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Scientology Is Just A Rehash Of Aleister Crowley’s Occult Magick

Tuesday, March 20th, 2012

Longtime Scientology watchers will be at least somewhat familiar with the tale: that after his involvement in WWII, Hubbard shacked up with Jet Propulsion Lab rocket scientist Jack Parsons, a man heavily into the occult, and in particular the teachings of The Great Beast, British occultist Aleister Crowley. You may even know something about the kinky things Parsons and Hubbard did trying to create a “Moonchild.” But what Urban does in a new piece for the journal Nova Religio is produce a thorough, academic study of the ways that Crowley’s “magick” found parallels in what would become Hubbard’s most famous creation, Scientology.

Urban went into some of this material in his book, but he tells me he wanted to explore it more in depth with this article.

Nova Religio is one of those academic journals still doing things the old-fashioned way — its articles don’t appear in full on its website, and readers either need to purchase a copy of the journal or get it through an academic institution or something. So, we’ll play along and hold on to our copy of the story and do our best to describe it here. Perhaps later Urban can convince the publication to allow wider access to the piece.

Urban’s article is titled “The Occult Roots of Scientology?: L. Ron Hubbard, Aleister Crowley, and the Origins of a Controversial New Religion,” and if you’ve read his book, its introduction will seem very familiar.

He then lays out the basics: after returning from his service in the war, Hubbard moved into John Whiteside “Jack” Parsons’s Pasadena rooming house (the “Parsonage”), which was something of a flophouse for his occult friends. Parsons was heavily into Crowley’s “magick,” and soon found a willing partner in Hubbard — and even wrote to Crowley himself about their attempts to engage in some of Crowley’s rituals. The relationship between Hubbard and Parsons ended badly, with accusations of fraud and theft. But later, as Hubbard developed his ideas for Dianetics and Scientology, his experience with Crowley’s “Ordo Templi Orientis” (OTO) seems to have permeated his thinking and even the terminology of the church. Click to continue »

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Scientology’s ‘child labor camp’

Wednesday, February 15th, 2012

In the middle of a suburban Australia is a secret Scientology compound that’s labelled ‘degrading’ and ‘inhumane’, with allegations of keeping children prisoner.

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Scientology’s Unorthodox Healing Missions

Saturday, April 16th, 2011

After Cyclone Nargis left a trail of corpses along Burma’s coast in May 2008, foreign aid workers clamored to enter the military-controlled backwater.

Despite the world’s pleading, Burma’s paranoid generals forbade most foreign relief workers from entering the disaster zone. A frustrated U.K. threatened unauthorized air drops. The U.S. Navy was forced to float vessels loaded with life-saving supplies offshore.

But among the few who managed to access Burma’s worst-hit areas included adherents of the California-based Church of Scientology.

According to the church, miracles ensued after Scientologists touched down. Their team sought out traumatized Burmese for Scientology’s touch-healing techniques, professed to revive the spirit.

The infirm recouped strength, they said, and Burmese kids who’d lost their families regained their smiles. As the church tells it, even the surgeon of Aung San Suu Kyi, the country’s revered pro-democracy icon, wanted his personal relief troupe to adopt Scientology techniques.

“He goes, ‘This is amazing! I’m a doctor and I can’t even do this!’” said Andy Ponnaz, 57, a Bangkok-born Scientologist of mixed Thai-Swiss blood.

“I said, ‘Sir, I can teach all of your crew tomorrow. How many? 40? OK!’”

The far reach of Scientology

Those who know of Scientology through media exposes, or South Park’s stinging cartoon parody, may wonder what interests Scientology could possibly have in one of Asia’s most remote jungles.

The Western media has largely focused on Scientology’s celebrity followers, its secret scriptures and its costly hierarchy of enlightenment. Defectors’ tell-alls have shaken the religion’s public image. An internet campaign known as “Anonymous” vows to do much worse: destroy the church entirely.

But while Scientology endures scrutiny in America, the faith’s influence is quietly expanding in countries that lie beyond the Western media’s glare. In Burma, there is no South Park. Nor does the din of criticism reach non-English speakers in Indonesian cities ruined by earthquakes. Or poor hamlets in Ghana. Or crumbling city blocks in Chile.

Scientologists reach all these places and more. The faith has dispatched its yellow-clad “Volunteer Ministers” to almost every major global disaster in the last decade: from the 2001 World Trade Center attacks to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami to Japan’s earthquake-ravaged coast.

Ten years ago, this relief brigade was estimated at 6,000 people. Now, according to church stats, it’s up to 350,000 and growing. Within the past 12 months, the church’s volunteer ministers claim to have treated 3.1 million people in 185 nations and territories.

Scientologists call their volunteer ministers “the largest independent relief force on earth,” an assertion that rivals the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies claim of 97 million volunteers. But this is hardly the two groups’ only point of distinction.

What is an “assist”?

Scientology relief work is largely focused on delivering “assists,” a menu of touch-healing techniques said to reconnect ailing bodies with immortal spirits.

The healing promised by assists is radical: limbs purged of aches in minutes and minds freed from trauma on the spot. Using only their hands, and instructions from the Scientology Handbook, ministers swear they can even render a drunk man sober in minutes.

Is this tent revival-style faith healing? According to Scientologists, no. It’s described as a spiritual science, developed by their founder, the sci-fi novelist-turned-religious leader L. Ron Hubbard.

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Vanity Fair Editor Was A Double Agent For The Church of Scientology

Monday, March 7th, 2011

Did the Church of Scientology use a Vanity Fair contributing editor to infiltrate and gather intelligence on the cult’s enemies in the media?

John Connolly is a well-known, and well-liked, character in New York media circles. He’s a former NYPD detective and stock broker who landed a third career as an investigative reporter for Vanity Fair, where he is a contributing editor, Radar, the Daily Beast, Gawker, and other outlets. Connolly is an investigator of the old school, employed more for his ability to run a license plate number than his facility with prose. In 1990, while freelancing for Forbes, he was accused by a federal judge of using his old NYPD badge to obtain sealed court documents. According to USA Today, his stint as a stockbroker ended in the 1980s with a $100,000 civil penalty and lifetime ban from the Securities and Exchange Commission. He’s a mischievous tipster, an inveterate gossip, and an information broker of the highest order. He speaks with a cartoonish New York accent and knows literally everybody. And according to the two highest ranking Scientology officials to ever leave the church, he’s been a paid informant for the cult for two decades.

The accusation comes from Marty Rathbun, who ranked so high in the organization before he left that he served as Tom Cruise’s “auditor,” or confessor, and Mike Rinder, Scientology’s former chief spokesman. Both men have defected from the church and accuse its current leader, David Miscavige, of ruling through violence and terror. On February 15, Rathbun posted to his blog a lengthy internal church memo, purportedly written by Linda Hamel, chief of the church’s faux-CIA “Office of Special Affairs,” revealing Connolly to have secretly supplied intelligence to the church on the preparation of Andrew Morton’s 2008 biography of Tom Cruise. According to the memo, Connolly approached Morton in 2006 under the pretense of writing “an article for Vanity Fair about the books Morton has done on celebrities including the one he is writing on Tom Cruise.” He proceeded, the memo says, to pump Morton for information about his book and report it back to the church:

Connolly was here in LA working on the Pellicano story ["Talk of the Town," Vanity Fair, June 2006] and contacted Morton and met with him on the basis of gaining his cooperation to be interviewed for an article for Vanity Fair about the books Morton has done on celebrities including the one he is writing on Tom Cruise. Connolly wanted to see what Morton was like and get any information about where Morton is currently at with regard to writing the book and to see if Morton would agree to be interviewed for an article. Based on the meeting, Connolly said that Morton seems to have finished his research already and is busy writing the book.

Connolly told Morton that it would not be a puff piece and would show both sides including what would be said about Morton. (Connolly will use the article to investigate Morton’s past treatment of other celebrities, use of sleazy sources, etc. that would undermine Morton’s credibility). Morton said he would check with St. Martin’s Press to get their take on cooperating for the story. Morton seems to be interested in generating publicity for the book.

Connolly’s impression of Morton is that he is a serious writer and is a focused person but enjoyable to talk to. He knows how to use his charm to get people to talk. Morton also told him that it only took him five weeks to write the Monica Lewinsky book – so he is capable of churning out a lot in a short period of time.

Morton said that he thought that Tom Cruise was a good story and that is why he wanted to write the book. The reporter got the impression from talking with Morton that Morton has collected a lot of information about the Church and that this will be well covered in the book. Morton also mentioned that he has an assistant who is working for him.

Connolly’s impression is that Morton is a formidable adversary who is not going to back down. He thinks that Morton has made up his mind already as to the angle of the book but did not specifically say what it was.

In the US Connolly, wants to do an investigative story and put a piece together on Morton and his use of sleazy sources in the books he has done about celebrities such as Madonna, the Beckhams and Tom Cruise. This would attack Morton on his reputation questioning the credibility of his sources.

The memo proves, in Rathbun’s words, that “Connolly has been a Church of Scientology Office of Special Affairs informant for nearly two decades.” In a phone interview, Rathbun told me that Connolly’s work for the church was extensive. He was an operative, Rathbun says, of a Los Angeles cop-turned-private-investigator named Gene Ingram who was well known as a hired spook for Scientology. “I hired Ingram,” says Rathbun. “And I remember distinctly that he would talk about his pal John Connolly. For years I periodically saw his name in programs and reports as an active source of information and stories.” Rathbun cited examples: Connolly was involved, he says, in gathering intelligence on a 1993 Premiere story on Tom Cruise that the church was particularly concerned about. The details are hazy, Rathbun says, “but I remember Connolly getting intel on that story.” Rathbun also says Connolly was involved in “trying to influence” vocal ex-Scientologist Chuck Beatty in 2006.

Rinder, who was responsible for, in church parlance, “handling” the news media, corroborates Rathbun’s account. “Connolly was a resource to deal with media problems,” he told me. “Ingram used to tout Connolly’s virtues pretty often—’Connolly can handle this; he’ll find out what’s going on and he’s got lines into all media.’ That was something I heard many, many times. Ingram even met with Connolly at the Celebrity Center in Los Angeles.” Like Rathbun, Rinder recalled vaguely that Connolly was involved in reconnoitering the Premiere story. He also said Connolly “was used to gather information” on Wensley Clarkson, a British reporter who wrote an unauthorized biography of Tom Cruise in 1998.

Both Rinder and Rathbun say Connolly was paid for his services. “Absolutely,” said Rinder. “No one ever does work like that for free. Not for the church.” Likewise, Rathbun said, “I assume he was paid. That’s the way Ingram operated.” Neither man claimed to have direct knowledge of payments. Ingram didn’t respond to repeated phone calls. Neither did the church.

Keep reading the story at: Observer.com

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Paul Haggis vs. the Church of Scientology

Monday, February 7th, 2011

On August 19, 2009, Tommy Davis, the chief spokesperson for the Church of Scientology International, received a letter from the film director and screenwriter Paul Haggis. “For ten months now I have been writing to ask you to make a public statement denouncing the actions of the Church of Scientology of San Diego,” Haggis wrote. Before the 2008 elections, a staff member at Scientology’s San Diego church had signed its name to an online petition supporting Proposition 8, which asserted that the State of California should sanction marriage only “between a man and a woman.” The proposition passed. As Haggis saw it, the San Diego church’s “public sponsorship of Proposition 8, which succeeded in taking away the civil rights of gay and lesbian citizens of California—rights that were granted them by the Supreme Court of our state—is a stain on the integrity of our organization and a stain on us personally. Our public association with that hate-filled legislation shames us.” Haggis wrote, “Silence is consent, Tommy. I refuse to consent.” He concluded, “I hereby resign my membership in the Church of Scientology.”

Haggis was prominent in both Scientology and Hollywood, two communities that often converge. Although he is less famous than certain other Scientologists, such as Tom Cruise and John Travolta, he had been in the organization for nearly thirty-five years. Haggis wrote the screenplay for “Million Dollar Baby,” which won the Oscar for Best Picture in 2004, and he wrote and directed “Crash,” which won Best Picture the next year—the only time in Academy history that that has happened.

Davis, too, is part of Hollywood society; his mother is Anne Archer, who starred in “Fatal Attraction” and “Patriot Games,” among other films. Before becoming Scientology’s spokesperson, Davis was a senior vice-president of the church’s Celebrity Centre International network.

In previous correspondence with Davis, Haggis had demanded that the church publicly renounce Proposition 8. “I feel strongly about this for a number of reasons,” he wrote. “You and I both know there has been a hidden anti-gay sentiment in the church for a long time. I have been shocked on too many occasions to hear Scientologists make derogatory remarks about gay people, and then quote L.R.H. in their defense.” The initials stand for L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, whose extensive writings and lectures form the church’s scripture. Haggis related a story about Katy, the youngest of three daughters from his first marriage, who lost the friendship of a fellow-Scientologist after revealing that she was gay. The friend began warning others, “Katy is ‘1.1.’ ” The number refers to a sliding Tone Scale of emotional states that Hubbard published in a 1951 book, “The Science of Survival.” A person classified “1.1” was, Hubbard said, “Covertly Hostile”—“the most dangerous and wicked level”—and he noted that people in this state engaged in such things as casual sex, sadism, and homosexual activity. Hubbard’s Tone Scale, Haggis wrote, equated “homosexuality with being a pervert.” (Such remarks don’t appear in recent editions of the book.)

In his resignation letter, Haggis explained to Davis that, for the first time, he had explored outside perspectives on Scientology. He had read a recent exposé in a Florida newspaper, the St. Petersburg Times, which reported, among other things, that senior executives in the church had been subjecting other Scientologists to physical violence. Haggis said that he felt “dumbstruck and horrified,” adding, “Tommy, if only a fraction of these accusations are true, we are talking about serious, indefensible human and civil-rights violations.”

Online, Haggis came across an appearance that Davis had made on CNN, in May, 2008. The anchor John Roberts asked Davis about the church’s policy of “disconnection,” in which members are encouraged to separate themselves from friends or family members who criticize Scientology. Davis responded, “There’s no such thing as disconnection as you’re characterizing it. And certainly we have to understand—”

“Well, what is disconnection?” Roberts interjected.

“Scientology is a new religion,” Davis continued. “The majority of Scientologists in the world, they’re first generation. So their family members aren’t going to be Scientologists. . . . So, certainly, someone who is a Scientologist is going to respect their family members’ beliefs—”

Read the rest of Paul’s story at: New Yorker

Listen to Terry Gross interview Lawrence Wright on NPR’s Fresh Air:

Part 1 (mp3 About 7 minutes)

Part 2 (mp3 About 7 minutes)

Part 3 (mp3 About 7 minutes)

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Scientologists Upset About L.Ron Hubbard Christmas Play

Thursday, December 9th, 2010

Scientologists in St. Petersburg Florida are upset about The American Stage Theater’s choice of Christmastime productions.

“A Very Merry Unauthorized Children’s Scientology Pageant” is a musical play designed for the holiday season, but this play will not focus on Jesus Christ, but instead the story is about L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the church Of Scientology.

The story line follows L. Ron Hubbard through his life, his journey and search for answers. ”It’s about what he felt was important in life and obviously him starting up the church of Scientology.”said, Stephen Ray, an actor that plays the role of Hubbard in the play.

The musical satire features characters of famous Scientologists like John Travolta, Tom Cruise and Kristie Alley and most of the dialogue comes from the writings of Hubbard and church literature.

“This show isn’t meant to offend or harm anybody, it’s really just done to show the art of the piece because we really believe strongly in the script and we thought it was important that people get to see the good art we produce.” said, Andy Orrell, a spokesman for the American Stage Theater.

The theater is located less than a block away from a Scientology building in St. Pete and officials with the theatre reached out to the church and received feedback from several Scientologists who visit the theater.

“They basically said, if this was about the Muslim faith you wouldn’t be doing it, and my feelings is, if it was stage worthy of course we would be doing it.” Said, Todd Olson, the Director of the Musical.

Twenty productions of the musical are being produced around the country, but the American Stage Theater production is the first to be produced in Florida. “We know given Florida, given our proximity to Clearwater, given our Scientology neighbors are right across the park, we just can’t anticipate everything that’s about to happen.” Olson said.

The Theater is hoping this holiday musical will be a big hit. We attempted to contact a Scientology spokesperson in Clearwater but no one returned our phone call.

The holiday musical is scheduled to run from December 9-22 at the American Stage Theater in St. Petersburg.

Source: WSTP.com

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Child Abuse Inside The Church Of Scientology

Tuesday, May 25th, 2010

Scarlett Hanna, the daughter of the president of the Church of Scientology speaks about the horrific conditions that children are raised under. The claims have been denied by the Church of Scientology.

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Ex-Scientologist Reveals Details Behind ‘Dangerous Cult,’ Tom Cruise

Saturday, May 15th, 2010

Most people know very little about Scientology aside from the fact that Tom Cruise, John Travolta and other celebrities are a part of it, and that it’s had its fair share of controversy over the years. A new book is looking to pull back the curtain on the mysterious religion founded by L. Ron Hubbard, and the author certainly knows her stuff. Amy Scobee is a former Scientologist who was in the church for more than two decades, and worked in the all-important Celebrity Centers portion of the organization. In her just-released book, ‘Scientology: Abuse at the Top,‘ Scobee details all of the troubling things she saw that made her flee what she once called her trusted religion, but now refers to as a “dangerous cult.” Scobee spoke exclusively to PopEater over e-mail about her shocking book, her time with Tom Cruise and other Scientology bigwigs, and the (her words) brainwashing, systematic violence and slave labor camps she saw during her 27 years there. Her terrifying claims … after the jump!

Could you explain your role within the Church of Scientology?
I worked in the upper management of Scientology for two decades. For a good portion of that time, I was responsible for the international network of Celebrity Centers, which service people in the field of the arts, government and sports — people with high profiles in the world who are capable of creating a lot of influence on the population.

You were a member for 27 years. What was the spark plug for your departure?
I became less and less tolerant of the abuse that I witnessed as it got more and more harsh. People were very unhappy, family members were being separated, David Miscavige [the current "leader" of Scientology] committed assault and battery on my friends on numerous occasions. I could not justify continuing to support such an organization bent on threats and severe human rights violations, which were a dichotomy of the stated goals and reason I joined in the first place. I wanted to help people and create a better world based on love and compassion for mankind.

Why is there such a big push to recruit celebrities to Scientology?
A strategic priority for Scientology is to bring in big-name celebrities as they can influence whole populations. If they endorse Scientology, then masses will want to join, as well. That means expansion, more money, more members who in turn bring in others. The stated goal for Celebrity Center is to make celebrities into “walking success stories” of Scientology so they promote their success and attribute it to what they learned in Scientology.

In the press, there’s often articles that are negative towards the Church. Why would they want to attract more celebrities, and in turn, more attention?
They think that any negative press is just a result of “disgruntled ex-members” and should be ignored.

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Wikipedia Bans Church of Scientology From Editing Content

Monday, March 29th, 2010

Wikipedia decides to ban users of Church of Scientology IPs, after its Arbitration Committee found that those IPs were being used for biased edits to various entries on the site. Although controversies have erupted at times over the true neutrality of certain entries, Wikipedia has publicly attempted to remain as neutral as possible, while also positioning itself as the site that anybody can edit.
Wikipedia, after a period of protracted debate, has made the decision to ban any site edits originating from IP addresses associated with the Church of Scientology.

The final vote by Wikipedia’s Arbitration Committee was 10-to-0 in favor of a ban, with one member abstaining. The committee examined whether members of the Church of Scientology and their opponents had been riddling entries with “bad faith assumptions, personal attacks, edit wars, soapboxing, and other disruptions,” and found that users on Scientology IPs had been openly editing Scientology-related articles.

In addition, it also found that pro-Scientologist editors had been directing the changes through a handful of different IPs, making it difficult to verify individual users.

Such activity would, obviously, put Wikipedia’s public face as an unbiased provider of information at risk, and the committee acted accordingly.

“The worst casualties have been biographies of living people,” the committee wrote in a posting on Wikipedia, “where attempts have been repeatedly made to slant the article either towards or against the subject, depending on the point of view of the contributing editor.

“However,” the committee added, “this problem is not limited to biographies and many Scientology articles fail to reflect a neutral point of view and instead are either disparaging or complimentary.”

In that spirit, the ruling blocks Scientology IPs “as if they were open proxies.” Wikipedia, however, is leaving the door open for certain individuals to request exemptions.

Jay Walsh, a spokesman for the Wikipedia Foundation, told The Wall Street Journal that “the arbitration committee wants to send the message that Wikipedians have to be neutral on all accounts and all fronts.” He emphasized that the banning of IPs was traditionally a last-ditch step by the site.

The banning of the Church of Scientology from Wikipedia represents the first time that the site has blocked a major organization from editing to the site. In the past, minor controversies have erupted as companies, and even U.S. congresspeople, have edited their entries to put themselves in a more positive light.

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L. Ron Hubbard’s Dystopia On Earth: An Ex-Scientologist Speaks Out

Sunday, March 28th, 2010

If, as is claimed to prospective members, Scientology is the “only major religion to have emerged in the 20^th century,” then it is currently experiencing a growing pain common to all religions entering adolescence: The schism. David Miscavige, the slick little salesman who took over the Church of Scientology after the death of noted junkie and fugitive L. Ron Hubbard, has lately been accused of abusing his underlings and lying to his flock to obfuscate his own failures as a spiritual leader. Scientologists around the world are breaking off from the official Church, claiming that it has “strayed from the original philosophy and purpose of the group which Hubbard first researched and developed.”

But some ex-Scientologists have less regard for the teachings of L. Ron Hubbard. One of them is Aaron Saxton, a New Zealander who spent eight years — from his mid-teens through his early 20s — as part of Scientology’s elite paramilitary corps, Sea Org. Read on to learn his thoughts on Independent Scientologists, Sea Org, violence, coerced abortion, rape, false imprisonment, and the many other delights allegedly awaiting those who take seriously L. Ron Hubbard’s declaration that “your search is over, but the adventure has just begun.”

Aaron Saxton was born into The Church of Scientology in 1974 and left it in 2006. In the intervening years, he says, he tried coercing female Sea Org members into undergoing abortions, falsely imprisoned his fellows in the Church, both witnessed and engaged in the psychological abuse of children, and was denied even routine medical treatment. (He has alleged that he was once forced to remove his own teeth without anesthesia.)

Since Saxton went public in 2009, the Church of Scientology has apparently initiated a smear campaign against his character, and generally set about making his life miserable. But that hasn’t kept him from being heard. His accusations have brought him considerable renown in both his native country and in Australia, where he has found a sympathetic audience in Senator Nick Xenophon, who paired Saxton’s claims with those of other ex-Scientologists and read them into that country’s parliamentary record.

The world is full of ex-Scientologists, but few claim to have been so highly ranked in the Church, and few have been able to offer glimpses into the weird world of the Sea Org. Perhaps it is telling that lower-ranking Scientologists tend to remember their former church more fondly than Saxton does. It was a New York Times story profiling such mild apostates that inspired Saxton to give us the final go-ahead to publish this interview, after many weeks during which Saxton weighed the pros and cons of risking further exposure, publicity, and Scientological wrath by releasing his story to the JREF. The NYT story doesn’t go far enough, says Saxton. It lends credence to the notion that the problems now facing Scientology are organizational rather than doctrinal, and that Scientology can be a vibrant, positive religion if released from the control of David Miscavige and his minions. Saxton maintains that this is not the case: Scientology is rotten from its roots. The schism, though understandable, is doomed.

Scientology might be the most jargon-y religion in the world. Its members are conversant with dozens of strange words and acronyms that would be meaningless to those outside the Church, and Aaron Saxton still uses many of them. In transcribing this interview we translated as much of the jargon as possible, and decoded most of the obscure acronyms. (For example: Saxton never said “Religious Technology Center”; he said “RTC.”) Even with the decoding, parts of the interview can be hard-going. Stick with it, and try to pick up the meanings from context. We hope the interview proves illuminating.

Read the interview at: Randi.org

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