WHAT THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY DOESN'T WANT YOU TO KNOW by Jeff Jacobsen, Robert RJ. Day "Scientology is evil; its techniques evil; its practice a serious threat to the community, medically, morally and socially; and its adherents are sadly deluded and often mentally ill." Australian Report on Scientology What religious organization teaches that, 75 million years ago, a tyrannical interstellar ruler named Xenu solved a galactic overpopu- lation problem by transporting beings to Earth and annihilating them with H-bombs? What religious organization disciplines its own members with measures ranging from suspension of pay and disbarment from prem- ises up to labelling them as "fair game," for which they can be "tricked, sued, lied to or de- stroyed"? What religious organization follows faith- fully the teachings of a pulp science fiction author who claims to have visited Heaven over forty trillion years ago? What religious organization has had its of- fices raided by government officials in three American states, Canada, Gemany, Italy and France? Welcome to the church of Scientology. In 1949, Lafayette Ron Hubbard, the foun- der of Dianetics and the Church of Scientol- ogy, reportedly told an audience at a science fiction gathering, "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wants to make a million dollars, the best way would be to start his own religion." One year later, Hubbard's book, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, was published and became an instant, runaway best-seller. Hubbard opens the book by referring to some of the great events in history, such as the invention of the wheel and the control of fire, then goes on to state, "In my opinion DIANETICS is wor- thy of being called a New Idea, and is destined to take its place along- side of these other milestones of pro- gress. It might even be considered to be more important than any of these, for it is a science which for the first time gives us an understanding of the tool with which these other inven- tions were created--the human mind." In the book, Hubbard claimed to have devel- oped a new scientifically proven technique, discovered through "many years of exact search and careful testing," for the improve- ment of mental health through the eradication of "engrams"--stored memories that cause aberration in humans. According to Hubbard, engrams begin accu- mulating "in the cells of the zygote, which is to say, conception," many of these engrams being caused by abortion attempts, and that between 20 and 30 such attempts are an aver- age number for a typical mother. Engrams are removed through a process called "auditing," which can produce "tears and wailings," "somatics enough to make the patient roll around on the floor," and a "pa- tient...that bounces about, all unconscious of the action." Once all the engrams are removed, the per- son becomes a "Clear" and never again has colds or accidents, has improved IQ, total call, a longer life, and is perhaps even cured of cancer. Or such are the claims. Shortly after the publication of Dianetics, auditing was taken up with great enthusiasm in California, and in 1950, Hubbard booked the 6,500 seat Los Angeles Shrine Audito- rium for a momentous occasion--the unveil- ing of what he claimed was the world's first Clear, a college student named Sonia Bianca. The result was nothing short of a disaster. Miss Bianca not only could not recall elemen- tary formulae from physics, which was her major at the time; she could not remember the color of Hubbard's tie after he had tumed his back. This setback seemed to be a minor one and, within a year, the Wichita Dianetic Founda- tion was doing a booming business, charging over $500 for 36 hours of Dianetic auditing. In the meantime, Hubbard had put the Bianca fiasco behind him and was producing a stream of new and even more amazing facts regarding engrams. According to Hubbard, further research showed that, behind the analytical and reac- tire minds, there lay entities known as "Thetans." These Thetans are non-physical and immortal, somewhat analogous to the hu- man soul; they inhabit human bodies, moving them around like puppets. Because of their immortality, when their current human host dies, they are forced to vacate and must find another host. Apparently, these Thetans come equipped with all of the engrams they have collected in all of their previous lifetimes. Hubbard taught it was possible, although extremely ex- pensive, to clear even these ancient engrams. This necessitated a change in terminology, and what used to be a Clear now became a MEST-Clear, MEST standing for "matter, en- ergy, space, time," while those who managed to eradicate all engrams from all previous lives would have bestowed upon them the ti- tle of "Operating Thetan." Page 2 What the Church of Scientology Doesn't Want You to Know by Jeff Jacobsen and Robert P.J. Day While the Clear state is the main goal of Di- anetics, Scientology continues the process with eight OT (Operating Thetan) levels above this that are available as well, which quire more classes. In both Dianetics and Scientology, the ob- ject is to eliminate the causes of our aberrant behavior by the eradication of engrams through the process of Dianetic auditing. The person being audited holds two tin cans which are wired to an "E-meter" that registers when an engram is discovered. The E-meter (also called a "pastoral counselling device") is basically a skin-response galvanometer which the church sells for from $900 to $2500. When an engram is discovered, the event that created the engram is relived until the needle "floats," meaning the engram is gone. Strangely enough, Hubbard himselfad- mits that the E-meter "...is a religious arfifact used in the Church Confessional. It, in itself, does nothing." Actually, the doctrine is considerably more involved than the above, with the mind di- vided into its analytical and reactire sides, with "demon circuits," "chains "--in fact, a 476-page "technical dictionary" lists all the specialized concepts and terminology. Many of the definitions in the dictionary seem in- spired by Hubbard's career as an author of pulp science fiction. One such listing is for something called the "Marcab Confederacy," described as an organization of several plan- ets which have united in the last 200,000 years. According to the dictionary, "In the last 10,000 years they have gone on with a sort of decadent kicked-in-the-head civiliza- tion that contains automobiles, business suits, fedora hats, telephones, spaceships." L. Ron Hubbard had been a science fiction writer both before and after his work on Di- anetics and Scientology, and there is over- wheiming evidence that biographical Scientology literature on Hubbard is just as much a work of fiction. According to Church literature, Hubbard's exploits were nothing short of legendary and his lifetime accom- plishments would have put a dozen ordinary men to shame. Closer examination, however, reveals a very different picture. Rather than being, as he had claimed, a war hero, a famous Hollywood screenwriter, a U.S. intelligence officer, a re- cord setting pilot, a Princeton graduate and a rocket engineer, Hubbard was in fact a medio- cre-to-poor student at George Washington University who dropped out after two years and failed the one course in nuclear physics in which he was enrolled. His Navy fitness record states that he was "lacking in the essential qualities of judg- ment, leadership and cooperation" and was "not considered qualified for command or promotion." The most notable incident of his military career appears to have been, when in command of a submarine chaser, he fought a prolonged, two-day battle against what proved to be a magnetic deposit on the ocean floor. In a 1984 British custody battle involving Scientologists, Mr. Justice Latey, a high court judge in England, also concluded that Hubbard was not a war hero, a squadron leader, an atomic physicist, nor an intelli- gence officer for the U.S. In fact, the Scien- tology counsel in the case did not even attempt to refute the charges against Hub- bard. According to Latey, "There is no dis- pute about any of this. The evidence is unchallenged." Still another judge, Paul A. Breckenridge of the Los Angeles County Superior Court, presided over a lawsuit against the church in 1984. Of Hubbard, he said, "The evidence portrays a man who has been virtually a pathological liar when it comes to his history, background and achievements. If What the Church of Scientology Doesn't Want You to Know Page 3 by Jeff Jacobsen and Robert P.J. Day One former Scientologist, Gerry Armstrong, left the church after being assigned to write a biography of Hubbard. The documents he was given showed that L. Ron Hubbard had seriously misrepresented his past. Armstrong went to court to keep these documents, fear- ing that without them he would be vulnerable to attack from the church. Armstrong had good reason to fear. In a 1967 memo that came to be known as the Fair Game Policy, Hubbard described penal- ties for lower conditions, including, "En- emy--SP (Suppressire Person) Order. Fair Game. May be deprived of property or in- jured by any means by any Scientologist with- out any discipline of the Scientologist. May be tricked, sued, lied to or destroyed." Hubbard's attitude to potential criticism of the church was that, "If there will be a long- term threat, you are to immediately evaluate and originate a black PR campaign to destroy the person's repute and to discredit them so thoroughly that they will be ostracized." A chilling example of the above involves Paulette Cooper, the author of the Scandal of Scientology. The Church's response to Coo- per's book is detailed in a document describ- ing "Operation Freakout," which was designed to "get PC incarcerated in a mental institution or jail, or at least to hit her so hard that she drops her attacks." Cooper, who says she was served with 18 lawsuits against her by the church, had a nerv- ous breakdown after someone sent Scientol- ogy a bomb threat on her stationery. She was cleared of the charges after a 1977 raid on a church office where documents outlining Op- eration Freakout were discovered. In a section entitled "VITAL TARGETS," the document "Operation Freakout" gives spe- cific details of the harrassment program against Cooper. Such actions include an obvi- ous attempt to impersonate Cooper, with di- rections like "To recruit an FSM (Field Staff Member) that looks like PC...," "to get famil- iar with PC to find out some of the clothes she wears particularly what sort of coat she usually wears...," "To get a cheap coat that is very similar to PC's," "To have someone available to steak (sic) out PC when she leaves her place the day of the caper, to ascer- tain when she leaves, what she's wearing, etc," "Obtain wig that looks like PC, so that FSM PC can wear it during caper," etc. Further details of "Operation Freakout" de- scribe framing Cooper on a bomb threat charge against two Arab consulates in New York City. A further memo dated 13 April 1967 regarding "PC Op Freakout" states, "The FBI already think she really did do the bomb threats on the C of S." Someone else who incurred the Church's wrath is Dr. John Clark, an American psychia- trist and outspoken critic of Scientology. Ac- cording to the Latey decision, "Beginning in 1977 the Church of Scientology has conducted a cam- paign of persecution against Dr. Clark. They wrote letters to the Dean at the Harvard Medical School and to the director of the Massachu- setts General Hospital. They refused to gag him. Scientology agents tracked down and telephoned several of his patients and interviewed his neighbors looking for evidence to im- pugn his private or personal actions. They submitted a critical report to a Committee of the Massachusetts State Senate. On three occasions dur- ing the last five years a Scientology "front" called the Citizens' Commis- sion on Human Rights has brought complaints against him to the Massa- chusetts Board of Registration alleg- ing improper professional conduct. In 1980 he was declared a "Number One Enemy" and in 1981 they Page 4 What the Church of Scientology Doesn't Want You to Know by Jeff Jacobsen and Robert P.J. Day brought two law suits against him (summarily dismissed, but costly and worrying). They distributed leaflets at the Massachusetts General Hospi- tal offering a $25,000 reward to em- ployees for evidence which would lead to his conviction on any charge of criminal activity. They stole his employment record from another Boston hospital. They convened press conferences calculated to ruin his professional reputation." Scientologists use many tactics in carrying out their Fair Game Policy. The church's "Operation Snow White," which had many covert agents looking for dirt on enemies and possible enemies of Scientology, landed Mary Sue Hubbard (L. Ron's third wife) in jail for a year. She and 11 other members were sent to jail for covert acts against sev- eral federal agencies. Specific plans of ac- tion, detailed in a March 9, 1970 letter, include "Invent letterhead of some organiza- tion that is spurious," "using a phony News Agency," "Infiltrating an enemy group with the end to getting documents," and "Direct theft of documents." Another example of these tactics involves ex-Scientologists Robert Dardano and War- ren Friske who testified to some of the activi- ties they and others were involved with on behalfofthe Church. These activities in- clude the burglary of the Belmont office of a psychiatrist in order to steal files, the theft of documents from a Boston law firm, the sys- tematic theft and destruction of books critical of the Church from libraries throughout New England, and the planting of a church mem- ber as a volunteer inside the state attorney general's office to intercept consumer com- plaints about Scientology. While the church claims that the Fair Game Policy is no longer in effect, a Hubbard letter of October 21, 1968 allegedly revoking this policy concludes, "This P/L does not cancel any policy on the treatment or handling of an SP (Suppresive Person). The Church has filed countless lawsuits against its supposed enemies, including the Clearwater (Florida) Sun, the San Diego Un- ion, the Metropolitan Police Commissioner of Scotland, and authors Flo Conway and Jim Siegelman. The Church has also been sued countless times, and it has lost several of these. In July, 1986, former Church member Larry Wollersheim won a 30 million dollar award against the church for aggravating his mental problems and ruining his business (this award was recently reduced to 5 million dollars). Scientology settled out of court with former Clearwater, Florida, mayor Gabe Cazares, who sued the church for invasion of privacy. Over 500 disgruntled ex-Scientologists and current Scientologists have filed a 500 mil- lion dollar class-action suit against the Church's "fraudulent business practices." The six plaintiffs named on the lawsuit were all highly placed Scientologists with many years in the Church. In 1988, Heber Jentzsch, president of the Church, was arrested along with 71 other church members on various criminal charges including fraud and tax evasion. Seventy five members of the Church's Ital- ian operation went before a Milan court on March 29, 1989 to face "a long list of charges ranging from fraud, extortion and tax evasion to the illegal practice of medicine and taking advantage of incapacitated people." If you are still interested in giving Scientol- ogy a try, you should first consider the price. Most people are introduced through a book or the communications courses that are free or quite cheap. Once you express an interest in following up on their pitch for higher courses, you are no longer "raw meat," but a What the Church of Scientology Doesn't Want You to Know Page 5 by Jeff Jacobsen and Robert P.J. Day "PC" (preclear). The average cost of the 82 courses listed in the Catalogue of Services is $1600. In the 1988 catalog 12 1/2 hours of auditing costs $3224 with a free 6-month membership in IAS (International Associa- tion of Scientologists). The bills can pile up fast. It is estimated that the average cost to become a Clear today is around $400,000. The Church also operates under a variety of names and businesses. According to a British BBC expose, organizations that are associ- ated with the Church or are fronts for Church operations include All-Party Freedom of In- formation Center, Author Services, Inc., Bridge Publications, Inc., Campaign Against Psychiatric Atrocities, Citizens Commission on Human Rights (mentioned earlier), Con- cerned Businessman's Association of the UK, Criminon, Dianetics Information Center, Dignity for the Aged, Dr. Pillpusher Cam- paigu, Effective Education Association, Foun- dation of Advanced Abilities, Institute of Advanced Philosophy, International Bio- graphical Center, Narconon (a drug abuse group), New Era Publications, Rehab, Relig- ious Research Foundation, Religious Technol- ogy Center, Saint Hill Foundation, Set a Good Example Campaign, Society for Safety in Mental Illness, Task Force on Mental Re- tardation, UK Police Reform Group, and Way to Happiness Campaign. Justice Latey's description of Scientology in the 1984 custody trial is absolutely scathing, and is worth reproducing in some detail: "Scientology is both immoral and so- cially obnoxious... In my opinion, it is corrupt, sinister and dangerous. It is corrput because it is based on lies and deceit and has as its real objec- tive money and power for Mr. Hub- bard, his wife and those close to him at the top. It is sinister because it in- dulges in infamous practices both to its adherents who do not toe the line unquestioningly and to those outside who criticize or oppose it. It is dan- gerous because it is out to capture people, especially children and im- pressionable young people, and in- doctrinate and brainwash them so that they become the unquestioning captives and tools of the cult, with- drawn from ordinary thought, living and relationships with others." When an organization calls itself a religion, this should not negate the need to critically evaluate the group before deciding if it is le- gitimate and beneficial. The over 900 deaths in Jonestown, Guyana have shown that sinis- ter, demented people can hide behind the cloak of religion to prey on unsuspecting, well-meaning people. It is not wise to take a salesman's words at face value, whether he is selling cars or relig- ion. Page 6 What the Church of Scientology Doesn't Want You to Know by Jeff Jacobsen and Robert P.J. Day What the Church of Scientology Doesn't Want You to Know Page 7 by Jeff Jacobsen and Robert P.J. Day