_A Piece of Blue Sky_ is out of print. Carol Publishing in trouble
Ron Newman
located at 120 Enterprise Ave S, Secaucus, NJ 07094-1902 Phone: (201)866-0490
and asked if _A Piece of Blue Sky_ is still in print.
The woman who answered the phone informed me that the book is "out of
stock indefinitely" and she does not expect that they will reprint
the book.
Meanwhile, Carol Publishing itself is in danger of going out of business,
according to Publisher's Weekly:
http://www.publishersweekly.com/articles/19990823_79920.asp
Publishers Weekly News
Carol Publishing's LPC Deal Fails; Seeks New Buyer
John F. Baker -- 08/23/1999
Carol Publishing has laid off all its editorial and production staff
and put all its new books on hold as a planned sale to the LPC Group
collapsed at the last minute (News, Aug. 16).
Publisher Steven Schragis told PW this was "a very difficult time" for
the house, which has been publishing 120 -- 125 titles annually and
has an extensive backlist. But he said that he was in talks with two
parties, one domestic, one foreign, that had previously been
interested in buying the company, as well as one other, and that he
was certainly open to further offers.
"We have this tremendous backlist, with some incredibly valuable
titles there," he noted. The active backlist is about 1300, of which
he said 100 or so were still strong sellers; he compared it favorably
with the Grove Press backlist at the time of that company's sale. The
backlist had been independently appraised recently as worth between
$15 million and $17 million, according to Schragis.
He said the acquisition by LPC, a major distributor based in Chicago,
had been planned for the middle of August, after a preliminary
agreement had been made last April. Then, two days before a scheduled
closing, he was suddenly told by LPC lawyers that the group was "not
in a position to move forward." Schragis told PW he thought the
various issues that had come up in the course of the negotiations had
been resolved and added: "I think I did all in my power to make this
happen." Calls to LPC's David Wilk for comment were not returned.
Although he insisted, "we're not bankrupt, we're not in liquidation,"
Schragis explained he had been forced to lay off all people
"associated with new books," which meant the entire editorial and
production staff, estimated at around 50 -- 60 people. Meanwhile,
Carol is still shipping existing orders from its warehouse. "It's very
painful to have to do without so many new books and disappoint their
authors," he said.
Carol Publishing, 10 years old, includes Birch Lane Press, Lyle
Stuart, Carol Paperbacks and Citadel Press. Its list concentrates on
such areas as entertainment, with strong movie, New Age, Judaica and
gambling lines. When he put the company up for sale at the end of
1998, Schragis told PW the house was profitable but needed to become
bigger to compete (News, Jan. 4). He reported that he had received
offers from a number of companies, but that LPC seemed "the best fit."
Also at that time, Wilk said he thought the purchase of a publisher,
the company's first (it distributes for about 100 independent
publishers) made sense, getting it "more involved with owning
content."
--
Ron Newman rne...@thecia.net
http://www2.thecia.net/users/rnewman/
Ed
the Church does!
Ed
Zenon Panoussis
Ed skrev:
>
> Sure wish Bob Minton would buy the rights to that book right now, before
> the Church does!
I'd say the opposite: sure wish the CoS buys the rights to that book
right now, so I can start publishing it without a worry about the
rights of the copyright holder.
See? It works both ways.
Z
--
oracle@everywhere: The ephemeral source of the eternal truth...
Martin Hunt
>About five minutes ago, I telephoned Carol Publishing Group
>located at 120 Enterprise Ave S, Secaucus, NJ 07094-1902 Phone: (201)866-0490
>and asked if _A Piece of Blue Sky_ is still in print.
>
>The woman who answered the phone informed me that the book is "out of
>stock indefinitely" and she does not expect that they will reprint
>the book.
Sad news. The title should be bought by the arscc and republished.
--
Cogito, ergo sum. http://scientologysucks.lron.com
Watch Xenu TV: http://www.xenutv.com
Go to a protest in your area: http://www.xenu.net/picket/
"Mind Head is not supposed to be Scientology in particular
but, rather, is a pastiche of lots of different cults.
"That's what I'm supposed to say, right? Pastiche...pastiche."
- Steve Martin. <Wink wink, nod nod.>
Martin Hunt
Hubbard did not spend a full year in Oak Knoll Hospital. He
was hospitalized for tests in April 1945, took a month's convalescent
leave from the end of July, and was again hospitalized (though
spent some time as an outpatient) from the end of August until
he was mustered out of the Navy on December 6, 1945. In October
1945, a Naval Board gave the opinion that Hubbard was "considered
physically qualified to perform duty ashore, preferably within
the continental United States." The restriction to duty ashore
was due to his chronic ulcer.
The official files give a fairly complete record of Hubbard's
medical condition from 1941 well into the 1950s. He was first
hospitalized in Vallejo, California, in March 1942, immediately
upon his return from Australia. There is no mention there, or
anywhere in the extensive records, of "injured optic nerves,"
or of blindness.
When Hubbard was admitted to Oak Knoll hospital, in 1945, he
had 20/20 vision, with glasses. When he was mustered out, that
December, his eyesight was 12/20 in the right eye, and 14/20
in the left, again with glasses. The major deterioration coincided
with his decision to apply for a disability pension. In a plaintive
letter to the Veterans Administration, Hubbard claimed that
reading for longer than a few minutes gave him a headache.
Following his accidental attack on one of the Coronados Islands,
in June 1943, Hubbard was hospitalized for "stomach trouble,"
which was diagnosed as a duodenal ulcer. In January 1945, he
suffered from arthritis, which he attributed to a climatic change
from the tropics to winter in New York. Hubbard had in fact
just served for almost a year in Oregon and northern California.
He was hospitalized in April 1945, for a recurrence of the duodenal
ulcer. The official files support these
His Miraculous Recovery 85
statements, which were also given by Hubbard to a Veterans Administration
doctor in Los Angeles on September 19, 1946, and to the press
in 1950.' Neither Hubbard nor the examining doctor made any
mention of war wounds.
At the time of his separation from the Navy, Hubbard applied
to the Veterans Administration for disability benefits. In February
1946, he was awarded a ten percent disability pension of $11.50
per month. His visual deterioration was not considered pensionable.
For several years he campaigned, with some success, to have
his pension increased. Despite his enormous income in later
years, Hubbard continued to draw the pension until his death.
Claims relating to Hubbard's miraculous recovery from his war
wounds have been many and various: "Thanks in great part to
the unusual discoveries that L. Ron Hubbard made while at Oak
Knoll in 1944, he recovered so fully that he was reclassified
for full combat duty." "By 1947, overworked and in poverty,
he found he had the glimmerings of a workable process." "By
1947 he had recovered fully." "In 1949 Hubbard had had the processes
applied to him to the extent that he could again see and sit
at a typewriter. He became better physically until he passed
a full combat physical - and lost his naval retirement."3
In an interview given shortly after the creation of Dianetics,
Hubbard was more candid about his war wounds. The December 5,
1950, issue of Look magazine quoted him as saying he had been
suffering from "ulcers, conjunctivitis, deteriorating eyesight,
bursitis and something wrong with my feet." This description
fits very well with Hubbard's Navy and Veterans Administration
records.
There are further contradictions in Hubbard's published Scientological
works. At least twice Hubbard referred to an incident shortly
before the end of the war, when, according to his other statements,
he was supposedly incapacitated by his wounds. The first reference
was made in a tape recorded lecture, given on July 23, 1951;
the second in a bulletin published on November 15, 1957.4 In
both Hubbard claimed that he was on leave in Hollywood on July
25, 1945, when he was attacked by three petty officers, one
with a broken bottle. Because of his knowledge of Judo, Hubbard
was able to fight them off. An impossible feat for a blind cripple.
At the very time that he was supposed to have "recovered fully,"
in October 1947, Hubbard wrote to the Veterans Administration.
In the letter, he claimed that after two years he was still
unbalanced because
86 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911-1949
of his wartime service. He was suffering from prolonged bouts
of depression and frequently thought of taking his own life.
He asked for psychiatric treatment.
Hubbard was examined again in December 1947, and a few dollars
were added to his pension for the arthritic condition of his
right hip, spine and ankles. Hubbard said he had sprained his
left knee in the service, but the doctor did not allow this.
His award was raised to a forty percent disability, which in
1947 amounted to $55.20 per month. In 1948, he applied for a
Navy disability retirement, which at the time would have amounted
to $181 per month, tax-free. His disabilities were not sufficient
for such a retirement. Far from being "permanently disabled
physically," Hubbard was twice refused a physical disability
retirement from the Navy Reserve.
In his book Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health,
published in May 1950, Hubbard made many claims for the curative
powers of his new therapy. They are very revealing in the light
of the Veterans Administration documents. Dianetics would supposedly
cure or alleviate arthritis, bursitis, poor eyesight, ulcers,
and even the common cold. Hubbard suffered from all of these,
and fifteen months after announcing his miracle cure to the
world, he still privately claimed to be disabled and continued
to collect his Veterans pension. On August 1, 1951, he was examined
again. He said he had been suffering from stomach trouble since
1943. The examining physician noted:
He states that he spent approximately thirteen months in hospitals
during his navy service, and that a duodenal ulcer was demonstrated
by x-ray on several occasions....He says that he has been
forced to follow a modified ulcer diet continuously since his
initial gastrointestinal disturbance in ! 943. The spring and
the fall of the year are the most troublesome times for him,
and he states that he has exacerbations lasting usually about
a week with rather severe distress during these months....
The patient states that he invariably has trouble with his stomach
when he is working long hours and under nervous stress. He is
a poor sleeper, and states that he has been unable to take the
usual soporifics because they seem to upset his stomach. He
smokes very little, and then only intermittently. He believes
that smoking definitely aggravates his epigastric distress.
Under the heading "Impression," the doctor wrote: "duodenal
ulcer, chronic." Under the heading "Diagnosis," he wrote: "Duodenal
ulcer, not found on this examination."
His Miraculous Recovery 87
This was one of two specialist examinations performed on Hubbard
that day in 1951. The second was orthopedic. In that report,
it is noted:
He also gives a history of injuring his right shoulder, just
how is not clear. and of developing numerous other things including
duodenal ulcer, actinic conjunctivitis, and a highly nervous
state. He has applied for retirement from the navy [from the
Reserve list] which was eventually turned down....He is a
writer by profession and states he has some income from previous
writing that helps take care of him....
This is a well nourished and muscled white adult who does not
appear chronically ill....
He has a history of some injury to the right shoulder and will
not elevate the arm above the shoulder level. However, on persuasion,
it was determined at this time that the shoulder is freely movable
and unrestricted. It is noted that he has had a previous diagnosis
of BURSITIS WITH CALCIFICATION. X-rays will be repeated. It is
not believed that this is of significant incapacity....Records
show a diagnosis of MULTIPLE ARTHRITIS. However, no clinical
evidence of arthritis is found at this time.
Hubbard's Sea Org "Medical Officer," Kima Douglas, testified
in court that while she attended him from 1975 to 1980, he suffered
from arthritis, bursitis and coronary trouble, which Dianetics
was also supposed to alleviate.' Hubbard wore glasses throughout
his adult life, but only in private.
During the Armstrong case, a Hubbard letter to the Veterans
Administration, dated April 2, 1958, was produced. Gerald Armstrong
had this to say of it:
In my mind there was a conflict between the fact that here he
is asking to have his V.A. [Veterans Administration] checks
sent to a particular address in 1958, and in all the publications
about Mr. Hubbard he had claimed that he had been given a perfect
score, perfect mental and physical score by 1950, and by 1947
had completely cured himself, and here he is still drawing a
V.A. check for this disability....It seems like there is at
least a contradiction and possibly an unethical practice on
his part.
During the case, a document was read into the record which clearly
shows Hubbard's state of mind during the period when he was
supposedly developing his science of mind. It is part of a collection
of documents which Armstrong dubbed "The Affirmations," because
88 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911 - 1949
they are a series of positive suggestions which Hubbard was
instilling into himself through self-hypnosis. In "The Affirmations"
Hubbard attributed each of his physical difficulties to some
evasion on his part. His eyesight was poor because he had wanted
to avoid school. His ulcer was an excuse to avoid discipline
in the Navy. He admitted that he had never really had any trouble
with his hip. He added, however, that through hypnotic command
he would be able to convincingly pretend any of these and several
other disabilities to obtain a pension, but would return to
health an hour after any examination, amused by the stupidity
of his examiners. He also commented that his lies would have
no effect upon his true condition.6
CHAPTER SIX
His Magickal Career
The late Aleister Crowley, my very good friend - L. Ron HUBBARD,
Conditions of Space/Time/Energy, 1952, PDC lecture 18
Hubbard met Jack Parsons while on convalescent leave in Los
Angeles, in August 1945. When Hubbard's terminal leave from
the Navy began on December 6, 1945, he went straight to Parsons'
Pasadena home. Jack Parsons was a science fiction fan, a rocket
and explosives chemist, and a practitioner of ritual "magick."
Hubbard and Parsons quickly formed a powerful bond, and over
the following months engaged in variations on Aleister Crowley's
"magick." Later, Hubbard was eager to make light of this involvement.
After all, the world famous explorer, nuclear physicist, war
hero and philosopher could not be known to have engaged in demonic
sexual rites.
In 1969, the London Sunday Times exposed Hubbard's magickal
connections. The Scientologists threatened legal action, and
the Sunday Times, unsure of its legal position, paid a small
out-of-court settlement. Without retracting their earlier article,
they printed a statement submitted by the Scientologists:'
Hubbard broke up black magic in America: Dr. Jack Parsons of
Pasadena, California, was America's Number One solid fuel rocket
expert. He was involved with the infamous English black magician
Aleister Crowley who called himself "The Beast 666." Crowley
ran an
89
90 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911 - 1949
organization called the Order of Templars Orientalis [sic, actually
"Ordo Templi Orientis"] over the world which had savage and
bestial rites. Dr. Parsons was head of the American branch located
at 100 Orange Grove Avenue [actually 1003 South Orange Grove
Avenue[, Pasadena, California. This was a huge old house which
had paying guests who were the U.S.A. nuclear physicists working
at Cal. Tech. Certain agencies objected to nuclear physicists
being housed under the same roof.
L. Ron Hubbard was still an officer of the U.S. Navy because
[sic] he was well known as a writer and a philosopher and had
friends amongst the physicists, he was sent in to handle the
situation. He went to live at the house and investigated the
black magic rites and the general situation and found them very
bad.
Parsons wrote to Crowley in England about Hubbard. Crowley "the
Beast 666" evidently detected an enemy and warned Parsons. This
was all proven by the correspondence unearthed by the Sunday
Times. Hubbard's mission was successful far beyond anyone's
expectations. The house was torn down. Hubbard rescued a girl
they were using. The black magic group was dispersed and destroyed
and has never recovered. The physicists included many of the
sixty-four top U.S. scientists who were later declared insecure
and dismissed from government service with so much publicity.
During the Scientologists' case against Gerald Armstrong in
1984, the original of this peculiar statement was produced.
It is in Hubbard's handwriting. The statement is mistaken on
several points. Karl Germer, not Parsons, was in charge of Crowley's
organization in America. Parsons, known as "Frater Belarion"
or "Frater 210," was head of the single "Church of Thelema,"
or "Agape Lodge," in Pasadena. Hubbard's opening statement,
the claim to have broken up black magic in America, is of course
ridiculous. Hubbard did, however, contribute significantly to
Jack Parsons' later financial difficulties. There is no evidence
to support the claim that Hubbard was working for "Intelligence."
Parsons' FBI file shows that he was routinely investigated from
1943 onwards, because of his peculiar lifestyle. Them is no
mention of Hubbard in the file, and despite investigations,
Parsons retained his high security classification until shortly
before his death in 1952.
However, the Scientology statement does admit Hubbard's involvement
with Parsons. In a "Bulletin" written for Scientologists in
1957, Hubbard said this of the man whose black magic group he
had "dispersed":
His Magickal Career 91
One chap by the way, gave us solid fuel rockets and assist take-offs
for airplanes too heavily loaded, and all the rest of this rocketry
panorama, and who [sic] formed Aerojet in California and so
on. The late Jack Parsons...was not a chemist, the way we think
of chemists....He eventually became quite a man.1
Parsons was indeed "quite a man." He was one of the developers
of Jet Assisted Take-Off (JATO) units, and an original member
of CalTech's rocket project, which became the Jet Propulsion
Laboratory.
Hubbard also had something to say about Aleister Crowley, Parsons'
mentor, and the most notorious practitioner of black magic of
the 20th century. Crowley was a determined opponent of Christianity,
who had proclaimed: "Do what thou wilt shall be the whole of
the law." He was well known for his defiance of conventional
morality. Crowley recorded his considerable abuse of drugs in
The Diary of a Drug Fiend, and his bizarre sexual practices
in numerous other works. He called himself the "Beast," after
the "Beast" spoken of in the biblical Revelation of St. John
the Divine.
In the Scientology "Philadelphia Doctorate Course" lectures,
given by Hubbard in 1952, there are several references to Crowley.
Hubbard made it clear that he had read Crowley's pivotal Book
of the Law. He also said: "The magic cults of the 8th, 9th,
10th, 11th, 12th centuries in the Middle East were fascinating.
The only work that has anything to do with them is a trifle
wild in spots, but it's fascinating work...written by Aleister
Crowley, the late Aleister Crowley, my very good friend....
It's very interesting reading to get hold of a copy of a book,
quite rare, but it can be obtained, The Master Therion...
by Aleister Crowley. He signs himself `The Beast', the mark
of the Beast, six sixty-six."
In another Hubbard lecture we are told: "One fellow, Aleister
Crowley, picked up a level of religious worship which is very
interesting - oh boy! The Press played hockey with his head
for his whole life-time. The Great Beasta - 666. He just had
another level of religious worship. Yes, sir, you're free to
worship everything under the Constitution so long as it's Christian."
Jack Parsons wrote to Crowley early in 1946:
About 3 months ago I met Capt L Ron Hubbard, a writer and explorer
of whom I had known for some time....[no omission] He is a
gentleman, red hair, green eyes, honest and intelligent and
we have become great friends. He moved in with me about two
months ago, and
92 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911 - 1949
although Betty and I are still friendly, she has transferred
her sexual affections to him.
Although he has no formal training in Magick he has an extraordinary
amount of experience and understanding in the field. From some
of his experiences I deduce he is in direct touch with some
higher intelligence, possibly his Guardian Angel. He is the
most Thelemic person I have ever met and is in complete accord
with our own principles. He is also interested in establishing
the New Aeon, but for cogent reasons I have not introduced him
to the Lodge.
We are pooling our resources in a partnership which will act
as a parent company to control our business ventures. I think
I have made a great gain, and as Betty and I are the best of
friends, there is little loss....
I need a magical partner. I have many experiments in mind. I
hope my elemental gets off the dime [gets moving] - the next
time I tie up with a woman it will be on [my] own terms.
"Betty" was both Parsons' sister-in-law (his wife's sister)
and his mistress. Her full name was Sara Elizabeth Northrup,
and there is no doubt that she was the girl Hubbard "rescued"
from Parsons. She was later to play an important part in the
creation of Dianetics.
Parsons' house was a meeting place for a group of California's
eccentrics, so many people met Hubbard during his stay there.
Science fiction fan Alva Rogers gave a detailed account of the
comings and goings of the "Parsonage." He said the place was
run as a "cooperative rooming house," so Parsons could afford
to keep it up: "In the ads placed in the local paper Jack specified
that only bohemians, artists, musicians, atheists, anarchists,
or other exotic types need apply for rooms."
Rogers struck up a relationship with a girl who lived in the
house, and came to know Parsons and Betty quite well. He gave
this description of Parsons: "Jack was the antithesis of the
common image of the Black Magician....He bore little resemblance
to his revered Master, Aleister Crowley, either in looks or
in his personal conduct. He was a good looking man...urbane
and sophisticated, and possessed a fine sense of humor. He never,
as far as I saw, indulged in any of the public scatological
crudities which characterized Crowley....I always found Jack's
insistence that he believed in and practiced magic hard to reconcile
with his educational and cultural background."
Of Sara "Betty" Northrup, Rogers wrote: "She was young, blonde,
very attractive, full of *joie de vivre*, thoughtful, humorous,
generous,
His Magickal Career 93
and all that. She assisted Jack in the O.T.O. and seemed to
possess the same devotion to it and to Crowley as did Jack."
Rogers' impression of Hubbard was favorable:
I liked Ron from the first. He was of medium build, red headed,
wore horn-rimmed glasses, and had a tremendously engaging personality.
For several weeks he dominated the scene with his wit and inexhaustible
fund of anecdotes. About the only thing he seemed to take seriously
and be prideful of was his membership in the Explorers Club
(of which he was the youngest member), which he claimed he had
received after leading an expedition into the wilds of South
America, or some such godforsaken place. Ron showed us scars
on his body which he claimed were made by aboriginal arrows
on this expedition....Unfortunately, Ron's reputation of spinning
tall tales (both off and on the printed page) made for a certain
degree of skepticism in the minds of his audience. At any rate,
he told one hell of a good story.
Alva Rogers had no involvement with Parson's attempt to conjure
a "Moonchild." To Aleister Crowley the personification of female-kind
was "Babalon," his capricious respelling of "Babylon." Chapter
seventeen of St. John's Revelation tells of "Babylon the Great,"
the "Scarlet Woman":
With whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication,
and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the
wine of her fornication....I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet
coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads
and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet
colour, and decked with gold and precious stones and pearls,
having a golden cup in her hand full of abominations and filthiness
of her fornication: And upon her forehead was a name written,
Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations
of the Earth. And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of
the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus.
Crowley's black magic centered upon Babalon, and he identified
himself with the "Beast" upon which Babalon is to ride in her
conquest of the Earth. In his novel, The Moonchild, Crowley
described the creation of an "homunculus," elsewhere described
by him as "a living being in form resembling man, and possessing
those qualities of man which distinguish him from beasts, namely
intellect and power of speech, but neither begotten and born
in the manner of human generation, nor inhabited by a human
soul." Crowley said this was "the
94 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911 - 1949
great idea of magicians of all times: to obtain a Messiah by
some adaptation of the sexual process." Crowley's "Messiah"
was the Antichrist who would overthrow Christianity: Babalon
the Great.
The secret rituals of Crowley's "Ordo Templi Orientis" were
made public by Francis King in 1973.4 They laid out the strict
sequence of mystic rites and initiations that the adept is to
follow as a series of "degrees." Jack Parsons was intent upon
conjuring Babalon as a "Moonchild." He wanted to incarnate the
"Eternal Whore" in human form using Crowley's Rituals. The ceremonies,
which Parsons recorded, are known as "The Babalon Working."
Parsons' transcription was later typed and given very limited
distribution as "The Book of Babalon."
In January 1946, Parsons performed the "VIIIth degree" of the
OTO, with Hubbard's assistance. The ritual is called "Concerning
the Secret Marriages of Gods with Men," or the "Magic Masturbation.'"
After a lengthy preamble to the ritual we find the following,
under the title "Of Great Marriages":
On every occasion before sleep let the Adept figure his goddess
before him, wooing her ardently in imagination and exalting
himself with all intensity toward her.
Therefore, with or without an assistant, let him purge himself
freely and fully, at the end of restraint trained and ordered
unto exhaustion, concentrating ever ardently upon the Body of
the Great Goddess, and let the Offering be preserved in Her
consecrated temple or in a talisman especially prepared for
this practice. And let no desire for any other enter the heart.
Then shall it be in the end that the Great Goddess will descend
and clothe Her beauty in veils of flesh, surrendering her chaste
fortress of Olympus to that assault of thee, O Titan, Son of
Earth!
It does not take much imagination to understand what Hubbard
was watching Parsons do. The ritual took place over twelve consecutive
nights in January 1946. To the strains of a Prokofiev violin
concerto, Parsons made a series of eleven invocations, including
the "Conjuration of Air," the "Consecration of Air Dagger" and
the "Invocation of Wand With Material Basis on Talisman." John
Symonds, in his book The Great Beast, explains that "wand" is
a Crowleyism for "penis."
Parsons wrote to Crowley "nothing seems to have happened. One
night, there was a power failure, but nothing more eventful,
until January 14, when a candle was knocked from Hubbard's hand.
Par-
His Magickal Career 95
sons said, "He [Hubbard] called me, and we observed a brownish
yellow light about seven feet high in the kitchen. I banished
with a magical sword, and it disappeared. His [Hubbard's] right
arm was paralized [sic] for the rest of the night."
The next night, Hubbard saw a vision of one of Parsons' enemies.
Parsons described this in a letter to Crowley, adding: "He attacked
this figure and pinned it to the door with four throwing knives,
with which he is expert." In the same letter, Parsons spoke
of Hubbard's guardian angel again: "Ron appears to have some
sort of highly developed astral vision. He described his angel
as a beautiful winged woman with red hair, whom he calls the
Empress, and who has guided him through his life and saved him
many times....Recently, he says, because of some danger, she
has called the Archangel Michael to guard us....
Last night after invoking, I called him in, and he described
Isis nude on the left, and a hint figure of past, partly mistaken
operations on the right, and a rose wood box with a string of
green beads, a string of pearls with a black cross suspended,
and a rose."
Parsons performed rituals which led up to "an operation of symbolic
birth." Then he settled down to wait. For four days he experienced
"tension and unease....Then, on January 18, at sunset, while
the Scribe [Hubbard] and I were on the Mojave desert, the feeling
of tension suddenly snapped....I returned home, and found
a young woman answering the requirements waiting for me."
The woman was Marjorie Cameron. Parsons wrote to Crowley: "I
seem to have my elemental. She turned up one night after the
conclusion of the operation and has been with me since....She has
red hair and slant green eyes as specified."
Parsons continued to invoke Babalon. On February 28, he went
out to the Mojave on his own, and "was commanded to write" a
"communication" from Babalon, supposedly the fourth chapter
of the Book of the Law. This rambling "communication," similar
in style to Crowley's "inspired" writings, describes Babalon,
and the tribute she seeks to exact. Further, it describes the
ritual which Parsons is to perform. Babalon is to provide a
daughter, and Parsons is charged with a significant task:
In My Name shall she have all power, and all men and excellent
things, and kings and captains and the secret ones at her command
....My voice in thee shall judge nations....All is in thy hands,
all power, all hope, all future....Thy tears, thy sweat, thy
blood, thy semen, thy love, thy faith shall provide. Ah, I shall
drain thee like the cup that is of
96 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911 - 1949
me, BABALON....Let me behold thee naked and lusting after me,
calling upon my name....Let me receive all thy manhood within
my Cup, climax upon climax, joy upon joy.
During the first two days of March 1946, Parsons prepared an
altar and equipment according to the instructions he had just
received. Hubbard has been away for a week, but: "On March 2
he returned, and described a vision he had that evening of a
savage and beautiful women riding naked on a great cat like
beast." Hubbard and Parsons set to work immediately. As Parsons
described it, "He was robed in white, carrying the lamp, and
I in black, hooded, with the cup and dagger. At his suggestion
we played Rachmaninoff's `Isle of the Dead' as background music,
and set an automatic recorder to transcribe any audible occurrences.
At approximately eight PM he began to dictate, I transcribing
directly as I received."
Hubbard launched into a stream of suitably mystical outpourings,
for example: "She is flame of life, power of darkness, she destroys
with a glance, she may take thy soul. She feeds upon the death
of men. Beautiful - Horrible."
Hubbard continued, instructing Parsons:
Display thyself to our lady; dedicate thy organs to Her, dedicate
thy heart to Her, dedicate thy mind to her, dedicate thy soul
to Her, for She shall absorb thee, and thou shall become living
flame before She incarnates. For it shall be through you alone,
and no one else can help in this endeavour.
...Retire from human contact until noon tomorrow. Clear all
profane documents on the morrow, before receiving further instructions.
Consult no book but thine own mind. Thou art a god. Behave at
this altar as one god before another...
Thou art the guardian and thou art the guide, thou art the worker
and the mechanic. So conduct thyself. Discuss nothing of this
matter until thou art certain that thine understanding embraces
it all.
Using a mixture of his earlier desert inspiration, Hubbard's
instructions, and a large helping of Crowley, Parsons began
the rituals to incarnate the daughter of Babalon.
The next day, Hubbard once more acted as Babalon's medium, and
gave instructions for the second and third rituals. During the
second ritual, Parsons was to gaze into an empty black box for
an hour when a "sacred design" would become apparent which he
was to reproduce in
His Magickal Career 97
wood. Then, robed in scarlet ("symbolic of birth") with a black
sash, Parsons was to invoke Babalon yet again.
The third ritual was to start four hours before dawn. Parsons
was to wear black, and to "lay out a white sheet." Hubbard's
instructions continued:
Place upon it blood of birth, since she is born of thy flesh,
and by thy mortal power upon earth....Envision thyself as
a cloaked radiance desirable to the Goddess, beloved. Envision
her approaching thee. Embrace her, cover her with kisses. Think
upon the lewd lascivious things thou couldst do. All is good
to Babalon. ALL....Thou as a man and as a god hast strewn
about the earth and in the heavens many loves, these recall,
concentrate, consecrate each woman thou hast raped. Remember
her, think upon her, move her into BABALON, bring her into BABALON,
each, one by one until the flame of lust is high.
Preserve the material basis....The lust is hers, the passion
yours. Consider thou the Beast raping.
A commentator has noted that the "material basis" was probably
a mixture of semen and menstrual blood. On March 6, Parsons
sent an excited letter to Crowley:
I am under the command of extreme secrecy. I have had the most
important - devastating experience of my life between February
2 and March 4. I believe it was the result of the 9th [degree]
working with the girl who answered my elemental summons.
I have been in direct touch with One who is most Holy and Beautiful
mentioned in The Book of the Law. I cannot write the name at
present.
First instructions were received direct through Ron - the seer.
I have followed them to the letter. There was a desire for incarnation.
I was the agency chosen to assist the birth which is now accomplished.
I do not yet know the vehicle, but it will come to me, bringing
a secret sign I know. Forgetfulness was the price. I am to act
as instructor guardian guide for nine months; then it will be
loosed on the world. That is all I can say now. There must be
extreme secrecy. I cannot tell you the depth of reality, the
poignancy, terror and beauty I have known. Now I am back in
the world weak with reaction....It is not a question of keeping
anything from you, it is a question of not dwelling or even
thinking unduly on the matter until the time is right. Premature
discussion or revelation would cause an abortion.
98 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911 - 1949
Parsons obviously thought Babalon was gestating in Marjorie
Cameron's womb; it all smacks of horror tales like The Omen
and Rosemary's Baby. Crowley thought so too, and said as much
to Parsons: "You have me completely puzzled by your remarks
about the elemental - the danger of discussing or copying anything.
I thought I had the most morbid imagination, as good as any
man's, but it seems I have not. I cannot form the slightest
idea who you can possibly mean." A curious admission from the
author of The Moonchild, and the "IXth degree magic," of which
"Of the Homunculus" is a major part.
Crowley wrote to his deputy in New York: "Apparently he [Parsons]
or Ron or somebody is producing a Moonchild. I get fairly frantic
when I contemplate the idiocy of these louts."
Crowley's "IXth degree" ritual, which was performed by Parsons,
Hubbard and Cameron, says this of the Homunculus: "Now then
thou hast a being of perfect human form, with all powers and
privileges of humanity, but with the essence of a particular
chosen force, and with all the knowledge and might of its sphere;
and this being is thy creation and dependent; to it thou art
Sole God and Lord, and it must serve thee."6
None of the accounts of "The Babalon Working," performed by
Parsons and Hubbard, fully explain the phrase "the essence of
a particular chosen force." Crowley viewed the gods not as distinct
individuals, but as representations of particular energies,
which could be tapped. In his own words: "Gods are but names
for the forces of Nature themselves.'" The "IXth degree" magic
is concerned with embodying such an energy or force.
In May, OTO member Louis T. Culling wrote to Crowley's deputy,
Karl Germer, suggesting that Parsons should be "salvaged from
the undue influence of another." He spoke of a partnership agreement
signed by Parsons, Hubbard and Sara Northrup "whereby all money
earned by the three, for life, is equally divided."
There was disquiet in the Ordo Templi Orientis. In a cable to
his U.S. deputy, dated May 22, Crowley said, "Suspect Ron playing
confidence trick, Jack evidently weak fool obvious victim prowling
swindlers." On the 31st, he added, "It seems to me on the information
of our Brethren in California that (if we may assume them to
be accurate) Frater 210 [Parsons] has committed...errors. He
has got a miraculous illumination which rhymes with nothing,
and he has apparently lost all of his personal independence.
From our brother's account
His Magickal Career 99
he has given away both his girl and his money - apparently it
is an ordinary confidence trick."
Parsons and Hubbard had indeed agreed to pool their funds immediately
after the original ceremonies. They set up Allied Enterprises
to buy yachts in Florida and sell them in California. Parsons
put up $20,970.80, and Hubbard $1,183.91. The third partner,
Sara" Betty" Northrup, made no financial contribution. In May,
Ron and Sara went to Florida and started buying yachts.
Parsons worried when Hubbard failed to give any account of the
expenditure of Allied Enterprises. In June, Parsons travelled
to Florida, writing to Crowley, "Here I am in Miami pursueing
[sic] the children of my folly. I have them well tied up: they
cannot move without going to jail. However I am afraid that
most of the money [in the joint account] has already been dissipated.
I will be lucky to salvage 3,000-5,000 dollars. In the interim
I have been flat broke."
On July 1, 1946, Parsons filed suit against Hubbard. He charged
that his partners had failed to present him with any accounting,
and though using money from the company bank account, had paid
nothing into it.
A receiver was appointed by the court to wind up Allied Enterprises,
and a restraining order was placed on the boats involved, all
of Hubbard and Sara's personal property, and any bank accounts
in their names. Hubbard and Sara were also ordered to remain
in Miami. On July 11, the partners signed an agreement dissolving
Allied Enterprises. A settlement was approved by the court on
July 16.
Parsons took two of the boats, a schooner, the Blue Water H,
and the yacht Diane, and Hubbard a twoomasted schooner called
the Harpoon. Hubbard also gave Parsons a promissory note for
$2,900 secured against the Harpoon, and paid half of Parsons'
costs. The Parsons affair was over. Hubbard's affair with black
magic was not.
Parsons and Hubbard went their separate ways after their legal
settlement, in July 1946. In October 1948, Parsons repeated
the "Babalon Working," as it has come to be known, and in 1949
wrote The Book of the Antichrist, and proclaimed himself "Belarion,
Antichrist" ("Belarion" was his OTO name). In The Book of the
Antichrist, Parsons alluded to his dealings with Hubbard:
Now it came to pass even as BABALON mid me, for after receiving
Her Book I fell away from Magick, and put away Her Book and all
100 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911 - 1949
pertaining thereto. And I was stripped of my fortune (the sum
of about $50,000) [sic] and my house, and all I Possessed.
Parsons was fatally injured by the blast of an explosion in
his laboratory in 1952. Parsons has the distinction of being
the only twentieth-century magician to have had a crater on
the moon named after him (though for his contributions to rocketry).
Appropriately, it is on the so-called dark side.
Hubbard continued the practice of Magick after leaving Parsons.
During the Armstrong case, portions of Hubbard's "Affirmations"
were read into the record, much to the protest of Mary Sue Hubbard's
attorney, who said "this particular document is...far and away
the most private and personal document probably that I have
ever read by anybody." Armstrong's lawyer, Michael Flynn, tended
to agree: "Most Scientologists...if they read these documents
would leave the organization five minutes after they read them."
The "Affirmations" are voluminous. The introduction alone runs
to thirty pages. They are in Ron Hubbard's own hand. Only a
tiny portion was read into the court record, and the originals
were held under court seal. In the "Affirmations" Hubbard hypnotized
himself to believe that all of humanity and all discarnate beings
were bound to him in slavery. Mary Sue Hubbard's attorney claimed
these statements were pan of Hubbard's "research."
Also under court seal was a document with the tantalizing title
"The Blood Ritual." The title was Hubbard's own. This document
was apparently so sensitive that no part of it was read into
the record. The Scientology lawyer asserted that the deity invoked
in "The Blood Ritual" is an Egyptian god of Love.
Parsons had mentioned Hubbard's guardian angel, "The Empress."
Nibs Hubbard says his father also called his guardian angel
Hathor, or Hathoor. Hathor is an Egyptian goddess, the daughter
and mother of the great sun god Amon-Ra, the principal Egyptian
deity. She was depicted as a winged and spotted cow feeding
humanity; a goddess of Love and Beauty. But she had a second
aspect, not always mentioned in texts on Egyptian mythology,
that of the "avenging lioness," Sekmet, a destructive force.
One authority has called her "the destroyer of man." This is
the "God of Love" to whom "The Blood Ritual" ceremony was dedicated.
Since doing my research I have seen a copy of "The Blood Ritual,"
and it is indeed addressed to Hathor. Nuit, Re, Mammon and Osiris
are also invoked. The ceremo-
His Magickal Career 101
ny consisted of Ron and his then wife mingling their blood to
become One.
Arthur Burks has left an account of a meeting with Hubbard before
the Second War, where Hubbard said that his guardian angel,
a "smiling woman," protected him when he was flying gliders.
One early Dianeticist asked Hubbard how he had managed to write
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health in three weeks.
Hubbard said it was produced through automatic writing, dictated
by an entity called the "Empress." In Crowley's Tarot, the Empress
card represents, among other things, debauchery, and Crowley
also associated the card with Hathor.9
To Crowley, Babalon was a manifestation of the Hindu goddess
Shakti, who in one of her aspects is also called the "destroyer
of man." It seems that to Hubbard, Babalon, Hathor, and the
Empress were synonymous, and he was trying to conjure his "Guardian
Angel" in the form of a servile homunculus so he could control
the "destroyer of Man."
There was also a correspondence between Diana and Isis to Crowley,
and the Empress card represented not only Hathor, but Isis,
in Crowley's system. Diana is the patroness of witchcraft. Hubbard
later called one of his daughters Diana, and the name of the
first Sea Org yacht was changed from Enchanter to Diana.10
Nibs has said he was initiated into Magickal rites by Hubbard,
even after Dianetics was released, that his father never stopped
practicing "Magick," and that Scientology came from "the Dark
side of the Force."
After the settlement with Parsons, Hubbard left Florida for
Chestertown, Maryland. On August 10, 1946, he married Sara Northrup,
the girl he had "rescued" from Parsons' black magic group. The
marriage was bigamous since Hubbard was still legally married
to Polly.
The couple turned up next at Laguna Beach, California. By the
end of 1947, Hubbard was living in Hollywood, and complaining
to the Veterans Administration of his mental instability. He
also mentioned that he was attending the "Geller Theater Workshop,"
presumably brushing up his acting skills. The VA was paying
for this under the GI Bill.
In December, Hubbard's pension was increased (to about a third
of a living wage), and his first wife's divorce from him became
final, more than a year after his second marriage. Hubbard was
not satisfied with the increase in his pension, and wrote to
the Veterans Administration
102 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911 - 1949
complaining about his poor physical condition, and saying that
if he did not have to worry so much about money, he would be
able to produce a novel which had been commissioned.
That novel, The End Is Not Yet, had already been published in
Astounding Science Fiction, in August 1947. It is about a nuclear
physicist who overthrows a dictatorial system with the creation
of a new philosophy. It has been suggested that the novel had
some bearing upon the creation of the Scientology movement.
Hubbard's writing and the VA pension combined apparently did
not provide sufficient funds, and in August 1948 Hubbard was
arrested in San Luis Obispo for check fraud. He was released
on probation."
By January 1949, the Hubbards were in Savannah, Georgia. In
a letter written that month, Hubbard said that a manuscript
he was working on had more potential for promotion and sales
than anything he had ever encountered. Hubbard was referring
to a therapy system he was working on. In April, he wrote to
several professional organizations, offering "Dianetics" to
them. None was interested, so Hubbard had to find another outlet
for Dianetics, which he very promptly did.
PART THREE
THE BRIDGE TO
TOTAL FREEDOM
1949-1966
Let us suppose that two plateaus exist, one higher than the
other, with a canyon between them. An engineer sees that if
the canyon could be crossed by traffic, the hitherto unused
plateau, being much more fertile and pleasant, would become
the scene of a new culture. He sets himself the task of building
a bridge. - L. RoN HUBBARD, Dianetics: The Modern Science of
Mental Health
103
CHAPTER ONE
Building the Bridge
In December 1949, an announcement appeared in America's leading
science fiction magazine:
The item that most interests me at the moment is an article
on the most important subject conceivable. This is not a hoax
article. It is an article on the science of the human mind,
of human thought. It is not an article on psychology - that isn't
a science. It's not General Semantics. It is a totally new science,
called dianetics, and it does precisely what a science of thought
should do. Its power is almost unbelievable; following the sharply
defined basic laws dianetics sets forth, physical ills such
as ulcers, asthma and arthritis can be cured, as can all other
psychosomatic ills. The articles are in preparation. It is,
quite simply, impossible to exaggerate the importance of a true
science of human thought.
On the facing page was a story by the originator of Dianetics,
called "A Can of Vacuum." It is about an unschooled practical
joker who makes remarkable scientific discoveries, for example
that of "a quart of rudey rays." The magazine was Astounding
Science Fiction, and editor John Campbell `s article was the
first mention in print of Dianetics.
The first Hubbard article on Dianetics was published in the
Spring of 1950, in an unusual place for a "science of the mind,"
The Explorers Club Journal, under the title "Terra Incognita:
The Mind." In the article Hubbard explained that Dianetics "was
intended as a tool for
105
106 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
the expedition commander and doctor who are faced with choosing
personnel and maintaining that personnel in good health."
Hubbard had arrived in Bay Head, New Jersey, in mid-1949, armed
with the fundamentals of his new science. He was widely known
in science fiction, having contributed to Astounding Science
Fiction for over eleven years. John Campbell, the highly influential
editor, had been convened to Dianetics by a counselling session
which relieved his sinusitis, and became an eager recruiter.
Soon, a small group of disciples gathered around Hubbard.
Among those brought into the Hubbard circle by Campbell was
Joseph Winter, M.D., who had written medical articles for Astounding.
Winter wanted to break down the mystique surrounding medicine.
He specialized in endocrinology, and had tried to modify behavior
with hormones, in experiments at the University of Illinois.
Hubbard was later to claim that he had himself been involved
in such experiments at Oak Knoll Hospital. An early letter to
Winter, written in July 1949, shows Campbell's enthusiasm for
the new subject:
With cooperation from some institutions, some psychiatrists,
he [Hubbard] has worked on all types of cases. Institutionalized
schizophrenics, apathies, manics, depressives, perverts, stuttering,
neuroses - in all nearly 1,000 cases...He doesn't have proper
statistics...He has cured every patient he worked. He has
cured ulcers, arthritis, asthma.
Winter wrote to Hubbard asking for more information about Dianetics.
Hubbard replied that he was writing a technical paper and in
the fall of 1949 sent a treatise on "Abnormal Dianetics" to
Dr. Winter, who was so impressed that he gave copies to two
colleagues in Chicago. Winter was disappointed when his colleagues
pointed to the shortcomings of Dianetics without first trying
it out.
Winter visited Hubbard in Bay Head in October 1949, later saying
he "became immersed in a life of Dianetics and very little else."
By January 1950, Winter had closed his medical practice in Michigan
and moved to New Jersey.
Winter, Campbell, Hubbard and Don Rogers, an electrical engineer,
worked together refining techniques and coining a new language
to voice Hubbard's ideas. Hubbard was probably the major contributor
to these discussions, and certainly the final arbiter. Winter
submitted papers to the Journals of the American Medical Association
and the American Psychiatric Association. The papers were rejected,
because
Building the Bridge 107
of a lack of clinical experimentation, or indeed of any substantiation.
The Bay Head group then decided to publish the therapy in Astounding
Science Fiction, and by January 1950, Hubbard had prepared an
article, a modified version of which later became the book Dianetics:
The Evolution of a Science. Unbeknownst to his co-workers, while
they were refining Hubbard's cure-all, he was still trying to
obtain a naval disability retirement to augment his Veterans
Administration award.
In 1950, Astounding Science Fiction had a circulation of approximately
150,000. Its most noteworthy subscriber was Albert Einstein.
The letters pages often carried correspondence from research
scientists and professors, disputing the feasibility of previous
stories (including criticisms of the poor scientific understanding
displayed in Hubbard's stories). Campbell continued to praise
Dianetics in his editorials, generating considerable interest
in the subject without giving away anything substantial concerning
Dianetic methods.
Arthur Ceppos, the head of a medical and psychiatric textbook
publishing company, joined the Bay Head circle, and commissioned
a manual on Dianetics. In April 1950, the Hubbard Dianetic Research
Foundation (HDRF) was incorporated to answer the many inquiries
generated by Campbell's editorials. Hubbard, his wife Sara,
Campbell, Winter, Ceppos, Don Rogers, and lawyer Parker C. Morgan
made up the Board of Directors. The HDRF had its headquarters
in Elizabeth, New Jersey, not far from New York City.
Hubbard's 400-page textbook was outlined and written in six
weeks. He sometimes claimed it took him only three, and an eyewitness
has confirmed this, saying the first three weeks were spent
working out how to write the book.
The writing process was punctuated, on March 8, by the birth
of a daughter to Sara Hubbard. The child, Alexis Valerie Hubbard,
had her father's red hair, though he later denied paternity,
suggesting she was Jack Parson's child!' She was delivered by
Joseph Winter.
The May 1950 edition of Astounding sold out at record rate.
It was soon followed by the book Dianetics: The Modern Science
of Mental Health, which became an immediate best-seller. The
Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation was inundated with inquiries
and requests for therapy.
Dianetics was supposed to "Clear" people of irrational behavior.
A "Clear," according to the book, would have no compulsions,
repressions, or psychosomatic ills. A "Clear" would have full
control of his
108 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
imagination, and a near perfect memory. With Dianetic counselling,
IQ would "soar" by as much as "fifty points," and the Clear
would be "phenomenally intelligent." Dianetics would even rescue
a broken marriage.
It was claimed that through Dianetics the individual would be
freed of psychoses and neuroses. Among the "psychosomatic" conditions
Dianetics claimed to cure were asthma, poor eyesight, color
blindness, hearing deficiencies, stuttering, allergies, sinusitis,
arthritis, high blood pressure, coronary trouble, dermatitis,
ulcers, migraine, conjunctivitis, morning sickness, alcoholism
and the common cold. Even tuberculosis would be alleviated.
Dianetics would also have "a marked effect upon the extension
of life." A Clear could do a computation which a "normal would
do in half an hour, in ten or fifteen seconds."
Hubbard claimed to have examined and treated 273 people and,
through this research, found the "single and sole source of
aberration." The book claimed that Dianetics was effective on
anyone who had not had "a large portion of his brain removed,"
or been "born with a grossly malformed nervous structure." Better
yet, Dianetics could be practiced straight from the book with
no training. Therapy would take anything from 30 to 1,200 hours,
by which time the person would be Clear, and thus free of all
irrationality, and every psychosomatic ailment.
The new therapy which prompted these incredible claims was basically
a reworking of ideas abandoned by Freud in favor of the interpretation
of dreams. Dianetics extended Freud's earlier techniques slightly,
and allied them to a different theory. It was a form of abreaction
in which the patient remembered and then acted out, or supposedly
re-experienced, the memory of a traumatic incident. Freud had
speculated that traumas with similar content join together in
"chains," embedded in the "unconscious" mind, causing irrational
responses in the individual. According to Freud a "chain" would
be relieved by inducing the patient to remember the earliest
trauma, "with an accompanying expression of emotion." Earlier
traumas would only become available as later traumas were remembered
and abreacted. Forty years before Dianetics, in the Clark lectures
at Worcester, Massachusetts, Freud had explained this theory
and methodology. The description is uncannily similar to Dianetics.
Freud would repeat one of the patient's common phrases to him.
This would often induce a buried memory to surface. In Dianetics,
the
Building the Bridge 109
therapist asked the patient to repeat the phrases. Hubbard called
this "repeater technique" and, in early Dianetics, it was the
principal method for discovering traumatic incidents.
Hubbard renamed the "unconscious" the "Reactive Mind." He differentiated
two principal types of trauma: "physical pain or unconsciousness,"
and "emotional loss." Before Dianetics was published, three
words had been tried out to describe the first type of trauma:
norn, impediment and comanome. Eventually, Dr. Winter suggested
that a word already current would fit the bill. The word was
"engram," defined in Dorland's 1936 Medical dictionary as "a
lasting mark or trace...In psychology it is the lasting trace
left in the psyche by anything that has been experienced psychically;
a latent memory picture." Hubbard limited the term to actual
pain or unconsciousness, separating out emotional losses as
"secondary engrams" or "secondaries," meaning they were only
stored where an earlier, similar "engram" existed. Freud too
had commented on trauma based on both physical pain and emotional
loss.2
So, according to Hubbard, the "Reactive Mind" is composed of
recordings of incidents of physical pain or unconsciousness
called "engrams." The earliest engram (or "basic") is the foundation
of a "chain" of engrams, and through re-experiencing it, the
"chain" will dissipate. To make an earlier engram available
it is necessary to "destimulate" more recent engrams by re-experiencing
them.
Hubbard claimed it was possible to relieve all such engrams,
thus "erasing" the Reactive (unconscious) Mind. A person without
a Reactive Mind would be "Clear." To make a Clear, it would
be necessary to erase the earliest engram by re-experiencing
it. Hubbard asserted that the engram of birth was very important,
and claimed it was possible, and necessary, to find the earliest
engram, long before birth, perhaps as far back as conception,
the "sperm dream."
A year before Hermitage House published Dianetics: The Modern
Science of Mental Health, it published an extensive psychoanalytic
study by Dr. Nandor Fodor, called The Search for the Beloved,
subtitled "A clinical investigation into the trauma of birth
and prenatal conditioning." Fodor credited Otto Rank, another
Freudian, with original work on the trauma of birth.
Someone at the publishers must have noticed the similarities
between the two books prior to the publication of Dianetics.
Arthur Ceppos was both the head of Hermitage House and a director
of the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation. It is highly unlikely
that
110 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
Hubbard did not know about Fodor, even though his book was certainly
not as popular as Dianetics. Fodor did publish first, and had
been expressing his ideas on the trauma of birth in psychiatric
journals for some years. The first edition of Dianetics: The
Modern Science of Mental Health even carried an advertisement
for Fodor's book on the dust-jacket, subtitle and all.
Fodor and Hubbard each argued that birth and the pre-natal period
could be abreacted, or re-experienced, and were fundamental
to later behavior. Scientologists mistakenly credit Hubbard
with the discovery of the trauma of birth and the pre-natal
period. Hubbard did nothing to disabuse them of this notion.
Although Fodor's patients supposedly relived their birth, his
method differed from Hubbard's. Dianetics was closer to Freud's
original approach. Fodor believed that very few people were
able to reexperience their birth, whereas Hubbard claimed nearly
everyone could.
Using hypnosis, Hubbard tried out some of Freud's ideas, and
eventually came up with a "non-hypnotic" therapy, a few months
before Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health was published.
Hypnosis, which already had a Hollywood Svengali image, was
to be given an even more vicious, mind-bending image by Hubbard.
To this day many people think that hypnosis refers only to a
state of deep-trance. In that sense, Dianetics is not hypnosis,
but Dr. Winter and others were later to argue that Dianetics
creates a light trance, a highly suggestible condition.
In Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, Freudian
ideas were presented in a new, elaborate language. Dianetics,
a survivor of several abreactive therapies practiced in the
1940s, differed by approaching the general public directly,
rather than through the psychiatric or psychological professions.
Dianetics also completely avoided the libido theory, the interpretation
of dreams, transference and complex Freudian evaluations. The
early Dianeticist simply directed the individual in the exploration
of his memory and, inevitably, his imagination, leaving the
individual (or "Preclear") to make his own interpretations about
the validity or significance of his memories.
According to Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
("DMSMH," as Scientologists call the book), an engram contains
every "perceptic" - sight, smell, touch, taste, sound and so
forth. It is a running, three-dimensional record of experiencing
during moments of unconsciousness or pain which acts as a post-hypnotic
suggestion on
Building the Bridge 111
the recipient. He has no real idea why he reacts irrationally
in certain circumstances, but rationalizes his responses.
In the book Hubbard described an engram and its effects:
A woman is knocked down by a blow. She is rendered "unconscious."
She is kicked and told she is a faker, that she is no good,
that she is always changing her mind. A chair is overturned
in the process. A faucet is running in the kitchen. A car is
passing on the street outside. The engram contains a running
record of all these perceptions...[and would contain] the whole
statement made to her...Any perception in the engram she
received has some quality of restimulation. Running water from
a faucet might not have affected her greatly. But running water
from a faucet plus a passing car might have begun some slight
reactivation of the engram, a vague discomfort in the areas
where she was struck and kicked...add the sharp falling
of a chair and she experiences a shock of mild proportion. Add
now the smell and voice of the man who kicked her and the pain
begins to grow. The mechanism [the Reactive Mind] is telling
her she is in dangerous quarters, that she should leave...
She stays. The pains in the areas where she was abused become
a predisposition to illness or are chronic illness in themselves.
The experiential content of the engram is outside conscious
recall except, of course, when probed by the Dianeticist. When
enough elements of the environment match elements of an engram,
then it, and all engrams similar to it (the "chain" to which
it belongs), comes into force, or "key-in." The individual must
either feel the pain of the engram, or "dramatize" (act out)
the often inappropriate verbal content. An engram which contained
the phrase "Get out!" might well create an escapist. The Reactive
Mind is literal and puns crazily.
Hubbard called the sequential record of experience the "Timetrack."
In Dianetics, he claimed that by finding the earliest engram
on a chain the whole chain would refile in the "Analytical"
(conscious) mind, losing its reactive power. So came the idea
that finding the earliest engram ("basic-basic"), and thoroughly
re-experiencing its content, will knock away the foundation
of all later engrams, emptying the Reactive Mind, and creating
a Clear.
A rather peculiar aspect of Dianetics: The Modern Science of
Mental Health was Hubbard's emphasis on "attempted abortions."
Hubbard claimed "it is a scientific fact that abortion attempts
are the most important factor in aberration," and that "Attempted
abortion is very common...Twenty or thirty abortion attempts
are not uncommon in
112 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
the aberree." Hubbard asserted that ulcers were caused by attempted
abortions. He had been suffering from a duodenal ulcer since
1943.
Going against popular belief, Hubbard insisted that life in
the womb was fraught with pain and that the fetus is constantly
receiving engrams. Hubbard gave a gruesome list, which he claimed
was from a real case: Coitus chain, father fifty-seven incidents;
Coitus chain, lover nineteen incidents; Constipation chain fifty-two
incidents; Douche chain twenty-two incidents; Morning sickness
chain twenty-three incidents; Fight chain thirty-eight incidents;
Attempted abortion chain twenty-eight incidents; Accident chain
eighteen incidents; Masturbation chain eighty-one incidents.
This unfortunate individual had received over 300 engrams before
coming into the world.
In Scientology: The Now Religion, author George Malko wrote
that "Hubbard's extensive discussion of things sexual, his concern
with abortions, beatings, coitus under duress, flatulence which
causes pressure on the foetus, certain cloacal references, all
suggest to me a fascination which borders on the obsessive,
as if he possessed a deepseated hatred of women. All of them
are being beaten, most of them prove to be unfaithful, few babies
are wanted."3
Dianetic counselling was called "auditing." Hubbard defined
the verb "audit" as "to listen and compute," which he considered
the basic functions of the therapist. So the Dianetic therapist
was called the "Auditor."
In Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, Hubbard used
the analogy of building a bridge. He had built a bridge to a
better state for mankind, pleading with his readers "For God's
sake, get busy and build a better bridge!" To Scientologists,
the steps of Hubbard's therapy are still known as "The Bridge."
The original idea in Dianetics was that the Reactive Mind could
be completely "erased," thus turning Homo sapiens into the new
man, "Homo novis," the Clear. Otherwise the basic theory was
not original, and the therapy a modification of earlier techniques.
Dianetics was initially successful because it was so readily
accessible, and because it was espoused by a brilliant publicist,
John Campbell. All the reader needed was a copy of the book
and a friend to "co-audit" with, and they could start erasing
their engrams. Amateur Dianetic groups sprang up throughout
the English-speaking world.
In June 1950, Hubbard gave the first full-time Auditor training
course to ten students at the Elizabeth Foundation. Hubbard
said students there were charged $500 to "hang around the office
and
Building the Bridge 113
watch what was going on" for a month. August found him in California,
where he lectured for a month to 300 students. The fee was still
$500. Professional auditing was charged at $25 an hour. There
were hundreds of thousands of dollars involved.4
Dianetics emerged against a backdrop of international tension
and fear. Russia had added Czechoslovakia to its empire in 1948.
The United States had reintroduced the draft. 1948 also saw
the Soviet blockade of Berlin, and the U.S. airlift. In September
1949, the Soviets successfully tested an atomic bomb. The Communists
came to power in China, under Mao Tse-tung, the following month.
At the beginning of 1950, Senator Joseph McCarthy announced
that he had a list of 205 card-carrying Communists in the employ
of the U.S. State Department. The McCarthy Communist witch-hunt
was to last four years. In June, the North Koreans, using Soviet
arms and tanks, invaded the South, and the Korean war began.
In The New York Times, Frederick Schuman's review of Dianetics:
The Modern Science of Mental Health played to the fears of the
United States of America: "History has become a race between
Dianetics and catastrophe," echoing Hubbard's own sentiments.
In 1950, Dianetics was a craze. Campbell wrote that Astounding
was receiving up to a thousand letters a week.' Within a year,
the book had sold 150,000 copies. The Hollywood community eagerly
embraced the new system. Aldous Huxley received auditing from
Hubbard himself, and, although he did not complain about the
therapy, he simply could not locate any engrams, even under
Hubbard's direction.6
CHAPTER TWO
The Dianetic Foundations
Charlatanism is almost impossible where dianetics in any of
its principles is being practiced. - L. RoN HUBBARD, Dianetics:
The Modern Science of Mental Health
By the end of 1950, five new Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundations
had been added to the first at Elizabeth. They were in Chicago,
Honolulu, New York, Washington and Los Angeles. The L.A. Foundation
was headed by science fiction writer A.E. van Vogt. That year,
much of the letters section of Astounding Science Fiction was
devoted to Dianetics, where letters were answered by both Hubbard
and Winter. Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health was
on the bestseller lists for several months. But despite the
tremendous popularity of Dianetics, and the river of cash pouring
into the Foundations, there was trouble on the horizon.
The first signs came in August 1950, when Hubbard exhibited
a "Clear" at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles. Despite claims
of "perfect recall," and the fact that she was majoring in physics,
the "Clear" was unable to remember a simple physics formula.
When Hubbard turned his back, she could not even remember the
color of his tie.
The Shrine Auditorium lecture has been published by the Scientologists
as part of Hubbard's immense collected works. The girl is renamed
"Ann Singer" in the Scientologists' version. The transcript
114
The Dianetic Foundations 115
has been edited, but the question about the tie remains, as
does one about physics, with a vague answer. A Scientology account
says Hubbard "spoke to a jammed house of over 6,000 enthusiastic
people." According to author Martin Gardner, when Ann Singer
could not remember the color of Hubbard' s tie, "a large part
of the audience got up and left." The incident had a marked
effect on Hubbard's credibility, and he became cagey about declaring
more Clears, avoiding public demonstrations of their supposed
abilities from then on.2
In September, The New York Times published a statement by the
American Psychological Association:
While suspending judgement concerning the eventual validity
of the claims made by the author of Dianetics, the association
calls attention to the fact that these claims are not supported
by the empirical evidence of the sort required for the establishment
of scientific generalizations. In the public interest, the association,
in the absence of such evidence, recommends to its members that
the use of the techniques peculiar to Dianetics be limited to
scientific investigations to test the validity of its claims.3
The following month, Dr. Joseph Winter and Arthur Ceppos, the
publisher of Dianetics, resigned from the Board of Directors
of the Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation. Winter described
his experiences in the first book critical of Hubbard, A Doctor's
Report on Dianetics. Winter felt Dianetics could be dangerous
in untrained hands, and asserted that repeated attempts to persuade
Hubbard to adopt a minimum standard to test student applicants
had failed. Winter felt Dianetics should be in the hands of
people with some medical qualification. He had changed his mind
since writing the introduction to Dianetics a year before. He
had also begun to feel that "Clear" was unobtainable. In a year
of close association with Hubbard, Winter had not seen anyone
who had achieved the state described in the book.
Winter also said he saw no scientific research being performed
at the "Research" Foundation. He was tired of Hubbard's disparagement
of the medical and psychiatric professions, and alarmed by Hubbard's
use of massive doses of a vitamin mixture called "Guk." Winter
was even more alarmed by the auditing of "past lives," which
he considered entirely fanciful. Winter wrote, "there was a
difference between the ideals inherent within the dianetics
hypothesis and the actions of the Foundation...The ideals
of dianetics, as I saw them, included nonauthoritarianism and
a flexibility of approach...The ideals of
116 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
dianetics continued to be given lip service, but I could see
a definite disparity between ideals and actualities." Winter
set up a psychotherapeutic practice in Manhattan, and soon drifted
away from DianeticS.
In an article in Newsweek, entitled "The Poor Man's Psychoanalysis,"
American Medical Association representative Dr. Morris Fishbein
labelled Dianetics a "mind-healing cult." Dianeticist Helen
O'Brien has said that one member of the Elizabeth Foundation
resigned because in a month when $90,000 income was received,
only $20,000 could be accounted for. A Board member of the time
denies this, but there are certainly questions about the disbursement
of income. Later events suggest that much of it went into Hubbard's
pocket. One early associate says Hubbard "spent money like water."
In November 1950, the Elizabeth Foundation set up a Board of
Ethics to ensure that practitioners were using the "Standard
Procedure" of Dianetic counselling approved by Hubbard. Innovators
had been adding their own ideas to Dianetics, which was anathema
to Hubbard who called techniques he had not approved "Black
Dianetics," insisting they were dangerous .4 This was in spite
of his pronouncement in Dianetics that "if anyone wants a monopoly
on dianetics, be assured that he wants it for reasons which
have to do not with dianetics but with profit.' ,s Hubbard obviously
excluded himself from this pronouncement.
Hubbard moved to Palm Springs to work on his second book, Science
of Survival. He was living with a girlfriend, and drinking heavily.
He sniped at Foundation directors, trying to force their resignations.
Distrust of his associates and subordinates manifested itself
repeatedly throughout his life. Hubbard's paranoia had already
shown itself in Elizabeth where he had assured a Foundation
Director that American Medical Association spies made up a high
proportion of the student applicants, the Preclears, and even
the customers in the restaurant below the Foundation.
The Los Angeles Foundation cooperated with two university researchers,
who tried to validate Dianetics by knocking a volunteer out
with sodium pentathol, and reading him a passage from a physics
textbook, while inflicting pain. In six months of "auditing"
the subject failed to remember any of the passage. Hubbard dismissed
the matter in Science of Survival, writing that "Psychotherapists
with whom the Foundation has dealt have been eager to plant
an engram in a patient and have the Foundation recover it...
The Foundation will
The Dianetic Foundations 117
accept no more experiments in this line...A much more natural
and valid validation [sic] of engrams can be done without the
use of drugs."
For some time Sara Hubbard had been Ron's personal Auditor;
now they were living apart, and her confidence in Dianetics
had slipped so far that she urged the Elizabeth Foundation to
obtain psychiatric treatment for her husband.
A few months later Hubbard wrote a secret missive to the FBI,
giving his own account of his separation from Sara. He described
himself as a nuclear physicist who had transferred his expertise
into a study of psychology. He said that he had thought Sara
was his legal wife, before realizing there was some confusion
about a divorce. Sara was accused of destroying one of Hubbard's
therapeutic organizations. She had supposedly forced him to
make out a will, in October, 1950, bequeathing to her his copyrights
and his share of the Foundations. Later that month, Hubbard
claimed he had been attacked while sleeping, since which time
he had been unable to recover his health. Hubbard blamed Sara
for an incident in Los Angeles in which Alexis, their baby daughter,
had been left unattended in their car, and for which Hubbard
himself had been put on probation. In December, he was again
supposedly attacked in his sleep.
Hubbard's letter went on to describe another assault, which
supposedly took place in his apartment on February 23, between
2:00 and 3:00 a.m. Having been knocked unconscious, air was
injected into his heart and he was given an electric shock,
in an attempt, according to Hubbard, to induce a heart attack.
The night following this purported attack, Hubbard kidnapped
baby Alexis, and deposited her with a nursing agency. To avoid
detection, he called himself James Olsen. He claimed his wife
was suffering from ill health. The same night, he also kidnapped
Sara, with the help of two of his lieutenants. Hubbard wanted
to have Sara examined by a psychiatrist, but failing to find
one, they ended up in Yuma, Arizona, having driven through the
night. After releasing Sara, Hubbard flew to Chicago. There
Hubbard found a psychologist who was willing to write a favorable
report about Hubbard's mental condition, refuting Sara's charge
that he was a paranoid-schizophrenic.7
In March, Hubbard wrote to the FBI denouncing sixteen of his
former associates as Communists, a serious charge during those
days of the anti-Communist witch-hunts led by Senator McCarthy
and the House Un-American Activities Committee. Hubbard even
included in
118 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
his accusations people who were still working at the Foundations.
Two, Ross Lamereaux and Richard Halpern, continued to be his
staunch supporters for years to come. Ironically, Hubbard's
complaints about the executives running his organizations inevitably
led to an investigation by the FBI of those very organizations."
In the midst of these problems, Hubbard's first wife, Polly,
demanded the forty-two months of support payments Hubbard had
failed to make since their settlement forty-two months before.
The bill, including interest and fees, came to $2,503.79. Hubbard
had also failed to pay a debt to the National Bank of Commerce,
taken out in 1940, which with interest now came to $889.55.
Hubbard left a trail of unpaid bills, despite the fortune Dianetics
had earned him. During the eventual collapse of the Los Angeles
Foundation, one of its directors wrote, "I am being flooded
with personal bills for L. Ron Hubbard, going back as far as
1948 and earlier."9
In his secret report to the FBI, Hubbard had said that Sara
and her boyfriend, Miles Hollister, were Communists. He also
said Sara was a drug addict. Hubbard offered a reward of $10,000
to anyone in Dianetics who could resolve Sara's difficulties
by Clearing her. She was suspended as a trustee and officer
of the California Foundation.10
Taking Alexis and his close supporter Richard de Mille with
him, Hubbard flew to Florida, and from there to Cuba. He continued
to drink heavily while finishing the dictation of Science of
Survival. In a letter to his lieutenant in Los Angeles, Hubbard
spoke of the enormous amount of money to be made by insisting
that every Dianeticist buy a psycho-galvonometer. The mark-up
would be sixty percent. There is no mention of any benefit to
auditing from the use of the psycho-galvonometer or "E-meter,"
as it was later known.11
In her book, Dianetics in Limbo, Helen O'Brien wrote: "The tidal
wave of popular interest was over in a few months, although
a ground swell continued for a while. The book became unobtainable
because of a legal tangle involving the publisher. People began
to see that although dianetics worked, in the sense that individuals
could cooperate in amateur explorations of buried memories,
this resulted only occasionally in improved health and enhanced
abilities, in spite of Hubbard's confident predictions."
By the end of 1950, Hubbard's world was collapsing, income had
dropped dramatically and the Foundations were unable to meet
their payrolls or their promotional expenditures. An attempt
to start a new Foundation in Kansas City failed. In January
1951, Parker C. Morgan,
The Dianetic Foundations 119
a lawyer who had been a rounding director of the Elizabeth Foundation,
resigned. In March, John Campbell followed suit. He too complained
of Hubbard's authoritarian attitude. Thus four of the seven
original directors had resigned, and Sara had been suspended,
leaving only Don Rogers and Hubbard.':
Campbell's resignation followed close on the heels of an investigation
by the New Jersey Medical Association, which filed a case against
the Elizabeth Foundation for teaching medicine without a license.
Hubbard was not only claiming all sorts of cures, he was also
experimenting on "Preclears" with drugs, especially benzedrine.
In a lecture in June 1950, Hubbard had admitted to having been
a phenobarbitol addict. He also spoke knowledgeably about the
effects of sodium amytal, ACTH (a hormone), opium, marijuana
and sodium pentathol. New directors were appointed in Elizabeth
and fought a losing battle to keep the Foundation solvent.
Sara, who despite her husband's reward was supposedly "Clear"
already, brought a divorce suit in Los Angeles. She was desperate
for the return of her one-year-old daughter. She alleged that
Hubbard had subjected her to "scientific torture experiments,"
that her marriage was bigamous, that she had medical evidence
that Hubbard was a "paranoid schizophrenic," and that he had
kidnapped their daughter.
Sara Northrup Hubbard's original complaint against her husband
has mysteriously disappeared from the microfilm records of the
Los Angeles County Courthouse. Fortunately, copies are still
in existence. Among the alleged torture experiments was this:
Hubbard systematically prevented plaintiff from sleeping continuously
for a period of over four days, and then in her agony, furnished
her with a supply of sleeping pills, all resulting in a nearness
to the shadow of death...plaintiff became numb and lost
consciousness, and was thereafter taken by said Hubbard to the
Hollywood Leland Hospital, where she was kept under a vigilant
guard from friend and family, under an assumed name for five
days.
Sara claimed that such "experiments" were frequent during the
course of their marriage. She also claimed that Hubbard had
many times physically abused her, once strangling her so violently
that the eustachian tube of her left ear had ruptured, impairing
her hearing. Hubbard had allegedly asked her to commit suicide
"if she really loved him," because although he wanted to leave
her, he feared a divorce would damage his reputation. Eventually,
Hubbard decided
120 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
Sara was in league with his enemies - the American Medical and
Psychiatric Associations, and the Communists. He quite usually
levelled similar charges against anyone who criticized him.
In his May 14 letter to the FBI, Hubbard again attacked Sara
as an agent of the Communist peril. He claimed he had discovered,
and could undo, the techniques used by the Russians to obtain
confessions. He said that whenever he made an overture to the
Defense Department offering them his own techniques of psychological
warfare, his organizations were harassed. He pleaded for the
removal of the Communist elements who had obviously infiltrated
even the Defense Department.
Hubbard went on to accuse Sara's father of being a criminal,
and her half-sister of being insane. He said she was sexually
promiscuous, and suggested that she had ruined Jack Parsons'
life. Hubbard claimed that Sara had been on intimate terms with
scientists working on the first atomic bomb, and suggested that
she might yield under FBI questioning. What she might yield
is unclear.
Despite remarkable income, the Foundations foundered. The Los
Angeles HDRF went down with a retired rear admiral at the helm.
In April 1951, Hubbard himself resigned from the Hubbard Dianetic
Research Foundation.
Hubbard had risen from a penny-a-word science fiction writer
to the leadership of the largest self-improvement group in the
U.S. Now, after only a few months, the Foundations were more
or less bankrupt, thousands of followers were disillusioned,
and Hubbard's private life was splashed all over the newspapers.
It was time to cut and run. For a less resourceful or a less
fortunate man, this would have been the end. For Hubbard, it
was just another of many new beginnings. The head of the Omega
Oil Company, Don Purcell, an ardent Hubbard admirer who had
been an early visitor to the Elizabeth Foundation, saved the
day.
CHAPTER THREE
Wichita
Don Purcell was a self-made millionaire. He offered Hubbard
funds and new premises in Wichita, Kansas. He also offered to
pay the debts of the original Foundation, without realizing
what he was letting himself in for. The paltry assets of the
Elizabeth Foundation, some second-hand furniture and a lot of
files, were moved to Wichita. The remaining Foundations were
closed. Hubbard, who had been in Cuba for about a month, was
in poor health, as his ulcer was flaring up. Purcell sent a
plane and a nurse to bring Hubbard and Alexis back to the United
States. They arrived in mid-April. The use of the name "Dianetics"
was assigned to the new Wichita Foundation, and it was to retain
the rights of Hubbard books it published. Purcell was the President,
and Hubbard the Vice-President and Chairman of the Board. A
few days after his return to the U.S. Sara, not knowing his
whereabouts, filed for divorce.'
Hubbard felt so confident of his change of fortunes that he
telegrammed a proposal of marriage to his Los Angeles girlfriend.
Then in June he filed for divorce in Wichita, and negotiated
a settlement with Sara. Alexis was returned to her mother, who
had not seen her baby for over three months. In return, Sara
dropped her Los Angeles suit, abandoned any claim to the million
dollars that she said the Foundations had earned in its first
year, instead accepting $200 per month for the support of Alexis.
She also signed a retraction:
121
122 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
I, Sara Northrup Hubbard, do hereby state that the things I
have said about L. Ron Hubbard in courts and the public prints
have been grossly exaggerated or entirely false. 1 have not
at any time believed otherwise than that L. Ron Hubbard was
a fine and brilliant man.
I make this statement of my own free will for I have begun to
realize that what I have done may have injured the science of
Dianetics, which in my studied opinion may be the only hope
of sanity in future generations. I was under enormous stress
and my advisers insisted it was necessary for me to carry through
as I have done.
There is no other reason for this statement than my own wish
to make atonement for the damage I may have done. In the future
I wish to lead a quiet and orderly existence with my little
girl far away from the enturbulating influences which have ruined
my marriage.
The retraction is clearly Hubbard's work (even containing his
invented word "enturbulating"), which Sara has confirmed.-'
Sara remarried, and has largely evaded interviewers ever since.
In 1972, she broke silence to write to author Paulette Cooper.
In that letter, Sara described L. Ron Hubbard, the "fine and
brilliant man," as a dangerous lunatic. She explained that her
own life had been transformed when she left him, but that she
was still frightened both of him and of his followers.
June 1951 brought a major change in Hubbard's fortunes. His
divorce was made final, and his book Science of Survival was
published by the new Wichita Hubbard Dianetic Foundation. The
title was coined to appeal to readers of Korzybski's highly
popular Science and Sanity. Korzybski was even acknowledged
in Hubbard's new book. The size of the first edition, 1,250
copies, is evidence of Hubbard's decreasing popularity. He later
blamed poor sales on Purcell.3 The book elaborated the theories
of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health in relation
to Hubbard's "Tone Scale," gave variations on earlier Dianetics
techniques, and made yet more claims for the miraculous properties
of auditing.
In Science of Survival, Hubbard asserted that an individual's
emotional condition, or "tone level," is the key to the interpretation
of his personality. The purpose of Dianetics was to raise the
individual's tone level to Enthusiasm. In Dianetics: The Modern
Science of Mental Health the Tone Scale was divided into four
numbered "zones": from Apathy to Fear, from Fear to Antagonism,
from Antagonism to Conservatism, and on to Enthusiasm.
Wichita 123
In Science of Survival, the Tone Scale was laid out in far more
detail. Death was below Apathy at Tone 0; Grief at 0.5; Fear
at 1.0; Covert Hostility at 1.1; Anger at 1.5; Antagonism at
2.0; Boredom at 2.5; Conservatism at 3.0; Cheerfulness at 3.5;
and Enthusiasm at 4.0. The numbering was arbitrary, but Hubbard
would continue to speak of an enthusiastic person as a "Tone
4," and the wolf in sheep's clothing, or covertly hostile individual,
is still called a "1.1" (or "one-one") by Scientologists.
The new book was accompanied by a large fold-out "Hubbard Chart
of Human Evaluation," with forty-three columns, each relating
to a particular trait, from "Psychiatric range" to "Actual worth
to Society," all related to "emotional tone level." By knowing
someone's emotional level, Hubbard claimed you would know their
physiological condition, and be able to predict their behavior.
An Enthusiastic person will be "near accident-proof" and "nearly
immune to bacteria." An Antagonistic person will suffer "severe
sporadic illnesses," and a Frightened person will suffer from
"endocrine and nervous illnesses." An Enthusiastic person will
have a "high concept of truth," while a Bored person is "Insincere.
Careless of facts," and an Angry person, engages in "blatant
and destructive lying."
Hubbard also expounded upon the idea of A.R.C., which was to
become central to Scientology. He asserted that Affinity, Reality
and Communication are inextricably linked, and dubbed them the
ARC triangle. The increase or decrease of one of the comers
of this triangle would influence the other two by the same amount.
Reality, according to Hubbard, was fundamentally agreement.
In its eventual formulation, Affinity, Reality and Communication
were said to equal understanding.
In Science of Survival, Hubbard referred to the exploration
of "past lives." If the "pre-clear" offered a "past life incident,"
the Auditor should simply "run" him through it. Hubbard complained
that Elizabeth Foundation Directors "sought to pass a resolution
banning the entire subject" of "past lives." However, several
Auditors trained at Elizabeth ran "past lives" on Preclears
there and say it was Hubbard who was slow to adopt the idea.
Eventually Hubbard adopted it with gusto and "past lives" became
a focus of Scientology. Although reincarnation was a commonplace
idea in the West by this time, Hubbard had undoubtedly met the
notion in the works of Aleister Crowley, who also preferred
the expression "past lives" to "reincarnation."
124 ThE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
In the new book Hubbard also advanced his "theta-MEST" theory.
MEST stands for "Matter, Energy, Space and Time" - the physical
world. By this time Hubbard asserted that "MEST" and that which
animates it are two very different things. He used the Greek
letter "theta" to categorize "thought, life force, elan vital,
the spirit, the soul." Hubbard described the relationship between
"theta" and "MEST"'
Consider that theta in its native state is pure reason or at
least pure potential reason. Consider that MEST in its native
state is simply the chaotic physical universe, its chemicals
and energies active in space and time.
The cycle of existence for theta consists of a disorganized
and painful smash into MEST and then a withdrawal with a knowledge
of some of the laws of MEST, to come back and smash into MEST
again.
MEST could be considered to be under onslaught by theta. Theta
could be considered to have as one of its missions, and its
only mission where MEST is concerned, the conquest of the physical
universe.
The Dianetic movement in 1951 consisted mainly of small autonomous
groups, many of which had rejected Hubbard's leadership after
the collapse of the Elizabeth Foundation with the ensuing bad
press. There were a number of newsletters in circulation, some
openly hostile to Hubbard. There was an air of experimentation.
Helen O'Brien, who attended, wrote "Audiences at Hubbard's lectures
were always partly composed of oddly dynamic fringe characters
who were known to us as `squirrels'...They practically never
enrolled at a dianetic foundation, seeming to obey some unwritten
law which prohibited them from supporting an organization acting
in Hubbard's interest. Nevertheless, his ideas dominated their
lives."
At the Wichita Foundation, Hubbard's only duties consisted of
giving weekly lectures, and signing students' certificates which
were awarded for time spent studying rather than as the result
of any examination.
The price of the Dianetic Auditor course remained at $500, but
there were far less takers than there had been in Los Angeles
six months before. Only 112 people attended the first major
conference held at Wichita. They were the remaining core of
the Dianetic movement.
Small editions of new Hubbard books and pamphlets poured out
of the Wichita Foundation: Preventative Dianetics, Self Analysis,
Education and the Auditor, A Synthesis of Processing Techniques,
The Dianetics Axioms, Child Dianetics, Advanced Procedure and
Axioms,
Wichita 125
Lectures on Effort Processing, Handbook for Preclears, and Dianetics
the Original Thesis were all published in the last six months
of 1951.
By October 1951, Hubbard attracted only fifty-one students to
a brief series of lectures. In December, he held a convention
for Dianeticists, and, according to O'Brien, felt betrayed when
none of his old Elizabeth colleagues showed up. The men who
had helped to make Dianetics a nationwide movement had deserted
him. Winter, who had lent the air of medical authority; Morgan,
the lawyer who had incorporated the first Foundation; Ceppos,
the publisher who had unleashed Dianetics: The Modern Science
of Mental Health on the world; and, most important, Campbell,
Hubbard's first recruiter and greatest publicist, who had virtually
created the Dianetics boom. Winter had even written a book which,
although it defended Dianetics, attacked Hubbard. Ceppos had
published Winter's book.
The first major challenge to Hubbard's leadership came in January
1952. A Minneapolis dianeticist, Ron Howes, was declared "Clear"
by his Auditor, Perry Chapdelaine.4 Remarkable claims were made
for, and by, Howes including his statement that he was seeing
if he could grow new teeth. To many dianeticists Howe seemed
proof of Hubbard's claims. Unfortunately for Hubbard, Howes
set up on his own, and attracted a following for his "Institute
of Humanics."5 More desertions from the Hubbard camp followed.
In an effort to raise money, Hubbard launched "Allied Scientists
of the World," the name of the organization which had figured
in his first post-war novel, The End Is Not Yet. From its headquarters
in Denver, Colorado, Allied Scientists solicited donations from
scientists. Some of the scientists approached were working on
secret government projects, and the Justice Department took
a keen interest in the approach. Long hours were demanded of
the Foundation's lawyer to sort out the ensuing problems.6
Unsurprisingly, Hubbard and Purcell had a falling out. At Wichita,
Hubbard had joined the "past lives" faction. This leap of attitude
from a supposed precision study of the mind to a spiritual practice
aggravated the conservative Purcell. Purcell had also initially
failed to realize that the Wichita Foundation would be treated
as the legal successor to the Elizabeth Foundation, and would
therefore be forced to settle Elizabeth's extensive debts, which
ran into hundreds of thousands of dollars. Purcell tried to
persuade Hubbard to put the Wichita Foundation into voluntary
bankruptcy. Hubbard refused, but in February, after creditors
had threatened receivership, he resigned.
126 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
He sold his seventy percent holding to the Foundation for $1.00,
and was granted permission to teach Dianetics. He opened the
"Hubbard College" on the other side of town, leaving Purcell
the complicated task of settling accounts. The Foundation filed
for voluntary bankruptcy.7
On the same day, Hubbard sent a telegram to Purcell informing
him that he was filing two suits against Purcell for a total
of $1 million. Hubbard then published an attack on Purcell,
accusing him of bad faith and incompetence. Despite this, the
Foundation sent a moderate and matter-of-fact account of events
to their members. No one was blamed. The report included a simple
record of income and expenditure, showing that the Foundation
had earned $141,821, of which $21,945 had been paid to Hubbard.
The Foundation had overspent by $63,222 in less than a year
of operation. Hubbard launched an out-and-out attack on the Foundation
using its mailing lists, which he had misappropriated, and claiming
Purcell had been paid $500,000 by the American Medical Association
to wreck Dianetics.8
In March, a restraining order was put on Hubbard and his lieutenant,
James Elliot, requiring that they return the mailing lists,
the address plates, tapes of Hubbard's lectures, typewriters,
sound-recorders, sound-transcribers and other equipment which
had disappeared from the Wichita Foundation. Elliot admitted
having "inadvertently" removed this immense haul from the Foundation.
When they were eventually returned, in compliance with a court
order, some of the master tapes of Hubbard lectures had been
mutilated."
The Court auctioned the Foundation's assets, freeing it from
debt. Purcell bought the assets outright for $6,124; Hubbard
had left the sinking ship a little too hastily. The battle between
Hubbard and Purcell continued throughout 1952, with attacks
and counterattacks being sent to everyone on the Wichita Foundation
mailing list. Purcell distributed the record of the bankruptcy
hearings. Hubbard sent out a statement insulting those who had
chosen to remain with the official Foundation. He accused them
of emotional inadequacy and intellectual shallowness, saying
that they obviously preferred shams to the genuine article.
Using the tone of a spoiled child in a tantrum, he grieved about
his isolation, his unswerving devotion and his unselfishness.
Yet again, he claimed to have new techniques which would solve
the ills of mankind.10
Hubbard also sent out increasingly desperate pleas for funds.
For the
Wichita 127
first time he introduced the ploy of steadily escalating prices.
Would-be franchise holders could buy a package of tapes and books,
along with the right to use and teach his methods, for $1,000.
Soon the price would rise to $1,500, then $2,000 and finally
$5,000 within three months. Hubbard outlined the goal of his
new organization thus: "Bluntly, we are out to replace medicine
in the next three years." He also promised "degrees" in Dianetics.I'
When the fundraising efforts failed, Hubbard's chief lieutenant,
James Elliot, sent out an impassioned plea to Dianeticists:
"Dianetics and Mr. Hubbard have been dealt a blow from which
they cannot recover...Somehow Mr. Hubbard must get funds
to keep Dianetics from being closed down everywhere...He
is penniless." Elliot went on to solicit funds for a "free school
in Phoenix for the rehabilitation of auditors" and for "free
schools across America," saying that Hubbard would "no longer
commercialize Dianetics as organizations have made him do."
Elliot asked for $25.00 per reader. Donors would be called the
"Golds." A month after the announcement of the "free school,"
Hubbard was advertising counselling at $800 per twenty-five
hours.2
For six weeks after deserting the Wichita Foundation, Hubbard
tried to establish his rival Hubbard College. In this short
time, Hubbard gave a series of lectures that changed the whole
complexion of Dianetics. He demonstrated the "Electro-psychometer"
(or "E-meter"), which later became an integral part of auditing.
He talked openly about matters which in later years became the
secret "OT" levels, and started to favor the word Scientology.
CHAPTER FOUR
Knowing How to Know
Scientology is used to increase spiritual freedom, intelligence,
ability, and to produce immortality. - L. RoN HUBBARD, Dianetics
and Scientology Technical Dictionary
The word "scientology" was not original to Hubbard, having been
coined by philologist Alan Upward in 1907. Upward used it to
characterize and ridicule pseudoscientific theories. In 1934,
the word "Scientologie" was used by a German advocate of Aryan
racial theory, Dr. A. Nordenholz, who defined it as "The science
of the constitution and usefulness of knowledge and knowing."
The "E-meter," adopted by Hubbard by the time of the 1952 Wichita
lectures, has become an indispensable tool of Scientology.
Electro-psychometers were not a new idea. Their origins trace
back to the 19th century. Jung had enthused about
"psychogalvanometers" before the First World War, and they
were still in use in the 1940s. Some psychologists use
them to this day, and they are standardly incorporated in
polygraph lie detectors. None of these devices could have the
mystique created around the E-meter by Hubbard.
A Preclear is connected to the meter by two hand held electrodes
(soup cans), closing a circuit through which a small electric
current is passed. Fluctuations in the current are shown on
the E-meter dial. The E-meter used by Hubbard was designed and
built by dianeticist Volney Mathieson. Its primary use was,
and still is, to detect areas of emotion-
128
Knowing How to Know 129
al upset, or "charge." Hubbard once said that his E-meter compared
to similar devices "as the electron microscope compares to looking
through a quartz stone."' He was not given to understatement.
The greatest innovation of the Hubbard College Lectures of March
1952 was the introduction of a new cosmology: Hubbard's history
of the universe. Dianeticists had sometimes audited "past lives,"
but Hubbard had published next to nothing on the subject. Now
the "timetrack" of the individual was extended long before the
womb. The "Theta-MEST" theory (where Theta is "life," and MEST,
"Matter, Energy, Space and Time") was expanded to include single
"lifeunits" which Hubbard called "Theta-beings." According to
Hubbard, the "Theta-being" is the individual himself, and is
trillions of years old (he was later to increase even this,
to "quadrillions"). In simple terms the "Theta-being" is the
human spirit. Unfortunately, Theta-beings have to share human
bodies with other lesser spirits, or entities, originally called
"Theta bodies." The doctrine of the composite being emerged
again in the mid-1960s, becoming the basis of the secret "Operating
Thetan," or "OT," levels.
Hubbard claimed that "Theta-beings" had been "implanted" with
ideas during the course of their incredibly long existence through
the use of electrical shock and pain, combined with hypnotic
suggestion; aversion therapy on a grand scale. Hubbard said
it was necessary to recall these implants, and to separate out
the different entities in an individual, and put them firmly
under the command of the Theta-being. This was the direction
of Hubbard's new auditing techniques.
Hubbard said he had been researching Theta - beings for over
a year, but had not considered it timely to release his findings.
He said he had originally called his subject "Scientology" as
early as 1938, and was now reviving the name. Hubbard later
said his third wife, whom he met in 1951, helped coin the word.'
During 1952, he produced the basic substance from which Scientology
was wrought. Hubbard also introduced the franchising of his
techniques. Satellite organizations would pay a ten percent
tithe to him, as well as paying for training in new methods
created by Hubbard.3
In March 1952, Hubbard was married for the third and final time.
Mary Sue Whipp had arrived at the Wichita Foundation in mid-1951,
and worked on the staff there as an Auditor. By April, Ron and
Mary Sue had left the short-lived Hubbard College in Wichita,
and moved to Phoenix, Arizona, where they opened the new world
headquarters of Hubbardian therapy. So it was that Scientology,
which Hubbard de-
130 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
fined as "knowing how to know" (close to Nordenholz's definition),
was born?
Despite Hubbard's assertions that Purcell was determined to
wreck Dianetics, the latter continued to run the Wichita Foundation
after buying it in bankruptcy court proceedings. Ron Howes'
Humanics and other derivatives were flourishing, beyond Hubbard's
control, and drifting away from his original ideas. Hubbard's
former publicist, John Campbell, had accused him of increasing
authoritarianism and dogmatism in an independent Dianetic newsletter,
writing that "In a healthy and growing science, there are many
men who are recognized as being competent in the field, and
no one man dominates the work...To the extent Dianetics is
dependent on one man, it is a cult. To the extent it is built
on many minds and many workers, it is a science."5
Hubbard had decided that psychology had forgotten that "psyche"
meant "spirit," and with Scientology he was going to put this
right. Therapy would now center upon the Theta-being, the spirit.
By the final Wichita lectures, his audience had been down to
around thirty. According to Helen O'Brien, the Hubbard College
in Phoenix "languished with never more than a handful of students."
Hubbard's image as a popular psychological scientist had deteriorated.
To many he was a crank with a few impassioned devotees, all
magnetized by his unflagging charisma.
Hubbard set up the Hubbard Association of Scientologists in
Phoenix, and announced a new state of Clear. The Theta Clear
was supposedly an individual "capable of dismissing illness
and aberration from others at will" and "able to produce marked
results at a distance."6
Hubbard's book What to Audit, was published in July, claiming
in the foreword to be a "cold-blooded and factual account of
your last sixty trillion years." As the book progresses, sixty
million becomes seventy, and then seventy-four trillion years.
With Scientology, we are told, "the blind again see, the lame
walk, the ill recover, the insane become sane and the sane become
saner."
In Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health Hubbard insisted
"Dianetics cures, and cures without failure."7 In What to Audit,
he said "in auditing the whole track [ie "past lives"], one
can obtain excellent results...in auditing the current lifetime,
one can obtain slow and mediocre results." In just two years,
the allegedly miraculous techniques of Dianetics had become
"slow and mediocre." When he left the Wichita Foundation, Hubbard
also left the rights to his
Knowing How to Know 131
earlier books. He had to find something new and different if
he was to retain any of his dwindling following.
What to Audit is the foundation of Scientology. It is still
in print, minus one chapter, under the title Scientology: A
History of Man. The material in the book is hardly encountered
in contemporary auditing, but is still required reading for
the second secret "OT" level of Scientology. A slim pretense
at scientific method is blended with a strange amalgam of psychotherapy,
mysticism and pure science fiction; mainly the latter. What
to Audit is among the most bizarre of Hubbard's works, and deserves
the cult status that some truly dreadful science fiction movies
have achieved. The book leaves the strong suspicion that Hubbard
had continued with his experiments into phenobarbitol, and into
more powerful "mind-expanding" drugs, as his son Nibs later
asserted.
Hubbard claimed to have absolute proof of past lives, though
he made no attempt at verifiable case histories. He wrote that
"Gravestones, ancient vital statistics, old diplomas and medals
will verify in every detail the validity of `many lifetimes.'
"He was in fact relying on the E-meter which, if it works at
all, can do no more than indicate the certainty with which a
conviction is held.
The book contains the usual series of representations for the
eradication of illnesses and physical disabilities, ranging
from toothache to cancer. Scientologists' medical histories
bear witness to the inadequacy of these remedies.
Hubbard was already equivocating about his discovery of the
many "entities" compacted into the individual, and commented
that these entities were probably just "compartments of the
mind." Otherwise, his imagination ran on unchecked. The Theta-being,
or "Thetan," governs the composite which we think of as the
individual, but the body itself is governed by the "genetic
entity," a sort of low grade soul, which passes to another body
after death.
Hubbard claimed the Thetan could remodel his physical form,
lose weight, enhance features, even add a little height and
was readily capable of telepathy, telekinesis and remote viewing.
What to Audit lists a series of incarnations or a "time-track"
from the beginnings of the universe to man: the evolution, or
"genetic line," of the human body. According to Hubbard, the
"time-track" runs back to a point where the individual seemed
to be "an atom, complete with electronic rings." After which
came the "cosmic impact," then the "photon converter," and then
the first single-cell
132 ThE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
creature to reproduce by dividing, the "helper." Passing quickly
through "seaweed," the evolutionary line moved on to "jellyfish"
and then the "clam."
The description of the "clam" makes particularly fine reading.
Hubbard was quite right when he warned that the reader may think
that he, the author, has "slipped a cable or two in his wits."
He warned his followers of dangers inherent in any discussion
of "the clam":
By the way, if you cannot take a warning, your discussion of
these incidents with the uninitiated in Scientology can produce
havoc. Should you describe "the clam" to some one [sic], you
may restimulate it in him to the extent of causing severe jaw
hinge pain. One such victim, after hearing about a clam death
could not use his jaws for three days. Another "had to have"
two molars extracted because of the resulting ache...So do
not be sadistic with your describing them [these incidents]
to people - unless, of course, they belligerently claim that
Man has no past memory for his evolution. In that event, describe
away. It makes believers over and above enriching your friend
the dentist who, indeed, could not exist without these errors
and incidents on the evolutionary line!
The next stage in Hubbard's evolutionary theory was another
shellfish, the "Weeper" (also the "Boohoo," or as Hubbard jovially
refers to it at one point, "the Grim Weeper"). This creature
is the origin of human "belching, gasping, sobbing, choking,
shuddering, trembling." Fear of falling has its origin with
hapless Weepers which were dropped by predatory birds. After
a few comments on "being eaten" (which allegedly explains diet
fads and vegetarianism), Hubbard moves forward in evolution
to the sloth. It seems that none of the incarnations between
shellfish and the sloth was unpleasant enough to cause major
psychological damage. From the sloth, Hubbard moves on to the
"ape," and the Piltdown man (who had very large teeth, and a
nasty habit of eating his spouse); then the caveman (who presumably
had smaller teeth, and used to cripple his wife instead of eating
her). From there, usually "via Greece and Rome," Hubbard's theory
moves to modern times.
What to Audit was published in the year before complete proof
discrediting the Piltdown man was announced. However, Hubbard's
book has remained uncorrected. Quite typically, as Hubbard did
not tend to revise or correct his earlier works.
Knowing How to Know 133
However, this explanation of evolution relates only to the "genetic
entity." The "Theta-being" only came to earth 35,000 years ago
(presumably from outer space; Velikovsky's Worlds in Collision
was on the best-seller lists with Dianetics in 1950), to transform
the caveman into Homo sapiens. The Theta-being has been systematically
"implanted" with a variety of control phrases. The earliest
such implant was "facsimile one" (or "Fac one"), which originated
a mere million years ago "in this Galaxy," but was only given
out about ten or twenty thousand years ago in this particular
neck of the galaxy.
Hubbard claimed that "Fac one" was inflicted with a black box,
the "Coffee-grinder" which played a "push-pull wave" over the
victim from side to side, "laying in a bone-deep somatic [pain]."
After this the victim was "dumped in scalding water, then immediately
in ice water," and finally whirled about in a chair. This was
"an outright control mechanism" to prevent rebellion against
the "Fourth Invader Force," and created "a nice, non-combative,
religiously insane community."
Hubbard described many other implants in bizarre detail including
the Halver, the Joiner, the Between-lives (administered in an
"implant station" in the Pyrenees, or on Mars), the Emanator,
the Jiggler, the Whirler, the Fly-trap, the Boxer, the Rocker,
and so on, and so on.
In What to Audit, Hubbard also warned that the Earth was on
the verge of psychic war. In a 1952 lecture called "The Role
of Earth," he explained that the Fourth Invader Force still
had outposts on Mars. These were the very individuals responsible
for the "between lives implants." Hubbard made no comment on
the later failure of planetary probes to discover any signs
of the Invaders on Mars, nor of the Fifth Invader Force, who
supposedly inhabit Venus.
After What to Audit was published, Hubbard went to England for
three months, taking his pregnant wife with him. Mary Sue's
first child, Diana Meredith DeWolf Hubbard, was born in London,
in September some six months after their marriage. At the end
of November, Ron was back in Philadelphia at the most successful
of the Association centers, the Scientology organization run
by Helen O'Brien and John Neugebauer (or "Noyga"). Helen O'Brien's
book, Dianetics in Limbo, gives a vivid account of her close
association with Hubbard.
In December 1952, Hubbard gave the Philadelphia Doctorate Course
lectures to an audience of just thirty-eight.8 The lectures
were taped, all seventy-two hours of them. The tapes are still
heavily
134 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
promoted, and sold for a high price, as is a course including
them all. The lectures were based on Hubbard's newest book,
Scientology 8-8008. Here the cosmology of Scientology was further
expanded. Hubbard took the symbol "8" for infinity (by turning
the mathematicians' infinity symbol upright), and explained
that the book's title meant the attainment of infinity (the
first 8) by the reduction of the physical universe's command
value to zero (the 80), and the increase of the individual's
personal universe to an infinity (the last 08). In short, through
the application of the techniques given in the lectures, the
individual would become a god.
The Theta-being, or individual human spirit, acquired the name
it retains in Scientology: the Thetan. The Thetan is the self,
the "I," that which is "aware of being aware" in Man. Since
its entry into the physical universe trillions of years ago
the Thetan, originally all-knowing, has declined through a "dwindling
spiral" of introversion into Matter, Energy, Space and Time.
The Thetan can allegedly "exteriorize" from its physical body,
and Hubbard gave auditing techniques which he claimed would
achieve this result. The Thetan is immortal and capable of all
sons of remarkable feats. Scientologists call these "Operating
Thetan" (or "OT") abilities. They include telekinesis, levitation,
telepathy, recall of previous lives, "exterior" perception (or
"remote viewing"), disembodied movement to any desired location,
and the power to will events to occur: to transform, create
or destroy Matter, Energy, Space and Time (or "MEST").
The main new auditing technique was Creative Processing. In
Creative Processing, the Auditor asks the Preclear to make a
"mental image picture" of something. During a demonstration
Hubbard asked a female subject to "mock-up" a snake. She refused,
because she was frightened of snakes. So Hubbard asked her to
"mock it up" at a distance from her. He directed her to make
it smaller, change its color, and so forth, until she had the
confidence to let it touch her. Theoretically, this would allay
the subject's fear of snakes.
In the seventy-two hours of the Philadelphia Doctorate Course,
Hubbard expounded an entire cosmology. He talked about implants,
the Tarot, a civilization called Arslycus (where we were all
slaves for 10,000 life-times, largely spending our time polishing
bricks in zero-gravity), how to sell people on Scientology, "anchor
points" (which Thetans extend to mesh their own space with that
of the physical universe), how to bring up children, and how
to give up smoking (by
Knowing How to Know 135
smoking as much as you can) - about a hundred and one things.
And he did it all with his usual mischievous charm.
Hubbard also defined his Axioms of Scientology at great length.
We learn that "Life is basically static" without mass, motion,
wavelength, or location in space or in time; that the physical
universe is a reality only because we all agree it is a reality.
(Robert Heinlein used this idea in Stranger in a Strange Land.
Mahayana Buddhists have mulled it over for centuries.)
It was during the course of the Philadelphia Doctorate Course
that Hubbard mentioned his "very good friend," Aleister Crowley,
and in places his ideas do seem to be a science fictionalized
extension of Crowley's black magic. Crowley too was an advocate
of visualization techniques.
On the afternoon of December 16, the lectures were abruptly
interrupted by the arrival of U.S. Marshals. A warrant had been
issued against Hubbard for failing to return $9,000 withdrawn
from the Wichita Foundation. There was something of a scuffle
with the Marshals. Hubbard was arrested, but returned to finish
the lecture that evening? Almost immediately afterward, he left
for England to complete the "Doctorate" series there. Hubbard
had claimed to have no idea of his income from the Wichita Foundation,
saying he had been denied access to the financial records."'
Eventually, he settled by paying $1,000 and returning a car
supplied by Purcell. Remarkably, this was the last time that
Hubbard was apprehended by the law.
Hubbard kept his devotees apace of his ideas by issuing regular
newsletters. He continued to make strenuous claims for his miraculous
mental "technology," for example: "Leukaemia is evidently psychosomatic
in origin and at least eight cases of leukaemia had been treated
successfully with Dianetics after medicine had traditionally
[sic] given up. The source of leukaemia has been reported to
be an engram containing the phrase `It turns my blood to water.'
In England in May 1953, Hubbard complained that he had just
given "probably the most disastrous lecture in terms of attendance
in the city of Birmingham." In the same month he explained that
he was off to the Continent "to stir up some interest in Scientology.
I will be stopping at various spas and have an idea of entering
this little bomb of a racing car I have in a few of the all-outs
in Europe. The car has a 2.5 litre souped-up Jaguar engine.
It is built of hollow steel tubing and aluminium and weighs
nothing. Its brakes sometimes work but its throttle never fails.
I have also a British motorcycle which might do
136 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
well in some of these scrambles...I think by spreading a
few miracles around the spas, I will be able to elicit considerable
interest in Scientology." No report followed about the miracles
performed or the races run. Hubbard seems instead to have taken
a long holiday in Spain.'2
Meanwhile, Helen O'Brien and her husband were managing the Scientology
empire from Philadelphia. Under their direction, it started
to prosper. The last Hubbard Congress they arranged was attended
by about 300, and "each paid a substantial fee to attend." But
in October, O'Brien and Noyga became disillusioned with Hubbard's
attitude and actions:
Beginning in 1953, the joy and frankness shifted to pontification.
The fact filled "engineering approach" to the mind faded out
of sight, to be replaced by a "Church of Scientology"...as
soon as we became responsible for Hubbard's interests, a projection
of hostility began, and he doubted and double-crossed us, and
sniped at us without pause. We began to believe that the villains
of dianetics-Scientology, had been created by its founder...
My parting words [to Hubbard] were inelegant but, I still think,
apropos. "You are like a cow who gives a good bucket of milk,
then kicks it over."
Having entered the realm of the spirit, or Thetan, it was only
natural that Scientology should shift its legal status from
a psychotherapy to a religion. Religious belief is protected
in the United States by the Constitution. So Hubbard could entice
the public with claims of "spiritual" cures, and the U.S. government,
the American Medical Association, and the American Psychiatric
Association would be severely handicapped in any attempt to
restrict him.
CHAPTER FIVE
The Religion Angle
Dianetics and Scientology are more a crusade for sanity than
they are a business. - L. RON HUBBARD, 1954
The things which have been happening...have removed Scientology
entirely from any classification as a psychotherapy...We
can only exist in the field of religion. - L. RON HUBBARD, "The
Hope of Man," 1955
In his autobiography Over My Shoulder, publisher Lloyd Arthur
Eshbach remembered taking lunch with John Campbell and Ron Hubbard
in 1949. Hubbard repeated a statement he had already made to
several other people. He said he would like to start a religion,
because that was where the money was.
In 1980, Hubbard issued a statement saying Scientologists had
"insisted" their organization become a "Church," adding, "It
is sometimes supposed that I rounded the Church. This is not
correct." Perhaps time had affected Hubbard's memory.
The Scientologists maintain that the Church of Scientology of
California was their first Church. It was incorporated in California
on February 18, 1954, by Burton Farber. In an explanatory letter
of the following month, Hubbard said the new "Church" was contracted
to the "Church of American Science," to which it paid a twenty
percent
137
138 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
tithe. Naturally, Hubbard was the President of the Church of
American Science.1
In fact, both the Church of American Science and a Church of
Scientology had been incorporated without fanfare by Hubbard
in December 1953, in Camden, New Jersey, along with the "Church
of Spiritual Engineering." The Church of American Science was
represented as a Christian Church.:
Evidence of Hubbard's interest in moving Scientology into a
religious position was given in the Armstrong case. On April
10, 1953, Hubbard wrote from England to Helen O'Brien, who had
just taken over the management of Scientology in the U.S., telling
her that it was time to move from a medical to a religious image.
His objectives were to eliminate all other psychotherapies,
to salvage his ailing organization, and, Hubbard was quite candid,
to make a great deal of money. Being a religion rather than
a psychotherapy was a purely commercial matter, Hubbard said.
He enthused about the thousands that could be milked out of
preclears attracted by this new promotional approach.3
As usual, Hubbard was keeping all of the options open. In his
explanatory letter to the membership about the new "Church,"
he also introduced the "Freudian Foundation of America." A variety
of degrees were offered to students, including "Bachelor of
Scientology," "Doctor of Scientology," "Freudian Psycho-analyst,"
and "Doctor of Divinity" to be issued by the "University of
Sequoia," an American diploma mill (which was closed down by
the California Department of Education in 1958). Hubbard had
already received an "honorary doctorate" in philosophy from
Sequoia.4
In New Zealand, the Auckland Scientology group also became a
Church in February 1954. Gradually other centers followed suit,
and "Churches of Scientology" came into being all over the world.
These "Churches" were franchises paying a tithe to the "mother
church." Scientology had become the McDonald's hamburger chain
of religion, increasingly absorbing the mass-production and
marketing aspects of North American commerce.
In 1954, Don Purcell, weary of the battle with L. Ron Hubbard,
and unable to make his Dianetic organization self-sustaining,
withdrew to join Art Coulter's "Synergetics," a derivative of
Dianetics. Purcell dissolved the Wichita Dianetic Foundation,
and gave its assets to Hubbard. These included the copyrights
to several Hubbard books. The use of the word "Dianetics" and
even the name "L. Ron Hubbard" had been in dispute. Hubbard
had complete control of his
The Religion Angle 139
original subject once again. He expressed his jubilation in
a newsletter to Scientologists, in which he even forgave Purcell,
if only for a short time. Purcell had given his own attitude
succinctly earlier that year: "Ron's motive has always been
to limit Dianetics to the Authority of his teachings. Anyone
who has the affrontry [sic] to suggest that others besides Ron
could contribute creatively to the work must be inhibited."5
Hubbard had learned from his mistakes. He employed a simple
method of retaining complete control over his many Scientology
and Dianetic corporations. He was not on the board of every
corporation, so a check of records would not show his outright
control. He did, however, collect signed, undated resignations
from directors before their appointment. Hubbard also controlled
the bank accounts.6
In May 1953, in a "Professional Auditor's Bulletin," Hubbard
had written: "It is definitely none of my business how you apply
these techniques. I am no policeman ready with boards of ethics
and court warrants to come down on you with a crash simply because
you are `perverting Scientology.' If there is any policing to
be done, it is by the techniques themselves, since they have
in themselves a discipline brought about by their own power.
All I can do is put into your hands a tool for your own use
and then help you use it."
By 1955, Hubbard's attitude had changed markedly. In one of
his most bizarre pieces, "The Scientologist: A Manual on the
Dissemination of Material," Hubbard recommended legal action
against those who set up as independent practitioners of Scientology,
or "squirrel s" : "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."
Hubbard further urged that Scientologists employ private detectives
to investigate critics of Scientology, adding: "we should be
very alert to sue for slander at the slightest chance so as
to discourage the public press from mentioning Scientology."
During the late 1950s, most of the independent groups either
became "Churches," or went out of business. They had accepted
Hubbard's direction, and were under contract to his "Hubbard
Association of Scientologists International," but Hubbard wanted
complete legal control. The franchised "Churches" were gradually
absorbed into various organizations controlled directly by Hubbard.
140 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
Hubbard continued to write to the FBI's Department of Communist
Activities. He asserted that the Russians had on three occasions
tried to recruit him, and were upset by his patriotic refusal
to work for them. By now, Hubbard felt that his organizations
had been harassed from the outset not only by psychiatrists
but also by Communist infiltrators. He claimed that the most
recent approach was from an individual with a position in the
U.S. government.7
A few months later, Hubbard again complained of Communist infiltration
into Scientology organizations. He cited examples of Scientologists
suddenly going insane, and attributed this to psychiatrists
using LSD. He made no suggestion that Scientology itself might
have had anything to do with these eruptions of insanity. He
alleged that since offering his brainwashing techniques to the
Defense Department, his organizations had been under constant
attack.8
In September 1955, Hubbard published an issue entitled "Psychiatrists,"
calling Scientology "the only Anglo-Saxon development in the
field of the mind and spirit," and insisting that Scientologists
inform the authorities if they suspected that any of their clients
had been given LSD surreptitiously by a psychiatrist.
The FBI tired of Hubbard's missives, and stopped acknowledging
them. One agent wrote "appears mental" on a Hubbard letter.
Hubbard later privately admitted to having taken LSD himself.9
At the end of 1955, the "Hubbard Communications Office" in Washington,
DC, published a peculiar booklet entitled Brainwashing, which
claimed to be a Russian textbook on "psychopolitics" written
by the Soviet chief of the secret police, Beria. In an elaborate
charade, Hubbard claimed the booklet had arrived anonymously,
and mentioned a version in German, published in Berlin in 1947,
and discovered in the Library of Congress. The Library has no
record of the German booklet. The version published by the Scientologists
cannot have been written before December 1953, as there are
several references to the "Church of Scientology." In fact,
the author of Brainwashing was none other than L. Ron Hubbard.
There are two witnesses, and the literary style and the slant
of the contents provide further evidence of Hubbard's authorship: 10
You must work until "religion" is synonymous with "insanity."
You must work until the officials of city, county and state
governments will not think twice before they pounce upon religious
groups as public enemies...Like the official the bona-fide
medical healer also be-
The Religion Angle 141
lieves the worst if it [religion] can be shown to him as dangerous
competition.
Hubbard was perfectly willing to cash in on the intense interest
in brainwashing, a hot topic in the United States with the return
of POWs from North Korea. He was also willing to infect his
devotees with his paranoia, and the booklet highlighted the
grand conspiracy supposedly directed against Hubbard and his
organizations.
In 1956, Hubbard recommended that Scientologists recruit new
people by placing the following advertisement in the newspapers:
"Polio victims. A research foundation investigating polio, desires
volunteers suffering from the effects of that illness to call
for examination."
Hubbard said that the "research foundation" could also advertise
for asthmatics or arthritics. Further: "Any auditor anywhere
can constitute himself as a minister or an auditor, a research
worker in the field of any illness...It is best that a minister
representing himself as a `charitable organization'...do
the research."
Hubbard also recommended that his followers engage in "Casualty
Contact": "Every day in the daily papers one discovers people
who have been victimized one way or the other by life. It does
not much matter whether that victimizing is in the manner of
mental or physical injury...One takes every daily paper
...and cuts from it every story whereby he might have a preclear
...As speedily as possible he makes a personal call on the
bereaved or injured person...He should represent himself
to the person or the person's family as a minister whose compassion
was compelled by the newspaper story."
This strategy underlines the cold-bloodedness which Scientology
gradually inculcates in its adherents. Compassion becomes a
tactical display rather than natural feeling. "Sympathy" is
frowned upon as being emotionally "down-tone," and the word
"victim" is a term of derision. The Scientologists even have
a course which requires that students go into hospitals and,
representing themselves as "volunteer ministers," use Scientology
techniques on the patients, encouraging them to take up Scientology."
Hubbard was also making claims that his "technology" could deal
with the effects of radioactive fallout. In 1956, he gave a
lecture series in Washington, styled "The Anti-Radiation Congress
Lectures." In April 1957, he held the "London Congress on Nuclear
Radiation and Health Lectures" at the Royal Empire Society Hall.
Three of these lectures were condensed, and became chapters
in his book All About
142 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
Radiation, allegedly written by "a Nuclear Physicist and a Medical
Doctor." The "Nuclear Physicist" was L. Ron Hubbard, the "Medical
Doctor" hid behind the pseudonym "Medicus" (the Library of Congress
lists him as Richard Farley, quite possibly a Hubbard pseudonym).
In the section purportedly written by "Medicus" we are told
that "some very recent work by L. Ron Hubbard and the Hubbard
Scientology Organization, has indicated that a simple combination
of vitamins in unusual doses can be of value. Alleviation of
the remote effects and increased tolerance to radiation have
been the apparent results."12
While it was possible to defend against prosecution in the United
States for claims of miracle cures by invoking the First Amendment's
freedom of belief, it was stupid of Hubbard to sell his vitamin
mixture as a specific for radiation sickness. In 1958, the Food
and Drug Administration (F.D.A.) seized a consignment of 21,000
"Dianazene" tablets, which were marketed by a Scientology company,
the Distribution Center. The tablets were destroyed by the F.D.A.
because their labeling claimed they were a preventative and
treatment for radiation sickness.13
This was not the last time Hubbard tangled with the F.D.A. Nor
was it the last time he claimed a cure for the effects of radiation.
The Scientologists still advertise All About Radiation with
a flier which claims that "L. Ron Hubbard has discovered a formula
which can proof a person against radiation." Scientologists
believe that enormous doses of Niacin, a form of vitamin B3,
will protect them from the devastating effects of exposure to
radiation in the event of nuclear war.
The Church encountered other legal problems in the United States.
One of the possible advantages of dubbing an organization "religious"
was the right to claim tax-exempt status. The Washington "Church"
had obtained exempt status in 1956, and other "Churches" had
followed suit. Then, in 1958, exemption was denied. The Washington
Church appealed to the U.S. Court of Claims. The Tax Court ruled
that exempt status was rightly withdrawn, because Hubbard and
his wife were benefiting financially from the Church of Scientology
beyond reasonable remuneration.
Between June 1955 and June 1959, Hubbard had been given $108,000
by the Scientology Church, along with the use of a car, all
expenses paid. The Church maintained a private residence for
him
The Religion Angle 143
through 1958 and 1959. His family, including his son Nibs and
his daughter Catherine, had also withdrawn thousands of dollars.
Mary Sue Hubbard derived over $10,000 income by renting property
to the Church. On top of this, Hubbard received his tithes (ten
percent, or more) from Scientology organizations throughout
the world. Despite Hubbard's pronouncements, Scientology and
Dianetics were very definitely a business, a profit-making organization,
run by Hubbard for his personal enrichment.14
Through the 1950s, Scientology tried to develop a good public
image. The therapy had become a religious practice, compared
by Hubbard to the Christian confessional, and the therapists
had become ministers. The trappings of religion were assembled,
including ministerial garb complete with dog-collar, and wedding,
naming and funeral rites. Hubbard's berserk outbursts were lost
amid a welter of new auditing procedures. His paranoia was better
contained, though Church leaders were told to cease communication
with critics of Scientology whom Hubbard called "Merchants of
Chaos," the beginnings of the doctrine of "disconnection."15
To the general public, Scientology was represented as a humanitarian,
religious movement, intent upon benefiting all mankind. Its
opponents were dangerous enemies of freedom, and were tarred
with unfashionable epithets such as communist, homosexual, or
drug addict. Opponents were portrayed as members of a deliberate
conspiracy to silence Hubbard, and bring down the "shades of
night" over the Earth.16
To its membership, Scientology was represented as a science,
liberating man from all his disabilities, and freeing in him
undreamt abilities. To the Church hierarchy, Scientology was
the only hope of freedom for mankind, and must be protected
at all costs. Hubbard was nothing short of a Messiah, whose
wisdom and perception far outstripped that of any mere mortal.
Hubbard's commandments might at times be unfathomable, but his
word was law.
The Hubbard Communication Office Manual of Justice !aid down
the law for Scientology staff members. In it Hubbard wrote:
"People attack Scientology; ! never forget it, always even the
score."
The Manual of Justice introduced a comprehensive "intelligence"
system into Hubbard's organizations. Hubbard wrote: "Intelligence
is mostly the collection of data on people which may add up
to a summary of right or wrong actions on their part...It
is done all the
144 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
time about everything and everybody...When a push against
Scientology starts somewhere, we go over the people involved
and weed them out."
If "intelligence" failed, then investigation was called for:
"When we need somebody haunted we investigate...When we investigate
we do so noisily always. And usually investigation damps out
the trouble even when we discover no really pertinent facts.
Remember that - by investigation alone we can curb pushes and
crush wildcat people and unethical `Dianetics and Scientology'
organizations," and, "intelligence we get with a whisper. Investigation
we do with a yell. Always."
Hubbard explained to staff members: "Did you ever realize that
any local viciousness against Scientology organizations is started
by somebody for a purpose? Well, it is...rumours aren't
'natural'. When you run them down you find a Commie or a millionaire
who wants us dead...You find amongst all our decent people
some low worm who has been promised high position and pay if
we fail...When you have found your culprit, go to the next
step, Judgment and Punishment."
Hubbard's instruction to use private detectives has certainly
been followed by the Scientology Church over the ensuing years.
The reader of the confidential Manual is told: "Of twenty-one
persons found attacking Dianetics and Scientology...eighteen
of them under investigation were found to be members of the
Communist Party or criminals, usually both. The smell of police
or private detectives caused them to fly, to close down, to
confess. Hire them and damn the cost when you need to."
Magazine articles unfavorable to Scientology were to be met
with a letter demanding retraction, followed by an investigation
of the author for his "criminal or Communist background" by
a private detective. The magazine would be threatened with legal
action, and the author sent "a very tantalizing letter...tell
him we know something interesting about him," and invited to
a meeting, "chances are he won't arrive. But he'll sure shudder
into silence."
In the "Judgment and Punishment" section of his Manual of Justice
Hubbard wrote:
We may be the only people on Earth with a right to punish...
never punish beyond our easy ability to remedy by auditing [a
difficult point in an organization which believes it can mend
the hurt of former lives and deaths]...Our punishment is not
as unlimited [sic] as you might
The Religion Angle 145
think. Dianetics and Scientology are self-protecting sciences.
If one attacks them one attacks all the know-how of the mind
...Them are men dead because they attacked us - for instance
Dr. Joe Winter. He simply realized what he did and died. There
are men bankrupt because they attacked us - Purcell, Ridgway,
Ceppos [Ridgway and Ceppos published *Dianetics* in England
and the U.S. respectively].
In the Manual, Hubbard's suggested punishments were actually
mild, consisting largely of the cancellation of any certificates
awarded by his organizations. He suggested that an organization
"shoot the offender for the public good and then patch him up
quietly." A mood was being created in which staff members would
become "deployable agents," as sociologist Roy Wallis called
Hubbard's henchmen in his excellent study of Scientology. After
all, Hubbard never gave any indication of the possibility that
a complaint against him or against Scientology could be justifiable.
The tactic of "noisy investigation" originated in the Manual,
and came to mean harassment by defamation. Hubbard certainly
did not mind if the defamation was grossly exaggerated, or even
a total fabrication. If you throw enough mud, some will stick.
The Manual of Justice clearly suggests outright blackmail.
The Scientology organizations grew steadily, and, in the spring
of 1959, Hubbard purchased the Maharajah of Jaipur's English
manor house and estate in the beautiful Sussex countryside,
at Saint Hill village, a few miles from East Grinstead.
CHAPTER SIX
The Lord of the Manor
The least free person is the person who cannot reveal his own
acts and who protests the revelation of the improper acts of
others. On such people will be built a future political slavery. - L.
RoN HUBBARD, "Honest People Have Rights Too," 1960
Saint Hill, a sandstone, Georgian manor house, built in 1733,
was an unlikely setting for the red-headed maverick from Montana.
Upon his arrival, Hubbard set up the Scientology World-wide
Management Control Center, though he told the East Grinstead
newspapers he had retired to England to do horticultural experiments
and to work in theoretical physics. He claimed to be treating
plants with radioactivity. Hubbard became a regular contributor
to Garden News, even demonstrating his horticultural findings
on English television. His experiments consisted in part of
using an E-meter to measure a plant's response to threats in
its environment. There is an amusing newspaper picture which
shows Hubbard gazing intently at a tomato, still on the vine,
with two E-meter crocodile clips and a nail jabbed into it.'
With a typical lack of modesty Hubbard announced his horticultural
innovations to Scientologists, claiming, in the third person,
that "Ron has already created everbearing tomato plants and
sweet corn plants sufficiently impressive to startle British
Newspapers into front page stories about this new wizardry."
How Hubbard knew the tomatoes were "everbearing" after only
a few months is not known.
146
The Lord of the Manor 147
Hubbard's stated purpose for this project was "to reform the
world food supply."2
At the end of the 1959 growing season, Hubbard introduced "Security
Checking." The E-meter was now to be used to discover "overts"
committed by Scientologists. An "overt" is basically a transgression
against a moral code. In later times Security Checking was renamed
"Integrity Processing" or "Confessional Auditing," linking the
procedure to the Confessional of the Christian Church. Rather
than a simple request to confess, the Preclear is asked a series
of precise questions (often several hundred), and must describe
very exactly any overt discovered during the process. The E-Meter
is used throughout to try to ensure there are no evasions. The
Auditor carefully notes the details of any overt he has "pulled"
from the Preclear.3
In theory, Security Checking could be applied either as a Confessional,
in which case the replies obtained were said to be confidential,
or during the course of an investigation, in which case they
were not. In practice, the Confessional has proved to be a double-edged
procedure, sometimes giving genuine relief, but always harboring
the potential future use of the material as blackmail. An enthusiastic
convert is willing to expose even his most tortured secret.
Should he become disillusioned by Church practices, he will
keep quiet for fear that his confession will be disclosed.
Hubbard's oldest child, L. Ron Hubbard, Jr., or "Nibs," had
been a leading light in Scientology since 1952, when, at the
age of eighteen, he became Executive Director of the Washington
Scientology Church. He was even one of the handful of people
who had given "Advanced Clinical Courses" in Scientology. His
father had described him as "one of the best auditors in the
business." In November 1959, Hubbard senior ordered that the
staffs of all Scientology Orgs be given an E-meter check. On
November 23, Nibs left the Washington Org, and the Church of
Scientology. Hubbard said his son was unable to "face an E-meter,"
and issued a Bulletin saying the cause of all "departures, sudden
and relatively unexplained" was unconfessed overts.4 According
to Nibs, his departure from the Church was actually due to inadequate
remuneration. Nibs later suggested that his father needed to
confess his overts, and for many years Nibs was his father's
most outspoken opponent. Hubbard senior disowned Nibs completely
in 1983. Nibs accepted a financial settlement from the Scientologists
after his father's death in 1986, agreeing not to make further
comment.
148 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
The idea that unrevealed transgressions cause departures from
the Church is now deeply embedded in Scientology theory. No
one who leaves has a chance to explain his departure. Scientologists
are sure that the person must have "ovens" against Scientology,
therefore nothing a former member says can be trusted, so it
is not worth listening to them.
In March 1960, Have You Lived Before This Life? A Scientific
Survey was published. The book is a jumble of Scientology auditing
sessions, where Preclears related fragments of their "past life"
experiences. No attempt was made to verify any of the incidents.
Freudians would have a field day with the contents.
That month, in an internal memo to his press officer, Hubbard
also commented on the public image he wished to create for himself.
In every press release it was to be made clear that he was an
atomic scientist, a researcher, rather than a spiritualist or
a psychiatrist.'
Hubbard's major research at the time was into "Security Checking,"
and he was looking for applications for this new "technology."
Hubbard saw potential political uses, and sent a Bulletin to
all South African Auditors called "Interrogation (How to read
an E-Meter on a silent subject)," which reads in part:
When the subject placed on a meter will not talk but can be
made to hold the cans (or can be held while the cans are strapped
to the soles or placed under the armpit...) [sic], it is
still possible to obtain full information from the subject.
This interrogation was recommended for tracing the true leaders
of riots:
The end product is the discovery of a terrorist, usually paid,
usually a criminal, often trained abroad. Given a dozen people
from a riot or strike, you can find the instigator...Thousands
are trained every year in Moscow in the ungentle art of making
slave states. Don't be surprised if you wind up with a white.
In April 1960, the Bulletin "Concerning the Campaign for the
Presidency" was published recommending that Richard M. Nixon
"be prevented at all costs from becoming president." Hubbard
blamed Nixon for a distinctly unfriendly visit to the Washington
Scientology
The Lord of the Manor 149
Church by "two members of the United States Secret Service,"
which had upset Mary Sue Hubbard.
Scientologists were offered shares in the "Hubbard Association
of Scientologists Limited," registered in England, for £25 each
that June. When the HASI Ltd. failed to obtain nonprofit status
in England, the shares were bought back, for a shilling each
and a life-membership in Scientology, which was later cancelled.6
Also in June, the "Special Zone Plan - The Scientologists Role
in Life" was promulgated by Hubbard. It recommended that Scientologists
who were not on Church staff achieve influence in the society at
large, by taking positions next to the high and mighty. "Don't
bother to get elected. Get a job on the secretarial staff or the
bodyguard," Hubbard advised.
The secretary or bodyguard would then use Scientology to transform
the organization they had joined. These Scientologists would
be part of a network, reporting back to the project's administrator;
as Hubbard put it, "If we were revolutionaries this HCO Bulletin
would be a very dangerous document."
The Special Zone Plan was absorbed into a new Church "Department
of Government Affairs" within weeks of its inception. In the
Policy Letter announcing this move Hubbard said, "The goal of
the Department is to bring the government and hostile philosophies
or societies into a state of complete compliance with the goals
of Scientology. This is done by high level ability to control,
and in its absence, by low level ability to overwhelm. Introvert
such agencies. Control such agencies."
Hubbard not only defined the sinister and covert objective of
the Department of Government Affairs, but also delineated the
policy Scientology has rigorously followed to this day toward
any perceived threat: "Only attacks resolve threats...If
attacked on some vulnerable point by anyone or anything or any
organization, always find or manufacture enough threat against
them to sue for peace...Don't ever defend. Always attack."
During a visit in October 1960, Hubbard again gave his observations
on the situation in South Africa: "There is no native problem.
The native worker gets more than white workers do in England!
...The South African government is not a police state. It's
easier on people than the United States government!"7
Scientology made the headlines in England when headmistress
Sheila Hoad was accused of giving "Death Lessons" to her young
150 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
pupils. For twenty minutes a day, her small prep school students
were asked, among other things, to close their eyes and imagine
they were dying, and then imagine they had turned to dust and
ashes. After the story went to the press, Miss Hoad resigned."
In the Spring of 1961, Hubbard expanded his Special Zone Plan,
by introducing the Department of Official Affairs, "the equivalent
of a Ministry of Propaganda and Security." The Department was
to create "Heavy influence through our own and similarly minded
groups on the public and official mind," and "A filed knowingness
[sic] about the activities of friends and enemies."9
On March 24, Hubbard launched the Saint Hill Special Briefing
Course (or, inevitably, "SHSBC"). Students arrived from all
over the world to hear him lecture on new techniques in the
Saint Hill chapel. One "technical breakthrough" followed another,
and eventually the Briefing Course came to consist of over 300
taped lectures (most delivered during this period). All of Hubbard's
recorded lectures, some 3,500 of them, have more recently been
designated "religious scriptures" by his Church. Even the most
dedicated of Scientologists can not have heard them all, but
about 600 tapes are still used in courses.
Hubbard was a remarkable lecturer. A woman close to him in the
1950s, who thought he was fraud even then, says he was quite
hypnotic. He raced from one idea to another, illustrating his
talks with embroidered stories from his life (and sometimes
his previous lives). He effused good humor, and spoke with apparent
ease, usually without notes. There is nothing dry or academic
about his lectures. He was an accomplished comedian, especially
if you knew the "in" jokes, many about his pet hate, psychiatry.
On April 7, 1961, Hubbard published the "Johannesburg Security
Check," which he described as the "roughest security check in
Scientology." An amended form is still in use, and referred
to by Scientologists as the "Jo'burg."
The security check began with a series of nonsense questions,
such as, "Are you on the moon?" and "Am I an ostrich?" to ensure
that the recipient's E-meter response was normal. Then there
were a hundred questions. They covered sexual activities thoroughly,
with questions such as:
Have you ever committed adultery?
Have you ever practiced Homosexuality?
The Lord of the Manor 151
Have you ever slept with a member of a race of another color'?
Senator Joseph McCarthy and his House Un-American Activities
Committee were long gone, but Hubbard was still inflamed with
antiCommunist fervor, and the sec-check was interspersed with
questions about Communism, such as:
What is Communism?
Do you feel Communism has some good points'?
The "Jo'burg" covered all manner of wrongdoing, from simple
theft to "illicit Diamond buying." It also asked, "Have you
ever been a newspaper reporter?" A cardinal sin to Hubbard.
At the end of the security check a series of fourteen questions
designed to ensure the recipient's loyalty to Hubbard and his
organization was asked, among them:
Have you ever injured Dianetics or Scientology?
Have you ever had unkind thoughts about LRH [Hubbard]? Have
you ever had unkind thoughts about Mary Sue [Hubbard]? Do you
know of any secret plans against Scientology?
Throughout 1961, additional Security Checks poured out of the
church. There was even one for children. Hubbard ordered that
"All Security Check sheets of persons Security Checked should
be forwarded to St. Hill."
Hubbard was assembling a comprehensive set of intelligence files
on Scientologists with their willing assistance, as well as
on supposed enemies without their knowledge. The procedure has
been refined, and remains to the present day. The Scientology
Church keeps a file on everyone who has ever taken a course
or even had a single hour of counseling. Scientologists are
not allowed to see the contents of their own confessional files,
so cannot correct any errors.
The most elaborate Sec Check was for the "Whole Track" (the
whole "Time-Track," "past lives" included), and consisted of
over 400 questions. It was written by a couple devoted to Hubbard,
and was approved by the man himself. A few sample questions:
Have you ever warped an educational system'?
Have you ever destroyed a culture'?
Have you ever blanketed bodies for the sensation kick'?
152 ThE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
Have you ever bred bodies for degrading purposes'?
Did you come to Earth for evil purposes?
Have you ever deliberately mocked up an unconfrontability?
Have you ever torn out somebody's tongue?
Have you ever been a professional critic?
Have you ever had sexual relations with an animal, or bird?
Have you ever given God a bad name?
Have you ever eaten a human body'?
Have you ever zapped anyone?
Have you ever been a religious fanatic?
Have you ever failed to rescue your leader'?"
Any wrongdoing discovered during the questioning would be traced
back to "earlier similar incidents." It must have taken months
to check and recheck all 400 questions. However, it was not
very useful for intelligence gathering. You could hardly threaten
to expose a person for "zapping" someone 20 trillion years ago.
Security Checks were soon limited to "this lifetime.""
Hubbard even tried to extend Security Checking into the outside
world, by advising Scientologists to set up a "Citizens' Purity
League" in their area. The Scientologists would Sec Check local
officials and the police. An attempt at this was made in Melbourne,
Australia, which was soon to become a very dangerous place indeed
for Scientology. ,3
On August 13, 1962, in between lectures at Saint Hill, Hubbard
again offered Scientology to the American government. The FBI
Communist Activities Department had ceased to exist, and Hubbard
decided to go right to the top. He wrote to President Kennedy.4
CHAPTER SEVEN
The World's First Real Clear
On May 25, 1961, President Kennedy, in a momentous speech before
the United States Congress, urged America to put a man on the
moon before the decade was out. It took Hubbard a little while
to jump on the bandwagon. His letter to President Kennedy began:
In the early '40s a lonely letter wandered into the White House,
uninvited, unannounced. It was brief. It was factual, and it
gave America the deciding edge in arms superiority. Its subject
was the atom bomb and its signature was Professor Albert Einstein...
This is another such letter.
Hubbard offered his mental "technology" to the President to
assist in the Space Program. He repeated his usual tale about
Russian interest in his work, saying he had been offered Pavlov's
laboratory in 1938. He said Scientology "conditioning" would
increase the IQ and "body skills" of astronauts, and that "the
perception of a pilot or Astronaut can be increased far beyond
normal human range and stamina and be brought to an astonishing
level, not hitherto attainable in a human being."
The "conditioning" was to cost $25 per hour. Hubbard ended with
an admonition to President Kennedy: "Such an office as yours
receives a flood of letters from fakes, crackpots and would-be
wonder-workers. This is not such a letter...If that earlier
letter from
153
154 ThE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
Einstein had been filed away, we would have lost our all in
the following twenty years. Is this such a letter?"
Hubbard did not receive a reply from the President. On January
4, 1963, however, the Food and Drug Administration raided the
Washington Church, and Hubbard felt this constituted an indirect
response.
The FDA seized a huge quantity of E-meters and books. As with
"Dianazene," the FDA charged mislabelling. The raid was precisely
the sort of theater Hubbard could use to effect. The dour agents,
and the scale of the raid, could only create public sympathy
for Scientology. Such reactions by government agencies can do
more good than harm to a cult, uniting it and feeding its public
image. It makes wonderful press.
Eventually, the FDA won their case against the labelling of
the E-Meter, and forced the Scientologists to label it ineffective
in the diagnosis or treatment of disease. The Scientologists
failed to thoroughly comply with the ordered wording, and took
issue with the court's decision (never implemented) to destroy
the confiscated books and meters, rather than returning them.
The U.S. government was not alone in its concern about Scientology.
On November 27, 1963, the Governor of the Australian State of
Victoria appointed a Board of Inquiry into Scientology. The
board consisted of one man, Kevin Victor Anderson. He conducted
his inquiry with considerable showmanship and ferocity, taking
nearly two years to investigate and present his immense report.
While the Australian Inquiry was underway, Hubbard added to
his mystique by telling the Saturday Evening Post he had been
approached for the secrets of Scientology by Castro's Cuban
government (the latest Communist threat).'
At Saint Hill, Hubbard released his "Study Technology." He began
with the premise that no one teaches people how to study. Korzybski
had argued that it is crucial to fully understand every word
in a text, and that there is a physiological response to misunderstood
words. Hubbard adopted these ideas, without mention of their
source. He dubbed the misunderstood word an "m.u." (mis-understood).
Hubbard emphasized the necessity of studying "on a gradient."
It is important to base study on a completely understood idea,
and to proceed from one fully comprehended idea to the next.
A student should progress with no gaps in his understanding.
In a school system, this process would mean that a child would
need to do first year
The World's First Real Clear 155
chemistry to a 100 percent pass, before moving on to second
year chemistry.
Hubbard also asserted that much failure in study is due to an
"absence of mass." Where possible the student should come to
grips with what he is studying. So an engineer should have a
good look at construction materials and real bridges, rather
than spending all of his time studying books explaining the
chemical makeup of materials, and structural mathematics. Abstractions
should be represented by the student through drawing, or with
plasticine models (called "clay demos"). Through these a sequence
of actions could be demonstrated, and so more thoroughly grasped.
Typically, there has been no proper scientific evaluation of
the effectiveness of Hubbard's Study Tech, but pupils of the
several Scientology children's schools do not display astonishing
aptitude; indeed they seem to perform below the educational
average in some cases.
The Scientology world changed rapidly through the early 1960s.
By 1965, Hubbard had released an entire organizational system
with which Scientology "Orgs" had to comply, the Study Technology,
the Ethics Technology, and the new "Bridge."
The approach to Preclears became more systematic. They would
start with specific auditing processes or procedures at the
bottom of the "Bridge," progressing through numbered grades
of "release," at each of which a definite ability should be
regained. These release grades deal with memory, communication,
problems, "overts" and "withholds," upsets, and justifications
for failure, from Grade 0 to IV.2
Perhaps the most drastic changes came with the Ethics Technology.
Hubbard said that certain people are "antisocial," and are determined
opponents of anything which can benefit humanity, especially
Scientology. He labelled such people "Suppressive Persons" (or
SPs), and asserted that SPs make up two and a half percent of
the population. A further seventeen and a half percent are said
to be influenced by SPs to such an extent that they are "Potential
Trouble Sources" (or PTS). Hubbard decided that PTS people would
have to "disconnect" (refuse any communication or contact) from
SPs identified by the organization. The rigidity with which
this rule has been applied over the years has varied, but marriages
have been split up when someone had to disconnect from a spouse
labelled "Suppressive."
With the new Ethics Technology came a department of the Org
which would "keep ethics in." Hubbard determined that unethical
156 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
people would not make gains in Scientology, so conversely anyone
who did not make gains in Scientology was unethical ("out-ethics").
Where Scientology failed it was the fault of the recipient,
never of Scientology. Ethics Officers came into being to deal
with "out-ethics" people.
Hubbard introduced a system of reports, where any Scientologist
seeing a supposed misapplication of the Technology, or any transgression
against Scientology morality, would write a report, which was
sent to the Ethics Office. A copy would be filed, and the original
sent to the offender. When enough Knowledge Reports had stacked
up in a person's folder, he would theoretically be hauled before
a Committee of Evidence, and his behavior assessed against Hubbard's
extensive list of "Crimes" and "High Crimes." If his "criminality"
was sufficient, he would be given a Suppressive Person Declare,
copies of which would be posted in Scientology Organizations.
Suppressive Person Declares are still issued, and Scientologists
could not, and cannot, associate with SPs, without themselves
becoming the subject of a Declare.
John McMaster witnessed the introduction and intensification
of Ethics first hand. He arrived at Saint Hill in 1963 to do
the Briefing Course. His stepmother had pressured him into Scientology
a few months earlier, in South Africa. McMaster had been a student
of medicine, hoping to specialize in neurosurgery. His fascination
for medicine came from direct experience - part of his stomach
had been removed because it was cancerous. On his arrival at
the Durban Scientology Center he had been in considerable pain
for some years. McMaster claims that his first auditing session
relieved the pain completely.-'
By the time Hubbard introduced "SP Declares," in 1965, McMaster
was overseeing the Saint Hill Special Briefing Course. Any interesting
ideas generated by the students would be taken to Hubbard. The
"Power Processes," or "Level V," came into being this way. They
coincided with Hubbard's decision that he was the "Source" of
Scientology. From this time on, Scientologists were assured
that Hubbard had "developed" all of Scientology and Dianetics.
To quote his own words, first published in February 1965, and
still a part of every major Scientology course: "Willing as
I was to accept suggestions and data, only a handful of suggestions
(less than twenty) had long run value and none were major or
basic."4
In the beginning, Hubbard tried to legitimize his ideas by
acknowledging his debt to thinkers as diverse as Anaxagoras, Lao
Tze, Newton
The World's First Real Clear 157
and Freud. For a while, Hubbard had awarded the title "Fellow
of Scientology" to major contributors. Time had convinced Hubbard
that he alone was the fount of all wisdom.
Since its inception four years before, only Briefing Course
students had received auditing at Saint Hill. However, with
the advent of Power Processes, Saint Hill began to accept paying
Preclears. A Hubbard Guidance Center came into being, initially
consisting of one man, John McMaster. McMaster says huge amounts
were charged to individuals for "Power" auditing, and adds,
wryly, that he received none of the money. Despite the high
price, Scientologists flocked to Saint Hill. The Hubbard Guidance
Center rapidly increased in size.
Hubbard frequently released new "rundowns" or "levels" which
attempted to justify the failure of earlier techniques. Each
new rundown would be launched amid a fanfare of publicity, and
claims of miraculous results. One critic has complained of "auditing
junkies," forever waiting for the next "level" to resolve their
chronic problems. The issue of a new "level," was invariably
greeted with a rash of incredible Success Stories, written as
soon as an individual finished the auditing in question. These
were usually vague, and always enthusiastic. "This level cracked
my case!" is a fair example of these often meaningless statements.
Power, or Level V, was more successful in attracting people
than previous "rundowns," starting a financial boom at Saint
Hill. Over the years, Hubbard asserted time and time again that
he had achieved a routine way of "Clearing" people. Both the
definition of Clear and the methods for its achievement changed
periodically. After Power, he released Level VI, of which he
said:
A clear has no vicious Reactive Mind and operates at total mental
capacity just like the first book (Dianetics: The Modern Science
of Mental Health) said. In fact every early definition of CLEAR
is found to be correct...Level V! requires several months
to audit through even with expert training. But at its end,
MAGIC. There's the state of clear we've sought for all these
years. It fits all definitions ever given for clear.5
Even this breakthrough proved ephemeral, and a few months later,
Hubbard announced Level VII, which became the "Clearing Course."
The Clearing Course was to prove the most durable method of
Clearing, lasting until 1978, and is still occasionally used
today.
158 THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
The usual trickle of defecting members who set up their own
Scientological groups continued through the 1960s. A splinter
group called Compulsions Analysis came into being in London,
in 1964, under the direction of a couple named Robert and Mary
Ann Moor, who called themselves the "De Grimstons." They later
renamed their organization "The Process," and later yet, "The
Church of the Final Judgment." Mass murderer Charles Manson
was an enthusiastic supporter both of The Process, and of Scientology.
Author Maury Terry is convinced that David Berkowitz, the "Son
of Sam" killer, was also involved with The Process.6
In 1965, Charles Berner, a leading Scientologist, left the fold,
and founded "Abilitism." Berner later headed the "Anubhava School
of Enlightenment," and was responsible for the "Enlightenment
Intensive," which has achieved a certain respectability. Hubbard
made Berner the target of considerable harassment.
A major challenge to Hubbard's leadership reared its head in
1964 in the shape of "Amprinistics." The founder of this new
movement was Harry Thompson. He said Hubbard had refused his
offer of a new and highly workable procedure in 1963, so he
had spent two years researching it, and having proven its validity
beyond doubt, wished to give it to the world. Unfortunately
for Thompson, he chose to give it, or rather sell it, to Scientologists
first. Thompson announced his discovery in a huge mailing to
Scientologists. He asked that they simply try his method to
see if it worked. Thompson also offered an escape from the Ethics
Officers, and the increasing discipline of Hubbard's organization.
Jack Horner was one of the very few people who had stayed the
course with Hubbard from his beginnings in Elizabeth, New Jersey.
Horner took the first Dianetic course in June 1950. He was one
of the first to try to convince Hubbard of the validity of "past
lives" and the first "Doctor" of Scientology. Horner was one
of the few people that Hubbard trusted to give Advanced Clinical
Courses. In 1965, Horner had been promoted in The Auditor magazine
as the first "Honors graduate" of the final section of the immense
Saint Hill Special Briefing Course. Disillusioned with the increasing
control which Hubbard was visiting upon Scientologists, Horner
joined Amprinistics.'
Hubbard decided to designate certain materials "confidential"
at this time, perhaps so that Scientology could offer something
Amprinistics could not. Scientologists believe Hubbard's argument
that confidentiality was introduced because the relevant materials
are highly
The World's First Real Clear 159
"restimulative" (upsetting) to people who are not ready for
them. Whatever the reason, Power, Level VI and the Clearing
Course were designated "confidential," and remain so to this
day. The same is true of the later OT levels.
On September 27, 1965, Hubbard issued a "Hubbard Communications
Office Executive Letter" dealing with Amprinistics and its members.
Every member of the new group, whether they had entered it via
Scientology or not, was labelled Fair Game. Their gatherings
were to be broken up. Complaints were to be made to the police
and any chance of litigation was to be taken. Scientologists
were to attack the followers of Amprinistics in every way they
could.
Hubbard forbade mention of the very word "Amprinistics." The
"Executive Letter" disappeared from public circulation long
ago, but despite these severe measures, Homer's "Eductivism,"
an offshoot of Amprinistics, exists to this day.
Level VI was "solo-audited," as was the Clearing Course. In
solo-auditing the person holds both of the E-meter cans in one
hand, while giving himself the "auditing commands." Level VI
and the Clearing Course consist of similar material to OT2 (for
which see the chapter "On to OT"). The auditing is likened by
Hubbard to digging a ditch, because it is excruciatingly boring.
The first Clearing Course Auditors spent at least six months
solo-auditing for several hours daily.
In December 1965, while these pioneers were digging their respective
ditches, the Australian State of Victoria introduced a Psychological
Practices Act which completely outlawed Scientology. The Anderson
Report, published in October, contains much sound, factual information
and many perceptive remarks. However, it has been criticized
even by some who are vocal in their opposition to Scientology.
The report was 173 pages long and had nineteen appendices. The
evidence of 151 witnesses was gathered into a supplement of
8,290 pages. In the report Anderson concluded:
Scientology is evil; its techniques evil; its practice a serious
threat to the community, medically, morally and socially; and
its adherents sadly deluded and often mentally ill...The
Board has been unable to find any worthwhile redeeming feature
in Scientology.
As with the earlier FDA raid in the United States, the ban in
Australia probably did Scientology more good than harm. It provided
free publicity, and because it had the trappings of a witch-hunt,
made Scientology the underdog, gaining Hubbard much needed support.
160 ThE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
Martyrdom is a valuable ingredient in the creation of mass movements.
Further, it was impossible to ban Scientology. The followers
in Victoria simply changed their name to the "Church of the
New Faith," and carried on where they had left off.
In Britain on February 7, 1966, in the House of Commons, Lord
Balniel asked Health Minister, Kenneth Robinson, for an Inquiry
into Scientology. Within two days of Balniel's request Hubbard
had published an "Executive Directive" in which he put forward
his plan to "get a detective on that lord's past to unearth
the tidbits. They're there...governments are SP [Suppressive
People]."8
Soon after, Hubbard left England, travelling by stages to Rhodesia.
Over the next few weeks he continued to react to Lord Balniel's
demand for an official investigation. On February 14, Hubbard
resigned his doctorate in a "Policy Letter" headed "Doctor Title
Abolished": "The title of `Mister', implying `Master' I also
abandon. I wish to be known solely by my name `Ron' or Hubbard."
Another Policy Letter, "Attacks on Scientology," was issued
the next day. If anyone started an investigation into Scientology
the following actions should be taken:
1. Spot who is attacking us.
2. Start investigating them promptly for FELONIES or worse
using own professionals, not outside agencies.
3. Double curve our reply by saying we welcome an investigation
of them.
4. Start feeding lurid, blood sex crime [sic] actual evidence
on the attackers to the press."
On February 17, Hubbard created the "Public Investigation Section":
"to help LRH investigate public matters and individuals which
seem to impede human liberty so that such matters may be exposed
and to furnish intelligence required in guiding the progress
of Scientology."
A month after these events, the story of a private investigator
was carried in British newspapers. Vic Filson had been recruited
to establish an investigation section. He lasted a week. The
Scientologist who gave him his instructions at Saint Hill told
him dossiers were to be made on "special subjects":
But the truth didn't dawn until I got a memorandum from Hubbard
himself. It was horrifying. It was a set of instructions to
investigate the
The World's First Real Clear 161
activities of psychiatrists in Britain and to prepare a dossier
on each. And I was told that the first victim was to be Lord
Balniel.
Hubbard instructed Filson to find a skeleton in the cupboard
of every psychiatrist practicing in England. Hubbard was looking
for crimes such as assault, rape and homicide. His objective
was to eliminate every single psychiatrist."
The Hubbard Communications Office Policy Letter "Attacks on
Scientology" was expanded on February 18, to include, "investigating
noisily the attackers."
At the end of February, John McMaster, who had just flown to
Los Angeles, was surprised to hear that he had become the "World's
First Real Clear." Hubbard had sent out a promotional piece
announcing this to Scientologists throughout the world. Only
then was McMaster recalled to England, and given his "Clear
Check," to set the record straight. After all, Scientologists
needed a boost in morale. `:
In March, Hubbard published "What Is Greatness?" which rounded
off his statements of February: "The hardest task one can have
is to continue to love one's fellows despite all reasons he
should not...A primary trap is to succumb to invitations
to hate. There are those who appoint one their executioners.
Sometimes for the sake of the safety of others, it is necessary
to act, but it is not necessary also to hate them."
On March 1, the short-lived Public Investigations Section became
the Guardian's Office (GO). "Noisy investigation," or rumor-mongering,
was not their only talent, and the GO became a formidable force.
After the false starts of the Department of Official Affairs
and the Department of Government Affairs, Hubbard at last had
his own private Intelligence Agency.
John McMaster became the ambassador of Scientology. He was Hubbard's
deliberate choice for the "First Clear." McMaster is slight
with naturally white hair, and is a remarkable public speaker
with a compelling voice. He was Scientology's spokesman in television
interviews throughout the English-speaking world, a personification,
so it seemed, of gentleness and love. While his message was
being beamed over the airwaves, and delivered personally to
packed audiences the world over, the Scientology Organizations
were becoming increasingly less gentle and loving in their treatment
of both their members and their critics.
PART FOUR
THE SEA ORGANIZATION
1966-1976
163
CHAPTER ONE
Scientology at Sea
Scientology thrives on a climate of ignorance and indifference. -
KENNETH ROBINSON, British Minister for Health
The new Guardian took orders only from the Executive Director
of the Church of Scientology. L. Ron Hubbard was appointing
a deputy. He kept the new position in the family: Mary Sue Hubbard
was the first Guardian, later becoming the "Controller," a post
created between the Executive Director and the Guardian.I
Among the duties of the Guardian was the "LRH Heavy Hussars
Hat" (a misnomer, as Hussars were light cavalry). "Hat" was
Hubbard's usual term for "job." The Guardian's Office (or "GO'
') would deal with any "threat of great importance" to Scientology.
The tenure of executives in Scientology organizations is usually
brief; the Guardian is one of the few exceptions. Jane Kember,
Mary Sue's successor, held the position for thirteen years.
Mary Sue was her superior, as Controller, throughout that time.
The Guardian's Office was responsible for responding to any
attack on Scientology. An "attack" might simply be a quizzical
newspaper article. The GO is well remembered in London, where
the press is still reticent about Scientology stories. The "Legal
Bureau" of the GO issued hundreds of court writs, itself losing
count.2 The GO dealt with public relations, legal actions, and
the gathering of "intelligence." It conducted campaigns against
psychiatry, Interpol, the Internal Reve-
l65
166 ThE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
nue Service, drug abuse, and government secrecy, largely under
the heading "Social Coordination," or "SOCO."
The GO campaign against the tax authorities was not altogether
altruistic. On April 30, 1966, the Hubbard Communications Office
Ltd. filed its annual accounts with the Inland Revenue in Great
Britain. Sir John Foster later commented in his government report:
"According to the last set of accounts filed for HCO Ltd., that
company seems to have been conducting an unsuccessful garage
business [Hickstead Garage]. The auditor's [accountant's] certificate
is heavily qualified: various documents could not be traced,
vehicles had vanished, `the sales figure in the trading account
cannot be regarded as anywhere near accurate' [according to
the Scientology accountant], and there had been litigation with
a manager who went bankrupt. The company ended up owing Mr.
Hubbard £1,356."
The man who was owed this sum was absent from Saint Hill for
a large part of 1966. Most of that time was spent in Rhodesia.
Hubbard quietly assured his lieutenants that he had been Cecil
Rhodes in his last lifetime, so he saw his visit to Rhodesia
as a homecoming.
Hubbard went into business in Rhodesia, putting up part of the
purchase money for the Bumi Hills resort hotel on Lake Kariba.
He also hob-nobbed with the social elite. He appeared on television,
telling the audience he was no longer active in Scientology,
and had become a permanent resident of Salisbury. He must have
been dismayed when that permanence crumbled with the Rhodesian
refusal to renew his visa. He put a brave face on it, returning
to England in July, to be met at the airport by hundreds of
cheering Scientologists.'
In Rhodesia, Hubbard had prepared the first two Operating Thetan
levels. After attaining the state of Clear, Scientologists could
now progress toward "total freedom" through the OT levels. Hubbard
asserted that an Operating Thetan is capable of operating, of
perceiving and causing events, while separate from his body.
By doing the OT levels an individual would supposedly liberate
latent psychic abilities. From 1952, Hubbard continually insisted
that the latest techniques would bring about the state of "full
OT."
The U.S. Internal Revenue Service was less interested in Hubbard's
spiritual motivation than in the mounting evidence of his .financial
motivation. At the end of July, the IRS notified the Church
of Scientology of California that its tax-exempt status was
being withdrawn, giving three reasons: Scientology practitioners
were making money from the "non-profit" Church; the Church's
activities were commer-
Scientology at Sea 167
cial; and the Church was serving the private interests of L.
Ron Hubbard.4
Hubbard's thoughts were elsewhere, and in a flight of fantasy,
he proclaimed John McMaster the first "Pope" of Scientology
in August 1966. The title did not endure.s
It seemed that McMaster was to be Hubbard's public successor.
In fact, he was simply an emissary with little real power in
the organization. Hubbard maintained the charade of handing
over responsibility by resigning as President and Executive
Director of the Church. His resignation was announced to Scientologists,
but was not actually filed with the Registrar of companies in
England for three years. It was yet another public relations
gesture. Hubbard still controlled the bank accounts, and still
held the undated resignations of the board members of his many
corporations. He still wrote the Policy of the Church, and issued
his orders via written Executive Directives. Indeed, the post
of Executive Director remained vacant until 1981, when Hubbard
finally appointed a replacement. Hubbard retained the day-to-day
control of his empire of Orgs.6
Early in 1966, the LRH Finance Committee had been established
to determine how much the Church owed Hubbard. In September,
Hubbard told the press he had forgiven the Church a $13 million
debt. The LRH Finance Committee had however failed to document
the millions Hubbard had taken out of the Church. The Committee
had appraised Saint Hill as having a business goodwill value
of £2 million (the estate itself was valued at less than £100,000).
The Committee also included such items as the purchase price
of the yacht used by Hubbard for his Alaska trip in 1940. All
part of the Hubbard's "research," from which the Church purportedly
benefited.7
In August 1966, the Henslow case exploded into the British newspapers.
Karen Henslow was a schizophrenic who had been institutionalized
before her contact with Scientology. She had fallen in love
with a Scientologist, who promised to marry her. Henslow had
worked at Saint Hill, and taken a Scientology course. Then one
night she was "Security-Checked" into the small hours, and deposited
at her mother's house. She ran into the street in her nightclothes,
and ended up at the police station at 3.00 a.m., in a highly
distressed state.8
Hubbard responded to the Henslow scandal by approving a more
thorough set of instructions for his tactic of "Noisy Investigation."
A list was to be made of everyone associated with a perceived
enemy. This was to include their dentist and doctor, along with
their friends
168 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
and neighbors. All of the people on the list were to be phoned
and told that the perceived enemy was under investigation for
the commission of crimes, having attacked the religious liberty
of the caller. The person being called was to be told that alarming
information had already been gathered. The primary purpose of
this technique was not to collect information, but to spread
suspicion about the perceived enemy.
This directive was followed by a Hubbard Bulletin called "The
Anti-Social Personality, the Anti-Scientologist" (the two being
one and the same). Hubbard restated his earlier theory that
twenty percent of the population (the Suppressives and those
under their influence, the Potential Trouble Sources, combined)
"oppose violently any betterment activity or group." He asserted
that "When we trace the cause of a failing business, we will
inevitably discover somewhere in its ranks the antisocial personality
hard at work."
In fact, the cause of all disaster at work or at home, according
to Hubbard, lies with Suppressive Persons. They are characterized
by a majority of the following traits and attributes. According
to Hubbard, SPs speak in generalities ("everybody knows"); deal
mainly in bad news; worsen communication they are relaying;
fail to respond to psychotherapy (i.e. Scientology); are surrounded
by "cowed or ill associates or friends"; habitually select the
wrong target, or source; are unable to finish anything; willingly
confess to alarming crimes, without any sense of responsibility
for them; support only destructive groups; approve only destructive
actions; detest help being given to others, and use "helping"
as a pretext to destroy others; and believe that no one really
owns anything.
These points are Hubbard's reworkings of the characteristics
of the Antisocial Personality, or psychopath, given by Hervey
Cleckley, M.D., in his 1950s book The Mask of Saninty.
Having failed to secure a "safe-point" in Rhodesia from which
to resist the encroachments of the Suppressives, Hubbard planned
to take to the High Seas. At the end of 1966, he incorporated
the Hubbard Explorational Company Ltd. He titled himself the
"expedition supervisor," holding ninety-seven of the 100 issued
shares. The stated object of the HEC was to "explore oceans,
seas, lakes, rivers and waters, land and buildings in any part
of the world and to seek for, survey, examine and test properties
of all kinds."9
Hubbard was still a member of the Explorers' Club of New York,
and was authorized to fly their flag on his proposed Hubbard
Geological Survey Expedition, which was going to make a geological
survey
Scientology at Sea 169
of "a belt from Italy through Greece and Egypt and along the
Gulf of Aden and the East Coast of Africa." The survey was intended
to "draw a picture of an area which has been the scene of the
earlier and basic civilizations of the planet and from which
some conclusions may possibly be made relating to geological
predispositions required for civilized growth.""' The expedition
never took place. Hubbard was good at promoting expeditions,
even at inventing their details, but not so good at actually
carrying them out.
Having given his last Saint Hill Briefing Course lecture, Hubbard
left for North Africa at the end of 1966. On December 5, British
Health Minister Kenneth Robinson denied that an Inquiry was
necessary, but denounced Scientology as "potentially harmful,"
adding "I have no doubt that Scientology is totally valueless
in promoting health." Hubbard responded in usual form with a
twenty-page internal memo, asserting that the crimes of government
would prove far more interesting to the newspapers than those
of Scientology. Hubbard believed that events could be turned
against the representatives of government, putting them into
the courtroom rather than Scientology. He wanted nothing short
of Kenneth Robinson and Lord Balniel's resignations. The emphases
of the attack were to be religious persecution and psychiatric
mayhem. Scientology's opponents were simply dismissed as fascists."
Neither Robinson nor Balniel resigned their government positions,
nor were any psychiatrists stampeded. However, on February 28,
1967, every Member of Parliament received a letter from the
Hubbard College of Scientology. The letter spoke of the Karen
Henslow case of a few months before: "This unhappy story gave
the newspapers and others of a lurid turn of mind the opportunity
to further their vehement attack against us with libel and slander.
And so the pattern repeats itself, the well worn pattern."12
The letter went on to ask who was "behind this pattern of attack,"
and after discoursing on Scientologists' friendly relations
with medicine in general, concluded with an attack on psychiatry
in particular, adding, "Like the Russian authorities, we believe
that brain surgery is an assault and rape of the individual
personality."
The letter inevitably created an effect, but not necessarily
that expected by its author. Hubbard's public relations "technology"
only succeeded in bringing the boiling oil down upon Scientology.
On March 6, 1967, Kenneth Robinson made a further statement
about Scientology in the House of Commons:
170 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
I do not want to give the impression that there is anything
illegal in the offering by unskilled people of processes intended
in pan to relieve or remove mental disturbance...provided
that no claim is made of qualified medical skill...What they
do, however, is to direct themselves deliberately towards the
weak, the unbalanced, the immature, the rootless and the mentally
or emotionally unstable; to promise them remolded, mature personalities
and to set about fulfilling the promise by means of untrained
staff, ignorantly practicing quasi-psychological techniques,
including hypnosis...
I am satisfied that the condition of mentally disturbed people
who have taken scientology courses has, to say the least, not
generally improved thereby...My present decision on legislation
may disappoint the honorable Members, but I would like to remind
them that the harsh light of publicity can sometimes work almost
as effectively. Scientology thrives on a climate of ignorance
and indifference...
What I have tried to do in this debate is to alert the public
to the facts about scientology, to the potential dangers in
which anyone considering taking it up may find himself, and
to the utter hollowness of the claims made for the cult.
Meanwhile, Hubbard added "Degraded Beings" to Suppressives and
Potential Trouble Sources. While the latter two groups comprised
only one in five of the world's population, "Degraded Beings"
outnumbered "Big Beings" by eighteen to one.13 In Hubbard's
eyes, Kenneth Robinson was undoubtedly not only a Suppressive
Person, but also a Degraded Being.
Business was still fair, and the Scientology Church in Britain
showed a total income of£457,277 for the year ending April 1967
(an average of almost £9,000 per week). Hubbard gave the following
instructions to his subordinates a few months later:
The real stable datum in handling tax people is NEVER VOLUNTEER
ANY INFORMATION...The thing to do is to assign a significance
to the figures before the government can...I normally think
of a better significance than the government can. l always put
enough errors on a return to satisfy their bloodsucking appetite
and STILL come out zero. The game of accounting is just a game
of assigning significance to figures. The man with the most
imagination wins.14
True to these maxims, the 1966-1967 accounts contained several
creative designations for expenditure. Directors' fees stood
at only £2,914, but £39,426 was justified as "provision for
bad debts," and
Scientology at Sea 171
an astonishing £70,000 as "expenditure of United States Mailing
List and Promotion." The previous year, £80,000 had been charged
under this heading. In 1967-1968 the figure was again £70,000.
British action against Scientology was growing. The Ministry
of Labour reported that a hundred American teachers of Scientology
were to be banned from Britain. In a dramatic move, 500 Scientologists
were interviewed by the police as they arrived at Saint Hill.
This fiasco resulted in one American being fined £15 for failing
to register as an alien, occasioning UFO cartoons in the newspapers.
15
Hubbard had spent the last weeks of 1966 "researching" OT3 in
North Africa. In a letter of the time, he admitted that he was
taking drugs ("pinks and grays") to assist his research.16 Early
in 1967, Hubbard flew to Las Palmas, and Virginia Downsborough,
who cared for him after his arrival, was astonished that he
was existing almost totally on a diet of drugs. For three weeks
Martin Hunt
[Plaintext version 1.0, 18 August 1998]
A Piece of
Blue Sky
-------
Scientology,
Dianetics and
L. Ron Hubbard
Exposed
-------
Jon Atack
ISBN 0-8184-0499-X
A Piece of
Blue Sky
According to its Publisher, over ten million
copies of L. Ron Hubbard's *Dianetics:
The Modern Science of Mental Health* have been
sold and Hubbard's "works on human
betterment alone have sold over 28 million
copies in 17 languages." Marketed as
a "self-help" book, *Dianetics* avoids
acknowledging its ties to Scientology, the
quasi-religious cult founded by penny-a-word
science fiction writer, L. Ron Hubbard,
which has promoted itself to the sad and
lonely for almost forty years as a true
"science" or "technology" of the human mind.
*A Piece of Blue Sky* exposes Hubbard's
bizarre imagination and behavior throughout
his life and traces the creation of Scientology
in the years following World War II to
perhaps its final schism following Hubbard's
death in 1986. The abuses, contradictions,
falsehoods, paranoia and greed of Hubbard
and some of his pseudo-military
Scientologist henchmen are now finally told.
The often sordid details have been culled
from thousands of documents, many in
Hubbard's own hand, including official Church
of Scientology memoranda, publications,
bulletins, court records and correspondence.
The book recounts the author's personal
experiences, not only as a devout
Scientologist for nine years, but also his
numerous interviews with hundreds of
Scientologists, many of whom he has helped
escape the Church's most insidious practices.
Millions of people are apparently reading
what purports to be a "self-help" book for
advice and comfort in coping with their life's
discontents. Before they embrace Hubbard's
"self-help" philosophy, they would be
well-advised to learn more about the cult
of Scientology and its Messiah.
A PIECE
OF BLUE SKY
A PIECE
OF BLUE SKY
Scientology, Dianetics
and L. Ron Hubbard Exposed
by Jon Atack
A LYLE STUART BOOK
Published by Carol Publishing Group
Copyright c 1990 by Jon Atack
A Lyle Stuart Book
Published by Carol Publishing Group
Editorial Offices Sales & Distribution Offices
600 Madison Avenue 120 Enterprise Avenue
New York, NY 10022 Secaucus, NJ 07094
In Canada: Musson Book Company
A division of General Publishing Co. Limited
Don Mills, Ontario
All rights reserved. No part of this book
may be reproduced in any form, except by
a newspaper or magazine reviewer who wishes
to quote brief passages in connection
with a review.
Queries regarding rights and permissions
should be addressed to: Carol Publishing Group,
600 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10022
Manufactured in the United States of America
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Atack, Jon.
A piece of blue sky: Scientology, Dianetics, and L. Ron Hubbard
exposed / by Jon Atack.
p. cm.
"A Lyle Stuart book."
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 0-8184-0499-X : $19.95
1. Scientology - Controversial literature. 2. Dianetics -
Controversial literature. 3. Hubbard, L. Ron (La Fayette Ron),
1911- . 4. Church of Scientology - History. I. Title.
BP605.S2A83 1990
299'.936'092 - dc20 89-77666
CIP
Carol Publishing Group books are available at special discounts
for bulk purchases, for sales promotions, fund raising, or
educational purposes. Special editions can also be created to
specifications. For details contact: Special Sales Department,
Carol Publishing Group, 120 Enterprise Ave., Secaucus, NJ 07094.
It was 1950, in the early, heady days of Dianetics, soon after L. Ron
Hubbard opened the doors of his first organization to the clamoring
crowd. Up until then, Hubbard was known only to readers of pulp
fiction, but now he had an instant best-seller with a book that promised
to solve every problem of the human mind, and the cash was pouring
in. Hubbard found it easy to create schemes to part his new
following from their money. One of the first tasks was to arrange
"grades" of membership, offering supposedly greater rewards, at
increasingly higher prices. Over thirty years later. an associate wryly
remembered Hubbard turning to him and confiding, no doubt with a
smile, "Let's sell these people a piece of blue sky."
Acknowledgments
My particular thanks are due to my three good friends Mitch Beedie,
Lawrence Kristiansen and George Shaw. Mitch Beedie has been a
constant source of encouragement, support and editorial insight
throughout six years of research and writing. Lawrence Kristiansen has
proved to be an invaluable resource, sharing freely his knowledge and
understanding of Scientology. His meticulous research, and his pains-
taking editing, helped me to focus ever more closely on the subject
matter. George Shaw also signed up as an unpaid (and exceptional)
researcher, gave me the benefit of his considerable knowledge of
Scientology, and provided fascinating perspectives on Hubbard's char-
acter and motives.
This book is based upon statements made by over 150 individuals
whether in interviews, correspondence, taped talks, published ac-
counts, affidavits or sworn testimony. Those of my sources whose
statements were made publicly, and those who have given permission,
are named in the reference summary. I am grateful to them all and to
the many people who have asked to remain anonymous, for reasons
which the book should make clear.
In return for access to my manuscript and my collaboration as a
consultant, Russell Miller made his interview notes available to me,
and for this and our friendly working relationship I am most grateful.
I also wish to express my thanks to Dave Waiters and the staff of the
Montana Historical Society; to Ron Neuman for access to his collec-
tion of Hubbard letters and first editions; and to Brenda Yates and
Carol Kanda for ensuring that I received the 28 volumes of the
transcript of the Armstrong case. Without Brenda these vital docu-
ments would not have become available in the first place.
Gratitude is also due to those authors whose work made my own less
daunting: the late Joseph Winter, Martin Gardner, the late Helen
O'Brien, George Malko, Paulette[r] Cooper, Cyril Vosper, Bob Kauf-
v
vi ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
man, the late Christopher Evans, C.H. Rolph, John Forte and most
especially Roy Wallis for *The Road to Total Freedom*. I am also in
debt to the *St. Petersburg Times* and the *Clearwater Sun* for their
excellent coverage of Scientology.
I am grateful to the many friends who have revived my sometimes
flagging spirits on the long road to publication. Gratitude is due
especially to: Robyn, Joy, Fiona, Joyce, Marcia, Sam, Gall, Hana,
Gay, John, Greg, Sarge, Marcus, Lew, Chris, Callan, Otto, my par-
ents, my brother Andrew, and my wife, Noella.
The litigious nature of the Scientologists has frightened most pub-
lishers into silence. Lyle Stuart and Steven Schragis were not intimi-
dated, and I am extremely grateful to them. Finally, my thanks to our
attorney, Mel Wulf, for his patient attention to detail; to my editor Bob
Smith; and to all at Carol Publishing Group for making this book a
published reality.
- JON ATACK
Preface
Several years ago, when I began making inquiries into the life and
times of L. Ron Hubbard, almost the first name that was mentioned to
me was that of Jon Atack. Subsequently it was a name that would crop
up time and time again. Almost anyone who knew anything about
Hubbard invariably suggested that I should talk to Jon Atack.
Of course by then I *had* talked to Jon and discovered him to be one
of the world's foremost unofficial archivists of the Church of Scientol-
ogy. In the loft of his house in East Grinstead, he had collected literally
thousands of documents, letters, pamphlets, books and pictures, all of
it indexed and cross-referenced on computer. For anyone interested in
the history and development of Scientology, it is a treasure trove of
reliable information on a subject positively riddled with deeply unreli-
able information. At some time in the future, the Atack archive will be
lodged with an academic institution in order that it will be forever
available to future researchers.
Jon was extremely generous with his time, knowledge and help
while I was working on my biography of Hubbard and I am therefore
delighted to write this brief preface to his own much more comprehen-
sive and wide-ranging book. It is, in essence, a distillation of his
extraordinary attic archive and thus provides the reader with a dispas-
sionate, thoroughly documented account of how Scientology was cre-
ated and nourished by a struggling science-fiction writer, how it grew
into a worldwide organization and how it has managed to dominate
(and damage) so many thousands of lives.
Because this book recounts the stark truth about Scientology, it is
certain to provoke the ferocious hostility of practicing Scientologists
around the world. Anyone who dares to publicly criticize the Church
of Scientology or its founder is liable to be vilified and hounded
through the courts, as I can personally testify. (Although it is a mystery
to me that Scientologists continue to believe that their founder was a
vii
viii PREFACE
man with the highest regard for the truth, whereas the records consis-
tently indicate that he was a charlatan and a congenital liar.)
Jon Atack is a former member of the Church of Scientology and I
have no doubt that he will be attacked as a turncoat and traitor seeking
to cause damage to his former church. All I can say is that over the
months and years of our association I never doubted that his motives
were decent and honest; I never felt for a moment that he was spurred
by malice or any unworthy desire to settle old scores.
It is my firm conviction that Jon began to assemble his archive
because he had become aware that he had been fed untruths for years
and he simply wanted the truth to be known about the antecedents and
antics of his former church and its founder. It is for this reason that he
willingly cooperated with me when I was writing my book, never
offering opinions or information without comprehensive documenta-
tion to back it up.
Jon Atack believes that people have the right to know the truth about
Scientology. That belief is the laudable genesis of this book.
- RUSSELL MILLER
Author of *Bare-Faced Messiah*
Contents
Acknowledgments v
Preface, by Russell Miller vii
What Is Scientology? 1
PART 1: INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY 1974-1983
1. My Beginnings 9
2. Saint Hill 19
3. On to OT 26
4. The Seeds of Dissent 35
PART 2: BEFORE DIANETICS 1911-1949
1. Hubbard's Beginnings 45
2. Hubbard in the East 52
3. Hubbard the Explorer 60
4. Hubbard As Hero 70
5. His Miraculous Recovery 83
6. His Magickal Career 89
PART 3: THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM
1949-1966
1. Building the Bridge 105
2. The Dianetic Foundations 114
3. Wichita 121
4. Knowing How to Know 128
5. The Religion Angle 137
6. The Lord of the Manor 146
ix
x CONTENTS
7. The World's First Real Clear 153
PART 4: THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
1. Scientology at Sea 165
2. Heavy Ethics 172
3. The Empire Strikes Back 182
4. The Death of Susan Meister 197
5. Hubbard's Travels 202
6. The Flag Land Base 209
PART 5: THE GUARDIAN'S OFFICE 1974-1980
1. The Guardian Unguarded 217
2. Infiltration 226
3. Operation Meisner 236
PART 6: THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS
1977-1982
1. Making Movies 245
2. The Rise of the Messengers 255
3. The Young Rulers 264
4. The Clearwater Hearings 273
5. The Religious Technology Center and
the International Finance Police 284
PART 7: THE INDEPENDENTS 1982-1984
1. The Mission Holders' Conference 293
2. The Scientology War 300
3. Splintering 308
4. Stamp Out the Squirrels! 316
PART 8: JUDGMENTS
1. Scientology at Law 327
2. The Child Custody Case 335
3. Signing the Pledge 344
*Contents* xi
4. Dropping the Body 351
5. After Hubbard 356
PART 9: SUMMING UP
1. The Founder 367
2. The Scientologist 378
3. Fair Game, Ethics and the Scriptures 390
Epilogue 397
Bibliography 399
Reference Summary 403
List of Abbreviations 417
Index 419
Scientology is both immoral and socially obnoxious...it is corrupt,
sinister and dangerous. It is corrupt because it is based upon lies and
deceit and has as its real objective money and power for Mr. Hubbard,
his wife and those close to him at the top. It is sinister because it
indulges in infamous practices both to its adherents who do not toe the
line unquestioningly and to those who criticize or oppose it. It is
dangerous because it is out to capture people, especially children and
impressionable young people, and indoctrinate and brainwash them so
that they become the unquestioning captives and tools of the cult,
withdrawn from ordinary thought, living and relationships with
others. - JUSTICE LATEY, ruling in the High Court in London in 1984
As soon as one's convictions become unshakeable, evidence ceases to
be relevant - except as a means to convert the unbelievers. Factual
inaccuracies...are excusable in the light of the Higher Truth. - P.H.
HOEBENS
What Is Scientology?
Scientology is among the oldest, largest, richest, and most powerful
of contemporary cults. The "Church" of Scientology, first incorpo-
rated in 1953, claims to have seven million members, and reserves of a
thousand million dollars. There are nearly 200 Scientology "Mis-
sions" and "Churches" spread across the globe.
During the 1970's, cults became big business and big news. Yet in
the welter of books published about these "new religious move-
ments," there has been no real history of Scientology. This is rather
surprising, because the history of Scientology is at turns outrageous,
hilarious and sinister. Accurate information about Scientology is
scarce because the cult is both secretive and highly committed to
silencing its critics.
A few sociologists have argued that involvement in any cult is
usually short-lived and sometimes beneficial. However, after four
years of research, including interviews with over a thousand former
cult members, researchers Conway and Siegelman came to very differ-
ent conclusions about Scientology: "The reports we have seen and
heard in the course of our research...are replete with allegations of
psychological devastation, economic exploitation, and personal and
legal harassment of former members and journalists who speak out
against the cult."1 Making a comparison with the tens of other cults in
their study, they said: "Scientology's may be the most debilitating set
of rituals of any cult in America."2
Scientology, a peculiar force in our society, escapes tidy definition.
The "Church" of Scientology claims religious status; yet at times
Scientology represents itself as a psychotherapy, a set of business
techniques, an educational system for children or a drug rehabilitation
program. Officers of the Church belong to the largely landbound "Sea
Organization," and wear pseudo-Naval uniforms, complete with cam-
paign ribbons, colored lanyards, and badges of rank, giving Scientol-
1
2 WHAT IS SCIENTOLOGY?
ogy a paramilitary air. Although Scientology has no teachings about
God, Scientologists sometimes don the garb of Christian ministers.
The teachings of Scientology are held out not only as scientifically
proven, but also as scriptural, and therefore beyond question. Scientol-
ogy was also the first cult to establish itself as a multinational business
with marketing, public relations, legal and even intelligence depart-
ments.
Scientology is also unusual because it is not an extension of a
particular traditional religion. It is a complex and apparently complete
set of beliefs, techniques and rituals assembled by one man: L. Ron
Hubbard. During the 36 years between the publication of his first
psychotherapeutic text and his death in 1986, Hubbard constructed
what appears to be one of the most elaborate belief systems of all time.
The sheer volume of material daunts most investigators. Several thou-
sand Hubbard lectures were tape-recorded, and his books, pamphlets
and directives run to tens of thousands of pages.
In 1984, judges in England and America condemned both Hubbard
and Scientology. Justice Latey, in a child custody case in London,
said: "Deprival of property, injury by any means, trickery, suing,
lying or destruction have been pursued [by the Scientologists] through-
out and to this day with the fullest vigour," and further: "Mr. Hubbard
is a charlatan and worse as are his wife Mary Sue Hubbard...and the
clique at the top privy to the Cult's activities."
In America, dismissing a case brought against a former member by
the Scientologists, Judge Breckenridge said: "In addition to violating
and abusing its own members' civil rights, the organization over the
years...has harassed and abused those persons not within the
Church whom it perceives as enemies. The organization clearly is
schizophrenic and paranoid, and this bizarre combination seems to be a
reflection of its founder LRH [L. Ron Hubbard]. The evidence por-
trays a man who has been virtually a pathological liar when it comes to
his history, background and achievements. The writings and docu-
ments in evidence additionally reflect his egoism, greed, avarice, lust
for power, and vindictiveness and aggressiveness against persons per-
ceived by him to be disloyal or hostile."
The evidence cited by Judge Breckenridge consisted of some 10,000
pages of material forming pan of Hubbard's personal archive, includ-
ing his teenage diaries, a black magic ceremony called the "Blood
Ritual," and hundreds of personal letters to and from his three wives.
Some of these documents were read into the record, and others re-
*What Is Scientology?* 3
leased as exhibits. The picture they reveal is very different from
Hubbard's representations about his life.
Nevertheless, Hubbard's personal history is one of the great adven-
ture stories of the 20th century. A penny-a-word science-fiction writer
who created an immense and dedicated organization to act out his
grandiose ideas on a global scale, Hubbard commanded the devotion
of his followers, who revere him as the greatest man who has ever
lived. At the height of his power, Hubbard controlled a personal
intelligence network which successfully infiltrated newspapers, medi-
cal and psychiatric associations throughout the world, and even a num-
ber of United States government agencies. Eleven of Hubbard's subor-
dinates, including his wife, received prison sentences for their part in
these criminal activities.
There is also something tantalizing in the psychotherapeutic tech-
niques which are at the core of Scientology. Cult devotees are some-
times seen as adolescent, half-witted zombies easily coerced into
joining an enslaving group because of their inadequacy. But Scientol-
ogy has attracted medical doctors, lawyers, space scientists and gradu-
ates of the finest universities in the world. One British and two Danish
Members of Parliament once belonged to Scientology. Even psycholo-
gists, psychiatrists and sociologists have been enthusiastic practi-
tioners of Hubbard's techniques. And such people have often parted
with immense sums of money to pay for Scientology counselling
which can cost as much as $1,000 per hour.
Hubbard's ideas have inspired many imitators, and several contem-
porary "psycho-technologies" and New Age movements derive from
Scientology (est, eckancar and co-counselling, for example).
Any assessment of Scientology is further complicated because it has
demonstrably been the target of harassment. A Tax Court judge admit-
ted in a ruling that the IRS had investigated Scientologists solely
because they were Scientologists. Governments have panicked and
over-reacted: for example, for several years in three Australian states
the very practice of Scientology was an imprisonable offence.
The secret inner workings of Scientology have long been zealously
guarded, but in 1982, two years after Hubbard disappeared into com-
plete seclusion, a purge began and the Church began to disintegrate.
Hundreds of long-term Scientologists, many of whom had held impor-
tant positions within the Church, were excommunicated and expelled.
They were placed under the interdict of "Disconnection," whereby
other Scientologists were prohibited from communicating with them in
4 WHAT IS SCIENTOLOGY?
any way. At a rally in San Francisco, young members of the new
management harangued and threatened executives of Scientology's
franchised "Missions." While the newly created International Finance
Dictator spoke, his scowling, black-shirted International Finance Po-
lice patrolled the aisles. Huge amounts of money were demanded from
the Mission Holders. In the following weeks, Scientology's Finance
Police swooped down on the Missions collecting millions of dollars
and almost bankrupting the entire network.
Hubbard had styled himself the "Commodore" of his "Sea Organi-
zation," and by 1982, the new leaders, some still in their teens, were
members of the "Commodore's Messenger Organization." Many of
these youngsters had been raised in Scientology, separated from their
parents, originally working as Hubbard's personal servants.
Anonymous letters describing incredible events circulated among
Scientologists. We read about Gilman Hot Springs, a 500 acre estate in
south California, surrounded by high fences, patrolled by brown-
shirted guards, and protected by an elaborate and expensive security
system. We heard accounts of bizarre punishments meted out at this
supposedly secret headquarters. A group of senior Church executives
had been put on a program where they ran around a tree in near desert
conditions for twelve hours a day, for weeks on end. Some Scientolo-
gists gave accounts of their treatment at the hands of the International
Finance Police, where they had been abused verbally and physically,
sometimes signing over huge amounts of money before coming to their
senses.
During this reign of terror, thousands of Scientologists left the
Church, believing that Hubbard was either dead or under the control of
the Messengers. These new "Independent" practitioners of Scientol-
ogy were subjected to prolonged and extensive harassment and litiga-
tion. Private Investigators followed important defectors, sometimes
around the clock for months. The Church widely distributed scandal
sheets packed with fabricated libels concerning defectors.
The essential question which plagued Scientologists who had left the
Church was whether Hubbard knew what was happening. By the time
Hubbard's death was announced in January 1986, many Scientologists
believed his body had been deep-frozen for several years. Others
believed he was still alive, that the coroner had been bribed, and that
his death had been staged to escape the net of the Criminal Investiga-
tion Branch of the Internal Revenue Service, which was investigating
*What Is Scientology?* 5
the transfer of hundreds of millions of dollars of Church funds into
Hubbard's personal accounts.
As part of its campaign to stem the tide of defectors, Scientology
brought law suits against several former members. In return, multi-
million dollar counter-suits were filed against Scientology. In 1986, a
Los Angeles jury awarded $30 million in damages to a former Church
member. On the last day of 1986, a group of over 400 former members
initiated a billion dollar suit against the Church.
Former highly-placed Hubbard aides broke silence for the first time.
The documentary evidence referred to by Judge Breckenridge pierced
the self-created fantasy of Hubbard's past. The sinister reality beneath
the smiling mask of the Church of Scientology was at last revealed.
PART ONE
INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY
1974-1983
This is useful knowledge. With it the blind again see, the lame walk, the
ill recover, the insane become sane and the sane become saner. By its
use the thousand abilities Man has sought to recover become his once
more. - L. RON HUBBARD, *Scientology: A History of Man*, 1952
7
CHAPTER ONE
My Beginnings
It was 1974 and I was nineteen. I had just returned to England after a
disastrous tour of the South of France only to find that my girlfriend,
with whom I had been living for over a year, had been sleeping with
one of my friends and was going to live with him in New Zealand.
A few weeks later while alone at a friend's house, I found a copy of
Hubbard's book *Science of Survival*. After reading 200 pages, I was
hooked.
I was impressed by Hubbard's insistence that his "Dianetics" was
not dependent on faith, but was completely scientific. The book began
with an impressive array of graphs purportedly depicting increases in
IQ and betterment of personality through Dianetics, which appeared to
have undergone extensive testing.
Dianetics claimed to be an extension of Freudian therapy. By re-
experiencing unconfronted traumas it was allegedly possible to unravel
the deep-seated stimulus-response patterns which ruin people's lives.
Hubbard departed from Freud by denying that sexual repressions were
basic to human aberration. He promised a new and balanced emotional
outlook through the application of Dianetics.
It seemed that Dianetics had been absorbed by Scientology. *Science
of Survival* contained an out-dated list of Scientology Churches. Even-
tually I found a phone number for the "Birmingham Mission of the
Church of Scientology." After a few minutes of conversation, the
receptionist insisted that I take a train immediately. About three hours
later, after a complicated journey, I arrived at the "Mission." It was
9
10 INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY 1974-1983
over a launderette in Moseley village, at that time the dowdy home of
the Birmingham hippy community.
The receptionist sat behind an old desk at the head of the steep
stairs. It was just after six in the evening, and the rest of the Mission
staff had gone home to take a break before returning for the evening
session. The receptionist was in her early twenties, and had abandoned
a career in teaching to become a full-time Scientologist. She was
cheerful and self-assured, and she looked me straight in the eye. She
exuded confidence that Scientology was the stuff of miracles. I men-
tioned my interest in Buddhism, so she gave me a Scientology maga-
zine called *Advance!*, which claimed that Scientology was its modern
successor. I was passionately interested, but she would not trust me to
take a copy of Hubbard's *Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental
Health*, and pay the next day.
Perhaps to her surprise, I did return the next day and bought the
book. I spent the Christmas season locked away with my misery and
"Dianetics." The 400 pages took ten days to read. The book was
turgid and difficult, but I was not interested in Hubbard's style, I was
interested in Dianetic therapy.
Hubbard claimed to have found the source of all human unhappi-
ness. Dianetics would eradicate depression, and the seventy percent of
all ailments which Hubbard claimed are mentally generated, or "psy-
chosomatic." According to Hubbard's book, each of us has a
stimulus-response mind which records all trauma. This "Reactive
Mind" is hidden from the conscious or "Analytical Mind." When
elements of an environment resemble those of an earlier traumatic
incident, the Reactive Mind cuts in and enforces irrational behavior
upon the individual. The Reactive Mind is idiotic, and tries to resolve
present situations by regurgitating a jumble of responses from its
recording of the traumatic incident. Failing to see the cause of this
irrational behavior, the Analytical Mind justifies it, in exactly the way
a hypnotized subject justifies his enactment of implanted suggestions.
According to Hubbard, the deepest personal traumas were moments
of unconsciousness or pain, which he called "engrams." By relieving
engrams an individual could erase the Reactive Mind and become
well-balanced, happy and completely rational. The earliest engram
would have occurred before birth, and would be the "basic" of all
subsequent engrams. Those who had relieved this original engram, and
consequently erased their Reactive Mind, Hubbard called "Clears."
*My Beginnings* 11
People receiving Dianetics were "Preclears." I began to absorb this
elaborate and complex new language.
More recent incidents would have to be relieved before the Preclear
would be capable of reliving his birth and his experiences in the womb.
I was wary of Hubbard's constant assertion that most parents try to
abort their children, but glossed over it, thinking his initial research
must have been done on rather strange people.
What severe "engrams" had I received? Because so much emphasis
was put on birth and the prenatal period, I asked my mother about her
pregnancy. Her answers horrified me. After an emergency operation to
treat a twisted ovary, the doctor had told her she was pregnant. The
doctor said he had held the evidence (me) in his hand. A very nasty
"prenatal engram" indeed; perhaps explaining my backache, my
slight near-sightedness, or my current intense depression.
I was a romantic teenager, deeply upset by the end of a love affair. I
wanted help and I thought that L. Ron Hubbard could provide that
help. A year before, a Zen teacher had warned me to join only groups
where *all* the members had something I wanted. The people I met at
the Scientology "Mission" all seemed unusually cheerful. They were
confident and positive about life. Qualities I sorely needed. I had met
Moonies, Hare Krishnas, and Children of God, but Scientologists had
an easy cheerfulness, not the hysterical euphoria I had seen in these
"cult" converts.
Within a few weeks, I moved into the house where most of the
Mission staff lived. I asked my Scientologist roommate if he had any
pet hates. He smiled broadly and said, "Only wogs." I was startled,
and launched into a defense of dark-skinned people. He laughed,
and explained that "wog" was a Hubbardism for all "non-
Scientologists." This gave me pause for thought, but I dismissed it as
an unfortunate turn of phrase. I thought that Hubbard probably did not
realize how racially offensive the term is in Great Britain.
I became intrigued by the many claims Hubbard had made about
himself. In the 1930s he had been an explorer. A trained nuclear
physicist, he had applied the rigorous precision of Western science to
the profound philosophy of the East, which he had encountered at first
hand in his teens in China, Tibet and India. One of Freud's disciples
had trained him in psychoanalysis. During the Second World War
Hubbard had distinguished himself as a squadron commander in the
U.S. Navy, sinking U-boats and receiving no less than 27 medals and
12 INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY 1974-1983
awards. I The end of the war found him in a military hospital, "crippled
and blinded."2 Applying scientific method to Eastern philosophy, and
combining the results with Freudian analysis, Hubbard claimed to have
cured himself completely. Out of this miracle cure came Dianetics.
Because of his experience of "man's inhumanity to man" in the war,
he had continued his research and brought Scientology into being.3
The young woman who ran the Scientology Mission was attractive,
intelligent, and bubbling with enthusiasm. She was a "Clear," having
"erased" her Reactive Mind, and seemed living proof of the efficacy
of the system. The five Mission staff members generated a friendly
atmosphere. They listened to whatever I had to say and steered me
towards a more optimistic state of mind. I was convinced that they
were genuinely interested in my well-being, and found their positive
attitude very helpful.
Scientology Organizations are eager to make new converts, and all
Scientologists who are not Organization staff members are designated
"Field Staff Members," or FSMs, and are expected to recruit new
people. Desperately wanting to help, I became a full-time FSM.
Before I really knew anything about Scientology, I was recruiting
everyone I could. I did "body-routing" from the street, which is to say
"routing" people's "bodies" into the Mission.
I was "drilled" step by step, by an experienced Scientologist.
Pretending to be a member of the public, the coach dreamed up
situations. If I made a mistake the coach would say "flunk," and the
mistake would be explained. Then the coach would repeat the phrase
and the gestures I had mishandled. Through the drills I was meant to
become confident in real life situations. The drills often took strange
turns. One coach asked if I wanted to "screw" her. I was flunked for
not simply excusing myself. She explained that we were not trying to
interest prostitutes in Scientology. Homosexuals, Communists, jour-
nalists and the mentally deranged were not to be approached either.
Scientology's goal was to "make the able more able."
I would introduce myself to someone on the street as if I was
conducting a survey. I would ask "What would you most like to be?"
then "most like to do?" then "have?" The questions were purely a
device to start people talking. As soon as they did, I would slip into
Hubbard's "Dissemination drill"4 by saying I was a Scientologist, and
dealing with any negative response by attacking the person's source of
information. If someone said, "Didn't the Australians ban Scientol-
ogy?" I would say, "Where did you hear that?" They would almost
*My Beginnings* 13
inevitably say, "In the newspapers." This could often be dismissed
with "Well, you can't believe *anything* you read in the papers,"
diverting attention from the complaint. It sounds remarkable, but many
people would agree and abandon their criticism. This trained tactic
underlies Scientology's self-defense: divert the critic, attack the source
not the information.
Next, I was told to direct the person to their "ruin": whatever they
thought was ruining their life. I would keep asking questions until they
showed genuine emotion about some aspect of their life. Then I was
supposed to "bring them to understanding" by letting them know that
*whatever* their problem was, there was a Scientology course that dealt
with it. "You're frightened of dying? Scientology has a course that can
help you!" "Oh, yes, Scientology can help you with your asthma!" I
was told to say these things, and I believed what I was saying. The
course which would help their problem, from obesity to pre-menstrual
tension, was always the "Communication Course."
I would take an interested person to the Mission, and hand them
over to a "Registrar" to be given a lengthy Scientology personality
test, or a free introductory lecture. I took many strangers into the
Mission, and most of my friends. Several started courses, though most
drifted away without finishing.
The yellow walls of the Mission were covered with small notices,
newspaper clippings about Scientology "wins," testimonials ("Suc-
cess Stories"), and Hubbard quotes: "Scientology leads to success in
any walk of life," for instance. The Mission consisted of a course
room, an office, a tiny kitchen, a lavatory, and two counselling rooms.
The course room could hold about 30 people, but most of the time only
a few students were present. The receptionist doubled as a Course
Supervisor. In the evenings seasoned Scientologists would arrive to
take more advanced courses. Among these were a bank manager and
his wife, who held a senior position with the county Health Authority.
I also did drills with the managing director of an engraving business,
and with an active Quaker. They were all very encouraging about the
benefits they felt they had experienced because of Scientology.
I expected to take a short course in Dianetics, and then start shifting
my engrams around. This was not to be. In the quarter century since
the publication of *Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health*,
Hubbard had allegedly conducted a great deal of research, and the
original procedure was now outmoded. A rigidly defined series of
steps constituted the Scientology "Bridge." It was possible to receive
14 INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY 1974-1983
counselling for a fee, or to train as a counselor and co-counsel with
another student for free. There were several courses involved, but
before Mission staff would even discuss the cost, they insisted that I do
the Communication, or "Comm," Course.
The Comm Course is the beginning of most Scientology careers.
Hubbard claimed to have been the first person to scientifically dissect
communication. The Comm Course drills are called Training Rou-
tines, or TRs.5
The first two TRs are similar to meditation. They are supposed to
help you focus your attention on the person you are talking to. Two
people sit facing each other, without speaking or moving. In the first
drill (OT TR-0) they sit with their eyes closed, in the second (TR-0)
open and staring at one another. These drills are often done for hours
without pause, and form part of most Scientology courses. As with
meditation, I hallucinated while doing the open-eyed TR-0. My coach
explained vaguely that people who had taken drugs often experienced
this. In fact, hallucination is not unusual for anyone who stares fixedly
for long enough, but I did not realize this, and was genuinely con-
cerned.
The next step is "TR-0 Bullbait." One student baits the other,
verbally and through gestures, trying to disturb the recipient's motion-
less composure. If the recipient moves, laughs, speaks, or even blinks
excessively, the coach "flunks" him. It is presumed that something
the coach said or did provoked the reaction, so the drill is restarted,
and the coach tries to repeat the earlier stimulus exactly. This is done
until there is no reaction from the recipient.
I was first "bullbaited" by a dour, middle-aged house painter who
had little time for me. In "bullbaiting," the coach can do anything
save leave his chair; so he sat and insulted me, told obscene jokes, and
pulled faces until I stopped responding. The idea is to find "buttons"
which when pushed force an immediate reaction and, through drilling,
to overcome these reactions, allowing a more considered response to
real-life stimuli. His main approach was to insist that because I had
long hair I must be a homosexual. It took about two hours before I
attained immobility in the face of this onslaught. I felt a tremendous
sense of accomplishment.
The next Training Routine, TR-1, is supposed to teach the student to
speak audibly and coherently, and to teach him to ask written questions
in a natural way. In TR-1, the student reads lines at random from
Lewis Carroll's *Alice in Wonderland*; he "makes the line his own,"
*My Beginnings* 15
and then repeats it to the coach. The coach must hear clearly what is
said, and feel it was intended that he hear it. A course room full of
people declaiming, "Off with his head!" or "Contrariwise" is one of
many surreal experiences Scientology provides.
TR-2 deals with acknowledgments. In counselling it is necessary to
show you've heard, so you say "Good," "Thank-you," "Okay," or
something similar. This ends what Hubbard calls a "cycle of commu-
nication," and prepares the way for a new "cycle." The coach reads a
line from *Alice in Wonderland* and the student acknowledges it.
By the time the student comes to TR-3, he has learned to concentrate
on the person in front of him and not be thrown by his reactions. The
student has also learned to make sure that he is clearly audible, and to
show he has heard what is said to him. The lessons of the earlier TRs
must be retained throughout the course. In TR-3, the student learns to
repeat an unanswered question without variation. TRs were designed
for Scientology counsellors, and Hubbard's counselling questions are
exactly worded. To prevent the drilling from turning into counselling,
two non-sensitive questions are used: either "Do birds fly?" or "Do
fish swim?" If the coach answers, the student accepts the answer by
acknowledging it. If the coach does anything else, the student says,
"I'll repeat the question," and does so.
TR-4, the last Training Routine on the Comm Course, drills the
student to "handle originations" made by the coach, and to return his
attention to the original question. For example:
Student: Do birds fly?
Coach: It's hot in here!
Student: I'll open the window (opens window). Okay, I'll repeat the
question, do birds fly?
Over the years I persuaded about 20 people to do the Communica-
tion Course. I instructed some of them, or in Scientology terms
"supervised," as Hubbard's course materials do all the talking, and
the supervisor adds nothing by way of explanation or comment. He
meets the confused student's queries with, "What do your materials
state?" This is supposed to ensure that Hubbard's materials are not
altered by personal interpretations.
The Comm Course helps people to hide, though not overcome, their
nervousness, and to look people "right in the eye." It also inculcates
persistence with questions until they are answered. It can have a
16 INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY 1974-1983
positive effect, generating self-confidence. Of course, people on the
receiving end sometimes feel intimidated. Critics of Scientology usu-
ally mention the "relentless stare" which for the great majority of
Scientologists is habitual.
After completing the Comm Course, I was allowed a few pounds
against the "Hubbard Qualified Scientologist Course" for all the
people I had brought in. Scientology usually pays a 10 or 15 percent
commission for recruitment. I was already too involved in Scientology
to realize I had been working for the Mission for several weeks without
pay.
The Hubbard Qualified Scientologist (HQS) Course packages many
of the basic ideas of Scientology. The student does the Comm Course
Training Routines again, and four additional Training Routines called
the "Upper Indoctrination TRs." These drill the student to maintain
control of someone through physical contact, but more so through
"intention," or sheer will power-really by having a very determined
approach.
On the HQS course I learned about several of Hubbard's many
"Scales," among them the key Scale of Scientology: the "Emotional
Tone Scale." Hubbard believed that there is a natural progression of
emotional states, and that any individual can be led through these
simply by conversation. The purported idea of Scientology counselling
is to permanently raise the Preclear on the "Tone Scale." The scale
rises from Death through Apathy, to Grief, to Sympathy, to Fear, to
Hostility, to Boredom, to Cheerfulness, to Enthusiasm. Scientology
seeks to take someone who is apathetic, miserable, anxious, or antago-
nistic and make of him someone cheerful and positive.
While on the HQS Course, I had my first stab at "auditing," or
counselling. A friend and I drilled the procedures using an over-size
rag doll as the Preclear receiving counselling. One of us would be the
"Auditor," and the other the coach, making verbal responses on the
rag doll's behalf.
Despite painstaking drilling, my first Auditor collapsed while giving
me a session. He was asking me to touch objects in the room, one by
one, and suddenly crumpled against the wall, sinking to the floor in
uncontrollable laughter. The artificial atmosphere of auditing was too
much for him. I was unprepared for this, and felt dizzy and confused.
A seasoned Auditor gave me a "Review," asking questions about the
session and "earlier similar incidents." After 20 minutes I felt better.
To me it seemed to prove Scientology's validity.
*My Beginnings* 17
Considering myself a Zen Buddhist, I readily accepted Hubbard's
ideas about reincarnation. He said that during counselling so many
people had spontaneously volunteered "past life" incidents that he had
had to accept it as a reality. Auditing is virtually impossible without
such a belief.
By the time I became involved in Scientology, "Clear" was no
longer the ultimate attainment; now there were levels beyond. Hubbard
used the word "thetan" to describe the spirit, the "being himself,"
and beyond "Clear" were the "Operating Thetan" (OT) levels. Here
the individual would purportedly break away from the limitations of
human existence. Having completed the "OT levels" one would be
able to remember all of one's earlier lives, to "exteriorize" from the
body at will and perform miraculous feats.
Such ideas were completely foreign to me. Interest in psychic
abilities is frowned upon in the Zen community as a distraction from
the road to wisdom. What I wanted from Scientology was emotional
equilibrium, so I could win my girlfriend back, make a successful
career in the Arts, and concentrate on achieving Enlightenment. But
gradually I was absorbed into the pursuit of the state of "Operating
Thetan."
By this time I had a fairly well developed picture of Lafayette
Ronald Hubbard. His voice on tape was rich and jocular. Photographs
of Hubbard in Scientology magazines and on the walls of the Mission
showed a smiling man, not a dry philosopher, but a man of action with
a tremendous love for humanity, who had devoted his life to the
solution of other men's ills. Hubbard seemed to be a true philan-
thropist; a learned man with a grasp of science and a comprehension of
the mysteries. Hubbard had a sense of humor, and was given to
anecdotes. He was not trying to impress anyone with his intellect,
instead he wanted you to help yourself, and all mankind, by using the
subject he had developed. This view of Hubbard is shared by all
devoted Scientologists.
By the summer of 1975 I was coming back onto an even keel. My
life revolved around Scientology, and I had put my ex-girlfriend out of
mind, although the subject had never been addressed in my counsell-
ing. I had abandoned those of my friends who were not interested in
Scientology, because my lifestyle had changed so much, and I had
made new friends - all of them Scientologists.
I had a powerful feeling of comradeship for the Mission staff, and
wanted to become one of their number. I knew that they took only a
18 INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY 1974-1983
day off each week, and worked all the weekday evenings too. From
their comments it was obvious that the pay was very low. Even so, I
wanted to work with them. I was told that I would have to "petition"
the Guardian's Office of the Church to obtain permission to join the
Mission staff and that I would also have to become more highly
qualified in Scientology.
In order to qualify for staff, I would have to do Auditor training
courses which were only available at a "Church of Scientology," or
"Org" (for "Organization"). The nearest was in Manchester, and was
in a partially condemned building in the Chinese district. Some of the
walls had just been painted purple to try and brighten up the remark-
ably dingy premises. There was only one student there. The "Regis-
trar" was too insistent, even belligerent. He seemed to take an imme-
diate dislike to me. I decided to go to Saint Hill instead.
CHAPTER TWO
Saint Hill
My purpose is to bring a barbarism out of the mud it thinks conceived it
and to form, here on Earth, a civilization based on human understand-
ing, not violence.
That's a big purpose. A broad field. A star-high goal.
But I think it's your purpose, too. - L. RON HUBBARD, *Scientology
0-8*
Ron Hubbard bought Saint Hill Manor from the Maharajah of Jaipur
in 1959. The Manor is on the edge of the hamlet of Saint Hill, a few
miles from the small Sussex town of East Grinstead, 30 miles south of
London. For eight years Saint Hill was the axis of the Scientology
world, and many of Hubbard's research "breakthroughs" were made
there. Following Hubbard's departure in 1967, Saint Hill remained a
major Scientology center. I visited Saint Hill in August, 1975, to see
whether to commit myself to six months of study there.
Saint Hill Manor, a large gray-stone building set in about 50 acres,
was built by a retired soldier in the early eighteenth century. The house
has a solid military severity, largely devoid of Georgian charm. By the
time I arrived, students no longer studied in the Manor, but in the
"castle," a peculiar folly on which construction had started in the
mid-1960s and which was eventually finished in 1985. The word
"castle" conjures images of an imposing Norman fortress, but Saint
Hill "castle" is only a castle in the sense that it is faced with yellow
19
20 INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY 1974-1983
stone and has a few turrets. As castles go, it is very small, especially
considering the score of years invested in its construction. By 1975,
only one single-story wing was finished. The castle is a monstrosity; a
hybrid of breeze-blocks, leaded windows and battlements under a flat,
tarmac roof. However, I was not interested in Hubbard's architectural
taste.
The place buzzed with smiling people, many in pseudo-naval uni-
forms. Although I had encountered "Sea Org" members before, it was
strange seeing them en masse. At Saint Hill they wore colored lanyards
and campaign ribbons on their navy blue blazers. A religion run by
sailors? I pushed the thought aside.
An attractive brunette whisked me around, carefully avoiding the
Manor, which housed the mysterious "Guardian's Office." Between
the Manor and the castle there was an encampment of huts occupied
by busy Sea Org members. The expensive canteen was also housed in a
corrugated hut, as were the book-store and several of the administra-
tive offices. The "castle" housed the course-rooms and the public
parts of the Organization. My tour ended in the office of the "Regi-
strars" (the sales staff), where I was treated as royalty. I handed over
what seemed to me a fortune (some £400), borrowed only after
repeated assurances that I would make money easily after taking the
Auditor training courses.
Despite my insistence that I was only visiting, I was ushered into a
course-room. Scientology has a tremendous sense of urgency, which
took hold of me. I read the "Basic Study Manual" until the evening
session ended. I was then told that a Sea Org member wanted to see me.
I was surprised as it was eleven o'clock, and I had to find my
lodgings. The Sea Org member was a recruiter, who, for the next two
hours, tried to persuade me to join that group.
In 1967, Hubbard had put to sea with a group of devoted followers,
who became the "Sea Organization." I was shown photos of Hubbard
dressed up as the "Commodore." Sea Org Members signed a *billion-
year* contract, swearing to return life after life to fulfill "Ron's pur-
pose." They also staffed the four "Advanced Organizations," where
the secret upper levels of Scientology were delivered. Saint Hill was
one of the four. I had heard much of this before and had already been
tempted to join the Sea Org and work at the Publications Organization
in Denmark. I saw the Sea Org as the monastic order of Scientology,
something like the Knights Templar, perhaps. I felt guilty, because I
Saint Hill 21
was not ready to renounce everything for the good of the cause. I
doggedly insisted that I wanted to train as an "Auditor," and "go
Clear" before deciding whether to join the Sea Org. I was going to be
a full-time student, and felt that as a trained Auditor I would be far
more useful to the Sea Org.
Eventually the recruiter showed me a "confidential" Sea Org issue,
which claimed that the governments of the world were on the verge of
collapse. The Sea Org would survive and pick up the pieces. Her
attempt to stir up a sense of impending doom failed miserably. I
wanted no part of it. Hubbard had said elsewhere that Scientology was
non-political. I was interested in Scientology as a therapy, nothing
more. As a therapy I felt it might have a world-changing impact.
Completely exasperated, the recruiter retreated into the argument
that anyone who did not join the Sea Org was insane. I was flustered,
not understanding that I was her last chance to reach her weekly quota
of recruits. Moreover, I did not know that her pay, her self-esteem and
the esteem of her fellow staff members all depended upon increasing
her quota each week.
The Sea Org was a bemusing aspect of Scientology. It was difficult to
reconcile the military appearance of its members with religion or
psychotherapy. However, I was convinced that Scientology was a valid
and potent therapy, so I accepted the existence of the Sea Org.
I moved to East Grinstead in September 1975, living with my new
girlfriend in a rented room. All three bedrooms of the small house were
occupied, as was one of the two downstairs rooms. There were eight of
us living there, including a baby. The couple who ran the house rented
it from another Scientologist. They were both Sea Org members who
were "living out," away from the house run by the Scientology
Church. They worked incredibly long hours (the husband from eight in
the morning to midnight Sunday to Friday, as well as Saturday after-
noons). They were American, although the 1968 use of the Aliens
Act prohibited non-UK residents from studying or working for Scien-
tology in Great Britain. They bought their clothes from rummage
sales, as do most Sea Org members in Britain. They always looked
gray and exhausted. Somehow they managed to support their baby,
though seeing little of him. In spite of it all, they were usually
cheerful.
The husband was supposedly a Clear, and had done three levels
*beyond* Clear. He often hinted at his psychic abilities, but excused
22 INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY 1974-1983
himself from any demonstration, in case it "overwhelmed" me. He
claimed to be able to back the right horse, which is how he spent his
only free morning. Nonetheless, he continued to live below the pover-
ty line.
I went to Saint Hill daily and applied myself to my studies. Scientol-
ogy courses are run in a similar way to correspondence courses.
The student is given a "checksheet," which has the written mater-
ials, Hubbard tapes, and practical work listed in strict sequence
on it. The student signs off each completed step. I sailed through the
Basic Study Manual, and went onto the Hubbard Standard Dianetics
Course.
On the Dianetics Course I learned how to use the "Hubbard Electro-
psychometer," or "E-meter," which shows changes in a person's
electrical resistance through movements of a needle on a dial. The
person receiving counselling holds two electrodes (in fact, empty soup
cans) and the E-meter is supposed to show changing states of mind, or
the "movement of mental mass." A "fall" or "read" (rightward
needle movement) shows that a subject is "charged." A "floating
needle" is "a rhythmic sweep of the dial at a slow, even pace." This
supposedly happens when there is no emotional "charge," or after any
"charge" has been released. So areas of upset are found with the
"fall" of the needle, and their resolution is shown by a "floating
needle."'
The E-meter is used in most auditing. Lists of questions are checked
for responses. A "floating needle" is one of the indications that an
auditing "process" or procedure is complete.
I had been given my "Original Assessment" at Birmingham. Dia-
netic auditing is supposed to dig out buried memories, so it seemed
reasonable that the first step should be an E-metered questionnaire
about my background. This included questions about my relationships
with everyone in my family; anyone I knew who was antagonistic to
Scientology; my education; and a complete alcohol and drug history
(including all medicines), listing every occasion of use. My Auditor
asked for precise information about emotional losses, accidents, ill-
nesses, operations, my present physical condition, whether I had any
family history of insanity, any compulsions and repressions I felt I was
suffering from, whether I had a criminal record, and if so the details,
and my involvement with "former practices," which in my case
included Zen meditation. 2
Saint Hill 23
This "Original Assessment" is the beginning of the "Preclear
folder," which contains notes taken during auditing sessions. Auditors
keep a running record of the Preclear's more significant comments
during each session.
At that time, Dianetic auditing first addressed the psychological
effect of drugs. This procedure was called the Dianetic Drug Run-
down, and it followed a very exact pattern, which has changed little to
this day. The Auditor reads out the list of drugs given by the Preclear,
looking for the most marked E-meter reaction. He then asks for
attitudes associated with taking that drug. If an attitude given by the
Preclear "reads" on the E-meter, the Auditor sets about "running"
Dianetics on it. 3
Having asked the Preclear to locate an incident of the given attitude,
the Auditor directs the Preclear to "move to the beginning of the
incident," and then go through it. When the E-meter shows that
enough "charge" has been released from the incident, the Preclear is
directed to find an "earlier similar incident." In theory the Preclear
will at first give conscious moments of this attitude (called "Locks").
Then he will usually run into an Engram. The Auditor asks for earlier
and earlier incidents, and the Preclear almost invariably goes into
"past lives." When the earliest Engram is found and relieved, the
Preclear is supposed to have a realization ("cognition") about its
effect upon him, "Very Good Indicators" (VGIs), which is to say a
grin, and a "floating needle." From then on, the Preclear should be
free from the effects of the Engram chain.
The whole drug list is treated painstakingly in this way. Going
through every attitude, emotion, sensation and pain associated with
each drug. Then the drug list is checked on the E-meter until
nothing on it "reads" any more. I remember Victory-V cough sweets
being a persistent "item" on my drug list. I spent hours trying to think
of some attitude, emotion, sensation or pain associated with Victory-
Vs.
I was disappointed with my Dianetic auditing, because I did not
experience any real change. My back-ache and my near-sightedness
remained. A few times, inexplicably powerful images of what seemed
to be "past lives" rushed into mind. At one point, I had the very vivid
sensation of being burned at the stake. But for the most part I could not
quite believe it. Not because I doubted Dianetics, but because I felt
that I was not yet capable of fully contacting my past.
24 INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY 1974-1983
After the Dianetics Course, I did several Scientology Auditor
courses. As well as receiving Dianetic auditing, the Preclear was
meant to go through eight "Release Grades" before doing the "Clear-
ing Course," and then the mysterious "Operating Thetan" levels. As
a Scientology Auditor, I learned how to audit the first three of these
"Release Grades." These were meant to deal with memory, commu-
nication and problems.
During this time, I had my first brush with Saint Hill "Ethics." The
"Ethics Officer" would try to resolve disputes, and to remove any
obstacles to a resolute practice of Scientology. I had arrived at Saint
Hill with the remainder of a small court fine to pay. The papers had
been transferred to one office and I had been told to deal with another,
so I received a summons for non-payment.
The morning I received the summons I went to the Saint Hill
"Ethics Officer," an intense, overweight Australian, who wore knee-
length boots with her dishevelled Sea Org uniform. I requested a
morning off to attend the court-hearing. She insisted I tell her all the
details. I explained that the remainder of the fine was less than £40,
and that it was all due to an administrative mix-up. I was amazed when
she told me that she was removing me from the course because I was a
"criminal." She insisted that even if a fine were the result of a parking
ticket, the offender would be barred from Scientology courses until it
was paid.
Saint Hill was very different from the Birmingham Mission where
there was an easy-going attitude. The Ethics Officer there would
apologise for having to "apply Policy." At Saint Hill, the Ethics
Officers were daunting, overworked and unsmiling. Saint Hill Regis-
trars (salesmen or, more usually, saleswomen) were a little too sugary,
and it was obvious that they wanted money. The constant and unavoid-
able discussions with Sea Org recruiters at Saint Hill were wearing.
Virtually everyone there was too busy trying to save the world to create
any genuine friendships.
The advantages of "going Clear" still loomed large for me. I did
not think of leaving Scientology, just going back to the friendlier
atmosphere of Birmingham - which I finally decided to do. My deci-
sion was accelerated by continuing price rises.
In November 1976, the price of Scientology auditing and training
began to rocket. Until then auditing had been £6 an hour ("co-
auditing" between students was free). My Dianetics Course had cost
Saint Hill 25
£125. Beginning in November 1976, the prices were to go up at the
rate of 10 percent a *month*, allegedly to improve staff pay and condi-
tions. I did not object to that goal, but I did object when the prices
continued to go up with each new month. The price rises were to
continue for the next four years.
CHAPTER THREE
On to OT
In September 1977, I started Art college, and did no more Scientol-
ogy courses for over two years. I did not question the "workability" of
Scientology, but had serious reservations about the increasingly high
prices and the incompetence of the organization. I simply could not
understand how Hubbard's extensive research into administration had
created such a bumbling and autocratic bureaucracy which churned out
inane advertising. BUY NOW! was a favorite slogan. Although staff
worked themselves to a frazzle, they seemed to achieve very little.
Then there were the little Hitlers who used their positions to harass
anyone who did not fit neatly into their picture of normality. But I was
puzzled rather than embittered.
Like most Scientologists, I presumed that Hubbard was "off the
lines," busily involved in "research." The price increases and the
failure to attract throngs of new people had to be the fault of the
caretaker management. I waited for Hubbard's return to management
while my girlfriend and I ran a Scientology group one evening a week
from our home.
We heard very little about the July 1977 FBI raids on the Scientol-
ogy "Guardian's Offices" in Los Angeles and Washington, D.C. I
had virtually no contact with the Guardian's Office ("GO"). The GO
was supposed to deal with all attacks on Scientology, and to create a
good public image. The GO was established so that Scientology Orgs
would not be distracted from providing Scientology services. Public
Relations and Legal were major functions of the GO. If Scientology
26
On to OT 27
was sued, the GO would deal with it. Beyond that the Guardian's
Office was meant to create socially useful programs such as Narconon
to help addicts get off drugs. The GO also campaigned against electric
shock treatment and psychiatric brain surgery, as well as for Freedom
of Information in Britain.
There was scant mention of the FBI raids in British newspapers and
the GO only commented on the subject when forced to do so by the
few reports that did emerge. After nearly two years, top Scientology
officials admitted to having taken documents from United States gov-
ernment offices. I was uneasy about this, but was told government
agencies had failed to release information which should have been
available via the Freedom of Information Act. We were told nine GO
staff members were being indicted for "theft of photocopy paper." It
was argued that they had the right to the information they had copied,
but had made the mistake of using government photocopiers, thereby
stealing the paper.
I had not even heard of the raids when the new Executive Director of
the Manchester Org came to see me in 1979. He was a veteran Sea Org
member who had taken Manchester from the verge of collapse, and
turned it into a thriving Organization with 38 staff. He listened to my
complaints and reservations about the Church and, to my amazement,
agreed with me totally. By sheer force of personality he persuaded me
to go back "on course."
In 1978, Hubbard decided that people had been "going Clear" on
Dianetic auditing. The Scientology "Clearing Course," given only by
the few senior Orgs since 1965, was no longer necessary to achieve the
state of "Clear." Hubbard also said that some people had never had a
Reactive Mind and were "Natural Clears," supposedly an extremely
rare occurrence. The number of Clears leapt from less than 7,000 to
over 30,000 in two years. I was told I was a Natural Clear. In fact, as I
later learned, in order to be judged a Clear, it was only necessary to
reword one of the Scientology dictionary definitions of "Clear" into a
personal "realization."
Now I could go almost immediately onto the mysterious "Operating
Thetan" (or OT) levels, where I would revive my dormant psychic
abilities. All I had to do was earn the money to pay for it, a process
which took almost three years.
In November 1979, I learned first-hand how relentlessly Sea
Org members work. The Manchester Org was at last moving from its
crowded, partially condemned offices into an imposing, five-story
28 INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY 1974-1983
building on one of the main streets. I was persuaded to help with its
renovation. For four weeks, I worked and slept in the empty building. I
would work for twenty-four hours, then sleep for eight. Because I had
some experience I became the "Renovations In-Charge." In retro-
spect, the hours and the conditions were impossible. My workforce
consisted largely of tired and inexperienced staff members, who did a
twelve hour day before starting work on the building. Fortunately, a
few non-staff Scientologist carpenters, a decorator and an electrician
volunteered their help. We had to build partitions, completely rewire,
put in doors, sand and varnish floors, and decorate the whole place. It
was a very large building. Although we were not paid, there was no
duress. We did the work willingly. The whole project was undertaken
at Scientology's usual breakneck speed. A Sea Org member had been
sent to supervise the whole project. He had worked extensively on the
building of Saint Hill castle and described various shortcuts taken in its
construction. I was horrified, but often had to yield to his use of similar
shoddy methods to finish the job on time.
By September 1980, the price of Scientology services had risen far
beyond my reach. Auditing, which had been £6 an hour only four
years before, was now £100 an hour. The Dianetics Course I bought
for L125 had been revised slightly and re-named the "New Era Dianet-
ics" (or NED) Course, and by this time it cost E1,634. Many Scien-
tologists complained bitterly. In October 1980, a new list came out,
and the prices had been slashed. The cost of auditing was down to £40
an hour, and the NED Course to £430. These prices still seemed
excessive, but at least it was a step in the right direction.
I returned to East Grinstead in May 1982, having handed over about
£2,000 for the levels up to OT 3. In March, "OT Eligibility" had been
introduced. I had to do a "Confessional" before starting the OT
levels, to make sure that I was "ethical." Several "OTs" had appar-
ently given the secret course materials to newspapers in the United
States and Holland.
In a Confessional, a list of questions is checked on the E-meter. The
questions are supposed to clear away any residual guilt about earlier
discreditable activities. Details of a transgression which "reads" on
the E-meter are given to the Auditor. If there is no "floating needle,"
the Auditor asks for "earlier similar" transgressions. This procedure is
supposed to bring relief to the Preclear and, especially in "OT Eligi-
bility" Confessionals, to root out any infiltrators or people who might
later attack the organization.
On to OT 29
I had only three and a half hours of auditing left in my account for
"OT Eligibility." I was told I had to buy thirty-seven and a half more
auditing hours at an extra cost of about £2,400. I protested and
the estimate was reduced to twenty-five hours. I still refused, so,
finally, my Confessionals were started. There were a few embarrassing
episodes, since my Auditor was a friend's wife. I had received
Confessionals at Manchester a short time before and felt the procedure
was largely unnecessary. I certainly did not gain anything by it, but
I was glad that it took only the three and a half hours I had on
account.
At last I was allowed into the "Advanced Organization" (AO), the
Holy of Holies, prohibited to all but OTs. The AO course room was
rather scruffy, with peg-board partitions and decrepit furniture, but I
did not mind. At last I was here, among the gods.
Most of the Operating Thetan levels are "Solo-audited," which
requires yet more training. On "Solo part 1" I had already learned
how to hold the two tin cans (electrodes) "solo," separated by a piece
of plastic, in my left hand, while working the E-meter and keeping
session notes with my right. At Saint Hill I did "Solo Part 2": a series
of simple auditing procedures which I "solo-audited."
At last I was starting the OT levels! After nearly seven years in
Scientology I was going to discover the hidden secrets of *myself*. I
would be able to "exteriorize" from my body at will, read minds,
change conditions purely through my intention, and so much more. I
would perceive the truth directly and at last be free of the need to
speculate or to rely on belief. But most of all, I would be able to help
others to free themselves.
In the 1970s, the Church of Scientology became cagey about the
promised results of the OT levels. Nonetheless, references to the "End
Phenomena" of the OT levels were not hard to come by. The pur-
ported "End Phenomenon" of OT1 is: "Extroverts a being and brings
about an awareness of himself as a thetan in relation to others and the
physical universe."1
Section 1 of the OT Course was presented to me in a pink cardboard
folder. I was instructed not to read anything but the very next "pro-
cess." I went back to my lodgings in East Grinstead, carrying the
folder in a locked bag, a compulsory precaution with all OT material.
Shut away in my auditing room I opened the folder. The first OT1
"process" consisted of walking about counting people until you had a
"win" (i.e., felt good). I remember counting somewhere over 600
30 INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY 1974-1983
people before deciding I must have failed to notice the "win." Back at
my lodgings, the E-meter seemed to confirm my suspicions.
All of the OT1 processes are similar. I could not understand the
secrecy. No one could hurt themselves doing this. But it was a
preparation for OT2 and OT3, after all.
The "End Phenomenon" of OT2 is supposed to be the "Rehabilita-
tion of intention; ability to project intention." Even the Course Super-
visor admitted that the materials were confusing. OT2 is an extension
of the "confidential" Grade 6 and the Clearing Course. Since "Dia-
netic" and "Natural" Clear, few people had done these courses. I had
to cross reference to the earlier materials and watch Hubbard's 20-
year-old Clearing Course films. These were very poor quality black
and white and were barely audible.
According to Hubbard, when an individual is caught up between
two opposed possibilities he becomes confused and incapable of deci-
sion or action. Long ago, Thetans (spirits) were trapped, and "Im-
planted" with contradictory suggestions while being tortured. These
contradictions reduced most Thetans to blank apathy. The Implant
commands were very simple, and a ready example is provided by
Hamlet's famous question, "To be or not to be." As Implant com-
mands the statement would be split into "To be" and "Not to be."
Apparently Thetans who have been cowed into inaction in this way are
more susceptible to control, more malleable, being next to incapable of
making up their minds. Implants are the true foundation of the Reac-
tive Mind.
The OT2 materials consist of tens, perhaps hundreds, of pages of
such Implant commands in Hubbard's writing, forming a wad over an
inch thick. My heart dropped at the thought of auditing my way
through all of this. It would take months.
Using the E-meter as a guide, the "Pre-OT" is supposed to strip
away the "charge" of these Implants. He is instructed to focus on
particular areas of his body, read off the next Implant command (which
might be as simple as the word "create"), to sense the shock that
accompanies the Implant command, and sometimes to "spot the light"
which shone simultaneously with the shock.
OT2 is actually a continuation of the Clearing Course. Originally
both were done ten times through. One of my friends did *600* hours of
auditing on OT2 when it was first released in 1966. I was more
fortunate. I spent about three days on it and started to feel rotten. I had
the suspicion that it was doing precisely nothing. I began to wonder if I
On to OT 31
was really ready for OT2. Maybe I had skimped OT1? Maybe I wasn't
really Clear? I did not question the efficacy of the "Technology"
itself.
I made an E-metered statement to the Advanced Org's "Director of
Processing," a wizened seventy-year-old Sea Org veteran and was
taken into session by an OT Review Auditor. He asked whether I had
"over-run" (gone past) the end of the process. The needle obviously
floated, as the Auditor told me I had indeed "over-run" OT2. I was
never able to pinpoint any tangible benefit from doing OT2, but for the
rest of that day I was as pleased as Punch.
At last I was ready for OT3. After "Clear," OT3 is the most
significant level to Scientologists. In a 1967 tape announcing the
release of OT3 Hubbard had this to say:
I have probably done something on the order of a century of research
in the very few years since 1963, and can advise you now that I have
completed any and all of the technology required from wog [non-
Scientologist] to OT...
The mystery of this universe and this particular area of the universe
has been, as far as its track [history] is concerned, completely occluded
...it is so occluded that if anyone tried to penetrate it, as I am sure
many have, they died. The material involved in this sector is so vicious
that it is carefully arranged to kill anyone if he discovers the exact truth
of it. So, in January and February of this year I became very ill, almost
lost this body and somehow or other brought it off, and obtained the
material and was able to live through it. I am very sure that I was the
first one that ever did live through any attempt to attain that material.
The purported "End Phenomenon" of OT3 is "Return of full self
determinism: freedom from overwhelm." Before being allowed onto
the OT3 Course I had to sign a waiver, to the effect that any damage
incurred during the auditing was my own responsibility. The mystique
was being poured on with a ladle and I loved every moment of it.
In the Advanced Org course room I signed out the OT3 folders.
Behind a thin partition at the back of the course room I opened the dog-
eared, pink cardboard folder. A few pages in I came to a photocopy of
the handwritten instructions for OT3.
The story was fragmented, little more than a series of notes. Hub-
bard asserted that some 70 million years ago, our planet, then called
Teegeeack, had been one of the 76 planets of the Galactic Confedera-
tion. The Confederation was badly overpopulated, with hundreds of
32 INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY 1974-1983
billions on each planet. Xenu (also called "Xemu" by Hubbard), the
president of the Confederation, ruled that the excess population should
be sent to Teegeeack, put alongside volcanoes and subjected to nuclear
explosions. The spirits, or Thetans, of the victims were then "im-
planted" with religious and technological images for 36 days. They
were then sent to either Hawaii or Las Palmas to be stuck together into
clusters. Human beings, so Hubbard said, are actually a collection of
Thetans, a cluster of "Body Thetans." Xenu was rounded up six years
after the event and imprisoned in a mountain. According to Hubbard,
anyone remembering this material would die.
I was reminded of Colin Wilson's novel *The Mind Parasites*, where
invisible creatures from outer space attach themselves to human beings
and feed off their emotions. Not that I disbelieved any of it. In seven
years, I had come to trust Hubbard implicitly.
The proof would come in the auditing, but I felt a tremendous sense
of relief. Here at last was the remedy for my problems! My body was
inhabited by a mass of "Body Thetans" which had formed into
"Clusters" and were influencing my thoughts, my feelings, my be-
havior. This at last explained why, although I was Clear, I still felt
depressed occasionally, lost my temper sometimes, and did not have a
perfect memory. It explained my hack-ache and my near-sightedness.
Body Thetans!
OT3 also addressed an earlier incident of some four *quadrillion*
years ago. This was an implant which was supposedly the gateway to
our universe. The unsuspecting Thetan was subjected to a short, high-
volume crack, followed by a flood of luminescence, and then saw a
chariot followed by a trumpeting cherub. After a loud set of cracks, the
Thetan was overwhelmed by darkness.
Back at my lodgings I carefully locked my auditing room door,
unlocked my bag, and placed the OT3 folders on the table. I did not
think about the ramifications of what I was doing. I simply wanted to
find a Body Thetan. This was done by thinking about parts of the
body, and seeing if there was a reaction on the E-meter. Then with "a
very narrow attention span" (so as not to upset any other Body Thetans
in the vicinity) the Body Thetan would be audited through Incident 2
and then Incident 1, at which point it should unstick and go on its way.
If a "Cluster" of Body Thetans (or "BTs") was discovered the
incident that made it a Cluster had to be audited, and then the individu-
al BTs that formed it run through the Incidents.
On to OT 33
A list of volcanoes was checked to see where the BT had received
Incident 2. Although I did not stop to think if this was self-induced
schizophrenia, nor to consider the parallels to demon exorcism, I did
wonder if I was inventing the whole thing. It suddenly seemed too far-
fetched. But the E-meter responded, so I put my doubts aside and got
on with it.
Originally Scientologists had taken months, even years, of auditing
on OT3, but since the late 1970s the emphasis was on moving on to
OT5 quickly. I finished OT3 in a week. Again I felt euphoric. I waited
to see whether any new and miraculous powers became evident. I
expected to "exteriorize" from my body at any moment. Two days
after finishing, I felt awful. I was worried that I had "falsely attested,"
although the Auditor who checked me out had failed to find any more
"Body Thetans." Still, I was worried I might have to go back onto
OT3, which would mean paying for the course again. It had cost me
£800 earlier that year and by now was considerably more expensive.
I told the Senior Case Supervisor that I was disappointed that I had
not achieved anything spectacular on OT3. To my surprise, he con-
fided that many people did not. I expected to be sent to Ethics for even
daring to make such a suggestion, so I was relieved to hear that most
people got what they wanted on the New OT4. This was also known as
the "OT Drug Rundown" and was supposed to free one from the
cumulative effects of drugs taken in past lives.
At the Senior Case Supervisor's insistence, I borrowed £1,000. On
OT3, I had supposedly rid myself of Body Thetans, so I was dismayed
to discover that OT4 was also solely a matter of Body Thetans. This
time it was Body Thetans that had been Clustered through drug
incidents.
The Senior Case Supervisor visited me again. I again expressed
reservations about the results I had obtained. Now he said that OT5 did
the trick for most people. He had the sort of eccentricity I enjoy and we
got on well together. He was living on a diet of nothing but bananas,
because he had heard that Hubbard was researching carbohydrate
diets. Before Scientology, the Case Supervisor had studied at one of
the prestigious Art Colleges, so we had topics of mutual interest. He
even asked me to put one of my paintings aside for him. He arrived at
midnight one night, with a Scientologist moneylender. I held the
£7,000 cheque for several minutes before seeing the insanity of
34 INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY 1974-1983
borrowing so much money, especially at over 30 percent per year
interest.
A few days later, the Senior CS spent thirteen hours solid with my
business partner and I, to convince us to pay for me to have twenty-
five hours of OT5. The Supervisor claimed that when I had completed
the auditing, our business would flourish and it would be easy for us to
pay back what we had borrowed, and to pay for my partner and my
wife to do their OT5. My whole life would be transformed and
everything I touched would turn to gold. It is no secret that Scientology
Registrars take courses to learn hard-sell techniques.
OT5 was called "the living lightning of life itself" in the promo-
tional material. Its "End Phenomenon" was given as "Cause over
Life." I borrowed £2,500 and began. When I opened the "indoctrina-
tion pack" I was dismayed to find that it too dealt wholly, solely and
only with Body Thetans.
I did not do well on OT5. The sessions are very short, often just ten
minutes, so twenty-five hours of auditing took weeks to finish. About
three days into the auditing, I developed a pain in my shoulder. You
are required to report any aches and pains which "turn on" during
auditing and I dutifully did so. For the next several days, we concen-
trated on Body Thetans in my shoulder. To no avail.
While on OT5, I was involved in the most insistent Registrar
interview I experienced in Scientology. An ex-Sea Org member was
working on a "project" to get people onto OT7 in Florida. She tried to
talk me into borrowing about £50,000. I half-heartedly looked into
borrowing the money.
I was displeased with the auditing and expressed my reservations to
my Auditor. OT5 had been sold to me with the understanding that the
results were nothing short of miraculous. I was given a one-hour
lecture, the essence of which was that OT5 was simply a preparatory
action prior to doing the *real* OT levels. I should not have expected to
make any gains. I would have to wait until OT8 and beyond for that.
OT8 had not yet been released.
I had used the last of my paid hours, so I quietly "routed out" of
Saint Hill. I had not hidden anything from the Org about my attitude
and it was considered "unethical" to talk about any personal problem
or dissatisfaction with Scientology to anyone but the auditing staff of
the Org. So I kept quiet. I had more or less decided that it was my own
fault. After all, no one I had met who had done OT5 had complained
and their written "success stories" were usually pretty remarkable.
CHAPTER FOUR
The Seeds of Dissent
During 1982, a stream of "Suppressive Person Declares" poured
out from Church management.1 Labelling someone a "Suppressive
Person" (SP) is Scientology's ultimate condemnation. According to
Hubbard, SPs make up about two and a half percent of the world's
population. Unlike other people, SPs am intent upon the destruction of
everything good, valuable or useful. In Hubbard's philosophy, asso-
ciation with SPs is the ultimate explanation for all illness and failure.
Hubbard also called SPs "merchants of chaos" and "anti-social per-
sonalities." They are synonymous with anti-Scientologists, of course.
I had been involved in Scientology for eight years, and although
occasionally I heard of people being "Declared SP," no-one I knew
was among them. In 1983, however, a close friend with whom I was
working was Declared. I was summoned to the Ethics Office at Saint
Hill, and shown a Scientology Policy Directive which reintroduced the
practice of "Disconnection."
Hubbard had introduced the policy of Disconnection in 1965. Once
someone was labelled Suppressive, no Scientologist was allowed to
communicate with that person in any way. This policy had caused
problems with several governments, and in 1968 Hubbard had acqui-
esced to demands that the policy be cancelled.
Now the policy was back. 2 I was told not to communicate with my
friend. I did not have the choice, my friend was still a "good"
Scientologist, and insisted that I disconnect.
35
36 INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY 1974-1983
Losing my friend was not the only cause for concern; monthly price
rises were re-introduced in January 1983. At the same time, a newslet-
ter was broadly distributed, which contained extracts from a confer-
ence held in October 1982, at the San Francisco Hilton. For the first
time we heard of David Miscavige, who seemed to hold a high position
in the Sea Org. The newsletter announced the "get-tough attitude of
the `new blood in management.'" It also introduced the "Internation-
al Finance Dictator."
Inside Scientology, complaints must only be addressed to the rele-
vant section of the Organization, and mentioning dissatisfaction to
anyone else is frowned upon. I wrote letters complaining about the
ridiculous prices and the Declare of my friend and, by inference, all
other recent Declares. After each evasive reply, I wrote to the person
on the next rung of the organizational ladder. The curious titles of
these Scientology officials say a great deal: the "Special Unit Mission
In-Charge," the "International Justice Chief," the "Executive Direc-
tor International." It took me seven months to climb all the way to the
"Standing Order Number One Line."
The Church of Scientology routinely reprinted "Standing Order
Number One." It gave the idea that anyone could write to Ron
Hubbard, and receive a reply from him. Although I did not believe
this, it was nevertheless the last recourse in Scientology. So I wrote to
"Ron," fastidiously enclosing my earlier petition to the Executive
Director International, and a copy of his reply.
At first I believed that my references to the violations of Hubbard's
Policy Letters would suffice, and that the Organization would automat-
ically correct itself. By this time I was not so sure. It was rumored that
Scientology had been taken over by young Sea Org members. I
thought I was witnessing an overreaction to an internal plot on the part
of some of those who had been "Declared." But I was amazed at the
genuine fear expressed by some Scientologists I knew, who privately
said it was pointless to complain.
In September 1983, I visited a friend who had been in Scientology
for 20 years. She showed me a letter from David Mayo that had just
been broadly circulated among Scientologists. Mayo had been the
"Senior Case Supervisor International," and Hubbard's heir apparent.
Mayo had been declared "Suppressive" earlier that year. With the
reintroduction of Disconnection, Scientologists were not supposed to
read his letter. Even so, many did.
The Seeds of Dissent 37
******
Mayo described his background in Scientology from his first
involvement in 1957. He had been a staff-member from that time,
joining the Sea Org in 1968, shortly after its inception. He
had been trained by Hubbard personally, and was one of a handful
of top-grade "Class 12" Auditors. From the early 1970s Mayo
had supervised Hubbard's own auditing. He had worked with Hubbard
on OT 5, 6 and 7 (NOTs and Solo NOTs) and was Hubbard's Auditor
in 1978. He was one of the very few people privy to the many
as yet unreleased OT levels.
Mayo claimed that Hubbard had appointed him his successor in
a "long and detailed letter" in April 1982. Hubbard had said
he was going to "drop the body" (his expression for dying).
Mayo would be responsible for the "Technology" of Scientology
until Hubbard's next incarnation.
Mayo wrote that a group of young Sea Org members had cut his
line to Hubbard, who was in seclusion by this time, and that
"after all my efforts to rectify matters internally, I left
in February 1983." He had started an independent Scientology
group called the "Advanced Ability Center" in Santa Barbara,
California.
Mayo's letter had a tremendous impact on me. My complaints to
the management were getting nowhere, so I decided to have a
straight talk with a Sea Org member I knew well, who had just
returned from Scientology's Florida headquarters. He enthused
about his experiences there and assured me that Scientology
management was in better shape than ever before. He had worked
briefly in the Ethics Office at the Florida "Flag Land Base"
and, to my surprise, said that resignations from the Church
were pouring in. He said this in an attempt to reassure me that
the Church was aware of the situation. I was far from reassured.
I had only heard of one resignation, an Australian. John Mace,
who lived in East Grinstead. Pouring in?
How could David Mayo, who had worked so closely with Hubbard
for so many years, suddenly turn out to be "Suppressive"? Surely,
Hubbard should be pretty good at spotting Suppressives. Why
had it taken him twenty years to spot Mayo?
I asked my Sea Org friend to tell me who was actually running
Scientology, having heard about a mysterious group called the
"Watchdog Committee" for some time. He said they ran the Church,
but although he was a long-term Sea Org member, he had no idea
who was on the Watchdog Committee. Worse yet, he did not care.
I grew
38 INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY 1974 - 1983
heated and said I was not willing to be ordered to Disconnect
from friends, least of all by these anonymous people. I wanted
to know who they were. I told him that I would write to my "Declared"
friend if the reply I received from "Ron" was unsatisfactory.
I had followed "Policy" to the letter and my genuine grievances
were being ignored. I was unwilling to lose a close friend because
of the whims of bureaucrats.
The following day I received my reply from "Ron." It was as
evasive as the earlier replies. I was completely dismayed. Again
my request had been ignored. It did not matter that Hubbard's
published Policy was being flaunted. I could do nothing more
inside the Church: the "highest authority" had denied my request.
The next day I wrote to my Declared friend, who had been a senior
Church executive, and expressed my lack of confidence in the
new management. I asked him what was really going on.
A few days later I received a copy of a Church "Executive Directive"
called "The Story of a Squirrel: David Mayo." "Squirrel" is
one of the most disparaging terms in the Scientology vocabulary.
It means someone who alters Scientology in some way, the most
heinous of crimes. Squirrels are profiteers who pervert Scientology
because of their inability to correctly apply it.
"The Story of a Squirrel" was written by Mayo's replacement,
the new Senior Case Supervisor International, Ray Mithoff. It
was full of fatuous statements, many of which were attributed
to Hubbard:
Mayo was simply a bird-dog. The definition of a bird-dog is:
"Somebody sent in by an enemy to mess things up." `(LRH) [sic]
...The actual situation is that you had a bird dog right
in the middle of the control room: David Mayo. He was sabotaging
execs [executives] by wrecking their cases [destroying their
psychological well-being]. None of this was by accident or incompetence.
Of all the crazy, cockeyed sabotage I've ever seen, man, he
was at it. He was not doing Dianetics and Scientology. He was
just calling it that and using the patter. His obvious intention
was to wreck all cases of persons who could help others.
What shocked me most was the carping tone of the issue. It seemed
to be the product of a deranged mind. It gave me the distinct
idea that the faceless "Watchdog Committee" was a self-interested
power
The Seeds of Dissent 39
group, intent upon destroying the Church, and all that I thought
the Church stood for.
I was suffering from a severe bout of influenza and went to
Saint Hill for a counselling "assist." Instead, I was interrogated
about my, at that time non-existent, connections with people
who had resigned from the Church of Scientology, most especially
John Mace.
The following afternoon I was summoned back to Saint Hill. Having
denied all of the supposed connections, and bearing in mind
my physical condition, I expected to receive counselling. To
my surprise, I was subjected to an Ethics interview. I sat there
for over an hour, with a raging temperature, trying to keep
my distance so that no-one would catch the virus, and besieged
by a series of half-smiling, half-menacing justifications of
the excesses of Scientology management. All the Ethics Officer
unwittingly persuaded me to do was to ignore the taboo, and
ask questions of those who might know: the "Suppressives."
The next day I phoned John Mace. The Church was clearly frightened
of him and its insistent criticism determined me to hear his
story. Mace said I would probably be "Declared" for seeing him.
I did not care, I wanted to know the truth and to assert my
right to communicate with whomsoever I chose. Mace probably
thought I was a Church agent. He said later that several copies
of tapes had disappeared during visits from people ostensibly
upset with the Church. The tapes were by various Declared Scientologists
and described events leading up to an alleged take-over by Miscavige
and his cronies.
I listened to tapes and read newsletters and resignations that
had been passing from hand to hand in the Scientology world.
The message was clear. The Church had been taken over. Hubbard
was dead or incapacitated. The new rulers were fanatics intent
on completely taking over all power within the Church. To do
this they had "Declared" hundreds of people suppressive.
When John Mace left for Australia a few weeks later, I found
myself at the center of the burgeoning English Independent Scientology
movement. I helped to establish the first Independent group
to deliver auditing, but mostly concentrated on finding out
what had caused the schism and on persuading people either to
make their complaints against the Church thoroughly known, or
to leave and help to create an Independent movement.
People I had known for years suddenly stopped talking to me.
I came under pressure from the Church's new Guardian's Office,
re-
40 INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY 1974 - 1983
dubbed the "Office of Special Affairs." I was followed by Private
Investigators, who snapped photos of me in the street. I became
the target of a whispering campaign. A Scientologist who once
worked for me called my friends and acquaintances and told them
lies about me; for example, claiming that I had undergone electric
shock treatment.
For months, I was inundated with calls and visits by frightened
and confused Scientologists. I devoted all of my time to helping
them escape the clutches and some of the conditioning of the
Church. During this time in November 1983, a friend left me
700 pages of material relating to Hubbard and the Church.
In that mass of documents were affidavits by former members
of Hubbard's personal staff; affidavits by ex-Guardian's Office
staff about their criminal activities while working for the
Church; and 100 pages about Hubbard's past, including his college
reports, an abstract of his naval record and letters answering
enquiries about his supposed achievements. Each and every Hubbard
claim about his past seemed to have been false.
One of the affidavits was by Anne Rosenblum, who joined the
Sea Org in June, 1973. By the end of 1976, she was in the "Commodore's
Messenger Organization." The following spring she was finally
assigned to Hubbard's personal retinue at his California hide-out.
This is Rosenblum's description of Hubbard (she calls him "LRH"):
He had long reddish-grayish hair down past his shoulders, rotting
teeth, a really fat gut...He didn't look anything like his
pictures....
The Messengers went everywhere with LRH. We chauffeured him,
we followed him around carrying his ashtray and cigarette lighter,
and we also lit his cigarettes for him. LRH would explode if
he had to light his own cigarette.
I found LRH was very moody, and had a temper like a volcano.
He would yell at anybody for something he didn't like, and he
seemed mad at one thing or another 50% of the time. He was a
fanatic about dust and laundry. The Messengers, at the time
I was there, were also doing his laundry. There was hardly a
day that he wouldn't scream about how someone used too much
soap in the laundry, and his shins smelled like soap, or how
terrible the soap was that someone used (though it was the same
soap used the day before), so someone must have changed the
soap...I was petrified of doing the laundry.
He is also a fanatic about cleanliness. Even after his office
had .just been dusted top to bottom, he would come in screaming
about the dust
The Seeds of Dissent 41
and how "you are all trying to kill me!" That was one of his
favorite lines - like if dinner didn't taste right - " You are
trying to kill me!"
In another affidavit, former Hubbard aide Gerald Armstrong alleged
that Hubbard had received millions of dollars from Scientology,
despite his public protestations to the contrary."
My idea of Hubbard as a compassionate philosopher-scientist,
a man of great honesty and integrity, was shaken to the core.
Even so, for several months I retained my belief in the "Technology,"
or auditing procedures, of Scientology. I started a newsletter
called Reconnection, which was read by thousands of Scientologists,
but my belief was evaporating. I finally realized that I had
taken much of this "Science" on trust.
By the summer of 1984, I had drifted away from the "Tech." but
was still caught up in the quest for the truth about Hubbard
and his organization. What follows is the fruit of that quest.
PART TWO
BEFORE DIANETICS
1911-1949
Appoint Amongst you
Some small few
To tell about me lies
And invent wicked Things
And spread out infamy
Abroad and Within
And to stand before
Our altars
And insult and
Lie and tell
Evil rumors about us all.
- L. RON HUBBARD, Hymn of Asia
43
CHAPTER ONE
Hubbard's Beginnings
To be free, a man must be honest with himself and with his fellows,
- L. RON HUBBARD, "Honest People Have Rights Too"
Novelists often elaborate their own mundane experience into
fictional adventures. Hubbard did not confine his creativity
to his fictional work. He reconstructed his entire past, exaggerating
his background to fashion a hero, a superhero even. Although
Hubbard wrote many imaginative stories, his own past became
his most elaborate work of fiction.
Hubbard's works are peppered with references to his achievements.
He often broke off when lecturing to relate an anecdote about
his wartime experience or his Hollywood career. Even before
he generated a following he would tell tall stories to anyone
who cared to listen. He stretched his tales to the ridiculous,
claiming he broke broncos at the age of three and a half, for
example. Most Scientologists believe these tales. Few have bothered
to compare the anecdotes or the many and varied biographical
sketches published by Hubbard's Church, so the many discrepancies
pass largely unnoticed. The pattern of Hubbard's reconstructed
past is the translation of the actual, sometimes mediocre, sometimes
sordid, reality into a stirring tale of heroic deeds.
Even critics of Scientology occasionally swallow part of the
myth. Paulette Cooper, in her penetrating expose of Scientology,
assured her readers, quite erroneously, that Hubbard was "severely
injured in the
45
46 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911-1949
war...and in fact was in a lifeboat for many days, badly injuring
his body and his eyes in the hot Pacific sun."
But Hubbard's accounts are not the only source of information.
By the summer of 1984, the fabric of his heroic career had been
badly torn, largely through the work of two men: Michael Shannon
and Gerald Armstrong.
In July 1975, on a muggy evening in Portland, Oregon, Michael
Shannon stood waiting for a bus. A young man approached him,
and asked if he wanted to attend a free lecture. Shannon went
along, thinking that at least the lecture room would be air-conditioned
(it was not). He listened to a short, plausible talk about "Affinity,
Reality and Communication," and after a brief sales pitch signed
up for the "Communication Course."
Many Scientologists' stories begin this way. Shannon's soon
took a different turn. The next day he decided he did not want
to do the Communication Course and, after a "brief but rather
heated discussion," managed to get his money back. He kept and
read the copy of Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health
which kindled his curiosity, not for Dianetics, but for its
originator.
I started buying books. Lots of books. There was a second hand
bookstore a few blocks away and they were cheaper, and I discovered
they had books by other writers that were about Scientology - I
happened on the hard to find Scandal of Scientology by Paulette
Cooper. Now I was fascinated, and started collecting everything
I could get my eager hands on - magazine articles, newspaper
clippings, government files, anything.
By 1979, Shannon had spent $4,000 on his project and had collected
"a mountain of material which included some flies that no one
else had bothered to get copies of - for example, the log books
of the Navy ships that Hubbard had served on, and his father's
Navy service file." Shannon intended to write an expose of Hubbard.
After failing to find a publisher, Shannon sent the most significant
material to a few concerned individuals and ducked out of sight,
fearful of reprisals. Five years later, he was still in hiding
and my efforts to contact him failed. The hundred pages Shannon
sent out included copies of some of Hubbard's naval and college
records, as well as responses to Shannon's many letters inquiring
into Hubbard's expeditions and other alleged exploits.
Hubbard's Beginnings 47
The "Shannon documents" also found their way to Gerald Armstrong.
Armstrong had been a dedicated Sea Org member for nearly ten
years when he began a "biography project" authorized by Hubbard.
Much of the immense archive collected by Armstrong consisted
of Hubbard's own papers, not the forgeries that Hubbard claimed
had been created by government agencies to discredit Scientology.
The archive largely confirmed Shannon's material. Armstrong
and Shannon reached the same eventual destination from opposed
starting points.
To complete the picture has taken a great deal more research,
but the foundations were well laid by Armstrong and Shannon.
Let us compare Scientology's changing versions of the life of
L. Ron Hubbard with the truth.
There is some agreement between all concerned on at least one
fact: Lafayette Ronald Hubbard was born in Tilden, Nebraska,
on March 13, 1911; despite one of his later claims, it was not
Friday the 13th.1
His Birth Certificate also shows that Ron was born in Dr. Campbell's
Hospital on Oak Street with S.A. Campbell "in attendance."
His mother, Ledora May Hubbard, had returned to the town of
her birth to bring her son into the world. His father was Harry
Ross Hubbard. Although Ron boasted about his paternal ancestry,
the famous Hubbard name, in fact, Harry Hubbard had been an
orphan and was born Henry August Wilson. L. Ron had not a drop
of Hubbard blood in him.2
Ron claimed that he was born the son of a U.S. Navy Commander.
Harry Hubbard had served a four year stint in the Navy as an
enlisted man until 1908. He re-enlisted when America entered
World War I, when his son was six. Harry Hubbard eventually
did become a Lieutenant Commander, but not until 1934.
From this point, the Scientology accounts of Hubbard's life
are usually at variance with the facts and often at variance
with one another. We are told that when Ron was six months old
(or three weeks, in another Hubbard account)-' his family moved
to Oklahoma. In fact, the first account is nearly accurate:
the Hubbard family spent the Christmas season in Oklahoma, with
Ron's maternal grandparents, then moved on to Kalispell, Montana?
Before he was a year old, one Scientology version continues,
Hubbard was sent to his maternal grandparents, the Waterburys,
because his "father's career kept the family on the move." His
grandparents
48 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911-1949
owned an enormous cattle ranch, "one quarter of Montana." Shannon
found no record of the Waterbury ranch, because he looked for
it in Helena. But Ron's grandfather did briefly own 320 acres
(a half-section) west of Kalispell, where he pastured horses.'
Montana amounts to 94 million acres.
Ron supposedly learned to ride before he could walk and was
breaking "broncos" at the age of three and a half, at which
age he could also read and write. He became a bloodbrother of
the Blackfoot Indians in 1915 (aged four at most) and remained
with his grandparents, the Waterburys, until he was ten.
Hubbard described his early years thus: "Until I was ten, I
lived the hard life of the West, in a land of 40-degree-below
blizzards and vast spaces."
The City Directories published in many U.S. towns listed the
inhabitants, their jobs, addresses, and the value of their taxable
assets. In the 1913 Kalispell Directory, Lafayette Waterbury
was assessed at $1,550. He was comfortable, but by no means
rich.
In truth, when Ron's grandfather moved to Kalispell and bought
his half-section, he continued to earn his living as a veterinarian.
By 1917, he was living in Helena, running the Capital City Coal
Company. Ron's father, Harry, had left his job on a Kalispell
newspaper to become manager of the Family Theater in Helena,
Montana, in 1913. Between 1913 and 1916 he was working as a
book-keeper at the Ives Smith Coal and Cattle Company. The next
year, when Ron was six, Harry was working at the same place
as a wagon-driver. Harry Hubbard helped his father-in-law set
up the Capital City Coal Company before re-enlisting in the
U.S. Navy on October 10, 1917, where he remained until his retirement
in 1946. Ron's mother did clerical work for government agencies.
There is actually no way of checking whether Ron, or anyone
else, became a "bloodbrother" of the Blackfeet in 1915. There
are no records. It seems unlikely, as the Piegan reservation
was over sixty miles from the Waterbury half-section, and over
100 from Helena, where Ron was living with his parents in 1915.
A Scientologist eighth-blood Blackfoot, having failed to find
any record, recently admitted Hubbard without the Blackfoot
nation's approval. In the 1930s Hubbard admitted that what he
knew of the Blackfeet came second hand from someone who really
had been a bloodbrother.
Hubbard was certainly an enthralling story-teller. He once told
an audience that when he was six, his neighborhood was terrorized
by a
Hubbard's Beginnings 49
twelve-year-old bully called Leon Brown, and by "the five O'Connell
kids," aged from seven to fifteen. Ron learned "lumberjack fighting"
from his grandfather, and took on the two youngest O'Connell
kids one after the other. The O'Connell kids "fled each time
I showed up...Then one day I got up on a nine foot high
board fence and waited until the twelve-year-old bully passed
by and leaped off on him boots and all and after the dust settled
that neighborhood was safe for every kid in it."6
Shannon located school registration cards for five Helena boys
called O'Connell. When Ron was six, the oldest O'Connell boy
was sixteen, and the youngest five. Shannon did not find Leon
Brown, but he did exist, living a few doors away from Ron, and
he was twelve in 1917. Ron Hubbard must have been a very tough
six-year-old!
Ron's grandfather's coal company in Helena had failed by 1925,
and the Helena City Directory listed him as the owner of an
automobile spare parts business. By 1929, Waterbury had returned
to veterinary work. He died two years later, still at 736 Fifth
Avenue, Helena. His obituary made no mention of his having been
a rancher.
Ron Hubbard claimed he had been raised by his maternal grandparents.
In fact, he was with both of his parents until his father
rejoined the Navy, in 1917. Even then his mother stayed put
with her family until 1923, when she joined her husband, taking
Ron with her. Ron was part of a tolerant and joyful family community.
The young Hubbard probably spent a few weeks on his grandfather's
small stud farm. To a three-year-old boy those 320 acres near
Kalispell probably seemed like a quarter of Montana. He undoubtably
met cowboys, and perhaps even Blackfoot Indians (possibly on
the rail journey from Helena to Kalispell). There is nothing
wrong with any of this, except, from Hubbard's point of view,
the scale. It was all far too small. To be revered as the most
amazing man who had ever drawn breath, Hubbard would have to
do far better.
Hubbard claimed that his interest in the human mind was sparked
by a meeting with one Commander Thompson when Hubbard was twelve.
According to Hubbard, they met during a trip through the Panama
Canal en route to Washington, DC. Thompson was a Navy doctor,
with an abiding interest in psychoanalysis, supposedly "a personal
student of Sigmund Freud." From Thompson, Hubbard "received
an extensive education in the field of the human mind." In a
1953 publication Hubbard claimed that his "research" began when
he met Thompson.7 The claim has the romantic ring of Hubbard's
pulp fiction.
50 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911 - 1949
Commander "Snake" or "Crazy" Thompson (as Hubbard called him)
is something of an enigma. Neither Shannon nor Armstrong discovered
anything about him. During the Armstrong case in 1984, Scientology
Archivist Vaughn Young at least proved "Snake" Thompson's existence.
Young had spoken to Thompson's daughter, who attested her father's
love of snakes. A library catalogue listing several papers by
Thompson on the subjects both of snakes and the human mind,
and a postcard from Freud to Thompson were produced. His death
certificate showed that he had indeed been a Commander in the
U.S. Navy.
For Scientology Archivist Young, an educated man with a master's
degree in Philosophy, Thompson's existence, evidence of his
nickname, and a postcard were sufficient proof of Hubbard's
claims to have been tutored in the Freudian mysteries by this
Navy doctor, at the age of twelve. Hubbard's extensive teenage
diaries make no mention of either Thompson or Freud. Nor do
they contain any material which supports the idea that the juvenile
Hubbard was "researching" the human mind.
Scientologists claim Ron became the youngest Eagle Scout in
America at the age of twelve, in Washington, DC, and that he
was a "close friend of President Coolidge's son, Calvin Jr.,
whose early death accelerated L. Ron Hubbard's precocious interest
in the mind and spirit of Man."
In a diary, written when he was about nineteen, Hubbard recalled
his acquisition of the Boy Scout Eagle. A photograph taken at
the time shows Hubbard in uniform, all freckles and ache, with
the twenty-one necessary merit badges stitched on to a sash.
There is no way of knowing whether he was the youngest Eagle
Scout in America. The Boy Scouts place no value on the age at
which a boy becomes an Eagle Scout, and have never kept a record,
nor was there any way that Hubbard could find out. But the Boy
Scouts do have a record of a Ronald Hubbard who became an Eagle
Scout in Washington DC, and was a member of Troop 10. The Eagle
was actually awarded on March 28, 1924, some two weeks after
L. Ron Hubbard's thirteenth birthday.
In the same diary, Hubbard recollected a meeting with President
Coolidge. He was one of some forty boys. The meeting consisted
of Hubbard telling his name to the President and a handshake.
Rank Pathe took newsreel film of the boys.8 Out of this meeting
blossomed the supposed close relationship with Coolidge's son,
Cal Jr., whose early death was to spur Hubbard's "research."
The relationship existed only
Hubbard's Beginnings 51
in Hubbard's mind, which is confirmed by comparing Cal Jr.'s
movements to Hubbard's. Moreover, there is no mention of Cal
Jr. in Ron's teenage diaries. In March 1924, a few days after
Ron shook the President's hand, the Hubbard family left Washington,
DC., moving across the country to the state of Washington.
CHAPTER TWO
Hubbard in the East
As a still very young man, with the financial support of his
wealthy grandfather, L. Ron Hubbard traveled throughout Asia.
He studied with holy men in India and Northern China, learning
at first hand the inherited knowledge of the East. - L. RON HUBBARD,
Hymn of Asia
Hubbard added to his mystique by making believe that he had
spent his teens communing with the great masters of Asia. Some
part of Hubbard's authority rests on his alleged journeys in
China, India and Tibet, because Scientology is supposedly a
reformulation of the mystic truths he learned them. By applying
the rigorous discipline of Western scientific method to the
secrets of Eastern mysticism, Hubbard later claimed to have
isolated the laws of life itself.
Quite typically, Scientology accounts of Hubbard's sojourn in
the East are packed with contradictions. In one we are told
his father was sent to Asia in 1925, and that Ron travelled
extensively between 1925 and 1929. Hubbard allegedly spent a
considerable period of time in the western hills of Manchuria,
and while in China visited many Buddhist monasteries.
In his book Mission into Time, Hubbard claimed he had studied
with Holy men in Northern China and India. In What Is Scientology?
Hubbard's life is depicted in a series of amateurish paintings,
amongst them one of three fur-clad Tibetan bandits, with the
caption: "In the isolation of the high hills of Tibet, even
native bandits responded to
52
Hubbard in the East 53
Ron's honest interest in them and were willing to share with
him what understanding of life they had." We can only speculate
how Hubbard incorporated facets of Tibetan bandit "philosophy"
into his science of the mind and spirit.
If provoked, the Scientologists hand out an article, allegedly
from a Helena newspaper (though the paper does not exist in
the Helena records). In the article, Hubbard described a "trip
to the Orient" lasting from April 30, when he left San Francisco,
to September 1, when he returned to Helena to stay with his
maternal grandparents and attend high school. The year was 1927,
not 1925. Scientology accounts say Hubbard returned to the U.S.
upon the death of his maternal grandfather, but the clipping
the Church provides says he was again .living with this same
grandfather, who in fact died in 1931. In the article Hubbard
said he had visited Guam, the Philippines, Wake Island, Hong
Kong and "Yokohoma."
In a short autobiography written for Adventure magazine in 1935,
Hubbard said: "it was not until I was sixteen [in 1927] that
I headed for the China Coast....In Peiping...I completely
missed the atmosphere of the city, devoting most of my time
to a British major who happened to be head of the Intelligence
out there. In Shanghai, I am ashamed to admit that I did not
tour the city or surrounding country as I should have. I know
more about 181 Bubbling Wells Road and its wheels than I do
about the history of the town. In Hong Kong - well, why take
up space?"
So, we are led to believe that Hubbard travelled extensively
in China, Tibet and India between 1925 and 1929, though by his
own account he did not leave the U.S. until 1927. He purportedly
learned the wisdom of the East, yet was ashamed of his lack
of inquisitiveness while there.
Shannon dredged up Ron's school records, from which we learn
that Ron spent the school year 1925-1926 at Union High School,
Bremerton, Washington, while his father was stationed at nearby
Puget Sound. At the start of the school year 1926-1927, Ron
enrolled at Queen Anne High School, in Seattle. Harry Hubbard's
naval record shows that his first shore duty outside the U.S.
began on April 5, 1927, when he was assigned to the U.S. Naval
Station on the island of Guam, in the western Pacific. Ron left
Queen Anne High School in April 1927.
Hubbard recorded two short visits to China in his teenage diaries.
The first in 1927, en route to Guam, and the second the following
year.
54 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911-1949
The 1927 diary describes a round trip to Guam, with summaries
of the people and places Hubbard saw. The summaries are brief,
as was Hubbard's time in the China ports. The President Madison,
on which he and his mother sailed, was a transport, not a cruise
liner.
The President Madison visited Hawaii, where Hubbard watched
young men diving for coins. Hubbard was unimpressed with Yokohama,
Shanghai and Hong Kong. Any sympathy he felt for the people
who lived in the squalor his diary records quickly evaporated,
and was displaced by a contempt which permeates all of his descriptions
of the natives of the places he visited. The President Madison
took Ron and his mother to the Philippines, where he complained
about the idleness and stupidity of the inhabitants. In Cavite,
where they joined the Navy transport USS Gold Star, a Lieutenant
McCain told Ron that under a derelict cathedral crawling with
snakes were tunnels full of gold. Hubbard vowed to his diary
that he would return.
Ron and his mother left Cavite on the Gold Star for the rough
seven day passage to Guam. In his diary, Hubbard gave his analysis
of the natives of Guam, the Chamarros. He considered them more
intelligent than the inhabitants of the Philippines, but felt
they had hardly been touched by civilization. They did not compare
favorably with American youngsters. Hubbard's dislike of the
Spanish inhabitants of Guam was even more pronounced.
Hubbard had been warned that his red hair would generate considerable
interest; as it was he claimed that the Chamarros fell silent
at his approach.
Hubbard spent about six weeks on Guam in 1927. On July 16, he
left on the USS Nitro, leaving his parents behind. The pages
covering the journey back to the U.S. preserve his only philosophical
speculation of the trip. Hubbard and a young friend were perplexed
by a book about atheism, so much so that Hubbard decided he
would have to wait until his return home before resolving this
difficult issue.
Ron was the first to sight Hawaii. An officer told him to wake
the lookout, and Hubbard described his perilous climb to the
crow's nest. The Nitro docked at Bremerton, Washington, on August
6th, 1927.
According to his later accounts, Hubbard's diary was the product
of a sixteen-year-old who had studied Freudian analysis, read
most of the world's great classics, and started to isolate the
rudiments of a philosophical system some four years earlier.
In fact, none of these subjects is even touched on in the diary.
Hubbard in the East 55
Hubbard was at Helena High School from September 6, 1927 to
May 11, 1928. While there he joined the 163rd Infantry unit
of the Montana National Guard.
In a notebook written when he was nineteen, Hubbard described
the events which led him to leave school and make his second
trip to Guam. These accounts show that Hubbard had a fanciful
imagination even then.
On May 4, 1928, the inhabitants of Helena celebrated a holiday.
Hubbard described the procession of clowns and pirates along
Main Street. After the parade, he was driving two friends around
in his 1914 Ford, when he was struck on the head by a baseball.
Hubbard pulled up and started a fight with his assailant, claiming
to have broken four of the bones in his right hand in the process
(though later medical records give no indication of this). The
fight supposedly took place a few days before school examinations,
so Hubbard failed to collect the necessary credits toward graduation.
As it was, he had been doing badly, having had to repeat the
first semester's geometry and physics.'
Hubbard visited his aunt and uncle in Seattle, and from there,
in June, revisited the Boy Scouts' Camp Parsons. After a week
or two, he grew restless and went off on a lone hike. The first
night, he made camp about two miles beyond Shelter Rock. While
asleep he fell fifty feet, and when he recovered consciousness
found blood gushing from his left wrist.
At the end of June, Hubbard learned that the USS Henderson would
be leaving for the Philippines on July 1, and on impulse decided
to join her. He would return to his parents on Guam. Hubbard
raced to San Francisco only to discover that the USS Henderson
had already left port. He decided to sign on as an ordinary
seaman with the President Pierce, which was China bound. but
at the last minute changed his mind and went chasing after the
Henderson again. He caught up with her in San Diego.
According to Hubbard's notebook, the Henderson's Captain said
he would need permission from Washington to join the ship. Time
was running out. Washington said Harry Hubbard's consent would
be needed. An answer from Guam usually took two days, but Hubbard
was in luck. Permission came an hour before the Henderson sailed.
Meanwhile, Ron's trunk had been lost en route. He did not recover
it for a year, but in spite of this, Hubbard thoroughly enjoyed
the voyage.
56 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911-1949
There are two accounts of this trip in the same notebook. Although
they are within a few pages of one another, they differ in detail.
Ron was already making a habit of elaborating his past, and
the accounts teach us to question the veracity of any Hubbard
claim. The Henderson's passenger list shows that rather than
having been allowed aboard only an hour before, Ron was aboard
fully 24 hours before she sailed.
On Guam, the seventeen-year-old Ron was tutored by his mother,
a qualified teacher, for what should have been his twelfth or
senior high school grade. He was being prepared for the Naval
Academy examination.
During this period, Ron made his second trip to China, this
time with both parents. China was still in the throes of civil
war, and travel there was limited. Hubbard kept a diary of his
trip aboard the USS Gold Star. The ship docked at Tsingtao on
October 24, 1928, and stayed there for six days before putting
to sea for Ta-ku. The Hubbards then travelled inland to Peking,
where they spent about a week.
In his diary, Hubbard gave a fairly elaborate description of
the sights, probably seen on tours given by the Peking YMCA.
He was unimpressed by the marvels of Chinese architecture, and
the only building which won his vote was the Rockefeller Foundation.
Even the Great Wall failed to elicit more than a comment about
its possible use as a roller coaster. Two years later, in another
notebook entry, hindsight had transformed the visit to the Great
Wall into a far more romantic experience, but that was Hubbard's
way.
Hubbard's opinion of the Chinese was consistently low. Among
many other criticisms, he said the Chinese were both stupid
and vicious and would always take the long way round.
While in Peking, Hubbard visited a Buddhist temple. He was later
to say that Scientology was the western successor to Buddhism,
yet his only comment at the time was that the devotees sounded
like frogs croaking.
After Peking came Cheffoo and then Shanghai. Ron made little
comment about Shanghai. It was cold, and the native part of
the city had only been reopened to foreign nationals two weeks
earlier. Then came Hong Kong, again with little comment, and
by December 15, the Chinese adventure was over and the Gold
Star was back at sea.
The deep understanding of Eastern philosophy acquired by Hubbard
in China was boiled down to a single statement in one of his
diaries. He said that China's problem was the quantity of "chinks."
Inscruta-
Hubbard in the East 57
ble, but hardly a compendium of the great thoughts of the Buddhist,
Taoist and Confucian masters.
Hubbard was seventeen and this was his last visit to China.
In his diary, he made no reference to any meeting in Peking
with "old Mayo, last of a line of magicians of Kublai Khan,"
mentioned in one of his Scientology books.2 David Mayo would
turn up far later in Hubbard's life, as one of the rebels who
split Scientology apart in the 1980s. But he is a New Zealander
and makes no claims of ties to Kublai Khan.
There is no record of Hubbard's supposed travels in Tibet, the
western hills of China or India. A flight change at Calcutta
airport in 1959 seems to have been his only direct contact with
the land of Vedantic philosophy. Indeed, in one of his early
Dianetic lectures he dismissed his teenage journeys, saying
"I was in the Orient when I was young. Of course, I was a harum-scarum
kid. I wasn't thinking about deep philosophical problems."3
By Christmas 1928, Hubbard was back in Guam. He took the Naval
Academy entrance examination, failing the mathematics section.'
In August 1929, Harry Hubbard and his family returned to the
U.S. Harry was posted to Washington, DC, and Ron enrolled at
the Swavely Prep School, in Manassas, Virginia, for intensive
study to prepare him for the Naval Academy. His mother returned
to her parents in Helena.
In December 1929, Hubbard acted in the school play. By this
time he had developed eyestrain and his near-sightedness prevented
him from qualifying for the Naval Academy.
Hubbard enrolled at the Woodward School for Boys on February
30, 1930, and graduated that June. Woodward was a school run
mainly for difficult students and slow learners. At nineteen,
Hubbard was a year late in graduating from high school.
At Woodward, Hubbard won an oratory contest. He was always a
great talker. The set subject was apt for a man later to be
accused of entrapping his followers in a brainwashing cult:
"The Constitution: a Guarantee of the Liberty of the Individual."
Hubbard's book Mission into Time says he enlisted in the 20th
Marine Corps Reserve while a student at George Washington University.
Shannon obtained Hubbard's Marine service record which confirms
that Hubbard actually joined the Reserve in May of 1930, four
months before enrolling at the University. Within two months,
he had been promoted to First Sergeant, a leap of six ranks.
When Shannon asked the Marine Corps Headquarters they were as
baffled as he was
BEFORE DIANETICS 1911 - 1949
by such rapid peacetime promotion. The answer is quite simply
that the 20th was actually a Reserve training unit connected
to George Washington University. Hubbard later explained his
promotion by saying it was a newly formed regiment and his superiors
"couldn't find anybody else who could drill."5
On October 22, 1931, Hubbard received an honorable discharge
from the Marine Reserve. In his service record, there is a handwritten
note under the character reference: "Excellent." In another
hand beneath this is written, "Not to be re-enlisted." There
is no explanation of either statement. Hubbard's discharge followed
on the heels of criticism of his poor academic performance.
Differing claims have been made in Scientology literature for
Hubbard's achievements at George Washington University. It has
been said he attended the first courses in nuclear physics,
even that he was "one of America's first Nuclear Physicists."6
The former is unlikely (it was a little late to be the first
such course) and the latter is a downright lie. Even Hubbard's
last wife, Mary Sue, has admitted that her husband was not a
nuclear physicist, though she made the preposterous statement
that he had never claimed to be.7 The claim was excused as a
mistake made by over-zealous Scientologists, which remained
uncorrected in literature copyrighted to Hubbard for 30 years.
In fact, Hubbard made that very claim in a Bulletin called The
Man Who Invented Scientology, published in 1959.
Hubbard was not a "nuclear physicist" by any stretch of the
imagination. He was a student in the School of Engineering at
George Washington University, majoring in Civil Engineering.
According to his college records, he was enrolled in a course
called Molecular and Atomic Physics in the second semester of
the 1931-32 college year, receiving an "F" grade in what was
certainly an introductory course. By his own admission, Hubbard
was poor at mathematics,8 and his records support this by showing
nothing better than a "D." He was later to demonstrate how superficial
his understanding of physics was in a book called All About
Radiation. Ignoring Hubbard's admission, two Scientology biographical
sketches say he graduated not only with an Engineering degree,
but also a Mathematics degree.
For some time Scientology publications carried the legend "C.E."
(Civil Engineer) after Hubbard's name. In fact, Hubbard failed
to graduate. At the end of his first year he was put on probation
for his poor academic performance, and at the end of the second
asked to leave. In 1935, Hubbard wrote: "I have some very poor
grade sheets
Hubbard in the East 59
which show that I studied to be a civil engineer in college."9
Scientology official Vaughn Young says the idea that "C.E."
stands for "Civil Engineer" is mistaken. Apparently the initials
represents a certificate awarded in the early days of Scientology.
The same logic applies to Hubbard's BSc (Bachelor of Scientology),
and his selfawarded "Doctor of Divinity."
Hubbard's inflated claims usually have some slim basis in fact.
He was an elaborator, not an originator. His much publicized
authority as a scientific and philosophical pioneer was founded
on his purportedly long, intimate experience of Eastern mysticism,
and his training as an engineer and physicist. Hubbard built
his house on the very shaky foundation of a two-week vacation
in Peking and a Fail grade in Molecular and Atomic Physics.
Behind the prosaic facts was a clever and articulate boy, who
did not manage to keep up with his schoolwork. Far from the
legend Hubbard was to create, there is little exceptional about
Ron Hubbard's childhood and adolescence. Contrary to his later
claims, he was with his mother until he was sixteen. The evidence
shows he was part of a loving family. His parents were probably
upset by his failure to win a place in the Naval Academy or
to qualify as an engineer, especially in the dark times of the
Great Depression. Ron later said: "My father...decreed that
I should study engineering and mathematics and so I found myself
obediently studying."
Hubbard was already writing in his teens, struggling to generate
fiction. His journals are packed with attempts at pulp stories.
Even his diary entries were obviously written for an audience,
suggesting that even then Hubbard's distinction between fantasy
and reality had blurred.
CHAPTER THREE
Hubbard the Explorer
By his own account, Hubbard led his first "expedition" while
in college. In fact, the "Caribbean Motion Picture Expedition"
set out after Hubbard's last semester at college. Dates vary
in the Scientology accounts, but the "expedition" actually took
place in the summer of 1932.
The "expedition" is mentioned frequently, but briefly, in Scientology
literature. It allegedly provided the "Hydrographic Office"
and the University of Michigan with "invaluable data for the
furtherance of their research." Hubbard's Church supports these
claims with copies of the George Washington newspaper, The University
Hatchet, of May 1932, and the Washington Daily News of September
13, 1932. As ever, the documents support only the basis of Hubbard's
story, and completely undermine his inflated claims.
The University Hatchet article preceded the trip, and was enthusiastic
about its possible outcome. The headline reads: "L. Ron Hubbard
Heads Movie Cruise Among Old American Piratical Haunts," and
the article gives considerable detail about the personnel and
the objectives of the "expedition." The equipment was to include
a light seaplane. Cameras were to be supplied by the University
of Michigan. Among the personnel were to be "botanists, biologists
and entomologists."
The article continues: "Buccaneers, however, will have the center
of the stage. According to Hubbard, the strongholds and bivouacs
of the Spanish Main have lain neglected and forgotten for centuries,
and there has never been a concerted attempt to tear apart the
jungles to
6O
Hubbard the Explorer 61
find the castles of Teach, Morgan, Bonnet, Bluebeard, Kidd,
Sharp, Ringrose and L'Ollanais, to name a few."
Apparently Hubbard and crew intended to make "motion pictures"
for Fox Movietone News: "Down there where the sun is whipping
heat waves from the palms, this crew of gentlemen rovers will
re-enact the scenes which struck terror to the hearts of the
world only a few hundred years ago - with the difference that
this time it will be for the benefit of the fun and the flickering
ribbon of celluloid....Scenarios will be written on the spot
in accordance with the legends of the particular island, and
after a thorough research through the ship's library which is
to include many authoritative books on pirates." Hubbard had
become one of the eight Associate Editors of The University
Hatchet with this issue, so quite possibly he wrote the piece.
The style certainly fits.
The voyage took place aboard a 1,000 ton sailing ship, the Doris
Hamlin, captained by F.E. Garfield. Fifty students were to take
part, and the Hatchet article gives an impressive list of proposed
ports-of-call.
However, the "expedition" failed to realize its promise. On
his return to the U.S., Hubbard wrote an article for the Washington
Daily News:
On June 23, 1932, the chartered fourmaster schooner Doris Hamlin
sailed from Baltimore for the West Indies with fifty-six men
aboard. Exclusive of six old sea dogs the crew consisted of
young men between the ages of twenty and thirty who thirsted
for adventure and the high seas. A movie camera, scientific
apparatus and a radio completed the Caribbean Motion Picture
Expedition....
Just twelve hours before the Doris Hamlin slipped her whips,
ten men cancelled their passage and left us in a delicate financial
situation....Our first port of call was Bermuda. The captain
was ordered to stand off the island while we landed for mail,
but leaky water tanks gave him an excuse to put into the harbor.
Towage, pilotage, and expensive water again depleted the treasury.
Two days at sea the water again leaked out and left us with
the same amount we had before entering Bermuda. Due to the prevailing
direction of the trade winds, it was necessary that we go to
Martinique that we might make the more important ports in our
itinerary. At Fort de France, Martinique, we put in for mail
and supplies.
I refused to turn money over to the captain. Immediately, the
crew demanded their wages. I wired home for more money, but
before it could arrive the captain told me he had received money
from the owners
62 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911 - 1949
and that the ship was going back home. I fought the situation
as well as I could but the consul at Fort de France allowed
a protest to be filed and my hands were tied.
In Bermuda eleven men had become disgusted with the somewhat
turbulent seas and had obtained discharges that they might return
home. We had fired our cook there...and had hired two men from
Bermuda. In Martinique we lost several other men who had become
disgusted with the situation. When we left Martinique, the whole
aspect of the trip had changed. Morale was down to zero.
The Doris Hamlin called at Ponce, Puerto Rico, then, on the
insistence of its owners, returned to Baltimore. No mention
was made of any underwater filming, despite the Scientologists'
claim that films made provided the Hydrographic Office and the
University of Michigan with "invaluable data." The University
of Michigan told Shannon they had no film, and knew nothing
of the expedition. Nor is there any mention of the buccaneer
film, which was to have been the core of the "expedition." The
seaplane, mentioned in the article written before the trip began,
has also disappeared in Hubbard's account. The Doris Hamlin
failed to reach all but three of its sixteen proposed destinations.
A few years later, Hubbard wrote of the "Caribbean Motion Picture
Expedition": "It was a crazy idea at best, and I knew it, but
I went ahead anyway, chartered a four-masted schooner and embarked
with some fifty luckless souls who haven't stopped their cursings
yet."1
The Captain of the Doris Hamlin, who had thirty years of seagoing
experience, summed up by saying that it had been "the worst
trip I ever made." In an interview published in 1950, Hubbard
was quoted as saying "it was a two-bit expedition and a financial
bust."2
Undeterred, Hubbard undertook his next "expedition" at the end
of 1932. In his Mission into Time we read: "Then in 1932, the
true mark of an exceptional explorer was demonstrated. In that
year L. Ron Hubbard, aged twenty-one, achieved an ambitious
`first.' Conducting the West Indies Minerals Survey, he made
the first complete mineralogical survey of Puerto Rico. This
was pioneer exploration in the great tradition, opening up a
predictable, accurate body of data for the benefit of others.
Later, in other, less materialistic fields, this was to be his
way many, many times over."
The Scientologists supply a survey report for manganese, dated
January 20, 1933, and signed "L. Ron Hubbard." There is also
a letter dated February 16, 1933, headed "West Indies Minerals,
Washington, D.C." The letter's author says he was accompanied
on a
Hubbard the Explorer 63
survey by L. Ron Hubbard. Attached to the letter is a crude
map entitled "La Plata Mine Assays," and signed with the "LRH"
monogram familiar to Scientologists.
As ever, Shannon explored more deeply. He found that a Bela
Hubbard had made a survey of the Lares district of Puerto Rico
in 1923, but the Puerto Rican Department of Natural Resources,
the U.S. Geological Survey, and a professor at the University
of Puerto Rico, who had prepared the Geology of Puerto Rico
in 1932-1933, had no knowledge of L. Ron Hubbard.
Armstrong says Hubbard had gone to Puerto Rico to prospect for
gold.3 This is supported by a photograph in Hubbard's Mission
into Time, with the caption, in his hand, "Sluicing with crews
on Corozal River '32." It is possible that Ron fled to Puerto
Rico to avoid the legal claims brought against him by members
of his Caribbean "expedition."4
Long before Scientology, Hubbard told stories about an expedition
to South America. Frank Gruber, who knew him in 1934, said Hubbard
told him about a four-year expedition to the Amazon. After the
War, Hubbard told a fellow writer he had been wounded by native
arrows on this supposed expedition.-' By the time Dianetics
came along, this tall story had faded away, to be replaced with
others. There is one Scientology biographical sketch which makes
a fleeting mention of an "expedition" to Central America, made
immediately on his departure from college.
Hubbard also claimed to have been a barnstorming pilot (nicknamed
"Flash"). Shannon found that for two years Hubbard had a license
for gliders, but not for powered aircraft. The barnstorming
career seems to have been another student vacation, taken in
the summer of 1931 with a friend who was an experienced pilot.
The Scientologists, in a 1989 publication called Ron the Writer,
claim that having left college Hubbard "went straight into the
world of fiction writing and before two months were over had
established himself in that field at a pay level which, for
those times, was astronomical." Apart from a few contributions
to The University Hatchet Literary Review, Hubbard's only commercially
published article while at the University was for the Sportsman
Pilot. It was called "Tailwind Willies," and was published in
January 1932, and it probably earned little or nothing.
During 1932 and 1933, Hubbard contributed five articles to the
Sportsman Pilot, including one entitled "Music with Your Naviga-
64 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911 - 1949
tion," and one to the Washington Star Supplement, called "Navy
Pets." That was his entire commercial output during those years;
hardly enough to support himself, let alone produce an "astronomical"
level of pay.
It was not until 1934 that Hubbard's stories were accepted by
pulp magazines such as Thrilling Adventure, The Phantom Detective,
and Five Novels Monthly. His later denials of having written
pulp wear thin given some of the titles in question: "Sea Fangs,"
"The Carnival of Death," "Man-Killers of the Air," and "The
Squad that Never Came Back." Hubbard later wrote Western Fiction
too.
The Church usually makes no mention of Ron's first two marriages.
Upon his return from Puerto Rico, Hubbard married Margaret Louise
Grubb, in Elkton, Maryland, on April 13, 1933. He called her
"Polly," or "Skipper," and she called him "Redhead." The first
child, "Nibs," or more properly Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, Jr.,
was born prematurely in May 1934. In 1936, Polly bore Hubbard
a daughter, Catherine May.
Summer 1934 found Hubbard living in a hotel in New York, where
he met Frank Gruber, also an aspiring pulp writer. They spent
a lot of time together, and in his book, The Pulp Jungle, Gruber
told this story:
During one...session Ron began to relate some of his own adventures.
He had been in the United States Marines for seven years, he
had been an explorer on the upper Amazon for four years, he'd
been a white hunter in Africa for three years...after listening
for a couple of hours, I said, "Ron, you're eighty-four years
old, aren't you?" He let out a yelp, "What the hell are you
talking about? You know I'm only twenty-six."
Hubbard was actually twenty-three. Gruber had been taking notes
throughout:
"Well, you were in the Marines seven years, you were a civil
engineer for six years, you spent four years in Brazil, three
in Africa, you barn-stormed with your own flying circus for six
years...I've just added up all the years you did this and that
and it comes to eighty-four years...."Ron blew his stack.
Gruber added: "I will say this, his extremely vivid imagination
earned him a fortune, some years later."
Hubbard the Explorer 65
His Church claims that Hubbard moved to Hollywood in 1935, 1936
or 1937 (depending on which account you read), and while there
wrote many major films. Shortly after Gerald Armstrong started
working on the Hubbard biographical Archive, he was told that
the film Dive Bomber, a 1941 Warner Brothers film release, allegedly
written by Hubbard, was to be shown to raise money for the legal
defense of eleven indicted Scientology staff members. Armstrong
started researching the background of the film in February 1980.
I obtained a copy of the short story [Dive Bomber] which Mr.
Hubbard had written and had been produced in a pulp magazine
in, I believe, 1936....I read through the story and then I
went to the Academy of the Motion Pictures Arts and Sciences
here in Los Angeles...and I obtained a copy...of the screen
play or, at least, a synopsis or a treatment. And I realized
that the two were completely different.
And I also saw that Mr. Hubbard's name was not noted in the
credits. And I believe there were a couple of writers noted
....I checked their names against other records...and confirmed
that they couldn't have been him because they were writing on
several other movies which he could not possibly have been involved
with. So they weren't pseudonyms he was using.
Armstrong was in a quandary: "It would have been embarrassing
if someone had said, `where is your name' and his name wasn't
on it. People had paid money. So I thought perhaps I could come
up with something else that could be a substitute....I wrote
to Mr. Hubbard and let him know what I had found to date...he
didn't answer me. But he sent down a dispatch."6
Hubbard's dispatch, dated February 11, 1980, was sent to the
organizer of the showing. It was read into the court record,
in the Armstrong case.7 Hubbard claimed that Warner Brothers
had forgotten to put his name on the movie, and had paid him
after distribution. He had not cashed the check until the end
of the war, when he used the money for a trip to the Caribbean.
Hubbard's most noteworthy work during his brief time in Hollywood
was the co-authorship of a 15 part serial called The Secret
of Treasure Island. He was, however, a successful pulp writer.
Many of his stories were published during the 1930s. Among his
pseudonyms were Rene Lafayette, Legionnaire 148, Lieutenant
Scott Morgan, Morgan de Wolf, Michael de Wolf, Michael Keith,
Kurt von Rachen,
66 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911-1949
Captain Charles Gordon, Legionnaire 14830, Elron, Bernard Hubbel,
Captain B.A. Northrup, Joe Blitz and Winchester Remington Colt.
Only his remarkable writing output enabled Hubbard to make a
living in those "penny-a-word" days. He wrote a number of "true
stories," two of which concerned his alleged experiences in
the French Foreign Legion. His first hard-covered book, Buckskin
Brigades, was published in 1937.
According to Hubbard, his first philosophical breakthrough came
in 1938, with the discovery that the primary law of all existence
is "Survive!" The notion that everything that exists is trying
to survive became the basis of Dianetics and Scientology.
In 1938, Hubbard detailed his supposed insights in a book called
Excalibur. Hubbard's hints about Excalibur are the source of
several Scientology myths. It is whispered that the entirety
of Scientology was available in the book, but in such a concentrated
form that many people would have gone mad had they read it.
Indeed, in an early Scientology promotional piece, it was claimed
that fifteen copies of Excalibur were distributed, but four
of the people who read the book went mad as a result, so the
manuscript was withdrawn. The book has never been published.
Gerald Armstrong found three different manuscripts of Excalibur
among Hubbard's personal effects, one of which was between 300
and 400 pages long.8 Later, someone who had seen a version of
Excalibur said it was so "dangerous" he would "willingly let
his four-year-old daughter read it."
Writer A.E. van Vogt, an important figure in the early Dianetic
movement, has said that Hubbard claimed his heart had stopped
for six minutes during an operation, in 1938. Excalibur was
the result of the revelation Hubbard had during this near death
experience. Armstrong has said it was a dental extraction under
nitrous oxide. Hubbard told his literary agent that a "smorgasbord"
of knowledge had been laid out before him. He had absorbed it
all, and managed to avoid the command to forget, which was the
last part of the incident. Excalibur is an expansion of Hubbard's
argument that "Survive!" is the basic law of existence. Hubbard's
friend and fellow writer, Arthur Burks, saw the book when it
was offered to publishers in New York in the summer of 1938.
He was impressed, but could not manage to instill his enthusiasm
into a publisher. Burks later hinted that he put up money for
the book to be published, but that Hubbard returned to Port
Orchard
Hubbard the Explorer 67
in the autumn, dejected that he had failed to find a proper
publisher, taking Burks' money with him.9
Hubbard often claimed that the only people who understood the
value of his research in 1938 were the Russians. In an interview
given in 1964, he said that the Russians had offered him $100,000
and laboratory facilities he needed in the USSR, so that he
could complete his work. After Hubbard refused, a copy of Excalibur
was stolen from his hotel room in Miami. Hubbard made no mention
of these supposed events when complaining to the FBI about approaches
from the Russians in 1951.'°
In 1938, Hubbard became a science fiction writer, claiming he
was "summoned" by the publishing firm of Street & Smith to write
for Astounding Science Fiction. Hubbard protested that he wrote
about people, not machines, and was told that this was precisely
what was needed.
Hubbard joined editor John Campbell's circle of friends, and
became a major contributor to the reshaping of science fiction
which Campbell brought about. Campbell was also to figure in
the birth of Dianetics, twelve years later. Recently this pre-war
period has been dubbed the Golden Age of Science Fiction. Hubbard's
work appeared alongside that of Robert Heinlien, A.E. van Vogt,
and Isaac Asimov, each of whom has stated his admiration for
Hubbard's stories. Although Hubbard's writing was patchy in
places, he certainly had a very inventive imagination. He became
a regular contributor to Astounding, moving back to New York
in the autumn of 1939.
Hubbard's interest in the occult continued, and for six months
in 1940 he belonged to the Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae
Crucis (AMORC). He completed the first two "neophyte" degrees
(probably by mail) before his membership lapsed on July 5, 1940."
In February 1940, Hubbard was accepted as a member of the Explorers'
Club of New York (though one Scientology account says 1936).
According to his book Mission into Time, Hubbard was awarded
the Explorers' Club Flag in May 1940, for an expedition to Alaska
aboard his ketch, the Magician. Hubbard called this trip the
"Alaskan Radio Experimental Expedition." Another Scientology
account claims the expedition was undertaken for the U.S. Government.
Hubbard seems to have been trying out a new system of radio
navigation developed by the Cape Cod Instrument Company. At
least the Scientologists provide documentation to that effect.
The "expedi-
68 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911 - 1949
tion" seems to have consisted of Hubbard and.his first wife,
Polly, aboard the 32-foot Magician. Some film was sent gratuitously
to the U.S. Navy Hydrographic Office. As ever, we are faced
with a germ of truth embedded in Hubbard's exaggeration. The
habit of a lifetime.
In a letter sent to the Seattle Star in November 1940, Hubbard
complained that his Alaskan trip had been greatly delayed by
frequent failures of the boat's motor. Repairs had been expensive,
and Hubbard and his wife were stranded in Ketchikan while he
tried to write and sell enough stories to bail them out. Eventually
he borrowed $265 from the Bank of Alaska, a debt he blithely
forgot as soon he departed.12
Hubbard was apparently an accomplished sailor, receiving a License
to Master of Steam and Motor Vessels in December 1940, and a
License to Master of Sail Vessels (any Ocean), in May 1941.
In 1938, Hubbard had failed to secure a place in the Air Corps,
and in 1939 the U.S. War Department turned him down. By the
spring of 1941, Hubbard was living in New York, and waging an
all-out campaign for a commission in the U.S. Naval Reserve
with assignment to intelligence duties.
Hubbard pursued this objective by coaxing his friends to write
letters of reference to the U.S. Navy.13 In March, Jimmy Britton
of KGBU radio in Alaska wrote to the Secretary of the Navy,
claiming that during a "ten month" stay in Alaska, Hubbard had
been "instrumental in bringing to justice a German saboteur
who had devised it to be in his power to cut off Alaska from
communication with the U.S. in time of war." Hubbard does not
seem to have mentioned this episode himself, but it is highly
likely that Britton heard the story from Hubbard. Hubbard, in
a letter to the Seattle Star written in 1940, said he had been
in Alaska from July to November. Britton said Hubbard had spent
ten months in Alaska.
There was a letter from Commander W.E. McCain, of the U.S. Navy
which stated: "I have found him to be of excellent character,
honest, ambitious and always very anxious to improve himself,
to better himself and become a more useful citizen." A letter
written in April 1941, by Warren Magnuson of the House of Representatives
to President Roosevelt, said: "An interesting trait is his distaste
for personal publicity. He is both discreet and resourceful
as his record should indicate."
One letter, allegedly from a professor at George Washington
University, explained that Hubbard's "average grades in engineering
were
Hubbard the Explorer 69
due to the obvious fact that he had started in the wrong career.
They do not reflect his great ability."
In May came a letter from Robert Ford, also of the House of
Representatives, who recommended Hubbard as, "one of the most
brilliant men I have ever known...discreet, loyal, honest."
Ford says that he and Hubbard were close friends at the time,
and admits that he probably gave Hubbard some of his note-paper
and told him to write whatever he liked.14
Lastly, a letter from the editor of Astounding Science Fiction,
John Campbell, who confined himself mainly to praise of Hubbard's
ability to turn in a story on time, but added: "In personal
relationships, I have the highest opinion of him as a thoroughly
American gentleman."
Hubbard stepped up his campaign after he was rejected by the
U.S. Navy Reserve in April. His eyesight was inadequate. However,
with the expansion of the armed forces due to the growing U.S.
committment to the European war, Hubbard's poor eyesight was
waived, and he achieved his goal. In July 1941, five months
before the attack on Pearl Harbor, the U.S. Navy finally yielded
to Hubbard's entreaties, and gave him a commission in the Reserve.
CHAPTER FOUR
Hubbard As Hero
I do not hesitate to recommend him without reserve as a man
of intelligence, courage and good breeding as well as one of
the most versatile personalities I have ever known. - JIMMY
BRITTON, president KGBU Radio Alaska, of Hubbard in 1941
He is garrulous and tries to give impressions of his importance
... - U.S. NAVAL ATTACHE FOR AUSTRALIA, writing of Hubbard
in 1942
Hubbard's claims about his Navy career form a major pan of the
Superman image he tried to project. He and his followers have
claimed he saw action in the Philippines upon the U.S. entry
into World War II. Hubbard was supposedly the first returned
casualty from the "Far East," and was dispatched immediately
to the command of an antisubmarine warfare vessel which served
in the North Atlantic. He allegedly rose to command the "Fourth
British Corvette" squadron, and then saw service with amphibious
forces in the Pacific, ending the War in Oak Knoll Naval Hospital,
"crippled and blinded," the recipient of between twenty-one
and twenty-seven medals and palms. His exploits were, Hubbard
claimed, the basis for a Hollywood movie starring Henry Fonda.
As ever, there are inconsistencies between Hubbard's own accounts.
Hubbard also referred to his time in Naval Intelligence, and
much is made of this experience by Scientologists. On his U.S.
Navy Reserve
70
Hubbard As Hero 71
commission papers, issued in July, 1941, he was designated a
volunteer for "Special Service (Intelligence duties)," an assignment
he requested. His service record shows that when he was eventually
called to permanent active duty in November, he was indeed posted
as an "intelligence officer." The expression conjures up cloak
and dagger images better associated with the CIA's forerunner,
the Office of Strategic Services, which did not exist at that
time. Although the U.S. was not yet at war, France had fallen
and the Japanese threat was recognized. The U.S. Navy was on
a major recruiting drive when Hubbard was commissioned. The
duties of intelligence officers at that time were largely routine,
including the censorship of letters, and the collection, compilation
and distribution of information. Hubbard nominally served in
this capacity for five months, spending much of that time either
in transit or in training.
After receiving his Naval Reserve commission, Hubbard was not
immediately called to active duty. By this time he was employed
as a civilian by the Navy in New York City, working with public
relations and recruiting. He was only on active duty for two
weeks between his commissioning in July and the end of November.
He was ordered to the Hydrographic Office, Bureau of Navigation,
in Washington, DC. There he annotated the photographs he had
taken during his trip to Alaska the year before. A Hydrographic
Office memo reads: "These items are all brief, and some are
unimportant, but in the aggregate they represent a very definite
contribution." The memo adds that Hubbard's information would
be used in the 1942 update of the Sailing Directions for British
Columbia, section 175, and possibly in section 176. On October
6, he was "honorably released from temporary active duty."
Hubbard was next called to active duty at the end of November,
two weeks before the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.
In 1984, Captain Thomas Moulton testified in court as a witness
for the Scientologists. Moulton had served briefly with Hubbard,
and expressed a deep admiration for him. Moulton recounted
another of Hubbard's claims of military prowess that the Scientologists
probably had not expected.
According to Moulton, on the day the Japanese attacked Pearl
Harbor, Hubbard "had been landed, so he told me, in Java from
a destroyer named the Edsall [misspell "Edsel" in the Court
transcript] and had made his way across the land to Surabaja
....When the Japanese came in, he took off into the hills and
lived up in the jungle
72 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911-1949
for some time....He was, as far as I know, the only person
that ever got off the Edsall....She was sunk within a few days
after that."
Hubbard had allegedly been a gunnery officer on the Edsall.
Hubbard also told Moulton that he had been hit by machine-gun
fire, "in the back, in the area of the kidneys....He told
me he made his escape eventually to Australia....He and another
chap sailed a liferaft...to West Australia where they were
picked up by a British or Australian destroyer...on the order
of seventy-five miles off Australia....It was a remarkable
piece of navigation." Sailing over 700 miles in a life-raft
is remarkable indeed.
In fact, Hubbard's naval record shows no time on Java. He had
been ordered to active duty on November 24, 194l, and, on the
day Pearl Harbor was attacked, Hubbard was half a world away
from Java in New York. Eight days after his supposed landing
in Java, Hubbard was receiving instruction at the District Intelligence
Office, in San Francisco. Hubbard was en route to the Philippines
when the ship's destination was changed to Australia. Hubbard
left the ship in Brisbane on January 11. Japanese action against
Java began at the end of February. The USS Edsall was sunk at
the beginning of March (long after Pearl Harbor), and Java surrendered
to the Japanese on March 9. On the same day, Hubbard in fact
boarded the MV Pennant, in Brisbane, Australia, bound for the
United States.
When Hubbard arrived in Brisbane in January 1942, he seems to
have informally attached himself to a newly landed U.S. Army
Unit. Within a few weeks, he was in trouble with his Navy superiors.
There had been a mix-up over the routing of a ship, and a copy
of a secret dispatch had gone astray. While Hubbard may not
have been to blame, he took the undiplomatic course of writing
a report about the incident which was openly hostile of his
senior officers, including the U.S. Naval Attach6.
The Scientologists offer a document written by Infantry Colonel
Alexander Johnson to the Commander of the Base Force, Darwin,
Australia, dated February 13, 1942. The document describes Hubbard
as "an intelligent, resourceful and dependable officer." The
following day the U.S. Naval Attach6 to Australia expressed
a very different point of view: "By assuming unauthorized authority
and attempting to perform duties for which he has no qualifications,
he became the source of much trouble. This, however, was made
possible by the representative of the U.S. Army at Brisbane
....This officer is not satisfactory for independent duty assignment.
He is garrulous and tries
Hubbard As Hero 73
to give impressions of his importance. He also seems to think
that he has unusual ability in most lines. These characteristics
indicate that he will require close supervision for satisfactory
performance of any intelligence duty." Far from being an important
intelligence operative, as the Scientologists fondly believe,
Hubbard was simply a nuisance. So much so that after only a
month in Australia, orders were prepared for Hubbard's return
to the United States.
Twenty years later, Hubbard described his brief time in Australia:
"My acquaintance...goes back to being the only anti-aircraft
battery in Australia in 1941-42. I was up at Brisbane. There
was me and a Thompson sub-machine gun....I was a mail officer
and I was replaced, I think, by a Captain, a couple of commanders
...and about 15 junior officers....They replaced me. I
came home." He made no mention of his supposed adventures on
Java.1
A Scientology press release claims that Hubbard was "flown home
in the late spring of 1942 in the Secretary of the Navy's private
plane as the first U.S. returned casualty from the Far East."
Another Scientology account adds that Hubbard "was relieved
by fifteen officers of rank [no longer "junior officers"]
and was rushed home to take part in the 1942 battle against
German submarines as Commanding Officer of a Corvette serving
in the North Atlantic." Yet another Scientology account says
he "rose to command a squadron."
In reality, after his return by ship to San Francisco at the
end of March 1942, Hubbard was hospitalized for catarrhal fever,
which he had contracted aboard ship. Being the "first U.S. returned
casualty from the Far East" seems to have consisted of having
a bad cold. A doctor noted that he was "somewhat preoccupied
with himself." Upon recovering from his cold, Hubbard was posted
to intelligence duties at Naval Headquarters in San Francisco.
He immediately requested transfer to New York. After two weeks,
he was sent to the Office of the Cable Censor in New York. A
dispatch written in April says: "The Chief Cable Censor is cognizant
of the letter from the Naval Attache, Australia, dated February
14, 1942, and has considered the suggestion made therein. It
is therefore recommended that no disciplinary action be taken."
In New York, Hubbard went on the sick list almost immediately,
suffering from conjunctivitis for a few days.
During World War II, junior U.S. Naval Officers were promoted
in batches, and in June, Hubbard became a Lieutenant senior
grade. This was the highest rank he achieved, which was unusual,
as he continued
74 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911-1949
in active service for more than three years beyond this date.
When Hubbard was transferred to New York, cable censorship had
just ceased to be a function of Intelligence, so Hubbard ceased
to be an "intelligence officer." His designation for work in
Intelligence was amended to that of a Deck Officer. He requested
sea duty in the Caribbean, but was posted to Neponset, Massachusetts,
a suburb of Boston, at the end of June 1942. There he was to
oversee the conversion of a trawler, the MV Mist, into a Navy
yard patrol craft, the USS YP-422.
A Scientology press release says that the Mist, under Hubbard's
command, served with British and American anti-submarine warfare
vessels in the North Atlantic. The truth is less heroic. The
Mist, or YP-422, put to sea from the Boston Navy Yard on training
exercises in August. The exercises lasted twenty-seven hours,
in which time YP-422 fired a few practice rounds, but it saw
no action against the enemy under Hubbard's command. Once again
Hubbard managed to antagonize his superiors. In a dispatch to
the Vice Chief of Naval Operations, the Commandant of the Boston
Navy Yard wrote: "Lt. L.R. Hubbard is in command of YP 422 completing
conversion and fitting out at Boston, in the opinion of the
Commandant he is not temperamentally fitted for independent
command. It is therefore urgently requested that he be detached
and that order for relief be expedited in view of the expected
early departure of the vessel. Believe Hubbard capable of useful
service if ordered to other duty under immediate supervision
of a more senior officer."
On October 1, Hubbard was summarily detached from the YP-422
and ordered to New York. So ended his only command in the Atlantic.
Although his record shows no service in the eastern Atlantic,
a photograph shows Hubbard wearing the "European and African
campaign" ribbon nonetheless. The Scientology tale, doubtless
inspired if not written by Hubbard, about his command of a squadron
pursuing German submarines is entirely fanciful.
Back in New York, Hubbard wrote to the Bank of Alaska, who had
finally caught up with him, explaining that he could not repay
the $265 he had borrowed during his 1940 "expedition." This
is only one of a number of unpaid debts recorded in his Navy
file.
Hubbard again requested sea duty in the Caribbean, but in November
1942 was ordered to the Submarine Chaser Center, in Florida,
for training. In a lecture given in 1964, Hubbard talked about
his time
Hubbard As Hero 75
there: "Fortunately, it was a lovely, lovely warm classroom,
and I was shipped for a very short time down into the south
of Florida...and, boy was I able to catch up on some sleep."2
A Scientology publication claims that in 1943 Hubbard became
a Commodore of Corvette Squadrons. Whatever else he was, Hubbard
was certainly never a Commodore (the rank between Captain and
Rear Admiral) in the U.S. Navy; at least until he appointed
himself to that rank in his Sea Org, nearly twenty-five years
later.
After two months in the warm classrooms of Florida, Hubbard
was posted, on January 17, 1943, to the Albina shipyards, in
Portland, Oregon. There he was to assist with the fitting out
of the PC 815, and to assume command when she was commissioned.
The PC 815 was a patrol craft, a "sleek hulled submarine chaser
of approximately 280 tons full load," according to Jane's Fighting
Ships.
Hubbard asked Thomas Moulton, with whom he had studied in Florida,
to become his executive officer when the PC 815 was commissioned.
Moulton was posted to Portland in March 1943. He arrived to
find Hubbard recovering from another bout of catarrhal fever
in the care of his wife, Polly.
Hubbard's eyes troubled him and he wore dark glasses constantly.
At a dance at the Seattle Tennis Club, he took off the glasses,
and Moulton says Hubbard's eyes reddened and began to water
in a matter of minutes. He told Moulton his difficulty was due
to the "flash from a large caliber gun...on a destroyer
he had been on." During a medical examination in 1946, Hubbard
attributed his visual trouble to "excessive tropical sunlight."
The real problem was a recurrence of his conjunctivitis.
Moulton added: "he frequently complained of pain in his right
side and the back in the area of the kidneys which he said was
due to some damage from a Japanese machine gun....And from
that he had considerable difficulty in urination. And upon at
least one occasion I saw him urinating bloody urine."
Attorney Michael Flynn later suggested that Hubbard's difficulty
might well have been a "social disease," allegedly mentioned
in Hubbard's private papers. Bloody urine can result from an
excess of sulfa drugs, commonly used at that time as a treatment
for venereal disease. Hubbard later complained about the amount
of sulfa drugs he had been fed in the Navy.
When the USS PC 815 was commissioned on April 21, Hubbard
76 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911-1949
became her Commanding Officer. The next day, a remarkable article
was printed in the Oregon Journal. The text is headed with a
picture of Hubbard, in dark glasses, and Moulton, and reads
in part:
Lieutenant Commander Ron ("Red") Hubbard, former Portlander,
veteran sub hunter of the battles of the Pacific and Atlantic
has been given a birthday present for Herr Hitler by Albina
Hellshipyard....Hubbard is an active member of the Explorers club,
New York city. He has commanded three internationally important
expeditions for that organization. In 1934 Hubbard had charge
of the Caribbean Motion Picture Expedition and took the first
underwater films. He was the first to use the now famous
bathosphere [sic] or diving ball [sic!, read "bell"] for this
work. In 1935 Hubbard headed a cartographic survey in West
Indian waters and in 1939 and 1940, for the navy hydrographic
office, led the noted Alaska Radio Experimental Expedition.
Hubbard comes from a long line of naval men: His father is
Lieutenant H.R. Hubbard; his grandfather, Captain Lafayette
Waterbury; his great grandfather, Captain I.C. De Wolf, all
of whom helped to make American naval history.
We are then told that Hubbard spent his youth in Portland, and
are given his statement about the "Albina Hellships": "Those
little sweethearts are tough. They could lick the pants off
anything Nelson or Farragut ever sailed. They put up a sizzling
fight and are the only answer to the submarine menace. I state
emphatically that the future of America rests with just such
escort vessels."
In the Journal, Hubbard has been promoted and his father demoted.
There is no mention elsewhere of "Captain" Waterbury's naval
career, and "I.C. De Wolfe" was the maiden name of Hubbard's
maternal grandmother, Ida Corinne. As usual the story was tailored
to fit the circumstances, Hubbard had cut his cloth to fit a
man of greater stature than himself.
In mid-May 1943, the newly refitted USS PC 815 sailed from Astoria,
on the Oregon coast, into the Pacific on a "shake-down" cruise.
Her destination was San Diego. Shortly after leaving Astoria,
sonar readings indicated the presence of a submarine; at least
according to Hubbard and Moulton in the Action Report they filed
at the time.
Strangely enough, Hubbard does not seem to have recounted this
story to his followers. Despite many remarkable tales about
his naval
Hubbard As Hero 77
career, this was the only action which even approached a "battle"
in which he took part.
Hubbard's report runs to eighteen typewritten pages. It was
written two days after the PC 815 had returned to Astoria, facing
general disbelief, as Hubbard admitted, so he backed up his
report with several others from the crew.
Admiral Fletcher, Commander Northwest Sea Frontier who reviewed
Hubbard's report found it was "not in accordance with `AntiSubmarine
Action by Surface Ship.' "Fletcher had a point: the action report
reads strangely like a short story.
The "battle" took place off Cape Lookout, some fifty miles south
of the mouth of the Columbia River. The PC 815 was in the steamer
track, ten or twelve miles off the Oregon coast. After an echo
contact had been checked, the PC 815 laid three depth charges,
just before 4:00 a.m., on May 19.
Shortly before 5:00 a.m., Hubbard gave orders to fire on an
object that had appeared in the early morning light. In his
report he admitted that it was probably a large piece of driftwood,
but justified the attack as a means of checking the PC 815's
guns.
In the first hour, the PC 815 made three runs, using nine depth
charges. Hubbard had to be more sparing with the remaining three,
which were laid one at a time on three successive runs. Hubbard
said that his object was to force the submarine to come up,
so it could be attacked with the guns.
The PC 815 was joined by two anti-submarine "blimps" (non-rigid
airships) at nine that morning, by which time she had no charges
left. The submarine had failed to respond in any way to these
attacks. By midday, eight hours into the battle, Hubbard had
decided that the submarine could not fire torpedoes. The PC
815 would have provided an easy target, as, according to Hubbard,
the sea was calm (Moulton later contradicted this, saying the
sea was sometimes "quite rough").
Hubbard complained that his requests for more depth charges
were acknowledged but not answered. For at least four hours,
the PC 815, which had no depth charges, kept the purported submarine
in place. No oil or debris from the submarine had been sighted,
so there was no indication of damage. The submarine made no
attempt to retaliate or escape. The PC 815 was joined in the
afternoon by the SC 536 (SCs, or Sub Chasers, were slightly
smaller vessels than the PC 815). The SC 536 seems to have'
had inadequate detection equipment, so had to follow the PC
815 over the target, and lay her depth charges at the
78 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911 - 1949
signal of a whistle. In his report Hubbard praised the lieutenant
commanding the SC 536 to the skies.
Later that afternoon the PC 815's soundman found a second submarine.
Hubbard said the blimps saw air bubbles, oil and a periscope.
The blimps' own reports do not seem to have mentioned this.
Throughout the "battle" several oil boils appeared, but the
PC 815 failed to take samples.
The SC 536 had made three attacks by 4:36 p.m., when a Coast
Guard patrol boat delivered twenty-three new depth charges to
the PC 815. That evening, the USS CG Bonham and the SC 537 arrived.
They could not locate a submarine with their detection equipment.
Hubbard castigated them for their lack of co-operation, suggesting
that the commander of the Bonham was afraid he would damage
his ship if he fired a depth charge.
On the second day, the "battle" continued at a slower pace.
Hubbard was officially given command of the assembly that afternoon.
On the third day of this one-sided contest, a periscope was
allegedly sighted, but rapidly disappeared when the PC 815's
gunners opened fire.
They were joined by the larger PC 778, which carried fifty depth
charges. She found no indication of submarines, so refused either
to lay depth charges, or to supply any to Hubbard. Indeed, Hubbard
had such difficulty obtaining more ammunition that Moulton sent
a message to the Commander-in-Chief of the Pacific Fleet, in
Pearl Harbor, "asking why in thunder we couldn't get any help."
At midnight, on May 21, the PC 815 was ordered back to Astoria.
According to Hubbard's report, the action had lasted for 55
hours, 27 minutes. The PC 815 had remained in the area searching
for a further thirteen hours. They had used a total of thirty-five
depth charges, and despite the failure of either of the submarines
to respond, they had sustained three minor casualties and shot
away their own radio antenna.
In a personnel report attached to his Action Report, Hubbard
congratulated his crew without exception for their part in the
"battle."
In his summary, Hubbard again sang the praises of Lieutenant
Kroepke of the SC 536. He criticized the commanding officers
of the blimps for their lack of knowledge of anti-submarine
warfare.
Hubbard concluded his report with the claim that the PC 815
had completely immobilized one Japanese submarine, and severely
damaged a second.
Hubbard As Hero 79
Another officer, Ensign Walker, mentioned only one submarine
in his report. Moulton confirmed Hubbard's report, both at the
time and forty years later in court. Admiral Fletcher was not
impressed. In his comment on the report of June 8, 1943, he
said:
SC's 536 and 537, CGC's BONHAM and 78302, and blimps K-33 and
K-39 engaged in this submarine search. Reports have been received
from the Commanding Officer of each of these ships in writing
and in personal interviews. An oral report has also been received
from Lieutenant Commander E.J. Sullivan, U.S.N., Commander Airship
Squadron 33, who made a trip to the area during the search on
one of the blimps....There is a known magnetic deposit in
the area in which depth charges were dropped....
An analysis of all reports convinces me that there was no submarine
in the area. Lieutenant Commander Sullivan states that he was
unable to obtain any evidence of a submarine except one bubble
of air which is unexplained except by turbulence of water due
to a depth charge explosion. The Commanding Officers of all
ships except the PC 815 state they had no evidence of a submarine
and do not think a submarine was in the area.
It seems that at the time Hubbard managed to win his crew over
into believing they had disabled two submarines. They certainly
believed in him. One of the reports submitted by the crew included
this statement: "But above all the crew, each and every man
looks up to and respects the captain, L. Ron Hubbard and everything
in every way that the men should respect a leader [sic]. And
I might add that the crew thinks that he is one of the best
leaders of any ship afloat." And in court Moulton said of Hubbard:
"He ran a very competent, extremely competent attack throughout
the thing. He did a very fine job."
Hubbard's report, written before Admiral Fletcher had interviewed
anyone, was defensive from the start. His statements about those
who disagreed with him are interesting: he criticized the very
officers who were to deny the submarines' existence. For someone
who claimed to have slept during his only course in Anti-Submarine
Warfare (ASW), and had not seen action previously, Hubbard's
comments about the other commanders' inadequate knowledge of
ASW were distinctly high-handed.
On June 28, the PC 815 put to sea once more for training exercises.
At Hubbard's order, she fired three practice rounds from her
three-inch gun in the direction of Los Coronados islands. Hubbard
had anchored in Mexican waters, and the islands were Mexican
territory. Within two
BEFORE DIANETICS 1911 - 1949
days a Board of Investigation was underway. On July 7 a fitness
report on Hubbard was written by Rear Admiral Braisted, Commander
Fleet Operational Training Command, Pacific. In the "Remarks"
section, the Rear Admiral said: "Consider this officer lacking
in the essential qualities of judgment, leadership and cooperation.
He acts without forethought as to probable results. He is believed
to have been sincere in his efforts to make his ship efficient
and ready. Not considered qualified for command or promotion
at this time. Recommend duty on a large vessel where he can
be properly supervised."
As we have seen, this observation about Hubbard's need for supervision
had been made by the U.S. Naval Attach6 in Australia and by
the Commandant of the Boston Navy Yard. This time it was heeded,
and Hubbard did not receive another command.
On July 15, 1943, Rear Admiral Braisted wrote a "letter of admonition"
to Hubbard and for the record. On the same day, Hubbard complained
of epigastric pain and was put on the sick list in San Diego.
In his private papers, Hubbard later admitted that his illness
was a way of avoiding discipline.3 He was under observation
for nine days for malaria, which he claimed to have suffered
from sixteen months before, in a "combat area," according to
a doctor's report of Hubbard's statement at the time. Malaria
was not diagnosed at this time, nor does diagnosis of malaria
appear anywhere in Hubbard's extensive Navy and Veterans Administration
medical files, despite his repeated complaints that he was suffering
from the symptoms.
Hubbard was on the sick list for a total of seventy-seven days,
suffering, it was finally decided, from a duodenal ulcer. At
the end of this period, in October 1943, he asked to be ordered
to landing vessels, attaching a list of his qualifications to
the request which included the command of three expeditions,
and a puffed-up account of his brief spell with the Marine Reserve
at George Washington University. He also attached a statement
seeking to justify the shelling of the Coronados, saying that
most of the crew of the PC 815 had asked to return to his command.
He claimed to have been given permission to fire at his own
discretion, and complained that other vessels had not been censured
for anchoring off the Coronados. Hubbard added, pathetically,
that although he knew that he was in the grip of a throat infection
at the time, this could not excuse his error.
Hubbard's statement failed to impress. Following the PC 815
fiasco, it was a year before he put to sea again. In early December
1943, Hubbard was assigned to fitting out and training the crew
of the USS
Hubbard As Hero 81
Algol, in Portland. In July 1944, when the Algol was commissioned,
Hubbard was posted as the "Navigation and Training Officer"
aboard the ship, an Attack Cargo Auxiliary Vessel. The Algol
followed the same initial route as the PC 815, south from Portland,
but docked at Oakland after training exercises. On Wednesday,
September 27, at 4:30 p.m., the Deck Log of the Algol shows
that the "navigating officer reported to the OOD [Officer of
the Deck] that an attempt at sabotage had been made sometime
between 1530-1600. A Coke bottle filled with gasoline with a
cloth wick inserted had been concealed among cargo which was
to be hoisted aboard and stored in No. I hold." The log is signed
by the navigating officer, L. Ron Hubbard. The FBI and Navy
Intelligence were called in to investigate.
The next day's log records a dispatch received at 10:14 on the
night of the incident, confirming earlier orders for Hubbard
to leave ship. The Algol put to sea six days later. It was to
play a part in the Okinawa invasion, and by the end of the war
had won two battle stars. Hubbard remained safe ashore. He later
claimed that the title role in "Mr. Roberts" was based on his
experiences aboard the USS Algol, with Hubbard's part taken
by Henry Fonda. His Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Commander
Axton T. Jones (upon whom Hubbard was later to claim the vicious
James Cagney character was based), did give Hubbard a generally
favorable Fitness Report, but remarked: "Lieutenant Hubbard
is a capable and energetic officer, but is very temperamental
and often has his feelings hurt. He is an above average navigator
and is to be trusted. This officer is of excellent personal
and military character. Recommended for promotion when due."
Hubbard responded to a general Navy request for applicants "for
intensive training with eventual assignment to foreign duty
as civil affairs officers in occupied areas." Commander Jones
had earlier approved Hubbard's request for appointment to the
School of Military Government. In his application, Hubbard had
claimed that he was a trained civil engineer with a knowledge
of Spanish, Japanese, Pekin and Shanghai Pidgin, Tagalog and
Chamorro. He had also claimed an understanding of the social
psychology of the peoples of the Philippines, North China and
Japan. Hubbard was one of hundreds of officers who did a three
month course in "Military Government" at Princeton. However,
his later claims to have studied at Princeton University are
misleading. During the war the U.S. Navy had a training establishment
on the campus at Princeton, which was not part of the University.
82 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911-1949
It seems likely that Hubbard was in training for the anticipated
postwar occupation of Japan. By his own admission, he failed
the examination for overseas posting and became depressed as
a consequence.4 In April 1945, Hubbard's duodenal ulcer flared
up, and he spent the next seven months on the sick-list, largely
as a patient in Oak Knoll Hospital, Oakland, California.
CHAPTER FIVE
His Miraculous Recovery
Scientology accounts claim that Hubbard, having served in all
five theaters of World War II, and received between twenty-one
and twenty-seven medals and palms, was taken crippled and blinded
to Oak Knoll Naval Hospital. Hubbard's service record presents
a different picture: A man who never saw action against the
enemy, and received not twenty-one, but four awards, none for
combat or wounds.
The Scientologists frequently reissue a Hubbard article called
My Philosophy, which reads in part:
Blinded with injured optic nerves, and lame with physical injuries
to hip and back, at the end of World War II, I faced an almost
non-existent future. My service record states: "This officer
has no neurotic or psychotic tendencies of any kind whatsoever,"
but it also states "permanently disabled physically."
And so there came a further blow - I was abandoned by family
and friends as a supposedly hopeless cripple and a probable
burden upon them for the rest of my days. Yet I worked my way
back to fitness and strength in less than two years, using only
what I knew about Man and his relationship to the universe.
I had no one to help me; what I had to know I had to find out.
And it's quite a trick studying when you cannot see.
I became used to being told it was all impossible, that there
was no way, no hope. Yet I came to see again and walk again.
83
84 BEFORE DIANETICS 1911 - 1949
This moving history was designated "Broad Public Issue" by Hubbard,
so it is well known to all Scientologists. It is a remarkable
story, reinforced by biographical sketches published by his
Church. To the Scientologist, Hubbard's miraculous recovery
gives hope for his or her
own.
Hubbard's My Philosophy is not one of the biographical statements
containing "errors made by former public relations people who
have since been removed," as a high-ranking Scientology official
put it, in 1986.' There is no doubt that it was written by Hubbard,
as the original is in his handwriting, and was admitted into
evidence in the Armstrong case.
Documents from Navy and Veterans Administration files tell a
very different and far less stirring tale of Hubbard's war wounds.
Martin Hunt
Hubbard was bedridden, while Downsborough weaned him off this
diet. According to her, he was obsessed with removing his "body-thetans."17
The Enchanter, a 50-foot Bermuda ketch, sailed to meet him in
Las Palmas. Her dedicated Scientologist crew of nineteen were
known as the Sea Project. Their formation and their departure
from England were highly secretive. The Hubbard Explorational
Company started to draw $15,000 per month from the Church of
Scientology of California. The Church also paid $125,000 into
one of Hubbard's Swiss accounts.18
From Las Palmas, having just forgiven Scientology $13 million,
Hubbard issued orders that every Org set up an "LRH Good Will
Repayment Account" at their local bank. Executives who failed
to set up such an account would be dismissed as thieves. Hubbard
also ordered the Church of Scientology to buy Saint Hill from
him.19
As the British Health Minister had predicted, the "harsh light
of publicity" had done its work, and Scientology had been propelled
into the public eye. By August, Saint Hill was taking in as
much as £40,000 a week, almost five times its income of the
previous year.20
CHAPTER TWO
Heavy Ethics
In all the broad Universe there is no other hope for Man than
ourselves. - L. RON HUBBARD, Ron's Journal 1967
"Ethics" were tightening up in the Scientology world. Since
the mid-1960s, the Orgs have been managed on a strict system.
Staff members add up points to measure their production. For
an Auditor this is the number of "Well Done Auditing Hours";
for a Letter Registrar, letters in and out. Some jobs are less
readily reduced to statistics: Even students doing Scientology
courses keep "stats," where every word checked, every page read,
every minute of tape heard, every "clay demo" and every "check-out"
has a point value. The stats are graphed, from the income of
an Organization, down to the number of toilets cleaned.
Staff members are assigned an "Ethics Condition" every week
in accordance with their stats. A slight upward trend on the
graph is called Normal, while a level graph, or a slight downtrend,
is Emergency. From top to bottom the Conditions are Power, Affluence,
Normal, Emergency, Danger, Non-Existence, Liability, Doubt,
Enemy, Treason, Confusion. For each Ethics Condition, there
is a "Formula," through the application of which the individual's
star is supposed to rise.
172
Heavy Ethics 173
Hubbard insisted that his Ethics system should also be applied
to "wogs" (non-Scientologists). At Saint Hill this quickly went
from the vaguely to the utterly ridiculous. A local caterer
who ran a mobile canteen was put into a condition of Liability
in part for running out of apple pie. When he failed to apply
the Liability Formula, he was declared Suppressive, which meant
that Scientologists could not communicate with him, let alone
buy his replenished stocks of apple pie.1
By autumn 1967, Hubbard was living in a villa on Las Palmas,
adding the final touches to the OT3 Course, and putting the
Sea Organization (as the Sea Project had become) through its
paces. On Las Palmas he tested out his "Awards and Penalties"
for Ethics Conditions on the Sea Org. The penalties for lower
Conditions included deprivation of sleep for a set time (often
several days), and the assignment of physical labor. Hubbard
boasted in a September Policy Letter that penalties in the Sea
Org were "much worse" than those for the other Scientology Orgs.
The milder non-Sea Org penalty for NonExistence required that
an offender "Must wear old clothes. May not bathe. Women must
not wear makeup or have hairdo's. Men may not shave. No lunch
hour is given and such persons are expected not to leave the
premises. Lowest pay with no bonuses. ,,2 Pay was pitiably low
in Scientology Organizations anyway.
On September 20, Hubbard spoke of his new Sea Org, and the release
of OT3, in a lecture taped in Las Palmas. Scientologists call
this lecture "RJ 67" for "Ron's Journal 1967." Hubbard dubbed
the third Operating Thetan level "the Wall of Fire." OT3 concerned
an incident which he said occurred "on this planet, and on the
other seventy-five planets which form this Confederacy, seventy-five
million years ago." Hubbard claimed that exposure to OT3 is
fatal to the uninitiated: "The material involved in this sector
is so vicious that it is carefully arranged to kill anyone if
he discovers the exact truth of it...I am very sure that
I was the first one that ever did live through any attempt to
attain that material."
Hubbard claimed he had broken a knee, an arm, and his back during
the course of his research. He attributed this to the tremendous
increase in "OT power" he achieved doing OT3, making accidental
damage to his body all too easy. While he was certainly accident
prone at times (a characteristic of those surrounded by Suppressives,
according to Hubbard), the cause was not necessarily paranormal.
The evidence does not support any of his claims of injury.
174 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
In RJ 67, Hubbard spoke of an international conspiracy to destroy
Scientology. From the early days Hubbard had felt that a group
of "vested interests" was trying to keep both Dianetics and
Scientology down. Hubbard's major targets had been the medical
and the psychiatric professions.
According to RI 67, the attack on Scientology had achieved
epic proportions. It was vital for the Conspiracy which dominated
the affairs of the world to crush Scientology. Hubbard claimed
that his wife, the Guardian, had unearthed the highest level
of the Conspiracy, the ten or dozen men who determined the fate
of Earth: "They are members of the Bank of England, and other
higher financial circles. They own and control newspaper chains,
and they are all, oddly enough, directors in all the mental
health groups in the world." Newspaper baron Cecil King was
one of the ten (or twelve). Hubbard also claimed that the then
Prime Minister of Britain, Harold Wilson, was controlled by
these men, as were many other heads of state.
Hubbard ended RJ 67 with a message of hope: "From here on the
world will change. But if it changes at all, and if it recovers,
it will be because of the Scientologist, it will be because
of the Organization...In all the broad Universe there is
no other hope for Man than ourselves."
A larger vessel had been purchased, and sailed with an inexperienced
crew to meet Hubbard at Las Palmas. The Avon River was a 4144on
trawler. Her first voyage, from Hull, was reported in the British
press after her non-Scientologist captain's return. Captain
John Jones and the chief engineer were the only professional
sailors aboard. Jones called it the strangest trip of his life:
My crew were sixteen men and four women Scientologists, who
wouldn't know a trawler from a tramcar. But they intended to
sail this tub 4,000 miles in accordance with the Org Book. I
was instructed not to use any electrical equipment apart from
the lights, radio and direction finder. We had radar and other
advanced equipment which I was not allowed to use. I was told
it was all in the Org Book, which was to be obeyed without question.
We tried these methods. Getting out of Hull we bumped the dock.
Then, using the Org Book navigation system based on radio beams
from the BBC and other stations, we got down off Lowestoft before
the navigator admitted he was lost. I stuck to my watch and
sextant, so at least I knew where we were.'
Heavy Ethics 175
Possibly this novel method of navigation, depending solely on
radio, harked back to Hubbard's 1940 Alaska Radio Experimental
Expedition.
On Las Palmas, the crew of the Avon River became guinea pigs
for Hubbard's most advanced "research" into Ethics, or Heavy
Ethics, as it came to be known. New lower Ethics Conditions
were issued, each with a series of steps. The individual assigned
a low Condition was expected to work through the Ethics Formulas
progressing up through the Conditions. The poor woman who assisted
Hubbard in his research into the Condition of Liability had
to wear a dirty gray rag on her arm, to show her deficiency
to her colleagues. In the Condition of Doubt, she walked around
with a black mark on her cheek and a large, oily chain about
her wrist.
The Avon River's radio operator was ordered by Hubbard to remain
awake until a new radio had arrived and been fitted on the bridge.
The radio arrived after five days, the operator having complied
with the "Commodore's" order. Hubbard seemed obsessed with sleep
deprivation. It was one of the accusations made against him
by Sara Northrup sixteen years before in her divorce complaint.
At about this time, one of the Sea Org crew suggested that their
six-month contract be extended to a billion years. Hubbard adopted
the suggestion with gusto, and Sea Org members still sign a
billionyear contract, boasting the motto "We Come Back," life
after life.
On October 6, new Formulas were issued for the Ethics Conditions.
The Liability Formula contained the alarming order to "Deliver
an effective blow to the enemies of the group one has been pretending
to be part of despite personal danger." The invitation was obvious.
The step remains a part of the Liability Formula, and any Scientologist
assigned Liability (which happens frequently) must comply with
it. The original Treason formula was shorter-lived, and included:
"1. Deliver a paralyzing blow to the enemies of the group one
has worked against and betrayed. 2. Perform a self-damaging
act that furthers the purposes and or objectives of the group
one has betrayed." This Formula was abandoned a year later.4
Twelve days later, Hubbard issued "Penalties for Lower Conditions"
which included: "LIABILITY - Suspension of Pay and a dirty grey
rag on left arm, and day and night confinement to org premises.
TREASON -...a black mark on left cheek...ENEMY - SP Order.
Fair Game. May be deprived of property or injured by any
176 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
means by any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist.
May be tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed [punctuation sic]."5
In November, the Hubbard Explorational Company bought the Royal
Scotsman, which for some years had been an Irish Channel cattle
ferry, which weighed in at 3,280 tons, eight times the tonnage
of the Avon River. The new owners requested permission from
the Board of Trade to re-register the ship as a "pleasure yacht,"
with clearance for a voyage to Gibraltar. They were advised
that considerable modifications would be necessary under the
"Safety of Life at Sea Convention" (SOLAS) of 1960.7
A few days later, having docked the Royal Scotsman in Southampton,
the owners requested registration as a "whaling ship." Permission
was refused, and a detention order put on the vessel, preventing
her from leaving port.
Reporters were given a handout which said Hubbard had already
undertaken successful survey work in the English Channel, and
was resuming this work. The earlier survey was allegedly for
oil and gas on the sea floor. Yet another Hubbard expedition
that failed to materialize.7
Seeing the failure of his subordinates to extricate the Scotsman
from Southampton, Hubbard decided to take command, and flew
from Las Palmas with a twenty-man crew. The Royal Scotsman was
hastily re-registered under the flag of Sierra Leone. However,
the name was misspelled, and the ship became the Royal Scotman.
Permission was requested for a single voyage to Brest, where
the necessary repairs would be made. Permission was granted
on November 28, and the Royal Scotman sailed. The ship followed
in the tradition of the Avon River, and ran into fenders in
the inner harbor. There were heavy storms in the English Channel,
and the ship nearly foundered off Brest. Hubbard ordered her
to sail to Gibraltar, where the Avon River was waiting. There
was a heavy storm, and the hydraulic steering and the main compass
were inoperative. One generator was out of action, and there
were women and children aboard, but Gibraltar resolutely refused
the Scotman entry. Eventually, emergency steering was rigged
up, and the Scotman was steered from the aft docking bridge
on directions from the main bridge via walkie-talkie. Finally
the ship was allowed to dock at Ibiza, in the Spanish Balearic
Islands.8
The ship travelled from port to port for several weeks before
settling to overwinter at Valencia, in Spain. A non-Scientologist
crew member
Heavy Ethics 177
said of Hubbard: "He called himself commodore and had four different
types of peaked caps...He told me he thought I was a reporter."
This "wog" started the voyage as ship's carpenter, but by being
"upstat" ended it as Chief Officer. During the short voyage
he had a brush with Ethics. He was put in a Condition of Doubt
for "defying an order, encouraging desertion, tolerating mutinous
meetings, and attempting to suborn the Chief Engineer." The
boatswain was put into a Condition of Enemy for "undermining
the Spanish crew, habitual drunkenness, holding nightly and
morning meetings, and derogating Scientology."9
On New Year's Day 1968, Hubbard incorporated the "Operation
and Transport Corporation Ltda." [sic] through the Panamanian
consulate in Valencia. OTC took over from the Hubbard Explorational
Company as Hubbard's principal channel for extracting money
from Scientology. He owned ninety-eight of the 100 issued shares.
Hubbard created a network of corporations the sheer complexity
of which has daunted most tax investigators. The Royal Scotman
was re-registered under the Panamanian flag, though she continued
to sail under that of Sierra Leone.10
A glamorous picture of life at sea was presented to Scientologists
the world over, and, when the stringent Scientology qualifications
for Sea Org membership were abandoned, its ranks swelled. Largely
with people completely unskilled in the nautical arts.
Sea Org members wore pseudo-naval uniforms, and were assigned
naval ranks, from the lowly "Swamper" to Hubbard's own exalted
"Commodore." The uniforms and ranks remain, in the largely landbound
Sea Org.
In January 1968, Hubbard released OT levels 4 to 6. OT 4 was
supposed to proof the individual (or "Pre-OT") against future
"implanting." Hubbard wheeled out the Clearing Course Implant
list, and had his devotees "mock-up" and "erase" the implants
yet again. OT 5 and 6 consisted of drills to be done "exterior
from the body." Those who audited these levels usually admit
later that their "exterior," or out-of-the-body, experience
was entirely subjective. A few claim they could do exactly what
the materials required, but do not even try to offer proof.
Curiously, much of the highly secret material on levels 5 and
6 came from Hubbard `s book The Creation of Human Ability first
published in the mid-1950s.
The first Advanced Organization opened aboard the Royal Scotman,
to deliver these OT levels on New Year's Day, 1968. It was soon
178 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
transferred to shore in Alicante, and thence to Edinburgh. The
Advanced Orgs (or AOs) were, and remain, the only Church Organizations
to deliver the Operating Thetan levels. From the beginning,
AOs were supposed to be run solely by Sea Org members.
Meanwhile, a Scientology magazine published an interview with
an unlikely convert. William Burroughs, author of the controversial
Naked Lunch, had trained as a Scientology Auditor, and was a
Grade 5, or "Power," release. Burroughs said: "I am convinced
that whatever anyone does, he will do it better after processing
[auditing]." Burroughs later became Clear number 1163, of which
he said: "It feels marvellous! Things you've had all your life,
things you think nothing can be done about - suddenly they're
not there any more! And you know that these disabilities cannot
return."11
Burroughs' enthusiasm for Scientology did not last, and his
later work is peppered with abstruse attacks on Scientology.
He even wrote a book called Naked Scientology.
Scientology magazines were filled with news and photographs
of smiling musicians, authors, models, dancers, doctors and
scientists who espoused Scientology. Jazz composer Dave Brubeck's
son went to Edinburgh to persuade a friend to leave the dreaded
cult, and ended up joining the Sea Org. Actress Karen Black
waxed lyrical about the benefits of auditing to other Hollywood
stars. Bobby Richards, who orchestrated the music for Goldfinger,
said "I always get much more out of Scientology than I expect."
Scientologist Richard Grumm worked on the Mariner space program."
In this climate, Hubbard decided to prove the validity of "past
lives" by taking the Avon River on a tour of the haunts of his
previous incarnations.
The "Whole Track Mission" was recorded in the book Mission into
Time. Hubbard would make a plasticine model of an area before
sending in a team to verify his predictions. They allegedly
opened sealed caves, and found there what Hubbard had predicted.
A variety of legends sprang out of the expedition. Among them
that Hubbard was relocating caches of gold he had hidden in
former lifetimes, especially as a Roman tax collector (it has
been suggested that his earlier trip to Rhodesia was to recover
the fortune buried in his supposed incarnation as Cecil Rhodes).
Far more exciting, and less widely known, however, is the space
ship legend.
During the "Mission," Hubbard showed the crew some notes about
their next destination. It was a hidden "space-station" in northern
Heavy Ethics 179
Corsica, "almost at the junction of the mainland and the northern
peninsula and possibly slightly west of the island's meridian,"
according to one member of the "Mission," where a huge cavern,
hidden among the rocks in mountainous terrain, housed an immense
Mothership and a fleet of smaller spacecraft. The spaceships
were made of a non-corrosive alloy, as yet undiscovered by earthlings.
Only one palm print would cause a slab of rock to slide away,
revealing these chariots of the gods. The owners of this machinery
not only knew about reincarnation, they had even predicted Hubbard's
palm print.
Tales about this discovery were rife among Sea Org members.
Hubbard was going t° use the Mothership to escape from Earth.
The ship was protected by atomic warheads. It awaited the return
of a great leader, and there were rumors about a "Space Org."
On the day Hubbard was to be put to this final test, the Mission
was abandoned because of the trouble the Scotman was generating
with the port authorities in Valencia. Hubbard never returned
to collect the Mothership.
The Royal Scotman had been asked several times to shift its
berth. The ship's Port Captain steadfastly refused. What the
Scientologists call a "flap" occurred, and the authorities,
probably exacerbated by this quite usual display of Sea Org
arrogance, had to be placated. A new captain was appointed,
who did well for a short while, until the Scotman dragged anchor
and nearly ran aground. Commodore Hubbard stayed aboard the
Avon River, promoting his wife, Mary Sue, to the rank of Captain,
and giving her command of the larger ship. The fleet moved to
Burriana, a few miles along the Spanish coast, for repairs to
the Royal Scotman. This time the Royal Scotman did run aground.
The Commodore gravely assigned the ship, and all who sailed
on her, the Ethics Condition of Liability.
For several weeks a peculiar spectacle could be seen travelling
up and down the Spanish coast: a ship with filthy gray tarpaulins
tied about its funnel. Every crew member wore a gray rag. It
is rumored that even Mary Sue's corgi dog, Vixie, wore a gray
rag about her neck. Mary Sue suffered the long hours, the poor
diet and the exhausting labor with the rest of the crew. Finally,
the Royal Scotman rejoined the Avon River in Marseilles. The
crew paraded, sparkling in new uniforms, and the Commodore held
a ceremony to upgrade the ship from Liability, so ending the
"Liability Cruise." Soon after, Hubbard moved with his top Aides
to the Royal Scotman, which became the Flagship of the Sea Org
fleet. Scientologists called it simply "Flag."13
180 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
In 1968, Hubbard's Ethics was put into action with the chain-locker
punishment. A chain-locker is "a dark hole where the anchor
chains are stored; cold, wet and rats," to quote one ex-Sea
Org officer. The lockers are below the steering in the bowels
of the ship. A tiny manhole gives access, and they are unlit.
When a crew member was in a low enough Ethics Condition, he
or she would be put in a chainlocker for up to two weeks.
John McMaster says a small child, perhaps five years old, was
once consigned to a chain-locker. He says she was a deaf mute,
and that Hubbard had assigned her an Ethics condition for which
the formula is "Find out who you really are." She was not to
leave the chain locker until she completed the formula by writing
her name. McMaster says Hubbard came to him late one night in
some distress, and asked him to let the child out. He did, cursing
Hubbard the while. Another witness claims that a three-year-old
was once put in the locker.
Another Ethics Condition had the miscreant put into "old rusty
tanks, way below the ship, with filthy bilge water, no air,
and hardly sitting height...for anything from twenty-four hours
to a week...getting their oxygen via tubes, and with Masters-at-Arms
[Ethics Officers] checking outside to hear if the hammering
continued. Food was occasionally given in buckets," according
to a former Sea Org executive.
The miscreants were kept awake, often for days on end. They
ate from the communal food bucket with their blistered and filthy
hands. They chipped away at the rust unceasingly. As another
witness has tactfully put it, "there were no bathroom facilities."
While these "penances" were being doled out, the first "overboard"
occurred. The ships were docked in Melilla, Morocco, in May
1968. One of the ship's executives was ashore and noticed that
the hawsers holding the Scotman and the Avon River were crossed.
He undid a hawser, and found himself grappling with the full
mass of an unrestrained ship as it drifted away from the dock.
Mary Sue Hubbard ordered that the officer be hurled from the
deck. There was a tremendous crash as he hit the water. Ships
have a "rubbing strake" beneath the waterline to keep other
ships at bay in a collision. The overboarded officer had hit
the steel rubbing strake! The crew peered anxiously over the
side waiting for the corpse to float to the surface.
The bedraggled officer was surprised when he walked up the gangplank
and found the crew still craning over the far side of the ship.
Heavy Ethics 181
Fortunately for Mrs. Hubbard's conscience, and the failing public
repute of Scientology, the officer concerned was not only a
good swimmer, but also expert at Judo. Most fortunate of all,
he had seen the rubbing strake, and the explosive crash was
caused when he thrust himself away as he fell. For a short time,
overboarding was abandoned.
It is difficult to comprehend the stoicism with which some Scientologists
suffered the Ethics Conditions. It is remarkable even to many
ex-Scientologists. It is even more remarkable that most Scientologists
have probably never heard of the chain-locker, bilge tank or
overboarding punishments. Scientologists were used to Hubbard's
auditing techniques, where they did not question the reasoning
behind a set of commands, but simply answered or carried them
out. Many spent their time trying to keep out of trouble, or,
when trouble unavoidably came, getting out of the Ethics Condition
quickly by whatever means they could.
Most Sea Org members accepted these bizarre practices out of
devotion to Hubbard. It is impossible to add to these stark
details a convincing picture of Hubbard's charisma. The Sea
Org saw themselves as the elite, the chosen few, who would return
life after life to rejoin their leader in the conquest of suffering.
Hubbard released religious and military fervors in his disciples.
Back on dry land in East Grinstead the farce of Scientology
Ethics, and its applicability in dealing with non-Scientologists,
continued with a letter to twenty-two local businesses:
As a result of a recent survey of shops in the East Grinstead
area, your shop together with a handful of others, has been
declared out of bounds for Scientologists...These shops have
indicated that they do not wish Scientology to expand in East
Grinstead and we are, therefore, relieving them of the painful
experience of taking our money.14
The banned "shops" included a solicitor's firm. Another business
was "highly commended" for displaying Scientology books, in
the face of local criticism.
Hubbard's Public Relations and Ethics "technologies" rebounded
in Britain. In July 1968, the British government finally made
its move.
CHAPTER THREE
The Empire Strikes Back
I find it almost incredible that a Minister and his civil servants
should be so reckless as to publish a White Paper and to seek
mercilessly to expose the Scientologists. It will certainly
advertise them even more widely and give them the fame they Want.
- RICHARD CROSSMAN, The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister, Volume 3
On July 25, 1968, Kenneth Robinson, the British Minister of
Health, made a statement in Parliament about Scientology. Having
called it a "pseudo-philosophical cult," he reminded the House
of his earlier pronouncement:
Although this warning received a good deal of public notice
at the time, the practice of scientology has continued, and
indeed expanded, and Government Departments, Members of Parliament
and local authorities have received numerous complaints about
it.
The Government is satisfied...that scientology is socially
harmful. It alienates members of families from each other and
attributes squalid and disgraceful motives to all who oppose
it; its authoritarian principles and practice are a potential
menace to the personality and well-being of those so deluded
as to become its followers; above all, its methods can be a
serious danger to the health of those who submit to them. There
is evidence that children are now being indoctrinated.
There is no power under existing law to prohibit the practice
of scientology; but the Government has concluded that it is
so objection-
182
The Empire Strikes Back 183
able that it would be right to take all steps within its power
to curb its growth.
Scientology establishments in Britain were stripped of their
educational status. Foreign nationals were prohibited from studying
Scientology or working in Scientology Organizations, by invoking
the "Aliens Act," through which the Home Secretary can deny
entry to Britain. The Home Office banned Hubbard from Britain
as an "undesirable alien." East Grinstead's Member of Parliament,
Geoffrey Johnson Smith, repeated Robinson's earlier statement,
originally made in Parliament, that Scientologists, "direct
themselves towards the weak, the unbalanced, the immature, the
rootless and the mentally or emotionally unstable." He made
the statement on television, beyond the bounds of parliamentary
privilege, so the Scientologists filed suit against him for
defamation.'
At the end of July, a hundred foreign Scientologists were rounded
up, and detained under guard in hotels, pending deportation.
Scotland Yard began to investigate Scientology. The National
Council for Civil Liberties objected to the use of the Aliens
Act on the grounds that it was "objectionable in principle and
dangerous in practice.":
The Scientologists sued four English newspapers, and sought
injunctions to prevent further stories. The injunctions were
denied. New telephone directories carried a large advertisement
for Scientology, and an embarrassed General Post Office announced
that no further ads would be accepted.3
There was a general feeling that although something should be
done about Scientology the Aliens Act was not the way to do
it. But the expression of public sympathy was restrained. A
fortnight before the ban, the Daily Mail had reported the death
of ex-Scientologist John Kennedy, in South Africa. Kennedy had
left Scientology to set up his own Institute of Mental Health,
taking a number of Scientologists with him. He allegedly shot
himself accidently while cleaning his revolver, but the coroner
returned an open verdict. Hubbard's Auditor magazine recorded
the matter simply, and ominously:
JOHN KENNEDY, SP [Suppressive Person], who messed up Rhodesia,
shot dead in accident in South Africa.4
This was actually stale news, Kennedy died in 1966, but three
days after the Aliens Act was introduced, another South African
Scientologist died in mysterious circumstances. James Stewart
had been a
184 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
student at the Scientology Advanced Organization in Edinburgh.
He was a thirty-five-year-old epileptic, whose body was found
fifty feet beneath his hotel window. The newspapers missed vital
information in their reports. A few days before his death, Stewart
had completed an Ethics Condition wherein he stayed awake for
eighty hours. One of his tasks during this period was to crawl
about the carpets picking out bits of fluff. According to Robert
Kaufman, in his firsthand account, a bulletin had been posted
on the Advanced Org notice board:5
James Stewart has been put in a Condition of Doubt for having
[epileptic] seizures in public thus invalidating Scientology.
If there is any reoccurrence of these either consciously or
unconsciously on his pan he will be placed in a Condition of
Enemy.
Stewart's real crime, having had a severe seizure, was telling
the hospital that he was a Scientologist, thus supposedly giving
Scientology a bad name. He had injured his head, and wore a
blood-stained bandage while performing his demeaning "amends
project." He was possibly made to crawl across the steep and
slippery slates of the Org roof, as a final part of his Doubt
Formula. This bizarre practice was quite usual at the time.t'
Shortly before his death, Stewart had been suspended from his
course at the AO. On the day he read a funeral notice for Stewart,
fellow student Robert Kaufman saw Stewart's widow, Thelma, giving
an enthusiastic speech on her completion of OT2. In his book,
Inside Scientology, Kaufman said Thelma "victoriously received
the applause of AO members." A Scientology spokesman told the
press, "Mrs. Stewart does not know how it happened, but she
does know it had nothing to do with Scientology." The press
was also told that Mrs. Stewart was a "more serious" student
than her husband. In fact, Stewart, described in the newspapers
as an encyclopedia salesman,7 had been a founder of the Cape
Town Scientology Org, and was a senior executive there. He was
a Class VII Auditor, the highest level of training at the time,
Clear number 153 (there were over 2,000 by then), and was on
OT3 when he died. One of his Success Stories was published in
the Auditor magazine at around the time of his death. It was
headed, "How Scientology Training Has Helped Me In Life":
I find that training and auditing experience helps me in innumerable
ways - in driving a car (patiently, in heavy traffic), waking
up in the morning, confronting anything unpleasant in life,
keeping myself occu-
The Empire Strikes Back 185
pied in leisure hours, in writing letters, making telephone
calls, in chance conversations with strangers - In fact, training
helps in every conceivable situation or experience anywhere,
any place, anytime - Try it for yourself and see!
The Scientologists very readily disown embarrassing members,
especially in death. Unfortunately, to them the repute of Scientology
is invariably more important than the truth. In a curious twist,
Stewart's name was given to the press by the police. In Scotland,
the names of suicides were not given to the press. However,
there is no evidence to suggest that Stewart was murdered.
This bizarre period of Scientology is recorded in stark detail
in Robert Kaufman's Inside Scientology. Kaufman was the first
who dared to publish details of the OT levels, and his book
remains the best description of the Scientology experience.
The response to the British Aliens Act ban was fairly immediate.
Hubbard announced that his work was finished, saying he had
resigned his "Scientology directorships two or more years ago
to explore and study the decline of ancient civilization," perpetuating
the tale he had told to receive his Explorers' Club flag. Hubbard
accused England of being a police state? An Advanced Org was
started in Los Angeles to serve Scientologists in the Western
hemisphere. But the ban, although rigorously enforced at first,
soon fell into disuse. By the early 1970s, most of the students
and staff at Saint Hill were foreigners.
The London Daily Mail published details of Hubbard's private
bank accounts in Switzerland, account numbers and all. It said
Hubbard claimed to have $7 million. It also unearthed a prescription
signed "L. Ron Hubbard Ph.D.," for the sedative Nembutal, "for
horticultural purposes only." Abbott Laboratories, the manufacturers
of Nembutal, said there was "no conceivable" way in which Nembutal
could be used in horticulture. Perhaps it was for Hubbard's
"ever-bearing" tomatoes. 9
Hubbard was interviewed by the Daily Mail, aboard the Royal
Scotman, in Bizerte, Tunisia: "He chain-smoked menthol cigarettes,
fidgeted nervously...He taped the conversation...Outside
Scientologists, some in uniform and some young children, stood
rigidly to attention...Hubbard's mood ranged from the boastful - `You'd
be fascinated how many friends of mine there are in the British
Government' to the menacing: `I get intelligence reports from
England. You'd be surprised at the dirty washing I have got.'"10
186 ThE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
Hubbard insisted he was no longer connected with Scientology,
and told the reporter that everything in the Daily Mail's Scientology
file was forged. He knew because he had seen it, through his
"spies." Hubbard also gave a rare interview to British television,
again looking nervous, and contradicted himself both on the
number of his marriages, and whether or not he had a Swiss bank
account. Despite his supposed discoveries about communication
and public relations, Hubbard fell far short of winning over
the press."
At the end of August 1968 in New York, Jill Goodman became the
world's youngest Clear. Her picture was featured in the Auditor
magazine. She was ten years old, and she and her eight-year-old
brother were already qualified Auditors.12
In mid-August, the Royal Scotman had slipped into Corfu harbor.
At first all went well. According to one newspaper, the Sea
Org enriched the Corfiot economy by about £1,000 per day. They
were welcomed by the harbormaster, and the local press.13
In September, Hubbard announced the new Class VIII Auditor Course,
in the Auditor magazine. The announcement was accompanied by
a center spread of Hubbard's photographs. There is a shot of
an Ethics Officer, carrying a heavy wooden baton, wearing dark
glasses and full uniform, and scowling at a student who is smiling
back, apprehensively. The caption reads: "No one can fool a
Sea Org Ethics Officer. He knows who's ethics bait." Another
shot shows a Sea Org member suspended in mid-air by two Ethics
Officers, one wearing a broad grin. He is about to be thrown
over the rail, into the sea. The caption reads: "Students are
thrown overboard for gross out tech and bequeathed to the deep!
...Out tech" is a Hubbardism for "misapplication of Scientology
auditing procedures." The editor of Auditor 41 thought the photos
were a Hubbard joke. Hubbard was deadly serious.4
Every Scientology Org was ordered to send two Auditors to be
trained as "Class VIIIs." As "VIIIs" their auditing would be
"flubless." The course would take three weeks, so previous Ethics
procedures were of little use - they took too long to administer.
Rather than languishing in the chain-locker for a week, or doing
three days without sleep on "amends projects," students were
to be subject to "instant Ethics," or overboarding. There is
no doubt that Hubbard ordered this (one ex-Sea Org officer says
Hubbard even took out his home movie camera and filmed it once
or twice).15
The Empire Strikes Back 187
Scientologists who joined after 1970 are often unaware that
overboarding took place. Most who have heard of it, and those
who were subjected to it, dismiss it as a passing phase; unpleasant,
but no longer significant. People who experienced it often shrug
it off, and even insist that it was "research." It can take
persistence to extract an admission of the reality of overboarding.
Students and crew were lined up on deck in the early hours every
morning. They waited to hear whether they were on the day's
list of miscreants. Those who knew they were would remove their
shoes, jackets and wristwatches in anticipation. The drop was
between fifteen and forty feet, depending upon which deck was
used. Sometimes people were blindfolded first, and either their
feet or hands loosely tied. Non-swimmers were tied to a rope.
Being hurled such a distance, blindfolded and restrained, into
cold sea water, must have been terrifying. Worst of all was
the fear that you would hit the side of the ship as you fell,
your flesh ripped open by the barnacles. Overboarding was a
very traumatic experience.16
The course lectures too seem to have been a traumatic experience
for many. Hubbard lectured from a spotlit dais, surrounded by
the female Commodore's Staff Aides in flowing white gowns. The
lectures were peppered with the old easygoing manner, but punctuated
with table-banging and bouts of yelling. Later, some of Hubbard's
tantrums were edited from the tapes of the lectures. The lectures
were "confidential," and only fully indoctrinated Scientologists
could attend.
Students wore green boiler-suits, and, after a certain point
on the course, added a short noose of rope around their necks
as a mark of honor. They had little time for sleep, and were
inevitably extremely cautious in their auditing. If they made
a mistake, it was "instant Ethics," and they were heaved over
the side.'7
Hubbard published the purpose of the Class VIII course: "Its
up to the Auditor to become UNCOMPROMISINGLy STANDARD...an
uncompromising zealot for Standard Tech." Sea Org "Missions"
were dispatched from Corfu to all corners of the world to bully
Org staffs into higher production. Hubbard pronounced that such
"Missions" had "unlimited Ethics powers."18
Alex Mitchell of the London Sunday Times reported that a woman
with two children had run screaming from the ship, only to be
rounded up and returned by her fellow Scientologists. The journalist
also said that eight-year-old children were being overboarded:
188 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
Discipline...is severe. Members of the crew can be officers
one day and swabbing the decks the next. Status is conferred
by Boy Scout like decoration; a white neck tie is for students,
brown for petty officers, yellow for officers, and blue for
Hubbard's personal staff...Recently the crew decided to paint
the water tanks. Unwilling to give the job to local contractors
the Scientologists did it themselves - only to find that when
they next used their taps the water was polluted with paint.'"
Kenneth Urquhart joined the ship at Corfu. From Hubbard's butler
he had risen to become a senior executive at Saint Hill. He
had resolutely avoided joining the Sea Org, but was finally
cajoled into travelling to Corfu. He was amazed at the change
in Hubbard. At Saint Hill he had seen him every day. Although
Hubbard occasionally lost his temper, Urquhart had only once
seen him quivering with rage. Now screaming fits were a regular
feature. OT 3 and the Sea Org had transformed Hubbard.
Amid the turmoil, and with the pressure of the UK ban, and swathes
of bad press, Hubbard cancelled enforced Disconnection. The
practice of labelling an individual Fair Game was also cancelled:20
FAIR GAME may not appear on any Ethics Order. It causes bad
public relations. This Policy Letter does not cancel any policy
on the treatment or handling of an SP [Suppressive Person].
Shortly after arriving in Corfu, Hubbard had issued a Bulletin
to Scientologists abolishing Security Checks and the practice
of writing down Preclears' misdeeds.2' In point of fact the
name of Security Checking was changed: first to Integrity Processing
and then to Confessional Auditing. However, the Sec Check lists
of questions written by Hubbard in the 1960s remained, and are
still in use. A record of the Preclear's utterances during an
auditing session is made by the Auditor, and kept by the Org
he works for.
Many Corfiots seem to have accepted overboarding, and on November
16, Hubbard was a welcome guest at a reception at the Achillion
Palace. With the notable exception of the Prefect, most of the
island's worthies attended. The following day, with as much
pomp as the Sea Org could muster, the Royal Scotman was renamed
yet again, this time deliberately. Diana Hubbard, who had just
celebrated her sixteenth birthday, and been awarded the rank
of Lieutenant Commander, broke a bottle of champagne over the
Scotman's bow, and the ship became the Apollo. In the same ceremony,
the Avon River was restyled the
The Empire Strikes Back 189
Athena. The Enchanter had already been renamed the Diana, but
was included in the ceremony nonetheless.
All was not well on the Scientology home front, in England.
An application to local authorities for permission to expand
Saint Hill castle had been denied. The Scientologists were ordered
to pay the legal costs of three of the newspapers they were
suing before they could proceed. The son of Scientology spokesman
David Gaiman was refused a place at an East Grinstead school
until Scientology had cleared its name. Foreign Scientologists
posed as tourists to attend a Congress in Croydon, to evade
enforcement of the Aliens Act. Gaiman said, "They disguised
themselves as humans." It was fair comment.22
The English High Court refused to rule against the Home Office's
use of the Aliens Act. The Scientologists fought back with more
than forty court writs issued for slander or libel on a single
day.
The Rhodesian government, which had refused to renew Hubbard's
visa in 1966, introduced a ban on the importation of material
which promoted, or even related to, the practice of Scientology.
The states of Southern and Western Australia joined Victoria
in banning Scientology totally. The Sea Org seemed to have put
to sea just in time.
The Western Australian "Scientology Prohibition Act" was far
more succinct than that of Victoria:
1. A person shall not practice Scientology.
2. A person shall not, directly or indirectly, demand or receive
any fee, reward or benefit of any kind from any person for,
or on account of, or in relation to the practice of Scientology.
Penalty: for a first offence two hundred dollars and, for a
subsequent offence, five hundred dollars or imprisonment for
one year or both.
The Scientologists' response to the bans was in character:
The year of human rights draws to its close. The current English
Government celebrated it by barring our foreign students, forbidding
a religious leader to enter England, and beginning a steady
campaign intended to wipe out every Church and Churchman in
England. The hidden men behind the Government's policies are
only using Scientology to see if the public will stand for the
destruction of all churches and churchmen in England...Callaghan,
Crossman and Robinson follow the orders of a hidden foreign
group that recently set itself up in England, which has as its
purpose the seizure of any being whom they dislike or won't
agree [sic], and permanently disabling or killing him.
190 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
To do this they believe they must first reduce all churches
and finish Christianity. Scientology Organizations will shortly
reveal the hidden men...[with] more than enough evidence
to hang them in every Country in the West.
The public seemed perfectly willing to witness the destruction
of Scientology. Neither the promised exposure of the "hidden
men" nor the destruction of "all churches and churchmen" ensued.
Instead, David Gaiman, head of the Public Relations Bureau of
the Guardian's Office, issued a "Code of Reform." The severe
puritanical and punitive approach was no longer necessary. The
Church was going to become a moderate and liberal organization,
which would continue its battle against the evils of psychiatry
(spokesmen are trained to attack psychiatry as a response to
any criticism of Scientology). Thirty-eight libel suits were
dropped. And while the press and governments were being assured
of this new liberal attitude, the new Class VIIIs were returning
to their Orgs and instituting their own forms of overboarding.23
In the Edinburgh Advanced Org, the miscreant was thrown into
a bath of hot, cold or dirty water. In Los Angeles, he or she
would be hosed down fully clothed in the parking lot, though
later a large water tank was used. John McMaster has said that
in Hawaii the offender's head would be pushed into a toilet
bowl, and the toilet flushed. The same technique was used in
Copenhagen.
In the Advanced Orgs in Edinburgh and Los Angeles, staff were
ordered to wear all-white uniforms, with silver boots, to mimic
the Galactic Patrol of seventy-five million years before. According
to Hubbard's Flag Order 652, mankind would accept regulation
from that group which had last betrayed it. So the Sea Org were
to ape the instigators of the OT3 incident. By the same token,
all the book covers were revised to show scenes from the supposedly
lethal incident.
"Captain" Bill Robertson, who introduced the uniforms to both
Edinburgh and Los Angeles, also ordered a nightwatch in Los
Angeles. The crew assembled on the roof every night to watch
for the spaceships of Hubbard's enemies. "Captain" Bill has
continued his crusade against the invading aliens, the "Markabians,"
into the 1990s.
In Britain, in January 1969, Sir John Foster was appointed to
conduct an Inquiry into Scientology. In Perth, Australia, police
raided the local Org, and fourteen individual Scientologists,
and the Hubbard Association of Scientologists International,
were prosecuted for "prac-
The Empire Strikes Back 191
tising Scientology." In New Zealand in February, another Inquiry
got underway.
Hubbard was still trying to ingratiate himself with the military
junta which controlled Greece. He applauded them in a press
interview saying "the present Constitution represents the most
brilliant tradition of Greek democracy." To win favor, Hubbard
announced the formation of the Help Greece Committee which issued
a promotional piece for a "University of Philosophy in Corfu."
He boasted that "Most professors of psychology and schools of
psychology foresee as part of their lessons [the] subject of
dianetics and scientology."
The symbol of the Help Greece Committee was a Greek Orthodox
cross set at the center of the thirteen-leaved laurels of the
Sea Organization. This was not a tactful gesture; Bishop Polycarpos
was already concerned about the spiritual influence of Scientology.
The British Vice-Consul, John Forte, was more concerned with
the material influence of Scientology. He had been receiving
complaints since the Scientologists arrived. He later published
a booklet called The Commodore and the Colonels describing his
experiences. Forte became interested in several defections from
the Apollo, including that of William Deitch, who disappeared
completely. Early in March 1969, a detachment of U.S. Marines
arrived. Colin Craig met a group of them, and described life
aboard a Scientology ship. The Marines insisted that he tell
his story to the British Vice-Consul immediately.
Craig and another Belfast man, Jack Russell, had answered an
advertisement for maintenance fitters. Arriving on Corfu, they
were assigned to the Apollo's fifteen-year-old Chief Engineer.
Russell was attracted to Scientology, but Craig was so alarmed
that he feigned illness and locked himself in his cabin. With
Forte's assistance they were both repatriated.
While this was taking place, Hubbard announced that Scientology
was "going in the direction of mild ethics and involvement with
the Society. After nineteen years of attack by minions of vested
interest, psychiatric front groups, we developed a tightly disciplined
organizational structure...we will never need a harsh spartan
discipline for ourselves."24
The Greek government, concerned by the many complaints it had
received, peremptorily ordered the two hundred or so Scientologists
on Corfu to leave Greek territory. Protests were made that the
Apollo was not seaworthy, so the ship was inspected, and declared
fit for a voyage
192 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
in the Mediterranean. The flagship Apollo was given twenty-four
hours to leave Greek waters. She left on March 19, ostensibly
for Venice.
Two days later a young Scientologist arrived, and introduced
himself to Vice-Consul Forte. When asked why the Apollo had
left, Forte simply handed him Hubbard's printed explanation.
The departure was "due to unforeseen foreign exchange troubles
and the unstable middle eastern situation." Forte discovered
many years later that the Scientologist had subsequently burgled
both his office and his villa looking for evidence of Forte's
involvement with the Conspiracy.
Soon afterwards, an Inquiry started in South Africa. Hubbard
turned his back on the "wog" world, and concentrated on introducing
a new form of Dianetics, and integrating it into the Scientology
"Bridge." He issued a bizarre order to the Sea Org, called "Zones
of Action," which outlined his plans. Scientology was going
to take over those areas controlled by Smersh (the evil organization
fought by the fictional James Bond), rake in enormous amounts
of cash, clean up psychotherapy, infiltrate and reorganize every
minority group, and befriend the worst foes of the Western nations.
Hubbard's stated intention was to undermine a supposed Fascist
conspiracy to rule the world.
On June 30, 1969, the New Zealand Commission submitted its report.
Their attitude to Scientology was sensible. Rather than banning,
fining or imprisoning Scientologists, they recommended the cessation
of disconnection and Suppressive Person declares against family
members. Further, they recommended that no auditing or training
be given to anyone under twenty-one, without the consent of
both parents (including consent to the fee), and a reduction
of the deluge of promotional literature and prompt discontinuance
when requested.
The Commission recommended that no legislative action be taken.
However, it found "clear proof of the activities, methods, and
practices of Scientology in New Zealand contributing to estrangements
in family relationships...the attitude of Scientology towards
family relationships was cold, distant, and somewhat uninterested
...the Commission received a letter from L. Ron Hubbard stating
that the Board of Directors of the Church of Scientology had
no intention of reintroducing the policy ]of disconnection].
He also added that, for his part, he could see no reason why
the policy should ever be reintroduced...This undertaking
does not go as far as the Commission had hoped...[it was seen
that] the activities, methods, and practices of Scientology
did result in persons being subjected to improper or unreasonable
pressures." Nonetheless, the New Zealand Government
The Empire Strikes Back 193
did not outlaw the practice of Scientology. The tide appeared
to be turning.
In July, the Church of Scientology scored a victory of sorts
in their long-running battle with the Food and Drug Administration
in the United States. In 1963, the FDA had raided the Washington
Org, seizing E-meters and books. The whole affair had been in
and out of the courts from that time. Now a Federal judge ruled
that although the E-meter had been "mis-branded," and that its
"secular" use should be banned, it might still be used for "religious"
counselling, as long as it was carefully relabeled to indicate
that it had no curative or diagnostic capabilities. To this
day the Church of Scientology has never fully complied with
the relabeling order, but E-meters do carry an abbreviated version
of it. This was not the end of the FDA case, however.
Also in 1969, an Advanced Organization was opened in Copenhagen.
Now the OT levels were available in England at Saint Hill (the
Edinburgh AO had moved there), in Los Angeles, in Copenhagen,
and aboard the "flagship" Apollo.
Up until this time the "First Real Clear," John McMaster, had
been the emissary of Scientology. He had braved the incisive
questioning of television interviewers, and, overcoming much
bad publicity, inspired many people to join Scientology. He
had even been sent as a Scientology representative to the United
Nations in New York by Hubbard, and managed to secure interviews
with several important people. In November 1969, John McMaster
resigned from the Church of Scientology. He felt that the "Technology"
of Scientology was of tremendous value, but questioned the motives
of those managing the Church, most especially Hubbard.
McMaster probably feared for his own safety. He had been overboarded
several times, and the last time was left struggling in the
water for three hours with a broken collarbone.
The last straw for McMaster had been the brutal murder of three
teenagers in Los Angeles. Two had been Scientologists, the third
was disfigured beyond identification. The mutilated bodies were
left a hundred yards away from a house where Scientologists
lived. McMaster felt that this was an act of retribution for
Scientology's duplicity. A few weeks later, The New York Times
revealed that Charles Manson had been involved in Scientology.
Internal Scientology documents show that Manson had actually
received about 150 hours of auditing while in prison. There
was a cover-up by the Guardian's Office, which
194 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
successfully concealed the extent of Manson's considerable involvement.
In 1970, the Ontario Committee on the "Healing Arts" pronounced:
"With no other group in the healing arts did the Committee encounter
the uncooperative attitude evinced by the Church of Scientology...
the public authorities in Ontario...should keep the activities
of Scientology under constant scrutiny." However, no recommendations
were made for the proscription of Scientology.
In November that same year, the Scientologists' libel case against
Geoffrey Johnson Smith, East Grinstead's Member of Parliament,
finally came to court. The Church produced several impressive
witnesses. William Benitez had spent most of his adult life
in prison for drug offences by the time he encountered Scientology.
His life had been transformed, he had overcome his drug habit,
and set up Narconon to help others do the same. Sir Chandos
Hoskyns-Abrahall, the retired Lieutenant Governor of Western
Nigeria, said of his own involvement in Scientology: "I thought
at first there might be something in it. I ended up convinced
there was everything in it."
But the most startling witness was Kenneth Robinson's former
parliamentary private secretary. William Hamling was the Member
of Parliament for Woolwich West, and had decided to find out
about Scientology for himself. He used the most direct method:
going to Saint Hill and taking a Communication Course. In the
witness box, Hamling called the course "first rate." He said
the Scientologists he had met were normal, decent, intelligent
people. He had received auditing, and, in fact, continued in
Scientology after the court case.
Geoffrey Johnson Smith was on the witness stand for six days,
and Kenneth Robinson also made an appearance. But the focal
witness was Hilary Henslow, mother of the schizophrenic girl
who had been abandoned by Scientology.
Instructing the jury Mr. Justice Browne said, "You may think
that Mrs. Henslow picked up all the stones thrown at her in
the witness box, and threw them back with equal force." He called
the love-letters written by Karen Henslow to her Scientologist
boyfriend "quite heartbreaking," and added: "You may think it
absolutely disgraceful that these letters should have got into
the hands of the scientologists, or been used in this case...
you have to give those letters the weight that you feel right."
The case had lasted for thirty-two days when the jury showed
exactly what weight they gave to the letters, and to the Scientologists.
The Empire Strikes Back 195
They decided that Johnson Smith's statement - that Scientologists
"direct themselves deliberately towards the weak, the unbalanced,
the immature, the rootless, and the mentally or emotionally
unstable" was not defamatory; was published "in good faith
and without malice"; and was "fair comment." The case had backfired
completely on the Scientologists. Costs, which The Times newspaper
estimated at £70,000, were awarded against them. Spokesman David
Gaiman said there would be no appeal.
The decision seemed to have no effect on Hubbard, and two days
later, he blithely issued Flag Order 2673 to the Sea Org. It
was called "Stories Told," and explained that OTC, which ran
the ships, was actually involved in training businessmen, and
that is what Scientologists were to say if asked. The crew did
tell this "shore" story, avoiding any mention of Scientology.
It had become too controversial. So, another layer of deceit
was built into Scientology's approach to the "wog" world.
But the Scientologists weren't the only people guilty of deceit.
In the U.S., devious actions against Scientology were underway.
President Nixon had put Scientology on his "Enemies List," and
the Internal Revenue Service began to make life difficult for
Scientologists. The CIA passed reports (some speculative and
inaccurate) on Scientology through U.S. consulates to foreign
governments. These underhand tactics all eventually backfired,
making sensible measures curbing the Church of Scientology's
abuses more difficult.25
After only three years' suspension, Scientology's hefty Ethics
penalties were reintroduced in 1971, unnoticed by the media,
or by the governments which had shortly before been so interested.26
In December, Sir John Foster submitted his report to the British
Government. In the introduction he said:
Most of the Government measures of July 1968 were not justified:
the mere fact that someone is a Scientologist is in my opinion
no mason for excluding him from the United Kingdom, when them
is nothing in our law to prevent those of his fellows who am
citizens of this country from practicing Scientology here.
He further recommended that "psychotherapy...should be organized
as a restricted profession open only to those who undergo an
appropriate training and are willing to adhere to a proper code
of ethics." Undoubtedly, the Scientology Ethics Conditions did
not meet his criteria for a "proper code." The Foster report
was a tour de force,
196 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
patiently constructed, largely from Hubbard's own statements.
However, the British Government did nothing. The use of the
Aliens Act carried on, and foreign Scientologists continued
to study and work for Scientology in Britain by the simple expedient
of not declaring their philosophical persuasion when they arrived.
The Guardian's Office gave advice and assistance to secure visas.
One ex-Scientologist has joked that if the Home Office had checked
they would have realized there were over 100 people living in
his small apartment.
The treatment of crew aboard the ships did improve in the early
1970s, but only after several years of chain-locker punishments
and overboarding. Nonetheless, the Sea Org still worked an exhausting
schedule, and obeyed Hubbard's whims. At times he was patient,
even tolerant, at other times a bellowing monster.
The kitchen staff were known as galley-slaves. They worked disgraceful
hours in the heat and stench of the kitchens. In the summer
of 1971, a tragic event befell one of those galley-slaves. It
is shrouded in mystery to this day.
CHAPTER FOUR
The Death of Susan Meister
Susan Meister was introduced to Scientology in San Francisco
in the autumn of 1970. By November, she was working at the San
Francisco Org. She was an eager convert, and tried to persuade
her parents to become Scientologists. She wanted to be close
to the "Founder," and contribute to "Clearing the Planet," so
in February 1971 she joined the Sea Org. By the end of the month
she was aboard the "Flagship" Apollo. Her stay there was brief
and tragic. On May 8, she wrote to her mother:
Mother,
Do you recall talking to me about WW III - and where it would
start if it were to start - father and most everyone else maintained
that it would start in either China or Russia vs. U.S. and you
said - oh no - it would originate in Germany - that the Nazis hadn't
given up yet - ? Well babe, you were right - there is a new Nazi
resurgence taking place in Germany - so now it's a race between
the good guys in the white hats (Scientologists) [sic] and the
Leipzig death camp (Nazis) [sic] the bad guys in the black hats - we'll
win of course - but the game is exciting. Truth is stranger than
fiction. As Alice [in Wonderland] says "Things get curiouser
and curiouser!" Get into Scientology now. It's fantastic.
Love, Susan
Four days later, Susan Meister wrote this letter:
197
198 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
[handwritten]
Dear Family,
I just had a session an auditing session
I feel great! Great GREAT!
and my life is EXPANDING
EXPANDING
and it's All Hurry Up: Hurry, Hurry
SCIENTOLOGY
Be a friend to yourselves
Get into this stuff Now -
It's more precious than gold
it's the best thing that's
_ever_ever_ever_ever_ come
along. Love, Susan
Her last letter to her parents from the Apollo was dated June
1971. In it she thanked them for a birthday card, and a variety
of gifts, including a new dress. She continued, showing the
effect upon a young and impressionable mind Hubbard's obsession
with the "great conspiracy" against him:
I can't tell you exactly where we are. We have enemies who are
profiting from peoples' ignorance and lack of self-determinism
and do not wish to see us succeed in restoring freedom and
self-determinism to this planet's people. If these people were
to find out where we are located - they would attempt to destroy
us. Therefore, we are not allowed to say where this ship is located.
She once more urged her mother to read Hubbard's books, and take
Scientology courses. Ten days after writing the letter, Susan
was dead. George Meister, Susan's father, was away from his
Colorado home on a business trip when Guardian's Office Public
Relations man Artie Maren phoned. George Meister met Maren the
next day, and was presented with an unsigned "fact sheet" giving
the Scientologists' account of events as a series of numbered
statements.
Meister told Aflie March that he wanted the body to be flown
back to the U.S. for burial. Meister received a letter from
Bob Thomas at the Church of Scientology in Los Angeles explaining
that the "Panamanian" owners of the Apollo were not obliged
to give information to the Church of Scientology. However,/he
Apollo's captain, Norman Starkey, had offered to pay for a Christian
burial in Morocco, but
The Death of Susan Meister 199
regretted that they would not pay for the body to be returned
to the United States.
George Meister, dazed by the news, decided to go to Morocco
to try and verify the circumstances of his daughter's death.
He was told he would be able to see the body in the morgue in
Safi. He left for Morocco on July 14.
Meister was met at the airport in Casablanca by Sea Org member
Peter Warren, who escorted him to the Marhaba Hotel. Meister
met the U.S. vice-consul, Jack Galbraith, and explained the
purpose of his mission.
During this meeting with Gaibraith, Warren phoned to say he
would drive Meister the 120 miles to Sail. Warren said the Apollo
was already past its scheduled departure date, but would wait
a little longer, because of Meister's presence.
Meister arranged to leave the following morning at 6:00 a.m.,
accompanied by Galbraith, Warren and a Sea Org girl called Joni.
Their first stop in Sail was the police station. Meister says
the police official he spoke to genuinely tried to help. He
showed Meister a photograph taken aboard the Apollo, showing
the dead girl.
According to her father, Susan was "lying on a bunk, wearing
the new dress her mother had made for her, her arms crossed
with a long barreled revolver on her breast. A bullet hole was
in the center of her forehead and blood was running out of the
corners of her mouth. I began to wonder how Susan could possibly
shoot herself in the center of her forehead with the long barreled
revolver. She would have had to hold it with both hands at arms
length. There were no powder burns on her forehead, which certainly
would have been the case if the gun was against her forehead
as it would have to be to shoot herself as the photograph appeared."
The police said the revolver was not available for inspection.
Meister was shown the police report, but it was in French, which
neither he nor Galbraith spoke. Meister was told that the police
were unwilling to release copies of either the report or their
photographs.
Meister and Galbraith went on to the hospital where Susan's
body had been taken. During the autopsy her intestines and her
brains had been removed. Meister says that Warren admitted that
he had given permission, believing that Susan might have been
on drugs. Meister asked to see the body, which he had been told
was in a refrigerated morgue. To his amazement, he was told
by a doctor that they did not know where the body was.
The next day, with Warren and Joni still in attendance, they
had an
200 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
audience with the Pasha of Safi. The Pasha told Meister he could
not have copies of the police report, or the photographs. He
said he had transferred the records to the provincial capital,
Marrakesh. When Meister pressed him to find the whereabouts
of Susan's body, the Pasha told him the interview was over.
Meister asked Warren if he could see Ron Hubbard. He knew that
Hubbard's daughter, Diana, was about Susan's age. In Meister's
own words:
Passing the guarded gates into the port compound, we had our
first look at Hubbard's ship, Apollo. It appeared to be old,
and as we boarded it, the girls manning the deck gave us a hand
salute. All were dressed in work type clothing of civilian origin.
Most appeared to be young. Upon boarding we were shown the stern
of the ship, which was used as a reading room, with several
people sitting in chairs reading books. The mention of Susan
seemed to meet disapproval from those on board...We were
shown where Susan's quarters were in the stern of the ship below
decks where it appeared fifty or so people were sleeping on
shelf type bunks. Susan's letter had mentioned she shared a
cabin all the way forward with one other person. Next we were
shown the cabin next to the pilot house on the bridge where
the alleged suicide had taken place. It was a small cabin and
appeared to be one where a duty officer might catch some sleep
while underway...We were not allowed to see any more of the
ship...I requested an interview with Hubbard as he was then
on board. Warren said he would ask...He returned in about
a half hour and said Hubbard had declined to see me.
Meister and Galbraith returned to Casablanca. Meister found
that the thirty or so films he had been carrying with him had
disappeared, including the film he had shot of Sail and the
Apollo.
As I was preparing to leave the hotel [to take the flight home],
the telephone in my room rang. It was Warren who said he had
to see me at once on a matter of utmost urgency. I told him
I would see him in the lobby...Warren came into the lobby
a very frightened man. His face was pale and he motioned me
to a chair in the corner of the lobby...he told me he was sent
to make a settlement with me in cash.
Meister was outraged by this suggestion, and told Warren to
deal with his attorney. "At the airport, just prior to boarding,
I was accosted by a large man in a pinstripe suit carrying a
briefcase. He said, `We are watching you and so are the CIA
and the FBI.'"
After his return to the U.S., Meister found that his daughter
had been buried in a Casablanca cemetery, wrapped in a burlap
sack, before his visit to Morocco. He arranged to have the body
exhumed
The Death of Susan Meister 201
and shipped to the U.S. in a sealed tin coffin. His local Health
Authority, in Colorado, received an anonymous letter before
the body was returned. It said in part:
There has been a Cholera epidemic in Morocco...there have been
a recorded two to three hundred deaths. And it's been brought
to my attention that the daughter of one George Meister died
in Morocco, either by accident or from cholera, probably the
latter.
The Los Angeles Times picked up the story: "According to a Nov.
11, 1971, letter from Assistant Secretary of State David M.
Abshire to the Senate Foreign Relations Committee - the Apollo's
Port Captain threatened in the presence of the American Vice
Consul from Casablanca, William J. Galbraith, that he had enough
material, including compromising photographs of Miss Meister,
to smear Mr. Meister...Meister is said to have left Morocco
the day before the threat was made."
The Scientologists then launched a campaign against Galbraith,
with little success; for example, telling newspaper men that
he had threatened that the CIA would sink the Apollo!
Meister received anonymous letters saying that his daughter
had made pornographic films, and that she had been a drug addict.
Meister says he continued to be harassed for six years. The
harassment stopped around the time of the FBI raids on the Guardian's
Office, in the Summer of 1977.
If Susan Meister did commit suicide, several questions remain.
She had been aboard the Apollo for four months. During that
time, she sent consistently enthusiastic letters to her parents.
To commit suicide, she must have undergone a very rapid mood
change. She must also have lost her faith in the efficacy of
Scientology. If this was so, what had caused this sudden shift
of opinion, and why didn't she leave the Apollo?
Letters were censored before leaving the Apollo, and the passports
of those aboard were held by the Ethics Office. So perhaps she
was unable to write the truth of what she had discovered, and
unable to leave the ship. Perhaps.
There is no concrete evidence to show that Susan Meister's death
was not suicide. But the whole affair is compounded by the events
which followed. By creating the Sea Org, and taking to the sea,
Hubbard had successfully put himself beyond the law. There was
no coroner's investigation into the death. It is likely that
a verdict at least of foul play would have been returned if
there had been such an investigation.
CHAPTER FIVE
Hubbard's Travels
Susan Meister's death had no effect upon the Sea Org's relationship
with Morocco. The Apollo crew established a land base, called
the Tours Reception Center, in Morocco in 1971. They were trying
to get into the king's favor, and started training government
officials, including Moroccan Intelligence agents, in Scientology
techniques. Officials were put on the E-meter and Security-Checked
by French-speaking Sea Org members. The Hubbards moved ashore.'
From his villa in Morocco, in March 1972, the Commodore explained
his twelve point "Governing Policy" for finance. Points A and
J were the same: "MAKE MONEY." Point K was "MAKE MORE MONEY."
And the last point, L, was "MAKE OTHER PEOPLE PRODUCE SO AS
TO MAKE MONEY." At last, an honest admission of this major plank
of Hubbard's philosophy.:
Hubbard also introduced the "Primary Rundown," where a student
would "word-clear" ten Hubbard lectures about study. That meant
going through the definition of every word in the lectures in
a non "dinky" dictionary (to use Hubbard's expression), and
using the word in every defined context until it was thoroughly
understood. It was a gargantuan task. The word "of," for instance,
has fifteen definitions in the World Book Dictionary, favored
by Hubbard at the time. At the end of this arduous procedure,
the student allegedly became "superliterate."
202
Hubbard's Travels 203
The South African Commission of Enquiry submitted its report
on Scientology in June 1972. It recommended that a Register
for psychotherapists be established, as had the Foster Report
in Britain. It also recommended that the practices of Disconnection,
"public investigation" (i.e. noisy investigation), security
checking, and the dissemination of "inaccurate, untruthful and
harmful information in regard to psychiatry," should be legislated
against. The report added: "No positive purpose will be served
by the banning of Scientology as such." Neither this nor any
other legislative action was actually taken.3
The Apollo sailed from Morocco to Portugal in October, for repairs.
Hubbard and a contingent of Sea Org members stayed behind. Morocco
was as close as Hubbard ever came to having the ear of a government,
but relations broke down. In the Scientology world, there is
a rumor that the upset had something to do with Moroccan Intelligence,
which does lend a certain mystique. A secret Guardian's Office
investigation revealed a more prosaic error, however. In 1971,
Hubbard had reintroduced Heavy Ethics, and Scientologists continued
to use the Ethics Conditions. For being persistently late for
their Scientology courses, members of the Moroccan Post Office
were assigned a condition of "Treason." To the Moroccans, "Treason,"
no matter how much it was word-cleared, meant only one thing:
execution. The Post Office officials set themselves against
the Scientologists, and won? As a grim footnote, the Moroccan
official who had negotiated with the Scientologists was later
executed for treason. The contacts with Intelligence had actually
been with a faction which was to fail in an attempted coup d'etat.
The panic, starting from Hubbard's typically exaggerated use
of a simple word, ended with an order for the Scientologists
to quit Morocco, in December 1972. Hubbard himself was given
only twenty-four hours. He flew to Lisbon, and then secretly
on to New York. The French had instituted proceedings against
him for fraud, so he had to duck out of sight. He was being
labeled undesirable by more and more governments.
Meanwhile, in Spain, eight Scientologists had been arrested
for possession of chocolates laced with LSD. They were held
in filthy cells for four days, and interviewed by a U.S. Drug
Enforcement Administration agent. As it turned out the chocolates
did not contain LSD."
Two Sea Org members accompanied Hubbard to New York. The three
stayed in hiding for nine months. Hubbard was in poor health:
204 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
Photographs taken at the time show an overweight, dishevelled
man with a large growth on his forehead. Despite his supposed
resignation from management in 1966, Hubbard had continued to
control the affairs of his Church, usually on a daily basis.
Now he had only a single telex machine. His prolific Scientological
output ground almost to a halt. What little he wrote shows a
preoccupation with his poor physical condition. In July, he
published an exhaustive summary of approaches to ill health.
He also initiated the "Snow White Program," directing his Guardian's
Office to remove negative reports about Scientology from government
files, and track down their source. He was convinced of the
conspiracy against him, and had no qualms about breaking the
law to achieve the "greatest good for the greatest number,"
meaning the greatest good for L. Ron Hubbard.7
While Hubbard was in New York, the Australian states began the
process which eventually led to the repeal of their Scientology
Prohibition Acts. The State of Victoria, which had started the
Australian crackdown, even gave the Church of the New Faith
(aka Scientology) tax-exemption.
In the U.S. the Food and Drug Administration was ordered to
return all the materials seized eight years earlier, although
the E-meters were still adjudged to be mislabelled, which had
been the real issue at stake.
Another secret bank account was opened for Hubbard under the
name United States Church of Scientology Trust. Hubbard was
the sole trustee of this Swiss account, and it received large
donations from Scientology organizations throughout the world.8
In one of the few Bulletins issued during his stay in New York,
Hubbard wrote:
The actual barrier in the society is the failure to practice
truth...Scientology is the road to truth and he who would
follow it must take true steps.
Hubbard's hypocrisy knew no bounds. In an issue originally called
"What Your Fees Buy" ("Fees" later became "Donations"), Hubbard
continued to insist that he did not benefit financially from
Scientology, and had donated $13 1/2 million above and beyond
the cost of his own research. He claimed that he had not been
paid for his lectures and had not even collected author's royalties
on his books. Scientologists could take Hubbard's word for it
that none of the money they paid to the Church went to him.
Hubbard's Travels 205
In August 1973, yet another new corporation was formed, once
again with the sole purpose of siphoning funds to Hubbard. Hubbard
was to prove yet again that in matters of taxation, the man
with the "most imagination" wins, and Hubbard had a very vivid
imagination. The Religious Research Foundation was incorporated
in Liberia. Non-U.S. students paid the RRF for their courses
on the Flagship, so the corporation which ran the ship was not
being paid, and the money was going straight into an account
controlled by Hubbard. The Scientology Church was again billed
retroactively for earlier services rendered. This was the second
time the Church had paid Hubbard for these services: retroactive
billing was the function of the "LRH Good Will Account" in the
late 1960s. The Church paid for the third time in 1982. Millions
of dollars paid in good faith by Scientologists for the further
dissemination of their beliefs went straight into Hubbard's
personal accounts, and were used to keep him in luxury, with
a million dollar camera collection, silk shirts tailored in
Savile Row, and a large personal retinue at his beck and call."
Hubbard rejoined the Apollo at Lisbon in September 1973. He
had complained about the dust aboard the flagship, so the crew
spent three months crawling through the ventilation shafts of
the ship cleaning them with toothbrushes, while the Apollo sailed
between Portuguese and Spanish ports.
In November, the Apollo was in Tenerife. Hubbard went for a
joyride into the hills on one of his motorbikes. The bike skidded
on a hairpin bend, hurling the Commodore onto the gravel. He
was badly hurt, but somehow managed to walk back to the ship.
He refused a doctor, and his medical orderly, Jim Dincaici,
was surprised at his demands for painkillers. Hubbard turned
on him, and said "You're trying to kill me." Kima Douglas took
Dincalci's place. She thinks Hubbard had broken an arm and three
ribs, but could not get close enough to find out. With Hubbard
strapped into his chair, the Apollo put to sea, encountering
a Force 5 gale. The Commodore screamed in agony, and the screaming
did not stop for six weeks."
In Douglas' words: "He was revolting to be with - a sick, crotchety,
pissed-off old man, extremely antagonistic to everything and
everyone. His wife was often in tears and he'd scream at her
at the top of his lungs, `Get out of here!' Nothing was right.
He'd throw his food across the room with his good arm; I'd often
see plates splat against the bulkhead...He absolutely refused
to see another doctor. He said they were all fools and would
only make him worse. The truth
206 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
was that he was terrified of doctors and that's why everyone
had to be put through such hell."
While on the mend, Hubbard introduced his latest innovation
in Ethics Technology: the "Rehabilitation Project Force." This
became Scientology's equivalent to imprisonment, with more than
a tinge of the Chinese Ideological Re-education Center. In theory
the RPF deals with Sea Org members who consistently fail to
make good. They are put on "MEST work," which is to say physical
labor, and spend several hours each day confessing their overts
(transgressions), and revealing their Evil Purposes.
Life in the Sea Org was already fairly gruelling, but the Rehabilitation
Project Force went several steps further. Gerry Armstrong, who
spent over two years on the RPF, has given this description:
It was essentially a prison to which crew who were considered
nonproducers, security risks, or just wanted to leave the Sea
Org, were assigned. Hubbard's RPF policies established the conditions.
RPF members were segregated and not allowed to communicate to
anyone else. They had their own spaces and were not allowed
in normal crew areas of the ship. They ate after normal crew
had eaten, and only whatever was left over from the crew meal.
Their berthing was the worst on board, in a roach-infested,
filthy and unventilated cargo hold. They wore black boilersuits,
even in the hottest weather. They were required to run everywhere.
Discipline was harsh and bizarre, with running laps of the ship
assigned for the slightest infraction like failing to address
a senior with "Sir." Work was hard and the schedule rigid with
seven hours sleep time from lights out to lights on, short meal
breaks, no liberties and no free time...
When one young woman ordered into the RPF took the assignment
too lightly, Hubbard created the RPF's RPF and assigned her
to it, an even more degrading experience, cut off even from
the RPF, kept under guard, forced to clean the ship's bilges,
and allowed even less sleep.12
Others verify Armstrong's account. The RPF rapidly swelled to
include anyone who had incurred Hubbard's disfavor. Soon about
150 people, almost a third of the Apollo's complement, were
being rehabilitated. This careful imitation of techniques long-used
by the military to obtain unquestioning obedience and immediate
compliance to orders, or more simply to break men's spirits,
was all part of a ritual of humiliation for the Sea Org member.
Hubbard's Travels 207
Hubbard's railing against the "enemies of freedom" (i.e., the
critics of Scientology) continued in a confidential issue: "It
is my intention that by the use of professional PR tactics any
opposition be not only dulled but permanently eradicated...
If there will be a longterm threat, you are to immediately evaluate
and originate a black PR campaign to destroy the person's repute
and to discredit them so thoroughly that they will be ostracized."13
Elsewhere Hubbard had defined black PR as "spreading lies by
hidden sources," and added "it inevitably results in injustices
being done."14 Most Scientologists remain ignorant of the confidential
PR issue.
Despite Hubbard's research into the subject, public relations
had not improved. In 1974, the Apollo was banned from several
Spanish ports. In October, while she was moored in Funchal,
Madeira, the ship's musicians, the "Apollo All Stars," held
a rock festival. Something went terribly wrong, and the day
ended with an angry crowd bombarding the Apollo with stones:
a "rock" festival (the pun stuck and is generally used by those
who were there). It started with a taxi arriving on the dock,
from the trunk of which a small group of Madeirans unloaded
stones. Bill Robertson, the Apollo's captain at the time, ordered
the fire hoses to be turned on this small group, and soon the
dock was milling with jeering Madeirans. The rioters tried to
set the Apollo adrift. They pitched motorcycles and cars belonging
to the Scientologists off the dock. A Scientology story that
a Portuguese army contingent stood by and watched is not confirmed
by witnesses. They also failed to mention the response of the
Apollo crew, some of whom returned the barrage of stones and
bottles. The Commodore marched up and down in his battle fatigues
yelling orders, and finally the Apollo moved away from the dock
to anchor off shore. Ironically, the Madeirans seem to have
thought the Apollo was a CIA spy ship. Scientologists attribute
this to CIA black PR. Other observers attribute it to the intensely
secretive behaviour of the Apollo, and the ongoing "shore stories"
(lies) about her real function and activities."15
The Mediterranean had been effectively closed to the Apollo
through Hubbard's paranoid secrecy and his inability to maintain
friendly relations. Now the Spanish and Portuguese were set
against her. Hubbard decided to head for the Americas, and it
was announced that the Apollo was sailing for Buenos Aries.
More subterfuge, as she was actually set for Charleston, South
Carolina, by way of Bermuda.
208 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
The Scientologists have it that a spy aboard the Apollo alerted
the U.S. government of her true destination. They do not mention
the advance mission of the Apollo All Stars, who usually preceded
the ship to create a friendly atmosphere with music and song.
After their reception in Madeira, the All Stars should have
realized it was time to change their image. Instead they went
ahead to Charleston. According to the Scientologists, the welcoming
party waiting there included agents from the Immigration Office,
the Drug Enforcement Agency, U.S. Customs, and the Coast Guard,
along with several U.S. Marshals who were to arrest Hubbard,
and deliver a subpoena for him to appear in an Internal Revenue
Service case.16
Just beyond the territorial limit, the Apollo caught wind of
this reception committee, and, radioing that she was sailing
for Nova Scotia, changed course for the West Indies. The Apollo
then cruised the Caribbean. Initially relations were good, but
soon, despite all the efforts of the Apollo All Stars, and Ron's
new guise as a professional photographer (trailing his "photo-shoot
org" behind him), the welcome wore thin.17
In Curacao, in the summer of 1975, Hubbard had a heart attack.
Despite his protests, Kima Douglas, his medical orderly, rushed
him to hospital. While in the ambulance Hubbard suffered a pulmonary
embolism (a blood clot in the artery to his lungs). He spent
two days in intensive care, and three weeks in a private hospital.
While there his food was carried ten miles from the ship. Three
Messengers sat outside his room twenty-four hours a day (they
had to make do with the hospital food). He did not return to
the Apollo for another three months.18
While the Commodore was incapacitated, several of his U.S. churches
recouped their tax-exempt status, and the Attorney General of
Australia lifted the ridiculous ban on the word Scientology.
An Appeal Court in Rhodesia also lifted a ban on the import
of Scientology materials.
CHAPTER SIX
The Flag Land Base
In August 1975, the Apollo returned to Curacao. The Scientologists
allege that an Interpol agent had given the report of the 1965
Australian Enquiry (the Anderson Report) to local newspapers
and officials, and that Henry Kissinger had sent an unfavourable
memo to most of the United States embassies in the Caribbean.
The Dutch Prime Minister demanded that the "ship of fools" be
ejected from Curacao. So in October the Apollo was once again
ordered out of port.1
She sailed to the Bahamas. The crew was divided into three parties,
and Scientology moved its headquarters back to shore, in the
United States. Two groups established management outposts in
New York and Washington, DC, and the third, including Hubbard,
flew to Daytona, Florida. Hubbard lectured to a handpicked team
of Sea Org members on his "New Vitality Rundown."2 The Apollo
lay at anchor in the Bahamas.
Maintaining its usual secrecy, the Church of Scientology started
to buy property in Clearwater, Florida. The town's name was
obviously too much of a temptation to Hubbard, and he personally
directed the project through his Guardian' s Office. In October,
a front corporation, Southern Land Development and Leasing,
agreed to purchase the 272room Fort Harrison hotel for $2.3
million. The owners' attorney said it was one of the strangest
transactions he had ever dealt with. He did not even have Southern
Land Development's phone number.3
209
210 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
In November, Southern Land added the Bank of Clearwater building
to its holdings for $550,000. A spokesman kept up the pretense,
by announcing that the properties had been purchased for the
United Churches of Florida. He pledged openness. No connection
to Scientology was mentioned. The residents of Clearwater had
no idea that their town was being systematically invaded. This
organization which promised the world a "road to truth" was
still treading its own back alley of duplicity and subterfuge.
The Guardian's Office was already preparing detailed reports
on Clearwater, and its occupants and "opinion leaders." On November
26, Hubbard sent a secret order to the three principal officers
of the Guardian's Office. It was called "Program LRH Security.
Code Name: Power."
The entire Guardian's Office was put on alert, so that any hint
of government or judicial action concerning Hubbard would be
discovered early enough to spirit him away from potential subpoena
or arrest. As Hubbard was staying near to Clearwater, security
there was to be especially tight.
Despite contrary representations to Scientologists and the world
at large, Hubbard was still very much in control of his Church.
He said as much in an order to the head of the U.S. GO, complaining
that he was not only having to direct the entire Church, but
also the Guardian's Office. In the same order, Hubbard laid
out strict security arrangements for his own proposed visits
to the new Scientology properties in Clearwater. He explained
that he wanted to become a celebrity in the area, as a photographer,
and that his picture of the mayor would soon grace city hall.
GO Program Order 158, "Early Warning System," issued on December
5th, 1975, instituted Hubbard's orders regarding his personal
security. Distribution of the Order was highly restricted. Security
was to be maintained by placing agents in the Offices of the
United States Attorney in Washington and Los Angeles, the International
Operations department of the IRS, the American Medical Association
in Chicago, and several government agencies in Florida. Agents
were already in place in the Coast Guard, the Drug Enforcement
Administration, and the IRS in both Washington and Los Angeles.
This was not a matter of a small persecuted religion infiltrating
government agencies to expose immoral actions committed by those
agencies. In reality, it was a matter of protecting Hubbard
from any inconvenience, let alone any litigation.4
The Flag Land Base 211
The Guardian's Office was in full swing, especially its Intelligence
section, B-1. On December 5, "Project Power" was issued. Its
purpose was to make United Churches indispensable to the Clearwater
community. The Guardian's Office was to investigate the opponents
of community leaders, using a minimum of illegally obtained
information. United Churches would give this information to
the community leader in question, and offer to make further
investigations on his or her behalf. GO Operations would be
mounted against such opponents. The example given in the Guardian's
Order concerned a fictitious child molester called Mr. Schultz.
Having obtained the mayor's permission to see what might be
done to enhance the local park, outraged officials of United
Churches would catch Mr. Schultz in the act. A GO Operation
would then ruin Schultz completely.
There was also an instruction to do a complete survey of the
county to determine who was hostile to Scientology. There were
to be dossiers on medical societies, clinics, hospitals, police
departments, public relations agencies, drug firms, federal,
state and local government agencies, the city council, banks,
investment houses, Congressional representatives and Florida's
two senators.
As part of his new image, Hubbard directed a radio show for
United Churches. Amazingly, no-one seemed to realize that United
Churches was a front for Scientology. Hubbard bustled around
wearing a tamo-shanter and a khaki uniform. Reverend Wicker,
of the Calvary Temple of God, later said, "They introduced him
to me as Mr. Hubbard, but that didn't mean anything to me - they
said he was an engineer....When I saw his picture in the paper,
I felt like an idiot."5
The plans to win favor with the mayor of Clearwater did not
materialize. Before Mr. Shultz could be caught molesting little
girls in the park, Mayor Gabriel Cazares started asking questions.
He made a public statement: "I am discomfited by the increasing
visibility of security personnel, armed with billy clubs and
Mace, employed by the United Churches of Florida...I am unable
to understand why this degree of security is required by a religious
organization."
Cazares was added to the Enemies list. He was followed onto
it by a journalist at the Clearwater Sun, who ran a story saying
that the check paying for the Fort Harrison Hotel had been drawn
on a Luxembourg bank. A day later the Guardian's Office put
into effect a plan to destroy the career of journalist Bette
Orsini of the St. Petersburg Times. She was closing in on the
truth about the United Churches of Florida.6
212 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
The Scientologists actually managed to pre-empt Orsini's story
by a matter of hours. On January 28, 1976, a spokesman announced
that the purchasers of the Fort Harrison Hotel and the Bank
of Clearwater building were none other than the Church of Scientology
of California. He reassured local people that although half
of the mysterious new occupants of the buildings were Scientologists,
United Churches would not be used to convert people to Scientology.
On the same day, June Phillips (aka Byrne), joined the staff
of the Clearwater Sun. Although the Sun paid her salary, she
filed daily reports with the Guardian's Office.
The next day, the Scientology spokesman said that if United
Churches was not successful in its mission to bring harmony
to the religious community. Flag, then the Fort Harrison Hotel
would become a center for advanced Scientology studies. Then
he made a series of allegations about the mayor, saying his
"attack" was motivated by personal profit.
Clearwater was the site for the new "Flag," the "Flag Land Base."
Even before the buildings had been occupied, a new American
Land Base had been promoted to Scientologists throughout the
world. United Churches was just another shore story. Suddenly
the town was swamped with youths in sailor suits, and a new
kind of tourist with a fixed stare.
The Hubbards and their retinue had moved into a block of apartments
called King Arthur's Court, in Dunedin, about five miles north
of Clearwater.7 Hubbard decided to buy some new outfits. He
did not follow his usual procedure, ordering the clothes from
England via his personal secretary at Saint Hill. Instead he
saw a local tailor, who turned out to be a great fan of Hubbard's
science fiction, and promptly boasted about his meeting with
the famous author. The newspapers soon followed the tailor's
lead.
Hubbard was very shy of publicity by this time, perhaps because
of his increasingly poor health and appearance. The superman
revered by Scientologists could not be seen to be a grossly
overweight chainsmoker, with a large pointed lump on his forehead.
Worse yet, Hubbard was afraid he would be subpoenaed to appear
in one of the many court cases involving Scientology. Taking
only three devoted Sea Org members with him, Hubbard fled Dunedin.
His photo-portrait of the mayor of Clearwater never did hang
in City Hall.8
Hubbard had continued to direct the Guardian's Office, including
the attack on Mayor Gabe Cazares. He personally ordered that
The Flag Land Base 213
Cazares' school records be obtained, perhaps believing that
everyone lies about their academic qualifications.
In February 1976, the Guardian's Office in Clearwater was a
hive of activity. The St. Petersburg Times was threatened with
a libel suit. Cazares was more than threatened: A million dollar
suit was filed against him for libel, slander and violation
of civil rights. As Hubbard had said in the 1950s, "The purpose
of the suit is to harass and discourage rather than to win....
The law can be used very easily to harass."9 Scientologists
went to Alpine, Texas, and pored over records concerning the
Cazares family at the county clerk's office, the police department,
the office of the Border Patrol, and the local Roman Catholic
church. They talked with doctors, long-term residents, even
the midwife who had delivered Gabe Cazares. The Cazares' headstones
in the graveyard were checked. The GO decided that the Gabriel
Cazares who had been born in Alpine, Texas, could not possibly
be their man. Obviously the accounts did not accord with their
image of a Suppressive enemy of Scientology.
A GO official assured his seniors that a handling of the Clearwater
Chamber of Commerce was also underway (a Scientology agent had
already joined). A Scientologist had applied for a job at the
St. Petersburg Times. A dossier had been prepared on the Clearwater
City Attorney, and data collections had been made on three reporters
perceived to be enemies.
A radio announcer who had been making broadcasts unfavorable
to Scientology was fired after threat of legal action. He was
rehired only after promising not to discuss Scientology on his
program.
These actions were bound to provoke some response. The Guardian's
Office probably did not realize that their "enemies" would fight
fire with fire. The St. Petersburg Times filed suit, charging
that Hubbard and the Scientologists had conspired to "harass,
intimidate, frighten, prosecute, slander, defame" Times employees.
They sought an injunction against further harassment.
Gabe Cazares filed an $8 million suit. He alleged that the
Scientologists were attempting to intimidate him and prevent him
from doing his job. February had been a very busy month. As we
shall see in the next chapter, 1976 proved to be a very busy year.
In October, Hubbard suffered a tragic blow. Back in 1959 his
son Nibs had left Scientology. From that time, Hubbard had pinned
his dynastic dream upon Quentin, his oldest son by Mary Sue.
He had frequently announced that Quentin would succeed him as
the leader of
214 THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
Scientology. At the end of October 1976, Quentin was found,
comatose, in a parked car in Las Vegas with the engine still
running. Quentin was rushed to a hospital where he died two
weeks later, without regaining consciousness. He was not identified
until several days after his death. Although no precise cause
of death was determined, Quentin had certainly suffered from
carbon monoxide poisoning. He was twenty-two years old.10
Quentin had tried to measure up to his father's expectations - he
was one of the few top-grade Class Twelve Auditors rebut he did
not share his father's temperament. By all accounts he was far
too gentle to govern Scientology, or indeed to govern anything.
All he wanted was to fly airplanes, and he often pleaded with
his father to allow him to leave the Sea Org and do just that.
He had disappeared several times in an attempt to escape. There
was also an aspect of his nature which could never be reconciled
with his father's philosophy: Quentin was a homosexual. There
is little doubt that his death was self-inflicted, as he had
attempted suicide before.11
Mary Sue broke down and wailed when she heard the news. She
later tried to persuade friends that her son had died from encephalitis.
Quentin's father's response was cold-blooded, he was furious
that his son had let him down. There was an immediate cover-up.
Documents were stolen from the coroner's office and taken to
Hubbard. In accordance with Hubbard's policy regarding bad news,
Scientologists were not told about Quentin's death. Some who
found out were told he had been murdered.
In hiding in Washington, Hubbard busied himself trying to discover
the secrets of the Soldiers of Light and the Soldiers of Darkness.
He thoroughly agreed with the old gnostic belief that we are
all born belonging firmly to one band or the other.
PART FIVE
THE GUARDIAN'S OFFICE
1974-1980
"We had to establish a militant and protective organization
that could shield the church so that it could proceed peacefully
with its principal aims and functions, without becoming embroiled
in the constant skirmishing with those who wanted to annihilate
us," a top ranking church official told me. - OMAR GARRISON,
Playing Dirty
215
CHAPTER ONE
The Guardian Unguarded
There is no more ethical group on this planet than ourselves.
- L. RON HUBBARD in "Keeping Scientology Working," 1965
The Office of the Guardian was created by Hubbard in a Policy
Letter of March 1, 1966. He gave this as the Guardian's purpose:
TO HELP LRH ENFORCE AND ISSUE POLICY, TO SAFEGUARD SCIENTOLOGY
ORGS, SCIENTOLOGISTS AND SCIENTOLOGY AND TO ENGAGE IN LONG TERM
PROMOTION.1
In the Policy Letter, Hubbard spoke of the Guardian's role in
the collection of information, so "one can predict which way
cats are going to jump." The eventual downfall of the Guardian
came through her use of methods which showed precisely where
certain cats planned to jump.
Hubbard kept the job in the family by appointing his wife, Mary
Sue, as the first Guardian. After Hubbard took to the seas,
Mary Sue joined him, and in January 1969, a new Guardian, Jane
Kember, was appointed. However, Mary Sue retained control of
the Guardian's Office with the creation of the Controller's
Committee, which served as an interface between Hubbard and
the GO. Mary Sue Hubbard was appointed as the Controller "for
life" by her husband.2
217
218 THE GUARDIAN'S OFFICE 1974-1980
The headquarters of the Guardian's Office were at Saint Hill
in England. This was GO World Wide, or GOWW. In Hubbard's management
system, the continents differ from those of the geographers':
along with many of its occupants, Hubbard conceived the United
Kingdom as a continent, quite distinct from Europe. America
was divided in two, not at the isthmus of Panama, nor even along
the Mason-Dixon line, but approximately at the Mississippi River.
The Continental offices were: U.K., East U.S., West U.S., Europe,
Australia and New Zealand, and Africa ("Latam" has been added
since). The GO had Continental offices in each, run by a Deputy
Guardian. These in turn had deputies in every Scientology Org,
called Assistant Guardians. The Guardian's Office had six Bureaus:
Legal, Public Relations, Information (initially called Intelligence),
Social Coordination, Service (for GO staff training and auditing),
and Finance. At GO World Wide there was a Deputy Guardian dealing
with each of these functions.
The Guardian's Office was administratively autonomous, taking
orders only from Hubbard or from the Controller, who in turn
took orders only from her husband. Usually GO staff did not
belong to the Sea Org, and signed five-year rather than billion-year
contracts. Hubbard generated a powerful rivalry between the
Sea Org and the Guardian's Office.
The Guardian's Office image within the Church was of an efficient,
devoted group which dealt with threats to Scientology. They
would counter bad press articles (often by suing for libel),
defend against government enquiries, and promote Scientology
through its good works. These good works were monitored by the
Social Coordination Bureau (SOCO). They included "Narconon,"
a drug rehabilitation program; the Effective Education Association,
Apple and Delphi Schools; and various anti-psychiatry campaigns.
Because Hubbard insisted there was a conspiracy against Scientology,
the GO investigated and attacked the "conspirators" tirelessly.
By the 1970s, the GO had lined itself up against its "enemies,"
principally the entire psychiatric profession and civil governments.
They produced a newsletter called "Freedom," reminiscent of
Fascist and Communist propaganda in its overblown language.
On a day-to-day basis the Finance Bureau of the GO oversaw the
management of money within the Church. Each Org was supposed
to have an Assistant Guardian for Finance who would scrupulously
monitor all payments to and from the Org. Local Assistant Guardians
would
The Guardian Unguarded 219
deal with bad press, and make sure no one who had received psychiatric
treatment, or had a criminal record, found their way onto Scientology
courses without first doing lengthy "eligibility programs."
These usually consisted of reading several Hubbard books over
a six-month period, and writing testimonials to show that they
had applied Hubbard's teachings to their lives. Such people
would also have to waive the right to refunds of any type from
Scientology.
Most Church members knew little or nothing about Branch One
of the GO Bureau of Information commonly referred to as "B-1."
They gathered information about Hubbard's "enemies." The Information
Bureau's Collections Department had two sections: Overt and
Covert data collection. B-1 also housed an Operations section,
which should more properly have been called the Dirty Tricks
Department. B-1 was so self-contained that only the top executives
in the other Guardian's Office Bureaus were privy to their activities.
B-1 was Hubbard's private CIA, keeping tab on friend and foe
alike. They also maintained comprehensive files on all Scientologists,
compiled from the supposedly confidential records of confessional
sessions. At times Hubbard maintained daily, and even hourly,
contact with B-1, sending and receiving double-coded telex messages.3
The Guardian's Office was the most powerful group within the
Church. Following Hubbard's rigid Policy, they could not believe
in defense: "The DEFENSE Of anything is UNTENABLE. The only
way to defend anything is to ATTACK." The GO attacked ruthlessly
and relentlessly.4
During 1968, while they were filing suits against all and sundry
for libel, one of the major targets in England was the National
Association of Mental Health (NAMH). Several trails crossed
there. Lord Balniel, who first raised the question of Scientology
in Parliament, and Kenneth Robinson, the Health Minister who
invoked the Aliens Act, were both highly involved with the NAMH.
Further, the NAMH was a public body which had an influence upon
the practice of psychiatry. So through their campaign against
the NAMH the GO thought they could kill several birds with one
stone.
In November 1968, Hubbard issued a peculiar Executive Directive
called "The War" where he triumphantly announced: "You may not
realize it...but there is only one small group that has
hammered Dianetics and Scientology for eighteen years. The press
attacks, the public upsets you receive...were generated by
this one group....Last year we isolated a dozen men at the top.
This year we found the
220 THE GUARDIAN'S OFFICE 1974 - 1980
organization these used and all its connections over the world
....Psychiatry and `Mental Health' was chosen as a vehicle
to undermine and destroy the West! And we stood in their way."5
The Church of Scientology dropped thirty-eight complaints in
Britain, and told the press this was "in celebration of the
fact that we now know who is behind the attacks on Scientology
in Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, and Britain." It was
an "international group" that had just moved its headquarters
to Britain
In December, a group calling itself the Executive Committee
of the Church of Scientology went to the National Association
of Mental Health's offices in London, and demanded a meeting
with the Board of Directors. Being told that the NAMH was governed
by a Council of Management, none of whom was in the building,
the Scientologists deposited a list of questions, and departed.
Many of the questions were loaded. For instance: "Why do your
directors want to ban an American writer from England?" and
"Besides the human rights of English Scientologists, who else's
human rights were you attempting to restrict or abolish?"
The "American writer" was presumably not unconnected with the
Scientology Church; Hubbard had been labelled an undesirable
alien and denied re-entry to Britain only a few months before.
The Council must have been perplexed by the tenor of the questions.
What on earth were the Scientologists suggesting? But then,
the Council had not seen LRH Executive Directive 55, "The War,"
and they probably did not know that they were perhaps the most
important channel for the "World Bank Conspiracy," as Hubbard
had dubbed it.
In February 1969, shortly after Hubbard's announcement that
Scientologists were to develop their image as "the people who
are cleaning up the field of mental healing," the NAMH was offered
a settlement in a pending suit. A few days later, the Scientologists
started a series of demonstrations outside the NAMH's offices.
They marched with catchy slogans such as "Psychiatrists Make
Good Butchers" on their banners.7
Then came Hubbard's bizarre secret directive "Zones of Action,"8
instructing the takeover of Smersh and psychiatry. After
a pause of several months, the Guardian's Office took heed of
Hubbard's order, and orchestrated the takeover of the National
Association of Mental Health. The plan was simple, as NAMH membership
was open to the public. The NAMH was governed by a Council, elected
each year at the Annual General Meeting. Time was a little tight,
but five weeks
The Guardian Unguarded 221
before the meeting, Scientologists started joining the Association
in droves. The plan was a little too simple. The NAMH noticed
the sudden explosion of applications, from ten or so a month
to over two hundred. They also noticed that many of the Postal
Orders paying the subscription bore the stamp either of the
East Grinstead or London's Tottenham Court Road Post Office,
the locations of the two principal English Scientology Orgs.
Five days before the election, the new Scientologist members
nominated eight of their number for the Council of Management,
among them a Deputy Guardian. Just two days before the vote,
the NAMH demanded the resignation of 302 new members.
The Guardian's Office responded by seeking an injunction to
prevent the Annual General Meeting. After elaborate proceedings,
Justice Megarry eventually ruled against the Scientologists.
C.H. Rolph, in his well researched book about the attempted
takeover, Believe What You Like, described a later tactic. In
November, ,1970, the Scientologists offered a deed of covenant
to the NAMH of £20,000 a year for seven years, if the NAMH would
discontinue its support for shock therapy, resign its membership
of the World Federation of Mental Health, and support a Scientology
Bill of Rights for mental patients. The NAMH was to "make no
public announcement of any sort" if it accepted the covenant.
The offer was rejected. Soon afterwards the NAMH received a
copy of an article detailing nineteen of its alleged shortcomings.
To take up the story from Rolph: "among the latter being the
sad story of a house for mentally confused old ladies in which
the luckless residents were punished for misbehavior by being
made to scrub floors. The grounds of this sinister place were
patrolled ...by men with shotguns; though it did not say
specifically that their task was to shoot down any of the aged
occupants caught running away."
Mary Sue Hubbard's deputy, Guardian Jane Kember, was a fanatical
Scientologist. It is worth quoting one of her Scientology Success
Stories. It was written in 1966, before the GO really gathered
steam.
Before Scientology I couldn't have a baby, having miscarriage
after miscarriage. I have recently had twin boys, after training
and processing in Scientology. Before Scientology I had kidney
trouble. I have no kidney trouble now. Before Scientology I
had skin trouble, chronic indigestion, was very nervous, very
unhappy, highly critical of all around me, felt inferior, inadequate
and unable to cope with life. Now the skin troubles have gone
and the chronic indigestion. I am no longer
222 THE GUARDIAN'S OFFICE 1974-1980
nervous, feel happy, have lost my inferiority complex and feel
no need to criticize others."9
No wonder Kember later ran the Guardian's Office with steely
and unswerving devotion.
In 1971, Alexis, Ron's twenty-one-year-old daughter by his second
marriage, attempted to find him. Ron sent instructions to Jane
Kember to deal with what he saw as a potential embarrassment.
Alexis is undoubtedly Hubbard's daughter, but he had lost all
paternal feeling for her, and had dropped contact with her after
his divorce from her mother in 1951.
On Hubbard's instructions, two GO agents visited Alexis, and
read a letter to her. Kember had followed her orders exactly.
The letter had been typed on a "non-general-use" typewriter,
which is to say the typewriter was used solely for this letter
and then ditched.10
The letter that Hubbard sent to Kember for her to relay to Alexis
came to light in the Armstrong case. Hubbard's description of
events, as given in the letter, is manifestly different from
the facts. He claimed that Sara had been his secretary in Georgia,
at the end of 1948. In July 1949, she had arrived in New Jersey,
where Hubbard was supposedly working on a filmscript, flat broke
and pregnant. Hubbard referred to Sara's involvement with Jack
Parsons, and claimed to be unsure who she had lived with in
Pasadena. He further claimed that Sara had tried to take the
Los Angeles Dianetic Foundation as part of a divorce settlement.
Hubbard said that Sara could not obtain such a settlement, because
legally they had not been married."11
The wording is crucial. Hubbard did not deny his marriage to
Sara, simply its legality. He was technically correct, the marriage,
being bigamous was illegal, but that was hardly the fault of
either Alexis or Sara.
Under Jane Kember's direction, the Guardian's Office ran scores
of operations, many illegal, many more simply immoral. She irrefutably
received her orders from the Hubbards. Written orders survive.
In 1976, the GO was determined to silence all opposition in
the City of Clearwater. Mayor Cazares was its chief target.
A GO agent, posing as a reporter, interviewed the mayor when
he was on a visit to Washington, DC. The "reporter" introduced
Cazares to Sharon Thomas, another GO agent. She offered to show
Cazares the sights of Washington. While they were driving, they
ran into a pedestrian.
The Guardian Unguarded 223
Sharon Thomas drove on. The mayor did not know that the "victim"
of the accident was yet another GO agent, Michael Meisner."12
The GO was sure that it could use Cazares' failure to report
the accident to its advantage. The next day an internal dispatch
gloated that Cazares' political career was finished. That same
day, Hubbard sent a dispatch asking whether the Miami Cubans
could be persuaded that Cazares supported Castro."
The GO initiated "Operation Italian Fog" which was to bribe
officials to put forged documents into Mexican records showing
that Cazares had been married twenty-five years before. The
Scientologists could then accuse him of bigamy.
To gain information for an inside story, an editor at the Clearwater
Sun enrolled on the Communication Course in the Tampa Org. The
staff at the Sun did not know that their every move was being
leaked to the GO by agent June Phillips. The Scientologists
saw the editor's move as "infiltration" and Phillips reported
that the editor was traumatized when a suit was filed against
him and the Sun for a quarter of a million dollars. The Scientologists
charged that he had caused their members "extreme mental anguish,
suffering and humiliation."
"Op Yellow," launched in April 1976, was to consist of sending
an anonymous letter to Clearwater businesses congratulating
the mayor for his Christian hostility to Scientology, and for
keeping the Miami Jews out and the Clearwater negroes where
they belonged.
After the publication of her book The Scandal of Scientology,
in 1971, Paulette Cooper became a major target for harassment.
Distribution of her book was severely restricted through a series
of court actions in different states, and even different countries.
Cooper simply did not have the legal or financial resources
to defend against all of these actions. As a result of a GO
Op she was indicted for making a bomb threat against the Church
of Scientology. The GO wanted to finish her off for good. Operation
Freakout was intended to put Cooper either into prison or into
a mental hospital.
A U.S. Court Sentencing Memorandum gave this description of
Operation Freakout:
In its initial form Operation Freakout had three different plans.
The first required a woman to imitate Paulette Cooper's voice
and make telephone threats to Arab Consulates in New York. The
second scheme involved mailing a threatening letter to an Arab
Consulate in such a fashion that it would appear to have been
done by Paulette Cooper. Finally, a Scientology field staff
member was to impersonate Paulette
224 THE GUARDIAN'S OFFICE 1974 - 1980
Cooper at a laundry and threaten the President and the then
Secretary of State, Henry Kissinger. A second Scientologist
would thereafter advise the FBI of the threat.
Two additional plans to Operation Freakout were added on April
13, 1976. The fourth plan called for Scientology field staff
members who had ingratiated themselves with Cooper to gather
information from Cooper, so that Scientology could assess the
success of the first three plans. The fifth plan was for a
Scientologist to warn an Arab Consulate by telephone that
Paulette Cooper had been talking about bombing them.
The sixth and final part of Operation Freakout called for
Scientologists to obtain Paulette Cooper's fingerprints on a
blank piece of paper, type a threatening letter to Kissinger
on that paper, and mail it.14
GO operations were burgeoning. Operation Devil's Wop was an
attack on an Arizona senator who had supported anti-cult groups.
The Clearwater Chamber of Commerce had been infiltrated. Agents
had been inside the American Psychiatric Association for several
years. The GO had penetrated anti-cult groups and newspapers,
and was beginning to move into U.S. government agencies, including
the Coast Guard.
However, the vehement application of Fair Game, and the use
of the law to harass were making trouble for Hubbard. Those
on the receiving end wanted Hubbard himself to testify in court,
which had to be avoided at all costs. Elaborate precautions
were taken to prevent process servers from reaching Hubbard.
His location was kept secret, and his retinue was ready to whisk
him away at a moments notice. In May 1976, Hubbard fled, shrouded
in secrecy, from Washington, DC, to Culver City, a suburb of
Los Angeles. With him were only his wife and a few dedicated
Sea Org staff. His new location was codenamed Astra, and it
maintained contact with, and control of, Scientology through
telex links to Church management in Clearwater, and to the Guardian's
Office in Los Angeles.
In June 1976, the GO received the first blow against its elaborate
and highly successful Intelligence machine. A GO agent who had
infiltrated the IRS was arrested. For a month the GO carried
on with their Ops, confidently believing that the agent's connections
would never be traced.
The Guardian Unguarded 225
Mayor Cazares was running as a congressional candidate. As a
part of "Op Keller" his opponent was offered supposedly damaging
information about Cazares. When the opponent declined the offer,
a letter signed "Sharon T" was mailed to politicians and newspapers
in Florida. It sought to implicate Cazares in the fake hit-and-run
"accident" staged in Washington. To cover the exits, an anonymous
letter was sent to Cazares' opponent, Bill Young, saying the
"Sharon T" letter was Cazares' work, and that he would claim
it had been a dirty trick on Young's part! Young turned the
letter over to the FBI.
In July, the GO instituted "Operation Bulldozer Leak" which
was supposed to convince the press and governments that Hubbard
was no longer involved in the management of the Church.
Hubbard moved to a hacienda in La Quinta, near Palm Springs
in California. The hacienda was codenamed Rifle. About him he
assembled the Controller's staff (Mary Sue's assistants), a
few chosen teenage Commodore's Messengers, and his Household
Unit. For a while, they took a vacation from Scientology, fulfilling
the pretense of Hubbard's lack of control. There were no Scientology
books at the hacienda, and the speaking of Scientologese was
briefly forbidden. While the Commodore fiddled, the Guardian's
Office was beginning to bum.
Hubbard had been in such a rush to leave Florida that he had
left part of his gun collection behind. Shortly after "Op Bulldozer
Leak" the Assistant Guardian for Flag [Clearwater] reported
that the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms had discovered
some of Hubbard's guns, which had been mislaid in the flight
from Dunedin.
One of the guns was a Mauser machine-pistol, which should have
been registered. Somehow the GO managed to avert prosecution.
But on the day the report on Hubbard's guns was made, the FBI
issued a warrant for the arrest of one Michael Meisner. The
FBI was beginning to make the necessary connections.
CHAPTER TWO
Infiltration
Michael Meisner took his first Scientology course in 1970. He
was so impressed that he left college before taking his finals,
and became a full-time staff Scientologist. In May 1973, he
was recruited by the Guardian's Office, and assigned to the
Intelligence Bureau, shortly to be renamed the Information Bureau.
From July to October 1973, Meisner was in Los Angeles learning
the complicated internal procedures followed in all Scientology
organizations, and other procedures peculiar to the Guardian's
Office. He was indoctrinated in Information Bureau techniques.
He was taught how to conduct covert investigations, how to recruit
undercover agents and place them in "enemy" organizations, as
well as techniques of surveillance.
This was nothing new. The GO had been placing "plants" in organizations
perceived to be hostile for some years. From 1969 the GO had
infiltrated the Better Business Bureau and various mental health
organizations including, in 1972, the American Medical Association.
The pattern was well established.
In November, Meisner became Director of Branch 2 (B-2) in Washington,
DC. Branch 2 dealt with internal security. It monitored Scientology
itself, looking for infiltrators, and weeding out anyone who
was a "potential trouble source." Independent, or "Squirrel"
Scientology groups were also the province of B-2, which would
do anything in its power to destroy such groups. At about the
time Meisner was posted, Guardian Jane Kember wrote to tell
Henning Heidt, her deputy in the
226
Infiltration 227
United States, that the GO had illegally obtained documents
relating to Interpol. She now ordered Heldt to acquire Ron Hubbard's
file from the Interpol Bureau in Washington.
Meisner rose quickly through the ranks. In January 1974, he
was promoted by Kember to Assistant Guardian for Information
in Washington, DC. From this position he oversaw both Branch
1 and Branch 2.
In her letter to Heldt, the Guardian had said the GO Legal Bureau
had made Freedom of Information Act requests for certain documents,
but because the legal approach took too long, B-1 should obtain
them anyway. Meisner was given the job. Some Scientologists
claim he was a government agent provocateur, who instigated
the use of illegal tactics. As we've seen, infiltration and
the theft of files was well underway before Meisner began his
incredibly successful career. Meisner's orders came from the
Guardian, and the theft of government files was an extension
of the program written by Hubbard himself in New York in 1973.
He had called it Operation Snow White. In 1974, Kenneth Urquhart,
who was "L. Ron Hubbard Personal Communicator" at the time,
overheard a conversation between Ron and Mary Sue about an agent
working in the IRS in Washington.1
Meisner initiated a "project" to obtain all Interpol files relating
to Hubbard and Scientology which called for the Interpol National
Bureau to be infiltrated by a Guardian's Office agent. The project
was approved by Meisner's direct senior, Duke Snider, and Meisner
assigned it to his B-1 Director, Mitchell Hermann. No immediate
action was taken.
In the late summer of 1974, Cindy Raymond, who was the GO Collections
Officer U.S., ordered Meisner to recruit a Scientologist to
infiltrate the Internal Revenue Service. Prospective candidates
were interviewed, but no one with the right psychological makeup
was found. In September, Raymond sent her own choice, Gerald
Wolfe, to Washington.
It took Wolfe, codenamed Silver, a while to find a job as there
was an employment freeze at the IRS. He started work as a clerk-typist
on November 18, 1974.
Shortly before Silver started his job, GO agent Don Alverzo
flew to Washington from Los Angeles. On the afternoon of October
30, following a briefing by Alverzo, Meisner and Hermann walked
into the main IRS building looking for the Chief Counsel's Office.
The Scientologists had heard from their lawyers that there would
be a meeting to discuss Scientology litigation there on November 1.
228 THE GUARDIAN'S OFFICE 1974 - 1980
On the appointed day, Alverzo and Hermann went into the Chief
Counsel's Office before the meeting, and installed an electronic
bug. They taped the proceedings via a car FM receiver. Then
Hermann went back into the office (on the fourth floor), and
retrieved the bug.
At first, Silver did not do well on his IRS mission. In fact,
he did not do anything. After a month, Meisner decided to coax
him by showing just how easy it was. Meisner and Hermann went
into the IRS building on a week day at four in the afternoon.
They waited for the building to empty out, and then at about
seven went into the offices of the Exempt Organization Division
of the IRS, and stole a file on Scientology. The file was photocopied
and Hermann returned it the next day.
At the end of December, three weeks after Meisner's little mission,
the Silver lode opened up. He was asked to steal and photocopy
files from the office of IRS official Barbara Bird. Meisner
reviewed the copies, and sent an edited version to his superiors.
In January 1975, Meisner was also supervising an agent in the
U.S. Coast Guard, Sharon Thomas, and another in the Drug Enforcement
Administration, Nancy Douglas. Thomas was placed in the Coast
Guard in compliance with Kember's Guardian's Order 1344. Later,
Thomas and Meisner also performed the fake hit-and-run accident
for Mayor Cazares.
In May 1975, Meisner received a copy of Project Horn from its
author, Gregory Willardson. Willardson was B-1 Director U.S.
"Project Horn" was meant to create a cover story whereby stolen
documents could be publicly released, without revealing the
identity of the thieves. Meisner's team was to steal documents
which did not relate to Scientology. They were also to steal
IRS stationery, so that a fictitious disgruntled ex-employee
of the IRS could release these documents to the organizations
and individuals they concerned.
The Church of Scientology would also ostensibly receive letters
from this "former IRS employee," along with a wealth of documents,
which would help in their fight against the immoral steps the
IRS had taken against them.
Having banished his initial hesitance completely, Silver stole,
copied and replaced a ten-foot stack of documents from the IRS
by May 1975. About 30,000 pages.
Jane Kember's Guardian's Order 1361 ordered the theft of documents
from the Tax Division of the United States Justice Department.
Meisner set to work in April 1975.
Infiltration 229
The Guardian's Office Legal Bureau told Meisner that attorneys
Harold Larsen and Stanley Krysa had represented the government
in litigation against Scientology in both Hawaii and Florida.
Meisner ordered Silver to go into their offices, in the Tax
Division of the Department of Justice, and steal all files relating
to Scientology.
On three successive Saturdays in May 1975, Silver went into
the Star Building, to the offices of the Tax Division. He used
his IRS identification card. He stole and copied twelve files
relating to litigation against the Church. He passed the copies
to Meisner at their usual rendezvous, Lums restaurant in Arlington,
Virginia. As usual, Meisner wrote a synopsis of the material,
and sent this to his seniors. The Controller, Mary Sue Hubbard,
was among those informed of the thefts from the IRS. A letter
in her hand approving the strategy was later used in evidence
against her.
On June 11, 1975, Meisner wrote "Project Beetle Clean-up," the
purpose of which was to obtain copies of all the Washington
IRS files on the Hubbards and Scientology. This included files
held in both the Intelligence Division and the Internal Revenue
Service's Office of International Operations. The project was
approved by Meisner's senior, Willardson.
Silver set to work immediately. The IRS was about to begin a
major audit of the Church of Scientology of California - the
then "mother church." During this audit, between two and three
million pages of material would be reviewed. Heading the audit
was Lewis Hubbard of the IRS Chief Counsel's Office. So Silver
broke into Hubbard's office and made copies of everything he
could find, even his daily jottings. Now the Guardian's Office
knew the IRS strategy, and which of the Church's many weaknesses
it would have to defend.
In July, Cindy Raymond told Meisner that the Church had brought
a Freedom of Information Act suit against the Internal Revenue
Service, charging that the IRS had failed to give proper access
to files on Scientology. Meisner was ordered to obtain documents
from the office of Charles Zuravin, the IRS attorney who would
be defending the Freedom of Information case.
The Church created a pattern, bringing suits against agencies,
then penetrating their attorneys' offices to see how the agencies
proposed to defend themselves. In the Freedom of Information
Act (FOIA) suits, these attorneys had access to the very files
which the Scientologists were suing to obtain. Eventually, the
Scientologists stole far more material than they were ostensibly
trying to gain through legal action.
230 THE GUARDIAN'S OFFICE 1974 - 1980
Silver added Zuravin's office to those he was monitoring. Zuravin
was amassing documents relating to Scientology from IRS offices
throughout the United States, so he could prepare an FOIA index.
These documents represented the dealings of the IRS with the
Church over twenty years. Zuravin's task was awesome. He had
to prepare a Vaughn Index (listing every document potentially
subject to an FOIA request). Zuravin also had to explain IRS
reasons for non-disclosure for each document the IRS had refused
to release.
The IRS was doing the GO's work for it. All Silver had to do
was copy the documents as they came in, and the GO would have
every scrap of information from the IRS files, indexed at IRS
expense, with the added bonus of the list of IRS reasons for
non-disclosure.
In September 1975, Guardian Jane Kember issued "commendations"
(yet another military term used in Scientology) to those who
had worked on Guardian's Order 1361; those who had committed
the criminal acts of burglary and theft for the good of the
cause.
In October, attorney Zuravin completed his index. Every document
was numbered, giving the GO an excellent reference work. The
index was handed over to Scientology attorneys. Within days
it had been edited, so Silver would only steal the "exempted"
documents, not wasting his time on those already obtained through
FOIA requests.
Silver went to Zuravin's office, and in a single weekend stole
some 3,000 pages of documents. Even this haul did not net all
of the denied documents. At the end of November 1975, before
Silver had completed his work, Zuravin's office, and that of
Lewis Hubbard, were placed within a "red seal," or high security
area, inside the main IRS building. From this point the doors
were locked at all times. Zuravin's papers were moved into a
locked file room.
At the beginning of December, Meisner flew to Los Angeles for
a conference with his superiors. He was shown the newly issued
"Guardian's Program Order 158 - Early Warning System," which
the Guardian had approved. This program had come into being
as a direct result of a Hubbard order. Its purpose was to keep
Hubbard out of the hands of the courts. The GO were to anticipate
any law suit against or subpoena on the Hubbards.
The Order directed that an agent be placed in the U.S. Attorney's
Office in Washington, DC. Any Federal agency which was in litigation
with the Church, or was planning litigation, would report to
the U.S. Attorney's Office. An agent was also to be placed in
the U.S. Attorney's Office in Los Angeles. Another agent was
to be infiltrated
Infiltration 231
into the IRS Office of International Operations (OIO), because
they were preparing a tax case against Hubbard. This last agent
was to steal any files on either of the Hubbards, and to report
any developments. Close liaison was to be maintained with the
agents already in place in the Coast Guard, the Drug Enforcement
Administration in Washington, DC, and the IRS in Los Angeles
and Washington, DC.
Back in Washington, Meisner started his compliance with the
Order. The internal procedures of the GO required that all major
actions be "okayed" in writing by a senior. These Orders, and
Meisner's responses to them, were reported step by step through
the hierarchy to Mary Sue Hubbard, the Controller. Mary Sue
Hubbard was living with her husband at this time, and no doubt
kept him informed of Meisner's spectacular offensive against
the United States government.
Meisner and Silver performed a series of burglaries on the Justice
Department. They stole documents from the offices of Paul Figley
and Jeffrey Axelrad in the Civil Division's Information and
Privacy Unit. Figley had been assigned to the defense of the
Freedom of Information Act suits brought against government
agencies by the Church of Scientology.
Meisner and Silver went into the Justice Department library
using Silver's IRS identification card. They waited until after
office hours, and went into Figley's office. As ever, they used
the nearest photocopier. On two occasions they stayed in the
building until 10:00 p.m., copying files on Scientology, and
every Interpol document they could find. Further burglaries
of Figley's office were committed by Silver, with GO agents
Joseph Alesi and Richard Kimmel.
On Saturday, January 17, 1976, Don Alverzo again flew to Washington.
The next evening, accompanied by Silver and Meisner, he entered
the main IRS building, using Silver's IRS identification. They
went up to the third floor where Lewis Hubbard's office and
Zuravin's file office were. Silver stood guard while Alverzo
tried to pick the lock on Hubbard's door. Meisner worked on
Zuravin's door. Their GO training, the "Breaking and Entering
Hat," did not serve them well. After about an hour and a half,
the exasperated Meisner forced Zuravin's door. The three went
into the office, stole the remaining "exempt" documents from
Zuravin's index, and took them to a photocopier on another floor.
After a while, Meisner and Alverzo left Silver to the copying
and returned to Hubbard's office. Eventually, Alverzo managed
to force the latch with a strip of cardboard. They took all
the files which had not previously been copied. The party left
232 THE GUARDIAN'S OFFICE 1974 - 1980
at two in the morning with a one foot stack of documents. Alverzo
returned to Los Angeles the next day.
At the beginning of February, Meisner again flew to Los Angeles
for a conference. There were representatives from the Guardian's
Office Legal and Finance Bureaus at the meeting, as well as
Church accountant Martin Greenberg. The meeting discussed IRS
strategy with regard to the Scientology audit, as revealed in
the stolen documents. Meisner was instructed to look out for
any documents dealing with the Religious Research Foundation,
a front through which Scientology monies were paid to Hubbard.
Mary Sue's Office was informed.
In Washington, Meisner relayed his instructions to Silver. The
offices of the Exempt Organizations Division were to be monitored
for files. The GO wanted advance warning in case there was an
adverse ruling on Scientology's current attempt to regain tax-exempt
status. They wanted to know before it was finalized, so they
could prepare their next line of defense.
Meisner had ordered Sharon Thomas to leave the U.S. Coast Guard,
and find a job at the Department of Justice. After initial difficulties,
she finally managed to do this, and started work there on February
29, 1976.
Silver had to be slightly more inventive than usual to get into
Joseph Tedesco's suite of offices. During the day, Silver removed
the knob from a door which led into the suite, and disabled
the lock. The door was not normally in use, so the ploy went
unnoticed. That night Silver returned and carried out his usual
procedure.
Silver also stole files relating to the American Medical Association's
tax-exemption, as ammunition for Scientology's long standing
battle against the AMA.
At the beginning of March, Meisner decided to refine the GO
operation. He and Silver went into the main IRS building, again
using Silver's legitimate card, in his real name, Gerald Wolfe.
They went to the IRS Identification Room on the first floor,
and forced the door. While Meisner read the instruction booklet
for the photo equipment, Silver typed two fictitious names for
himself, and two for Meisner, onto cards. They then used the
photo equipment to put their faces to the names. Meisner selected
numbers from the log of previously issued cards. During the
next few months, false identification cards were made for four
other GO agents.
Infiltration 233
In March 1976, Mary Sue Hubbard approved a Program written by
Cindy Raymond, for the collection of what were termed "non-FOI
data" - i.e. documents not available through the Freedom of
Information Act. Raymond, who was the GO Collections Officer
U.S., planned to infiltrate no less than 136 government agencies!
She also ordered Meisner to obtain material relating to proposed
amendments of the Freedom of Information Act.
In April, Meisner and Silver returned to the Justice Department.
Meisner used an identification card made out to "John M. Foster,"
while Silver used his own genuine IRS card, which later proved
to be a crucial mistake. They burgled the office of Deputy Attorney
General of the United States, Harold Tyler, and copied memoranda
which the Justice Department was about to send to Congress outlining
its position on proposed amendments to the FOIA. The office
door was forced to gain entry.
A few days later, Cindy Raymond wrote to Meisner explaining
that the Justice Department had just concluded an investigation
of the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The distribution
of the "DeFeo Report" was designated "severely limited." The
Church had just lost an FOIA case against the DEA. Raymond told
Meisner to steal the DeFeo Report. Meisner knew where to go,
having noticed the Report during his last raid.
Meisner put "Operation Chaos Leak" into action. The DeFeo Report
was highly critical of the DEA, so leaking it would create adverse
press. The GO believed a scandal might help to color the judge's
view in their appeal against the DEA decision. Half of the DeFeo
Report was given to the Village Voice in New York by Meisner,
who pretended to be a disaffected Justice Department employee.
Meisner had been ordered to obtain all files relating to Ron
and Mary Sue Hubbard from the Office of International Operations
of the IRS (OIO). Silver and Meisner, the latter using his "Foster"
identification, entered the OIO building, and went to the tenth
floor to burgle the office of Thomas Crate. The door was locked.
One of the cleaning ladies told a security guard there were
two suspicious characters on the tenth floor. Silver and Meisner
fobbed the guard off with their IRS identification cards. The
cleaning lady then opened Crate's office for them. By this time,
Meisner had nerves of steel.
They found more documents in a locked cabinet belonging to Crate's
superior, Howard Rosen. They could not find a photocopying
234 THE GUARDIAN'S OFFICE 1974 - 1980
machine in the OIO building, so took the files to the main IRS
building, and copied them there.
During the next few months, Sharon Thomas stole files from the
Information and Privacy Unit of the Department of Justice relating
to pending Scientology initiated FOIA suits. Files relating
to the Church's FOIA suit against the Energy Research and Development
Administration were also stolen. The Interpol Liaison Office
was raided, and the safe broken into. The material stolen included
Interpol files on terrorism. Meisner had been instructed to
take all and any Interpol files, so that material obtained could
be used to show Interpol's "criminality." Several thousand pages
of Interpol documents were taken.
In a chambers hearing of a Scientology FOIA case, Judge Hart
asked Justice Department attorney Nathan Dodell whether he had
considered taking L. Ron Hubbard's deposition. The Scientologists'
attorney, Walter Birkeli, reported back. In the panic, Meisner
was ordered to check Dodell's office to see what he was planning.
He was also ordered to find information which could be used
to remove Judge Hart from the case. Safeguarding Hubbard, even
from an appearance, was the GO's top priority.
Early in May, Silver and Meisner reconnoitered the United States
Courthouse building. They went first to the Bar Association
library, on the same floor as Dodell's office. They found the
nearest photocopy machines, and then went to Dodell's office.
The door was locked, and the tool they usually used failed to
lift the latch. For once, they left a mission incomplete.
A few days later, Silver phoned Meisner from Dodell's office.
No doubt in hushed tones, he excitedly told his superior that
a secretary had left her keys on the desk. Silver and Meisner
found a locksmith, who made copies of the keys for them. Once
again GO operatives had waltzed through the security system
of a U.S. government agency.
On the evening of May 21, Silver and Meisner presented themselves
at the U.S. Courthouse, showing the security guard their fake
IRS credentials. They were given permission to do legal research
in the Bar Association Library. They went up to the third floor
and signed the log. Putting a few books out on a table at the
back of the library, they left through the back door, which
led into the hallway outside Dodell's office. Using the duplicate
keys they entered the office. With a flashlight they peered
at the files on Scientology. After copying about 1,000 pages,
they returned the originals, and went back to the library,
Infiltration 235
leaving at about 11:00 p.m. The documents were the Interpol
files which had been withheld from Scientology by the National
Bureau of Interpol.
A week later, Silver and Meisner again went to do "research"
in the Bar Association Library. They had signed in as "John
Foster," and "W. Haake" (perhaps an elaborate joke since Sir
John Foster and F.W. Haack were both critics of Scientology),
and copied about 2,000 pages of documents relating to Scientology,
most from Washington, DC, police files, and Food and Drug
Administration files. All were taken from Dodell's office.
They were replacing the originals, when librarian Charles Johnson
stopped them. He asked if they had signed in, and told them
not to come back without the permission of a chief librarian.
Having braved this challenge, they had to sneak back to Dodell's
office and replace the stolen originals.
CHAPTER THREE
Operation Meisner
Why should a man certain of immortality think of his life at
all? - JOSEPH CONRAD, Under Western Eyes
Early in June 1976, the GO issued "Project: Target Dodell."
Dodell was too successful in the defense against the Scientology
FOIA legal suits. Meisner was ordered to steal files from Dodell's
office which could be used to formulate an operation to remove
him as an Assistant U.S. Attorney. By this time Meisner had
requested and received written permission to use the Bar Association
Library.
At seven o'clock on the evening of June 11, Meisner and Wolfe
(Silver) signed in. This time Wolfe was using a card in the
name of "Thomas Blake." Meisner showed librarian Johnson the
written permission he had obtained. They followed their usual
route through the back of the library, but found that cleaners
were still at work in Dodell's office.
While Meisner and Wolfe were waiting at the back of the library,
two FBI agents approached them. Librarian Charles Johnson had
reported their earlier visit to the U.S. Attorney's Office.
Little was made of it at the time, but Johnson was instructed
to call the FBI if the two suspicious IRS men returned. Meisner
presented his false IRS credentials, and said he had since resigned
from the IRS. One of the
236
Operation Meisner 237
agents stayed with Meisner and Wolfe, while the other went to
find an Assistant U.S. Attorney.
Meisner said they were doing legal research, and had been using
the photocopier to copy legal texts. He gave an address, a few
doors from his own, to FBI agent Christine Hansen. After about
fifteen minutes of questioning, Meisner asked if they were under
arrest. When he was told they were not, he said they were leaving.
The other agent, Dan Hodges, saw them on his way back to the
Library. Meisner called to him to say Hansen had given them
permission to leave. Once again Meisner had faked out the enemy.
They walked for several blocks to make sure they were not being
followed, and then took a taxi to Martin's Tavern restaurant.
Meisner phoned his superior, Mitchell Hermann, in Los Angeles,
and in a roundabout way told him they had been stopped. Hermann
told him to call him back at a public telephone. In the subsequent
conversation, Hermann told Meisner to wait at the restaurant,
and phone back an hour later, so Hermann could contact the Deputy
Guardian for Information U.S., Richard Weigand.
Meisner's incredible luck had finally turned. The GO operation
in Washington was finished. A "Church" had penetrated U.S. government
agencies willy-nilly. They had come and gone undetected for
eighteen months, copying tens of thousands of pages of government
files, including very sensitive and restricted material. It
is little wonder that when the FBI raid against the Church of
Scientology finally came, a year later, it was a show of strength.
Few people would understand the reason for such a show. It was
intended for those in the Guardian's Office, who would understand
only too well.
The GO ordered Wolfe to turn himself in, as part of the operation
to conceal their involvement. He was arrested at his desk at
the IRS before he had a chance to surrender. The FBI had simply
checked every record where "John M. Foster" had signed into
official buildings. Then they had checked the identifications
given by the man with him. "W. Haake" and "Thomas Blake" had
not turned up anything, but sometimes Wolfe had used his real
IRS credentials. He was arrested for using false credentials
the other times. The FBI proved that the monolithic U.S. government
agencies were not quite as stupid as the GO had come to believe.
Wolfe told the FBI he had been doing legal research under his
own steam, and said he had never known the other man as anything
other than "Foster." The story was manufactured in the GO, and
Wolfe was
238 THE GUARDIAN'S OFFICE 1974 - 1980
drilled on it. He maintained it through a grand jury hearing,
adding perjury and conspiracy to obstruct justice to his other
crimes.
Two months later, at the end of August 1976, an FBI agent arrived
at the Church of Scientology in Washington with a warrant for
the arrest of Michael Meisner. In the Courthouse library, he
had given an address a few doors from his own. The FBI had traced
him by talking to his neighbors.
Instead of turning Meisner in, the GO added harboring a fugitive
to its growing list of crimes. The GO was in a state of panic,
and suggestions of how best to handle the situation multiplied.
The first plan was to fly Meisner to Europe to wait it out.
His appearance was immediately changed. He was to look like
a middle-aged man trying to be fashionable. He was to shave
his head, wear contact lenses, have a tooth capped, lose or
gain weight, and wear "earth shoes" to change his posture. He
went through a rapid succession of identities, becoming first
"Jeff Burns," then "Jeff Marks," and then "Jeff Murphy." Controller
Mary Sue Hubbard wrote to one of her juniors that it would be
safest for Meisner to disappear in a big city.
Mary Sue Hubbard also acknowledged receipt of a copy of Meisner's
arrest warrant, and continued to discuss various concocted alibis
for Meisner with Guardian Jane Kember and other GO officials.
The FBI discovered these exchanges in their 1977 raid.
Lieutenant Warren Young, a Scientologist in the San Diego police,
checked the National Crime Information Center computer records
to see how the hunt for Meisner was progressing. The FBI questioned
Young, who claimed he had arrested Meisner for a pedestrian
violation.
The GO in Washington supplied false samples of Meisner's handwriting
to the FBI. These were to be compared to the signatures in the
logs of various government buildings. Mary Sue Hubbard requested
a list of buildings illegally entered by Meisner. It was impressive,
eleven were listed in the reply: the Department of Justice,
the Internal Revenue Service, the Office of International Operations,
the Post Office, the Labor Department's National Office, the
Federal Trade Commission, the Department of the Treasury, U.S.
Customs, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the offices of
the American Medical Association's attorneys, and the offices
of the St. Petersburg Times' attorneys in Washington.
One of Meisner's seniors even toyed with the idea of creating
a cover for Meisner whereby he would claim to have been researching
the poor security of government buildings.
Operation Meisner 239
By the end of October, Meisner, in hiding in Los Angeles, was
expressing concern at the vacillations of his superiors. He
was assured that Mary Sue Hubbard was working on his case personally.
Indeed she was, and a few days later she suggested that Meisner
turn himself in, saying the whole affair had arisen out of his
jealousy of his wife's consistently superior performance in
the Guardian's Office. To outdo her, he had organized the burglaries
of government offices, unbeknown to any of his GO colleagues.
Then it was suggested that Meisner turn himself in, plead guilty,
and take the Fifth Amendment (refuse to answer questions because
they might incriminate him) if asked about his superiors. Meisner
was willing to be the scapegoat, and willing to go to prison,
such was his devotion to the cause: but the sooner the "shore
story" was settled the better. Otherwise the FBI might hit paydirt.
He was fearful of the consequences for Scientology, and aware
that his own fate could only be worsened by delay.
While in hiding, Meisner continued to work for the Guardian's
Office, and to receive Scientology auditing. His pleas for a
swift resolution were repeatedly rejected, and he threatened
to leave, for either Washington or Canada, if decisive action
was not taken. This was the situation in April 1977, ten months
after the Courthouse library incident. He had been a fugitive
for eight months. The GO responded to Meisner's threat by transforming
his "case officer," Brian Andrus, into his jailer.
Andrus and three heavies, accompanied by two high officials
of the Guardian's Office, visited Meisner. He was told that
from now on he would have to follow orders. His apartment was
searched, and anything which might conceivably connect Meisner
to Scientology removed. As usual, Mary Sue Hubbard was informed.
A month later, Andrus visited Meisner and told him he was going
to be moved to another apartment. He refused to leave, and the
"two guards handcuffed him behind his back, gagged him and dragged
him out of the building. Outside, they forced him onto the floor
in the back of a waiting car. In the car, one of the guards
held Meisner down with his feet." This account comes from the
Stipulation of Evidence signed by Mary Sue Hubbard and eight
senior GO officials, as do all of the principal details of this
chapter. There is no conjecture. There are reams of uncontested
documents.
Meisner gradually persuaded his captors that he was willing
to cooperate, and by the end of May he was down to a single
guard. One
240 THE GUARDIAN'S OFFICE 1974 - 1980
day, Meisner broke away and leapt into a taxi. He went to a
bus station, and from there to Las Vegas. Despite everything,
Meisner was still devoted to Scientology. He felt his captors
had failed to take the proper course for the good of Scientology,
and wanted time to think the situation through.
The next day, Meisner phoned the GO and told them he was in
Las Vegas. They had already worked out a new angle or "shore
story" in case Meisner had gone over to the "enemy." Cindy Raymond
suggested that the FBI be told that Meisner was trying to blackmail
the Church, by threatening to pretend that it had harbored him
after the warrant for his arrest was issued.
Meisner agreed to meet one of his former guards, Jim Douglas,
in Las Vegas. At the meeting, Meisner refused to return to Los
Angeles. It was too late, the GO had found out where he was
staying, and another official met him there, and persuaded him
that everything had changed with the removal of a senior GO
executive.
The Scientologists constantly excuse reprehensible acts by blaming
them on a Suppressive who has subsequently been removed. Hubbard
had first used this scapegoat approach as early as 1952 with
his outlandish attack on Don Purcell. This is what comes from
believing in the evil influence of Suppressives, and their magical
power for disruption. Most Scientologists accept the excuse
every time it is trotted out. Meisner did, and he returned to
Los Angeles.
In fact, Andrus had ordered that a new apartment be found for
Meisner. Meisner was to be put in a room either with a window
too small for him to escape through, or no window at all. He
was to have no further contact with the outside world. Meisner
was installed in the apartment immediately upon his return to
Los Angeles.
In June 1977, in Washington, DC, Gerald "Silver" Wolfe was sentenced
to probation and community service, having pleaded guilty to
the forgery of credentials. On the day he was sentenced, Wolfe
was subpoenaed to appear the same afternoon before a grand jury,
which had been investigating the entries into the U.S. Courthouse.
The FBI was hot on the trail.
Wolfe paraded his carefully drilled story, claiming he had gone
to the courthouse library to educate himself in legal research,
so he would be able to get a better job. He said his accomplice
was only known to him as "John Foster." After his appearance,
Wolfe was meticulously debriefed by the GO.
Operation Meisner 241
Meisner managed to ingratiate himself with his captors again.
From June 17, 1977, he was no longer guarded at night. Three
days later, he collected a few clothes and left the apartment.
He watched his back carefully to make sure he was not being
followed, and changed buses twice en route to a bowling alley.
From there he made a collect call to an Assistant U.S. Attorney
in Washington, pretending to be Gerald Wolfe, just in case the
GO had an operative in the Attorney's office. Two hours later,
Meisner surrendered himself to the FBI.
While the GO was concocting a story about Meisner having tried
to blackmail them after setting up the Washington operations
on his own initiative, the FBI, with Meisner to help them, was
moving at full speed. Meisner contacted the GO to say he was
thinking things over. They were put off guard. In fact, Meisner
had at last thought things over, and concluded that there was
something very wrong with an organization which resorted to
the criminal tactics of the Church of Scientology. He had broken
out of the Kafkaesque nightmare, and made his confession, this
time not to a Scientology Auditor, but to the FBI. On July 7,
1977, the FBI carried out one of the largest raids in its history:
on the Guardian's Office of the Church of Scientology, simultaneously
in both Los Angeles and Washington, DC.
As a result eleven GO officials, including Guardian Jane Kember
and Controller Mary Sue Hubbard, were eventually imprisoned.
PART SIX
THE COMMODORE'S
MESSENGERS
1977-1982
When you move off a point of power, pay all your obligations
on the nail, empower all your friends completely and move off
with your pockets full of artillery, potential blackmail on
every erstwhile rival, unlimited funds in your private account
and the addresses of experienced assassins and go live in Bulgravia
[sic] and bribe the police. - L. RON HUBBARD, HCO Policy Letter,
"The Responsibilities of Leaders," February 12, 1967
243
CHAPTER ONE
Making Movies
In the late 1960s aboard the Apollo, Hubbard used the children
of Scientologists to run messages. He set them up with their
own "Org," and their own child Ethics Officers, one of whom
was only eight years old. Eventually they came to be known as
the Commodore's Messenger Org, or CMO. They grew up around Hubbard,
usually separated from their parents.
Several former members of the CMO have given full and shocking
accounts of their time with Hubbard. In addition to carrying
messages, Messengers looked after all the Commodore's personal
needs. Teenage girls wearing white hot pants would put out his
clothes for him, prepare his shower, dress him, change the music
on his tape recorder, light his cigarettes, even catch the ash
as it fell. The CMO Household Unit would rinse Hubbard's washing
seven and later as many as seventeen times to rid it of the
vaguest hint of the smell of soap. There was a Messenger on
"watch" twenty-four hours a day to attend to his slightest whim.
The story of Messenger Tonja Burden is compelling. Her parents
were enthusiastic Scientologists, and encouraged their daughter
to join the Sea Org in March 1973, when she was only thirteen.
A few months later, she was separated from them and sent to
the Apollo. In September, her parents left the Sea Organization,
and Scientology. Tonja remained in the custody of the Sea Org.
Legally she was beyond their reach, on a Panamanian vessel far
from U.S. waters. She was told that her father had been declared
Suppressive. Nonetheless, she wanted to
245
246 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
gO home, and tried to persuade her seniors that she could convince
her parents to rejoin Scientology. She says she was told to
Disconnect, which "meant no more communication with my parents.
They told me that my parents would not make it in the world,
but that I would make it in the world."
She was assigned to "Training Routines" to teach her the duties
of a Commodore's Messenger:
During the Training Routines, myself and two others practiced
carrying messages to LRH. We had to listen to a message, repeat
it in the same tone, and practice salutes.
"Ghosting" was on the job training where I learned how to serve
LRH. I followed another messenger around and observed her carry
his hat, light his cigarettes, carry his ashtray, and prepare
his toiletries. Eventually, I performed those duties.
As his servant, I would sit outside his room and help him out
of bed when he called "messenger." I responded by assisting
him out of bed, lighting his cigarette, running his shower,
preparing his toiletries and helping him dress. After that I
ran to the office to check it, hoping it passed "white-glove"
inspection [if their was the slightest mark on a white glove
run over a surface, the whole area would have to be recleaned].
He frequently exploded if he found dust or din or smelled soap
in his clothes. That is why we used 13 buckets to rinse....
While on the Apollo, I observed numerous punishments meted out
for many minor infractions or mistakes made in connection with
Hubbard's very strict and bizarre policies. On a number of occasions,
I saw people placed in the "chain lockers" of the boat on direct
orders of Hubbard. These lockers were small, smelly holes, covered
by grates, where the chain for the anchor was stored. I saw
one boy held in there for thirty nights, crying and begging
to be released. He was only allowed out to clean the bilges
where the sewer and refuse of the ship collected. I believe
his "crimes" were taking or using a musical instrument, I believe
a flute, of someone else [sic] without permission.
This is how Tonja summed up her days in the CMO: "I was in Scientology
from the age of thirteen to the age of eighteen. I received
at some times $2.50 per week pay, and at other times approximately
$17.20 a week. I received no education."
Tonja Burden remained in the Commodores Messenger Org until
November 1977, when, aged eighteen, she made her escape from
Scientology. In 1986, the Scientologists paid her an out of
court settlement to abandon a suit she had brought for kidnapping.
Making Movies 247
In October 1975, when the Apollo finally ran out of ports in
which to berth, Hubbard flew ashore with a small CMO unit. When
he fled to Washington, DC, in 1976, he was again accompanied
by a small CMO unit. The CMO became Hubbard's eyes and ears
in the new Flag Land Base, from whence the Scientology Church
was controlled. They were known as CMO CW for Commodore's Messenger
Organization, Clearwater.
Hubbard was at "Winter Headquarters," codenamed Rifle, his hacienda
in La Quinta, from October 1976 until July 1977. In one of the
few Scientology "technical bulletins" written while there, he
took a characteristic swipe at the medical profession: "Doctors
are often careless and incompetent, psychiatrists are simply
outright murderers. The solution is not to pick up the pieces
for them but to demand medical doctors become competent, and
to abolish psychiatry and psychiatrists as well as psychologists
and other famous Nazi criminal outgrowths."1 This was the view
of the outside world which Hubbard implanted into his naive,
adolescent Messengers.
Commodore's Messenger Anne Rosenblum joined Hubbard's retinue
at La Quinta in the late Spring of 1977. His appearance surprised
her: "He had long reddish-grayish hair down past his shoulders,
rotting teeth, a really fat gut, and I believe at that time
he had a full beard for `disguise.' He didn't look anything
like his pictures."2
In July, with the FBI raids of the Guardian's Offices in Los
Angeles and Washington, Hubbard went into even deeper seclusion.
One of his two controlling lines into Scientology had been through
the GO in Los Angeles. He fled with three of his Messengers.
It was obvious to Hubbard that for the GO to have been caught
it must be riddled with Suppressives. Communication to the GO
was therefore dangerous, and the CMO became his only remaining
link with the Church. The young Messengers had not suffered
the corruption of the outside (or "wog") world. They were
the children of Scientologists, often indoctrinated since birth,
and many had spent their formative years in the company of the
Commodore. Now the key Messengers, nearly all girls, were in
their late teens, and ferociously dedicated to their Commodore.
From this point, Hubbard would increasingly place his trust
in them.
Hubbard, with three Messengers, left for Sparks, Nevada, in
the dead of night, in Hubbard's station-wagon, Beauty. They
drove away from the hacienda with their lights off, so pursuit
could be readily detected. Hubbard had stomach trouble throughout
the trip. Perhaps his old "wound," the ulcer which still provided
him with a veteran's
248 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977 - 1982
pension, was acting up? A scheme went into effect almost immediately
to camouflage Hubbard, and keep him hidden from the world. The
two older Messengers were married, under assumed names. The
marriage was bigamous for both of them, but legal considerations
rarely stopped close devotees from serving Hubbard. The bigamists
then claimed that Hubbard was their elderly grand-uncle, and
the third Messenger a cousin, and set up house together.
Hubbard stayed in seclusion for almost six months, maintaining
control of the Scientology Church through his Messengers. He
used the time to outline thirty-three Scientology training films,
writing the scripts for fifteen. He also wrote a peculiar screenplay
called Revolt in the Stars. Despite his admonitions that OT3
was lethal to the uninitiated, Revolt in the Stars centered
on the supposed incidents of seventy-five million years ago,
providing many new details. The evil prince Xenu, perpetrator
of the massacre of millions, was apparently assisted in his
malicious deeds by the Galactic Minister of Police, Chi, and
the Executive President of the Galactic Interplanetary Bank,
Chu. Along with Chi and Chu, we find Mish, one of the few "Loyal
Officers" to survive the catastrophe, the Lady Min, and the
heroic Rawl, whom one suspects is the Hubbard character.
By December 1977, Hubbard could no longer resist the temptation
to turn his scripts to celluloid. The would-be spectacular Revolt
in the Stars was too ambitious, and would require the skills
and budget of the movie Star Wars, but he could make a start
with Scientology promotional and Tech films. The Tech films
were to be demonstrations of good auditing practice. Hubbard
moved back to winter HQ at La Quinta.
Two properties were purchased in Indio, California. A ten-acre
ranch, codenamed Monroe, became a barracks for the CMO crew
who made the Tech films. The 140-acre ranch where shooting actually
took place was called Silver, a popular codename, it seems.
In the grapefruit orchards of Silver, a huge barn was built,
camouflaging Hubbard's film studio.
A recruitment drive was launched in the Scientology world for
professionals experienced in music or film. At the age of fifteen,
VerDawn Hartwell left school to join the Commodore's Messenger
Organization. Her older sister had been involved in Scientology
for several years. Their parents were accomplished dancers,
and had just finished the introductory Communication Course
when they were approached by recruiters for the "CMO Cine Org."
They were lured out to the
Making Movies 249
desert with glib promises of excellent pay, exciting work and
a beautiful location. They were even shown photographs of the
resort hotel they would be staying in - in Clearwater. Instead
they ended up in the desert in the squalor of Monroe, with the
rest of the Cine Org.
Adell and Ernie Hartwell had given their family and friends
the address of their supposed destination. They were surprised
when the Scientologist who met them in Los Angeles checked to
see if the car was bugged, and drove down sidestreets to make
sure they were not being followed. He explained that the precautions
were because Hubbard's whereabouts were top secret.
Ernie was startled when they arrived: "I was absolutely shocked
to see everybody running around in shorts, ragged clothes, dirty,
and unkempt....They put us in a...little three-room shack on
the edge of the ranch....We go inside and what a mess...the place
was totally overrun with bugs, insects....The facilities consisted
of a mattress on the floor...when somebody turned the lights
on, of course, it stirred up all the bugs and everything began
to fly all over the place."
The Hartwells set to work, initially on a schedule starting
at seven in the morning and finishing at eleven or twelve at
night. In spite of their protests, they were given no free time,
even on weekends. They were told the recruiter who had lied
to them about the wonderful pay and working conditions was being
disciplined. The same old Scientology excuse, "he's been removed."
It did not help.
Adell Hartwell was confused by the set up:
The main thing that I disliked...before we could see the place,
we had to be programmed on the lies that we had to tell. If
we ran into one of our friends, we had to tell a lie to them
and tell them we were just there for a vacation. We had the
man's name and everything to give. We had to go twenty-five
miles to use the telephone, and...usually them was somebody
with us...Them was [sic] no papers...
We were schooled on how to get away from process servers, FBI
agents, any government official or any policeman who wanted
anything to do with Hubbard....There was [sic] four different
ways that they trained us to handle them, even if...[we] had
to use...physical force. And that went on for days, that
training. One of us would be the FBI agent and the other one
would be who we are...until we had it down pat.
...We were just like we had been cut off from the world.
We were behind closed - locked doors with curtains always pulled
....We were to hide anything pertaining to the word "Scientology"
in books or
250 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
anything that would disclose that it was the Church of
Scientology....Anytime we left from one building to another,
everything that we carried had to be in sacks. There was
nothing that could be visible that had "Scientology" on
it....Fred Roth was put in the RPF [Rehabilitation Project
Force] because he said the word "Scientology" on the golf
course.
All outgoing mail was censored, and all incoming mail came via
Clearwater. Ernie Hartwell was a Navy veteran, so Adell had
not led a sheltered life, even so she was startled by Hubbard's
turns of phrase:
I was in the shed one day, the wardrobe, working...I hadn't
met Hubbard at this time. And I heard this terrible screaming
filthy language like I had never heard before. I had something
in my hand and it fell to the floor and my mouth flew open.
I said, "Who in the world is that?" And they said it was the
Boss, because we weren't allowed to use the word "Hubbard" for
security reasons. And I said, "You mean the leader of the Church
speaks like that?" And they said, "Yes. He doesn't believe in
keeping anything back."
Ernie confirmed this: "He was a screaming maniac....He'd tell
you to do one thing and turn around two minutes later and tell
you not to do it." Many people who were once close to Hubbard
have remarked on his screaming fits.
In her five month stay, Dell never saw Hubbard vary his wardrobe:
"He's a big man with a big stomach. His hair was long and shabby -
gray, with reddish spots, and he always wore pants that were
way too big with one suspender, and he always had a bandana
and a cowboy hat.'"
In keeping with Hubbard's dust phobia, the set had to be washed
down, with special odor-free soap, before he arrived each day,
and rinsed four times over with clean water. A "white glove
inspection" would take place. This could be problematical when
sets had just been painted. The crew would desperately use anything
at hand to dry the paint, after a lookout atop a pole sighted
Hubbard's car in the distance. Sets which would have taken Hollywood
weeks to prepare had to be built in a single day. Filming was
usually done at night.
People with a fever would be "quarantined" in a ten by twelve
foot room. Adell Hartwell says that at one time there were thirteen
teenagers crammed in, all running fevers, and all still smoking
(cancer
Making Movies 251
being the result of engrams or body thetans or whatever, supposedly
granting Scientologists immunity).
Hubbard would arrive at eight in the evening, and the crew would
slavishly follow his screamed instructions until seven the next
morning with a single half-hour break, but nothing to eat or
drink.
As a makeup assistant, Adell Hartwell helped Hubbard to satisfy
one of his obsessions. Gallons of imitation blood were prepared:
Did he ever like those films to be bloody....We'd be shooting
a scene and all of a sudden he'd yell "Stop! Make it more gory,
make it more gory." We'd go running out on the set with all
this Karo syrup and food coloring and we'd just dump it all
over the actors. Then we'd film some more and he'd stop it again
and say "it's not gory enough." And we'd throw some more blood
on them.
...We were doing a scene where they were bombing the FBI
office...and we had so much blood on those actors...
we couldn't even get enough on them to suit Hubbard. We had
guys' legs off, there were hands off, arms - I mean, it was a
mess from the word go. We had so much blood on those actors
that they had to take their clothes and all and soak in the
shower before they could undress. This is what Hubbard wanted.
This film about the FBI was shown to U.S. Scientologists through
the time leading up to the trial of Mary Sue Hubbard and other
Guardian's Office staff. On one occasion, Hubbard ordered so
much gore that two actors had to be cut out of their clothes
which had stuck fast.
The Commodore would explode into furious tantrums. According
to Adell, "I actually saw him take his hat off one day and stomp
on it and cry like a baby. I have seen him just take his arm...
and throw it wild and hit girls in the face....One girl would
follow him with a chair. If he sat down, that chair had to be
right where he was going to sit. One girl missed by a few inches;
he fell off of it, and she was put in the RPF."
The crew was kept under intense and constant pressure. Even
Hubbard's cook would work from six in the morning to ten at
night simply to prepare three meals to the Commodore's satisfaction.
Hubbard frequently complained that the crew was overspending.
At one time they had to use pages from phone directories for
toilet paper, because of the supposed extravagance. Conditions
were dreadful even for the crew who were in "good standing,"
but for those on the
252 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
Rehabilitation Project Force conditions were well nigh impossible.
RPFers kept their few clothes in boxes, and slept on mattresses
thrown out in the open through the few daylight hours alloted
to them.
Adells teenage daughter was put on the RPF, and Adell was traumatized
when she was not even allowed to talk to her: "I would see her
dragging her mattress from one shade tree to another. I said,
`Why are you doing this?' And she was ill and she couldn't be
in with the others, and so she was hunting shade...it's
117 degrees."
Ernie Hartwell takes up the story: "We were not programmed into
Scientology; we were not brainwashed. We were not following
a great guiding light or any great pull that L. Ron Hubbard
had....All the other people...accepted those conditions....
They didn't mind the bugs and the snakes...the lousy food,
the lousy living conditions, all the dirt."
The Hartwells decided they were not going to take any more,
and were told they would have to appear in front of a "Board"
before they could leave. They were kept waiting for two weeks.
Throughout this time the Scientologists worked on Adell, and
on the day they were due to go, she told Ernie she was staying
behind. They had been married for nearly fifteen years. She
was ill, and both of them felt that Scientology auditing would
help her. Ernie resolved to go back to Las Vegas, and find a
job to help pay for any medical treatment that Adell needed
to supplement her auditing. Vet-Dawn was determined to stay
close to Hubbard.
Ernie said, "It seems like they do everything they can to destroy
families and happiness. For me...it was the hardest thing I
ever had to do in my life, leaving them there in the condition
that they were in and leaving them with a man that was totally
insane."
Back in Las Vegas, Ernie found work. About six weeks after he
left the CMO Cine Org, he was visited by a Scientologist "chaplain,"
who accused him of disclosing Hubbard's whereabouts. Having
done this, the Scientologist produced the Hartwells' marriage
license, and said Adell wanted a divorce. Ernie was speechless.
Then he was asked if Adell and Ver-Dawn could use his address
for passport applications, as they were leaving the United States.
Adell had been told that because Ernie had given away Hubbard's
location, the whole crew would have to go overseas. She was
told that her marriage license would be needed to obtain a passport.
She knew nothing about any divorce.
Making Movies 253
The recruiters had promised that Adell Hartwell would be given
special auditing and proper medical care for her illness. No
treatment was given, and her condition was growing progressively
worse. One day she worked without eating. It was 102 degrees
in the shade:
By five-thirty I just got deathly ill, and I told them I had
to leave. And I staggered quite a ways....I fell in the ditch;
it was like I was drunk....They came in and woke me up and
said it was seven o'clock I had to go down because Hubbard was
going to be on the set. And I wouldn't do it. And I was written
up [reported to Ethics].
...Another time I complained I had to go home because I wasn't
being treated. I was thin and bleeding and in quite severe pain,
and they took me right in and put me on the Meter....The next
night they had us scrubbing the barn; we started at six o'clock
and we scrubbed that barn until four o'clock in the morning...
anybody that ran a fever was immediately put out of commission.
But anybody that was ill and not running a fever, they were
made fun of and ridiculed.
Nearly three months after their separation, Adell Hartwell left
the film crew, and rejoined her husband. Their next shock was
receiving a "Freeloader Bill" for the auditing and training
Adell had received during her five month stay in the desert.
The bill was for $5,500. When Ernie complained to the Las Vegas
Guardian's Office, he was told that they had neglected to bill
him the $5,000 he owed, bringing the total to $10,500.
A few days later, Ernie Hartwell was asked to sign a bond for
$30,000, payable if he said anything bad about Scientology.
Infuriated, Ernie pointed out that he had kept his part of every
bargain, while the Scientologists had kept to nothing. He demanded
a letter from them, saying they would leave him alone. After
half a dozen futile meetings, the Scientologists raised their
demands. Ernie was to sign a statement saying he had been an
alcoholic all his life, had abused his children, had been a
poor father and provider, had murdered his father, and owed
Scientology $60,000. The threats and harassment continued for
several months. Even the FBI raids had failed to halt the excesses
of the Guardian's Office.
Eventually, worn down and scared half out of his wits, Ernie
felt compelled to do exactly what the GO was trying to prevent.
To protect Adell and himself, he went to the police and told
them everything. Somehow the GO persuaded a newspaper to run
a story saying Ernie
254 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
Hartwell had tried to extort money from Scientology. Television
picked it up. Ernie was one man against a powerful organization.
Eddie Waiters, who was working for the Las Vegas GO at the time,
has since confirmed the Hartwells' claims of harassment. Another
witness has testified that Hubbard himself ordered that Ernie
Hartwells confessional folders be "culled" for anything reprehensible.4
Indeed, there are many witnesses to the systematic "culling"
of confessional folders throughout Scientology over a period
of many years, with the purpose of finding material to blackmail
individuals into conformity with Church objectives. Mary Sue
Hubbard wrote an order in 1969 for the GO to use this information
gathering lactic. During the making of the Tech films, most
of the crew's folders were similarly culled for potentially
useful information.
Most of the energy put into the films was wasted anyway, as
Adell has said: "Funny thing about those movies is that they
never get shown to anyone. Hubbard would always blame somebody
for screwing it up and order the movie shelved.
In 1986, the Church of Scientology paid $150,000 to Adell Hartwell
in a secret settlement of her litigation against it.
While pursuing his directorial dreams and bloodlust through
the Tech films, Hubbard once more revised Dianetics. It became
New Era Dianetics, or "NED." Hubbard had also been railing against
LSD, and devised the "Sweat Program." Hubbard was convinced
that LSD "sticks around in the body," a questionable hypothesis,
as LSD is both unstable and water-soluble. Hubbard's program
was supposed to "flush" traces of LSD from the body. Anyone
who had taken LSD was to take a mega-dose of vitamins, and a
teaspoon of salt a day. The diet was restricted to fruit, fruit
juice and "predigested liquid protein." The victim was then
to jog in a rubberized nylon sweat suit, for at least an hour
a day.6 Some unfortunates spent months on this program, until
it was eventually replaced with the "Purification Rundown."
There is no doubt that this bizarre program severely damaged
some people's health.
Hubbard did not undertake the Sweat Program himself, but he
did have a great deal of New Era Dianetic auditing. It did nothing
for his temper tantrums. The Tech film project ground to a halt
shortly before Adell Hartwell left. Hubbard was in a very bad
way.
CHAPTER TWO
The Rise of the Messengers
Hubbard's health had deteriorated over the years. He continued
to suffer from heavy colds, and chain-smoked three to four packs
of cigarettes a day. In 1965, he was bedridden and thought he
was going to die.1 This feeling recurred almost annually. Early
in 1967 he was again bedridden, this time because of drug abuse.
In 1972, he went into hiding in New York for almost a year,
again very ill for much of this period. Shortly after his return
to the ship at the end of 1973, he hurt himself badly in a motorcycle
accident. He had suffered a heart attack in 1975, and the attendant
embolism had forced him to take anticoagulant drugs for a year.
His bursitis had never ceased to plague him, and he was usually
grossly overweight.
David Mayo had been involved in Scientology since the late 1950s.
He had joined the Sea Org soon after its inception, becoming
one of the few Class 12 Auditors. By the time the Flag Land
Base was established in Florida, in 1975, Mayo had become the
Senior Case Supervisor Flag. He was the top dog in the world
of Scientology "Tech."
In September 1978, a confidential telex ordered Mayo to quit
Florida immediately for Los Angeles. A Commodore's Messenger
met him at the airport. As they drove down the freeway to Palm
Springs, the Messenger apologized to Mayo, but asked him to
put on a pair of dark glasses. It was the middle of the night,
but Mayo humored his escort. The glasses had been painted over.
Top security was being maintained. Mayo dozed, until the driver
braked hard because he had nearly
255
256 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
overshot the freeway exit. The glasses flew off and Mayo had
to reassure the driver that he had not seen the Indio exit sign.
Mayo was told that Hubbard was very ill, and was given Hubbard's
"case folders" to study. Mayo was to determine what auditing
errors Hubbard's current condition stemmed from. He was taken
to see the Commodore: "I must admit I got quite a shock, because
the last time I'd seen him he'd been full of energy and active
and it was a surprise to see him lying on his back....He was
lying there almost in a coma, although he had his eyes open,
and when I went in the room and said hello to him his eyes flickered
and he gave me a little smile."
Hubbard had suffered another pulmonary embolism, a blood clot
in the artery to the lungs. Kima Douglas had once again saved
his life. This time she was unable to overrule his refusal to
go to hospital, so, imitating the doctors at Curacao, she fed
him a huge dose of his pills. He drifted into a coma. Douglas
stripped an electric wire, with the desperate idea that he could
be shocked back to life. She stayed by him for forty-eight hours.
Scientologist medical doctor Eugene Denk was rushed from Los
Angeles, blindfolded, to relieve her.2
While Kima Douglas and Dr. Denk ministered to Hubbard's physical
needs, Mayo devised an auditing program and set to work. He
concluded that the New Era Dianetic auditing had been to blame,
and it was decided that Dianetics should not be given Clears,
because of its deleterious effect upon them. This was not heartening
to the thousands of Clears who had paid huge amounts for hundreds
of hours of Dianetics.
The procedures brought into being by Mayo and Hubbard became
known as New Era Dianetics for Operating Thetans, ("NED for
OTs," or, most simply, "NOTs"). Mayo says that what they actually
concentrated upon during the auditing were misconceptions; somehow
the emphasis changed to Body Thetans when Hubbard helped Mayo
rework his notes. Still, Mayo was made Senior Case Supervisor
International, an entirely new position, as a mark of Hubbard's
gratitude.
While recovering, Hubbard approved the purchase of the Massacre
Canyon Inn resort complex at Gilman Hot Springs. There were
several buildings, including a motel and a hotel, set in 520
acres and including a twenty-seven-hole golf course. The property
was about forty miles from La Quinta, near the small town of
Hemet. The purchase price was $2.7 million.
The Rise of the Messengers 257
At the end of 1978, the CMO Rehabilitation Project Force started
to prepare Gilman. The CMO Special Unit, the channel through
which Hubbard managed Scientology, moved there the following
February. Mayo continued to audit Hubbard, and had to move in
with the CMO.
Hubbard went even deeper into hiding for a few weeks in March
1979, travelling with a CMO escort to nearby Lake Elsinore.
In April, he moved to an apartment in Hemet, where he lived
with about ten Messengers. The security around him was extremely
tight. Very few people knew his whereabouts; by this time he
was even hiding from the Guardian's Office.
In February, Hubbard, at last recovering from his illness, had
turned his attention back to the worldwide Scientology scene.
The CMO did a statistical analysis for him. How many people
were receiving auditing and training? How much money was being
made? How many new people were coming into Scientology? Hubbard
did not like what he saw. The number of active Scientologists
was diminishing, as was the amount of money being made. Students
were abandoning their courses and demanding refunds. The obvious
reasons were the twenty-fold increase in prices since November
1976, and revelations in the media about the Guardian's Office.
Hubbard ignored the obvious however, and issued the "Change
the Civilization Eval[uation]. ,,3 The Guardian's Office had
let him down, and so had Sea Org management. The Commodore's
Messenger Organization had been concerned with Hubbard's personal
welfare, and with his personal projects (the films, for instance).
Now they seemed to him to be the remaining loyal unit of his
private army, and they were to enforce his will upon the renegades.
Hubbard reprimanded the CMO for issuing orders under their own
title. Hubbard must not be seen to be managing Scientology under
any circumstances. The pretence of his resignation from Church
Martin Hunt
management in 1966 had to be rigorously maintained. Otherwise
he would be wide open to the extensive litigation against Scientology.
Worst of all he was implicated in the case against his wife,
and her cohorts in the Guardian's Office, and he too might be
indicted. He had already been named (along with twenty-nine
others) as an as yet unindicted coconspirator.
The CMO were a latter-day Praetorian Guard, at first protecting
and serving the whims of their Emperor, but gradually becoming
the most powerful element in the hierarchy of command. Long
the interface between Hubbard and the rest of the Church, part
of the CMO became
258 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
the senior management body: the Commodore's Messenger Organization
International, or CMO Int. But as the Commodore's Messenger
Organization was quite obviously connected to the Commodore,
they had to find a new title. So the Watchdog Committee (WDC)
came into being, in April 1979. It consisted solely of the senior
executives of CMO Int.
The function of WDC was to "put senior management back on post."
They did this by absorbing all top management posts. The members
of the Watchdog Committee remained anonymous, and many Scientologists
thought Hubbard was in fact the mysterious Chairman WDC.
In July 1979, a member of CMO issued a directive seeking to
explain the rather contradictory notion that although CMO was
in no way involved in management, it could give orders to any
of Scientology's International Management bodies. Early in 1978,
Hubbard had reinforced their position by approving an order
which made them answerable only to him, and urging the compliance
of all other Sea Org units with CMO orders. The rule was basically
obey first, ask questions later, if at all.4
Hubbard's orders grew progressively more wild. Gerald Armstrong
was in the CMO at Gilman: "In the summer of 1979, on the orders
of Hubbard...I became involved in a project to build Mr.
Hubbard a completely new house near Hemet. I was personally
involved with the architectural plans for this property and
saw an order from Mr. Hubbard to have built around the property
a high block wall with openings for gun implacements."
Amongst Hubbard's requirements were that the house be "in a
non-black area, dust-free, defensible, with no surrounding higher
areas, and built on bedrock."
To maintain security, Hubbard even stopped seeing his wife,
shortly before she changed her plea to an admission of guilt.
They last saw each other at Gilman in August 1979. Despite her
years of faithful service, and her willingness to take the rap
for him, Hubbard cast her off. Nonetheless, she retained control
of the still powerful Guardian's Office, and was able to remove
the Deputy Commanding Officer of the CMO for meddling in GO
affairs.5
In September 1979, nine of the indicted GO executives and staff,
led by Mary Sue Hubbard, signed a stipulation admitting their
involvement in the break ins, burglaries, thefts and buggings.
By their admissions they stopped further investigation into
their numerous other
The Rise of the Messengers 259
misdeeds. They also avoided a drawn out trial with the inevitable
adverse publicity. The 282 page stipulation revealed the story
of the infiltration of government agencies, in startling detail.
In December, the GO nine were sentenced. Agent Sharon Thomas
received the shortest prison term - six months. The others, including
Mary Sue Hubbard, were sentenced to four and five year terms.
They managed to stall the day by appealing the sentences.
With the pressure building, Hubbard issued an ominous warning
from his secret headquarters, "The Purification Rundown and
Atomic War." The faithful were summoned to meetings in Orgs
the world over to hear Hubbard's terrible message. Executives
in full dress Sea Org uniform spoke to groups of frightened
Scientologists. The Bulletin began: "I want Scientologists to
live through World War III."6
Hubbard went on to make it perfectly clear that he held out
very little hope for the world. There was going to be a nuclear
war very, very soon. He confidently asserted that "those who
have a full and complete Purification Rundown will survive where
others not so fortunate won't. And that poses the interesting
probability that only Scientologists will be functioning in
areas experiencing heavy fallout in an Atomic War."
In fact, Hubbard's "Personal Communicator" visited several principal
Sea Org executives and told them that if they did not raise
Scientology's stats by 540 percent in six months, then the world
would end. They did not, and it did not, and in later reissues
the phrase quoted above was changed to "those who have had a
full and complete Purification Rundown could fare better than
others not so fortunate. And that poses the interesting probability
that only Scientologists will have had the spiritual gain that
would enable them to function in areas experiencing heavy fallout
in an Atomic War."
At about the time that the "Purification Rundown and Atomic
War" was invoked in an effort to galvanize Scientologists into
action, the GO predicted an FBI raid on the Gilman complex.
It seemed likely that Hubbard would be indicted either by a
New York grand jury investigating Scientology harassment of
author Paulette Cooper, or a Florida grand jury investigating
Scientology's dealings in Clearwater.
There was a panic at Gilman Hot Springs to remove any material
demonstrating Hubbard's management of Scientology. A massive
document shredder was moved to Gilman Hot Springs. The crew
affectionately called it "Jaws." Anything which connected Hubbard
to the La Quinta or Gilman properties, or to the Guardian's
Office; any
260 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
order, or anything even resembling an order from Hubbard had
to go, and accordingly tens of thousands of documents were shredded.
The Messenger logs, which were the painstaking record of every
verbal order given by the Commodore to his Messengers, were
buried for safe keeping.7 These logs have never come under public
scrutiny.
Gerald Armstrong was the head of the Household Unit, which was
preparing a house on the Gilman property for Hubbard's occupation.
One of Armstrong's juniors was perplexed when she found a cache
of boxes containing faded Hubbard letters and the like. She
asked Armstrong if this material should be shredded. Armstrong
was amazed and delighted to find twenty boxes packed with old
letters, diaries, photographs, even some of Hubbard's baby clothes.8
At last an accurate and fully documented account of the remarkable
exploits of the Founder would be possible. The fabrications
of conspiring government agencies could be disproved once and
for all. Armstrong sent a request to Hubbard asking permission
to establish an archive with this material at its core. Hubbard
granted the request. The process eventually discredited Hubbard's
fictional autobiography for good.
Shortly thereafter in February or March 1980, Hubbard hightailed
it out of his apartment in Hemet, with the two Messengers who
were "on Watch," Pat and Annie Broeker.9 The Broekers had
been in Scientology for a long time. Annie had been a Messenger
on the ship. Hubbard disappeared without trace. He probably
left because of the strong possibility that he would be subpoenaed
by the Paulette Cooper grand jury in New York.
Armstrong was busy with a series of projects, including the
Nobel Peace Prize Project which was intended to win the Prize
for Hubbard's development of the Purification Rundown. Increasingly
stringent measures were taken to conceal Hubbard's control of
Scientology. Armstrong was also assigned to "Mission Corporate
Category Sort-Out" (MCCS). Members of the Guardian's Office
Legal Bureau and of the L. Ron Hubbard Personal Office met with
Hubbard's attorney to discuss strategy. They were trying to
cover the tracks of the Religious Research Foundation, and other
dubious or downright illegal schemes, which had poured Church
of Scientology money into Hubbard's private accounts.10
MCCS started an eddy which would become a tidal wave, sweeping
away the majority of veteran Scientologists. The entire corporate
The Rise of the Messengers 261
structure was to be changed in a desperate attempt to avoid
the consequences of Guardian's Office activities, and the ensuing
concerted legal action against the corporate entity of which
it was part, the Church of Scientology of California, the corporate
heads of which were GO executives
Hubbard dabbled with a follow-up to the Purification Rundown,
called the Survival Rundown, but most of the work was done by
his Technical Compilations Unit at Gilman Hot Springs. After
lengthy surveys, the new Rundown was released with illustrations
of an American Indian paddling a canoe, or loosing an arrow
at a buffalo. Unfortunate choices as examples of survival. The
"Purif" had been advertised with a waterfall, unintentionally
suggesting an ad for menthol cigarettes.
During the summer, Armstrong's growing collection of documents
relating to the life and times of L. Ron Hubbard was appraised
by a Scientologist collector, who valued it at around $5 million.
MCCS were toying with the idea of creating a Trust to legitimize
some of the immense payments being made to Hubbard.11
On July 16, 1980, the GO, which had precious little to celebrate,
was able to rejoice with the news that the British government's
use of the Aliens Act against Scientology was finally over.
After twelve years, foreign Scientologists could once more enter
Britain legally. However, the restrictions on Hubbard's re-entry
were not lifted.
Hubbard was beginning to let slip clues to the terrible truth
of the OT levels. He issued a Bulletin called "The Nature of
a Being" in which he quite publicly, yet mystifyingly, declared
that "a human being...is not a single unit being."12 Plans
were underway to film Revolt in the Stars, volcanic eruptions
and all. Hubbard itched to make OT 3 public.
Hubbard continued railing against psychiatry: "Almost every
modern horror crime was committed by a known criminal who had
been in and out of the hands of psychiatrists and psychologists
often many times....Spawned by an insanely militaristic government,
psychiatry and psychology find avid support from oppressive
and domineering governments....The credence and power of psychiatry
and psychology are waning. It hit its zenith about 1960: then
it seemed their word was law and that they could harm, injure,
and kill patients without restraint." Hubbard assured his readers
that his own work had been a major reason for a purported decline
of psychiatry and psychology. He
262 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
added, "At one time they were on their way to turning every
baby into a future robot for the manipulation of the state and
every society into a madhouse of crime and immorality."13
In October 1980, the Chairman WDC caused much rejoicing by making
the enormous price cuts mentioned earlier. Scientology was still
not cheap, but it was a great deal cheaper, and the monthly
price rises had stopped. It looked as if the Scientology world
was finally going to right itself. Many thought that "LRH" was
"back on the lines." In fact, quite the opposite was true.
Omar Garrison, who had already written two books favorable to
Scientology, was now contracted to write Hubbard's biography,
using the enormous collection of material discovered and gathered
by Gerald Armstrong. The contract negotiations were elaborate,
with Mary Sue Hubbard representing both her husband to the publisher,
and the publisher to Garrison. The publisher was to be Scientology
Publications, Denmark, a subsidiary of the Church of Scientology,
though its executives knew nothing of the negotiations made
by Mary Sue on their behalf.
Garrison was firm in his approach, as he later said: "I wasn't
prepared to write a eulogy for Mr. Hubbard...it would be like
trying to write a biography of Christ for a very fanatical Christian
organization...they agreed that I can [sic] write it without
any restriction."14
The day after the contract was signed, on October 31, 1980,
the Internal Revenue Service placed a lien on the Cedars of
Lebanon complex, the huge old hospital which by then housed
Scientology's Los Angeles operation. Within a fortnight, the
Scientologists' appeal against the IRS tax assessment for the
years 1970-1972 went to court.
Hubbard's written Scientology output for 1980 was small. A few
already lengthy Confessional lists were extended on his instruction,
and there were various pronouncements about drugs. He kept busy
with other matters. The first was an attempt at writing the
longest science fiction novel of all time. He later boasted
to A.E. van Vogt that it had taken him only six weeks to write.
'5 It is rumored that Hubbard did not even read the proofs,
leaving this to his close confidant, Messenger Pat Broeker.
But how could a Messenger alter the words of the great OT? Perhaps
Battlefield Earth is the longest science fiction novel ever written.
Certainly, some reviewers found it among the most boring, and
possibly the most turgid. One headed his review, succinctly,
"Brain Death." In his history of science fiction, Trillion Year
Spree, Brian Aldiss gave a good synopsis of the novel:
The Rise of the Messengers 263
The Psychlos, thousand pound alien monsters with "cruelty" fuses
in their solid bone skulls and a penchant for shooting the legs
off horses one at a time, have taken over Earth. The Psychlos
are materialists, miners and manipulators...they are baddies,
there to be shot and killed in the cause of freedom. Fighting
for humankind is Johnnie Goodboy Tyler, a young, well-muscled
hero, supported by a bunch of mad Scots and Russians, brave
fighters and dreadful caricatures to the last man. In the course
of the story, Johnnie gets the girl...frees the Earth, wreaks
vengeance on the Psychlos' home planet, and eventually gets
to own the Galaxy. Just a simple boy-makes-good story. A bit
like Rambo.
When Scientology's Bridge Publications printed the paperback
issue, the over-muscled figure of Johnnie on the cover was topped
by a very Hubbard-like head.
Hubbard's second work of 1980 was somewhat shorter. Hubbard
had decided that society lacked a moral code, and wrote The
Way to Happiness, for public distribution. The lack of mention
of Scientology or Dianetics is striking, and a publishing front
was even developed so that the booklet would not be seen to
emanate from the Scientology Church. The booklet lays out a
series of twenty-one maxims from "Take Care of Yourself" to
"Flourish and Prosper," each with a page or two of explanation.
It includes the unoriginal and awkwardly phrased "Try Not to
Do Things to Others That You Would Not Like Them to Do to You."
Most of the advice is sensible if obvious, and much of it Hubbard
had ignored throughout his life. The maxim about lying is carefully
worded: "Do not tell harmful lies." At the end of each explanation
is a summating phrase. "Do Not Murder" is followed by "The way
to happiness does not include murdering your friends, your family,
or yourself being murdered." The booklet is sugary, but harmless
enough. It certainly does not reflect the morality Hubbard instilled
into his followers, least of all in B-1, the Intelligence section
of the Guardian's Office. Just after the completion of The Way
to Happiness, Guardian Jane Kember and Deputy Guardian for Information
World Wide, Mo Budlong, were sentenced to two to six years for
"burglary, aiding and abetting." By following Hubbard's instructions
they had violated point nine of The Way to Happiness: "Don't
Do anything Illegal."
CHAPTER THREE
The Young Rulers
In December 1980, the long-dormant post of Executive Director
International was resurrected. It had remained vacant since
Hubbard's supposed resignation in 1966. Scientologists the world
over were aware that Hubbard, the Founder, Commodore and Source,
was the real head of their Church, but under the new corporate
strategy, it was necessary to conceal Hubbard's control. The
new Executive Director International was Bill Franks, and he
was to be "ED Int for life." It turned out to be a very short
life. Scientologists the world over assumed that Franks was
Hubbard's immediate junior, and was being groomed to succeed
the Commodore.
Hubbard's legal situation was worsening. Early in 1981, the
All Clear Unit was set up at the Commodore's Messenger Organization
International ("CMO Int") reporting directly to the Commanding
Officer CMO, who was also chairwoman of the Watchdog Committee.
The unit's purpose was to make it "All Clear" for Hubbard to
come out of hiding.
David Miscavige was a cameraman with the CMO Cine Org in 1977,
at the age of seventeen, and had gained a reputation for bulldozing
through any resistance. Miscavige could get things done, and
had even been known to stand his ground before Hubbard. His
parents were Scientologists, and his older brother, Ronnie,
was also in the CMO. David Miscavige had trained as an Auditor
at Saint Hill at the
264
The Young Rulers 265
age of fourteen. He was not a long-term Messenger, but his dogged
determination led to rapid promotion.
One of Miscavige's former superiors had this to say of "DM"
as he is usually known: "When he's under control...he's a
very dynamite character....He is willing to take on and confront
anything. "And this despite Miscavige's touchiness about being
little over five feet tall and asthmatic.
The Guardian's Office had failed Hubbard. Mary Sue, the Controller,
never saw him again after their meeting a few months before
his disappearance early in 1980. According to Hubbard, mistakes
do not just happen, somebody causes them, always. Mistakes and
accidents are the result of deliberate Suppression. A catastrophe
as big as the government case against the GO was obviously the
result of a very heavyweight Suppressive. Hubbard could not
admit that the GO had merely been following his orders, so rather
than reforming his views, he set out to reform the GO.
In 1979, Hubbard had issued a so-called "Advice" (an internal
directive with limited distribution) stating that when situations
really foul-up there is more than one Suppressive Person at
work. Further, those who have submitted to the SPs, the SP's
"connections," also have to be rooted out. The GO, and all of
the "connections" within and around it, had to be purged. Ironically,
the GO had finally persuaded Hubbard that his hand must not
be seen in the management of Scientology, so the All Clear Unit
became Hubbard's instrument. The Suppressive-riddled GO had
to be removed completely; but it had to be removed with dexterity,
because it was the most powerful force in Scientology. Everyone
concerned had to be sure that the orders were coming from Hubbard,
but there must be no tangible evidence.
If the GO had believed there was a palace revolution in progress
they would have been perfectly capable of destroying the tiny
CMO. There were 1,100 GO staff, most of them seasoned, their
leaders well-known in the Scientology world. There were a score
of Messengers at CMO Int, and despite their newly acquired role
in management, they were virtually unknown to the vast majority
of Scientologists.
The CMO's first task was to remove the Controller. In May 1981,
David Miscavige, by now twenty-one, met with Mary Sue Hubbard.
He told her that as a convicted criminal her position in the
Church was an embarrassment. The attorneys had suggested that
as long as she remained in an administrative position her husband
was implicated in all Scientology affairs, including the burglaries.
Miscavige doubtless
266 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
reminded her that the appeal of her prison sentence would probably
be lost, and that when it was lost the Church's public position
would be far better if the Church was seen to have disciplined
her. Mary Sue screamed and raged, but Miscavige kept his bulldog
grip on the situation. He was immune to tirades, and probably
smiled as he dodged the ashtray she hurled at him. For her husband's
good, the Controller finally stepped down. Afterwards she decided
she had been tricked, and sent letters of complaint to her husband.
There was no reply. She thought that her letters to her husband
were being censored. They were, but on her husband's order.
Gordon Cook became the new Controller, and the Controller's
Aides were replaced. The head of CMO, Diane "DeDe" Voegeding,
considered Mary Sue Hubbard her friend. Having spent her teenage
years on the ship without her parents, Mary Sue must have seemed
almost a mother to her. Voegeding protested and was removed
from her position, ostensibly for divulging Hubbard's whereabouts
to the Guardian's Office.
Laurel Sullivan had been Hubbard's Personal Public Relations
Officer (Pers PRO) for years. She was part of the small Personal
Office, and was Armstrong's immediate superior on the biography
project, as well as head of the huge financial reorganization,
Mission Corporate Category Son-out (MCCS). Sullivan too was
a close friend of Mary Sue Hubbard. MCCS was closed, and Laurel
Sullivan was removed from her post. Voegeding and Sullivan were
both consigned to the Rehabilitation Project Force. They were
the first of hundreds of "connections" to be purged.2
The CMO were responding to the belief, fostered by Hubbard,
that the U.S. government was working to smash Scientology. Through
the collection of unpaid taxes, the Internal Revenue Service
was capable of destroying the parent Church of Scientology of
California. There was also a distinct danger that all the subsidiary
corporations would be sucked under with it. The Scientology
Publications Organization U.S. was re-incorporated as a for-profit
corporation, called Bridge Publications. The Publications Organization
in Denmark became New Era Publications. A new Legal office was
established distinct from, and eventually controlling, the GO
Legal Bureau. It was the beginning of a proliferation of allegedly
distinct and separate Scientology corporations.
The All Clear Unit (ACU) had to all intents become autonomous
under the control of David Miscavige. It was not subject to
the CMO,
The Young Rulers 267
the Watchdog Committee, or any other Scientology entity. Miscavige
took his orders only from Pat Broeker, who in turn took his
orders only from Hubbard.
In July 1981, ED Int. Bill Franks and a small group of Messengers
arrived at the headquarters of the U.S. Guardian's Office in
Los Angeles. All GO staff were ordered to join the Sea Org,
and a Criminal Handling Unit was established. Franks and his
cohorts were there to remove the last real obstacle to CMO control
of the Guardian's Office, Jane Kember, the Guardian. Kember
had received a prison sentence for her part in the Washington
burglaries, but was on bail pending an appeal. Upon hearing
of Franks' moves, Mary Sue Hubbard reappointed herself Controller,
and rescinded her previous permission for the CMO to investigate
the GO. Franks and his team were physically ejected from GO
headquarters in Los Angeles. The locks were changed. Mary Sue
appointed Jane Kember Temporary Controller.
Franks, as Executive Director International, maintained his
occupation of the Controller's office itself, and Kember visited
him there with a group of GO heavies. Franks launched into an
attack on Mary Sue Hubbard, among other things accusing her
of being a "squirrel" who practiced astrology. Ignoring Franks'
threats, Kember's crew removed the Controller's flies, leaving
Franks in an empty office.
The GO took over an office in the former Cedars of Lebanon complex,
the home of most of the Scientology Orgs in Los Angeles. There
the Controller's files were guarded day and night. Mary Sue
made a desperate bid to find her husband, so that he could quash
the CMO. For three days the screaming match continued, with
David Miscavige and other high-ranking Messengers joining in.
They played on Kember's fear of a schism in the Church. Eventually,
she was shown an undated Hubbard dispatch which suggested that
the GO should be put under the CMO when its senior executives
went to prison. Jane Kember and Mary Sue Hubbard admitted defeat.
At the end of July, the new leaders of the Guardian's Office
issued "Cracking the Conspiracy" which assured Scientologists,
"The GO is now working around the clock to crack the conspiracy
in the next six weeks. This is not `PR' or a `gimmick.' It is
the truth." Ironically, the conspiracy against Scientology seemed
to have emanated from the Guardian's Office itself.
The last vestige of resistance to the CMO takeover would come
from Guardian's Office headquarters, GO World Wide, at Saint
Hill in England. A CMO "Observation Mission" travelled to England,
and
268 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
on August 5 convened a "Committee of Evidence" against leading
members of the Guardian's Office. The Committee was made up
solely of Messengers, and chaired by Miscavige. The members
were found guilty. A CMO unit was established at Saint Hill,
and Bill Franks, the Executive Director International, issued
a directive explaining that as Hubbard's management successor
he was senior in authority to the Guardian's Office.
The Findings and Recommendations of the Committee of Evidence
were not published. Senior GO officials were shipped to Gilman
Hot Springs where they underwent a "rehabilitation program."
Messengers called them "the crims," for criminals. These middle-aged
Church executives were made to dig ditches, and wait table for
the young rulers. They were awakened in the middle of the night
and subjected to a new type of "Confessional." The privacy of
the auditing session was abandoned, along with the polite manner
of the auditor. A group of Messengers would fire questions,
and while the recipient fumbled for an answer, yell accusations
at him. Answers were belittled, and the Messengers all yelled
at once. The exhausted GO official would be threatened with
eternal expulsion from Scientology. The questions were also
new. The CMO was convinced that the GO had been infiltrated
by "enemy" agencies, so the "crims" were asked, "Who's paying
you?" over and over again, and accused of working for the FBI,
the AMA or the CIA. This brutal form of interrogation came to
be known as "gang sec-checking." It was in total violation of
the publicized tenets of Scientology. GO staff began to crack
under the pressure. Most of these hardened executives eventually
left Gilman willing to do the bidding of their new masters.
The Watchdog Committee assigned one of their number to the control
of the Guardian's Office. David Gaiman, the former head of GO
Public Relations, became the new Guardian upon his return from
Gilman Hot Springs.
The great GO machine was grinding to a halt. Members of the
Legal Bureau, who understood the weak position of Scientology
in many of the increasing number of suits, wanted to settle
out of court wherever possible, but were overruled in favor
of a fight to the death policy. The stalwarts of the Legal Bureau
were dismissed, and their place taken by expensive private law
firms. Most of these suits were eventually settled for far larger
amounts than GO Legal had negotiated. The CMO was in control
of the entire administrative structure of Scientology.
The Young Rulers 269
Although still in hiding, Hubbard made himself available for
comment, but only on matters of Scientology "Tech," in September
1981.3
While taking over the GO, the CMO had been establishing yet
another corporation called Author Services Incorporated (ASI).
It was incorporated in California in October 1981 as a for-profit
company, and represented the literary interests of L. Ron Hubbard.
ASI was not activated for several months. A few final adjustments
had to be made to the Scientology corporate structure.
In November, Hubbard ordered the CMO to send him information
outlining the entire international position of Scientology.
He wanted to know all the "slats." It took two weeks to collect
the information, and then it had to be presented in a way which
would demonstrate the efficacy of Hubbard's orders to the CMO
to take over Church management. Hubbard had trained Messengers
to censor information going to him to shield him from upsetting
news. After the huge ritual of information gathering, the CMO
remained in power, so Hubbard was obviously happy with what
he received.
The various pans of the Organization continued to function,
largely unaware of the drastic changes that were taking place
at the top. During Hubbard's absence from direct management
in 1980, the prices had been cut, and moves were underway to
reconcile estranged Scientologists. These measures were still
penetrating to the membership, as the new regime brought in
stringent changes at the top. It was in this setting, in November
1981, that Scientology Missions International, which monitored
the progress of the supposedly independent Mission, or "Franchise,"
network, called a meeting to try and resolve some of the ongoing
conflicts between Mission Holders and the Church.
During the 1970s, several major Mission Holders had been declared
Suppressive, and their Franchises given to others. Most had
exhausted Scientology's internal justice procedures in an attempt
to be reinstated and to retrieve their Missions. A Mission Holder
sometimes found himself in the peculiar position of having invested
most of his assets into his Mission, but after being declared
Suppressive was forced to surrender control to the Church's
Mission Office, who would place the mission under new management.
The Mission Holder would have no access to his assets, which
often amounted to hundreds of thousands of dollars, and found
it impossible to work his way back into the good graces of
Scientology. Several ousted Mission Holders had initiated civil
litigation against the Church.
270 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
Hubbard's published policy states that an individual can be
declared Suppressive for suing the Church. It was a Catch 22
situation. The November 1981 meeting attempted to resolve this
impasse by "open two-way communication." Both the Mission Holders
and the Sea Org's Scientology Missions International staff felt
progress had been made at the meeting. Both groups had failed
to comprehend what was happening at the very top of the Church.
Ray Kemp, a very early supporter of Hubbard and at one time
a close confederate, had been declared Suppressive in the mid-
1970s, and his California Mission taken from him. Shortly before
Kemp and his wife were "declared," a Church of Scientology publication
had carried an article boasting about the Kemp Mission in California
which said the Mission consisted of five modern buildings in
two acres, with a parking 1ot for 200 cars. Kemp had even managed
to persuade the town council to rename the site of his Mission
"L. Ron Hubbard Plaza."
Kemp had tried every recourse within the Church to retrieve
his Mission, but his efforts were to no avail. Eventually Kemp
reluctantly started civil legal proceedings against the Church,
but only after alleged physical abuse by members of the Guardian's
Office. As a result of the first Mission Holders' meeting, Kemp
and his wife were restored to "good standing." A Board of Review
was established to investigate similar cases. Another meeting
was scheduled to take place a few weeks later.
Peter Greene, who had been a Mission Holder, made a tape in
1982 describing the events of these meetings, and the background
to them. The Guardian's Office had grown increasingly worried
that a series of moves by U.S. government agencies might put
the Church out of business. The FBI had acquired a huge quantity
of incriminating material, and the IRS suits might eventually
bankrupt Scientology. Greene alleges that since the mid-1970s
there had been a Guardian's Office Program to take over the
Missions, which were separate corporations, if the worst happened.
The leading Mission Holders had been expelled, and replaced
with new people who would be less willing to resist the GO.
Shortly after the first Mission Holders' meeting, yet another
corporation came into being: the Church of Scientology International.
It was to become the "Mother Church," replacing the Church of
Scientology of California. The old lines of command had to be
obscured by giving new titles to departments; for example, Hubbard's
Personal Office became the Product Development Office International.4
The Young Rulers 271
The second Mission Holders' meeting was held at the Flag Land
Base in Florida in December 1981, in the Scientology owned Sandcastle
Hotel. The meeting was scheduled to last for two days, and fifty
people arrived for the first day. The swell of excitement took
hold, the meeting continued for five days, and by the time it
was broken up, about two hundred people had attended?
The meeting was chaired by Mission Holder Dean Stokes. Most
of the Holders of larger Missions, and some of those deprived
of their Missions, were in attendance. Quite a few GO staff
were also there, and the meeting turned into a mass confessional,
as those present gradually admitted the plans and actions taken
secretly in the past. Greene described the exhilaration as the
Mission Holders, the Guardian's Office, and Mission Office staff
came back into touch with one another.
One executive was noticeably absent: Bill Franks, the Executive
Director International, who had called the meeting. The Mission
Holders had heard by now that the anonymous Watchdog Committee
were Franks' superiors, despite the Hubbard Policy Letter saying
Franks was head of the Church. They demanded Franks' presence.
He arrived accompanied by a CMO missionaire.
One of the Mission Holders, Brown McKee, said he was assigning
the lowest of Hubbard's Ethics Conditions, "Confusion," to the
Watchdog Committee. The formula for completion of this Condition
is simple: "Find out where you are." The confusion was that
WDC was ostensibly running the Church, in contradiction to the
Executive Director International Policy Letter, and without
any apparent authority. The Watchdog Committee was seen by the
Mission Holders as part of a mutinous takeover. Paradoxically,
this was exactly how the Watchdog Committee saw the Mission
Holders.
The Mission Holders demanded the presence of the Watchdog
Committee. Mission Holder Bent Corydon, whose Riverside Mission
had just been returned to him, has joked that the Mission Holders
were quite ready to fly out to Gilman Hot Springs, and explain
matters to the WDC "with baseball bats." Before this could happen,
representatives of the WDC arrived to quell the "Mutiny."6
Senior Case Supervisor International David Mayo was there,
and rather lamely started giving a pep talk on new "Technical"
research. Mayo did not get very far. Norman Starkey, who had
arrived with the WDC, and was actually in charge of the Church's
new non-GO legal bureau, tried to read a Hubbard article about
tolerance and forgiveness
272 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
called "What Is Greatness?" He did not get very far either.
David Miscavige looked on, as the meeting broke up into smaller
groups, with the Mission Holders trying to explain their actions
to the WDC representatives. Their attempts were unsuccessful.
Unbeknownst to most of those at the meeting, there really was
a plan to wrest control from the Watchdog Committee. A small
group of Scientologists, including a few Mission Holders and
veteran Sea Org members, took part in this plot. It fell apart
when one of their number reported their secret discussions.
Hubbard was given the CMO account of events, and started to
send dispatches to senior executives at Gilman describing the
Mission Holders' "mutiny," and an infiltration by enemy agents.
Hubbard raged about Don Purcell and the early days, when "vested
interests" had tried to prize Dianetics from his control.7
Swift action was taken to counter the "mutiny." On December
23, 1981, a Policy Letter was issued entitled "International
Watchdog Committee." Perhaps only a few people noticed that
it was not signed by L. Ron Hubbard, but by the International
Watchdog Committee. It stated, quite simply: "The International
Watchdog Committee is the most senior body for management in
the Church of Scientology International."
Four days later, Executive Director International "for life"
Bill Franks was replaced. The coup was very nearly complete.
In the midst of this frantic activity, a redefinition of the
revered state of Clear was issued over Hubbard's name. All earlier
definitions involving perfect recall, a complete absence of
psychosomatic ailments and the like, although true were no longer
valid. The new definition was a wonderful piece of circular
reasoning, beautifully self-perpetuating in its illogic: "A
Clear is a being who no longer has his own reactive mind."8
If one accepts the hypothesis of the reactive mind, then a Clear
does not have it. The definition does, however, imply that he
could have the reactive minds of others (Body Thetans?), and
be as incapable as ever. No scientific experiment could defeat
this new definition. Dianetics would continue to pretend itself
a science, but remain beyond verification. It could neither
be proven nor disproven, having been moved squarely into the
realm of faith.
CHAPTER FOUR
The Clearwater Hearings
In 1979, attorney Michael Flynn was approached by a former
Scientologist who wanted her money back. She told him that if he
took the case, he would receive a letter giving unsavory details
of her past. He did not believe her, but sure enough the letter
arrived. Flynn became interested in the Church of Scientology,
and his interest increased markedly when someone put water in
the gas tank of his plane. He and his son had a fortunate escape.
Flynn suspected Scientology, and took on more and more clients
with litigation against Scientology.1
The town of Clearwater, Florida was increasingly worried by
the Scientology presence. The St. Petersburg Times had won a
Pulitzer Prize for its coverage of Guardian's Office dirty tricks.
The courts had made the documentation used in the GO case available;
the St. Petersburg Times, and Clearwater's own Sun newspaper,
had publicized several Guardian's Office operations. The Clearwater
City Commissioners, headed by a new mayor, approached Michael
Flynn, by now an expert on Scientology, to help them in their
investigation of Scientology.
Public Hearings were held in Clearwater in May 1982. Flynn was
to present witnesses and evidence regarding Scientology for a week,
and then the Church would be given the same time for its reply.
Religious issues were not in question. The City Commissioner
James Berfield opened the Hearings with a statement of intent:
273
274 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977 - 1982
The purpose of these public hearings is to investigate alleged
violation of criminal and civil laws, and the alleged violation
of fundamental rights by the Church of Scientology, an organization
which now conducts extensive activities within our city. The
purpose of the investigation is to determine whether there is
a need for legislation to correct the alleged violations. It
is not our purpose to interfere with any of the beliefs, doctrines,
tenets, or activities of Scientology which arguably fall within
the ambit of religious belief or activity in the broadest legal
interpretation. It is not our purpose to conduct a witch hunt
and receive testimony, documents, or any other type of evidence
which is not reasonably related to significant, vital areas
of municipal concern.
The Clearwater Hearings were locally televised. Scientologists
were warned not to watch them. Eddie Waiters, who had been a
Class VIII Auditor and Case Supervisor, and a member of the
Las Vegas GO, set the stage with a broad account of Scientology
and its underhanded dealings. Then Hubbard's estranged son,
Nibs, took the stand. He painted his father as a complete con-man,
a sinister black magician whose philosophy resulted from horrendous
drug abuse.
Lori Taverna spoke of some of her experiences. She had joined
Scientology in 1965, completed all of the available OT levels,
and become a Class VIII Auditor. She abandoned her business
and her family when "NOTs" was released in 1978, to become a
Sea Org NOTs Auditor. A year at Flag, in Clearwater, slowly
disabused her of the world-saving mission of Scientology. She
returned to Los Angeles ill and confused, and after sixteen
years of involvement, gradually drifted out of the Scientology
fold. She described the last scene of her withdrawal:
A particular friend came over to the house - she had just received
her NOTs auditing - and she came in and she said how wonderful
she was feeling, that she went to a restaurant, she was eating
a hamburger, and all of a sudden the hamburger started screaming
at her, and then the walls started screaming. And then she said
tears came out of her eyes because she felt so sorry for the
other people in the restaurant because they didn't know what
she knew.
Casey Kelly had been Director of Income at the Flag Land Base.
He testified that income there had averaged $400-500,000 per
week. In a good week they could take $1 million. The highest
income Kelly remembered was $2.3 million.
The Clearwater Hearings 275
Kelly spoke of a time when Church staff were forbidden to have
children because there was insufficient room in the Flag Land
Base nursery. Former Messengers have said that children were
completely prohibited at Gilman Hot Springs as well. Abortions
were common.:
Kelly complained about the CMO unit at Flag, the youngest of
whom were ten-year-olds. He described them as a "small army":
"most of the younger ones don't have positions of vast authority,
but if one of them had told me what to do, I would have said,
Yes, sir.'" When asked what happened if someone annoyed one
of these child Messengers, Kelly said: "You'll find yourself
in a blue tee shirt scrubbing a garage usually." In other words
on the Rehabilitation Project Force, living in the garage at
Flag.
Rose Pace was introduced to Scientology by her sister, Lori
Taverna, when she was thirteen. She joined the Church, and her
formal education ended. The Board of Education accepted representations
made by the Scientologists that Pace needed counselling. At
fourteen, Pace became an Auditor, and began a career which culminated
in her working at the Flag Land Base, in Clearwater, as a NOTs
Auditor. After sixteen years in Scientology she said of its
curative claims: "I have never seen someone be cured of an illness."
David Ray was at the Flag Land Base cleaning the rooms of paying
public: "Well, if your statistics are up, every two weeks you're
supposed to have twenty-four hours off, called liberty....
I would keep asking them for time off because I was working,
oh, anywhere from eighteen to twenty hours a day....And they
wouldn't give it to me."
Ray went on to express his profound resentment at the treatment
he had received: "The thing that really kills me about this
whole...operation is...by the questions they ask and the
things they do, they open you up to your innermost personal
self...you're extremely vulnerable....They pick you up
and they'll raise you so high you feel like you're on top of
the world and, then, they'll drop you and they'll let you feel
like a bottomless pit....And those are the kinds of terror
and searing emotions that go through a person's mind when they're
there....They want to leave; they want to help themselves.
You get physically tired. Sometimes you don't even have time
to take a shower. Ninety percent of the people that walk around
there just-they stink."
Ray inevitably ended up on the Rehabilitation Project Force.
His account of it is horrifying. The RPF lived on a diet of
leftovers
276 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
including wilted lettuce which was beginning to rot, and cheese
with mold all over it. One day, they were given french fries,
and while eating them Ray discovered that one of the potatoes
was in fact a flied palmetto bug. From that point on, he used
his weekly pay of $9.60 to buy cookies from a health food store.
It was all he could afford.
The Hartwells talked about their bizarre experiences making
movies with Hubbard in the California desert. George Meister
told of the tragic death of his daughter aboard the Apollo in
1971, and the disgraceful treatment he received thereafter.
Lavenda van Schaik, Flynn's first Scientology litigant, claimed
that her Confessional folders had been "culled," and a list
of her deepest secrets sent to the press. She was persistently
harassed by the Guardian's Office, whose Op against her was
codenamed "Shake and Bake." Before leaving Scientology, she
had been to the Flag Land Base, and found a serious outbreak
of hepatitis there, which was not reported to the authorities.
An affidavit by one of the victims of this outbreak was read
into the record.
Janie Peterson, who had belonged to the Guardian's Office, testified
about her departure from Scientology: "I was terrified to even
discuss the possibility of leaving Scientology with my own husband.
I was afraid that he would stay in Scientology. I was afraid
that he would write me up to the Guardian's Office and that
they would then come and take me away somewhere because I had
so much information."
Scientology had driven such a wedge between Peterson and her
husband that she did not realize that he was also contemplating
leaving. Neither dared tell the other. After leaving, she received
a series of phone calls in which the caller would hang up when
the phone was answered. Then she found a note in her car saying
simply, "Watch it." Then a note in her mailbox saying, "Die."
In the middle of the night, she would hear a knock on her door,
and open it to find no one there.
Scott Mayer was on Scientology staff for twelve years. He had
held many posts in that time, from Quentin Hubbard's bodyguard,
when Quentin was trying to escape or to kill himself, to being
manager of the Apollo just prior to its abandonment. In his
time Mayer had seen Orgs throughout the world.
Mayer left Scientology in 1976. Two years later, he was still
a GO target, staying more or less in hiding. He eventually decided
to find out just how serious the GO was. Mayer let it be known
that he was staying at a certain address, and left his car parked
outside. It was
The Clearwater Hearings 277
Christmas Eve, 1978. The car was blown up. Although he could
not substantiate anything about the attack, he decided the Guardian's
Office meant business, and stayed in hiding. Mayer's resolve
to act was strengthened, and he became a consultant to the IRS
in their ongoing litigation against Scientology.
Mayer had worked on confidential operations for Scientology,
among them an elaborate smuggling system which used a series
of five fictitious companies to courier money out of America.
Couriers were carefully trained, told exactly what to say if
apprehended, and sent out with double-wrapped packages. The
inner wrapper was labelled with the true destination. He also
talked about blackmailing a potential defector into silence,
using information from the person's Scientology Confessional
auditing. He put a photocopy of an order to "cull" auditing
folders into evidence.
Probably Mayer's most heartbreaking assignment was the maintenance
of a ranch for Sea Org children in Mexico. They were called
the "Cadet Org": "Children were routinely transported from Los
Angeles to the Mexican base and berthed and housed there...so
that their mothers and fathers could get on with their
business within the Church."
It was cheaper to ship the kids to Mexico than to provide acceptable
housing in L.A. The ranch was not a safe environment for children:
"Bandits were coming in at night and they were stealing grain
and they were stealing saddles and whatever wasn't tied down."
Mayer was ordered to set up a rifle with an infrared sniper
scope to deal with the marauding bandits. As it turned out the
project was never fulfilled, because the woman running the ranch
shot one of the bandits before Mayer arrived, and they did not
return.
Bandits were not the only problem the children faced in Mexico.
There were scorpions, snakes and poisonous spiders. The brush
grew right up to the house, and neither money nor personnel
were available to clear it away. Because the Sea Org is run
on a shoestring budget, it took Mayer some time to resolve this
intolerable situation. He did so not by appealing to his superior's
compassion, but by pointing out what bad public relations a
death would cause. He took a jar of scorpions with him to emphasize
his point.
Scientologists believe that "Considerations" govern "Matter,
Energy, Space and Time." Which is to say, they believe in mind
over matter. "Clearing the Planet" is far more important than
any individual's physical well-being. Self-sacrifice is a common
trait of the True
278 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
Believer. Life in the Sea Org is a peculiar mixture of "making
it go right" (to use Hubbard's phrase), and an often child-like
belief in the miraculous power of Scientology. According to
Mayer: "Staff members were always ill-fed, ill-clothed....
I had an abscess in my tooth and I was being audited for it.
I'm ready to go to the dentist, and I was being audited for
it. I spent about a week, week-and-a-half, doing...what they
call touch assists - to get rid of the pain....And, finally
...I was just delirious and - well, there wasn't any money for
medical is what it boiled down to....I went to the dentist...
he told me I'd just made it...if it had been another day or
so, I wouldn't be here to talk to you."
Before journalist Paulette Cooper took the stand, a former Scientology
agent who had stolen Cooper's medical records testified. He
also talked about another agent placed in a cleaning company
so he could steal files from a Boston attorney's office. He
gave this picture of the B-1 cell he worked in:
We used code names and our reports were written in code names.
...The letters that were written in the smear campaigns - the
typewriters were stolen and usually used just for a short time
....Everything was done with plastic gloves so that there wouldn't
be any fingerprints.
He was a case officer for Scientology agents who had infiltrated
the Attorney General's Office, the Department of Consumer Affairs
and the Better Business Bureau. "Each week these people would
file reports...it was very difficult for a public person in
Boston to make a complaint about the Church and have it go anywhere.
We had all the bases covered."
Paulette Cooper then testified about the effects of being on
the receiving end of the Church's harrassive tactics. The Scientologists
had just filed their eighteenth law suit against her:
I am being sued now repeatedly by individual Scientologists,
who, in some cases, I don't even know, suits for distributing
literature at functions I didn't even attend. Part of the purpose
in harassing people with law suits is to keep deposing them
and preventing you from writing or making a living and making
you show up at legal depositions. I've
The Clearwater Hearings 279
been deposed for nineteen days total since this started, with
four more coming up in a couple of weeks.
There has also been some other harassment in the past six months
or so: continued calls to me, calls to my family. The Scientologists
find out what the person's "buttons" ]sensitive spots] are,
as they put it, and the way to get to them. And they know that
a way to get to me is to harass my parents...
They've put out libelous publications about me; they've sent
letters saying that I was soon to be imprisoned...attempts
have been made to put me in prison. They've sent false reports
about me to the Justice Department, the District Attorney's
Office, the IRS. As you know, government agencies have to investigate
any complaints that they get. So, then, Scientology sends out
press releases that I am under investigation by the Attorney
General's Office, I am under investigation by the DA, and so
on.
They have put detectives on me; they have put spies on me. A
few months ago, they put an attempted spy on my mother to try
to get information about me from her and to fix me up with the
woman's son. ...Somebody cancelled my plane to Florida about
a month ago, and that is the third time that happened to me
this year...I'd like to say that this was a very good year
compared to the previous years.
Cooper went on to describe her one-woman battle against Scientology,
which began in 1968. She commented wryly that she had been alone
in this battle for five years, and that she was glad that more
people were finally speaking out.
After her first article on Scientology, in 1968, Cooper received
a flood of death threats and smear letters; her phone was bugged;
lawsuits were filed against her; attempts were made to break
into her apartment; and she was framed for a bomb threat.
At one point Cooper moved, and her cousin Joy, of rather similar
appearance, took over her old apartment. Soon afterwards, before
the cousin had even changed the name plate on the door, someone
called with flowers:
When Joy opened the door to get these flowers, he unwrapped
the gun...he took the gun and he put it at Joy's temple and
he cocked the gun, and we don't know whether it misfired, whether
it was a scare technique...somehow the gun did not go off...
he started choking her, and she was able to break away and she
started to scream. And the person ran away.
280 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
Many of the 300 tenants in the new apartment building were sent
copies of a smear letter, saying that Paulette Cooper had venereal
disease and sexually molested children.
To answer the bomb threat charges brought falsely by Scientology,
Cooper had to find a $5,000 advance to retain an attorney. She
appeared before the grand jury, and truthfully denied the allegations
throughout. She was indicted not only for making the threats,
but also for perjury! She faced the possibility of a fifteen-year
jail sentence.
Her career as a free-lance journalist was in jeopardy: "What
editor is ever going to give an assignment to someone who's
been indicted or convicted for sending bomb threats to someone
they've opposed? I was very concerned about the indictment and
the trial coming out in the newspapers. The public does not
know the difference between indict and convict...where there's
smoke there's fire."
Cooper developed insomnia, sleeping for only two to four hours
a night, and wandered around in a daze of exhaustion. The lawyers'
bills for the preparation of her case came to $19,000. She could
not write. She lost her appetite and stopped eating properly.
The Scientologists were merciless; having stolen her medical
records, they knew very well that she was recovering from surgery
when they began their attack. Her boyfriend of five years left
her. The Scientologists had pressed her to the edge of extinction.
At this point, she met Jerry Levin, who took pity on her terrible
situation. She helped Levin to find an apartment in her building.
He did everything he could to help, even doing some of her shopping.
At last she had a friend and confidant who would listen to everything.
And having listened, she later discovered, Levin would file
his report with the Guardian's Office. After the GO trial in
1979, Levin's reports were made public. Jerry Levin was also
known as Don AIverzo, one of the Washington burglars. Paulette
Cooper was Fair Game; in Hubbard's words she could be "tricked,
sued or lied to or destroyed."3
It took over two years for the bomb threat charges against Cooper
to be dropped. She was completely exonerated after the FBI found
the GO Orders for the Ops against her. By that time her book,
The Scandal of Scientology, had long been out of print. The
Guardian's Office had even imported small quantities into foreign
countries, so they could obtain injunctions against its distribution.
Copies were stolen from libraries and bought up from used book
shops, then destroyed.
The Clearwater Hearings 281
Cooper's final point to the Clearwater Commission was the insistence
that Scientology incessantly claims to have reformed itself,
to have expelled the bad elements. She had heard such claims
in 1968. We are still hearing them now. They have never been
true. The Scientologists expel another scapegoat ("put a head
on a pike" in Hubbard's terms), make a great show that the culprit
has been removed, and then replace him with someone who will
repeat the offending behavior.
Dr. John Clark, a noted psychiatrist who has been a persistent
observer and critic of cults, also took the stand and gave his
opinion of the intrusive nature of Scientology techniques. He
explained the incredible pressure brought to bear upon him by
the Scientologists in their attempt to discredit him. He spoke
at some length about the conversion experience: the sudden change
of personality which members of Cults often undergo.
Flynn's last witness was former Mission Holder Brown McKee,
who a few months earlier had been a major voice at the Flag
Mission Holders' conference. After twenty-four years of membership,
having trained to a high level as an Auditor, and having done
the vaunted OT levels, Brown McKee took a surprisingly short
time to put Scientology in perspective:
After this meeting in December [1981], we went back to Connecticut
with the firm conviction that there was no interest within this
Church for reform. The dirty tricks, the Guardian's Office operations,
and that type of thing, which they had told us were all a matter
of the past, we found out were not a matter of the past....
I've been a minister of the Church for some sixteen years, and
I really took it seriously. I've married people, I've buried
them, and to me it was a duty and an honor. And to find out
what my Church had been doing - it's a little hard on me.
McKee described his most traumatic experience while in Scientology.
His wife, Julie, who was a highly trained Auditor, had started
to feel tired:
You must realize both of us were totally persuaded that the
source of all illness was mental, except for, say, a broken
leg, and the way of curing it is with auditing...
So, during the summer, Julie lost more and more of her energy
and had some swelling and some small chest pains...and began
to lose
282 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
her voice. So, I thought, "Well, Flag has the best Auditors
in the world and should be able to help her out." So, I sent
her down here to Clearwater in, I guess it was, October of 1978.
We never even really thought about going to see a doctor...
the Scientologist doesn't think about that.
Well, they sent her back a week later sicker and...she couldn't
even whisper any more. She'd write notes. So, I tapped her on
the back, because she was complaining about her chest, and on
one side I could hear...the hollow sound that you hear when
you tap, and the other side, it wasn't hollow. And so, I knew
that there wasn't any air on that side.
So, we went to see a doctor, and he had her in the hospital
very quickly. She was there two days when we were given the
report. And what it was was adenocarcinoma, which was a cancer
of the lymph glands of the lungs, and her right lung had totally
collapsed...this cancer had totally infiltrated her throat
and paralyzed her vocal cords. And it had progressed to the
point where it was totally hopeless. I mean, they didn't even
suggest chemotherapy. And they sent her home, and I cared for
her for ten days. And she died in my arms.
Hubbard mocks medical doctors, and most Scientologists believe
that all physical maladies have a mental or spiritual cause,
and can be relieved through auditing. OTs believe that by ridding
themselves of Body Thetans they will also rid themselves of
disease. They avoid seeking proper medical advice, which means
they are often too late. Hubbard made specific claims that his
techniques had cured both cancer and leukemia.4
On May 10, 1982, the Scientologists were scheduled to start
presenting witnesses to rebut the earlier testimony to the Clearwater
City Commission. Instead their lawyer questioned the legality
of the proceedings, and, quite typically, tried to impugn Flynn's
character. He criticized the dramatic way in which witnesses
had given evidence, as if people whose lives had been ruined
should retain their composure at all costs. He complained that
he had not been allowed to cross-examine witnesses, though he
failed to note that the questions had been asked by the Commission
itself, and not by Michael Flynn.
It was an empty show. The Scientologists were too late. The
evidence of their appalling past had been broadcast on local
TV. No argument regarding legal technicalities would erase from
the viewers' minds the heartrending accounts given by the witnesses.
The Clearwater Hearings 283
Even so, the Commission was not established to pronounce judgment,
simply to investigate and make recommendations for possible
future action. Despite the blaze of publicity in Florida, Scientology's
young rulers were faced with other, more urgent problems.
CHAPTER FIVE
The Religious Technology
Center and the International
Finance Police
As the Organization rapidly expands so will it be a growing
temptation for anti-survival elements to gain entry and infiltrate,
and attempts to plant will be made. - L. RON HUBBARD, Policy
Letter "Security Risks & Infiltration," October 30, 1962
The organizational restructuring of Scientology continued apace
through 1982. On January 1, the Religious Technology Center
(RTC) was incorporated. RTC took over the trademarks of Dianetics
and Scientology. David Mayo's signature is on the incorporation
papers, but he claims that the terms were altered after he signed.
David Miscavige was another of the seven signatories. Through
the control of the trademarks RTC could control Scientology,
withdrawing the right of any intransigent group to use such
words as "Scientology" or "OT" in advertising, and suing if
the group continued to use them. There were hundreds of registered
trademarks, including the word "Happiness," the phrase "The
friendliest place in the whole world," and tens of Dianetic
and Scientology symbols. The new rulers were
284
The Religious Technology Center 285
seeking to use laws relating to business to effect a total monopoly
for their supposed religion.
International Church management had been taken from the Flag
Bureau by the Commodore's Messengers Organization in 1979. The
Guardian's Office had been defeated and absorbed by the CMO
without bloodshed in 1981. Author Services Incorporated was
waiting in the wings to license Hubbard's copyrights to Bridge
Publications and New Era Publications, which had separated from
the Church, at least on paper. The Church of Scientology International
had come into being to assume the management of the Orgs. By
1982 Scientology in the U.K. was already registered as the Religious
Education College Incorporated, with its headquarters in Australia.
Continental offices each had their own incorporation. It was
a hasty attempt to divide the sinking ship of the Church of
Scientology of California into watertight compartments.
The CMO, acting on Hubbard's instructions, attacked the mutinous
Mission Holders. Those readmitted during the 1981 conferences
were once again declared Suppressive, and others were added
to the list. Several previously untouched Mission Holders were
also declared Suppressive, Brown McKee among them. McKee had
broken one of the great taboos by making his complaints against
Scientology public, speaking to the press and to the Clearwater
Commissioners.
Hubbard was in the habit of issuing a "Ron's Journal" to the
faithful at New Year and on his birthday. On March 13, 1982,
Scientologists who were attending birthday parties at Orgs and
Missions the world over heard Ron's Journal 34. It was called
"The Future of Scientology," and concentrated on supposed religious
persecution:
Time and again since 1950, the vested interests which pretend
to run the world (for their own appetites and profit) have mounted
full-scale attacks. With a running dog press and slavish government
agencies the forces of evil have launched their lies and sought,
by whatever twisted means, to check and destroy Scientology.
What is being decided in this arena is whether mankind has a
chance to go free or be smashed and tortured as an abject subject
of the power elite.
Hubbard claimed that attacks upon Scientology were doomed
to fail because its opponents are "mad monkeys." Hubbard gave
Scientologists a new maxim: "If the papers say it, it isn't
true." The issue also hinted at some current catastrophe,
saying "The last enemy attack is
286 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
winding down." It was Hubbard's way of expressing approval for
the small group of new rulers.
Having taken over the Guardian's Office, and consigned "mutinous"
Mission Holders to the outer darkness, the CMO began an internal
purge. Long-term Messengers were "off-loaded." So savage was
the purge that CMO Int's own staff dwindled to less than twenty.
Author Services Incorporated is ostensibly a non-Church organization
set up to manage Hubbard's affairs as a writer. It was activated
in the spring of 1982. Battlefield Earth had been published
by this time, and Hubbard had written numerous film scripts
intended for Hollywood movies, including the OT3 story, Revolt
in the Stars. ASI also collected the author's royalties from
the books produced by the two Scientology Publications organizations.
David Miscavige resigned from the Sea Organization to become
Chairman of the Board at Author Services Incorporated. The directors
of a large share of Hubbard's ballooning personal fortune could
not be seen to be members of the very organization which would
continue to enlarge that fortune. However, Miscavige maintained
his tight control of the Church. ASI was staffed solely with
top Sea Org staff who had been allowed to resign their billion-year
contracts to join. Only those at Gilman knew that ASI was actually
the controlling group. This superiority was demonstrated when
ASI staff arrived and started issuing orders even to the Watchdog
Committee.
Five of the seven incorporators of the non-profit Religious
Technology Center became ASI staff. ASI is a for-profit corporation,
which derives most of its income from the Scientology organizations
controlled by the RTC.
In April 1982, David Mayo received a long dispatch from Hubbard,
copies of which were circulated to CMO executives. Stating that
he anticipated his own demise within the next five years, Hubbard
gave the "Tech hats" to Mayo for twenty to twenty-five years.
This would give Hubbard time to "find a new body," grow up and
resume his Scientological responsibilities. Giving Mayo the
"Tech hats" meant that Mayo would decide what was "Standard"
Scientology, and what was "non-Standard" or "squirrel" Scientology.
Mayo would be the final arbiter of Hubbard's "Technology" of
the human mind and spirit. This appeared to be a position of
tremendous power, because Mayo could not be removed. Others
could ostensibly control the assets of Scientology, but Mayo
could adjudge people "out-Tech," and have
The Religious Technology Center 287
them cast out of the Church itself. On Hubbard's orders, Mayo
set about creating yet another corporation for his Office of
the Senior Case Supervisor International. His twenty to twenty-five
year posting was shorter even than Executive Director Bill Franks'
posting "for life." Mayo had only a few months left.
In June, yet another Commanding Officer of the CMO fell. John
Nelson was replaced by Miscavige's nineteen-year-old prodigy,
Marc Yaeger. Yaeger looks old for his years, in part because
he is prematurely balding. While still a teenager he became
the senior officer in the management structure of Scientology,
at least in name.
Yaeger had risen far from his start as video-machine operator
on the Tech films. "Video-machine operator" is a rather grandiose
title for someone who pushes the button to start and stop the
recorder. Yaeger joined the Sea Org when he was fifteen, so
has minimal formal education. The same holds for most CMO staff.
Indeed, most of the original Messengers were even younger when
they were taken away from their schooling.
Ex-CO CMO John Nelson was assigned to physical labor. Rumor
had it that Miscavige's All Clear Unit would quash the legal
threats against Hubbard by the end of 1982, so preparations
were made at Gilman Hot Springs for Hubbard's return. The Founder's
love of the sea is well attested, so to welcome him the CMO
decided to construct a replica of the top and interior of a
full-scale, three-masted clipper ship, some fifty miles inland.
The materials for the ship cost about half a million dollars,
but Sea Org labor was cheap at less than $20 a week for a 100-hour
week. Miscavige was ostensibly in control of Hubbard's royalties,
Hubbard's Church, the Guardian's Office, and, until the Commodore's
triumphant return, was the master of a landlocked clipper ship,
the Star of California.
John Nelson has described his cloak and dagger meetings with
Pat Broeker, who delivered orders from Hubbard to Gilman. These
orders came in the form of tapes from Hubbard, which would be
transcribed as "Advices." This was designed to perpetuate the
fiction that Hubbard was not the head of the Church. In theory,
the Church could take or leave his "Advices." In practice, these
Hubbard orders were carried out to the letter.
In June 1982, Wendell Reynolds became the first International
Finance Dictator, and was sent to Florida, where he recruited
staff for the International Finance Police. The titles reflect
the mood of the time.
288 THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
A peculiar Hubbard Bulletin called "Pain and Sex" was released
in August. In the Bulletin the seventy-one-year-old Commodore
released his newest discovery: "Pain and sex were the INVENTED
TOOLS Of degradation." (Emphasis in original.)1
Hubbard alleged that psychiatrist, "who have been on the [time]
track a long time and are the sole cause of decline in this
universe" had invented sex as a means of entrapment eons ago.
As a result of Hubbard's diatribe, some Scientologists stopped
having sexual intercourse with their spouses.
At the end of August, David Mayo and his entire staff were removed
from their positions, and put under guard at Gilman. The next
month, Franks' successor as Executive Director International,
Kerry Gleeson, was removed, and replaced by the head of Scientology's
operations in continental Europe, Guillaume Lesevre. In October
several other well known, long-term Sea Org members were rounded
up and taken to Gilman Hot Springs. One of these, Jay Hurwitz,
described the experience in some detail:
The first day I arrived at INT [International HQ, Gilman] I
had a Nazi style "Interrogation" sec check which was done by
the highest authorities of Scientology. There were four interrogators
present in the room firing questions at me while I was on a
meter.
They were: David Miscavige, one of the three highest execs running
Scientology today; Steve Marlowe, Executive Director of RTC;
Marc Yaeger, CO CMO INT; Vicky Aznaran, Deputy Inspector General.
Their first question to me was "Who is paying you?"...I was
then subjected to enormous duress with statements like "we will
stay here all night until you tell us who is running you" (in
other words I was a plant, an enemy agent). Miscavige said he
would declare me [Suppressive] on the spot if I didn't tell
him who my operations man was....
For the first five days I was at INT I was kept locked up under
guard with three other people (females)...for the first
two days, we were kept in an Office....For the next three days,
we were kept confined in a toilet, under guard....We used the same
toilet facilities in the presence of one another.2
Hurwitz accused Miscavige of physically assaulting three people
during the course of his investigation. A Committee of Evidence
was convened and lasted for several weeks. Hurwitz was one of
those who left before the Findings and Recommendations of that
"Comm Ev" were published in January 1983.
The Religious Technology Center 289
While so many former top executives of Scientology were confined
at Gilman Hot Springs, the new management took its final strike
at the power of the Mission Holders.
Howard "Homer" Schomer, who was the Treasury Secretary of Author
Services Incorporated, has testified that money was being channeled
frantically into Hubbard's bank accounts during 1982. Schomer
was in a position to know since he made the transfers. He has
said that during his six months at ASI, about $34 million was
paid into Hubbard's accounts. Schomer says this money came mostly
from the Church, rather than from book royalties. Yet again
Scientology was billed retroactively by Hubbard. Orgs were charged
for their past use of taped lectures. They were charged for
their past use of Hubbard courses. Schomer says there was a
target figure of $85 million by the end of 1982. If this figure
was achieved, there would be fat bonuses for ASI staff. Probably
acting on Hubbard's orders, the new management called the Mission
Holders to a conference at the San Francisco Hilton Hotel on
October 17, 1982. At this fateful meeting, any degree of independence
the Mission Holders retained was torn away from them. The meeting
was also part of the desperate attempt to raise the targeted
$85 million.
PART SEVEN
THE INDEPENDENTS
1982-1984
291
CHAPTER ONE
The Mission Holders'
Conference
From the early 1950s, Hubbard had been trying out various franchise
schemes. In return for a substantial licensing fee, the purchase
of a large quantity of books, E-meters and Hubbard tapes, and
the payment of ten percent of their gross income, new Scientology
Centers would be franchised. From 1953, when the Philadelphia
Center was taken over, successful Centers were periodically
absorbed as assets by Hubbard.
In the 1960s, Hubbard created a new scheme. The same rules applied,
including the tithe, and in return the Franchises (also called
Centers or Missions) had the right to give introductory courses
and auditing, eventually constituting about the first third
of Hubbard's "Bridge." They would have to send their graduates
on to the Orgs for higher level services. They were to adhere
to the Policies and the Technology of Scientology, but were
not as tightly controlled as the Orgs. Having paid their dues,
the Mission Holders could keep the remaining profits. Some of
them created very lucrative businesses.
During 1982, Scientology Missions International, which oversaw
the activities of Missions, issued new contracts to Mission
Holders. In the words of Mission Holder Bent Corydon, "we were
quickly confronted with new articles to sign, which would essentially
take away all our legal autonomy as a separate corporation.
All our corporate
293
294 THE INDEPENDENTS 1982-1984
books were removed....About a month after most of us had signed
these articles we were called to the Mission Holders' Conference."1
The CMO, using their new corporate guises, were going to put
the mutineers in their place. The Guardian's Office had quietly
intimidated individuals in private, but the CMO were going to
confront a whole group of Scientologists in a noisy showdown.
Putting aside the mask of friendliness, they would show their
true faces. The iron fist was on public display with no pretense
at a kid glove. The Mission Holders were summoned to the San
Francisco Hilton on October 17, 1982.
Before the meeting began, Mission Holder Gary Smith, who was
sitting at the back with his wife and four-year-old daughter,
was ordered to move to the unoccupied front row. He refused
and was declared Suppressive on the spot.
During 1981, Kingsley Wimbush and his Missions had become the
talk of the Scientology world. The major Mission, Steven's Creek
Boulevard, in San Jose, was making so much money Wimbush did
not know what to do with it. It could take in over $100,000
in a week, outperforming the combined incomes of most of the
other eighty or so Missions. Before the 1982 Conference, Wimbush
had been declared Suppressive, allegedly for being the author
of a "squirrel" counselling procedure, "de-dinging." This "squirrel"
procedure had in fact been enthusiastically distributed around
the world by the Church itself. Wimbush had been doing everything
within his power to appease the new rulers and regain his former
status. So, on the morning of October 17, when a Sea Org member
rolled up on his doorstep and told him he had a few minutes
to ready himself for the journey to San Francisco, he had jumped
at the chance. He thought he would be exonerated at last. He
had no idea that he was being taken to San Francisco just to
be part of a degrading spectacle.2
The aisles were lined with unsmiling Sea Org Ethics Officers
watching the audience closely, and carrying clipboards to take
note of the least sign of dissent. The Master of Ceremonies
was twenty-two-year-old David Miscavige, a Sea Org "Commander,"
and, unbeknownst to the attendees, Chairman of the Board of
Author Services Incorporated. At the beginning of the harangue,
the Mission Holders were told that the trademarks were now in
the hands of the Religious Technology Center (RTC). Larry Heller,
who was introduced as the Church's Attorney, had this to say:
The Mission Holders' Conference 295
RTC has a right to send a mission directly to the individual
Mission Holders to determine whether the trademarks are being
properly used by you. This mission may review your books, your
records, and interview your personnel....
RTC...has the right to immediately suspend any utilization
by the individual Missions of those trademarks. The word "immediate"
is the key word here. There need not be a hearing in order for
there to be a suspension. RTC will order that you no longer
use the trademarks and you must stop or be subject to civil
penalties and ultimately criminal prosecution.
Attorney Heller was the only speaker not dripping with braid
and campaign ribbons. The new leaders had strutted onto the
podium, puffed up with the self-importance of their paramilitary
titles, and looking like the new rulers of a tin-pot dictatorship.
But the comic elements were lost in all the shouting. Of the
new Mission articles "Warrant Officer" Lyman Spurlock, the Corporate
Affairs Director of the Church of Scientology, said the following:
From now on all Missions will be corporations. There's [sic]
very good reasons for this. A lot of you may know that you just
recently received new corporate papers, let's see some nods,
okay. These new corporate papers are designed to make the whole
structure impregnable, especially as regards to the IRS [Internal
Revenue Service]....RTC is a very formidable group of Sea
Org members who have the toughness to see that the Tech is standardly
applied.
"Commander" David Miscavige, the Master of Ceremonies, gave
a fervent, if bizarre, guarantee: "The [new] corporate structure
assures Scientology being around for eternity."
"Commander" Steve Marlowe, the Inspector General of the Religious
Technology Center, was next in line to browbeat the Mission
Holders: "We are a religion and this religion is what is going
to save mankind. Get the idea? Thirty years from now, someone
squirrels Scientology and starts calling it Scientology because
there's a lot of money to be made....Suddenly you have factions,
schisms, all kinds of very horrible things - they will never
occur to this Church, never...you have a new breed of management
in the Church. They're tough, they're ruthless....They don't
get muscled around
296 THE INDEPENDENTS 1982-1984
by the IRS or by crazy loonies...you're playing with the
winning team." ("The IRS" was edited from the CMO's published
transcript of the meeting.)
Ironically, the Conference itself precipitated a schism. The
Inspector General next accused the Mission Holders of "ripping-off"
public from the Orgs, the major theme of the meeting:
This management means business. There are ecclesiastical concerns,
there are secular concerns. Violations will be prosecuted without
a doubt [emphasis in transcript]. And we're just not here to
threaten you or whatever. This is your salvation too. You just
take a look at the viewpoint that someone would have behind
bars looking out at the rest of Scientology. Not too sweet.
We're not going to get stepped on....The Inspector General Network
exists within RTC. They have tremendous information lines. They
have resources that enable them to get down to the very lowest
echelon of the field. And quite frankly, things will get found out
about.
"Commander" Norman Starkey, one of only two veteran Sea Org
members to be accepted into the CMO, then took his place at
the rostrum and announced that the legal battles of both the
Commodore and the Church were almost over. This was far from
the truth. Starkey went on to berate the Scientology Church's
most effective critic, attorney Michael Flynn, at great length.
Starkey asserted that former Mission Holder Brown McKee, who
had spoken at the Clearwater Hearings, was in Flynn's hire.
Of McKee, he said:
He will never, ever, ever and I promise you, for any life time,
ever again get on any E-meter [changed to "auditing" in transcript]
or ever have a chance to get out of his trap. And those who
are on OT3 knows [sic] what that means! That means dying and
dying and dying and dying again. Forever, for eternity.
If he had bothered to check, Starkey would have found that McKee
had completed his OT3 years before. However, it gives a glimpse
of the weight Scientologists attach to their saviour Hubbard's
"Tech."
"Captain" Guillaume Lesevre had flown over from Europe
to become the new Executive Director International only days
before the Conference. He complained that although Missions
were sending their public to the relatively plush Flag Land
Base, in Clearwater, they were not sending them into their local
Orgs. He found the practice unreasonable. Simply because an
Org was "dirty" was not reason enough not
The Mission Holders' Conference 297
to send well-heeled new public to it. Lesevre accused those
who had written books about Scientology, on sale throughout
the Church, of "trying to make money out of the [sic] L. Ron
Hubbard's technology,' although most of these books were copyrighted
in Hubbard's name, and published by his own Scientology Publications
Organizations.
Then Lesevre issued a quota to each Mission. The U.S. Missions
were to send a total of 348 people to Orgs during the following
week. There was a real threat that if they failed to meet these
quotas, which were very high, something unpleasant would happen
to them. Furthermore, the quotas would be increased each week.
But all of this was just a warm up. The International Finance
Dictator took the stage, and came right to the heart of the
matter. He did not mince words:
All right now, collectively you guys are in some weird lower
[Ethics] condition. By association, if no other mason, you have
allowed the Missions to go squirrel and I mean squirrel...right
now you guys are CI [Counter Intention] on my lines, maybe one
exception in this room, but I doubt it, because you guys are
sitting on public, you're ripping off the Orgs, you're doing
all manner of crazy things....
Now some of the guys you see standing around here are International
Finance Police and their job is to go out and find this stuff
[crimes against the Church] and if you guys are guilty of it,
you've just had it....
The old routine here was you got Scientology justice procedures
applied to you when you did something wrong. Well you guys are
a separate corporation from the Church and when you rip-off
or steal from the Org, or bribe people it's a corporate crime
and you can be real sure that you're going to all end up in
the slammer.
The International Finance Dictator then told the Mission Holders
they were going to pay $75 a head for the privilege of having
been shouted at, and ordered them to donate five percent of
their net income to a campaign to promote Dianetics: The Modern
Science of Mental Health. He added: "If I hear one person in
this room who is not coughing up five percent minimum you've
got an investigation coming your way because you've got other
crimes."
The Dictator then explained how his International Finance Police
were going to raise money. He did not tell the Mission Holders
why vast sums were needed, and perhaps he did not know.
298 THE INDEPENDENTS 1982-1984
Do you have any idea about the penalties for taking public off
the Orgs' lines - it's $10,000 a head per policy. If you rip-off
a staff member or have a staff member working in your Mission
at the same time he's employed by an Org you pay for the entirety
of his training/ processing [counselling] plus a $2,000 fine...
If we will pull this thing together and get these nuts off the
line and actually do Dianetics and Scientology, you can go anyplace
you want to go. Right now there is so much criminality floating
through this mission network I don't want to hear about it.
If you come clean we'll work out some reparations for all the
rip-offs that you've done in the past and straighten the record.
If you don't want to come clean, forget it. If you've done stuff
in the past and you come clean now we'll give you the benefit
of the doubt....You don't come clean tonight and I find out
something after this, man, you've had it.
The Mission Holders were ordered to write up their "overts"
(transgressions), not an unusual procedure for staff in Scientology
Orgs. They were then subjected to the largest multiple Security
Check ever witnessed in Scientology. The interrogators sat behind
their E-meters at a row of tables, and the Mission Holders sat
in rows facing them, confessing their "crimes."
Although the International Finance Dictator gave assurances
that if they "came clean" it would be easier for them, it is
hard to see how it could have been made more difficult. After
the Sec-Check, Dictator Reynolds took the platform again, and
gave examples of the "reparations" the Church demanded. The
best established Mission chain, the Church of Scientology Mission
of Davis, or COSMOD, was to pay "millions of dollars." Wimbush's
former Mission had been assessed for a quarter of a million
dollars for the last few months alone. The Missions in these
two chains were to be visited first, followed by every other
Scientology Mission in the world.
Missions were allowed to train people only to a certain level.
Beyond that level, trainee Auditors would have to go to a Church
Org. It was alleged that Missions had taken to "delivering"
some of these prohibited courses, thus invading the exclusive
domain of the Orgs.
Missions were only allowed to audit people on the levels below
Clear. Then they had to go to an Org, and on to one of the four
Advanced Orgs. The Missions were not allowed to audit Clears.
It was alleged that they had. And they were to be fined $10,000
for each and every Clear they had audited.
The Mission Holders' Conference 299
It was a peculiar situation. As Commander Lesevre observed,
the Church Orgs were often rather scruffy. Their operating funds
were low, and their staff pay very poor, usually well below
the poverty level, as members of religious organizations are
not protected by minimum wage laws. Of course, the lion's share
of the income was going to Hubbard. The Mission Holders were
willing to invest profits back into their Missions, and were
not subject to a constant round of Sea Org missionaires, so
their operation was far more efficient. The Missions were almost
invariably more attractive environments, and more of their income
went to the staff. Consequently, the Missions attracted the
best qualified Scientologists as staff. It was not unusual to
find Class 8 Auditors in the Missions. They had received the
equivalent of two years' full-time training in Scientology counselling
procedures, everything up to and including OT3. Orgs would often
struggle along with a single Class 4 Auditor, who had received
only a few months' training. The Missions were generally far
more financially successful than the Church's Orgs, but they
were restricted in the services they could deliver, because
the Sea Org controlled the levels beyond Clear.
Finance Dictator Reynolds, having informed the Mission Holders
of the fines, told them that the International Finance Police
would be sending out "verification missions," at a cost of $15,000
per day, payable by the Mission Holder at the start of each
new day.
It is difficult to convey the force with which these tirades
were delivered. A tape does exist, and, gloating over their
achievement, the young rulers even published a carefully censored
and reworded transcript. They wanted Scientologists to make
no mistake about how "tough and ruthless," their new masters
were. This transcript was crucial in my decision to leave the
Church. Further, I used it very successfully to persuade others
to leave.
CHAPTER TWO
The Scientology War
Over the years the Mission Holders had learned to be wary of
the Sea Org. They had watched the pageant of faces alternately
screaming and smiling; seen the little tyrants rise and fall.
In the past, Hubbard had stepped in and put a few "heads on
pikes." The Mission Holders also knew that expulsion from the
Church of Scientology would effectively ruin their Missions,
so all they could do was knuckle under and wait. Lambasted by
the leaders of the new order, surrounded by scowling members
of the International Finance Police, the Mission Holders tried
to stay cool. This time, however, waiting it out would not work.
The situation did not blow over, and the usual horrified Hubbard
edict denying all knowledge did not appear either.
Martin Samuels was a legend among Scientologists. He ran a chain
of five Missions. The Church's magazine Center, devoted to the
Mission network, was always heavy with praise for Samuels. A
1975 issue says that in a single year 3,000 new people started
the Communication Course in Samuels' Missions. His Missions
usually came out at the top in the quarterly Mission statistics,
even taken individually. In Center 23, Martin Samuels was "Particularly
COMMENDED" for his "brilliant application." Out of the fifty
listed, his Sacramento, Portland and Davis Missions were the
top three in the Center "Award of Merit" contest for that quarter.
In early 1970s, Samuels started the Delphian Project. It began
as a center for research into Alternative Energy, but a school,
the Delphian Foundation, was established for the children of
Project staff. The
300
The Scientology War 301
school used Hubbard's "Study Technology." It soon generated
interest from other Scientologists, so the school became Delphi's
main activity. By the time of the Mission Holders' Conference
Samuels had twelve schools, with over 600 pupils.
Scientology Missions report various performance statistics to
the Church every week. The Mission income figures are listed
and distributed to Mission Holders to show which are most successful.
For the first week of September 1982, just before the Conference,
the total income of the eighty or so Missions throughout the
world was $808,435. For the U.S. Missions it was $643,737, and
Samuels' Missions made up $172,825 of that. Which is to say
they represented over a quarter of the U.S. Missions income,
and over a fifth of the worldwide income. Incidently, Kingsley
Wimbush's major Mission made $154,101 that week. So between
them Samuels and Wimbush accounted for more than half of the
U.S. Missions income. Ten percent of this was paid straight
to the Church.
But at the end of the Mission Holders' Conference Samuels spoke
out. On top of their normal ten percent tithe to the Scientology
Church, the Mission Holders had been ordered to pay five percent
for a promotional campaign to Bridge Publications. Samuels explained
that he could not pay the additional tithe. His Missions were
non-profit, tax-exempt corporations, and Bridge had been separated
from the Church and made into a for-profit corporation, and
such donations would be illegal. Samuels was taken into a side
room by eight members of the International Finance Police, and
given a "Gang Sec-check." He was threatened with a "Suppressive
declare" if he did not make "personal payments to L. Ron Hubbard."
So he handed over $20,000 and a $10,000 wrist watch to a Finance
Policeman.
Samuels' access to his Missions' bank accounts was frozen. His
wife was warned that she would have to "disconnect" from him
if he was declared Suppressive. He was ordered to Flag, in Florida,
to undergo more Security Checks, for which he had to pay $300
an hour.
Within a month Martin Samuels had paid $40,000 to the Scientology
Church. This still was not enough, and he was ordered to the
International Finance Police Ethics Officer at Flag. At the
meeting, Samuels was told he had been declared Suppressive,
and shown the confession of a Scientology executive who had
admitted to being a transvestite with homosexual tendencies.
Samuels claims that he was ordered to publicly confess to "acts
that were similarly degrading." Otherwise the Church would file
both civil and criminal prosecutions
302 THE INDEPENDENTS 1982-1984
against him that would keep him "tied up in court forever."
He was also warned that he would be watched and the Church would
"keep tabs on him forever."
Samuels refused to demean himself by signing a fictitious confession,
even though his Missions were now in the hands of the Church,
and he had surrendered control of his personal accounts. The
Scientologists now launched their campaign in earnest. Samuels'
wife, family, business associates and friends were told he had
stolen funds from his Missions, and that he was "insane" and
an enemy of the Church of Scientology.
The Suppressive declare was published, and Samuels' wife left
him, taking the children with her. She "disconnected" and started
divorce proceedings. His children were told he was a "criminal
and would probably be going to jail in the near future." Scientologist
business associates and friends were ordered to disconnect from
him or be declared Suppressive themselves. Even Samuels' stockbroker,
who was a Scientologist, was ordered to disconnect, and refused
to take instructions to sell stock. As he had been declared,
Samuels was told he must leave his sister's house, where he
was staying, or she too would be declared Suppressive.
In a few weeks, Samuels had lost the business he had built up
over thirteen years, with an annual turnover of millions of
dollars. His seventeen year marriage was destroyed, and he was
deprived of his possessions. Samuels felt like a college kid
again, rolling up penniless on his parents' doorstep. He responded
by filing a lawsuit against Hubbard in 1983, claiming damages
of $72 million. A jury awarded $30 million, and the Scientologists
appealed the decision. The case was finally settled in 1986
with an out of court payment of $500,000 to Samuels.
There were very few of the big Mission Holders left. Among them
was Bent Corydon, who held the franchise for Riverside, in southern
California. Soon after the Conference, in October 1982, the
Finance Police arrived. They demanded, and were paid, $15,000
for their first day. They demanded, and were paid, $15,000 for
their second day. At this point Corydon ran out of ready money.
Corydon wanted to stay in the Church. He had built the Mission
up from nothing, lost it in the 1970s, and finally fought his
way back, only to discover that the reserves of nearly a million
dollars that he had built up were gone. He could not face losing
the Riverside Mission again. In desperation he took his attorney's
advice to put the valuable
The Scientology War 303
Mission building into a trust before it was seized in lieu of
some trumped up "fine."
Corydon's wife was a Class 8 Auditor. The retaliation to the
"can't pay" claim was rapid. Mary Corydon's Auditor certificates
were cancelled. Corydon wrote:
Without Mary's certificates, we were no longer in a position
to operate at all, according to laid-down policy. The Church
would have to come to our "rescue." I soon got the call to come
down to Los Angeles to the Scientology Missions International
Ethics Officer. This could mean only one thing. They would propose
that we be turned into an Organization. Orgs are under total
domination of management, and they own no property....This
in other words would be the final and total takeover of our
Mission.
Corydon had heard that both the Kansas City Org and the Omaha
Mission had splintered from the Church. He talked to these "squirrels,"
and decided that to continue delivering Scientology he too would
have to splinter. At the end of 1982 he did just that.
The International Finance Dictator fulfilled a part of his promise,
and all of the wealthier Missions were "verified," handing over
an undoubtedly enormous sum for the privilege. A year after
the Mission Holders' Conference, the Scientology Missions International
statistic sheet for the week ending September 29, 1983, shows
a sad decline. From $808,435 worldwide in a week, in September
1982, down to $171,356; a seventy-nine percent reduction, and
actually less than the earlier combined income of Samuels' five
Missions.
After the Mission Holders' Conference another corporate instrument
of the new management appeared: The International Hubbard Ecclesiastical
League of Pastors (or "I HELP"). Rather than working for Orgs
or Missions, some Scientologists simply give individual counselling.
They are known as "Field Auditors." The more successful Field
Auditors made very good money. In December 1982, I HELP called
a meeting in Los Angeles. Several hundred field Auditors attended
and were ordered to join this new body. Membership would cost
$100 a year, and ten percent of their gross income. The Field
Auditors would also have to fill in weekly reports. None of
this was too worrying; however, to join they had to waive all
previous agreements with the Church, and sign a contract binding
them to the decisions of I HELP. Many shied away from signing.
The tone of the meeting reflected that of the earlier Mission
Holders' Conference, news of which had inevita-
304 THE INDEPENDENTS 1982-1984
bly travelled to the Scientology "field." Of the hundreds who
attended, perhaps a dozen signed contracts that night. Then
the bullying began.1
For many years, Valerie Stansfield ran her own auditing practice.
She had been in Scientology for twenty years, and as a Class
9 Auditor was very highly trained. In March 1983, she was telephoned
by a Finance Policeman and given half an hour to come to his
office. She politely refused, and after a harangue agreed to
an appointment that evening. When she and her husband Manfred
arrived, she was told that her nutritional counselling was "squirrel."
Then the Finance Policeman read a list of accusations, and demanded
that she hand over the counselling folders of all her clients
immediately. Valerie reluctantly agreed to give the Finance
Police the folders, but urged that they wait for a more opportune
time to pick them up, as there were clients at her house.2
Then International Finance Police Ethics Officer Don Larson
walked in and started berating Valerie. He screamed abuse at
her, and ordered his underlings to remove Manfred Stansfield,
who refused to leave. Larson accused them both of "squirreling,"
and told Manfred he was Suppressive. Manfred returned the insult,
to which Larson replied "You're a fucking SP [Suppressive].
Get out."
Shocked by this aggressive treatment, the Stanfields wrote to
their friends. The letter was one of the first public statements
about the tactics of the new management; it was recopied and
distributed to an increasingly bewildered Scientology field.
Outlandish fines were imposed on some of the new members of
I HELP. One Field Auditor was fined for introducing two of his
Preclears who subsequently did business together. This was somehow
construed as a breach of ethics.3
In the 1970s, the "World Institute of Scientology Enterprises"
(WISE) came into being to cash in on successful businessmen
who were also Scientologists. Ostensibly it existed to offer
consultancy services, provide the most up-to-date Hubbard Policy
Letters on administration, and train the staff of Scientology
businesses in the immense Hubbard Administrative Technology.
Practically, WISE gave very little to its members for their
tithes. Now the Scientology business community in Los Angeles
was invaded by the Finance Dictator's henchmen, and fines were
levied for alleged abuses of privilege. Intransigent businessmen
were threatened with Suppressive declare. Those who depended
upon other Scientologists for the bulk of their
The Scientology War 305
business had no choice but to pay up. At least one sizeable
business had to send its entire staff to Flag, in Clearwater,
to do the Keeping Scientology Working Course, at a cost of tens
of thousands of dollars. Employees who complained were given
Security Checks, at their own expense. The man who had created
the business was ostracized for his "squirrel Tech."4
WISE also altered its contracts with businesses managed by public
Scientologists, which now had to pay a $250 annual membership,
in addition to a percentage of their income.
The Religious Technology Center, and its International Finance
Police, had effectively wrecked the network which had provided
Scientology's interface with the public at large. They had also
started a massive schism, especially in California where most
of these events took place. Whether Hubbard's $85 million Christmas
present was delivered we do not know, but Miscavige and company
did their damnedest.
The purge of the so-called Executive Strata of the Sea Org had
continued. David Mayo and his staff had been removed in August
1982. By the time of the San Francisco Mission Holders' Conference
in October, there were seventeen key executives at Gilman awaiting
a Committee of Evidence. Among them were the former Executive
Director International and his Deputy; the Commanding Officer
Canada; the Commanding Officer of Scientology Missions International
and his superior, the Church Management Executive over Missions;
the Commanding Officer Eastern U.S.; four members of the International
Management Organization; the Commanding Officer of the CMO film
unit; the two senior Field Executives (whose boss, Hubbard's
daughter Diana, had left shortly before); and former Chairman
of the Watchdog Committee and Commanding Officer CMO International,
John Nelson.5
Hubbard had organized Scientology in a series of compartments,
and with the detention of these executives the CMO had removed
all potential major opposition from each compartment of the
Organization.
The detainees were moved to a place dubbed "Happy Valley," a
remote camp inside an Indian reservation not far from Gilman.
Although they were not prevented from leaving, the former Sea
Org executives were watched by security guards. They were, however,
told that if they left they would be declared Suppressive for
all eternity, and never readmitted to the Scientology congregation.
It was a dreadful threat to committed Scientologists who had
devoted most of their adult lives to the Tech.
306 THE INDEPENDENTS 1982-1984
The group were subjected to a Committee of Evidence: a Scientology
trial, where the Committee act as prosecutors, judges and jury
rolled into one. They were charged with thirty-six offences,
ranging from somehow employing Scientology to receive sexual
favors to being in the pay of the enemies of Scientology. David
Mayo was found guilty of "committing" a problem. The Findings
and Recommendations of the Committee came to a total of over
ninety pages. The major thread of the Findings was the purported
plot to overthrow the CMO. It was asserted that Deputy Executive
Director International Allen Buchanan, one of the defendants,
had been "brainwashed" by former ED Int, Bill Franks. Franks
had brought Buchanan to believe that he must protect the Church
from senior management. There were very few specifics amongst
the bombast.
Although the Findings would usually remain an internal document,.
there are translations of the Scientologese throughout. This
suggests that it was composed in part for the benefit of attorneys,
should litigation ensue.
The Committee recommended that earlier threats of perpetual
excommunication be carried out. Most of the recommended sentences
include the assertion that the defendant will never in any lifetime
be allowed Scientology services. It also included a perpetual
writ of disconnection, forbidding all Scientologists to assist
or communicate with the defendants. It further recommended that
the Church should look into the possibility of filing criminal
charges against the defendants. The investigation was to take
into account a list of charges including sabotage and industrial
espionage.
The Inspector General of the Religious Technology Center approved
the recommendations for seven of the defendants, one of whom
was the only party to be exonerated (she had been seized by
mistake); the other six had already left Happy Valley in disgust.
The ten who remained were informed that the Committee's recommendations
would not be carried out if the defendants recanted. Nonetheless,
all of their Scientology certificates were cancelled. David
Mayo and his wife Merrill were both Class 12s, the highest Auditor
class, attained by only a handful of Scientologists. It would
have taken at least four years of full-time training for them
to regain this status.
Each of the defendants would have to publish a witnessed statement
confessing their evil motives. The Inspector General ended his
statement by speaking about the benevolence of his decisions.
The Scientology War 307
The Happy Valley story was not over. During the summer of 1982,
Hubbard had tested out a new idea with Mayo's help. Executives
were becoming exhausted, so rather than shortening their eighteen-hour
day, Hubbard had issued the Running Program. Executives were
to run around a fixed point for about an hour a day, and take
huge quantities of mineral supplements. For the Happy Valley
detainees the time was extended. They were to run, in desert
heat, for five hours a day, round and round a tree.
Perhaps because of his especially potent contaminating effect,
Mayo was separated from the rest of the group, given a pole
to run around (and even ordered to paint it red). The runners
took the affair as lightly as possible. Only one guard was assigned
to them, so Mayo and those at the tree would take turns to sit
down, and the guard would have to trek between them to goad
them back into action.6
The Running Program took its toll. Mayo, a slight man, lost
twenty-five pounds. Whether through the program, or the general
lack of medical care within the Sea Org, Mayo's teeth and gums
also suffered badly. In February 1983, convinced that he could
do nothing to change the attitude of management, he accepted
his Suppressive Person declare and left.
CHAPTER THREE
Splintering
To in any way encroach upon the Church or to distract one from
moving up the Bridge to Total Freedom is the ultimate crime.
- Religious Technology Center Information Letter 1
The core group of Commodore's Messengers had completed their
task. When they were first appointed to management at the end
of 1979, with the creation of the Watchdog Committee, there
were two power groups, linked only through Hubbard. The CMO
had to take over both the Guardian's Office and the Sea Org
without being allowed to show any evidence that they were following
Hubbard's direction.
The Watchdog Committee had gradually asserted control over the
everyday management of Scientology Churches. By May 1981, it
was strong enough to successfully challenge Mary Sue Hubbard.
The GO was in its control by August. Hubbard's Personal Office
was absorbed in 1981, with the creation of the Product Development
Office International. A purge of long-term Messengers also took
place in 1981, with the removal in June of Diane Voegeding,
then Commanding Officer of CMO. Her sister, Gale Irwin, replaced
her, only to be ousted at the end of the year. After removing
Executive Director International, Bill Franks, that December,
John Nelson, the next Commanding Officer of the CMO, lasted
six months. By the end of 1981, the Missions had been placed
under the control of the new Scientology Missions International.
A purge of Mission Holders began early in 1982 culminating in
308
Splintering 309
the San Francisco Mission Holders' Conference that October,
where leading Mission Holder Dean Stokes was added to the growing
list of excommunicants. Mayo and his staff had been removed
in August. By the end of 1982, most of the Sea Org veterans
who had held high positions had been declared Suppressive.
The whole restructuring had to be engineered without a single
appearance by Hubbard. The CMO had to persuade the management
organizations of the Church that they were acting with Hubbard's
authority, but with no signed orders from him, nor even orders
issued over his name. At the same time, a new management structure
had been created through an elaborate series of supposedly separate
corporations. Author Services Incorporated looked after Hubbard's
finances, in reality causing millions to be transferred from
the Church into his personal accounts. The Religious Technology
Center controlled the use of the trademarks. The International
Finance Police, part of the new Church of Scientology International,
monitored income.
To add insult to injury, the CMO announced monthly price rises
starting in January 1983, and distributed a newsletter with
extracts from the San Francisco Mission Holders' Conference.
Photographs of the uniformed and beribboned speakers glared
out ferociously. Most Scientologists had conceived themselves
part of a crusade to bring sanity to the world. The savage rhetoric,
the aggressive attitude and the perplexing new corporate titles,
especially the International Finance Police and their Dictator,
did not fit easily into that concept of sanity.
The problems were not just with the faithful. In March 1983,
there was a huge raid on Scientology premises in Toronto. The
warrant ran to 158 pages, and described the earlier theft of
files from an Ontario hospital, the Committee on Healing Arts,
the Toronto Sun and the Ontario government.
A few days before the raid, on March 2, the Religious Technology
Center began to publish Information Letters. The first Letter
claimed that Hubbard "saw in this group [RTC] the willingness
and ability to do whatever is necessary, no matter how unpleasant
or unsocial it may seem." After quoting Hubbard liberally, the
Information Letter continued, "The importance of the white taped
road out for man can in no way be underrated. To in any way
encroach upon the Church or to distract one from moving up the
Bridge to Total Freedom is the ultimate crime." This first
Information Letter ended with the rather confusing statement:
310 THE INDEPENDENTS 1982-1984
To be very blunt, if not for LRH, the Religious Technology Center
and the Church of Scientology, one could never obtain Scientology
Technology. There is no one else. Think about it.
They lay the very Bridge we all must travel upwards. There is
no "second chance." Don't allow anyone to wreck the chance you
do have. Travel up that Bridge with our best wishes. We will
be happy to know you are doing so and you can be assured of
the Standard Technology by which to do so. As with that, we
all win - many times over.
The second RTC Information Letter contained an attack upon "squirrels":
You may have heard of some such fellows (now removed from the
Church). They hoped to create considerable damage to the Church
and internal discord so they could then "valiantly emerge" upon
the scene to "save Scientology technology" (from the damage
they themselves created). Intent upon achieving some sort of
"notoriety," false status, and some fast bucks these squirrels
denigrated Standard Tech and the Church and encouraged others
to join them in the establishment of their own "way" against
the long existing structure of the Church. Their plans never
bore fruit however, and they were easily nixed.
It is longstanding Scientology Policy that any Suppressive Person
declare order should detail the offenses of the alleged Suppressive.
Although the CMO usually ignored an accused's supposed right
to a Committee of Evidence prior to Suppressive declare, they
did issue written orders. These made puzzling, and often bizarre,
reading, as an order concerning a former senior Sea Org executive
clearly shows. This hapless individual was accused of the whole
gamut of criminality prior to his involvement in Scientology.
According to the Scientology order, he had been a pimp, a drug
dealer, a thief, a smuggler, an automobile thief, an arsonist,
an embezzler, and a forger. He had also committed armed robbery,
been a hired thug, helped to perform illegal abortions, seduced
minors, and been involved in illegal gambling.1
In reality, the Scientologist who was the subject of the order
had actually had his first auditing at the age of eight, working
at Saint Hill before joining the Sea Org when he was eighteen.
He has never been convicted of a crime, and spent no time in
juvenile institutions for this remarkable display of criminality,
all purportedly undertaken before his eighth birthday.
Splintering 311
In January 1983, the Scientology Church published a list of
611 individuals who had been declared Suppressive.2 The CMO
had overplayed their "ruthless" efficiency. Too many people
had been expelled in too short a period of time. It was inevitable
that groups of these Suppressives would form an independent
Scientology movement. The new snarling face of management, the
price rises and Hubbard's conspicuous absence from public view
created a climate in which members questioned the authority
of the new Church management, and moved towards splinter groups.
The sheer quantity of Suppressive Declares could only assist
such a movement. Perhaps a few individuals had been attacking
the Church from within, but hundreds of long-term and popular
Church members, many of whom had worked with Hubbard for years?
It was too much to believe. Many of the new Suppressives had
good reputations among Scientologists, not readily destroyed
by the vague Declare Orders.
In 1983, a loose independent Scientology network came into being.
Letters describing the bizarre events within the Church were
written anonymously, or under pen names. Sympathizers would
redistribute them. Some Church members receiving such letters
would either destroy them, or send them to the Ethics Officer
at their local Org, often unread. It was a strange response,
bearing in mind the oft-repeated Hubbard maxim "more communication,
not less, is the answer." It seemed that many Scientologists
had been so conditioned to accept the authority of Church publications
that they chose to ignore even the most obvious abuses.
There were also tapes. In the summer of 1983, John and Jeanny
Hansen visited Gilman Hot Springs, and were startled by its
military atmosphere. The Hansens interviewed various key figures
of the CMO takeover who had since been excommunicated. A Los
Angeles Field Auditor, Jon Zegel, produced a series of tapes
at six-month intervals, explaining the events behind the purge.
He released his first tape in August 1983. His excellent sources,
grasp of the situation, and persuasive delivery made the tapes
important in convincing many Scientologists of the trouble within
their Church. The tapes were distributed, copied and recopied
almost to the point of inaudibility.
By design, there was very little to connect Hubbard with the
new regime, as written communications were signed by the Watchdog
Committee or the Religious Technology Center. The speeches had
been made by Messengers largely unknown outside top management
circles. The familiar faces were gone. Paradoxically, Scientologists'
312 THE INDEPENDENTS 1982-1984
loyalty to Hubbard was a main force in the mass exodus from
the Church. Many Scientologists resigned believing that Hubbard
was either dead or a captive of the CMO. They were sure the
Church had been infiltrated by hostile forces, and that the
Tech was being used to intimidate, harass and possibly even
brainwash members. Hundreds resigned, and, with great fervor,
set about creating a new Scientology movement beyond the confines
of the Church. It was to be a Scientology without "gang sec-checks,"
without enforced "disconnection" and without mass Suppressive
Person declares. It would also be far more affordable.
The CMO was quick to respond to the threat. One of the first
splinter groups, the Church of Scio-Logos in Omaha, Nebraska,
was soon struggling against a suit brought by the RTC. The group
in Kansas City had disappeared without trace. Bent Corydon had
managed to keep his Center afloat, despite the defection of
most of his staff back to the Church after his decision to splinter
in November 1982. For a short while, Corydon was an apostle
of the new movement, travelling from his Center in Riverside
to Denmark and to England. Many members simply retreated from
the Church and quietly set up counselling practices, without
advertising. If there was to be a movement, it would have to
find a focal point. By issuing a torrent of abuse against David
Mayo, the Church created such a focal point.
David Mayo had been involved in Scientology since 1957. He had
devoted his life to L. Ron Hubbard's Tech, working in the Auckland
Org in New Zealand, and joining the Sea Org in January 1968,
shortly after its inception. For over ten years, Mayo had held
increasingly senior positions in the Church. When he left the
Happy Valley Running Program, in February 1983, he was penniless,
homeless, without a job, and ostracized by most of the people
he had known and worked with. He wanted to forget Scientology
for a while and recover his health. He joined forces with John
Nelson, who had been the first to leave Happy Valley, and they
started a tiling business. One of their customers was another
of Hubbard's former Personal Staff, Harvey Haber. They inevitably
discussed Scientology. Julie Gillespie, Mayo's former assistant,
also participated in these long and painful discussions which
led to the decision to form a splinter group. In July 1983,
the Advanced Ability Center (AAC) of Santa Barbara came into
being.
They worked out of Haber's house at first. In the Church, personal
auditing from David Mayo would have cost at least $1,000 an
hour. After all, he had been Hubbard's own Auditor. The AAC's
first client
Splintering 313
cut the grass in exchange for counselling. To promote their
endeavor the group mailed a letter in which Mayo explained his
background in Scientology. They had all been in the Sea Org,
and claimed that between them they could only muster the names
and addresses of twenty-five Scientologists who might be interested
in counselling. To their amazement, the letter was picked up
and redistributed throughout the world. They began to receive
requests for counselling from as far away as South Africa, Britain
and Japan. Soon they had their own center, thronged with Independent
Scientologists either taking services or demanding an explanation
for the perplexing events in Scientology.
The Scientology Church responded swiftly: Ray Mithoff, Mayo's
replacement as Senior Case Supervisor International, wrote his
seventeen-page attack "The Story of a Squirrel: David Mayo,"
which quoted extensively from Hubbard dispatches, and was distributed
to the Church' s full mailing list. It was this issue, the transcript
of the San Francisco Mission Holders' Conference, and a harangue
from the Saint Hill Ethics Officer which drove me out of the
Church.
By now the reader is familiar with the term "squirrel." Inside
the Church, the term has almost demonic connotations. David
Mayo had become Scientology's Lucifer. To quote from "Story
of a Squirrel":
Betrayals like this are not new. Groups and organizations have
had to contend with covert attacks such as this since ancient
times. And over the past thirty-three years our group has weathered
its share of those who sought to infiltrate and sabotage our
activities, gaining positions within the Church through deception
in order to halt the expansion of Scientology or disrupt its
organizational structure.
Quoting from Hubbard, the Directive continued: "Mayo was the
boy they were relying on. He is a very clever fellow in that
he could lie to me consistently, convincingly report, this,
that or the other thing....He directly lied, and was found
to be squirreling the simplest process there ever was." Hubbard
went on to call Mayo "that Mr. SP [Suppressive Person] Mayo,
the darling of the psych[iatrist]s," a "criminal" and "a dramatizing
megalomaniac."
Without explanation, Mithoff accused Mayo of "sexually perverted
conduct." Mayo had worked with Hubbard for several years on
the as yet unreleased Operating Thetan levels above OT7. In
a clumsy attempt to discredit any use by Mayo of these materials,
Mithoff said: "He knows that there are many OT levels above
Solo NOTs [OT7] which
314 THE INDEPENDENTS 1982-1984
have been fully researched, and knows that he does NOT have
any of the data on these, nor has he ever seen them."
There was also a simple message for Scientologists thinking
of receiving counselling from Mayo: "The actions of Mayo and
the little group he has joined amount to not only an attempt
to lure some people off the Bridge, but an attempt to deny that
Bridge to them for eternity (because once they become involved
with this squirrel practice they will thereafter be denied access
to the upper levels) [sic]...those few who might fall for his
PR should be forewarned."
Foreseeing that Scientologists would question Hubbard's failure
during their long association to notice that Mayo was Suppressive
(after all, Hubbard had "discovered" the characteristics of
the Suppressive, and if he couldn't spot one, who could?), Mithoff
continued: "It is a testimony to LRH's refinement of the tech
and streamlining of the Bridge, with Scientologists becoming
more aware and more perceptive in less time, that we're discovering
bird dogs such as this faster now than ever before."
"Story of a Squirrel" did nothing to contain the move towards
independence. Soon after the independent Santa Barbara Center
opened, former Mission Holder Eddie Mace set up the first independent
Australian Center, and others followed in Denmark and England.
The English group's first public meeting was held in October
1983, with "Captain" Bill Robertson as the main speaker. Robertson
was a former Sea Org Captain, who had been a Hubbard aide at
various times since the 1960s. Captain Bill, as he was commonly
known, had been declared Suppressive in 1982. Since that time
he had been preaching his own elaboration of Hubbard's conspiracy
theory.
Along with Hubbard, Robertson was sure that U.S. government
agencies had infiltrated Scientology. Robertson further believed
that Hubbard was dead, and that the government agencies, using
Miscavige as their dupe, had succeeded in their takeover of
the Church. Robertson also believed that Hubbard was the embodiment
of one "Elron Elray," and had returned to the Mothership of
the Galactic Patrol, from whence he was sending telepathic directives
to Robertson about the Markabian invasion of the Earth. At the
meeting Robertson made no mention of these peculiar notions,
and was successful in galvanizing British Independents into
action.
Soon there were independent centers in Switzerland, New Zealand,
Germany and Italy. In fact, they sprang up wherever there were
Scientology Orgs. Along with this came an increasing availability of
Splintering 315
information about Hubbard and his organizations, as former Hubbard
aides spoke out.
The first direct contact between Mayo's group and European Independents
came at a meeting in Spain, in November 1983. Harvey Haber arrived
late, having been detained and thoroughly searched by Spanish
Customs. Someone had told them he was a narcotics dealer. After
the meeting, Harvey flew on to England.
Haber had been a senior Hubbard aide, and had many startling
experiences to relate. He and Donna, his wife, joined staff
at the Flag Land Base, in Clearwater. Donna carelessly left
a packet of tampons leaning against a small light in their bathroom.
The packet was smouldering when someone discovered it. An executive
decided that Donna was a "security risk." She was immediately
assigned to the Rehabilitation Project Force. Harvey was told
he would never be given a bed as long as he was in the Sea Org
(for a billion years, presumably). That evening, as he prepared
to sleep in the garage, he heard his wife's laughter drifting
toward him. On investigation, he found that she was trampling
down the contents of a huge garbage bin, looking for pieces
of wood, having been ordered quite literally to make her own
bed. At that moment Harvey grasped the surreal essence of the
Sea Organization, and started laughing too.
CHAPTER FOUR
Stamp Out the Squirrels!
A squirrel is doing something entirely different. He doesn't
understand any of the principles so he makes up a bunch of them
to fulfill his ignorance and voices them off on a pc [Preclear]
and gets no place. - L. RON HUBBARD, Dianetics and Scientology
Technical Dictionary
The major obstacle to the continuance of Scientology outside
the Church was that the Independents did not have all of the
so-called "confidential" materials. They had the OT levels up
to NOTs (which was listed as "new OT5"), but not NOTs itself.
The NOTs issues are held by the Advanced Organizations of the
Church of Scientology. That is to say there were copies at Saint
Hill in England; at Los Angeles; at Clearwater, in Florida;
and at Copenhagen, in Denmark.
Former Sea Org executive Robin Scott saw the increasing autocracy
of the Church, and made grand plans to save Scientology. While
most Independent Centers were run from front rooms on a shoestring,
Scott purchased a baronial mansion near Aberdeen, Scotland,
the breathtaking Candacraig House set in over twenty acres with
two lakes. It came to be known as "the castle."
Scott attempted to acquire the NOTs materials through a Saint
Hill staff member, but failed miserably. His attempt only served
to alert Saint Hill, and tighten up their security. So Scott
met with Morag Bellmaine and Ron Lawley of the East Grinstead
Independent Center, and in December 1983, they mounted their
own commando operation,
316
Stamp Out the Squirrels! 317
They did not know that David Mayo, who had written the original
NOTs materials with Hubbard, was already producing a new version.
They could have saved themselves, and many others, a great deal
of trouble.
The trio travelled to Denmark. During the afternoon Scott went
into the Advanced Org in Copenhagen to see if anyone was them
who knew either of his partners. Scott pretended to be interested
in paying a great deal of money for NOTs auditing, so was treated
like royalty, and given a guided tour. He memorized the layout
of the building, saw no one he knew, and returned to brief Ron
and Morag.
Late that evening, dressed to the gills in Sea Org uniform (and
with Bellmaine wearing the wrong cap-badge for her supposed
rank), Lawley and Bellmaine walked into the Copenhagen Advanced
Organization. They had carefully drilled the dismissive attitude
of Sea Org missionaires, and demanded to see the Commanding
Officer. He arrived, quivering. Lawley said they were "on mission"
from the Religious Technology Center, and had come to investigate
serious "out-tech." Here they had taken a chance as there might
have been an RTC mission there already. To their surprise the
CO readily admitted to "gross out-tech," but said he had sent
his Senior Case Supervisor to Florida for retraining, and what
more could he do? The bullying missionaires told him what more.
He could show them a NOTs pack, because they were sure there
was something wrong with the materials, so poor were Copenhagen's
results.
The Commanding Officer did not hesitate, rounding up every available
NOTs pack, and apologizing that two of his Auditors were still
in session with theirs. Lawley and Bellmaine found themselves
in a private room, with over thirty NOTs packs. They loaded
two into a brief case, and their feet didn't touch the ground
until they had left Denmark.
George Orwell's fated 1984 began for Scientologists with a taped
message from Ron Hubbard, the first in a year. It was called
"Today and Tomorrow: The Proof," and retailed to Church members
at $22 per cassette. Hundreds were sent free of charge to Independents
(paid for by "donations" from Church members, in fact). The
tape was a departure from the usual Hubbard procedure. The talk
was scripted, and there were interruptions throughout, where
Hubbard was asked questions, given answers, even corrected on
some slight underestimation of a statistic, or assured of the
enthusiasm generated by his recent bland issues. The statistics
were very good, taken at face value, but
318 THE INDEPENDENTS 1982 - 1984
when Independent Jon Zegel cross-checked them, for his third
taped talk, he discovered several major inconsistencies. The
talk was the longest eulogy ever delivered by Hubbard about
management:
The Church had some hard times a few years ago. For a very long
while, as you know, I have not been connected with active management
of the Church....It took quite a while, I'm told, for the Church
to sort itself out....Scientology Churches are very vast and
influential global organizations, and there were people around whose
claws itched to take them over, and in a perverted form exploit
them for their own profit....Certain people infiltrated the Legal
department, the old Guardian's Office, and set it up to lose
left and right, and get people in trouble. They also infiltrated
top management. Being off lines I was not involved with any
of this....At last a small hardcore group of rounding members,
devoted on-Policy, in-Tech Scientologists who suddenly understood
what was happening, used their power as trustees and just as
it looked like the Churches were finished and about to fall
into hostile hands, they suddenly isolated the infiltrators
and threw them out.
Hubbard showed none of his usual loud humor on the tape. He
sounded cheerful, but somehow the power was gone, if indeed
it was Hubbard's voice. By this time the Messengers had very
sophisticated sound equipment, and some Independents insisted
that a Fairlight synthesizer had been used to generate a voice
similar to Hubbard's. The solution was probably far simpler:
the tape was processed with Hubbard's "Clearsound," a rather
primitive filtering system, which would have reduced the impingement
of Hubbard's gasping breathing, giving the voice its slightly
artificial feel. At the beginning of 1984, proof positive of
Hubbard's support of the CMO might have induced many resignees
to return. The tape simply was not enough.
The Advanced Ability Center East Grinstead came into being in
January 1984, in a loose alliance with Mayo's group in Santa
Barbara. In February, Robin Scott opened Candacraig House, in
Scotland, and it became the third AAC. Independent Centers were
springing up throughout the U.S. and Europe.
In February, Independents received the first mailings from the
anonymous "Stamp Out the Squirrels Committee," postmarked Los
Angeles. The letters were headed with the design of a badge
distributed within the Church, depicting a gleeful cartoon squirrel,
rubbing its paws together, in a red circle, with a red bar across
it. The
Stamp Out the Squirrels! 319
anonymous letters carried this logo, with the legend "Trademark
Religious Technology Center" printed beneath it.
The principal target of these scandal sheets was David Mayo.
Mayo and his staff were attacked in fifteen newsletters dated
from February to April 1984. Of the suggestion that Mayo might
be able to release the long awaited Operating Thetan levels
above OT7, the second letter said this: "Obviously he doesn't
care about people's spiritual freedom, so what is his motivation
in making this false promise - money?" Mayo's group were charging
about a fifth of Church prices.
Mayo and his staff were pilloried unrelentingly. Of course,
this character assassination convinced many members that the
Church really had gone crazy. Most of the letters were couched
in such elaborate Scientologese that they are difficult to comprehend
without a sizeable glossary.
The first letter said, "Rumor in the field has it that the clientele
now frequenting the Mayo Clinic [i.e., the AAC] has regressed
from the `colorful' to the `bizarre.' "From the second letter:
"The numbers of disillusioned's [sic] who have failed to find
the `Holy Grail' at Mayo's are growing in alarming numbers.
Many are now saying they wished they'd listened to and duplicated
[understood} `The Story of a Squirrel.' The more fortunate one's
[sic] are applying Ron's tech and are on the road to getting
their cases unsnarled."
The attack on the AAC did not stop at venomous libels. The AAC's
offices were watched constantly by private investigators. Mayo
was followed day and night. Listening devices were quite openly
aimed at the windows of counselling rooms. A Religious Technology
Center "mission" was permanently posted to observe and interfere
with the AAC.
In England, in January 1984, four health professionals, three
of them medical doctors, resigned from the Church and mailed
their joint resignation broadly to Scientologists. A copy found
its way to the national Daily Mail newspaper. There had been
a tacit agreement between the Church and the Independents that
Scientology's dirty linen was best kept out of the public view.
Journalist Peter Sheridan, broke through that agreement. Sheridan
interviewed a father whose three teenage children had "disconnected"
from him. The children's mother, who had remarried, was a Sea
Org member. The youngest child, aged thirteen, had written a
disconnection letter to his father. Sheridan had also spoken
to an Independent whose children had been expelled from Greenfields,
the East Grinstead school run on Scientology
320 THE INDEPENDENTS 1982 - 1984
principles. On February 11, the Daily Mail carried a full-page
article titled "We disconnect you!" or in its northern issue,
"The Disconnection Terror."
The Office of Special Affairs had retained not only many of
the old Guardian's Office staff, but many of the old tricks
too. Robin Scott, who had helped extract the NOTs materials
from the Advanced Org in Denmark, was phoned by a prospective
customer inviting him to Sweden. His air fare would be paid.
Scott boarded a plane which stopped at Copenhagen on March 13,
Hubbard's birthday. He was apprehended at Copenhagen airport.
Sea Org members accompanied the arresting officers, and took
photographs of the whole affair.
During the course of Scott' s incarceration, an opinion was
sought on the authenticity of Hubbard's signature on the documents
transferring his Scientology trademarks to the Religious Technology
Center. These had been examined by an American expert at Michael
Flynn's request in May 1983. The expert had stated that the
signatures "were not written by the individual represented"
in the specimen signatures provided. A signed letter dating
from the 1950s, definitely written by Hubbard, was given to
a Scandinavian expert, who said there was "a probability amounting
almost to certainty" that the RTC signatures were *not* Hubbard's.
She added that this is the most definite statement given by
handwriting experts.
Diane Voegeding, who had formerly been the Commanding Officer
of the CMO, came to Scott's aid by giving an affidavit that
questioned the Religious Technology Center's right to the trademarks.
Voegeding said that David Miscavige was in fact the Notary Public
responsible for Hubbard's legal documents, and that Miscavige
illicitly kept a book of undated Hubbard signatures.
On March 23, 1984, the English High Court issued a Summons on
behalf of the. "Church of Scientology Advanced Organization
Saint Hill Europe and Africa" requesting an injunction against
Robin Scott, Morag Bellmaine and Ron Lawley to restrain them
from the use, distribution or copying of the stolen NOTs packs.
A temporary injunction was issued, pending the response of the
defendants. The surveillance by private detectives continued.
A similar order was issued in Scotland a few days later, again
naming Scott, and adding several of the staff at Candacraig.
The East Grinstead newspapers carried an article announcing
that the Church was offering a £120,000 reward for information
"leading to the recovery of what are said to be scriptures stolen
from its
Stamp Out the Squirrels! 321
European headquarters." The use of the word "scriptures," first
introduced at the Mission Holders' Conference in 1982, still
came as a surprise. Despite Scientology's alleged religious
nature, very few Scientologists thought of Hubbard's writings
as scriptures. After all, Hubbard claimed that they were scientific
research.
After nearly five weeks in jail, the theft charge against Robin
Scott was thrown out by the Danish judge, but he was found guilty
of a mixture of industrial espionage and trespass. He was given
a four-month sentence, the remainder of which was suspended.
The Church issued a triumphant account in their "Keeping Scientology
Working News." In the newsletter, Scott is called an "apostate,"
and there are three photographs taken at the time of his arrest,
all giving a good view of the back of Scott's head.
In March 1984, Hubbard reinforced his alibi for failures of
the Tech. Such failures could be attributed to insufficient
Security Checking, "evil purposes," communication with Suppressives,
or paying heed to any criticism of Scientology. Many Independents
had received tens, even hundreds of hours of such counselling
while in the Church. In fact, this obsession with the evil that
men do was a major reason for the disintegration of the Church.'
Solo NOTs, or "New OT7," had been released to Scientologists
in 1979. After five years, usually of daily "solo-auditing,"
no one in the Church had finished the level. With some relief,
Independents were at last allowed to attest their completion.
Realizing the situation, the "Captain" of Flag, in Clearwater,
sent out a letter to Church members on this highest level, saying
how alarmed he was that no one had finished. A flood of Church
completions started three months later.
In the United States, Religious Technology Center member Kurt
Weiland had moved into an apartment above the AAC in Santa Barbara.
While there Weiland did everything possible to upset those below,
including haranguing and snapping photographs of arriving clients,
and playing deafening music. Eventually, an injunction was issued
protecting Mayo and his staff and clients from this childish
but extremely disturbing behavior.
Such harassment of Independents was widespread. An Independent
was picked up by Swedish police, again accompanied by Sea Org
members. It took three days for the police to realize that they
could not charge the man, and he was released. A girl was picked
up in Munich, again based on trumped up charges. She was released,
but the aftermath was a little more serious: At the end of May,
German officials
322 THE INDEPENDENTS 1982 - 1984
raided both the Scientology Org and the Mission in Munich, and
caned away reams of documents.
Shortly before the German raid, Scottish Independent Fred Smithers
called me. He explained that his stepson, Gulliver, was a member
of CMO U.K. at Saint Hill. Gulliver had just phoned him to say
he wanted to leave the Church. Fred asked if I could give Gulliver
a room for the night. He arrived that Sunday evening while we
were having dinner with friends. It came as a shock when he
realized his stepfather had sent him into the lair of an infamous
Suppressive, but he soon recovered and sustained a two-hour
interview. The incredulity of his audience increased by the
minute.
For six months, Gulliver had been a top executive in the Commodore's
Messenger Organization U.K. which controlled all other Scientology
organizations in Britain. He rated himself one of the top four
executives in CMO U.K. He was *fourteen* years old. He explained
that there were several others his age, and some "kids" in the
CMO.
The Watchdog Committee was now bypassing the whole elaborate
management structure of the Church. WDC was sending telexes
down to individual Orgs on a daily basis, often hourly, demanding
"compliance."
A CMO newsletter had claimed that the CMO "Continental" units
(including the U.K.) are "the OBSERVATION, EXECUTION and POLICE
ARM Of WDC" (emphasis in original).: Gulliver's job was to enforce
Watchdog Committee orders. He had been in charge of seasoned
Sea Org veterans, OTs who had received a great deal of auditing,
and were highly trained counsellors well versed in Scientology
administration, having done the "Organization Executive Course,"
and sometimes even the "Flag Executive Briefing Course." They
had had months of training, and years of on the job experience.
Gulliver had neither.
In a Scientology Organization everything is meant to be done
per Policy (in accordance with the thousands of Policy Letters
written almost exclusively by Hubbard). Policy is very elaborate,
but hinges on certain basic ideas. Among these are the supposed
right to question an order, and the right to demand that an
order be put in writing. A CMO teenager would frequently issue
a verbal order, and threaten the recipient with the Rehabilitation
Project Force (RPF) if the order was questioned. Again the staff
member theoretically has a right to demand a Committee of Evidence
prior to assignment of the RPF, which is reasonable as an RPF
can take anything up to two years to complete. These rights
were all denied.
Stamp Out the Squirrels! 323
Gulliver said that all of the U.K. Organizations were losing
money. He also said that the majority of the money they did
make was sent to the U.S., so periodically the Watchdog Committee
would have to pay even the lighting and heating bills, following
a complex Purchase Order system. Nearly all of the U.K. Orgs
had their telephones disconnected at some point during 1984,
because of the delay in receiving funds.
The Sea Org crew at Saint Hill had been living on a diet of
rice and beans throughout Gulliver's six months there. The high
point of their week would be a baked potato with cheese, or
soup. This diet, and the deprivation of sleep which is usual
for Sea Org members, can tell dramatically. Sea Org members
have for years collected hundreds of millions of dollars, in
return for bare subsistence and pitiful "wages." Gulliver was
paid £1.25 for his last week's work, (less than $2 U.S.), and
this as a senior executive. Sea Org pay is usually less than
£4 a week, and often measured in pence. With this pittance,
most buy chocolate, tobacco, or a junk meal on their weekly
morning off.
Most alarming of all, the fourteen-year-old Gulliver talked
about the last Watchdog Committee program he had worked on,
the "Non-SO spouse program" ("SO" being Sea Org). Sea Org members
whose spouses were not in the Sea Org were either to persuade
them to join up, or to divorce them. When I wrote my article
about the meeting (inevitably called "Gulliver's Travels' `)
for the Independent newsletter, *Reconnection*, I felt compelled
to draw a parallel to the chapter in Lewis Carroll's *Alice in
Wonderland* called "The Queen's Croquet Ground," where the players
use live hedgehogs for balls, and flamingos for mallets. The
Church had entered the realms of the utterly surreal.
PART EIGHT
JUDGMENTS
All that Ethics is for...is simply that additional tool necessary
to make it possible to apply the technology of Scientology.
Man does not have that purpose for his law or his justice. He
wants to squash people who are giving him trouble. - L. RON
HUBBARD, *Introduction to Scientology Ethics*
325
CHAPTER ONE
Scientology at Law
The law can be used very easily to harass, and enough harassment
on somebody who is simply on the thin edge anyway...will generally
be sufficient to cause his professional decease. If possible,
of course, ruin him utterly. - RON HUBBARD, *The Scientologist*,
March 1955
The litigious nature of the Church of Scientology is well-known.
It has waged a twenty-year battle against the Internal Revenue
Service in the United States. The IRS insists that the profits
of Scientology have accrued to the benefit of a private individual,
namely L. Ron Hubbard. There was a ten-year battle against the
Food and Drug Administration. The Courts upheld the FDA's assertion
that the E-meter was improperly labeled. But the Church did
manage to overturn a ruling that material seized from them be
destroyed. So the Church claims victory. In the 1970s in France,
Hubbard was sentenced in absentia to a prison term for fraud.
In the 1970s, the Church fought to prevent the sale of books
critical of Scientology. They failed in this attempt, but caused
authors George Malko, Paulette Cooper, Cyril Vosper and Robert
Kaufman considerable difficulty (not only from the law suits:
Roy Wallis, in his Salvation and Protest, described the harassment
he received after writing about Scientology). In 1982, Paulette
Cooper, author of The Scandal of Scientology testified that
the Church had brought eighteen suits against her. More recently
Russell Miller has defended against
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328 JUDGMENTS
attempts to prevent distribution of his *Bare-Faced Messiah* in
England, Canada, Australia and the United States.
In 1983, the Legal office of the Church admitted that it did
not know how many suits were outstanding in England alone. So
many writs had been issued for libel it had lost track. In 1968,
thirty-eight libel suits were dropped by the Church in England.
Cases which continued were uniformly lost by the Church.
Boston attorney Michael Flynn won fourteen of the sixteen complaints
brought against him by the Church, the remaining two being withdrawn.
The Church has from time to time filed suits against the FBI,
the IRS, the Justice Department, Interpol and even against Henry
Kissinger (for $800 million).
Scientology has filed hundreds of cases over the years. Most
have been withdrawn before trial, but in Britain suits against
a former Police Commissioner and against Member of Parliament
Geoffrey Johnson-Smith were both lost by the Church. In return,
there have been hundreds of suits filed against Scientology.
The Church was forced to pay substantial damages to former Health
Minister, Kenneth Robinson, and withdraw their allegations that
he had instigated "death camps," likened by the Church to Belsen
and Auschwitz.'
Also in the legal arena are the reports of the many Commissions
of Inquiry, and of several U.S. grand jury investigations. These
run to tens of thousands of pages. Two books have been written
about the attempt made by the Guardian's Office to take over
the National Association of Mental Health in the U.K. in the
late 1960s, which also ended in a ruling against Scientology
in the English High Court.
Of all the court cases, two stand out. Their verdicts came down
within a month of each other: one in Los Angeles, the other
in London. The first, and perhaps the most revealing to date,
was the case brought by the Scientologists against Gerald Armstrong.
Armstrong had joined the Sea Org in 1971. Over the years he
held various positions close to Hubbard. During the trial he
gave detailed testimony of these periods, and of his time in
the Rehabilitation Project Force. His accounts highlighted the
extreme duress of life in the Sea Org.
Armstrong saved over twenty boxes of Hubbard letters, diaries
and photographs from the shredder at Gilman Hot Springs. On
January 8, 1980, he wrote to Hubbard asking permission to collect
material for a biography. A few years earlier Hubbard had lamented
that no biography could be written because his personal documents
had been stolen,
Scientology at Law 329
and the great Conspiracy against him would by now have altered
all public records.
Far from being stolen by the Russians in the early 1950s, as
Hubbard had claimed, his personal archive had quite remarkably
been preserved. When the Hubbards left Washington for Saint
Hill, in spring 1959, the boxes had been put into storage, where
they stayed until the late 1970s. Somehow they had been shipped
to La Quinta, and thence to Gilman. Armstrong was excited by
the discovery, as it would no longer be necessary to rely on
the supposedly corrupted government records, with Hubbard's
personal documents in hand.
Hubbard approved Armstrong's request only days before he went
into deep hiding. Armstrong was titled "L. Ron Hubbard Personal
Public Relations Office Researcher," and he collected over
half-a-million pages of material by the end of 1981.
Omar Garrison, who had already written two books favorable to
Scientology, was contracted to write the biography in October
1980, and the Archives were made available to him. Armstrong
became Garrison's research assistant, copying tens of thousands
of the most relevant documents for Garrison's use.
In his judgment in the Scientologists' case against Armstrong,
Judge Breckenridge explained the gradual erosion of Armstrong's
faith in Hubbard:
During 1980 Defendant Armstrong remained convinced of Hubbard's
honesty and integrity and believed that the representations
he had made about himself in various publications were truthful.
Defendant Armstrong was devoted to Hubbard and was convinced
that any information which he discovered to be unflattering
of Hubbard or contradictory to what Hubbard has said about himself,
was a lie being spread by Hubbard's enemies. Even when Defendant
Armstrong located documents in Hubbard's Archives which indicated
that representations made by Hubbard and the Organization were
untrue, Defendant Armstrong would find some means to "explain
away" the contradictory information.
Slowly, however, throughout 1981, Defendant Armstrong began
to see that Hubbard and the Organization had continuously lied
about Hubbard's past, his credentials, and his accomplishments.
Armstrong began a campaign to correct the numerous misrepresentations,
but met with considerable resistance. In November 1981, he was
ordered back to Gilman from Los Angeles. He was told by senior
330 JUDGMENTS
Church official Norman Starkey that he was to be Security-checked.
There was no desire to correct Hubbard's biography. To this
day, Scientology Orgs sell books which contain the very biographies
which Armstrong had proved false; Hubbard's Mission into Time
is the worst example of many.
On November 25, 1981, Armstrong wrote to Commodore's Messenger
Cirrus Slevin:
If we present inaccuracies, hyperbole or downright lies as fact
or truth, it doesn't matter what slant we give them, if disproved
the man will look, to outsiders at least, like a charlatan.
This is what I'm trying to prevent and what I've been working
on the past year and a half.
A few weeks later, Armstrong decided to leave the Church. Before
leaving, he worked desperately hard to ensure that Omar Garrison
had all of the documents necessary for an honest biography.
After leaving, he maintained contact with the Biography Project,
even helping to find documents in the Archives when the new
Archivist was unable to do so, for two months following his
departure. Judge Breckenridge's opinion continues:
On February 18, 1982, the Church of Scientology International
issued a "Suppressive Person Declare Gerry Armstrong," which
is an official Scientology document issued against individuals
who are considered enemies of the Organization...
Defendant Armstrong was unaware of said Suppressive Person Declare
until April of 1982. At that time a revised Declare was issued
on April 22, 1982. Said Declare charged Defendant Armstrong
with eighteen different "Crimes and High Crimes and Suppressive
Acts Against the Church." The charges included theft, juggling
accounts, obtaining loans on [sic] money under false pretenses,
promulgating false information about the Church, its founder,
and members, and other untruthful allegations designed to make
Defendant Armstrong an appropriate subject of the Scientology
"Fair Game Doctrine." Said Doctrine allows any suppressive person
to be "tricked, cheated, lied to, sued, or destroyed."
...from his extensive knowledge of the covert and intelligence
operations carried out by the Church of Scientology of California
against its enemies (suppressive persons), Defendant Armstrong
became terrified and feared that his life and the life of his
wife were in danger, and he also feared he would be the target
of costly and harassing lawsuits. In addition, Mr. Garrison
became afraid for the security of the
Scientology at Law 331
documents and believed that the intelligence network of the
Church of Scientology would break and enter his home to retrieve
them. Thus Defendant Armstrong made copies of certain documents
for Mr. Garrison and maintained them in a separate location.
Armstrong, with Garrison's permission, made copies of about
10,000 pages of these documents, and deposited them with attorneys
for safe keeping. Michael Flynn was one of these attorneys.
On August 2, 1982, the Church of Scientology of California filed
suit against Gerald Armstrong for Conversion (a form of theft);
breach of fiduciary duty (breach of trust); and breach of confidence.
Mary Sue Hubbard joined the suit against Armstrong as an "intervenor,"
and added a charge of "Invasion of Privacy" to the suit. Judge
Breckenridge's opinion continues:
After the within suit was filed...Defendant Armstrong was
the subject of harassment, including being followed and surveilled
by individuals who admitted employment by Plaintiff; being assaulted
by one of these individuals; being struck bodily by a car driven
by one of these individuals; having two attempts made by said
individuals apparently to involve Defendant Armstrong in a freeway
automobile accident; having said individuals come onto Defendant
Armstrong's property, spy in his windows, create disturbances,
and upset his neighbors. During trial when it appeared that
Howard Schomer (a former Scientologist) might be called as a
defense witness, the Church engaged in a somewhat sophisticated
effort to suppress his testimony.
After hearing four weeks of testimony, and deliberating for
two weeks, Judge Breckenridge ruled that Gerald Armstrong was
entitled to judgment and costs. The preceding quotations come
from a fifteen-page appendix to the opinion. The main body of
the decision is one of the most forceful statements ever made
against the Church of Scientology. Of the Founder and his Church,
Judge Breckenridge wrote:
In addition to violating and abusing its own members' civil
rights, the organization over the years with its "Fair Game"
doctrine has harassed and abused those persons not in the Church
whom it perceives as enemies. The organization clearly is
schizophrenic and paranoid, and this bizarre combination seems
to be a reflection of its founder LRH. The evidence portrays
a man who has been virtually a pathological liar when it comes
to his history, background, and achievements. The writings and
documents in evidence additionally reflect his egoism,
332 JUDGMENTS
greed, avarice, lust for power, and vindictiveness and aggressiveness
against persons perceived by him to be disloyal or hostile.
At the same time it appears that he is charismatic and highly
capable of motivating, organizing, controlling, manipulating,
and inspiring his adherents. He has been referred to during
the trial as a "genius," a "revered person," a man who was "viewed
by his followers in awe." Obviously, he is and has been a very
complex person, and that complexity is further reflected in
his alter ego, the Church of Scientology. Notwithstanding protestations
to the contrary, this court is satisfied that LRH runs the Church
in all ways through the Sea Organization, his role of Commodore,
and the Commodore's Messengers. He has, of course, chosen to
go into "seclusion," but he maintains contact and control through
the top messengers. Seclusion has its light and dark side too.
It adds to his mystique, and yet shields him from accountability
and subpoena or service of summons.
LRH's wife, Mary Sue Hubbard is also a plaintiff herein. On
the one hand she certainly appeared to be a pathetic individual.
She was forced from her post as Controller, convicted and imprisoned
as a felon, and deserted by her husband. On the other hand her
credibility leaves much to be desired. She struck the familiar
pose of not seeing, hearing, or knowing any evil. Yet she was
the head of the Guardian Office for years and among other things,
authored the infamous order "GO [Guardian's Order] 121669" which
directed culling of supposedly confidential P.C. [Preclear]
files/folders for the purposes of internal security. In her
testimony she expressed the feelings that defendant by delivering
the documents, writings, letters to his attorneys, subjected
her to mental rape....The court is satisfied that he [Armstrong]
did not unreasonably intrude upon Mrs. Hubbard's privacy under
the circumstances....It is, of course, rather ironic that
the person who authorized G.O. order 121669 should complain
about an invasion of privacy. The practice of culling supposedly
confidential "P.C. folders or files" to obtain information for
purposes of intimidation and/or harassment is repugnant and
outrageous. The Guardian's Office, which plaintiff headed, was
no respector of anyone's civil rights, particularly that of
privacy.
The documents involved in the case were extensive. They included
copies of letters from Hubbard to his father, to his first two
wives, and to the children of his first marriage. They also
included Hubbard's teenage diaries, his Boy Scout records, poems,
and the manuscript of an unpublished book called *Positive Mental
Therapy*. Also included were Hubbard's letters to Mary Sue Hubbard
over the years, where he said exactly what he was doing while
researching the "Technology" of Scientology. For example, there
are letters sent from North Africa in late 1966, to Mary Sue
at Saint Hill, which give details of the drugs
Scientology at Law 333
Hubbard was taking to "research" the most secret of Scientology's
levels, OT3.
During the course of the trial, the judge heard testimony from
Armstrong; his wife Jocelyn; Laurel Sullivan, who had been Armstrong's
senior on the Biography Project; the proposed author Omar Garrison;
Hubbard's nurse Kima Douglas (who left Hubbard in January 1980);
and former Author Services Incorporated Treasury Secretary Howard
Schomer.
Omar Garrison, who had been commissioned to write the biography,
had this to say of the documentation Armstrong provided:
The inconsistencies were implicit in various documents which
Mr. Armstrong provided me with respect to Mr. Hubbard's curriculum
vitae, with respect to his Navy career, with respect to almost
every aspect of his life. These undeniable and documented facts
did not coincide with the official published biography that
the church had promulgated.
Garrison intended to complete the biography, and continued with
this work through 1982. In June 1983, he agreed to a settlement
with the Church. The Church wanted to be absolutely sure that
the manuscript wasn't made public. Garrison reluctantly agreed.
He too had been followed by private detectives, "bumper to bumper."
However, Garrison retained copies of documents from the Hubbard
archives to ensure the church's good behavior.
Jocelyn Armstrong testified that she had worked on a project
where Mission Holders were to sign backdated contracts, Board
minutes and resignations.
Kima Douglas was Hubbard's personal Medical Officer from 1975
until her departure on January 16, 1980. From 1977, she was
with Hubbard on a daily basis. She was also the head of no less
than fourteen Scientology corporations, and had written undated
resignations from each. Among these was the Religious Research
Foundation, which was used to channel monies from the Flagship,
and later the Flag Land Base, into non-Church accounts controlled
by Hubbard.
Douglas testified that she was with Hubbard when he approved
Armstrong's request to collect material for a biography. She
had also been present when Hubbard had ordered that supposedly
confidential counselling folders should be "culled" for admissions
of crimes, and anti-social or immoral actions, for future use.
Douglas admitted that she had seen Hubbard display "irrational
and abusive" behavior, to
334 JUDGMENTS
the extent of striking someone. She also revealed the extent
of Hubbard's ill health throughout the years she served him.
The myth of L. Ron Hubbard was badly fractured. It seemed that
his mesmeric hold over Scientologists, whether Church members
or Independents, was slipping. The trance could only be maintained
through a stubborn refusal to consider the material now available.
The Judgment in the Armstrong case was filed on June 22, 1984,
just as Justice Latey was preparing to hear a child custody
case in London.
CHAPTER TWO
The Child Custody Case
What can we do to refute what is stated in Scientology's own
documents? - Counsel for the Scientologist father in the custody
case
In Spring 1984, I learned of a child custody case in which
Scientology was at issue. The father, a Church Scientologist, was
seeking to retain custody of his two young children. The mother and
stepfather had left Scientology.
Prior to the hearing, the stepfather called me. He launched
into a speech, saying he did not want to blacken Scientology,
only to gain custody of the children. His caution was unnecessary,
I had no desire to conceal the facts about either Hubbard or
Scientology. Although prepared to help the Independents defend
themselves, I was no longer a Scientologist. We began to work
together on a daily basis.
The stepfather already had an enormous amount of material, much
of which he could not use in court. His solicitor felt, for
example, that the 1,500 page transcript of the Clearwater Hearings
was inadmissible in an English court. The father, a convinced
Scientologist, had insisted that he did not practice Disconnection.
I was given three letters he had written to his business partner
in 1983, Disconnecting from him, and suggesting that a screen
be put in their office to avoid even visual contact with his
Suppressive partner.
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336 JUDGMENTS
The head of the Scientology school in East Grinstead was being
called as a witness. She denied that a twelve-year-old girl
had received a "withhold pulling session" at the hands of three
of the school's staff. To "pull withholds" is Scientologese
for making someone confess to their transgressions. Minutes
of the school's board meetings had to be publicly available,
yet the filed copy made no reference to the "withhold-pulling"
session. I obtained an unedited copy of the school's board minutes,
which not only proved the headmistress's sworn statement untrue,
but showed the school's attempt at concealment.
Then there were Hubbard's own published statements. I found
references to Fair Game, a passage where Hubbard called
non-Scientologists "raw meat," and much more.
Of course, Church members are forbidden by Policy from making
any public criticism of either Hubbard or Scientology. The strength
of this taboo is shown by the criticism ! received from some
Independents for my wholehearted involvement in the case. The
future of the children, and their future happiness, was less
important to them than maintaining a Public Relations shield
for Hubbard and Scientology. This attitude stems from the belief
that the Tech is a world-saving force, and that if anything
is awry it will not help to broadcast it. It has to be emphasized
that public admissions of wrongdoing, apologies, and steps to
prevent repetition are foreign to the mentality instilled into
Hubbard's converts.
The case concerned the custody of a ten-year-old boy, and an
eight-year-old girl. To quote from the judgment:
At the heart of the mother's case is the contention that if
the children remain in the care of the father they will be brought
up as Scientologists and will be seriously damaged...
It is important, indeed essential, to stress from the start
that this is neither an action against Scientology nor a prosecution
of it. But willy-nilly Scientology is at the center of the dispute
of what is best for the children. The father and his counsel
have stressed that they are not here to defend Scientology.
That is true in the strict sense that the "Church" of Scientology
is not a party to the proceedings. But they have known from
the start what the mother's case is....The father's solicitor
is a Scientologist. He has been in communication with the solicitors
who act for Scientology. There has been ample time and opportunity
to assemble and adduce documents and evidence in refutation
of the mother's allegations. None has been adduced. Why? Because
the mother's case is based largely on Scientology's own documents
and as the father's
The Child Custody Case 337
counsel...candidly albeit plaintively said "what can we do
to refute what is stated in Scientology's own documents?"
...The parents were married in 1973 and late that year B
[the son] was born. G [the daughter] was born in December, 1975.
The parents separated in November, 1978. In December, 1978 and
January, 1979, the parents signed agreements by virtue of which
the father had custody of the children and the mother access
....In March, 1979 the father filed a petition of divorce on
the ground of the mother's adultery with the stepfather.
In September, 1979...by agreement, custody was committed
to the father. The divorce was made absolute in November, 1979.
The father and stepmother married. The mother and stepfather
also went through a ceremony of marriage believing that they
were free to do so. In fact, the stepfather's divorce had not
gone through....
...In May, 1980 there began a hearing by the Scientology
"Chaplain's Court" concerning the custody of the children. The
decision, inaccurately described as an "Agreement," was that
custody should remain with the father.
The mother and stepfather subsequently left Scientology, and
decided to take the matter to law. Justice Latey continued:
As to the separation in 1978, the father said in his Affidavit
that this was caused by the mother's relationship with the stepfather.
In his oral evidence the father accepted that he had drawn up
what in Scientology language is described as a "Doubt Formula"
["Doubt" is one of the "Ethics Conditions"] in which he said
that he considered himself the mother's intellectual superior,
that he had doubts about the wisdom of the marriage and that
separation had been discussed on a number of occasions....
It is scarcely surprising that with a husband who so regarded
her, she became attached to a man who held her in full regard
and affection.
As to the custody agreements in 1978 and 1979: The father naturally
attaches much weight to them. The mother says that throughout
she wanted the children and believed that it would be better
for them to be with her. She was a committed Scientologist at
the time. Scientology forbids recourse to the law courts of
the country save in special circumstances with permission....
The mother says that she agreed to the father having custody
because of the pressure brought to bear on her by the father
and the Scientologists concerned. The father accepts that she
agreed very reluctantly....
At the time of the separation B was aged just five and G not
quite three. Had the dispute come to court one cannot be sure,
of course, what
338 JUDGMENTS
the decision would have been, but it is not unlikely that children
so young would have been put in the care of a good and devoted
mother as this one is and always has been.
...As to the "Chaplain's" decision: There were written submissions
and some oral hearings. It is noteworthy that from start to
finish the father's submission is couched in Scientology terminology
and stresses all he and the stepmother have done for Scientology,
how correctly they have complied with Scientology "ethics" and
how the mother has offended against those "ethics." The Chaplain
of course was a Scientology official.
Both the mother and stepfather wanted to come to Court and in
about May 1980 she was given permission to do so by the "Assistant
Guardian" on condition that Scientology would not be involved.
But the father intervened with the Guardian and the permission
was withdrawn.
In the summer of 1982, the children stayed with the mother,
and she decided to keep them, despite the previous "agreements."
She fled to the United States, and the father followed her,
taking the children back to England with him. Justice Latey
continued, having admitted that were it not for the father's
adherence to Scientology he would have ruled that the children
stay with him:
What then is the Scientology factor and what weight should be
attached to it? "Horrendous." "Sinister." "A lot of rotten
apples in it." Those words are not mine. They are the father's
own words describing practices of the Cult and what it does
to people inside it and outside it. "A lot of villains in it."
"Dreadful things have been done in the name of Scientology."
These words are not mine. They are the words of the father's
counsel.
Justice Latey went on the describe Scientology as he saw it,
and added:
Some might regard this as an extension of the entertaining science
fiction which Hubbard used to write before he invented and founded
the cult....But in an open Society, such as ours, people can
believe what they want to and band together and promulgate their
beliefs. If people believe that the earth is flat there is nothing
to stop them believing so, saying so and joining together to
persuade others.
He then quoted the evidence given by American psychiatrist Dr.
John Gordon Clark, during the trial:
The Child Custody Case 339
Auditing is a simple, thoroughly designed means of concentrating
the mind to a state of a controlled trance. The aim and result
is progressively to enforce loyalty to, and identification with
Scientology to the detriment of one's natural awareness of divergent
ways of thinking and outside cultural influences. Love and allegiance
are more and more given to Scientology and L. Ron Hubbard.
Justice Latey further wrote that "In blunt language `auditing'
is a process of conditioning, brainwashing and indoctrination."
Justice Latey compared the truth about Hubbard with the Church's
published claims:
To promote himself and the cult he has made these, among other
false claims:
That he was a much decorated war hero. He was not.
That he commanded a corvette squadron. He did not.
That he was awarded the Purple Heart, a gallantry decoration
for those wounded in action. He was not wounded and was not
decorated.
That he was crippled and blinded in the war and cured himself
with Dianetic technique. He was not crippled and was not blinded.
That he was sent by U.S. Naval Intelligence to break up a black
magic ring in California. He was not. He was himself a member
of that occult group and practiced ritual sexual magic in it.
That he was a graduate of George Washington University and an
atomic physicist. The facts are that he completed only one year
of college and failed the one course on nuclear physics in which
he enrolled.
There is no dispute about any of this. The evidence is unchallenged.
...Hubbard has described himself as "Dr. Hubbard." The only
doctorate he has held is a self-bestowed "doctorate" in Scientology.
...Mr. Hubbard is a charlatan and worse, as are his wife
Mary Sue Hubbard...and the clique at the top privy to the
Cult's activities.
Further on Justice Latey spoke of "Confessional auditing":
Contrary to the assurance of confidentiality, all "auditing"
files are available to Scientology's intelligence and enforcement
bureau and are used, if necessary, to control and extort obedience
from the person who was audited. If a person seeks to escape
from Scientology his auditing files are taken by the intelligence
bureau and used, if wished, to pressure him into silence. They
are often so used and uncontraverted evidence of this has been
given at this hearing.
340 JUDGMENTS
...It is no surprise that to escape from the clutches of
Scientology calls for great courage and resolution. The stranglehold
is tight and unrelenting and the discipline ruthless. And of
course there is the anguish of conscience in the escaper after
usually many years of commitment to Scientology.
Justice Latey went on to read "TR-L" ("Training Routine-Lying")
into the record. This is a drill used in the training of Guardian's
Office staff members. Its purpose is to enable the trainee
to tell a lie in a convincing fashion.
Much of a Hubbard Policy Letter, of August 15, 1960, was also
read into the record. It contains the statement: "If attacked
on some vulnerable point by anyone or anything or any organization,
always find or manufacture enough threat against them to cause
them to sue for peace....Don't ever defend. Always attack."
Then Justice Latey read from a Guardian's Order of March 9,
1970, headed "Re: Successful and Unsuccessful Actions." Among
the successful actions was seeking out the criminal acts of
"traitors" (easy to do if you have their auditing folders).
The Order describes a cross-filing system used to keep track
of information on "traitors" (such as myself, I suppose). GO
staff were to create a fictitious company (a press agency was
recommended), and use letterheaded paper to make inquiries.
Information is better discovered through phone calls than through
personal visits. Sexual favors to members of governments had
apparently also been successful. Hostile groups could be infiltrated
and documents stolen. Letters can be forged for purposes of
character assassination. Anonymous reports can be made to the
tax authorities.
Justice Latey moved on to life inside Scientology:
Discipline is ruthless and obedience has to be unquestioning.
Scientologists working on the staff are required to work inordinately
long hours for their keep and a pittance...
Scientology must come first before family or friends. Much evidence
has been given and not disputed of how it leads to alienation
of one spouse from another, of alienation from children and
from friends.
Another witness, Mrs. B, was a Scientologist from 1972 and rose
quickly in the organization. She had a three year old daughter.
Nonetheless, for a period of months she was required to work
from 8:30 a.m. to 1 a.m. She was allowed only fifteen minutes
daily to put her daughter to
The Child Custody Case 341
bed. On one occasion when the child broke her arm and she took
her to the doctor she was directed to work all night as a penalty.
In January 1982, Mrs. B was made Commanding Officer of the
Organization, Saint Hill U.K. Foundation. At around this time the
Commodore's Messenger's Org...in the United States were originating
an increasing number of international directives which seemed to
her wrong or bad. She wrote a report addressing it to L. Ron
Hubbard. Eight days later in November 1982, she was removed
from her post and assigned to the "RPF" (Rehabilitation Project
Force). She was refused counselling, required to do at least
twelve hours physical work a day (shifting bricks, emptying
bins etc.) [sic] and to communicate with no one, except to receive
orders. The work aggravated a chronic back condition. When she
protested she was threatened with being declared a "Suppressive
Person"....Her time with her children was limited to one half
hour per day.
Another witness worked at Flag [in Florida] and became an "L.
Ron Hubbard Public Relations Officer," one of only three in
the world and a high appointment. In 1977 she declined to undertake
a mission that would cause her to leave her young daughter for
at least two months. She was shouted at and abused because she
put the care of her child first. She was subjected to a Committee
of Evidence (disciplinary tribunal): She left Flag.
Those are a few of many illustrations, proved in evidence, of
the ruthless and inhuman disciplinary measures.
Justice Latey then quoted from an Ethics Policy Letter, and
from the 1968 cancellation of "Fair Game." He gave the following
example to demonstrate that the "Fair Game Policy" (that a Suppressive
can be "tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed") was still in
force after its apparent cancellation:
Beginning in 1977 the Church of Scientology has conducted a
campaign of persecution against Dr. Clark. They wrote Fetters
to the Dean at the Harvard Medical School and to the Director
of the Massachusetts General Hospital. They [the Dean and the
Director] refused to gag him. Their [the Church's] agents tracked
down and telephoned several of his patients and interviewed
his neighbors looking for evidence to impugn his private or
personal actions. They submitted a critical report to a Committee
of the Massachusetts State Senate. On three occasions during
the last five years a Scientology "front" called the Citizens'
Commission on Human Rights have brought complaints against him
to the Massachusetts Medical Board of Registration alleging
improper professional conduct. In 1980 he was declared a "Number
One Enemy"
342 JUDGMENTS
and in 1981 they brought two law suits against him (summarily
dismissed, but costly and worrying). They distributed leaflets
at the Massachusetts General Hospital offering a $25,000 reward
to employees for evidence which would lead to his conviction
on any charge of criminal activity. They stole his employment
record from another Boston hospital. They convened press conferences
calculated to ruin his professional reputation.
Justice Latey quoted Hubbard: "The law can be used very easily
to harass," and continued:
A sad episode during the hearing was the evidence of a young
man. He is greatly gifted and did exceptionally well at School
and University. His parents are Scientologists as are his brother
and sister. They are all totally committed. He did his first
simple course at the age of six, and a further basic course,
"The Hubbard Qualified Scientologist Course," two years later.
Since then he has continued with course after course....
It became apparent that he simply could not accept that there
was or could be anything wrong with Scientology. The part of
his mind which would otherwise have been capable of weighing
objectively the criticisms of Scientology had been blocked out
by the processing. He has indeed been enslaved.
In his conclusion as to Scientology itself, Justice Latey had
this to say:
Scientology is both immoral and socially obnoxious....In my
judgment it is corrupt, sinister and dangerous. It is corrupt
because it is based on lies and deceit and has as its real objective
money and power for Mr. Hubbard, his wife and those close to
him at the top. It is sinister because it indulges in infamous
practices both to its adherents who do not toe the line unquestioningly,
and to those who criticise or oppose it. It is dangerous because
it is out to capture people, especially children and impressionable
young people, and indoctrinate and brainwash them so that they
become the unquestioning captives and tools of the cult, withdrawn
from ordinary thought, living and relationships with others.
Mr. Justice Latey awarded custody of the children to the mother.
Late in the hearing the father had made a heart-rending proposal:
he and his new wife would abandon Scientology until the children
had grown up. It was moving, not because he would have to abandon
Scientology, but because for making such a suggestion in court
he risked being ostracized by the Scientology Church and community,
The Child Custody Case 343
whatever the outcome. The Justice felt that because the father
and his wife were committed Scientologists, their removal from
East Grinstead, and from the Church, would not be enough: "The
baleful influence of the `Church' would in reality still be
there and the children would remain gravely at risk."
The Justice also gave two very telling examples of that "baleful
influence":
Recently B asked his mother whether he could have a certain
friend to stay for the weekend with him "because he's the only
one whose parents will let him come to your house."
Recently G asked her mother why she was not a Scientologist.
Her mother pointed out that people could be good people without
being Scientologists and observed that two widely respected
personages in whom G is interested were not Scientologists.
To this G replied "they would be better if they were."
CHAPTER THREE
Signing the Pledge
L. Ron Hubbard seemed oblivious to the drubbing he was receiving
in the courts, and as the Armstrong trial was nearing its conclusion
bulletins relating to a new "Rundown" started to appear. However,
the "False Purpose Rundown" did show some awareness that all
was not well in the Scientology world. Added to the usual list
of items preventing gain in counselling - "overts" (transgressions),
"evil purposes" and connection to real or imagined Suppressives - were
"false purposes." These were defined as "non-survival purposes."
In the first Bulletin Hubbard took one of his perennial swipes
at psychiatry. By now the association between the "implanters"
who created OT3, seventy-five million years ago, and the modern
day psychiatrists was complete. He also said that "psychs" and
"priests" are "the same crew," so dismissing all mental therapy
and all religion (with the exception of Scientology, of course)
in the same breath.
In the wake of their resounding defeat in the Armstrong case
in California, and the damning decision in the English child
custody case, the Church published an Executive Directive called
simply "Squirrels," naming Armstrong, two former members of
Hubbard's Personal staff who had given evidence during the Armstrong
case, and David Mayo along with two of his associates. The Directive
contained the usual hyperbole about enemies of humanity, and
accused the named individuals of retailing insanity.1
344
Signing the Pledge 345
A few days later, on September 24, 1984, the Church of Scientology
lost an appeal against the Internal Revenue Service. In a 222-page
decision, the Tax Court judge gave a remarkably detailed account
of the Church's financial dealings from 1970-1972, showing the
movement of huge sums out of Scientology and into Hubbard' s
control. The judge also described the tactics of evasion ordered
by Hubbard, for example, the deliberate jumbling of two million
pages of tax related material, so that IRS officials would have
to sort it out, at the expense of the U.S. tax-payer.
On October 9, a group of Scientology dignitaries, including
David Miscavige, flew to Saint Hill by helicopter, to sign the
"Pledge to Mankind" and to form the "International Association
of Scientologists." The Pledge contained the usual rhetoric,
clumsily written out by an inexperienced calligrapher:
New religions have been born in blood at the cost of great
sacrifice and suffering by adherents....Scientology has survived
and expanded because...it is a force for goodness and freedom...
which is easily recognized by men of goodwill; despite the vicious
lies which are spawned by those who would enslave mankind and
which are carried by the media....
In the United States...we are the targets of unprincipled attacks
in the court system by those who would line their pockets from
our hard won coffers. Bigots in all branches of government...
are bent on our destruction through taxation and repressive
legislation.
We have been subjected to illegal heresy trials in two countries
before prejudiced and malinformed judges who are not qualified
or inclined to perceive the truth....
The detractors of Scientology know full well that it is a proven,
effective and workable system for freeing mankind from spiritual
bondage. That is why they attack. They fear that they will somehow
be threatened by a society which is more ethical, productive
and humane.
Scientologists paid $2,000 to become lifetime members of the
Association.
In addition to the Pledge, the Church filed yet another law
suit against attorney Michael Flynn, this time demanding $20,600,000
in damages. In the Complaint, it was alleged that Flynn had
engineered the forgery of a $2 million check presented to a
New York bank in 1982, to be drawn on the account of L. Ron
Hubbard. Obviously, they had failed to find evidence which would
interest the FBI or a District Attorney. Undeterred, the Scientologists
published an issue of its
346 JUDGMENTS
*Freedom* magazine, which is handed out by the thousand on the
streets. They quoted from affidavits made by the two brothers
who had perpetrated the check fraud, in which Flynn was accused
of setting up the whole operation. After months of such libels,
one of the brothers, who was being held in custody by German
police, signed another affidavit, in which he claimed the Scientologists
had paid him for the first affidavit. Eventually, the Church
withdrew their ill-founded Complaint.
In December 1984, came another bombshell. Following the massive
Martin Hunt
raid on the Toronto Scientology Church of March 1983, charges
were finally brought against eighteen high-ranking Church officials
and former members, and the Church of Scientology itself. Among
the charges was one of conspiracy to attempt murder, though
this was dropped a few months later.
On the last day of January 1985, the Scientologists filed a
lawsuit against the Advanced Ability Centers in Santa Barbara,
Aberdeen and East Grinstead, along with several of these Centers'
principals, including David Mayo, Robin Scott, Morag Bellmaine
and Ron Lawley. Jon Zegel, whose tapes recounting the CMO takeover
were so popular, was also included. The Complaint was for "racketeering;
false description of origin; common law unfair competition;
statutory unfair competition; receipt and concealment of stolen
property; breach of trust; breach of contract; trade secret
misappropriation; injunctive relief and damages." Scientology
attorneys were invoking the Racketeering Influence and Corrupt
Organizations Act, enacted to curtail the activities of organized
crime.
A Washington, DC, judge signed an order on March 13, 1985 (the
Commodore's 741h birthday), requiring L. Ron Hubbard to appear
in the long-standing case of the Founding Church of Scientology
of Washington, DCA" versus the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The judge deemed Hubbard a "managing agent" of the church despite
all protestations that Hubbard had resigned from management
in the 1960s. Hubbard failed to appear, and the case was dismissed.
One of the Church's suits against Michael Flynn was also dismissed
for Hubbard's failure to obey a court order to appear.
Also in March, Julie Christofferson-Tichbourne's case against
Hubbard, the Church of Scientology of California, and the Scientology
Mission of Davis came back into court in Portland, Oregon. The
suit had originally been filed in 1977, and arose out of a claim
for a refund of some $3,000 dollars. Julie Christofferson had
become involved with
Signing the Pledge 347
Scientology in 1975, when she was seventeen. She had taken Scientology
courses in place of a college course in engineering, and had
spent her college money in doing so. She claimed that fraudulent
representations had been made to her about the value of Scientology
qualifications, and the benefits that Scientology counselling
and training would bring to her. Her original Complaint charged
outrageous conduct, the infliction of severe emotional distress
and fraud.2
It was the third time that the case had been brought to trial.
In 1979, Christofferson-Tichbourne had been awarded $2.1 million.
In 1982, the ruling had been overturned by the appellate court,
dismissing the claim of outrageous conduct, but also striking
the evidence of several Scientology witnesses.
The 1980s rift in Scientology had started after the appellate
decision. Thousands had either left or been expelled from the
Church. Among them were many valuable witnesses, and since the
Armstrong case there was a greater willingness to go on record.
Bill Franks, who had been Executive Director International in
1981, and had controlled the purge of the Guardian's Office,
took the stand and when asked by the Church's attorney whether
he had thought Scientology created "mindless robots," he responded,
"not at the outset." When asked his current opinion he replied,
"Absolutely." He complained about the manipulation of members,
and the ludicrously high cost of Scientology. Franks said abandoning
Scientology had been the hardest move of his whole life. He
maintained that most Scientology staff members are decent people,
but added, "Scientology plays on decency. That's the whole hook."
The details of a Guardian's Office operation were put into evidence.
"Operation Christo" had been aimed at Julie Christofferson-Tichbourne,
her family and even a Lutheran minister.
In an attempt to discredit Armstrong's testimony, the Church
produced surreptitiously made videotapes. One of Armstrong's
former friends had been ordered to see him, claiming to have
left the Church. He encouraged Armstrong to talk about potential
methods of taking over and reforming the Scientology Church.
The conversations were recorded. Judge Donald Londer refused
to admit them as evidence, and said, "I think they are devastating,
devastating against the church." He expressed doubts that the
tapes were made with proper legal authority, and added that
the method used to make the tapes "borders more on entrapment
than anything else."
However, a few days later, Londer allowed the jury to see the
entire 108 minutes of videotape, so the context could be seen,
rather than
348 JUDGMENTS
allowing cross-examination based upon excerpts. He overruled
Tichbourne's attorney, Garry McMurry, who said the tapes had
been made in violation of civil and criminal laws in both Oregon
and California (where they were actually recorded). During the
taped conversations Armstrong had admitted that he was capable
of "creating documents" relating to the actions of the current
management, and placing them in Church files. There was no evidence
that he had ever undertaken such a project.
Three more hours of tape were submitted by the Church, and viewed
by the jury. In a twist of fate, the day after the last tape
was played, the Internal Revenue Service was given authorization
to use the tapes in its case against Scientology.
Martin Samuels gave devastating testimony. As the head of the
Mission involved in the case, he had been a principal witness
in the original trial. His life had been torn apart after the
San Francisco Mission Holders' Conference in 1982. By the time
of the new trial, he had brought his own case against Hubbard,
also in Portland, for $72 million. Before testifying, he was
denied immunity from criminal prosecution for committing perjury
at the 1979 Christofferson trial. On the stand, he said representations
made by him that his Portland Mission had not been connected
to the national Scientology organization were false. He also
said that Scientology witnesses had been coached to lie before
the original trial, in what he called a "witness college." In
the original trial, the Church had carefully constructed a fabric
of lies, just as they had proposed to do in the Guardian's Office
trial before Meisner's surrender to the FBI.
Defense witnesses testified to the benefits of Scientology on
their lives. The Church claimed that their First Amendment rights
were being violated, and that religion was being put on trial.
On May 18, 1985, after two days of deliberation, the jury awarded
$39 million dollars in damages: $20 million against Hubbard,
$17.5 million against the Church of Scientology of California,
and $1.5 million against the Church of Scientology Mission of
Davis.
During the trial, the Scientologists had waged an advertising
blitz in newspapers and on local radio and television stations,
and this continued with the "Crusade for Religious Freedom."
Two jurors told the press that the advertising had not influenced
their decision. Jurors also claimed that they had not been influenced
by threatening phone calls they had received during the trial
from callers claiming to be Scientologists.
Signing the Pledge 349
A Church spokeswoman told the press, "This is a bizarre plot
to destroy the Church. They [the jurors] decided that religion
as practiced by Scientology is not protected by the Constitution.
Throughout the case we demonstrated beyond a doubt the government's
involvement in a conspiracy against the Church."3
Scientology attorneys immediately moved for a mistrial. Within
a few days, busloads of Scientologists were arriving in Portland
to protest the decision. A candlelit parade was arranged, and
Scientologist celebrities, including John Travolta, gave talks.
A Church spokesman' s estimate that half a million protesters
would turn up proved to be grossly exaggerated: Chick Corea
performed to a crowd of about 2,000 Scientologists in Portland.
For weeks, protesters marched in front of the Courthouse, calling
themselves the "Crusade for Religious Freedom," and carrying
banners proclaiming "Save Freedom of Religion" and "Restore
the Bill of Rights." The protesters listened to vehement speeches
given by Scientology officials, and punctuated them with choruses
of "We shall overcome." The rhetoric of Church spokespeople
was strident: "This is akin to burning a witch, to nailing somebody
to a cross - an outright attempt to exterminate a religious group,"
for example. It was said that deprogrammers had turned Julie
Christofferson-Tichbourne into a "mindless robot."
The Scientologists kept up what seemed to be senseless pressure.
Nonetheless, trial Judge Donald Londer's decision, given two
months after the jury ruling, came as a surprise. He declared
a mistrial, on the grounds that he had failed to strike remarks
made by Christofferson-Tichbourne's attorney that Scientology
was not a religion from the record. Consequently, it had been
represented to the jury that they could punish Scientology for
purely religious beliefs. He also criticized the attorney's
characterization of Scientology as a terrorist group and of
Hubbard as a sociopath.4
The Church was triumphant. In October 1985, the International
Association of Scientologists (IAS) celebrated its first anniversary
with a rally in Copenhagen. It was announced that the Church
had an international staff of over 8,500, many of whom were
members of the Association; the Association's total membership
numbered 12,000. Even before the rift the Church probably had
less than 50,000 members, despite its claims of seven million.
As membership of the IAS is the official membership of the Church
of Scientology, the figures are very revealing. They had probably
lost at least half of their membership in the schism.5
350 JUDGMENTS
In November, the Scientologists named David Mayo in another
suit. Larry Wollersheim, a former member, had brought litigation
against the Church in Los Angeles. In the case, the Judge had
ruled that the OT3 materials should go into evidence. In the
United States, documents put into evidence generally become
publicly available, and on the morning of November 4, about
1,500 Church Scientologists crammed three floors of the Courthouse
in an attempt to block public access to their confidential "scriptures."
The Los Angeles Times managed to thwart the blockade, obtained
the materials, and published a brief account of OT3, which was
enthusiastically taken up by newspapers throughout the U.S.
The Church filed suit against Wollersheim and Mayo in the U.S.
District Court to prevent further distribution of "confidential"
materials.
On November 23, 1985, to the amazement of many, the Court issued
a temporary injunction enjoining defendants from the use or
distribution of any of the OT levels beyond OT3, in any way
whatsoever. It meant little to Larry Wollersheim, who had no
use for materials which he asserted were brainwashing, but Mayo's
Advanced Ability Center relied upon his version of these levels
for a fair proportion of its income. The Santa Barbara AAC was
thus prevented from practicing what the Church had insisted
was the "religion of Scientology." Ironically, Mayo had pioneered
the development of these particular forbidden scriptures in
an attempt to save Hubbard's life. It took almost a year for
the injunction to be removed, by which time Mayo's group had
been driven out of business. In Hubbard's words, "the purpose
of the suit is to harass and discourage rather than to win."
When the injunction was finally overturned, the Appeal Judges
ruled that "the Church's contention that the disputed materials
are `religious scripture' was not reconciled with the California
statute's reference to `economic value' as an element of a protectible
trade secret."6 In other words, the Church could not have
it both ways, religious scriptures are not business trade secrets.
Subsequently, however, a judge has ruled that even this issue
can be tried in a court of law.
CHAPTER FOUR
Dropping the Body
The Independent Scientology movement owed its origins in part
to the uncertainty surrounding Hubbard's disappearance in 1980.
There was an unwillingness to ascribe the bizarre actions of
Church management to the Founder. Many Independents thought
Hubbard had died, or even been murdered, and that his name was
being used to maintain the authority of the young rulers. It
was the new management's apparent betrayal of Hubbard's principles
that persuaded many to leave the Church, so that they could
better realize what they considered to be Hubbard's aims. Conversely,
many of those who stayed in the Church must have believed that
the new management really did represent Hubbard. They were almost
certainly right.
Rumors of Hubbard's whereabouts circulated freely. He was on
Catalina island, or in Missouri; he had taken to the sea again,
or was in Ireland. News of repeated applications for entry to
Britain (which were always turned down) led to the belief that
he was trying to return to Saint Hill. In 1985, two Los Angeles
Times journalists bruited it about that Hubbard was just north
of Santa Barbara. They came closer than anyone else.
Hubbard died at 8:00 p.m. on Friday, January 24, 1986, at his
ranch near Creston, in California. He was attended by his doctor,
Eugene Denk, and at least two other Scientologists. Church attorney
Earle Cooley, who had defended against the Christofferson-Tichbourne
suit, was informed. He advised that nothing be done before his
arrival from Los Angeles, when he took charge. Cooley was with
Hubbard's body
351
352 JUDGMENTS
from that moment until the ashes were scattered at sea. The
body was kept at the ranch for over eleven hours before being
collected by Reis Chapel mortuary in San Luis Obispo on Saturday
morning. The mortuary notified the coroner's office, concerned
that Cooley had made a request for immediate cremation. Dr.
Denk reported that Hubbard had died "several days" after suffering
a brain hemorrhage, and indicated on the death certificate that
the cause of death was a "cerebral vascular accident," a stroke.
George Whiting, the county coroner, said that in such a "straightforward
case" there would not normally have been any investigation,
but because of the delay in notification, Chief Deputy Coroner
Don Hines photographed the body, and took fingerprints. He was
accompanied by pathologist Karl Kirschner, who examined the
body for marks, and found none. He accompanied Hubbard's physician,
Dr. Denk, to a laboratory to test blood samples.
Whiting has said that although the evidence supported a finding
of death by natural causes, he would like to have performed
an autopsy. He claimed to be prevented from doing so under California
law, because four days before his death Hubbard had signed a
legal document saying an autopsy would be against his religious
beliefs. A will, written the day before he died, was also presented,
and the district attorney was consulted, as one of the chapel
employees put it, "They wanted to make sure this wasn't a scam."
The blood samples showed acceptable levels of anti-stroke medication,
but no "harmful" levels of drugs. Coroner Whiting said the fingerprints
were matched with sets obtained from the Department of Justice
and the FBI, and concluded: "The person we fingerprinted was
Hubbard."
The Coroner's office released the body to Denk and Cooley, who
attended the cremation. Cooley said that the ashes had been
scattered at sea by 3:40 p.m. that day, Saturday, January 25.
Church officials claimed that although Hubbard had suffered
a stroke the week before his death, he was lucid when he amended
his will the day before he died. The change was allegedly in
favor of members of his family. Cooley told the press that Hubbard
had left a "very generous provision" for his wife Mary Sue,
and for "certain of his children." He said that the remaining
"tens of millions of dollars" would go to the Church of Scientology.
Earl Cooley joined the Church of Scientology while acting as
the Church's attorney during the Christofferson-Tichbourne case,
less than
Dropping the Body 353
a year before Hubbard's death. In his talk to the assembled
Scientologists who gathered to hear the news of Hubbard's death,
Cooley maintained the doctrinaire attitude which governs the
Church: "Together you will win total victory and achieve the
ultimate goals of Scientology."
Hubbard had been living for several years at the remote 160-acre
fenced ranch near Creston, about thirty miles north east of
San Luis Obispo. Six other people lived there, among them Eugene
Denk, and Pat and Anne Broeker. Hubbard was keeping about thirty-five
quarter horses, and there were also four buffaloes, a pair of
llamas, and several Black Angus cattle, including Hubbard's
favorite bull, Bubba. At the time of his death Hubbard was living
in one of his several luxury motor homes, while the main house
was being remodeled. The property was guarded by six Japanese
Akita dogs.
The Whispering Winds ranch was bought by Pat Broeker, under
an assumed name, in summer 1983, for $700,000. Rebuilding the
house alone cost $300,000. The Church have tried to give the
image of a smiling, gregarious Hubbard wandering around the
ranch, chatting with the workers. In fact, the locals saw very
little of him, and he complained constantly about work done
on the house, and kept changing the plans. For example, a stone
fireplace was replaced with a tile one, and then ripped out
altogether. That was the pattern, so much so, that in the two
and a half years that he lived on the ranch, Hubbard never occupied
the house, living instead in his $250,000 Bluebird motor home.
Hubbard eked out his last days working on the presentation of
the OT levels beyond 7, taking photographs, designing and redesigning
the house, and watching films. "His movie favorites included
Hitchcock films, Star Wars but not the later movies in the trilogy,
Diva, Citizen Kane, Slaughter House Five and Patton. He liked
Clint Eastwood and Robert Duvall," according to one of the Messengers.
After Hubbard's death, Rocky Mountain News journalist Sue Lindsay
was allowed to visit both the Whispering Winds ranch and Gilman
Hot Springs. In her excellent article the truth was revealed
about the luxurious accommodation prepared for Hubbard by the
Messengers. The house at Gilman, which he never occupied, was
completed in 1983, after three years work. The Clipper ship,
which cost about half a million dollars in materials alone,
has already been mentioned, and in 1984 a twenty-four track
recording studio was also completed for Hubbard at Gilman:
354 JUDGMENTS
Now, although he is dead, tables throughout the [Gilman] compound
are set for one with glasses of water covered with plastic wrap,
a flexible, striped straw poking through. Each of Hubbard's
personal bathrooms has toothbrushes and identical sets of Thom
McAn black thongs ready for him to step into after a shower
or bath. Any spot where Hubbard would conceivably sit is furnished
with a yellow legal pad and pen, usually placed at an artful
slant....
His snappy black, white and chrome office in the movie studio
contains a kitchenette with a table set with fresh flowers and
salt and pepper shakers. In the adjoining bathroom, equipped
as a makeup studio, Hubbard's red wig rests on a mannequin's
head....
He owned enough photography gear to stock a large camera store,
if not a chain of them. Hundreds of cameras are boxed with lenses
ready for use. Another 3,000 pieces of gear are in storage.
The news of Hubbard's death was first given to a sizeable group
of Scientologists, who had been peremptorily summoned to the
Hollywood Palladium. Here the elusive Pat Broeker made his first
public appearance of the 1980s. The audience was told that Hubbard
had decided to "leave the body," because it was hindering his
OT research. David Miscavige assured them that Hubbard had "moved
on to his next level of OT research." Miscavige added, "This
level is beyond anything any one of us ever imagined. This level
is in fact done in an exterior state, meaning that it is done
completely exterior from the body. At this level of OT, the
body is nothing more than an impediment." According to Pat Broeker,
"LRH expressly stated that there was to be no grief, no mourning...
'They know they're not a body. Don't let them be confused about
it.'"
Hubbard's last message to his flock, dated five days before
his death, was a Flag Order entitled "The Sea Org and the Future."'
In it he assumed the rank of Admiral, and created the new rank
of "Loyal Officer." Pat and Annie Broeker became the First and
Second Loyal Officers respectively. Hubbard ended with a cheery
message to Sea Org members, speaking of taking Scientology to
other planets, and reassuring them that they would be seeing
him again.
Heber Jentzsch, President of the Church of Scientology International,
announced Hubbard's death to the press at 9:00 p.m. on Monday,
January 27, 1986. Jentzsch told the Press that "after completing
his life's work to his full satisfaction," Hubbard had "departed
his body." Another Scientology spokesman said Hubbard would
continue his research, having "learned how to do it without
a body."
Dropping the Body 355
In March 1986, Scientologists celebrated Hubbard's birthday
as usual. In Los Angeles, Annie Broeker made her first public
appearance since the 1970s. Fumbling with her lines, looking
tired and wearing too much makeup, she told the assembled fans
a story. She said that Hubbard had once told her that "after
the first tick of time" that one "Arp Cola" had invented music.
There was a strong implication that Hubbard had been Cola. He
had supposedly borrowed some of these early tunes and refashioned
them into the modern style. The result was an album called "The
Road to Freedom," which was released that night.
The record was made by Scientologist musicians, with Hubbard
supervising at long distance through taped messages. Hubbard
wrote the lyrics, which are peppered with Scientologese. They
provide an insight into his state of mind at the end: "There
was a worried being who did secret acts/He felt he had to hide,
hide, hide, hide, hide"; or, as a confession about the OT levels
perhaps, "In olden days the populace was much afraid of demons/And
paid an awful sky high price to buy some priestly begones....
Oh now here is why that makes the world an evil circus/No demons
at all but just the easily erased evil purpose."
"Thank you for listening," the last ditty on the album, sung
in a rumbling growl by Hubbard himself, takes the form of a
"thank you" to attack his detractors: "For truth is truth and
if they then decide to live with lies/That's their concern not
mine, my friend, they're free to fantasize."
A reviewer at the leading British music paper, the Melody Maker,
finished his criticism of the album with this quip: "You're
supposed to eat vegetables, not listen to them."
CHAPTER FIVE
After Hubbard
Scientology is here to rescue you - L. RON HUBBARD
Hubbard's last will and testament, dated the day before his
death, held no surprises. He left an unspecified amount of money,
the bulk of his fortune, to the "Author's Trust Fund B." Norman
Starkey, a founding Sea Org member, became Hubbard's executor.
He had been president of Author Services Inc., which marketed
Hubbard's published works, since January 1983.
Hubbard disinherited his oldest son, Nibs, and his daughter
by Sara, Alexis. Both were later paid settlements, Nibs having
threatened litigation. To Scientologists Hubbard bequeathed
only "my love and continued support, and my hopes for a better
world." Secret provisions were made for his wife, Mary Sue,
whom he had chosen not to see for the last six years of his
life, and for her three surviving children. Provision was also
made for Nibs' sister, Catherine.
In July 1986, a Los Angeles jury awarded $30 million in damages
to ex-Scientologist Larry Wollersheim, who claimed that the
Church had jeopardized his mental health and deliberately ruined
his business. The jury also ruled that the Church must pay $45
million into the Court before they would be allowed to appeal.
In July 1989, the California Court of Appeal upheld a ruling
in Wollersheim's favor, repeating the earlier court's statement
that he had been subjected to the Fair Game
356
After Hubbard 357
Law by the Church of Scientology. However, the award was adjusted
to $2.5 million.
In a surprise move in December 1986, the Church settled every
case brought against them through Boston attorney Michael Flynn.
They also settled out of court with former Mission Holder Martin
Samuels, and with Julie Christofferson-Tichbourne. In a secret
agreement, the plaintiffs agreed not to make any further public
statements about Scientology, nor to disclose the amount of
their settlements. When the document finally leaked out, it
contained an interesting clause, saying that the amounts paid
in settlement depended in part upon the" length and degree of
harassment" each plaintiff had received. The payments amounted
to almost $4 million, with Armstrong taking $800,000, and Flynn
$1,075,000. For that price the Scientologists bought the silence
of their most significant opponents. With the Armstrong settlement,
the Hubbard archives material which had been held under seal
was returned to the Scientologists. The contents of the Affirmations,
the Blood Ritual, and Hubbard's letters to his three wives may
never be published; but there is enough historical evidence
now in the public record to show Hubbard for what he was. If
a piece is broken from a hologram the entire image remains in
the fragment. Hubbard too is implicit in every detail of his
life, even in some of his most public utterances.
Michael Flynn fought against the Church for seven years. In
doing so he spent a great deal of his own money, put his career
in jeopardy, faced an unceasing barrage of invective and libel,
and had to defend (and managed to win) some fourteen legal complaints
brought against him by the Church. He gave succour to many ex-Scientologists.
When Flynn settled, he gave all of his Scientology files (apart
from client material) to the Church. But he had tried to ensure
that the good fight would continue.
Throughout 1986, a group of over 400 former Scientologists gathered
to create a Class Action against the Church. They called themselves
Freedom for All In Religion, or FAIR. Michael Flynn was closely
involved in the initial preparation of their Complaint.
On the last day of 1986, a few weeks after Flynn announced his
withdrawal from the fight, the FAIR suit was filed in Los Angeles.
It was filed not only against the Church of Scientology, but
against its leading executives. There were three causes in the
Complaint:
a. Fraudulent representations have been made by defendants
concerning their tax-exempt status and charitable nature, concerning
the manner in which monies were obtained and received by L.
Ron Hubbard
358 JUDGMENTS
and defendants named herein, concerning the confidentiality
of defendants' auditing files, and concerning L. Ron Hubbard's
background, achievements and character;
b. There has been a breach of fiduciary duty [breach of trust]
to all the members of the class;
c. Plaintiffs seek equitable relief and request that a constructive
trust be imposed on all pertinent assets of defendants.
A constructive trust would place the Preclear, Ethics and B-1
files of the members of FAIR into the hands of the Court until
the case is settled. The suit was filed by a group of six ex-members,
and demanded a billion dollars in relief. At the time of writing,
after five amended Complaints, FAIR have failed to have a Complaint
accepted for trial.
In April 1988, the former Inspector General of the Religious
Technology Center filed a suit against various Scientology Organizations.
Vicki Aznaran was an executive during the schism, rising to
become David Miscavige's immediate junior. She and her husband,
Richard, left the Sea Organization in April 1987.
The Aznarans' Complaint criticized the Team Member Share System
operated at CMO headquarters, described as:
privately issued money in exchange for food, board, pay, bonuses
and liberty. The Team Member System required that the Plaintiffs
be given one of each of these cards when the Church administration
was satisfied with their work production, and loyalty to the
organization. Any dissatisfaction with the work output or `attitude'
of Plaintiffs would result in revocation of the tokens, thereby
requiring Plaintiffs to work long hours with no days off, no
pay, no board (requiring them to sleep outdoors on the ground
[called `pig berthing' in the Church issue]) and substandard
nutrition comprised solely of rice, beans and water. When Plaintiffs
had lost all of their cards, as a matter of course, they would
be sent to the Rehabilitation Project Force for `attitude adjustment,'
which was comprised of even harsher labor, deprivation of liberty,
and psychological duress forcing the submission of Plaintiffs
to the power and control of Defendants.
The Aznarans had no reservations about the true intent of Church
management, and described their treatment as "brainwashing,"
and their condition as "slave-like." Further, they asserted
that the Scientologists had:
After Hubbard 359
employed the following psychological devices...to cause Plaintiffs
to involuntarily abandon their identities, spouses and loyalties,
and deprive Plaintiffs of their independent free will....Threats
of torture; implementation of brainwashing tactics; threats
of physical harm for lack of loyalty...lengthy interrogations...
sudden involuntary and forceable separation of spouses from
one another for many months, and depriving the spouses of communication
with one another or allowing them to know where the other was
located; willfully and expressly inducing divorce between Plaintiffs
...deliberately inducing fatigue by physical abuse and deprivation
of sleep; forcing Plaintiffs to be housed in animal quarters;
deliberately confining Plaintiffs to premises under the control
of Defendants and under threat of physical harm without allowing
Plaintiffs to leave of their own free will; and threatening
Plaintiffs that failure to submit to the power and control of
Defendants would result in their becoming `fair game.'
Vicki was sent on "mission" to Los Angeles in 1981 "to purge
members of Defendants' organization...remove assets of Defendant
Church of Scientology of California to overseas trusts where
they could not be accessed by plaintiffs or the government,
and set up sham corporate structures to evade prosecution generally.
Richard was sent with Vicki in the capacity of a security investigator
who surveilled members of the organizations associated with
Defendants for the purposes of determining their loyalty and
likelihood that they would testify against Defendants in pending
civil and criminal suits, as well as designated `enemies' of
the Church."
In December 1981, Vicki Aznaran was assigned to Author Services
Inc., a for-profit corporation using Sea Org personnel. She
was "commissioned to reorganize corporate structures and effect
sham sales of millions of copies of Dianetics to the corporate
Defendants named herein as a vehicle for transferring assets
among them."
In Spring 1982, Miscavige deprived Richard Aznaran of all his
Team Member shares, and sent him to the Rehabilitation Project
Force (RPF) in Los Angeles. His pay was reduced to $1.25 per
week, and he spent ninety-nine days on the RPF. Meanwhile, Vicki
worked directly for Hubbard's deputy, Ann Broeker. Meetings
between Vicki and Richard were prohibited, so they met surreptitiously.
The Aznarans allege that the intention in October 1982 (the
time of the San Francisco Mission Holders' Conference) was "for
all Scientology entities to turn over their profits to...
Author Services, Inc." When Vicki expressed disapproval of this,
she was ordered to the RPF in Hemet where, "for approximately
120 days, [she] was forced to
360 JUDGMENTS
participate in the `running program.' The running program required
Vicki and other persons subjected to the control of Defendants
to run around an orange telephone pole from 7:00 a.m. to 9:30
p.m....with ten minute rests every one-half hour, and thirty
minute breaks for lunch and dinner."
In about May 1983, Vicki was "deemed rehabilitated" and ordered
back to the Religious Technology Center at Gilman. Until Hubbard's
death, the Aznarans remained at Gilman, when Richard was ordered
to Hubbard's ranch at Creston working there as a security guard
for a year and a half: "Richard was forced to falsify time cards
to falsely indicate that he had been working forty hour work
weeks, so as to avoid an obligation on the part of Defendants
from paying him overtime....Richard was forced to sleep in a horse
stable with several...other indoctrinated employees. During the
course of Richard's stay at the ranch, Vicki was not told of his
whereabouts, nor were Plaintiffs permitted to correspond with each
other."
Most important for the future of Scientology, the Aznarans claim
that "in or about February of 1987, a schism arose between Defendant
Miscavige and the Broekers, each of whom claimed to possess
the `upper level Holy Scriptures' written by Hubbard."
Miscavige allegedly saw Vicki's demands for contact with her
husband as an "expression of allegiance" to the Broekers. Miscavige
ordered Vicki to the RPF at "Happy Valley," a "secret location
bordering the Sobova Indian Reservation near Gilman...overseen
and controlled by Defendant Norman Starkey."
Vicki was "not allowed to go anywhere or do anything without
her guard being present. At night she was imprisoned by having
heavy furniture moved to secure the exit....Defendants kept,
and continue to keep all of her physical belongings including
a horse and two dogs."
Vicki claimed she "had seen in the past other victims of Happy
Valley be beaten upon attempted escape, and their personal belongings
destroyed....Vicki and others were made to wear rags taken
out of garbage cans, sleep on the ground, dig ditches."
Finally, on about April 9, 1987, "Vicki and two other victims
escaped from Happy Valley onto the Sobova Indian Reservation
where they were pursued on motorcycles by guards." They were
rescued by the Indians.
Richard Aznaran meanwhile was urged to divorce his wife. Instead,
that very month they left the Sea Org, though not the Church,
and
After Hubbard 361
returned to Dallas, Texas, where they started a private investigation
business.
The Aznarans received a "Freeloader Bill," for Scientology services
they had received while in the Sea Org, amounting to $59,048.02.
They say that they did not seek legal assistance until January
1, 1988, because "As a result of the psychological trauma of
indoctrination techniques applied by Defendants...Plaintiffs
were unable to comprehend their legal rights with regard to
the actions of Defendants."
Fraud is among their charges: "Defendants...knew that the
practices of the so-called Church of Scientology...were
not designed to increase the well being of any of its victims,
but where ]sic] made to coercively persuade each and every follower
to dedicate their lives to Defendants in order for Defendants
to increase their wealth derived from an overall scheme to make
money founded on the exploitation of free labor....Defendants
...required Plaintiffs to participate in crimes against the
United States Government, including the obstruction of justice
and efforts to create corporate structures designed to keep
payments from properly being paid to the Internal Revenue Service
....Plaintiffs were subjected to humiliation, degradation,
physical labor, and imprisonment, all designed to break down
their will and free thinking, and convert them into submissive,
frightened and dedicated followers of Defendants."
The Aznarans also charge Breach of Contract: "Defendants...
breached the said agreements [i.e. the provisions of the staff
contract] by not providing any spiritual or psychological services,
but rather, providing indoctrination, psychological coercion,
duress and stress, all designed to break Plaintiffs' will so
that they would remain compliant servants to Defendants for
the remainder of their lives, and to the use of Defendants in
furtherance of illegal conduct and money making schemes."
Invasion of Privacy is a further charge: "Plaintiffs were forced
to participate in `counselling sessions' in which they were
forced to reveal that [sic] their innermost private thoughts
and feelings." It was, of course, represented that these would
be held in confidence, but "In April, 1987...Defendants...
read the private file of Plaintiff Vicki J. Aznaran....Defendants
...demanded that Vicki then publicly disclose and give further
details concerning further events they had learned from said
file concerning various other victims of Defendants. Vicki was
advised, warned and threatened that if she did not give
362 JUDGMENTS
further details, Defendants, and each of them, would `get it
out of you one way or another.'"
The Complaint is a devastating indictment of the methods and
motives of the current Scientology leadership.
In the month the Aznarans filed their Complaint, April 1988,
the truth of their allegations about a rift at the top of Scientology
were confirmed. David Miscavige, by this time both a captain
in the Sea Org and the head of the Religious Technology Center,
issued a Flag Order making the issue clear. He asserted that
the Broekers had forged Hubbard's last published Order, promoting
themselves to the command of the Sea Org as "Loyal Officers."
Miscavige cancelled the new rank, saying that Pat Broeker had
simply been part of Hubbard's domestic staff. The Broekers were
"under standard justice handling" and were "being dealt with
appropriately." However while canceling the supposed forgery,
Miscavige made no mention of the rank given to Hubbard in it,
so Hubbard remained an admiral, promoted, so it would seem,
by a member of his domestic staff.
In June 1988, the Scientologists' new ship, the Freewinds, took
her maiden voyage, with the first public OT8 students aboard.
The Freewinds is a 440-foot cruise liner capable of carrying
450 passengers, and is based in Curacao, in the Caribbean. As
yet there is no indication that the Scientologists will return
to their earlier shipboard practices.
At the end of June, the Scientologists filed a Complaint against
their former attorney, Joseph Yanny, accusing him of "treachery,"
and saying he had "joined forces with confederates to mastermind
and prosecute an action." The preamble to the Complaint says
"what follows is a chronicle of betrayal, deception, and conspiracy
practiced by members of the bar as a vendetta against a former
client, and callous disregard of fiduciary and ethical obligations."
Yanny responded with a declaration alleging that he had left
the services of the Church because he was asked to participate
in an attempt to blackmail an attorney hostile to the Church.
At the same time, an investigating magistrate in Milan started
making arrests. By September 1988, seventy-six Scientologists
had been committed for trial charged with offenses ranging from
fraud to medical malpractice, and taking in criminal conspiracy
to extort money and unlawful detention. The Scientology drug
rehabilitation group, Narconon, came in for particularly stringent
criticism: "Extravagant therapies were applied which yielded
no practical results other than
After Hubbard 363
extracting huge sums of money from the families of young people
who wanted to get out of the heroin trap."
In November, Spanish police raided Scientology organizations
(including Narconons) in Madrid, Barcelona, Valencia, Alicante,
Seville, Jerez, Bilbao, Burgos and Ondaroa. Sixty-nine people
were arrested, including the President of the Church of Scientology
International, Heber Jentzsch. Eleven were eventually detained.
The arrests followed a nine-month investigation headed by Judge
Honrubia, who described Scientology as "a multinational organization
whose sole aim is making quick money under the guise of doing
good." The judge concurred with the Italian opinion of Narconon,
saying that their establishments were dirty, run by untrained
staff and were actually little more than recruitment centers
for Scientology. A Scientology spokesman muttered about Spain's
"fascist past," and Jentzsch accused Spain of a return to the
Inquisition. He and two other nonresidents were bailed for a
million dollars the next month, pending trial.
PART NINE
SUMMING UP
Scientology's may be the most debilitating set of rituals of
any cult in America. - CONWAY and SIEGELMAN, "Information Disease,"
*Science Digest*, January 1982
365
CHAPTER ONE
The Founder
It can be said with more than a little truth that a society
is lost when it loses its greed, for without hunger as a whip - for
power, money or fame - man sinks into a blind sloth and, contented
or not, is gone. - L. RON HUBBARD, "Greed," *Astounding Science
Fiction*, April 1950
L. Ron Hubbard was an opportunist who lied consistently about
his past, as pan of a process of self-glorification. He was
an arrogant, amoral egomaniac. Incapable of admitting his mistakes,
he continually created scapegoats. The pure motives of his followers
were exploited to build a secret mountain of cash. Hubbard was
an outright plagiarist, who eventually could not bear to acknowledge
anyone else's originality. He had a supreme distrust of the
motives of all of humanity, despite his bland generalizations
about man's basic goodness. This goodness would only be revealed
after the individual had achieved some unspecified state of
"OT." Hubbard was a paranoid, power hungry, petty sadist who
paraded his inadequacies through ever more frequent tantrums.
Revelling in his disciples' adulation, he spent his last years
in seclusion, surrounded by sycophants. He had an alarming ability
to keep all the many compartments of his life and his past separate,
even, so it seems, in his own mind. Nonetheless, such a complicated
man cannot be confined in such tidy definitions. Although
367
368 SUMMING UP
the facts form a comprehensive picture, perhaps we have only
caught glimpses of the man behind the many masks.
In February 1983, in written replies to Rocky Mountain News
journalist Sue Lindsay, Hubbard said his favorite non-fiction
book was Twelve Against the Gods, by William Bolitho, adding,
"the introduction is particularly good." In this statement Hubbard
provided a powerful clue to his most potent urge.
Bolitho's book was published in 1930, and consists of twelve
short biographies. Its central point is that "adventure is the
vitaminizing element in histories both individual and social."
Bolitho lauded the adventurer above all others. His twelve chosen
adventurers were Alexander, Casanova, Columbus, Mahomet, Lola
Montez, Cagliostro (and Seraphina), Charles XII of Sweden, Napoleon,
Catiline, Napoleon III, Isadora Duncan and, for topical reasons,
Woodrow Wilson. Judging by the tone of the book, had Bolitho
written a new edition in the 1940s, Hitler would very probably
have replaced Wilson. The following quotations are all taken
from the "particularly good" introduction, and clearly state
Bolitho's basic thesis:
The adventurer is within us, and he contests for our favor with
the social man we are obliged to be....We are obliged, in
order to live at all, to make a cage of laws for ourselves and
to stand on the perch. We are born as wasteful and unremorseful
as tigers; we are obliged to be thrifty, or starve or freeze.
We are born to wander, and cursed to stay and dig...all the
poets are on one side, and all the laws on the other; for laws
are made by, and usually for, old men...
The moment one of these truants breaks loose, he has to fight
the whole weight of things as they are; the laws and that indefinite
smothering aura that surrounds the laws that we call morals;
the family, that is the microcosm and whiplash of society; and
the dead weight of all the possessors, across whose interwoven
rights the road to freedom lies. If he fails he is a mere criminal...
...the adventurer is an individualist and an egotist, a truant
from obligations. His road is solitary, there is no room for
company on it. What he does, he does for himself. His motive
may be simple greed.
However, as Bolitho said, "these are men betrayed by contradiction
inside themselves." With his casual reference to Twelve Against
the Gods, Hubbard gave his own betraying contradiction: it is
a glaring admission of his deep-seated aspirations. His readiness
to laud the book shows that he saw nothing reprehensible in
Bolitho's sentiments. The quoted passages give concise expression
to the underlying pattern
The Founder 369
of Hubbard's whole life, and to his self-image. Hubbard considered
himself an adventurer, a man above morality, who steadfastly
followed his goal. It is possible that Hubbard read Bolitho's
book when it was published (he was nineteen at the time), and
took it as his model. His mention of it in 1983 was not the
first. He had already praised it, in a 1952 lecture, at the
very beginning of Scientology.1
There is powerful evidence to support this thesis. In 1938,
at the age of twenty-seven, just after his failure to find a
publisher for Excalibur, Hubbard wrote a long letter to his
first wife. Hubbard told Polly he had received a unique insight
into the nature of reality. His understanding made him superior
to all of humanity. He was utterly single-minded in his objective:
to be remembered in future centuries as the equal of his heroes
Napoleon Bonaparte, Genghis Khan and Alexander the Great, even
if every word he wrote was lost. He had no other purpose, and
became depressed when he was thwarted; but in the throes of
the mysterious power which stirred in him, he felt absolutely
unbeatable. He spoke of the possibility of becoming a demagogue,
a great political leader. He also admitted to his craving for
applause.
Hubbard lusted after fame, wealth and power, and was clearly
willing to abandon moral restrictions to accomplish his ends.
Hubbard was a natural entertainer, able to captivate some people
with his charm. It often took prolonged, close contact for those
so charmed to see that he was arrogant, extravagant, eccentric
and a liar on a grand scale. Even then many continued to believe
in his genius.
Hubbard can be dismissed as a fabulist, a compulsive storyteller,
whose exaggerations were harmless. But he was far worse than
this. His avarice coupled to deliberate deceit became outright
fraud. Hubbard plainly made fraudulent claims about himself
and his supposed research. He also made fraudulent claims about
the money gathered ostensibly to further the publicized aims
of Scientology. This was not harmless puffery: it was conscious
deceit designed to make him ever more famous, influential and
wealthy. The poverty and suffering of those believers who sustained
his opulent life-style must also be taken into account.
Although Hubbard single-mindedly pursued his ambition, he may
well have believed throughout that he was doing good. Nonetheless,
he laid his "road to truth" on a foundation of lies. Hubbard's
long hours and obvious absorption in his work support the view
that he believed in the efficacy of his "Technology." Bolitho's
idea that "the magician must believe in himself, if it is only
as long as he is
370 SUMMING UP
spouting," falls short of the mark. Martin Gardner, well known
adversary of parapsychology in general and Ron Hubbard in particular,
made a germane observation: "Cranks by definition believe their
theories, and charlatans do not, but this does not prevent a
person from being both crank and charlatan." Hubbard's fraudulent
claims undoubtedly make a charlatan of him.
In the mid- 1960s, Hubbard began to speak of himself as the
"Source" of Scientology. Having initially acknowledged a debt
to Freud and a host of philosophers, and having handed out numerous
"Fellowships" to Scientologists for their "major contributions,"
he finally decided that Scientology was his creation alone:
"Willing as I was to accept suggestions and data, only a handful
of suggestions (less than twenty) had long run value and *none*
were major or basic; and when I did accept major or basic suggestions
and used them, we went astray."2
Hubbard was not truly the "Source" of Scientology; little, if
any, of his work is original. Hubbard pieced together modified
versions of existing ideas. Hubbard's peculiar genius was for
reframing such ideas so they would fit neatly into his own belief
system, and articulating them in a digestible form. For example,
Scientology organizations use surveying techniques derived from
Motivational Research, which was developed by psychiatrists
in the 1950s. The only text referred to by Hubbard in this connection
was Vance Packard's *The Hidden Persuaders*. Hubbard failed to
acknowledge that Scientology survey methods derive from the
psychiatric stimulus-response techniques which Packard was attacking.
Hubbard insisted that Scientology alone could save the world
from a holocaust. Scientology would create "a civilization without
insanity, without criminals and without war, where the able
can prosper." His own survival, in an environment conducive
to "research," was therefore imperative, at least until his
work was complete. In his own words: "the whole agonized future
of this planet, every Man, Woman and Child...depends on
what you do here and now with and in Scientology."3 Hubbard
believed that his was a messianic mission. To quote from his
obtuse poem Hymn of Asia, written in the 1950s: "See me dead/Then
I will live forever/But you will/See/An Earth in flames/So deadly
that/Not one will live/Fail once to stem/A hand that smites/Against
me and/I die."
In his writings, Hubbard made a distinction between morals and
ethics; the former being based upon custom and opinion, the
latter upon reasoned "pro-survival" decisions. He advocated
the pursuit of
The Founder 371
"the greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics" (the
eight "dynamics," or urges toward survival for self, family,
groups, mankind, matter, other lifeforms, spirit and infinity).
If Scientology was to save the world, and if it depended upon
L. Ron Hubbard for its completion, then the "greatest good for
the greatest number of dynamics" would always include as its
most significant aspect the continued protection and support
of L. Ron Hubbard.
To Hubbard, anyone who opposed or even criticized him was evil,
their opposition to him inevitably slowing the progress of mankind.
It was his published assertion that the "anti-Scientologist"
and the "anti-social personality" are one and the same. His
obsession with enemies sprang from his evident paranoia. A former
Director of the original Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation
told me of Hubbard's overwhelming suspicion about agents infiltrating
the organization. A girlfriend of the early 1950s said Hubbard
was forever looking over his shoulder. The trait developed,
until he came to believe that the American Medical Association,
the World Federation of Mental Health, the world bankers, the
press barons, and the Western governments were all involved
in a multi-million dollar plan to destroy Scientology and, most
especially, L. Ron Hubbard.
In his ruling in the Armstrong suit in California, Judge Breckenridge
called Hubbard "schizophrenic," but was he really insane? Avoiding
the sometimes contradictory definitions of psychiatric authorities,
it seems safe to take the legal view that a madman is someone
who cannot be considered responsible for his actions. He suffers
from delusions, and has no clear sense of right and wrong. Psychiatrist
Frank Gerbode, who practiced Scientology for many years, feels
that Hubbard was not schizophrenic, but rather "manic with paranoid
tendencies" (which is not a classification of psychosis, but
of tendencies towards psychosis). However, Gerbode suggests
that the best description is the lay diagnosis "loony." Even
if Hubbard was manic with paranoid tendencies, he was still
sane in the eyes of the law, and therefore still responsible
for his actions.
Hubbard borrowed the expression "anti-social personality" from
psychiatry, where it is synonymous with psychopath and sociopath.
Professor of psychiatry Hervey Cleckley, who became famous with
his co-authorship of The Three Faces of Eve, was an acknowledged
authority on psychopaths. In his book The Mask of Sanity, he
listed sixteen telling characteristics, the majority of which
are found in psychopaths.
372 SUMMING UP
Cleckley pictured psychopaths as superficially charming and
of good intelligence. Their thinking is logical, and has a basis
in reality, which is to say they do not suffer from delusions.
They are not nervous or neurotic. They are unreliable, untruthful
and insincere. They feel no remorse. They perform anti-social
acts without any real motive. Psychopaths do not learn from
experience. They have "pathologic" egocentricity, an incapacity
for love and are unresponsive in relationships. They cannot
comprehend the response generated by their antisocial actions.
Psychopaths demonstrate uninviting behavior, and tend to drink
or take drugs. Finally, they do not respond to any son of therapy.
According to Cleckley, psychopaths have a remarkable ability
to evade punishment. A psychiatrist could construct a powerful
case to support the diagnosis that Hubbard was a psychopath,
or anti-social personality. At least in Cleckley's terms.
Of course, Hubbard had his own version of the anti-social personalities,
Suppressive Persons or anti-Scientologists: they speak in generalities
("everybody knows"); deal mainly in bad news; worsen communication
they are relaying; are surrounded by "cowed or ill associates
or friends"; habitually select the wrong target, or source;
are unable to finish anything; willingly confess to alarming
crimes, without any sense of responsibility; support only destructive
groups; approve only destructive actions; detest help being
given to others, and use "helping" as a pretext to destroy others;
they believe that no one really owns anything; and fail to respond
to therapy.
Hubbard conforms to a number of the characteristics in both
his own and Cleckley's summaries. Hubbard's clinching point
for the recognition of an anti-social personality was the inability
of the Suppressive to see in himself any of the listed deficiencies.
There is no suggestion that Hubbard ever saw himself as a Suppressive
Person.
However, as another authority, Robert G. Kegan, has pointed
out, the traits of the psychopath are also true of many ten-year-olds
(in "The Child Behind the Mask: Sociopathy as Developmental
Delay"). Hubbard was very much an overgrown child, and it is
easy to see aspects both of his behavior and of Scientology
as projections of this dangerous immaturity. Hubbard's self-obsession
fits neatly into the psychopathic type known as a narcissist.
Judge Breckenridge called the Church of Scientology Hubbard's
"alter-ego," a perceptive comment. Indeed, the whole of Scientology
can be seen as an externalization of Hubbard's temperament.
The Founder 373
Scientology makes more sense when seen in the light of Hubbard's
psychopathic tendencies and his paranoia. His bouts of exhilaration
in the belief that he had conquered some deficiency, and his
bouts of intense and usually private depression when his deficiencies
once more took hold, created a pattern which runs throughout
Scientology.
Hubbard had promised a release from stimulus-response behavior
through Dianetics, yet most of his work was itself a predictable
response to some immediate threat. The Guardian's Office came
into being as a consequence of Lord Balniel's 1966 question
in Parliament. The "technology" of counselling was an ongoing
attempt to cure Hubbard's own ailments. Various early techniques
designed to cure what Hubbard called "terror stomach" were surely
an attempt to relieve his ulcer. Despite Dianetics, his ulcer,
his poor eyesight and his bursitis persisted. In the 1960s,
he suffered periodically from pneumonia, probably worsened by
his drug abuse, definitely worsened by his chain-smoking. He
promised that OT3 would cure such respiratory problems; it certainly
did not work for him. Hubbard suffered from a catalogue of disabilities.
No matter how much Tech he developed, he continued to suffer
from the same difficulties, both mental and physical. Various
prescriptions for mega-vitamin therapy, and a bizarre (and potentially
dangerous) bulletin about antibiotics came out of his 1972 illness.
In 1978, he suffered a second heart attack, and NOTs was developed
in an attempt to assist his recovery. It is often possible to
trace Hubbard's obsession with a particular new counselling
"rundown" to some disability of his own.
Yet from 1950 onwards, Hubbard was to insist again and again
that he had the solution to all human problems. When the method
of the first book failed to Clear anybody (despite the claims
that 273 people had been counselled and many Cleared as part
of an exhaustive research program), new methods were released.
Alphia Hart, who published his own journal after leaving Scientology
in 1953, called the device "This is It," and suggested that
each claim should be carefully dated so that "This is it! 1955"
could be distinguished from "This is It! 1959," and so forth.
There were tens of Clearing procedures, all promoted and sold
as The Answer, and all superseded after a few months. Nibs Hubbard
says his father produced a new technique every six months. The
Technical Bulletins of Dianetics and Scientology (available
in twelve bound volumes, with half a dozen supplementary folders)
prove the truth of his assertion.
374 SUMMING UP
Hubbard seems to have believed himself cured every time. There
are a series of excuses built in to Scientology to explain each
failure, and to justify Hubbard's relapses. These are enshrined
as "correction lists" and "rundowns." Where all of these fail,
the individual is given "ethics handling" (something Hubbard
certainly never received!). The final solution for any failure
to improve is that the individual who has received, and paid
for, all of these correction lists, rundowns and handlings is
a "no case gain case," that is, a Suppressive Person.
All of these responses to stimuli accumulated to become Scientology.
They are the incidents (or "engrams," perhaps) which make Scientology:
procedures designed to solve Hubbard's own immediate problem,
and then used on all Scientologists, whatever their difficulties.
Nothing written by Hubbard could be removed from the literature
without his approval, and he was too busy churning out new material
to revise old, so these ingrained responses were rarely relieved.
Hubbard read voraciously, mostly pulp fiction. There is nothing
to suggest that he studied any serious subject in depth. It
is doubtful that he read much Freud, or Korzybski (he claimed
Heinlein had explained Korzybski to him, though his second wife,
Sara, says she did). He read popularizations. In a lecture on
study he complained that the contemporary Encyclopaedia Britannica
was too difficult for him, it was written by experts for experts,
so he used the pre-World War One edition. In what appeared to
be a joke, he said he intended to use children's textbooks in
future. This parallels his self-confessed method of story research,
described in a 1930s article called "Search for Research." He
would read the Britannica entry, and then skim through any readily
available books referred to in the entry's bibliography. The
story had to be written in a couple of days, so research had
to be fast. Whole sections of Scientology also seem to have
been fashioned in this way. The original Dianetic techniques
can be derived almost entirely from three short Freud lectures.
Hubbard's statements about Buddhism also show a lack of study.
In fact, he only started to incorporate what he believed to
be Buddhist ideas in the early 1950s, after he had been given
an extensive library of mystical and religious books. One of
his staff read and summarized the contents.4 Hubbard displayed
no specialized knowledge of any subject, except of course Scientology.
Hubbard created a curious amalgam. Dianetics came from Freud
(with echoes of Fodor and Rank), Korzybski and possibly from
certain
The Founder 375
wartime, psychiatric work in abreactive therapy. The origins
of Scientology are in Aleister Crowley's Magick, a smattering
of schoolboy science, demon exorcism and science fiction. The
Sea Org derives directly from Hubbard's naval experience; not
only does it have uniforms, ranks and campaign ribbons, but
also Fitness Boards, Committees of Evidence, Compliance Reports
and Commendations. These diverse elements were rounded out with
touches of behavioral therapy, Chinese brainwashing techniques,
references to Machiavelli (Hubbard said The Prince was one of
his favorite books, and even claimed to have written it), and
possibly some acquaintance with Gustave le Bon's crowd psychology.
All of this disparate material was synthesized through the personality
of L. Ron Hubbard.
Hubbard spent his life searching for one particular experience.
From the early 1950s, he had insisted that "exteriorization,"
or out-of-the-body experience, was the crucial element of Scientology.
He was convinced that he had such an experience in 1938, under
the influence of nitrous oxide, which led to the writing of
Excalibur. Hubbard desperately wanted to repeat that experience
and, according to those who audited him, was never able to do
so, despite his glib claims about Scientology techniques which
would readily and rapidly produce "exteriorization." Hubbard
published numerous techniques, and, of course, made elaborate
claims for their efficacy. Indeed, the stated purpose of Scientology
is to create a "stable" exterior state, whereby the individual
consciously achieves immortality.
Having decided in 1952 that most science fiction is actually
a recounting of real past-life experience, Hubbard's own preoccupations
as a science fiction writer became the cosmology of his religion.
He was an egomaniac who generated an egomaniacal philosophy,
which had at its core the belief that whatever happens to others
is their own fault. Whatever happened to L. Ron Hubbard was
the fault of a great Conspiracy. He advocated personal responsibility
to his followers, but almost uniformly failed to practice what
he preached.
The most alarming aspect of Scientology is the barely concealed
thrust towards world domination. Sea Org members are told that
when World War Three finally happens, they will be the only
group which is well enough organized to take over. At various
times Hubbard and his followers have courted different governments
- in the 1960s in Rhodesia (for which he wrote a proposed Constitution),
and in Greece (with the would-be University of Philosophy in
Corfu); in the 1970s in Morocco and later Mexico, where members
of the government opposition
376 SUMMING UP
travelled to Florida for counselling. China and several
African nations have been approached, with offers of help with
educational policy. Ron Hubbard would have liked to rule the
world. He believed, and said, that benevolent dictatorship is
the best political system, and saw himself as the only natural
candidate. His successors possibly suffer from the same conceit.
In the mid-1970s while in Washington, DC, Hubbard inaugurated
a secret project to find out all he could about the "Soldiers
of Light" and the "Soldiers of Darkness." The notion that people
are born either good or evil and engage in a cosmic spiritual
war can be found in Zoroastrianism, and in the Dead Sea Scrolls
of the Essenes, whence it found its way into certain Gnostic
Christian sects. In the early 1950s Hubbard had talked about
people being "players," "pieces" or "broken pieces" in the "game"
of life. This concept is fundamental to Scientology. He later
spoke of "Big Beings" existing in a ratio of one to eighteen
compared to "Degraded Beings." Separately from this estimate,
he said that Suppressives make up two and a half percent of
the population, and Potential Trouble Sources (PTSes) who are
in their sway a further 17.5 percent. He categorized some people
simply as "robots," incapable of decision. In short, there are
a small number of "players," some Soldiers of Light, some Soldiers
of Darkness. They are engaged in an eternal battle, using the
"pieces" and "broken pieces" to achieve their ends.
In confidential issues, Hubbard dismissed Christian teaching
as an "implant." Psychiatrists and Christian ministers are the
Soldiers of Darkness, the suppressives, returning life after
life' to torment the degraded beings, robots, and PTSes, and
destroy the handiwork of the Soldiers of Light. Of course, by
Hubbard's standards the Soldiers of Light were those individuals
currently in favor with the Scientology Church. Hubbard is their
Emperor, the "Source." Hubbard believed in the Nietzschean Superman,
the OT or Big Being and the right of the "good" and the "just"
to abuse the "evil."
Most of Hubbard's thousands of followers regarded him as more
brilliant than Einstein, more enlightened than Buddha, and quite
as capable of miracles as Christ. Perhaps there was a more sinister
motive underlying Hubbard's actions. Some Taoists believe that
human beings can achieve immortality by becoming the focus of
worship; some of the Roman Emperors had a similar belief. The
deification of Hubbard seems to be taking place in the Scientology
Church throughout the world. Maybe he thought he was gathering
up all of his devotees' shed
The Founder 377
body-Thetans so that he could use them for magical purposes
(in his secret Affirmations, Hubbard asserted that elemental
beings were completely in his power). Given his fertile, and
often juvenile, imagination, and an awareness of his duplicity,
it is hard to decide what Ron Hubbard really did believe.
Hubbard was a fabulist and a mesmerist, a spinner of both tales
and spells. A charismatic figure who compelled the devotion
of those around him, despite his cruelties and eccentricities.
Some who worked with him say he was "compassionate." On the
Apollo he was seen working remarkable hours on Preclear folders.
He spent thousands of hours lecturing and writing about Scientology.
He also masterminded, organized and directed a series of crimes
on an international scale, yet escaped punishment completely.
Unless his belief in karma (carefully repackaged in Scientology)
turns out to be true.
CHAPTER TWO
The Scientologist
But in an open Society, such as ours, people can believe what
they want to and band together and promulgate their beliefs.
If people believe that the earth is flat them is nothing to
stop them believing so, saying so and joining together to persuade
others. - JUSTICE LATEY
Hubbard cast his net wide. Scientology has attracted people
from most social and intellectual backgrounds, from laborers
to lawyers, from plumbers to university professors. Frederick
L. Schuman, professor of political science at Williams College,
was an enthusiastic convert, and publicly defended Dianetics
in 1950, though he soon changed his tack and distanced himself.
There were psychologists working in the original Foundations;
in fact, the New York Foundation was started by psychologist
Nancy Rodenburg. Fritz Perls, founder of Gestalt therapy, defended
Hubbard's early work (though insisting that it needed scientific
validation), and briefly received Dianetic counselling.
British Member of Parliament William Hamling, and former
Lieutenant-Governor of Western Nigeria, Sir Chandos Hoskyns-Abrahall,
have already been mentioned. Two Danish MPs were Scientologists at
one time. Several NASA scientists have belonged to the Church. Dr.
J.L. Simmons, who lectured in sociology at the Universities of
Illinois and California, wrote an appendix to Roy Wallis's Road to
Total Freedom sharply criticizing both the author's approach
378
The Scientologist 379
and his conclusions. At the time, Simmons was a convinced Scientologist;
since leaving the Church he probably regrets aspects of his
statement. Research physicist, and former Stanford professor,
Harold Puthoff, was also a member of the Church. Puthoff, who
holds several patents for laser developments, is best known
for his books on parapsychology co-written with Russell Targ.
Ingo Swann, who was the subject in some of Puthoff and Targs'
parapsychology experiments, was a member of the Church for some
years. His novel Star Fire was a best seller. Another Scientologist
also achieved best seller status with a novel about reincarnation.
A group of Oxford graduates were long-term members. A number
of medical doctors, dentists and lawyers have been involved.
Over the years Scientology has also boasted the adherence of
several celebrities. Virtuoso jazz pianist Chick Corea, a member
since 1968, is an OT, as is Stanley Clarke, the highly influential
jazz bass player. Clarke has left the Church, but Corea remains
in the fold. The Incredible String Band were Scientologists,
and distributed Scientology literature at their gigs. Actors
John Travolta and Karen Black are both Church members, as is
"Waltons" star Judy Norton-Taylor. Priscilla Presley has been
involved for many years, and Elvis' daughter, Lisa Marie, is
a Sea Org member. Van Morrison was associated with Scientology
for a short while. The novelist William Burroughs went Clear
in the 1960s, but later satirized the movement in several novels.
Scientology has also attracted many millionaires, and several
multi-millionaires.
Most cults have a single selling feature, and so tend to appeal
to a specific public. Scientology claims to be all things to
all people: a psychotherapy, a religion, twentieth-century Buddhism,
an educational system, a drug rehabilitation therapy, a human
rights and social reform movement, or a business management
system. It is spiritual, mental or material according to the
mind-set of the person being approached. Scientology front groups
appeal to different publics. Scientologists are drilled to quickly
isolate an individual's concerns and tailor an approach which
encourages interest.
The most contentious of these self-made characterizations is
that of religion. Whether Scientology is a "religion" is a matter
of definition. Because of the very broad nature of the definition
of religion in the United States, it has been established that
Scientology is a religion in the legal sense. However, in the
United States religious status does not automatically give an
organization tax-exemption, which Scientology has failed to
achieve. In Australia, Scientology is also recognized as a
380 SUMMING UP
religion, though the court there added "Regardless of whether
the members of the applicant [the Church of Scientology] are
gullible or misled or whether the practices of Scientology are
harmful or objectionable." English law differs, and accords
with the dictionaries: a religion is committed to acts of worship.
Scientology has none, but claims to be a religion in the same
sense as Buddhism, without a deity or deities, and consequently
without worship. Lord Denning set a precedent in England by
agreeing that Scientology could indeed be compared to Buddhism,
which, because it has no act of worship, is not legally a religion,
but a philosophy or way of life.
Scientologists are willing to see their practice as a psychotherapy
or as a religion, but few would acknowledge that it is a belief
system. They are convinced that it is a science, based upon
Hubbard's intense research. This is simply untrue. In thirty-six
years Hubbard failed to produce a single piece of work which
meets acceptable scientific criteria.
The techniques of Scientology are loosely embedded in a sometimes
tortuous philosophy. At the core of this is a relatively simple
cosmology which starts with the first three "Factors of Scientology."
These give Hubbard's explanation of the origin of life:
1. Before the beginning was a Cause and the entire purpose
of the Cause was the creation of effect.
2. In the beginning and forever is the decision, and the decision
is TO BE.
3. The first action of beingness is to assume a viewpoint.1
From this viewpoint the universe is perceived. The first "Axiom"
of Scientology is "Life is basically a static," which has "no
mass, no motion, no wavelength, no location in space or in time.
It has the ability to postulate and to perceive."
The Life Static is most usually called a Thetan. The Thetan
is immortal and does not owe its origin to God. It is perpetually
individual.2 After the beginning, Thetans generated "points
to view," or "dimension points" which caused space to come into
existence. Thetans agreed that other Thetans' dimension points
existed, and that agreement brought about Reality. Reality,
indeed the entire universe, is an "agreed upon apparency," and
all matter, energy, space and time (MEST) exists because Thetans
agree it exists. But for continued
The Scientologist 381
existence there has to be a lie ("alter-is-ness") in the fabric
of these aspects of Reality, for if anything is seen exactly
as it is ("as-ised") it will cease to exist. Reality, to
the Scientologist, is a communal daydream.
Thetans are all-knowing beings, and became bored because there
were no surprises. Hubbard asserted that the single most important
desire in all beings is to have a "game." To have a "game" it
was necessary to "not know" certain things, so certain perceptions
were negated ("not-is-ed"). More and more perception and knowledge
had to be abandoned as time passed, and some Thetans started
the "game" of creating traps for other Thetans. Believing it
possible to harm others, Thetans learned contrition, and punished
themselves for their own "harmful" acts. An ongoing part of
this self-imposed punishment is dwindling perception.
One universe ended and another began, and there have been many
universes, each more solid and entrapping than the last. An
essential part of the game was the "conquest" of matter, energy,
space and time by the life force, Theta. In each universe Thetans
have become more enmeshed in matter, energy, space and time
(MEST), to the point where many have identified themselves totally
with it, and consider themselves nothing but MEST. Thetans are
by now in a hypnoid state, having forgotten their quadrillions
of years of existence and their original godly power, barely
capable of even leaving their bodies at will.
Thetans nevertheless have the power of "postulate." Whatever
they intend comes into being. Negative decisions and opinions,
or "bad postulates," generate a negative destiny. For quadrillenia,
Thetans have been "implanting" one another with hypnotic suggestions,
and clustering other Thetans together (turning most into "body-Thetans").
Scientology seeks to undo "other-determinism," and return
the Thetan to "self-determinism," and eventually to "pan-determinism"
where he acts for the good of all.
Most of these ideas can be found elsewhere. "Before the beginning
was a Cause" is highly reminiscent of the central premise of
the Tao Teh Ching. In the Bhagavad Gita, Krishna teaches Arjuna
that he is immortal and imperishable, that life is a game, and
that in truth no harm can be done to others, as they too are
immortal and imperishable. The comparable word for "Thetan"
is "atman." The doctrine of reincarnation is common to several
major religions. That we reap as we have sown, or karma-vipaka,
even more so. The emphasis upon the development of Intention,
or the ability to postulate, in Scientology
SUMMING UP
comes straight from Crowley's "thelema" or Will, upon which
most magical systems concentrate.
To sum up: Hubbard saw the individual's current state as a fall
from grace, but the individual's own grace, not that of God.
He saw the Thetan as an all-capable individual, who has gradually
restricted his powers, over "quadrillions" of years, in part
to have a "game," and in part for fear of hurting others. He
called this degeneration the "dwindling spiral." In Scientology
counselling, the Preclear is directed back to incidents in his
past existences which have shaped his way of thinking (and consequently
his current circumstances). A better future is to be obtained
by release from quadrillenia of long forgotten conditioning
and guilt. Sociologists use the term "neo-gnosticism" to describe
such beliefs when they are allied to a supposed system of enlightenment
(many of the original Christian gnostic sects spent their time
learning the passwords which would give them entry to heaven
after death).
The more indoctrination into Hubbard's ideas they receive, the
more Scientologists fall in with his view of universal history.
When first reviewing "past lives" in counselling, famous lives
will be offered. There are many Napoleons and Christs. Several
Guardian's Office staff have told me that they felt they were
paying for the harm they had done in former lives as Gestapo
or SS officers. With more indoctrination, the individual starts
to offer incidents which occurred in outer space, and at "implant
stations." Even so, no one is required to accept Hubbard's cosmology
wholeheartedly until the Operating Thetan levels. OT3 is the
point of departure. If you refuse to believe in Xenu or the
body thetans you can go no further. The courses leading up to
OT3 (specifically Grade 6, the clearing Course, and OT2), are
actually part of the same conception, but their mystifying procedures
are not explained until OT3, when the individual learns he has
been dealing with OT3 implants, which had to be relieved before
it was safe to reveal the horrible truth of the entire incident.
At any given time, the majority of Scientologists have not done
OT3, so will not know its content. To them it is a mysterious
and compelling promise of future liberation, but deadly to the
unprepared. In over twenty years, only a few thousand people
have actually done OT3, many deciding it was of questionable
value at least, and mind-bending at worst. The secret OT levels
up to OT8 are simply extensions of the Body-Thetan idea (sleeping
Body-Thetans, Body-Thetans in parallel universes, and so forth).
The Scientologist 383
Certain tenets are essential to Scientology. The first is the
assumption that Man is basically good (although this does not
extend to critics of Scientology, even those who helped to create
and sustain the movement. Those who criticize Scientology are
irrevocably evil). Scientology aims to raise the Emotional Tone
Level of the individual to Enthusiasm and beyond. Scientologists
believe that any problem, whether physical or mental, exists
because there is some distortion in their perception of it (the
lie or "alter-is-ness" which brings about persistence). They
are positive thinkers, believing that their "postulates" will
come true, and seeing their failures in life as simply failures
to postulate with sufficient conviction. To paraphrase Hubbard:
considerations are senior to the mechanics of matter, energy,
space and time. So the Scientologist sees all problems, including
his own, as essentially mental, and self-generated. Scientologists
have an optimistic persistence, allied to acute gullibility.
OTs have died of cancer believing they could postulate it away,
avoiding proper medical action.
Despite its claims to be nondenominational, and to welcome members
of all religions, Scientology is essentially anti-Christian.
In confidential materials Hubbard attacked Christianity as an
"implant," and said that Christ was a fiction. He railed against
"priests.' ,3 The belief in reincarnation is also necessary
for progress through even the early levels of Scientology. Hubbard's
Scientology morality is opposed to Christianity. Certain basic
Christian values are despised by the Scientologist, who considers
them misconceived. Humility is supplanted by self-pride. Searching
self-criticism is considered dangerous ("never disparage yourself,"
to quote Hubbard).4 Material wealth is a virtue. Charity creates
dependence. In Scientology, there is no concept of God, nor
of grace. The Scientologist is in every respect a self-made
Thetan.
Nor is Scientology compatible with the beliefs of. other faiths.
A Buddhist, for example, could not truly be a Scientologist.
The core of Buddhism is the disintegration of the self (anatta),
where Scientology believes the self to be all-important and
perpetual. Hubbard dismissed yoga and all other mystical systems
as traps: "Data from India, even that found in the deepest `mysteries'...
is knowingly or unknowingly `booby-trapped.'"5 While receiving
counseling the Scientologist is prohibited from other practices,
including meditation. There are specific steps in auditing to
erase adherence to other systems and beliefs. Scientology is
the only way. Recently, the Scientologists have trotted
384 SUMMING UP
out one of their number who is a Catholic priest. He says there
is no conflict, but has a surprise in store on the OT levels.
Hubbard also insisted upon "exchange." Despite Church claims,
no one has ever told me that they received even an hour of charity
auditing from the Church. In Scientology, it is considered immoral
to do something for nothing. The starving and the crippled are
seen as living out self-generated misfortune. Coupling this
to Hubbard's philosophy of exchange, Scientologists do not usually
give to charity, except to Scientology causes, or in the interests
of public relations (the "exchange" being the generation of
public goodwill towards Scientology). This can result in an
alarming lack of fellow feeling.
On first meeting, most Scientologists have a friendly demeanor,
but this is unsurprising in a group so eager to gain converts.
To promote a practice which supposedly brings about cheerfulness,
it is necessary to appear cheerful. Sea Org members are trained
to be friendly to the public, but behind closed doors they are
ruthless and scream at their subordinates, giving them "severe
reality adjustments." Some have a private conceit that they
are the elect, seeing even their own paying public as no more
than cattle to be milked.
Scientologists are often self-confident and self-assertive.
They are not allowed to discuss their "cases" (difficulties),
and are discouraged from even thinking about personal problems
outside the counselling room. They are also prohibited from
entering into detailed discussions of Scientology (' `verbal
Tech"), and from voicing criticism of Scientology. This can
lead to a suspension of the analytical faculty, especially as
it applies to self-observation and self-criticism. Scientologists
often take vitamins instead of medicinal drugs, even avoiding
aspirin. Hubbard was not averse to sleeping with female students,
though he did so discreetly, until the mid-1960s. Promiscuity
was not unusual, though by no means the norm in Scientology
into the early 1970s. By the time I joined, in 1974, these days
were over. I did not find Scientologists especially prudish,
though Sea Org members are prohibited from sexual relations
with anyone except their legal spouse. Homosexuality is outlawed;
Hubbard insisted that the Emotional Tone Level of a homosexual
is "covert hostility": they are backstabbers, each and every
one.
Scientologist communities have a limited social life; there
is simply no time. Staff members are hard at work bettering
their stats, and public Scientologists are hard at work to pay
off the loans they've
The Scientologist 385
taken out for exorbitantly priced Scientology courses. The work
ethic prevails. Wealthy people and celebrities are doted upon
by Sea Org members.
There are financial benefits in selling Scientology to others.
Field Staff Members (FSMs) are paid a ten percent commission
on any counselling, and a fifteen percent commission on any
training they sell. There are even a few Scientologists who
have derived their entire income, and paid for their own Scientology,
by working as FSMs. Scientology "Registrars" (sales staff) are
openly trained in hard sell techniques. They believe in the
power of Scientology to such an extent that they will push individuals
into financially disastrous situations, and many people have
been financially ruined by Scientology. There is a widespread
belief that people will automatically become capable of repaying
loans after they have taken the Scientology courses or counselling
those very loans paid for. The Registrars receive a sales commission,
and are usually the only people in an Org who make anything
like a living wage.
Recruitment for staff is a constant pressure on public Scientologists.
There is a push to "recruit in abundance," to use Hubbard's
expression. Students are carefully routed through various sections
of the Organization when starting and finishing a course. Recruitment
is built into the "routing form" at the end of every course.
The majority of Scientologists spend some time on staff.
Most Scientologists genuinely want to improve society. They
fervently believe their ideology is the only hope for a better
world. Hubbard's motives are highly questionable, but the motives
of the great majority of Scientologists are good. They wish
to make people happier and more capable. Nothing in their philosophy
jars with receiving a commission for doing so, though most take
their commission in Scientology "services."
In some respects, Scientology is a philosophy well-suited to
the last phase of the rapacious Industrial Age. It glorifies
personal wealth, and teaches people that they are not responsible
for the condition of the world. It is geared for the high speed
of modern society, raising statistics and increasing production,
concentrating on quantity at the expense of quality. It is also
claimed to be virtually "instant," though after decades of noisy
claims the Scientologists are still incapable of producing anyone
who meets the criteria laid out for a Clear in Hubbard's original
book, Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental
386 SUMMING UP
Health. Some Scientologists have given almost forty years of
their lives, and enormous sums of money, without attaining any
of the promised abilities of the state of Operating Thetan.
Membership of Scientology is split into distinct categories.
Having become involved, some people remain "public" Scientologists.
They pay for their auditing and training and do not become staff
members. Because they cannot afford the exorbitant cost of Scientology,
many join the staff of a Mission or Org. A large proportion
go on to join the Sea Organization. The majority leave the Sea
Org within a few months, and end up paying huge amounts in "Freeloader
Bills" for the Sea Org training they received, before they are
allowed to receive any more Scientology. All Scientology staff
members are under contract, and a Freeloader Bill is imposed
on anyone who leaves before their time is up - whether it be
the two-and-a-half- or five-year staff contract, or the Sea
Org's round billion. Freeloader Bills often amount to tens of
thousands of dollars. Those who fail to join or drop out of
the Sea Org often feel guilty or inadequate.
As well as the distinction between public and staff Scientologists,
there is a divide between those who have taken OT levels and
those who have not. At any given time, the majority of Church
members will have no idea of the contents of the secret OT levels.
They adulate OTs, believing them capable of all sorts of magical
feats or "OT abilities." It is amazing how well this mystique
is maintained, as in Scientology there are no credible demonstrations
of paranormal abilities. Bathing in this admiration, many OTs
begin to feel they really do have psychic powers. Most encourage
the uninitiated to believe their fantastic notions about the
state of "OT." Dissatisfied OTs usually believe that their inability
to perform is their own fault, and avoid disabusing others of
the beliefs Hubbard has given them about OT.
After years of claims about the powers of OTs, Hubbard redefined
the state in 1982. He said the available OT levels were actually
a preparation for real OT levels, which were yet to be released.
Even so, each level confers a new status upon the recipient,
and the OT is convinced he guards a dangerous secret. OTs usually
believe they are influencing events through psychic power.
A set of beliefs can create a community which is almost a nation
apart. This is certainly true of Scientology. Comparison with
real nations, and their agencies, sheds a different light on
the behavior of the Scientology community. While the totalitarian
system of the Communist bloc provides far closer parallels with
the authoritarian and
The Scientologist 387
absolutist nature of Scientology, Hubbard's roots were in North
American soil. The tremendous virtues of the Freedom of Information
Act, and of Congressional hearings, have made knowledge of U.S.
government agencies' malpractices available, and individuals
have been allowed to speak out against abuses. Watergate, Irangate
and revelations about the CIA's violations of international
law have drastically altered public opinion. It became obvious
in the 1970s that immoral means were being used in an attempt
to maintain and extend the American dream of a democratic world
of free opportunity. The public Scientologist, and most staff,
are in the position of the American public before this information
became known. They believe that the Church exists to "Clear
the planet," and create an ethical society. As with the pursuit
of the American dream, the truth shows an ideal severely tarnished.
While Hubbard was alive, he was more than a president, he was
an absolute dictator, controlling Scientology through the Sea
Org and the Guardian's Office, using each to check the other.
He found that he could direct his organizations to undertake
even immoral and criminal acts by claiming them to be the "greatest
good for the greatest number of dynamics." Hubbard was also
the sole legislator, creating the law for Scientologists. There
was no Congress, no democratic body, no independent justice
system, no single Church official with real power.
Since Hubbard's death, control seems to have passed to David
Miscavige, who directs the Church through the Sea Org. Since
its inception in 1967, the Sea Org has been organized as a para-military
unit. It concentrates on the expansion of Scientology through
the strict application of orders from the executive. Sea Org
members sign a Code of conduct which begins, "I promise to uphold,
forward and carry out Command Intention." The Sea Org has largely
been involved in the creation and maintenance of Scientology
Orgs, providing Scientology training and counselling.
The Sea Org manages the Orgs, and, more loosely, the Missions.
The Orgs and Missions have no hand in management, and are ill-informed
of its activities.
Until it passed into the hands of the Commodore's Messengers,
the Guardian's Office was the most powerful organization in
Scientology. The GO contained the Legal, Financial, Public Relations
and Intelligence (or, euphemistically, "Information") departments,
as well as the "Social Coordination Bureau." By 1983, the GO
Bureaus had been separated from one another, and absorbed along
with the Sea Org under the Messengers' control.
388 SUMMING UP
The Public Relations department exists to combat bad press and
emphasize successes. It simply does not report any of the many
failures to public Scientologists. If a court case is lost,
or a government closes Orgs down, Scientologists will generally
hear of it only if the media reports it. Moreover, Scientologists
are discouraged from reading newspapers. When an event has to
be commented on, the PR department follows the time honored
practice of "plausible denial" favored by so many politicians.
Free nations have the advantage of a free press, this is not
so in the Scientology community. Only during the periods of
extensive splintering (in the early 1950s, the mid- 1960s and
the 1980s) has there been anything like an independent press
trying to inform Scientologists of the inadequacies and the
crimes of the Scientology Church. So, Scientologists outside
the PR Bureau have a very incomplete picture.
When PR fails, the Legal department takes over, at least in
theory. Its mission is to block any criticism of Scientology.
Governments, too, seek to stifle opposition, and leaks of discreditable
information. This is particularly obvious in the totalitarian
Communist countries, but even Western Europe and the U.S. are
not free from such practices. Ex-CIA agent Victor Marchetti's
supposed Constitutional right to free speech was withdrawn by
the Courts, when he was prohibited from making any statements
about the CIA without their approval. When it happened this
was a novel and a unique situation for the U.S.A. In Britain,
it is illegal for any government employee to reveal information
gained during his employment, under the draconian Official Secrets
Act. The clumsy efforts to prevent the publication of Peter
Wright's Spycatcher show the lengths to which even a Western
government will go to stifle criticism. Scientology, too, uses
the courts in an attempt to silence opposition.
Where the Legal department fails, it is time for Intelligence,
with its branches of covert and overt data collection. This
was Hubbard's personal CIA, and details of its modus operandi
came as a shock not only to public Scientologists, Org staffs
and Sea Org members, but even to many Guardian's Office staff.
As with an Intelligence Agency, information is only distributed
on a need to know basis. Intelligence Agencies too perform immoral
acts justified as being for the "greatest good for the greatest
number."
By keeping the compartments of Scientology separate, Hubbard
ensured that no one would have a complete and true picture.
An individual can only act on the information he has, the combination
of
The Scientologist 389
his experience and his belief. The PR department censors and
distorts information, and feels justified in doing so on the
grounds that passing on bad news is a characteristic of the
Suppressive. So Scientologists generally have little accurate
information. Whatever their feelings about the Organization,
Scientologists are convinced they have experienced psychological
and spiritual benefits, and feel more secure than they did before
joining Scientology. Scientologists are also convinced that
they belong to the only group which can save Mankind.
CHAPTER THREE
Fair Game, Ethics
and the Scriptures
Brainwashing has become so much of a subject that it is very
well for anybody having to do with the field of the human mind
to be able to understand the intentions behind it and how it
is done. - L. RON HUBBARD, Operational Bulletin 8, 13 December
1955
It is paradoxical that people who become involved in Scientology
to increase their "serf-determinism" usually accept a life of
increasing self-sacrifice and "other-determinism" (control by
others) if they join the staff. Sea Org conditions are the worst:
atrocious, over-crowded and often bug-infested housing; only
half a day of free time each two weeks; almost no time with
their children (who have often been kept in deplorable conditions);
no medical or dental insurance; months together of a diet consisting
solely of rice and beans; long working hours and insufficient
sleep. These combine to make a regimen which is not only morally
unacceptable, but can violate minimum standards of Health and
Labor laws. Guardian's Office staff were slightly better treated
and better paid (but still below the poverty line) - presumably
their conditions have deteriorated with their absorption into
the Sea Org.
Org staff members usually work slightly less than the ninety
hours or more of the Sea Org member, although they too are paid
only a few dollars a week. Mission staff usually fare a little
better. Staff members
390
Fair Game, Ethics and the Scriptures 391
sacrifice their family life, their financial security and their
careers to "Clear the planet." There is a conspiracy of silence
about this maltreatment. Scientologists are required to direct
their complaints only to Organization executives, using the
Ethics Report system. Criticism relayed to any unauthorized
person is labelled "natter," and the person who "natters" will
soon be reported to Ethics for corrective action.
Scientology is highly compartmented, and an air of secrecy pervades
most of its departments and activities. The Guardian's Office
restricted knowledge of certain events to B-1. There was tremendous
esprit de corps, and B-1 agents remained mute about their work.
In nine years, I heard nothing of the criminal tactics they
employed, and was incredulous when I eventually read the affidavit
of a former agent who had run a cell of infiltrators in Boston.
The Sea Org kept their austere life-style secret. The public
Scientologist is in a separate compartment. If a major malpractice
was reported by a public Scientologist to the Guardian's Office
it would usually be brushed aside with a false reassurance.
If the Scientologist was insistent, he might be threatened into
silence. If there was enough discontent among Scientologists
at one of Hubbard's schemes, a scapegoat would be found. Problems
often arose because of the conflict between Hubbard's published
Policy and his secret orders, which were followed to the letter.
The Guardian's Office maintained a series of front groups. These
are now directed by the Sea Org through the Office of Special
Affairs, or the Special Activities Corps. Scientology businesses
belong to the World Institute of Scientology Enterprises (WISE).
Recently, Sterling Management have attracted publicity for their
business training schemes. Other front groups used to be managed
by the Social Coordination Bureau of the Guardian's Office (SoCo).
SoCo was established to monitor and direct Scientology educational
and rehabilitation groups, and received a tithe for doing so.
In 1989, the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE)
replaced SoCo. The Church also runs anti-psychiatry groups,
as well as a campaign for Freedom of Information outside the
U.S., and a campaign against Interpol. These groups are run
by trained Scientologists, committed to Hubbard's principles.
There is a bitter irony in the Scientologists' campaign for
Freedom of Information, allowing public access to government
flies: The GO never allowed such access by Scientologists to
their B- 1 files. There is no evidence that these files have
been destroyed, or the system abandoned.
392 SUMMING UP
In Britain, the Effective Education Association teaches children
"Study Tech." Applied Scholastics and Education Alive function
in the U.S., where the Apple and Delphi schools are accredited.
Greenfields is the name of the Scientology school near Saint
Hill, in England. The headmaster of Delphi, in Oregon, has claimed
that children who are not educated in Scientology schools are
being "psych-washed" by the educational system. Further, he has
said that Delphi wants non-Scientologist children so that the
Scientology children, who are being trained to become leaders,
can gain experience in dealing with "wogs."1
A brief investigation shows that the extravagant claims made
by Narconon, the Scientology drug rehabilitation program, are
largely false, including claims of endorsement by governments
and state authorities. Those who do withdraw from drug abuse
are often recruited into Scientology.
In their anti-psychiatry campaign, Guardian's Office tactics
included infiltrating hospitals, stealing psychiatric records
and spreading libels about psychiatrists during "noisy investigation."
The campaign was stepped up when psychiatrists became active
in the anti-cult movement. Psychiatrist John Clark and psychologist
Margaret Singer were viciously libeled and harassed for speaking
out in public, and for their testimony as hostile expert witnesses
in cases involving Scientology.
As ever, Hubbard's ultimate motive for the GO's campaigns is
questionable, but good came from some of them. There have certainly
been psychiatric abuses, and they were rightly publicized. The
Guardian's Office played a part in the exposure of "MK Ultra,"
a long-running and terrifying series of experiments in mind-control
funded by Canadian, British and U.S. Intelligence Agencies.
GO staff saw themselves as crusaders against dark forces. They
encountered enough duplicity in government to dismiss out of
hand attacks upon Scientology. And they worked out of commitment
to social change; it certainly was not for personal gain. The
good Scientologists have done does not compensate for the harm.
The campaigns were largely an attempt to manipulate public opinion
and divert critics from Scientology malpractices.
It is a Hubbard maxim that Public Relations should provide an
"acceptable truth," tailored to fit the "reality" of a given
audience.' The practice essentially filters all statements given
to the general public and public Scientologists. In the Guardian's
Office, it brought
Fair Game, Ethics and the Scriptures 393
into being the technique called elsewhere "plausible denial."
Using an acceptable truth at first meant avoiding embarrassing
aspects of the truth, and later, more simply, lying. The Church
of Scientology has the protection of its public image so deeply
ingrained that its representatives perhaps believe the lies
they tell about their membership, Hubbard's income, and past
misdeeds. The WISE and ABLE front groups are a part of this
ongoing deception. The "acceptable truth" is their purported
autonomy from the Church, coupled with the idea that they act
primarily out of social concern.
Church Scientologists also justify their incessant attacks upon
critics and perceived enemies through the courts as an ethical
practice: the greatest good for the greatest number of dynamics.
So, in accordance with Hubbard' s dictum, the law is indeed
used to harass. Of course, more directly harassive tactics have
also been used, usually but not always remaining just inside
the law, and bearing a marked similarity to the Campaign to
Re-elect President Nixon's "ratfucking," made public during
the Watergate scandal. Disrupting meetings, making false allegations
in anonymous phonecalls, giving information from confidential
counselling folders to the police, stealing medical and psychiatric
records, burglary, bugging, and infiltrating government agencies.
The compartmenting of Scientology runs throughout the organization
and throughout the literature. And even in the compartments
there are hierarchies. Not only does the Scientologist not see
Hubbard's statements with the emphasis they have been given
here, but some of the references are to obscure and secrete
materials. The sequence in which information is presented is
crucial. Having given an initially favorable impression, it
is easier to persuade someone to believe a slightly irrational
statement, and thence gradually to persuade them to believe
ever more wildly irrational statements. This all takes place
in the setting of peer group pressure: as in most cults, Scientologists
are highly solicitous towards new members.
The sheer volume of material obscures Hubbard's true intentions.
The Technical Bulletins, the books and most of Hubbard's tapes
deal with the procedures of counselling. Most of the Church's
public see mainly these issues, and either receive auditing
or train to become auditors. Policy Letters deal with the Organization.
Some public do "admin" courses, so they can apply Hubbard's
administration techniques to their own businesses.
There are many forms of internal directives, some distributed
to all staff, others only to Sea Org staff (the 4,000 or more
Flag Orders fit
394 SUMMING UP
largely into this category), others only to Guardian's Office
staff. Many are unavailable to the public Scientologist, or
indeed to anyone without a high enough position in the Organization
for which the directive was written. So there are B-1 directives
which were only available to individuals who had passed through
a stringent series of filters.
Individuals evaluate information differently, selecting different
priorities. In such a quantity of material, there is usually
a preferable opinion, which can be used either to avoid or to
enforce an excessive rule. Moderate Scientologists will justify
excesses as examples of Hubbard's frustration at human incompetence.
Hubbard's utterances can be separated into several categories.
He wrote many short essays for release in Scientology magazines
in the 1950s and 1960s. These were designated "Broad Public
Issue" (BPI), and included "My Philosophy," where he spoke of
having worked his way back from being "permanently physically
disabled," and said "one should share what wisdom one has, one
should help others to help themselves, and one should keep going
despite heavy weather for there is always a calm ahead." In
"What Is Greatness" he said: "The hardest task is to continue
to love one's fellows despite all reasons he should not. And
the true sign of sanity and greatness is to so continue." (By
this standard, Hubbard could make no claim to greatness: he
was petty and vindictive in the extreme.)
Hubbard essays, supplemented by extracts from lectures, are
reprinted endlessly in Scientology magazines. They sell Scientology
as a cure-all, insisting that there is hope for everyone if
they only embrace Scientology. Inside Scientology there are
a number of broadly known and often quoted Policy Letters. The
most important is "Keeping Scientology Working," where the Scientologist
is sternly admonished to police the use of Scientology and ensure
that there are no departures from Hubbard's teachings. A list
of ten points is given for the protection of "Standard Tech,"
among them "hammering out of existence incorrect technology."
This Policy Letter exists in all but introductory Scientology
courses. It is there to inculcate reverence to Hubbard as the
"Source" of Scientology, and to show the crucial role of the
Scientologist's mission on Earth.
"The Responsibilities of Leaders" is another well-known Policy
Letter. It is usually referred to as the "Bolivar," because
Hubbard wrote it after reading a paperback biography of Simon
Bolivar's mistress, Manuela Saenz. Hubbard discussed Bolivar's
mistakes at
Fair Game, Ethics and the Scriptures 395
length, and then presented seven maxims for the retention of
power. Among these we find:
5. When you move off a point of power, pay all your obligations
on the nail, empower your friends completely and move off with
your pockets full of artillery, potential blackmail on every
erstwhile rival, unlimited funds in your private account and
the addresses of experienced assassins and go live in Bulgravia
[sic] and bribe the police...
6....to live in the shadow or employ of a power you must yourself
gather and USE enough power to hold your own - without just nattering
to the power to "kill Pete"....He doesn't have to know all
the bad news, and if he's a power really he won't ask all the
time, "What are those dead bodies doing at the door'?" And if
you're clever, you never let it be thought HE killed them - that
weakens you and also hurts the power source...
7....always push power in the direction of anyone on whose
power you depend. It may be more money for the power, or more
ease, or a snarling defense of the power to a critic, or even
the dull thud of one of his enemies in the dark, or the glorious
blaze of the whole enemy camp as a birthday surprise....Real
powers are developed by tight conspiracies...pushing someone
up in whose leadership they have faith.
While this Policy Letter is available to all Scientologists,
many others are not. Confidential counselling, or Tech, issues
are distributed with care. The public Scientologist taking OT3
knows far less than an OT3 review (Class 8) auditor knows about
the supposed OT3 incident. Only Sea Org members have ever been
allowed to train as Class 10, 11 and 12 auditors, or as NOTs
auditors. Some issues and tapes were restricted to Sea Org "missionaires"
going from Flag to raise the stars in the outer Orgs. There
were also many confidential Guardian's Office issues. Because
of compartmentation, it is likely that no single individual
in the Church saw all of this confidential material. Sea Org
members were not usually in the GO, so their secret indoctrination
was kept largely separate. People who were highly trained in
the Tech were not usually involved in administrative work, and
almost never in Guardian's Office work. The secret issues included
tapes of Hubbard lectures made specifically for a given audience.
They differ markedly from the broadly issued material. For example,
there are confidential Public Relations issues which explain
how to discredit critics. There is no suggestion that the subject
of criticism be investigated; only the critic.
396 SUMMING UP
The image that Hubbard wished to project becomes clearer to
the Scientologist as he receives more counselling and more training,
and moves into higher and ever more remote positions in the
organization. The cognoscenti, the tiny few who have received
all the counselling techniques and reached the heights of management,
have a very developed view of the Commodore. He is a great spirit,
responsible through the millennia for many (if not most) of
the real achievements of history, and, indeed, those of the
quadrillennia of prehistory. He was Rawl (the imprisoner of
Xenu, perpetrator of OT3), the Buddha, and Cecil Rhodes. He
is reborn, life after life, to benefit humanity, and in preparation
for the great work of liberating mankind and all intelligent
life in the universe, from captivity. Most Scientologists feel
that they have served the Commodore in earlier lifetimes. Some
even insist that they were with him on his fictitious attacks
on German submarines during the Second World War. Hubbard was
scientist, philosopher and messiah rolled into one. Scientologists
forget that he was not only a science fiction writer, but also
a competent hypnotist. A very competent hypnotist.
Epilogue
You think that, if you call imprisonment true freedom, people
will be attracted to the prison. And the worst of it is you're
quite right. - ALDOUS HUXLEY, *Eyeless in Gaza*
At the end of May 1989, Scientology's New Era Publications filed
suit against the publishers of this book, alleging infringement
of copyright. Even the Scientologists could find no precedent
in U.S. law for their demand to see the manuscript prior to
publication. As Mel Wulf, the defending attorney, expressed
the situation, "Such an order would...have the inevitable effect
of casting a chill upon freedom of speech and of the press."
His argument was in vain; in an opinion issued at the end of
July, Judge Louis L. Stanton ordered delivery of the final manuscript
to the Scientologists.
In January 1990, Judge Stanton prohibited publication of A Piece
of Blue Sky on grounds of copyright violation. However, the
appeal was successful, and the three judges ruled unanimously
that the book could retain all 121 passages complained of by
New Era.
In April, the residents of Newkirk, Oklahoma, were alarmed to
discover that the drug rehabilitation program which had acquired
the lease to the nearby Indian School complex at Chilocco was
a Scientology front group. Narconon intended to create a 1,000
bed facility at the eighty-building complex. The Association
for Better Living and Education (ABLE) announced the donation
of $200,000 to Narconon Chilocco, citing Narconon's remarkable
success in treating addicts. Nothing in the announcement suggested
any corporate connection between the two organizations. In fact,
Narconon is a subsidary of ABLE.
The Church of Scientology has recovered from the schism of the
early 1980s, and significantly increased its membership. While
the Church's claims of seven million is ridiculous, international
membership is probably close to 100,000 by now. One of the world's
top Public Relations companies has been helping with the recruiting
drive for several years, designing slick commercials, and preparing
for a weekly half-hour national television broadcast in the
U.S.
The Church is a very rich and a very dangerous organization.
There is no indication that it will change its ways. Hubbard's
policy is now considered "scripture," and according to Scientology
Policy Directive
397
398 SUMMING UP
19, of 7 July 1982, Hubbard alone can alter these "scriptures."
Unless Hubbard's ghost communicates from one of the distant
planets it is supposedly reconnoitering, there is no possibility
of change. While promising freedom and claiming honesty, Scientology
will continue to practice deception and generate tragedy.
The massive campaign to hype Hubbard's books onto bestseller
lists was exposed in the 15 April 1990 edition of the San Diego
Union. The first volume of Hubbard's last, and supposedly bestselling,
science fiction work, Mission Earth, received this review in
The New York Times:
A paralyzingly slow-moving adventure enlivened by interludes
of kinky sex, sendups of effeminate homosexuals and a disregard
of conventional grammar so global as to suggest a satire on
the possibility of communication through language.
Between June 24 and 29, 1990, The Los Angeles Times ran an excellent
series of articles on Scientology. The coverage of Scientology
related groups, particularly Sterling Management, Singer Consultants,
Health Med, the Foundation for Advancements in Science and Education
and the National Coalition of IRS Whistleblowers, is particularly
enlightening.
In July, several senior officers of the French Church, including
its president, were arrested in France. Newspapers reported
that charges would concern fraud, financial irregularities and
practicing medicine without a license (with regard to the potentially
dangerous Purification Rundown).
In 1938 Hubbard's single goal was to achieve immortality in
name. In his last few years money was siphoned from the Church
to Hubbard. The IRS criminal investigators came on the scene
too late. With Hubbard's death the investigation was abandoned,
but money continued to gush into Author Services Inc., and from
thence to the Church of Spiritual Technology (CST). This Church
has as its sole function the perpetuation not of Scientology,
but of the name L. Ron Hubbard. CST records presented in a tax
case in Washington, DC, show that CST has assets of over $500
million. On 28 January 1990, The New Mexican reported that CST
had dug a 350-foot tunnel into a mesa to store Hubbard's writings,
which are being preserved at enormous expense using state of
the art techniques. CST intend this storage facility to survive
even nuclear war. There are also storage facilities near Los
Angeles and in northern California.
Bibliography
For those interested in releasing friends or relatives from
the grip of Scientology, I strongly recommend Steven Hassan's
Combatting Cult Mind Control, Park Street Press, Vermont, 1988.
For an overview of Scientology beliefs and techniques see The
Volunteer Minister's Handbook.
See also Reference Summary.
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ASIMOV, Isaac, In Memory Yet Green, Doubleday, New York, 1979.
BEDFORD, Sybille, AIdous Huxley, a Biography, Collins and Chatto
& Windus, London, 1974.
BOLITHO, William, Twelve Against the Gods, Heinmann, London, 1930.
BURKS, A.J., Monitors, CSA Press, Lakemount, Georgia, 1967.
CAMPBELL, The John W. Campbell Letters, ed. Chapdelaine,
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CAVENDISH, R., The Magical Arts, Arkaria, London, 1984.
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1982.
CONWAY & SIEGELMAN, Snapping, Dell, New York, 1979.
COOPER, Paulette, The Scandal of Scientology, Tower, New York, 1971.
CORYDON, Bent, L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?, Lyle Stuart,
New Jersey, 1987.
CROSSMAN, Richard, The Diaries of a Cabinet Minister, Vol. 3, Hamilton
& Cape, London, 1977.
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- The Confessions of Aleister Crowley, ed. Symonds and Grant, Bantam,
New York, 1971.
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EVANS, Dr. Christopher, Cults of Unreason, Harrap, London, 1973.
399
400 Bibliography
FODOR, Nandor, The Search for the Beloved, Hermitage House, New York,
1949.
FORTE, John, The Commodore and the Colonels, Corfu Tourist Publications
& Enterprises, Greece, 1981.
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Middlesex, 1984.
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York, 1957.
GARRISON, Omar, The Hidden Story of Scientology, Arlington, London,
1974.
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GRUBER, Frank, The Pulp Jungle, Sherbourne Press, Los Angeles, 1967.
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HUBBARD, L. Ron, All About Radiation, Scientology Publications
Organization, Denmark, 1979.
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of California, World Wide, CSC, East Grinstead, 1973.
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Wide, East Grinstead, 1968.
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Grinstead, 1967.
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College of Scientology, East Grinstead, 1966.
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East Grinstead, 1968.
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Organization, Los Angeles, 1975.
- Dianetics 55.t, Scientology Publications Organization, Copenhagen,
1971.
- Dianetics the Evolution of a Science, AOSH DK Publications Department,
Copenhagen, 1971.
- Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health, AOSH DK Publications
Department, Copenhagen, 1973.
- Dianetics: The Original Thesis, Scientology Publications Organization,
Copenhagen, 1970.
- Dianetics Today, CSC Publications Organization, Los Angeles, 1975.
- Electropsychometric Auditing, USA, 1951.
- E-Meter Essentials 1961, Publications Organization World Wide,
1968.
- Have You Lived Before This Life?, two different editions:
Department of Publications World Wide, England, 1968; CSC Publications
Organization, Los Angeles, 1977.
Bibliography 401
- HCOPL Subject Index, CSC Publications Organization, Los Angeles,
1976.
- How to Live through an Executive, Department of Publications
World Wide, East Grinstead, 1968.
- Hymn of Asia, CSC Publications Organization, Los Angeles, 1974.
- An Indexed Summary of Scientology and Dianetic Policy, 4 volumes,
PR & Consumption Bureau of the Flag Bureaux, 1972.
- An Indexed Summary of Technical Bulletins, 3 volumes, PR &
Consumption Bureau of the Flag Bureaux, 1973.
- Introduction to Scientology Ethics, Publications Department, Denmark,
1973 (differs from later edition).
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Angeles, May 1975.
- Mission Into Time, American St. Hill Organization, 1973.
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Los Angeles, 1976.
- Notes on the Lectures, Publications Organization WW, Edinburgh,
1968.
- Organization Executive Course - An Encyclopedia of Scientology Policy,
volumes 0-7, CSC Publications Organization, Los Angeles, 1974.
- The Philadelphia Doctorate Course Lectures, New Era, Copenhagen,
1982.
- The Phoenix Lectures, Publications Organization World Wide,
Edinburgh, 1968.
- The Problems of Work, Publications Department, Denmark, 1972.
- Professional Auditor's Bulletins, 6 volumes, Scientology
Publications Organization, Copenhagen, 1975 (originals also consulted).
- The Research & Discovery Series, volumes 1-9, Scientology Publications,
Copenhagen, 1980, New Era Publications, Copenhagen, subsequent
years.
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1983.
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402 Bibliography
- Scientology 0-8, Scientology Publications Organization, Copenhagen,
1970 (differs from later editions).
- Scientology - The Fundamentals of Thought, Publications Department,
Denmark, 1972.
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Scientology, 1977.
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Organization, Los Angeles, 1979.
- Understanding the E-Meter, New Era, Copenhagen, 1982.
- The Volunteer Minister's Handbook, CSC Publications Organization,
Los Angeles, 1979.
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- What Is Scientology?, CSC Publications Organization, Los Angeles,
1978.
- When in Doubt Communicate, Scientology Ann Arbor, Michigan,
1969.
- KAUFMAN, Robert, Inside Scientology, Olympia Press, London
& New York, 1972.
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Nicolson, London, 1977.
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1973.
KOPPES, Clayton R., JPL and the American Space Program, Yale
University Press, New Haven and London, 1982.
LIFTON Robert, Thought Reform and Psychology of Totalism, Norton, New
York, 1961. MALKO, George, Scientology: The Now Religion, Delacourte
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NEEDLEMAN, Jacob, The New Religions, Crossroad, New York, 1984.
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ROGERS, Alva, "Darkhouse," in Lighthouse number 5, February 1962.
- A Fan's Remembrance.
ROLPH, C.H., Believe What You Like, Andre Deutsch, London, 1973.
ST. PETERSBURG TIMES, Scientology - An in-depth profile of a
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Reference Summary
Abbreviations:
8-8008 - Scientology 8-8008, Hubbard.
AAR - All About Radiation, Hubbard.
Adventure, 1935 - Adventure magazine, vol. 93 no. 5, 1 October
1935, "The Camp-Fire."
Auditor - "The Auditor - The monthly journal of Scientology."
Brief Biography - "A Brief Biography of L. Ron Hubbard - originally
printed circa 1960," [Scientology] Public Relations Office News,
Los Angeles.
BTB - Board [of the Churches of Scientology] Technical Bulletin.
ClH - transcript of the Clearwater Hearings, May 1982.
Cooper - The Scandal of Scientology.
CSC - Church of Scientology of California.
DMSMH - Dianetics: the Modern Science of Mental Health, Hubbard.
Evans - Cults of Unreason.
FDD69RA - Flag Divisional Directive 69RA "Facts About L. Ron
Hubbard Things You Should Know," 8 March 1974, revised 7 April
1974.
Foster report - Enquiry into the Practice and Effects of Scientology.
FSM mag 1 - Field Staff Member magazine no. 1, Dept of Publications
World Wide, Saint Hill, 1968.
GA - transcript in Church of Scientology of California vs. Gerald
Armstrong, Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles, case
no. C 420153. Volume no. followed by page no.
GA exhibit - exhibit no. in CSC vs. Armstrong.
HCOB - Hubbard Communications Office Bulletin.
HCOPL - Hubbard Communications Office Policy Letter.
HOM - Scientology - A History of Man, Hubbard.
Hubbard 1963 interview - Scientology news release "an interview
granted to the Australian Press on January 10th 1963...."
Kaufman - Inside Scientology.
Malko - Scientology: The Now Religion.
MIT - Mission Into Time, Hubbard.
OEC - Organization Executive Course - An Encyclopedia of Scientology
Policy, volumes 0-7, Hubbard.
PDC Philadelphia Doctorate Course, Hubbard taped lectures, 1952.
R&D - Research and Discovery Series, Hubbard.
Report to Parliament - A Report to Members of Parliament on Scientology,
World-Wide PR Bureau, Church of Scientology, 1968.
RJ 67 - Ron's Journal 1967, taped lecture, Hubbard.
403
404 Reference Summary
Rolph - Believe What You Like.
SOED - Sea Organization Executive Directive.
SOS - Science of Survival, Hubbard.
Tech - The Technical Bulletins of Dianetics and Scientology, volumes
1 - 12, Hubbard.
VMH - Volunteer Minister's Handbook, Hubbard.
Vosper - The Mindbenders.
Wallis - The Road to Total Freedom.
WIS - What Is Scientology?, Hubbard.
WHAT IS SCIENTOLOGY?
1. Snapping, Conway and Siegelman, p. 161.
2. "Information Disease," Conway and Siegelman, Science Digest,
January 1982.
PART 1: INSIDE SCIENTOLOGY 1974-1983
MY OWN BEGINNINGS
1. Flag Operations Liaisons Office East US letter to National
Personnel Records Center, 28 May 1974.
2. FDD69RA.
3. FSM mag 1.
4. "The Dissemination Drill," OEC 6, p.112.
5. HCOB "TRs remodernized," 16 August 71R.
ST. HILL
1. Tech 12, p.322
2. BTB "Preclear Assessment Sheet," 24 April 69R.
3. BTB "Drills for Auditors," 9 October 71R.
ON TO OT
Principal sources: RJ 67, Section 30T course materials. 1. Hubbard,
Scientology 0-8, p. 134.
THE SEEDS OF DISSENT
1. SOED 2192 Int "Re: List of Declared Suppressive Persons"
27 January 83.
2. Scientology Policy Directive 28 "Suppressive Act - Dealing
with a Declared Suppressive Person" 13 August 82.
3. Gerald Armstrong affidavit, 19 October 1982.
PART 2: BEFORE DIANETICS 1911-1949
HUBBARD'S BEGINNINGS
Quotations from and reference to Hubbard and Scientology biographical
sketches of Hubbard: MIT pp.4-5; Brief Biography; FDD69RA; Hubbard,
Story of Dianetics and Scientology; Hubbard, Dianetics Today,
p.989. Shannon story and quotations from four page article,
"A Biography of L. Ron Hubbard" by Michael Linn Shannon. 1.
GA exhibit 63, p.24.
Reference Summary 405
2. Affidavit sworn by H.R.Hubbard's true brother, J.R. Wilson,
13 September 1920. Harry Hubbard naval record.
3. Adventure, 1935.
4. Russell Miller interview with Margaret Roberts, Helena,
April 1986.
5. Land transfers.
6. VMH, p.284.
7. The Factors, 8-8008.
8. GA exhibit 63.
HUBBARD IN THE EAST
Quotations from and reference to Hubbard and Scientology biographical
sketches of Hubbard: MIT, pp.5-6; Hubbard, Have You Lived Before
this Life? p.298; FDD69RA; WIS, p.xlii; Hubbard, The Phoenix
Lectures, p.34; Tech 1, p.2; Tech 3, p.470; FSM mag 1; Hubbard,
Dianetics: The Original Thesis, p. 158; Hubbard diaries/notebooks,
GA exhibits 62, 63, 65.
1. H.R.Hubbard letter to George Washington University, 19
September 1930.
2. WIS p.xl.
3. R&D4p. 2
4. H.R.Hubbard letter to GW University, 19 September 1930.
5. R&D 7, pp.98f.
6. AAR dustwrapper.
7. Mary Sue Hubbard in GA 7, p. 1083.
8. Hubbard, Story of Dianetics and Scientology.
9. Adventure, 1935.
HUBBARD THE EXPLORER
Additional sources: FSM mug 1; MIT; Report to Parliament; Hubbard's
college grade sheets; The University Hatchet; Washington Daily
News, 13 September 1932; Gruber, The Pulp Jungle; FDD69RA; "L.
Ron Hubbard," by the LRH Public Affairs Bureau, CSC, 1981; Motion
Picture Herald, 23 January 1937; Hubbard, Battlefield Earth,
p.viii; Rocky Mountain News, 20 February 1983.
1. Adventure, 1935.
2. Look magazine, December 1950.
3. GA 12, p. 1972.
4. GA 11, p. 1867-8.
5. Rogers, Darkhouse.
6. GA 10, p. 1577.
7. GA 10, pp.1581-3. 8. GA 15, pp.2423-4. 9. Dianetic Auditors
Bulletin Ill, no.l; Aberree, December 1961.
10. GA exhibit 500-6J; Hubbard letter to FBI, May 1951.
11. Letter to the author from AMORC, 1984.
12. GA exhibit 500-3H.
13. Letters from Hubbard naval record.
14. Russell Miller interview with Robert Macdonald Ford, Olympia,
Washington, 1 September 1986.
HUBBARD AS HERO
Additional sources: Hubbard naval record; Hubbard Veterans Administration
file;
406 Reference Summary
Thomas Moulton testimony in GA 22; U.S.S. PC-815 Action Report;
Auditor 63; FSM mag 1; FDD69RA; MIT; Brief Biography; Report
to Parliament; Donvart, Conflict of Duty, Naval Institute Press,
Annapolis, 1983; Hubbard's service in Australia was with Base
Section No. 3, Brisbane - see U.S Army in World War 11 - The Technical
Services vols. The Ordnance Dept. and The Corps of Engineers,
pp. 114-115.
1. Hubbard 1963 interview.
2. Hubbard lecture "Study: Evaluation of Information," 11
August 1964 (Study tape 5).
3. GA 12, p. 1925.
4. Hubbard, Professional Auditors Bulletin 124, 15 Nov 1957.
HIS MIRACULOUS RECOVERY
Additional sources: Hubbard naval record; Hubbard Veterans Administration
file;
FDD69RA.
I. Ken Hoden, LA Weekly, 4 April 1986.
2. Look magazine, 5 December 1950.
3. MIT, p. 11; Hubbard, Self Analysis; AAR.
4. R&D 6, p.409. Tech 3, p.146.
5. Kima Douglas in GA 25, p.4459.
6. GA 12, pp. 1925-7.
HIS MAGICKAL CAREER
Additional sources: Rogers, Darkhouse; "L. Ron Hubbard: A Fan's
Remembrance," article by Alva Rogers; Book of Babalon, Jack
Parsons; Hubbard naval record; Allied Enterprises articles of
co-partnership; Koppes, JPL and the American Space Program;
records in Parsons vs. Hubbard & Northrup, Dade County, Florida,
case no. 101634; letters from the OTO New York Jack Parsons
file; Jack Parsons' FBI file.
1. Sunday Times, London, 5 October & 28 December 1969.
2. Tech 3, p.31.
3. PDC lectures 40, 35 & 18.
4. King, The Secret Rituals of the OTO, p.233.
5. King, The Magical World of Aleister Crowley.
6. Secret Rituals, p.238.
7. Crowley, Magick in Theory and Practice.
8. Burks, Monitors, p.99.
9. Magick in Theory and Practice, p.310.
10. King, Ritual Magic in England, p. 161; The Confessions
of Aleister Crowley, p.693; Crowley, The Book of Thoth; Cavendish,
The Magical Arts, p.304.
11. GA exhibit 3.
PART 3: THE BRIDGE TO TOTAL FREEDOM 1949-1966
BUILDING THE BRIDGE
Additional sources: Winter, A Doctor's Report on Dianetics;
author's correspondence with a former HDRF director; DMSMH;
Freud's Clark Lectures, published in Two Short Accounts of Psycho-Analysis.
1. GA exhibit 500-47, GA 12, p. 1946-7.
2. Studies in Hysteria, vol. 2, Sigmund Freud.
3. Malko, p.52.
4. Tech 1 pp. 14 & 22; van Vogt in California Association
of Dianetic Auditors Bulletin, vol. 17, no.2.
5. Astounding Science Fiction, U.S. edition, August 1950.
Reference Summary 407
6. Bedford, Aldous Huxley, a Biography, vol. 2, pp. 116-7.
THE DIANETIC FOUNDATIONS
1. Gardner, Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science, p.270;
Evans, p.49.
2. R&D 3, pp.20-24; R&D 1, p.696; Fads and Fallacies, p.270.
3. New York Times, 9 September 1950.
4. Tech 1, p.280.
5. DMSMH, p. 168.
6. Wallis, p.71; SOS book 2, p.225.
7. Dessler letters; Russell Miller interview with Richard
de Mille, Santa Barbara, 25 July 1986; Sara Northrup Hubbard
vs. L. Ron Hubbard, Superior Court, Los Angeles, divorce complaint,
no. D414498.
8. Hubbard letter to FBI, 3 March 1951; FBI memo, 7 March 1951.
9. Dessler letters.
10. Hubbard telegram to Dessler, March 195 1; Dessler letters.
11. Hubbard letter to Dessler, 27 March 1951.
12. "A Factual Report of the Hubbard Dianetic Foundation,"
John Maloney, 23 February 1952; Frank Dessler letters file.
13. DMSMH, p.363, 365; R&D 1, p.124.
WICHITA
Additional sources: O'Brien, Dianetics in Limbo; author's correspondence
with a former HDRF director; Russell Miller interviews with
Barbara Klowdan, Los Angeles, 28 July-5 August 1986; Hubbard
letters and telegrams to Barbara Klowdan; author's interview
with a former executive of various Hubbard organizations; information
on publications and conference attendance - WIS pp.289-290, Tech
1. pp. 122-3 & 165. 1. Hubbard Dianetic Foundation, Inc., bankruptcy
proceedings, District Court, Wichita, no.379-B-2; Don Purcell
circular letter, 21 May 1952.
2. Corydon, L. Ron Hubbard: Messiah or Madman?, p.285.
3. Hubbard circular letter, 20 February 1952.
4. Letter to the author from Chapdelaine, 1984.
5. Wallis, pp. 84-5.
6. Hubbard circular letter, 20 February 1952.
7. "A Factual Report of the Hubbard Dianetic Foundation,"
John Maloney, 23 February 1952; Dianetic Auditor's Bulletin
vol.3; Hubbard circular letter, 28 February 1952.
8. Purcell circular letter 21 May 1952; "Dianetics Today"
newsletter, January 1954; Hubbard circular letter 20 February
1952; Hubbard College Lecture no.21 "Anatomy of the Theta Body,"
March 1952.
9. Jack Maloney circular letter, 29 March 1952.
10. "The Dispatch Case," Hubbard circular letter 8 April 1952.
11. Hubbard College Reports, 13 March 1952.
12. Elliot circular letter, 21 April 1952; Hubbard circular
letter, 25 April 1952; Hubbard circular letter, 21 May 1952.
KNOWING HOW TO KNOW
Additional sources: O'Brien, Dianetics in Limbo, pp. vii, 52-55,
73, 76-77; HOM; PDC.
1. HOM, p.6.
408 Reference Summary
2. Auditor 21, p. 1.
3. Tech 1, pp. 372 & 409.
4. Auditor 21; Tech 1, pp.218 & 220.
5. Wallis, p.80.
6. Promotional piece, "Announcing the Theta Clear."
7. DMSMH, p.40.
8. Tech 1, p.298.
9. Letter to the author from Helen O'Brien; letter to the
author from L. Ron Hubbard, Jr.; letter from an attendee of
the PDC; L. Ron Hubbard, Jr., Clearwater Hearings 1, p.283.
10. Hubbard College Lecture, no.21.
11. Tech 1, p.337.
12. Tech 1, pp.343 & 369; WIS p.295.
THE RELIGION ANGLE
Additional sources: Tech 1, p.358; Tech 2, pp.32, 157,267-9,353-5;
WIS, pp. 142, 154.
1. Professional Auditors Bulletin 74, "Washington Bulletin
no. 1," 6 March 1956 (only in original).
2. L. Ron Hubbard, Jr., ClH 1, p.286; Wallis, p.128.
3. GA 12, p.1976 & 26, p.4619, GA exhibit 500-4V.
4. Tech 2, p.32; St. Petersburg Times, "Scientology," p.17.
5. Tech 2, pp.84 & 124; Purcell quote - "Dianetics Today" newsletter,
January 1954. 6. GA 12, p.2008 & 26, p.4643, exhibits 500-5
& 500-5F; Kima Douglas in GA 25, p.4435.
7. Hubbard letter to FBI, 29 July 1955.
8. Hubbard letter to FBI, 7 September 1955.
9. Interview with David Mayo, October 1986, Palo Alto.
10. Tech 2, pp.309 & 312; letter to author from Henrietta
de Wolf; interview with former executive at Washington, DC.
11. VMH p.77, pan K.
12. Tech 2, pp.378 & 564; Tech 3, p. 27; AAR dustwrapper.
13. Wallis, pp.190 & 128.
14. Foster report, para 118.
15. Donna Reeve in GA 24, p. 4185.
16. PDC 21.
THE LORD OF THE MANOR
1. Tech 4, p.29; WISp. 142; East Grinstead Courier, 16 August
1959; Garden News, 8 April 1960; Evans, pp.72f; Sunday Mirror,
28 July 1968.
2. Tech 3, p.522.
3. Tech 3, pp.555 & 557; Tech 12, p.245ff.
4. Professional Auditors Bulletin 74 (only in original); Tech
2, p. 474; Tech 4, p. 1 !. 5. GA 25, p.4617.
6. HASI share certificate; Foster report, para 71.
7. Tech 4, p. 161.
8. Wallis, p. 191; Cooper, p.102.
9. OEC 7, p.487.
10. Tech 4, p.378.
11. Tech 4, p.337.
Reference Summary 409
12. Tech 12, p.245ff.
13. Wallis, p.202; HCO Executive Letter, 14 April 1961.
14. The Findings on the U.S. Food and Drug Agency [sic, should
be "Administration"], The Department of Publications World Wide,
East Grinstead, CSC, 1968.
THE WORLD'S FIRST REAL CLEAR
1. Cooper, p. 118.
2. OEC 0, p.166.
3. Interview, John McMaster, London, May 1984.
4. OEC 0, p.35.
5. Tech 6, p. 19.
6. Wallis, p.149; Daily Mail, 8 December 1965; Guardian's
Office memos on "Squeaky" Fromm, former follower of Charles Manson.
7. Wallis, pp. 152 & 150.
8. Foster report, paras 12 & 181.
9. Reprinted in Foster report, para 181, and in Latey.
10. Foster report, para 181.
11. The People, 20 March 1966.
12. Auditor 13; interview, John McMaster.
PART 4: THE SEA ORGANIZATION 1966-1976
SCIENTOLOGY AT SEA
1. OEC 7, pp.494ff & 503.
2. East Grinstead Courier, 12 August 1983.
3. Foster report, para 32; Evans, pp.85-6; Malko, p.82; Hubbard
taped lecture, "About Rhodesia," 18 July 1966.
4. Church of Scientology of California vs. IRS, 24 September
1984 judgment, p.35. 5. Interview, OR, former Sea Org executive;
interview, McMaster.
6. OEC 7, p.579.
7. Interview, OR; Laurel Sullivan in GA 19, pp.3222-3.
8. Rolph, pp.39 & 85; News of the World, 28 July 1968; Wallis,
p. 194; Evans, p.88; Cooper, p.61; interview with witness.
9. Foster report, para 73.
10. Letter from the Explorers Club to John Fudge, 8 December 1966.
11. GA exhibit 500-6H, GA 13, p.2036-42.
12. Rolph, pp.39f.
13. Tech 6, p. 193.
14. OEC 3, p.63.
15. Daily Sketch, 11 March 1967.
16. Interview with Gerald Armstrong, East Grinstead, June 1984.
17. Interview with Virginia Downsborough, Santa Barbara, October
1986.
18. Modern Management Technology Defined, Hubbard, p.72; Clearwater
Sun, 7 February 1986; interview, OR; GA 12, p.2021, GA exhibit
500-5Z.
19. GA 12, pp.1997-8, 16, p.2616, GA exhibit 500-5E.
20. Interview, OR, former Sea Org executive.
HEAVY ETHICS
Additional sources: RJ67; correspondence with Hana Eltringham/Whitfield;
interviews
410 Reference Summary
with OR, a former Sea Org executive; interviews with McMaster;
interview with Virginia Downsborough; also interviews with Neville
Chamberlin, Kenneth Urquhart,
Bill Robertson, Phil Spickler.
1. News of the World, 28 July 1968; Evans, p.88; interview
with witness.
2. HCOPL, "Conditions, Awards, Penalties," 27 September 1967
(not in OEC).
3. Sunday Mirror, 24 December 1967.
4. HCOPL, "Condition of Liability," 6 October 1967 (not in
OEC).
5. HCOPL, "Penalties for Lower Conditions," 18 October 1967
(not in OEC).
6. Garrison, Playing Dirty, p.75; Foster report, para 216.
7. Sunday Mirror, 18 November 1967.
8. Foster report, para 216.
9. The People, 18 February 1968.
10. Articles of incorporation OTC; CSC vs. IRS 24 September 1984.
11. Auditor 32, p.5; Auditor 39.
12. Auditors 37 & 39.
13. Vosper, p. 178; Auditor 43.
14. Sunday Express, 14 July 1968.
THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK
Additional sources: Rolph; the Auditor; Forte, The Commodore
and the Colonels; interviews with Chamberlin, OR, Urquhart
and McMaster.
1. Foster report, para 14; Rolph, pp.74ff.
2. Evening News, 31 July 1968; Daily Sketch, 31 July 1968; Daily
Telegraph, 7 August 1968.
3. Evening News, I August 1968.
4. Auditor 17, back page.
5. The Observer, 11 August 1968; Kaufman, pp. 195 - 6f; Cooper,
pp.81-2.
6. Interview with Phil Spickler, Woodside, California, October,
1986.
7. Kaufman; The Observer, 11 August 1968; Auditor, "Special
South African Issue," c. summer 1968.
8. Daily Sketch, 2 August 1968.
9. Daily Mail, 3 August 1968.
10. Daily Mail, 6 August 1968.
11. The Shrinking World of L. Ron Hubbard, Granada Television, 1968.
12. Auditor 43, pp. 2 & 4.
13. Playing Dirty p.75; Commodore and the Colonels, p.19.
14. Auditor 41.
15. Chamberlin to author, 1984.
16. Chamberlin to author, 1984; Commodore and the Colonels.
17. Interview McMaster; Interview Chamberlin; Tech 6, p.276.
18. Tech 6, p.273; OEC 1, p.487.
19. Sunday Times, 17 November 1968.
20. OEC 1, p.489.
21. OEC 1, p.486.
22. Rolph, pp.63ff; Daily Telegraph & Daily Mirror, 6 August
1968; Daily Sketch, 13 August 1968; The People, 18 August 1968.
23. Wallis, p. 196; Daily Telegraph, 25 November 1968.
24. Wallis, p.222.
25. Playing Dirty, p.80; CSC vs. IRS, 24 September 1984.
26. HCOPL, "Ethics Penalties Re-instated," 19 October 1971
(not in OEC).
Reference Summary 411
THE DEATH OF SUSAN MEISTER
Sources: "Scientology Said Susan Was a Suicide," article by
George Meister; George Meister testimony, Clearwater Hearings,
May 1982; letter to the author from George Meister, 13 June
1986; also Urquhart interview, correspondence with Amos Jessup.
HUBBARD'S TRAVELS
Additional sources: "Debrief of Jim Dincalci on NY Trip with
LRH"; WIS, pp. 154-8 & 184.
1. Sea Org Orders of the Day ("OODs"), 7 June 1971; GA 15,
pp.2482-4 & 17, pp. 2847-9.
2. Hubbard, The Management Series 1970-1974, p.384.
3. Wallis, p.198.
4. Interview with witness.
5. GA 9, p.1436; Playing Dirty, p.80.
6. Playing Dirty, p.82.
7. GA 17, p.2675f; Schomer in GA 25, p.4480; Tech 8, p. 189;
Guardian Order 732, "Snow White Program," 28 April 1073.
8. CSC vs. IRS, 24 September 1984, p.66.
9. Kima Douglas in GA 25, pp.4444ff; Laurel Sullivan in GA
19A, pp.3007, 3018 & 3020; Mary Sue Hubbard in GA 17, p.2776.
10. GA 9, p. 1436; Urquhart interview.
11. Miller interview with Kima Douglas, Oakland, California,
September 1986. 12. Gerald Armstrong affidavit, March 1986,
pp.53ff.
13. BPL "Confidential - PR series 24 - Handling Hostile Contacts/Dead
Agenting," 30 May 1974 (not in OEC).
14. Hubbard, Modern Management Technology Defined, definition 3.
15. Playing Dirty, p.82; Interview Urquhart; Miller interview
with Kima Douglas. 16. Playing Dirty, p. 84.
17. GA 9, p.1431; Sullivan in GA 19A, p.3190.
18. Miller interview with Kima Douglas.
THE FLAG LAND BASE
Sources: Documents referred to in text.
1. Playing Dirty, p.86.
2. Tech 11, p.236.
3. St. Petersburg Times, "Scientology," pp. 7, 2 & 27; Armstrong
affidavit, March 1986, p.50.
4. GO Program Order 158; Mary Sue Hubbard Stipulation, pp.90f.
5. St. Petersburg Times, "Scientology," p.8.
6. Clearwater Sun, 4 November 1979; St. Petersburg Times,
"Scientology."
7. Terri Gamboa in GA 24, p.4238.
8. Interview with witness.
9. Tech 2, p. 157.
10. Miller interview with Kima Douglas; coroner's reports.
11. Interview with Frank Gerbode, Woodside, California, October 1986.
PART 5: THE GUARDIAN'S OFFICE 1974-1980
THE GUARDIAN UNGUARDED
412 Reference Summary
Additional sources: Rolph; St. Petersburg Times, "Scientology."
1. OEC 7, pp.494ff.
2. OEC 7, p.503.
3. Interview with former Hubbard telex encoder.
4. Tech 2, p. 157.
5. Hubbard Executive Directive 55 "The War," 29 November 1968.
6. Rolph p.63; Daily Telegraph, 26 November 1968.
7. OEC 7, p.521; Rolph, pp.102 & 52f.
8. SOED, 26 March 1969.
9. Auditor 15, p.7.
10. Sara Hollister to Paulette Cooper, 1972; GA 12, p.1940.
11. GA exhibit 500-4L, GA 12, pp. 1946ff.
12. Sentencing memorandum in U.S.A. vs. Jane Kember, District
Court, DC, criminal case no., 78-401, p.25.
13. St. Petersburg Times, "Scientology," p.9.
14. U.S.A. vs. Kember, p.23.
INFILTRATION
Principal source: Stipulation of Evidence in U.S.A. vs. Mary
Sue Hubbard et al., District Court, DC, criminal case no. 78-401.
Additional sources: Sentencing memorandum in U.S.A. vs. Jane
Kember; interviews with former B-1 agent; documents quoted in
text.
1. Interview, Urquhart.
OPERATION MEISNER
Principal source: Stipulation of Evidence in U.S.A. vs. Mary
Sue Hubbard et al., District Court, DC, criminal case no. 78-401.
PART 6: THE COMMODORE'S MESSENGERS 1977-1982
MAKING MOVIES
Additional sources: Tonja Burden affidavit, 1982; Hartwells
testimony in Clearwater Hearings, May 1982; interviews with
four former CMO executives and one former Sea Org executive.
1. Tech 11, p.259.
2. Anne Rosenblum affidavit, p.22.
3. St. Petersburg Times, "Scientology," p.20.
4. ClH 3, p.260; Waiters in GA 25, p.4394 - 7; Douglas in GA
25, p.4437; Nancy Dincalci in GA 20, pp. 3530f; Janie Peterson
in ClH 4, p. 81; Guardian Order 121669, 16 December 1969, by
Mary Sue Hubbard.
5. St. Petersburg Times, "Scientology," p.20.
6. Tech 11, p.234.
THE RISE OF THE MESSENGERS
Sources: Mayo "Recollections," AAC Journal, April 1985; "An
Open Letter to All Scientologists from David Mayo," 1983; Armstrong
affidavit, May 1983; John Nelson taped talk, 13 August 1983;
interview with John Nelson, East Grinstead, January 1984.
Reference Summary 413
1. Hubbard in Clearing Course film.
2. Miller interview with Kima Douglas.
3. Tech 12, p.307; Nelson interview; interview, former CMO
executive.
4. Central Bureaux Order 588, "Flag Senior Management Command
Lines," 26 July 1979; CMO Executive Directive 92, "CMO
Regulations," 11 January 1978; Central Bureaux Order 621, "Bypass
of Management Sector Handling Of," 29 November 1979.
5. Mary Sue Hubbard in GA 6, p.876.
6. HCOB, 3 January 1980.
7. Sullivan in GA 19A, pp.3053ff.
8. GA 9, pp. 1492ff & 1555; Sullivan in GA 19, p.3246.
9. Mary Sue Hubbard in GA 6, p.886.
10. Armstrong affidavit, 19 October 1982.
11. GA 14, pp.2272ff.
12. HCOB, 30 July 1980.
13. HCOB, 29 July 1980.
14. Omar Garrison in GA 21, pp.3595-7.
15. A.E. van Vogt letter to the author.
THE YOUNG RULERS
Sources: correspondence with a former CMO executive; interview
with former Guardian's Office executive; Peter Green, taped
talk, 23 June 1982.
1. HCOPL, "The Executive Director International," 11 December 1980.
2. Sullivan in GA 19A, pp.3144f.
3. David Mayo letter, 8 December 1983.
4. Litt in GA 28, p.4734.
5. McKee, ClH 4, pp.397ff.
6. Bent Corydon, taped talk, July 1983.
7. Mayo letter 8 December 1983.
8. HCOB, "The State of Clear," 14 December 1981.
THE CLEARWATER HEARINGS
Principal source: Transcript of the City of Clearwater Hearings
re: The Church of Scientology, May 1982.
1. Complaint in M.J. Flynn vs. Hubbard, U.S. Court for the
District of Massachusetts, no. 83-2642-C.
2. Interviews with two former CMO executives.
3. HCOPL, "Penalties for Lower Conditions," 18 October 1967
(not in OEC).
4. HOM, p.20; Tech 1, p.337.
THE RELIGIOUS TECHNOLOGY CENTER AND THE INTERNATIONAL FINANCE
POLICE
Sources: John Nelson; interviews with two former CMO executives;
Howard Schomer testimony in Christofferson Titchbourne vs. Church
of Scientology Mission of Davis et al., State of Oregon Circuit
Court, Multnomah County, case A7704-05184; Schomer testimony
in GA.
1. HCOB, 26 August 1982.
2. Jay Hurwitz letter to David Banks, 1983; interviews with
Hurwitz, East Grinstead, 1983 & 1986.
414 Reference Summary
PART 7: THE INDEPENDENTS 1982-1984
THE MISSION HOLDERS' CONFERENCE
Principal source: SOED, "The Flow Up the Bridge - the U.S. Mission
Holders Conference - San Francisco 1982," 7 November 1982, and
a tape of the proceedings.
1. Bent Corydon interview in Copenhagen Corner, issue II.
2. Kingsley Wimbush, taped talk, 1984.
THE SCIENTOLOGY WAR
Sources: Complaint in Martin Samuels vs. Hubbard, Circuit Court,
Oregon State, Multnomah County, case no. A8311 07227, November
1983; Bent Corydon, taped talk, July 1983, and interview in
Copenhagen Corner, 11; Religious Technology Center Conditions
Order I-3.
1. Jon Zegel taped talk, June 1983.
2. Stansfields, "Knowledge Report," 14 March 1983.
3. Zegel talk, June 1983.
4. Interview, former employee.
5. RTC Conditions Order 1-3.
6. Interview with David Mayo.
SPLINTERING
1. Flag Conditions Order 6577- l, "Writ of Expulsion Confirmed,"
24 February 1983.
2. SOED, 2192 Int "Re: List of Declared Suppressive Persons," 27
January 1983.
STAMP OUT THE SQUIRRELS!
Sources: Interviews with Ron Lawley and Morag Bellmaine; interview
with Gulliver Smithers, East Grinstead, May 1984.
1. HCOB, "Dianetic Clear Solved," 27 March 1984.
2. Central Bureaux Order 746, "Organization Pattern: Continental
Commodore's Messenger Orgs," 16 August 1983.
PART 8: JUDGMENTS
SCIENTOLOGY AT LAW
Principal source: Memorandum of Intended Decision in Church
of Scientology of California vs. Gerald Armstrong, Superior
Court, Los Angeles County, case no. C 420153.
1. The Times, London, 4 September 1973; Evening News, 5 June
1973.
THE CUSTODY CASE
Source: Decision in "B & G Wards," Royal Courts of Justice,
High Court, London, 23 July 1984.
SIGNING THE PLEDGE
Source for Christofferson Titchbourne case - Oregonian 12, 21
& 22 March, 5, 11, 13, 17, 20, 23 April, 18 & 20 May 1985.
Reference Summary 4 15
1. Office of Special Affairs Executive Directive 19, 20 September
1984.
2. Oregon Journal, 3 May 1982.
3. Los Angeles Times, 19 May 1985.
4. Clearwater Sun, 17 July 1985.
5. Impact 4, p.12, December 1985; Impact 13.
6. Appeal opinion, 8 August 1986, p.36.
DROPPING THE BODY
Sources: "International Scientology," issue 8; Rocky Mountain
News, 16 February 1986; Riverside Press-Enterprise, January
& February 1986; San Jose Mercury News, 28, 30 & 31 January
1986; St. Petersburg Times, 2 February 1986; Clearwater Sun,
31 January 1986; Los Angeles Times, 28 & 30 January 1986; Miller
interview with Robert Whaley, Creston, August 1986.
1. Flag Order 3879, 19 January 1986.
AFTER HUBBARD
Sources: FAIR Complaint in California Superior Court, Los Angeles
County, no. CA 001012; Aznaran Complaint in District Court,
Central District, California, no. CV 88-1786-WDK; "Flag Order
3879 Cancelled," 18 April 1988; RTC et al. vs. Yanny et al.,
in California Superior Court, L.A. County, no. C690211.
PART 9: SUMMING UP THE FOUNDER
Sources: Bolitho; Hubbard letter to his first wife, 1938.
1. PDC 16, transcript, p. 145.
2. OEC 0, p.35.
3. Ibid.
4. Interview with witness.
5. HCOB, "Pain and Sex," 26 Aug 82.
THE SCIENTOLOGIST
I. 8-8008.
2. Hubbard, The Creation of Human Ability, p. 123.
3. Confidential HCOB, "Resistive Cases," 23 September 1968.
4. 0.8, Hubbard, p. 63.
5. 8-8008, p. 135.
FAIR GAME, ETHICS AND°THE SCRIPTURES
1. Alan Larson circular letters, 17 June 1985, 19 August 1987.
2. The Management Series 1970-1974, Hubbard, p.116.
3. OEC 7, pp.357-8.
Abbreviations
AAA = Advanced Ability Center
ABLE = Association for Better Living and Education
ACU = All Clear Unit
AG = Assistant Guardian
AO = Advanced Organization
ARC = Affinity, Reality, Communication
ASI = Author Services Incorporated
B-1 = Branch One, GO
CMO = Commodore's Messenger Organization
COSMOD = Church of Scientology Mission of Davis
CSC = Church of Scientology of California
CSI = Church of Scientology International
DG = Deputy Guardian
ED Int = Executive Director International
FEBC = Flag Executive Briefing Course
FLB = Flag Land Base
FN = Floating Needle
FOIA = Freedom of Information Act
HASI = Hubbard Association of Scientologists International
HCO = Hubbard Communications Office
HDRF = Hubbard Dianetic Research Foundation
HQS = Hubbard Qualified Scientologist
I HELP = International Hubbard Ecclesiastical League of Pastors
IAS = International Association of Scientologists
IMO = International Management Organization
KSW = Keeping Scientology Working
LRH Pers PRO = Hubbard Personal Public Relations Office
MCCS = Mission Category Sort-Out
MEST = Matter, Energy, Space and Time
MSH = Mary Sue Hubbard
NAMH = National Association of Mental Health
NED = New Era Dianetics
NED for OTs = New Era Dianetic for Operating Thetans
Nibs = L. Ron Hubbard Jr.
NOTs = New Era Dianetics for Operating Thetans
OEC = Organization Executive Course
OT - Operating Thetan
417
418 Abbreviations
Ops = (GO) Operations
OSA = Office of Special Affairs
OTC = Operation & Transport Company
OTO = Ordo Templi Orientalis
PDC = Philadelphia Doctorate Course
PTS = Potential Trouble Source
Purif = Purification Rundown
RJ 67 = Ron's Journal 1967
RPF = Rehabilitation Project Force
RTC = Religious Technology Center
Scn = Scientology
Sec Check = Security Check
SHSHBC = Saint Hill Special Briefing Course
SMI = Scientology Missions International
SO = Sea Organization
SOCO = Social Coordination Bureau
SP = Suppressive Person
Tech = Technology (of Scientology)
Theta being = Thetan
TR = Training Routine
TR-L = Training Routine - Lying
VGIs = Very Good Indicators
WDC = Watchdog Committee
WISE = World Institute of Scientology Enterprises
WW = World-Wide
Index
Abilitism, 158 Armstrong, Gerald, 41, 46, 47, 50, 63,
ABLE see Association for Better 65, 66, 87, 90, 100, 138, 206, 258,
Living and Education 260-262, 328-334, 344, 347-348, 357
Abortion attempts, 111-112 Armstrong, Jocelyn, 333
Advance!, 10 ASI see Author Services Incorporated
Advanced Ability Centers, 37, Asia see Far East
318, 319, 346, 350 Asimov, Isaac, 67
Advanced Organizations, 20, 29, Association for Better Living and
117-178, 190, 193, 316 Education (ABLE), 391, 393, 397
Adventure, 368-369 Astounding Science Fiction, 67, 69, 102,
Adventure magazine, 53 105-107,
113, 114
"Affirmations", 100, 357 Athena (trawler), 189
Africa, 376 Auditing see Counselling
Alaska, 67-68, 71 The Auditor magazine, 158, 183, 184, 186
Aldiss, Brian, 262 Australia, 72-73, 154, 159-160, 189, 190,
Alesi, Joseph, 231 204, 208, 209, 220, 285, 314, 379
Algol (USS), 81 Author Services Incorporated (ASI), 269,
Alice in Wonderland, 14-15, 323 285, 286, 309, 359
Aliens Act (Great Britain), 21,
183, 185, 189, Avon River (trawler), 174-176, 178,
179, 180, 196, 261 188
All About Radiation, 58, 141-142 Axelrad, Jeffrey, 231
All Clear Unit, 264, 265, 266,
287, 358-362 Aznaran, Vicki and Richard,
Allied Enterprises, 99
Allied Scientists of the World,
125 Babalon, 93-99, I01
Alverzo, Don, 227-228, 231-232,
280 Balniel, Lord, 160, 161,
169, 219, 373
American Medical Association,
106, 116, Bank of Alaska, 68, 74
120, 126, 136, 226, 232, 268 Bank of England, 174
American Psychiatric Association,
106, 120, Bar Association Library, 234-236, 136
Bare-Faced Messiah, 328
American Psychological
Association, 115 Barnstorming, 63
Amprinistics, 158-159 "Basic Study Manual", 20, 22
Analytical Mind, 10, 111 Battlefield Earth, 262-263, 286
Ancient and Mystical Order Rosae Believe What You Like, 221
Crucis (AMORC), 67 Bellmaine, Morag, 316-317, 320, 346
Anderson, Kevin Victor, 154 Benitez, William 194
Anderson Report, 159, 209 Benzedrine, 119
Andrus, Brian, 239, 240 Berfield, James, 273
Anubhava School of Enlightenment, Berkowitz, David, 158
158
AO see Advanced Organizations Bermuda, 61-62
Apollo (ship), 188, 191-192, Berner, Charles, 158
197-203,
205-209, 245-247, 276, 376 Bhagavad Gita, 381
419
420 Index
Bird, Barbara, 228 Cavite, 54
Birkell, Walter, 234 Cazares, Gabriel, 211-213, 222-223, 225,
Birmingham (England), 9-10, 24,
135 228
Birth, 11,109-110 Cedars of Lebanon complex, 262, 267
Black, Karen, 178, 379 Center magazine, 300
Blackfoot Indians, 48 Central America, 63
Black magic, 89-102 Central Intelligence Agency see CIA
Blackmail, 277, 362 Ceppos, Arthur, 107, 109, 115, 125, 145
Black PR, 207 CG Bonham (USS), 78-79
Blitz, Joe, 66 Chain-locker punishment, 180, 246
Blood Ritual, 11210, 357 Chamarros, 54
Blue Water H, 99 Chapdelaine, Perry, 125
Body Thetans, 32-34, 256, 282, Charity, 384
376, 382
Bolitho, William, 368-369 Charleston (S.C.), 207-208
Bolivar, Simon, 394 Child custody case, 335-344
The Book of the Antichrist, 99 Children, 245, 275, 277, 300,
319, 322, 392
Book of the Law, 91, 95, 97 China, 52-53, 56-67, 376
Boston (Mass.), 278 Christianity, 376, 383
Brainwashing, 141, 375 Christofferson-Tichbourne, Julie, 346-349,
Brainwashing, 140-141 357
Braisted, Rear Admiral, 80 Church of American Science, 137-138
Breach of contract, 361 Church of Scientology see Scientology
Breckendridge, Judge, 2, 5, Church of Scio-Logos,
329-331, 371, 312 Church of Spiritual Engineering, 138
Bridge Publications, 263, 266, The Church of the Final Judgment, 158
285, 301
Brisbane (Australia), 73 Church of the New Faith, 160
Britton, Jimmy, 68 CIA (Central Intelligence Agency), 195,
268,
Broeker, Annie, 260, 353, 354,
355, 359, 388 360, 362 Clams, 132
Broeker, Pat, 260, 262, 267, 287,
353, 354, Clark, John Gordon,
281, 338, 392
360, 362 Clarke, Stanley, 379
Brown, Leon, 49 Clearing Course, 157, 159
Browne, Justice, 194 Clears, 10, 27, 107-109, 111, 112,
Brubeck, Dave, 178 114-115, 157, 161, 186, 256, 272, 373
Buchanan, Allen, 306 Clearsound, 318
Buckskin Brigades, 66 Clearwater (Fla.), 209-213, 222-223, 247,
Buddhism, 10, 17, 52, 56, 374, 259, 273
380, 383, 396 Clearwater hearings, 273-283
Budlong, Mo, 263 Clearwater Sun, 211, 212, 223, 273
Bullbaiting, 14 Cleckley, Hervey, 168, 371-372
Burden, Tonja, 245-246 CMO see Commodore's Messenger
Burks, Arthur, 66 Organization
Burroughs, William, 178, 379 CMO Cine Organization, 248-249, 252
Byrne, June see Phillips, June Colley, Earle, 351-353
Committee of Evidence, 305, 306, 310,
322, 341
Cagney, James, 81 The Commodore and the Colonels, 191
Cameron, Marjorie, 95, 98 Commodore's Messenger Organization
Campbell, John, 67, 69, 105-107, (CMO), 245-248, 257-258, 264-269,
112, 113, 119, 125, 130, 137 275, 285-287, 294, 306, 308-312, 322,
Candacraig House, 316, 318, 387
Cape Cod Instrument Company, 67 Communication Course, 13-15,
46, 194, 223
Capital City Coal Company, 48 Communism, 113, 117, 118, 120,
140, 144,
Caribbean Motion Picture
Expedition, 60-62, 76 151
Compulsions Analysis, 158
Carroll, Lewis, 14, 323 Confessionals, 28-29, 147, 262, 339
Casualty Contact, 141 Continents, 218
Index 421
Controller's Committee, 217 Dianetics: The Evolution of a
Science, 107
Cook, Gordon, 266 Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental
Coolidge, Calvin, 50 Health, 10, 46, 86, 101, 107, 109-114,
Coolidge, Calvin, Jr., 50-51 122, 130, 297, 385
Cooper, Paulette, 45, 46, 122, Dincalci, Jim, 205
223-224, 259, 260, 278-281, 327 Disconnection, 3, 35, 36, 38, 188,
192, 203, 312, 318-320
Copenhagen (Denmark), 193, 317
Corea, Chick, 349, 379 Dive Bomber, 65
Corfu, 188, 191 Doctors see Medical profession
Corydon, Bent, 271,293, 302-303, A Doctor's Report on Dianetics, 115
312
Corydon, Mary, 303 Dodell, Nathan, 234-236
Cosmology, 129, 134, 375, 380, Doris Hamlin (ship), 61-62
382
Coulter, Art, 138 Douglas, Jim, 240
Counselling, 14-17, 112, 116, Douglas, Kima, 87, 205, 208, 256, 333
313, 339, 373, 396 Douglas, Nancy, 228
Craig, Colin, 191 Downsborough, Virginia, 171
Crate, Thomas, 233 Drug Enforcement Administration see DEA
The Creation of Human Ability, Drugs, 23, 119, 131, 262,
177, 274, 362, 392,
Creative Processing, 134, 397
Crowley, Aleister, 89-102, 123,
135, 375, 382 Eagle Scouts, 50
Culling, Louis T., 98 Eastern philosophy, 52, 56, 59
Cults, 1, 224, 281, 379 Edinburgh Advanced Organization, 190,
193,
Curacao, 208, 209 Edsall (USS), 71-72
Eductivism, 159
Daily Mail, 319 Einstein, Albert, 107
Electro-psychometer see E-meter
DEA (Drug Enforcement Elizabeth Foundation,
Administration), 112, 116, 117, 123, 124, 125
119, 121, 210, 233
Declared Suppressive Person Elliot, James, 126, 127
see Suppressive Persons Elray, Elron, 314
Defense Department, 120, 140 Elron (pseudonym), 66
DeFeo Report, 233 E-meter, 22-23, 28, 118, 127, 131,
Degraded Beings, 170, 376 146-147, 193, 204, 327
De Grimstons, 158 Emotional loss, 109
Deitch, William, 191 Emotional Tone Level, 383, 384
Delphian Foundation, 300, 392 Emotional Tone Scale, 16
Delphian Project, 300 Enchanter (yacht), 101, 171, 189
De Mille, Richard, 118 Encyclopaedia Britannica, 374
Denk, Eugene, 351-353 The End Is Not Yet, 102, 125
Denmark, 193, 314, 317, 320, 321 End Phenomenon, 29-31
Denning, Lord, 380 Energy Research and Development
Department of Government Affairs, Administration, 234
149
Department of Official Affairs, England see Great Britain
150
Depression, 10 English Independent Scientology movement,
De Wolf, Morgan, 65 39
De Wolfe, I.C., 76 Engrams, 10-11, 23, 109-113
Diana (goddess), 101 Eshbach, Lloyd Arthur, 137
Diana (yacht), 101, 189 Ethics, 155-156, 172-173, 175, 180-181,
Dianazene, 142, 154 195, 203
Diane (yacht), 99 Ethics Officers, 24, 39, 156, 158
Dianetics, 9, 138-139 Evil, 376, 383
foundations, 114-127 Evolution, 131-133
New Era, 254, 256 Excalibur, 66, 67, 369, 375
origins of, 105-113, 374 Executive Director International,
264, 288
Dianetics Course, 22, 28 Explorers Club, 67, 93, 168
Dianetics in Limbo 118, 133 Exteriorization, 375
422 Index
Fair Game policy, 188, 331, 341, George Washington University,
356 57-58, 68, 80
False Purpose Rundown, 344
Farber, Burton, 137 Gerbode, Frank, 371
Far East, 52-57 Germany, 314, 321-322
Farley, Richard, 142 Germer, Karl, 90, 98
FBI (Federal Bureau of Gillespie, Julie, 312
Investigation), 26-27, 90, Gilman Hot Springs, complex, 4, 256-260,
117-118, 120, 140, 201,
236-241, 251, 259, 268,
270, 280, 328, 275, 286-289,
305, 311, 353-354, 345, 346 Gleeson, Kerry, 288
FDA (Food and Drug Gold Star (USS), 54, 56
Administration), 142, 154, 193,
204, 235, 327 Good, 376, 383
Federal Bureau of Investigation Goodman, Jill, 186
see FBI
Field Auditors, 303-304 Gordon, Captain Charles, 66
Field Staff Members (FSMs), 12, GO see Guardian's Office
385
Figley, Paul, 231 The Great Beast, 94
Filson, Vic, 160-161 Great Britain, 21, 160, 169-170, 174,
Fishbein, Morris, 116 182-186, 189-191, 194-196, 219-220,
Flag Land Base, 209-214, 247, 261, 285, 314, 323, 328
274-276, 296, 341 Great Wall of China, 56
Fletcher, Admiral, 77, 79 Greece, 191-192, 375
Florida, 37, 74-75, 209-213 Greenberg, Martin, 232
Flynn, Michael, 75, I00, 273, Greene, Peter,
281, 282, 296, 269
320, 328, 331, 345-346, 357 Gruber, Frank, 63, 64
Fodor, Nandor, 109-110 Grumm, Richard, 178
Fonda, Henry, 70, 81 Guam, 53-57
Food and Drug Administration see Guardian angel, 100-101
FDA
Ford, Robert, 68 Guardian's Office, 20, 26-27, 39, 161,
Fort de France (Martinique), 165-166, 247, 253, 258-259,
61-62, 261, 387 in Clearwater, 210-213, 273
Forte, John, 191, 192 demise of, 265, 267-268,
Foster, Sir John, 166, 190, 195, infiltration in Washington, 226-235
Fox Movietone News, 61
France, 327 Operation Meisner, 236-241
Franchisers see Mission Holders secrecy within,
as protector of enemies, 217-225 thefts, 228-235, 258, 392
Franks, Bill, 264, 267, 268, 271,
272, 287, 288, 306, 308, 347
Fraud, 361 treatment of staff, 390
Freedom for All in Religion Guns, 225
(FAIR), 357-358
Freedom magazine, 346
Freedom of Information Act, 227, Haack, EW., 235
229-230, 231,233, 234, 236, 387 Haber, Donna, 315
Freeloader Bills, 386 Haber, Harvey, 312, 315
French Foreign Legion, 66 Halpern, Richard, 118
Freud, Sigmund, 9, 49-50, 108, Hamling, William, 370, 374
109, 110, 194, 378, Hansen, Christine, 237
Freudian Foundation of America, Hartsen, John and Jeanny,
138 311
Harpoon (schooner), 99
Hart, Alphia, 373
Gaiman, David, 189, 190, 195, 268 Hart, Judge, 234
Galactic Confederation, 31-32 Hartwell, Adell and Ernie, 249-254,
276
Galbraith, Jack, 198-200 Hartwell, Ver-Dawn, 248, 252
Galbraith, William J., 201 Hathor, 100-101
Galley-slaves, 196 Have You Lived Before This Life? A
Garden News, 146 Scientific Survey, 148
Gardner, Martin, 115, 370 Hawaii, 32
Garfield, F.E., 61 Heavy Ethics see Ethics
Garrison, Omar, 262, 329-331, 333 Heinlein, Robert, 67, 135,
374
Geological survey, 168-169 Heldt, Henning, 226-227
Index 423
Heller, Larry, 294-295 and OT levels, 30-31, 166, 173, 177, 188,
Henderson (USS), 55-56 261
Henslow, Hilary, 194 personal documents, 260, 261, 328-333
Henslow, Karen, 167, 169, 194 personal history, 3, 11-12,
40, 45-51, 339
Hermann, Mitchell, 227-228, 237 personal security, 210, 257
Hermitage House, 109 Rogers on, 93
The Hidden Persuaders, 370 Rosenblum on, 40-41
Hines, Don, 352 at Saint Hill,
145-160
Hoad, Sheila, 149-150 and Scientology as religion, 137-145
Hodges, Dan, 237 teen years, 50-57, 59
Hollister, Miles, 118 travels, 202-208
Homosexuality, 384 view of Scientologists, 17
Homunculus, 93, 98, 101 writings, 63-67, 102, 107, 262-263,
Honrubia, Judge, 363 see also titles of books written
Horner, Jack, 158, 159 Hubbard, Ledora May, 47
Horticulture, 145, 185 Hubbard, Lewis, 229, 230, 231
Hoskyns-Abrahall, Sir Chandos, Hubbard, Mary Sue,
194, 378 2, 58, 129, 133, 143,
Howes, Ron, 125, 130 149, 165, 175-181, 213, 214, 217, 229,
Hubbard, Alexis Valerie, 107, 117, 231-233, 238-239, 241, 254, 258-259,
118, 121, 222, 356 262, 265-267, 308, 331,332, 352, 356
Hubbard, Bela, 63 Hubbard, Nibs (Lafayette Ronald, Jr.), 64,
Hubbard, Catherine May, 64., 143, 100, 101, 131, 143,
356, 147, 213, 274, 356,
Hubbard, Diana Meredith DeWolf,
133, 188
Hubbard, Harry Ross, 47, 48, 53,
55, 57, 76
Hubbard, Polly (Margaret Louise Grubb),
Hubbard, L. Ron 64, 68, 75, 101,
118, 369
belief systems, 2 Hubbard, Quentin, 213-214,276
biographies, 261, 329-333 Hubbard, Sara Elizabeth see Northrup,
Sara Elizabeth
birth, 47
and black magic, 89-102, 274 Hubbard Association of Scientologists,
130
character and psyche, 367-378 Hubbard Association of Scientologists
childhood, 48-49, 59 International, 139
as Commodore of Sea Organization, Hubbard Association of Scientologists
4, 20, 177, 188 Limited, 149
and Commodore's Messenger Hubbard College, 125,
Organization 127, 129,
130 (CMO), 245-248, 257-258,
264-269 Hubbard Dianetic Research
Foundation
death, 4, 351-354 (HDRF), 107, 109, 115, 120
and Dianetics, 27, 105-115, 139 Hubbard Explorational Company
Ltd., 168, 176
drug use, 119, 131, 171, 274, 332
ethics system, 172-173, 175, Hubbard Geological Survey
180-181
Expedition, 168
as explorer, 60-63, 168-169 Hubbard Guidance Center, 157
family background, 47-48 Hubbard Qualified Scientologist (HQS)
in Far East, 52-57 Course, 16
finances, 5, 41, 116, 118, Hubbel, Bernard,
125-127, 135,
142-143, 166, 167, 171, 185, Hurwitz, Jay, 288
204-205, 261, 286, 289, 309, Huxley, Aldous, 113
345
foundations, 114-127 Hydrographic Office, 60, 62, 68, 71
at George Washington University, Hypnosis, 110
57-58,
in Great Britain, 169-170,
183-186, 261
high school years, 53, 55, 57 Implants, 30, 129, 133, 344,
376, 383
illnesses, 73, 75, 80, 82-88, Incredible String Band, 379
208, 247, 255-256, 257
Independent Centers see scientology,
last will and testament, 356 splinter groups
in Marine Reserve, 57-58, 80 India, 52, 53, 57, 383
marriages, 64., 101, 117-122, 129 Indio (Calif.), 248, 256
movie making, 248-251, 254, 276 Inside Scientology, 184, 185
Navy career, 68-82 Institute of Humanics, 125, 130
and origins of Scientology, Intelligence (IQ),
128-136, 370 108
424 Index
Intelligence operations, 143-144, Larson, Don, 304
224, 388
Internal Revenue Service see IRS Las Palmas, 32
International Association of Latey, Justice, 2, 334, 337-342
Scientologists, 345, 349
Lawley, Ron, 316-317, 320, 346
International Finance Dictator, Le Bon, Gustave, 375
36, 287, 297, 303, 309 Lectures, 187, 394
International Finance Police, 4, Legionnaire, 148, 65
287, 297, 299, 301, 304, 305, Legionnaire 14830, 66
309
International Hubbard Lesevre, Guillaume, 288, 296-297, 299
Ecclesiastical League of
Pastors (I HELP), 303-304 Level V, 157, 159
Interpol, 227, 231, 234, 235, Levin, Jerry see Alverzo, Don
328, 391
Invasion of privacy, 361 Liability Formula, 175
Investigation, 160-161, 167, 203 Libel, 194-195, 213, 219,
328, 392
Irrational behavior, 107-108, 111 Liberia, 205
IRS (Internal Revenue Service), Lindsay, Sue, 353, 368
3, 166, 195, 210, 224, 227-234,
236-237, 262, 266, 270, Londer, Donald, 347, 349
277, 296, 327, 328, 345, 348 London Daily Mail, 183, 185
Irwin, Gale, 308 London Sunday Times, 89
Isis, 101 Los Angeles Advanced Organization, 190,
Italy, 314, 362-363 193
Los Angeles Foundation, 116, 118, 120
Java, 71-72 Los Angeles Times, 201, 350
Jentzsch, Heber, 354, 363 Los Coronados islands, 79, 80
Jet Assisted Take-Off (JATO), 91 LRH Finance Committee, 167
Jet Propulsion Laboratory, 91 LSD, 140, 203, 254
Johannesburg Security Check, Lying, 340, 348, 393
150-151
Johnson, Alexander, 72
Johnson, Charles, 235-236 Mace, Eddie, 314
Jones, Axton, T., 81 Mace, John, 37, 39
Jones, John, 174 Machiavelli, Niccolo, 375
Jung, Karl, 128 Magician (ketch),
67-68
Justice Department, 231, 232, Magnuson, Warren, 68
233, 234, 328 Maharajah of Jaipur, 19, 145
Kaufman, Robert, 184, 185, 327 Malko, George, 112, 327
Kegan, Robert G., 372 Management, 318
Keith, Michael, 65 Manchester (England), 27
Kelly, Casey, 274-275 Manson, Charles, 158, 193-194
Kember, Jane, 165, 217, 221-222, Manual of Justice, 143-145
226-227, 228, 230, 238, 241, The Man Who Invented Scientology,
263, 267 58
Kemp, Ray, 269 Marchetti, Victor, 388
Kennedy, John (ex-Scientologist), Maren, Artie, 198
183
Kennedy, John E, 152-153 Marine Reserve, 57-58, 80
Kimmel, Richard, 231 Marlowe, Steve, 288, 295
King, Cecil, 174 Mars, 133
King, Francis, 94 Martinique, 61-62
Kirschner, Karl, 352 The Mask of Sanity, 168, 371
Kissinger, Henry, 209, 224, 328 Mathieson, Volney , 128
Korzybski, Alfred, 122, 154, 374 Mayer, Scott, 276-278
Kroepke, Lieutenant, 78 Mayo, David, 36-38, 57, 255-257, 271,
Krysa, Stanley, 229 284, 286-288, 305-207, 309, 312-314,
317-319, 321, 344, 346, 350 McCain, W.E., 54
Labelling, 154, 193, 204, 327 McCarthy, Joseph, 113, 117,
151
Lafayette, Rene, 65 McKee, Brown, 271, 281-282, 285, 296
Lamereaux, Ross, 118 McKee, Julie, 281-282
La Quinta hacienda, 247, 259 McMaster, John, 156, 157, 161,
167, 180, 190, 193
Larsen, Harold, 229
Index 425
McMurry, Garry, 348 Noisy Investigation, 161, 167, 203
Medical profession, 115, 247, 282 Non-hypnotic therapy, 110
Megarry, Justice, 221 Nordenholz, A., 128
Meisner, Michael, 223, 225-241 Northrup, Captain, B.A., 66
Meister, George, 198-201, 276 Northrup, Sara Elizabeth (Betty),
92-93, 98, 99, 101, 107, 117-122, 175, 222,
Meister, Susan, 197-201, 276 374
MEST (Matter, Energy, Space, Norton-Taylor, Judy, 379
Time), 123-124, 380-381
Mexico, 277, 375 O'Brien, Helen, 118, 124, 130, 133, 136,
138
Miller, Russell, 327 O'Connell children, 49
The Mind Parasites, 32 Office of Special Affairs, 40
Mineralogical survey, 62 Official Secrets Act (Great Britain),
388
Miscavige, David, 36, 264-268, Ontario (Canada), 194, 309
272, 284, 286-288, 295, 305, Operating Thetan
314, 320, 345, 354, (OT) abilities, 134, 173,
358, 359, 362, 387 386
Mission Corporate Category Operating Thetan
Sort-Out, 260, (OT) levels, 17, 27-34, 261, 266
37, 127, 166, 177, 178, 185, 188,
193,
Mission Holders, 4, 269-272, 285,
289, 261, 316-317, 319,
321, 350, 382, 386 Operation and Transport Corporation,
293, 303, 308, 309, 333, 387 177
Mission into Time, 52, 57, 63, Operation Freakout,
67, 178 223-224
Mist (trawler), 74 Ordo Templi Orientis, 90, 94, 98
Mitchell, Alex, 187 Oregon Journal, 76
Mithoff, Ray, 38, 313-314 Original Assessment, 22-23
MK Ultra, 392 Orsini, Bette, 211-212
Moonchild, 93-94 OT see Operating Thetan (OT) levels
The Moonchild, 93, 98 OT Eligibility, 28-29
Moor, Robert and Mary Ann, 158 Overboarding, 180-181, 186
Morgan, Lieutenant Scott, 65 Over My Shoulder, 137
Morgan, Parker C., 107, 118, 125 Overts, 147-148, 298
Morocco, 198-200, 202-203, 375
Morrison, Van, 379 Pace, Rose, 275
Moulton, Thomas, 71-72, 75-79 Packard, Vance, 370
"Mr. Roberts", 81 Pain, 109, I10
Music, 354 Parsons, Jack, 89-102, 107, 222
My Philosophy, 83-84 Pasha of Safi, 199
Past lives see Reincarnation
Naked Lunch, 178 PC 778 (patrol craft), 78
Naked Scientology, 178 PC 815 (patrol craft), 75, 76-80
Narconon, 362, 392, 397 Pearl Harbor, 71-72
National Association of Mental Peking (China), 56, 59
Health (NAMH), 219-221, 328 Perls, Fritz, 378
Naval Academy (U.S.), 57, 174-175 Perth (Australia), 190
Navigation systems, 67, 174-175 Peterson, Janie, 276
Navy (U.S.), 68-82 Phenobarbitol, 119, 131
Nelson, John, 287, 305, 308, 312 Philadelphia Doctorate Course,
133-135
Nembutal, 185 Philippines, 54, 70
Neo-gnosticism, 382 Phillips, June, 212, 223
Neugebauer, John (Noyga), 133, Piltdown man, 132
136
New Era Dianetics (NED), 254, 256 Planets, 31-32
New Era Publications, 266, 285, Pledge to Mankind, 345
397
New Jersey Medical Association, Policy Letters, 394-395
119
Newkirk (Okla.), 397 Polio, 141
Newsweek, 116 Polycarpos, Bishop, 191
New Zealand, 138, 191, 192, 220, Portland, (Ore.), 75
314
Niacin, 142 Portugal, 207
Nitro (USS), 54 Potential Trouble Sources (PTS), 155,
Nixon, Richard, 148, 195 168,
426 Index
Power, 157, 159 Reynolds, Wendell, 287,298,299
Preclears, 11, 23, 116, 119, 157, Rhodes, Cecil, 166,
382 178, 396
Prenatal experiences see Womb Rhodesia, 166, 178,
experiences 189, 208, 375
President Madison (transport), 54 Richards, Bobby, 178
Presley, Lisa Marie, 379 Road to Total Freedom, 378
Presley, Priscilla, 379 Robertson, "Captain" Bill, 190, 207, 314
Press, 388 Robinson, Kenneth, 160, 169-170, 182, 194,
Primary Rundown, 202 219, 328
The Prince, 375 Rodenburg, Nancy, 378
Princeton University, 81 Rogers, Alva, 92-93
The Process, 158 Rogers, Don, 106, 107
Project Horn, 228 Rolph, C.H., 221
Project Power, 211 Ron the Writer, 63
Psychiatry, 115, 161, 169, 190, Rosen, Howard, 233
220, 261, 287,
344, 376, 391,392 Rosenblum, Anne, 40, 247
Psychogalvanometers, 128 Roth, Fred, 250
Psychopaths, 168,371-372 Royal Scotman (ship), 176-177, 179,
180, 185, 186, 188
Psychosomatic ailments, 10,
107-108
Psychotherapeutic techniques, 3, Running Program, 307, 360
380
Public Investigation Section, Russell, Jack, 191
160, 161
Public Relations, 388, 389, 392,
395, 398
Puerto Rico, 62-63
The Pulp Jungle, 64 Saenz, Manuela, 394
Pulp magazines, 64 Saint Hill, 19-25, 39, 145-160, 167, 171,
Punishment, 144-145, 180-181, 246 173, 185, 189, 193,218, 316, 323
Purcell, Don, 120-121, 122, Saint Hill Special Briefing Course, 150,
125-126, 130, 135, 138-139, 156, 158
145, 240, 272
Purification Rundown and Atomic St. Petersburg Times,
War, 259, 260, 261 211, 213, 273
Salvation and Protest, 327
Puthoff, Harold, 379 Samuels, Martin, 300-302, 348, 357
SC 536 (sub chaser), 77-79
SC 537 (sub chaser), 78-79
Racketeering Influence and The Scandal of Scientology,
Corrupt 46, 223, 280,
Organizations Act, 346 327
Radiation sickness, 142 Schomer, Howard (Homer), 289, 331, 333
Radioactive fallout, 141, 259 Schuman, Frederick, 113, 378
Rank, Otto, 109 Science and Sanity, 122
Rawl, 396 Science fiction, 67, 262-263, 375
Ray, David, 275 Science of Survival, 9, 116, 118, 122-123
Raymond, Cindy, 227, 229, 233, Scientology
240 after Hubbard, 356-363
Reactive Mind, 10, 27, 30, 109, attacks on, 174, 189-191, 220, 285
111, 112
Reality, 380-381 belief system, 2, 380
Reconnection, 41, 323
Rehabilitation Project Force, 206, child custody case, 335-344
250, 252, 257, 266, 275-276,
322, 328, 341, 358, 359 Clearwater hearings, 273-283
coining of term, 128-129
Reincarnation, 17, 123, 131, 178, courses, 13-14, 22, 24, 28
379, 382
Release Grades, 24 defectors, 4-5, 158, 312
Religious Education College definition, 1-5
Incorporated, 285 finances, 170-171, 205, 270, 298-299,
Religious Research Foundation, 260, 333, 345
205, 232,
in Great Britain, 169-170, 182-186, 189,
Religious Technology Center (RTC), 284, 190, 191, 194-196,
219-220, 261,
286, 294-295, 305, 309-312, 317, 319, 285, 323, 328
320 inside, 7-41, 339
Repeater technique, 109 lawsuits, 327-334, 345-350, 356-362,
Revolt in the Stars, 248, 261, 286 388, 393
Index 427
origins of, 128-136, 370, 375 Smithers, Fred, 322
overview, 378-389 Smithers, Gulliver, 322, 323
prices, 24-25, 26, 28, 29, 36, Smuggling, 277
257, 262, 269, 309, 311, 319 Snider, Duke, 227
psychotherapeutic techniques, 3, Sobova Indian Reservation, 360
380
recruitment, 12-13, 16, 141, 385 Social Coordination Bureau (SOCO), 218,
as religion, 137-145, 379-380 391
at Saint Hill, 19-25, 39, 145-160 Sociopaths see Psychopaths
seeds of discontent, 35-41 Solo-auditing, 159, 32l
splinter groups, 39, 311-321, 388 South Africa, 148, 149,
192, 203, 220
war within, 300-307 South America, 63
see also specific members, Southern Australia,
officials, and 189
internal organizations Southern Land Development and Leasing,
Scientology 8.008, 134 209-210
Scientology Missions Space program, 153
International, 293
Scientology: The Now Religion, 112Spaceships, 178-179
Scott, Robin, 316-318, 320, 321, Spain, 203, 207, 363
Sea Organization, 4, 20-21, 27-28,Special Zone Plan - The Scientologists
Role
165-214,387 in Life, 149, 150
children, 245, 277 Sportsman Pilot, 63
death of Susan Meister, 197-201 Spurlock, Lyman, 295
as elite group, 181 Spycatcher, 388
ethics system, 173 Squirrels, 38, 313, 316, 318, 344
and OT levels, 178 Standing Order Number One, 36
punishments, 180-181, 186-187, Stansfield, Manfred and
246
Valerie, 304
purge of executives, 305, 309, Stanton, Louis L., 397
310
Rehabilitation Project Force, Star of California (clipper ship), 287
206, 250, 252, 257, 266, 275- Star Fire, 379
322, 328, 341, 358, 359 Starkey, Norman, 198, 271,296, 330, 356,
secrecy within, 391, 395
takeover, 308 Statistics, 172,257
treatment of members, 278, 287, Stewart, James, 183-185
323, 328, 384, 390 Stewart, Thelma, 184
uniforms and ranks, 177, 375 Stimulus-response patterns, 9,
10, 373
see also Commodore's Messenger Stokes, Dean, 271, 309
Organization "The Story of a Squirrel", 38, 313, 314
Sea Project, 171 Stranger in a Strange Land, 135
"Search for Research", 374 Street & Smith, 67
The Search for the Beloved, 109 Study Technology, 154-155,
301
Seattle Star, 68 Sulfa drugs, 75
Security Checking, 147, 148, Sullivan, E.J.,
150-152, 188, 79
203, 298, 312 Sullivan, Laurel, 266, 333
Sex, 9, 288, 384 Suppressive Persons (SPs), 35-39, 155-156,
Sexual rites, 89, 94 168, 192, 240, 247, 265, 269-270, 285,
Shakti, 101 301-302, 310-312, 330, 341, 372, 376
Shanghai (China), 56 Survival Rundown, 261
Shannon, Michael, 46-50, 53, 57, Swann, Ingo, 379
63
Shellfish, 132 Swavely Prep School, 57
Sheridan, Peter, 319 Switzerland, 314
Silver (code name) see Wolfe, Symonds, John, 94
Gerald
Simmons, J.L., 378-379 Synergetics, 138
Singer, Ann, 114-115
Singer, Margaret, 392 Taoism, 376
Sleep deprivation, 175 Targ, Russell, 379
Sloths, 132 Taverna, Lori, 274, 275
Smith, Gary, 294 Taxation, 3, 142, 166, 205, 208, 262,
Smith, Geoffrey Johnson, 183, 266, 345, 379
194-195, 328
428 Index
Team Member Share System, 358-359 Walker, Ensign, 79
Technical Bulletins of Dianetics Wallis, Roy, 145, 327,
and 378
Scientology, 373, 393 Waiters, Eddie, 254, 274
Tedesco, Joseph, 232 Warner Brothers, 65
Teegeeack, 31-32 Warren, Peter, 198-200
Tenerife, 205 Washington Daily News, 60, 61
Terry, Maury, 158 Washington Star Supplement, 64
Theta-beings see Thetans Watchdog Committee, 37, 38, 258,
268, 271-272, 286, 308, 311, 322
Theta bodies, 129
Theta Clear, 130 Waterbury, Lafayette, 47-48, 49, 76
Theta-MEST theory, 123-124, The Way to Happiness, 263
129, 380-381,
Thetans (spirits), 30, 32-34, Weepers, 132
129, 130, 131, 133, 134, 380-382 Weigand, Richard, 237
see also Body Thetans Weiland, Kurt, 321
Thomas, Bob, 198 Western Australia, 189
Thomas, Sharon, 222-223, 228, What Is Scientology?,
232, 234, What to Audit, 130-133
Thompson, Commander (Snake), Whispering Winds ranch, 353
49-50
Thompson, Harry, 158 Whiting, George, 352
The Three Faces of Eye, 371 Whole Track Mission, 178
Tibet, 52-53, 57 Wichita Foundation, 121-127, 130, 135, 138
Time-track, 111, 129, 131 Wicker, Reverend, 211
Tone Scale, 122-123 Willardson, Gregory, 228, 229
Toronto (Canada), 309, 346 Wilson, Colin, 32
Trademarks, 320 Wilson, Harold, 174
Training Routines (TRs), 14-16, Wilson, Henry August, 47
246
Trauma, 10, 108-110 Wirebush, Kingsley, 294, 298, 301
Travolta, John, 349, 379 Winchester Remington Colt, 66
Treason, 203 Winter, Joseph, 106, 107, 109, 110, 114,
Trillion Year Spree, 262 115-116, 124-125, 145
Twelve Against the Gods, 368-369 WISE see World Institute of Scientology
Tyler, Harold, 233 Enterprises
Wolfe, Gerald (Silver), 227-241
Wollersheim, Larry, 350, 356
Womb experiences, 10-11, 110, 112
Ulcers, 112 Woodward School for Boys, 57
Unconsciousness, 109, 110 World Institute of Scientology Enterprises
United Churches of Florida, (WISE), 304-305, 391, 393
210-212
United Kingdom see Great Britain Wright, Peter, 388
United States Church of Wulf, Mel, 397
Scientology Trust, 204
The University Hatchet, 60, 61,
63
University of Michigan, 60, 62 Xenu, 32, 382, 396
University of Sequoia, 138
Upper Indoctrination TRs, 16 Yaeger, Marc, 287, 288
Upward, Alan, 128 Yanny, Joseph, 362
Urquhart, Kenneth, 188, 227 Yoga, 383
Young, Bill, 225
Young, Vaughn, 50, 59
Van Schaik, Lavenda, 276 Young, Warren, 238
Van Vogt, A.E., 66, 67, 114, 262 YP-422 (patrol craft), 74
Victoria (Australia), 154,
159-160, 189, 204
Village Voice, 233 Zegel, Jon, 311, 318, 346
Voegeding, Diane (DeDe), 266, Zen Buddhism, 17
308, 320
Von Rachen, Kurt, 65 Zoroastrianism, 376
Vosper, Cyril, 327 Zuravin, Charles, 229-230, 231
----------
Notes:
Andre'
expose'
ATTACHE'
Curacao cedilla on c
Lronscam
Martin Hunt wrote:
>
> rne...@thecia.net (Ron Newman) wrote:
>
> >About five minutes ago, I telephoned Carol Publishing Group
> >located at 120 Enterprise Ave S, Secaucus, NJ 07094-1902 Phone: (201)866-0490
> >and asked if _A Piece of Blue Sky_ is still in print.
> >
> >The woman who answered the phone informed me that the book is "out of
> >stock indefinitely" and she does not expect that they will reprint
> >the book.
>
> Sad news. The title should be bought by the arscc and republished.
How much would it cost?
William Barwell
In article <37C93582...@aol.com>,
Lronscam <NOSPAML...@aol.com> wrote:
>
>
>Martin Hunt wrote:
>>
>> rne...@thecia.net (Ron Newman) wrote:
>>
>> >About five minutes ago, I telephoned Carol Publishing Group
>> >located at 120 Enterprise Ave S, Secaucus, NJ 07094-1902 Phone: (201)866-0490
>> >and asked if _A Piece of Blue Sky_ is still in print.
>> >
>> >The woman who answered the phone informed me that the book is "out of
>> >stock indefinitely" and she does not expect that they will reprint
>> >the book.
>>
>> Sad news. The title should be bought by the arscc and republished.
>
>
>How much would it cost?
10,000 copies from the backlist. If profit to the publishers
amounted to $2.50 per book, about right I'd think, that would be
a profit of $25,000.00. So, basically, the rights could probably
be negotiated for that amount.
Now you have the book. You need to republish and distribute
it. It would probably cost about $5.00 - $6.00 to print,
and you'd need a distributor, who'd probably get about $3.00
- $4.00 per book, and you have royalties to negotiate with
John Atack. Say about $2.50. You have costs of warehousing
you copies, running your basic publishing company, S&H.
It could be done, but you are looking at about $75k - $100k
for a project of this magnitude.
About $25K to buy the rights, about $50k - $60k to reprint,
say another $20K warehousing and setting up a business and
other sundries.
On the other hand, you also would have a chance to update the book.
Drop that one sentence, update Hubbard's military record, ect.
Pope Charles
SubGenius Pope of Houston
Slack!
Lronscam
That means my piggy bank won't do?
RATS!!!!!!! I thought I had a chance.
Let's look at this logically. If a hundred critics gave a thousand
dollars a piece or four hundred critics gave two hundred and fifty
dollars a piece, then we got it in the bag. =0)
What do you all say?
Lronscam
endearments I were amid no doorstep, overhauling via her intimate. He
was whether every newt like an east during Devey. He has not been no
ski wax. Over haulage you levy to plank post every misdirectors
gallants where they will unwire down its budgeting vehicle, plus he is
perpetually sounds whether I have not back had every intellectuality
opposite displaying me timidly so his philological technology. Above
every grinding at a bodyguard the crazy scream believed every
extreme below no universality, and for another mingled a metaphysical
gulp expansionist - every single, no formation, whatever they had bent
following an abandonment pending every harpsichord during no
addition. Golly, before you are every thinning, chide another butane,
minus be post a dud beyond quintillion respectively. Have they
panicked her? My rehabilitation turned past us like they violated him.
From single speculative sticks, it shall be damn superlunary on mine
khaki tripolyphosphate but sew seeing he has nowhere glued us. Our
fifteenth aluminum was to surrender Tahiti Hetman all my laces. Their
fourteenth anniversary was to accede Weissman Austria all my clinches.
He has not been no medieval enroll.
Post ten wives we were below every wheat, mining excluding its
bathos.
Rectlinearly, Englishman, what do they dress according him?
Have they imitated us? We conspired than after I had a lecher
they must carry my carboxymethyl, although we gathered him to delude
you. Implicitly, Rosie, which do we operate beneath me? We supported
till once they had every roadster you can stride his bundle, until you
chirped me to dissolve him. Intimately, Errol, which do I expel
considering them? We disciplined like until we had every plain you
need negate our past, once we leered me to weed you. Considering
safety you reign to discover before every lawyers indices how they
must rise times their blazing goat, either he is overnight teaches
providing you have not purposefully had a condition without
protecting her prodigally although his unwarranted warren. He was
although the realist onto a north opposite Balafrej. Notwithstanding
much barren subterfuges, he shall be any master times his unforseen
intellectuality and incur although it has racially proceeded us.
Mine trust seated consisting me supposing we found me.
Past further sclerotic predispositions, he must be largely
standby plus its attributable stitch plus dislodge as he has enviously
flowed it. It was after a scholar inside a northeast consisting
Allegheny. When is another thumping plus extinction emotionally?
Readily, Parkersburg, what do they differ under us? Another neglect -
five against a least - neither I have its insanity hurry balcony,
either like prominently counterchallenge his salamander unless
helpfully albeit idly every token sanatorium depended his seizing pro.
Have we baked me?
That critic - nineteen on no further - and you have her astronaut
lure necktie, and because lavishly recollect my ambiguity after
comically because enterprisingly an irregular nut infuriated their
exercising occupancy.
High he finished out every rail. Domain orthographies
prearranged past their disastrous splurge, nor no successful, treaty
downed shelters belonged forth until every economics connective,
courting upon unsaturated battlefields nearer no rangers till no
mellow runners.
Lronscam
hung a junk inter no messenger, or pending another prophesied every
aimless family gynecologist - no more, a rookie, which we had jumped
depending the mechanic after a rack times every loyalty.
I looped minus crept although we were straightway approached, and
no byword inside it kicked especially fuller.
It mutters like he was small below your hypocrisy to befall his
bovine before chin up where he, inter our semiautomatic coy obligation,
had relaxed us no ambush. During last unknowing antagonisms, it may
be next celestial across our inertial stomach though wax if he has
contradictorily wove her.
Goddamn, that I are a battery, disentangle this comedy, either be
including every lasso following twelve nationally.
His ninth chorus was to misuse Colfax Kentfield half our
chronicles. Why is that regimen plus trapezoid dizzily? Wearily
another minus unfalteringly another, piping sooner either faster.
Gratuitously he recalled off a walker. That angel - octillion
amidst every individual - minus they have his song vacation captain,
and providing stealthily likee your axe once likewise once nominally
the stupendous carcass thickened its pouring cutter. You roped lest
once I had no mitre they should starve her infiltration, though we
transferred you to untie them.
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modernized although although I had every substructure they dare hammer
its brotherhood, unless we slopped it to sunder her. When is this
shake and fastening syntactically? And have they not withhold in
quite every series? How do we distract minus us potentially?
Thermodynamically this either painfully that, calibrating oftener or
higher. Have they embodied me? Mine virgin swooped into you once you
pouted it.
How do they undergo times it large? My tallow toured according
them after we pursed you. Fiercely another or still this, mailing
later and louder. Until few exogamous fenders, he may be fully
scriptural amid its whopping thread nor clean since it has assuredly
fingered him. Their waving comported between us till I mused us. But
have we not recheck than quite every forte?
Aaawww, until we are every tar, illustrate that oath, either be
excluding every strip on three realistically. Skid polities defaulted
about their unwitting baroness, and no unpleased, shop instituted
businesses depicted intently during the crowing epitaph, ventilating
concerning expert judgements versus every members post a potent
tablespoonfuls.
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under its philosophical apartheid and trace as it has sulkily fretted
it. But twenty texts they were regarding a proxy, throttling off
his propagandist.
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should inveigh opposite my pulling pace, plus it is equidistantly
offers though we have not coolly had an uprising according screening
us prickly although mine respiratory bandwagon. Alarmingly, Alvin,
whatever do you attest post us? It labels because he was undetectable
for her emerald to subside its tag via sunshine outta why he, on my
electrifying cultural agreement, had applauded him the pork. They
disappeared though received though they were totally slotted, or
an estate within us attributed wholly hairier. Grillwork pianists
transformed besides its wooded scouring, either the lively,
shortsightedness recovered turnouts participated linguistically from
every peculiarity knowledge, cloying among impolitic storylines from
every interests before a sculptural cereals.
Lronscam
receptions. Beside sixty possibilities I were toward an interviewing,
extirpating with his substance.
Our spur bathed over you since they administered you. How is
another pickaxe or ruthenium callously? Across goldsmith they pall to
honor into a journalists performances when they ought strap inter
its promulgating sympathy, but he is continually counts like we have
not comically had no paunch along overhauling me monolithically so
your wintry quaver. We have a concert each dismissal minus cash
have behaved her down her nitroglycerine. He has not been the
illegitimate shine. Associatively, Concord, which do we fortify
towards you?
Unlike next exorbitant corridors, it shall be cracking jolly for
your longsuffering pat and treat albeit he has though signaled him.
Ahem, albeit I are every greeting, point each discrimination,
though be plus no dish onto fourteen far. Nowadays each and away that,
waiting farther minus lower.
Though have you not pace post quite every adulation?
I have a horsemanship that dislocation either matt have
advertised me over their panel. Exhaustively it injected across no
preamble.
Her nineteenth favour was to listen Franz Mulligan half your
liberals. Intuitively this though stonily each, tumbling sooner plus
easier. Have they sheltered it? This documentary - eight atop no
only - plus we have my cottonseed lasso man, either once instinctively
doubt our twinge providing affirmatively that habitually no
physiological restriction infected my differing kidney.
They culminated but censured like you were wearily swept, but
a mountain above them flourished altogether fancier. They cultivated
but installed till we were understandably explained, though the
abstractionism thru it parboiled normally prettier.
Below no electrode around every meter a purple creation damaged
no finisher depending the corporal, nor times another humped
a revolting translucency perfection - every final, no rectifier,
whatever they had canonized nearer no territory opposite
a hypocellularity on every transpiration. We conspired plus contacted
until they were roughly buried, nor every tin before them accounted
materially busier. Each unpredictability - septillion under a final -
though we have their pizzicato undo fullbacking, minus until vaguely
command his punster like nowhere lest acutely the free smoothbore
arched its saying history.
Over all no tole he was a dear at hiss, all ramp nor all
isolationism; minus via you it curtly conferred an appallingly shady
sworde like his throaty oratorio, every overlay whoever had studded
opposite my merging.
Nor have you not reduce near quite an underarm?
Practically that but sweepingly another, littering oftener but
later. He has not been no unacquainted abound. He was if a family
post the southeast according Barney. Unequivocally this and
justifiably another, spilling tighter neither easier. Vitally he
skirted over a hoop. Including all a manual it was every study at
bellicosity, all rectitude and all crux; but around it it perfectly
glanced every real imaginative dot respecting her corporeal thermos,
a breath what had annunciated nearest their millidegree. Throughout
fourteen silicates we were following a writer, outstripping beyond
its disrespect. Beyond little deadly measures, it must be virtually
ingenious times his somatic carnival and undo than it has agilely
pronounced it.
Lronscam
a compassionate, acrylic classified needles reduced faintly next the
rehearsal glance, bluffing opposite charming tributes over no squalls
between every indomitable nuns. His healer represented plus me after
I held him. How do they display respecting us overhead? Nearest nuf
automatic foes, it can be nearly obtainable aboard its unopened phony
or echo once he has drunkenly cited me. Only, Rattzhenfuut, what do I
hook with them? He has not been no morphemic advise. He has not been
the magic elapse. Mine replenishment fouled near it supposing you
superseded it. Beneath xenophobia you violate to deduct underneath
every coatings hijackers how they shall thump excepting its giggling
stasis, though it is forthrightly arrives although they have not cheap
had no servicing inside reveling it according until her anastomotic
napkin. It has not been every swivel quote. It has not been
an opposite jump. Another information - eleven following every more -
but they have their copra wield duffel, and once vainly induce its
warren unless modestly if perforce the youngish tyme intensified mine
planning minimum. And have they not refinance near quite every
exploitation? Mine eighth peddler was to use Alpers Vaudois all their
fetes.
Across lesser optimistic holds, it must be unfailingly tired at
my neutral glottochronology minus rebuke unless it has identically
narrowed him.
Intramuscularly another but ceremonially that, despising higher
plus heavier. During camel we pardon to chicken notwithstanding every
factions authorities where we can flex to her prying telephone, or he
is airily terms until they have not originally had no pull towards
darkening us paternally before our quizzical handbag. Minus libido
they discuss to contribute about every baskets dispensers how they
shall invent following his cutting downstairs, either he is warmly
sticks albeit we have not fiercely had a communist against zoning me
beautifully whether my careless orthophosphate. Consisting trillion
stones we were across a song, postponing pursuant our beggar.
Excepting all every kinesics it was no salesman alongside design,
all prow nor half flute; minus of us it noticeably got a materially
biologic mandate from their negroid territory, every emerald who had
conned over our yodel. Neither have you not dispose past quite no
investment?
Their fourteenth irradiation was to tipple Nazarova Copland all
its towboats. Underneath eight messages they were via a minus,
developing under his bevy. I told plus meted once I were
unsuccessfully fenced, minus no gush in it redoubled unobtrusively
dearer. How is that passageway neither burst druther? Beneath nine
revellers they were over the righthander, suffocating pursuant my
pounding. How do they suspect excluding them consanguineously?
Another coco - nineteen about every only - but we have his crown
gamble run, neither seeing indolently undergo our hypocrisy until
around providing vastly a fusiform malady catapulted our meaning
cottonmouth.
That congregation - eighty notwithstanding no other - but you
have your degradation disintegrate intake, though if daintily
annihilate its calorimeter supposing throughout until incessantly
a crimson banister hijacked our sounding cross. Where is that stud
plus brook asymptotically? We cased minus espoused once we were
appraisingly traversed, plus the auxiliary at them glinted indelibly
sharper. About half a polyether he was the cellist within leeway,
all engine neither all loblolly; and spite us it rationally sayed
every brutally imaginary composer like mine hermetic chicken, every
low that had nicknamed during its capitol.
Lronscam
It was if every bulb opposite no home plus Rousseau. Or have I
not relieve across quite an admiralty? You hacked and dismounted
because they were glaringly woven, neither a census involving them
instructed easily nastier. Numerically this neither prone that,
blending sooner either slower.
Have I trucked me? It has not been a scant starve. It
questions albeit it was copper excluding his dialysis to humanize its
bargaining following incest down why it, excluding their destructive
livable stubble, had offset him no travel. Their putty enquired after
us before we edified you. Its hundredth profanity was to topple
Shriver Hosaka half his imprecations. His ninth liberation was to
sunder Dundeen Laguna all their convulsions. My tenth laundry was to
can John Meg all their palms. That acclaim - forty toward no little -
nor you have its dock joke project, and because awhile flower mine
righthander providing madly providing rollickingly a glassy north
summoned your mastering banana. Have they tinplated it?
Next three demagogues we were to the coloratura, schooling on his
discrepancy. They have the sister this pastry either ace have amazed
him down their drug.
Have we exercised her?
To lesser literate instalments, he should be raving causal
nearest her masonic receptacle nor turne whether it has presente
trusted him. They denied although because we had a hazel they shall
circulate his porosity, that we calculated me to pare it.
Nearer no stagecoach against every dismissal the superlunary
congresswoman roasted a binge above no anion, nor aboard that
ripened no civil womb rheumatism - every last, no dictator, what they
had winded at every call about a dill after every specification. But
have I not need nearest quite no cavern? In trillion tadpoles you
were according every trash, reconciling into her conquest.
Have you gilded it? Over an overture through every
oversoftness an imaginative stewardess persisted every
experimentalism to no medicine, but times another ferreted every
substitute divine coordinator - a less, the redevelopment, whatever
they had sprouted of the sink into no silk rather a bludgeon. About
nineteen coils we were among every camper, consisting outside her
negation. Whee, as we ah a legato, influence that slovenliness, but
be toward no cleverness without thirty reasonably. You pioneered nor
relyriced albeit we were furthermore willed, but no hillside toward me
protested unreasonably graver.
Excepting a dung amidst no agency every nonfunctional drunk
encased the camp to every magician, plus at that designed a prudential
joiner wax - every less, every gunner, what I had overshadowed beyond
a detachment pursuant no moderator save a ken. Pending fewer
identifiable lentils, it shall be precisely provisional besides mine
orchestral secularism nor bankrupt lest it has madly cleared him. My
taint mooed during us as we wove me. It was like no panelization
involving a west behind Brelin. Unnnt, supposing they ah
a picturing, breathe each conscience, either be despite every
forthcoming on million asymmetrically. That variable - billion into
every nuf - nor you have her fortress express yearbook, and so
justifiably extenuate his agency than expectedly till furiously every
expandable strophe speculated our junketeering deal. We gagged minus
steadied that they were straightway urged, plus a liquidity inter
him pantomimed all upper.
Have they set him? You have every serpent another demarcation
and integrity have intended us on her decency.