CLEARWATER — Allegations of physical abuse, destruction of evidence and punishment rituals in the upper echelons of the Church of Scientology left some local political leaders saying they were shocked and disturbed. But among leaders who have reached out to the church, those contacted by the St. Petersburg Times say they aren't ready to distance themselves from Scientology and its sizeable membership after a recent Times series detailing accusations from former church executives. While some in the community saw potential for ...

If a high-ranking LAPD official can be believed, perhaps the Scientology-affiliated The Way To Happiness should take a page from its own teachings. Two of the Glendale-based nonprofit organization’s 21 guides to achieving happiness are “Be Worthy of Trust” and “Seek to Live the Truth,” neither of which were followed apparently in the group’s dealings with the LAPD and a city in Texas. Officials with the group, which over the past two decades has distributed booklets of the same name to ...

Our summer of Tom Cruise's madness and Katie Holmes' creepy path toward zombie bridedom has been a useful reminder of how truly strange Scientology is. By now those interested in the Cruise-Holmes saga may be passingly familiar with the church's creation myth, in which an evil, intergalactic warlord named Xenu kidnaps billions of alien life forms, chains them near Earth's volcanoes, and blows them up with nuclear weapons. Strange as Scientology's pseudo-theology may be, though, it's not as entertaining as the ...

In September 2002, the New York Rescue Workers Detox Project began to offer free "detoxification treatment" to firefighters, police officers, and others exposed to high levels of toxic debris in the aftermath of the World Trade Center's collapse. The detox program—based on the teachings of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and detailed in his book Clear Body, Clear Mind—purports to "flush" poisons from the body's fat stores using an intensive regimen of jogging, oil ingestion, sauna, and high doses of vitamins, ...

pictures of FBI raid on Scn churches; newspaper article titled, “Secret probe sparks raid on Scientology” VO: On July 7, 1977, 134 FBI agents stormed into Scientology centers in Washington and Los Angeles. Washington Post newspaper article titled, “Scientologists Kept Files on ‘Enemies’ ROBERT VAUGHN YOUNG (voice of): We hit the front page of every newspaper in the country at that time. footage of Scn press conference; copy of “Alaska Mental Health Act”; newspaper article titled, “Woman Sees ‘Political Siberia’ In ...

picture of LRH; pictures of books “L. Ron Hubbard, Messiah or Madman?”, “Bare-Faced Messiah] VO: Scientology lost its founder in 1986. And the news that Hubbard was no longer sparked a flurry of unofficial biographies. Russell Miller walking down road; picture of LRH RUSSELL MILLER (voice of and on camera): I knew that there was some question mark over L. Ron Hubbard’s background. The church presents a picture of L. Ron Hubbard as being a very extraordinary individual, and was almost ...

WASHINGTON – After years of holding the U.S. government in contempt, the Church of Scientology is enlisting members of Congress, the U.S. State Department and even President Clinton to advance its agenda in foreign lands. Prodded by the Scientologists' paid lobbyists and its cadre of sympathetic entertainers, several lawmakers and the Clinton administration have criticized the German government for allegedly discriminating against Scientology practitioners. They even got their argument against Germany to the floor of the House of Representatives last November. ...

THE Church of Scientology, a religious cult accused of brainwashing its devotees, has paid private detectives more than £100,000 to organise a worldwide "dirty tricks" campaign against a Sunday Times journalist. Documents seen by The Sunday Times detail how Russell Miller, journalist and author of a book on scientology's founder, L. Ron Hubbard, has been secretly pursued around the world by investigators and members of the sect for the past three years. A former employee of the church, ...

A brutal bio of L. Ron Hubbard, founder of the Church of Scientology, will get to see the light. Again. The News' Alex Michellini reports that New Era Publications, a Danish corporation related to the church, tried to enjoin the distribution of Russel Miller's "Bare-Faced: The True Story of L. Ron Hubbard." New Era charged that the book and its publisher, Henry Holt & Co. infringed on certain copyrighted material. Maybe it does, just a little, said Federal Judge Pierre Leval. ...

LOS ANGELES (AP)—Church of Scientology officials are accusing a Boston lawyer of conspiring to pass a counterfeit $2 million check "to divert attention from himself." Michael Flynn, a prominent critic of the Church of Scientology who has filed 20 suits against the organization, also was accused of blaming the forgery on Scientologists in an attempt to destroy the controversial group. The allegations regarding the check on the account of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard surfaced Monday in documents filed in Los ...

Church of Scientology officials Monday accused a Boston lawyer who has been a prominent critic of the organization of conspiring to pass a counterfeit $2-million check on the account of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard and later blaming the forgery on members of the church as part of an "overall plan" to destroy the group. The charges were made against attorney Michael Flynn in documents filed in Los Angeles federal court in connection, with a lawsuit filed by a Scientology member, ...

RELIGION OR BUSINESS? Practices of Scientology Being Investigated Again By John Dart Times Religion Writer [Picture / Caption: YOUNG INITIATES — The Rev. Robert Bobo talks with two children who are taking Scientology courses. The photo on the wall is of the founder of the worldwide group, L. Ron Hubbard.] The mimeographed notice looked more like a secret police communique than a church message. It informed "those concerned" that a certain 20-year-old girl "is hereby declared a Suppressive Person and assigned ...

[Transcription of the meaningful parts of the 1023 form as submitted by the Church of Scientology International to the IRS. For the complete document, see PDFs] [Coming soon]