Google Groups no longer supports new Usenet posts or subscriptions. Historical content remains viewable.

Dismiss

LAPD is not happy about The Way to Happiness Scam

20 views

Skip to first unread message

Cerridwen

unread,

Aug 21, 2005, 10:59:11 AM8/21/05

http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cityBeat/citybeat1.html

The Way To More Questions

Scientology affiliate The Way To Happiness of Glendale teaches honesty
in schools but, according to LAPD and others, utilizes dishonest
promotions

By Carl Kozlowski

If a high-ranking LAPD official can be believed, perhaps the
Scientology-affiliated The Way To Happiness should take a page from
its own teachings.

Two of the Glendale-based nonprofit organizationís 21 guides to
achieving happiness are ìBe Worthy of Trustî and ìSeek to Live the
Truth,î neither of which were followed apparently in the groupís
dealings with the LAPD and a city in Texas.

Officials with the group, which over the past two decades has
distributed booklets of the same name to millions of school children
across the country, all with the help of a variety of public officials
and corporate sponsors, say they have worked with hundreds of
organizations throughout Southern California and around the country in
efforts to promote clean living as a virtue worthy of emulating.

But according to LAPD Cmdr. Mike Downing, the Church of Scientology
forged his endorsement on The Way To Happiness Web site, prompting the
LAPD to disavow any endorsement of Scientology and The Way To
Happiness.

ìWe cannot endorse the Church of Scientology or any religion as the
LAPD, and we very specifically said they could not use the LAPD name
as it related to their book. They know they are clearly overstepping
their boundsî in linking to the LAPD as an organization that works
with The WayÝToÝHappinessÝFoundation (TWTH).

TWTH,ÝDowningÝtoldÝthe Pasadena Weekly, also apparently fraudulently
posted on the Web a letter of commendation from the LAPD that was not
signed by alleged writer Chief William Bratton, and also forged
Downingís approval by rubber-stamping his signature to the image on
the site, www.twth.org

But that isnít the only time TWTH, which has distributed booklets to
more than 12 million American schoolchildren in 12,600 public schools
since its inception in 1984, allegedly fabricated information to
promote its product.

In the case of the LAPD, the booklets were distributed by the
department, but only after TWTH representatives approached police
officials repeatedly and only succeeded in disseminating through the
Hollywood Division. Even then, when TWTH attempted to distribute the
booklets with the LAPDís name on them and depict a book-cover drawing
of a policeman wearing an LAPD badge, they were ordered by police to
remove the badge image and remove the departmentís name from the back
cover.

ìWe sent them back and said they could not distribute the literature
with the LAPD Hollywood Division on the text. Iíve seen the program
work, and I donít mind programs that try to raise the stature of
communities and clean them up, but we as the LAPD cannot endorse the
Church of Scientology,î said Downing. ìI did not authorize the letter
displayed on their site nor its display, and they used a stamped-font
signature instead of my actual one.î

In response, TWTH President Lance Miller, a high-level Scientologist,
denied any wrongdoing on the part of the foundation and said Downing
is, at best, mistaken.

ìThatís the first Iíve heard of it. Michael Downing has appeared at
events for us and spoken very highly of the work we do,î said Miller.
ìAs far as I know, the letter was generated and sent by him and I have
the original hanging on my wall here. It looks like a real signature
to me. But if itís a situation where we need to remove it, we
certainly want to comply.î

TheÝorganizationísÝsuccessÝat entering public schools with a guidebook
espousing ì21 Rules for Livingî is particularly noteworthy at a time
when displaying the Ten Commandments in schools, courthouses and other
public places remains a hot-button issue.

While TWTH states that the booklets are devoid of religious content or
any proselytizing for the Church of Scientology, the bookís rules
directly parallel the life rules displayed by the church at its L. Ron
Hubbard Life Exhibition in Hollywood.

However, TWTH downplays its ties to Scientology, which has long
battled charges that it is a cult, and does not note in booklets that
the author is Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard.

As reported in the Weekly on Aug. 4, the hugely popular Church of
Scientology, a religion embraced by such Hollywood luminaries as Tom
Cruise and John Travolta, has attracted widespread media attention,
primarily due to exposure by Cruise on national television in recent
months. In turn, that exposure prompted some disgruntled former
members to reopen some of the churchís lengthy history of lawsuits and
claims alleging fraud, threatening of the churchís critics, and the
fact that the heart of the churchís beliefs center around the claim
that every humanís stresses are in reality the result of the souls of
aliens, Thetans, attaching themselves to their bodies.

Church leaders have responded to some of these criticisms by softening
some of the organizationís more blatant recruitment tactics while
claiming the churchís more extreme aspects are aberrations of the
past.

According to ex-church member Tory Christman, who rose to the
second-highest level of membership during her 30 years as a
Scientologist, such questionable tactics are de rigeur for TWTH and
its affiliate program, Set A Good Example (SAGE), which encourages
community volunteerism by students and sponsors local essay contests
on that theme. ìItís fantastic when kids go out and do good in the
community as part of their Set A Good Example program, but they canít
say itís not part of Scientology,î said Christman. ìScientology is
designed to ëclearí planet Earthís citizens of their problems, so kids
are always going to be part of that approach.

ìThe church calls it ësafeguardingí when theyíre able to promote
positive attitudes about Scientology by doing things people like and
help people,îÝChristmanÝcontinued. ìThey should do good things but
itís bad that they use community leaders to promote and pay for the
books who often have no clue itís affiliated with Scientology.î

Controversy be damned, TWTH is growing, as Foundation President Miller
noted that the program had just this month been authorized for use in
all of Nevadaís public schools.

ìWe just put a million books into the South LA area through The Way To
Happiness Outdoors Club, which takes inner-city youths into the
mountains and shows them a world beyond their four-block radius,î said
Miller. ìWe work with over 600 different organizations, and the
programs are often more successful when run exterior to the school
system but still in conjunction.ÝWeÝrelyÝonÝcommunity membersí
donations to pay for it, not tax dollars, and the SAGE contest is
optional.î

The ability to distribute the booklet in so many schools has raised
questions in some areas from advocates of church-state separation as
well as coalitions of church and parental groups. For instance,
according to a June 27, 1990, article in the Los Angeles Times, a
Fresno school district official named Geoff Garratt led a successful
campaign to bar TWTH and its SAGE program due to church-state
separation concerns even after the program had successfully been
launched in a middle school in that city.

Yet Barbara Ayash, president of another Scientology-related group
called the Concerned Businessmen of America (CBA), still mentioned the
Fresno program as one of the SAGE success stories in an Aug. 15
interview with the Weekly. In addition, Ayashís granddaughter, Marylen
Ayash-Borgen of San Diego, faxed the Weekly office two statements that
she authored about purported TWTH and SAGE successes in Glendale and
Inglewood schools.

One statement claimed the city of Harlingen, Texas, attained a year
with ìZERO violent crimesî in 1998, three years after Harlingen became
the first city in America to offer the programs citywide in its public
schools.

The problem is that claim is a lie as well.

According to the May 24, 1999, newspaper article that Ayash-Borgen
refers to, which was faxed to the Weekly by a current staff member of
the Harlingen Valley Morning Star, violent crime and crimes against
property in that city had fallen by 13 percent in 1998. Yet the city
still experienced 54 violent crimes per 10,000 residents for an
approximate total of 324 violent crimes in the city of 60,000.
Additionally, police officials did not mention The Way To Happiness
program at all as one of the reasons for the crime drop.

ìI canít conceive that we would say any program alone was responsible
for dropping crime,î Juan I. Ramirez, public information officer for
the Harlingen police, said in a phone interview. ìBesides, thereís no
city on Earth without violent crime.î

But former Harlingen Mayor Connie de la Garza was receptive to trying
the program after he was approached by local dentist and Scientologist
Juan Villareal in the mid-1990s about what he described as ìa program
that can help young people make the right decisions.î

Rev. Charles Palmer, pastor of the Treasure Hills Presbyterian Church
in Harlingen, led a coalition of a dozen pastors from throughout the
city who sought to bar TWTH from the cityís schools. Yet despite their
combined strength, the protests were unsuccessful for an interesting
reason. ìWe wanted equal access of all churches, but it didnít seem to
deter anything because Dr.

Villareal became the school board president,î said Palmer. ìWe
ultimately didnít receive any feedback once the program was in
schools, but most people would say the materials would look good. Our
concern was because of who authored it initially and where it was
coming from.î The promise to keep Scientology tenets out of schools
was kept despite the fact that in 2002 Villareal settled a federal
lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging
he had forced his dental practice employees to take Scientology
courses or lose their jobs. ìAnytime you have a program trying that,
Iím for it regardless of religion, creed or code,î said de la Garza in
a phone interview. ìWhether you agree with Mr. Hubbardís philosophy or
not is immaterial. What I like is if you can touch a child and make
them a better adult. Thatís what we need to do.î

It was de la Garzaís recommendation in a letter to Inglewood Mayor
Roosevelt Dorn that inspired Dorn to welcome TWTH and SAGE programs
into his cityís public schools three years ago. Dorn noted that he was
aware of the programsí Scientology connection. Dorn said he also knew
that the program is paid for by donations rather than tax dollars, and
he believed that they sufficiently steered clear of proselytizing to
merit inclusion for the values they promoted. ìI am a minister in the
AME church, and those portions of the Church of Scientology that teach
individuals to uplift their lives and cause them to do better with
their lives, how can I argue against that?î said Dorn. ìThe Methodists
can develop a book like that, Baptists, Catholics, anyone who develops
that kind of book if itís good, the schools will say fine. But if itís
going to be promoting religion, thatís different and Iíd be against
it.î

Dornís opinion was largely echoed by Peter Eliasberg, the ACLU of
Southern Californiaís Manheim Family Attorney for First Amendment
Rights. Eliasberg noted that some of the issues that could grow out of
having TWTH in schools are tricky, but appear to have been carefully
navigated by the organization.

ìThe only way a school might be allowed to distribute religious
materials on campus from outside groups is if they allowed other
religions to come in. You can imagine it could get crazy, so a lot of
schools might not open themselves so broadly,î said Eliasberg.

ìWhatís tricky is that itís not obviously either here, a religion or
religious group. Iím concerned that they use a different name, and
parents and schools should be vigilant so that the lines shouldnít be
crossed,î Eliasberg said. ìIs this a way in the door to further
proselytizing? But if this is the equivalent to a school assembly on
tolerance, I canít say itís a bad thing to have general moral training
in schools.î

bubba gump

unread,

Aug 21, 2005, 12:05:41 PM8/21/05

GREAT ARTICLE!

barb

unread,

Aug 21, 2005, 12:11:41 PM8/21/05

Cerridwen wrote:

> http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cityBeat/citybeat1.html
>
>
> The Way To More Questions
>
> Scientology affiliate The Way To Happiness of Glendale teaches honesty
> in schools but, according to LAPD and others, utilizes dishonest
> promotions
>
> By Carl Kozlowski
>
>
>
> If a high-ranking LAPD official can be believed, perhaps the
> Scientology-affiliated The Way To Happiness should take a page from
> its own teachings.
>
> Two of the Glendale-based nonprofit organizationís 21 guides to

> achieving happiness are ěBe Worthy of Trustî and ěSeek to Live the

> Truth,î neither of which were followed apparently in the groupís
> dealings with the LAPD and a city in Texas.
>
> Officials with the group, which over the past two decades has
> distributed booklets of the same name to millions of school children
> across the country, all with the help of a variety of public officials
> and corporate sponsors, say they have worked with hundreds of
> organizations throughout Southern California and around the country in
> efforts to promote clean living as a virtue worthy of emulating.
>
> But according to LAPD Cmdr. Mike Downing, the Church of Scientology
> forged his endorsement on The Way To Happiness Web site, prompting the
> LAPD to disavow any endorsement of Scientology and The Way To
> Happiness.
>

> ěWe cannot endorse the Church of Scientology or any religion as the

> LAPD, and we very specifically said they could not use the LAPD name
> as it related to their book. They know they are clearly overstepping
> their boundsî in linking to the LAPD as an organization that works
> with The WayÝToÝHappinessÝFoundation (TWTH).
>
> TWTH,ÝDowningÝtoldÝthe Pasadena Weekly, also apparently fraudulently
> posted on the Web a letter of commendation from the LAPD that was not
> signed by alleged writer Chief William Bratton, and also forged
> Downingís approval by rubber-stamping his signature to the image on
> the site, www.twth.org
>
> But that isnít the only time TWTH, which has distributed booklets to
> more than 12 million American schoolchildren in 12,600 public schools
> since its inception in 1984, allegedly fabricated information to
> promote its product.
>
> In the case of the LAPD, the booklets were distributed by the
> department, but only after TWTH representatives approached police
> officials repeatedly and only succeeded in disseminating through the
> Hollywood Division. Even then, when TWTH attempted to distribute the
> booklets with the LAPDís name on them and depict a book-cover drawing
> of a policeman wearing an LAPD badge, they were ordered by police to
> remove the badge image and remove the departmentís name from the back
> cover.
>

> ěWe sent them back and said they could not distribute the literature

> with the LAPD Hollywood Division on the text. Iíve seen the program
> work, and I donít mind programs that try to raise the stature of
> communities and clean them up, but we as the LAPD cannot endorse the

> Church of Scientology,î said Downing. ěI did not authorize the letter

> displayed on their site nor its display, and they used a stamped-font
> signature instead of my actual one.î
>
> In response, TWTH President Lance Miller, a high-level Scientologist,
> denied any wrongdoing on the part of the foundation and said Downing
> is, at best, mistaken.
>

> ěThatís the first Iíve heard of it. Michael Downing has appeared at

> events for us and spoken very highly of the work we do,î said Miller.

> ěAs far as I know, the letter was generated and sent by him and I have

> the original hanging on my wall here. It looks like a real signature
> to me. But if itís a situation where we need to remove it, we
> certainly want to comply.î
>
> TheÝorganizationísÝsuccessÝat entering public schools with a guidebook

> espousing ě21 Rules for Livingî is particularly noteworthy at a time

> on that theme. ěItís fantastic when kids go out and do good in the

> community as part of their Set A Good Example program, but they canít

> say itís not part of Scientology,î said Christman. ěScientology is

> designed to ëclearí planet Earthís citizens of their problems, so kids
> are always going to be part of that approach.
>

> ěThe church calls it ësafeguardingí when theyíre able to promote

> positive attitudes about Scientology by doing things people like and

> help people,îÝChristmanÝcontinued. ěThey should do good things but

> itís bad that they use community leaders to promote and pay for the
> books who often have no clue itís affiliated with Scientology.î
>
> Controversy be damned, TWTH is growing, as Foundation President Miller
> noted that the program had just this month been authorized for use in
> all of Nevadaís public schools.
>

> ěWe just put a million books into the South LA area through The Way To

> Happiness Outdoors Club, which takes inner-city youths into the
> mountains and shows them a world beyond their four-block radius,î said

> Miller. ěWe work with over 600 different organizations, and the

> programs are often more successful when run exterior to the school
> system but still in conjunction.ÝWeÝrelyÝonÝcommunity membersí
> donations to pay for it, not tax dollars, and the SAGE contest is
> optional.î
>
> The ability to distribute the booklet in so many schools has raised
> questions in some areas from advocates of church-state separation as
> well as coalitions of church and parental groups. For instance,
> according to a June 27, 1990, article in the Los Angeles Times, a
> Fresno school district official named Geoff Garratt led a successful
> campaign to bar TWTH and its SAGE program due to church-state
> separation concerns even after the program had successfully been
> launched in a middle school in that city.
>
> Yet Barbara Ayash, president of another Scientology-related group
> called the Concerned Businessmen of America (CBA), still mentioned the
> Fresno program as one of the SAGE success stories in an Aug. 15
> interview with the Weekly. In addition, Ayashís granddaughter, Marylen
> Ayash-Borgen of San Diego, faxed the Weekly office two statements that
> she authored about purported TWTH and SAGE successes in Glendale and
> Inglewood schools.
>
> One statement claimed the city of Harlingen, Texas, attained a year

> with ěZERO violent crimesî in 1998, three years after Harlingen became

> the first city in America to offer the programs citywide in its public
> schools.
>
> The problem is that claim is a lie as well.
>
> According to the May 24, 1999, newspaper article that Ayash-Borgen
> refers to, which was faxed to the Weekly by a current staff member of
> the Harlingen Valley Morning Star, violent crime and crimes against
> property in that city had fallen by 13 percent in 1998. Yet the city
> still experienced 54 violent crimes per 10,000 residents for an
> approximate total of 324 violent crimes in the city of 60,000.
> Additionally, police officials did not mention The Way To Happiness
> program at all as one of the reasons for the crime drop.
>

> ěI canít conceive that we would say any program alone was responsible

> for dropping crime,î Juan I. Ramirez, public information officer for

> the Harlingen police, said in a phone interview. ěBesides, thereís no

> city on Earth without violent crime.î
>
> But former Harlingen Mayor Connie de la Garza was receptive to trying
> the program after he was approached by local dentist and Scientologist

> Juan Villareal in the mid-1990s about what he described as ěa program

> that can help young people make the right decisions.î
>
> Rev. Charles Palmer, pastor of the Treasure Hills Presbyterian Church
> in Harlingen, led a coalition of a dozen pastors from throughout the
> city who sought to bar TWTH from the cityís schools. Yet despite their
> combined strength, the protests were unsuccessful for an interesting

> reason. ěWe wanted equal access of all churches, but it didnít seem to
> deter anything because Dr.
>
> Villareal became the school board president,î said Palmer. ěWe

> ultimately didnít receive any feedback once the program was in
> schools, but most people would say the materials would look good. Our
> concern was because of who authored it initially and where it was
> coming from.î The promise to keep Scientology tenets out of schools
> was kept despite the fact that in 2002 Villareal settled a federal
> lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging
> he had forced his dental practice employees to take Scientology

> courses or lose their jobs. ěAnytime you have a program trying that,

> Iím for it regardless of religion, creed or code,î said de la Garza in

> a phone interview. ěWhether you agree with Mr. Hubbardís philosophy or

> not is immaterial. What I like is if you can touch a child and make
> them a better adult. Thatís what we need to do.î
>
> It was de la Garzaís recommendation in a letter to Inglewood Mayor
> Roosevelt Dorn that inspired Dorn to welcome TWTH and SAGE programs
> into his cityís public schools three years ago. Dorn noted that he was
> aware of the programsí Scientology connection. Dorn said he also knew
> that the program is paid for by donations rather than tax dollars, and
> he believed that they sufficiently steered clear of proselytizing to

> merit inclusion for the values they promoted. ěI am a minister in the

> AME church, and those portions of the Church of Scientology that teach
> individuals to uplift their lives and cause them to do better with

> their lives, how can I argue against that?î said Dorn. ěThe Methodists

> can develop a book like that, Baptists, Catholics, anyone who develops
> that kind of book if itís good, the schools will say fine. But if itís
> going to be promoting religion, thatís different and Iíd be against
> it.î
>
> Dornís opinion was largely echoed by Peter Eliasberg, the ACLU of
> Southern Californiaís Manheim Family Attorney for First Amendment
> Rights. Eliasberg noted that some of the issues that could grow out of
> having TWTH in schools are tricky, but appear to have been carefully
> navigated by the organization.
>

> ěThe only way a school might be allowed to distribute religious

> materials on campus from outside groups is if they allowed other
> religions to come in. You can imagine it could get crazy, so a lot of
> schools might not open themselves so broadly,î said Eliasberg.
>

> ěWhatís tricky is that itís not obviously either here, a religion or

> religious group. Iím concerned that they use a different name, and
> parents and schools should be vigilant so that the lines shouldnít be

> crossed,î Eliasberg said. ěIs this a way in the door to further

> proselytizing? But if this is the equivalent to a school assembly on
> tolerance, I canít say itís a bad thing to have general moral training
> in schools.î

Letter to the Pasadena Weekly:

Whoever would imagine that a religious group which bills itself as
containing "the most ethical people on the planet" would lie?

Scientology; secular when it suits, religious when it's convenient, has
a history of lying to further its goals, whether it be a program
addressing drug abuse or the support of a police officer.

The assumption that people who adopt a mien of religiousity might adhere
to a higher ethical standard protects Scientology, as people tend to
trust religious people. That's a big mistake where Scientology is
concerned. A standard internet joke goes, "How do you tell when a
Scientologist is lying?"
The answer, "His lips are moving."

Having studied this group since 1999, it always amuses me when people
express astonishment at Scientology dishonesty. Yet, dishonesty is an
intrinsic part of Scientology history.

In 1998, Scientology front group Narconon issued a video featuring
Sweden's King Carl XVI Gustaf and Queen Silvia, claiming the royal
couple supported the drug detox program run by the Scientologists.
(Narconon's drug education program was recently expelled from California
public schools.)

In 2004, California doctor Norma Tigerman issued the following statement
after discovering a letter she'd written in 1985 had been altered by
Narconon to suggest her support of their program.

" Narconon's falsely associating me with their scam has harmed my
professional reputation and injured my good name. I demand that my name
be removed immediately from these web pages, as I want nothing to do
with Narconon or Scientology. I'm 74 years old and don't have time for
science fiction."

In 2002, Scientology wanted to open a Narconon facility in the town of
Bowden, Georgia. Their promotional materials claimed the support of a
group called 'Concerned Black Clergy,' an august body of ministers based
in Atlanta, Georgia. I personally wrote to their president to inquire
about their support of Narconon. What a big surprise to hear that, not
only had the CBC never heard of Narconon, they do not endorse any drug
treatment programs!

Scientology's Volunteer "Minister" program, which flocks to tragedies in
order to spread the word of L. Ron Hubbard via its "Way to Happiness"
booklet, has repeatedly issued statements suggesting support from
various legitimate groups such as the Boy Scouts of America, the Red
Cross, and rescue worker groups.

The lies aren't constrained to Narconon and the Volunteer Ministers,
however. In 2001, following a cult rally in Los Angeles, the Scientology
organization sent out a press pack which included photographs doctored
to make it appear that the rally was more heavily attended than it
actually was. Unfortunately, they chose to Photoshop a striking woman in
a red dress with long, dark hair. Further study of the photograph
revealed several other clones where hair had been crudely added in some
cases. In other cases, the head was omitted.

The bottom line is this. The Scientology mindset has convinced these
people that non-Scientologists (referred to as Wogs amongst members) are
stupid. We are dumb as dirt. Thus, they use the dumbest, most egregious
lies with the certainty that they will be swallowed by us dumb, gullible
non-Scientologists.

In Europe, Scientology isn't considered a religion. It is considered a
destructive cult.
In the U.S. their religious prentense absolves them from any number of
dishonest, misleading claims.

A google search of their 50 year history can be very enlightening, from
L. Ron Hubbard's fabricated career as a "war hero," to the confabulous
success rates claimed by Narconon, to the shining endorsements issued by
people who have never heard of Scientology or its front groups.

Any statement or endorsement issued by the Scientology organization
deserves close scrutiny.
Their definition of 'ethical' is 180 degrees different from ethical as
we woggies understand and define it.

Dr. Norma Tigerman's statement:
http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~dst/Stop-Narconon/Documents/Tigerman/tigerman-statement-2004-06-25.html

Bowden, Georgia and Narconon:
http://www.crackpots.org/bowdon.htm

King of Sweden:
http://www.holysmoke.org/narconon/narconon-forged-propaganda.htm

Ron the War Hero:
http://www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/cos/warhero/

Men Without Heads:
http://www.lermanet.com/PhotoLIES.htm

barbara graham

--
--barb
Chaplain,ARSCC
xenu...@netscape.net

"Imagine a church so dangerous, you must sign a release
form before you can receive its "spiritual assistance."
This assistance might involve holding you against your
will for an indefinite period, isolating you from
friends and family, and denying you access to
appropriate medical care. You will of course be billed
for this treatment - assuming you survive it. If not,
the release form absolves your caretakers of all
responsibility for your suffering and death.

Welcome to the Church of Scientology."

--Dr. Dave Touretzky
Peter Alexander

Rev. Norle Enturbulata

unread,

Aug 21, 2005, 3:35:14 PM8/21/05

Gee, do ya think this might be what "Truth Seeker" and the rest have been
spamming frantically to prevent anyone seeing?

"Cerridwen" <noad...@nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:W1IZFI7U385...@anonymous.poster...
http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cityBeat/citybeat1.html

The Way To More Questions

Scientology affiliate The Way To Happiness of Glendale teaches honesty
in schools but, according to LAPD and others, utilizes dishonest
promotions

By Carl Kozlowski

If a high-ranking LAPD official can be believed, perhaps the
Scientology-affiliated The Way To Happiness should take a page from
its own teachings.

Two of the Glendale-based nonprofit organizationís 21 guides to

achieving happiness are ěBe Worthy of Trustî and ěSeek to Live the

Truth,î neither of which were followed apparently in the groupís
dealings with the LAPD and a city in Texas.

ěWe cannot endorse the Church of Scientology or any religion as the

LAPD, and we very specifically said they could not use the LAPD name
as it related to their book. They know they are clearly overstepping
their boundsî in linking to the LAPD as an organization that works
with The WayÝToÝHappinessÝFoundation (TWTH).

ěWe sent them back and said they could not distribute the literature

with the LAPD Hollywood Division on the text. Iíve seen the program
work, and I donít mind programs that try to raise the stature of
communities and clean them up, but we as the LAPD cannot endorse the

Church of Scientology,î said Downing. ěI did not authorize the letter

displayed on their site nor its display, and they used a stamped-font
signature instead of my actual one.î

In response, TWTH President Lance Miller, a high-level Scientologist,
denied any wrongdoing on the part of the foundation and said Downing
is, at best, mistaken.

ěThatís the first Iíve heard of it. Michael Downing has appeared at

events for us and spoken very highly of the work we do,î said Miller.

ěAs far as I know, the letter was generated and sent by him and I have

the original hanging on my wall here. It looks like a real signature
to me. But if itís a situation where we need to remove it, we
certainly want to comply.î

TheÝorganizationísÝsuccessÝat entering public schools with a guidebook

espousing ě21 Rules for Livingî is particularly noteworthy at a time

on that theme. ěItís fantastic when kids go out and do good in the

community as part of their Set A Good Example program, but they canít

say itís not part of Scientology,î said Christman. ěScientology is

designed to ëclearí planet Earthís citizens of their problems, so kids
are always going to be part of that approach.

ěThe church calls it ësafeguardingí when theyíre able to promote

positive attitudes about Scientology by doing things people like and

help people,îÝChristmanÝcontinued. ěThey should do good things but

itís bad that they use community leaders to promote and pay for the
books who often have no clue itís affiliated with Scientology.î

Controversy be damned, TWTH is growing, as Foundation President Miller
noted that the program had just this month been authorized for use in
all of Nevadaís public schools.

ěWe just put a million books into the South LA area through The Way To

Happiness Outdoors Club, which takes inner-city youths into the
mountains and shows them a world beyond their four-block radius,î said

Miller. ěWe work with over 600 different organizations, and the

programs are often more successful when run exterior to the school
system but still in conjunction.ÝWeÝrelyÝonÝcommunity membersí
donations to pay for it, not tax dollars, and the SAGE contest is
optional.î

One statement claimed the city of Harlingen, Texas, attained a year

with ěZERO violent crimesî in 1998, three years after Harlingen became

the first city in America to offer the programs citywide in its public
schools.

The problem is that claim is a lie as well.

ěI canít conceive that we would say any program alone was responsible

for dropping crime,î Juan I. Ramirez, public information officer for

the Harlingen police, said in a phone interview. ěBesides, thereís no

city on Earth without violent crime.î

But former Harlingen Mayor Connie de la Garza was receptive to trying
the program after he was approached by local dentist and Scientologist

Juan Villareal in the mid-1990s about what he described as ěa program

that can help young people make the right decisions.î

reason. ěWe wanted equal access of all churches, but it didnít seem to
deter anything because Dr.

Villareal became the school board president,î said Palmer. ěWe

ultimately didnít receive any feedback once the program was in
schools, but most people would say the materials would look good. Our
concern was because of who authored it initially and where it was
coming from.î The promise to keep Scientology tenets out of schools
was kept despite the fact that in 2002 Villareal settled a federal
lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging
he had forced his dental practice employees to take Scientology

courses or lose their jobs. ěAnytime you have a program trying that,

Iím for it regardless of religion, creed or code,î said de la Garza in

a phone interview. ěWhether you agree with Mr. Hubbardís philosophy or

not is immaterial. What I like is if you can touch a child and make
them a better adult. Thatís what we need to do.î

merit inclusion for the values they promoted. ěI am a minister in the

AME church, and those portions of the Church of Scientology that teach
individuals to uplift their lives and cause them to do better with

their lives, how can I argue against that?î said Dorn. ěThe Methodists

can develop a book like that, Baptists, Catholics, anyone who develops
that kind of book if itís good, the schools will say fine. But if itís
going to be promoting religion, thatís different and Iíd be against
it.î

ěThe only way a school might be allowed to distribute religious

materials on campus from outside groups is if they allowed other
religions to come in. You can imagine it could get crazy, so a lot of
schools might not open themselves so broadly,î said Eliasberg.

ěWhatís tricky is that itís not obviously either here, a religion or

religious group. Iím concerned that they use a different name, and
parents and schools should be vigilant so that the lines shouldnít be

crossed,î Eliasberg said. ěIs this a way in the door to further

roger gonnet

unread,

Aug 22, 2005, 4:30:07 AM8/22/05

That's one of the best couple of slaps they got since long.

Another written faked endorsement, like those from Gustav, King of Sweden, or
from Kosmo, Defense Minister of Norway, or from Freud and Freud "Foundation" in
Vienna ( see the Modern Management dictionary :

HUBBARD DIANETIC RESEARCH FOUNDATION, 1. the first organization
of Dn in the United States. (5510C08) 2. the basic organization of
Dn is the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation. This organization
was first put together by myself in Elizabeth, New Jersey, and
duplicate directorate corporations (same directors in each state)
were organized in such states as California, Illinois, Hawaii and
so on. .../...
The one group, the oldest group headed by
the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation has two appendant groups.
It has been in these two businesses for a long time. It was
interested in civil defense and was doing things about civil
defense.

***

Those activities have been pooled together in an allied
affiliate corporation known as the American Society of Civilian
Defense. It knows Dn works and says so loudly. That organization
stands 100% behind Dn as the only process it would even vaguely use
on hysterical or distressed people. The other is the Freudian
Foundation of America organized to be a free offer to any of the
people in Russian-held Vienna who wish to take advantage of it. It
is the only authorized agency of any kind in the United States
authorized to use the name and works of Sigmund Freud. All other
Freudian Foundations have no charter or franchise from the old
Master. Nobody has. But we have one from the Freudian Institute of
Vienna, which makes us the only legal Freudian Foundation. This
organization knows that as a sequence to the great work of Sigmund
Freud, Dn is the solution to psychoanalysis and it freely says so.
So we have the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation being ably
supported by the Freudian Foundation of America and by the American
Society of Civilian Defense. (Civilian defense is simply the eight
dynamics)."

"barb" <bwa...@cox.net> a écrit dans le message de news:
4308a7f2$1...@news2.lightlink.com...

> Cerridwen wrote:
>
>> http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cityBeat/citybeat1.html
>>
>>
>> The Way To More Questions
>>
>> Scientology affiliate The Way To Happiness of Glendale teaches honesty
>> in schools but, according to LAPD and others, utilizes dishonest
>> promotions
>>
>> By Carl Kozlowski
>>
>>
>>
>> If a high-ranking LAPD official can be believed, perhaps the
>> Scientology-affiliated The Way To Happiness should take a page from
>> its own teachings.
>>
>> Two of the Glendale-based nonprofit organizationís 21 guides to

>> achieving happiness are ìBe Worthy of Trustî and ìSeek to Live the

>> Truth,î neither of which were followed apparently in the groupís
>> dealings with the LAPD and a city in Texas.
>>
>> Officials with the group, which over the past two decades has
>> distributed booklets of the same name to millions of school children
>> across the country, all with the help of a variety of public officials
>> and corporate sponsors, say they have worked with hundreds of
>> organizations throughout Southern California and around the country in
>> efforts to promote clean living as a virtue worthy of emulating.
>>
>> But according to LAPD Cmdr. Mike Downing, the Church of Scientology
>> forged his endorsement on The Way To Happiness Web site, prompting the
>> LAPD to disavow any endorsement of Scientology and The Way To
>> Happiness.
>>

>> ìWe cannot endorse the Church of Scientology or any religion as the

>> LAPD, and we very specifically said they could not use the LAPD name
>> as it related to their book. They know they are clearly overstepping
>> their boundsî in linking to the LAPD as an organization that works
>> with The WayÝToÝHappinessÝFoundation (TWTH).

roger gonnet

unread,

Aug 22, 2005, 4:50:33 AM8/22/05

There is another mention of the article here (right now):

http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/

"bubba gump" <wannap...@yahoo.com> a écrit dans le message de news:
1124640341.6...@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> GREAT ARTICLE!
>

roger gonnet

unread,

Aug 22, 2005, 5:13:21 AM8/22/05

"bubba gump" <wannap...@yahoo.com> a écrit dans le message de news:
1124640341.6...@g44g2000cwa.googlegroups.com...
> GREAT ARTICLE!
>

If a high-ranking LAPD official can be believed, perhaps the

Scientology-affiliated The Way To Happiness should take a page from its own
teachings.

Two of the Glendale-based nonprofit organization's 21 guides to achieving
happiness are ĞBe Worthy of Trustğ and ĞSeek to Live the Truth,ğ neither of
which were followed apparently in the group's dealings with the LAPD and a city
in Texas.

Officials with the group, which over the past two decades has distributed
booklets of the same name to millions of school children across the country, all
with the help of a variety of public officials and corporate sponsors, say they
have worked with hundreds of organizations throughout Southern California and
around the country in efforts to promote clean living as a virtue worthy of
emulating.

But according to LAPD Cmdr. Mike Downing, the Church of Scientology forged his
endorsement on The Way To Happiness Web site, prompting the LAPD to disavow any
endorsement of Scientology and The Way To Happiness.

ĞWe cannot endorse the Church of Scientology or any religion as the LAPD, and we

very specifically said they could not use the LAPD name as it related to their

book. They know they are clearly overstepping their boundsğ in linking to the
LAPD as an organization that works with The Way To Happiness Foundation (TWTH).

TWTH, Downing told the Pasadena Weekly, also apparently fraudulently posted on

the Web a letter of commendation from the LAPD that was not signed by alleged

writer Chief William Bratton, and also forged Downing's approval by

rubber-stamping his signature to the image on the site, www.twth.org

But that isn't the only time TWTH, which has distributed booklets to more than

12 million American schoolchildren in 12,600 public schools since its inception
in 1984, allegedly fabricated information to promote its product.

attempted to distribute the booklets with the LAPD's name on them and depict a

book-cover drawing of a policeman wearing an LAPD badge, they were ordered by

police to remove the badge image and remove the department's name from the back
cover.

ĞWe sent them back and said they could not distribute the literature with the
LAPD Hollywood Division on the text. I've seen the program work, and I don't

mind programs that try to raise the stature of communities and clean them up,

but we as the LAPD cannot endorse the Church of Scientology,ğ said Downing. ĞI

did not authorize the letter displayed on their site nor its display, and they

used a stamped-font signature instead of my actual one.ğ

In response, TWTH President Lance Miller, a high-level Scientologist, denied any
wrongdoing on the part of the foundation and said Downing is, at best, mistaken.

ĞThat's the first I've heard of it. Michael Downing has appeared at events for
us and spoken very highly of the work we do,ğ said Miller. ĞAs far as I know,

the letter was generated and sent by him and I have the original hanging on my

wall here. It looks like a real signature to me. But if it's a situation where
we need to remove it, we certainly want to comply.ğ

The organization's success at entering public schools with a guidebook espousing
Ğ21 Rules for Livingğ is particularly noteworthy at a time when displaying the

Ten Commandments in schools, courthouses and other public places remains a
hot-button issue.

While TWTH states that the booklets are devoid of religious content or any

proselytizing for the Church of Scientology, the book's rules directly parallel

the life rules displayed by the church at its L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition in
Hollywood.

However, TWTH downplays its ties to Scientology, which has long battled charges
that it is a cult, and does not note in booklets that the author is Scientology
founder L. Ron Hubbard.

disgruntled former members to reopen some of the church's lengthy history of
lawsuits and claims alleging fraud, threatening of the church's critics, and the
fact that the heart of the church's beliefs center around the claim that every
human's stresses are in reality the result of the souls of aliens, Thetans,

attaching themselves to their bodies.

Church leaders have responded to some of these criticisms by softening some of

the organization's more blatant recruitment tactics while claiming the church's

more extreme aspects are aberrations of the past.

essay contests on that theme. ĞIt's fantastic when kids go out and do good in
the community as part of their Set A Good Example program, but they can't say it's
not part of Scientology,ğ said Christman. ĞScientology is designed to ëclear'
planet Earth's citizens of their problems, so kids are always going to be part
of that approach.

ĞThe church calls it ësafeguarding' when they're able to promote positive
attitudes about Scientology by doing things people like and help people,ğ
Christman continued. ĞThey should do good things but it's bad that they use
community leaders to promote and pay for the books who often have no clue it's
affiliated with Scientology.ğ

Controversy be damned, TWTH is growing, as Foundation President Miller noted

that the program had just this month been authorized for use in all of Nevada's
public schools.

ĞWe just put a million books into the South LA area through The Way To Happiness

Outdoors Club, which takes inner-city youths into the mountains and shows them a

world beyond their four-block radius,ğ said Miller. ĞWe work with over 600

different organizations, and the programs are often more successful when run

exterior to the school system but still in conjunction. We rely on community
members' donations to pay for it, not tax dollars, and the SAGE contest is
optional.ğ

The ability to distribute the booklet in so many schools has raised questions in
some areas from advocates of church-state separation as well as coalitions of
church and parental groups. For instance, according to a June 27, 1990, article
in the Los Angeles Times, a Fresno school district official named Geoff Garratt
led a successful campaign to bar TWTH and its SAGE program due to church-state
separation concerns even after the program had successfully been launched in a
middle school in that city.

addition, Ayash's granddaughter, Marylen Ayash-Borgen of San Diego, faxed the

Weekly office two statements that she authored about purported TWTH and SAGE
successes in Glendale and Inglewood schools.

One statement claimed the city of Harlingen, Texas, attained a year with ĞZERO
violent crimesğ in 1998, three years after Harlingen became the first city in

America to offer the programs citywide in its public schools.

The problem is that claim is a lie as well.

According to the May 24, 1999, newspaper article that Ayash-Borgen refers to,
which was faxed to the Weekly by a current staff member of the Harlingen Valley
Morning Star, violent crime and crimes against property in that city had fallen
by 13 percent in 1998. Yet the city still experienced 54 violent crimes per
10,000 residents for an approximate total of 324 violent crimes in the city of
60,000. Additionally, police officials did not mention The Way To Happiness
program at all as one of the reasons for the crime drop.

ĞI can't conceive that we would say any program alone was responsible for
dropping crime,ğ Juan I. Ramirez, public information officer for the Harlingen
police, said in a phone interview. ĞBesides, there's no city on Earth without
violent crime.ğ

But former Harlingen Mayor Connie de la Garza was receptive to trying the
program after he was approached by local dentist and Scientologist Juan

Villareal in the mid-1990s about what he described as Ğa program that can help
young people make the right decisions.ğ

Rev. Charles Palmer, pastor of the Treasure Hills Presbyterian Church in
Harlingen, led a coalition of a dozen pastors from throughout the city who

sought to bar TWTH from the city's schools. Yet despite their combined strength,
the protests were unsuccessful for an interesting reason. ĞWe wanted equal
access of all churches, but it didn't seem to deter anything because Dr.
Villareal became the school board president,ğ said Palmer. ĞWe ultimately didn't

receive any feedback once the program was in schools, but most people would say
the materials would look good. Our concern was because of who authored it

initially and where it was coming from.ğ The promise to keep Scientology tenets

out of schools was kept despite the fact that in 2002 Villareal settled a
federal lawsuit filed by the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission alleging he
had forced his dental practice employees to take Scientology courses or lose

their jobs. ĞAnytime you have a program trying that, I'm for it regardless of
religion, creed or code,ğ said de la Garza in a phone interview. ĞWhether you
agree with Mr. Hubbard's philosophy or not is immaterial. What I like is if you
can touch a child and make them a better adult. That's what we need to do.ğ

It was de la Garza's recommendation in a letter to Inglewood Mayor Roosevelt
Dorn that inspired Dorn to welcome TWTH and SAGE programs into his city's public
schools three years ago. Dorn noted that he was aware of the programs'

Scientology connection. Dorn said he also knew that the program is paid for by
donations rather than tax dollars, and he believed that they sufficiently
steered clear of proselytizing to merit inclusion for the values they promoted.

ĞI am a minister in the AME church, and those portions of the Church of

Scientology that teach individuals to uplift their lives and cause them to do

better with their lives, how can I argue against that?ğ said Dorn. ĞThe

Methodists can develop a book like that, Baptists, Catholics, anyone who

develops that kind of book if it's good, the schools will say fine. But if it's
going to be promoting religion, that's different and I'd be against it.ğ

Dorn's opinion was largely echoed by Peter Eliasberg, the ACLU of Southern
California's Manheim Family Attorney for First Amendment Rights. Eliasberg noted

that some of the issues that could grow out of having TWTH in schools are
tricky, but appear to have been carefully navigated by the organization.

ĞThe only way a school might be allowed to distribute religious materials on

campus from outside groups is if they allowed other religions to come in. You
can imagine it could get crazy, so a lot of schools might not open themselves so

broadly,ğ said Eliasberg.

ĞWhat's tricky is that it's not obviously either here, a religion or religious
group. I'm concerned that they use a different name, and parents and schools
should be vigilant so that the lines shouldn't be crossed,ğ Eliasberg said. ĞIs

this a way in the door to further proselytizing? But if this is the equivalent

to a school assembly on tolerance, I can't say it's a bad thing to have general
moral training in schools.ğ

tikk

unread,

Aug 22, 2005, 10:49:01 AM8/22/05

Great article.

And yet the LAPD endorsement forged by Scientology remains on the site:

http://www.twth.org/Proclamations_and_Recognitions-150.html
http://www.twth.org/images/LAPD-Letter.jpg (location of image file)

~ tikk

Cerridwen wrote:
> http://www.pasadenaweekly.com/cityBeat/citybeat1.html
>
>
> The Way To More Questions
>
> Scientology affiliate The Way To Happiness of Glendale teaches honesty
> in schools but, according to LAPD and others, utilizes dishonest
> promotions
>
> By Carl Kozlowski
>
>
>
> If a high-ranking LAPD official can be believed, perhaps the
> Scientology-affiliated The Way To Happiness should take a page from
> its own teachings.
>
> Two of the Glendale-based nonprofit organizationís 21 guides to