We still find people, even very well educated ones, who are caught by surprise when they see Scientology in action. We’re talking about Scientology’s aggressive moves in court cases, and the way it can besiege an educational institution or news organization with threats of litigation.
Yes, even today, Scientology is scaring the crap out of people who ought, by now, to know how David Miscavige’s organization works.
We have a couple of recent examples in mind, not the least of which was the utterly bizarre way that Scientology’s attorneys recently showed up at a hearing in a criminal rape case demanding to be heard about how Scientology had been portrayed in it.
It was lunacy, and yet, if you understand where Scientology is coming from, it’s entirely consistent.
To help make this point, we have once again dived into the original works of Scientology’s founder, the colorful and bombastic L. Ron Hubbard, and found one of those ur-documents that helps explain everything that Scientology does, even today.
Some of these lines will no doubt be familiar to you. For decades authors like Russell Miller and Lawrence Wright and even your proprietor have quoted them. But it’s rare to see the entire document in one place, and it’s so lengthy we’re only going to quote part of it. But it’s all one section taken from what Hubbard put out in 1955, explaining to his followers how they should be interacting with the general public.
And that date is important because remember, it was in late 1953 that Hubbard decided to turn his poorly performing “Modern Science of Mental Health” to the “religion angle” and, that December, formed the first Church of Scientology corporation in Camden, New Jersey.
The first actual church opened in Los Angeles in February 1954, and the “founding church” in DC was opened in summer 1955. Around that time, Hubbard put out this lengthy manual for his followers. Just a couple of years before, Hubbard had been openly mocking Christianity in his lectures. But now that it’s a “church,” note how Hubbard instructs Scientologists to deliberately mislead outsiders that they were “men of God” and believed in the “power of Jesus Christ.”
But most of all, absorb how much the deception that Hubbard advocated included the cynical use of the courts.
The next time you see Scientology do something inexplicable in court, like come to the rescue of an alleged serial rapist because Scientology itself had been criticized in his prosecution, keep this document in mind. (And note, although the membership organization of Scientology is known as the IAS, at this time it was a previous body known as HASI – Hubbard Association of Scientologists International.)
The actual substance of communication about what Scientology is, from the general public to the general public, should be that Scientology says that good health and immortality are attainable. That it is something compounded out of all man knows of the subject of man, and that people are living units operating bodies, rather than bodies, and that this living unit is the human soul. Given this much communication line, the general public can embroider enormously, and unless a person in the general public can express his opinions, and unless the subject gives him a chance to express his own opinions, and so let HIM be interestING, he will not talk about the subject.
Thus the data in the general public should give individuals a chance to be interesting, by knowing no more and no less than the above. We are not interested in sensationalism, personalities, or the complexity of Scientological methodology being discussed by the general public. As a subdivision of this, we do not want Scientology to be reported in the press, anywhere else than on the religious page of newspapers. It is destructive of word of mouth to permit the public presses to express their biassed and badly reported sensationalism.
Therefore we should be very alert to sue for slander at the slightest chance so as to discourage the public presses from mentioning Scientology. What the newspapers say is not word of mouth. As an example of this, how many minutes today have you spent in discussing current events? NEWSPAPER REPORTERS WRITING ARTICLES ON SCIENTOLOGY DO NOT EXPRESS SCIENTOLOGY. Scientologists should never let themselves be interviewed by the press. That’s experience talking!
As a subdivision of general public to general public we have the problem of the professions which might consider Scientology to be antipathetic to them, amongst these would be psychologists and medical doctors as well as psychiatrists. These persons are entirely in error when they express the opinion that Scientologists are against them. Scientology does not consider them sufficiently important to be against. Flour-pills or any incantation or system will produce in 22 percent of the public, benefit. Therefore, any practice or art can always achieve 22 percent recovery in their patients. It is when we better then 22 percent that we are being efficient. We have no more quarrel with a psychologist than we would have with an Australian witch-doctor.
We have no quarrel with a psychiatrist any more than we should quarrel with a barbarian because he had never heard of nuclear physics. And as for the medical doctor, we know very well that modern medical practice, having lately outgrown phlebotomy, has come of age to a point where it can regulate structure in a most remarkable and admirable way. In Scientology we believe a medical doctor definitely has his role in a society just as an engineer has his role in civil government. We believe that a medical doctor should perform emergency operations such as those made necessary by accidents; that he should perform orthopaedics; that he should deliver babies; that he should have charge of the administration of drugs; that his use of antibiotics is beneficial; and that where he immediately and curatively addresses structure he is of use in a community. The only place we would limit a medical doctor is in the field of treatment of psychosomatic medicine, where he has admittedly and continuously failed, and the only thing we would ask a medical doctor to change about his practice is to stop taking money for things he knows he cannot cure, i.e., spiritual, mental, psychosomatic, and social ills.
With regard to psychologists, medical doctors, and psychiatrists, then, what would one say in talking with them? But again we have section 10 of the Code of the Scientologist. You wouldn’t expect this psychologist, or psychiatrist, or medical doctor to get into an argument with you on how to get rats to find their way through mazes, how you would set a tibia, or what voltage you would put on an electric shock machine. Therefore, and equally, do not permit yourself to be put in the situation where you are discussing privately or in public, the methodologies of your wisdom. The attitude of a Scientologist toward people in these professions should be: “I have my techniques. It took me a long time to learn them just as it took you a long time to learn yours, and I am not going to try to make a minister out of you, and you are not going to try to make a medical doctor (psychiatrist, psychologist) out of me. I am an expert instructor only where it is intimately involved with the human spirit. I can produce my effects. You can produce yours. In view of the fact that you do not pretend to operate in the field of the human spirit, and I do not pretend to operate in the field of structure, I do not see how there can be any discussion. But things that I can’t handle in structure when called upon I will be very happy to refer to you, and I shall expect that when matters of the spirit come into question you will have enough understanding of life, where we are all specialists, to refer them to me.” A quiet explanation of this character will do a great deal to place you as a professional man in their realm of understanding of professional men.
Should anyone challenge you for having suddenly secured a relief in a hospital or an institution from some dire malady which balked the efforts of the professional men in charge of it, and should you ever be “called upon the carpet” for having “interfered” with the progress of a case, you should be extremely dismayed, and act it, to find yourself in the presence of barbarians who do not believe in the power of prayer, in the will of God, or the promises of Jesus Christ. And you should point out that, whereas the body was in their keeping, they did not at any time care to take purview of the human soul. And if anything has occurred because of the soul, in your province, then reacted upon the body, you believe that they are unwilling to admit the will of God in their treatment of human beings, and if this is the case you now, while you are being addressed by such people, discover yourself to be in a strange place where men pretending to be Christians doubt God, the Son of God, and the power of prayer. Your entire address to such people, in such a situation, publicly or privately, should be entirely overt, accusative, and not at any time apologetic. And you should immediately make it your business to place this matter before the proper authorities, that people are in charge of an institution here, are not Christians, and do not believe in God, and you should inform your accusers that you are going to do so.
AdvertisementShould you ever be arrested for practicing Scientology, treating people, make very sure, long before the time comes, that you have never used drugs or surgery, and that you have never prescribed a diet, or vitamins, and when that time might come, make very sure that you immediately and instantly, within two or three hours after your receipt of the warrant, have served upon the signer of that warrant, a personal civil suit for $100,000.00 damages for having caused the arrest of a Man of God going about his business in his proper profession, and for having brought about embarrassing publicity and molestation. Place the suit and WIRE THE HASI IMMEDIATELY. Make the whole interest during the entire time of such an unfortunate occurrence the fact that the signer of such a warrant, who would ordinarily be a medical doctor in charge of the medical department of some city, had dared fly in the teeth of religion. And use what is necessary of the earlier passage above to drive the point home. DO NOT simply fall back out of communication if you are attacked, but attack, much more forcefully, and artfully and arduously. And if you are foolish enough to have an attorney who tells you not to sue, immediately dismiss him and get an attorney who will sue. Or, if no attorney will sue, simply have an HASI suit form filled out and present it yourself to the county clerk in the court of the area in which your case has come up.
IN ALL SUCH CASES OF ARREST FOR THE PRACTICE OF SCIENTOLOGY, THE HASI WILL SEND A REPRESENTATIVE AT ONCE, BUT DO NOT WAIT FOR HIS ARRIVAL TO PLACE THIS SUIT. THE SUIT MUST ALREADY HAVE BEEN FILED WHEN THE HASI ATTORNEY ARRIVES.
In other words, do not, at any moment leave this act unpunished for, if you do you are harming all other Scientologists in the area. When you are attacked it is your responsibility then to secure from further attack not only yourself but all those who work with you. Cause blue flame to dance on the court house roof until everybody has apologized profusely for having dared to become so adventurous as to arrest a Scientologist who, as a minister of the church, was going about his regular duties. As far as the advices of attorneys go that you should not sue, that you should not attack; be aware of the fact that I, myself, in Wichita, Kansas, had the rather interesting experience of discovering that my attorney employed by me and paid by me, had been for some three months in the employ of the people who were attacking me, and that this attorney had collected some insignificant sum of money after I hired him, by going over to the enemy and acting upon their advices. This actually occurred, so beware of attorneys who tell you not to sue. And I call to your attention the situation of any besieged fortress. If that fortress does not make sallies, does not send forth patrols to attack and harass, and does not utilize itself to make the besieging of it a highly dangerous occupation, that fortress may, and most often does, fall.
The DEFENSE of anything is UNTENABLE. The only way to defend anything is to ATTACK, and if you ever forget that, then you will lose every battle you are ever engaged it, whether it is in terms of personal conversation, public debate, or a court of law. NEVER BE INTERESTED IN CHARGES. DO, yourself, much MORE CHARGING, and you will WIN. And the public, seeing that you won, will then have a communication line to the effect that Scientologists WIN. Don’t ever let them have any other thought than that Scientology takes all of its objectives.
Another point directly in the interest of keeping the general public to the general public communication line in good order: it is vitally important that a Scientologist put into action and overtly keep in action Article 4 of the Code: “I pledge myself to punish to the fullest extent of my power anyone misusing or degrading Scientology to harmful ends.” The only way you can guarantee that Scientology will not be degraded or misused is to make sure that only those who are trained in it practice it. If you find somebody practicing Scientology who is not qualified, you should give them an opportunity to be formally trained, at their expense, so that they will not abuse and degrade the subject. And you would not take as any substitute for formal training any amount of study.
You would therefore delegate to members of the HASI who are not otherwise certified only those processes mentioned below, and would discourage them from using any other processes. More particularly, of you discovered that some group calling itself “precept processing” had set up and established a series of meetings in your area, that you would do all you could to make things interesting for them. In view of the fact that the HASI holds the copyrights for all such material, and that a scientific organization of material can be copyrighted and is therefore owned, the least that could be done to such an area is the placement of a suit against them for using materials of Scientology without authority. Only a member of the HASI or a member of one of the churches affiliated with the HASI has the authority to use this information. The purpose of the suit is to harass and discourage rather than to win.
The law can be used very easily to harass, and enough harassment on somebody who is simply on the thin edge anyway, well knowing that he is not authorized, will generally be sufficient to cause his professional decease. If possible, of course, ruin him utterly.
— L. Ron Hubbard, 1955
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Derek Lambert and Karen de la Carriere
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“I might as well tell you why the foundation at 211 West Douglas just went out of the processing business entirely and is teaching as few students as possible and at this late date is going into research. I’m not quite sure what they’re going to research, but they’re just going into research and so I, this leaves as official entities in the field the HDAs in the field, the affiliates, that is to say the college associates, a professional school in Wichita, and whatever unit is here as far as the lineups are concerned, and of course this foundation. OK? This by the way is a big load off my mind because I’ve been wondering which way those people were going to jump, and sometimes suicides jump the wrong way. And all they seem to have gotten me for so far is to tell the income tax people that I’m vastly out of order on my income tax, so the income tax people are coming down. Do we have anybody around town who’s awfully good on income tax? Well, they wouldn’t let me look at any of the ’51 books, so I don’t know what income they’ve got written down. And they wiped out all my income just before income tax time, so I don’t know, I mean, I wrote the collector of internal revenue about a year ago and I said, ‘God, I’m confused.’ And he never replied, so I guess he is too….What do you know? Well we’ve got to make a couple of theta clears quick and wreck these income tax people right quick.” — L. Ron Hubbard, March 11, 1952
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“MATA HARI: LISA O’KRACKEL, ‘the Mata Hari of our times,’ came aboard as the wife of Bill O’Krackel, made trouble, blew, was seen ashore hanging around for a week in Corfu, got $1,600 from her mother and left the area. Turns out she was married before to a Greek in Greece, was not divorced before she ‘married’ Bill. In the meantime she worked as a ‘pros’ in Las Vegas. She has six aliases (different names) and possibly 3 passports, one in her maiden name, one as the Greek’s wife and one as Bill’s ‘wife.’ We guess that Bill found out about her former marriage and no divorce and possibly that’s why she blew. We don’t know that she was here for info but for sure some wild left wing characters in the press are trying to talk about a disappeared ‘girl’ and had the crust to ask the Deputy Prime Minister of Greece about the ‘disappeared girl’ and ‘that ship in Corfu.’ The DPM said our ship was OK and he’d ‘look into the girl matter.’ Well, we’re also looking into it. We mean her no harm. But her blow is causing Dev T. Looks like another ‘Linda Smith’ plant.” — The Commodore, March 11, 1969
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“Our eyes gather perception stereoscopically with very limited sensors that only map three colours out of millions. When people first go exterior they use their BTs to translate their limited perception into something similar to what eyes see. That gets mixed up with lots of facsimiles. Theta perception is very different from what eyes see. Theta beings in a higher state of awareness do not look AT things. They surround and permeate. Light is actually somewhat of a distraction.”
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1999: Karin Spaink reported on a court hearing in a case where Scientology hopes to remove all upper level materials from Dutch web sites. “In December 1995 Scientology started a court case against XS4all, DDS, Cistron, Dataweb and me. Scientology demand that we took down all OT-parts that were included in the Fishman Affidavit. Two days before the hearing was due, CoS dropped the case. In February 1996, Scientology started new summary proceedings. This time, they sued some sixteen ISPs plus me, and the copyright infringement claim was narrowed down to Ability, OT2 and OT3. Upon receiving the notary comparison of their and my text, I immediately adjusted my homepage and replaced Ability, OT2 and OT3 with summaries, comments and quotes. Scientology started a full fledged case against the same defenders. Three judges: two men, one woman. One of the judges is a renowned copyright expert. Hermans, RTC/CST’s lawyer, is the first to speak. His plea takes some forty-five minutes. RTC was met with distrust, did all they could to please us, we were stubborn, RTC is an underdog and deserves the court’s sympathy, and all ISPs have been acting in concert with me. There are two remarkable points in his speech, one of them absolutely sig-worthy: ‘The possibly criminal nature of plaintiffs does not imply that they have no rights’. The other point is where Hermans starts quoting from Zenon’s postings to a.r.s. Hermans took some of Zenon’s more angry postings in which Zenon talks about bleeding CoS’s money while ridiculing them. Hermans then went on to ascribe Zenon’s allegedly vile motives to me, adding that Zenon and I ‘are good friends’.”
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“You people’s humanity is rubbing off on me and it’s making me unstable.”
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Full Court Press: What we’re watching at the Underground Bunker
Criminal prosecutions:
— Danny Masterson charged for raping three women: Next pretrial conference May 31. Trial scheduled for August 29.
— Jay and Jeff Spina, Medicare fraud: Jay sentenced to 9 years in prison. Jeff’s sentencing to be scheduled.
— Hanan and Rizza Islam and other family members, Medi-Cal fraud: Pretrial conference March 25 in Los Angeles
— David Gentile, GPB Capital, fraud: Next pretrial conference set for April 8.
— Joseph ‘Ben’ Barton, Medicare fraud: Pleaded guilty, awaiting sentencing.
— Yanti Mike Greene, Scientology private eye accused of contempt of court: Hearing held on February 15, awaiting ruling.
Civil litigation:
— Luis and Rocio Garcia v. Scientology: Eleventh Circuit affirmed ruling granting Scientology’s motion for arbitration. Garcias considering next move.
— Valerie Haney v. Scientology: Forced to ‘religious arbitration.’ Valerie asks for March 15 hearing on motion for reconsideration.
— Chrissie Bixler et al. v. Scientology and Danny Masterson: Appellate court removes requirement of arbitration on January 19, case remanded back to Superior Court. Scientology has said it will file an anti-SLAPP motion.
— Brian Statler Sr v. City of Inglewood: Third amended complaint filed, trial set for June 28.
— Author Steve Cannane defamation trial: Trial concluded, Cannane victorious, awarded court costs. Appeal hearing held Aug 23-27. Awaiting a 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] New Scientology magazine boasts that David Miscavige is now a Florida fixture
[TWO years ago] What it’s like to discover your employer is pushing Scientology on his office
[THREE years ago] New government docs show Scientology trying to snow the Justice Dept after Snow White
[FOUR years ago] Scientology TV goes live tomorrow at 8 pm Eastern on app, DirecTV
[FIVE years ago] Source: Scientology made Danny Masterson’s Victim B search past lives to explain being raped
[SIX years ago] Belgian judge throws entire case against Scientology out of court on technicality
[SEVEN years ago] The ‘Going Clear’ screening in Austin, featuring Marty Rathbun and other familiar faces
[EIGHT years ago] Judge in Laura DeCrescenzo’s case retires, Scientology objects to his replacement
[NINE years ago] LEAKED: Scripts Spell Out How Scientology Directs the Unsuspecting to Its Rehab Network
[TEN years ago] Scientology Sunday Funnies: Countdown to LRH’s Birthday!
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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 2,600 days.
Katrina Reyes has not seen her mother Yelena in 3,105 days
Sylvia Wagner DeWall has not seen her brother Randy in 2,625 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his grandson Leo in 1,645 days.
Geoff Levin has not seen his son Collin and daughter Savannah in 1,536 days.
Christie Collbran has not seen her mother Liz King in 4,843 days.
Clarissa Adams has not seen her parents Walter and Irmin Huber in 2,711 days.
Carol Nyburg has not seen her daughter Nancy in 3,485 days.
Doug Kramer has not seen his parents Linda and Norm in 1,816 days.
Jamie Sorrentini Lugli has not seen her father Irving in 4,289 days.
Quailynn McDaniel has not seen her brother Sean in 3,605 days.
Dylan Gill has not seen his father Russell in 12,171 days.
Melissa Paris has not seen her father Jean-Francois in 8,090 days.
Valeska Paris has not seen her brother Raphael in 4,258 days.
Mirriam Francis has not seen her brother Ben in 3,839 days.
Claudio and Renata Lugli have not seen their son Flavio in 4,100 days.
Sara Goldberg has not seen her daughter Ashley in 3,136 days.
Lori Hodgson has not seen her son Jeremy and daughter Jessica in 2,851 days.
Marie Bilheimer has not seen her mother June in 2,376 days.
Julian Wain has not seen his brother Joseph or mother Susan in 731 days.
Charley Updegrove has not seen his son Toby in 1,906 days.
Joe Reaiche has not seen his daughter Alanna Masterson in 6,457 days
Derek Bloch has not seen his father Darren in 3,606 days.
Cindy Plahuta has not seen her daughter Kara in 3,926 days.
Roger Weller has not seen his daughter Alyssa in 8,781 days.
Claire Headley has not seen her mother Gen in 3,900 days.
Ramana Dienes-Browning has not seen her mother Jancis in 2,256 days.
Mike Rinder has not seen his son Benjamin and daughter Taryn in 6,559 days.
Brian Sheen has not seen his daughter Spring in 2,665 days.
Skip Young has not seen his daughters Megan and Alexis in 3,063 days.
Mary Kahn has not seen her son Sammy in 2,939 days.
Lois Reisdorf has not seen her son Craig in 2,522 days.
Phil and Willie Jones have not seen their son Mike and daughter Emily in 3,017 days.
Mary Jane Barry has not seen her daughter Samantha in 3,271 days.
Kate Bornstein has not seen her daughter Jessica in 14,380 days.
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Posted by Tony Ortega on March 11, 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
