Roy Wallis "Religious sects and the fear of publicity" 3/5
Ron Newman
of publicity", first published in the UK magazine _New Society_
for 7 June 1973, pages 545-547.
We're now getting to the part you've all been waiting for,
where he moves on from Christian Science to Scientology:
Roy Wallis wrote a number of other essays about Scientology during
the 1970s and 1980s, as well as the excellent full-length book
_The Road to Total Freedom_ (Columbia University Press, 1977).
Much of the material in this essay eventually made its way
into that book.
-------------
Scientology, while a movement very different in style, bears many
similarities to Christian Science, and the Church of Scientology
and its leadership have also often taken objection to publications
regarding the movement. The policy of the Church with regard to
the press has been unequivocally stated by the movement's founder,
L. Ron Hubbard: "We are not interested in sensationalism,
personalities, or the complexity of Scientological methodology
being discussed by the general public. As a subdivision of this, we
do not want Scientology to be reported in the press, anywhere else
than on the religious page of newspapers... we should be very alert
to sue for slander at the slightest chance, so as to discourage the
public presses from mentioning Scientology" (Hubbard Communication
Office, 1965).
This policy has been followed assiduously. Indeed, so litigious
did Scientology become that Peter Horden MP was not far off the
mark when he claimed in the House of Commons on 6 March 1967 that
"every newspaper which so much as mentions Scientology is served
with a writ for libel." One source reports that at one point around
38 writs for libel were outstanding against individuals and
newspapers which had published statements on Scientology, although
some 36 of these were later withdrawn.
Scientologists appear to have followed the lead of Christian
Science in organising mass mailings of correspondence on at least
one occasion. Sir John Foster, when conducting the _Inquiry into
the Practices and Effects of Scientology_, received during the
first four to five weeks of his appointment some 1,178 testimonials
about Scientology. His report states, "over three quarters of them
included the statement `Scientology is my religion', and expanded
this assertion in a fairly standardised paragraph." Many arrived
in batches from the same place, and very few were received later.
A large proportion of those books which have so far appeared on
Scientology by outsiders or defectors have been the subject of
litigation. An Anglican minister, Maurice Burrell, wrote a book
called _Scientology: what it is and what it does_, which appeared
briefly in 1970. The publishers were taken to court on the
grounds that the book might prejudice the fair trial of cases in
which Scientology was then involved. The publishers, a small
company, did not appeal the decision although legal opinion had
been offered to the effect that such an appeal would most likely be
won.
Cyril Vosper's _The Mind Benders_ was to be published in September
1971. The day before publication, the Scientologists secured an
injunction delaying publication. The movement lost an appeal by
the publishers against the injunction and their own appeal to the
House of Lords was also rejected. The action against the book
having failed, an action against its writer and publisher for
contempt of court was brought and again lost. An appeal was
initiated, but the Scientologists withdrew before its hearing. An
action for libel remains to be pursued by the movement.
At one stage in this litigation, a High Court judge was reported
(in the _Daily Telegraph_) to have said of applications by the
Church of Scientology to have Vosper and a newspaper editor
committed to jail for contempt of court, that these were
deliberately made "to try to stifle any criticism or inquiry into
their affairs."
Three American works, George Malko's volume, _Scientology The Now
Religion_, published in 1970, Paulette Cooper's _The Scandal of
Scientology_, which appeared in 1971, and Robert Kaufman's _Inside
Scientology_, have also been the subject of extensive litigation.
An injunction preventing the publication of Kaufman's book in
Britain was recently lifted by the High Court.
[to be continued.
In part 4: Scientology gets *very* personal with Roy Wallis.]
--
Ron Newman rne...@cybercom.net
Web: http://www.cybercom.net/~rnewman/home.html