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F.A.C.T.Net does not sell documents, it only lends them according to the terms of your library cardholder agreement with F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. ------------------------------------------------------------------- 1 Advice to Former Scientologists, By Larry Wollersheim ([This paragraph, by the Cult Observers Editor, is printed at the top of Mr. Wollersheim's advice: ] Former Scientologist Larry Wollersheim several years ago won compensatory and punitive damages in a lawsuit he brought against Scientology for, among other wrongs, psychological damage and fraud resulting from his association with the group. A Califonia appeals court reduced the punitive damage award to $2 million dollars, but Scientology is appealing to the U.S. Supreme Court. In April, the high court rejected without comment Mr. Wollershem's appeal that Scientology be declared a "phony religion.") [This paragraph, by the FACT Net editor, is not a part of the Cult Observer text, and is written and placed on the bulletin board without Mr. Wollersheim's knowledge: Those of us who have had the privilege of becoming well- acquainted with Larry Wollersheim know him to be through- and-through a caring, thoughtful, sincere man, with a unique grasp of how mind control is brought about, how it continues, and how it works. At many points in his post-cult years, it would have been so easy, and so much more pleasant for him to have "cut a deal". He could have taken an offer of money, retired in financial comfort, and kept his mouth shut. Instead, he has chosen the honorable and right path, which has been fraught with financial uncertainty, false accusations, and attempted intimidation. The expected product of years of cultic hatred and attempts to suppress him would be a man who is bitter, sullen, suspicious, and whose philosophy of life is "I'm going out into the garden and eat worms." Wonderfully, Larry is anything but the to-be-expected result. He is warm, friendly, and has a good sense of humor. (How many cults and cultists do you know with a great sense of humor, who gladly will laugh at themselves?) He is one of a select, small group of men and women in the U.S.A. who are experts on cults and how they work. Larry wears his battle scars well. When he gives advice on cults, take it! To know him is to be fond of him. FrJMc] Advice to Former Scientologists, By Larry Wollersheim In Scientology's 40-year history, only a firm legal stand has ever had any corrective effect on Scientology. I believe that only the penalties of precedent-setting rulings will remove enough of the profit incentive from Scientology's wrongdoing to compel it to alter its behavior. If I took a settlement offer from them, I would also be knowingly supporting their strategy of silence, isolations, and the removal of legal adversaries long before those adversaries had obtained the socially necessary precedent-making legal decisions which are potential in their cases. Only the law has ever cut through the fog of fanaticism Scientology creates to isolate itself and survive. The U.S. Supreme Court has thus far rejected all of Scientology's First Amendment arguments. In the next few months, the court will rule on a punitive damage award unrelated to mine, and that ruling may decide if: a) the reduction of my punitive damage award to $2 million by the California Appeals Court will stand; b) if punitive damages in situations like mine are unconstitutional; c) if my original punitive damage award [for $30 million] should be reinstated. My advice to any member who feels he or she may have been coerced by freeloader debts [which make it difficult for members to leave] to remain on staff, or coerced on the RPF or fair game [other methods allegedly used by Scientology to control or punish members], or otherwise deceived: don't be a victim. Don't believe what they have induced you to fear - through various "silence-the-victim strategies - that if you stand up against them something terrible is going to happen. Use the law. If we don't, Scientology will just keep hurting "new faces" and their families with the same old tricks we already know about and our loved ones have had to endure. Yes, knowledge is responsibility - responsibility for those who come after us. More importantly for us, breaking the bonds of fear is to cut the shackles of a psychological slavery that affects many long after leaving Scientology. Standing up to Scientology in the legal system has been a most healing and strengthening experience. The personal benefits have been so positive that, even if I never collect, I would not change the course I have chosen. Keep up the great work. 2 Sexual Abuse by Spiritual Master [Swami Rama] by Kathleen Webster In "The Case Against Swami Rama," Kathleen Webster discusses the sexual exploitation of women by spiritual gurus through the example of the religious leader of the Himalayan Institute. The investigative essay (Yoga Journal,Nov./Dec. 1990), part of Webster's master's degree for the School of Journalism at the University of California, Berkeley, contains detailed case studies gleaned from interviews with women who were once involved with Swami Rama. The Swami and the Himalayan Institute deny the improprieties and continue their work. 3 An Open Letter to Scientology "Celebrities" From Larry Wollersheim Larry Wollersheim is a former member of the Church of Scientology who has won a lawsuit, now being appealed, for psychological and economic harm allegedly caused by his association with the group. [Please see the note by the FACT Net editor at the beginning of the first article, given above, also by Mr. Wollersheim.] December 5, 1990 There is an implied responsibility in using your public fame and recognition to promote organizations as controversial as Scientology, its alter ego Dianetics, or any of its front groups. At the minimum, that responsibility implies that you are fully informed as to both sides of the Scientology controversy. It should not be assumed that you are promoting Scientology from a position of informed consent or that you have carefully considered the career and personal "costs" to innocent others or yourselves in promoting an organization that has a substantial criminal history and has been linked to many adolescents and ----------------------------------- "In fairness it should be assumed that you are not meaningfully in- formed as to what you are innocently lending your reputation to." ------------------------------------ young adults being driven to neurosis, psychosis, or to the brink of suicide and beyond. In fairness it should be assumed that you are not meaningfully informed as to what you are innocently lending your reputation to. From personal experience working with celebrities at Celebrity Center, I know that you are handled radically differently from the "average" people you are promoting into Scientology. You are also kept deliberately misinformed and uninformed by Scientology's intelligence and public relations people. During my 10 years in Scientology I too was deceived as to the actual nature and purpose of the organization, in part by the organization's elaborate security clearances and deliberate compartmentalization, to the point that only the highest few really know what is going on. In the spirit of giving you every benefit of the doubt and in light of my own deception by Scientology, I offer the following references that you, your agents, and your publicity people should read carefully. If after 3-4 months of review, you still decide to continue your Scientology-related promotion, most certainly these are the types of materials and questions you will be confronted with by equally committed groups in opposition to Scientology or by the media whose attention will have been directed to this legitimate controversy. Books: "L. Ron Hubbard Messiah or Madman," by L. Ron Hubbard, Jr. and Bent Corydon, "A Piece of Blue Sky" by John Atack. Court documents: Reply to brief in opposition at the U.S. Supreme Court Wollersheim v. Church of Scientology, U.S. 89-1367 appendix C which describes the secret inner and public outer Scientology, the "Hubbard affirmations" which Scientology is currently trying to suppress on appeal in Church of Scientology v. Armstrong No. C. 420153 Cal. Super Ct. (1982), and the new Supplemental brief filed by Wollersheim on November 30, 1990 at the U.S. Supreme Court in Church of Scientology v. Wollersheim, U.S. 89-1361. It would be unreasonable for you to continue to assume that the organizations which promote family values and other social values in opposition to Scientology will not soon begin to target your careers and public relations images if, after a reasonable time, 3-4 months, for your informed consent research, you still choose to be celebrity spokespersons or allow your names to be used in Scientology's promotions and success stories. The tremendous pain, loss, anguish, and anger Scientology has caused to so many individuals and families is very real. It would not be surprising to find you and your career caught up in the growing backlash on Scientology in the courts and in the media, both here and abroad. This letter is also being sent to you with the hope that it will be openly communicated to all others who also have the right to be fully informed about Scientology and all the possible legal, career, and economic repercussions in the exercise of --------------------------------- "It would not be surprising to find you and your career caught up in the growing backlash against Scientology in the courts and in the media, both here and abroad." ---------------------------------- their legitimate free speech rights and social responsibilities. It is my belief that after reviewing the information referred to in this document you will act like the long list of celebrities before you who, after careful study of all the information, have quickly withdrawn their names and images from any promotional use by Scientology. Toward informed consent, Lawrence D. Wollersheim P.O. 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THE EXPERTS WRITE ON CULTS | 1 Advice to Former Scientologists, | By Larry Wollersheim | 2 Sexual Abuse by Spiritual Master | [Swami Rama] by Kathleen Webster | 3 An Open Letter to Scientology | "Celebrities" From Larry | Wollersheim For additional verification see the contributor of the document. UPDATED ON: 10/19/94 UPDATED BY: FrJMc =================================================================