Scientology in Ukraine, 3d part of 4 -- How Much Happiness would you like for Your Money
roger gonnet
Ukraine
How Much Happiness would you like for Your Money
by Taras Pano
translated from Russian text at
Zerkalo-Nedeli.com
April 8, 2006
[...]
-- Vladimir Petukhov, psychologist, chairman of the board for the Family and
Personality Protection Society and FECRIS member
- How far has Dianetics and Scientology spread in Ukraine?
-- It's spread enough through the Dianetics centers. Besides that, once people
start taking Dianetics courses, they do their best not to let them out again.
You can pay until it hurts. Once your money is gone, you have yourself to
offer, your labor.
Our Church of Scientology reports to Moscow. That is a very strong
organization. Those who have been to training in the Moscow center say that
there is nothing more to do even in New York after studying in Moscow. In
Ukraine the Church of Scientology is still in the formative years as a religious
organization. But don't let that deceive you. The organization has a definite
strategy of infiltration. Like here they've begun to infiltrate in the capacity
of Dianetics centers that are engaged in introducing Hubbard's technology on
administration. The first wave of infiltration and entrenchment are people in
the areas of business or who are acquainted with politicians, that way they can
exemplify them as products of their technology. At the next level there is the
creation of Dianetics centers, which operate as social organizations. And then
the first Church of Scientology appears and begins carrying out a complex
program.
- There is this "standard model" of infiltration, so how can the Church of
Scientology operate under diverse circumstances in each individual country?
-- That is the point, they can't. They have a strategy and technology to
infiltrate society. Everything is licensed. Everything is arranged by the
Religious Technology Center. And nothing will be done, written or distributed
without a resolution from that center. The Church of Scientology has a strict,
hierarchical structure. At its center is the Sea Organization, a small elite --
Religious Technology Center, which controls the right to the "Dianetics" and
"Scientology" trademarks, the Church of Scientology International, the
international mission and the local missions. But this rigid structure is awash
in a mass of associated programs. For example, the program to fight psychiatry
is opening up. Its registered as a social organization, distributes information
about abuse by psychiatrists, says its goal is fighting them and calls this
"fighting for human rights." It should be said though that at the same time a
different division of the church would not scorn psychiatrists who published
positive results about their work if they were to succeed in obtaining such a
result. In Russia, for example, an independent psychiatric center writes
laudatory articles about them, but the Serbskiy Institute criticizes their
activities. It does not make sense here to uncritically believe all
psychiatrists.
- In Ukraine are the Dianetics centers all associated with the Church of
Scientology and do they openly admit this? Is it possible that people do not
know what is behind this religion when they run into Scientology?
-- There are courses based on Hubbard's technology not within the framework of
the Scientology organization. If this is their course, sooner or latter they
will reveal their relationship to the Church of Scientology.
- They say that Dianetics technology works.
-- One of the forums said it well, so what other technology have you tried
besides Dianetics? So try it. Could it work worse? They promote Narconon as an
effective program to fight drugs. However scientific research shows there is
nothing particularly effective in it. Nevertheless they managed to get a
decision from the Ministry of Education and Scientology that their preventive
lectures would be good to read in Ukrainian schools.
- Does Narconon try to hide its connection to Scientology?
-- They say they have a purely preventive program. In their program of eight
stages detoxification is actually in last place. They put the emphasis on their
preventive educational measures. In Kharkov the Institute of Postgraduate
Education, which makes expert opinions on school programs, gave a negative
review to the Narconon program. But the team from regional administration acted
to authorize it. The initiator of the program, Marina Gribanova, herself
actually believes in it and is very sincere. This is awful, because blind faith
does not give room for doubt or for departure from the general line. That is
why we call this sort of organization totalitarian.
- How do you rate the expert conclusion created by the staff of the Institute of
Philosophy, National Academy of Science?
-- At first glance this research was completely to Scientology's advantage, but
at the same time - a delayed-action mine placed under them. Everything depends
how it is read - there is much truth in it.
- The Church of Scientology is much more visible in the world than here --
celebrities are for it, courts are against it.
-- It's not that serious in Ukraine. For the time being they are more afraid of
what they can do. They are not coming out into the open, they are trying not to
be involved in public scandals and to not start court proceedings. This would
be disadvantageous for them. They are having problems and not enough support
right now. The organization is materially deteriorating, no competence at all.
If they went public now, all this would be exposed.
- Have you come across people in your work who have fallen into dependency on
Scientology?
-- Yes, there is a system that brings people into a state of dependency. But
with us this work is very complex. The point is that, for instance, in America
they talk about cults and the consequences of their actions, and they can study
them freely. But here we constantly have to get our bearings - like we have to
be careful what we say. And with us, too, the cult is often connected with
politics, crime or finance, and this complicates the problem all the more.
Following up all this activity in Ukraine is very difficult. For example, if I
were to call up the authorities and say: guys, this religious organization stole
millions from the government and these millions are lying in a safe at
such-and-such an address, then the guys would go and get into the safe without
delay. But to know where these millions might be lying about you have to work
like crazy, whether this is a religious organization or not. And then there is
the spiritual sphere. From that area the men with the badges don't like to hear
anything. In a case like that the officers begin to think about these
organizations having different statuses in different countries. Somewhere it
might be religious, somewhere else social. Somewhere it is profit, somewhere
else non-profit.
- How does a person usually get into the Church of Scientology or into Dianetics
courses?
-- For instance, I dropped in at the supermarket in Kharkov. On the counter
were books, 70% of them by Hubbard. They grabbed my sleeve and pushed
"Dianetics" into my hand. "Do you have higher education?" Yes? Look here,
everything you studied is unimportant. You'll find everything in this book, and
understand that this is true science. Not a single word about religion. Nobody
can tell you this is religion. Besides that, in most cases, if you say they are
dealing in religion they'll say we are the Dianetics center. We are a social
organization! And the rank-and-file are perfectly sincere. And in this case
there is one manager. Sometimes you hear something like, "We are only taking
advantage of what Hubbard wrote, but we are not Scientologists." They try to
create the impression that Scientology is one thing, but Hubbard's book are
another. But that's a lie. They are overstocked. The Hubbard Institute makes
the arrangements and the Religious Technology Center stands behind the purity of
technology.
- What about the "Free Zone"? It seems to us they don't have too good a
relationship with the Church of Scientology.
-- That organization was one of the first to appear and is mainly engaged in
using the commercial version of the technology. They had a consensus with the
Church of Scientology worked out a long time ago. The Free Zone does without
the religious doctrine and is directed towards people who have a pragmatic view
of these things. But the ones who are behind all of this are the same ones. It
is just a matter of under which roof they are operating. For example, as a
social organization they operate in breach of law. They covertly rent a room
and turn it into a Dianetics center. 700 griven a book. Is that a good social
organization? And people buy them! And they have another program to process
clients -- they say that you have to have this book. You buy it if you are
persuaded that this book will solve all your problems. Why shouldn't the
solution to all your problems cost 700 griven? People come under the influence
and the methods of influence are well-known, described and widely adapted,
especially group influence. In Scientology this sort of influence is set up as
an assembly line. Unfortunately most people do not readily recognize it in
context.
- Why do people go there?
-- This is a club of interests. Whatever reason people have, there is only one
purpose, as in any totalitarian organization. They can serve this up to you
with any sauce you like depending on your mental state of mind, education or
scientific worldview. Whatever it takes to snag you, they snag. For example,
if you have an interest in psychology, they "snag" you for testing. Psychology
recognizes their "Oxford test" as invalid. Naturally, they don't tell you that.
Same as they don't talk about the experiments with engrams that were conducted
with the support of the Church of Scientology itself. There they explained
there are no engrams. But people go there and will continue to do so. Because
someone needs this.
- Why?
-- Money and power. Old as dirt, but it works. In this organization you can
actually have a sense of yourself as a superhuman.
We went to the head of the office for religious affairs for Kiev's city
administration, Anatoli Lysenko, with questions about the official status of the
Church of Scientology in Kiev city.
- Why exactly was the Church of Scientology turned down for registration?
-- At the time the matter about registering the charter of the Church of
Scientology with Kiev city was being examined it came to light that from 17 to
18 May 2003, with the assistance of the Russian structural unit of the Church of
Scientology ("IHELP" 19-a Galushkina St., Moscow), a management skills training
seminary was given in the conference auditorium of the "Turist" hotel complex (2
R. Okipnoi St.)
That event was a violation of art. 24 of Ukraine Law "On freedom of conscience
and religious organizations," where it says that clergymen, religious preachers,
instructors and other representatives of foreign organizations in which citizens
of other countries appear and which take place in Ukraine, may engage in
preaching religious beliefs, carrying out religious rites or other canonical
activity only in those religious organizations from whom they have received an
invitation, and with the official coordination of state organs with whom the
charge (status) of the corresponding religious organization has been registered.
That event took place without informing the appropriate state organs and without
their permission.
On February 18, 2004 Kiev citizen V.M. Pushkin filled out an application in the
city government administration in which he asked that the activities of the
Scientology center be stopped, and he based this on the negative influence the
Church of Scientology activities had had upon his daughter. After taking
courses at that church she gave the director of the center 1,500 griven. After
her father intervened and appealed to the Denprovsky district prosecutor of Kiev
city, the money was returned to the family.
In this way, one may consider that the establishment of a fixed sum of payment
for receiving auditing and study of Scientology scripture in agreement with
established church fees are a compulsory imposition upon believers and a
violation of art. 18 of the Ukraine Law "On freedom of conscience and religious
organizations."
Art. 4 of the Ukraine Law "On freedom of conscience and religious organizations"
proclaims equal rights for citizens regardless of their attitude toward
religion. Restrictions for the citizen who expresses a desire to attain a
higher level of perfection through Scientology but who does not have the means
to pay the Church's "voluntary donations" puts him in an unequal position to
other people and violates his right to freedom of conscience, this is proclaimed
in art. 3 of Ukraine Law "On freedom of conscience and religious organizations."
Taking into account the interpretation provided by article 15 of the Ukraine Law
"On freedom of conscience and religious organizations," Kiev's city government
administration passed order No. 1774 of September 23, 2004 "On the denial of
registration for the charter of the religious community 'Church of Scientology
City of Kiev."
The order does not violate the citizen's rights guaranteed by the Constitution
of Ukraine, the Declaration on State Sovereignty of Ukraine or the standards for
international rights recognized by Ukraine, the social justice, equality and
protection of rights and legal interests of citizens regardless of their
attitude toward religion, and provides for the observation of the obligations of
religious organizations by state and society.
- The Church of Scientology has received a quite positive expert opinion from
the religious studies department of the Institute of Philosophy of Ukraine's
National Academy of Science. Could this influence the decision for registration?
-- In response to inquiry No. 015-1012 of 14 December 2005 from deputy chairman
V. Ilgova of Kiev's city government administration to correspondent-member
National Academy of Science (NAS) Ukraine, the director of G. Skovorody
Institute of Philosophy NAS Ukraine, doctor of philosophical science professor
M. Popuvich with regard to the official conclusion of G. Skovorody Institute of
Philosophy NAS Ukraine about the religious and cult practices of the Church of
Scientology, an answer was received from the deputy director of the department
of religious studies of the G. Skovorody Institute of Philosophy NAS Ukraine, A.
Kolodny, of July 2, 2005, ser. no. 37, that said Scientology was a complicated
phenomena, but in its operations Scientology went beyond the limits of that
which would be called a religious cult. Thus a definitive determination on the
Church of Scientology as a religious community in Ukraine does not exist.
- Don't they consider the operations of this religious organization as those of
a destructive cult?
-- The terms "totalitarian sect" and "destructive cult" do not exist in the
legislation of Ukraine, so therefor the answer to your question does not fit in
the competency of the main administration.
to be continued ...
==
Thanks again for the brilliant translator!
r
kena...@gmail.com
Dear Roger,
Thank you so much for posting this informative article.
Hartley Patterson
> -- Vladimir Petukhov, psychologist, chairman of the board for the Family and
> Personality Protection Society and FECRIS member
> - What about the "Free Zone"? It seems to us they don't have too good a
> relationship with the Church of Scientology.
>
> -- That organization was one of the first to appear and is mainly engaged in
> using the commercial version of the technology. They had a consensus with the
> Church of Scientology worked out a long time ago. The Free Zone does without
> the religious doctrine and is directed towards people who have a pragmatic view
> of these things. But the ones who are behind all of this are the same ones. It
> is just a matter of under which roof they are operating.
That sounds like propaganda to me.
> Thanks again for the brilliant translator!
Yes, thank you.
--
Alt.Religion.Scientology FAQ
http://www.daisy.freeserve.co.uk/faq.htm