In 1993, an organization called Scientology was granted a total tax exemption from the United States government on the grounds that Scientology is a church - a religious movement - and should therefore be subject to the same tax. the laws governing other major religions, such as Christianity and Judaism. Members of the organization, which had called itself a religion since its founding in the 1950s, were elated and considered the decision a major victory (Franz, 1997). From that day on, it became official thanks to government support: Scientology is a religion. However, upon closer examination of Scientology's beliefs and practices, it appears that Scientology shares more characteristics with magic than with religion. Magic and religion differ in four main ways. First of all, magic has a specific goal, while religion has a more general goal (K. Bowen, SOCI2333 conference, September 16, 2009). For example, a person practicing magic might seek to immediately conjure rain to nourish the crops, while a person practicing religion might pray for a generally good growing season. This brings us to the next difference, which is that magic attempts to control or dominate gods/holy figures, while religion simply makes demands of them (K. Bowen, SOCI2333 lecture, September 16, 2009). A person practicing magic may perform a certain ceremony or ritual to ensure that something will happen, while a religious person will say a prayer and hope that the sacred figures will listen. Third, magic is said to be falsifiable, while religion is unfalsifiable (K. Bowen, SOCI2333 conference, September 16, 2009). That is, if the expected result does not occur after a magical ritual, something has clearly gone wrong; with religion, however, if prayers do not work, it is...... middle of article......iological Analysis, 41(2), 128-136.Bell, C. ( 1997). Ritual: Perspectives and Dimensions. London: Oxford University Press. Franz, D. (December 31, 1997). $12.5 million settlement with IRS lifts cloud on Scientologists. New York Times. Accessed online: http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/31/us/12.5-million-deal-with-irs-lifted-cloud-over-scientologists.html Hubbard, RL (1950). Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (2007 printing). New York: Bridge Publications, Inc. Miller, R. (1987). Bare-faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard. London: Henry Holt & Co. Online copy viewed: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/miller/bfmconte.htmReitman, Janet. (February 2006). Inside Scientology. Rolling Stone, p. 55-65. Ross, M. (1988). Effect of membership in Scientology on personality. Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion, 27(4), 630-636.