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Greek church calls BS on Scientology: Why doesn’t this happen more often?

 TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Historian Chris Owen has been writing about #Scientology in places like Greece for us for years, so when we saw that the Greek church had put out a statement denouncing Hubbardism, we knew Chris []

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More letters — from Ethan Suplee and others — on behalf of Danny Masterson to Judge Olmedo

 TODAY AT SUBSTACK: If you’ve signed up for free emails at Substack, you will receive today’s feature story at your inbox: Last week we created a firestorm when we published letters by Ashton Kutcher & Mila Kunis asking for leniency for Danny Masterson. We said then that there were more letters that were difficult to []

‘Harass and discourage’: The role of lawyers and journalists in Scientology’s attack plans

[Vanity Fair reporter John Connolly, right]

In the third and final part of a deep dive by historian Chris Owen into Scientology’s machinery for attacking its critics and gaining influence, we’ll look at the role of lawyers and the Office of Special Affairs in litigation and lobbying. See part one here and part two []

‘Ruin them utterly’: how PIs and volunteer members work against Scientology’s enemies

[Former Scientology private investigator Cierra Westerman]

In this second part of a three-part deep dive by historian Chris Owen into the inner workings of Scientology’s harassment operations, we’ll take a look at how the church uses private investigators and volunteers to investigate and harass critics. See part one []

‘Only the ruthless can own it’: behind the scenes of Scientology’s dirty tricks operations

[David Miscavige and, farthest to the left, Marty Rathbun, back in the day]

This is the first of a three-part series by historian Chris Owen taking a deep dive into the mechanisms and structures by which Scientology carries out harassment, surveillance, litigation and influence operations to suppress its perceived enemies and gain influence worldwide. In this []

For Memorial Day: Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s farcical first command

 It’s Memorial Day here in the US, and once again we’re happy to post an excerpt from Chris Owen’s excellent book Ron the War Hero to commemorate L. Ron Hubbard’s war service. Make sure to pick up a copy of the book if you haven’t []

The spy who never was? L. Ron Hubbard and ‘Maj. Ian Macbean of the British Secret Service’

The South China Morning Post has published a lengthy piece by Paul French on L. Ron Hubbard’s trips to Asia as a teenager in the late 1920s. While much about this time in Hubbard’s life is already known and recapitulated in the article, it does a good job of highlighting one of the more mysterious []

The subchaser that never was: L. Ron Hubbard’s farcical first command

 It’s Memorial Day here in the US, and once again we’ve asked Chris Owen for an excerpt from his excellent book Ron the War Hero to commemorate L. Ron Hubbard’s war service. Make sure to pick up a copy of the book if you haven’t []

War in Ukraine: What does it mean for Scientology there and in Russia?

 Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine has had drastic consequences for millions of people, most obviously the ten million Ukrainians who are now refugees. The Russian people also face imminent hardship as Western sanctions take effect. Scientology’s Volunteer Ministers have already ‘mobilised’ in Ukraine’s westerly neighbour to aid (or exploit) the wave of refugees fleeing the []

Why does Scientology lie about founder L. Ron Hubbard’s supposed war wounds?

 Veterans Day 2021 showed once again that Scientology spokespeople continue to lie about L. Ron Hubbard’s questionable war record. As the Bunker reported on November 30, Clearwater Scientology spokesperson Pat Harney put out a press release to mark Scientology’s involvement in a Veterans Day event in Clearwater. She claimed that Hubbard – a US Navy []