On this day...yesterday...

This seems to be very popular, judging by my statistics, unfortunately where I get this information from has been out of bounds to me for the last couple of days. I don't know why, however perseverance is the key...

Dollar cult // Scientology 'sets an income record'
Date: Sunday, 11 August 1968
Publisher: Sunday Mirror (UK)
Main source: link (246 KiB)

A former "recruiting director" for the Church of Scientology in Britain claimed yesterday that their income had reached £30,000 a week.

Art student Nick Robinson of Reading Berks, added: "The organisation has a graph showing weekly income at their headquarters, St Hill Manor, East Grinstead, Sussex.

 

Millionaire

Mr. Robinson, 21, said he was the cult's recruiting director until April, when he was declared a "suppressive person."

He added that the cult had more than 8,000 salesmen in Britain —- about 2,000 of them actually operative. 

They received then per cent profit on the value of any "course" they [sell?]

Mr. Robinson said: "I met one American Scientologist who told me that selling courses had made him a seller millionaire."

Then Mr. Robinson told of the recruiting drives. He said: "We tried giving lectures at universities and colleges, but the response was poor. Lecturers were booed off the stage. Then it was decided to have a big drive for recruits in the South of England this Summer.

"We were to use two girls in mini-skirts and painted-on tans, and four rugged Americans, futuristically dressed, to give a psychedelic appearance."

Mr. Robinson finally began having doubts about some aspects of the cult and went to Valencia to put his problems to the cult's leader, Mr. Lafayette Ron Hubbard.

Soon after this he was officially declared a "suppressive person."

An order to this effect—No. 2287 Sh—was sent to all Scientology staff and students on April 16 signed "Helen Keppel?, Staff Ethics Officer."

Among Robinson's alleged misdemeanours:

"Wanting to be in Scientology so he can be in a position to play his own game, and didn't want to play Ron's game."

"Stating that guerillas, Communism and Jehovah Witnesses are similar to Scientology."

 

Contract

And "Intending to sign a billion-year contract and then after he got his Off. levels to just leave."

Mr. Robinson said he had never at any time agreed to sign anything called a "billion-year contract."

Other "orders" by the Scientologists have been arriving at the Sunday Mirror offices during the past two weeks. They include:

* Miss —— is declared fair game and is without the rights, privileges and protections accorded to Scientologists by ethics codes of Scientology.

* Mr. —— is assigned a ten-hour amends project for having relations with a PC.

A pre-clear [or new recruit] who was also a staff member is very severely reprimanded for doing same. And if such a situation arises again will be dealt with more severely.

* Mr. —— is to separate from his wife for the duration of his auditing [introduction to Scientology] as his wife is restimulative to him.

* An executive ethics hearing will be held. It having been reported that —— had had relations recently.

An attempt to gag the Sunday Mirror and two other newspapers was abandoned by the Scientology organisation in the High Court last week.

And costs were awarded to the Sunday Mirror and the other papers. News of the World and Daily Express.

The Church of Scientology of California is seeking damages for alleged libel in the three newspapers.

It had also sought injunctions to prevent further publication of the alleged libels.

But Mr. Leon Brittan, for the Scientologists, said that he was no longer seeking these injunctions.

Mr. Justice Fisher ordered the Scientologists to pay the costs of the hearings—and ruled that these must be paid at once.

Until the costs were paid, he barred the Scientologists from [?] on with their [?] action against the publishers of the newspapers — Daily
 

Mirror Newspapers Ltd., News of the World Ltd., and Beaverbrook Newspaper Ltd.

The order for costs was also made against Scientology officer Mrs Jane Kember, of Courtlands, Sharpthorne, near East Grinstead, Sussex.

After the hearing, the spokesman for the newspapers said that they would strongly resist the proceedings and would plead justifications, fair comment and privilege.