In Santa Barbara’s Church of Scientology, as in each such outpost worldwide, an innocuous office sits equipped but vacant. This office is located beyond shelves of shrink-wrapped books, beyond training rooms, the “comm” rooms, and a room occupied by enigmatic bowls of stones and other obscure objects. The office, with white walls and plush blue-and-gray carpeting, waits, should he somehow return, for the man once known as L. Ron Hubbard. His full name was Lafayette Ronald Hubbard. His followers—in keeping with ...

Aliens, brandy and guns were the key components of a comedic adaptation of an L. Ron Hubbard novel performed by Emmy-award winning actors in the Jack Morton Auditorium last week. Hubbard, whose writings became the founding documents of the Church of Scientology, attended GW for two semesters before leaving without a degree in 1931. The adaptation of his novel "The Crossroads" was followed by a presentation on his life before, during and after his time at the University. Dion Graham from ...

Scientology Edited by James R. Lewis (Oxford University Press, £18.99) THE clock starts striking 13 very early in this book, which claims to consider Scientology from a standpoint of scholarly objectivity. In the opening essay, "Birth of a Religion", J. Gordon Melton sets out "an overview of the life of L. Ron Hubbard anchored by the generally agreed facts". The general tone can be deduced from his conclusion: "After a suitable pause to acknowledge the founder's life and accomplishments, the church ...

As many people know, Omar Garrison was working on a biography of L. Ron Hubbard back in the early 1980s that was completely sanctioned by Hubbard and by organized scientology. In fact Gerry Armstrong was actually assigned to and working with Omar back then with the approval of both Hubbard and organized scientology. And, Gerry was part of that Mission Corporate Category Sortout (MCCS) mission that was run by [David Miscavige] with Gerry’s primary part of it being ...

Bruce Livesey investigates how former inner-sanctum member Gerry Armstrong became the Salman Rushdie of Scientology. The first time I met Gerry Armstrong, I thought he was paranoid. I’d driven down from Vancouver, summer 2007, into the verdant Fraser Valley to Chilliwack, BC, a somnolent, wind-blown town surrounded by jagged mountain ranges. A place as far removed from Tom Cruise, John Travolta and Scientology’s loopiness as one can possibly get. Armstrong and his third wife Caroline live in a walk-up, one-bedroom apartment ...

In this article, we argue that Scientology’s founder, L. Ron Hubbard, likely presented a personality disorder known as malignant narcissism, and then we establish that this disorder probably contributed to his creation of organizational policies against perceived enemies that reflected his narcissistic rage. We illustrate our argument by discussing Hubbard’s creation of an internal Scientology organization called the Guardian’s Office, which carried out a sustained and covert attack against a Scientology critic, Paulette Cooper. This attack, and the Scientology policies that ...

She was open-minded enough about Scientology, if a bit dubious about some aspects of the life of its founder L. Ron Hubbard. Imagine Carol Tobin's surprise, then, when her hopes of a private jet and a Hollywood career with Tom Cruise were dashed as its adherents appeared to reject her Is it just cynical old me or is Scientology a load of old cobblers or, as we would say here in Ringsend, a load of bullshit? Oh, I can hear the ...

There are moments in life, coincidences, which have the potential to utterly change the direction and meaning of your existence. Of these I have had several; they have all marked me in various ways, but none more so than that fateful late afternoon in Stuttgart, Germany, when an attractive and rather aggressive young woman blocked my path and accosted me with the interrogative; "Do you have a good memory"? This story aims to serve a dual function: Enlighten those who may ...

The optometrist wants to hear about my most painful memories. This is an auditing session, an important component of a religion called Scientology. The optometrist is the auditor. His name is Steve Sasala. He is skinny. And tall. His face is long and narrow. I can make out the shape of his skull. We sit across from each other, on opposite sides of a tiny desk inside a claustrophobic room at the back of some historic building in Parma Heights. The ...

WITH the Packer wedding over — and guest Tom Cruise embrolied in a "religious" controversy — Scientology is once again on the agenda, writes Jill Singer. SCIENTOLOGY is being talked about again because of certain prominent supporters. Germany is reluctant to have Scientology's most famous adherent, Tom Cruise, play one of its country's greatest heroes. Valkyrie, the planned film, centres on Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg's heroic role in attempting to assassinate Adolf Hitler. The problem for Cruise is that Germany is ...

When prospective students tour GW, one of the things they learn is how easy it is to start an organization. Tour guides chirp about the school's most famous alumni - Colin Powell and Jackie O, of course, and if the tour guide is feeling daring, he might throw Watergate's "Deep Throat" into the mix. But one name that prospective students do not hear is that of L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of the Church of Scientology. Perhaps it's because students are ...

Lafayette Ronald Hubbard, a science fiction writer who founded the Church of Scientology 51 years ago, saw his teachings span the globe before his death in 1986. Born in Tilden, Neb., on March 13, 1911, the son of a Navy officer, he described an early life rich in adventure and travel to exotic lands, where his encounters with Blackfoot Indians, Chinese Buddhist priests and other cultures helped influence his writings as well as his spiritual beliefs. Hubbard was a writer of ...