession with secrecy" by no means was a coincidence; the behavior, which the church seems to have learned both through defending itself from many governments and by observing the world's involvement in the Cold War. Scientology began to show mimicry of the FBI in its dealings with dissenters. The church's silencing of opponents mirrors the FBI's and the KGB's attempts to preserve their public image.

Interestingly, although communism was considered atheistic by the general U.S. population, Michael A. Sivertsev, a scientologist, wrote a book that paints Scientology in a communist light. Using phrases such as "The Charismatic Leader" and "The work of the [leader] is the basis for the dogma" and "the charismatic founder of the movement and his followers," Sivertsev adopts language borrowed from The Communist Manifesto. Sivertsev wrote in Russia, and his work is celebrated among the Scientology community.

Such an undeniable link between Russia, Communism, the FBI and Scientology is hard to ignore. Scientology's presence in the Cold War enhanced the red scare sweeping the nation, as the church, too, was obsessed with secrecy.