(Authored by Jeffrey Augustine, this essay was originally published by Tony Ortega at the Underground Bunker and is reprinted here for archival purposes)
The Church of Scientology is an opposite world where black is white and up is down. One can be certain that the Church is doing the exact opposite of whatever it is publicly promoting.
One need only read the latest online edition of Scientology’s propaganda organ Freedom magazine to see the hypocrisy. We’ve taken some recent Freedom headlines and contrast them with the facts.
There is no “Freedom of Information” in the Church of Scientology whatsoever:
• The Church routinely makes Scientologists sign bonds calling for penalties of $25,000 for violating confidentiality.
• Scientology will not publish truthful membership numbers and still insists it has millions of members
• Scientologists are made to sign a contract stating that they do not own their own pc folders and are not allowed to read their pc folders.
• Knowledge Reports – snitching on others – is a way of life inside Scientology.
• The whereabouts of Shelly Miscavige is a heavily-guarded Church secret
• The Church does not open its books for financial inspection.
• The Church does not account for how it spends parishioner donations.
The Church of Scientology has spent decades making “up” into “down.” Examples of Scientology propaganda:
• David Miscavige is portrayed as a “global ecclesiastical leader” when he has never actually done any of the things real global ecclesiastical leaders do. For example, Miscavige has never been invited to address the United Nations; has never addressed the US Congress or any other elected political body; has never been photographed with any global political or religious leaders; has never funded and opened an orphanage, a hospital, or a university. Miscavige has appeared only on television twice — in 1992 on ABC’s Nightline with Ted Koppel and in a 1998 A&E interview.
• Scientology tells the public it is a religion, but tells its members it’s an exact science with the only explanations for the nature and origin of the universe.
• L. Ron Hubbard claimed Dianetics was “a milestone for Man comparable to his discovery of fire and superior to his inventions of the wheel and the arch.”
• Scientology Orgs are mostly empty and yet Scientology insists there is 47x expansion going on
• The Church still claims the Guardian’s Office was disbanded when the GO was simply morphed into Office of Special Affairs. Led by former GO Snow White Programs Op Linda Hamel, OSA is tasked with churning out a steady stream of Scientology propaganda and crafting a never-ending series of hateful websites against former Scientologists and critics. And like the GO, OSA has an unlimited budget to spy on former Church members, critics, and on persons of interest to David Miscavige.
• The Church of Scientology claims to be “Humanitarian” when Scientologists secretly deride humans as “homo saps” and “wogs.” Scientologists believe themselves to be Homo Novis, a master race superior in every way to humans.
Fighting to know the facts in the Church of Scientology is a crime:
• Scientologists are not allowed to know what their donations are spent on.
• Scientologists are not allowed to know why certain people have suddenly disappeared
• Scientologists can be severely punished for reading “critical websites” on the internet.
• New Scientologists are not allowed to know the contents of the OT Levels.
• Scientologists are not allowed to know the contents of their pc folders or Ethics folders.
• Scientologists are not allowed to talk to family or friends who have been declared “suppressive.”
• Scientologists are not allowed to know the real details of L. Ron Hubbard’s death.
• Scientologists are not allowed to know the real details of how David Miscavige took over the Church.
• Scientologists are strictly forbidden to talk about their case outside of session. No Scientologist is allowed to know how any other Scientologist is actually doing in session. Even husbands and wives are forbidden to talk to each other about their auditing.
This headline is yet another exercise in Scientology hypocrisy:
• The Church of Scientology uses child labor and works children 80 to 100 hours per week or more.
• The Rehabilitation Project Force is a prison-like detention center whose inmates have no legal rights and are not allowed to speak to anyone except other prisoners.
• Sea Org members are treated as prisoners, live in guarded dormitories, and are guarded during their working hours to prevent their escape.
• The Church of Scientology engages in human trafficking. For example, the Scientology Sea Org recruits heavily in Eastern Europe for its labor force at Flag. Once overseas workers arrive at Flag, their passports are confiscated and they are heavily guarded as they are moved by bus from berthing to Flag. Aside from subsistence room and board, these workers are paid as little as possible, typically about forty cents per hour for working 100+ hour weeks.
• The Church of Scientology makes its members sign its infamous “kidnap contract” allowing the Church to kidnap and hold them against their will if they are deemed Type III, a term referring to a psychotic break. This is the same type of contract Scientology agents used to pull Lisa McPherson out of psychiatric hospitalization following her psychotic break on a Clearwater street in which she stripped her clothes off and asked passersby for help.
• The Church of Scientology operates “recovery teams” to hunt down and capture escaped Sea Org members.
This headline is one of those “Scientology is lying again” moments. There is no privacy for anyone in the Church of Scientology:
• All auditing sessions are videotaped.
• All sec checks are videotaped.
• Sea Org berthing is subject to unannounced searches.
• David Miscavige and the Office of Special Affairs use tax-exempt dollars to spy on people, purchase phone records, and dig through trash.
• Pat Broeker was secretly spied on for twenty-five years at a cost of $12 million.
• David Miscavige spied on his own father for at least eighteen months at a cost of $10,000 per week (and probably a lot more).
• OSA rented a house to spy on the Marty and Monique Rathbun for three years, using hidden cameras.
• OSA’s main job is to continually gather information on Church members and Church critics alike.
• The Church of Scientology admitted to engaging in burglary and wiretapping in Operation Snow White.
