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Scientology

Scientologists Fight Back Against Anonymous

Scientologists fight back against Anonymous

By John Leyden

Published Monday 17th March 2008 18:50 GMT

Protests by internet group Anonymous against the Church of Scientology went ahead as planned last weekend, after the church failed in two attempts to get an injunction.

On Thursday Circuit Judge Douglas Baird turned down the second of two requests to prevent protesters approaching within 500ft (150m) of church buildings on March 15, the birthday of church founder L. Ron Hubbard. The church used laws more commonly applied in cases of domestic abuse. Its petition failed because it was unable to establish a credible list of named individuals associated with earlier protests, or demonstrate that anybody it complained of posed a threat.

In the event, protests by members of Anonymous on Saturday passed off peacefully. Anonymous also protested outside Scientology offices worldwide in February. Protest tactics have also included denial of service attacks on CoS websites.

The protests were sparked by the furore over Church of Scientology attempts to force websites to remove a video clip of Tom Cruise speaking about his beliefs, which leaked out in January. But Anonymous gripes run deeper, centering on the Church's alleged financial exploitation of members as well as its history of hostile actions against critics.

Members of Anonymous wear Guy Fawkes masks, as worn the character V from V for Vendetta, in part to prevent their identification and reprisals from the Church of Scientology.

The Church of Scientology hit back in the propaganda war late last week with a video accusing the Anonymous group of "religious hate crimes and terrorism directed against the Church of Scientology". It alleges Anonymous is responsible for phoning in bomb threats against Scientology centres. Anonymous denies responsibility for these hoaxes.

In the video the church concedes that denial of service attacks against its websites left its information sites unavailable. Previous statements suggested that a rush of genuine visitors to its sites in the wake of the Tom Cruise video controversy was responsible for knocking them over.

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Scientology Threatens Wikileaks With Injunction

Scientology threatens Wikileaks with injunction

By Cade Metz in San Francisco

Published Tuesday 8th April 2008 00:59 GMT

The Church of Scientology has acknowledged that Wikileaks is offering the world quick and easy access to the church's top-secret "bibles".

Or should that be formerly top-secret?

On March 24, the swashbuckling truth-seekers at Wikileaks.org published what they referred to as "the collected secret 'bibles' of Scientology," and three days later, church-friendly lawyers threatened the site with legal action if the documents weren't taken down. Calling them "Advanced Technology of the Scientology religion," the lawyers pointed out that the documents are copyrighted works registered to the Religious Technology Center (RTC), a church-related holding company.

Wikileaks did not remove the documents. But it did tell the world their veracity has been verified.

Written by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, these "Operating Thetan" (OT) documents show Scientologists how they can reach the eight different "levels" Scientologists are interested in reaching. That's OT1 to OT8. "A great many phenomena (strange things) can happen while doing these drills, if they are done honestly," reads a handwritten note from Hubbard, as he describes the path to OT1. These drills include:

1) Walk around and count bodies until you have a cognition. Make a report saying how many you counted and your cognition.

2) Note several large and small female bodies until you have a cognition. Note it down.

3) Note several large and several small male bodies until you have a cognition. Note it down.

4) Find a tight packed crowd of people. Write it as a crowd and then as individuals until you have a cognition. Note it down. Do step over until you do.

With an email dated March 27, the Los Angeles-based law firm Moxon & Kobrin said that in publishing such Advanced Technology, Wikileaks has violated US copyright law. "It is unlawful to reproduce or distribute someone else's copyrighted work without that person's authorization," the letter reads. "Indeed, courts have entered numerous permanent injunctions and awarded statutory damages and attorneys' fees regarding infringement of these and similar works."

In an apparent effort to find out who leaked the Advanced Technology in the first place, the lawyers also urged Wikileaks to "preserve any and all documents pertaining to this matter...including, but not limited to, logs, data entry sheets, applications - electronic or otherwise, registrations forms, billings statements or invoices, computer print-outs, disks, hard drives, etc."

Clearly, the Church of Scientology is unaware that Wikileaks preserves almost nothing - and that it isn't frightened of the law. Wikileaks realizes that the Church has often used lawyers and copyrights to prevent public access to its materials, but it sees this as little more than an indictment of the Western media.

"After reviewing documentation on Scientology's endless attacks, legal and illegal, on critics ranging from Time Magazine and CNN, which spent over $3 million defending against just one of their suits, to investigative freelancers who have had publishers pulp their books rather than facing litigation costs, we have come to the conclusion that Scientology is not only an abusive cult, but that it aids and abets a general climate of Western media self-censorship, due to the fear of litigation costs," a representative of the site told us.

"If the West cannot defend its cultural values of free speech and press freedoms against a money making cult like Scientology, it can hardly lecture China and other state abusers of these same values. Such states are quick to proclaim their censorship regime is no mere matter of protecting a cult's profits, but rather of national security."

In February, after Wikileaks released confidential information about its customers, Swiss-based bank Julius Baer asked a US court to shut the site down. But the bank eventually dropped its case, after Judge Jeffrey S. White said that a shutdown was barred by the First Amendment to the US Constitution.

Originally, White did order a shutdown. But this was less than successful. After all, Wikileaks is "bulletproof"

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Anti-Scientology Crusader Vaporized From YouTube

Anti-Scientology crusader vaporized from YouTube

By Cade Metz in San Francisco

Published Thursday 24th April 2008 12:12 GMT

YouTube has vaporized a popular user account dedicated to criticizing The Church of Scientology.

Last Thursday, the world's most popular video sharer removed the 10,000-subscriber-strong "Xenutv1" channel run by Mark Bunker, a television journalist/well-known Scientology naysayer. Earlier in the week, Bunker posted a teaser for his three-hour interview with Jason Beghe - a film and television actor who recently defected from the world of Scientology - and the account was yanked just before Bunker was due to broadcast the interview in full.

"I was planning to post the entire thing on Thursday," Bunker told us. "But before I could do that - boom - the channel was gone."

The channel did not contain any copyrighted material. But Xenutv1 isn't Bunker's first YouTube account, and two previous accounts were removed for broadcasting copyrighted clips, including a channel known as "Xenutv." According to Bunker's conversations with the video sharer - who would not speak to The Reg about the matter - the fate of his second Xenu channel is tied to his first.

The first incarnation of Xenutv was canceled in early February. After posting a Scientology-related clip from Comedy Central's The Colbert Report, Bunker received a DMCA take-down notice from the cable station's parent company, Viacom. Yes, the same Viacom that's suing YouTube for $1bn. Bunker intended to comply with the notice. But his account was removed before he had the chance to do so.

That very day, much the same thing happened to a private account where Bunker was hosting the infamous video in which Tom Cruise refers to Scientology as "a blast". In this case, the account was canceled after a DMCA notice from the Church itself.

"I received these take-down notices within an hour of each other," Bunker told us. "So I went to YouTube to delete these clips, and both accounts had been canceled."

Bunker then created "Xenutv1," and this time, he was careful to avoid copyrighted content. Thanks to some heavy publicity from an internet group known as Anonymous - which declared war on Scientology the Cruise clip vanished form YouTube entirely - the new channel developed a healthy following. Whereas Xenutv had about 3,000 subscribers when it was vaporized, Xenutv1 reeled in more than 10,000 in a matter of weeks.

When Bunker posted his Beghe teaser, the clip received 595,000 hits in less than four days. But then YouTube banned him again.

Two days earlier, the site had banned a channel run by Tory Christman, another outspoken Scientology critic and a friend of Mark Bunker's. Shortly thereafter, a post turned up on alt.religion.scientology in which someone bragged about silencing Christman and vowed to silence Bunker too.

After an Anonymous protest, Christman's account - which also steered clear of copyrighted material - was reinstated. Bunker's was not.

YouTube tells Bunker that Xenutv1 was erased because of the copyrighted material posted to his earlier account. "They said that because my first account was canceled, I was never supposed to have a second account," Bunker explained. "I was supposed to be banned for life."

According to Bunker, the site acknowledges that someone tipped them off to his second account, and it says this person did not represent Scientology.

YouTube also told Bunker that his account would be reinstated if Viacom agreed to rescind its take-down notice. But Viacom refuses to do so. In the meantime, Bunker has posted his Beghe interview to the YouTube and his Wordpress blog.

When it comes to YouTube, Bunker believes that his only chance for reinstatement is the outspoken host of The Colbert Report. This faux newsman has shown a healthy attitude towards such matters in the past - and a healthy sense of humor.

"Only one man can help me," Bunker says. "Stephen Colbert."

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YouTube Rolls Out Scientology Double Standard

YouTube rolls out Scientology double standard

By Cade Metz in San Francisco

Published Friday 2nd May 2008 07:02 GMT

It seems that YouTube has one set of rules for The Church of Scientology and another set for Scientology's critics.

Two weeks ago, YouTube vaporized a 10,000-subscriber-strong channel run by well-known Scientology critic Mark Bunker. His "Xenutv1" deserved to die, the YouTubers said, because they had already axed an earlier account, "Xenutv," where Bunker infringed a few copyrights.

Indeed, YouTube's terms of service clearly say "A user whose account has been terminated is prohibited from accessing, possessing or creating any other YouTube accounts."

But the world's largest video sharer hasn't applied this rule to the brand new channel aunched by Scientology itself - and trumpeted with an official Scientology press release. Like Bunker, Scientology had an earlier account erased after it violated site policy.

Are you listening Stephen Colbert?

In March, as reported by The New York Post, Scientology launched a YouTube channel in an attempt to discredit members of Anonymous, a live-wire internet group intent on making life difficult for Tom Cruise and crew. Dubbed the "Scientology Official Report on Anonymous Hate Crimes," the channel identified individual members of the group, describing them as "terrorists."

YouTube doesn't allow videos that broadcast personal information. And the account was soon destroyed.

In a conversation with The Post, a Church spokesperson confirmed the organization was behind the channel. "We absolutely made the videos," they said. "We have researchers that have found these men. When you get death threats and bomb threats directly going after the church, we don't take it lightly."

A similar statement was made by a church minister speaking to The Battle Creek Enquirer after an alleged Anonymous bomb threat.

And yet Scientology is back on YouTube. This time, it's paying for the account. It's also paying for ads on the site, looking to drive some traffic onto its new channel. "Get the facts," the ads say.

YouTube did not respond to requests for comment. But Scientology did. First, we received a phone call from a woman with an otherworldly French accent. "This is the Church," she said. "We may be able to answer your questions. But first we want your email address."

A few minutes later, we received this: "The Church of Scientology has never had YouTube cancel an account, nor made any such request." Which does not answer our questions.

Meanwhile, Mark Bunker is annoyed. "I hope YouTube does the right thing," he told us. "It certainly looks like there's a double standard at work.

"Scientology will say the first account wasn't theirs. But you bet the order came from the top."

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I'd happily pillory YouTube but we await a display of courage on the part of this place, regarding one pseudo-religion and its leader which produced a hideous cringe we still all have to observe. :p
 
I'm sure I know what you're alluding to, James, but we really can't discuss it here...
 
major scandal. the CoS flagship Tradewinds has had blue asbestos in it for the last twenty-plus years. worse, it looks like CoS deliberately suppressed the information all this time.

Cancer on the Lido Deck: Scientology Cruise Ship Rife with Asbestos?

Better cancel that thetan-eradicating vacation on the S.S. Scientology.

Message boards are abuzz with the news that the Freewinds, the church's massive cruise ship and floating top secret training compound, has been sealed by Caribbean authorities. Its captain allegedly hid the presence of cancer-causing blue asbestos in the ventilation system, even as workers at a dry dock company refurbished the 40-year-old vessel.

The St. Martin newspaper the Daily Herald has allegedly printed the story, and a photo of the article, showing a date of April 28, 2008, is making the rounds on the Internet. Messages left at the editorial offices of the paper were not immediately returned. Reached via phone, a worker at the Curacao Drydock Company tells Radar that the ship has been docked and sealed and that a story about asbestos did run in the newspaper.

The boat is Scientology's main, if not only training center for those seeking rise to the high position of OT VIII. Equipped with a gym, a hospital, a cinema, and a disco, it's the party boat featured in the recently unearthed video featuring a boogieing Tom Cruise (video, via Gawker EXCLUSIVE below). There's no telling how many aspiring Scientologist grandmasters and Acapulco shirt-sporting, thetan-shedding vacations were exposed to the toxic asbestos dust.

An e-mail sent to a Scientology representative asking what will become of the Freewinds and seeking comment about the alleged cover-up of and exposure to the blue asbestos was not immediately answered.
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from Radar Online.

I had thought about submitting this story to the FT breaking news and then decided against it since it lacks a really Fortean element other than the Church itself.
 
Teenager faces prosecution for calling Scientology 'cult'

Teenager faces prosecution for calling Scientology 'cult'

* Anil Dawar
* guardian.co.uk,
* Tuesday May 20 2008

A teenager is facing prosecution for using the word "cult" to describe the Church of Scientology.

The unnamed youth was served the summons by City of London police when he took part in a peaceful demonstration opposite the headquarters of the controversial religion in London.

Officers confiscated a placard with the word "cult" on it from the youth, who is under 18, and a case file has been sent to the Crown Prosecution Service.

A date has not yet been set for him to appear in court.

The decision to issue the summons has angered human rights activists and support groups for the victims of cults.

The incident happened during a protest against the Church of Scientology on May 10.

Demonstrators from the anti-Scientology group, Anonymous, who were outside the church's £23m headquarters near St Paul's cathedral were banned from describing Scientology as a cult by police because it was "abusive and insulting".

Writing on an anti-Scientology website, the teenager facing court said: "I brought a sign to the May 10th protest that said: 'Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult'."

"'Within five minutes of arriving I was told by a member of the police that I was not allowed to use that word, and that the final decision would be made by the inspector."

A policewoman later read him section five of the Public Order Act and "strongly advised" him to remove the sign. Section five of the Public Order Act prohibits signs which have representations or words which are threatening, abusive or insulting.

The teenager refused to back down quoting a 1984 high court ruling from Mr Justice Latey, in which he described the Church of Scientology as a "cult" which was "corrupt, sinister and dangerous".

After the exchange, a policewoman handed him a court summons and removed his sign.

On the website he asks for advice on how to fight the charge: "What's the likelihood I'll need a lawyer? If I do have to get one, it'll have to come out of my pocket money."

Writing on the same website, another anonymous demonstrator said: "We also protested outside another Scientology building in Tottenham Court Road which is policed by a separate force, the Metropolitan police, who have never tried to stop us using the word cult.

"We're completely peaceful protesters expressing a perfectly valid opinion. This whole thing stinks."

The City of London Police, who issued the summons, came under fire two years ago when it emerged that more than 20 officers, ranging from constable to chief superintendent, had accepted gifts worth thousands of pounds from the Church of Scientology.

City of London police chief superintendent, Kevin Hurley, praised Scientology for "raising the spiritual wealth of society" during the opening
of its £23m headquarters near St Paul's Cathedral in 2006.

And last year a video praising Scientology emerged featuring Ken Stewart, another of the City of London's chief superintendents, although he is not a member of the group.

The group was foundeded by science-fiction writer L Ron Hubbard in 1952 and espouses the idea that humans are descended from an exiled race of aliens called Thetans.

The church continues to attract controversy over claims that it separates members from their families and indoctrinates followers.

A spokeswoman for the force said today: "City of London police had received complaints about demonstrators using the words 'cult' and 'Scientology kills' during protests against the Church of Scientology.

"Following advice from the crown prosecution service some demonstrators were warned verbally and in writing that their signs breached section five of the Public Order Act.

"One demonstrator continued to display a placard despite police warnings and was reported for an offence under section five. A file on the case will go to the CPS."

The decision by City of London Police to issue the summons provoked anger from civil liberties campaigners and groups helping former cult members.

Liberty director, Shami Chakrabarti, said: "This barmy prosecution makes a mockery of Britain's free speech traditions.

"After criminalising the use of the word 'cult', perhaps the next step is to ban the words 'war' and 'tax' from peaceful demonstrations?"

Ian Haworth, from the Cult Information Centre which provides advice for victims of cults and their families, said: "This is an extraordinary situation. If it wasn't so serious it would be farcical. The police's job is to protect and serve. Who is being served and who is being protected in this situation? I find it very worrying.

"Scientology is well known to my organisation, and has been of great concern to me for 22 years. I get many calls from families with loved ones involved and ex-members who are in need of one form of help."
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http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2008/may/20/1
 
Isn't cult a normal word to describe any religious association?
If they'd called it a sect (which it is, imho. Don't tell the police where I live, please), it would be understandable.
 
Yes, why do the Scientologists affect a way out of proportion disdain for the word "cult"? I can think of much worse things to call them. Is it because it implies they are not serious about their space alien masters?
 
I hope the DPP has a few choice words to say to the City of London Police Chiefs about this. It's all beginning to look very suspicious, indeed.

Not good. Not good at all.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/2006/nov/22/freedomofinformation.religion


Gala dinners, jive bands and Tom Cruise: how the Scientologists woo City police

· Unlikely relationship has blossomed since July 7
· Contacts are mutually beneficial, claims group

Sandra Laville. The Guardian, November 22 2006

It began with tea and biscuits for constables at the police cordon after the July 7 terrorist attacks, progressed to lunches with senior officers and continues with regular invitations to gala nights and jive concerts.

The Church of Scientology appears to be involved in an effort to woo officers from the City of London police - an unlikely partnership perhaps, but one that seems to be blossoming. Details of how more than 20 officers, from constables to chief superintendents, have been invited to a series of engagements by the scientologists over the last 15 months have been revealed by a freedom of information inquiry by the Guardian.

The hospitality included guest invitations in May for two constables and a sergeant to attend the premiere of Mission Impossible 3 in Leicester Square, where they were able to rub shoulders with the best known Scientologist of all and the star of the film, Tom Cruise.

The Guardian requested details of meetings between police and scientologists after a senior officer from the City appeared as a guest speaker at the opening of the £23m Scientology centre near St Paul's Cathedral last month.

At the lavish ceremony, Chief Superintendent Kevin Hurley, the fourth most senior officer in the force, praised the scientologists for the support they had provided after the July 7 attacks, when followers of L Ron Hubbard's movement appeared at the police cordons of the Aldgate bomb site offering help to those involved in the emergency operation. The relationship flourished in the following months, according to the City police's register of hospitality, which all officers are required to fill out.

Since July 7 the Church of Scientology has invited four police constables, an inspector and a chief superintendent to a charity dinner at their British headquarters, Saint Hill Manor in East Grinstead, West Sussex, where the officers received a donation of £5,000 for a City of London children's charity.

The hospitality continued with a member of the Hubbard Foundation buying lunch for about £20 for a chief superintendent at Boisdale restaurant in Bishopsgate, central London, where the £28 set menu currently includes mini-Macsween haggis, fish or meat of the day and raspberry cranachan.

Most of the engagements detailed in the register of hospitality were approved by a senior officer: either Frank Armstrong, the assistant commissioner of City police, Mr Hurley or his colleague Chief Superintendent Ken Stewart.

But the register of hospitality contains gaps on at least two occasions, where it is not known which officer attended an event or who authorised it.

The invitations to the Mission Impossible 3 premiere in May for three officers were followed in August by another event at the East Grinstead centre for an unknown number of officers. In September the register does not specify how many officers attended a concert at Bishopsgate police station by the Jive Aces; a band made up of Scientologists whose advertising states that they play "hot jive" and "big band swing".

The night before last month's grand opening of the Church of Scientology's centre in the City, one of the force's two chief superintendents joined a detective superintendent, a uniformed constable and a detective constable at a star-studded charity dinner at Saint Hill Manor, where prizes are awarded to followers who donate the biggest sums to the movement.

The dinner was attended by Cruise, who sat at a special table nearest the past year's biggest donors.

The next day, Sunday October 22, a sergeant recorded being offered refreshments worth between £3 and £5 by scientologists as he was policing the opening of the London centre. Another officer, a constable, was a guest at a charity gala in East Grinstead the following night, where he recorded receiving £50 worth of hospitality. Most recently, on October 24, two sergeants and two constables attended a Jive Aces concert at Saint Hill.

The relationship between the police and the scientologists comes despite controversy that the tactics adopted by the church are akin to that of a cult and the Charity Commission's refusal to recognise it as a religion in the UK.

The scientologists have also been criticised in the US over their role in counselling firefighters and police officers after the September 11 attacks when they set up a a medical clinic two blocks from Ground Zero in New York for professionals involved in the emergency operation.

Inside the centre some firefighters abandoned the medical care and emotional counselling provided to them by the fire department's doctors, and instead took up a treatment devised by Hubbard. This included saunas, physical workouts and taking pills; a treatment which constitutes the scientologists controversial detoxification programme.

Mark Salter, a London-based psychiatrist said the scientologists were trying to replicate their ideology by disseminating it as widely as possible.

"You may well find that one or two police officers become followers. Look at the masons, I am sure they are well represented inside the police force," he said.

"They are a cult who are trying to maximise their influence by putting feelers out and using spin to make contacts and network in quite dangerous ways."

Janet Kenyon-Laveau, spokeswoman for the Church of Scientology in the UK, said the relationship between the police and followers was mutually beneficial, with followers engaged in clean-up campaigns in drug ridden inner city areas, which were praised by the police.

The City of London police declined to comment.
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And:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/6171948.stm

Police Scientology gifts inquiry

BBC News Online. 22 November 2006

The City of London Police is carrying out an inquiry amid claims officers accepted gifts worth thousands of pounds from the Church of Scientology.

Some received free invitations to a charity dinner, with Tom Cruise as the guest of honour, details from a Freedom of Information Act request showed.

More than 20 officers were allegedly targeted over a 15-month period.

A City of London Police spokesman said it was ensuring all members of staff were aware of its hospitality policy.

He said: "We are conducting a review to ensure that all members of staff are aware of the force policy on accepting hospitality and to assess whether clarification of amendment... is necessary".
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Also:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/art...liceman-agree-appear-film-Scientologists.html

Why did top policeman agree to appear in a film for the Scientologists?

Daily Mail. by GORDON RAYNER. 11 May 2007

A senior policeman has appeared in a video praising the highly-controversial Church of Scientology, the Daily Mail can reveal.

Chief Superintendent Ken Stewart, a divisional commander with the City of London police, agreed to be filmed outside Bishopsgate police station for the Scientology film, which is shown to members of the organisation.

Although Mr Stewart insisted he was not a Scientologist, the news is the latest evidence of the extent to which the group has managed to forge links with the City police.

Last year it emerged that officers from the force had accepted £11,000 worth of hospitality from the Church of Scientology, whose followers, including Tom Cruise and John Travolta, believe humans are descended from a race of aliens called thetans.

The American-based organisation, founded by science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard in 1952, opened a new centre near St Paul's Cathedral last year.

A senior officer from the City force attended the opening as a guest speaker, and the force later admitted that its policemen had gone to Scientology dinners and attended the premiere of Cruise's film Mission Impossible 3.

The church has also secured a discount of £281,344 in rates on its London centre, which comes out of public funds, and is now trying to avoid paying any rates at all.

Sources have told the Mail that the Scientologists intend to use glowing letters of praise from the City of London police to support their application for discretionary rates relief.

But it is the role of Chief Superintendent Stewart, 46, which will come as the greatest embarrassment to the force, whose involvement with the Church of Scientology will be investigated in a Panorama programme to be shown on BBC1 next week.

Mr Stewart agreed to be filmed by Scientologists in late 2005 standing outside the Bishopsgate police station and praising the work of Scientologists who helped man cordons after the Aldgate tube bombing on 7/7 and provided a chiropractor to massage beat bobbies' tired feet.

In the film, Mr Stewart identifies himself as a serving officer but appears wearing plain clothes.

The video is used by the Scientologists to help show new recruits how they can establish links with local organisations.

But experts have questioned the motives of the Scientologists, pointing out that their main aim is to spread their ideology as far as possible by finding new recruits.

Mr Stewart said he did not want to discuss the video, saying only: "I'm not a Scientologist. I'm a Catholic, as a matter of fact."

A spokesman for the City of London force said: "This is not a promotional video. It is for internal use within the Church of Scientology.

"Chief Superintendent Stewart acknowledged the assistance given by volunteers to officers manning the cordon at Aldgate station during 7/7.

"At no time did he endorse or promote the aims or views of the Church of Scientology. He is not a Scientologist, and as the commander at Bishopsgate he would have judged that it was OK to take part in the video."

Mr Stewart was one of three senior officers who approved the hospitality given to up to 20 members of the force between July 2005 and October 2006 - the month when Chief Superintendent Kevin Hurley spoke at the opening of the £23m Scientology centre in London, saying the group was "raising the spiritual wealth of society".

Several officers have attended five gala dinners and concerts at the organisation's UK headquarters in East Grinstead, West Sussex, with Tom Cruise present at one of them.

At one of the dinners the officers received a donation of £5,000 for a City of London children's charity.

A Scientology band also gave a concert at Bishopsgate police station.

The City of London police spokesman said Mr Stewart had to "build links" with various members of the 'diverse' community he policed, and was not treating the Church of Scientology any differently from other groups.

The Scientologists currently pay rates of £70,336 on their London centre, having secured mandatory relief of £281,344 on the full rates of £351,680 - a discount of 80 per cent.

The discount is paid to the City of London Corporation out of central government funds.

A spokesman for the corporation said the group had been entitled to mandatory relief because it carried out 'charitable' works, even though it is not recognised as a church or a charity in the UK and is classed as a commercial organisation.

The spokesman said the church was now applying for discretionary relief on the 20 per cent of its rates which it currently pays, which could mean the organisation paying no rates at all.

The Mail has been told that the Scientologists intend to use letters of thanks from the City of London police to back up their application for the extra discount, but the corporation could not confirm this.

Ian Haworth, of the Cult Information Centre, said the police needed to be aware of the words of High Court judge Mr Justice Latey, who said in 1984 that the Church of Scientology was "corrupt, sinister and dangerous".

Asked why the church might be courting the police, he said: "Anything that gives Scientology credibility is in their interests."
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All very chummy, chummy.

Does the City Of London Police Force now see itself as Scientology's own special Praetorian Guard, in London? :(
 
I thought it was illegal for policemen to accept gifts in an official capacity. I remember being told that even offering a cup of tea to a bobby guarding a crime seen could be seen in a bad light if noticed by the top brass.
 
rjmrjmrjm said:
I thought it was illegal for policemen to accept gifts in an official capacity. I remember being told that even offering a cup of tea to a bobby guarding a crime seen could be seen in a bad light if noticed by the top brass.
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The occasional fish supper, or free Chinese meal, on the quiet, that's a different matter, of course... ;)
 
Schoolboy avoids prosecution for branding Scientology a 'cult'

Anil Dawar and agencies guardian.co.uk, Friday May 23 2008

A teenager who was facing legal action for calling the Church of Scientology a cult has today been told he will not be taken to court.

The Crown Prosecution Service ruled the word was neither "abusive or insulting" to the church and no further action would be taken against the boy.

The unnamed 16-year-old was handed a court summons by City of London police for refusing to put down a placard saying "Scientology is not a religion, it is a dangerous cult" during a peaceful protest outside the church's headquarters near St Paul's Cathedral earlier this month.

Police said they had "strongly advised" him to stop displaying the sign but he refused, citing a high court judgment from 1984 in which the organisation was described as a cult.

The summons was issued under the Public Order Act on the grounds that the sign incited religious hatred.

A file was passed to the CPS, which today told City of London police it would not be pursuing the boy through the courts.

A spokeswoman for the force said: "The CPS review of the case includes advice on what action or behaviour at a demonstration might be considered to be threatening, abusive or insulting.

"The force's policing of future demonstrations will reflect this advice."

A CPS spokesman said: "In consultation with the City of London police, we were asked whether the sign, which read 'Scientology is not a religion it is a dangerous cult', was abusive or insulting.

"Our advice is that it is not abusive or insulting and there is no offensiveness, as opposed to criticism, neither in the idea expressed nor in the mode of expression. No action will be taken against the individual."

The teenager's mother said the decision was "a victory for free speech".

"We're all incredibly proud of him. We advised him to take the placard down when we realised what was happening but he said 'No, it's my opinion and I have a right to express it'," she said.

Human rights activists were outraged when news of the police action against the teenager broke earlier this week.

A simultaneous demonstration on May 10 outside a Scientology office in London's West End featured protesters waving similar placards but the Metropolitan police did not confiscate them or issue any summonses.

Two years ago, the City of London police attracted criticism when it emerged more than 20 officers, ranging from constable to chief superintendent, had accepted gifts worth thousands of pounds from the Church of Scientology.

The City of London chief superintendent, Kevin Hurley, praised Scientology for "raising the spiritual wealth of society" during the opening of its headquarters in 2006.

Last year, a video praising Scientology emerged featuring Ken Stewart, another of the City of London's chief superintendents, although he is not a member of the group.

Scientology was founded by the science fiction writer L Ron Hubbard in 1952 and espouses the idea that humans are descended from an exiled race of aliens called Thetans.

The church continues to attract controversy over claims that it separates members from their families and indoctrinates followers.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2008/may/23/religion
 
The teenager's mother said the decision was "a victory for free speech".

"We're all incredibly proud of him. We advised him to take the placard down when we realised what was happening but he said 'No, it's my opinion and I have a right to express it'," she said.
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Refreshing and reassuring.

Perhaps there is hope for the human race yet! 8)
 
You signed a petition asking the Prime Minister to "Refuse any application submitted by the Church of Scientology for recognition as a Religious Organisation."

The Prime Minister's Office has responded to that petition and you can view
it here:

http://www.pm.gov.uk/output/Page15777.asp

Prime Minister's Office

Petition information - http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/-Scientology/
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16 June 2008

We received a petition asking:
"We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to Refuse any application submitted by the 'Church' of Scientology for recognition as a Religious Organisation."

Details of Petition:
"Without compromise to freedom of thought or expression, the teachings and beliefs of Scientology, Dianetics and science-fiction writer L Ron Hubbard must never be legally be accepted as a religion - regardless of any recent EU decision to the contrary. We consider the 'Church' of Scientology is an exclusive business venture that by prohibiting access to scientifically-proven psychiatric therapy and medicine is effectively enslaving its believers."


The Government's response

In our approach to religious groups, the Government must seek to balance its responsibility to protect vulnerable individuals with the UK's long held commitment to freedom of worship and belief.

The Government does not consider that it would be feasible or appropriate to introduce specific legislation or regulation of religious groups, their activities or their beliefs. There would be considerable difficulty in drawing up legislation in a way that did not interfere with the individual's right to choose their beliefs and lifestyles so long as they do no harm to others. There is also no obvious way in which legislation could deal with cases where adults participate in activities of religious organisations entirely voluntarily.
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Yes, I got that as well. So Scientology has been formally and officially recognised as a religion then? Seeing as they can't legislate against a religion?
 
Looks like Anonymous have managed to get the F.B.I and S.E.C. to open an investigation into the cult.

Looks like it will not be long now before we see court cases and seizure of assests taking place.

(S.E.C = took down Enron)
 
French court to try Church of Scientology
By VERENA VON DERSCHAU

PARIS (AP) — The Church of Scientology and seven of its top members are to stand trial in Paris on fraud charges after an investigation into allegations by a former member that the church swindled her out of more than $28,000.

French judicial officials said Monday that the church — considered a sect in France — and the seven members are to face charges of "fraud in an organized group" and "illegally acting as a pharmacy." They spoke on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing. A trial date has not yet been set.

The Paris prosecutor's office had recommended the charges be dropped.

The charges stemmed from a 1998 complaint by a woman who joined the church after she was recruited at a subway station. The woman, 33 at the time, invested thousands of mostly borrowed euros in Scientology courses and so-called purification packs containing vitamins and other pills.

The woman's lawyer, Olivier Morice, hailed the decision to hold a trial as "courageous," saying the case will strengthen France's fight against sects.

France has had a contentious relationship with the Church of Scientology. In 2002, a French court fined the Paris regional branch of the church for a data protection violation but acquitted it of attempted fraud and false advertising charges.

Established in 1945 by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard, the Los Angeles-based Church of Scientology teaches that technology can expand the mind and help solve problems. It claims 10 million members around the world, including celebrity devotees Tom Cruise and John Travolta.

http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5jJpN ... wD933A14O0
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I have been reading through this thread and I was wondering if anybody could point me in the right direction to find out what people who have bought into Scientology in the past now say about it?

Anybody can be against anything for whatever reason but surely there must be somewhere where these people can tell their stories.

If only to spread the TRUTH about the abuses of scientology and what they had to endure whilst in the cult.

My first post though I have been lurking here for a few years. I hope that those people trapped inside get JUSTICE for being lied and decieved by this criminal cult.

I may have missed some links - so sorry if this has already been posted.
 
MatDanJamNat said:
I have been reading through this thread and I was wondering if anybody could point me in the right direction to find out what people who have bought into Scientology in the past now say about it?

Anybody can be against anything for whatever reason but surely there must be somewhere where these people can tell their stories.

...
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A possible good place to start:
http://www.xenu.net/
 
If you type in "ESMB" into google you will find the message board for ex-scientologists.

www.exscientologykids.com is run by and for children that have been brought up in the cult and left.

www.enturbulation.org is a website that gives you links to all manner of information from court documents to sworn affidavit's. It is also the main site (but by no means the least) of Anonymous who are at the moment bringing down this cult all over the world. :lol:
 
Yet again, it's all about the Cruiser:
http://www.nydailynews.com/gossip/2008/ ... es_to.html

'The Complex' author John Duignan cites Tom Cruise control
Monday, December 1st 2008, 4:00 AM

Tom Cruise is denying that he pressured Amazon to stop selling a book critical of the Church of Scientology.

On Oct. 31, Irish publisher Merlin released “The Complex,” in which John Duignan, identified as “a former high-ranking member” of the church in Britain, describes his “dramatic escape” from its “elite para-military group,” the Sea Organization. Five days later, Cruise dropped by Amazon’s Seattle headquarters to glad-hand staffers and host a sneak peek at his new movie, “Valkyrie.”

A few days later, Amazon’s British Web site stopped selling “The Complex,” explaining to customers that someone mentioned in the book had alleged it defamed him with “false claims.”

“U.K. law gives us no choice but to remove the title from our catalogue,” Amazon said in a statement.

“I believe Tom Cruise influenced them,” Duignan tells us.

Cruise’s rep denies that charge.

So does Amazon spokeswoman Patty Smith, who insists it was simply Britain’s tough libel laws that forced Amazon.co.uk to yank “The Complex.” The book, a­vail­­­able on Amazon.com as of last Tuesday, is now “temporarily out of stock,” according to the American Web site.

Lawyers for the complaining member, a noncelebrity, want to keep it that way: They’ve demanded the “destruction” of the books.

Smith says: “We definitely want to offer it to our Amazon.com customers. We just don’t have the inventory.”

Duignan, a Scientologist for 22 years, alleges in his book that members were subjected to sleep deprivation and “brain-washing” and that punishments were “meted out to anyone who transgresses, including children.” When he left, Scientology’s Office of Special Affairs “had people posted outside my parents’ house in Ireland,” he tells us.

Duignan, 45, says he began to question the church’s priorities at a 2004 gala in England where Cruise was honored. “I’d been trying to change the image of the church by volunteering in disadvantaged communities,” he tells us. But the “party was of such unbelievable opulence, I began to see the church was all about money.

“I directly know 20 members who went insane or committed suicide,” Duignan says. “I personally went through a period of insanity. I’m hoping this book can be a lifeline to my former comrades.”

Scientology spokeswoman Karin Pouw argues that Duignan’s book is filled with “false accusations,” that he was only a “mid-level administrator,” that there was no “cloak and dagger machination” to stop him from leaving and that “no one has ever committed suicide at the facility where Mr. Duignan worked in the U.K."
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They're pretty wild claims even if they are true. I think the withdrawal from Amazon is probably more about fear of legal action than any other significant pressure from the cult.
 
I guess everyone has heard by now of the tragic death of John Travolta's 16-year-old son. The family was on holiday in the Bahamas; while taking a bath, the boy apparently had a seizure, hit his head on the side of the bathtub, and drowned. There will be an autopsy.

Travolta is a well-known member of the Scientology cult--excuse me, "religion".

His son was known to suffer from a rare seizure disorder--one that cannot at present be cured but can be controlled by proper medication.

Some people are wondering openly if Travolta's son was receiving the necessary meds to control his seizures. Apparently Scientology is hostile to any standard medical intervention...

The autopsy should be "illuminating".... :(
 
People in the News: Jada Pinkett Smith's school plans grow
Jada Pinkett Smith is adding another title to her résumé: schoolmaster.

The actor/producer/musician and her husband, actor Will Smith, opened the New Village Leadership Academy last fall. The private school, for pre-kindergarten through sixth grade, has 60 students, according to the Web site.

Pinkett Smith, 37, hopes to open a companion campus for upper grades.

"My plan is to eventually have a high school," Pinkett Smith said. "I'm keeping my fingers crossed. I'm just trying to make it through this year."

Pinkett Smith, who is set to star in and executive produce a new series on TNT, said she decided to open the elementary school after creating a home-school program for her children, 10-year-old Jaden and 8-year-old Willow.

"More and more parents were like, 'Can we come?' " she said. "Then my house started to fill up. We had like 20 kids and I said, 'We might as well start a school.' "

The academy relies on teaching methods developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, but the school's director said it isn't a Scientology facility.

Hubbard's "study technology" is secular and akin to a Montessori approach, the Web site says.
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Source
 
ProfessorF said:
The academy relies on teaching methods developed by Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, but the school's director said it isn't a Scientology facility.

Hubbard's "study technology" is secular and akin to a Montessori approach, the Web site says.
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I bet it doesn't come cheap, either!
 
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