After someone blew up part of the Georgia Guidestones on July 6 and then Georgia’s GBI knocked down the rest as a precaution, the enigmatic structure was in the news like never before, and that meant that rumors about a tie between the Guidestones and Scientology would start up again.
We heard from several readers who said they were seeing mentions of Scientology and its founder L. Ron Hubbard in regard to the Guidestones, asking us about any possible connection.
There is none. A 2015 documentary firmly established that the Guidestones were built in 1980 at the behest of a conservative Christian evangelical surgeon in Iowa named Herbert Hinzie Kersten (1920-2005). He designed the installation to promote his own vision for the future, advocating for a smaller human population (held at 500 million worldwide), small government, and staying in tune with nature.
Despite this origin, it was seen as a “satanic” installation by some groups, which have cheered its destruction.
So how did the notion that Scientology was involved arise and become so persistent?
We can think of a few reasons. Some outsiders accuse Scientology of being “satanic” because of Hubbard’s association with Aleister Crowley, Thelema, and other occult ideas in the 1940s. And there’s no question that some of the basic ideas behind what would become Scientology were things Hubbard stole directly from Crowley. (See this article, for example.)
Also, Scientology has its own tradition of preserving its ideas for future generations with as much permanence as possible. To explain that, we have to go back a few years.
In Southern California in February 1980 (about eight months after work on the Guidestones had begun in Georgia), L. Ron Hubbard said goodbye to some of his most loyal followers, got into the back of a van driven by the young couple Pat and Annie Broeker, and drove away into complete seclusion.
About a year later, from hiding, Hubbard ordered a large reorganization of the Scientology movement, creating a number of new entities. One of these was the Church of Spiritual Technology. CST plays an important role in Scientology as the ultimate authority on Hubbard’s trademarks and copyrights, which it lends out to another organization, the Religious Technology Center. RTC nominally runs Scientology with its chairman, David Miscavige. But if something threatened RTC or Scientology as a whole, CST could take back the trademarks and copyrights and rebuild the movement. Denise Brennan, who helped create the reorganization in 1981-1982, explained all this to us. She explained that lawsuits might decimate the Church of Scientology International, or even reach Miscavige and RTC, but CST was untouchable and designed to be “the ultimate backstop,” she said.
But CST’s role was not only to be a legal oasis. It also was given, by Hubbard, a bizarre mission: To preserve his legacy for thousands of years. Brennan told us that Hubbard took the notion from his own novel, Battlefield Earth, which he was completing at that time. So in hiding in California Hubbard ordered underground vaults to be built and for his ideas to be etched in stainless steel and stored in them. As a result of his orders, CST has built four underground vaults in California and New Mexico, where Hubbard’s writings and lectures are stored on media that is designed to last at least six thousand years.
Hubbard himself didn’t prove to be as durable. After several years with the Broekers and other caretakers in seclusion, he died on a ranch near Creston, California, on January 24, 1986 after a series of strokes. He was 74 years old.
Although Hubbard died, Scientology still considers what he wrote to be its “scriptures,” and his instructions must be followed to the letter. So CST went ahead and spent hundreds of millions on the project to archive his words. This was divulged by Scientology to the IRS in disclosures it made as part of a process to grant the church tax exempt status in October 1993.
A few weeks after that incredible victory for Scientology and its new leader, David Miscavige, the Associated Press carried a story saying that among the things Scientology had divulged to the IRS was that it planned to build “indestructible obelisks” around the country with pictographs to describe Scientology concepts for future generations.
In 2014, Jeffrey Augustine, at his blog, published that disclosure by Scientology’s CST to the IRS, containing this passage…
CST also has firm plans to construct many large indestructible obelisks in different parts of the world with the express purpose of preserving for all future generations of man, the precepts from the book The Way to Happiness, by L. Ron Hubbard. These precepts will be translated into pictograph form, etched onto large stainless steel sheets and then be attached to the obelisks. Thus these vital precepts will survive far into the future in such a form that even a primitive culture will be able to decipher them and derive the basis for a sane cultural beginning.
And in 2020, we added another interesting wrinkle: We had talked to a former CST contractor who told us that as recently as 2007 the Scientology subsidiary was still working on plans to build the obelisks.
So, one might assume that given Scientology’s own plans to educate future generations with permanently etched instructions in underground vaults, and plans to build obelisks in various places, that this led some people to believe that Hubbard and Scientology were also behind the Guidestones.
You might assume that. But when we looked around to see what is actually being said by people about the connection between Scientology and the Guidestones, we mostly found completely batshit conspiracy nonsense.
So really, trying to find a rational explanation for why this persistent notion came about is mostly an exercise in futility.
The takeaway? The Guidestones had nothing to do with Hubbard. But as far as preserving words for future generations, the Guidestones (R.I.P.) had nothing on Scientology.
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Today’s Scientology happy news. Yes, an excerpt from an actual press release put out by the church this week.
As the UN launches its Youth Skills Day campaign for 2022 with its motto “transforming youth skills for the future,” Scientology Volunteer Ministers are providing educators throughout South Africa with the tools to accomplish this goal.
At Makgongoana Secondary school in Mankweng, a township in Limpopo Province, passing rate of graduating students was an underperforming 39 percent. After implementing the Volunteer Ministers program, the school had the highest pass rate in the district for three years in a row.
This transformation began when William Ramodike, deputy principal of the school and pastor at the local Zion Christian Church, searched for solutions. And he learned about an Empowerment and Success Interfaith Seminar to be delivered by the Scientology Volunteer Ministers at Castle Kyalami.
“I was introduced to a free life skills community development program called Tools for Life,” he said of the seminar. “It became clear to me that God had led me to the right place. The program trained me on skills to handle study difficulties, communication, conflict resolution, achieving goals, ethics, and much more.”
Convinced he had found a practical way to resolve study problems, he immediately applied what he learned. “And it brought fantastic results,” he said.
He began by implementing Study Technology, methods developed by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard that have tremendous application in the secular sphere. Based on a comprehensive understanding of the actual barriers to effective learning, Study Technology provides precise tools to overcome these barriers, ensuring the ability to learn and apply any body of knowledge. A free introductory online course on Study Technology is part of the Tools For Life courses, available in 18 languages including Zulu through the Scientology website.
School principal Dr. S.E.L Modjadji backed Ramodike’s implementation, which was so successful that it increased the school’s graduating pass rate from 39 to over 80 percent.
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Now available: Bonus for our supporters
Episode 4 of the Underground Bunker podcast has been sent out to paid subscribers, and it’s a conversation with Bruce Hines about the mind-warping life in the Sea Org and a new story about Shelly Miscavige we hadn’t heard before. Meanwhile, we’ve made episodes 1 through 3 available to everyone, with Jeffrey Augustine on recent Scientology court cases, Claire Headley exposing Tom Cruise, and Marc Headley on what it must be like for David Miscavige living in Clearwater, Florida. Go here to get the episodes!
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“Evolution: there’s no such thing. Bodies don’t evolve. They deteriorate, but they don’t evolve. You can trace all kinds of reasons how they evolve, and why they evolve, and you can figure it all out, but the truth of the matter is when you get horses on a planet, somebody came along and mocked up some horses! Now, they also mocked up these horses with the capability of growing hair or not growing hair. You’ve got adjustment factors, but not evolution factors. So you confuse the adjustment factors and prove the whole theory of evolution. And now you know man came from mud, and you can write a book like Pavlov and get the whole world poisoned. You see how this one goes. All of this is based on what? It’s based on errors in time.” — L. Ron Hubbard, July 18, 1963
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“Promotion and Sales and the Tech Divs have to get together. For instance not the tiniest whisper of what we do with Dn and Lower Grades in the SO ever appears in any promotion. And Org staffs in SO or Scn Orgs haven’t a clue what is meant by the ‘FEBC’ Courses they pay for for their execs. On the broad front of the world there isn’t even a ghost of an idea of what we produce in Scn. That’s because PR hasn’t really found out either. This is a real breakdown! We’re working like mad to repair it. We’re also working to get out an ARC Brk and Letter Reg program to heal up ARC Brks caused by non-delivery and cash demands. And we’re working to get Div VIs to get in new people.” — The Commodore, July 18, 1971
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“Ever since I can recall I’ve been aware of some sort of interchange between myself and other beings, that was non-verbal, and could span distances in the absence of vias (other than the particles, and distance needed to have the comm in the first place). I didn’t really know what this was, and more or less figured it was my own thoughts and mock ups. I’ve since become much more aware and cause over these lines of communication, and gotten better at spotting whose stuff is whose, and even managed to ease it up for them, when I can, so whatever problem or trouble they seemed to create in terms of my universe, I now surely don’t add to, or mis-own, and even am more able to alleviate it, allowing them to play some other game, since most times, I had no interest in what it was that was going on anyway. Without the truths recovered as a Scientologist, I think I would have rattled around with this phenomena for ages, not really knowing what it was, or how to assume KRC for it all.”
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2001: “Barb” reported a two-day protest at a comic convention in San Diego at which Scientology had rented exhibit space. “I packed up some Xenu fliers stuffed with half-page Scientology Hurts People inserts, printed out a new sign, WARNING! BRIDGE PUBLICATIONS IS $CIENTOLOGY, which had a fetching color portrait of Xenu. Ida’s friend Richard came down with his two nephews a little after noon, and we took a cab to the Con. We proceeded to the entrance of the Convention Center and started handing out fliers. It wasn’t long before security approached and requested that we move on to public property, and we cheerfully complied. We already had picked up two watchclams. They positioned themselves on either side at a distance of about 50 feet. Both of them watched us constantly and used their cell phones frequently. People would approach and ask for a flier. Some stopped to chat, several thanked us for being there and informing people. Many of the folks we talked to already knew something about the cult, a few knew Bridge Publications was a tentacle of Scientology. Several people who took fliers intended to ask the folks in the Bridge Pubs booth about Xenu! It only took us a couple of hours to dispose of all our fliers. The Bridge booth had huge banners advertising L. RON HUBBARD! BATTLEFIELD EARTH! and L. RON HUBBARD’S MISSION EARTH! I heard one of the inhabitants try to snag a passerby with the intriguing come-on, ‘Hey, do you like science fiction?’ but it appeared to me that people were staying away in droves.”
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“I use Hubbardese all the time IRL because it’s fun.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Trial scheduled for October 11, pretrial conference August 17.
— ‘Lafayette Ronald Hubbard’ (a/k/a Justin Craig), aggravated assault, plus drug charges: Last hearing was on January 18, referred to grand jury. Additional charges also referred to grand jury after January 5 assault while in jail.
— Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Readiness hearing scheduled for August 22 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for September 19.
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Found guilty of criminal and civil contempt.
Civil litigation:
— Baxter, Baxter, and Paris v. Scientology, alleging labor trafficking: Complaint filed April 28 in Tampa federal court, Scientology moving to compel arbitration.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Selection of arbitrators underway. Next court hearing: February 2, 2023.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Stay in place, next status hearing October 25.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Third amended complaint filed, trial set for December 6.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: New trial ordered after appeals court overturned prior ruling.
— Chiropractors Steve Peyroux and Brent Detelich, stem cell fraud: Lawsuit filed by the FTC and state of Georgia in August, now in discovery phase.
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THE PROSECUTION OF DANNY MASTERSON
We first broke the news of the LAPD’s investigation of Scientology celebrity Danny Masterson on rape allegations in 2017, and we’ve been covering the story every step of the way since then. At this page we’ve collected our most important links, including our four days in Los Angeles covering the preliminary hearing and its ruling, which has Danny facing trial and the potential sentence of 45 years to life in prison.
After the success of their double-Emmy-winning, three-season A&E series ‘Scientology and the Aftermath,’ Leah Remini and Mike Rinder continue the conversation on their podcast, ‘Scientology: Fair Game.’ We’ve created a landing page where you can hear all of the episodes so far.
LEAH REMINI: SCIENTOLOGY AND THE AFTERMATH
An episode-by-episode guide to Leah Remini’s three-season, double-Emmy winning series that changed everything for Scientology watching. Originally aired from 2016 to 2019 on the A&E network, and now on Netflix.
SCIENTOLOGY’S CELEBRITIES, from A to Z
Find your favorite Hubbardite celeb at this index page — or suggest someone to add to the list!
Other links: SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks. Scientology’s Ideal Orgs, from one end of the planet to the other. 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 a weekly series. How many have you read?
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THE WHOLE TRACK
[ONE year ago] This is your brain on Scientology: Watch woman express euphoria after brutal interrogation
[TWO years ago] Paulette Cooper tells us she’s been interviewed for Leah Remini’s new Scientology podcast
[THREE years ago] Miss New York organization changes course, ditches Scientology front group
[FOUR years ago] Is this case of Scientology draining a senior of his savings the one police are looking for?
[FIVE years ago] Our man in Ireland ponders Scientology’s big plans for the Emerald Isle
[SIX years ago] Joey Chait’s sentencing memo: Abused in Scientology’s Sea Org and in fear of wealthy dad
[SEVEN years ago] Do Scientologists consider L. Ron Hubbard God? Part Two of the Aaron Smith-Levin podcast
[EIGHT years ago] Ryan Hamilton files his 18th lawsuit against Scientology’s embattled drug rehab network
[NINE years ago] LEAH REMINI’S SISTER NICOLE: How We Got Into Scientology, And How Leah Got Out
[TEN years ago] Scientology and Forced Abortion: Laura DeCrescenzo’s Three-Year Legal Odyssey
[ELEVEN years ago] Janet Reitman: Unflappable as Scientologists Question Her Motives
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Bernie Headley (1952-2019) did not see his daughter Stephanie in his final 5,667 days.
Valerie Haney has not seen her mother Lynne in 2,729 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,234 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,784 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,774 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,665 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,970 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,840 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,614 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 1,945 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,418 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,734 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,300 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,219 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,387 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,967 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,229 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,265 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,980 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,505 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 860 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 2,035 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,586 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,735 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 4,055 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,910 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 4,029 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,385 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,688 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,794 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,192 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 3,068 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,651 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,146 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,400 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,509 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on July 18, 2022 at 07:00
E-mail tips to tonyo94 AT gmail DOT com or follow us on Twitter. We also post updates at our Facebook author page. After every new story we send out an alert to our e-mail list and our FB page.
Our new book with Paulette Cooper, Battlefield Scientology: Exposing L. Ron Hubbard’s dangerous ‘religion’ is now on sale at Amazon in paperback and Kindle formats. Our book about Paulette, The Unbreakable Miss Lovely: How the Church of Scientology tried to destroy Paulette Cooper, is on sale at Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and audiobook versions. We’ve posted photographs of Paulette and scenes from her life at a separate location. Reader Sookie put together a complete index. More information can also be found at the book’s dedicated page.
The Best of the Underground Bunker, 1995-2021 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2021), The Village Voice (2008-2012), New Times Los Angeles (1999-2002) and the Phoenix New Times (1995-1999)
Other links: BLOGGING DIANETICS: Reading Scientology’s founding text cover to cover | UP THE BRIDGE: Claire Headley and Bruce Hines train us as Scientologists | GETTING OUR ETHICS IN: Jefferson Hawkins explains Scientology’s system of justice | SCIENTOLOGY MYTHBUSTING: Historian Jon Atack discusses key Scientology concepts | Shelly Miscavige, 15 years gone | The Lisa McPherson story told in real time | The Cathriona White stories | The Leah Remini ‘Knowledge Reports’ | Hear audio of a Scientology excommunication | Scientology’s little day care of horrors | Whatever happened to Steve Fishman? | Felony charges for Scientology’s drug rehab scam | Why Scientology digs bomb-proof vaults in the desert | PZ Myers reads L. Ron Hubbard’s “A History of Man” | Scientology’s Master Spies | The mystery of the richest Scientologist and his wayward sons | Scientology’s shocking mistreatment of the mentally ill | The Underground Bunker’s Official Theme Song | The Underground Bunker FAQ
Watch our short videos that explain Scientology’s controversies in three minutes or less…
Check your whale level at our dedicated page for status updates, or join us at the Underground Bunker’s Facebook discussion group for more frivolity.
Our non-Scientology stories: Robert Burnham Jr., the man who inscribed the universe | Notorious alt-right inspiration Kevin MacDonald and his theories about Jewish DNA | The selling of the “Phoenix Lights” | Astronomer Harlow Shapley‘s FBI file | Sex, spies, and local TV news | Battling Babe-Hounds: Ross Jeffries v. R. Don Steele
Tony Ortega at The Daily Beast
