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1980 Pulitzer series #4
Church moves to defend itself against 'attackers'
-- by Charles Stafford
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The Church of Scientology has a persecution complex.
It apparently was born with it.
The church was founded by science-fiction writer L. Ron Hubbard. A
biographical sketch supplied by the church states that Hubbard devised the
basic doctrine of his religion while recovering from World War II injuries
in a naval hospital.
It recounts that Hubbard explained his theories in a 1950 book entitled
Dianetics: The Modern Science of Mental Health and then, in response to
grassroots demand for more information, founded the Hubbard Dianetic
Research Foundation.
The biography continues:
"The United States Government at this time attempted to monopolize all
his researches and force him to work on a project 'to make man more
suggestible' and when he was unwilling, tried to blackmail him by ordering
him back to active duty to perform this function. Having many friends he
was able to instantly resign from the Navy and escape this trap. The
government never forgave him for this and soon began vicious, covert
international attacks upon his work, all of which were proven false and
baseless, which were to last 27 years and finally culminated in the
government being sued for $750-million for conspiracy."
You won't find that story in any government history books. Attempts to
learn from the Navy whether any of Hubbard's story is accurate were
unsuccessful.
Queried about the church biography's description of Hubbard's career,
a Navy spokesman said:
"His service record contains no entry indicating that he was injured as
a result of action against the enemy. Injuries he may have suffered during
World War II, if any, would be filed in his medical record. Under the
Privacy Act, information contained in a person's medical record may be
released only with the written consent of that individual.
"He was a patient at the U.S. Naval Hospital, Oakland, Calif., from
Sept. 5, 1945 to Dec. 4, 1945. The reason for his hospitalization is not
releasable under the Privacy Act for the reasons I have already stated.
"Lt. Hubbard was a naval reservist on inactive duty from Feb. 17, 1946
until Oct. 30, 1950. On 30 Oct. 1950 his resignation from the Naval Reserve
was accepted. There is no evidence on record of an attempt to recall him to
active duty."
In any case, a high level of tension has existed between the church and
the government for at least the past 16 years.
This tension, this belief of Hubbard that he and his religion are
targets of a government campaign of persecution, has produced the dark side
of Scientology. It gained recent national publicity when a group of church
leaders, including the founder's wife, Mary Sue Hubbard, were accused of
conspiring to steal government documents and obstruct justice.
The manifestations of the dark side of Scientology are a series of
policies issued by Hubbard, as commodore of the church, over a number of
years.
Basic to the dark side of Scientology is this definition, written by
Hubbard in his dictionary entitled Modern Management Technology Defined:
"Truth is what is true for you."
One of the most controversial of Hubbard's dictums was the "Fair Game
Law." Under this 1965 law, a suppressive person (SPs in Scientology jargon)
"one that actively seeks to suppress or damage Scientology or a
Scientologist by suppressive acts" -- should be designated "fair game."
The punishment: "May be deprived of property or injured by any means by
any Scientologist without any discipline of the Scientologist. May be
tricked, sued or lied to or destroyed."
Mention that policy to a Scientologist today and he will tell you that
it was canceled by Hubbard in 1968. But Hubbard's cancellation said this:
"The practice of declaring people fair game will cease. Fair game may
not appear on any Ethics Order. It causes bad public relations.
"This P/L (policy letter) does not cancel any policy on the treatment
or handling of an SP (suppressive person)."
In 1966, Hubbard advised church officials that the way to respond to
attacks was to attack the attacker. He wrote:
"This is the correct procedure:
"(1) Spot who is attacking us.
"(2) Start investigating them promptly for FELONIES or worse using our
own professionals, not outside agencies.
"(3) Double curve our reply by saying we welcome an investigation of
them.
"(4) Start feeding lurid, blood, sex, crime actual evidence on the
attackers to the press.
"Don't ever tamely submit to an investigation of us. Make it rough,
rough on attackers all the way."
Meanwhile, he said, "to get wholly over to cause we must select
targets, investigate and expose before they attack us."
Hubbard directed that the courts be used as an avenue of attack. In a
1955 publication, he stated: "... We do not want Scientology to be reported
in the press, anywhere else than on the religious page of newspapers. It is
destructive of word of mouth to permit the public presses to express their
biased and badly reported sensationalism. Therefore we should be very alert
to sue for slander at the slightest chance so as to discourage the public
presses from mentioning Scientology."
In a publication entitled Ability, the commodore said: "... The purpose
of the suit is to harass and discourage rather than to win. The law can be
used very easily to harass, and enough harassment on somebody who is simply
on the thin edge anyway, well knowing that he is not authorized, will
generally be sufficient to cause his professional decease. If possible, of
course, ruin him utterly."
In 1963, the church issued its "Five Press Policies," and one of them
instructed members on how to handle a reporter.
"He wants a story," it said. "The only way to handle him are to eject
him or to give him a story that he thinks is a story. There are no half-way
measures ...
"The rules of newspaper writing today are very exact. And this is
probably a far better analysis of the rules than he has, so you could
surely win.
"To be printed, a story must contain one or more of these things:
"(1) Harm (Blood, violence, damage, death, scandal).
"(2) Sex.
"(3) Money.
"(4) Big names.
"(5) The story must be written to invalidate something.
"(6) The story must contain a controversy.
"(7) A story must contain two opposing forces ..."
Hubbard devised a technique of using anonymous or covert methods to
destroy an enemy's reputation. He called the tactic "Black Propaganda."
Instruction in its use is contained in a Hubbard policy letter of 1971
reprinted in a volume entitled The Management Series.
"The most involved employment of PR (public relations) is its covert
use in destroying the repute of individuals and groups," he wrote. "More
correctly, this is technically called BLACK PROPAGANDA. Basically, it is an
intelligence technique."
Hubbard created the Guardian Office to protect the church from attack.
Mary Sue Hubbard gave the office its goal. "The primary function of the
Guardian Office," she said in a Guardian Order of Oct. 19, 1974, "is: To
sweep aside opposition sufficiently to create a vacuum into which
Scientology can expand."
Orders setting out programs for operatives in the Guardian Office were
manifestations of Hubbard's policies.
Oct. 21, 1974: "SITUATION: The IRS (Internal Revenue Service), despite
extensive legal and PR handling, is persisting in its attack upon the C of
S and LRH ...
"IDEAL SCENE: IRS with no false reports in their files on Scientology,
uninterested in Scientology taxes, other than as a routine matter, doing
their jobs and busy elsewhere with the usual red tape of a bureaucracy,
with the psychotics located and their influence eliminated ...
"PLAN: Finance, PR, and legal continue their actions while B4 enters
the arena and gets every single false report in every single IRS file. Once
the data has been revealed, the lies can be corrected, the SPs isolated and
handled, further PR and legal actions initiated and the IRS attack turned
off."
The order directed that agents, "trustworthy and well grooved,"
immediately infiltrate IRS offices in Washington, Los Angeles and London
and obtain copies of the documents.
June 27, 1975: "Info must find the who back of these IRS attacks and
document it for exposure plus all other items of interest. It could be IRS
and the government is attacking any vocal group to pave the way for some
coup by the government. Evidence as to the why of these attacks must be
gotten, powerful enough to destroy the attackers when eventually used or
revealed."
This order was from Hubbard, who said that somewhere in IRS was "an
insane individual with insane plans" who was operating a "false reports
factory." He wanted that person found.
Sept. 16, 1976: "Operation Cat." The order said, "The idea is to make
a mockery and hold up to ridicule the computer, the security services and
authority in relation to FOI (freedom of information.)" The goal: "To plant
grossly false information in governmental agencies, especially security
services files, for later public retrieval and ridiculing exposure."
Operations like these were not limited to the IRS, or even to
government. Documents released by a federal court in Washington show that
they were also employed against public officials and private citizens on
the Florida Suncoast.
On July 21, 1976, one of the strangest of many strange orders was
issued. It was entitled "Operation Bulldozer Leak."
It began: "MAJOR TARGET: To effectively spread the rumor that will lead
Government, media, and individual SPs to conclude that LRH has no control
of the C of S and no legal liability for church activity."
One is left to wonder how it ended, and where the 68-year-old spiritual
leader of Scientology now resides, and what policies he will promulgate
next.
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