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The Sea Organization (Sea Org) is an unincorporated fraternal religious order of the Church of Scientology, comprising the church's most dedicated members.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=WHAT IS THE SEA ORGANIZATION? )〕 It has been described by some as a paramilitary〔Stark and Bainbridge 1996, p. 213. *Dawson 2006, p. 38: "Members of the paramilitary Sea Org sign billion-year contracts of absolute loyalty and service to the highest leadership of the Church of Scientology." *Former member Aaron Judge in Squires, 29 November 2009: "The Sea Org is like a military organization. You live in cramped quarters, are served food in the cafeteria area and you basically work from 8:30 in the morning through to 11:15 at night." *Former Scientology auditor Bruce Hines in (Cooper, 2 December 2005 ): "It's very much a military organization. You wear a uniform, there's saluting, marching, standing at attention."〕 and as a private naval force, having operated several vessels in its past and displaying a strong maritime tradition. As of 2009, it consisted of approximately 5,000 members, according to official Scientology statistics.〔 The Sea Org was established on 12 August 1967 by L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Dianetics and Scientology, initially onboard four ships, the ''Diana'', the ''Athena'', the ''Apollo'', and the ''Excalibur''. In 1971, the Sea Org assumed responsibility for the ecclesiastical development of the church, and in particular the delivery of the upper levels of its auditing and training, known as Operating Thetan or OT levels.〔Melton 2003, pp. 44–47.〕 In 1981, under the aegis of the Commodore's Messenger Organization led by David Miscavige, the Sea Org dissolved the Guardian's Office (GO) and assumed full responsibility for the international management of the Church, later reassigning the duties of the GO to the Office of Special Affairs in 1983 during the corporate restructuring of the Church. It moved to land-based organizations in 1975, though maritime customs persist, with many members wearing naval-style uniforms and addressing both male and female officers as "sir."〔(Reitman, 23 February 2006 ), p. 1.〕 In 1985, the church purchased a motor vessel, the ''Freewinds'', which docks in Curacao in the southern Caribbean and is used as a religious retreat and training center, staffed entirely by Sea Org members.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=What is the Sea Organization? )〕 Sea Org members make a lifetime commitment to Scientology by signing a billion-year contract that is officially described as a symbolic pledge.〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=IS IT TRUE THAT PEOPLE IN THE SEA ORG SIGN A BILLION-YEAR CONTRACT? )〕 In exchange, members are given free room and board, and a small weekly allowance. Sea Org members agree to strict codes of discipline, such as disavowing premarital sex, working long hours (on average at least 100 hours per week) and living in communal housing, referred to as "berthings". They are allowed to marry, but must relinquish their membership if they have or want to raise children. ==Background== J. Gordon Melton writes that Scientology is an esoteric Gnostic system based on the belief that the self, or thetan, is trapped in what it calls MEST, matter, energy, space and time. Scientology aims to restore the thetan to a state of "total freedom" from MEST through long courses of study and auditing, which rid the thetan of "engrams", recordings of distressing experiences from this and previous lives. The first significant aim of this training is the state of "Clear". Hubbard developed higher levels of training in the Sea Org, enabling the subject to live as an Operating Thetan (OT). An OT is said by the church to be able to experience the self outside the constraints of the body, a process Scientologists call "exteriorization".〔 According to Hubbard, much of the galaxy was ruled tens of millions of years ago by the Galactic Confederacy, comprising 26 stars and 76 planets, including Earth, then known as Teegeeack. The confederacy was controlled by a tyrant named Xenu, who sent people from other planets to Earth because of over-crowding. Their souls attached themselves in clusters to human bodies, so that each person on Earth became a collection of entities, rather than a single personality. Part of the mission of Scientology is to rid people of these extra entities, known as body thetans. Religious scholar Hugh Urban writes that the Sea Org resembles a group within the Galactic Confederacy, known as the "Loyal Officers" who overthrew Xenu.〔 Stephen A. Kent (2001) argues 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 IRS, and from the governments of Australia, the United Kingdom, and Rhodesia. Sailing on the high seas meant the church could escape their attention.〔Kent 2001, pp. 111–112, footnote 23.〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Sea Org」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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