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Dec 19, 1993
Commentary: Taking exception — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Dec 1, 1993
Letters // Criticism of Scientology is 'old worn-out record' — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Editor: In order to build a better future it often is necessary to let go of the past. I am referring to the Nov. 17 letter on Scientology by Gabe Cazares, which sounded much like a record stuck in the nine groove for far too long. Mr. Cazares may disagree with the IRS' exemption riling on the Church of Scientology, however, that decision followed the most thorough and demanding investigation ever conducted of any exempt organization. The result: The IRS granted ...
Nov 21, 1993
Did he have Scientology in mind? — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Nov 21, 1993
Editorial // Exempted, not vindicated — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) This is a business that was set up, according to the son of Scientology founder and science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, to avoid taxes. Its counseling process can cost a participant as much as $400,000, and it now claims offices in 78 countries. It reported $74.3-million in revenue last year from its Clearwater facility alone and says it will spend $185-million during the next five years to acquire more properties worldwide. It is a business that, according to records filed ...
Nov 21, 1993
Letters / Scientology should be taxed — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Nov 17, 1993
Letters // Debate over Scientology continues — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Editor: The much publicized IRS rulings do not bestow credibility or legitimacy to Scientology. The IRS rulings cannot rewrite history or wipe the slate clean for this most destructive cult. Never forget that this cult committed what is, in my opinion, the greatest conspiracy against the government — crimes for which its top leadership went to jail. Never forget that this cult occupied Clearwater with secret military-style orders. And never forget the cult's infamous "fair game" policy, which says anyone declared ...
Nov 15, 1993
The Scottish highland quietude club — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Oct 29, 1993
Letters to the editor / Scientology hurts Clearwater, writer says — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Oct 28, 1993
Clearwater to see changes — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
David Dahl Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) WASHINGTON — Since coming to Clearwater in 1975, the Church of Scientology has grown into a dominating presence in the city and now owns 11 properties in the area. Clearwater, known as Flag Land Base in Scientology jargon, is considered the international spiritual headquarters of the religion. The church has 750 or so staff members based in Clearwater, and hundreds more come from around the world to take part in Scientology religious services. Even before the IRS granted tax-exempt status to ...
Oct 28, 1993
Scientology has $297-million growth plan — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
David Dahl Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) A new six-story training and counseling center is planned for Clearwater. WASHINGTON — Hoping to expand to "every city on earth," the Church of Scientology plans to spend $185-million during the next five years to renovate and acquire properties, plus another $112-million on a campaign to spread its message around the world. The Scientologists' spiritual headquarters in Clearwater would get the biggest chunk of construction money over the next few years, the Church of Scientology said in documents filed with the ...
Oct 27, 1993
Hue and cry over Scientology amounts to hate campaign — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Alice Levine Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Upon my return to Clearwater after a month's absence, I was greeted with the news that the Scientologists had been granted tax-free status by the IRS. I hurriedly resumed delivery of the St. Petersburg Times to discover the facts and the community reactions to the news. To my relief, Associate Editor Martin Dyckman's column the following day was a model of intelligent reporting and analysis. "Why should any religion enjoy tax exemptions?" he asked. Later in his column he quoted Justice ...
Oct 25, 1993
Letters to the Editor // Leave Scientologists alone — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) It is appalling to see the intense scrutiny and negative examination of the Church of Scientology by reporters who assume expertise in the subject. Obviously, the subject is sensational: "Church of Scientology declared a bona fide religion by IRS!" But to stir it all up again, to continue to try to get the fire going again, is not only insulting to Scientologists, but I would say to all religions. Has it been forgotten that the right to religious worship is one ...
Oct 24, 1993
IRS examined Scientology dollars, not dogma — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
David Dahl Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) When the IRS granted tax exemptions to the church, it did so mainly on the basis of what Scientology did with its money. WASHINGTON — It might be easier for a camel to walk through the eye of a needle than for the IRS to judge the merits of a religion. So when it comes to considering tax exemptions, the agency sticks to what it knows: money. For the Church of Scientology, which won a series of tax exemptions earlier this ...
Oct 21, 1993
Clearwater to keep battling Scientology — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Ned Seaton Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) At issue is an ordinance on solicitations. At stake is residents' security — or religious freedom. CLEARWATER — The city is still fighting the Church of Scientology. Despite a strongly worded recent court decision in favor of Scientology, city commissioners have decided to continue the decade-long legal battle over a rule that would let the city police the organization's financial records. The commissioners reached their decision at a closed-door meeting Tuesday, Alan Zimmet, a lawyer who attended the meeting, said Wednesday. ...
Oct 20, 1993
Letters // IRS decision on Scientology brings comment — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Re:
IRS Scientology is tax-exempt religion, Oct. 13. The Internal Revenue Service's reversal of the income tax status of the Church of Scientology was both stunning and perplexing. What is the story behind the story? Was some kind of compromise arrived at? A deal? Unanswered questions abound. Taxing personal income, for many Americans, has created a strong moral distaste and sense of injustice, unlike what is felt for other forms of taxation. These Americans have seen, over the years, the ...
Oct 19, 1993
[Cartoon re. "Religious tax exemptions"] — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link
Oct 17, 1993
Will Clearwater raise white flag on Scientology? — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Ned Seaton Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The city's 10-year battle has been expensive and fruitless. Commissioners will meet Tuesday to discuss their next move, if any. CLEARWATER — The Church of Scientology, it appears, is winning the war. After years of bitter fighting with various government entities, Scientology has been granted the same status as mainstream churches by the Internal Revenue Service, and an appeals court has said the city has no right to police the organization's records. The touchy question facing city leaders: Hunker down for ...
Oct 16, 1993
IRS ruling raises questions — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Oct 16, 1993
Ruling by IRS leaves doubt — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Oct 15, 1993
Editorial // Scientology's 'charity' — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Forget, for a moment, the corporate spying, the illicit attempts to discredit its opponents. Forget the seized Church of Scientology documents that revealed a plan "to fully investigate the Clearwater city and county area so we can distinguish our friends from our enemies and handle as needed." Forget the "church" members who bugged U.S. Internal Revenue Service offices and stole files from government agencies. Consider merely the practical effect of the IRS' decision to grant tax-exempt status to 153 Church of ...
Oct 15, 1993
Scientologists profited from new members — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Karl Vick ,
David Dahl Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Newly released earnings reports show late founder L. Ron Hubbard's disciples can earn big money by soliciting members to Scientology. WASHINGTON — It pays to pitch Scientology, according to earnings reports the church has filed with the Internal Revenue Service. One man averaged almost $200,000 a year in commissions from the fees of new members he had solicited to become Scientologists. The church gives its proselytizers 10 to 15 percent of what newcomers "donate" for church services, such as the process ...
Oct 14, 1993
Clearwater changes foreseen from ruling — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: news.google.com , link , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Ned Seaton Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Pinellas County's property tax lawsuit with the Church of Scientology is badly wounded by an Internal Revenue Service ruling that the organization is exempt from federal income taxes, Property Appraiser Jim Smith said Wednesday. CLEARWATER — Now that the Church of Scientology has been granted IRS approval as a tax-exempt religion, downtown Clearwater could be in for some major changes. Scientology has no immediate plans to buy more property downtown, the home of the organization's international spiritual headquarters, said spokesman Richard ...
Oct 14, 1993
Exemption, redemption — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: news.google.com , link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Martin Dyckman Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Jaws sagged over many a breakfast table Wednesday at the news that the Internal Revenue Service has finally thrown in the towel and conceded the Church of Scientology to be a religion. Since its secretive arrival in Clearwater 18 years ago, Scientology has not been the best of neighbors. Nor has it managed to live down its wider reputation for exploiting vulnerable followers. In a memorable editorial, the Clearwater Sun — now defunct, for other reasons — once said that for ...
Oct 14, 1993
Papers detail church's finances — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: news.google.com , link
Type: Press
Author(s):
David Dahl ,
Karl Vick Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The Church of Scientology, freed of its income tax obligations by the IRS this month, is spending $114-million to preserve the voluminous writings of deceased founder L. Ron Hubbard, the group says in newly released documents. The works will be etched into steel plates and printed in book form on natural cotton and linen fabric, according to documents. Some will be stocked in an underground vault in California that is designed, Scientologists hope, to protect the writings during a nuclear war. ...
Oct 14, 1993
Ruling may doom Pinellas tax suit against Scientology — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: news.google.com , link
Type: Press
Author(s):
Wayne Garcia Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The IRS' exemption of the Church of Scientology may doom the county's effort to collect a tax bill exceeding $7.9-million. CLEARWATER — Pinellas County's property tax lawsuit against the Church of Scientology is badly wounded by an Internal Revenue Service ruling that exempts the organization from federal income taxes, Property Appraiser Jim Smith said Wednesday. The two sides are headed back to mediation that likely will result in many, if not all, of the Scientology properties being removed from the property ...
Oct 13, 1993
IRS: Scientology is tax-exempt religion — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link , pqasb.pqarchiver.com
Type: Press
Author(s):
Wayne Garcia Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The agreement ends a fight that lasted decades. And the deal may help Scientologists avoid paying millions of tax dollars in Clearwater. The Internal Revenue Service says the Church of Scientology and its myriad entities don't have to pay federal income taxes, ending a 40-year battle with the controversial church over its purpose and methods of dealing with opponents, which included burglary and intimidation. In the past week, the Internal Revenue Service issued 30 "determination letters" that exempted 153 Scientology churches, ...
Oct 13, 1993
Scientology surrounded by secrecy, controversy — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)More: link
Type: Press
Author(s):
David Barstow Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) In 1975, the Church of Scientology used a front company to secretly buy the historic Fort Harrison Hotel in downtown Clearwater for $2.3-million. There has been controversy ever since. Shortly after making the hotel its worldwide spiritual headquarters, Scientologists issued an internal directive outlining a plan to "fully investigate the Clearwater city and county area so we can distinguish our friends from our enemies and handle as needed." It called for protecting "ourselves against any potential threat by taking control of ...
Aug 28, 1993
Scientology's words to hit the airwaves — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) Now [Nancy] Cartwright is appearing on television in another role: a 30-minute television program that the Church of Scientology hopes will expose more people to [L. Ron] Hubbard's message and increase the number of people seeking Scientology counseling. Now, next to those telephone-order woks and real-estate courses comes Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health , the 1950 self-help classic from Hubbard, whose writings and research are the gospel of Scientology. The group has its spiritual headquarters in Clearwater. Scientology is never ...
Aug 12, 1993
Scientologists buy historic building — St. Petersburg Times (Florida)
Type: Press
Author(s):
Wayne Garcia Source:
St. Petersburg Times (Florida) The Church of Scientology now owns one of this city's most historic storefront buildings but might not for long if it completes a land-swap deal. The Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology Religious Trust bought the J. D. Baskin Building, 115 S Garden Ave., in June for $500,000 from Imre and Anne Tozser of Clearwater, courthouse records show. The [Jefferson Davis] Baskin building, Scientology's 14th purchase in Clearwater, is being traded for a parcel controlled by the Indiana-based Mitchell Foundation, said Richard ...
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