Editing Sea Org (section)

==Background==

[[File:L. Ron Hubbard in 1950.jpg|thumb|[[L. Ron Hubbard]] founded the [[Church of Scientology]] in 1953 and the Sea Org in 1967.]]
{{see also|Scientology beliefs and practices|Space opera in Scientology}}
According to Hubbard, much of the galaxy, including Earth (known as "Teegeeack"), was ruled tens of millions of years ago by the Galactic Confederacy. The confederacy was controlled by [[Xenu]], a tyrant who was eventually overthrown by a group within the Galactic Confederacy known as the "Loyal Officers". Religious scholar [[Hugh Urban]] writes that the Sea Org is modeled after these Loyal Officers.{{r|urban|page=124}} Urban also describes the Sea Org, with the naval uniforms and ranks, as an idealized re-creation of [[Military career of L. Ron Hubbard|Hubbard's own World War II military career]]. He says the Sea Org is reminiscent of the "Soldiers of Light" in Hubbard's science fiction story collection ''[[Ole Doc Methuselah]]''.{{r|urban|page=124}} The publicized goal of the Sea Org is to "get ethics in on the planet".{{r|urban|page=125}}

Academic [[Stephen A. Kent]] has argued that at least part of the reason for the establishment of the Sea Org was that the Church of Scientology's practices encountered resistance from the American [[Food and Drug Administration]] and the [[Internal Revenue Service]], as well as from the governments of the [[United Kingdom]], [[Australia]], and [[Rhodesia]]. Sailing on the high seas meant the church could escape their attention.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Kent |first1=Stephen A. |author-link=Stephen A. Kent |title=From Slogans to Mantras: Social Protest and Religious Conversion in the Late Vietnam War Era |title-link=From Slogans to Mantras: Social Protest and Religious Conversion in the Late Vietnam War Era |publisher=Syracuse University Press |year=2001 |ol=15521204M |isbn=0815629486 |pages=111–112 |quote=However, the less lofty reason behind Hubbard's establishment of the Sea Org was that he had encountered opposition in the United States from the Food and Drug Administration and the IRS, from the governments of Australia, the United Kingdom, and Rhodesia, and from various media sources around the world, which motivated him to set sail on the high seas and thereby escape the control of any nation-state.}}</ref>

In 2000 the number of Sea Org members was listed at around 5,800.{{r|melton2003|page=53}} Most Sea Org members reside in church complexes in Los Angeles, Clearwater, Copenhagen, London, Saint Hill, and Sydney, with some at smaller centers or on assignment elsewhere.{{r|melton2003|page=53}} According to reports filed with the [[Australian Charities and Not-for-profits Commission]] in 2022, the Church of Scientology Religious Education College Incorporated, Scientology's UK arm, claimed to have a total of 700 "volunteers" (including Sea Org) across Saint Hill, London, Manchester, Birmingham and other UK organizations.<ref>{{cite report|date=16 September 2022 |title=Church of Scientology Religious Education College Incorporated Financial Report 2021 |url=https://acncpubfilesprodstorage.blob.core.windows.net/public/3420a2f9-39af-e811-a962-000d3ad24a0d-b45521eb-1a78-4e9f-8578-7f28be890d99-Financial%20Report-51f81de6-b935-ed11-9db1-00224893bd39-COSRECI_Financial_Report_2021.pdf |publisher=Australian Charities and Not-For-Profits Commission |access-date= 8 May 2023}}</ref>{{Failed verification|date=May 2023}}

According to scholar Susan Raine, Hubbard created the Sea Org as a "kind of space navy, melding [sci-fi] space ideas with Earthbound naval ones." Hubbard biographer [[Jon Atack]] recalled a confidential Sea Org executive directive that claimed that governments of the world were on the verge of collapse: "The Sea Org would survive and pick up the pieces."{{r|atack|page=21}}