City councilman demonstrates why Scientology puts so much effort into its front groups

We had arranged to talk on Monday with Allen Warren, a Sacramento city councilman, and when he called, he let us know he was at a golf course.

“Hey, I’m out here with Mike at a golf tournament,” he told us.

He was referring to the Church of Scientology Sacramento’s public affairs director, Mike Klagenberg, who had arrived at the tournament with a “Say No to Drugs” booth at the charity event where Warren was calling us from.

He and Mike were longtime friends going back to childhood, Warren said. And that helped to explain the situation that had prompted us to reach out to the city councilman in the first place.

One of our readers had forwarded to us a flier that the Sacramento chapter of Scientology’s front group the Foundation for a Drug-Free World had been circulating to drum up interest in a charity golf tournament happening this Saturday…

 
We were surprised to see an elected official align himself so openly with a Scientology event like this. And we were even more surprised when Warren immediately agreed to set up a phone call with us to talk about it.

Warren was a minor league centerfielder in the New York Yankees organization before getting experience on Wall Street and then returning home to Sacramento to become a developer in real estate. He was first elected to the city council in 2012. He’s married and has three children, and he’s not a Scientologist, though we found a Scientology press release featuring him in 2015, as vice mayor, handing out certificates to local Scientologists for their volunteer work disseminating L. Ron Hubbard’s 1980 moral code, The Way to Happiness (see the photo above).

“I’m obviously not a member of the church,” he told us. “I don’t follow the church’s teaching. But when a group does a lot of volunteer work for the community, we pay attention.”

Scientology expends enormous effort trying to convince local political officials that it’s a force for good in their communities, and hopes that they won’t look too carefully at reports about Scientology’s controversies, including scandals about forcing young women to have abortions, ripping apart families as a method of controlling members, and retaliating against defectors with expensive smear campaigns.

One of the chief ways Scientology tries to bury that kind of news is by pumping out press releases about its fight against drug abuse, largely through the dissemination of pamphlets that they hope elected officials don’t look at too closely, or they might notice that they contain quackery from Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, who said that all drugs were poisons, and that if one cup of coffee woke you up, ten cups of coffee would put you to sleep.

But as long as Drug-Free World shows up at community events and hands out literature, it gives the impression that it’s doing something to better the world.

We asked Warren if he’d seen any of Leah Remini’s television series about Scientology, and he said he hadn’t. He added that he hasn’t followed what’s been said about Scientology in the news, and that “a lot of groups get stereotyped. But if a group is doing good work, that’s important. I’ve seen these guys do a lot of volunteer work, and I’ve only known them through the work they do in the community.”

We asked him if he’d heard any negative comments about Scientology from his constituents, and he said he hadn’t. “I’ve had zero comments about them,” he said.

“I know that Tom Cruise is associated with them, but I don’t pay a lot of attention to tabloid gossip,” he said. “I have no juice for you, my man,” he said with a laugh, apologizing that there wasn’t something more intriguing to say about his association with Klagenberg and the church.

We thanked him for taking the time to talk to us.

Columbus is getting a convention?

Rod Keller found this promo video for a convention this week taking place in Columbus.

But our question is, how do they have a convention there if the Ideal Org (which is completed) hasn’t had its grand opening yet?

We highly doubt that David Miscavige would attend something like this, so are they going ahead and using the new facility even though it hasn’t had its official ribbon-cutting with Miscavige yet?

 
Also, more scheduling news from Scientology. According to the London Ideal Org, which sent out an email about this yesterday, the date for the IAS annual event in East Grinstead has finally been set, for Friday, October 11.

We can hardly wait to find out if Miscavige shows up.

 
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Source Code

“You could teach people quite a bit about just any one of these Security Checks, you see. Like the children’s check. Teaching them how to use a children’s check. That’s quite interesting. You, of course, mustn’t ask a question which the child can’t understand because you will have an immediate ARC break. He thinks he’s being accused of something; he doesn’t know what you’re talking about. So you have to rephrase all of the questions in the child’s Security Check, you see, so as to reach the comprehension level of a child.” — L. Ron Hubbard, September 26, 1961

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“In case it’s not clear to everyone, Scientologists have a clear advantage over non-Scientologists in almost every way. Let me be even more bold about that. Scientologists are superior to non-Scientologists with regard to a huge number of issues. This is simply a fact.”

 
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Scientology’s celebrities, ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and more!

We’ve been building landing pages about David Miscavige’s favorite playthings, including celebrities and ‘Ideal Orgs,’ and we’re hoping you’ll join in and help us gather as much information as we can about them. Head on over and help us with links and photos and comments.

Scientology’s celebrities, from A to Z! Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!

Scientology’s ‘Ideal Orgs,’ from one end of the planet to the other! Help us build up pages about each these worldwide locations!

Scientology’s sneaky front groups, spreading the good news about L. Ron Hubbard while pretending to benefit society!

Scientology Lit: Books reviewed or excerpted in our weekly series. How many have you read?

 
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THE WHOLE TRACK

[ONE year ago] A conversation with Nathan Rich about the unique Scientology hellscape he survived
[TWO years ago] To help you through withdrawals tonight, take our poll on Leah Remini’s Season Two so far
[THREE years ago] SCIENTOLOGY’S TOP 20 CELEBRITIES — in order of those most likely to defect
[FOUR years ago] ‘Darth Xander’ files motion challenging Scientology’s anti-protesting injunction
[FIVE years ago] Scientology prepares for its big party in England, Maureen Bolstad on the Purification Rundown
[SIX years ago] Shut-Down Scientology Drug Rehab Claiming It’s Full, Says Mother of Insurance Fraud Victim
[EIGHT years ago] The Top 25 People Crippling Scientology, No. 3: Marty Rathbun

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on September 26, 2019 at 07:00

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