ANNOUNCER: On December 14, 1998, this is “Investigative Reports”. BILL KURTIS: Hello, I’m Bill Kurtis. It is America’s most controversial religion. Some, in fact, say it’s not a religion at all. For 40 years, the Church of Scientology has flourished in this country, while under constant attack by the government, the media, and the psychiatric profession. It’s been perceived as an organization interested only in money making, which brainwashes its members and then bankrupts them; all untrue, say its leaders and ...

Clearwater picket 1997–Xenu picketing with sign saying “L. Ron Hubbard: Psychotic CON MAN”, other picketers with signs saying “www.scientology-kills.net” “Xenu Crossing (inside a yellow sign on picket sign)”; Deana Holmes with sign saying “Did Standard Tech kill Lisa?”; lecture at Scientology church VO: While church administration is busy dealing with a steady stream of conflict, individual Scientologists are out among the people, spreading Hubbard’s word at every opportunity. MIKE RINDER: Well, you know, the aims of Scientology are a civilization without ...

HEMET, Calif. — Nowhere is Scientology’s trademark self-sufficiency more clearly in evidence than at its $50-million outpost in the arid hills 90 miles east of Los Angeles. Seven hundred Scientology workers put in 60-hour weeks to remaster the scratchy tapes on which the late founder once recorded his lectures; translate his words into more than 30 languages; produce Scientology films, tapes, videos, television commercials, magazines and books; and manufacture e-meters, the electronic devices used in the core Scientology counseling practice called ...

[Picture / Caption: THE FOUNDER: The finale to the L. Ron Hubbard Life Exhibition in Los Angeles is a series of pocket doors displaying 400 proclamations Hubbard received through the years. The Hollywood Boulevard museum, conceived by Miscavige, is open to the public.] [Picture / Caption: PRESERVING HIS WORDS: Titanium capsules, on display in Los Angeles, are part of Scientology’s ongoing $226-million effort to archive Hubbard’s writings. His words are imprinted on stainless steel plates, stored in the capsules, then wrapped ...