THE ANNOUNCEMENT that the Scientologists have kicked out 12 key members of their UK headquarters staff at Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead, as part of a policy change, has received a mixed reception in the town. East Grinstead's mayor Cr Ray Boulger said that if the Scientologists were genuinely trying to purge themselves, then it was in everyone's interests to try to promote better relations. But the Rev Roger Brown, vicar of St Swithun's parish church, East Grinstead, said the history ...

A best-selling adventure novel by a controversial figure who has not been seen in public for years has become the focus of concern among some book sellers. The book sellers said they belleve that "Battlefield Earth" by L. Ron Hubbard is being bought in large numbers in their stores by members of the Church of Scientology, founded by the reclusive Hubbard, as part of an effort to boost it onto the country's best-seller lists. Some book sellers and critics of Hubbard ...

Robert Dardano and Warren Friske were trusted members of the Boston mission of the Church of Scientology in the mid-1970s when they say they were recruited to join a group of other church members intent on carrying out "dirty tricks" against critics and others deemed enemies of the church in this area. The activities of the group included break-ins, the theft of documents, harassment and misrepresentation, according to sworn testimony by Dardano in Florida last year and affidavits from him and ...

A federal judge opened the way Monday for four former Scientologists to sue the church for fraud over a variety of claims including promises that it could prevent colds, raise intelligence and solve obesity. Attorneys for the disillusioned Scientologists hailed the ruling, saying that it will open the way for other former church members to bring their complaints of fraud before juries. U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall ruled that while Scientology is a religion, many of the claims it makes ...

It is not uncommon for present or former Scientology members to try to kill themselves, according to three national experts on the controversial religion founded by L. Ron Hubbard. The head of the Scientology Church in Michigan, however, denies that Scientology practices have led to suicides. And the president of the international Church of Scientology, the Rev. Heber C. Jentzsch, headquartered in Los Angeles, dismisses the experts quoted in this story as "liars," who he says are out to discredit a ...

Three years ago, somewhere near this dusty little town of watermelon fields and senior citizen trailer parks, a pudgy, prolific science fiction writer named L. Ron Hubbard climbed into a black van and reportedly disappeared from sight. Nobody in Hemet, 80 miles east of Los Angeles, or anywhere else might have cared about the fate of a 71-year-old eccentric with a lust for privacy, except that Hubbard was the founder of one of the word's wealthiest and most controversial new religions. ...

Church of Scientology officials Monday produced a second letter purportedly written by church founder L. Ron Hubbard, saying he is alive and well and believes his estate to be in good hands. The handwritten letter was filed as part of a motion to dismiss the Riverside County Superior Court probate battle in which Hubbard's son, Ronald DeWolf, claims his father is either dead or incompetent. DeWolf says church officials have been stealing millions of dollars from the 71-year-old Hubbard and is ...

[Picture / Caption: Scientology's headquarters in L.A. was formerly the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital. The church purchased It for $5 million In 1977.] Last October in San Francisco, some 70 local leaders of the Church of Scientology gathered to hear nine church executives harangue them about their shortcomings. Styling themselves with titles that ranged from the quasi-military ("Commander," "Warrant Officer") to the quasi-lunatic ("International Finance Dictator"), the men announced that they represented the new hierarchy of the organization, and that they ...

Defections by older members and publicity given a legal battle over control of hundreds of millions of dollars are believed to be cutting into the membership of the Church of Scientology. The church, which has a headquarters in Clearwater, is described by its leaders as a religion and by its critics as a highly profitable business with cult-like overtones. The church claims a worldwide membership of 6-million, although former officials say the number of adherents is probably fewer than 700,000. According ...