The First Amendment to the Constitution is a vitally important document that is cause for great celebration and almost as much dispute. It enshrines a number of very important rights -- freedom of religion, speech, the press, to peaceable assembly and petition the government. I believe the Bill of Rights was intended to protect people rather than the government or corporations (in fact the ONLY right afforded any corporation in the Bill of Rights is that given the press in the First Amendment) and yet, over the years, much law has developed that protects religious … [Read more...]
Why the Expensive Scientology Buildings?
I have explained this before but the question continues to be raised -- why is David Miscavige so obsessed with purchasing real estate? I am answering here as succinctly as possible. This strategy is not just the "ideal org" program, it also includes buying former homes and offices of L. Ron Hubbard, purchasing a redundant TV studio (KCET), and superfluous audio recording studio (Mad Hatter), buying properties to house printing presses and a "dissemination center" and other properties for Narconon, Applied Scholastics and the Way to Happiness Fdn. This real estate strategy serves several … [Read more...]
Scientology Lies About Harassment of LA D/A
See the recent LA Times article Scientology tried to 'derail' star's rape trial by harassing prosecutor, suit says; church calls claim 'false' This is some excellent reporting by James Queally. I only want to comment on one thing: Karin (David Miscavige) Pouw's response to quotes taken from my declaration filed in Leah[s case. Here is what the article says with regard to me and Dave's response: Mike Rinder, a member of the Aftermath Foundation's board, once served as head of the Office of Special Affairs and described it as "Scientology’s CIA" in a recent declaration in Re … [Read more...]
Alex Gibney Urges IRS to Revoke Scientology’s Tax Exempt Status
A recent interview with Alex Gibney in Rolling Stone where he was asked the following question, jogged my memory. I had the pleasure of seeing Going Clear at its Sundance premiere, which was pretty wild. Is Scientology still on your case? And I’ve done a lot of reporting on Scientology as well, so what’s it like to see Tom Cruise still be the king of Hollywood? It seems he hasn’t had to answer a single question about this stuff in the eight years since Going Clear. I agree. And I’m kind of surprised. I think he took a step away, so he’s not the kind of ambassador for Scientology tha … [Read more...]
Revoke Scientology’s Tax Exempt Status Immediately
This was originally posted under the title: Auditing Scientology: Reexamining Tax Exemption Eligibility which was the title of the article written by Taylor Holley. I believe the ongoing public policy violations alone should be the immediate end of scientology's tax exempt status. Taylor points out how "Public Policy" has been narrowly interpreted to mean discrimination, but this is not what the intent of this regulation is. Spending tax exempt money to spy on people, smear and destroy them is NOT in keeping with "public policy." Scientology violates this every single day. The IRS sits on … [Read more...]
The Flat Tax — Republicans Reviving the Scientology Campaign to Abolish the IRS
It's in the news that the Republicans in Congress are seeking to implement a flat sales tax and essentially do away with the need for the IRS. Just one recent article can be found here. This story includes the following paragraph: One thing that became clear very quickly: McCarthy’s desperation to have the title of House speaker meant more to him than having any convictions. An example of his clear powerlessness in whatever deals he agreed to were reports that he would bring a ludicrous tax proposal for a vote on the House floor. It’s the Fair Tax Act, a deal first cre … [Read more...]
“Successful Selling” by L. Ron Hubbard
Hubbard had a lot of his special wisdom to impart about the skills of selling. Scientology objects to the idea that it should be characterized as a business. Not because they are not proud of Hubbard's "administrative technology" which is the ONLY way for any business to succeed (somehow Amazon, Apple and Walmart have muddle their way to success), but because being a business is not compatible with being "religious" and thus the label threatens their tax exempt status. Scientology "administrative technology" is full of Hubbard talking about "prospects," "sales," "commissions" and … [Read more...]
Podcast with Jon Atack
Jon and I recorded a new episode of his excellent podcast. Enjoy. … [Read more...]
Scientology Refunds and Repayments: We Don’t Do That Any More
Recently, a letter from the "Claims Verification Board" came to my attention. In it they state: "It has always been church policy that anyone requesting a refund/repayment must do so within 3 months" -- so of course, they denied the request for return of funds (as they ALWAYS do). This is NOT in fact even what "church policy" says. Let's go through what L. Ron Hubbard said "church policy" is with respect to giving dissatisfied customers their money back (remember, the entire Victorian Inquiry came about because Hubbard refused to return a small amount of money to one … [Read more...]
Can Scientologists be Christians or Jews Too?
This is the eighth "vacation" post, revisiting some of the more important articles to have appeared on my blog over the years. The original post and comments is here. Scientology likes to tell the world that you can be a scientologist and also be a Christian, Jew, Buddhist or anything else. This is an "acceptable truth" (defined by Hubbard this way: Handling truth is a touchy business also. You don't have to tell everything you know-that would jam the comm line too. Tell an acceptable truth. Agreement with one's message is what PR is seeking to achieve. Thus the message m … [Read more...]