"Scientology: A Collapsing Empire?" Sacramento Bee 5/6/1984 (more Sacramento Bee articles)
Maureen Drueck
Several articles
found in [pdf] here:
http://www.xenu-directory.net/news/libfilter.php?t=krentzman
Last entry on page:
Press 1984 Jan 23
U.S. reportedly probing alleged extortion plot by Scientology sect
Santa Ana Register
(these are sacbee)
--
"Scientology: A Collapsing Empire?"
by Dale Maharidge
Sacramento Bee 5/6/1984
A hot wind blows through the masts of the $565,000 clipper ship
"docked" on a rocky plateau in the middle of a Southern Californian
desert. Down the hill, a car nears a gate guarded by young men
in brown shirts.
As if with the snap of unseen fingers, members of the elite Sea Org
pour from buildings around the ship with cameras in hand, furiously
taking photographs of the visitors.
The Church of Scientology has always been suspicious of outsiders.
But these days, outsiders don't pose the only threat.
Greed, lies and power struggles have crippled Scientology to the point
where it may be dying, say former leaders, members and critics.
The Church of Scientology, founded in the 1950s by science fiction
writer L. Ron Hubbard, grew to be one of the richest and most
prominent of the new religions by the mid-1970's. It was built not on
a
belief in God, but on self-awareness and increasing human potential.
Although the church maintains it is stronger than ever with a
membership
of 6 million, former top officials say the beginning of the end of
Scientology in Sacramento and around the world began in 1982, after a
coup by youthful leaders of the Sea Org, a ruling branch of the
church.
Hubbard's former theological second-in-command, David Mayo, told
The Sacramento Bee in his first interview with an American newspaper
that these new leaders are "fascists." "The whole splinter movement is
against the behavior of the current management," he said.
According to former insiders and church documents, whole branches
have split away, income has dramatically fallen and members have
left in droves -- to the point where one former leader says there are
only
30,000 remaining. Former church leaders and critics outlined some
reasons for the apparent decline.
Many say collapse is now inevitable because the church was built on a
lie
- a "front for making money," said Marvin Price, the former head of
the
Stockton mission and a Sacramento businessman. Hubbard's own letters
prove this lie, former church archivist Gerry Armstrong charged in
Los Angeles Superior Court last Thursday. In a trial now underway, the
Church is suing Armstrong to regain these letters. Armstrong said
their
release will doom Scientology.
Some say the church scuttled itself from the start by issuing
directives
condoning bribery, blackmail and covert activities, which were carried
out
in the 1970s.
Other dissidents say the church will perish because it got too money
hungry. The cost for Scientology courses has risen from $40 an hour in
the 1970s to $307 an hour, effective last week in Sacramento. Hubbard
in a 1972 directive established the church's policy in capital
letters:
"MAKE MONEY. MAKE MONEY. MAKE MORE MONEY."
And much of that money - tens of millions of dollars, according to
church
critics and former members - has vanished into a myriad of domestic
investments and foreign bank accounts.
The church says it is a religion and the Internal Revenue Service
agrees.
The IRS, however, has ruled that the church of Scientology of
California Inc. is not tax exempt which could cripple it financially.
A ruling on the church's appeal of that decision is expected any day.
If it loses the tax ruling, Scientology "will just shift over" to a
new corporation to avoid losing its non-profit status, Armstrong said.
And John Nelson told The Bee in his first American interview that such
plans were in the works when he was a member of Hubbard's inner
circle.
Whatever the reason for the continuing breakup, numerous people have
fled the church. Some have quit altogether, but others have started 40
new churches worldwide, offering similar courses and therapy at lower
prices.
For 34 years, the church has made headlines as a powerful and
mysterious cult - an erroneous image fostered by government harassment
and bad press, the church maintains.
Throughout these years, the church has been challenged because it is
unlike traditional "old" religions, said Scientology spokeswoman Kathy
Gorgon. "A person is entitled to whatever religious beliefs they
want," she said. A number of courts have agreed that Scientology is a
religion.
Gorgon said the dissidents, whom Scientologists call "squirrels," made
up
a tiny portion of the total church membership - "one thousandth of one
percent. Their only intention is to make money."
"We've been involved in a cleanup campaign" and have gotten rid of not
only dissidents but the "criminal element" responsible for some of the
earlier illegal church activities, she said. The church is stronger
than ever, Gorgon insisted, with a worldwide membership of 6 million.
A statement issued in 1983 by Hubbard himself, however, said
membership was 2 million.
Nelson, a former top church official, said membership in the peak
years was never more than 100,000. Today, he said, its probably
between 30,000 and 40,000.
That figure may be high, according to the Center for Personal
Achievement, a former Scientology mission in Stockton. Center
spokesman Alan Jones said he conducted a phone survey of all
Scientology churches in the country last year and found there were no
more than 6,600 people actively taking courses.
In addition to Stockton, other major missions that broke away are in
Riverside and Palo Alto, which dropped out seven weeks ago.
Splinter groups have... (illegible).
Several former members have formed "mini-groups" and are offering
services in Sacramento. The church missions in Davis, Fresno, and
South Lake Tahoe are a mere remnant of what they used to be, said
Price.
"There has never been such an all-out assault against Hubbard," said
Michael Flynn, a Boston attorney who has made a career out of legal
battles with the church. "You're dealing with a bunker mentality. They
are in deep trouble."
All this had its beginning in 1950 when Hubbard published his best-
selling
book, "Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health."
A secretive religion that promised to save the world was soon born.
Why the mystery? The man who could answer that question - Hubbard -
has been a recluse since 1976. And Commander David Miscavige, 24,
considered by defectors such as Armstrong and Nelson to be one of
Scientology's top leaders, declined to be interviewed for this story.
After Hubbard dropped from public view, the elite SeaOrg began to take
control of church operations, according to many former top church
officials.
The Sea Org was named after the time in the early 1970s that Hubbard
ruled Scientology from a 300 foot yacht called the Apollo as he sailed
around the world. Many Sea Org leaders were the children who grew up
on the boat and ran errands for Hubbard.
"They're a bunch of spoiled brats," said Armstrong. "They're still
acting
like children, at the top of Scientology."
In October 1982, shortly after Sea Org leaders officially were given
control, they consolidated their power and outlined how they intended
to protect themselves from the IRS at a conference of the church
mission holders in San Francisco.
"Before we came along and did this overhaul, you couldn't tell whether
you were dealing with a 7-Eleven store or (the) Church of
Scientology...because the purpose expressed in the corporate papers
was purely commercial,"said church Warrant Officer Lyman Spurlock,
according to a church transcript of the conference.
Just a few months before this meeting, Spurlock was named principal
officer in a new corporation called the "Church of Spiritual
Technology." According to a church document, if anything "hostile"
threatens Scientology, all trademarks are to be sold for $100 to this
new church.
Flynn said the Church of Scientology could declare bankruptcy if it
lost
the IRS tax case and reopen for business as the Church of Spiritual
Technology.
Nelson said while he was still in Scientology, he and his co-leaders
talked about the creation of such a "shelter" organization.
Spurlock also said at the October meeting that the new structure of
the church would make Scientology "impregnable, especially as regards
to the IRS," according to the transcript.
Church Inspector General Steve Marlowe then went on to say that
factions and schisms would "never occur to this church, never. The
fact of the matter is you have (new breed of management in the church.
They're...(illegible).."...last year (Mayo says he resigned and the
church says he was expelled.)
Many members have grown disenchanted with the continued tactics of
"fascism," Mayo said. He predicted the church could collapse within
two years.
Mayo's 8,000 member Advanced Ability Center in Santa Barbara is the
largest of the spinoff groups and is staffed by what used to be the
leaders of Scientology.
"There are 200 years of experience here," said Nelson, who works
there.
Before joining the splinter movement, Nelson admitted to federal
investigators that he carried out a covert operation to entrap a judge
for the church, according to court documents.
Scientology also appears to be losing money. Financial records
published by the church showed that in early 1982 the church's
worldwide missions were earning up to $789,000 a week. By the end of
1982, after the Sea Org coup and the mission holder's conference,
those earnings dropped to $273,000 in the last week records were
released. Estimates of the mother church's assets run as high as $300
million, but it is probably more like $110 million, Nelson said.
Former church inner circle
member Nelson said a lot of the money had been shipped overseas.
"You will never find where the money is going," he said. Gorgon said
Hubbard does not get money from the church, other than book royalties
(Hubbard resigned from the church in 1966 and now is listed as an
adviser).
Church expenses eat up a lot of money, said Nelson. In 1982, for
instance the church spent millions on attorneys' fees, said Nelson.
The church itself boasts that it likes to sue.
Flynn said it is probably the most "litigious organization" in
America.
He said there are literally "truckloads" of court documents that have
been
generated over the years. In one government case alone, there were 44
five-drawer file cabinets of documents presented, said Flynn.
The complexity is compounded because each individual church is
incorporated separately and there are a maze of subchapters, such as
the Sea Org, the Flag Service Org, the Advanced Org, the American
Saint Hill Org and on and on.
Separate from the "Orgs" (short for "organizations") are missions.
The missions were franchised, much like fast-food chains, until the
church
seized greater control of the operations in 1982.
Church spokeswoman Gorgon scoffed at the suggestion that Scientology
is in trouble in a recent interview in front of the headquarters in
Los Angeles. While she spoke, a group of 50 marchers paraded in front
of the building carrying signs that read, "All they want is your
money" and "Freedom from harassment."Gorgon says the church does good
things, such as fight for religious freedom, and that it has disclosed
government cover-ups under the Freedom of Information Act.
"Our membership is higher now than two years ago," said Gorgon.
"The church is interested in total freedom for mankind. We have always
stood for that. There are people who oppose that."
"For the church to say they are expanding is ludicrous," said Price,
the former Stockton mission owner. Price owns the Delta Queen and
Union Restaurants in Old Sacramento. Price was an influential local
member of the church until he quit after 15 years in 1982. The church
sued to stop the new church from using any of Scientology's religious
techniques but lost last December in San Joaquin County Superior
Court.
After Price quit, the church's international justice chief lambasted
him for
"lowering prices at his mission, to pull people into squirreldom,"
court documents show. Price said the Stockton group charges $30 an
hour, compared to the $307 an hour charged by the church.
Though Price remains a member of the board at the new center in
Stockton, he said "I can't even say I support Scientology now. I will
fess up to my mistakes. There was nothing wrong in what we belonged
in. We tried to make the church saner, to reform it from within. But
it was a front for making money. I was naive."
Hubbard still has control of the church and its money, said Armstrong.
The nerve center is in Riverside County, where the ship in the desert
is
located, said Bent Corydon, the head of the Riverside mission that has
split away from the church. The site at Gilman Hot Springs is 50 miles
East of Los Angeles. The church calls it "Golden Era Studios," a movie
studio. A field of dead grass that once was the greens of a golf
course
surrounds the numerous buildings at the site.
"It's odd there is a clipper ship in the middle of the California
desert,"
said Nelson. "Building it was my last official act in the church."
Nelson said Commander Miscavige ordered him to build the boat on a
"whim." Armstrong was living at Gilman Hot Springs at the time.
Armstrong said when he was on the ship it was an armed camp.
"About half of us had guns," he said. "I had a .45 (pistol) and they
had M-16s."
Armstrong was assigned by the church to gather material for a book on
the life of Hubbard. In the course of his research, he came across
numerous personal letters to Hubbard's wives, parents and business
correspondence.
In an affidavit, Armstrong said, "I collected thousands of pages of
documents, many of which are in the personal handwriting of L. Ron
Hubbard, and which prove that Mr. Hubbard had continually
misrepresented himself, his accomplishments, qualifications,
credentials, and physical and mental health history."
In 1979 there was a rumor that there was to be an FBI raid at Gilman
Hot
Springs, similar to the one in Los Angeles on July 8, 1977. "They
rented
a paper shredder, and ran it night and day for two weeks," said
Armstrong. "They were shredding all materials about Hubbard's control
of bank accounts."
Armstrong said he rescued a batch of documents from the shredder and
moved them to Los Angeles. The raid never came. Armstrong said he
never intended to take the documents for any other reason than the
biography.
"I was still a good Scientologist then," said Armstrong, who added he
has
since "debrainwashed' himself. "I sought throughout 1980 and 1981 to
get the church to correct itself. I though Scientology was decent. I
felt anything good about Scientology was wasted unless the man
(Hubbard) would be honest about himself."
The church demanded the documents be returned and sued Armstrong
to get them back. One of his attorneys is Flynn. The trial is
currently
underway in Los Angeles Superior Court. The 15,000 pages of documents
have been ordered sealed by the court. Gorgon said the church is suing
because "they are very private documents written by a man to his wife.
I don't see where they have any business on the front page of a
newspaper. It's another case of manufactured allegations. Flynn's
intent
is to increase defection."
Said Armstrong, "If it becomes known that he (Hubbard) lied, there
will
be countless fraud complaints. If those documents come out, it will be
the end of Scientology." Some former Scientologists don't agree.
The church, they say, has an uncanny ability to survive all assaults.
"The nastiest article you can ever imagine has always gotten us
new members," said Gorgon. "Anytime we have a legal case, we sell
more books."
L. Ron Hubbard, Mysterious Recluse
Scientology Founder hasn't been seen in public since 1976
Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard has replaced the late Howard Hughes
as the man of mystery. Hubbard, 73, was last viewed in public in 1976.
And he was last seen by any close associate willing to talk about him
in March 1980. So where is he?
"Somewhere around here," said Bent Corydon, pointing to the bleak
desert of Riverside County around the church's compound at Gilman
Hot Springs. "He's never more than 40 minutes away from here."
Corydon's Riverside mission, 20 miles west of Gilman Hot Springs,
was one of the first big ones to split from the church. Because of
his proximity to the Scientology compound, Corydon keeps a close
eye on these grounds. Church spokeswoman Kathy Gorgon said she does
not know where Hubbard lives.
Hubbard is the author of more than 241 books - including the recently
published "Battlefield Earth," which for a time was on the best seller
list. In a 1983 court case, Hubbard filed a declaration with his
fingerprints
on it rather than appear in court, saying he fears for his safety and
is too busy writing to appear in public.
Hubbard may have lived at Gilman Hot Springs for a few days in
February, said Corydon. "That building was wrapped in plastic,"
he said, pointing to a structure near a half-million dollar clipper
ship
"docked" in the desert. Hubbard hates dust, said Corydon. "There were
a half-dozen kids outside spraying something at the base of it."
After a few days, the plastic was taken down. Corydon said Hubbard
may have lived in the sealed structure while the church readied new
quarters for him nearby. On the other hand, "it could have been a
smoke screen," he said, to make the public think he was staying there.
The first time Corydon met Hubbard was on his ship, Apollo, in 1975.
He described Hubbard as a frightened man who didn't want
to meet the crew and who was bedridden most of the time.
Hubbard had a heart attack on the ship that year, and Corydon says
he has heard reports from Gilman Hot Springs that Hubbard suffered
another heart attack last December. Hubbard's son, Ronald DeWolf,
claimed Hubbard was either dead of incompetent and filed suit in
Riverside County Superior Court. The judge in the case didn't agree
and ruled in 1983 that Hubbard had a right to privacy and did not
have to appear in court to prove he was alive.
DeWolf claimed in court that his father lied about his biography -
that Hubbard, for instance, was not "twice pronounced dead" from
war injuries that were cured by Scientology.
Hubbard, in an affidavit, told the court he was afraid to appear in
public because his life had been threatened. Fingerprint and
handwriting experts said the document was valid.
"I am in seclusion of my own choosing," Hubbard said in the
statement. "As Thoreau secluded himself by Walden Pond,
so I have chosen to do so in my own fashion. Of course,
I am older now that I used to be. In my case, I am fortunate to
be in god health and thus able to maintain my heavy daily
work schedule. As to the claim of my incompetence, I do not
intend to dignify it with a response."
Church spokeswoman Gorgon said the DeWolf court case
proved Hubbard was alive and well.
A far different picture emerges from an affidavit filed in a
1977 Boston court case by former servant Anne Rosenblum,
who said Hubbard "had long reddish-grayish hair down past
his shoulders, rotting teeth, a really fat gut...he didn't look
anything like his pictures."
"He was a fanatic about dust and laundry. Even after his office
had just been dusted...he would come in screaming
about the dust and how 'you are all trying to kill me!'" she said.
Scientologists' Power in City
Holdings include church, missions, shopping center
Sacramento Bee
May 7, 1984
The Church of Scientology, despite shrinking membership,
still wields power in Sacramento - openly through its church and
missions, and not-so-openly through other organizations.
Some buildings - a church on 15th street near Memorial Auditorium,
and branch missions in Carmichael and Davis - are obviously part
of Scientology. Other holdings, including a shopping center called
Fulton Square that the church bought through another business
entity are less conspicuous.
The Flag Service Organization Inc., a Florida branch of Scientology,
bought the $1.5 million center on Fulton Avenue at Hurley Way
through a group called Palm Desert Investors in 1979, according
to John Nelson, once an official in the inner circle of Scientology.
Ironically, even though local church members didn't know
until recently that the church bought Fulton Square. The center
houses a post office branch, a tax preparation firm and restaurants.
Owning the center is perfectly legal. But, according to longstanding
policy, the church has always liked to conceal its investments
because it fears publicity, Nelson said.
The money to buy Fulton Square came from the sale of a home
in La Quinta, Riverside County, that was once the secret residence
of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, said Nelson. When it
became public knowledge that Hubbard liven in La Quintal, the
home was sold. Church officials used some of the proceeds to
invest in Sacramento real estate, he said.
The Flag Service Org - as the powerful investment arm of the
church is known - bought Fulton Square through the George Hoag
family of Southern California.
"It was a good way to do some freewheeling investment," said
Nelson of the Fulton Square deal. George Hoag, a Realtor,
arranged one large investment for the church - its desert
property at Gilman Hot Springs, where a $565,000 clipper ship
is located, said Richard J. Hoag, his son.
Richard Hoag, an Santa Monica attorney, said Palm Desert
Investors was not a "front" set up to buy Fulton Square. Hoag
said he and his father set up Palm Desert Investors and bought
Fulton Square as an investment property. The church, he said,
had nothing to do with it until buying it from them in 1982.
Richard Hoag's company, RSJ Development, now manages
Fulton Square.
"None of these people have anything to hide. I have submitted
100 deals to the church," and most have been refused, he said.
But the Flag Service Org has not yet been registered as the
owner with the county recorder, Richard Hoag explained the
church has had trouble working out a lease arrangement with
the family that owns the land, so its name has not yet been
recorded. The church owns the buildings, but not the land.
The Flag Service Org has many other investments - such as
another shopping center in South San Francisco, and a major
interest in an Oklahoma oil and gas exploration firm, said
Richard Hoag.
The Flag Service Org, only one branch of the church, claims
in an internal financial statement that it had more than
$40 million in gross assets, including real estate holdings in
California and Florida. Some of this capital is invested in
precious metals.
Scientology or its members are also involved in other
Sacramento groups.
The Citizen's Commission on Human Rights, a patient's
rights group that deals with psychiatric issues, is "tied"
to Scientology, said church spokeswoman Kathy Gorgon.
Repeated calls to the commission were not returned.
Applied Scholastics, which tutors children and adults
in basic study skills, is affiliated with the church,
said Gorgon. A local spokeswoman, however, denies
being associated with Scientology.
The Delphian School on Northrop Avenue advertises
that it uses "the methods developed by L. Ron Hubbard,"
but school director Vicki Walker said it not connected
in any way with Scientology. The state-accredited
"back to basics" elementary level school has 40 students,
up from 30 last year, said Walker.
Detox of Sacramento, a company on J Street that purifies
toxic poisons from people by sweating them out of their
systems, has "no legal or financial connection with
Scientology," according to administrative director
Keith Miller.
Miller said he is a Scientologist; some workers are also
members of the church and they use methods developed
by Hubbard. Miller said Detox uses a therapeutic sauna,
balanced with an intake of vitamins and minerals to remove
poisons such as PCBs from people contaminated with
toxins.
"We use Hubbard's techniques because we've found it is
the only one that works," said Miller. Customers receive
a treatment every day for 18 days. Cost of the service
averages $2000, he said.
Applied Scholastics and the Citizen's Commission were
controlled by the church when he was a member, said
Ken Wagner. Wagner was involved with find raising
for the Association of Scientologists for Reform,
the church umbrella group that ran the commission.
Wagner said that they were instructed "not to let
anyone know" that the commission was connected
with Scientology. but, he said, "they aligned our goals
with those that exist in society. These groups have
good goals We were real dedicated."
“Mother Church was unhappy with mission’s success”
(Many mission holders, including Samuels, had begun
to speak out against the activities of L. Ron Hubbard)
Sacramento Bee
May 7, 1984
(Excerpt – First Page Missing)
…Los Angeles. Samuels had more Scientology missions
than anyone else.
“Samuels had the largest and most successful stats –
(illegible) for any mission anywhere in the world,”
Garry P. McMurry, Samuel’s attorney, said of the missions
he owned in Sacramento and Davis.
Debbie Jones, once the treasurer for the mission and later
the Org, said the combined income of the mission and
the main church on 45th street averaged $750,000
a year between 1980 and 1982.
McMurry said Samuels five missions were worth $10
million.
“When people get hyped, they’ll do pretty phenomenal things,”
said a former local church executive who asked to remain
nameless. “We get you to cash in on your life insurance.
We get you to take out a loan on your car. When we get you
hyped, there is very little you won’t do.”
The growth of the Sacramento mission was spectacular.
Curiously, however, the mother church was not pleased.
“It boiled right down t a fight over money. Samuels gave the mother
church in excess of $4 million during the time he controlled
the franchises – and the church wanted more, said McMurry.
“The mission holders like Samuels, were taking money from
people for services that were not needed,” said Kathy Gorgon,
Church spokeswoman. “Their sole intention was to make money.
We don’t want criminals in our church. We’re not money oriented.”
In a 1982 church document, Scientology International Finance Dictator
Wendell Reynolds said the missions were “ripping off” the Orgs and
that Samuel’s missions would have to pay the mother church “millions
of dollars.”
A source close to Samuels maintained most of the money went to the
mother church anyway, to pay legal fees, and run his operations.
It’s not clear how much Samuels earned, but fellow Scientologist
Marvin Price said he had 15 servants, at least 450 staff members at
all
five missions, and lived the life of the top executive of a multi-
million
dollar corporation.
In the hierarchy of Scientology, the church-run Orgs were supposed to
be the real power, not the franchised missions. Students were supposed
to “climb the bridge,” in church lingo, and graduate to the Orgs,
where they would spend their money, according to church documents.
Samuels’ successful Sacramento mission was outperforming the closest
Org, in San Francisco. So the mother church insisted Samuels help them
form an Org in Sacramento.
Samuels was sent to see Hubbard aboard his ship, the Apollo. Hubbard
wanted more control over Samuels. By 1974, the Org that is now on 15th
Street was set up, and the conflict started. About this time, Samuels
moved from Davis to Oregon.
“Many mission holders, including Martin Samuels had begun to speak out
against the criminal…activities of Hubbard and the church,” William
Franks, one-time international executive director of the church, said
during a Florida Court case. “As a result, Hubbard ordered (David)
Miscavige…to implement various plans to bring them back into line or
‘wipe them out’.” By 1979, the mission and the Sacramento Org were in
full battle. In 1982, the elite Sea Org took control of Scientology.
The Sacramento mission and Org were merged and the church took over
Samuels’ other missions. Samuels charges in his suit that Hubbard
illegally deprived him of his property.
The Org and a small branch of the church on Fair Oaks Boulevard in
Carmichael remain in Sacramento. The mission in Davis still exists,
but has a handful of members who can barely feed themselves, said
Price.
“It seems they’re struggling to survive,” said Keith Franzen, a
student at UCD. He took a course at the Davis mission early this year,
and recently won a judgment for a refund in small claims court against
the church for $1,026.67, according to the Yolo County Municipal
Court. Getting money back can be difficult. Sacramento Attorney Robert
Schaldach said he is representing five persons who claim $50,000 in
refunds. Another Sacramento attorney, Lewis Hackett, said he’s
representing about 25 people nationwide who claim $300,000 in refunds.
While both attorneys claim their clients have been getting the
runaround,
neither has yet filed any lawsuits on local cases.
When Samuels left the church, he owned nothing more than the shirt
on his back, said Price. He had to borrow money to go back to New
Jersey, where he now lives with his parents. The church wants to
represent Hubbard in Samuels’ lawsuit. Samuels wants Hubbard to
personally appear in court. A dispute over this is now in an appeals
court and should be ruled on soon.
The days of megabuck earnings are over, said Jones, the former mission
and Org treasurer. Her husband, Robin, now offers alternative
religious services. After the mission was merged with the Org, the
combined income dropped “dramatically.” Someone still active with the
church reported $9,000 was earned in one recent week. Other weeks,
said this source, have lower earnings. Nelson, the former church
executive, disputes that the earnings were ever high for the church-
run Org here, no more than $200,000 a year. He said the Sacramento
mission franchise did a far larger volume of business.
“We had a hell of a time paying our bills,” said Jones, talking of the
time
in late 1982 after the mother church started clamping down on
missions,
levying fines and demanding more services be bought from the main
church. At the same time the merger took place, Jones said she saw a
1981 year-end audit that showed the Sacramento Org has a $250,000
reserve fund in a European bank account. That money, then vanished,
taken by the mother church, she said.
In 1979, a church official said there were between 15,000 and 20,000
active Scientologists in this area. But Jones and others said it was
far lower, not much over 1,000. Price said it may have been as high as
2,000.
Now, a source who still works at the church and a number of others who
recently left say there are probably no more than 500 members. Price
believes the number to be somewhat smaller.
“That’s not the real figure, though, because many of them aren’t
active,”
said the source within the church, in one recent week there were just
over 60 people taking courses.
Maureen Drueck
> Several articles
> found in [pdf] here:
Starting around page 85...
redco...@gmail.com
The main point is: THE CULT IS DYING
I have the feeling we will need to post this one often as the $cibots
will do everything to move it down.
DaN
You need to have an Empire before you can have a collapsing one.
mark.tomles
> First,
> You need to have an Empire before you can have a collapsing one.
Wow, good call- they're already posting like mad.
"bump"
Jens Tingleff
Hash: SHA1
redco...@gmail.com wrote:
The second point is that the article is dated 1984.
Best Regards
Jens
- --
Key ID 0x09723C12, jens...@tingleff.org
Analogue filtering / 5GHz RLAN / Mandriva Linux / odds and ends
http://www.tingleff.org/jensting/ +44 1223 829 985
"The weather: It's April, what do you expect?" Jeremy Paxman, Newsnight
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mark.tomles
You're right about this one, redcoat. They called in their reserves to
bury it.
t_shuffle
"Maureen Drueck" <Lerma...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1be03f33-56b3-4f2c...@d45g2000hsc.googlegroups.com
> Several articles
> found in [pdf] here:
>
> http://www.xenu-directory.net/news/libfilter.php?t=krentzman
> Last entry on page:
> Press 1984 Jan 23
> U.S. reportedly probing alleged extortion plot by
> Scientology sect Santa Ana Register
>
> (these are sacbee)
I hadn't seen this before. Thanks Maureen, and much thanks to Ray for
hosting it.
The Bee's been my local paper since, well, forever.
Maureen Drueck
> "Maureen Drueck" <Lermanet...@gmail.com> wrote in message
Inconspicuously yours,
Maureen