All of them, those in power, and those who want the power, would pamper us, if we agreed to overlook their crookedness by wilfully restricting our activities.
Disclaimer: Dianetics and Scientology are trademarks of the Religious Technology Center (RTC.) These pages and their author are not connected with the Church of Scientology or RTC, or any other organization residing under their corporate umbrella.
This site is best viewed using a highly standards-compliant browser
Former scientologist, left after 15 years.
She left the Church of Scientology in 1981 after serving fifteen years, the last eight as Hubbard's personal public relations adviser. From 1972-81 she was in charge of a secret operation to transfer money from church funds to Hubbard through a corporate shell, the Religious Research Foundation (RRF), incorporated in Liberia with accounts in banks in Lichtenstein and Luxemburg. When she left Scientology in 1981, she said that the RRF's assets were between $200 million and $300 million, and at one point in the 1970s they totalled $330 million. — Lamont.»
[Source: "Who's Who in Scientology" by Martin Hunt]
Los Angeles Times (Jun. 24, 1990): "The Mind Behind the Religion" by Joel Sappell and Robert Welkos
"If you remained in awe of him ... he was great," said Sullivan, who had a falling out with the church in 1981. "If you crossed him, or appeared to cross him, he would lash out at you, scream at you, accuse you of things."
Forbes (Oct. 1986): "The prophet and profits of Scientology" by Richard Behar
CBC (Nov. 1985): "The Fifth Estate - Scientology"
Watson's daughter, Laurel Sullivan, is 36 now, and a partner in a California advertising agency. But she was just a teenager when her father introduced her to Scientology.
Laurel Sullivan:
I did originally question it. But you see, when you are 17-year old, you idealize your father. You don't ever think that he will lead you to something that could hurt you. You are totally open. I think that it's important to understand the subtleties of what happens in your mind, a gradual progression of leaving the group of your family, friends, society, then to an inner circle of another reality. Ex-Scientologists often refer to it as the twilight zone. [...]
Willamette Week (Jun. 1985): "Scientology on trial"
An early method, according to testimony, involved the Religious Research Foundation based in Liberia with a bank account in Luxembourg and later, Liechtenstein. Through the RRF alone, Hubbard received up to $385,000 annually according to Laurel Sullivan, the personal public-relations side who worked directly with Hubbard for several years.
Sullivan also testified that Hubbard was to get $10 million for his role in producing a series of Scientology films in 1979. Making the deal even more lucrative for Hubbard was the fact that the CSC provided the $5 million used to fund the project as well as some 185 people to work on it. Hubbard, by the way, retained all rights to the films, which were to be leased to various Scientology missions and organizations.
Sullivan also discussed a special project called the Mission Corporate Category Sort Out, which began in 1980 and was to be designed, according to orders she received from Hubbard's top aide, to hide Hubbard's control of Scientology and his income while maintaining both.
«Miss Sullivan and other former officials compared the allegations that Mr. Flynn had forged a check to efforts that they said they had worked on while still in the church to smear Paulette Cooper, [...]
AP (May 1984): "Ex-publicist says she was 'target' of Scientologists"
Ex-publicist Laurel Sullivan, 34, was cross-examined by church attorney Robert Harris in a lawsuit brought by the church and Mary Sue Hubbard, the founder's wife, seeking to recover allegedly stolen documents from former church archivist Gerald Armstrong.
Sullivan said that after she was "busted" from her job as Hubbard's publicist, she got a job in the church archives, where Armstrong was gathering material for a Hubbard biography. As the project continued, she said, she began to fear that some people would see the biography as a downgrading of Hubbard's image and that she would then become "a target."