1991 Time article (repost)
Tortellini
Because the Time article has been mentioned often, I thought
it would be a good Idea to repost it.
Full Text COPYRIGHT Time Inc. 1991
By all appearances, Noah Lottick of Kingston, Pa., had been a
normal, happy 24-year-old who was looking for his place in the
world. On the day last June when his parents drove to New York
City to claim his body, they were nearly catatonic with grief.
The young Russian-studies scholar had jumped from a 10th-floor
window of the Milford Plaza Hotel and bounced off the hood of a
stretch limousine. When the police arrived, his fingers were
still clutching $171 in cash, virtually the only money he hadn't
yet turned over to the Church of Scientology, the self-help
"philosophy" group he had discovered just seven months earlier.
His death inspired his father Edward, a physician, to start his
own investigation of the church. "We thought Scientology was
something like Dale Carnegie," Lottick says. "I now believe it's
a school for psychopaths. Their so-called therapies are
manipulations. They take the best and brightest people and
destroy them." The Lotticks want to sue the church for
contributing to their son's death, but the prospect has them
frightened. For nearly 40 years, the big business of Scientology
has shielded itself exquisitely behind the First Amendment as
well as a battery of high-priced criminal lawyers and shady
private detectives.
The Church of Scientology, started by science-fiction writer L.
Ron Hubbard to "clear" people of unhappiness, portrays itself as
a religion. In reality the church is a hugely profitable global
racket that survives by intimidating members and critics in a
Mafia-like manner. At times during the past decade, prosecutions
against Scientology seemed to be curbing its menace. Eleven top
Scientologists, including Hubbard's wife, were sent to prison in
the early 1980s for infiltrating, burglarizing and wiretapping
more than 100 private and government agencies in attempts to
block their investigations. In recent years hundreds of longtime
Scientology adherents -- many charging that they were mentally or
physically abused -- have quit the church and criticized it at
their own risk. Some have sued the church and won; others have
settled for amounts in excess of $500,000. In various cases
judges have labeled the church "schizophrenic and paranoid" and
"corrupt, sinister and dangerous."
Yet the outrage and litigation have failed to squelch
Scientology. The group, which boasts 700 centers in 65
countries, threatens to become more insidious and pervasive than
ever. Scientology is trying to go mainstream, a strategy that
has sparked a renewed law-enforcement campaign against the
church. Many of the group's followers have been accused of
committing financial scams, while the church is busy attracting
the unwary through a wide array of front groups in such
businesses as publishing, consulting, health care and even
remedial education.
In Hollywood, Scientology has assembled a star-studded roster of
followers by aggressively recruiting and regally pampering them
at the church's "Celebrity Centers," a chain of clubhouses that
offer expensive counseling and career guidance. Adherents
include screen idols Tom Cruise and John Travolta, actresses
Kirstie Alley, Mimi Rogers and Anne Archer, Palm Springs mayor
and performer Sonny Bono, jazzman Chick Corea and even Nancy
Cartwright, the voice of cartoon star Bart Simpson.
Rank-and-file members, however, are dealt a less glamorous
Scientology.
According to the Cult Awareness Network, whose 23 chapters
monitor more than 200 "mind control" cults, no group prompts more
telephone pleas for help than does Scientology. Says Cynthia
Kisser, the network's Chicago-based executive director:
"Scientology is quite likely the most ruthless, the most
classically terroristic, the most litigious and the most
lucrative cult the country has ever seen. No cult extracts more
money from its members." Agrees Vicki Aznaran, who was one of
Scientology's six key leaders until she bolted from the church in
1987: "This is a criminal organization, day in and day out. It
makes Jim and Tammy [Bakker] look like kindergarten."
To explore Scientology's reach, TIME conducted more than 150
interviews and reviewed hundreds of court records and internal
Scientology documents. Church officials refused to be
interviewed. The investigation paints a picture of a depraved yet
thriving enterprise. Most cults fail to outlast their founder,
but Scientology has prospered since Hubbard's death in 1986. In
a court filing, one of the cult's many entities -- the Church of
Spiritual Technology -- listed $503 million in income just for
1987. High-level defectors say the parent organization has
squirreled away an estimated $400 million in bank accounts in
Liechtenstein, Switzerland and Cyprus. Scientology probably has
about 50,000 active members, far fewer than the 8 million the
group claims. But in one sense, that inflated figure rings true:
millions of people have been affected in one way or another by
Hubbard's bizarre creation.
Scientology is now run by David Miscavige, 31, a high school
dropout and second-generation church member. Defectors describe
him as cunning, ruthless and so paranoid about perceived enemies
that he kept plastic wrap over his glass of water. His obsession
is to attain credibility for Scientology in the 1990s. Among
other tactics, the group:
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Barb Snow
(Tortellini) writes:
Because the Time article has been mentioned often, I thought
it would be a good Idea to repost it..[which he then does].
I'm sure this has been asked and answered on this newgroup, but I missed
it. What happened to Time Magazine after the story. I can not imagine
that the COS did not sue them. Does anyone know the results? And does
anyone know in what court it was filed, if appealed?
David Bonnell
: Because the Time article has been mentioned often, I thought
: it would be a good Idea to repost it.
Fact vs Fiction
A Correction of Falsehoods Contained
in the May 6, 1991 Issue of TIME Magazine
Published by The Church of Scientology International
Facts and Documentation Concerning
TIME Magazine's Article
on the Church of Scientology
(The hardcopy of this booklet, containing all the
documents related to what reported,
can be ordered to The Church of Scientology International)
INTRODUCTION:
Richard Behar's article in Time magazine is a
lesson in how to manipulate and manufacture "facts",
through omission and innuendo, to create a com-
pletely false picture - in this case, a picture of the
Church of Scientology which simply has no basis in
reality.
Behar has a long history of bias and antagonism
against the Church. In 1986 he wrote an article in
Forbes magazine that was a hatchet job. It is not
surprising that Behar has written another unflattering
article about Scientology. That he would, however,
rely upon a convicted felon and another man whose
actions a judge recently found to be "injurious" to
Scientologists as his primary sources for the story is
unjustifiable. Unsubstantiated charges made by these
men are used by Behar as the basis for wildly sensa-
tional generalities about Scientology.
But an attentive reader, one who does not get
caught up in Behar' s web of lies and deception, will
notice the incongruity of an article that has nothing
positive to say about a group whose membership is
growing by leaps and bounds every year, and which
has a proven record of helping people and communi-
ties around the world.
# The Church has millions of members, many of
whom are active volunteers helping the less fortu-
nate members of society. They are active in civic
groups, professional organizations and neighborhood
groups, improving conditions in communities by ap-
plication of Scientology principles.
# The Church combats drug addiction effectively;
it has gotten over 100,000 people off of drugs and
has taken on the leadership role in the Lead The
Way To A Drug-Free USA campaign.
# The Church is a vital force in education.
Scientologists have taught some 1.5 million children
in South Africa how to read and learn, based on the
educational technology developed by L. Ron
Hubbard.
# Here in the U.S., the Church organizes or spon-
sors campaigns for the rights of the mentally ill, for
the care of the elderly and for relief work.
What vested interests does a story serve that does
not mention anything about the good works of the
Church?
There are many allegations contained in
Behar' s story that are so outlandish and without
merit that it is difficult to document all of them.
Statements and charges like "Mafia-like" are
interwoven with negatives like "Cult of Greed"
or allegations of death threats or beatings.
Nothing even resembling such allegations ever
happened .
In this documentation we therefore address a
sampling of the numerous substantive falsehoods
contained in Richard Behar's story. The article
is so thoroughly fallacious that one would have
to literally create volumes to rectify all the
lies and mischaracterizations created by Behar.
The enclosed materials, however, will open your
eyes to the fact that this hatchet job on the Church of
Scientology in Time magazine is serving an evil
hidden agenda.
TIME Magazine Statements
Versus the True Information
TIME MAGAZINE STATEMENT:
Time attempts to tar the Church with the crimes of
Steven Fishman, and forwards the completely outra-
geous and false charge that Fishman was "ordered " by
the Church to kill his psychiatrist and commit suicide.
These are demonstrable falsehoods for which Fishman
is currently serving time in a federal prison.
TRUE INFORMATION:
Fishman committed mail fraud starting in 1983 for
which he was indicted on 11 counts in September 1988.
When indicted, Fishman tried to blame the Church of
Scientology for his prior criminal activities. Evidence
shows, however, that his association with the Church
was insignificant and occurred after he engaged in mail
fraud.
Fishman pleaded guilty to two counts of mail fraud
and to a charge of obstruction of justice and is now
serving a five year sentence in federal prison. The charge
of obstruction of justice resulted from Fishman's at-
tempt to frame the Church of Scientology. Fishman had
claimed that the Church had made threatening phone
calls to, among others, his psychiatrist Ñ the same
psychiatrist that Time now claims Fishman was "or-
dered" to kill. The FBI investigated Fishman's com-
plaint, finding that Fishman himself had in fact paid an
associate to make the phone calls for him in an effort to
set up the Church.
Fishman was given a stiff sentence as the judge found
that his attempts to try to shift the blame for his actions
demonstrated that he had not learned to take responsi-
bility for them.
THE MAGAZINE STATEMENT:
Businessmen Ken Gerbino and Michael Baybak are
attacked on the basis of their membership in the
Scientology religion. Relying principally on the claims
of one William Jordan and some of his associates,
Richard Behar attacks Gerbino's and Baybak's busi-
ness judgment and professional ethics in connection
with several companies. These allegations serve as
the principal basis for smearing the entire religion
as a financial scam.
TRUE INFORMATION:
Behar's side of the story is blatantly false through-
out, as the following facts, obtained from public docu-
ments, show.
William Jordan is a former president of Athena Gold
Corporation.
In 1987, a large investment group of up to two dozen
mining industry professionals provided major funding
to Athena Gold Corporation. The group included
Michael Baybak and Ken Gerbino, two businessmen
who are members of the Church of Scientology.
During the year following this investment, Jordan
demonstrated incompetence in his management of the
company. He ran it as a private enterprise rather than as
a public company by putting company monies through
his own private company bank accounts. He refused to
report on expenditures made and failed to establish
plans and budgets for the company. When pressed to
show records to the board, Jordan stole them and se-
creted them along with other company property.
The board of directors filed suit on Jordan to recover
its records and property. The court ordered Jordan to
return the company's records and funds which he ille-
gally took and to cease any interference with the lawful
operation of the company.
Jordan has worked with Richard Behar for close to a
year and has advertised to the business community the
fact that Behar was planning to do a "scandalous ex-
pose" on Baybak and Gerbino, implying illegal busi-
ness dealings on their part.
This and other actions put Jordan in violation of an
earlier court injunction against him. In April 1991, the
officers of Athena brought a contempt hearing against
Jordan.
In the hearing, Judge Adams said of Jordan:
"However, it is obvious that Mr. Jordan, and by his
own admission as well as demonstrated otherwise in
this hearing and at the hearing in August of 1988, has
engaged in an undermining campaign to disparage
and undermine and counter the efforts of Athena Gold,
Inc., and its parent corporation." The judge also said of
Jordan, "... it is obvious to me that his conduct is injuri-
ous."
The judge consequently modified the injunction
against Jordan to prevent him from further harassing or
disparaging Athena Gold or its personnel. Page 17
Completely omitted from Behar's article is the fact
that Jordan today remains, through a holding company,
Athena Gold's largest shareholder. Jordan controls an
estimated 13% of Athena stock, while Baybak and
Gerbino combined own only 10%.
Not one mention was made in the article of any of
these facts, nor of the court findings against Jordan,
although the data was made known to BeharÑall of
which thoroughly discredits Jordan as a source of trust-
worthy information. Instead, Baybak and Gerbino, who
played minor roles in the conflict between Athena and
Jordan, are selected as targets, solely on the basis of
their religion, in order to carry out Behar' s smear on the
Church.
TIME MAGAZINE STATEMENT:
Throughout Behar's article runs the unsubstantiated
and false allegation that Scientology's leaders are in-
tent on pocketing large sums of money and that
Scientology is operated for their financial benefit. Behar
does not give any specifics to be refuted, only broad-
brush generalities like "greed," "squeezing millions,"
and the like. His implication at the end of the article
that "Scientology managers" will continue to make
millions is supported by no source or fact, because it is
of Behar's own manufacture.
TRUE INFORMATION:
No executives of any Church of Scientology are mo-
tivated by a desire to earn large sums of money for
themselves. Rather, their primary purpose is to make
the Scientology religion known to the people of the
world and to make their church grow.
Even at the highest levels of the Church structure,
Scientology executives receive salaries that are signifi-
cantly lower than those of the leaders of other religious
organizations. These executives are all very dedicated
Scientologists who work an average of 15 hours a day,
usually seven days a week. None of them own homes.
Instead, they live in apartments that are no larger than
315 square feet. All high-level Scientology executives
share communal dining arrangements with numerous
other staff members. Most of them do not even own a
car. They devote their abilities and energy to the expan-
sion of the religion.
It is for these reasons that Behar was unable to name
a single specific case of a Scientology executive en-
riching himself. To make up for this complete lack of
substantiation in the article, he resorted to misrepresen-
tations such as the statement that one Church, the Church
of Spiritual Technology (CST), listed $503 million in
income in one recent year in a court filing. The only
court filing CST has made concerning its financial con-
dition for any year is in the Court of Claims in Wash-
ington, D.C.. Nowhere in that file are there any figures
even remotely in the same ballpark as that made up by
Behar. This is just a bald-faced lie.
TIME MAGAZINE STATEMENT:
In Behar's article, he alleges that Scientology is "the
thriving cult of greed and power" and that it "poses as
a religion but is really a ruthless global scam."
Scientology is likened to the Mafia and accused of
being criminal in nature.
TRUE INFORMATION:
In just over 35 years since the incorporation of the
first Church of Scientology, the Church has grown to
more than 600 churches and missions in over 50 coun-
tries around the world. In the past four years alone,
almost 200 new churches and missions have opened
internationally.
Behar claims that Scientology "poses" as a religion.
He ignores volumes of court documents. Scientology
has been upheld as a bona fide religion by courts in
virtually every major country around the world. For
example:
The IRS stipulated before the United States Tax Court,
"Scientology is and at all relevant times was a religion
within the purview of the First Amendment to the Con-
stitution of the United States."
The United States District Court of the Central Dis-
trict of California stated similarly, "This Court finds
that the Church of Scientology is a religion within the
meaning of the First Amendment. The beliefs and ideas
of Scientology address ultimate concernsÑthe nature
of the person and the individual's relationship to the
universe."
Furthermore, in 1983 after an extensive examination of
the activities of the Church of Scientology and an analysis
of other religions, the High Court of Australia wrote,
"The conclusion that [Scientology] is a religious institu-
tion entitled to tax exemption is irresistible."
Overseas in 1985, a district court in Stuttgart,
Germany found that, "... this Church is a salvation
religion which deals with the human soul and the riddles
of life.... Its purpose in this world is ... to help man in
his [striving] for spiritual freedom and to completely
free him from problems and burdens to reach total
freedom ... and experience the existence of a Supreme
Being...."
Behar also claims that Scientology is a "ruthless
global scam." Such an allegation is belied by the
continuous and rapid expansion of Scientology
membership over the years. Such expansion is only
possible because individuals get real results from
applying Scientology principles in their lives.
Personal success stories concerning the benefits attained
from Scientology would fill many hundreds of file cabi-
nets.
Behar's article tries to portray the Church and its
members as being criminal in intent and activity.
The truth is, Scientologists as a group are probably
the most law-abiding citizens on earth. Scientologists
around the world actively and routinely work in coop-
eration with law enforcement officials to help reduce
crime and create a safe environment.
For example, a common-sense moral code written
by L. Ron Hubbard, The Way to Happiness, is used
as the basis of many community campaigns that
reduce crime and drug abuse in schools and gang-rid-
den communities. Church-sponsored programs in
many neighborhoods have brought community
officials and residents together to effectively combat
crime.
Through a highly successful criminal rehabilitation
program called Criminon (meaning "no crime"),
Scientologists are bringing about true reform, resulting
in a drastic reduction of the 60% to 80% recidivism rate
of criminals.
Behar's article omits the information on the dozens of
community service programs conducted by Scientologists
that are improving conditions around the world and which
have been acknowledged by community officials.
TIME MAGAZINE STATEMENT:
Behar states that he conducted a thorough and inten-
sive investigation into Scientology. He also claims that
Church officials refused to be interviewed for the Time
magazine article.
TRUE INFORMATION:
Behar's claims are false.
Behar claimed to have conducted 150 interviews and
reviewed hundreds of court records and internal
Scientology documents. This so-called "research" was
clearly done with pre-determined bias, and with one
purpose in mind: to discredit. Not one of these inter-
views was conducted with individuals who had positive
statements to make about Scientology. Even though the
intent of his interviews was only to dig up dirt, his
tactics did not work on some people, who in fact did
relate their positive stories about Scientology. Behar
hadn't expected this, having selectively chosen his tar-
gets for interview, but he nonetheless ignored any posi-
tive information provided by these people.
Behar claims that no one in the Church would do an
interview with him, carefully omitting that it was the
Church that first approached him and he denied he was
doing an article on the Church. Behar also omits that he
did a hatchet job on the Church in 1986 for Forbes
magazine and that the current Time article is a rehash of
that 1986 piece. In that 1986 article Behar confidently
predicted that the Church would disintegrate within
months. No one, least of all Behar, can dispute that he
was wrong.
Time itself originally denied that Behar was doing
this story. When it was confirmed by reports coming in
from Church parishioners that Behar was in fact pro-
ceeding with another hatchet job, the Church contacted
Time and asked that another, unbiased reporter be put
on the story and that we would talk to them. Time
refused this request and left Behar to carry on his smear
campaign.
In 1982, when Time published its last story on
Scientology, the President of the Church of Scientology
International granted Time a four hour interview. In the
article that resulted, only seven words from the inter-
view were quoted. In spite of this, the Church was
prepared to deal with any other Time reporter who did
not have an already proven record of unbending bias
against the Church.
Even so, volumes of written materials were presented
to Time documenting the positive activities of
Scientology and disproving the allegations made by
Behar. These were ignored.
Behar's assertion of having thoroughly researched
this article is disproven by his well-documented history
of malice towards Scientology. This is made obvious
by the following examples:
On May 26, 1987 Behar spoke to a private investiga-
tor. During the conversation Behar called Scientology a
scam and referred the investigator to known antago-
nists and anti-Scientology publications as the sole
sources of information about Scientology. Most telling
of all though was his response to a request for balanced
information on Scientology. Behar insisted that he had
never come across any positive information concerning
the Church. He utterly ignored the fact that he had been
supplied with volumes of positive information on the
Church when he was preparing his 1986 Forbes article.
Behar sought out those few people he knew would
reflect his own bias against Scientology.
Behar did "interview" a few Scientologists. The
Church learned of this when it received calls from
members who reported that they had been contacted by
Behar who, under the guise of an interview, had made
ominous statements to the effect that the Church was
out to infiltrate and take over these individuals' compa-
nies. Although it was disputed by each person inter-
viewed and was clearly contradicted by the actual facts
of the matter, his unsubstantiated, false accusations ap-
peared in the Time article nonetheless.
A typical example was an interview Behar did on
October 17, 1990 with Scientologist Tom Wright. Behar
questioned Wright in such a way as to leave him in no
doubt that he was anti-Scientology and completely un-
interested in the positive experiences that Wright had
had as a result of his Church membership. Behar also
ignored statements from Wright refuting Behar's false
allegations. None of Wright' s positive information about
Scientolc-gy was included in the article. Page 35
Behar' s November 8, 1990 interview of Charles
Jeannel was another example of his underhanded tac-
tics and intent to smear the Church. Behar attempted to
turn Jeannel against Scientologist Ken Gerbino by claim-
ing that there was a problem between the two during a
prior business relationship. Despite Jeannel's assertion
that he had no problem with Gerbino, Behar insisted
that there had been fraudulent dealings on Gerbino's
part and made vigorous attempts to get Jeannel to agree.
Behar made similar accusations to Jeannel about the
Church and refused to listen to any data that Jeannel
had to the contrary.
Further substantiating his assertions of there being
nothing at all positive about Scientology, Behar even
went so far as to recommend the practice of
"deprogramming," a method of physically kidnapping
people and forcing them to give up their religious be-
liefs.
Who would want to subject themselves to insult and
invective by someone who holds such bigoted views
towards their religion and who recommends that a crimi-
nal activity such as deprogramming be employed?
Behar also fails to mention that Church counsel Earle
Cooley, in a meeting with Time associate counsel Rob-
ert P. Marshall, provided Time with irrefutable docu-
mentation of Behar's bias, as well as with three thick
packs of media articles and letters from community
officials, covering the extensive community work done
by the Church in the United States. The materials docu-
mented that the Church has been active for years in
anti-crime and anti-drug campaigns, in providing assis-
tance to the needy and that these community service
programs have been acknowledged and very much ap-
preciated by city, county and state officials.
However, true to his style and in keeping with his long-
term plan to deny the existence of anything positive about
Scientology, not one mention of the Church ' s many commu-
nity contributions appeared in Behar's article.
TIME MAGAZINE STATEMENT:
Behar makes the statement that, "Psychiatrists say
these [Scientology counselling] sessions can produce a
drugged-like, mind-controlled euphoria...."
TRUE INFORMATION:
This is a bizarre and rather ironic allegation consid-
ering Scientology counselling raises one's awareness
as attested to by thousands of people all over the world,
and in light of the facts that:
1. Psychiatrists are notorious for prescribing drugs,
over-drugging their patients and engaging in harmful
mind-control experiments, actions which are specifi-
cally opposed by the Church of Scientology both in
principle and practice.
2. Scientologists are and have always been against
the use of harmful psychiatric drugs; have spearheaded
successful anti-drug campaigns such as the nationwide
Lead the Way to a Drug-Free USA program; lend their
support to Narconon, the most successful drug
rehabilitation program available; and deliver services
that have gotten more than 100,000 people off of drugs.
3. The Church's FREEDOM news journal led the
way in exposing government-sponsored, psychiatric
mind-control experiments that were carried out on un-
witting human subjects.
TIME MAGAZINE STATEMENTS:
Behar's article includes severalfalse statements about
L. Ron Hubbard, including the following:
# Hubbard was a moderately successful writer of
pulp science fiction.
# Critics pan most of Hubbard's books as unread-
able.
TRUE INFORMATION:
Contrary to Behar's statement, L. Ron Hubbard was
one of the early Science Fiction Greats. As such, Mr.
Hubbard was in the company of other great authors o
science fiction, such as Heinlein, Van Vogt and Asimov.
The popularity of Hubbard's works has continued through
the decades to this day. His books regularly receive rave
reviews, appear repeatedly on best seller lists around the
world, and are in great demand. Over 98 million of his
works have been sold. They have been translated into 31
languages and published in 88 countries. Many prestigious
literary awards have been bestowed on L. Ron Hubbard,
both in America and overseas, for his accomplishments as
a writer.
TIME MAGAZINE STATEMENT:
Behar falsely portrays the tax-exempt status of
Scientology. He first brings up a 1967 lRS ruling which
he states "stripped Scientology's mother church of its
tax-exempt status." Behar later represents that the
Scientology religion has no tax-exempt status, by stat-
ing that a 1988 U.S. Supreme Court decision "upheld
the revocation of {Scientology's} tax-exempt status. "
TRUE INFORMATION:
The 1967 IRS ruling cited by Behar concerning the
Church of Scientology of California was invalidated by
the IRS itself and has been meaningless for nearly 25
years. That Church also has not been the mother church
of Scientology for a decade.
Following extensive examination of various Church
records in the early-mid 1970's, the IRS officially rec-
ognized the tax-exempt status of 14 Churches of
Scientology in 1975. These same Churches are recog-
nized to this day as exempt by the IRS.
Indeed, in early l991 the IRS completed an extensive
examination of the Founding Church of Scientology of
Washington, D.C. and left its tax-exempt status fully
intact.
The 1988 Supreme Court decision cited by Behar
simply declined review of a lower court decision in a
case that involved the exempt status of one Church of
Scientology corporation for three tax years. In the IRS ' s
own words, "That opinion has no binding effect upon
any other individual Church of Scientology organiza-
tion.... The case only involved the years 1970, 1971 and
1972.... The opinion has no binding effect upon any
other individual Church of Scientology organization."
TIME MAGAZINE STATEMENT:
Behar falsely asserts that a mid-1980's IRS investi-
gation "proved" that Mr. Hubbard and the Church
were guilty of crimes, and that indictment of Mr.
Hubbard was being sought in late 1985 but that he died
before prosecution could occur. Behar implies strongly
throughout the article that the Church continues to be
under IRS investigation for (unspecified) crimes.
TRUE INFORMATION:
Behar claims that the IRS alleged that L. Ron
Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, "skimmed" $200
million from the Church. Although the IRS is clearly
intent on destroying Scientology and has spread numer-
ous false reports concerning it, they have never made
this claim to our knowledge. The IRS audited Mr.
Hubbard's tax returns every year for the last ten years
of his life. In each year Mr. Hubbard ended up with
either no additional tax owed or getting a refund. Fur-
thermore, L. Ron Hubbard willed nearly the entirety of
his estate to the Scientology religion. Behar's allega-
tions are unfounded and despicable.
Moreover, the criminal investigation referred to in
the article was rejected by the Department of Justice in
late 1986 as being unfounded, not, as Behar claims, on
the basis of Mr. Hubbard's death. In fact, the IRS's file
had remained open after Mr. Hubbard's death in Janu-
ary 1986, and did not close until November 1986, after
the rejection of the case by the Department of Justice.
Behar has long acted as a stalking-horse for the IRS.
In October 1986 he attempted to revive the ill-fated IRS
criminal investigation. At that time Behar wrote in
Forbes magazine that, "...an IRS criminal investigation
is gathering momentum in Los Angeles...," at the very
time the Department of Justice had completed its re-
view and rejected the IRS's proposal in its entirety.
Not only was the investigation not "gathering momen-
tum in Los Angeles" in October of 1986, it was not
even in the IRS's hands and had not been for a year.
Later, evidence surfaced disclosing why Behar would
write such falsehoods. He was friendly with Al Lipkin,
the IRS Criminal Investigation Division (CID) agent in
charge of the investigation, and he was attempting to
influence the Department of Justice's decision on the
case.
In a conversation with Octavio Pena, a New Jersey
private investigator retained by the Jordache Jeans com-
pany, Behar acknowledged his relationship with Al
Lipkin.
In March of 1987, the Chief of the Los Angeles IRS
CID confirmed in writing that the CID was neither
conducting nor considering a criminal investigation of
entities, of ficers or individuals employed by any Church
of Scientology.
To add injury to insult, the LA office of the IRS CID
was cited by Congress in 1990 for practicing wide-
spread corruption during the very period of their
trumped-up investigation of Scientology and their con-
spiring with Behar.
Thus for obvious reasons, Behar omits why certain
factions within the IRS would attack Scientology. The
true facts are that the Church of Scientology is at the
forefront of exposing the IRS's abuses against Ameri-
can citizens and in taking effective action to reform the
failing tax system. The Church has worked with Con-
gress and the Treasury Department' s Inspector General
in bringing about oversight of the IRS to protect the
rights of Americans. Time makes no mention of Church
of Scientology International's publications entitled the
"Guide to the Taxpayer' s Bill of Rights" and "Freedom
of Information Act Handbook," simple how-to guides
to prevent IRS abuse of taxpayers and to enable citizens
to find out what data their government maintains about
them.
The Church has helped to form and actively supports
the Citizens for an Alternative Tax System (CATS),
whose objective is the replacement of the income tax
system with a national sales tax that is both fairer and
less bureaucratic than the current system, and which
will make the IRS obsolete. This campaign is taking the
U.S. by storm. Noted columnist Pat Buchanan ran a
widely syndicated column supporting CATS in April
1991.
There are those in the IRS who do not want this kind
of reform and attack the Church in retaliation. Behar is
the man who does the agency's dirty work.
TIME MAGAZINE STATEMENT:
Behar claims that the fact that the Church and indi-
vidual Scientologists are prosecuting 71 suits against
the Internal Revenue Service evidences an intent to
harass the lRS. He then mixes that with a statement that
the Department of Justice is somehow afraid of
Scientology because of such a proclivity to sue.
TRUE INFORMATIOII:
All 71 suits filed and pending against the IRS are
completely meritorious. Most of them are suits brought
under the Freedom of Information Act asking the courts'
assistance to enjoin the IRS to comply with the law and
disclose their files. The strength of the claims is con-
firmed by the fact that the IRS has attempted to
dismiss all suits pending and such attempts have been
rejected by courts across the land. In fact, one U.S.
Federal District Court Judge ruled in April 1991 that
the IRS's attempt to dismiss two such suits was done
for the "sole purpose...to harass, cause unnecessary de-
lay, or needlessly increase the cost of litigation." The
court fined the IRS $300 for those tactics. In another
recent case a Scientologist couple was awarded $13,972
by a U.S. Federal District Court Judge because the
IRS's actions were "not substantially justified." These
are just three examples of numerous similarly favorable
rulings obtained by Scientologists and the Church against
the IRS in the past year. These court rulings belie the
charges of Behar.
TIME MAGAZINE STATEMENT:
In reference to a 1971 court decision, Behar alleged
that, "Hubbard responded by going fully religious, seek-
ing First Amendment protection for Scientology's
strange rites," implying that Scientology was not a
religion prior to that point.
TRUE INFORMATION:
This allegation is patently false. Scientology has been
a religion since the incorporation of the first Church in
1954. The religious nature of Scientology has been the
subject of many articles by its founder since that time.
Behar completely twisted the facts concerning the
1971 U.S. District Court decision which held that
Scientology "is a bona fide religion and that the audit-
ing practice of Scientology and accounts of it are reli-
gious doctrine."
The U.S. District Court based its ruling on the find-
ings of the Court of Appeals of the District of Columbia
Circuit that had fully evaluated the Scientology religion
two years earlier and found it to be bona fide in every
respect. The court stated, "On the record as a whole, we
find that appellants have made out a prima facie case
that the Founding Church of Scientology is a religion.
It is incorporated as such in the District of Columbia. It
has ministers, who are licensed as such, with legal
authority to marry and to bury. lts fundamental writings
contain a general account of man and his nature compa-
rable in scope, if not in content, to those of some recog-
nized religions."
TIME MAGAZINE STATEMENT:
Behar's article portrays the Citizens Commission on
Human Rights (CCHR) as a "front group " and "finan-
cial scam" and contends that CCHR's exposure of the
life-threatening dangers of psychiatric drugs such as
Prozac is based on "scant evidence. "
TRUE INFORMATION:
For over 20 years, CCHR, which is sponsored by the
Church of Scientology, has been documenting the abuses
inflicted on the public by unethical psychiatrists and
their damaging practices. The evidence gathered by
CCHR of the dangers of Prozac is strong and is mount-
ing daily.
Over 14,000 adverse reactions resulting from the use
of Prozac have been reported to the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration (FDA) since Prozac's release on the
market at the end of 1987. Such reactions include de-
lirium, hallucinations, convulsions, permanently crip-
pling nervous disorders, violent hostility and aggres-
sion, psychosis and suicide. (By comparison, Valium, a
drug acknowledged to be widely abused and the cause
of medication dependency, has been the subject of less
than 7,000 adverse reaction reports in twenty years.)
In 1990 alone, CCHR's office in Los Angeles re-
ceived over ten thousand calls from people who
reported being damaged by Prozac, or whose family
members committed suicide either while on the drug or
while coming off the drug. Some had killed people,
some had maimed themselves, and others were suffer-
ing from nightmares about killing their own children
and themselves. Many of these individuals reported
that they had been presented with the false hope that the
drug would have a beneficial effect, such as assisting in
weight loss, relieving of physical pain or optical pres-
sure, combatting a smoking habit, or simply serving as
a "pick me up."
Furthermore, over 50 Prozac-related personal injury
lawsuits have been filed to date by victims of the drug
against its manufacturer, Eli Lilly and Co., for nearly
$1 billion in damages. Because of the growing number
of cases of harm caused by Prozac, the Association of
Trial Lawyers of America recently created a Prozac
litigation section just to provide assistance to attorneys
who are having to prepare Prozac-related suits for people
damaged by the drug. According to the March 1991
issue of Texas Lawyer, plaintiffs' attorneys say that
because the abuse cases are so numerous and wide-
spread, Prozac could become the next Dalkon Shield.
Lilly's history of promoting and selling dangerous
drugs, despite voluminous evidence of such dangers, is
well documented. Throughout the 1980's, Lilly at-
tempted to downplay reports it received of numerous
deaths associated with its drug Oraflex, claiming that
scientific studies showed that the drug was "safe and
effective."
In 1985, however, Lilly pled guilty to 10 charges of
failing to report deaths and illnesses linked to the drug,
and 15 counts of failing to properly label Oraflex pack-
ages regarding dangerous side effects associated with
the drug, including death. Oraflex was subsequently
taken off the market.
Mounting evidence indicates it is only a matter of
time before Prozac is similarly removed from the mar-
ket in order to protect the public. Behar's attempt to
discredit CCHR for being in the vanguard of bringing
Prozac's harms to public notice is telling of his own
unsavory intentions.
Additionally, Church researchers have found that cer-
tain members of Time magazine's board of directors
share other board memberships with Eli Lilly board
members.
This, coupled with the fact that Eli Lilly's stock
value plummeted after CCHR's exposure of the dan-
gers of Prozac, explains why Time magazine would be
so intent on discrediting CCHR's exposure of the dan-
gers of Prozac.
* Dalkon Shield: An intrauterine birth control device
which caused severe adverse reactions for users, many
of whom filed lawsuits as a result; eventually this ava-
lanche of litigation drove the manufacturer into bank-
ruptcy.
TIME MAGAZINE STATEMENT:
Behar uses the Cult Awareness Network's executive
director as a source of false statements about
Scientology and its expansion for his article.
TRUE INFORMATION:
The Cult Awareness Network (CAN) is a group with
executives and members who have proven criminal
backgrounds and affiliations.
The last president of CAN, Michael Rokos, resigned
in late 1990 amid public exposure of his criminal record.
Rokos was convicted in 1982 for soliciting lewdness,
i.e., making a perverted sexual proposition to an under-
cover policeman. Rokos resisted arrest and also gave a
false name to the police.
Despite incontrovertible documentation of the inci-
dent, Rokos first vehemently denied the occurrence and
made wild legal threats against those who exposed it.
Cynthia Kisser, the current executive director of CAN
quoted by Behar in his article, also denied and tried to
downplay the incident to avoid further public embar-
rassment.
The Maryland State Police, however, confirmed the
story and Rokos resignedÑboth from his position as
volunteer chaplain with the Maryland State Police and
from his position as president of CAN.
CAN serves as a networking and referral service for
the "deprogramming" racket. The group spreads or cre-
ates derogatory and sensational information about tar-
geted religious groups, manufacturing fear among the
families of individuals associated with these religions.
CAN encourages individuals to pay tens of thou-
sands of dollars to kidnap family members, hold them
against their will, and physically and mentally harass
them until they are forced to denounce their religious
beliefs.
Members of the Roman Catholic Church, the Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the Christian Sci-
ence Church, Disciples of Christ, Seventh Day
Adventists, and the Amish have been among such tar-
geted religions.
Ted Patrick, the recognized "father of
deprogramming" and founder of the movement, is a
felon who has been convicted and jailed multiple times.
Charges against Patrick include battery and sexual bat-
tery, assault, kidnapping, false imprisonment, abduc-
tion, possession of cocaine and violation of parole.
Patrick has been a guest of honor at CAN gatherings
as recently as 1990. In March l991 Patrick came
under criminal charges again in the state of Washington
for another unsuccessful "deprogramming" attempt.
In January 1991, Richard Behar slipped and revealed
his own sympath“es with the pract“ce of deprogramm“ng.
In response to being told that a certain individual was a
member of the Church of Scientology, he stated, "There
are a lot of these anti-cult groups that recommendÑI
don't mean to suggest it because I don't want to be in a
position to suggest it, you knowÑthey deprogram
people."
It is revealing of Behar's allegiances that he failed to
use any credible source of information on Scientology
in preparation of his article. Instead, he included among
his sources a group that is best known for its anti-
religious stance and practices, and then he attempts to
pass off the results to Time magazine readers as a
believable story.
TIME MAGAZINE STATEMENT:
Behar portrays former Church attorney Joseph Yanny
as an expert on the Church of Scientology. The Time
article attempts to put the Church on trial using false
claims that were specifically excluded from the litiga-
tion with Yanny by the trial judgeÑe.g., that Yanny
was asked to steal records for the Church, and was the
subject of Church "harassment, " including death threats
and burglaries.
TRUE INFORMATION:
Yanny is a former attorney for the Church who was
found to be taking LSD when Scientology executives
investigated why Yanny was unable to maintain an
acceptable level of performance and professional con-
duct.
After leaving Church employ, Yanny proceeded to
break attorney-client confidences. In subsequent litiga-
tion with Yanny concerning his breach of contractual
agreement, Superior Court Judge Cardenas found that
Yanny showed "a ready willingness to disregard legal
and ethical responsibilities owed to his former clients."
TIME MAGAZINE STATEMENT:
The Time article forwards claims by the parents of
Noah Lottick that the Church was to blame for Noah's
suicide.
TRUE INFORMATION:
The Church was saddened to hear of Noah Lottick's
tragic death. However, the claims raised against it are
baseless. Noah Lottick had merely attended basic courses
in the Church. His real upset before his suicide was
with his parents. Noah wrote a letter to his parents
about two weeks prior to his suicide. In it, he blamed
them for mistreating him all his life and never lett“ng
him grow up on his own. Throughout his life, Noah
frequently had fights with his parents.
Noah Lottick's father had been institutionalized at
age 24 and started taking the psychiatric drug Thorazine
at that time. The father was trying to likewise put Noah
into the hands of psychiatrists against Noah' s will.
About a week before his suicide, Noah was also
upset with his father for telling the dean of a college
they were visiting that Noah was a repressed homo-
sexual.
Noah Lottick had only recently turned to the Church
for helpÑbut too late. In fact, the Lotticks never, ever
suggested the Church had anything to do with their
son's death until Richard Behar promised them promi-
nence in the pages of Time. Such manipulation of ag-
grieved parents is unconscionable.
Behar's spurious accusation that the Church was in
some way to blame for Noah's tragic suicide was com-
pletely fabricated and contrary to existing evidence.
TIME MAGAZINE STATEMENT:
Behar quotes former Church executive Vicki Aznaran
who likens the Church to Jim and Tammy Bakker, thus
insinuating that a misuse of Church funds exists.
TRUE INFORMATION:
Aznaran is not a credible source. She is currently
pressing a groundless lawsuit against the Church seek-
ing $70 million. Aznaran was removed from any posi-
tion of authority in the Church due to unethical con-
duct, by those she now accuses of wrongdoing.
Ms. Aznaran's statements in the Time article are not
only false, but are contradicted by her earlier sworn
representations made to the IRS. Jim and Tammy Bakker
were accused of using church funds for their personal
benefit. On August 30,1985, Vicki Aznaran attested to
the Internal Revenue Service that there was no basis for
the agency to have a concern that any individual staff
member made personal profit from the Church' s activi-
ties.
What Behar doesn't mention is that Vicki Aznaran
did not leave her position in the Church. She was re-
moved by Church trustees for violation of corporate
responsibilities as a board member and for partaking in
a failed power push by non-board and non-staff mem-
bers over control of church funds. Her parting words
were, "I've ruined my career in Scientology." And she
was right. If anything of what Aznaran said were true,
she would in essence be talking about what she did as a
board member.
TIME MAGAZINE STATEMENT:
Behar wrote in his article, "Last August [Roots]
author Alex Haley was the keynote speaker at [the
Concerned Businessmen's Association of America's]
annual awards banquet in Los Angeles. Says Haley, 'I
didn't know much about that group going in. I'm a
Methodist.' Ignorance about Scientology can be em-
barrassing.... "
Behar's statement, especially being set within a wholly
negative article on Scientology, implies that Haley's
experience with the Concerned Businessmen 's Associa-
tion of America or with Scientology was in some way
embarrassing or negative for him.
TRUE INFORMATION:
In a conversation with Mr. Haley, subsequent to and
concerning publication of the Time magazine article,
Haley confirmed that his experience at the event was
wholly positive and that he "would come back and
speak tomorrow as far as that's concerned.... My con-
cern about that piece would be if it said, or if it overtly
implied anything that was other than positive from my
point of view. Because there was nothing other than
positive."
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