Although Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard is credited with patenting the sect's E-meter, it is arguable whether the renowned author and adventurer actually invented the electronic device. Over the past 34 years, Scientology literature has referred to the E-meter as the "Hubbard Professional Electrometer," and many people have assumed the 73-year-old science-fiction writer actually invented it. However, Hubbard's estranged son—his father's disciple until a family falling out in 1953—recalls that a man named Volney G. Mathison actually invented the elaborate galvonometer ...

It's called the Hubbard Electrometer and is used as a spiritual guide during "auditing," a Church of Scientology practice somewhat similar to Catholic confession. The E-meter, as it is known, is said to be capable of measuring a person's "mental state and change of state" and can pinpoint deeply rooted, previously undetected problems in the brain. The small, simple electronic device, patented by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, may be the most visible of the "religious artifacts" associated with the Clearwater-based ...

TORONTO—A search warrant used to raid the Church of Scientology's headquarters here should be quashed because sect members could not commit a fraud while practicing their faith, the Clearwater-based organization's lawyer told the Ontario Supreme Court. Clayton Ruby said the Church of Scientology is protected by the guarantee of freedom of religion under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. The Ontario Provincial Police used the search warrant to seize more than 200,000 documents from the group's Toronto headquarters in March ...

TORONTO—A lawyer representing the Church Scientology likened the 34-year-old sect to the Roman Catholic Church during hearing Wednesday in Ontario Supreme Court. Arguing that the Ontario Provincial Police had no right to seize Scientology files during a raid on the sect's Toronto mission last year, Clayton Ruby told the court that Scientology should be given the same respect and protection afforded established religions. "Should a new church be (treated differently) because its doctrines are not as well-known?" Ruby asked Justice John ...

The basic premise of the Church of Scientology is that humans can realize their full potential only if they clear away negative memories. The means of doing so were presented by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard in the best-selling book "Dianencs," which he wrote in 1950. Hubbard argued that by a process of counseling ("auditing"), negative memories ("engrams") could be erased. Auditing involves the use of an E-meter, a sort of lie detector on which, the subject holds two tin ...

LOS ANGELES—The horror, the degradation, the humiliation and the pain all caught up with Gerald Armstrong Thursday when he broke down in tears while testifying in Superior Court here about his 11 years within the Church of Scientology. The former sect archivist and subject of a suit Charging him with taking personal papers of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, Armstrong shook with sob while recalling his 17-month term in the Rehabilitation Project Force (RPF), a form of Scientology punishment where he ...

Whereas other religions may hold out promise of salvation, founder Hubbard offers immediate solution to problems Joann Harvey paused when asked why she took her life's savings of $45,000 and turned it over to the Sacramento Church of Scientology. "That's an interesting question," she said with a sigh. "Being in Scientology gave me an anchor point. The philosophy works. I know it." Harvey was nearing middle age and undergoing marital problems when she discovered Scientology. Sacramento businessman Don Pearson, on the ...