------------------------------------------------------------------- F.A.C.T.Net, Inc. (Fight Against Coercive Tactics Network, Incorporated) a non-profit computer bulletin board and electronic library 601 16th St. #C-217 Golden, Colorado 80401 USA BBS 303 530-1942 FAX 303 530-2950 Office 303 473-0111 This document is part of an electronic lending library and preservational electronic archive. 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. ===================================================================== ADMINISTRATIVE CODE:A2 SECURITY CODE:GP DISTRIBUTION CODE:PDMCF NAME FOR BBS:SCIENTOLOGY AND PROPAGANDA AND THE ROLE OF FRONT GROUPS IN SCIENTOLOGY PROPAGANDA SORT TO:GENERAL/MEDIA CONTRIBUTOR: IMHO-Lawrence Wollersheim LOC. OF ORIG: Contact Lawrence Wollersheim NOTES: UPDATED ON: UPDATED BY: SCIENTOLOGY AND PROPAGANDA I will show that founder L. Ron Hubbard promotes hate to his members, to create a polarity and dehumanization which will allow members to commit any illegal, uncivilized, and inhumane act deemed expedient by the organization. How he does this is described in his own policy directives. In HCO PL 5 October 1971: "Propaganda by Redefinition of Words": "A long term propaganda technique used by socialists (Communists and Nazis alike} is of interest to PR practitioners. I know of no place it is mentioned in PR literature. But the data had verbal circulation in intelligence circles and is in constant current use. The trick is -- WORDS ARE REDEFINED TO MEAN SOMETHING ELSE TO THE ADVANTAGE OF THE PROPAGANDIST. Many instances of planned and campaigned in order to obtain a public opinion advantage for the group doing the propaganda. Given enough repetition of the redefinition public opinion can be altered by altering the meaning of a word. The technique is good or bad depending on the ultimate objective of the propagandist. "Psychiatry" and "psychiatrist" are easily redefined to mean "an anti-social enemy of the people". This takes the kill crazy psychiatrist off the preferred list of professions... The redefinition of words is done be associating different emotions and symbols with the word than were intended... Scientologist are redefining "doctor", "Psychiatry" and "psychology" to mean "undesirable antisocial elements"... The way to redefine a word is to get the new definition repeated as often as possible. Thus it is necessary to redefine medicine, psychiatry and psychology downward and define Dianetics and Scientology upwards. This, so far as words are concerned, is the public opinion battle for belief in your definitions, and not those of the opposition. A consistent, repeated effort is the key to any success with this technique of propaganda. One must know how to do it." -- L. Ron Hubbard. Here is an example of Hubbard using the same techniques he ascribes to the Communist and Nazis. In Hubbard's own words, from HCOB 24 April 1969: "Lately public opinion has turned heavily against the suppressive groups and the public discovery that illegal seizure, torture and murder was hidden activity of political psychiatric groups..." He takes an emotional generality and associates illegal killing, torture and seizure with psychiatry. Very good. Hubbard gets an "A" in "Propaganda by Redefinition of Words 101." Many of Hubbard other writings do their best to associate the A.M.A. and psychiatry with crime, Nazi concentration camps, the Communists -- almost anything which is despised. Hubbard actively promotes fanatical hate in his members toward whatever he views as an enemy. Understanding the tremendous promotion of hate and despisement, it becomes easier to understand the attitudes and actions of members toward Hubbard's enemies. They are fired up by Hubbard's own words. But why would Hubbard use such Black propaganda? I have listed many reasons before, but here is another. In HCO PL 11 May 1971, talking about Black PR, Hubbard states: "Exploding it to the public ideally is an effort to make the public a vigilante committee." Hubbard's sensationalized yellow journalism Black propaganda statements attempt to turn members (and hopefully society) into vigilantes. After being inside the "church" for 11 years, I have seen and heard member attitudes of what should be done or what enemies of the deserve - - and it's not very pleasant. Hubbard uses propaganda to attack his enemies and to build a protective religious image for the cult. The "church's" religious front is its most important defense and its most carefully and completely detailed propaganda package. If the "church" were to lose its religious status it would have to pay taxes like any other business, and we are talking about hundreds of millions of dollars in profits, and maybe billions in the future, that they would have to pay taxes on. No amount of money, personnel, or materials are spared in this attempt to create an image of the "church" as a religion. Low-level (Level 1) members totally and sincerely believe they are in a bona-fide religion. After all, it has crosses, ministers, clerical garb, standard religious ceremonies, regular church services, ministerial training, and everything any normal church in rural America would have. A great many policies and directives have been issued to make it look in appearances like a real religion. "Wild Generalities" The organization has become a master of public relations propaganda. They carefully survey the general public to find out what they like and dislike and what a religion should look like. Then they attack what the public dislikes and support what the public likes -- as long as it doesn't interfere with their own hidden agenda. Internally the organization warns about people who speak in generalities and in bad or critical news. Hubbard says this is one of the "characteristics of an anti-social personality." Yet if you examine the propaganda against their critics, you will find that most of their statements are generalities -- an admission in their own private terms that Scientology is an "anti-social" group. Internally the organization allows no public protests or demonstrations against itself. It doesn't allow members to seek redress in the U.S. or foreign court systems. It requires that they resolve all wrongs and injustices internally using their own administration policies. Further, policy directives show that the organization orders members to use its internal administrative procedures on the outside world, when in conflict with the outside world Not once, in my 11 years as a member, did I see or hear of any reports filed with an adversary's internal ethics divisions to correct irregularities. (Their adversaries include the A.M.A., A.P.A., and the World Federation of Mental Health). If the organization's intentions really were to correct specific wrong-doings and wrong-doers, they would deal in specifics, and use administrative remedies and the legal system to correct the wrongs in society. But in my experience, all I ever saw was generalities attacking whole groups with the propaganda techniques mentioned earlier. The group or organization being attacked was generalized and sensationalized into an ogre when it might have been only a few or even a specific individual member of the group who was the alleged wrong-doer. My feeling and observation is that the sole intention and purpose for their attacks on their critics is to destroy reputations and eliminate the competition -- rather than any honest effort to correct wrongs in a logical, legal, and systematic manner. It is rare that those groups and individuals who were attacked have sued for libel or malicious damage. Probably they underestimate the threat and do not wish to publicly engage in mudslinging. But if the data in this report becomes more widely understood, I would expect to see increased efforts to use legal means to enforce respect for human rights, dignity, law, and the Constitution in the organization's actions and policies. The Role of Front Groups in Scientology Propaganda The "church" set up reform groups shortly after Hubbard, in 1966, wrote "Churches are looked upon as reform groups. Therefore we must act like a reform group." Scientology and Dianetics are held in such suspect repute that the press and public seldom believes the organization's' propaganda releases. Indoctrinated members can be made to believe the propaganda, but in public the organization must use front groups to defend it, speak for it, and attack its enemies. Internal confidential church documents seized by the F.B.I. show that social reform activities were designed primarily to attack church critics publicly from the safe and respectable position of a humane social reform group. An example of Hubbard's thinking on this matter is policy directive HCO PL 12 January 1973 "The Safe Point": "...Rule l...Get in a safe place and speak up. It is necessary of course to have a safe place to get into, from which one can in safely speak up. One cannot defend himself in a point that has no defenses...Thus the Safe Point takes consideration over Active Defense...a special unit must be set up and run at full steam to make a safe point and gain viable PR Area Control over all publics in the area...The PR Area Control action in a new area can go so far as to create in the area of whole past and future track for the activity being established. It can make it sound old-fashioned, stable, reliable, expert, productive..." The Scientology-front social reform groups fulfill Hubbard's directives to a "T." Very few people will attack a social reform group, so Hubbard now has his "Safe Point" from which these groups can get his propaganda messages across. The social reform groups do perform social good. If they didn't, they would be useless to Hubbard and easily seen through. In my 11 years in the organization I've noted common denominators to all the good works or public investigations and exposes these front groups perform. 1) The good works are done to make Scientology or Hubbard personally seem "old-established, stable, reliable, expert, and productive." 2) These works lend humanitarian or religious credibility to the organization and its founder and conceal the real source of organization propaganda. 3) Exposes by the social reform groups are directed at groups, organizations or individuals that are critical, threatening, or hostile to Hubbard or the organization. 4) Programs and orders for front group activities come from the organization's Guardian's Office section. The top executive posts in the reform groups are guided by paid "church" intelligence staff. They try very hard to conceal these connections. No doubt as "Safe Point" front groups are made known for what they are, new ones will be set up by the organization to fulfill the vitally needed "Safe Point" function. If the I.R.S. were to dig through the payroll records of these front groups, they might find the church violating its tax free status by engaging in political activities. After 11 years inside, my opinion is that Scientology's religious image is a carefully created image and illusion to protect the organization's tax free profits. ================================================================= If this is a copyrighted work, you are acknowledging by receipt of this document from FACTNet that on the basis of reasonable investigation, you have not been to obtain a copy elsewhere at a fair price, and that you are and will abide by the following copyright warning. 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