Portlanders, did you receive Scientology’s love letter?

 
We noted in a previous story that a remark on social media indicated Scientology was making a big play in Portland.

Seeing in this summer’s unrest an opportunity, Scientology decided to mail a copy of L. Ron Hubbard’s 1980 pamphlet, The Way to Happiness, to everyone in the city.

Did you receive a copy?

We were sent a photo of one such package that a reader found in the mail….

 
Here’s what the letter says:

Dear fellow Portlander,

This copy of The Way to Happiness is a gift to you and your family from The Way to Happiness, Portland Chapter. The intention is to help us all cope with these trying times for Portland and for our country.

We all share the desire for safe communities to live in, work in and to raise our children in. The message of The Way to Happiness is simple yet powerful. It instills common-sense values that are the foundation of our culture.

Our purpose with this gift to you and to many other Portlanders is to see our city and our community be happier and focused on what makes Portland a city we all love: a city where its people are important, where good relationships amongst people are what matters and where people treat each other with decency and dignity.

We can live together with peace and understanding in our beloved Portland.

The Way to Happiness may be the first nonreligious moral code based wholly on common sense. It has been translated into 117 languages and 120 million copies have been passed out around the world.

We hope that you find the universal precepts of The Way to Happiness helpful to you and your friends and family.

It was sent to you because your survival is important to us.

That last line is worded so strangely, and if you didn’t know that “survival” is an important concept in Dianetics, Scientology’s ur-text, you might find it a creepy final line.

Sort of like, “Nice life you have there in Portland. Shame if anything happened to it.”

The letter is signed by some The Way to Happiness shills and local chiropractors and such.

The first name listed is Jerry Perez de Tagle, who features in Scientology promotional videos that boast about duping police in the Philippines to sit through The Way to Happiness seminars…

 
Nowhere on the pamphlet or in the letter or anywhere else in the package can you find the word “Scientology.” Only that the author is L. Ron Hubbard.

We’ll remind our newer readers what we’ve said in the past about why the church suddenly came up with The Way to Happiness when it did, in 1980, and why it hands them out today…

In 1980, Scientology was in big trouble. A 1977 FBI raid had resulted in 11 top Scientology officials being convicted of conspiracy as documents and testimony proved that the church had engaged in a years-long infiltration of the US and other governments, and had broken into sensitive offices and stole documents by the yard.

News of the raid and the subsequent prosecutions had put Scientology on front pages for a couple of years, founder L. Ron Hubbard had been named an unindicted co-conspirator, and his wife was filing appeals in order to delay going to prison.

Scientology had a major public relations problem which was compounded by the fact that few people knew what Scientology was or what Scientologists believed. To address that issue, Hubbard that year put out a slim volume called “The Way to Happiness,” a collection of anodyne moral precepts stolen from other religious traditions.

For example, the golden rule (Do unto others…) became Precept 19: “Try Not To Do Things To Others That You Would Not Like Them to Do To You.”

And “Thou Shall Not Kill” became Precept 8: “Do Not Murder.”

Scientology was actually an expensive system of past-life therapy intended to restore godlike powers to beings who had lived for 76 trillion years, but Scientologists are trained not to say a word about that. Instead, they hand out copies of “The Way to Happiness” pamphlet and pretend that its familiar-sounding slogans have something to do with Scientology’s actual practices and aims. (It doesn’t.) They’ve been handing them out in countless numbers in the forty years since.

No doubt, when things get back to normal and Scientology starts having events again, church leader David Miscavige will be boasting about the newest “crusade” in Portland, where Scientology made such an important stand in its history.

 
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Where’s Leigh?

On Tuesday we marveled at the performance that Scientology’s rising anti-vaxx anti-mask star, attorney Leigh Dundas, put on at the US Capitol riot on January 6.

Leigh has always been a pretty rabid speaker, and we’ve featured her remarkable rants at public meetings in Orange County, where she’s led a crusade against Covid protocols.

But she outdid herself at the Capitol, where she showed that she can also be a QAnon lightning rod.

“Traitor, traitor, traitor!” she screeched at the Capitol police in one video. And the day before, she had told a crowd, “We would be well within our rights to take any alleged American who acted in a turncoat fashion and sold us out and committed treason, we would be well within our rights and take them out back and shoot them or hang them.”

Well, yesterday, without identifying Leigh as a Scientologist attorney fronting a sneaky Scientology front group that agitates against vaccinations, the Washington Post revealed that it had talked to an estranged friend who had turned Leigh in to the FBI.

Dundas’s former friend said she initially felt some hesitation about contacting the FBI. But Dundas’s words erased “all of the great things we did together and the wonderful things she did for me,” she said. “What she said about killing people…she was talking about me.”

We noticed that Leigh had stopped posting to her Facebook page on January 7, the day after the riot. And now we can’t see her Facebook page at all. (We may be blocked.)

And otherwise, we haven’t seen anything from her at all in recent days. (A video uploaded to YouTube on Thursday showing Leigh speaking at a rally, which popped up in the comments section here at the Bunker, was actually shot in December.)

We also communicated with the former friend who tipped off the FBI, and they agreed that Leigh appears to be lying low.

If you happen to see her pop up online, please let us know.

Source Code

“This is what? [Audience: 17th.] The what? [17th.] Of what month? [January.] 17th of January. What year? [AD 12.] AD 12. And where are we? [Saint Hill.] Huh? [Saint Hill.] Yeah, I know, but what planet? [Earth.] Earth. OK. Thank you very much. All right. Thank you very much for orienting me. I’ve been flying about here and haven’t had much time to look up.” — L. Ron Hubbard, January 17, 1962

 
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Avast, Ye Mateys

“The ship is doing much better and starting to pull up its socks. Therefore the general condition is raised to EMERGENCY…When the ship was injured against the dock it is interesting that the 1st Mate had been goofed up in Qual previously. These names are then associated with the decline of the ship condition by being in charge of the areas: DIANE McDONALD, OTTO ROOS, PHIL QUIRINO, NATE JESSUP, BILL HOWEY, through to greater or lesser degree neglect of duty…When we didn’t push the real targets, the ship wound up on my plate and the crew got caught in the resulting storm. Certain VITAL actions had to be COMPLETED before we could operate or sail. Lots of small actions were done but the big ones got no heavy push and so left us actually inoperational. We are now doing much better and the new mate line up is functioning very well especially with 2nd Deputy Captain Eltringham on the job!” — The Commodore (1969)

 
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Overheard in the FreeZone

“Anyone who knows me knows I’m a rebel; no one tells me what to do. Not even L Ron Hubbard. But I’m smart enough to know who winners are and who losers are. I know that I applied LRH Management tech inside Scientology Organizations and then outside Scientology Orgs and it always worked better than anything else I read or tried. Why re-invent the wheel? The wheel is already there and abundantly available. So when I find someone telling me to ‘look elsewhere’ or ‘try other things,’ I know this person is a loser because this person never applied the tech like we did to boom Scientology, like we did. Yes, in the wrong hands, Scientology Management and the Sea Org can become suppressive/oppressive groups in themselves. But like anything that is run by suppressives it itself becomes suppressive. Just like in the hands of psychotics, assault weapons can kill a lot of people, but in the hands of sane people, they do not kill. We can boom Scientology again. It is very easy and I am willing to help anyone who wants to see Scientology grow.”

Past is Prologue

2001: The Marin Independent Journal reported that a California court has found Gerry Armstrong in contempt for speaking out against Scientology. “Marin Superior Court Judge Vernon Smith ruled that Armstrong, a former Scientology archivist, violated an earlier settlement agreement that he stop criticizing the church and discussing the experiences he had within the organization. Smith also issued an arrest warrant for Armstrong, who did not attend yesterday’s court hearing. Reached at his home in British Columbia, Armstrong said he intentionally stayed away from court for fear he would be thrown in jail. Armstrong said he also has no intention of curbing his criticism, which most often takes the form of writings he posts in Internet discussion groups. ‘This is about freedom of speech, freedom of religion, freedom of assembly, the whole gamut. I will fight this to the ends of the Earth.'”

 
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Random Howdy

“From what I’ve seen and read, status is very competitive and important in public Scientology. Except, instead of cars and homes and jewelry it’s Monty Python Roman titles, bowling trophies and dime store certificates.”

 
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker

Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Masterson’s demurrer denied Oct 19, arraignment delayed to Jan 20.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay’s sentencing delayed to March 2.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Trial scheduled for May 20 in Los Angeles

Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Oral arguments were heard on July 30 at the Eleventh Circuit
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Petition for writ of mandate denied Oct 22 by Cal 2nd Appellate District. Petition for review by state supreme court denied Dec 11.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Dec 30, Judge Kleifield granted Scientology’s motions to compel arbitration; Jan 29, Masterson’s request to stay discovery pending the criminal case
— Matt and Kathy Feschbach tax debt: Eleventh Circuit ruled on Sept 9 that Feshbachs can’t discharge IRS debt in bankruptcy. Dec 17: Feshbachs sign court judgment obliging them to pay entire $3.674 million tax debt, plus interest from Nov 19.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Second amended complaint filed, trial set for Nov 9, 2021.

Concluded litigation:
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs.
— Dennis Nobbe, Medicare fraud, PPP loan fraud: Charged July 29. Bond revoked Sep 14. Nobbe dead, Sep 14.
— Jane Doe v. Scientology (in Miami): Jane Doe dismissed the lawsuit on May 15 after the Clearwater Police dropped their criminal investigation of her allegations.

 
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SCIENTOLOGY BLACK OPS: Tom Cruise and dirty tricks

The Australian Seven News network cancelled a 10-part investigation of Scientology and its history of dirty tricks. Read the transcripts of the episodes and judge for yourself why Tom Cruise and Tommy Davis might not have wanted viewers to see this hard-hitting series by journalist Bryan Seymour.

SCIENTOLOGY: FAIR GAME

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’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] VALERIE HANEY’S OPPOSITION TO ARBITRATION: A strong no to Scientology’s legal gambit
[TWO years ago] Danny Masterson’s attorneys pounce on A&E’s plans for resurrecting an ‘Aftermath’ episode
[THREE years ago] The new Freedom magazine is here, and Scientology has never looked better!
[FOUR years ago] Tonight on ‘Leah Remini’: L. Ron Hubbard’s stolen valor, and Leah’s tearful goodbye
[FIVE years ago] How Scientology hooks public officials on its addictive anti-drug front
[SIX years ago] L. Ron Hubbard fisticuffs! Scientology secrets unearthed in a new government disclosure
[SEVEN years ago] ‘The Factors’: Another video the Church of Scientology would rather you not watch
[EIGHT years ago] Lawrence Wright’s Going Clear: We Don’t Think Scientology Is Going to Like This Book Much
[NINE years ago] Scientology’s Infinite Pit and Water Wall — More Crazy Rooms in the Super Power Building!

 
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Posted by Tony Ortega on January 17, 2021 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, 1995-2020 Just starting out here? We’ve picked out the most important stories we’ve covered here at the Underground Bunker (2012-2020), 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