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Combining Freudian psychoanalysis with Eastern thought and ideas from his science fiction writings, Hubbard produced a religious cult that has gained a wide appeal with those seeking improved mental health. Fundamental to Scientology is the concept that the mind is divided into two basic parts: the “analytical” and “reactive.” The key to achieving mental health is to subject oneself to the examination and treatment of an “auditor.” Auditors use a device called an E-meter, which supposedly measures the body’s response and resistance to “engrams.” The religious foundation on which it is built stems from the notion that human beings were once “Thetans.” These “thetans” are believed by Scientologists to have relinquished their godlike powers to enter “mest” (matter, energy, space, time), or earth where a process of evolution took place and human beings emerged who could no longer remember their pre-existent state as “thetans.”

The basic doctrines of Scientology, along with some comparisons to Christianity, are outlined as follows:

God ~ The universe contains many gods, and there are gods beyond even these gods. Christianity is strictly monotheistic.

Jesus Christ ~ “Neither Lord Buddha nor Jesus Christ were OTs [Operating Thetans, the highest Scientology level] according to evidence. They were just a shade above clear.” Jesus Christ is relegated, as with other Eastern groups, to the status of an avatar that denies His exclusive place as “very God of very God, begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father, by whom all things were made.” (Nicene Creed)

Cross ~ Scientology denigrates the cross as an ancient symbol introduced by “preclears a million years ago.” Yet the holy cross is a pivotal symbol for the Church that cannot be dismissed in the biblical tradition.

Humanity ~ Scientology sees the human being as a fallen thetan. Human beings have the potential to be coached (audited) to an awareness of their pre-mest deity. Scientology does not distinguish between the Creator and the creation. Christianity strongly maintains the distinction between God and creation. Human beings are made in God’s image, not in the image of a thetan. The human race is in a state of fallen, active rebellion against God. The essential message of the Christian Church is that God has made it possible through the person and work of Jesus Christ to motivate people to bring an end to sin and rebellion, by His promise of eternal life through Jesus Christ.

Sin ~ There is no such thing as sin or evil.

Hell ~ Hell is a myth and an invention; it is a cruel hoax perpetrated by the miserable in order that others might be miserable as well. For Christianity, hell or a state of everlasting torment is no myth. Jesus spoke candidly on the subject.

Salvation ~ Freedom from rebirth; here it can readily be seen how Scientology embraces Hindu-like concepts concerning reincarnation. All faiths are paths that lead to salvation. For the Christian, salvation is only obtainable through Jesus Christ.

Heaven ~ There is no heaven in the sense that the Bible defines it. But heaven does exist in that it is the embodiment of a deified state to which humanity may return. Here Hubbard proposes the Eastern conceptualisation of soteriology. Without a doctrine of original sin or eternal damnation, and coupled with a pantheistic view of life and God, Scientology leaves one to seek out a salvation that is latent within the human soul and grounded in the past and in past lives in the cycle of reincarnation. Christianity, on the other hand, grounds salvation not in latent ability residing in a human being but rather in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The Scientologist searches for the answers to life in the deep recesses of the psychology of one’s past and past lives. Christianity, too, is dependent on the past that historically occurred in the Crucifixion and Resurrection of Jesus of Nazareth, not a past grounded in psychological ruminations.

In the latter half of the 1970s Hubbard disappeared both from public view and from his family ~ and lived in seclusion in California. Ronald DeWolf, one of Hubbard’s five children, changed his name to renounce his father, claiming that he was “one of the biggest con men of the century.” Death came to Ron Hubbard ~ by then a veritable hermit ~ in 1986.
 
that's quite a bit of info about them Scientologists!

from what you have said, Exorcistate, would it be correct to refer to Scientology as a gnostic mystery religion?

in any case, i've been thinking about the recent scandal in the United States about the Enron Corporation and the Arthur Andersen accounting firm . . . perhaps the Church of Scientology should consider bringing in some outside auditors.
 
Gnostic mystery religion might be a bit of a stretch, but at the widest definition of that heresy known as gnosticism ~ perhaps. But I would compare Scientology much more closely to Satanism.

Scientology is the creation of Lafayette Ron Hubbard (1911-1986) who was born in Tilden, Nebraska, USA. He attended George Washington University and, according to his publications, graduated with a major in civil engineering. However, campus records indicate that Hubbard had attended college for only two years and that during his second year he failed physics and was placed on academic probation. He did meet with success as a science fiction writer in the 1930s prior to the publication in 1950 of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health. This became the textbook for a religion that he invented in 1955, popularly known as Scientology.

Jack Parsons, a rocket scientist, started a branch of Aleister Crowley’s satanic religion called Thelema based in Pasadena, California. He later changed his name to Belarian Armiluss Al Dajjaj Antichrist, and pledged himself to fulfil the work of the Beast 666. An earlier attempt, in March 1946, was to try to call down the biblical Whore of Babylon into the womb of a living woman by a combination of strenuous copulation and incantation for three days. The female was a member of Ordo Templi Orientis. Keeping detailed records of Parsons unsuccessful black magic ritual was friend and scribe Lafayette Ron Hubbard. Four years later Hubbard lay the foundations for his own religion, Scientology, by publishing Dianetics. Scientology later spawned the DeGrimstons, a British couple who were to establish the overtly satanic Process Church of the Final Judgement that took root in the counterculture of the early 1960s. It was founded by Robert Moore and Mary Anne MacLean, who were later to rename themselves the DeGrimstons. According to Process literature, they worshipped a trinity of Jehovah, Lucifer and Satan. The rôle of Satan as executioner was further expressed in the following utterance by the church: “My prophecy upon this wasted earth and upon corrupt creation that squats upon its ruined surface is: THOU SHALT KILL!” The Process venerated Adolf Hitler and their chosen symbol was four Ps conjoined in a derivative of the swastika. The Process Church, predating the Church of Satan and the Temple of Set, emerged from the cult of Scientology.
 
Scary stuff - Are there hidden satanic influences in CoS? I wonder if it's structure is anything like the masons (lower orders experience only minor rituals and are kept in the dark about the true meaning of those rituals until they pass the 3rd level) - as I understand it knowledge of the inner sanctum of the CoS is distributed on a need to know basis.

Also interesting that a bunch of lawyer's 'bought out' CoS a couple of years ago. Not the sort of portfolio I'd want attached to me - unless I was carrying out the work of the Dark Lord and was in thrall to Satan ;)

Always though lawyers were dodgy.

Good info, Ex.
 
Scientology critics under attack

Hi. I thought I'd post this under the Religions and Cults section.
The Church of Scientology has a large body of "secret teachings" which it sells for thousands of pounds. In fact, to get from raw public to the highest level in Scientology can take many years and set you back a quarter of a million quid.
In recent years, many of the secret teachings have been revealed, and, with the phenomenal growth of the Internet, have appeared on many sites. Unfortunately Scientology has a lot of money and, hence, a great deal of legal clout. It can afford to hire the best lawyers. ISPs which host sites containing Scientology materials are under legal attack! Many have been forced to remove Scientology critical material.
So what can you do about this attack on free speech? I have a couple of suggestions for you.

1. Support the Scientology critical site
www.xenu.net

2. Find out for yourself what Scientology's secret teachings are, free of charge! Try a Google on the following:

OT Levels
Xenu
Body Thetans
Teegeeack

Yours for free speech and Internet freedom.

Big Bill Robinson
 
Have you seen the personality test thread?

I have printed off the basic test to wave around at Uni tomorrow.
 
Not surprisingly, the actual "product" from my Dianetics test involved a vague graph (showing enough to suggest I was in bad mental health) and then a follow up e-mail from "Tanya" inviting me to discuss the results in private at a location in London.

To take the test you have to be quite careful what you are ticking and what details you fill in - otherwise I fear one would be bombarded with their crap.
 
Is this the test? http://www.dianetics.org/oca/

I haven't taken it so can't really comment on it's helpfulness or lack thereof... but total lack of knowledge of a subject has never stopped me posting before ;)

I know my life is a mess, but very much doubt that a fake religion set up by a crap sci-fi writer has any answers. I'm putting my faith in the lottery - it has more chance. And anyway, they want my email address and I can't be arsed to set up yet another fake hotmail address to avoid the inevitiable junk mail.

Jane.
 
I took that test. BS. Creepy BS.
But I got a grudge against Xenu. Someone from that (or maybe just a random supporter, so I won't blame Xenu) was BADGERING this webboard where actor Jason Lee occasionly posts. Just kept coming back, day after day, with the same stupid message and a link to Xenu. If Jason Lee is a scientologist, who the hell cares? It was annoying and everyone backlashed.

One of the posts. With lots of comments. That board used to be fun.
 
did the personality test. i'm completely crazy according to them. soe how that makes me feel a lot better :D
 
Yes, those Jive Aces are scary (the yellow suits!! eek!!). When I saw the pictures and read the text, I thought that they were Germans -- the text doesn't sound quite like English, and there have long been German bands that slavishly mimic British or American musical styles [my wife's German cousin played in a skiffle band in Bremen circa 1960, before forming a Merseybeat style band a couple of years later. And he's not the only one!!!].

Also, in their suits some of them look like Heino, a truly terrifying German folk/pop singer. BUT IT SEEMS LIKE SOME OF THESE JIVE ACES ARE FROM THE UK . . .

Wherever they are from, they are a font of misinformation:

Their site contains a dictionary of swing words; the entry for "swing" follows:

"swing: music that has a 'swinging beat' as played by the big bands of the 1940s and early 1950s; to dance to this music"

As is well-known, the "big bands" were gone by the end of World War II. The height of swing music was roughly the mid 1930s to the early 1940s.

Like most of these "swing revival" bands, I would bet that the Jive Aces actually play in the style called "jump blues" (cf. Louis Jordan).

They probably have a nefarious CoS reason to want us to believe that jump blues is the same as swing . . .

OK, I know I may sound like a jerk in this post, but I believe that we should be vigilant in defending Truth against EVERY onslaught of the CoS . . . :)
 
I thought that, though Cruise is a Scientologist, Kidman never was, and this eventually was a contributing factor at least in their divorce. Allegedly.

And the more money you have, the more power you have, and the more 'servants' from the less financially secure 'tologists. I think that's how it works. Allegedly.

As for why setting up so many cults in East Grinstead - well, it's about the only place I can think of that would be affluent enough to support them all!

Ahem. Allegedly.
 
Scientologists win 0,000 lawsuit



SAN FRANCISCO, April 14 (UPI) -- A California judge has ordered a former member and longtime critic of the Church of Scientology to pay it 0,000 for criticizing the group.

Superior Court Judge Lynn Duryee issued the order in a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Scientology defector Gerald Armstrong, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Wednesday.

The cult had sought million from Armstrong, who joined in 1969, left in 1981 and later became a prominent critic.

He was sued by the cult in 1984 for allegedly stealing thousands of pages of private papers that shed new light on the movement's mysterious founder, the late L. Ron Hubbard.

Judge Paul Breckenridge Jr., who presided over that case, issued a ruling in which he called Hubbard "a pathological liar when it comes to his history, background and achievements."

In settling that case, Armstrong had agreed to return the documents and not speak about Scientology -- or else pay ,000 for every such utterance.

On Tuesday, Duryee ordered Armstrong to pay 0,000 to the cult.

http://washingtontimes.com/upi-breaking/20040414-015518-2404r.htm
 
Scientology link to public schools

As early as the third grade, students in S.F. and elsewhere are subtly introduced to church's concepts via anti-drug teachings


Nanette Asimov, Chronicle Staff Writer

Wednesday, June 9, 2004


A popular anti-drug program provided free to schools in San Francisco and elsewhere teaches concepts straight out of the Church of Scientology, including medical theories that some addiction experts described as "irresponsible" and "pseudoscience."

As a result, students are being introduced to somebeliefs and methods of Scientology without their knowledge.

Anyone listening to a classroom talk by Narconon Drug Prevention & Education is unlikely to recognize the connection with Scientology; the lessons sound nothing like theology. Instruction is delivered in language purged of most church parlance, but includes "all the Scientology and Dianetics Handbook basics," according to Scientology correspondence obtained by The Chronicle.

Narconon's anti-drug instruction rests on these key church concepts: that the body stores all kinds of toxins indefinitely in fat, where they wreak havoc on the mind until "sweated" out. Those ideas are rejected by the five medical experts contacted by The Chronicle, who say there is no evidence to support them.

Narconon was created by L. Ron Hubbard, the late science-fiction writer who founded Scientology, a religion that claims to improve the well-being of followers through courses aimed at self-improvement and global serenity. Narconon operates a global network of drug treatment centers, as well as education programs for elementary, middle and high school students.

Its lectures have reached 1.7 million children around the nation in the last decade, Narconon officials said, and more than 30,000 San Francisco students since 1991. Meanwhile, Narconon's anti-drug message and charismatic speakers earn rave reviews from students and teachers.

Narconon officials are adamant that Narconon is secular and that a firewall exists between it and the Church of Scientology, and San Francisco school health officials say they know of no church-state problem with Narconon or of any pseudoscience taught.

But a close look reveals a crossover of church language, materials, concepts, personnel and some finances, leading to accusations that Scientology has slipped into public classrooms.

"Narconon, to me, is Scientology," said Lee Saltz, a drug counselor with the Los Angeles school district, where Narconon has made classroom presentations for many years. "We don't use their curriculum because it's not grounded in science. But they bypass our office and go directly to the schools. They're very persistent."

Narconon speakers tell students that the body stores drugs indefinitely in fat, where they cause drug cravings and flashbacks. Students are told that sweating through exercise or sauna rids the body of these "poisons." And, some teachers said, the speakers tell students that the drug residues produce a colored ooze when exiting the body.

"It's pseudoscience, right up there with colonic irrigation," said Dr. Peter Banys, director of substance abuse programs at the VA Medical Center in San Francisco.

Dr. Igor Grant, professor of psychiatry and director of the Center for Medicinal Cannabis Research at UC San Diego, agreed: "I'm not aware of any data that show that going into a sauna detoxifies you from toxins of any kind. " Three other addiction experts contacted by The Chronicle echoed their skepticism.

But Narconon officials say their science is sound and their curriculum free of religion. And they say Narconon is legally and financially separate from the church.

"It's our job to keep them separate," said Clark Carr, president of Narconon International and a Scientologist. "We work full time to do this. If we went into the school district as Scientology, with the separation of church and state, it wasn't going to work. It would be as if someone said, 'I have some things in the Bible I think would be very helpful.' No, thank you. It's corporately and financially separate, and that's appropriate.

"For us, the larger issue is that kids need help. We're not in this for any other agenda.''

Federal law prohibits religious instruction in public schools -- but it also prevents school officials from ousting secular programs just because they are provided by religious groups.

Narconon is an efficiently run program with a well-received anti-drug message for grades three to 12. Its popularity with kids and teachers cuts a wide swath -- from the posh suburbs of Malibu to the urban classrooms San Francisco. Speakers pepper their presentations with personal tales of drug abuse and redemption and emphasize the importance of knowing how drugs affect the body.

Currently, Narconon speakers lecture at schools in San Francisco, Orange County and Los Angeles County.

Carr, Narconon's president, said school lectures have been given in 10 other counties -- including Santa Clara, San Mateo, Marin and Sonoma -- 23 other states and 39 other countries. He said drug treatment centers operate in two dozen countries.

A Chronicle review of Narconon's curriculum found that, like the Church of Scientology, Narconon embraces Hubbard's belief that experiences are recorded in three-dimensional images in the mind, with sound and smell, called "mental image pictures" or "pictures in the mind." Taking any drug "scrambles" the pictures.

"Our take-home message is that drugs are essentially poison," Carr said. "This is how we basically explain it to them. Drugs scramble pictures. When people take drugs, they affect the mental pictures."

Scientologists believe that scrambled pictures interfere with one's ability to "go clear," a state of mental purity that is a goal of the religion.

In his 1979 Scientology text "Clear Body, Clear Mind," Hubbard writes that high doses of the vitamin niacin and hours of sauna flush out drugs, "freeing the person up for mental and spiritual gain." He calls it "Purification," and Scientology churches often are equipped with saunas, said ex-Scientologists and a tour guide at San Francisco's church.

Hubbard writes that drugs in fat "re-stimulate" the unwanted mental pictures created when the drugs were taken.

These beliefs grew out of Hubbard's writings about the mind in the 1940s and 1950s. He first characterized Scientology as a religious philosophy in 1951, and three years later the first church opened in Los Angeles. More than 3,200 "churches, missions and groups" followed in 154 countries, Scientology's Web site says.

Hubbard created Narconon in 1966 with William Benitez, an Arizona inmate and addict turned anti-drug crusader. Treatment began as vitamins and exercise. In 1978, Hubbard added his "tissue-cleansing regimen" of niacin and sauna, which "greatly reduces or eliminates cravings for drugs that stem from hidden drug toxins," says Narconon's Web site.

Hubbard died in 1986 while Scientology was in a dispute with the Internal Revenue Service over its tax status. Shortly after, his followers legally grouped his many enterprises, including Narconon, into religious and secular divisions. (Scientology gained tax-exempt church status in 1993.)

In 1988, church members created the nonprofit Association for Better Living and Education, or ABLE, to oversee four secular programs: The Way to Happiness Foundation, promoting Hubbard's 21 "moral precepts"; Applied Scholastics, an education program; Criminon, a "life improvement" course for prison inmates; and Narconon.

ABLE's purpose was to deliver Hubbard's ideas to the public, said Bob Adams, its senior vice president and a Scientologist.

In 2001, ABLE reported assets of .6 million to the IRS, records show. Today, it occupies the elegant former Screen Actors Guild building in Hollywood, which it bought from the Church of Scientology for million in 2000.

Narconon's lecturers and top administrators readily acknowledge that they are Scientologists. A church spokeswoman said the link is strong but unofficial.

"Is there a connection between Scientologists and Narconon? Resoundingly yes," said Linda Simmons Hight of the Church of Scientology International. "Scientologists are thoroughly mixed with the activities and finances of Narconon. I'm not talking about the church. I'm talking about (individual) Scientologists."

For example, Scientologists pay for Narconon's school lectures and operate Narconon drug treatment centers across the country. At Narconon International in Watsonville, the treatment center nearest the Bay Area, eight of the nine members of the board of directors promote Scientology on the Web or are listed as having completed religious courses.

And of the 15 small businesses that pay for Narconon lectures in San Francisco schools, the owners or employees of at least 10 tout Scientology on the Web or have completed courses.

"Scientologists are among the major supporters of Narconon drug rehab and drug education, financially and through volunteer actions, because we're so aware of the destructive effects of drugs on our society -- and because we have the solution to drugs," Hight said.

"In the secular setting, it's Narconon. In the church, it's the Purification handling."

But former Scientologists who have worked for the church and for Narconon say the connection goes far beyond shared values.

"Narconon's orders come from the Church of Scientology's senior management," said Tory Christman, a former church member who worked briefly at Narconon International. "Their programs, policies -- it's all church policy. There's no question about this to anyone involved."

A 30-year veteran of Scientology, Christman left in 2000. She said she suffered seizures after following a church recommendation to stop taking epilepsy medicine, and she decided to quit after that.

Joe Keldani, who ran Canada's Narconon from 1972 to 1978, agreed. "My orders were very exact: You are a separate organization. But every Thursday you have to make a report, and every detail goes uplines," he said. "On some issues, my reports went all the way up to Mary Sue Hubbard," wife of the founder.

Keldani ran the Canadian Narconon long before ABLE was established as Narconon's secular oversight agency. But Keldani left Scientology only in November, citing personal disagreements with church officials. "There's no doubt in my mind that international Scientology management is running Narconon, " he said.

Adams of ABLE vigorously denied that connection. "ABLE does not report its statistics to the church," he said.

In class, Narconon's curriculum identifies Hubbard as an "author and humanitarian" and does not mention Scientology. Yet the language of Scientology has crept into the classroom. For example, Narconon's syllabus for San Francisco schools calls for a "communication drill."

"Communication drills are one of the basic tools taught by Scientology," said Christman, the ex-church member. "It's the first course that anyone who enters Scientology gets -- or Narconon rehab. It's sitting across from someone and looking at them for as long as it takes to 'be there comfortably,' in Hubbard's words. No movement, no speaking, no facial tics -- nothing."

Nathan Johnson, who has given Narconon lectures in San Francisco schools for 13 years, has students greet each other with a handshake or high-five, which he calls a communication drill.

"It's not really Scientology," Johnson said. "I know Scientology because I've been in it a long time. But that little communication drill, I've never had anyone say, 'What's that?' Kids like it."

Another church reference in the classroom is the "tone scale." That is Scientology's hierarchy of emotions, which runs from "serenity of beingness" to "total failure," according to the church's Web site.

Tony Bylsma, director of Narconon's education program, used a tone scale recently in his presentation to ninth-graders at Centennial High in Compton (Los Angeles County). Standing before the students in the school gym, he drew a vertical line on a white board and labeled the top "happy" and the bottom "sad." He said to the students: "Let's say someone says to someone, 'Let's smoke (marijuana).' If he smokes, is he going up or down on the scale?"

"Up!" called the class.

"Right. But happy doesn't come for free. Soon, he goes back down. But that's OK -- he knows how to fix that now" by trying harder and harder drugs, Bylsma said. He drew an up-and-down line on the scale that ultimately sank toward "sad."

As his lecture ended, Bylsma turned to the students and said, "I want to say thank you to a man named William Benitez who started the program, and thank you to L. Ron Hubbard! Thanks to them, we have the program in 37 countries! Let's give them a hand!" And the students clapped.

Afterward, several students told a reporter who observed the class that they had learned a lot.

Meanwhile, e-mails sent to a private Scientology group and forwarded to The Chronicle by a former Scientologist reveal other ways the church influences classroom instruction. The ex-Scientologist declined to be identified, citing fear of reprisal from the church.

But the e-mails, written by Scientologists, state frankly that Narconon's instruction is delivered in language cleansed of obvious church expressions and that its speakers rely on church texts called Ethics and "Organizational Executive Courses" to run it.

One of the e-mails was written by Bylsma. On Jan. 24, 2002, he appealed to fellow Scientologists for donated books and other items to help him set up a new Narconon office. In Scientology's dialect, such physical items are known as MEST, which stands for "matter, energy, space, time."

In the e-mail's subject line, Bylsma wrote: "MEST Donations Needed for Narconon Drug Ed." He requested "4 current Ethics Books, 1 current Vol. 0, any current OECs, 1 or 2 good computers" and office space for four.

"Ethics books" contain church rules and sell for on the Scientology Web site. Volume Zero is part of Hubbard's "Organizational Executive Courses," or OECs, which are 14 books on running an organization on Scientology principles. They sell for 5 each.

Asked about the e-mail and why Narconon uses religious texts, Bylsma said the books are helpful.

"Those are not secular books, and there's a certain amount that is unusable for Narconon," he said. "But there are certain things that do apply. I know a lot of organizations that are not religious that use Mr. Hubbard's organization technology -- doctors, lawyers, whole groups."

In another e-mail, Jackie Flowers-Catarineau, who until recently was listed on the Web as a spokeswoman for the Scientology club Renaissance Speakers, tried to attract new Narconon instructors. On Feb. 16, 2002, she wrote Scientologists that Bylsma would give a talk at Celebrity Centre International, the church's ornate Hollywood convention hall.

"Bear in mind," she wrote, "as a Narconon speaker in the schools, you don't mix the religious stuff -- but the talks are needed everywhere!"

On March 15, 2002, Flowers-Catarineau sent out a reminder about Bylsma's talk. She promised that he would explain how to convey church concepts to students in plain English. She wrote:

"Tony will go over how to do seminars but the information is SO basic that it'll show you how to handle kids, parents, teachers as groups OR ONE-ON- ONE on what drugs do to both the mind and body. ... He gives examples of how drugs scramble the pictures in the mind, how it stores in the body and how it takes one down the tone scale lower and lower -- ALL IN NON-SCIENTOLOGY TERMS. ... All the Scientology and Dianetics Handbook basics but in simple descriptions!"

Flowers-Catarineau did not return three phone calls seeking comment.

Rena Weinberg, ABLE's president, said Flowers-Catarineau wrote "in terms that were personal to her," so it is not known what she had in mind. But Weinberg denied that the e-mail meant Narconon and its methods were religious. "They are not. They are secular, and everything you see in the Narconon program and lectures are, likewise."

Adams of ABLE said questions about church ties distract from Narconon's purpose of giving students a solid anti-drug education.

"We feel we're on a mission, and it's for the good of all of us," he said. "It's part of the overall plan to collaborate with other groups and bring about a shift in the culture with regard to drug education, prevention and rehabilitation."

Astra Woodcraft, a former Scientologist, said Narconon's interest in changing the culture coincides with Scientology's, which is to lay the groundwork for a spiritually pure world. Born into the church, Woodcraft quit in 1998 at age 20 to pursue school and career.

"The purpose of Scientology is to 'clear the planet,' " she said. "To make every single person clear means free of their 'reactive mind,' which is like your subconscious that makes you feel bad things."

Scientologists view Narconon's anti-drug mission as a step in that direction because drugs are believed to prevent a person from going clear, she said.

Christman and other ex-Scientologists familiar with Narconon said that Narconon also serves to present Hubbard and his vision in a positive light.

"At Narconon (they're) handling drugs in society. But in truth, it's to 'safe point the environment' -- a goodwill gesture so they can recruit people," Christman said.

Narconon does not appear to overtly recruit new members in the public schools. But in some schools, teachers said Narconon speakers post hot line numbers and hand out brochures, making it possible for students and families to find their way to a Narconon treatment center.

Johnson acknowledged telling students that Narconon has a center in Watsonville and that counseling is available there. "But I didn't give them any specific information because it's not realistic for a San Francisco teen to go all the way there," he said.

Narconon's drug education program has never undergone a rigorous review by independent scientists and is therefore not eligible to appear on the federal government's lists of "effective," "model" or "promising" programs.

"We certainly know we need to do it," Carr said of such a review. "The problem has been having enough time."

Still, Narconon's Web site says the program is highly effective, based on responses to questionnaires given to students and teachers after each presentation.

"To date, we have received an overall 95 percent positive response to the program," says the site. "Forty percent reported an increased perception of risk. Forty-five percent said their decision not to use drugs had been reinforced after hearing the talk. Over 90 percent felt they knew more about drugs after the talk."

Narconon gave The Chronicle a sampling of questionnaires from anonymous students and teachers.

"I think Nathan is very funny and very cool," wrote a ninth-grader from San Francisco's Lincoln High.

"I can use (what I learned) to save my life from lung cancer and the drugs in your fat," wrote a fourth-grader from Commodore Sloat Elementary.

"It was very effective," wrote a fifth-grade teacher from San Francisco's Peabody Elementary. "I now realize that (drugs are) more dangerous than I thought. I did not know that (they) stay in the fat in your body."

Several medical experts question the validity of what students are being told about drugs.

"Where's the evidence that supports what they're saying?" asked Dr. Timmen Cermak, medical director of Ohlhoff Recovery Programs in San Francisco and Marin County and author of "Marijuana: What's a Parent to Believe?"

"They're certainly spouting this as though it's proven, but it's not considered important enough to be talked about within the addiction medicine field," he said. "It's irresponsible."

The doctors contacted by The Chronicle agreed that drug residue can remain in fat for a short time, but not indefinitely.

"The longest we know that THC (the active substance in marijuana) stays in the fat is about a month. For ecstasy and LSD, we're talking about a day or two," said Dr. Neal Benowitz , head of clinical pharmacology at UCSF.

Nor is there evidence that drugs in fat cause cravings or flashbacks, said Banys, of San Francisco's VA Medical Center. "You could also say that craving is caused by evil spirits, which cause you to do bad things and therefore it's demonic possession. You couldn't prove it wasn't, and it seemed to make sense. But that's the use of metaphor, not science."

Banys said research shows that cravings are associated with dopamine, a neurotransmitter. And Cermak said flashbacks are thought to be prompted by "re- exposure to the drug-taking situation, or a reasonable facsimile (that) causes the brain to begin experiencing some of the same chemical changes that administering the drug itself produces."

Drs. Benowitz, Banys and Cermak dismissed the idea that niacin and sauna can rid the body of drugs, as did Dr. David Smith of the Haight-Ashbury Free Clinic and Dr. Igor Grant at UC San Diego.

Recently, a San Francisco teacher complained to the district that Narconon was a Scientology front group. The teacher declined to be identified or quoted, citing Scientology's history of confronting critics. The teacher has teamed with David Touretzky, a computer science research professor at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh and a free-speech advocate who runs an anti-Narconon Web site that includes some controversial material.

Together, they have pushed school officials to oust Narconon through a section on Touretzky's Web site called "Narconon/Scientology Infiltration of the San Francisco Unified School District."

Kim Coates, a district health administrator who looked into the teacher's complaint, asked Sigal Adini, Narconon's program director, if the curriculum was religious.

"Narconon is a secular (nonreligious) program, and neither our staff nor speakers promote religious doctrines of any kind," Adini wrote the district.

Coates told The Chronicle that "there has been no indication of proselytizing or recruiting or anything inappropriate. It's up to the school and individual classroom to decide what will best serve students."

San Francisco schools Superintendent Arlene Ackerman said she had been unfamiliar with Narconon, which arranges visits with individual schools. But she said her staff is looking into the program and all others that come into the schools.

"We want to make sure (they are) aligned with what we want our students to know and be able to do," Ackerman said.

The Rev. Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for the Separation of Church and State in Washington, D.C., has defended Scientology as a legitimate religious movement. But he called the connections between Narconon and the church "very disturbing."

"Any time you have a religion which preaches something that shows up in nearly parallel form in public schools, it sounds to me like you have a church- state problem that is real and should be examined by school officials.''

He cited the case of a New Jersey family that sued their child's teacher for preventing the child from reading the story of Jacob and Esau to the class, even though the child promised not to mention the Bible or God.

The court sided with the teacher.

"We treat schools rightly as a very special place where we need to protect impressionable children because their parents have the right to decide what, if any, religious education they receive," Lynn said. "That is not the job of even well-intentioned teachers or others invited into the public school. "

Student reaction

After each anti-drug lecture, Narconon's classroom speakers hand a questionnaire to students and teachers who list their school and grade, but not their name. Like many students, this fifth-grader from San Francisco's George Peabody Elementary liked the talk and promised never to smoke. He also learned that drugs get "stuck on your fat," an idea embraced by Narconon -- and Scientology.

What is ...

Scientology

Definition: "The study and handling of the spirit in relationship to itself, universes and other life. ... Knowing about knowing."

Benefits: "A Scientologist gains an understanding of himself spiritually, discovers his true potentials and recovers the certainty of his own immortality as a spiritual being."

The mind: Perceived as a collection of pictures, the mind is divided into two parts: the conscious "analytical mind" and the "reactive mind," which records life's painful and disturbing events. Disturbing mental pictures in the reactive mind are called "engrams" and must be removed. Once achieved, a person is considered "clear."

Thetan: Each human is a thetan, "an immortal spiritual being."

ABLE: An acronym for Association for Better Living and Education.

Heaven and hell: Scientologists believe in multiple lives through reincarnation rather than eternity in heaven or hell.

Proselytizing: "Yes. Scientologists make Scientology technology broadly available to others because they want others to receive the same gains they have experienced." The church hopes to rid the world of crime, mental illness, drug addiction, etc.

View on drugs: "Scientologists do not take street drugs or mind-altering psychiatric drugs. (They) do use prescribed drugs as part of medical programs from competent physicians.'' For more information about drugs, the Scientology text "Clear Body, Clear Mind: The Effective Purification Program" is recommended..

Narconon

Spokeswoman: Actress Kirstie Alley

Definition: "Meaning no drugs. ... Narconon utilizes a completely drug- free rehabilitation program ... consists of a series of exercises, drills and study steps done in precise sequence."

Narconon's 9 steps:

-- "Drug-free withdrawal: Using 'nutrition, vitamins and care' from staff ...

-- "Therapeutic TR Course: A series of communication drills (called training routings or TRs) is used to extrovert the person and raise his ability to confront his life ...

-- "New Life Detoxification Procedure: Cleanses the body of drug residues and other toxic substances through a regimen of exercise, sauna and nutritional supplements as described in the book 'Clear Body, Clear Mind' ...

-- "Learning Improvement Course: Gains the ability to study and retain knowledge, along with the ability to recognize and overcome barriers to study . ..

-- "Communication and Perception Course: Repeats the TRs, plus additional exercises which get him into full communication with others and his environment ...

-- "Ups and Downs in Life Course: Gains the knowledge to spot and handle those influences in the environment that would cause him to lose any gains he has made ...

-- "Personal Values and Integrity Course: Gains the data (needed) to improve his survival potential. The course teaches him about the eight dynamics, ethics, honesty and integrity, showing him how to correct antisocial behavior by ridding himself of the effects of past harmful deeds ...

-- "Changing Conditions in Life Course: Covers the ethics technology of L. Ron Hubbard and shows the individual exactly how to apply it to improve conditions in his life ...

-- "Way to Happiness Course: Based on a nonsectarian moral code called 'The Way to Happiness,' this course gives the individual a guide to living a life where real happiness is attainable."

Bottom line: "Individual Scientologists and churches of Scientology have enthusiastically supported the Narconon program by providing millions of dollars worth of funding and material support."

Source: "What Is Scientology?" 1,058-page volume compiled by the Church of Scientology International.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2004/06/09/MNGO572ISD1.DTL
 
is it just me or is scientology like a joke internet page - farcical yet a few people believe it.

is al the xanu alien stuff a true part of their believe system?
 
is al the xanu alien stuff a true part of their believe system?

Yes. But it's not something you come across straight away - that's saved for later, once you've been fully pulled in.

It's all kept secret from the newbies, and for clear reasons. They've gone as far as copyright, trademark etc. all of it, and had it classed as a 'trade secret', so they can protect it all - and prosecute those that expose it.
 
Helen said:
I thought that, though Cruise is a Scientologist, Kidman never was, and this eventually was a contributing factor at least in their divorce. Allegedly.

Nothing to do with him being an alleged gaylord then. :D

As for East Grinsted - it does strike one as an odd base for operations. "First we shall convert the whole of the United Kingdow, then onto the Commonweath, then Europe! Where shall we start? Err... How about East Grinsted..."

My one experince of the place, many years back, was that it was mostly leafy suburbs. But i'm open to correction as i was a child...

Any locals?
 
The Yithian said:
Any locals?

t'Other Half. Well, sort of. He comes from Lingfield, and worked in East Grinstead for a while (or did he go to school there at some point....hmmm..maybe not). Anyway.

He had a cup of tea with them one wet afternoon when he was hanging around waiting for someone. He thought they were loons :D

I have also heard stories from other sources about someone who broke into their place one night. Or at least checked out their security for other Interested Parties. Allegedly. All FOAF stuff.
 
'After dinner, when we were all sitting around, I told him about my problem and he immediately began to audit me. I was sitting on a sofa against a wall and he told me to do something that would prompt most people to think he was mad, although I thought I knew what he was talking about. What he said to me was, "Be three feet back of your head"- those were his exact words. I thought I would have to go into the wall, or the room behind, but I attempted to do it in my imagination. He gave me quite a long session, with everyone sitting around completely silent, but it did nothing.'

This is a passage from the the biograpy of Ron Hubbard on Clambake.org found in Chapter 12. I found it slightly disturbing to read due in particular to the highlighted part. I recently took part in a Buddhist meditation class and they talked a little about pass lives and we had a guided meditation and I experienced some quite vivid memories I wouldn't quite say I had an experience of a passed life, but one of the things I mentioned to a friend who took me was this bizarre feeling of been about a foot or so from the back of my head.

I felt that the whole experience lent some credience to Buddhism and I wanted to learn more. I was wondering if this is a similar experience to what some people have when they are audited? It has made me realise that maybe scientologists arn't just blind fools but maybe have been swayed to the belief by the sense of having experienced something spitual like I did but attributing it to clams and stuff like that.
 
Hi everyone. For my sins I am a local, having been schooled, and employed in East Grinstead.


A few years ago Channel four had a good documentary about it entitled “Why East Grinstead ? “. There are frequent reports of ABC’s at Dormans, Lingfield and out towards Uckfield. – Must be the Ley Lines or something.

I was at school with a number of kids who were themselves Scientologists, including two brothers who were allowed home early every Wednesday to ‘phone their Mother who was in prison.(She was among those Scientologists caught red handed breaking into Federal buildings in Washington trying to steal papers. I believe the US Government of the time was looking at taking “church” status away from them, thus making them tax liable.)

My father met Lafayette Ron Hubbard while working at Saint Hill, (Dad was a carpenter and in no way connected to them !). Apparently Ron was in a greenhouse cutting up tomato plants that were wired to some sort of electric meter, intently watching the meter needles wave back and forth as another frond was removed. This would have been in the late 50’s I think, when Saint Hill Manor had just been purchased.

The Scientologists do seem to have a number of fingers in various pies with regards to businesses within East Grinstead, including a financial brokers, bookshop (other than their own), etc… The local glaziers must have done well, as their bookshop window was trashed almost weekly when it first opened.

I also remember (with a certain amount of childish glee), that their blue bus that used to ship them in and out of town, was regularly stoned by small kids when it passed through Dunnings Mill !…
Cheers.
 
i've often been susipiuos of certain 'self-help' type groups. i find there teachings quite cultish (would go into sociology spiel but i'm at work and doun't have time).

it looks like the scientologist are a self help scam that have taken things a bit too far!
 
My father was quite involved with this lot in the 70's , before he was sent to loony bin (seriously). He spent thousands up there when my sister and I were living with my Grandmother in a grotty council house and all that went with it. He dragged me up there a few times when I was about 11,12 or 13, my impession at the time...............did'nt seem quite right that all these people were smiling and happy all the time, just felt all wrong.........but as I was only a kid at the time.......what did I know:rolleyes: :cool:
 
Scientology Alert In Jerusalem

17:10 Aug 25, '04 / 8 Elul 5764



Yad L'Achim, a Jerusalem-based anti-cult organization, announces that the dangerous Scientology cult is actively pursuing new members among religious and hareidi women.


Yad L'Achim, a Jerusalem-based anti-cult organization, announced this week that the dangerous Scientology cult is actively pursuing new members among religious and hareidi women. At Diskin St. 17, one of the tall buildings whose "shorter sides" face the hareidi neighborhood of Shaarei Hessed, dozens of women can be seen entering the offices of the Shachar Institute, where courses are offered in reflexology, holistic healing - and Scientology. Shachar is directed by a religious-looking woman who denies any connection to Scientology - despite the fact that the main Scientology office in Tel Aviv told Yad L'Achim that she is their Jerusalem representative.

Yad L'Achim says that the cult has an interesting way of attracting the religious women. A college named Tif'eret advertises that it is looking to hire a secretary, and candidates who arrive for an interview are told at the end that if they want to be hired, they must take a course in "dianetics" - a method that is claimed to get rid of "the hidden part of your mind that stores all painful experiences and then uses them against you." Dianetics is a central method of Scientology, which has been described as the "world's most dangerous cult."

Justice Anderson of the Supreme Court of Victoria, Australia, wrote,
"Scientology is evil; its techniques are evil; its practice is a serious threat to the community, medically, morally, and socially; and its adherents are sadly deluded and often mentally ill... [It is] the world's largest organization of unqualified persons engaged in the practice of dangerous techniques which masquerade as mental therapy."

One-time British Health Minister Kenneth Robinson said,
"The government is satisfied that Scientology is socially harmful. It alienates members of families from each other and attributes squalid and disgraceful motives to all who oppose it; its authoritarian principles and practice are a potential menace to the personality and well being of those so deluded as to become followers; above all, its methods can be a serious danger to the health of those who submit to them..."

Yad L'Achim plans to publicize the dangers of Scientology and the Jerusalem courses in the hareidi newspapers in the coming two weeks.

Yad L'Achim Chairman Rabbi Shalom Dov Lifschitz said, "We have here a cynical attempt to entrap innocent hareidi women who are not aware of the many dangers inherent in this destructive cult. These women want only to learn new psychological methods... This is a clever method of entrapment that should be thrown out of the Holy City."


--------------------------
Published: 09:46 August 25, 2004
Last Update: 17:10 August 25, 2004

http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=67889
 
Scientology Settlement Puts IRS in a Kosher Pickle

Marty Graham
The National Law Journal
11-29-2004


Tax lawyers are watching a trial in Los Angeles that pits an orthodox Jewish family against the Internal Revenue Service over whether tuition for religious education is deductible -- based in part on a "secret" settlement between the IRS and the Church of Scientology.

"It's not clear that [plaintiffs] Michael and Marla Sklar will win, but if they do, it may well mean that millions of families will be able to deduct some portion of private religious school education," said professor Evelyn Brody, a Chicago-Kent College of Law tax specialist. "It would force the IRS to deal with millions of dollars in new deductions and it would overwhelm them."

Elizabeth Pierson, a tax attorney with Los Angeles' Hoffman Sabban & Watenmaker, said the case has tax lawyers' attention. "The Sklars are trying to establish a brave new world where private compromises between the government and taxpayers can be relied on by unrelated taxpayers, not the norm," she said. "And it's a constitutional question of the separation of church and state, because, if religious education becomes deductible, it means that taxpayers are subsidizing religion."

The fight is over $3,200 in taxes Sklar saved by deducting about $15,000 in tuition for his children's religious education at an orthodox school in Los Angeles. Sklar v. Commissioner, 000395-01 (U.S. Tax Ct., L.A.). Michael Sklar, who is an accountant, sued the IRS over the same deduction in 1997 over his 1994 return and lost. The current suit is over his 1995 tax return.

IRS attorney Louis Jack said he is not allowed to comment on the case. But in his opening remarks, Jack said that case law is clear that tuition for religious schooling is not deductible.

The Sklars have launched two arguments. First, according to Jeffrey Zuckerman, the family's attorney, Congress amended the tax code in 1993, adding intangible benefits from charitable donations to the list of things that are deductible. For example, a $125 ticket to a fund-raising dinner is reduced by the value of the dinner, and the difference can be deducted.

Sklar argues that part of the tuition, the excess beyond the actual cost of private secular education, which is considered tangible, can be deducted.

Second, the IRS struck a 1993 deal with the Church of Scientology that allows Scientologists to deduct the cost of training and auditing, a form of religious education, which means that all religious tuition should be deductible. Auditing refers to one-to-one encounters with church officials, through which the student becomes aware of his or her spiritual dimension. Training refers to doctrine classes, according to the U.S. Supreme Court opinion, Hernandez v. Commissioner, 490 U.S. 680 (1989). The settlement, which came after the 1993 opinion, ended a battle between the IRS and the church that began in the 1960s when Scientologists lost their IRS standing as a church.

"The IRS has publicly called them a church and described training and auditing as deductible," said Zuckerman, an antitrust and labor lawyer with the Washington, D.C., office of New York's Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle. "That recognition should be extended to all religions, and it is discrimination not to."

Brody, who serves on the American Bar Association Tax Committee, said the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals has already ruled on the disparate treatment argument. "They said it doesn't matter how the Scientologists are treated, and, anyway, the Scientologists shouldn't have gotten what they did," Brody said. "That's why we're all watching the case -- we've been expecting it." He added, "When the IRS settled with the Scientologists, after they'd beaten them, we knew deductions for tuition would come into question."

If the Sklars prevail, it will drive the issue back to Congress, according to Gail Richmond, a professor of law and associate dean at the Shepard Broad Law Center of Nova Southeastern University in Florida. "It will force the IRS to come up with a calculation and the next fight will be over where that line is," she said.

Source
 
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