Scientology and Society
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Scientology and Society in the News
Date | Title | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| March 27, 1953 | Arrest Gives Pair Fine New Engrams | Two Dianetics practitioners were arrested and released in Detroit. Police are deciding whether to bring charges, and what charges to bring. Six E-meters were seized. | |
| April 20, 1970 | Dear South End - Scientology | A chapter of the Church of Scientology is now in the process of forming on the campus of Wayne State. These people seem quite sincere in what they are doing. They want to make the world a better place in which to live by making man better. However, their sincerity seems more like $incerity. The first of four levels cost only $650.00 and as far as I could tell each successive level costs more. | |
| April 22, 1980 | Scientologists Tried To Silence Enemies | The Las Vegas Church of Scientology attempted to silence its enemies and critics in Nevada by waging propaganda and espionage campaigns against Las Vegas law-enforcement and business agencies. Documents seized from the church by the FBI reveal the church on a national scale conspired to steal grand jury transcripts, attempted to infiltrate the CIA, and launched a myriad of dirty tricks against public officials. | |
| October 16, 1980 | Student Council To Campaign Against 'Predatory' Cult Tactics | An anti-cult campaign has been launched by the Students Administrative Council at the University of Toronto in an effort to stem what it calls growing recruitment by cultists on campus. The student council has put its stamp on a $300 pamphlet, which is highly critical of cults, and is distributing it to U of T students. The pamphlet warns students who are feeling totally overwhelmed by a decision, who feel the world is falling apart around them or who are alone and lonely that they are particularly vulnerable to cult influences. | |
| October 30, 1984 | One More Step In Legal Battle Taken By Church Of Scientology | The Church of Scientology went another round in court yesterday in its marathon fight against Ontario's legal establishment. The case, and another scheduled for this morning before a panel of three judges of the Court of Appeal, aren't by themselves particularly noteworthy. But they form part of a long trail of litigation left by the church since a massive police raid on its Toronto headquarters in March, 1983. The police alleged that the church and several employees defrauded the public by making fraudulent representations about several church courses and a device called an E-meter, which the church claims is used in its confessional. | |
| November 5, 1985 | Scientologists Block Access to Secret Documents | In one of the largest court demonstrations in Los Angeles in years, about 1,500 Church of Scientology members crammed three floors of the County Courthouse on Monday, effectively blocking public access to documents that the church considers secret and sacred. For hours, Scientologists swamped workers in the clerk's office with hundreds of requests to photocopy the documents, which reveal some of the organization's most fundamental beliefs. Scientology attorneys have argued that disclosure of the materials is a violation of the group's religious freedom. | |
| November 6, 1985 | Xemu and the Thetans | Documents obtained by the Los Angeles Times show that members of the Church of Scientology believe that mankind's ills were caused by an evil ruler named Xemu who lived 75 million years ago. Scientologists have been trying to prevent the release of the documents, which they consider secret and sacred, and about 1500 church members crammed three floors of the Los Angeles County Courthouse, effectively blocking public access to documents. | |
| April 11, 1986 | Scientologists Told To Leave Denmark | The Danish Government ordered yesterday that 40 leaders of the Church of Scientology's European and African headquarters leave Denmark when their visas expire. Jens Moeller, a department chief in the Justice Ministry, said the Scientologists were informed last July that their two-year missionary visas would not be renewed. | |
| September 27, 1986 | Verdict Is Upheld Against Scientology | A Los Angeles judge last week rejected a request that he either overturn a $30 million verdict against the Church of Scientology of California or grant a new trial in a suit by former member Larry Wollersheim, who said Scientologists destroyed his business and drove him to the brink of insanity when he left the church after 11 years. | |
| October 29, 1986 | Class Action Suit Thrown Out | A $467-million class action filed by a member of the Church of Scientology against a consumer protection group and four of its employees has been thrown out by Quebec Superior Court Justice Jean Marquis. | |
| October 19, 1987 | City Shouldn't Pay For Guide | Clearwater Scientologists, in their ongoing "let's-be-friends" effort, have agreed to update a 2-year-old downtown shopping guide. They produced the original one and provided copies to merchants for distribution throughout the downtown area. This time they want somebody else to pick up the $6,000 to $8,000 printing bill. Scientologists and others who feel the brochure is worthwhile want the Community Redevelopment Agency to pick up the tab. "My initial reaction was there's no way I will support paying the Scientologists to do a brochure on downtown," Mayor Rita Garvey said. | |
| October 27, 1987 | Ministers Decry Clergy Counseling Ruling | Concerned with what they say is a governmental intrusion into church counseling, several ministers Monday decried a recent state Court of Appeal ruling that clergy who counsel "suicidal individuals" have a duty to refer those individuals to psychiatrists or other authorities qualified to prevent suicides. | |
| January 1, 1988 | Clearwater Wants To Join Case Before Supreme Court | Attorneys representing Clearwater in its legal battle against the Church of Scientology have asked permission to file a brief in a similar case before the U.S. Supreme Court. Clearwater is defending its 1983 charitable solicitations ordinance in court. The ordinance requires financial disclosure by any religious or charitable organization that solicits funds in Clearwater, including the Church of Scientology, which has international headquarters here. | |
| October 25, 1988 | Paper Wants Scientology Documents Unsealed | The St. Petersburg Times has asked a federal judge to unseal four court files pertaining to the Church of Scientology. The files, which otherwise would be available to the public, were sealed in 1986 by U.S. District Judge Elizabeth A. Kovachevich at the Scientologists' request. The suits alleged that Scientologists invaded the plaintiffs' privacy and abused the courts by filing malicious actions. Tanja C. Burden of Las Vegas said Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, his wife, Mary Sue, and the Clearwater church enslaved her for more than four years. The sealing of the files put all record of the cases and any subsequent developments out of public view. | |
| October 28, 1988 | Church Lawyer Alleges Ministry Bias | Premier David Peterson has been asked to appoint independent lawyers to prosecute the Church of Scientology, after allegations that the Attorney-General's Ministry is caught in a conflict of interest. Lawyers for the church also asked the provincial auditor yesterday to examine the propriety of the ministry's having financed a civil suit launched by one of its own lawyers against the church and several media outlets. | |
| November 13, 1988 | The Dark Side Of Cults | "It's not our job to identify which groups are harmful," Kropveld explains. "It's not the group itself that concerns us, but the pitch used to get you to buy into them. You have to be aware of the deception, the dubious recruiting practice. Every group has a right to believe in what it wants. But the bottom line is - you have to ask yourself, does that belief withstand the scrutiny of the criminal or the civil law?" There are apparently a number that cannot. In February, The Church of Scientology, charged with fraud and false representation, agreed to pay 10 of its disgruntled members $250,000 in an out-of-court settlement. The 10 had given the church between $5,000 and $45,000 over periods of up to five years. As part of the settlement, the former members cannot talk to the press about their time with the Scientologists. | |
| December 23, 1988 | Changing Strategy: Scientology Now Steps Right Up To Controversy | After years of sparring with the townsfolk and veiling itself in secrecy, the Church of Scientology has succeeded in turning Clearwater into its spiritual mecca. Scientologists quietly run teen nightclubs, schools, day-care centers, management consulting firms and other businesses, records and interviews show. Now the strategy of the organization, longtime observers say, is to confront controversy, gain converts and make money - lots of it. Scientology's Clearwater operation brings in $1.5-million to $2-million a week, say church watchers who include Clearwater police, former Scientology security chief Richard Azneran and former Scientologist-turned-author Bent Corydon. | |
| December 27, 1988 | Scientology: Still The Same | Revenues and taxes are only two of the many issues that make Floridians uneasy about the secretive organization with headquarters in Clearwater's massive Fort Harrison Hotel. Over the years the Scientologists have been charged with a variety of bizarre crimes. In Canada, for instance, federal authorities are bringing the sect to trial for stealing 2,000 government documents. In Spain, 11 Scientologists are out on bail, facing the possibility of charges that include coercion and fraud. | |
| October 9, 1989 | Scientologists Harm Business, Merchants Say | The Church of Scientology has had a strong presence in downtown Clearwater since it secretly bought the old Fort Harrison Hotel at 210 N Fort Harrison Ave. in 1975, shocking city residents. Members say Scientology is a religion, and say they help the city. Opponents call it a cult and a money-making organization. The Scientologists attempted to frame former Mayor Gabe Cazares with a hit-and-run accident in 1976 and have stirred controversy off and on since their arrival. | |
| June 27, 1990 | Los Angeles Times: Courting the Power Brokers | From politicians to the leaders of business, the courts and the media, Scientology works to win allies to smooth the way for expansion. To create a favorable environment for Scientology's expansion, church executives are working to win allies among society's power brokers and opinion leaders. | |
| June 29, 1990 | Los Angeles Times: Suits, Protests Fuel a Campaign Against Psychiatry | The Ritalin controversy seemed to emerge out of nowhere. It frightened parents, put doctors on the defensive and suddenly called into question the judgment of school administrators who authorize the drug's use to calm disruptive, hyperactive children. The uproar over Ritalin was triggered almost single-handedly by the Scientology movement. | |
| June 29, 1990 | Los Angeles Times: The Battle with the I.R.S. | Among its many adversaries, the Church of Scientology's longest-running feud has been with the Internal Revenue Service. So far, neither combatant has blinked. The IRS has revoked the tax-exempt status of various Scientology organizations, accusing them of operating in a commercial manner and of financially benefiting private individuals. From the late 1960s through mid-1970s, IRS agents classified Scientology as a "tax resister" and "subversive," a characterization later deemed improper by a judge. | |
| October 1, 1991 | Scientology - A Dangerous Cult Goes Mainstream | The Church of Scientology, started by science fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard to "clear" people of unhappiness, portrays itself as a religion. In reality, the church is a hugely profitable global racket that survives by intimidating members and critics in a Mafia-like manner. At times during the past decade, revelations in the media and prosecutions against Scientology seemed to be curbing its menace. But now the group, which is trying to go mainstream, threatens to become insidious and pervasive than ever. | |
| November 11, 1991 | They Took Our Lives | Within two years, Tom and Carol spent $60,000 on the church, according to a lawsuit. They traveled to Clearwater for Scientology counseling and spent virtually all of their free time on the church. They signed billion-year contracts and prepared to move the family to Los Angeles. Their experience is not unusual. When parents plunge into Scientology, critics say, children often are swept along and family life takes a back seat. | |
| April 20, 1992 | Scientologists Cited For Crowded Apartments | The Church of Scientology has been cited by city building officials for overcrowding in apartments. In recent inspections, city officials determined that 34 apartments were overcrowded at Scientology's Hacienda Gardens complex. Housing inspectors said they found as many as 10 beds in an apartment, and said beds often were set up not only in the bedrooms but in the living and dining rooms of the apartments. |
Scientology and Society in the News
| Date | Title | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| December 21, 2005 | Tax Court Denies Scientology-Like Deduction for Jewish Courses | The US Tax Court rules against Michael and Maria Sklar, who were seeking the right to deduct the cost of their children's religious education, a right that the IRS grants only to Scientologists. |