L'auteur de science-fiction L. Ron Hubbard a fondé l'Église de Scientologie en 1954. Il s'agit d'un mouvement ésotérique dont les fidèles découvrent les préceptes au fur et à mesure qu'ils y consacrent temps et argent. La Scientologie prétend que nos expériences douloureuses du passé, incluant nos vies antérieures, ont laissé des traces. Ces traces nous minent et nous empêchent d'atteindre notre vrai potentiel. Seule l'application rigoureuse des techniques développées par Hubbard permettent de s'en débarrasser et d'arriver au statut de personne ...

D'anciens dirigeants et scientologues accusent l'Église de scientologie de violence et d'exploitation de travailleurs. Une équipe de tournage de TVA s'est rendue à Clearwater, en Floride, pour réaliser une enquête sur ces allégations. Sa présence a entraîné la colère des dirigeants de l'Église de scientologie. Les accusations visent le grand leader David Miscavige qui aurait instauré un régime de violence et battrait ses collaborateurs. Le FBI enquêterait même sur des allégations de trafic d'êtres humains et d'exploitation de travailleurs, dont plusieurs ...

Dans son enquête sur l'Église de scientologie, l'équipe de JE a constaté que le mouvement étend ses tentacules au Québec, notamment dans le milieu des affaires. La scène a tout d'un déjeuner d'affaires comme les autres. Pendant une heure et demie, Sylvain McDuff, consultant en management, explique à des propriétaires et gestionnaires de PME comment ses méthodes de gestion peuvent les aider. L'homme d'une cinquantaine d'années, diplômé du Collège d'administration Hubbard en Californie où l'on forme des consultants WISE (World Institute ...

L'audition est au coeur de la scientologie. Il s'agit d'une technique où l'auditeur, en posant une série de questions, guide la personne auditée à travers ses souvenirs. L'audition est censée permettre de retracer et d'éliminer les traces laissées par les traumatismes passés. Cela ressemble parfois à l'hypnose et les personnes auditées affirment d'ailleurs souvent avoir revécu des moments passés de leur vie. Nos collaboratrices ont été initiées à l'audition au cours d'une fin de semaine de Dianétique, passage obligé pour tout ...

DENVER — After just two hours of deliberation, an Adams County jury found Rex Fowler guilty of first-degree murder in the slaying of his former business partner. Fowler, 59, was immediately sentenced to life in prison. The fact that Fowler shot and killed Thomas Ciancio was never in dispute. What was in dispute was whether the act was deliberate and pre-planned. Prosecutors argued the fact that Ciancio was shot three times in the face could not be an accident — it ...

BRIGHTON, Colo. – A software company founder is being tried for first-degree murder. Rex Fowler is accused of shooting and killing business partner Thomas Ciancio in December 2009. TheDenverChannel's Alan Gathright is in the courtroom and will be blogging throughout the trial. This is his blog on Day 2. 4:30 PM – The former president and CEO of Fowler Software choked back tears on the stand Thursday afternoon, recalling how she arranged the fateful meeting between Tom Ciancio and Rex Fowler ...

Doc Thompson 2/24/11 Hour 3 Thu, 24 Feb 2011 12:27:13 -0500 Is Tom Cruise using slave labor? Doc gets behind the walls of the Church of Scientology. [Features a Telephone Interview with webmaster and founder of Operation Clambake at www.xenu.net , Andreas Heldal-Lund] Contributor Notes: Podcast link mp3 audio 15Mb, running time 31m55ss. Scientology segment in first part. Youtube link is an commercial-free edited version of just the scientology related segment. Running time 19mins.

BRIGHTON, Colo. – The trial of a software company founder is underway in Brighton. Rex Fowler is accused of shooting and killing business partner Thomas Ciancio in December 2009. TheDenverChannel's Alan Gathright is in the courtroom and will be blogging throughout the trial. This is his blog on Day 1. 4:30 PM -Battle Over Scientology Evidence In a dramatic moment, defense attorney Sarah Quinn objected to prosecutors introducing in evidence a manila folder belonging to Fowler. The judge had the jury ...

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Proof Committee Hansard SENATE EDUCATION, EMPLOYMENT AND WORKPLACE RELATIONS LEGISLATION COMMITTEE ESTIMATES Extract from transcript of 23 February 2011 Senator XENOPHON—Whilst I know you cannot discuss specific cases, there are some general principles I wanted to canvass with you. I think it was about a year ago that out of a very helpful suggestion of Senator Abetz, a number of complaints from former members of the Church of Scientology were sent through to your office. I am grateful for a very ...

BRIGHTON, Colo. – The murder trial starts Wednesday morning for an Adams County software firm founder accused in the 2009 execution-style shooting of his former business partner. William Rex Fowler is charged with first-degree murder. He's accused of shooting Thomas Ciancio, 42, three times in the head with a 9mm Glock handgun when Ciancio came to collect a $9,000 severance payment at Fowler Software Design in Adams County on Dec. 30, 2009. Fowler, 58, has pleaded not guilty. If convicted, he ...

BRIGHTON — The upcoming first-degree murder trial of an Adams County business owner with links to the Church of Scientology will be about the facts of the case and not the defendant's religion, the presiding judge said today. "Someone's religion has never been an issue in my courtroom and it won't be in this case," said Adams County District Judge Francis Wasserman. Wasserman spoke in a pre-trial hearing for 58-year-old William Rex Fowler, accused of shooting his former business partner on ...

(Trois-Rivières) L'ancien employé et patient du centre de désintoxication Narconon, David Edgar Love, poursuit sa croisade afin que le ministère de la Santé et des Services sociaux n'octroie pas de certification à l'organisme trifluvien. Celui qui a déjà déposé des plaintes devant la Commission des normes du travail et la Commission des droits de la personne contre le centre dont les méthodes ont été critiquées dans le passé était d'ailleurs de passage à Trois-Rivières, hier. Il a rencontré un responsable de ...

On August 19, 2009, Tommy Davis, the chief spokesperson for the Church of Scientology International, received a letter from the film director and screenwriter Paul Haggis. “For ten months now I have been writing to ask you to make a public statement denouncing the actions of the Church of Scientology of San Diego,” Haggis wrote. Before the 2008 elections, a staff member at Scientology’s San Diego church had signed its name to an online petition supporting Proposition 8, which asserted that ...

PARIS — Le journaliste indépendant Denis Robert est sorti vainqueur de dix années de bras de fer judiciaire contre la chambre de compensation luxembourgeoise Clearstream, qu'il accuse d'avoir blanchi de l'argent sale et à laquelle il compte désormais demander des comptes. Dans trois arrêts rendus le 2 février et qualifiés d'"historiques" par l'ancien journaliste de Libération, la Cour de cassation a blanchi Denis Robert, qui faisait l'objet depuis 2001 de multiples plaintes en diffamation déposées par Clearstream. Condamné en appel en ...

Did you read that New Yorker piece on the Church of Scientology? You really have to. I know it's long, but it's worth it. If you're short on time, there are a lot of summaries. Along with some incredible new details, there are the previously reported stories of rampant physical abuse of underlings by church head David Miscavige, the church's "Sea Org" full of underage workers signed to "billion-year contracts" performing manual labor for little to no money, and the tales ...

People protesting at residential properties in unincorporated Riverside County soon will be able to get closer to their targets. The Board of Supervisors decided Tuesday to revise a measure that prohibits picketing within 30 feet of the property line of the targeted residence. Under the new proposal, protesters can get as close as three feet from the property. "I think it is a worthwhile compromise," Supervisor Jeff Stone said. Supervisors adopted the measure, known as Ordinance 884, in March 2009. Stone ...

It's shaping up to be a tough month both in Portland and nationwide for the Church of Scientology. On a national level, a takedown published this week in The New Yorker can't be good for the religion founded by sci-fi writer L. Ron Hubbard. And locally, Scientologists face a lawsuit filed Feb. 4 by a woman claiming exposure to toxic fumes in a downtown Portland building owned by the Church. The suit filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court claims Teresa Barney ...

FBI agents investigating human trafficking have interviewed several high-ranking defectors from the Church of Scientology who spoke out to the St. Petersburg Times over the past two years about abusive and coercive practices within the church. Five former church staffers confirmed Monday that the FBI interviewed them individually over the past 15 months about their experiences in the church's religious order, the Sea Org. They said agents asked detailed questions primarily about working and living conditions at Scientology's remote international management ...

Boston police have responded to a building at 1769 Washington St. for a report of bricks falling. They have cordoned off the area, and the fire department and city inspectors are taking a look at the building, said Officer Eddy Chrispin, a police spokesman. The report came in at 5:31 p.m., he said. The Globe reported in September that the Alexandra Hotel, which is at 1769 Washington, was slated for renovation as the Church of Scientology's new 45,000 square-foot headquarters. The ...

Lawrence Wright's cover story in the current edition of The New Yorker reports on the Church of Scientology and focuses on why screenwriter and director Paul Haggis resigned from the organization in 2009 after spending nearly 35 years with it. Haggis, who directed Crash and wrote the screenplay for Million Dollar Baby, spoke with Wright about his reasons for leaving the church and the response from his fellow Scientologists. Wright tells Fresh Air's Terry Gross about the detailed fact-checking process his ...

Melbourne lord mayor Robert Doyle says he would rethink his decision to attend the opening of a new Scientology centre in Melbourne if given his time again given the furore his presence caused. Cr Doyle faced widespread criticism for accepting the role of guest speaker at the opening of the Church of Scientology's multimillion-dollar headquarters on Mount Alexander Road in Ascot Vale on Saturday. Despite insisting he only attended the private function as a friend of Scientologist Kate Ceberano, Cr Doyle ...

MELBOURNE lord mayor Robert Doyle was a guest speaker at the opening of the Church of Scientology's multimillion-dollar headquarters in Ascot Vale yesterday, which drew more than 50 protesters. Mounted police supervised the private function in the Mount Alexander Road building as Mr Doyle and guests including Kate and Phil Ceberano were ferried in a back entrance. Senator Nick Xenophon, who has campaigned to have Scientology's tax-free status revoked, said he was surprised at Cr Doyle's decision. Cr Doyle said he ...

In 2009, a low-profile Pinellas County company drew unwelcome attention in a growing national controversy over home foreclosures. Employees of Nationwide Title Clearing, a leading processor of mortgage-related documents for banks, loan servicers and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp., were under fire for signing paperwork as "vice president" of various banks although they actually worked for NTC. The assembly-line process in which workers scrawled their names or initials on hundreds of documents at a time — typically without reading them — ...

CIVIC chiefs have rejected a petition calling for the Church of Scientology to be forced to pay full business rates. More than 300 Wearsiders signed a motion urging Sunderland Council to withdraw relief given to the international organisation – whose followers include Tom Cruise and John Travolta – for its property in Fawcett Street. The decision to accept the organisation’s application, backdated to 2006, has so far saved it more than £30,000 – despite not being classed as either a religion ...

[Picture / Caption: The Church of Scientology building in Mt Alexander Rd, Ascot Vale. Picture: Ian Currie Source: Sunday Herald Sun ] SCIENTOLOGISTS from around the world are expected to land in Melbourne this week ahead of the opening of a new multi-million dollar Scientology church. But the church has hosed down speculation that high-profile devotees John Travolta and Tom Cruise would be among the Scientologists in town to celebrate the opening of the Ascot Vale facility this weekend. Reports surfaced ...

[...] Unfair aspersions against Scientology It is disappointing that an article highlighting a charity's alleged breach of Fair Trading regulations should focus on non-existent links with the Scientology religion ("Refugee volunteers tell of Scientology influence", January 17). The article quotes the founder of the Australian League of Immigration Volunteers, Gary Taylor, as saying Scientology was one of a few religions he had spent some time with as a younger man. Beyond that, the only link to Scientology is based on ...

A CHARITY that recruits volunteers to run recreational activities at detention centres is on the brink of deregistration for failing to provide a single financial statement to Fair Trading NSW since it was formally created in 2003. Fair Trading wrote to the founder of the Australian League of Immigration Volunteers, Gary Taylor, on December 15, demanding he lodge the documents within 28 days. But it has received no response. Advertisement: Story continues below The Herald understands Fair Trading wrote again last ...

An open house at the Tuolumne City Memorial Museum will feature an animated model of the Lady Washington Mine’s stamp mill, made by Stu Heller. The museum, at 18663 Carter St., is open every weekend from 1 to 4 p.m. Model-maker Heller will be there on Jan. 29 to answer questions and discuss his work. Refreshments will be served. The Lady Washington is one of several mines dating back to the 1860s, all close to each other on the northeast side ...

A decision on whether to evaluate realignment options for Gilman Springs Road north of San Jacinto was put off indefinitely Tuesday by the Riverside County Board of Supervisors. The board voted after hearing that postponement would ensure interested parties are available to comment at a later date. The Church of Scientology and its Golden Era Productions last year expressed a willingness to study alternative alignments of the road, which bisects its Golden Era Productions studios, as a possible prelude to removing ...