SUPPORTERS of the Church of Scientology have unleashed a campaign of harassment and intimidation against the author and publishers of a book which is highly critical of the cult. The author, Stewart Lamont, has been inundated with threatening letters and telephone calls from members of the sect, both before and since the publication of his book "Religion Inc" this summer. On one occasion Mr Lamont's neighbours were questioned about his private life by callers posing as future employers. Although it was ...

Breach of Faith? One particular church policy has been partially at the root of the fear and anger: Scientology's alleged use of personal information in members' "confidential" Pre-Clear (PC) folders information confessed during auditing. There is substantial evidence that this information has been culled, perhaps to pressure members either into staying in the church or into not criticizing the church if they do leave. Although Hoden denies such practices ("In all my years here, I have never known of any such ...

The Government's War Against SCIENTOLOGY Scientologists say the church is engaged in "a war for the human spirit" against a global conspiracy, involving psychiatrists, the Rockefeller family, the International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) and the U.S. government (including the FBI, CIA and IRS). According to Ken Hoden, Scientologists feel that although each of these diverse entities have different reasons for attacking the church, their enemies have banded together as one to achieve a common end — "destroying the Church of Scientology." ...

The Minutemen at the Ready [A 'suppressive person' is] Fair Game. May be deprived of property or injured by any means by a Scientologist without discipline of the Scientologist [sic]. May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed. —L. Ron Hubbard [Picture / Caption: "Minutemen" line courthouse halls.] On February 15, six police officers stood near the door of Leo Baeck Temple, awaiting the confrontation. They had been called by leaders of Freedom for All in Religion (FAIR), a group ...

ALTADENA — Residents have expressed fear and outrage over what they describe as harassment and intimidation by supporters of the Church of Scientology's plans to buy a 198-acre former hospital complex in the foothills here. At an emotional Altadena Town Council meeting Tuesday, residents complained of late night phone calls and mass mailings of pamphlets about the church, all aimed at winning community support for a conditional-use permit needed by the church to complete the sale. Council Member Beverly Hurt said ...

BOSTON (AP) — A former Church of Scientology member has dropped her $200 million harassment claim against the organization, and group leaders say she settled for $150,000. Jury selection was scheduled to begin Monday in U.S. District Court when Judge W. Arthur Garrity announced that attorneys for La Venda Van Schaick, 35, asked for a dismissal, which he granted. Garrity then cleared the courtroom, which was filled with Scientologist members, after denying requests from attorney Harvey Silverglate and the group's president, ...

A HIGH COURT judge has made the most outspoken condemnation yet of the Church of Scientology, which has its British headquarters at Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead. He condemned it as "corrupt sinister and dangerous". Its founder, former American science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard and his wife Mary Sue were condemned by Mr Justice Latey as "charlatans and worse." And the sect, said the judge, was "both immoral and socially obnoxious." Hubbard and his helpers were said to be "grimly ...

The Scientology cult was branded "corrupt, sinister and dangerous" by a High Court judge in London yesterday when he ordered two young children to be placed in the custody of their mother. He described the practices of the founder of the so-called "church", Ron Hubbard and his helpers, as "grimly reminiscent of the ranting and bullying of Hitler and his henchmen". Mr Justice Latey ordered a Scientologist father to hand over his son, aged 10, and daughter, aged eight ...

THE Church of Scientology was branded corrupt, sinister and dangerous by a High Court judge yesterday. Mr Justice Latey roundly condemned the sect, its American leader L. Ron Hubbard and other members or the hierarchy. He said: "Scientology is both immoral and socially obnoxious"—and he slammed Hubbard for a series of false claims. In a Family Division judgment which denied custody of two children to a church member be called Scientology "training for slavery." He said it was already beginning to ...

THE Church of Scientology was condemned as "corrupt, sinister and dangerous" Mr Justice Latey in the High Court yesterday. The judge described the practices of the Californian-based sect, founded by its "messiah," Ronald Hubbard, as "both immoral andd socially obnoxious." The actions of Hubbard and his helpers were grimly reminiscent of the ranting and bullying of Hitler and his henchmen. Mr Justice Latey, giving judgment in open court after a private hearing ordered a scienlogist father to hand over his 10-year-old ...

A HIGH Court judge yesterday delivered a damning indictment of the Church of Scientology. Mr Justice Latey described the Californian-based sect as 'corrupt, immoral, sinister and dangerous'. And of its methods, he declared: 'For those of us old enough to remember, it is grimly reminiscent of the ranting and bullying of Hitler and his henchmen.' He was giving judgment in the High Court Family Division at the end of a six-month 'tug of love' battle over two children whose father is ...

A HIGH Court Judge rescued two children from the clutches of the mind-bending Scientology cult yesterday. And in a damning indictment he branded the sect and its founder as "corrupt, immoral, sinister and dangerous." Its activities were "grimly reminiscent of the ranting and bullying of Hitler and his henchmen," said Mr Justice Latey. A six-month tug-of-love battle ended when he ordered the children's father to hand them over to their mother. She was divorced in 1979 and has since left the ...

WHAT THE JUDGE SAID * THE CHURCH USED SEX TO SEDUCE PEOPLE HIGH IN GOVERNMENT * RAN A CAMPAIGN OF LIES AND PERSECUTION AGAINST OPPONENTS * AND USED SINISTER TRAINING METHODS AND IRON DISCIPLINE —– THE "sinister" Church of Scientology was dammed by its own undisputed evidence in yesterday's High Court case. Evidence from memos, letters, directives and bulletins presented to the court by a young mother desperate to win her children back from its clutches. The church, according to Mr ...

Two youngsters were expelled from a private school in Bellevue last week because of a continuing dispute about the real wishes of a 72-year-old man who hasn't been seen in years. The youngsters, brothers Garrett and Allen Dean, aged 6 and 9, must wonder what happened. Despite their good grades and conduct, the boys were kicked out of The Learning Place School, a private institution that follows the educational philosophy of L. Ron Hubbard but invites students of all faiths. Hubbard, ...

LOS ANGELES—A former Scientology publicist who was working on a biography of church founder L. Ron Hubbard says she left the organization because she had become "a target" by other church members. Laurel Sullivan, 34, testified Friday in a suit brought by the church and the founder's wife, Mary Sue Hubbard, to recover documents allegedly stolen by former church archivist Gerald Armstrong. Ms. Sullivan said she feared some church members saw the biography as a downgrading of Hubbard's image and that ...

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Stacks of papers show that reclusive Church of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard packed lie after lie into his books, a lawyer contended in court Thursday. Boston attorney Michael Flynn is representing the man who acquired the papers before they were sealed by the court. Flynn told Superior Court Judge Paul G. Breckenridge that defendant Gerald Armstrong received the papers legally from a British writer who was preparing a biography on Hubbard. The plaintiffs, the church and Hubbard's wife, ...

A bicycling security guard with the Church of Scientology may have overstepped his bounds Wednesday morning when he confronted a pedestrian in downtown Clearwater who "looked suspicious," according to police. The guard, Curtis Lee Nelson, later told police he confronted the man "to see what he was all about." What it turned out to be about, according to police, was essentially a sidewalk shakedown on the part of a Scientologist, who got a short lecture from the investigating officer about civil ...

CLEARWATER — In Pinellas County — with its 7 percent unemployment rate the signs on the four Church of Scientology buildings draw attention. Two say simply, "Now Hiring." Others promise a job with "low pay — great future." One along busy U.S. 19 touts jobs for "kitchen personnel." Two others boast: "We are recruiting." What the signs don't say is that the Church of Scientology isn't looking for employees. It is trying to recruit members. The signs also don't say that ...

A federal judge opened the way Monday for four former Scientologists to sue the church for fraud over a variety of claims including promises that it could prevent colds, raise intelligence and solve obesity. Attorneys for the disillusioned Scientologists hailed the ruling, saying that it will open the way for other former church members to bring their complaints of fraud before juries. U.S. District Judge Consuelo B. Marshall ruled that while Scientology is a religion, many of the claims it makes ...

Certainly, L. Ron Hubbard exists, says Janet Kenyon, public affairs director for the B.C. Church of Scientology. He has an office in downton Vancouver. "Come on in," says Kenyon, unfastening the purple velvet cable that is hooked across the entrance to L. Ron Hubbard's office at 401 West Hastings. His name is on the open door in gold-colored letters. A gleaming gold, or brass, letter opener lies on his desk. There are pictures of his kids. There is an unopened package ...

[Picture / Caption: Scientology's headquarters in L.A. was formerly the Cedars of Lebanon Hospital. The church purchased It for $5 million In 1977.] Last October in San Francisco, some 70 local leaders of the Church of Scientology gathered to hear nine church executives harangue them about their shortcomings. Styling themselves with titles that ranged from the quasi-military ("Commander," "Warrant Officer") to the quasi-lunatic ("International Finance Dictator"), the men announced that they represented the new hierarchy of the organization, and that they ...