------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ------------------------------------------------------------------- \"Scn sue critics"\Page.00001 CHRISTIANITY TODAY February 8, 1993 CULT AWARENESS NETWORK Scientologists Sue Critics The Church of Scientology has lev- eled a barrage of lawsuits at one of its most persistent critics, the Cult Awareness Network (CAN), which CAN officials say is part of an organized plan to destroy the organization. During one 48-hour period last Oc- tober, 20 suits were filed against CAN by members of the Church of Scientology, most alleging religious discrimination by the anticult group for not allowing Scientologists to join. Currently, CAN faces about 35 law- suits, the number growing almost weekly, and filed in courts across the cormtry, says executive director Cynthia Kisser. Though the suits have been filed by different individuals, all ideotify themselves as members of the Church of Scientology. the religious organiza- tion rounded by the late L. Ron Huh- bard, aulhor of Dianetics. Many complaints contain idetltical wording. Not3e has been argued in court yet. "The Church of Scientology is back- ing the suits," Kisser says, "trying to bring us to bankn~ptcy, or to find the right court to rule in their favor and allow them to take over from within. Can anyone join? The Scientologists contend that be- cause CAN is a tax-exempt organization, it must allow anyone, regardless of re- figions affiliation, to join. The lawsuits: have come in respoIlse to CAN's "sys- tematic discrimination" against Sci- elltologists, says Mary Anne Ahmad, director of public affairs for the Ch arch of Scientology of Illinois. The main is- sue being pressed in the legal actions, she says, is religious fFeedonl. Ahmad said that 1he similar wording of the complaints was very likely the result of the individuals consulting the same attorneys, who would be familiar with such cases. She has no knowledge of how or if the church is involved in the su~ts. However, Scicntologists do want to "reform" CAN f~ore within, by joining the organization in "areas of effective- ness" and influencing its decisions, Ah- mad says. She claims CAN has wandered from its original purpose of informing the public of religious rights and responsibilities. She charges that CAN has spread defamatory informa- tion about Scientology, and that it pro- motes the work of "deprogrammcrs" who have been accused of forcibly re- moving members of aberrant religious groups. "Any group CAN decides it doesn't like, it calls a cult," Ahntad says. "Gov- ernment guarantees religious freedom. If sonmone has a belief in a religious philosophy, you can't say 'that's bad religion.'" CAN, founded shortly after the Jones- town mass suicide in 1978, promotes public awareness of what it calls "de- structive cults." focusing on the ethical and legal practices, rather than doc- trinal beliefs of religious, political, and self-help groups. It identifies those groups by characteristics such as mind control, deception, exclusivity, and exploitation. From its beginning, Kisser says, the secular organization has been con- cerned with the harmful effects of such groups, offering inlbrmation to the public and support for friends and tanf: ily of cult members. CAN has received complaints about the practices of scores of groups. including some that follow some traditional Christian doc- tFineS. CAN'S national office is located in Chicago and has 21 local atfiliates. Courtroom victories CAN recently won courtroom victories in federal and several state courts. In those cases, courts have ruled that the organization, as a nonprofit group, is not a place of public accommodation and therefore is not subject to the same nondiscrimination rules as a business or public office. CAN has also gone to court against several individuals for uoauthorized use of its name. In those cases, Kisser says, Scieutologists have used CAN let- terhead aud have set up local organiza- tions, claiming to be the "real" CAN affiliate. Scientologists allegedly attempted to disrupt CAN's national confereoce in November by pressuring the hotel t~ cancel its arrangements for the group, picketing, infiltrating the meetings, and harassing conferees. Prior to the national conference, eight Scicntologists gained a prelimi- nary injunction from a California court, forcing CAN to allow them to attend the meeting. [n fact, Kisser says, most had not registered for the conference, and several other Scientologists had been allowed to register. Under the injunc- tion, some of the eight did attend. "We felt we had a well-founded be- lief,'' Kisser said, "that their attending would be prob]ematic and disruptive to the conference, and would cause harm to CAN." Kisser has also filed a personal suit against a number of publicatioos and individuals connected to the Church of Scientology, tbe Unification Church. and the organization of political extremist Lyndon LaRouche. She charges that they have conspired to spread false sto- ries linking her with deviant sexual be- havior and criminal activity. [] \"Scn sue critics"\Page.00002 Statement to the Press on Scientology attacks against CAN Patricia Ryan President, Cult Awareness Network November 5, 1992 - Los Angeles, Cal. I'm pleased to have had the honor of being president of the Cult Awareness Network for the past two years. The work that this fine organization does is unique and of value to millions of Americans. CAN is a national, non-profit organization that handles over 18,000 inquiries a year from the public. This is the fourteenth annual conference that CAN has held in cities throughout this country, attracting mental health professionals, law enforcement, clergy, educators, families of cult victims and former mem- bers themselves. This year's conference, however, has been under unprecented attack, from a coordinated plan of intimidation and harassment orchestrated by the Church of Scientology. CAN is the only national organization that provides information and support to the public about destructive cults. Scientology is attempting to discredit and disrupt this confer- ence because it cannot afford to let the public hear the truth. To give you just a few ex- amples: In order to stop this conference, Scientologists have pressured the hotel to cancel our contract; they visited the hotel posing as CAN officials; they called many of the speak. ers attempting to dissuade them from participating by insisting that their reputations would be harmed by association with CAN. And they have picketed in front of the hotel for months. Beyond attempting to stop the conference itself, Scientologists have regularly picketed our national headquarters, harassed our staff at their homes, even tried unsuc- cessfully through the courts to force CAN to let them volunteer at the office. Scientologists have illegally posed as affiliates and written damaging letters to the public on our own letterhead. They have competed with us for grant money by claiming to be CAN. This has forced us to incur thousands of dollars in legal fees to stop their decep- tion. Not content with these harassing tactics, Scientology has launched a "Plan 100" and vowed to destroy CAN by bringing 100 lawsuits against us. During this past October, 20 \"Scn sue critics"\Page.00003 -2- almost identically worded lawsuits were simultaneously filed around the country by mem- bers of the Church of Scientology in one week alone. Scientologists have joined our national organization claiming they wanted to dialogue with us, while at the same time engaging in underhanded activities such as trying to get our insurance company to withdraw coverage to CAN. Individual leaders in CAN have also been targeted by Scientology. For example, hate mailings have been distributed in the communities in which they live and work. And, Scientology has engaged in a conspiracy with convicted felon Sun Myung Moon's Unification Church and the organization of felon Lyndon LaRouche to defame CAN's executive director Cynthia Kisser, maliciously spread- ing falsehoods about her to the media and general public. It has cost Cynthia thousands of dollars personally to defend her reputation by filing her own lawsuits. Shockingly, we recently learned from an informant in a statement given under oath of a plan to harm or kill Cynthia. Reportedly, one suggested method was to cut the brake lines in her car. By bringing this information to your attention we hope this will help to expose Scientologists' activities and prevent them from interfering with our ability to assist those who have been victimized by cults. Ironically, 14 years ago this month another cult used numerous harassing techniques to prevent my father, Congressman Leo Ryan, from seeking the truth about their abusive practices. Had there been a national Cult Awareness Network as well-respected as CAN is now, my father and the more than 900 others who were killed in Jonestown on November 18, 1978 might still be alive today. The reason I am here before you today is to ensure that through CAN's work the tragic consequences of Jonestown are never repeated. ================================================================= 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. WARNING CONCERNING COPYRIGHT RESTRICTIONS: The copyright law of the United States (Title 17, United States Code) governs the making of photo copies or other reproductions of copyrighted material. Under certain conditions specified by law, libraries and archives are authorized to furnish a photocopy or other reproduction. 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