UK Media: " 'Church' that yearns for respectability"
JAFAW
June 23, 2007
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article1975104.ece
'Church' that yearns for respectability
---------------------------------------
Scientology is trying to transform its image from that of a shadowy
cultDominic Kennedy
When Scientology officially opened its spectacular new British church in the
Square Mile, the movement was given an unusually warm embrace by the
Establishment. Ian Luder, an Alderman of the Corporation of London and a
magistrate, lauded the organisation's anti-drugs efforts. "The work which
you do in this area is greatly to be welcomed," he said, "and I wish you
growing success."
It was a satisfying moment for a group that yearns for respectability and is
striving to transform its image from that of a shadowy cult to a mainstream
religion.
The new building, opened last November in Queen Victoria Street near St Paul
's Cathedral, is part of a global expansion, with fresh sites in New York,
Johannesburg, Madrid and Berlin. In Britain, Scientology has built up a
small fortune in property, while its influence grows through businesses,
charities and educational offshoots promoting its philosophies.
Its wealth in the UK has been estimated at £18 million, based on the
Companies House records for its main corporate body - but it now values its
property portfolio as nearly twice that alone.
Scientology draws a distinction between its churches and what it calls
secular bodies promoting the beliefs of the movement's founder, the late
science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard.
However, when all is added together, The Times calculates that the value of
the pro-Hubbard empire in Britain today is £57 million, with an annual
turnover and income of £17 million. Not bad for an organisation that had
only 1,781 adherents in England and Wales in the last census. How did this
happen?
Scientology has old roots in Britain. From 1959 to 1967, Hubbard lived at
Saint Hill Manor, an 18th-century pile set amid gardens, woods and lakes at
East Grinstead. It developed an unusual set of practices, which leave it
open to accusations that it exists as a money-making enterprise, targeting a
combination of vulnerable addicts and the rich and famous.
Scientology is probably unique in that it keeps its sacred texts secret
until, typically, devotees have paid enough money to learn what they say.
"The goal is to make your way up the Bridge of Total Freedom," Monique
Yingling, an American tax lawyer who advises Scientology, told The Times.
The Bridge can be reached either through "auditing", a practice reminiscent
of one-to-one counselling, or by coursework, where several individuals may
study under a supervisor at once. Auditing is the more expensive route.
Some anti-Scientology campaigners claim that the cost of completing all the
courses can set an individual back $380,000 (£190,000). When The Times put
this figure to Bob Keenan, director of the umbrella L Ron Hubbard
Foundation, he adopted an ironic tone and said: "I wish." He accepted,
though, that the price of the "Premier Auditor Training Saint Hill Special
Briefing Course Package" could be $33,932. "That's the largest course that
can be done," Mr Keenan said.
Scientology has a singular structure. The Religious Technology Centre,
chaired in America by David Miscavige, the de facto leader of the movement,
claims ownership of the trademarks of scientology. Trademark law is used to
enforce hierarchical power. Any church falling out of line with the centre
can be stripped, through the courts, of permission to practise. Heretical
offshoots or imitators may be stopped in their tracks. All Scientology's
texts are said to have been written by Hubbard. Since the full knowledge of
the faith is reserved for those who complete the course, there can be no
official confirmation to outsiders of what they ultimately believe.
According to popular culture, Scientology teaches that 75 million years ago
the intergalactic tyrant Xenu brought millions of space aliens to earth.
Hubbard's writings are controlled by the California-based Church of
Spiritual Technology. This uses copyright law to police access to the holy
books, charging royalty fees to organisations, even churches. New
technologies are used to ensure that the writings are kept "in forms that
can withstand natural catastrophes".
If this all looks rather businesslike, the World Institute of Scientology
Enterprises formally promotes the application of Hubbard's teachings to the
workplace. It licenses the application of Hubbard's methods in business.
Saint Hill remains at the heart of British scientology. It is the country's
highest-ranked church, while East Grinstead is home to a hub of ventures
related to Scientology. Land Registry documents still show a conveyance
bearing the name of "Lafayette Ron Hubbard" dated August 1959. The present
owner of Saint Hill is the Church of Scientology Religious Education College
Incorporated (Cosreci). Although this is Britain's principal Scientology
entity, it is based in Adelaide because South Australia, unlike Britain,
recognises the movement as a religion for charity law.
Scientology says its most recent valuations show that its British religious
properties are worth a total of £32 million. This may be pessimistic. The
Times has been told by a property expert that its new church in the City of
London has increased by a further £6 million to £18 million since that last
valuation was done.
A copy of the latest Cosreci accounts filed at Companies House shows an
annual income of £10 million and nonproperty assets of £10.8 million
including £6.7 million cash. The main Hubbard-influenced charity is
Narconon, which claims to provide therapy and education against drug abuse.
It has an annual income of £520,000. The Greenfields School, which promotes
Hubbard's teachings for pupils aged 1 to 19, has £2.4 million assets and an
annual turnover of £1 million.
A string of businesses can be linked to Hubbardism through prominent
Scientology-related directors, solicitors and accountants, while another
novel institution in scientology is the "celebrity centre". While the likes
of Tom Cruise and John Travolta may be expected to pop into the Hollywood
centre, British scientology has attracted a more modest calibre of
celebrity. Trustees of Narconon include the Polish cellist Baroness Soujata
de Varis and Michael "Woody" Woodmansey, who played drums in David Bowie's
1970s concept band, the Spiders from Mars.
Hubbard's empire
Scientology
Religion
- Church of Scientology Religious Education College nonproperty assets
£10.8m; income £10.3m
- Nesta Investments assets £1m
- Church of Scientology Mission of Bournemouth assets £125,000
- SOR Services (UK) Assets £54,000; turnover £25,000
- New Era Publications UK assets £40,000; turnover £79,000
- Total religion: assets £11.9m; income/turnover £10.4m
Charities
- Narconon Trust assets £29,000; income £519,000
- Citizens' Commission on Human Rights: assets £4,000; turnover £43,000
- Criminon United Kingdom assets £3,000; income £14,000
- Total charity: assets £36,000; turnover/income £537,000
Businesses
- G & G Food Supplies: assets £2m; turnover £4.6m
- Centrepoint Ltd: assets £2m
- Weald Property Investments assets £1.8m
- G&G Nutrition: assets £44,000
- Naturecheer: turnover £40,000
- Wellmore Int'l: assets £8,000
- Human Detoxification Services International: assets £5,000
- Organic Nutrition: assets £3,000
- Total business: assets £5.8m; turnover £4.6m
Property
- Saint Hill Manor and Castle, East Grinstead, £7.5m
- Bullards, East Grinstead, £1m
- Walsh Manor, Crowborough, £1.5m
- Queen Victoria St, London, £18m
- Tottenham Court Road £2.5m
- Two Manchester properties £5m
- Tyne & Wear £1.5m
- Plymouth £1m
- Edinburgh £360,000
- Total property: £38m
Education
- Greenfields Educational Trust assets £2m; turnover £1.4m
- Hubbard College of Administr'n assets £2,000; turnover £19,000
-Total education: assets £2m; turnover £1.4m
------ article ends --------
JAFAW
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article1975105.ece
"JAFAW" <an...@anon.net> wrote in message
news:MF7fi.13054$3j1....@newsfe6-gui.ntli.net...
Hartley Patterson
> From The Times (UK)
> June 23, 2007
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article1975104.ece
>
> 'Church' that yearns for respectability
> ---------------------------------------
> Scientology is trying to transform its image from that of a shadowy
This is an update on Chris Owen's visits to Company House to dig out
public records in 1998 and 2002:
http://solitarytrees.net/cowen/misc/ukstat.htm
It may well have used this a starting point.
> However, when all is added together, The Times calculates that the value of
> the pro-Hubbard empire in Britain today is £57 million, with an annual
> turnover and income of £17 million. Not bad for an organisation that had
> only 1,781 adherents in England and Wales in the last census. How did this
> happen?
Rich benefactors in the USA.
There's a lady who's sure all that glitters is gold
And she's buying a stairway to heaven
When she gets there she knows, if the stores are all closed
With a word she can get what she came for
Ooh, ooh, and she's buying a stairway to heaven
> Heretical
> offshoots or imitators may be stopped in their tracks.
Patently not, so long as they do not claim to be the Church. Ronald
Macdonald can't stop other people selling burgers, only from calling them
Big Macs.
> All Scientology's
> texts are said to have been written by Hubbard. Since the full knowledge of
> the faith is reserved for those who complete the course, there can be no
> official confirmation to outsiders of what they ultimately believe.
Oh yes there can, all that is not secret and has been confirmed in court.
99% of OT isn't space opera, it's esoteric stuff that journalists can't be
bothered to find out about.
> Businesses
>
>
> - G & G Food Supplies: assets £2m; turnover £4.6m
> - Centrepoint Ltd: assets £2m
> - Weald Property Investments assets £1.8m
> - G&G Nutrition: assets £44,000
> - Naturecheer: turnover £40,000
> - Wellmore Int'l: assets £8,000
> - Human Detoxification Services International: assets £5,000
> - Organic Nutrition: assets £3,000
> - Total business: assets £5.8m; turnover £4.6m
A good deal of this is David Gaiman's 'alternative medicine' stuff, curing
radiation with saunas etc.
> Property
> - Saint Hill Manor and Castle, East Grinstead, £7.5m
> - Bullards, East Grinstead, £1m
> - Walsh Manor, Crowborough, £1.5m
> - Queen Victoria St, London, £18m
> - Tottenham Court Road £2.5m
> - Two Manchester properties £5m
> - Tyne & Wear £1.5m
> - Plymouth £1m
> - Edinburgh £360,000
> - Total property: £38m
Not here of course are rented locations such as Birmingham. In the UK most
shops are rented rather than purchased.
--
ARSCC Demographics Department
http://www.daisy.freeserve.co.uk/stolgy_4.htm
Still looking for 9,900,000 Scientologists (TM)
Piltdown Man
JAFAW <an...@anon.net> wrote...
> From The Times (UK)
> June 23, 2007
> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article1975104.ece
<snip>
> Some anti-Scientology campaigners claim that the cost of completing all
> the courses can set an individual back $380,000 (£190,000).
What do they mean, "some anti-Scientology campaigners claim"? Scientology's
own price lists unequivocally say so. Why do journalists keep pussy-footing
around such easily available facts?
<snip>
> Since the full knowledge of
> the faith is reserved for those who complete the course, there can be no
> official confirmation to outsiders of what they ultimately believe.
> According to popular culture, Scientology teaches that 75 million years
> ago the intergalactic tyrant Xenu brought millions of space aliens to
> earth.
Again, what total nonsense. "Popular culture"? Scientology has gone to
court to prove the authenticity of the Xenu story. Are journalists for The
Times incapable of typing "Karin Spaink" into Google?
<snip>
> Trustees of Narconon include the Polish cellist Baroness Soujata
> de Varis and Michael "Woody" Woodmansey, who played drums in David
> Bowie's 1970s concept band, the Spiders from Mars.
I love those European Scientology celebrities, who are unique among
celebrities in that nobody has ever heard of them. For some reason most of
their names also sound like they've been made up. At one point, Scientology
in the Netherlands trotted out a 'celebrity' spokesperson called Kiki
Oostindiën, a self-described singer and model. One wouldn't dare to make it
up. "Polish cellist Baroness Soujata de Varis" is a wonderful find, it
sounds so splendidly Firbankian -- are they sure she exists for real and
isn't just a character from a Firbank novel?
John
"Piltdown Man" <pilt...@ivehaditwiththespam.sorry> wrote in message
news:01c7b6b0$7b77da20$LocalHost@gateway...
>
> JAFAW <an...@anon.net> wrote...
>
>> From The Times (UK)
>> June 23, 2007
>> http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/faith/article1975104.ece
>
snip
>
>> Trustees of Narconon include the Polish cellist Baroness Soujata
>> de Varis and Michael "Woody" Woodmansey, who played drums in David
>> Bowie's 1970s concept band, the Spiders from Mars.
>
> I love those European Scientology celebrities, who are unique among
> celebrities in that nobody has ever heard of them. For some reason most of
> their names also sound like they've been made up. At one point,
> Scientology
> in the Netherlands trotted out a 'celebrity' spokesperson called Kiki
> Oostindiën, a self-described singer and model. One wouldn't dare to make
> it
> up. "Polish cellist Baroness Soujata de Varis" is a wonderful find, it
> sounds so splendidly Firbankian -- are they sure she exists for real and
> isn't just a character from a Firbank novel?
>
My first thought when considering my opinion on a matter is "what do the
Polish cellists think?"
Hartley Patterson
> What do they mean, "some anti-Scientology campaigners claim"? Scientology's
> own price lists unequivocally say so. Why do journalists keep pussy-footing
> around such easily available facts?
[snip]
> Again, what total nonsense. "Popular culture"? Scientology has gone to
> court to prove the authenticity of the Xenu story. Are journalists for The
> Times incapable of typing "Karin Spaink" into Google?
Journalists don't like to tell people they are interviewing that they are
lying. Liars take advantage of this.
--
Hartley Patterson
www.newsfrombree.co.uk
Piltdown Man
John <jo...@junk.com> wrote...
> "Piltdown Man" <pilt...@ivehaditwiththespam.sorry> wrote in message
> news:01c7b6b0$7b77da20$LocalHost@gateway...
<snip>
> > "Polish cellist Baroness Soujata de Varis" is a wonderful find, it
> > sounds so splendidly Firbankian -- are they sure she exists for real
> > and isn't just a character from a Firbank novel?
>
> My first thought when considering my opinion on a matter is "what do the
> Polish cellists think?"
But only the Polish cellists of noble extraction, I trust. Everybody knows
that violoncello-playing Polish commoners are notoriously stupid.
John
"Piltdown Man" <pilt...@ivehaditwiththespam.sorry> wrote in message
Those clowns! forget *them*.
barb
WWCD?
--
--
Barb
Chaplain, ARSCC
http://members.cox.net/bwarr1/index.htm
"Comparing Scientology to a motorcycle gang is a gross, unpardonable
insult to bikers everywhere. Even at our worst, we are never as bad as
Scientology."
-ex-member, Thunderclouds motorcycle "club"