From: Bob Minton <bob@minton.org>
Subject: The Lisa McPherson Trust---some revisions
Date: 2000/01/18
Message-ID: <d97a8so16vmb1olgpfcrheskg3kcmsnscv@4ax.com>
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Organization: The Lisa McPherson Trust, Inc., Clearwater, Florida
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Reply-To: bob@minton.org
Newsgroups: alt.religion.scientology


As things at LMT are evolving rather rapidly, I thought I should update the
posting of just a few days ago as there are now new domains (to be effective
next week), revised position statements, a correction was made due to a
staff omission and new people have been added to the advisory board.


The Lisa McPherson Trust
33 North Fort Harrison Avenue
Clearwater, Florida 33755

Tel: (727) 467-9335
Fax: (727) 467-9345
Email: info@lisatrust.net
Web:   www.lisatrust.net


Our Mission Statement

To expose the abusive and deceptive practices of the Church of
Scientology and to help those who have been victimized by it. These
were the final wishes of Lisa McPherson's mother, Fannie, who died
before the Church of Scientology was held to account for Lisa's death.

Our Objectives

To accomplish our mission, we will demystify and thereby make
transparent the coercive processes and practices of the Church of
Scientology. In this way, informed consumers can make an educated
decision about whether Scientology can meet their psychological or
spiritual needs. 

We will expose the Church of Scientology's abuse of the human, civil
and privacy rights of its members and critics.  We will reveal its
deceptive advertising practices that border on consumer fraud. We will bring
to light those "religious practices" that violate civil or criminal law. At
the same time, we will respect the right of all Scientologists to embrace
any religious belief they may choose.

We will assist Scientologists in recovering from their unique
personal experience with the abusive and deceptive practices of
the Church of Scientology.  We will offer counsel to Scientologists
who choose to hear the truth about how the Church of Scientology uses
deceptive mind control techniques. Our dedicated staff will provide
the information, love and support to Scientologists that will enable
them to release the bonds of cult mind control. 

Finally, all of the people involved in the Lisa McPherson Trust will
respect the dignity and innate human goodness of all current, former
and recovering Scientologists. 
                                              
Our Philosophy

The Board of Directors, Advisory Committee and staff of the Lisa
McPherson Trust include a number of former Scientologists who have had
firsthand experience with the Church of Scientology's abuse, and they
are all in some way still recovering from it. They are decent, caring
and compassionate human beings who have chosen to help others that have
made similar uninformed decisions about the Church of Scientology.
Moreover, they are willing and able to share their innermost personal
experiences in the Sea Organization or as public Scientologists in
order to educate and immunize others against the abuses and deceptions
of the Church of Scientology.

The Church of Scientology draws its members from a broad cross-section
of society, and, like other destructive cults, uses a sophisticated
combination of deceptive recruiting methods, false promises, hypnosis,
behavior modification, sleep deprivation, dietary manipulation,
information control, phobia indoctrination and other mind control
techniques to entice and control its members. There is no shame in
having been seduced into a group like the Church of Scientology.
Likewise, there need be no reluctance to leave after discovering that
the organization is not capable of delivering on its promise of a "Road to
Total Freedom."
 
Real freedom begins and ends with the never-ending quest of the human
spirit to be free. This perpetual quest is the single most important
factor that keeps mind control from being irreversible. Organized
Scientology's claim of eight million members is a deception. Informed
estimates indicate that there are at most 200,000 active members of
the Church of Scientology in the world today. What is clear is that
the vast majority of people who join the Church of Scientology reject it,
because this organization does not deliver on its promises.

The Board of Directors, Advisory Committee and staff of the Lisa
McPherson Trust will do our part to see that the human spirit of all
Scientologists will always have a pathway to real freedom.

Lisa's Story

The story of Lisa McPherson's death broke in 1996, a year after she
died in the Church of Scientology's Fort Harrison Hotel after being
held against her will for seventeen days. As the details of her tragic
and senseless death began to be publicized, more and more people
across the world came together through the Internet to oppose the
abuses occurring in the Church of Scientology.

The Reform of the Church of Scientology

The Lisa McPherson Trust started operations in Clearwater, Florida on
January 6, 2000. It was formed after decades of exhaustive
investigation by media and government agencies as well as firsthand
accounts from hundreds of former Scientologists. For more than
twenty-five years there have been outcries that the Church of
Scientology abandon its abusive and deceptive practices. But until
now, there has been no formal organization committed to stopping these
abuses. The Lisa McPherson Trust was established for that purpose, and
we are now calling for the Church of Scientology to make the following
reforms:

1) Tell their members and the public the truth about the life of
   Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard. 

2) Tell their members and the public the truth about the history of
   Dianetics and Scientology.

3) Cease all illegal, unethical and harassing activities against their
   own members and those who criticize or disagree with Scientology.

4) Revoke the policies and practices that violate the civil and human
   rights of Scientologists and those who criticize or disagree with
   Scientology.

5) Revoke the policy of practicing medicine without a license and
   preventing people from receiving proper medical treatment. 

6) Stop using and abusing the legal system as a means of harassment. 

7) Stop keeping the technology of Scientology secret if it truly has
   the power to help the human race. 

8) Encourage Scientologists to speak freely among themselves. Urge
   them to communicate with family and friends, even those who may
   disagree with Scientology. End the practice of "disconnection."

9) Revoke the policy and practice of using private and personal
   material from confidential counseling sessions to blackmail, harass
   and intimidate.

10)Stop using duress to extract exorbitant sums of money from their
   members.

The Lisa McPherson Trust firmly believes in religious freedom for all.
But we do not believe that anyone has the right to engage in behavior
that violates other people's rights or the laws of the land.
Scientologists have every right to participate in the world's religious
community in practicing their sincerely held religious beliefs. However,
the Church of Scientology needs to cease its abusive and deceptive
practices.  

Our Officers and Staff

Stacy Brooks, President
Jesse Prince, Executive Vice President
Kim Baker, Vice President 
Mark Bunker, Vice President
David Cecere, Vice President
Brian Haney, Secretary
Duncan Pierce, Treasurer
Grady Ward, Webmaster and Security Director

Our Board

Peter Alexander  
Stacy Brooks
Gabe Cazares
Patricia Greenway 
Brian Haney  
Jeff Jacobsen  
Rod Keller  
Kim Krenek
Dell Liebreich
Ed Lottick 
Bob Minton
Duncan Pierce
Jesse Prince

Our Advisory Committee

Gerry Armstrong
Ida Camburn
Priscilla Coates
Paulette Cooper
Ken Dandar
Ray Emmons
Steve Hassan
Keith Henson
Ralph Hilton
Dan Leipold
Arnie Lerma
Frank Oliver
Margaret Thaler Singer
Margery Wakefield
Lawrence Wollersheim

Internet Resources

www.xenu.net
www.xenutv.com
www.lisamcpherson.org
www.lisatrust.net
www.xenu-city.net
www.freedomofmind.org
www.entheta.net
www.cisar.org
www.xs4all.nl/~kspaink/

Helpful Books

Releasing the Bonds: Empowering People to Think for Themselves
Steven Hassan 

Captive Hearts, Captive Minds
Madeleine Tobias and Janja Lalich

Combatting Cult Mind Control
Steven Hassan

Cults In Our Midst
Margaret Thaler Singer

A Piece of Blue Sky
Jon Atack

The Scandal of Scientology
Paulette Cooper

We trust there will be many who will join us in our crusade.


January, 2000

Copyright 2000 The Lisa McPherson Trust