In 1993, an organization called Scientology was granted a full tax exemption by the US government on the grounds that Scientology is a church - a religious movement - and should therefore be subject to the same tax laws that govern other major religions, such as Christianity and Judaism. Members of the organization, which had called itself a religion since its inception in the 1950s, were overjoyed and considered the ruling a great victory (Franz, 1997). From that day forward it was official with government support: Scientology is a religion. However, looking more closely at Scientology's beliefs and practices, it appears that Scientology has more in common with magic than with religion. Magic and religion differ in four main ways. First, magic has a specific purpose, while religion has a more general purpose (K. Bowen, SOCI2333 conference, September 16, 2009). For example, someone who practices magic may aim to immediately summon rain to nourish the crops, while someone who practices religion may pray for a generally good growing season. This leads to the next difference, which is that magic attempts to control or dominate the gods/holy figures, while religion simply makes demands on them (K. Bowen, SOCI2333 conference, September 16, 2009). Someone who practices magic may perform a certain ceremony or ritual to ensure something happens, while a religious person will say a prayer and hope that holy figures will listen. Third, magic is said to be falsifiable, while religion is unfalsifiable (K. Bowen, SOCI2333 conference, September 16, 2009). That is, if after the magical ritual the desired result is not achieved, it is clear that something went wrong; with religion, however, if prayers don't work, it's... half of the article ......Iological Analysis, 41(2), 128-136.Bell, C. (1997). Ritual: perspectives and dimensions. London: Oxford University Press. Franz, D. (31 December 1997). A $12.5 million settlement with the IRS has raised eyebrows over Scientologists. New York Times. Online access: http://www.nytimes.com/1997/12/31/us/12.5-million-deal-with-irs-lifted-cloud-over-scientologists.htmlHubbard, R.L. (1950). Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health (2007 press). New York: Bridge Publications, Inc. Miller, R. (1987). Bare-faced Messiah: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard. London: Henry Holt & Co. Searchable online copy: http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Library/Shelf/miller/bfmconte.htmReitman, Janet. (February 2006). Inside Scientology. Rolling Stone, pp. 55-65. Ross, M. (1988). Effect of Scientology membership on personality. Journal for the scientific study of religion, 27(4), 630-636.