Religious Technology Center

Scientology Legal Cases — July 2018: Scientology Wins Garcia Sham Arbitration; Settles Forced Abortion Case in DeCrescenzo

Laura DeCrescenzo

Events in a mediation last weekend signaled that the Church of Scientology was preparing to settle with Laura DeCrescenzo in her nine year old lawsuit that detailed numerous abuses she suffered at Scientology’s hands as a Sea Org member: Forced abortion, sleep deprivation, brainwashing, and false imprisonment.

Scientology’s Religious Technology Center (RTC) was named as a defendant in the lawsuit. Scientology dictator David Miscavige exercises supreme control over Scientology from his position as Chairman of the Board RTC.  DeCrescenzo’s lawsuit threatened to pierce Scientology’s corporate veils and show that Scientology is the alter ego of David Miscavige.

News of the settlement with Laura DeCrescenzo has just been published by Tony Ortega. In her long and grinding legal battle, DeCrescenzo was able to defeat Scientology’s contract called Agreement Regarding Confidential Religious Files. In this particular contract, Scientologists forever sign away all their rights to ever read, inspect, review, or own their preclear folders.

Among her other legal victories in pretrial, Laura DeCrescenzo was able to establish that over 100 people in Scientology had access to her confessional folders and there was no priest-penitent privilege. This struck another major blow against Scientology’s demonstrably false claim that pc folders are confidential. Scientology’s former members who speak out have consistently testified that their “private” pc folder data was used against them in retaliatory Scientology Fair Game attacks. Fair Game puts the lie to all claims made by Scientology that anything a former Scientologist said in session is private. L. Ron Hubbard himself sanctioned the use of pc folder data against former members who speak out.

The upcoming trial in DeCrescenzo posed enormous risks for the Church of Scientology. These risks included the setting of legal precedents that would be adverse to Scientology in all future litigation filed against it.

GARCIA

On July 17, 2018 Federal Judge James Whittemore ruled in the Church of Scientology’s favor in the sham arbitration it conducted with former Scientologists Luis and Rocio Garcia. In his ruling, Judge Whittemore’s concluded that the First Amendment prevented him from interfering in the outcome of Scientology’s arbitration procedure with the Garcia’s. To outsiders, it was abundantly clear to see that the arbitration was a complete sham.

The Garcia case was predicated on the fact that the Garcia’s had signed Scientology’s scammy “Religious Services Enrollment Application, Agreement, and General Release” contract. In this contract, the Garcia’s agreed to be bound by Scientology’s ecclesiastical rules including arbitration. According to the contract, Scientology was entitled to set all the rules in what became a one-sided farce that served to highlight the bad faith that is integral to the Church of Scientology.

We covered specifics of Scientology’s bad faith in two previous articles:

How Scientology Inc. Legally Cripples Its Own Members: The Four Unconscionable Contracts

Why the Church of Scientology Gets Away with Flagrantly Abusing and Harming its Own Members and How to Stop It.

An excerpt from our second article:

Churches, temples, mosques, and ashrams are free to determine their own internal form of government, rules, and discipline. The government is prohibited from intruding into these ecclesiastical matters. The First and Fourteenth Amendments to the US Constitution guarantees these rights. In the legal case Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese, Etc. v. Milivojevich, the Court stated:

“…the First and Fourteenth Amendments permit hierarchical religious organizations to establish their own rules and regulations for internal discipline and government, and to create tribunals for adjudicating disputes over these matters. When this choice is exercised and ecclesiastical tribunals are created to decide disputes over the government and direction of subordinate bodies, the Constitution requires that civil courts accept their decisions as binding upon them.”

So long as the “rules and regulations for internal discipline and government” do not violate US law, the members of a religious group can be subjected to harsh ecclesiastical tribunals, severe punishments, and even the humiliating public disclosure of their sins and the US courts cannot do anything about it. This is the dark side of “freedom of religion.”

Judge Whittemore cited Serbian Eastern Orthodox Diocese, Etc. v. Milivojevich in his ruling in Garcia.

In our opinion, Judge Whittemore issued an intellectually lazy and judicially incompetent ruling. Rather than focusing on the bad faith of Scientology during the entire arbitration process — which is a serious issue — he simply took the easy way out.

An exhausted old cow can’t deliberate properly: A perfect metaphor for Judge James Whittemore’s ruling in Garcia. 

Had Scientology’s attorneys known in advance that Judge Whittemore was so slovenly, they would have had Scientology’s arbitrators throw chicken bones on the floor; read the patterns; deny the Garcia’s any award; and have this chicken bone ecclesiastical procedure confirmed by Scientology’s IJC Mike Ellis. Judge Whittemore would have accepted their decision and issued the exact same ruling: The court may not interfere. Whittemore is 66 years old. He needs to be put out to pasture like an old cow before he does further judicial damage to other parties in his lackadaisical dotage. The poor old boy is tired.

SCIENTOLOGY: BAD FAITH, DIRTY CONTRACTS, BROKEN DREAMS

Although the Garcia’s lost in what was a sham arbitration, the Church of Scientology lost in a much bigger way. What the world saw in Garcia was Scientology’s bad faith and lies at work. For example, the Garcia’s were fraudulently induced to donate $65,000 to cover the costs of placing the Scientology cross atop the Super Power Building. This same fraudulent inducement was propounded to other Scientology by Scientology’s dishonest and predatory registrars (sales people)

Scientology’s registrars and certain other public-facing staff members can be so craven and dishonest that the Church of Scientology had to write a specific policy in which it does not stand behind any statements made by any of its staff members:

Laura DeCrescenzo prevailed in her case because Scientology’s conduct was so abhorrent that it appears to have exceeded First Amendment religious protections and, in this writer’s opinion, to have crossed the line into criminality. In any event, Scientology did not want to risk appearing in a public court of law where a jury would hear a shocking litany of horrific acts Scientology perpetrated against a young woman.

And under all circumstances, Scientology could not risk having David Miscavige placed on the stand. This is because the entire operating basis of the Church of Scientology is to protect David Miscavige from the consequences of his own actions. The same operating basis was at work when L. Ron Hubbard was alive and in control of the Church. The coddled and brutal tyrants at the top of the Scientology crime syndicate must always be protected at all costs. Mary Sue Hubbard learned this the hard way as has Shelly Miscavige.

In my view, the Church of Scientology lied to and swindled the Garcia’s out of hundreds of thousands of dollars and got away with it due to its First Amendment protections. The same holds true of the many people Scientology has swindled out of money these people have placed as “Monies on Account.” The fact is that there is no such thing as “Monies on Account” in Scientology. The actual contract Scientologists sign characterizes the monies as irrevocable donations and states that Scientology is under no obligation to return it. Again, this emphasizes why the IRS must move to revoke Scientology’s tax exemption.

The bad faith, lies, greed, hostility, and malice the Church of Scientology continually exhibits towards its own members is contained in the series of dirty contracts Scientologists must sign at every step of their journey up the falsely named “Bridge to Total Freedom.”

Bottom Line: No one should ever sign any contract with the Church of Scientology — and no one should ever donate money to this already wealthy and dishonest organization.

There is no Bridge to Total Freedom in Scientology.

There is only a Bridge to Total Slavery and Ruination.

Judge Whittemore’s Ruling in Garcia:

Garcia-v-Scientology-Order-denying-Garcia-motion

Cult Paradox: Why Scientology Is Collapsing As a Function of Its Burgeoning Real Estate Empire

The Church of Scientology is so heavily entrenched in Downtown Clearwater that it has become harmful to the community. Scientology does not pay taxes on its huge portfolio of tax-exempt properties in Clearwater and yet demands police and fire services, uses the roads, freeways, and other public infrastructure. Worse, Scientology has driven businesses, redevelopment, and tourism dollars out of Downtown Clearwater, thus further depressing the economy and tax base of Clearwater. In 2017, Scientology even announced its brazen plans for what amounted to a hostile corporate takeover of Downtown Clearwater. The details are quite alarming as can be seen in an excellent and highly detailed article by Tracy McManus of The Tampa Bay Times.

Compounding matters, John P. Capitalist recently noted that many public Scientologists are moving out of Clearwater, Florida to escape the never-ending onslaught of Scientology regges. In  Scientology “registrars” are called “regges” and are actually salespeople. All across Scientology, the regges demand donations on a daily basis. It is very bad in Clearwater and Los Angeles where the largest concentrations of Scientologists live. John P. wrote of the public Scientologists in Clearwater:

…I’ve heard from several sources that a number of longtime members have moved out [of Clearwater] in order to avoid visits from desperate “regges” in the middle of the night ringing the doorbell and demanding cash. They’re claiming to be moving for innocuous reasons like “to be closer to the grandkids,” but apparently they’re just tired of the stress and want to deal with the cult from a distance. It’s not clear how many people are making the move, but even a few sure makes it sound like the rank-and-file (all those dentists, chiropractors and small business owners) are reaching a saturation point.

It is quite true that Scientology regges do show up unannounced at any hour of the day or night at the homes and businesses of public Scientologists to demand money. I personally know dozens of former Scientologists to whom this happened. In many cases, when the public Scientologists refused to answer their front door, the rampaging regges went into backyards and beat on the patio doors in an attempt to flush their quarry from hiding. Deplorable conduct but it is nevertheless true.

As Scientology regges are usually Sea Org members, public Scientologists who treat them rudely or object to their intrusive tactics can get in very serious trouble with the Church for doing so. These salespeople are deemed to be helping “Clear the Planet” and so their unwanted intrusions are considered justified by Church management. For this reason, public Scientologists have taken to refusing to answer their doors and have stopped answering their phones as a means to avoid the greedy Scientology fundraisers. These hapless public Scientologists choose to hide as they know the regges have complete immunity to engage in predatory and intrusive tactics that include invading the privacy and sanctity of one’s own home.

John P.’s observation of the flight of public Scientologists from Clearwater led me to create this simplified graph and the accompanying commentary:

J. Swift’s Scientology Real Estate Axiom #1: The more real estate the Cult of Scientology owns in a given area, the more public Scientologists will flee the area, refuse to accept regging phone calls, attend regging briefings, or accept unannounced and intrusive home regging visits. This “Public Scientologist Money Flight” occurs as a function of an ever-increasing number of Scientology fundraising personnel occupying buildings that contain competing Orgs, Scientology front groups, and Scientology fundraising programs.

In practice, each new piece of Scientology real estate becomes a standalone business operating unit within the Scientology corporate structure. These standalone operating units are called “Orgs” or “Social Betterment Groups” and each has its own weekly fundraising quotas.  Scientology also has fundraising programs for both current and planned programs. These fundraising activities also have weekly financial quotas. All of these separate business operating units result in intense competition within Scientology for a shrinking pool of donations.

TAX EXEMPT STATUS + ENDLESS FUNDRAISING = SCIENTOLOGY REAL ESTATE EMPIRE

As a condition of receiving tax exemption, US tax law requires religious tax exempt organizations to spend money in the public benefit. For example, if Catholic churches  provide free services to the homeless this is seen as helping to reduce the tax burden on the US Government. Hence, tax exemption is viewed as a form of exchange. L. Ron Hubbard, however, taught that giving anyone anything for free was wrong. Hubbard said charity was “rewarding a downstat” as it rewarded people for doing nothing. Hubbard’s 1950’s view of poverty was that poor people were lazy; did not want to work; were worthless; and only wanted free welfare checks and handouts.

Hubbard’s 1950 view of poverty became Scientology doctrine. Given Scientology’s doctrinal refusal to engage in charity, the only things Scientology can actually spend its money on are real estate, self-promotion, and financing its perpetual state of warfare with those people and groups it deems enemies. This spending plan results in the Scientology we see today: A self-aggrandizing, angry, paranoid, and hostile cultic group characterized by its bloated real estate holdings and its insane and lavishly-financed wars against former members, critics, the media, and those governments that oppose Scientology and correctly see it as a for-profit business.

THE PARADOX IN WHICH THE SCIENTOLOGY CULT IS TRAPPED

The endless purchasing of real estate by Scientology is paradoxically and ultimately self-destructive as it acts to exponentially increase fundraising pressures amongst competing Scientology business units while simultaneously driving membership and donations out of the Church. Scientology incessantly boasts that the growth in square footage it owns proves Scientology is growing. However, this is a misdirection. While Scientology’s real estate portfolio is indeed growing, the Cult quietly sweeps the real story of its shocking membership decline under the rug.

Scientology’s Ideal Org program was a debacle which proved that the more real estate Scientology purchases and accumulates, the fewer members it will have. The Ideal Org scam drove untold thousands of people out of Scientology due to incessant fundraising demands. Likewise, the Basics book campaign was a giant $100,000,000+ cynical money grab that saw legions of people leave Scientology.

The pointless accumulation of real estate by Scientology is a function of its tax exemption and L. Ron Hubbard’s policy that endless fundraising must occur. What Hubbard called “new money” must be brought into the Scientology each week. The smallest possible portion of this “new money” is spent paying expenses. Hubbard mandated that the remaining money be locked away in untouchable reserves. Hubbard purposely designed Scientology to generate large cash reserves. This is why Scientology’s main focus is on money. Because the IRS does not allow excessive capital accumulation by tax exempt entities, however, Scientology spends part of its reserves on the items described above.

Scientology also spends the minimum amount of money possible on its Sea Org labor force. Sea Org members live far below the US poverty level of $13,860 in annual income for an individual. Legally speaking, Sea Org members are not employees and are classed as religious volunteers. As such, they receive a meager weekly stipend of $50, usually less, plus room and board. Scientology’s goal is to spend the least possible amount of money on Sea Org members while demanding the maximum amount of production. Sea Org members routinely work 80-100 hours per week. A Sea Org work week is six and one half days in duration.  One half day is given to do laundry and clean one’s berthing area. Scientology’s slave labor program also applies to the child labor Scientology uses in the Sea Org.

FLAG LAND BASE

As an illustration of my premise, Scientology’s Flag Land Base in Clearwater, Florida has numerous Orgs, Scientology front groups, and  fundraising programs that compete with each other daily for an ever-shrinking volume of donations. Here is what a Scientologist can be expected to donate to, or pay for, on a trip to Flag Land Base; this list is not exhaustive:

1. Flag Service Organization — Mandatory donations for auditing services and courses
2. The International Association of Scientologists — Scientology’s multibillion dollar slush fund
3. Lodgings at one of the several Scientology-owned hotels
4. Meals at one of the several Scientology-owned restaurants
5. Citizens Commission on Human Rights — The rabid anti-Psychiatry component of Scientology
6. The Way to Happiness Foundation — A Scientology Front Group
7. Youth for Human Rights — A Scientology Front Group
8. United for Human Rights — A Scientology Front Group
9. Foundation for a Drug Free World — A Scientology Front Group
10. Applied Scholastics — A Scientology Front Group
11. Criminon — A Scientology Front Group
12. Volunteer Ministers — A Scientology Front Group
13. The Basics Book Campaign — Fundraising to put L. Ron Hubbard’s books into libraries
14. The Ideal Org Campaign — Fundraising to buy more real estate called “Ideal Orgs”
15. The Archival Project — Fundraising to store L. Ron Hubbard’s works in nuclear proof vaults
16. Advanced Payments — Scientologists are asked to donate money now future services later
17. The L. Ron Hubbard Hall — a planned auditorium in Clearwater

MONASTERY SCIENTOLOGY

Monastery Scientology is a term I coined in 2008 when I predicted that Scientology will be drained of its middle class parishioners and become a haven for only the wealthiest of Scientologists who can afford to stay in the game. Monastery Scientology is becoming inevitable as only the wealthiest and most status-obsessed Scientologists will remain in the Cult of Scientology.

At present, the Cult is in a Palace of Versailles phase in which wealthy Scientologists vie for David Miscavige’s attention and favor as signified by a competition for larger and gaudier IAS statuses and trophies. These statuses and trophies require wealthy Scientologists to increase ever-larger amounts of cash to Scientology.

The prime example of failure in this pointless Palace of Versailles status race was Scientologist Richie Acunto. After donating ten million dollars to Scientology, his Survival Insurance company went bankrupt. And to his ignominy — and that of Scientology —  Richie’s ten million dollar IAS trophy languished in a storage locker. When Richie failed to pay rent on the storage locker, its contents were sold at auction. Richie’s $10,000,000 trophy was sold on eBay to the highest bidder. The Church of Scientology was likely the highest bidder as the Acunto trophy has never been seen since it was sold on eBay. Again, another inconvenient matter swept under the rug. Richie Acunto has been long forgotten by Scientology.

This Palace of Versailles phase is characterized by a never-ending series of useless galas awash in flimsily contrived stories of imagined Scientology global triumphs, wildly inflated and nonsensical statistics, and garish trophies and awards. One of Scientology’s more patently absurd claims is that the mere distribution of its insipid Way to Happiness booklet reduced crime in Colombia by 50 percent.

In the terse no-nonsense language of American corporate life these events can be correctly described as circle jerks.

Ray Jeffrey Files Petition to Depose Mark & Monique Rathbun on their Finances

July 24, 2017: As reported today by Tony Ortega, attorney Ray Jeffrey has filed a petition with the District Court of Bexar County, Texas to examine the financial records Mark & Monique Rathbun. This is a matter arising from Monique Rathbun’s sudden and unexpected firing of her legal team and dropping her legal case against David Miscavige et. al.

The poster TX Lawyer commented on the Underground Bunker today:

Just to put this in context, this is what’s known in Texas civil litigation as a Rule 202 petition, which allows a potential plaintiff to obtain a court order to take a deposition even where a lawsuit is not pending, so long as you are doing it to investigate a potential claim or suit (or to preserve the witness’s testimony for use in an anticipated suit). They’re a pretty common procedure here in Texas, and most judges routinely grant them when requested. I do note that those document requests are awfully broad, so I would not be surprised if the judge pares them back if the Rathbuns object.

Tony is right that the Bexar County courts use a rotating docket for motions hearings, so you rarely know who’s going to decide your motion before you show up for the 9 am cattle call. And the 15 days referenced in the motion is the minimum amount of notice you have to give to the prospective witness, after the petition has been served on them, before the hearing can be held. It’s unclear whether the Rathbuns have been served yet, but you would ordinarily expect service to have happened by now. So whoever’s watching the docket sheet should look out for return of service and any notice of hearing.

As a practical matter, no halfway competent attorney would ever sue a client on an unpaid contingency fee unless they had a pretty good idea that some kind of payment or exchange was made. If the Church did make any kind of payment to Marty, either as a settlement or for his recent propaganda services, it’s going to be found pretty readily.

And here’s something to keep an eye on: If and when the Rathbuns respond to the 202 petition, who is their lawyer going to be?

Related documents:

1. Document posted by Tony Ortega:

Marty1.4

2. Copy of online documents from the Bexar County Court portal:

Marty1D

Taking a hard look at Scientology’s slush fund, the unlicensed and unregulated IAS

David_Miscavige

In our last article, we showed that the word “Scientologist” is a collective membership mark used by members of the affiliated churches and missions of Scientology:

Scist1

This statement is found in the fine print of Impact, the official magazine of the International Association of Scientologists. Curiously enough, and as documented last week, the IAS itself is not a part of the ecclesiastical hierarchy of Scientology churches and missions:
IAS3

Given the autonomy of the IAS from the Church of Scientology, we are left to ask by what right or privilege is the IAS able to use the word “Scientologist.” The Scientology weasel answer is contained in the correspondence between the Church and the IRS in 1992:
Scis2
Let’s look at the Scientological sleight of hand here:

— The IAS is the official membership organization of the Church of Scientology.

— The purpose of the IAS is quite lofty and soaring:
IasPurposeDespite the IAS’ overarching purpose and centrality to the Scientology religion itself, the Church’s trademark counsel has advised all of us that the IAS engages in only “mere references” to Scientology’s trademarks and service marks.

One of those trademarks, by the way, is the word “scientologist” itself, which is owned by the RTC.

From the US Patent and Trademark Office:
Scientologist
So, Scientology is so anal, it trademarks the very use of the word “Scientologist,” and yet it somehow leaves unlicensed its massive slush fund, IAS. What gives?

An unlicensed IAS would seem to be a breach of David Miscavige’s duty to protect the ecclesiastical purity of the Scientology trademarks. Indeed, as we read in the Command Channels of Scientology, RTC is a policing function:

RTC

Why does David Miscavige apparently abrogate his primary duty to safeguard the “proper use of the trademarks” when it comes to the IAS? This most curious omission is “hats, not wearing” in the language of Scientology. “Hats, not wearing” means that one is not performing their assigned duties or not carrying out their assigned responsibilities. This is a very serious crime in the Church. L. Ron Hubbard warned against “hats, not wearing” in this policy letter:
Hats
Likewise, the IAS is not licensed by the Church of Spiritual Technology (CST). Instead, the IAS merely offers grateful acknowledgement to the Church of Spiritual Technology dba L. Ron Hubbard Library. This acknowledgement is also contained in the fine print of Impact Magazine:
ImpactCopyThe unlicensed IAS stands in stark contrast to the RTC-licensed Church of Scientology international (CSI) and all of its sub-licensees who must at all times operate under the strict licensure of RTC. And to be clear, all Scientology operations are done under licensure, i.e. they require a license from RTC, or from CST via RTC. In this sense, RTC could be viewed as the operating arm of CST. Thus, the “hats, not wearing” policy letter is relevant as it shows David Miscavige is not doing his duty by allowing the IAS to exist as an unlicensed Scientology entity.

One of the main lessons I have learned through many years of Scientology watching is this: Scientology never does anything legally without a reason, and, this reason is almost always hidden or not obvious. Therefore, even though it violates Miscavige’s duties and the stated functions of RTC, there is a reason David Miscavige and his attorneys did not want to license the IAS.

My thinking here is that IAS-IASA-US IAS Members Trust is a cabal that embodies a gigantic pool of unrestricted cash donations exceeding one billion dollars. Miscavige himself said of the IAS in 2014 “this is the year we went stratospheric.” I personally took this as Miscavige cryptically boasting that the IAS had crossed over some enormous target for cash holdings. It is fashionable these days for corporations to have large cash holdings and so the IAS would be no different.

Thus, in m my view, the IAS must be so completely autonomous legally that it cannot be sued as a licensee of RTC or CST. In the dismissed legal case Rathbun v. Miscavige et. al., Miscavige’s lawyers worked feverishly to prevent Rathbun from piercing the CSI and RTC corporate veils by proving that Miscavige is actually the managing agent of the Church. As presently constructed, Miscavige can secretly control the IAS money while being legally untouchable in any lawsuit.

As we mentioned previously, the invisible hand of the Sea Org is at work: As Captain David Miscavige controls the Sea Org, he therefore controls the IAS, the IASA, and the big fat piggy bank known as the US IAS Members Trust.

Therefore, the IAS must have the freedom to use RTC trademarks and CST copyrights on an unrestricted and unlicensed basis under the rubric of “mere references” in order for Miscavige to remain at arm’s length legally.

Still, one of my long-held suspicions is that David Miscavige has a personal services contract with the IAS and is paid for making speeches at IAS events. Perhaps Miscavige even receives 10% commission on his fundraising activities for the IAS? I say this because Scientology’s doctrine of exchange would demand the IAS compensate Miscavige for his appearances and not expect “something for nothing” as, per LRH, “something for nothing” is criminal:

“First consider a group which takes in money but does not deliver anything in exchange. This is called rip-off. It is the ‘exchange’ condition of robbers, tax men, governments and other criminal elements.” – L. Ron Hubbard, HCO PL 10 Sep 82 – Exchange, Org Income and Staff Pay.

(In the Church Scientology the one exception to the criminal condition of out exchange, of wanting “something for nothing” is  the phony Claims Verification Board (CVB). The CVB is a scam; it is a criminal entity that is fully allowed by RTC and CSI to deny repayments of “monies on account” and thus effectively steal “Advanced Payment” money for services that were never delivered and will never be delivered. See my article: Scientology: Refunds and Repayments of Monies on Account.)

All of this Church of Scientology conduct reflects badly upon the IRS. Why the IRS allowed such contradictions from the Church of Scientology is beyond the intellectual grasp of your humble correspondent. Had I been the IRS Commissioner, I would have thrown these chattering Scientology jackdaws and their lawyers out of my office. Nevertheless, as the Proprietor of the Underground Bunker maintains, the Church caved in the IRS. This would explain why the IRS chose to ignore contradictions that should otherwise throw up red flags.

For the IRS to have allowed the IAS, an autonomous fundraising organization (and one that pays fundraising commissions no less), to exist within the Church of Scientology seems very questionable.

But then, it was the IRS that didn’t flinch at the plans of the Church of Spiritual Technology to spend tens of millions of dollars to build twelve Scientology obelisks engraved with The Way to Happiness on each of them:
Obelisk
What a shame they were never built. Instead, Miscavige built his monument out of hard, unlicensed cash.

(This article was originally published on the Underground Bunker and is reprinted here for archival purposes,)

Scientology claims L. Ron Hubbard chose David Miscavige to succeed him, proving he didn’t

Eric_Lieberman2-e1465900443806[Scientology attorney Eric Lieberman]

(Originally published at Tony Ortega’s Underground Bunker, my article is reposted here for archival purposes).

Contributor Jeffrey Augustine has taken another close look at Scientology’s over-the-top attacks on Ron Miscavige for this piece today. Once again, he’s found some really interesting stuff!

The website that smears Ron Miscavige — presumably hosted by the Church of Scientology to distract from Ron’s book, Ruthless — is a gift that just keeps on giving. Previously, we pointed out that in an attempt to defend Scientology leader David Miscavige against allegations in the book, the website includes statements by church officials about David that directly contradict what he swore to the IRS when it gave Scientology tax exempt status in 1993.

This time, we’re looking at another claim made at the smear website — that it was Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard’s intention for David Miscavige to take over leadership of the church after Hubbard’s death.

This is such an important claim, it’s made by one of Scientology’s most important (and rarely seen) attorneys, Eric Lieberman, who says in a video at the smear site…

We have documented statements by L. Ron Hubbard, tapes by L. Ron Hubbard, affidavits by L. Ron Hubbard say…saying, “David Miscavige has assumed an essential position of leadership in this Church. He is my good friend and I call upon all of you to… to trust him because he is the person who has taken over the mantle and will continue to do so.”

We challenge Mr. Lieberman to produce, and post online, the documentation proving this assertion, that Hubbard appointed David Miscavige as his successor. To the best of my knowledge, the only public statement the Church has ever posted to assert David Miscavige’s anointing as the successor to Hubbard, which appears in a biography of Miscavige at the official church website, contains a fatal plural/singular problem…

COBsuccessor2

In 1983, L. Ron Hubbard described a heroic Church executive who cleaned the ranks of rogue staff attempting to seize control of Scientology while Mr. Hubbard was engaged in intensive research and absent from the Church. As Mr. Hubbard himself phrased it:

“So forgive me for not managing the Church when it almost fell into hostile hands. It all came out all right. Why? Because real Scientologists made sure it did. My faith was justified.”

That real Scientologist L. Ron Hubbard spoke of was David Miscavige.

Note that in his statement, Hubbard thanks “real Scientologists,” plural, but the church website says that the “real Scientologist,” singular, was Miscavige. That’s so clumsy, you can’t even call it sleight of hand.

And Miscavige’s claim that he was anointed by Hubbard is even less convincing when you take into account what he said in a sworn affidavit he signed on February 17, 1994…

45. Mr. Hubbard took no part in the disbanding of the GO [Guardian’s Office] or removal of Mary Sue Hubbard. In fact, the first he heard of it was five months after the initial purge, in July of 1981. While he had been out of communication and uninvolved in Church activities for the previous two years, he had engaged in further researches on Dianetics and Scientology.

Here we have David Miscavige stating under oath in 1994 that Hubbard was “out of communication and uninvolved in Church activities” from July 1979 to July 1981.

Miscavige further states:

50. Upon the dismissal of the probate action, DeWolfe’s attorney announced that his “real” purpose in bringing the probate action had been to force Mr. Hubbard out of seclusion so he could be served in the civil damages cases filed by DeWolfe’s lawyer. The idea was simple. Aware that Mr. Hubbard wanted to maintain his privacy and seclusion, the lawyer would notice Mr. Hubbard’s deposition as both an individual and as a “managing agent” of the Church. Default or settlement then would follow a managing agent finding and non-appearance. This ploy was particularly effective since Mr. Hubbard went completely out of touch with any and all Church entities from May of 1984, until he passed away in January of 1986.

If we take David Miscavige’s two statements in his affidavit at face value – and we must for he was speaking under oath and surely was not committing perjury – then the timeline for L. Ron Hubbard from July 1979 until his death in January 1986 is as follows…

— Hubbard was “out of communication and uninvolved in Church activities” from July 1979 to July 1981.

— Hubbard went completely out of touch with any and all Church entities from May of 1984 until he passed away in January of 1986. This means that from May 1984 forward, Hubbard had absolutely no contact with David Miscavige or anyone else in the Church.

According to David Miscavige, then, L. Ron Hubbard was only available to the Church from July 1981 until May 1984 – a period of 36 months. During this time what happens? We return to Miscavige’s declaration:

NOVEMBER 1, 1981: The Church of Scientology International was founded, signaling a new era of Scientology management. A strong standardized corporate structure was required to facilitate the rapid expansion of Scientology and maintain high ethical standards in a widespread international network of churches.

David Miscavige was in the Church of Scientology International (CSI) in November 1981. Specifically, he was in the Commodore’s Messenger’s Organization (CMO) until the end of 1981. In the beginning of 1982, however, L. Ron Hubbard transferred David Miscavige and appointed him CEO of the for-profit Author Services, Inc. David Miscavige remained at ASI until March 1987 – a full fourteen months after Hubbard’s death.

Here are the two central problems with David Miscavige’s claim to be L. Ron Hubbard’s successor as the leader of the Church of Scientology:

1. ASI is not a part of the Church of Scientology. ASI is a private for-profit California corporation whose sole business is the management of L. Ron Hubbard’s personal and business affairs.

2. While at ASI, David Miscavige denies all involvement in the Church of Scientology. At ASI, Miscavige himself stated that he was L. Ron Hubbard’s business manager, again this according to Miscavige’s 1994 declaration:

Accordingly, in 1982, Author Services was formed to manage the personal affairs of L. Ron Hubbard including his literary, financial and legal matters. As I was held in some regard by Mr. Hubbard, I was given the opportunity to be part of this new endeavor. Beginning in 1982, I devoted my full time and attention to Mr. Hubbard’s personal affairs from my position as Chief Executive Officer of Author Services. [Robert Vaughn] Young’s contention that I was somehow managing all Scientology Churches internationally at the same time that I was supervising Mr. Hubbard’s affairs is preposterous…From the beginning of 1982 until March of 1987, I was Chief Executive Officer and later Chairman of the Board of Author Services, Inc. (“ASI”), a California corporation which managed the personal, business, and literary affairs of L. Ron Hubbard.

Miscavige’s statement does not square with Lieberman’s claim that L. Ron Hubbard wanted Miscavige to inherit the mantle. In 1982 L. Ron Hubbard intentionally transferred David Miscavige off Church lines altogether by removing him from CMO INT and placing him into ASI.

Miscavige makes it quite clear that the Mother Church – the Church of Scientology International – was founded on November 1, 1981. However, Miscavige also makes it clear that he was transferred to ASI in the beginning of 1982. This raises the question: If Hubbard wanted Miscavige to lead the Church, then why did Hubbard place Miscavige in the for-profit ASI and away from everything to do with the Church?

To reiterate what Miscavige himself said under oath:

Beginning in 1982, I devoted my full time and attention to Mr. Hubbard’s personal affairs from my position as Chief Executive Officer of Author Services. Young’s contention that I was somehow managing all Scientology Churches internationally at the same time that I was supervising Mr. Hubbard’s affairs is preposterous.

David Miscavige cannot have it both ways: He cannot place himself in ASI in 1982 where he protests, “Young’s contention that I was somehow managing all Scientology Churches internationally at the same time that I was supervising Mr. Hubbard’s affairs is preposterous,” while also having his attorney Eric Lieberman claim that David Miscavige ascended to the leadership of the Church.

When L. Ron Hubbard died on January 24, 1986, David Miscavige remained in ASI for an additional fourteen months until he went to the Religious Technology Center (RTC), where he remains today. Why the delay? It stands to reason that if Hubbard had wanted Miscavige to be in charge of the entire Church of Scientology then Miscavige could have very easily produced a written order by Hubbard naming him successor. But this did not happen.

There is no evidence that Hubbard appointed David Miscavige to be his successor. Quite the contrary, the available legal evidence from the mouth of David Miscavige is crystal clear: Hubbard placed David Miscavige at ASI. By doing so, Hubbard kept Miscavige out of CSI, RTC, and CST, the ruling entities of the church itself.

It’s not clear that Hubbard ever appointed anyone to take over after his death. He did, near the end, announce that a young couple, Pat and Annie Broeker, who had been taking care of him in hiding, were to be considered “loyal officers,” a term out of Hubbard’s space opera fiction. But it’s very unclear that this meant Hubbard intended for the Broekers to succeed him based on that document. But David Miscavige took no chances — after he took over and pushed Pat Broeker out, he had two private investigators stalk Broeker for the next 24 years, at a cost of about $12 million.)

That L. Ron Hubbard parked Miscavige at ASI in 1982, left him there, and had absolutely no communication with him, or anyone else in the Church after May 1984 (if we believe the church), argues that Hubbard did not want David Miscavige to handle or lead the Scientology movement. What Hubbard wanted is quite clear: He wanted David Miscavige to handle his private business affairs.

Instead, in the days after Hubbard died on January 24, 1986, David Miscavige maneuvered to push others out of the way so he could take control of Scientology, just as Ron Miscavige describes it in his book.

But that account contradicts the story that David told the IRS and continues to tell the public today — that he’s an “ecclesiastical” leader who is not involved in church management. And maybe that’s why he’s so sensitive about how he got to where he is today: If the IRS ever showed any interest, it wouldn’t be hard to demonstrate that Miscavige has done nothing by lie about his role in the church and how he took it over after Hubbard departed for the galaxy’s greener pastures.

Can you begin to understand why David Miscavige will do anything to avoid being deposed under oath?

— Jeffrey Augustine

How Scientology’s smears of Ron Miscavige could end up a bigger problem for his son Dave

RonDave

(Note: This was originally posted on Tony Ortega’s Underground Bunker and is reposted here for archival purposes.)

Contributor Jeffrey Augustine has taken a close look at Scientology’s over-the-top attacks on Ron Miscavige for this piece today. We think you’re going to find that he unearthed some really eye-opening stuff!

On May 3, Ron Miscavige published a book about his son, Scientology leader David Miscavige. Titled Ruthless, the book is an unsparing account of how Ron watched his son take over Scientology and became a pitiless dictator.

David struck back with a typical Scientology “Fair Game” retaliation scheme. In this case, it was in the form of an anonymous smear website attacking his own father, as well as a concerted effort to market that website in online ads and in emails. Here at the Bunker, we’ve already looked at some of the claims being made on that website.

After my own close look at that material the church has thrown at Ron Miscavige, one thing stood out to me: The glaring contradictions between what David Miscavige said under oath in a 1994 court declaration, and what’s being said about him in the church’s attacks on his father.

In 1994, David Miscavige gave a sworn declaration in a lawsuit that grew out of the 1991 TIME magazine cover story that called Scientology “a thriving cult of greed and power.” The person who wrote that story was Richard Behar, who, like other journalists, described David Miscavige as the man who ran Scientology with an iron fist, and controlled everything down to the smallest detail.

In his court declaration, Miscavige denied that he exerted that level of control:

Since March of 1987, I have been Chairman of the Board of Religious Technology Center (“RTC”), a California non-profit religious corporation recognized as tax exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code. RTC is not part of Church management, nor is it involved in the daily affairs of various Church of Scientology organizations or missions. RTC ensures that the trademarks of Dianetics and Scientology, and the technology they represent, are properly used around the world. It exists to see that Dianetics and Scientology technology is safeguarded, is in good hands, and is properly used.

This is the typical line that the church usually takes: That David Miscavige is the “ecclesiastical leader” of Scientology, the chairman of the board of the Religious Technology Center (COB of RTC) and is not involved in the Church of Scientology and its day to day activities — and certainly not in its notorious retaliatory schemes against the church’s perceived enemies.

But here’s the irony. David Miscavige and Scientology are so anxious to discredit David’s father Ron on its smear website about him, the church has provided video testimony from workers at the International Base — also known as “Gold Base” for Golden Era Productions, the studios at the base where Scientology music and videos are produced — as a way to claim that Ron was not the person he describes in his book. But the unintended consequence of that is, many of these base workers have provided testimony that completely contradicts what David Miscavige said in that 1994 court declaration!

Statements from the executives and musicians who are featured at the smear website claim that David Miscavige is intimately involved in the daily affairs of the most detailed activities inside Scientology. These executives speak of David Miscavige being involved in the minute details of planning and building kitchens, studios, apartment complexes, and even the laundry rooms.

Remember, Miscavige claimed in his court declaration that his only job was to safeguard Scientology technology from his perch at RTC. So what is he doing planning kitchens and designing apartments at Gold Base?

Here, listen to Jennifer Alpers, Director of Domestic Services at Golden Era Productions: “So in 2005, Mr. Miscavige directed the redesign and replanning of our kitchen. And he had the vision that it would be a model kitchen.”

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In a video at the smear website, Jennifer Alpers takes us on a tour of the Church of Scientology’s Golden Era kitchen. And here’s what she has to say:

It was Ron’s son, Mr. David Miscavige, who made sure that the planning and design was done for the kitchen and dining room and everything taken care of so we have a state-of-the-art kitchen and an exquisite dining room facility. Ron was able to use and enjoy both facilities and knew that his own son was behind the entire thing. For Ron to badmouth him in any way is outrageous considering what he did for Ron and all of the staff living at Golden Era Productions to ensure we have the nicest environment possible to live and work…

Alpers further elaborates David Miscavige’s involvement in the daily affairs of the church…

Ron [Miscavige] lived in the most beautiful staff apartment facility that I have seen. This facility was again established and put here by Ron’s son. And by this I mean he oversaw the design of the rooms and the buildings down to every single detail. The apartment complex for the staff includes a separate laundry and dry cleaning plant which washes all of the bed and table linens for the staff and does all of the dry cleaning on site. Ron never had to wash his own sheets or towels. He was provided with a laundromat in his apartment building and given all of the supplies to care for his room. While Ron was given all of this, thanks to his son who he now thinks he can criticize, Ron didn’t do his part to keep his room clean…About 4-5 years ago, once again Ron’s son made sure that Golden Era Productions got a new fleet of cars and vans for the property.

Let’s take another look at that 1994 declaration by David Miscavige. Repeatedly, he talks about how disconnected he is from the daily management of the church itself: “In the course of my duties I travel widely. I often appear at Church events and briefings which serve to keep Scientologists around the world aware of the widespread application of Mr. Hubbard’s writings. In all such appearances, my position as Chairman of the Board of RTC is known, as is its distinction from actual Church management officials of CSI.”

Over at the Ron Miscavige smear site, however, the people at Gold Base sure seem to have a hard time keeping that distinction in mind. For example, there’s this testimony from Chris Maio, a Golden Era guitarist…
ChrisMaio

“At Golden Era Productions…we were even given the most beautiful and professional studio in the world to use to create musical scores in, by Mr. (David) Miscavige, who made sure that every detail of the studio — the equipment, the designs, the renovations, and even down to little audio technical details — was perfect for us to produce in. No other leader that I am aware of personally goes down to those details to make sure staffs have everything they need to do their jobs.”

Whoops. And back to David in his 1994 declaration: “Neither RTC nor I has any corporate authority over any Scientology church, including [the Church of Scientology International]. CSI is the Mother Church of the Scientology religion and has been since its inception in 1981. As such, CSI is responsible for the activities commensurate with such a role, including the ecclesiastical management of Churches, dissemination and propagation of the faith and defense of its activities, including external and legal affairs. All of the foregoing facts were submitted to and thoroughly reviewed by the Internal Revenue Service prior to the recent recognition of the tax-exempt status of CSI, RTC and a host of other Church corporations and entities.”

Did you get that? Miscavige is acknowledging here in his declaration that his “shore story” about being a lofty ecclesiastical figure with no involvement in the daily details of church management was crucial to Scientology getting tax exempt status from the IRS in 1993.

So maybe the IRS ought to take a look at the Ron Miscavige smear site, where it would find these statements about how involved David Miscavige really is, like this one from Eve Stumbke, Deputy CEO for Golden Era Productions…

EveStumbke

 

Eve Stumbke…works with Mr. [David] Miscavige in maintaining the spectacular condition of Golden Era Productions, from the kitchen area and staff housing, to recreational areas and film production facilities… “To give you some idea, you should know that we have the most beautiful and breathtaking facilities for the staff. This includes a full dining facility and state of the art kitchen, where fresh & organic food is prepared for the staff daily. We have stunning 5-star accommodations with full laundry & dry cleaning facilities. The Music Studio where Ron worked is truly state of the art with nowhere like it in the industry. We have state-of-the-art exercise facilities, including a swimming pool, football field, tennis court, volley ball courts, golf course, par course and a fully decked out gym. And you should know, this was ALL put here by the leader of our religion, Mr. David Miscavige specifically for the staff that work at Golden Era Productions.”

Once again, let’s take a look at the language from Miscavige’s 1994 declaration, where he continued to insist that he and RTC simply have nothing to do with managing church facilities: “RTC was formed with the specific purpose of seeing that the religion of Scientology was kept pure and true to the source materials of the religion. In fact, a major reason for its formation was to have such a Church organization that performed these functions in a capacity entirely separate from the actual management of the various Churches and Missions of Scientology. Not only is RTC not involved in the management of the international hierarchy of Scientology churches, but its very existence and performance of its true functions depends on the fact that it is NOT part of Church management.”

For such an above-it-all religious leader focusing on the “purity” of Scientology teachings, Mr. Miscavige sure seems to roll up his sleeves when it comes to new churches being built. At the Ron Miscavige smear site, Ciara Rogers, Scientology’s “International Landlord,” provides this glowing account of her boss and his involvement in Scientology’s “Ideal Org” program…
CiaraRogers

 

Mr. [David] Miscavige looked at it as something that could be achieved and he actually laid out the exact strategy and organization within the Landlord Office to achieve this. So the genius of what Mr. Miscavige has actually laid out in the strategy is that he was looking at how do we…how can every parishioner in every local area and field and zone, how are they able to obtain and get an Ideal Church of Scientology for themselves. And how is that even possible? If all of them were to individually try and do it themselves it would be impossible. It wouldn’t be possible to get it done. And it really was Mr. Miscavige who, you know, came up with the entire, you know, layout of how are we going to actually achieve this, and he’s directed that…that we are, you know, in correspondence with those parishioners and that they are creating their own Ideal Churches of Scientology. So, through the planning, through the design, and through everything that the International Landlord Office is…is doing and accomplishing, you know, those parishioners know that their Ideal Church of Scientology is going to be for their town and exactly as they want and as L. Ron Hubbard intended. He then came up with what is that organization that needs to go in place and how do we establish a machine at a global level to achieve, you know, getting every single Ideal Church of Scientology completed. And, you know, he apprenticed and trained myself and many others on exactly how that process is done and how…how we can actually achieve it to the standards that L. Ron Hubbard has already set in those policy letters.

OK, you may be asking, perhaps David Miscavige’s job has changed since he made that 1994 court declaration. Perhaps in 1994, Miscavige saw himself as a philosophical leader who was divorced from the details of church management, but that over time he has become more hands-on.

Once again, however, the Ron Miscavige smear website delivers some pure gold. Rick Cruzen, another Golden Era musician, describes how, in 1990, after an epic 100-year flood damaged Gold Base (something that was described as a significant turning point in Ron’s book), David Miscavige rolled up his sleeves and oversaw every detail of rebuilding…
RickCruzen

At this critical juncture, Mr. David Miscavige intervened to restore the entire property, so that it would never happen again. This included a full-scale drainage system, silt basins and reinforcement of the nearby river levee, as well as complete planning of all production facilities and full training of the staff as experts at flood, earthquake and fire prevention. At the completion of the training program, he awarded the staff with a huge party. And subsequently, based on his planning, the property was built into one of the most valuable, functional and beautiful studio facilities in the world, safe from any natural disaster.

Hang on a minute. David Miscavige did all that detail work in 1990, four years before the 1994 court declaration in which Miscavige claimed he was only an ecclesiastical leader and had nothing to do with daily management? Wow. That’s some admission, and on Scientology’s own smear website.

We really have to thank Scientology for making all this so plain with its attack on Ron Miscavige. We’ve learned that David Miscavige will say one thing in court, but that his own employees say something very different about him now that Ron Miscavige’s book has exposed him as a tyrant.

We can only wonder if, when they were putting together this attack on Ron, they realized what interesting evidence they were supplying the IRS.

Now, will the IRS pay it any mind?

Monique Rathbun Discharges Her Legal Team Without Cause

As is her right, Monique Rathbun has discharged her legal team without cause. We post the court filing here as part of our goal to compile all relevant publicly available legal and financial documents.

Karen and I wish Mark and Monique all the best.

 

What Scientology “Social Betterment” Groups are Really All About

At Scientology.org, the Church’s “social betterment & humanitarian” programs, the so-called “secular programs” are listed:

SB.1

These eight secular groups are:
1. The Way to Happiness
2. Applied Scholastics
3. Criminon
4. Narconon
5. The Truth About Drugs Education Campaign
6. United for Human Rights
7. Citizens Commission for Human Rights (CCHR)
8. Freedom Magazine

In this article we briefly examine each of these groups and show what they are actually about. The first thing to know is that the Church’s so-called secular social betterment groups is that they are all licensed by the Association for Better Living and Education (ABLE). The Church says of ABLE and its relationship to the social betterment groups:

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Where is ABLE in the Church of Scientology International (CSI) food chain? According to a diagram the Church gave the IRS, ABLE is one of the ten core “sectors” of CSI. I have placed a red star next to ABLE in the CSI sector diagram:

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To digress, we note that the legally nonexistent Sea Org is also shown as one the core sectors of Scientology. We leave this discrepancy for another time and place. The point is that ABLE is a core sector of CSI whose purpose is to license and manage Scientology’s secular social betterment groups.

The ostensible purpose of the secular social betterment groups is to put LRH technology into the world. In actual practice, these groups have five main purposes:

• To serve as additional Church profit centers charged with selling Scientology products and services into nonreligious markets.

• To make highly irresponsible and grossly exaggerated claims of the efficacy of Scientology’s technology.

• To recruit new members into the Church of Scientology.

• To generate PSA’s, photo ops, and PR value for the Church.

• To sell incredibly overpriced booklets, DVD’s, and courses.

The social betterment groups are nonprofit licensees of ABLE, and, ABLE is licensed by CSI. Thus, whatever monies these groups collect is tax-free and a percentage is paid each week uplines to CSI, RTC, and CST.

Narconon is the big moneymaker in the social betterment groups. While some disagree with my figures, my estimate of Narconon’s gross income is $100,000,000 based upon 2012 numbers. Of course, it is easy to project this figure to decrease significantly based upon lawsuits and increasing public exposure of the direct connection between Scientology and Narconon. For instance, Dr. Hanan Islam’s American Health and Education Clinics LLC of Compton, California operated under license from Narconon and we can now see how this worked out for the good doctor.

The Foundation for a Drug Free World is a Scientology nonprofit that gives out free educational kits to educators. However there is a catch: Educators must agree to allow the Church of Scientology to use their classrooms and students for PR purposes. Educators must also track statistics and report them to the Foundation for a Drug Free World.

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Critics have said that the Foundation for a Drug Free World is a crypto-Narconon recruiting vehicle. This allegation arises because the Foundation’s materials present Hubbard’s theories that drugs are stored in fat cells. I agree with these criticisms because the Foundation for a Drug Free World is operated by Scientologists whose task is to target educators in public schools who teach to children eleven years of age and older. The goal of the Foundation is to get into public schools and make presentations to teachers and students. Once these Scientologists are close to at risk youth they can easily target kids and troubled parents with the message of Narconon and its astounding success rate.

Narconon is well-known and well documented. The remaining entities in the social betterment groups are not. Nevertheless, once one examines the respective websites of each of these lesser known social betterment groups it readily becomes clear that their sole purpose is to sell booklets and DVD’s that have a gigantic profit margin.

We begin with Youth for Human Rights (YHRI). This group was founded in 2001 by Scientologist Mary Shuttleworth in coordination with the CSI’s so-called Human Rights Office. In 2008, YHRI was subsumed into a parent group called United for Human Rights (UHR). The purpose of UHR, YHRI, and their dozen or so spin-offs are to promote public awareness of the UN’s 1947 Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The extraordinary hypocrisy of a Scientology group promoting human rights aside, UHR is a non-statistically significant factor in Scientology given its 2013 gross receipts of $84,345.00. The headquarters of United for Human Rights/Youth for Human Rights is a post office box in a shipping and postage retail store in Los Feliz, California.

Let us assume a hypothetical Youth for Human Rights event where 2,000 booklets and 200 DVD’s are distributed. What would that cost us? The shopping cart informs us of the prices:

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The Way to Happiness has the same pricing structure:

• Sell booklets for $1.50 each
• Sell DVD’s for $15.00 each

Keep in mind that Scientology is a commission-based sales organization so many people are taking a cut of the action when social betterment booklets and DVD’s are sold. Seen from this perspective, Scientology is just Amway with engrams.

The Way to Happiness sells its booklets – which likely cost less than fifteen cents each to produce – in bundles of twelve for $18.00. Let us suppose you were an OT in a lower ethics condition. OSA might suggest that you donate for 1,000 bundles for a total of 12,000 booklets plus 200 DVD’s. In this scenario, you would be looking at a wallet-destroying bill for $15,700:

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Applied Scholastics International sells Hubbard-based learning materials that emphasize phonics and the use of dictionaries. This is how I learned to read in Los Angeles public schools way back in the Mesozoic era. Indeed, Noah Webster published his first dictionary to help people “word clear” in 1828. But let us allow Applied Scholastics its conceit that we are all hopelessly stupid and cannot “learn how to learn” without its help. Based upon this premise, it is going to cost money to learn how to learn. Applied Scholastics is associated with Scientology-based private schools, or “academies” as the Church fancies them. Gross receipts were about four million dollars for Applied Scholastics in 2013.

Just for the sake of talking, let us suppose you were a Scientology-friendly movie star who opened a Scientology “academy” and needed to buy 100 copies each of eight of the many books offered by Applied Scholastics. This would be a $42,285.00 bite:

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In addition to the shopping list above, your academy would need to shell out more money to ABLE to pay for licensing fees, teacher training, and far more books and dictionaries than shown in the shopping list above. And the parents of the students have to pay tuition. It is easy to see how you, as a movie star, would pull the plug on your money-losing academy after your kids became fully and mystically self-actualized and no longer needed, say, a conventional wog college education.

The Reverend Doctor Alfreddie Johnson’s now defunct World Literacy Crusade operated under license to Applied Scholastics and we can also now see how this worked out for him.

Oddly enough, Galaxy Press – which sells Hubbard’s fictional works – has its own literacy campaign and offers a literacy book for $1.00. In a future story I will reveal how a prominent WISE group also sponsors a literacy campaign, inveigles its members into donating funds for this program, and the uses this program for disingenuous, misleading, and self-serving PR. It is all very cynical and Alfreddie Johnson is in the mix.

We next enter Crazy Town aka the viciously anti-psychiatry Citizen’s Commission on Human Rights. CCHR basically produces and sells DVD’s that expose the menace of psychiatry and Big Pharma. In my next hypothetical example, I am a high-minded Scientology whale who wants my staff to do a mass-mailer to 1,200 opinion leaders in in Congress, the arts, education, and private industry. I order 1,200 copies of the my three favorite CCHR DVD’s and write a check for $113,940.00:

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Criminon, a Scientology group that appears to be on the wane and receives virtually no coverage even with the Church, sells $85.00 courses to inmates. If one were to donate 100 courses it would be $8500:

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Referring back to an earlier point, the social betterment programs also make highly irresponsible and grossly exaggerated claims of the efficacy of Scientology’s technology. A collage of such claims:

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Clockwise from top left: The Way to Happiness, Narconon Fresh Start, World Literacy Crusade, Applied Scholastics, Applied Scholastics

The irony of these claims is that if any of them were true then no one would actually need Scientology auditing because the much less expensive social betterment programs could handle the major problems of drugs, crime, violence, and illiteracy by simply having people read booklets or watch DVD’s. There would be no need for the $360,000 per person Church cure.

If, as World Literacy Crusade claimed, 87% of participants gave up gangs and drugs after learning how to read, then the world’s answer to street crime would be to have courts order gang members and drug users into the World Literacy Crusade franchises after they were arrested. There, they would read books, clear up misunderstood words, and then give up their lives of drugs and gang-banging. This is patently absurd to the point of derision. Likewise, The Way to Happiness’ claim that it reduced crime in Colombia by 50% is an outright lie.

Scientology’s social betterment programs often simplistic and Scientology-centered solutions to complex problems – and they do so in order to make obscene profit margins from booklets, DVD’s, and courses. As with everything in the Church of Scientology system, it is all deceptive and misleading.

The actual “End Phenomenon” of Scientology’s social betterment programs is simply a series of online shopping carts where one purchases incredibly overpriced products that have little or no efficacy.

Leah Remini on ABC 20/20

TroublemakerLeah Remini’s new book Troublemaker: Surviving Hollywood and Scientology  is  available here.

“The outspoken actress, talk show host, and reality television star offers up a no-holds-barred memoir, including an eye-opening insider account of her tumultuous and heart-wrenching thirty-year-plus association with the Church of Scientology.”

“Leah Remini has never been the type to hold her tongue. That willingness to speak her mind, stand her ground, and rattle the occasional cage has enabled this tough-talking girl from Brooklyn to forge an enduring and successful career in Hollywood. But being a troublemaker has come at a cost.”

“That was never more evident than in 2013, when Remini loudly and publicly broke with the Church of Scientology. Now, in this frank, funny, poignant memoir, the former King of Queens star opens up about that experience for the first time, revealing the in-depth details of her painful split with the church and its controversial practices.”