On this day...

Scientology: wanted -- fact
Date: Sunday, 4 August 1968
Publisher: The Observer (London, UK)
Main source: link (23 KiB)

THE case of the Scientologists raises a very prickly issue. On the one hand, it is difficult to fault the verdict of Mr Kenneth Robinson, the Minister of Health, that the cult is 'socially harmful.' On the other hand, the Government's decision to ban followers of the cult from entry into Britain does raise a very basic issue: should moral and social disapproval be translated into executive action?

In each and every case, the damage done to the principle of freedom of association has to be weighed against the damage done to individuals or to society by the particular sect or movement concerned. In short, everything depends on the merits of the specific case.

Hence the overriding importance of having available the evidence about the Scientologists' activities. It is therefore essential that Mr Robinson should now publish the 'considerable body of evidence' that he says his Ministry has collected.

Vague letter attacking Cazares passed on to FBI
Date: Wednesday, 4 August 1976
Publisher: St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Author: Patrick McMahon
Main source: news.google.com 

A typewritten letter to certain Pinellas and state Democratic party officials about Clearwater Mayor Gabriel Cazares was turned over to the FBI for investigation Tuesday, Cazares said.

An apparently vaguely written letter about alleged activities by Cazares, Democratic candidate for the U.S. House in 6th Congressional District, was received by some state and local party officials last week, and a followup letter apparently was mail to other party members this week. Pinellas Democratic Party Chairman Howard Lawrence called the letter "a very crude attempt at character assassination . . . loaded with innuendos" and "the lowest form of political trickery."

Cazares, reached for comment, said he no longer had a copy of the letter (having given it to the FBI), declined to detail what charges were made, and refused to comment on or deny the content of the letter.

The St. Petersburg Times was unable to obtain a copy of the first letter Tuesday, but Lawrence and others offered their versions of what they believed the letter contained.

PERSONS FAMILIAR with the letter said it was signed by a "Sharon T" and referred in vague terms to a dinner with Cazares in Washington, D.C., and alluded to a hit-and-run accident involving a pedestrian and a car. The letter supposedly contained no names, dates, times or other information that could be used to verify any of the information.

Lawrence said the letter came addressed to the party's post office box and was marked "To Whom It May Concern."

He said other state party officials also received it last week, and this week some local party members received another letter suggesting that the party look into the matter.

CAZARES said the original letter "has no return address" and is postmarked Washington, July 28. He refused to speculate about who would send such letters, but ruled out the idea that his Republican opponent U.S. Rep. C. W. Bill Young, R-St. Petersburg, had anything to do with it.

"I won't comment on the letter in any way," he said. ". . . By its very nature it can be read several ways." He said it is "an unsigned letter and contains no real specifics."

Sect's charges insult intelligence of public
Date: Saturday, 4 August 1984
Publisher: Clearwater Sun (Florida)
Main source: link (64 KiB)

Heber Jentzsch, the international president of the Church of Scientology, seriously underestimates the sophistication of Clearwater residents if he thinks they will believe a word of his diatribe against Boston lawyer Michael Flynn.

Jentzsch gave a press conference on the steps of City Hall Wednesday to "expose" Flynn for conspiring to bilk the sect of $2 million.

Flynn, as just about every Clearwater resident knows, has been a perennial foe of the Scientologists. It was Flynn who conducted a series of hearings in Clearwater two years ago that laid bare the exploitation and flim-flammery that has been rife in the sect.

And it is to Flynn that disenchanted Scientologists turn for legal advice and representation in reprisals against the sect.

Jentzsch is traveling the nation denouncing Flynn from every soap box he can lay his hands on.

And that conforms to the sect's "Fair Game Doctrine."

The doctrine states, "An SP (suppressive person) may be deprived of property or injured by any means by any Scientologist without discipline to the Scientologist. (An SP) may be tricked, sued, lied to or destroyed."

L. Ron Hubbard, the sects reclusive multi-millionaire founder, stated in a magazine article: "The defense of anything is untenable. The only way to defend anything is to attack."

Sect leaders have followed that philosophy through the years by harassing critics in every way imaginable—from spreading embarrassing rumors to filing frivolous lawsuits.

Under the sect's "Black PR" policy, members are urged to use publicity to destroy the reputation of Scientology's enemies, and they are advised to invent smears if they don't have the facts to back up their allegations.

The case against Flynn reeks of these two doctrines.

Who, for example, is Ala Fadili Al Tamimi? Are we expected to credit the accusations of that "master criminal and con man" (as sect officials style him)? Especially in view of the sect's payment of $25,000 for his "evidence," observers are bound to be skeptical.

The Jentzsch press conference is no great surprise, nor is the "discovery' of damaging evidence against Flynn. 

What's surprising is that the Scientologists are allowed to continue their sick charade.

Why are law enforcement agencies so lethargic about excoriating this malignancy from our community?

Town terrorized for fighting church
Date: Sunday, 4 August 1991
Publisher: Winnipeg Sun
Main source: link (51 KiB)

When Narconon comes to town, the Church of Scientology — and trouble — follows, residents of Newkirk, Okla. warned yesterday.

Newkirk civic leaders were threatened and harassed by the controversial church and its private investigators after they opposed a Narconon treatment centre set up on Indian territory near the small, rural town in 1989, Mayor Gary Bilger said.

"We had three investigators in our little town of 2,300 off and on for weeks," he said.

"My little boy was 11 years old at that time. They'd go up to him and hand him their card to give to his dad. 

They had contact with my kids on the street, they hung around my daughter's car at school," he said.

Ironically, Bilger and almost everyone else in town welcomed Narconon in the beginning — Bilger was especially pleased when the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE) awarded $200,000 to Narconon at a ceremony to celebrate the 33-centre organization's expansion.

Then, local newspaper publisher Bob Lobsinger discovered ABLE and Narconon shared the same address in Los Angeles. "That was the first deception," Lobsinger said.

"They came out here to the country and put on a dog and pony show for all us country bumpkins."

He and other media reports claim Narconon is actually a thinly-disguised Scientology indoctrination program which — like dozens of Scientology operations — was set up under a different name to sidestep the bad press the cult has received.

A Narconon spokesperson in Toronto said the group is considering setting up shop in Winnipeg — it is currently fund-raising here.

Lobsinger warned Winnipeggers to investigate Narconon thoroughly if it moves here.

"Don't just take the word of the salesman — in this case, they don't just take your money. They take your life."

After Lobsinger published a damning two-page report on Narconon in his weekly Newkirk Herald Journal, the church placed ads in other Oklahoma newspapers accusing anyone opposed to Narconon of being involved in, and profiting from, the drug trade.

It sent investigators to dig up dirt on Bilger and Lobsinger, and to hassle other residents, Lobsinger said.

Recently, the Herald Journal's circulation list was stolen — and coincidentally all 1,000 subscribers on the list received pamphlets by mail a few weeks ago from the Church of Scientology, he said. The local Church of Scientology couldn't be reached for comment.

Critics say cult behind drug-rehab program // Kids working for Scientology front?
Date: Sunday, 4 August 1991
Publisher: Winnipeg Sun
Author: Pat St. Germain
Main source: link (86 KiB)

Dozens of Winnipeg teenagers have been hired to raise funds for a drug rehabilitation program which critics charge is nothing more than a recruiting front for a "mind-control cult."

About 60 teenagers who answered newspaper advertisements for summer jobs are selling pepperoni and T-shirts door-to-door to raise money for Narconon — a drug rehab organization linked to the Church of Scientology.

And while officials from the program and the man behind the drive say it's all above board, it has sparked concern that the church — which has been alleged to be a cult and accused of crimes by U.S. experts — may be using the campaign to indoctrinate local teens with church-supplied videos.

"It sounds like a potentially dangerous situation," said Winnipeg psychologist Toby Rutner, who has had some former Scientology members as patients.

Rutner said it's not unusual for cult-like organizations to attract recruits through a socially acceptable pretext and then expose them to the organization's doctrine.

And an Oklahoma newspaper publisher who has been battling the Church of Scientology for two years said he has no doubt it's a cult — and Narconon is used to attract new members.

"(Narconon's) just strictly a recruiting front for the Church of Scientology," said Newkirk Herald Journal publisher Bob Lobsinger, who says he has been harassed by the church for opposing its plan to set up a Narconon operation in the state.

"It's a paramilitary, mind-control cult."

 

'Frightening'

A Winnipeg woman who has seen media reports about the church and was approached by a teen salesperson last week said it's "frightening" Narconon is raising money here and taking donations that would otherwise go to legitimate Winnipeg charities.

The woman, who asked that her name be withheld because she fears harassment, said she might have made a donation if she hadn't seen a recent television documentary linking Narconon to Scientology.

As well, a recent cover story in Time magazine alleged that the church — founded by writer L Ron Hubbard and based on his book Dianetics — is a ruthless, corrupt organization whose members are abused and bilked of their savings.

A Church of Scientology member in Toronto verified Narconon is "related" to Scientology, and that the church supplies all Narconon's books, videos and materials.

 

Good intentions

However, both a Narconon spokesman and Brian Knowles, manager of Wellington Food Service, which operates the fund-raising effort, said Narconon is a separate entity from the church, and has nothing but good intentions.

Knowles said Wellington — which also provides food products for fund-raising efforts for schools, clubs and charities — hired students to sell for Narconon because he believes the program helps people get off drugs.

And he's using the opportunity to have occasional "briefings" with the teens about the "drug situation," and show them Narconon videos, the first of which is a promotional video, he said.

Narconon has several U.S. centres, but only two in Canada: in Toronto and Vancouver. Knowles said the organization is considering opening a centre in Winnipeg, and added he wouldn't be alarmed to learn the drug program is an arm of Scientology.

However, Lynne McKague, spokesperson for Narconon in Toronto, hotly denied the program is involved in recruiting Scientology members, and suggested she should send the local woman promotional material to allay her fears.

Plans for a Winnipeg centre are in the "embryonic" stage, and won't necessarily bear fruit, she said.

[Picture / Caption: RUINER: Dangerous]

[Picture / Caption: Church of Scientology headquarters on second floor of 388 Donald.]

Jesse Prince

8/4/98

If you had the unfortunate experience of having had the "privilege" of
paying tens of thousands of dollars for Scientology auditing, then
you'll have an idea of what I'm about to say here. If not, I'll make
it simple for you. When a Scientology victim progresses up to OT3,
what do you find out? L. Ron Hubbard tells you there is no such thing
as God or the Devil. It's all an alien space war.
Furthermore, you find out that your whole body is nothing more than a
hotel for disembodied spirits called "body thetans" or "BTs," and
groups of BTs called "clusters" that need extensive auditing. The
result? Pay more money, of course, to get more auditing.

That L. Ron Hubbard said there was no God was a real shock to me,
since I believed in God then and I still do now. I had thought
Scientology was a non-denominational religion. If there is no God,
then why all the hype about religion?

Now we move forward to 1982. In the summer of 1982 I was at Flag and I
worked in the Qualifications Division as a cramming officer. Right
around August a friend of mine, Mike Eldridge, came to me and told me
he was on a special mission. He showed me a dispatch which he said was
from LRH, which in fact was an order to find the best supervisor or
cramming officer in all of Scientology and bring that person to the
secret base in Hemet, California, to do correction on Int management
staff - CMO Int, ASI, Int management, etc., because they did not have
a clue how to manage international Scientology and were doing a bad
job.

Mike told me the search was over, because I was the person that met
the qualifications of the LRH order. Although I should have been
impressed by this, I told him I had no intention of going with him
anywhere, LRH order or not.

Later on that day, Mike came back and told me that I had no idea of all
the bad things that would happen to me if I refused the order from
LRH, that I would be declared, expelled from Scientlogy, and harassed
for the rest of my life. He told me Int management needed to reform
and I would be instrumental in getting that done. Well, I ended up
going "over the rainbow" to the secret location at Hemet. Instantly I
was presented with almost as many stripes as a zebra to show my
authority and was given other trappings of power as well - my own
private berthing space rather than being put in a dorm, personal
servants to clean my room, people to service my every need.

Then along comes David Miscavige to brief me on the current scene at
Int. During the briefing he interrupted himself to make what seemed to
me at the time to be a non-sequitur point. He said to me, "You
realize, don't you, that there is no such thing as God?"
I replied that I had read the OT3 pack and was therefore aware of
LRH's view on this subject.

I have often remembered that conversation since I've left Scientology.

As you move even higher up the "Bridge to Total Freedom," to the level
of New Era Dianetics for OTs, or NOTs, you are told to ask a whole new
level of BTs and clusters the following questions: "What are you?" and
"Who are you?" endlessly. At this level of NOTs you learn that
everything is made up of BTs - your emotions, your thoughts, your
body, your mind, the entire world is nothing but masses of these
disembodied beings.

Moving along, we get to OT8 and what does LRH say now? He says that he
is Satan, the "bringer of light," and he makes mention of a final
conflict as given in the Book of Revelations. Again I ask, why call
Scientology a religion when its founder believes he is the antithesis
of God - the Devil himself?

Well, here is a little story to shed some light on What... Who?

I'll eventually tell you my whole story, but first, this one:

It was the summer of 1992 and I was desperately trying to leave the
Int base any way I could. I was living with others who were also
trying to leave. We were all kept in an old house known as the Old
Gilman House, or OGH, which also served as the "isolation house" for
physically ill Sea Org members.

It was there that I saw a grisly sight that still gives me nightmares.

A Sea Org member of ten years plus, Diane Morrison, who was
approximately 30 years old, had been diagnosed with cancer.
Scientology is paranoid about X-rays and gamma rays, and they refused
to let Diane get chemotherapy. The two Scientology doctors, one was LRH's
personal physician--N.B. LRH is dead too..., prescribed a course of
vitamin therapy and auditing to cure Diane's cancer.

Needless to say, Diane continued to worsen day by day. Finally, one of
the doctors told her to let go so she could just die. Some doctor, huh?
Diane stopped eating and drinking after that, and she turned into a walk-
ing skeleton. She was in constant pain and would moan and scream day and
night. Her husband, Shawn Morrison, was the Port Captain, which is the
post responsible for dealing with public relations matters for the
base in Hemet. Shawn refused to visit his wife, but after a time he
was ordered to go and visit her. When he saw what had happened to her
he screamed and ran out of the room.

It was known that Diane was very close to death, and it would have
been a public relations flap if she had died on the base. So Shawn was
ordered to take her off the base to his mother's house so she could
die there. Being a good Sea Org member, Shawn drove her, screaming and
moaning, to his mother's house where she was laid under an air
conditioner.

Diane died within two days. She did not die of cancer. She died of
starvation.

Shawn was upset because he had to miss post time to drive Diane to his
mother's house.

Diane's death was a horrifying experience to all who knew about it.
Knowing that LRH insisted he was Satan, knowing that you are used
until you drop dead in the Sea Org, do you really want to be a part of
this way of thinking or this way of life? What about the nut cases
running Scientology and the Sea Org? For all of you misguided people
still in Scientology or the Sea Org, please get a clue and take this
cue and run for your  life away from anything to do with Scientology
or the Sea Org, lest you become the next Diane Morrison or Lisa
MacPherson.

Scn is a dead archaic idea. L Ron Hubbard is dead, a victim of his own
machinations! Take a hint, it's over. By the mere fact Scn will not embrace
modern medical technology to the detriment of it's members is appalling. Why
would anyone just eat raw meat after the advent of fire? Hell, we now have
stoves, microwaves, etc. Get the point? LRH is dead and a few mindless puppets
are carrying on the tradition of something that may have been novel in the 50's
but the novelty of Dianetics and Scn have long since passed.

Scientology is evil to the core.
Respectfully submitted,
Jesse Prince

What-----Who?

Doctor in Lisa McPherson case suspended