Three days after more than 2,000 Scientologists crowded into the historic Ybor Square courtyard to celebrate the opening of the Church of Scientology Tampa's new home — a landmark 88,000-square-foot former cigar factory in Ybor City — Creative Loafing editor David Warner and I found ourselves in a COS conference room facing several of the Church's top-ranking public relations officials. They were decidedly not happy with a blog post I'd written that quoted a handful of protesters from the group Anonymous ...

Over the weekend, notorious Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard celebrated what would have been his 100th birthday. The former science-fiction writer (born March 13, 1911) founded the religion Scientology in 1952 as a successor to his self-help series, 'Dianetics.' Since then, Scientology has gone mainstream with the aid of big-name celebrity believers like Tom Cruise and John Travolta. But while Scientology's association with movie stars has gained it publicity, it's also revealed outlandish, dangerous and cult-ish aspects that leave many wondering ...

Gawker.com, where the author is employed as a staff writer, declined to publish this story. Did the Church of Scientology use a Vanity Fair contributing editor to infiltrate and gather intelligence on the cult's enemies in the media? John Connolly is a well-known, and well-liked, character in New York media circles. He's a former NYPD detective and stock broker who landed a third career as an investigative reporter for Vanity Fair, where he is a contributing editor, Radar, the Daily Beast, ...

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 ...

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 ...

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 ...

How is this for a shocking graphic to start a post? It’s my creation…. well, mostly. I stole it from CCHR. It’s here for shock value, so don’t take it too seriously, okay? Approximately 9 months ago (or so — I’m bad with time, so take that for what it is worth), I approached Marty about writing an entry for his blog. My angle? Simple — hardcore critic — the guy who did the $cientology-KILLS website and T-shirts with OT-III, supports ...

Larry Brennan, Nancy Many and Steve Hassan talk about Scientology, the Moonies and more

En abril del 2008, el suntuoso buque de pasajeros 'Freewinds' estaba siendo sometido a refacciones en Curazao cuando se descubrió que contenía en su estructura asbesto azul, un peligrosísimo material, vetado en los países del mundo civilizado por ser causante de cáncer. De inmediato, las autoridades portuarias de la isla ordenaron detener las obras, ante el riesgo inminente que existía para 240 trabajadores polacos. Ya existían voces de alerta respecto al peligro que representaba el buque, utilizado como escuela itinerante por ...

SWEENEY CANYON, Wyo. (AP) — The construction began last summer, stirring up dust that wafted down this desert valley and into a small community of off-the-grid homes. As many as 20 heavy trucks a day hauling construction materials and equipment rumbled down the valley's main gravel road, passing into a gate marked with a "No Trespassing" sign. Helicopters flew in sling loads of cargo. Powerful work lights lit up the valley at night. Public planners in southwest Wyoming's Sweetwater County — ...

I worked on the corporate restructuring in the early 80s that lead to the various “ABLE” groups (Narconon, Applied Scholastics, etc.) falling under the “ABLE” umbrella which in turn was 100% controlled by organized scientology’s Sea Organization under different corporate umbrellas (mostly Church of Scientology International “CSI"). I also handled or oversaw the handling of all their main legal matters around the world as part of the Guardian’s Office for some seven years prior to that. Prior to the “corporate sortout” ...

The controversial Church of Scientology has donated £50,000 to the Sussex Air Ambulance Service at a glitzy gala hosted by a Hollywood star. Actress Kelly Preston, wife of John Travolta, compered the event at the church’s headquarters in Saint Hill Manor, East Grinstead, in front of 1,500 people. Ms Preston is a keen supporter of the religion, which was founded by L Ron Hubbard in 1953. Sussex Air Ambulance Service provides helicopter cover for the county, as well as for Kent ...

As many people know, Omar Garrison was working on a biography of L. Ron Hubbard back in the early 1980s that was completely sanctioned by Hubbard and by organized scientology. In fact Gerry Armstrong was actually assigned to and working with Omar back then with the approval of both Hubbard and organized scientology. And, Gerry was part of that Mission Corporate Category Sortout (MCCS) mission that was run by [David Miscavige] with Gerry’s primary part of it being ...

Jason Beghe, the "G.I. Jane" actor who left the Church of Scientology in April after 14 years, is testifying about today in Hamburg, Germany. Beghe has been invited by Germany’s Department of Interior Affairs to be part of a three hour seminar on Scientology in Hamburg called, "That is Scientology! Reports from the USA." The program will begin with an 11 a.m. press conference followed by three hours of in-depth lectures from 5 to 8 p.m. All of this is organized ...

New reports about Freewinds, the Scientology-owned cruise ship, suggest more people than previously recorded may have been exposed to crocidolite asbestos over the last few years. Crocidolite asbestos is one of the most toxic forms of asbestos, and is known to cause several types of asbestos cancer. Initial reports of asbestos problems surfaced in April. However, a recent statement from the vessel’s captain has indicated there may have been previous incidents where asbestos was released through the ship’s onboard ventilation system. ...

An ex-Scientologist and an army of online pranksters attempt to bring down the controversial religion. Maybe it's his badass black outfit with blood-red letters screaming "Scientology Kills." Or possibly it's his crew cut, or his nose slammed 45 degrees left after catching one too many right hooks. Maybe it's the hardcore cell-phone earpiece or the camcorder strapped to his palm to record confrontations. Whatever it is, when Tommy Gorman stands at a man's door demanding he get his "chicken-shit ass out ...

In the mid-1980s, more than ever before, television advertising was about big budgets and excess. Bucking that trend was Scientologist and marketing whiz Jeff Hawkins, whose understated, minimalist TV ads for L. Ron Hubbard's Dianetics helped launch the book onto the best-seller list—and arguably sparked a worldwide interest in the religion. Hawkins' ads featured simple questions like, "Why are you unhappy?" in white print against a black background, backed by edgy music supplied by Hawkins' friends, and finally, a shot of ...

The Cook Islands High Court will hear an application today (Friday local time) for the demolition of a tent set up by the Church of Scientology in the middle of the capital, Avarua. The writ was filed in court by Reverend Alfred Morris, who leads a local Apostolic church in Rarotonga. Last week the Cook Islands government gave the green light to visiting Church of Scientology representatives Mathew Andrews and Winnie Lawrence to put up posters. However, they were advised the ...

Six years ago, when I was a reporter at New Times LA, ''I’d written several stories about Scientology (Los Angeles is one of its headquarters), and I was about to uncork the longest one yet—a 7,000 word piece about an embarrassing, $8 million defeat Scientology had just suffered, when the weekly paper suddenly folded. That unpublished story has been sitting in storage ever since. Fast forward to 2008, and the world of reporting on Scientology has changed radically, thanks in part ...