Scientology Lies

December 8, 2002: Cult members posing as health workers have been targeting students at University College Dublin in a membership drive. The controversial Church of Scientology has been using anti-drug pamphlets in a bid to open contact with thousands of potential members. The leaflets, delivered to the students' union of University College Dublin, all have contact numbers for cult members printed on them. A Scientology spokesman admitted the pamphlets had two aims - firstly, to stop drug usage and secondly to promote Scientology.

December 7, 1997: The Church of Scientology's campaign against Clearwater Police Chief Sid Klein calls him "reactionary" and bigoted and blames him for "a two-decade pattern of discrimination" against the church. Scientology officials insisted that they should not be accused of stirring up controversy. 3,000 to 4,000 Scientologists held candles and demonstrated in front of police headquarters, many of them angrily chanting, "Sid Klein, what's your crime?"

December 7, 1997: Since 1980, at least eight members of the Church of Scientology have died in Clearwater under circumstances that leave their friends, families and in some cases law enforcement authorities looking for their own answers. The most prominent of these cases is Lisa McPherson, a 36-year-old woman who died Dec. 5, 1995. After 17 days at Scientology's Fort Harrison Hotel, she was finally taken to a hospital by church staff where she was pronounced dead soon after her arrival. Police and prosecutors are wrapping up an investigation that could result in criminal charges.

December 7, 1979: A federal judge yesterday sentenced Mary Sue Hubbard, wife of the founder of the Church of Scientology, to a maximum five-year prison term for conspiring to steal government documents about the church. Judge Richey also fined Mrs. Hubbard the maximum $10,000 and directed her to report to prison in 10 days. The judge also sentencd three other Scientologists to four years in prison and fined them $10,000 each. Five other Scientologists are expected to be sentenced today.

December 6, 1998: Relatives of Lisa McPherson made a tear-filled trip Saturday night to the Scientology hotel where she spent her final days under guard and in the grips of a mental breakdown. Her aunt and uncle, Dell and Art Liebreich, and her cousin Kim Krenek led a group of about 60 anti-Scientology protesters who held candles and laid a wreath outside a privacy wall at Scientology's Fort Harrison Hotel. A few feet away, just beyond the wall, was Room 174, where McPherson is said to have spent 17 days under the care of fellow Scientologists. She died at 36 on Dec. 5, 1995, and the Church of Scientology was criminally charged last month with abuse and practicing medicine without a license.

December 6, 1996: Thousands of people who called the Cult Awareness Network over the past several years now face the possibility that files of their dealings with the group could be sold.

December 5, 2002: A woman who is suing the Church of Scientology told the High Court yesterday she became very distressed during a church "auditing session" in 1992 and had recounted an event that nobody else knew about her, that she had been pregnant and had had an abortion. What really disturbed her was that, far from feeling relieved at the end of the session, she actually felt anxious and concerned.

December 4, 2002: A woman suffered a personality change after she was sucked into the grasp of the Church of Scientology and subjected to mind-control techniques, the High Court was told yesterday. Ms Mary Johnson has sued the church for damages. Among courses Ms Johnson reluctantly signed up for was a "purification rundown", the court heard. The starting point for entry to the church was a personality test which was "not a proper psychological test".

December 3, 1993: A jury Thursday rejected a lawsuit that accused Sally Jessy Raphael and her talk show of invading the privacy of a Church of Scientology member who was secretly taped. Dickerson, 61, was heard on the show saying she makes only $5,000 a year and loves washing dishes for the church.