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Jun 19, 2010
Letters to the Editor // Saturday letters: The realities of Scientology are being distorted — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Once again you try to paint an ugly picture of a religious movement that has helped hundreds of thousands — if not millions — of people lead happy and successful lives. So let me address your latest falsehoods. My experience in Scientology has been incredible. I have been a member of the Church of Scientology since 1973. I met and married my husband while working for the church. I have raised two sons in the church. They are both practicing Scientologists. ...
Jun 15, 2010
Editorial: Scientology's family-friendly image contrasts with pressure for abortions — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Among the beliefs listed in the "Creed of the Church of Scientology": "All men have inalienable rights … to the creation of their own kind" and "no agency less than God has the power to suspend or set aside these rights, overtly or covertly." Yet a very different picture emerges from women who became pregnant while working for the church. They relate painful stories of intimidation, shaming, shunning or outright coercion by the church until women agreed to abortions or were ...
Jun 14, 2010
She fought Scientology for the child they wanted to abort — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: Church of Scientology's response
Type: Press
Author(s):
Joe Childs ,
Thomas C. Tobin Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Twenty years ago, when Natalie Hagemo was 19, pregnant and working for the Church of Scientology, she couldn't wait to be a mother. She was near the end of her first trimester, she says, when colleagues in Scientology's military-style religious order, the Sea Organization, began pressuring her to get an abortion. Two high-ranking officers said terminating the pregnancy would allow her to keep working. They berated her when she said no. Supervisors told her to hide her expanding belly lest co-workers ...
Jun 13, 2010
Inside Scientology: No kids allowed — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: Church of Scientology response , Church spokesman Tommy Davis' letter to the Times , Declarations from Scientology members
Type: Press
Author(s):
Joe Childs ,
Thomas C. Tobin Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Laura Dieckman was just 12 when her parents let her leave home to work full time for Scientology's religious order, the Sea Organization. At 16, she married a co-worker. At 17, she was pregnant. She was excited to start a family, but she said Sea Org supervisors pressured her to have an abortion. She was back at work the following day. Claire Headley joined at 16, married at 17 and was pregnant at 19. She said Sea Org supervisors threatened strenuous ...
Jun 12, 2010
Church of Scientology: The Headley lawsuits — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Former Scientologists Claire and Marc Headley are suing the Church of Scientology in separate actions in federal court in Los Angeles. Marc Headley, 37, alleges he was the victim of unfair business practices, labor law violations and forced labor, or human trafficking, during his 15 years in the church's Sea Organization. Claire Headley, 35, alleges the church forced her to have two abortions during her 13 years in the Sea Org. She also claims working conditions at the church's international management ...
Jun 12, 2010
Scientology and abortion — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The Church of Scientology does not take a position on abortion. However, the subject comes up in the writings of church founder L. Ron Hubbard, which the church regards as sacred scripture. Scientology counseling seeks to rid the mind of "mental image pictures" or "engrams" created during painful moments in one's past — including previous lifetimes and time spent in the womb. Hubbard expressed concern about the "prenatal child" and how the emotional traumas of "attempted abortion" can cause problems after ...
May 10, 2010
10-year-old Haitian earthquake survivor dies after fall from roof — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Rodney Thrash Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) CLEARWATER — Ten-year-old Anais Jean made it out of one the world's worst natural disasters, a magnitude 7 earthquake that killed more than 220,000 people and crippled her Caribbean nation of Haiti. Her father hoped they could rebuild in Clearwater, where they settled after the quake. But tragedy has stricken the Jean family once again. Anais died May 3, four days after she fell from the roof of Mike and Mary Campbell's Chateauwood Drive home, Clearwater public safety spokeswoman Elizabeth Watts ...
May 1, 2010
CL’s new landlord? Church of Scientology in negotiations to buy Ybor Square — Creative Loafing (Tampa, Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
David Warner Source:
Creative Loafing (Tampa, Florida) Last week, as Creative Loafing was preparing to move from temporary quarters to permanent office space in Ybor Square (right), we heard the rumors: The historic former cigar factory, built in 1886 by Vicente Martinez Ybor, was up for sale — and the prospective buyer was The Church of Scientology. Whoa. We looked into it. No one could confirm. Calls weren’t returned. Then I checked with the City of Tampa’s zoning office, and there it was in black and white: In ...
Apr 28, 2010
Scientology run-ins bring warnings — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Joe Childs ,
Thomas C. Tobin Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) With two recent public confrontations, a year-long, highly publicized drama in the world of Scientology has spilled into the streets of Clearwater. The latest incident occurred Friday afternoon as seven members of the Church of Scientology — including five senior members of its California-based international management team — surrounded and screamed at a former church executive, then loudly carried the dispute into the office of an unsuspecting and startled doctor. The former executive was Mike Rinder, 55, Scientology's longtime spokesman, whose ...
Mar 19, 2010
Arrest puts familiar Tarpon Springs name Fred W. "Bill" Howard back in news — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Rita Farlow Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) TARPON SPRINGS — Fred W. "Bill" Howard made a name for himself in his native Tarpon Springs as a real estate developer in the 1980s. But he left the area after a series of controversies, from his dealings with the Church of Scientology to a failed business venture that ended in bankruptcy, several longtime Tarpon Springs residents said this week. "He disappeared off the face of the Earth," said City Manager Mark LeCouris. "I hadn't seen him in over 20 years." ...
Mar 9, 2010
Today show and New York Times profile Scientology defector — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Feb 25, 2010
Scientology hires reporters to investigate St. Petersburg Times — Scott Finn
Type: Radio
Author(s):
WUSF Radio Source:
Scott Finn TAMPA (2010-2-25) - The Church of Scientology is deploying a new weapon in its three-decade battle with the St. Petersburg Times: award-winning investigative journalists. Those reporters completed their own review of the newspaper's coverage of Scientology, but church officials won’t release it. In 1980, The St. Petersburg Times won a Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of the secretive religion, headquartered in Clearwater. Since then, church officials have said the newspaper’s coverage is unfair. So church officials decided to do something about ...
Feb 23, 2010
Don Surber sides with Church of Scientology over real world
Feb 22, 2010
An unfortunate analogy — Columbia Journalism Review
Feb 22, 2010
Church of Scientology hires investigative journalists to examine St. Pete Times coverage — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Feb 22, 2010
Journalists for hire — Washington Post
Jan 29, 2010
Robert S. Minton, a former Scientology critic, dies of heart ailment — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Jan 24, 2010
He wants his money back from Church of Scientology — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: Larry Anderson's meeting with Tommy Davis , (transcript by Anonymous) , Scientologists and money
Jan 14, 2010
Scientology releases restoration of Hubbard works — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
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