The Truth About Scientology and Dianetics

 

Copyright Notice

Copying:
Is allowed if the name of the original source is clearly stated, and the text is copied in its entirety.
Original Swedish Text:
1988 by FRI - Föreningen Rädda Individen.
A swedish cult awareness group (Rescue the Individual Association).
Original Title: Sanningen om Scientologin och Dianetiken.
English Translation:
Made 1995 by Teodor Väänänen.
Note:

I have no affiliations whatsoever with FRI. I did the translation because I found the information in the original pamphlet interesting, and suitable for an introduction to a critical view of Scientology and Dianetics.

Errata and Comments:

From: William Barwell <wbarwell@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM>
Message-ID: <3uu4me$8a5@Starbase.NeoSoft.COM>

Thank you Teodor. I did note a few errors in this pamphlet. Hubbard never really joined the OTO formally, only Jack Parson's group. Parsons was an OTO member, properly speaking. Hubbard was merely an amateur occultist and sex magician.

And Hubbard did not buy up Clearwater, Florida, merely a few important buildings downtown and a few other properties.

In the US, no government agency has a right to declare a group a religion or not a religion. In Scientology's case, they simply lost the right to be considered a religous charity due to the fact that Hubbard recieved far more money from Scientology than Internal Revenue Service rules for religous charities allowed him to be given.

I am glad to see that Scientology is not considered a real religion in Sweden since 1986.

Another win for the clamheads.

Pope Charles
SubGenius Pope Of Houston
Slack!

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The Truth About Scientology and Dianetics

"Scientology means the study of knowledge, a new applied religious philosophy .... We are established as a church in the world, with millions of members .... Dianetics is a subsection of Scientology, a science of the mind. Dianetics explains the anatomy of the mind."

(Gun Lancilai, leading swedish Scientologist, in the community radio, 22 September 1985)

".... it is an extension, a direct extension, of the work of Gautama Siddharta Buddha."

(The Volounteer Ministers Handbook, by L Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Scientology movement) FRI has the following definitions:

Scientology
A pseudoreligion, that has been registered at the patent office, with The Cross As A Trademark
Dianetics
A pseudoscience, allowing anyone, after a couple of hours of training, to perform psychoanalysis, by the Scientologists termed "Auditing".
"Church of scientology" and "Dianetics Centre" are used interchangeably by the scientologists as the name of their headquarters in Sweden, depending on which is appropriate from a PR viewpoint.

According to FRI, the churches of Scientology are business organizations. In 1969, Scientology lost its status as a church in Washington, DC. Sweden followed in 1987.

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The Face outwards

The scientologists alternate appearance, and willingly hide themselves in suborganizations, that from FRI's viewpoint intently gives the impression of social and/or humanitarian activity, for example:

- Citizens Committee for Human Rights (CCHR)
- Crimonon
- Narconon
- Studema
- Dianetic-Centre
- Environment Safety fund (Read more about this fund below)

In advertisements in the press, in the mailbox, on streets where people gather, they spread their advertisements of "How you can increase your intelligence by using Dianetics, the modern science of mental health". In the neighborhood of their premises, they will try to make you follow them in, to do a test, called "The Oxford Test" (Note: This test has nothing to do with the university at Oxford). When you have answered 200 questions, they will tell you that your psychological state needs improving, and that the church of Scientology can help you.

To show their "tolerance" for those that already have a faith, Christian or other, they sometimes call Scientology a philosophy, and claims that it accepts all other religious faiths.

The religious status is used to lure those who look for spiritual guidance, but have not found anything to believe in. The religious status is also used by the Scientologists when they are criticized. They can then claim persecution of their religious faith, and invoke freedom of religion.

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The Founder

The movement that we in Sweden know under the name of Church of Scientology, or Dianetic-Centre, was founded in the 50's by Lafayette Ron Hubbard, born 1911, died 1986.

When he was seventeen, Hubbard spent about one year on the island of Guam (between the Philipines and Hawaii), where his father, Harry Ross Hubbard, was stationed for a while.

Early on, Ron showed great interest and talent for expression in writing, and preferred to develop his vivid imagination before studies. He left the school in Helena, Montana, USA, and his mother was responsible for his education on Guam.

Many have believed it was on Guam, and during the short holiday visits to Japan and the Asiatic coast, that he got his inspiriation for the mixture of oriental religions and science fiction that he called Scientology. Scientology, however, was not the invention of L. R. Hubbard, it existed long before. Already in 1910 Alan Upwood published the book "The New World" in New York, that discussed Scientology [1], and in 1934 A. Nordenholtz wrote the book "Scientologie - System Des Wissens und der Wissensschaft", in which one finds the axioms that are characteristic of Hubbard's teachings.

With great effort, Ron's father managed to get him into the George Washington University for studies to become an engineer. After 1-1/2 year, he was forced to leave the university due to overly poor grades [2]. This attempt at serious education has given the Scientologists the reason to present Hubbard as a "well-known Nuclear Physicist" or a "well-known scientist".

In the beginning of the 30's, Hubbard started to write adventure novels. In 1938, he went to writing science-fiction [3], and in 1950 came the book "Dianetics - The Modern Science of Mental Health", skillfully marketed by Hubbard's publisher. In vain he tried to get medical and psychiatric proffesional journals to show interest in his new teachings about the human mind [4].

Not only are eastern religions and science-fiction woven into Dianetics and Scientology, there is a touch of Freud [5], and things by Aleister Crowley [6].
Aleister Crowley (1875-1947), who has been called the worlds most sinful man, greatest occultist, insane and perverted, occupied his time with yoga, tantrism and satanism, but most of all sex-magick, and praised the use of drugs of all kind.

Nowhere in the glamorous and overwhelming descriptions of their leader do Scientologists tell the fact that Hubbard was an disciple of Crowley. In 1946, Hubbard was an active member of Crowley's movement, "Ordo Templi Orientis", which occupied itself with the use of black magic. In 1952, Hubbard mentions Crowley in one of his lectures, as his very good friend [7]. Anyone who, with an sceptical and critical mind studies the Scientologists' so-called OT-courses, can easily point out that the courses deal with occultism.

All materials that are published by the church of Scientology are written by Hubbard. It is severely forbidden to either change, remove or add anything, or to discuss the validity of Hubbard's spoken or written words.

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Organization and Management

Subchurches can be found in about 40 different countries, controlled and directed from various organizations in the United States.

Saint Hill in Sussex, United Kingdom, is claimed by the Scientologists to be their world headquarters. In 1968 however, the Scientologists were thrown out of the UK, by then Secretary of Health, Mr Kenneth Robinson [8]. They then moved most of the St Hill organization to to Denmark, and opened at the same time an office in Copenhagen for Europe and Africa (Advanced Organization Saint Hill for Europe and Africa, AOSH EU & AF). The ban on Scientology in the UK was lifted in 1980.

Also, in 1968, Scientologists were convicted in Australia for among other things extorsion, and in France, Hubbard was convicted in absentia for fraud. In 1969, the movement lost its status as a church in Washington DC [9].

Already in 1967, in the then bitter climate for Scientologists, Hubbard (LRH) retired to his ship, APOLLO. On board, he created the Sea Organization (Sea Org), a uniformed special force, whose highest ranking officers for many years controlled the whole movement from the ship.

In 1969, Mary Sue Hubbard, LRH's third wife, started to plan the break-in into the United States Government, for which she and 8 other Scientologists were convicted and sentenced to 4-5 years in prison. In 1977, the FBI seized about 48,000 documents from The Churches of Scientology in Los Angeles and Washington. The documents contained instructions on how to counterfeit ID cards, on making of forged documents, on spreading of false rumours about persons, on using blackmail, how to do a burglary, how to lie without changing ones facial expression, among many other things [10].

In the years 1970-1975, LRH looked for a port for the APOLLO and the Sea Org, but didn't manage to get permits anywhere. His first attempt was made at Corfu, from which LRH and the Sea Org were thrown out. The same thing happened in Morocco and Portugal. LRH was chased from port to port, and was sometimes forced to leave the ship, fly to the US, and hide there pending new attempts. In 1975, he tried in South Carolina, without succeeding [11].

He then formed a front company, which for the Church of Scientology bought up almost a complete town, Clearwater near Tampa, Florida [12]. By this manoeuver, he managed to trick the government and the people of the town, and in 1975-76 Flag in Clearwater is started, one of the American Organizations that control the churches all over the world. Here we find the most expensive courses, and the most important Scientologists.

Guardians Office (GO) was, apart from the Commodore's Messenger Organization (CMO) (LRH's Private Messengers on the APOLLO), up until 1980 the highest ranking executive office. But already in 1979, the Watchdog Committee was formed, which later would take the powers from the GO and CMO. The Watchdog Committee was firstly formed to prevent LRH from being mixed up in the business of GO, and the trials that threatened GO [13].

In 1981, when LRH was again wanted (he was under prosecution in Tampa, FL, for 35 separate charges in different cases) and hid in an unknown location, the "All Clear Unit" was formed, whose sole purpose was to prepare for the comeback of LRH. Among non-initiated Scientologists, it was said that LRH had retired to complete the film "Battlefield Earth" [13].

The creation of new organizations and changes in managment and main organizations has often been utilized by LRH to counter the results of the illegal activities by Scientologists.

The executive officer for the Watchdog Committee, as well as the All Clear Unit, became David Miscavige, who grew up on APOLLO, and since 1978 (Then 20 years old), was the constant companion of LRH [14].

On the 10th of May 1982, LRH transferred his rights AND DUTIES to the Religious Technolgy Center (RTC) in Los Angeles [15], another organization whose executive officer was David Miscavige. The doubts of the validity of the documents of the power transfer are many, and several lawsuits between different interests have been and probably still are in the courtrooms of the US. The changes in management of Scientology made by David Miscavige after the power transfers led to people leaving the movement. Among others, David Mayo [16], veteran Scientologist, left the RTC, and formed an American Office of the Advanced Ability Center (AAC), a competitor movement.

Whether or not RTC shall be seen as the highest organization within the Church of Scientology remains to be seen. If not, the nearest downward organization, CSI (Church of Scientology International), will assume the post as the highest organization in the church. CSI's responsibility is the international marketing of Scientology, and is run by Heber Jentsch.

The 19th of January 1986, five days before his death, LRH promoted himself by means of Flag Order #3879 to the rank ADMIRAL in the Sea Org.

In order to estimate how many Scientologists there are in the world, there are only the Churches own claims, which vary betweem 2 and 25 Millions. One of the goals was to "have the whole planet in Scientology by 1984".

The movement came to Sweden in 1968. Even here, the number of members of the church of Scientology varies:
Competitors (who have started own Scientology movements) say that they are about 500. The church itself claims about 2,000 to 20,000 members.

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Technology and Philosophy

The Dianetics tech is to by means of "auditing" (a kind of psychotherapy) make a person "clear", i.e. free from "abberations", that one has received "engrams" (subconscious memories created during uncounsiousness). The engrams are often created during conception, as well as a fetus. Very often, they have been created in past lives. The engrams are collected in a "bank", the "reactive mind", and prevent our "analytical mind" from performing rationally.

During an auditing session, an aid is used, the E-Meter (2 Electrodes connected to a galvanometer), which is an simple lying detector. The E-Meter is a favourite object for journalists, and without knowing it, they do good PR for the church by giving it an ridiculous status. An unknowing public will then get the impression that it is an harmless thing that no-one could take seriously. In reality, it is a dangerous weapon.

The Marketing of the E-Meter has been reported to the responsible authorities in several countries, among others KO in Sweden [17], and the FDA in the US. The Scientologists have then claimed that they use the E-Meter for "spiritual guidance". The responsible authority then gets an impression - however strange it may seem - that the E-Meter is used during some kind of ritual. That makes the E-Meter unassailable, and the authority also gets the impression that it is harmless.

The initiated Scientologists use the E-Meter in the following manner [18]:

A prospective Scientologist, called a pre-clear (PC) is audited. The auditor asks questions according to a strict model. The PC holds the cans of the E-Meter. The auditor follows carefully the attitude, aswering fashion of the PC and the Movements of the needle of the E-Meter. Sooner or later, the auditor enters a sensitive subject. The needle of the E-Meter will then react if the PC gets upset in any way. By pinpointing an area that causes problems for the PC, the auditor has put himself in a power position, and has the maybe disbelieving but worried PC in his hand.

Later, when the PC has been convinced, an auditor routinely, or when deemed neccesary, audits the PC with the help of the E-Meter, to check if the Scientologist is still loyal and reliable. For this purpose there is a "Sec-Check". If anything negative for the church surfaces, the scientologist is forced to take a new course, "to correct misunderstandings", after which a new "Sec-Check" is performed.

During auditing sessions, the PC plucked of one confidence after the other. All that is said is written down, and is stored in secret files, "processing files", that are no more secret that there are instructions on how these file can and must be used in court, for example if the PC would testify against the church in court.

THIS INNOCENT INSTRUMENT USED FOR "SPIRITUAL GUIDANCE" IS IN REALITY A DANGEROUS WEAPON OF PRESSURE

The E-Meter is vigourlsy used in the process that creates convinced Scientologists.

To become an auditor, one needs - according to the public commercials and for the yet uninitiated scientologist - only read the Dianetics book, and take a introductory course. Then one can immediately test one's capabilities. If you are fitting for the job by the Scientology Church viewpoint, you of course are the "Super-Auditor". An just as naturally, it is your duty to save mankind!!

Despite the fact that it takes many and expensive courses to become "clear", LRH realized that a whole different perspective would open by expanding the movement with an religion. 1954 he presents Scientology, and now it is not enough to become "clear", the goal is to free the spirit, "the thetan", within us. LRH Claims that he by his own research has revealed the latest 60 trillion years of evolution, and the creation of the universe. He disregards and throws away the scientific research today as "child-like" logic and applies his own theories (THETA-MEST) In this teaching, the thetan has an important role. Here is one of the basic stories about the thetan [19]:

"In the universe, there was from the beginning a kind of spiritual beings, which were immortal and almighty. In the long run, it became boring for them. They then created worlds (among them Earth, with all it's contents), which they used in playing game. The entered the worlds themselves, and became for some reason trapped in their own worlds. LRH created with Scientology a technique for the thetan to regain his powers, and become an Operating Thetan (OT)."
To become an OT, one must take even more and expensive courses. LRH, who was just as skillful salesman as he was a science-fiction writer, has managed to create such a believable shine and excitement around these OT-Courses, that no PC or clear will have any doubts that the terrific experiences the chosen scientologists can reach are wearth many times the tens of hundreds of thousands of dollars they have to pay.

Compare to Allan Rubins [22] description of mind expansion by the use of smoking pot and deep meditation described in the book "Hasch Himmel och Helvete".

Another story - a "truth" revealed in one of the most advanced OT courses [20], which you only rech after an extensive "education" is:

"Earth, or Teegeeack, as Hubbard calls the planet, was 75 million years ago member of a galactic federation consisting of 76 different planets. On each planet, lived 174 billion people. The overpopulation problem was solved like this:
All humans were catched in big electric nets, in which they with a big needle injected a mixture of ethanol and glucol. Then they froze the thetans in the bodies in big ice blocks, and took them aboart space-ships, and freighted them to earth. Then they threw the people into different vulcanoes, and bombed those vulcanoes with hydrogen bombs, that caused an great explosion and caused the thetans to leave their bodies. The thetans became so dizzy, that they were dead as thetans. Because of that, they were freighted to new places, among them Las Palmas and Hawaii. There they packed them together in clusters. Headache is to be caused by clusters we have in our heads. They who didn't become clusters, became Body Thetans, BT's."
"To cross the bridge to total freedom", as LRH called his methods with a common name, is reached by gradually follow a chart, made by LRH. From the bottom of your miserable state, you can bit by bit, work yourself up to - for now - OT XV (The OT levels are increasing by the year, so you may never cross the bridge!).

If you want to become an auditor, you can train your self from "Not classed" via "Class 0" to "Class XII". The question is if a normal lifespan and a great fortune is enough to reach to the highest level.

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Methods of practice

Long before the contents of the secret courses are revealed for the scientologist, many years of slavery for the Org (Churh of Scientology) is needed. The founder of this totalitarian movement has skillfully created an organization that thanks to smart instructions and hard discipline acts as a school for traning of young people to skilled salesmen, PR Proffessionals and imposters. By means of brainwashing, he creates obedient robots, wothout any own thought processes at all, and with a total lack of moral, except when it regards the church.

With help of LRH's sales technique you are convinced of the neccessarity of "improving" your life through Dianetics and auditing. As a scientologist to be, you will meet a heartiness and community that is calculatedly effective. All help to convince that YOU are important, and that you have gained access to a chosen community.

After a few auditing sessions, when you volounteer information about yourself, which then are constantly used against you, they will by psychothreapeutic methods, self suggestion etc. cause events to happen that will serve as "proof" that the auditing works. If they succeed, you are hooked. If they do not, they tell you that you should take a few courses first, or that you don't try enough. Sooner or later, you become enough interested to sign up for a coursem auditing or employment contracts for extended periods of time.

Then the brainwashing/programmming continues....

What the expression brainwashing means, one can find in an encyclopedia. This technique was used on American P.O.W.'s during the Korean War 1950-53 to convert them to communism, and is an effective method with personality changes as a result. In short terms, the technique means that a person is subjected to [21]:

- Isolation
- Heavy work, food lacking protein, and sleep deprivation.
- Punishments and Humiliation
- Constant Indoctrination

When you have decided to serously become a Scientologist, you will be forced to work or "study" almost around the clock, which leads to you becoming isolated socially, get little sleep, and poor or no food at all. The demands of the Org are enourmous, and punishments and humiliations are the results if you don't live up to those demands.

The indoctrination is constant, which among other things leads you to accept the whistle-blowing system, in form of knowledge reports, which you are forced to write about yourself, when you have had "bad thoughts" or have dome "bad actions", or about your comrades when you have caught them in doing something, which is punishable by the new laws of ethics you have learnt.

For a price, which in the long run exceeds your possibility to earn in a life-time, you have sold your freedom of thought.

To get a cult member to think thoughts of his own, in most cases, a confrontation with a ex cult member, who knows the language of the cult. Such a confrontation, known as a "deprogramming" is the worst threat against the leadership of any cult. One learns through the writings of the cult, that all critics are criminals - without exceptions - and all communication with people who question or critisize the cults methods are strictly forbidden for a cult member. This causes desperate relatives to kidnap the cult member before the deprogramming. Locking up of the relative may also occur. But Scientologists, Hare Krishnas, Moonies, describes ALL deprogrammings as violent acts, like Rape, Torture, "Brainwashing", committed by rented thugs.

WHAT KIND OF RELATIVE WOULD IT BE, WHO COULD CAUSE SUCH HARM TO A LOVED FAMILY MEMBER ???

In a characteristic way, the Scientologist distorts the reality. A scientologist learns that Deprogramming equals brainwashing. By that, the Org causes a double effect:
It draws the attention from the programming itself, which is the real brainwashing, and guards that the scientologist never uses the word "brainwash" in connection with his own indoctrination.

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L Ron Hubbard - A Successfull businessman

A fundamental method in LRH's teachings is to lay in preventive actions against loss of income. The threat against the income is of course:

Competition
Thats why it is pointed out that only Hubbards Standard Tech works - no-one else than he can develop the ideas. The loyality to Hubbards ideas are burned in with different methods:
- Threats is one
- Other Scientologists testifiyng of fantastic phenomena is another.
Examples of such phenomena are re-living your own birth, or going out-side your body (OOBE), by Scientologists called "exteriorising". These phenomena can be caused without the aid of Scientology or Dianetics. Re-living your own birth can be done by psychotherapy. Experiencing being out of the body has been done by many, with the help of deep meditation, hallucinogens, for example LSD or Cannabis [22]. There is no-one telling the Scientologist how DANGEROUS THESE HALLUCINATIONS MAY BE!
High Costs
Because of that, the Scientologist is forced to constantly be "UpStat" (Make money for the movement). He/She is promised own "rewards", in form of faster study results, and special privileges (for example protection against slander). To make a Scientologist to work for almost free is easy, since it is contained in the ideology that non-scientologists are materialists and that scientologists alone can rescue the world.
Taxes
To call the business a spiritual guidance is effective.
Bad PR
Because of that, the movement has an massive advertising, and expensive broschures, that not only used to impress presumptive clients, but also as propaganda within the movement itself to make the impression on the members that the movement is successfull.
BUT HUBBARD HAS GONE EVEN FURTHER TO PREVENT LOSS OF INCOME!
He has built a gigantic organizations to prevent and retaliate against attacks on his organization. One of those is the ENVIRONMENT SAFETY FUND, which has nothing to do with the environment. The fund is solely used to pay for trials of scientologists, and to get them out of jail [23]. Another is the "International Association for the Defence of Religious Liberty", consisting of scientologists, who travel around the world and demands the rights of "religious freedom", to pave the way for the Mother Church to start up new organizations [24].

In a flood of instructions to his "officers" on the Org's Hubbard has thought of every little hole, where money potentially can leak out, including instructions on how to handle:

- Journalists
- Critics (Called Suppressive Persons, SP's)
- Enimies

Hubbards "executive directives" are sometimes militaric orders to all the different "divisions", but are mostly sales directives, like "The Solution to Inflation" - an instruction to rise the prices by 2 - 10 % PER MONTH [25]; "How you limit the size of your Org and income" - a vitriolic description of what to do if you don't want to make money for Ron - he refers to division 7, which can "easilly exceed 150,000 USD each week in delivered service" [26]; "How you can increase the size and income of your Org" - And instruction with sales techniques in 71! points [27].

In their own study litterature, the books are very often illustrated in a childishly overdriven manner, with people acting as Warriors, Vikings and Maidens. On every other picture, appears the SUPERSCIENTOLOGIST, always with a self-confident smile, and the solution to everyones problems. Non-scientologists are seen as lesser beings, and those who question or critisize Hubbards claims are Evil, Criminal people.

A scientologist that has signed a employment contract with the Organization (alternatively for 2 1/2 years, 5 years or forever) gets certain courses for free. But if you break the contract, you owe the church the cost of all the courses you have received due to your employment. At the same time it is pointed out that there is money to be saved if you pay in advance.

The local leaders of a Church shall also be able to give scientologists advice on how to borrow money to finance the courses. THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY NEVER GIVES CREDIT. The church demands that a scientologist vouch for each other for loans in all eternity. Of course the Scientologist is tied closer to the church by advance payment and vouching.

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References
1.
The RTC Goes West - Issue 1
From trials in 1983 and 1984 in USA
2.
Jan Grönborg: Scientology, Arhus 1982, p 10
3.
James Webb: The Occult Establishment, La Salle 1976, p 504
4.
ibid, p 11
5.
Stewart Lamont: Religion Inc. The Church of Scientology, London 1986, p 133
6.
ibid, p 20-21 and
Russel Miller: Bare-Faced Messiah, The true story of L Ron Hubbard, London 1987, p 119-121
7.
Stewart Lamont: Religion Inc. The Church of Scientology, London 1986, p 21 and
Russel Miller: Bare-Faced Messiah, The True Story of L Ron Hubbard, London 1987, p 83
8.
Russel Miller: Bare-Faced Messiah, The True Story of L Ron Hubbard, London 1987, p 289
9.
Stewart Lamont: Religion Inc. The Church of Scientology, London 1986, p 64-65
10.
ibid, p 85
11.
ibid, p 65-66
12.
ibid, p 69
13.
ibid, p 91
14.
ibid, p 89
15.
ibid, p 95
16.
ibid, p 97
17.
Marknadsdomstolens avgöranden 1976-1977, Beslut 1976:5, KO.1.Scientologikyrkan
18.
Anonymous Ex scientologist and auditor
19.
Project work: Scientology - Nygammal Vetenskap ? , Runöskolan, Stockholm 1983
20.
Free Zone: From OT III by L Ron Hubbard
21.
Sture Ahlberg: Messianic Movements, Stockholm 1986
22.
Allan Rubin: Hasch, Himmel och Helvete, Stockholm 1986
23.
SEF-Nytt #6 1980, Swedish SEF Publication.
24.
Advertisment Brochure for the Church of Scientology.
L Ron Hubbard: Executive Directives
25.
LRH ED 284, 284-8, 284-9 INT 1980
26.
LRH ED 258 INT, 3 Apr 1980
27.
LRH ED 258-1 INT, 3 Apr 1980