Let’s give Scientology its due: It can put out a slick, high-quality video on occasion, and we have one for you today.
It’s a lengthy trailer for next month’s IAS gala in England which will celebrate 30 years since the legal slush fund was started at a time Scientology was being swamped by lawsuits.
In the early 1980s, lawsuits by two former church members in particular — Lawrence Wollersheim in Los Angeles and Julie Christofferson Titchbourne in Portland — shook Scientology to its foundations because both of them were alleging that Scientology’s essential processes — it’s “auditing” and coursework — had harmed them. And both of them were winning. Both cases initially resulted in stunning damage awards, $39 million for Christofferson Titchbourne and $30 million to Wollersheim. Both awards were later reduced, but the shock of those jury awards was a lesson Scientology wasn’t going to forget.
Until that time, members were asked to pay significant amounts for courses, but very little for lifetime memberships. The IAS changed that. Designed to raise huge sums for legal defenses, the International Association of Scientologists asked members to donate thousands of dollars simply for the prestige of being a member. Today, Scientologists are put under intense pressure to raise their “status” in the IAS, with some members donating millions to it.
Each October, the IAS celebrates its anniversary in a giant tent at Saint Hill Manor, L. Ron Hubbard’s old estate in East Grinstead, England. (Last year was the very unusual exception to that rule as the tent was shipped to Florida and the IAS gala took place in November in Clearwater.)
The IAS gala is the annual event that features Scientology leader David Miscavige updating several thousand followers on the “good works” initiatives of the organization’s “social betterment” programs: the drug rehab network Narconon, the forest-killing campaign to create The Way to Happiness booklets, and many others. It’s also when new “Freedom Medal” winners will be celebrated.
To get the faithful ready for Miscavige’s big speech, the church put out this groovy trailer. We hope you enjoy it.
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Another salvo from the NAFC in its massive lawsuit
We have another filing by the National Association of Forensic Counselors, which is suing Scientology’s drug rehab network, Narconon, for misusing its logos and trademarks.
The NAFC named 82 defendants, which includes Scientology leader David Miscavige, Narconon Arrowhead CEO Gary Smith, Narconon International president Clark Carr, and related entities, like Kent McGregor and his organization the PITA group. All of them, the NAFC alleges, were part of an incestuous network that was purposefully misusing the NAFC’s certifications and logos in order to give the Narconon network more legitimacy, and ultimately move more people into Scientology itself.
The defendants are responding to the lawsuit in numerous ways. Some are filing special appearances and saying they shouldn’t be in the suit for jurisdiction reasons, others are filing motions to dismiss — some in groups, others as individuals.
In this latest response to one defendant — Narconon Fresh Start, which runs rehab centers in California — NAFC reiterates that these defendants worked in concert in a conspiracy, and that they are now pretending to have nothing to do with each other, and they’re filing things separately to support that notion. But in fact, the interconnectedness of the many layers and entities of Narconon are plain, the NAFC says. It’s an interesting document, and we knew you’d want to see it.
Read the NAFC’s response to Narconon Fresh Start’s motion to dismiss…
NAFC v. Narconon: Plaintiff's Response Narconon Fresh Start's Motion to Dismiss
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Posted by Tony Ortega on September 19, 2014 at 07:00
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BLOGGING DIANETICS (We read Scientology’s founding text) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25
UP THE BRIDGE (Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48
GETTING OUR ETHICS IN (Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14
SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING (Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48, 49
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