One of the Church of Scientology's most senior figures, Jan Eastgate, has been arrested and charged in Sydney. She has been charged with perverting the course of justice in relation to allegations she coached an 11-year-old girl to lie to police and community services about the sexual abuse she suffered from her stepfather who was a member of the Church of Scientology. Eastgate is the international president of the Citizens' Commission on Human Rights, an organisation founded by the Church of ...

A federal parliamentary committee has recommended the creation of a charities commission. The commission would ensure charitable and religious organisations were open and transparent. They would also need to be able to prove they deserved a charitable status. Independent Senator Nick Xenophon has welcomed bipartisan support for the commission, saying organisations such as the Church of Scientology are on notice. "I believe reform is now inevitable. We can't continue to have business as usual when it comes to organisations that have ...

The Church of Scientology is vigorously denying accusations a senior figure in the organisation tried to cover up the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl in Sydney. It says the allegations, aired on ABC1's Lateline program, are false and highly defamatory. A former Scientology member, Carmen Rainer, told Lateline she was coached by a senior figure in the church to lie to police about the abuse at the hands of her then stepfather, Robert Kerr. Her mother, Phoebe, was a member ...

A senior figure in the Church of Scientology has been accused of trying to cover up the sexual assault of an 11-year-old girl in Sydney. In an exclusive interview for ABC1's Lateline program, a former member of the Church of Scientology says she was coached by a senior figure in the church to lie to police about the abuse at the hands of her stepfather. Carmen Rainer's mother Phoebe was a member of the Church of Scientology and went to the ...

Read the full program transcript from Quentin McDermott's report, Scientology - The Ex-Files, first broadcast 8th March 2010. Reporter: Quentin McDermott Date: 08/03/2010 (On screen: Cars passing big blue building with 'Scientology sign') QUENTIN MCDERMOTT, REPORTER: Many religions claim to hold the key to man’s salvation. Scientology is no exception. TOMMY DAVIS: The most fundamental explanation as regards Scientology’s basic beliefs is that man is basically good, and that the individual’s a spiritual being; that you’ve lived before and you’ll live ...

DESPITE objections from resident and doubts from one councillor, Moonee Valley Council has amended a planning permit to allow up to 600 people to meet at the Church of Scientology's Mt Alexander Road headquarters up to six times a year. The religion's headquarters are under construction at the former site of a Sisters of Mercy convent, opposite the Essendon tram depot. The council had previously granted a permit to allow up to 300 people at the building but the Church of ...

The Church of Scientology is on trial in Paris for organised fraud. Six individuals and two organisations have been charged and if they are found guilty the Church may well have to wind up some or all of its activities in France. This trial had been talked about for months here as being a make-or-break affair for Scientology and it began last Monday. The two organisations being tried are the Spiritual Association of the Church of Scientology and the Scientology library, ...

He's one of the biggest box-office draws in history, but in recent years Tom Cruise has become more than just the face of his films. He has also become the face of his religion – Scientology. A recent video of Cruise – made for a Scientology event and leaked online – showed the star's unbridled passion for his religion and piqued the public's interest in a belief system that has long been surrounded by controversy. "I think it's a privilege to ...

The controversial group has been labeled secretive, inspirational, dangerous and misunderstood. The Church of Scientology? [Picture]Disguised members of an internet-based group called Anonymous protest near buildings associated with the Church of Scientology on Saturday, March 15, 2008, in Los Angeles. (Chris Weeks/AP Photo) No, it's a mysterious group of masked men and computer hackers called Anonymous who say are committed to dismantling the powerful religious organization renowned for its celebrity members such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta. Over the past ...

SCIENTOLOGISTS have been bombarding NSW MPs with letters urging them not to make psychiatric drugs more available as part of an orchestrated campaign to stamp out their use. But not one of more than 120 letters obtained by the Daily Telegraph identifies the author as a Scientologist despite many coming from its inner-west offices. The move has raised serious concerns about religious groups or cults lobbying governments and politicians for a change in the law without identifying their links. The practice ...

AN accused murderer allegedly denied medical treatment because of her parents' belief in Scientology was too ill to face a Sydney court today. The 25-year-old woman, who cannot be named, is accused of killing her father and her 15-year-old sister and seriously injuring her mother during a stabbing attack at the family home in Revesby, in Sydney's south-west, on Thursday. During an earlier court appearance, it was alleged the woman's parents refused to allow her follow-up treatment after she was diagnosed ...

THE Church of Scientology last night denied the Sydney man who was allegedly stabbed to death by his psychotic daughter after refusing her psychiatric drugs was a top recruiter for the church. A man with the same name as the dead father is listed on the Church of Scientology's "Honour Roll" in the 2002 Impact magazine which glorifies members worldwide for their efforts in "signing more than 20 members to the church" or for donating $US20,000 ($23,200) or more. The man's ...

A SYDNEY woman charged with murdering her father and sister and seriously injuring her mother was apparently denied psychiatric treatment because of her parents' alleged Scientology beliefs, a court has been told. The 25-year-old woman, who cannot be named, appeared briefly in Bankstown Local Court today charged over the stabbing attacks at her family home in Revesby in Sydney's south-west last Thursday. She made no application for bail because she was unfit to be interviewed, her legal aid lawyer Wade Bloomfield ...

A new report finally reveals the real reason why director Steven Spielberg was angry with Tom Cruise during the promotional tour for their movie "War of the Worlds” – and not surprisingly, it has much to do with Scientology. At the time, the New York Post reported that Spielberg was furious with Cruise because he had been "ranting” against "the widespread use of Ritalin to treat unruly children diagnosed with Attention Deficit Disorder.” Spielberg was upset because he knew children who ...

1030 - The Citizen's Commission on Human Rights will protest against the state's parole process, following the decision last week to release convicted child-killer John Lewthwaite. Outside the parole board, Hospital Road, Wynard. Contact: Lyn Dunnachie 0415 719 282.

"Theseus and his comrade Pirithous in their descent to Hades . . . sat down to rest for a while, only to find that they had grown to the rocks and could not rise." — Carl Jung, Modern Man In Search Of A Soul Ford and Andrea Schwartz are a typical American couple, perhaps. They're 33 and 28 years old, respectively, and they live in a middle-class apartment in Concord. A Volkswagen van rests in the carport. Their three-year-old son likes ...

Yes... The Church of Scientology (which was founded by L. Ron Hubbard and operates a mission in Santa Rosa) is often charged with using mind control techniques to obtain and maintain the loyalty and resources of its members. Scientology officials, as well as many Scientology church members, scoff at these charges, insisting their practices and teachings are designed to liberate the mind, not enslave it. But Ford Schwartz, a longtime Scientologist and later a "deprogrammer" for the Freedom Counseling Center in ...

The year was 1950. The book was Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, written by a 39-year-old "pulp" writer of science fiction, L. Ron Hubbard. A few months earlier, Hubbard had outlined the book's tenets in a magazine called Astounding Science Fiction. And a year before that, at a lecture for science fiction writers, Hubbard had mused, "Writing for a penny a word is ridiculous. If a man really wanted to make a million dollars, the best way would be ...

The Church of Scientology offers a free personality evaluation to persons interested in its counseling services. Valley News staff writer Brian Alexander took the test at the Sherman Oaks Scientology center, posing as a college student and using an assumed name. As the second segment of a four-part series on the church, he tells what happened. —– The Church of Scientology's free personality test is like a warm handshake, but the grip is too tight. The counselor who evaluates ...

The Founding Church of Scientology of Washington, D.C. (The AMA News, Sept. 2, 1968 ) has lost its tax-exempt status because a federal court says its activities were too commercial. Donald E. Lane, trial commissioner of the U.S. Court of Claims in Washington, ruled that the church received substantial income from its "processing and auditing" services, and that the value of these services was over and above the organization's religious and spiritual aspects. Government officials have indicated the decision would signal ...