The state education department has given preliminary approval to statewide use of school textbooks inspired by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, which already are at the center of a controversy in Los Angeles schools. Five books based on Hubbard's education ideas are expected to be placed on a list of supplementary texts that schools across the state can purchase–possibly as soon as September, an education official said Monday. "There's no religion mentioned in those books," said Anna Emery of the state ...

The following parody, based on news accounts of semi-secret Scientology teachings, is offered as a cautionary tale as the LAUSD board ponders a proposal to create a 100-student charter school with instruction based on L. Ron Hubbard's teaching methods in the Sunland-Tujunga area: * "Good morning, class!" "GOOD MORNING, MISS DIANETIC! WE'RE ALL IN OUR PLACES WITH BRIGHT SHINY FACES!" "You certainly are! Why, I don't even need Mr. E-Meter's help to measure your galvanic skin response! And you should be ...

This was the week, among other things, when Los Angeles dabbled with the notion of pouring tax dollars into a school that planned to catechize its students with Scientology-inspired texts. It was like watching a train wreck about to happen. At week's end, the debacle may have been avoided. The Board of Education caught on to the gambit and some of those involved now predict that the board's vote, expected sometime in the next 30 days, could be negative in the ...

As the Los Angeles Board of Education grapples with whether to approve a new charter school that would feature the teaching methods of L. Ron Hubbard, the late founder of the Church of Scientology, a handful of district teachers say they have been using those techniques for years and keep copies of Hubbard's works in their classrooms. The controversy over the use of Hubbard's methods–known as Applied Scholastics–has prompted district officials to undertake a review of policies on religion in public ...

The Los Angeles Board of Education should reject the controversial application for the proposed Northwest Charter School in the San Fernando Valley. Why? Because the public school system should not open its doors to potentially sectarian teaching. That is what private schools are for. The author of this charter school petition is a Scientologist, which is no more disqualifying for a public school educator than any other religion. However, Linda Smith, a veteran public school teacher, says she would use the ...

Education: L.A. district officials are concerned that organizer's ties to Scientology could raise 1st Amendment questions. A proposed charter school in the east San Fernando Valley is receiving close scrutiny from Los Angeles Unified School District officials who are concerned about the organizer's ties to the Church of Scientology and are questioning whether church teachings would appear in the new public school. Advocates of the Northwest Charter School acknowledge that they want to employ teaching methods developed by Scientology founder L. ...

CANBERRA, July 1 (Reuter) — Australian bosses might prefer blondes, but the tax office won't give their secretaries a rebate for changing their hair colour. As Australia entered its annual fiscal silly season on Tuesday, when millions of workers fiddle their figures to try to claw back tax payments, the association of tax accountants published a list of enthusiastic claims destined for failure. Among them were a car repairer's claim for the cost of his "guard dog" — a miniature poodle ...

BONN, June 6 — The German authorities decided today to place the Scientology movement under nationwide surveillance for one year, their sharpest action yet in a long battle against a group they say is bent on undermining their democratic society. The decision, which critics called authoritarian and impractical, means that Scientologists' mail may be intercepted, their phones tapped and their offices infiltrated by undercover agents posing as adherents. The organization said it would contest the decision in court. By making public ...

People who spend money unwisely or damage their own reputation could be classified as mentally ill and forcibly taken away for treatment in an institution, under new mental health legislation due to come into effect within two weeks. Under the new laws, police will be able to take people from their home to hospital for psychiatric assessment for three days or longer. The changes to the Mental Health Act are strongly supported by relatives and friends of the mentally ill. However, ...

When the end finally came for the old Cult Awareness Network, it happened fast. Cynthia Kisser, CAN's executive director, struggled to stay calm as she sat in federal bankruptcy court in Chicago late last October waiting for the auction to begin. Kisser, who had spent the past nine years leading CAN's efforts to inform the public about dangerous cults, had hoped that she wouldn't have to pay much for her group's assets that day. Nor did she want much, she claims ...

In the early fall of 1991 Atlanta businessman Ralph Regan participated in a local radio talk show dealing with abuses by the Internal Revenue Service and problems with the federal tax system. Shortly afterward, the 35-year old nurseryman received a call from Victor Krohn, the head of Citizens for an Alternative Tax System (CATS), who asked Mr. Regan to start up an Atlanta area CATS chapter. A few months later Mr. Regan resigned his post after discovering that CATS had been ...

TAMPA — A judge in a wrongful death case accusing the Church of Scientology of negligence has temporarily sealed three documents that for three years have been posted on the Internet. The documents — reportedly church instructions on handling members' illnesses — were included among papers filed in a lawsuit that claims a 36-year-old woman died after Scientologists ignored her medical needs. An autopsy found Lisa McPherson died in December 1995 of a blood clot brought on by "severe dehydration and ...

TILDEN, NEB. — In a no-stoplight town on the American plain, in a house where the King James Version lies open in the entryway, a woman unfolds her newspaper and begins to read. The headline in the Tilden Citizen announces, "New Park Groundbreaking Ceremony Held." A picture shows 13 people posed shoulder to shoulder, their grins as frozen as the February soil. The mayor, a construction foreman on his afternoon break, has the familiar job of holding the shovel. A banner ...

The Church of Scientology's version of the circumstances surrounding the death of one of its members always raised more questions than it answered. Now Scientology's top officials cannot even keep their own stories straight, further undermining their credibility. That increases the pressure on Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney Bernie McCabe to uncover the truth about Lisa McPherson's death. Were Scientology officials right when they insisted McPherson was capable of walking when she was loaded into a van at the church's Fort Harrison Hotel ...

CLEARWATER — Was it an honest mistake, a slip of the tongue? Or was it the naked truth, carelessly uttered on camera A top official for the Church of Scientology told a German television crew recently that church member Lisa McPherson died in a room at the Fort Harrison Hotel in Clearwater. On its face, the statement marks a major change in Scientology's version of events surrounding McPherson's unexplained death at age 36. It came in the presence of one of ...

German Chancellor Helmut Kohl ignored protesters wearing Nazi SS uniforms as he boarded a boat for a Sydney Harbour cruise yesterday afternoon. A group of 30 Church of Scientology members, some wearing Nazi SS uniforms and carrying placards reading "Hands Off Our Religion" and "Is Germany Really A Free Country?", heckled Dr Kohl before his cruise. Protester Liz Reeve said the German Government was orchestrating a campaign against Scientologists, even taking their children from schools. "That shouldn't be happening to children ...

SYDNEY, May 6 AAP — German Chancellor Helmut Kohl ignored protesters wearing Nazi SS uniforms as he boarded a boat for a Sydney Harbour cruise this afternoon. A group of 30 noisy demonstrators, members of the Australian branch of the US-based Church of Scientology, some wearing Nazi SS uniforms and carrying placards reading 'Hands Off Our Religion' and 'Is Germany Really A Free Country?', heckled Dr Kohl before his cruise. One protester, Liz Reeve, said the German government was orchestrating a ...

The death of 36 year old Lisa McPherson while in the "care" of fellow Scientologists at the Clearwater headquarters has led to an ongoing investigation by Clearwater police and has been the focus of numerous stories in the Tampa Tribune, St. Petersburg Times, New York Times, local media, NBC Nightly News, and episodes on Inside Edition. Lisa's tragic story began when she joined Scientology upon high school graduation. But two weeks before Thanksgiving, 1995, Lisa "told friends that she was ready ...

WASHINGTON— Helmut Kohl is seeking an unprecedented fifth term. America's most important ally seems headed for prolonged stability. So Germany promises to remain boring? Wrong. Chancellor Kohl governs a nation undergoing tremendous change. And Germany's political class is obsessed with youth. This is a story that many Americans miss because their media are hung up on the Holocaust and cover little but old and new Nazis, real or perceived. Essentially, American consumers of news get two stories on Germany: those about ...

A visitor to the Internet World trade show in Los Angeles last month would have come away with the impression that Luckman Interactive was an industry powerhouse. The 3-year-old firm, which makes software and Internet directories, hung a giant banner on the side of the Los Angeles Convention Center—the only company to spring for the expense. Its booth was among the biggest at the show, rivaling those of Netscape, Apple Computer and Sun Microsystems. The company has raised more than $20 ...

The Church of Scientology responds to the article "Cult of Personality" which appeared in the last issue of Woroni The anonymous author of the article on Scientology in the last Woroni of March 20, 1997, at least got a few things right: the description and definition of Scientology, the aims of Scientology, that it is a religion and a Church. However, journalistic accountability having been thrown to the wind, there followed a mixture of opinion and fiction. Objectivity died with ...

A local mother warned parents last week that young people who travel to Perth in search of education, work or adventure could be influenced by cult groups. Young people often gravitated to Perth in search of excitement and some cults have been accused of preying on the lonely, offering friendship to young people feeling lost in an unfamiliar place, the mother said. Matilda, not her real name, said she wanted to warn others because her life had been turned upside down ...

THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE make a living designing Web sites. And for spreading ideology, creating a Web page is `easier than standing at airports ... handing out brochures.' —————————————————————– SAN FRANCISCO - Like most weird postings on the Internet, rambling statements by members of the Heaven's Gate cult about UFOs, comets and religion were largely ignored - until now. After 39 members of the cult committed suicide, Internet surfers nearly crashed servers trying to find out more information about the group whose ...

As no doubt befits a society founded by Pilgrims, America has a long tradition of controversial movements maturing to success, whether Mormons or Christian Scientists or Jehovah's Witnesses. Today, the latest cult forcing itself to our attention is the Church of Scientology. Scientology was founded in the early 1950s by L. Ron Hubbard, a science fiction writer. He fashioned a creation myth around Xenu, who froze and transported thetan souls to volcanoes in Teegeeack, now earth. The creed holds that humans ...