Press

Press in the News

Datesort icon Title Blurb Tags
March 28, 1999 Scientology: 'We like to make peace' In two days of interviews, officials from the Church of Scientology and five of its lawyers answered a wide range of questions in an effort to combat the church's reputation as litigious, secretive and closed to scrutiny. Clearwater, harassment, lawsuits, Press, Scientology and Society
March 28, 1999 Store Selling Scientology Vitamin Regimen Raises Concerns Some physicians and a former Scientologist say the treatment, called a purification rundown, is dangerous and ineffective. Two members of the state physician's board are questioning whether a health-food store with ties to Scientology is practicing medicine illegally by offering a church-sanctioned vitamin regimen. dangers of Scientology, Kirstie Alley, Press, Purification Rundown, Tom Cruise
March 23, 1999 Anti-Cult Group Must Pay Award The people involved in the Supreme Court case still say they are in a group called CAN, but a Scientologist has bought legal rights to the name. The group that sprung from that purchase "espouses the exact opposite views of what the old CAN used to espouse," said Paul Lawrence, appellate attorney for the old group. front groups, Kendrick Moxon, Press
March 20, 1999 Church of Scientology Targets Journalist Two pickets from the Church of Scientology appeared before the Peace Tower with placards pasted with a photograph of a beaming Ms. O'Malley and the inscriptions "the Face of Bigotry" and "Religious Intolerance." harassment, Press
January 16, 1999 His Strings Really Zing Punk-pop-classicist composer-arranger David Campbell is more than Beck's father. Beck, Campbell's first son from his former marriage to onetime Warhol scenester Bibbe Hansen, picked up a thing or two about the exploration of music in the dozen or so years they lived under the same roof in the Los Feliz area. Beck, Press
January 7, 1999 The Sci-Fi Side of Scientology If John Travolta is unable to get the big-screen version of L. Ron Hubbard's epic Battlefield Earth made, he may want to pitch the studios a movie based on the tenets of Scientology, which was founded by the science-fiction writer in the 1950s. The church's beliefs are at least as radical as those of other religions, and as the recent DreamWorks release The Prince of Egypt demonstrates, theological sources are catnip for Hollywood producers John Travolta, Press, space opera
January 3, 1999 Real To Reel: The Joy Of Sects It is not just the pounds 80 million price tag which is putting them off. The script is from a book by L. Ron Hubbard, founder of Scientology. Travolta has long been the controversial sect's most high-profile supporter. John Travolta, Press
December 29, 1998 Looking To The Stars For Spiritual Answers "Scientology has specific policies to recruit celebrities into a public relations mode," says Dr. Stephen Kent, professor of the sociology of religion at the University of Alberta. "The end result is to use these celebrities to recruit new members or at least make the image of Scientology acceptable in society." "They treat their celebrity members better than ordinary members," Dr. Kent says. He cites numerous interviews he has done with former members as well as allegations that ordinary members have at times been used as unpaid labour for stars. Celebrities, Press
December 29, 1998 In the Presence of Scientology In 1995, a 36-year-old believer of Scientology died. Now, three years later, the state attorney has filed charges against the church, which made its headquarters in Clearwater, Fla., 23 years ago. As believers and non-believers clash, the relationship between community leaders and church members is delicate. The coming trial - a status conference is scheduled today in St. Petersburg, Fla. - promises to be a low point in the long history of acrimony over the religion's presence here. And it will raise uncomfortable questions about the way the church deals with its own affairs and those of the surrounding community. Clearwater, Lisa McPherson, Press, Scientology and Society
December 26, 1998 Real Life: How We Escaped The Clutches Of A Cult The brainwashing made me paranoid. I was told I could be badly affected by the negative thoughts of those around me. So I feared my friends and family - or anyone who argued against Scientology - was ruining my spiritual development. Scientologists teach you to ignore criticism. I was taught to change the subject if Mum or Dad asked me to do something that interfered with my "studies", and then carry on as if they had never asked. My family were worried about my strange behaviour, but I refused to listen. London, Press, Scientology and Society

Press in the News

Date Titlesort icon Blurb Tags
May 12, 2006 Polish Scientologists Ordered to Remove Tents When Scientology erected tents in Warsaw's city center to attract new members, city officials ordered them taken down. Press
September 30, 1996 Patrice Vic Trial Begins - Scientology Executive Charged with Manslaughter Trial begins in the death of Patrice Vic. Scientology executive Jean-Jacques Mazier is charged with manslaughter, and 22 other Scientologists also face charges. crimes, deaths, France, Patrice Vic, Press